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Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
An Aviation School Without an Aviation Program
Cross posted at Blog of Inanity.
Daniel Webster College announced suddenly today that their Flight Operations program is no longer going to be offered to incoming students, although current Flight Ops majors will be able to finish the program through the school. I have had most of the day to mull this over and the initial shock of the announcement has largely subsided, so it's time to look at this rationally as much as possible. First and foremost, however, is that this does not directly impact me nor any of my ATC classmates.
In regards to the decision itself there isn't much to say, it's a purely financial decision and in truth it is probably a long time coming. Before ITT bought Daniel Webster the college was reportedly some 25 million in debt; I don't care how you cut it, that's a whole lot of debt. I don't have access to the financial sheets, but I'd bet a good portion of that comes from the flight ops portion of the school. Learning to fly is expensive, both for the students and for the schools. It's no secret that DWC charges almost three times the rates of standard, non-degree based flight schools, but they also have a significant amount more expenses. Clearly DWC was ill-advised financially to be continuing the program, no matter what tradition might dictate.
The core downside with dropping flight ops, though, is the impact that it has on the other aviation programs, like ATC, and the perception of the school in general. Daniel Webster is primarily known as an aviation school and now they don't have an aviation program, so what is their selling point? They also have a business program and are developing nursing and education programs, but what separates them from the hundreds of cookie-cutter schools out there that offer these programs... and at a significantly lower price? The other part of this is that the other aviation programs thrive off of the people who drop out of flight ops (for a variety of legitimate reasons), and that source is now gone. I don't know how many people this covers, but I do know that a good portion of the current 315 class (of which I am part) are former flight ops. While I wasn't a member of Daniel Webster's flight ops the reason I decided to follow ATC was because I was introduced to it as a pilot, and that's a common theme among many ATC students (though not all... some of my classmates have never been in a plane smaller than a 737).
The other factor here is that even though all current students will be provided with the resources they need to graduate from Daniel Webster, how many of the Freshmen and Sophomores will want to? Furthermore how many of the instructors will want to stick around? I'm sure they'll do their best, but no one wants to remain on a sinking ship any longer than they have to. The simple feeling of betrayal which was clearly prevalent in this morning's town hall meeting will drive students away even if the other factors weren't in play. It's bad press for the school on the whole.
The last piece of this puzzle comes with the incoming flight ops majors in the Fall... or rather the lack of them. Although an olive branch was extended to the current flight ops majors at DWC, those who enrolled in the Spring to join DWC in the Fall are SOL. They will be or have been informed by letter of the removal of the flight ops program, and given the option to transfer to another department (three guesses as to how many will take them up on the offer). I wouldn't be surprised if we lost a lot of inbound students who aren't flight ops majors simply because it sounds like such a sketchy move.
However, at the end of the day the number crunches factored in all these things and still said that they were losing more money on the flight ops program than it was worth. No matter how much it may suck for flight ops majors DWC had to make the call, and they did. The students may bitch, moan and kvetch about how ITT is screwing up DWC, but it was DWC that made the call in this case. There may have been pressure from the ITT executives to some degree, true, but the blame should not fall at their feet. There have been rumors about the flight program being canceled since at least May 2009, well before ITT bought out the school.
DWC was in debt long before ITT came along and this would have happened sooner or later. ITT may be the "bad guys" here (though they aren't), but it was DWC's poor financial planning that got everyone in this situation to begin with. I know some students have said that the would have preferred to see DWC be financially ruined (which it already was) than to lose the flight ops program, but that's largely a knee-jerk reaction. Schools, like everything else, have to adapt to survive. Will DWC remain the school that attracted us all to it in the first place? No, it won't, and that is a HUGE loss, far more than any financial spreadsheet can account for. But it is ultimately up to the students to determine what the atmosphere at DWC will be moving forward from this, no matter what ITT might want. ITT may be altering DWC in many strange ways over the next several months, but credit where credit is due: the fault for this cut lies at the feet of Daniel Webster College.
