Getting hands on with Windows Touch and an HP 2310ti LCD Touch Monitor

Posted on By Mark Wilson

S, hee I am, typing thefrst few jwords ofthis blopost usng Undow’s on-sreen keboard caabiluties, jus asI might ifI were usng m iPad…

[Translation, typed on a proper keyboard: So, here I am, typing the first few words of this blog post using Windows’ on-screen keyboard capabilities, just as I might if I were using my iPad…]

Need I say any more?

When HP offered to lend me some personal computer equipment to review, I was very keen to get my hands on a touch-screen capable monitor so that I could test the Windows Touch capabilities in Windows 7. I have to say that I was sadly disappointed. Not with the monitor – it’s clear, crisp, bright, worked with Windows straight out of the box (although there were some driver issues… more on that in a moment), was supplied with ICM profiles for accurate colour management – in short, it does everything I expect a display to… but Windows is not designed for touch. Sorry Microsoft, I love the fact that Windows has become ubiquitous; I love the fact that it has touch screen capabilities for apps that can exploit it; but I really believe we’re on the cusp of a revolution in human-computer interaction (on the same scale as WIMP was in the 1980s/90s), and Windows is just not ready…

Allow me to explain…

Windows is a general purpose operating system. At its core is Windows NT – an operating system kernel that dates back to the early-mid 1990s and has served us well. In recent years, we’ve seen an increasing emphasis on componentisation of Windows and, despite there being umpteen different editions of Windows 7, Windows Touch is a core capability for most of them – there is no more “Tablet PC Edition”. Ask me a couple of years back if Windows should be split into consumer and business editions and my response would have been a vehement “no” – but ask me now if it needs to be redesigned to embrace new computing paradigms and the answer is a definite “yes”. One example of operating system functionality that currently appears to be held together with sticking plaster is Windows Touch.

Despite what Ballmer says, this is not about “big buttons” – sure, big buttons might help in some scenarios but Mark Sumimoto perfectly describes the problem when he says:

The problem with touch on Windows 7 […] is that it reads round finger presses as pinpoint cursor clicks. When your finger touches an area, Windows reads it as a tiny cursor click. That unavoidably leads to accuracy problems

By contrast, iOS, Android, webOS, and every other touch-optimized OS reads finger presses as circular areas, more comparable to your actual fingertip surface. That€™s why even my fat fingers can manipulate things on those tiny screens. When my finger engulfs a button, it registers as me pressing that button, just like a physical button. By contrast, on a Windows touchscreen PC, that same situation could register the touch outside the button. Hence, making buttons bigger than fingertips could address this symptom, but it doesn€™t fix the underlying problem. Furthermore, you can’t ‘big button’ the Internet.”

The Windows Touch Pack gives some great examples of the types of application that can be created to exploit the touch capabilities but touch really needs to be promoted to become a first class citizen within the operating system (incidentally, that’s not just a Windows issue – I also believe it’s something that’s lacking from Mac OS X and desktop variants of Linux).

The hardware

The monitor I tested was an HP 2310ti – 23 inches of HD loveliness capable of working at up to 1920x1080px @60Hz. The display seems pretty good to me, with a good viewing angle (+/-160 degrees), 40,000:1 contrast ratio and a typical response time of 3ms (Based on HP’s figures, not verified in my test). Power consumption is cited as typically 47W and maximum of 56W although the 2W standby is a little disappointing in this day and age. My other criticism was that there are a lot of connectors to hook up with separate audio, video (VGA or DVI), USB, and power – surely there is scope for some consolidation here?

I did have some software issues as, after Windows Plug and Play (PnP) had detected the new hardware, it was still using the monitor.sys driver as a Generic PnP adapter (with the full-screen resolution available) and I found that the supplied instructions to install HP’s own drivers were inaccurate (indeed, the installer did not work correctly on my x64 system.) Eventually, I installed the correct driver by telling Windows exactly where to find HP_2310t.inf, after which it correctly recognised the monitor.  Frankly, this shouldn’t be necessary and I expect better from a major OEM (although this is not an isolated incident with HP device drivers on 64-bit Windows).

