TheOriginOf.com » Technology

Laser

admin — Wed, 11 May 2011 11:03:41 +0000

LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It is an electrical optical device that creates and emits coherent light radiations. Coherent light radiations are those in which all the waves have same phase and frequency. Resonant effect is the principle on which a laser works. A distinctive laser emits a low divergent, narrow beam of monochromatic light which has a fine wavelength spectrum. Laser light in this respect is in complete contrast with light sources such as the incandescent bulbs that cover a wide area of wavelength spectrum and emits light over a lager area.

A typical laser has a gain medium surrounded by an extremely reflective optical hollow and a mean to provide energy to the gain medium. The working model of a laser was first demonstrated on 16th May 1960 by Theodore Maiman at the Hughes Research Laboratories. Laser has since then been employed for a number of uses and has become a multi billion industry. The most general use of laser technology is in optical storage devices such as DVD and compact disc players. Bar code readers, laser pointers and laser printers also use lasers. Lasers are also used by workers to cut and weld metals. Laser has been used in various fields typically science because of their wavelength and short pulse period.

Laser technology has successfully been employed in health care industry for performing cosmetic applications and delicate surgeries such as the eye surgery. Lasers are also used for military operations such as target identification, range finding and lightning for weapon delivery. Laser has always been considered dangerous and even a low power laser of only a few milliwatts power can cause problems to human eyesight. Laser devices such as DVD player, compact disc players and laser pointers are referred to as eye safe and usually belong to class I, II or III of safety class for laser products.

Invention of laser technology has been a boon for science and has been employed in many fields. The most important use of laser has been in Space program and NASA has employed it in developing spectrometer for mission to Mars.

Kodak

admin — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:00:54 +0000

Eastman Kodak Company is a multinational US corporation which produces a variety of products ranging from imaging and photographic materials and equipment to films, instant cameras and digital frames. Though it is best known for its wide range of photographic film products, Kodak is re-focusing to capture two major markets: digital photography and digital printing.

Kodak was founded by inventor George Eastman and businessman Henry A. Strong in Rochester, and Jamestown New York in 1899 and since then the company has gone places. As it stands today it is the multinational company with operations in almost every country. But the company was not always called Kodak, when it started it was called Eastman Dry Plate company and the General Aristo Company. Formed in 1899 the General Aristo Company started its operation in Jamestown New York, with George Eastman as treasurer, and this company purchased the stock of American Aristotype Company. The Eastman Dry Plate Company can be credited for coming up with the first cameras suitable for use by ordinary folks and, which do not require expert handling. The Kodak Company is named after the first simple roll film cameras produced by Eastman Dry Plate Company, known as the “Kodak”. Since the camera can be used by anyone the product became a runaway success so much so that the word Kodak was incorporated into the company name. Since the word Kodak became a kind of new lingua franca for photography, George Eastman registered the trademark Kodak on September 4, 1888. The Eastman Kodak Company was born in 1892. The new company had its offices in Rochester, New York. George Eastman, Kodak’s founder, true to the functioning of the camera coined the advertising slogan, “You press the button, and we do the rest.” This slogan was a big hit. In 1901 the Eastman Kodak Company procured the stock of General Aristo Company.

As for the name Kodak, the story goes with something like this. It’s been said that the letter “K” had been kind of Eastman’s personal favorite. In fact, he is been quoted as saying, “it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter”. There were mainly three reasons, which went into the creation of the name Kodak. They were

There should be the short name.
It should be clear so that nobody can mispronounce it.
It should not resemble anything or be associated with anything other than Kodak.

Though there is another theory doing the rounds according to which the name “Kodak” was the brainchild of David Houston, a fellow photographic inventor who held the patents to several roll film camera concepts which he later sold to Eastman. The basis for this theory stems from the fact that Houston, who started receiving patents in 1881, chose “Nodak” as a nickname of his home state, North Dakota (NoDak). This is, however, not yet proven and there are historians who cite that Kodak was trademarked prior to Eastman buying Houston’s patents. As such nothing can be proven and Houston’s association with the name “Kodak” remains a mystery.