What really irks me, though, is how they informed all of us that they had made this call. Before 8 AM this morning no one had the slightest clue what was coming down the pike. A cryptic email was sent to all students informing them that classes from 10 AM to noon were canceled and that aviation students should report to the auditorium at 10 and all other students at 11. There was no hint at all what this would be about except that it probably involved the aviation school. Apparently the psychology majors also flipped out since a rumor went around saying their program was going to be cut, too. Many classes after the 10-12 time frame were canceled simply because of the emotional stress of the whole ordeal.
The people who should have had answers for us didn't, the people who should have let us know things were happening didn't, and no one did anything to temper the rumor mill. The greatest sin, in my mind, comes from Interim President Nadine Dowling. Generally speaking a president, even an interim one, needs to be able to communicate with their constituents in both positive and negative forums. President Dowling showed that she does not have that ability. Yes, she had the unenviable task of breaking very bad news to a crowd of people who turned very hostile on her, very fast. But, she handled the situation so incredibly poorly that what little respect I had for her evaporated.
President Dowling needed to be able to do two things to survive this town hall intact: give straight answers and take responsibility, if not for herself than at least for the board of directors she represents. While it's true that great leaders are excellent wordsmiths who can artfully evade any question they don't want to answer, they also know when it's time to come clean. Just as a general clue, when someone says repeatedly, "you aren't answering my question" and refuses to budge until you answer it, it's probably time to give them a straight answer. At the very least try a different evasion tactic if you must and don't try to use the exact same answer each time. Trust me: it's not going to work.
The other aspect, taking responsibility, was also not handled well at all. Once it became clear that the crowd was out for blood (did anyone really expect otherwise?) President Dowling threw the head of the aviation department, Professor Price, under the bus and left him for the lynch mob. By virtually all reports Professor Price did not in anyway deserve to be cast as the villain in this tale, and that's exactly what President Dowling attempted to do (and succeeded at to a certain degree). I consider that reckless and irresponsible. It's the President's job to protect those under him or her and to take the heat when it is warranted.
President Dowling may be an amazing administrator who can work miracles in back-office politics. Perhaps she can make budgets balance themselves with but a few short keystrokes. Or maybe she just has great blackmail material. I don't know. But what I do know is that she has no public presence to speak of (this was the first time most students, including myself, have even seen her) and she can't handle herself in an open forum by any stretch. We do know that she's in the front running for becoming the full President of Daniel Webster College, and it is that thought more than any other that really disturbs me.
Daniel Webster College announced suddenly today that their Flight Operations program is no longer going to be offered to incoming students, although current Flight Ops majors will be able to finish the program through the school. I have had most of the day to mull this over and the initial shock of the announcement has largely subsided, so it's time to look at this rationally as much as possible. First and foremost, however, is that this does not directly impact me nor any of my ATC classmates.
In regards to the decision itself there isn't much to say, it's a purely financial decision and in truth it is probably a long time coming. Before ITT bought Daniel Webster the college was reportedly some 25 million in debt; I don't care how you cut it, that's a whole lot of debt. I don't have access to the financial sheets, but I'd bet a good portion of that comes from the flight ops portion of the school. Learning to fly is expensive, both for the students and for the schools. It's no secret that DWC charges almost three times the rates of standard, non-degree based flight schools, but they also have a significant amount more expenses. Clearly DWC was ill-advised financially to be continuing the program, no matter what tradition might dictate.
The core downside with dropping flight ops, though, is the impact that it has on the other aviation programs, like ATC, and the perception of the school in general. Daniel Webster is primarily known as an aviation school and now they don't have an aviation program, so what is their selling point? They also have a business program and are developing nursing and education programs, but what separates them from the hundreds of cookie-cutter schools out there that offer these programs... and at a significantly lower price? The other part of this is that the other aviation programs thrive off of the people who drop out of flight ops (for a variety of legitimate reasons), and that source is now gone. I don't know how many people this covers, but I do know that a good portion of the current 315 class (of which I am part) are former flight ops. While I wasn't a member of Daniel Webster's flight ops the reason I decided to follow ATC was because I was introduced to it as a pilot, and that's a common theme among many ATC students (though not all... some of my classmates have never been in a plane smaller than a 737).
The other factor here is that even though all current students will be provided with the resources they need to graduate from Daniel Webster, how many of the Freshmen and Sophomores will want to? Furthermore how many of the instructors will want to stick around? I'm sure they'll do their best, but no one wants to remain on a sinking ship any longer than they have to. The simple feeling of betrayal which was clearly prevalent in this morning's town hall meeting will drive students away even if the other factors weren't in play. It's bad press for the school on the whole.