As for touch drivers, these are provided for Windows XP (I didn’t test them) but are not required for Windows Vista or Windows 7. HP also provides an adjustment pattern utility for analogue connections (VGA) but I was connected using DVI, so that was not tested. There was no evidence of any Mac OS software although I had no problems using it connected to a Mac either (albeit as a dumb monitor without touch input capabilities).

In short, with a list price of £209+VAT, it’s not hugely expensive (but not cheap either) but the device driver installation could be improved and I would have been perfectly happy if HP hadn’t asked for it back!

So, what was it actually like, using a touchscreen monitor?

My children using Windows Touch with the CBeebies websiteSome people (indeed, I think Steve Jobs may have been one of them…) have been reported as saying that touch is not a suitable interface for a desktop computer as it’s uncomfortable to reach forward. They may have a point but, just as I need to adjust my posture for a notebook PC, I did something similar for touch on a desktop.  Standing (or using a high chair/stool), with the monitor angled to slope backwards, it was a really comfortable experience – and my children love being able to interact with the computer using touch.

The main problems I found were with the software.  I’ve already written that Windows Touch was a disappointment, so here are some examples:

  • Touching user interface elements was imprecise and, at times, very difficult.
  • It took me a while to work out how to right-click.  Eventually, I got there, but it shouldn’t need me to Google basic functionality like this!
  • The onscreen keyboard is obtrusive – it doesn’t seem to appear/disappear when required and, although it can float, or be docked, it seemed to always be in the way until I increased the screen resolution, after which the user interface elements are too small. It couldn’t keep up with my typing either – I’m no touch typist, but Windows made a right mess (as can be seen at the head of this post), whereas I can type reasonably well on my iPad’s soft keyboard.
  • At the extreme edges (typically the right) of the screen, I found I couldn’t touch pixels (e.g. a scroll bar) because the screen bevel was preventing physical access and so my fingers were not registered.
  • UAC prompts that invoke a secure desktop required a physical keyboard as the software keyboard was unavailable!

On a more positive note, because I was using a multi-touch display, I could also use a pen as a stylus (e.g. for those hard-to-reach points at the extreme edge of the screen).

It’s also possible to adjust the size of screen elements within the display properties (but some of them then become almost too big). And increasing the DPI can help too (certainly with ClearType) – although some applications based on Adobe Flash (e.g. TweetDeck) seemed a little fuzzy afterwards.

There are also several Control Panel applets that can be used to adjust the touch experience:

  • Pen and Touch includes a variety of settings
  • Tablet PC can be used to calibrate the display
  • Display can be used to adjust the resolution, DPI, etc.

The distribution of these settings across so many applets indicates that Touch is very much an afterthought in Windows 7, rather than designed into the overall user experience as it is for Windows Phone 7.

In summary

Touch is an increasingly important means of interacting with our devices and devices such as the HP 2310ti Widescreen LCD Touchscreen Monitor are a great way to make use of existing PC assets.  Sadly, Windows Touch is not yet ready for mainstream use and is only really suitable for applications that have been written specifically for touch.  Even so, this is one area of functionality where Windows leads the competition (who currently don’t have any touch capabilities) and I look forward to seeing the improvements in future versions of Windows.

Daylight saving – a complete waste of time?

Posted on By Mark Wilson

As I made my way onto the platform at the railway station this morning, I looked across and noticed the sky. Pink and blue. Red sky at morning… shepherd’s warning… I haven’t seen that for a few weeks, but the clocks changed last weekend, so my 06:52 train into London runs at what would have been 07:52 last week.

“So what?”, I hear you ask. “So the dawn came earlier – what difference does that really make?”. And my response would be absolutely none at all.

Whilst some are calling for UK timezones to be harmonised with Western Europe, I’d question the need to change the clocks at all. Twice a year, we switch to/from daylight saving time but, in our 24 hour society, what relevance does that really have?

The BBC has reported that, the Federation of Small Businesses are claiming a potential £1bn increase in revenues if we moved the clocks forward another hour to sync with our mainland European colleagues but I fail to see how that changes anything… are they suggesting that they only work “office hours”? So, do those who work with Chinese, or Indian, or American companies switch onto those timezones? (I suggest not – instead, we get up early, work late, or use alternative methods of communication that do not require synchronicity.)