Film

In spite of the fact that Kodak has heavily reduced its professional still film ranges, it still remains the largest supplier of photographic films in the world, for the amateur, professional, and motion picture market. Kodak is making forays in the digital imaging market (which is stated to grow immensely) which lead it to announce that the company will no longer manufacture Kodachrome, a film product that, while arguably it’s most famous, will not be manufactured in the same manner that Kodak uses for other film products. That leaves only Dwayne’s Photo in Parsons, Kansas, an independent facility, which processes Kodachrome, and it has agreed to continue developing rolls until 2010.

Photo printing

Silver halide (AgX) paper is used for printing from film and digital images and Kodak is the largest producer of silver halide. Silver halide paper is used in minilabs, located in retail stores and larger central photo lab operations (CLOs), for photo printing. With a total of around 80,000 Picture Kiosks in retail locations worldwide, Kodak is automatically a leading global manufacturer of photo kiosks, which produce “prints in minutes” from digital sources. Not only this, in collaboration with retail partners like CVS, Walmart etc, Kodak markets Picture CDs and other photo products such as calendars, photo books and photo enlargements.

Technical Support

No company in today’s market can survive without a strong technical support. And Kodak does not fall short in this area also. It not only provides technical phone support for their products but Kodak also offers onsite service for devices such as printers, microfilm and microfiche machines, and photocopiers, for which they duly send trained technicians who make repairs in the field.

Kingston

admin — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:43:51 +0000

About The Company
On October 17,1987 Kingston Technology was born. Kingston is an independent memory leader company. They offer more then 1,500 memory products like Digital cameras, Mp3 players, Mobile phones, Computers, Laptops, Printers, Servers and everything that uses memory.They also serve as an international network of distributors, resellers, retailers and OEM customers around the world.

They have the Headquarters in Fountain Valley ,California.They have give employment to more then 10,000 people in around the globe.This company is regarded as “The best company to work in America”.They believe that every employ is a vital part of the company.They believe in Investing in people

Their technology came when there was a srve short of surface mount memory chips in the high tech market place-in 1980′s.Two guys Jhon Tu and David Sun were desperate to find a solution.They put their engineering expertise to work and came up with a new single In-Linememory Module commonly known as SIMM.

About KIngston’s Owners
Tu and Sun had met in 1982 and started Camintonn Corporation, a manufacturer of enhancement products for DEC systems. This fly-by-night company began in Tu’s garage, with the two businessmen carrying computer memory chips in the back seats of their cars. By 1986, business took off with sales of $9 million. That year, they sold the company to AST Research for $6 million, investing their gains in the stock market.
When the stock market crashed in 1987, Tu and Sun lost almost everything. Then they saw an opportunity to recoup their losses. At that time, the computer industry was suffering from a shortage of memory modules for personal computers. Tu and Sun seized a simple solution to the problem, designing an industry standard Single In-Line Memory Module (SIMM) with an alternative chip that was readily available. This product and a mere $4,000 launched Kingston’s operations, and the company soon began developing memory products for PCs.

Nikon

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 03:50:52 +0000

Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Nikon) was established on July 25, 1917. At the beginning, they were known by the name, Nippon Kogaku, K.K., or Japan Optical Co. It was commenced as an optical weapon shop, whose motive was to satiate the Imperial Japanese Navy’s goal. It helped Japanese navy to develop self-reliant in their optical instrument need and dwindle the foreign supplies in this field.

Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Nikon) was fashioned by the coalition of three optical companies, one of which was an old company founded in 1881. Initially, their employee strength was just 200, accompanied by eight German technicians. These technicians were invited to join the company in July 1917, and they joined the company in January 1921. They were from an optical firm, and not from a camera manufacturer company.

In the initial stage, Nikon started producing a large variety of optical merchandises like the transits,, telescope, surveying instrument, microscopes and other optical measuring device for industry and science. Due to the manufacturing of these optical products, Nikon became very popular among industrial and scientific communities, but not among general masses.

In 1930s, Nikon started producing a series of the photographic camera lens, which has size varying from 50mm to 700mm. Nippon Kogaku, K.K., or Japan Optical Co., was known by the name “Nikkor”. This name was derived from the name “Nikko”, which the company initially uses for their manufactured microscope. By the end of 1937, the company was capable of producing 50mm f4.5, 3.5 and 2.0 Nikkors, which they used in the renowned Hansa Canon. By the mid of 1947, Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha was capable of producing all types of canon’s lenses. Hence, the entire prewar and postwar canon was installed with Nikkor lenses.