The last piece of this puzzle comes with the incoming flight ops majors in the Fall... or rather the lack of them. Although an olive branch was extended to the current flight ops majors at DWC, those who enrolled in the Spring to join DWC in the Fall are SOL. They will be or have been informed by letter of the removal of the flight ops program, and given the option to transfer to another department (three guesses as to how many will take them up on the offer). I wouldn't be surprised if we lost a lot of inbound students who aren't flight ops majors simply because it sounds like such a sketchy move.
However, at the end of the day the number crunches factored in all these things and still said that they were losing more money on the flight ops program than it was worth. No matter how much it may suck for flight ops majors DWC had to make the call, and they did. The students may bitch, moan and kvetch about how ITT is screwing up DWC, but it was DWC that made the call in this case. There may have been pressure from the ITT executives to some degree, true, but the blame should not fall at their feet. There have been rumors about the flight program being canceled since at least May 2009, well before ITT bought out the school.
DWC was in debt long before ITT came along and this would have happened sooner or later. ITT may be the "bad guys" here (though they aren't), but it was DWC's poor financial planning that got everyone in this situation to begin with. I know some students have said that the would have preferred to see DWC be financially ruined (which it already was) than to lose the flight ops program, but that's largely a knee-jerk reaction. Schools, like everything else, have to adapt to survive. Will DWC remain the school that attracted us all to it in the first place? No, it won't, and that is a HUGE loss, far more than any financial spreadsheet can account for. But it is ultimately up to the students to determine what the atmosphere at DWC will be moving forward from this, no matter what ITT might want. ITT may be altering DWC in many strange ways over the next several months, but credit where credit is due: the fault for this cut lies at the feet of Daniel Webster College.
What really irks me, though, is how they informed all of us that they had made this call. Before 8 AM this morning no one had the slightest clue what was coming down the pike. A cryptic email was sent to all students informing them that classes from 10 AM to noon were canceled and that aviation students should report to the auditorium at 10 and all other students at 11. There was no hint at all what this would be about except that it probably involved the aviation school. Apparently the psychology majors also flipped out since a rumor went around saying their program was going to be cut, too. Many classes after the 10-12 time frame were canceled simply because of the emotional stress of the whole ordeal.
The people who should have had answers for us didn't, the people who should have let us know things were happening didn't, and no one did anything to temper the rumor mill. The greatest sin, in my mind, comes from Interim President Nadine Dowling. Generally speaking a president, even an interim one, needs to be able to communicate with their constituents in both positive and negative forums. President Dowling showed that she does not have that ability. Yes, she had the unenviable task of breaking very bad news to a crowd of people who turned very hostile on her, very fast. But, she handled the situation so incredibly poorly that what little respect I had for her evaporated.
President Dowling needed to be able to do two things to survive this town hall intact: give straight answers and take responsibility, if not for herself than at least for the board of directors she represents. While it's true that great leaders are excellent wordsmiths who can artfully evade any question they don't want to answer, they also know when it's time to come clean. Just as a general clue, when someone says repeatedly, "you aren't answering my question" and refuses to budge until you answer it, it's probably time to give them a straight answer. At the very least try a different evasion tactic if you must and don't try to use the exact same answer each time. Trust me: it's not going to work.
The other aspect, taking responsibility, was also not handled well at all. Once it became clear that the crowd was out for blood (did anyone really expect otherwise?) President Dowling threw the head of the aviation department, Professor Price, under the bus and left him for the lynch mob. By virtually all reports Professor Price did not in anyway deserve to be cast as the villain in this tale, and that's exactly what President Dowling attempted to do (and succeeded at to a certain degree). I consider that reckless and irresponsible. It's the President's job to protect those under him or her and to take the heat when it is warranted.