Others suggest that there are green benefits to be had by staying on British Summer Time – doubtful, given that many offices and public buildings have their lights on all day anyway!

Campaigners in Scotland say that to change Britain’s timezone would be unacceptable in a country where winter days are already short enough (it was previously tried between 1968 and 1972). Well fine – Scotland has a devolved government – why not work on your own timeline too! When I lived in Australia, people were used to various states operating in different timezones and Europe is no different. But “daylight saving time” doesn’t give you a longer day… it just shifts the start and end times of daylight.

And that was the real reason for it’s introduction here in the UK, when we were a nation of farmers and factory workers. Today though, we have electric lights to see by on our way to work/school and, in any case, in a few more weeks it will be dark again in the mornings – and on the way home too.

The whole concept of changing the clocks is outdated so, now that London (including Greenwich) is on Greenwich Mean Time (and Cordinated Universal Time), let’s leave it there!

Useful Links: October 2010

Posted on By Mark Wilson

A list of items I’ve come across recently that I found potentially useful, interesting, or just plain funny:

  • How to move your Windows user profile to another drive – Using symbolic links to move profiles around (via Malcolm Bullock)
  • StarWind V2V Converter – Another V2V conversion tool (via @WorkingHardInIT)
  • VMDK to VHD Converter – Convert virtual hard drive images from VMWare’s VMDK format into the Microsoft VHD format using a sector by sector copy operation (via @WorkingHardInIT)
  • – Mike Ormond’s “mega list” of Windows Phone 7 resources
  • Books.Show – Attractive Windows eBook Reader (via Mike Taulty)
  • – Attractive Windows Text Editor (via Mike Taulty). See also: http://lifehacker.com/5604526/bend-makes-for-better-more-attractive-text-editing-on-windows

Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards 2010

Posted on By Mark Wilson

It’s that time of year when Computer Weekly magazine runs its annual IT Blog Awards and, I’m delighted to say that markwilson.it has been shortlisted in the IT Professional (Male) category.  This category is for blogs that detail an individual perspective, not a company line, of life in the IT industry.

Looking back, I’ve produced less content this year than I have done previously – and some of it has been photography related, rather than IT but I’d like to think there’s still some useful and relevant information on this blog – and it would be great to have your vote.

For those viewing this site directly, there’s a badge on the right hand side of the page.  RSS subscribers won’t see that so this is the link to vote and you can vote for a number of blogs in various categories (as well as the best Twitter users – I didn’t enter that category) but you’ll find me in the IT Professional (Male) dropdown.

(And, for everyone who voted earlier in the week after I tweeted about this – thank you!)

Windows Phone 7 will fail if the channel is not ready

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Windows Phone 7 is a great new operating system. With an innovative and fresh user experience, it could help to put Microsoft back into the mobility game… but they are coming from behind – a long way behind established competition from Apple (and more recently Google) so Microsoft needs every little bit of help it can get from it’s channel partners.

Today is Windows Phone 7 launch day in the UK. Except the channel is not ready.  And that means they’re selling competitive devices.  Not good for a company that’s trying to get its mobile mojo back…

I’m not a journalist, and I haven’t been briefed on Windows Phone 7 launch so I don’t know who the launch partners are but I have seen some of the comments on the web and elsewhere so, this lunchtime, I headed into London’s busiest shopping street to see what the various mobile carriers would sell me.  Remember, I’m a consumer – and I’m also right smack bang in the middle of the demographic that Microsoft wants to sell Windows Phone 7 to.  What I found was dissappointing.  Not so much a big bang launch as a fizzle.