As we have noticed, Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha was able to produce a lens of the miniature camera, but the company is yet to manufacture a camera of its own. However, their time changes with the start of World War II. The Japanese government chooses the company to be the biggest dealer of the ocular cannon for the Japanese military machine. By this time, their employee strength had grown to 23,000 and the company own 19 factories. They produced a large variety of military optical products, such as periscopes, aerial lenses, bomb sights and binoculars. All military products manufactured by them were of extraordinary quality, and they corroborated to be of great use to Japanese military.

But at the end of World War II, they were just reduced to one factory, and only 1400 employees were working in the company. Now, they started producing the optical products, for which they were famous, prior to the World War. However, at this time, they were new to the facade world and market.

Now Nippon Kogaku Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Nikon) decided that they will launch their own camera. In late 1945 or early 1946 research began on the production of 6×6 TLR and a 35mm, couple range finder and an interchangeable lens camera. The company dropped the idea of TLR, and they continued their research on 35mm technology. On April 15, 1946, company issued an order of 20 test or experimental samples of the camera. These exploratory or test samples were run through many test. Then required changes were made, and the final model was ready on September of 1946. This model was named ‘NIKON’. But due to some internal reasons, and the research on the camera lens, the company was not able to start the mass production till early 1948. But after this delay, the company brings forward their new camera ‘NIKON.’

Many new names were suggested for this camera, like “BENTAX, PENTAX, PANNET, NICCA, NIKKA, NIKORET, NIKO and NIKKORETTE”, but the company decided to keep the name “NIKKORETTE”. But just before the final design was completed, the name was changed to ‘NIKON.’

Now days, NIKON is one of the leading producers of the cameras. The company is producing the most advanced and latest model of the camera. NIKON has released a new camera, named Nikon D3X, which has a 24.4 megapixel camera. This camera is powered with a full frame sensor. There are hardly any minus points of NIKON products. So, it will not be wrong to say that NIKON is the king of Camera production.

Bit Torrent

admin — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 02:53:11 +0000

BitTorrent, Inc. is an American Corporation. It has it’s headquarter in San Francisco, California. The company was founded by Ashwin Navin and Bram Cohen in the year 2004. The company has developed a methodology that enables peer-to-peer file sharing based on BitTorrent protocol. This is a technique by which huge data’s are distributed widely without letting the original distributor to bear the complete cost of bandwidth, hosting and hardware resources. Instead, the recipient of the data distributed through BitTorrent protocol further distributes the data to other recipient. This technique allows the original distributor to be burden free from the entire distribution cost and it further reduces the complete reliance on the originator. A program associated with it is the BitTorrent client that uses BitTorrent protocol to download the files. It was first created in the year 2002 by Bram Cohen.
The ease and the cost effectiveness of the program have made BitTorrent protocol quite popular. Many organization and individuals are adopting this technique to circulate large number of licensed and their personal material. Examples of its mounting popularity could be seen in the case of podcasting software, Sub Pop records and many others. BitTorrent Inc has the license to distribute popular themes from Hollywood studios at the company’s website. As per the independent adopters, the distribution of files is not affordable without the use of BitTorrent technology. CBC came out as the initial broadcaster in the year 2008 in North America to utilize BitTorrent in making a complete show for download. The BitTorrent tracker offered by Blog BitTorrent helps non-technical users and bloggers to set a tracker on their web pages. Many games such as Metal Gear Online, GunZ the Duel and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft uses BitTorrent protocol.
The policies adopted by the clients have a lot to do for the effectiveness of this technology. The client may adopt the technology in which the data sent to the peers are sent back to the initiator. The usage of the protocol accounts for the noteworthy traffic on the net however the clear cut quantity is very difficult to work out.

Canon

admin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:50:50 +0000

Canon Inc, a multinational Japanese company is world leaders in imaging product and technologies. They specialize in optical and digital imaging products such as computer printers, digital cameras, multi functional peripherals, scanners, fax machines, digital camcorders, all-in-ones, multi media projectors and photocopier. The global head quarter of Canon Inc is Canon Inc, Tokyo. Canon Inc was established in 1937 with only a few employees and the determination to make the best high quality camera in the world. Canon has pioneered in five imaging engines technology, namely, Display, Bubble Jet, Semiconductor, Electro photography and Optical Engine. These high tech areas allows in the creation and launch of more than eighty products each year. More than six decades after it started, Fortune 500 has ranked it at 154th and canon has explored the various areas of digital imaging.