President Dowling may be an amazing administrator who can work miracles in back-office politics. Perhaps she can make budgets balance themselves with but a few short keystrokes. Or maybe she just has great blackmail material. I don't know. But what I do know is that she has no public presence to speak of (this was the first time most students, including myself, have even seen her) and she can't handle herself in an open forum by any stretch. We do know that she's in the front running for becoming the full President of Daniel Webster College, and it is that thought more than any other that really disturbs me.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Movie Review: Ponyo
Crossposted at http://blog.finite-eternity.com/?p=225
The latest offering from Studio Ghibli and legendary film animator Hayao Miyazaki is a G-Rated tale of a fish who wants to become a human. The fish, Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), is the daughter of underwater spirit Fujimoto (Liam Neeson) and Gran Mamare (Cate Blanchett) who encounters a young human boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) who takes her in and takes care of her, despite her extremely odd appearance. The story that follows is a straight-forward affair that is equal parts Little Mermaid and Pinocchio as Ponyo tries to stay human while her father tries to bring her home.
Ponyo is without a doubt one of the purest expressions of the core concepts that Miyazaki has been utilizing for years. There's lots of alusions to the damage humans have done to the environment without quite becoming heavy handed or preachy (though it is close at times), there's a 'villain' who isn't evil, but rather misguided, and there are characters who accept absolutely fantastic concepts like water gods and goldfish becoming humans without the slightest bat of an eye. It's not the best Miyazaki story out there, but it is one of the more charming ones. Just like Kiki's Delivery Service there's no particularly major conflict to the story, it's just a journey of discovery. Even the disaster of a tidal wave absorbing all the city does little to dispel everyone's good mood, and the structures and roadworks now beneath the waves are entirely unscathed by the encounter. It's one of those idealistic and absurd events that only a select few could possibly pull off, and Miyazaki is one of the best of them.
Which isn't to say that the story is absolutely perfect, this is very clearly a kid's movie through and through. We're not talking Dora the Explorer levels of simplicity here, but at the same time this is not an overly complex story. The only shades of gray in the story come from Fujimoto, who is the nominal villain of the story although he's not evil, just overbearing. He's ultimately motivated to (over)protect his daughter from what he perceives as the corrupted human world, but aside from his tidal wave never does anything outwardly aggressive (yes, in real life a tidal wave would be an extremely aggressive act, but here it's just one of those things and no one really cares beyond the fact that it's an inconvenience). Even when he could do evil and nasty things he doesn't, he simply wants to protect Ponyo and he steps aside with no protest when it becomes clear that she wants to continue to walk the path of humanity. Cackling, ranting villain he is not.
At the end of the day if you've never seen a Miyazaki film before there are worse places to start, but there are also better (Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky come to mind). If you are caring for a youngish child that you need to distract for a while Ponyo should more than get the job done, and you won't be bored in the process. All told it's cute, it's enjoyable, it's richly animated and it's largely cynic free (which is a refreshing change every once in a while, even for a Cranky Kitty like me).
The latest offering from Studio Ghibli and legendary film animator Hayao Miyazaki is a G-Rated tale of a fish who wants to become a human. The fish, Ponyo (Noah Cyrus), is the daughter of underwater spirit Fujimoto (Liam Neeson) and Gran Mamare (Cate Blanchett) who encounters a young human boy named Sosuke (Frankie Jonas) who takes her in and takes care of her, despite her extremely odd appearance. The story that follows is a straight-forward affair that is equal parts Little Mermaid and Pinocchio as Ponyo tries to stay human while her father tries to bring her home.Ponyo is without a doubt one of the purest expressions of the core concepts that Miyazaki has been utilizing for years. There's lots of alusions to the damage humans have done to the environment without quite becoming heavy handed or preachy (though it is close at times), there's a 'villain' who isn't evil, but rather misguided, and there are characters who accept absolutely fantastic concepts like water gods and goldfish becoming humans without the slightest bat of an eye. It's not the best Miyazaki story out there, but it is one of the more charming ones. Just like Kiki's Delivery Service there's no particularly major conflict to the story, it's just a journey of discovery. Even the disaster of a tidal wave absorbing all the city does little to dispel everyone's good mood, and the structures and roadworks now beneath the waves are entirely unscathed by the encounter. It's one of those idealistic and absurd events that only a select few could possibly pull off, and Miyazaki is one of the best of them.