I started out at Vodafone, where the duty manager was happy to give me advice.  He asked what I was looking for (bored of my iPhone, currently out of contract, looking for a personal smartphone, with ActiveSync support for connection to work e-mail) and, to be fair, he asked me if I’d be interested in a Windows Phone.  That was positive, as the Windows Phone merchandising in that store was almost non-existent (a small poster on the wall, and a small transfer on the window, right next to a bigger one advertising the iPhone).  Unfortunately, he didn’t have stock: there had been some mix up with the courier delivering HTC Trophies; and the LG Optimus was, apparently, delayed due to a software fault.  So I left the store empty-handed, although he did ask if I’d consider an Android device if I couldn’t get a Windows one.  Further along Oxford Street, a larger Vodafone store had stock of the HTC Trophy but, again, no real merchandising to indicate that a new device was in town (just a small A-frame outside), despite the entire store being wrapped in Smartphone advertising.

Next up was Carphone Warehouse, who suggested a Nokia N8, or Blackberry Torch might meet my needs.  When I asked about a Windows Phone they said it’s was not available yet, even when I told them that today was launch day and they told me it had been put back by a couple of weeks, before suggesting I try the HTC Desire (on Android).

At Orange, there was at least a big display for their exclusive Windows Phone – the HTC 7 Mozart, so I didn’t talk to any staff in store.

A few doors along at O2 there was nothing at all to indicate there were any smartphones available from Microsoft. Meanwhile they had a big queue (this is lunchtime in London), so I didn’t speak to any staff – but I didn’t buy a phone either.

It’s great to see Windows Phone available in the UK ahead of the US – it’s been a long time since we were first in the queue to get our hands on a device.  Except it seems the channel is not ready.  I wasn’t expecting an Apple-style queue around the block but, if I was a “normal” consumer instead of a geek, I would be sold something else and, if Microsoft can’t get its channel partners to sell their handsets, Windows Phone 7 will be a monumental fail.  I sincerely hope not – as I said at the head of this post, I think Windows Phone 7 is a great new operating system and it has stacks of potential.  I just hope that Microsoft can recover from this false start and ship serious volumes of handsets over the coming months.

Office 365

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Office 365 logoYesterday, Microsoft announced Office 365 – a rebranded and consolidated version of its existing Office Live Small Business, BPOS and Live@edu online services.  It seems ironic that this should come in the same week that the company announced the loss of Chief Software Architect, Ray Ozzie, the man whose Internet Services Disruption memo has, arguably, led to Microsoft’s reinvention as a software plus services company, embracing online services as a key part of its portfolio (even if the majority of its revenues still come from traditional models) but it is an acknowledgement that Microsoft is serious about cloud services.

Encompassing SharePoint, Exchange, Lync (formerly Office Communications Server) and Office (Web Apps and Professional client), Office 365 is certainly an interesting proposition for small businesses.  I use Google Apps (free) right now, but at $6 a month, Office 365 is almost free, and if that price really does includes a full copy of Office Professional (for as long as I’m a subscriber), it’s a steal.

Microsoft says that Office 365 is suitable for an independent professional, for a small business (up to 25 users) or for a larger enterprise. How can one product suit all needs?  The answer, is that it can’t.

Instead, what Microsoft has done is to package the Office 365 service for two distinct markets:

  • Office 365 for Small businesses and professionals is aimed at 1-25 users, with Exchange (including a 25GB mailbox), ActiveSync, SharePoint (single site collection), Office Web Apps, a public website, Online Access databases, Lync client, online meetings, desktop sharing, multiparty instant messaging and PC-PC calling, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and self-help/community support.  All for $6, per user, per month.
  • Office 365 for Enterprises is aimed at larger organisations, and those where they need ActiveDirectory Sync, e-mail archiving (e.g. for legal compliance), Blackberry connectivity (Blackberry Enterprise Server), more than 50 users in the organisation, and 24×7 phone support.
    • Furthermore, the Enterprise plan is divided according to worker roles, so that Microsoft can provide different services for different groups of users (at different price points between $2 and $27 per user per month, list price – although volume discounts will be available).

So, what were the other highlights in yesterday’s announcement?

