Yup, took the plunge and got myself an iPad 3G 32gig. Already jailbroke it. Expect some iPad and iPhone posts coming through soon.

Because I travel frequently, I wanted to have a device that can work well with my iPhone and can replace the need for having a netbook as well as a paperback stored in my hand luggage.

The iPad has finally delivered an on the go solution that allows me to connect to my work machine whenever i need to, carry a range of electronic books and media with me for the plane/hotel and being able to browse on a larger screen (than the iPhone).

  http://www.twitter.com/newbtech

Its a little on the lighter side, but I think it works for me :)

My previous attempts was a little too Web 2.0’ish… so i decided to change the colour scheme around a bit to make it look less so:

I actually wanted a darker “logobar”, but then decided against it.

Anyways, let me know what you think :) and if anyone wants any backgrounds done, I’ll looking for practice :)

Disclaimer: this are my opinions and descriptions only. This isn’t industry standard or based on extensive study. Its merely my observations over the years. So take with a grain of salt :)

Author Types

Open Extrovert

There is the “Open Extrovert” – someone who writes about every facet of their lives and are not afraid to give their thoughts on everything.

These people usually have long and wordy blog posts and are conducive to open discussions. The posts that they make may be opinion based and will pose open questions to their users.

They generally have a wide range of followers and frequently these websites tend to build into a community. These people love social networking and frequently have an account in just about every social networking site in their age group.

SME (Subject Matter Expert)

The “SME” or “Subject Matter Expert” – someone who is technically adept at some particular product or service and will go to great lengths to describe in detail all aspects of that product/service.

These frequently have a blog or website where they can “share” their wisdom. Usually in the form of tutorials or how-tos.

Usually analytical in nature, the good SME will provide step by step instructions on how to get the best out of their products/services.

Collector

The “Collector” – also recently known as the “ReTweeter”, this person loves browsing and researching. He/she will go through all the news feeds and sites finding links for the subjects they are passionate about. They thrive on finding sites that may have nuggets of information that they believe is important enough to forward.

Then this person will collate these links and put them on their website or recently use Twitter to propagate the links. They usually don’t write their own posts, apart from “list posts” to tell everyone where to go.

These people perform one of the most important functions in terms of internet collaboration. These list posts along with search engines are usually the best way to find information.

Fake Extrovert

The “Fake Extrovert” – someone who creates a website with the intent of getting their thoughts and knowledge public, only to freak out when someone disagrees with them. This results in them being overly cautious when publishing any post or comments.

Frequently analytical in nature, the Fake Extrovert wants to show their emotions, but may find it difficult to do so when under pressure.

These people, when browsing, seem to think that everyone is an author/contributor (because they don’t see the lurkers) and wants to conform to what they believe is the normal standard.

So they start by making small remarks on forums and if their confidence increases, they may even create a blog or two.

Reader Types

This is only a subset of the different types of readers out there. In particular, I wanted to write about people i describe as Lurkers, Fanbois and the Avid Commenter :)

Lurkers

The “Lurker” constitutes the majority of Internet users out there. These make up the biggest user base. They usually have a wide range of sites they go through every day but only for the sake of browsing. They can be looking for something in particular, or generally meandering.

1. The “Voyeur” – someone who gets pleasure from going to many different sites and reading what other people are thinking about. They get the most buzz from forum or news sites where the information is flowing through fast.

They normally don’t make any comments at all even if they feel strongly about a subject. Generally introverted in personality, these people don’t want to make themselves known.

They are usually afraid of even the possibility that someone will disagree with them in public.

2. The “Nonchalant” – someone who loves browsing and will spend time doing so, but hasn’t got the need to reply/contribute to the subject. They are more laid back and will reply if they want to. They are not fussed about what other people think and will take things with a grain of salt.

For them, browsing is an enjoyable activity and one associated with little to no stress. Generally non-competitive.