Which isn't to say that the story is absolutely perfect, this is very clearly a kid's movie through and through. We're not talking Dora the Explorer levels of simplicity here, but at the same time this is not an overly complex story. The only shades of gray in the story come from Fujimoto, who is the nominal villain of the story although he's not evil, just overbearing. He's ultimately motivated to (over)protect his daughter from what he perceives as the corrupted human world, but aside from his tidal wave never does anything outwardly aggressive (yes, in real life a tidal wave would be an extremely aggressive act, but here it's just one of those things and no one really cares beyond the fact that it's an inconvenience). Even when he could do evil and nasty things he doesn't, he simply wants to protect Ponyo and he steps aside with no protest when it becomes clear that she wants to continue to walk the path of humanity. Cackling, ranting villain he is not.
At the end of the day if you've never seen a Miyazaki film before there are worse places to start, but there are also better (Spirited Away and Castle in the Sky come to mind). If you are caring for a youngish child that you need to distract for a while Ponyo should more than get the job done, and you won't be bored in the process. All told it's cute, it's enjoyable, it's richly animated and it's largely cynic free (which is a refreshing change every once in a while, even for a Cranky Kitty like me).
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Thoughts on Vancouver
Monday, February 1, 2010
Irish Controllers Strike
(Cross posted with new blog location at Finite-Eternity.com)
In an interesting bit of ATC revolt, Irish air traffic controllers threatened to strike recently after 14 of their fellow controllers were suspended for refusing to work with new technology. This is not a particularly new thing for controllers to refuse to do -- many of the so-called NextGen systems the FAA is working on are reportedly rather crap, and can even be significantly less safe than the systems they're replacing. I don't know how ICAO (the international analogue of the FAA, although unrelated) and the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority) are handling the upgrading and reinvention of the ATC backbone, but from the sounds in Ireland they're developing along similar tracks. If the equipment they're boycotting is unsafe (and I do not know that it is... controllers can be just as fearful of new tech as anyone else, whether warranted or not) then I agree with their stand.
The meat of the story, however, is that news leaked out that the Irish controllers, through their union called IMPACT, is also demanding a pay raise. Now, as an ATC hopeful I should probably raise my fists and demand better job pay, but the fact is once you get past a certain annual pay (which I arbitrarily set at around $70k) your right to bitch about not being paid enough plummets rather rapidly. Irish Controllers average about €115,000 per year (roughly $160,000 on the current exchange rate), so I don't think I can hold much sympathy for them on this particular claim.
After grounding more than 20,000 fliers the IAA and IMPACT went to the bargaining table and the 14 controllers who started this whole thing are back at work. A ruling was filed by the labor court, however, which said that (paraphrased) the controllers should shut up about the new equipment since it's a regular part of evolving the air traffic control system. The same court, a few days later, recommended that the IAA buck up and increase ATC pay by 6%, in two phases. The first phase, with a 3.5% pay increase, would go into use by January next year and the second phase, with 2.5%, would start in July 2011. Both would have back-pay included back to the 2009.
What a big mess. The question still remains, though, of what equipment the controllers didn't want to use.
In an interesting bit of ATC revolt, Irish air traffic controllers threatened to strike recently after 14 of their fellow controllers were suspended for refusing to work with new technology. This is not a particularly new thing for controllers to refuse to do -- many of the so-called NextGen systems the FAA is working on are reportedly rather crap, and can even be significantly less safe than the systems they're replacing. I don't know how ICAO (the international analogue of the FAA, although unrelated) and the IAA (Irish Aviation Authority) are handling the upgrading and reinvention of the ATC backbone, but from the sounds in Ireland they're developing along similar tracks. If the equipment they're boycotting is unsafe (and I do not know that it is... controllers can be just as fearful of new tech as anyone else, whether warranted or not) then I agree with their stand.
The meat of the story, however, is that news leaked out that the Irish controllers, through their union called IMPACT, is also demanding a pay raise. Now, as an ATC hopeful I should probably raise my fists and demand better job pay, but the fact is once you get past a certain annual pay (which I arbitrarily set at around $70k) your right to bitch about not being paid enough plummets rather rapidly. Irish Controllers average about €115,000 per year (roughly $160,000 on the current exchange rate), so I don't think I can hold much sympathy for them on this particular claim.