Canon Inc has set up over 184 companies throughout the world and has employed above 100,000 people in production, research & development and sales & marketing. Canon is devoted in producing pioneering technologies and products to be able to improve the efficiency at offices and home. Every year canon gives eight percent of its total revenue to R&D. canon offers the maximum range of products in digital imaging products and technologies having registered about 2300 original technologies in inkjet printers, 1100 in digital cameras, 200 in scanners and more than 5600 patented technologies in multifunctional printers. Canon is also a climate friendly company and seeks to conserve the natural resources with the use of environmental friendly manufacturing and research policies which help to reduce waste products and hence preserve the natural resources. According to a survey report by one of the England based environmental based organizations, canon toped the list of 56 companies in environment friendly organizations.

Canon India was set up in the year 1997. Since then, canon has gone on to become the pioneer organization in the imaging solutions and document management. It is an ISO 9001: 2000 certified company and has the customer base of over 10 lacs. Canon presence is expanding in India and is expected to reach the mark of 6000 partners by December 2008.

Apple

admin — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 05:27:05 +0000

The Apple Inc. which was formerly known as the Apple Computer, Inc, is an American Multinational Corporation that focuses on manufacturing and designing the consumer electronics and directly linked software products. On 1 April, in the year 1976, the Apple was established in Cupertino at California by Steve Wozniak, Ronald Wayne and Steve Jobs in order to sell Apple I personal computer. Now, Apple develops, supports and sells a chain of portable media players, personal computers, computer software, computer hardware and accessories and mobile phones also. As of 2007, Apple operates around 200 retail stores in 5 countries and also an online store that offers software and hardware products for sale.

The iTunes Store by Apple provides music videos, TV programs, podcasts, iPod games, movies and audio books that can be downloaded by iTunes on Windows and Mac OS X and on the iPhone and the iPod touch. Apple’s best-renowned product is the iPod media player, the iPhone and the Macintosh line of the personal computers. The corporation that was incorporated on 3 January in the year 1977 was well-known as the Apple Computer, Inc. for the first thirty years. On 9 January in the year 2007, Apple dropped the Computer from its name in order to show its expansion and development into consumer electronics in addition to the personal computers. The company employs around 20,000 temporary and permanent workers globally with an awesome annual sale in the year 2007. For an assortment of reasons that ranges from its idiosyncratic advertising campaigns to its philosophy of ample aesthetic design, Apple has earned an exceptional reputation in consumer electronics business. This comprise of a customer base, mainly in the U S which is generally committed to the corporation and its brand.

Apple has a record of being one of the environmentally mindful companies. The four areas of scrupulous attention are product and wrapping design, energy efficiency, responsible manufacturing and recycling. Similar to the other flat pane displays, Apple eradicate over 2 pounds of lead, weigh half as compared to their CRT counterparts and consume around 80% less power in sleep mode.