Fanbois

The “Fanboi” is someone who feels extremely strongly on a particular product or service and so strongly that they are unwilling to see any criticism placed on their product/service. Their belief is so strong that they are against seeing any alternative out there and will often see only the upside of their products and downsides of any competing products.

This is quite frequent on game sites where “fanbois” from competing games will often congregate on a forum and have pointless arguments about why their game is the best and how the others will never match its capabilities.  Eventually, these types of threads end up in the “Rants” section.

The Avid Commenter

There is the “Avid Commenter” – someone who likes to comment on anything and everything. These normally come in four varieties:

1. The “Naysayer” – someone who loves to rant and disagree. They thrive on attention but are unwilling to start any conversations. However, they are more than happy to disagree on every post and will often go around in circles around a every point to render the thread useless.

2. The “Troll” – this is a term popularly used to describe a person who starts arguments up for the sake of arguments. Again, this may be an attention seeker who may start a topic that they know is controversial in nature or intentionally tries to instigate argumentative discussions.

3. The “One Sentence Replier” – a person who replies to any and all posts that they see, usually with a single simple sentence that adds absolutely no value to the post. Something simple like “Thank You” or “Excellent post” or “Agreed!”.

There may be ulterior motives behind this behaviour.

Frequently, these people have a blog or website that they want links to, and by replying in this fashion, they normally associate their website URL to their login name. This results in link backs to their website.

4. The “Informer” – usually someone who has the inherent need to comment on all posts but because they have some research skills, they will usually put helpful links to related websites. They are generally helpful in giving some level of guidance to the other readers.

In Conclusion

No one fits into any one of the above boxes completely. I’ve written this intentionally in an open manner to solicit comments. There are many other “types” that I have in mind, but I think I’ll keep them there :)

There may be a lot of reasons why people need to change, but there are always more reasons to delay the change as much as possible. We tend to get comfortable living with the inadequacies of our current situations and finding workarounds to get things done. While at the same time we complain about how our current world can be a whole lot better. Funny thing is that it can, but putting a change into what we perceive as a working environment, can be like jumping off a bridge.

If you want to move jobs or houses, its very much a situation where you cannot revert back if things go bad. IE, you’ve jumped off that bridge and now find yourself in a whole new environment from which you have to learn your “workarounds” all over again. And face it, there will never be a perfect environment where you won’t have to make any changes at all. Every change brings with itself some joy and some regrets. Its in our nature to miss what we no longer have even if we changed willingly.

Thank god its not the same for operating systems. Technology these days allow us to experiment with different operating systems all the while having a back up ready to revert back to if you don’t like what you see. It gives us the opportunity to leap over the fence and truly see if the grass is greener.

We as users are spoilt for choices. With the latest builds of Linux and Windows coming out and developers listening more and more to their followers, the quality of operating systems are increasing with every release. With that comes better application interfaces that allow developers to create amazing software.

There are alternative application solutions to practically every software out there. See my post on alternative applications for Linux as an example. Also, check out http://alternativeto.net/ if you want to see alternatives for Windows and Mac based software.

People can also dual/tri boot or use Linux Live CD’s or use Virtual Machines to experience other operating systems. We’re truly spoilt.

With so many choices available as well at the ability to revert back, I still see many people wanting to go one way or the other. So, its either Windows or Linux but not both. People gravitate towards the two extremes and always looking to get rid of one or the other.

I am happy.. in both the Linux and Windows worlds. I can honestly say I’ll never get rid of Windows. Applications like Adobe Photoshop and Windows Live Writer while having alternative solutions, will never be replaced in my toolbox. They have become a staple part of my daily user experience and I cannot see that changing in the near future. However, it will always allow me to play with other software knowing I have those as my “back up”..

As long as we have a choice to come back, we will continue to experiment and will eventually change on our own. We don’t need to be pushed, coerced or actively look for a reason to change. That will come naturally.

Its important that people continue to have choices and our need for change will always result in corporations striving to ensure that we all have quality user experience. And that is something to look forward to.