After grounding more than 20,000 fliers the IAA and IMPACT went to the bargaining table and the 14 controllers who started this whole thing are back at work. A ruling was filed by the labor court, however, which said that (paraphrased) the controllers should shut up about the new equipment since it's a regular part of evolving the air traffic control system. The same court, a few days later, recommended that the IAA buck up and increase ATC pay by 6%, in two phases. The first phase, with a 3.5% pay increase, would go into use by January next year and the second phase, with 2.5%, would start in July 2011. Both would have back-pay included back to the 2009.
What a big mess. The question still remains, though, of what equipment the controllers didn't want to use.
. Vancouver is also just a beautiful country in general, which doesn't hurt at all.<br /><br />Now, personally, when it comes to the Olympics I prefer to watch the smaller sports and the lesser known sports, or the variants on my favorite sports that we don't see everyday. While part of me is pretty interested in seeing what a line consisting of Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovulchuk, Evgani Malkin and Sergei Gonchar can produce, the fact is I watch these guys playing hockey for a good third of the year so this is really just a glorified all-star game in my mind. If I'm going to watch Olympic hockey I'd much rather watch teams filled with players I don't know, like Belarus or Latvia. Better yet, I love watching the women play -- it's a completely different style of game. As I'm writing this, in fact, I'm watching USA's women's team taking on the Russians (and destroying them pretty handily). One of the most interesting things I've seen so far is the Chinese women's team playing the Americans a few days ago -- you almost never see any Asians playing hockey (I can only think of one off hand in the NHL... ever). Despite the fact that they were playing against the USA, whom I clearly should be rooting for as an American, I found myself wanting to see the Asians prove themselves in international hockey.<br /><br />And that's really what the Olympics are about for me: the underdogs and the unknowns coming out and making a name for themselves. Or maybe not even making their name, but simply watching them participate in the greatest sporting contest on the planet. I've made a point of tivoing just about every event that doesn't conflict with my other programs (except figure skating) simply to give the athletes the respect they are due. I don't regret a minute I've spent watching these, even the duller sports like the biatholon (a very intriguing sport, to be sure, but not particularly visually exciting) and cross country skiing.<br /><br />Even if I wasn't watching just about everything in the Olympics this year I'd still be recording speed skating and curling. Curling hasn't started yet, as far as I know, but the speed skating has already been entertaining. The Korean last lap wipe-out in the 1500m short-track speed skating was simply jaw-dropping. If they didn't skate away with gold I would have felt bad for them taking themselves out of the silver and bronze medal so efficiently. <br /><br />Yeah, I'm pretty psyched to see how the various NHLers do in the Olympics, but I think I'll wait until the medal rounds before I start watching them. Until then I'll enjoy the other sports and give the Olympians their due.
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Sunday, January 31, 2010
The iPad, and Alternatives
So... the iPad... atrocious name. Yeah... moving on.
I'm not going to bother going over the specs and all that rot, I'm simply going to go over my own thought process on it. I've been in the market for a portable note-taking / media device for a long, long time. Pretty much for as long as I can remember, really. My iPhone suffices fairly well on the media side of things, but the ability to take easy notes on an easy to transfer medium (i.e. digital) is really what I've always wanted. The iPad doesn't offer that, though there is a degree of potential within the app community. The lack of a stylus input is huge in this regard.
The other major factor of the iPad for me is the eReader functionality. In theory sticking it on the iPad is very good for me, but in practice it's not all that great. I already own a substantial collection of ebooks, but they're primarily in the LRF/LRX system (Sony's proprietary format). There are no app store apps that read LRF/LRX that I'm aware of, and I doubt that Sony is going to want to release their eReader software on a competing format (it took them more than a year to release the book purchasing software for the Mac). I'm sure there are plenty of third-party converters out there, but I don't know that the hassle is worth it. On the other hand, Sony has done away with DRM on most of their books so batch converting might not actually be that hard.