Photocopy Machine

admin — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:42:06 +0000

An electronically duplicator that transfers an image onto plain paper (bond) is known traditionally as a photocopy machine.
A positive charge is given to a copier drum. The drum is now illuminated with the image and a potential image is thus formed. Toner is attracted to the drum with the force of static electricity and in this way an image is formed which can be seen with the naked eyes. Now the technique of positive charge is used to transfer the toner onto the bond paper. The operation is completed with the transfer of the photo. The paper is now automatically removed from the surface of the drum. Excess toner is wiped clean by a special blade. Exposure of the drum to a neon lamp erases leftovers of the static charge.
Wide availability and relatively cheaper costs has made it possible to print out many numbers of books that are relatively small. Today there are many varieties of photocopy machines in the market. Images can be reduced or enlarged. Coloured copies can be made and the machine can also perform collating, stapling and gluing.
Photocopy machines are mainly of two types – the xerographic machine and the electrostatic one. Both of these more or less perform the same function but in a somewhat altered manner. As soon as the start button is pressed on the copier it gets to work by taking the help of a series of mirrors as well as lenses. A tube starts rotating and the image is projected onto it. This results in the collection of electrostatic charge on the tube. In other words a pattern corresponding to the page that is being copied forms on the tube. At this point a kind of dust, known as toner coats the tube. It sticks to those parts of the tube that are charged. When a sheet of bond paper is pressed on the tube and the toner, the image is transferred on to it. The image is darker than the original one. The toner is now heated or baked to complete the process of exact copying.
The electrostatic photocopier does the same thing but instead of the tube a sensitive and light paper is used. The image is thus projected straight onto the paper causing a pattern of the charge to be produced. Then it is covered with the toner and heated to give the final result.
In 1937, Chester Carlston, an attorney who dealt with patents, invented in New York a process named electro-photography. In 1938 it was given another name – xerography. The first photocopier was the “10-22-38 Astoria”. In due course this process of copying made big strides to be crowned one of the major inventions of the age. The world gave due recognition to Carlson and he became a very wealthy person by creating an industry that ran into billions of dollars. He gave away huge chunks of his income to charity before his passing away in 1968. Initially xerography did not catch the imagination of the world. After a time gap of ten years Carlson could kick off a manufacturing company to develop it. Haloid Company, based in New York picked up the gauntlet and did not look back. It changed its name to something more appropriate – Xerox Corporation. In 1955 was manufactured the first xerox machine that was automatic. In 1958 the model was perfected to be more practical. It took another 22 years before the world was introduced with the commercial model based on push-button technology – 914. In three years the company that was selling 2 million in 1960, went on to market 22 million in 1963. By the next two decades the company had introduced two-dozen products. The snag was that the Xerox was not technically the photocopier. It was the latter that now threw the challenge and thus began one of the major battles in the market. Despite the fine points of difference, it cannot be denied that the photocopier is an adaptation of the Xerox. In Xerox can be found the crude beginnings of the photocopier.
In 1955 Ricoh was making its appearance as a serious contender for the crown. It introduced the RiCopy 101 Diazo copier. The coveted RiCopy DT 1200 hit the shelves in 1975 and made the position of Xerox uncomfortable. Others joined in the fray with small office models – Minolta, Panasonic, Konica, Sharp, Toshiba and Canon. Kodak and Oce challenged Xerox in the field of bulk copier market.
Customers however remained loyal to Xerox. To break it down the newcomers took to ever-new marketing strategies. Xerox was a global giant. But the others became local with vehemence! Local service cells sprang up at every street corner. By 1985 Cannon had snatched the crown in the kingdom of photocopies and sailed on to introduce the first copier that was coloured. Xerox replied by changing the terminology from ‘xeroxing’ to ‘photocopying’. Xerox continues to be a respected name but it is no longer the flag runner. It had neglected its core to diversify into the computer market. Had they not done so the photocopier market today might have been tinged with a different colour.
Xerox sent out of circulation the copies made by carbon, Photostat process, mimeograph and different other types of duplicating machines. But now the age of paperless office has been stealing the march with the digital age. Nevertheless its use cannot be completed replaced. Like typewriters and computer printers, the photocopiers too invariably have some inherent unavoidable defect that helps forensic specialists to track down offenders.

Photocopy is subject to copyright restrictions in most of the countries. For purposes of research the student is allowed to photocopy some chapters. There are some governments that charge royalty for every copy made.
Health is another issue that cannot be ignored in the matter of photocopies. Exposure to ultraviolet rays causes concern. So far, the solution is through the installing of a filtering process but the matter cannot be left lying and needs constant probing.