  • Microsoft is claiming that Office 2010 is the “fastest selling version of Office in history” [really?]
  • Microsoft’s existing online services serve millions of customers in 40 markets worldwide.
  • 167m messages are sent per day from Microsoft’s cloud services [I’d be interested to see the source/scope for this… Microsoft often includes everything right back to Hotmail in its interpretation of cloud services].
  • Office 2010 was designed for on-premise and cloud capabilities.
  • Office 365 is currently in a limited beta and will “ship” worldwide next year.
  • Office 365 always runs the latest version of Microsoft’s Office software (SharePoint, Exchange, Lyn, Office Web Apps and Office Professional Plus).
  • Microsoft sess software as 15% of overall IT spend.  By moving into online services they increase market share by picking up some of the infrastructure revenue; but claim cost savings of 10-50% for customers.
  • Partner opportunity is to expand reach and grow revenue by helping customers to use the software and not just deploying it.  Hybrid on-premise and cloud solutions could be an opportunity.

Office 365 is an interesting development.  As a customer, I think it’s very interesting and a more than credible alternative to Google Apps.  As a partner, I’m less convinced but that’s not a conversation for the public Internet.  Either way, it shows that Microsoft is serious about competing and the move to subscription-based services is starting to get moving.

After 3 months with my iPad, was it still a good purchase?

Posted on By Mark Wilson

After several weeks of procrastination, I recently bought myself an iPad. After my initial scepticism, seeing others (like Jon Honeyball) using theirs convinced me that it would a good purchase, and I soon found out that I wasn’t alone in the world of Microsoft-focused iPad users – Mary Jo Foley bought one around the same time, as did ex-Microsoftie Sharon Richardson and I know at least one person at Microsoft who has joined the fold. As my third monthly bill for mobile broadband access is due soon, it’s prompted me to finish writing this post about my experiences as an iPad user…

So, after a few months’ use, how has it been? What have I found? Where does it excel? And what are the iPad’s failings? Most importantly, was this a worthwhile purchase, or just another gadget to add to the pile of redundant technology in a few months’ time?

Form factor

One of my original thoughts was that I’d find it the iPad too large to carry around. As it happens, that hasn’t been an issue – I’ve been an iPhone user for some time and had started to find the screen size a real limitation but, the iPad is just large enough to be useful but still small enough to be portable. Indeed, the rumoured 7″ iPad (and competing devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab) may be too small for people with fat fingers like mine, whilst I can type pretty well on the on-screen keyboard for the 10″ iPad (although I do also have an Apple Bluetooth keyboard to use if I prefer). As for portability, I’m always conscious that the iPad is an attractive item for a would-be thief, consequently I find myself using a “man bag” more than I used to… but I no longer need to carry a netbook, or a second laptop, for personal use when I’m at work.

Content creation

The next surprise was how I use the iPad – Jason Hiner thinks that the iPad is only good for reading/viewing and multitouch integration – I disagree!

Whilst I can Jason’s point, it’s actually turned out to be a far more useful device than that. Whereas my netbook was very much a content consumption device, I can create content on the iPad – it’s not suitable for everything but the nature of iOS applications means that there are scenarios when content creation is perfectly possible – indeed, I’m typing this post inside the WordPress app (and iA Writer is a perfect example of an app that’s designed to simplify writing on an iPad). Perhaps the biggest drawback when creating new content is the lack of multitasking, but more on that later…

Family friendly

Let’s face it, I’m a geek who loves his gadgets, but I seriously hadn’t expected the iPad to be such a hit with the family. My two young sons love the touchscreen (which seems to be a very natural experience for them, compared with a mouse) and casual gaming on the iPad is something we all enjoy (whether it’s Flight Control, Harbor Master, or an iPhone version of Battleships). Then, there’s the built-in Photos app which, even though it’s a bit limited (it would be nice if I could at least rate my images), has proven itself as a great tool for sharing pictures with friends and family after a day out – somehow, passing a tablet around and swiping back/forth seems very simple and surprisingly non-geek. Indeed, for my 5 year-old son, who’s just developing an interest in photography, being able to see what his pictures and videos look like on the screen has been a huge source of delight.

Ready for work?