What balances most of that out is the not inconsiderable weight of the App Store. Without the App Store the iPhone is just a snazzy phone with a few cool features, but with the app store it's a wunderkind that's able to handle just about anything. Now, in fairness, most of the games on it simply blow, but with a good sized display the potential is there. Traditional RPGs and SRPGs could thrive on the iPad, though there hasn't been much support yet (Square has announced planned releases for Final Fantasies 1 & 2, which could really get the ball rolling). Most of the major companies have scorned the iPhone (with a few notable exceptions, like EA porting a few solid titles like Need for Speed: Shift), but the independent market has been screaming for YEARS for someone to give them their fair shot at the big time, and the iStore offers just that. Low development costs could also entice companies to put out more experimental games on the system as a test-bed, or low cost continuations of existing series (EA tried this with Mass Effect: Galaxy... unfortunately the game blew, but it was a noble effort). Where episodic or dlc content has thus far really failed to take the world by storm, it could very well succeed on the iStore. And that's not even going into all the extremely useful utilitarian apps the store already has.
For my money the MSI Tegra-2 or the Cydle M7 seem like they might work out as better bets ($500 and $200, respecitvely). Although, in truth, what I really need is a Boogie Board Paperless Tablet, just with options for saving whatever I write rather than being a high-tech etch-a-sketch.
Unfortunately none of these options really cover what I'm looking for, but a few days after the Apple announcement the 8.9 inch ExoPC Tablet was announced with a 1.6ghz processor and 2GB ram. It also runs on Windows 7 and it's 32gb harddrive is expandable with a standard SD slot (a huge advantage). The fact that it runs Win7 and not Android, or the iPhone OS, is a big advantage since that means I can (in theory) download the Sony eReader software and read using that on the tablet, plus I might even be able to get it to run PC games that I have through Steam (no CD-Rom drive means I couldn't load up, say FFXI, but that's not that big a deal since the GPU probably can't handle all that much beyond Tinker or Peggle anyway (there's no word on what the GPU is, so no way of knowing it's capability... it would be really sweet if I could load FFXI on it though). No other details are really out about it just now, but if it has stylus support than this sounds like it'll be the one for me. It's also out in March and retails at the same price for the equivalent iPad 32gb hd (without 3G). I will be watching this one very closely.
I'm not going to bother going over the specs and all that rot, I'm simply going to go over my own thought process on it. I've been in the market for a portable note-taking / media device for a long, long time. Pretty much for as long as I can remember, really. My iPhone suffices fairly well on the media side of things, but the ability to take easy notes on an easy to transfer medium (i.e. digital) is really what I've always wanted. The iPad doesn't offer that, though there is a degree of potential within the app community. The lack of a stylus input is huge in this regard.
The other major factor of the iPad for me is the eReader functionality. In theory sticking it on the iPad is very good for me, but in practice it's not all that great. I already own a substantial collection of ebooks, but they're primarily in the LRF/LRX system (Sony's proprietary format). There are no app store apps that read LRF/LRX that I'm aware of, and I doubt that Sony is going to want to release their eReader software on a competing format (it took them more than a year to release the book purchasing software for the Mac). I'm sure there are plenty of third-party converters out there, but I don't know that the hassle is worth it. On the other hand, Sony has done away with DRM on most of their books so batch converting might not actually be that hard.
What balances most of that out is the not inconsiderable weight of the App Store. Without the App Store the iPhone is just a snazzy phone with a few cool features, but with the app store it's a wunderkind that's able to handle just about anything. Now, in fairness, most of the games on it simply blow, but with a good sized display the potential is there. Traditional RPGs and SRPGs could thrive on the iPad, though there hasn't been much support yet (Square has announced planned releases for Final Fantasies 1 & 2, which could really get the ball rolling). Most of the major companies have scorned the iPhone (with a few notable exceptions, like EA porting a few solid titles like Need for Speed: Shift), but the independent market has been screaming for YEARS for someone to give them their fair shot at the big time, and the iStore offers just that. Low development costs could also entice companies to put out more experimental games on the system as a test-bed, or low cost continuations of existing series (EA tried this with Mass Effect: Galaxy... unfortunately the game blew, but it was a noble effort). Where episodic or dlc content has thus far really failed to take the world by storm, it could very well succeed on the iStore. And that's not even going into all the extremely useful utilitarian apps the store already has.
For my money the MSI Tegra-2 or the Cydle M7 seem like they might work out as better bets ($500 and $200, respecitvely). Although, in truth, what I really need is a Boogie Board Paperless Tablet, just with options for saving whatever I write rather than being a high-tech etch-a-sketch.