Fan

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:46:31 +0000

The fan induces airflow and refreshes it. Generally the surfaces of the fans are broad and flat so as to whip up large quantities of air. Fans are primarily for the comfort of human beings. It is an indispensable item in tropical countries. The fan has other uses as well. It is used for purposes of ventilation or gaseous transport in industry. A thick wad of folded newspaper can be turned into a fan at a blink by being vigorously waved to and fro. Fans are used for winnowing and for sucking up the dust in vacuum cleaners. It also helps in igniting fire.
In archaic English the ‘fann’ meant a basket/shovel used for winnowing. The word was an adaptation of the Latin word ‘vannus’ that in turn is taken from ‘ventus’ meaning wind. The word ‘fan’ popped up for the first time in 1390 and the first hand-held-model is recorded in 1555.
The use of fans dates back to ancient times – to thousands of years ago. Fans had a dual purpose. It was a status symbol as well as an ornament. Fans have been made from myriad materials on which man found enough scope to decorate and express his art and craft. The simplest ones are made from leaves. These are still very much in use especially in India and the East.
Screen fans or fixed leaf fans are the first ones of its kind. These cooled and warded of insects. Palm leaves fans were the most common then as today. Some have been unearthed in Egyptian tombs – golden fans with ostrich feathers. Those sculpted on relief were of the rigid variety. In Assyria and Egypt slaves were employed to wave the fan before their masters. In later ages the British in their Indian colony employed natives to operate overhead fans known as the punkhah by pulling a rope. This went on all round the clock.
North American native Indians, Aztecs, Mayans and other ethnic groups in South American used the feathers of birds as fans. The type of fan denoted the station of the person. The Greeks, Etruscans and Romans also used fans for the double purpose of cooling and ritual practices. Roman ladies used circular fans. Chinese culture links the fan with mythology, legend and history.
Screen fans were used in China. The earliest fans in China are made from bamboo and dates back to the 2nd century BC. The Chinese pictorial word depiction of a fan shows feathers under a rood. The word pien-mien means to ‘agitate air’. Here too fans and social standing were linked together. Each class and gender had special fans. The folded fan made its debut in Japan in about the 6th century. Akomeogi is the Japanese name for the folding fan. During the Heian period the nobility held these fans when they were in formal attire. Tiny strips of hinoki (cypress trees of Japan) were tied together by a thread. The person’s rank determined the number of wood strips that were to be stringed. Shinto priests use it even today wearing formal costume when they attend the coronation of the Emperor or marriage ceremonies. The fans are brightly painted with long tassels.
The Chinese variety consists of a row of feathers fixed on a handle. It came into vogue during the Ming dynasty. The centre of production of folding fans was Hangzhou. The Chinese dancing fan is the Mai Ogi. It has ten sticks mounted on thick paper depicting the family crest. The slats were made of various materials – bone, ivory, mother of pearl, mica, sandalwood or tortoise shell. These were carved and then covered with paper of some fabric. Fanning the fan became a highly sophisticated art courts and women were the most adept at it.
Fans were also weapons. The iron fan of tie shan (Chinese) and tessen (Japanese. Simple Japanese fans are called harisens. In recent Japanese pop culture these harisens are shown was weapons.
Fans have entered Europe relatively late. In the 6th century there was a ceremonial fan known as the flabellum. Hand fans appeared during the 13th and 14th centuries. Mostly probably the Crusaders as well as traders brought it back with them from the East. In 1600 the folding variety became popular and can be seen in portraits of the Elizabethan era. The Queen herself is seen carrying both folding and rigid models with pom poms, feathers and jewels.
In 1685 the revocation of the Edict of Nantes cause widespread exodus of fan craftsmen among others to the Protestant countries like England from France. Fan making got a boost in the non-French regions. Folded fans were made from lace, silk and parchment with exquisite decorations and paintings. It is said that in European courts the fans had a secret language of their own which only fan fans knew!
1700 saw the arrival of mechanical fans of the wind up variety similar to that of wound-up clocks. In 1800 the industrial revolution introduced the belt that was powered by water-wheels. Fans became alive with the magic touch of electricity. Diehl made the first electric ceiling fan. Mass production of steel brought down the price and fans became a common household essential commodity. It is central air conditioning that has checked the peerless popularity of fans.
Fans are indispensable in industries. It removes large volumes of air and thus suited for cooling, ventilation, heating as well as drying. Fans can be found inside computers to cool circuits and also in tools like hair-dryers and space-heaters. In automobiles fans drive belts. Fans bring about a cooling effect but do not directly reduce the temperature. The latest in fan technology are fans powered by solar energy. Once the initial cost of installation has been covered there is no extra recurring energy cost because the Sun is free for all. Sun’s energy is converted into electrical energy and has started off a revolution of sorts, which must be followed up by traditional fuel hungry world.