I recently wrote a paper for Fujitsu on the impact of tablet computing on desktop managed service.  I’d love to link to it here but, for the time being at least, its an internal document; however I really do think that the iPad has potential as a business device.  There may be issues to overcome around security, but as enterprises look to deliver business IT services to a multitude of devices (possibly even consumer-owned devices) the iPad is a real contender.  For example, I can connect to a VDI or a hosted virtual server environment using one of a number of solutions (for example, Citrix Receiver, or even a simple RDP or SSH client) but the limiting factor is not the iPad, but the target Windows system’s unsuitability for touch (I’m writing another post on that subject but, trust me, even with Windows 7’s touch capabilities, the user interface elements are too small for use without a stylus – as Mark Sumimoto explains, the issue is Windows recording of touch as a single point, rather than a circular area).

What’s hot?

Here’s what I love about my iPad:

  • I turn it on, and I don’t have to wait for it to start up.
  • It runs iPhone applications as well as iPad ones (the best apps adjust to suit the device).
  • It can read the raw images that my camera produces.
  • Even though it lacks a file manager, applications like Dropbox can be used to fill the gap
  • It’s great for watching video (e.g. as a TV catchup device) although the lack of Flash support can be a hinderance and I’m still waiting for the BBC to launch an iPlayer app…
  • Battery life is excellent.  I recently sat through 8 hours of Microsoft presentations, whilst taking notes and tweeting (Wi-Fi, not 3G) and, at the end of the day, the iPad indicated it still had 55% battery left (I had the brightness turned down).
  • It’s a great eBook reader.  Sure, there are probably studies that show reading on an electronic display is not as good as eInk devices (like the Kindle) but, whether I use Apple iBooks or the Amazon Kindle app for iPad, the iPad is a great eBook reader and, when reading in bed, disturbs sleeping partners far less than a reading light.
  • It’s silent too.
  • It’s grabbed people’s imagination for what can be done with a tablet/slate PC, with many new ideas that would not be practical on a smartphone, or on an “ordinary” PC – digital magazines are just one example, whether it’s the model taken by Conde Nast/Wired, or Flipboard, or even BBC News.

What’s not?

My number one gripe is the lack of support for Adobe Flash (and, to a lesser degree, Microsoft Silverlight). I know Flash is a nuisance, and I would love to see a web of standards-compliant sites using HTML5 to deliver dynamic content, but I also live in the real world, and when sites like the BBC’s weather page don’t work properly on the iPad, it’s a bloody nuisance – and Apple’s puritanical stand against Adobe is not helping consumers.

Gripe number 2 is the lack of a USB port and/or an SD card slot. I bought Apple’s Camera Connection Kit for iPad but it seems a little strange for such a beautifully designed device to rely on what is essentially a dongle in order to connect to a camera or to flash media. With no power available from the iPad’s dock-USB connector, few (if any) peripherals can be used with the iPad – even if there was software available to exploit them. For example, there are times when it would be good to hook up a webcam, and my main camera uses CF cards so, without a working card reader, there is no choice but to (slowly) download images from the camera over a USB cable, draining the camera’s batteries in the process.

Multitasking is another missing feature – at a recent event I was trying to take notes at the same time as tweeting live updates and restarting each app every time I switched was more than a little tiresome. Printing is another missing feature – whether its a photo, or some details on a web page. Thankfully, both of these issues are expected to be resolved in the upcoming iOS 4.2 release, expected next month.

Something that a new operating system release can’t fix is application availability. Sure, the iPad can run iPhone apps, even scaled up to use the whole of the device’s screen, but, as I mentioned earlier, the best application experience comes from those apps that have been written to exploit the iPad or, even better, as iPad and iPhone apps that adjust their display according to the device (and its orientation). Whilst there are some excellent examples of iPad applications (for example, the WordPress app, or Twitter’s own iPad client), the simple fact is that there are not as many iPad apps available as there should be – developers are yet to get on board and, when they do, the prices are normally a little higher than for iPhone apps (probably more realistic, but the bar has already been set).

