Day: June 6, 2006

One of my worst purchases ever? The Ambient Executive Dashboard. This device, with its three faceplates, and swinging indicators, promised to open up analog, real-world display of information which is normally constrained (not locked) in digital arenas.

The problems?

First, the device’s wireless coverage was miserable, in an office building in the heart of San Francisco’s business district. My indicators would either not move or swing inconsistently.

Second, the 30 included faceplates are for non-personal information, like weather, traffic, and market indices. Weather and market indices are mildly interesting, but traffic isn’t generic… which route, etc.

Third, the basic device cost $150.

Fourth, the opportunities to customize what information was displayed were limited. You can pay extra for some faceplates which can be tailored via a dedicated website (# of Yahoo Mail messages, etc.), but true personalization is not available. I bought this device well over a year ago, and even today, the developer specifications are still “in preparation” — that was the case when I bought the device, too.

When I left CNET last month, I left the Ambient Executive Dashboard behind. I hope someone else either found a better use for it or threw it away.

I was reminded of my wasted money when I saw mention a few weeks ago of Violet, a French company whose tagline is “The Smart Object Company.” As long as a device is seen as a toy, or a fashion object, I suppose Violet may deliver up to (lower) expectations, with a digital “rabbit.” At least Violet offers an API (look on the right, for a link to the, sigh, PDF).

Ambient and Velvet are among the few companies I know of that are innovating on analog displays of digital information. I haven’t searched/shopped around, so maybe I’m missing entire industries (not just companies) who are delivering great products and services in this category. Am I? I hope so.

There’s something marvelous about the concept, so although I’ve been burned once, I’m still anxious for someone to amaze me. Think about how many digital displays mimic analog displays because of the comfort and immediate comprehension which results. We’re seeing a promise of more realistic analog control of digital devices with new products like the Nintendo Wii, with its motion-sensitive system (photo). So there is hope for the reverse… digital control of analog displays. Yes, our planes are turning into “fly by wire,” but I’m looking more in the personal gadget realm.

Digital displays themselves open new possibilities, of course, at times far beyond what you can do with analog devices. I still hope that CNET News.com does more with What’s Hot, for instance.

But we’re all still human, with more senses than just sight and sound, so engage us!

I’m not satisfied with my current webhost, TextDrive.com, and I’m looking for suggestions/alternatives.

TextDrive has provided good support, mostly, and the $25/month for shared hosting is reasonable, though clearly not the cheapest out there. I have a handful of domains (<10), and pencoyd.com, running clock is the only active one. The 2GB storage and 10GB/month in bandwidth are fine, and I do want to run WordPress (at least). I’m hardly a power user, but my vanity appreciates the opportunity to make bigger mistakes to challenge myself technically, so more features are appealing (if not truly important).

The two major failings of TextDrive?

First, the shared hosting goes down too often. There was a stretch in the spring of this year where the server I was on (bidwell, for any TD customers… but hardly the only one with problems) went down at least once a week for 1-3 hours. This went on for ~6 weeks. When that server goes down, clock goes down (unfortunate) and our e-mail goes down (very frustrating, and what’s pushing me over the edge). The TextDrive forums are full of frustration.

Second, the webmail default set-up (and the rest of the control panel) is poor. TextDrive gives you enough control that I should probably be able to install something better myself…but I suppose life is too short, or my priorities are elsewhere, or something. Anyway, it’s been a persistent pain point. I’ve been told about Fastmail, which would be a separate solution to the e-mail issue (for an additional price).

But I think it’s time to solve both problems at once, if possible. TextDrive isn’t the worst I’ve used, and the individual, real support contact I’ve gotten along the way is impressive. But I don’t want to need it!

The webhost recommendations I’ve gotten so far are, in no particular order:

• MediaTemple
• Network Redux
• Dreamhost
• Lunarpages

I haven’t done my research yet on any of these. Hoping, before I start, that the LazyWeb will throw me a bone and short-circuit/accelerate my research.