Unfortunately none of these options really cover what I'm looking for, but a few days after the Apple announcement the 8.9 inch ExoPC Tablet was announced with a 1.6ghz processor and 2GB ram. It also runs on Windows 7 and it's 32gb harddrive is expandable with a standard SD slot (a huge advantage). The fact that it runs Win7 and not Android, or the iPhone OS, is a big advantage since that means I can (in theory) download the Sony eReader software and read using that on the tablet, plus I might even be able to get it to run PC games that I have through Steam (no CD-Rom drive means I couldn't load up, say FFXI, but that's not that big a deal since the GPU probably can't handle all that much beyond Tinker or Peggle anyway (there's no word on what the GPU is, so no way of knowing it's capability... it would be really sweet if I could load FFXI on it though). No other details are really out about it just now, but if it has stylus support than this sounds like it'll be the one for me. It's also out in March and retails at the same price for the equivalent iPad 32gb hd (without 3G). I will be watching this one very closely.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
The PiperSport Announced
Piper announced that they would be re-entering the market they helped invent, the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA). Rather than design a new plane from the ground up – or just modify their venerable Cherokee – they purchased the rights to Czech-based CZAW SportCruiser. It’s an interesting move for Piper since, on one hand, it’s not really their aircraft so they lose a bit of the credibility if it takes off big. The PiperSport will initially ship with only minor modifications, mostly in terms of changes required for FAA regulations as opposed to ICAO regulations (which are minimal), and an upgraded avionics package including optional autopilot. On the other hand it saves them years of research and design to put them on almost equal footing with Cessna and their C-162 Skycatcher, which should begin production later this year.The SportCruiser hasn’t sold particularly well, but flight tests made by Piper and independent pilots suggest that it is actually a good plane with no known flaws. The design is already roughly similar to Piper’s Cherokee, so Piper is certainly planning to market this as a gateway to bigger Piper aircraft, or as a hobby plane for pilots of bigger craft who want a plane they can take into the air with less prep time. Based on videos and pictures it’s actually a pretty sleek little plane they’ve acquired, too, and that can’t hurt their prospects.
Currently the biggest mainstream competition on the LSA market is the aforementioned Skycatcher, and it should be interesting to see how the two compete. A fair bit of the competition will come down strictly to brand loyalty, both Piper and Cessna have been in the game so long that they each have their fanboys who will swear by nothing but their personal favorite… and their kids and grandkids will, too. It’s true that companies like Diamond have been eating into the market lately with some truly impressive aircraft (like the DA20 and DA40), but at the end of the day the Big Two still lead the way. There’s plenty of room in the LSA market for all the children to have their fun.Of course the LSA market isn’t quite like the regular aircraft market. Companies like Cessna and Piper have made their way by offering entry level planes for decades, and then offering bigger and better planes – like the Citations and Seminoles – to more avid flight enthusiasts. There will always be a market for the bigger planes, for the people who can afford them, but the fact is that the vast majority of pilots will never fly anything more powerful than a Cessna 172. Thus we’re looking at the biggest market segment out there, but the LSA competes directly with that market.
If your customers want a twin-engine turboprop plane there aren’t that many options on the field, so you won’t have to do an incredible amount of marketing if you happen to want to sell one. If you are trying to sell a single prop LSA, though, then you have to compete directly with not just other LSAs, but also every other single-prop plane on the market… and some of the older ones are really cheap (relatively speaking). A brand new LSA will cost around $125,000 all in, whereas you can get a used Piper Cherokee for around $35,000-$40,000 easy. Of course, you might not want to… there’s a lot to be said for vintage, but I personally want to know that I’m not going to have to overhaul my entire plane to make sure it can fly safely.
The LSA market is also much more open to smaller developers, including ones who previously only dabbled in Ultra-lite aircraft (a whole different market entirely, but still similar). Sadler, for instance, made a name for itself in the early 80s with its SV-1 Vampire ultralite, and now they’re taking the basic frame of the SV-1 and turning it into a full on LSA (and, might I add, it looks really sexy). It’s a huge market, and growing bigger. The PiperSport has its work cut out for it, but the brand name should help significantly. I’ll be watching the LSA market wars with significant interest.
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