Finally, like many Apple products, it is beautiful to look at, but easily damaged; which means that my iPad spends its life wrapped in a case.  I have Apple’s case because, unlike many third party products that leave corners, etc. exposed, it seems to do a pretty good job at protecting the device; however, even that has some issues when I have to use the camera connection kit dongles on the dock connector.  The iPad is not an inexpensive device – it’s a shame that it’s so easily damaged.  Still, at least I can’t fit it in my pocket to get scratched by keys and coins like a phone!

In summary

Apple’s iPad has some compromises but it also has many benefits and I’ve yet to see any credible competition from another manufacturer. I’m sure we’ll see a new model next year and it will be interesting to see what Apple does with the next iPad (high resolution display? Front facing camera? SD/USB slots?) but, in the meantime, I’m getting plenty out of this first generation device. Apple may not have invented tablet PCs but they sure have found a way to make them popular.

Was it a good purchase? Certainly. As Mary Jo Foley wrote in a recent post about Microsoft’s potential answer(s) to the iPad:

“Would I still shell out for a Winpad? If it allowed me to seamlessly connect […] and had true instant on/off and 10-hour battery life my answer would be yes. But I’m sure glad I didn’t wait a year or three just to get the true portability that I’ve wanted and needed for the past couple of years.”

I’d add another caveat to that – a Windows competitor to the iPad would also need a new interface (or a new operating system – like Windows Phone 7?). As for Android… well, let’s see, but that market is fragmenting quickly and whilst there may be some good ones too, there are some truly awful Android tablets out there.  One thing’s for sure though: for all its failings, iPad’s biggest competitor could well be the next iPad.

How to take stunning pictures: Sports

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Continuing the series of posts based on Channel 5 Broadcasting’s “How To Take Stunning Pictures” series, this one looks at sports photography (previous posts have covered portraiture, celebrations and landscapes).  Probably the most disappointing episode so far, Bob Martin was a little light on tips (indeed, he commented that they had only skimmed the surface of sports photography) but it’s worth publishing what he did come up with.

Channel 5′s website has some tips to go with each programme, but they don’t exactly match up to the advice in the programme itself so, here are the tips from the fourth episode:

  • Watch the action – it’s really important to understand the sport that you will photograph. Look at it, think about it, and pick the moment that will give the most interesting photograph. Sports photography is about action – you mustn’t miss the key events.
  • Frame the action – pick your position based on how the light falls on the subject and what’s in the background. The picture must be well-composed and, if possible it should be quite graphic. A few inches either way makes the difference, so when choosing spot to shoot from, pick the one that really works.
  • Freeze the action – this is particularly important in sports photography and is all about shutter speeds. Head on may only need to be 1/640th but sideways wide angle may need 1/2000th second to capture all the details.
  • Light the action – use the light in the most dramatic way to give your shot impact – if you’re looking to shoot a silhouette, expose for the sky to stop the camera from trying to produce a neutral shot.

24 hours with Greater Manchester Police, on Twitter (#gmp24)

Posted on By Mark Wilson

Greater Manchester Police has been running a social media experiment today, broadcasting details of all emergency (999) calls via a number of Twitter accounts managed by support staff. Using the hash tag #gmp24, the official accounts were named @gmp24_1, @gmp24_2 and @gmp24_3. It’s a bold move – but also an excellent example of using social media to demonstrate the type of calls that Greater Manchester Police receives.

In a statement on the official GMP website, Chief Constable, Peter Fahy said:

“Policing is often seen in very simple terms, with cops chasing robbers and locking them up. However the reality is that this accounts for only part of the work they have to deal with.

A lot of what we do is dealing with social and health problems such as missing children, people with mental health problems and domestic abuse.

[…] There needs to be more focus on how the public sector as a whole is working together to tackle society’s issues and problems.

We see time and again the same families, the same areas and the same individuals causing the same problems and these people are causing a considerable drain to the public purse.”

A Manchester Evening News analysis of calls between 5am and noon, showed that a large number of calls received by the police are non-emergency, or “social work”.  For another view, see this Wordle showing a sample of 500 “emergency” calls.

Inevitably though, the spoof accounts opened up – two, in particular (@gmp24_0 and @gmp24_9) had some hilarious updates exploiting Police stereotypes, but also providing welcome amusement. Greater Manchester Police were less impressed, asking spoof account operators to change their avatars as use of the official Police crest was a copyright infringement… it seemed a little heavy handed at first but, on reflection it’s no different to any other organisation protecting its brand.