Ipod

admin — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 06:33:49 +0000

The iPod is a type of media player that is portable. It has been designed by Apple and also marketed by it from October 2001. iPod range consists mainly of digital audio players arranged around a click wheel kept in the centre. iPod shuffle is an exception. Till October 2005 the iPod family consisted of video-capable 5th generation iPod, the small variety known as the iPod nano as well as the display-less iPod shuffle .The iPod mini was replaced by the coming of the iPod nano. An internal hard drive stores media in the full-sized models. Similar to other digital music systems, iPods can also function as an external device for storing data.

Music is transferred to the devices by Apple’s iTunes software. It is a sort of free jukebox where an entire library of music can be stored. It can play, burn and rip music from CD’s and also transfer photographs, games (video) and calendars to the models that go with it.

The uniqueness about iPod is the user interface facility that is uncomplicated and easy. Till the first quarter of 207 iPod has marketed more tha 100 million models all over the world. Thus it ranks as the top seller ever in digital audio player goods.
However teething problems have sometimes come to light. Shuffle function is not as random as expected. Also the iPod plays tracks from a particular artist or album more often than required. Apple does not deny this and says this is happening because of coincidence.
iPod is a product of digital technology. Already digital cameras, camcorders had hit the shelves under well-organized strategy. It was then noticed that the music world continued to be dominated by big chunky or small and not very useful models of music players. It gave Apple the incentive to fill the vacuum in the music world by presenting it with the iPod. Jon Rubinstein, the head of Apple’s engineering staff got together a select team to design it. He got invaluable help from Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey (hardware engineer) and Jonathan Ive (design engineer). Stan Ng was the marketing manager. It did not take a year to get the product ready to be launched on October 2001. Steve Jobs (CEO) said it was a Mac-compatible item with a 5 GB hard-drive that could put 1000 songs into your ‘pocket’. It was unlike of iPod but it did not develop the software for this iPod fully in-house. Apple also enlisted the help of another company named Pixo. But once firmly in seat Apple began to improve upon the original in looks and function.
The name iPod was the brainchild of a freelance copywriter named Vinnie Chieco who wanted a name that would immediately draw attention by its very uniqueness.
Initially iPods could work with Macs but now it has teamed up with Windows as well as Macs. For Windows a converter is required. Previous models had five buttons and the later ones have buttons integrated into the click wheel. The buttons are menu, center, and play/pause, skip forward/fast forward and skip backwards/fast reverse. Operating the click wheel in a circular way does menu scrolling and volume control. An extra ‘hold’ switch prevents accidental release of buttons that have been pressed. iPod shuffle does not have the click wheel but the five buttons are differently placed in this larger model.
Mainly third parties are making the accessories for iPod although Apple is still largely involved. This arrangement is known as the iPod ecosystem. Some of the accessories add new features. The white earphones are symbols of the brand. Advertisements frequently prominently feature these by contrasting the white with people silhouetted against a black background. Designs of improved better quality earphones are being revised to be more user friendly.
From the middle of 2007 some important airlines have come to an agreement with iPod to install it with each seat. The service will be free and enable the passengers to charge their iPod and view individual video and listen to music on displays placed at the back of seats.
iPod is constantly updating and improving its models. These are becoming smaller and lighter than ever before. The touch-sensitive click is being replaced by mechanical scroll wheel. Colour displays and flash memory are replacing the hard discs.
One of the criticisms leveled against iPod is that the advertised batteries are not readily available. A 14 hours life span is impossible. So far the maximum is 8 hours. Moreover the latest models have weak bass responses as per audio tests. iPod’s equalizer can enhance sound but may also cause frequent distortions. Another allegation is that the iPod does not last long and the hard drives are fragile. A survey reports that the failures amount to 13.7%.
The design of iPod batteries is such that it disallows users to handle replacements. Even if anybody successfully did so Apple refused to replace the used batteries. The policy forced the customer to buy a new battery at the original cost.
A serious charge has been brought against the company that those engaged in the manufacture are very poorly paid – $50 per month. For this paltry amount they work for 15-hour shifts. Apple independently investigated the charge and came to the conclusion that although not everywhere, some lapses were there. They promised to take action and stop this abuse.
The positive gains of iPod overweigh its negative points. It has won many awards for excellence in engineering and is considered to be the best innovative product in the world of sound. The scoring points are its looks, design and easy to use characteristics. It is said to have changed the scene of portable audio players.