Another amusing event was that, despite using multiple accounts to avoid Twitter’s anti-spam measures, the official accounts found themselves in “Twitter Jail”, resulting in some more humorous exchanges as followers commented that jail (sic) is intended as a method of rehabilitation and creating new accounts is not the answer!

In all seriousness though, the event (which started at 5am today and will complete at 5am tomorrow) has exposed some of the inner workings of a busy urban Police service and, whilst critics may question this use of public funds to “play around with social media” at a time of public service cutbacks, there is another view: by exposing the types of calls received by 999 operators, it would be nice to think that Greater Manchester Police may actually save money in the medium-term through better public education (a standardised national number for non-emergency calls to the Police might save even more…).

Personally, I’m impressed by Greater Manchester Police’s remarkable openness and innovative use of social media – it might not save them from inevitable budget cuts, but it can do their image no harm either.

How to take stunning pictures: Landscapes

Posted on By Mark Wilson

I’ve written a couple of posts recently based on Channel 5 Broadcasting’s “How To Take Stunning Pictures” series. The first two episodes covered portraiture and celebrations – plenty for me to take on board there – but I found the landscapes episode was less useful. Even though it featured Charlie Waite, a photographer whose work I admire – I found it a bit of a let down, possibly because landscapes are a genre I’ve invested a lot of time in learning over the years (including attending two of Charlie’s talks) and so there was less for me to learn in this programme.

Even so, it’s worth publishing some tips – Channel 5′s website has some to go with each programme, but they don’t exactly match up to the advice in the programme itself so, here are the tips from the third episode:

  • Choose the right location and read the landscape: landscape photography needs to be well constructed and thought about. Think what is it about a scene that is emotionally enjoyable and enriching. Read the landscape: start at the top, at the sky, and follow down, asking what’s really worthwhile. Don’t think that the first place you’ve arrived and set up at is the best. Sometimes even a few inches to the right or left can make a radical difference to a photograph.
  • Take care in composition: consider the frame carefully – use compositional aids if necessary to see if the image that your are planning to make will work. Before even taking the camera out of the bag, consider: Is there an image to be made here? Do I like the shapes? Is the balance right? Is there enough geometry? How much sky can I have in? See where you want the crop to be – try and imagine your picture before you take it (I’m sure that Charlie would talk about one’s mind’s eye). Take your eye around the perimeter of the viewfinder. Think what to keep in, and what to keep out – “omit the redundant”. In the words of Charlie Waite, “The key to good photography is to settle down and to think bout what is going to appear in that viewfinder and not think that the camera is going to do all the work. As you look through the viewfinder, ask yourself if you can see the frame on the wall… previsualise to define the objective”.
  • Control the light to get the correct exposure: use a filter to produce an image that equates with what we see in the eye (there was no mention of what filter this would be in the programme, but typically this would be a grey grad to balance areas of high and low brightness). Often when we look at a landscape we can see beautiful subtle nuances in the sky and also detail in the land but when we take the image, camera sensors/film find that very difficult to reproduce.
  • Don’t just look for bright, sunny days – it’s possible to get great images on the cusp of bad weather leaving and good weather arriving when there are often some fantastic moments. If it’s really raining and the forecast is changeable, hang on and wait and you see dark clouds being replaced by bright skies in a very exciting moment on the transitional point. Look over your shoulder, see what kind of sky is coming, wait for it, and if it does arrive, think about whether it relates satisfactorily – just waiting a few minutes can really help.
  • Draw the viewer in: Think about how to invite the viewer into the image? For example, using a path as a lead in, beckons the viewer and encourages them to travel along the path. Landscape photography is about shape, harmony, balance and design – looking for the optimum moment when you press the shutter.

“I often think of that rare fulfilling joy when I am in the presence of some wonderful alignment of events.

Where the light, the colour, the shapes and the balance all interlock so beautifully that I feel truly overwhelmed by the wonder of it.”

[Charlie Waite]