Author: f1231jconneely

Windows 8 Success Hinges on Hinges!

Posted on by f1231jconneely

Windows 8 hit the shelves Oct. 26th. This could be called Microsoft’s response to the IPad and many other tablets out there.

Windows 8 can be used on both laptops and tablets. With some laptops having touching screens, working as both. This creates a new need for laptop and tablet manufacturers. Now laptops are not only opened and closed repeatedly, they are being pushed and pressed, this creates a new dilemma. They need a hinge that can open and close with ease but also withstand the pressures of constantly being pressed against without completely giving out or moving back.

Computer producers have divisions of engineers designing pivots, joints and connectors for devices running Windows 8. They measure torque, test different gears and springs, and open and shut devices thousands of times.

A worry for both customers and manufacturers is, customers are not going to be happy if the angle of their screen changes every time the touch the screen.

So what are companies doing to make sure this does not happen? Well engineers that specialize in this sort of thing have gone back to the drawing board to come up with new designs to compensate for all this. Companies like Dell, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard and Acer. Toshiba alone has over fifty patents related to hinges. Jeff Barney, vice president of Toshiba was quoted saying “The hinge is the key to making it work,” and that a bad hinge “is the Achilles’ heel of a laptop.”

So knowing all this what are companies to do? There are some widely-known rules for hinges. Things like never put aluminum and steel on the same hinge. What this does, is cause the hinge to corrode, basically the two metals eat away at each other. Instead, you a substitute and the substitute is Zinc. Zinc, is considered the best metal for laptop hinges, primarily because it is so malleable.

Microsoft’s main Windows 8 device is a tablet with a screen that slides open to reveal a keyboard  The goal was to hide the keyboard while in tablet mode.

The first design had a sliding mechanism on both sides of the screen. It was not a working prototype. If one side was pushed harder then the other it would become of balance. The answer to this was a combination of gears and a metal bar that allowed for equal pressure to be distributed no matter where or hard hard the customer pushed.

All this research and worry for something that only adds about $10 to the final cost. But just because it does not cost much, does not mean that it is not important. This is a very important and crucial piece that could keep an indiviual happy or make them want to throw it out the window.

 

Google’s 80/20 policy

Posted on by f1231jconneely

People are the lifeblood of any business. It is therefore a manager’s job to ensure he/she gets the most out of their employees to promote efficiency and creativity. Without that a business can suffer greatly in sales, efficiency and every other aspect of the business. Or even worse a business can fail completely. Their needs to be a group dynamic among everyone allowing a business to get the most out of each individual and team as a whole. To do that their needs to be an incentive of sorts. Something that gets an employee excited to work. A sign of appreciation that shows that the company appreciates every single person. This is not an easy task to accomplish and many companies do not  succeed or even attempt in making this a reality. But some companies do, Google being one of them.

It’s a well-known fact that Google employees are encouraged to spend 80% of their time on main projects, and 20% (or one day a week) on personal projects that peak their own personal interests. Of course, it has to benefit the company in some way or another but these activities speak to the interests and passions of each worker. Something that they believe is missing or could be done better and are encouraged to work on that and be shared among fellow employees and management.

This sort of model keeps employees challenged and engaged in ways that aid focus and keep the staff growing and learning. With each person being able to work on things that they are personally passionate about allows them to remain focused on their work without minds wondering on projects that could be. This idea could also help teams in approaching a new project in ways that were previously not perceived as possibly or efficient.

This sort idea promotes an ideal and way of thinking that allows each employees ideas to be appreciated and inspire them to work even harder on the jobs that are assigned. This sort of thing goes a long way in getting the most out of every worker. With the employee being appreciated they feel more inspired to work harder, smarter and longer hours allowing the business to get the most out of each individual and allow for a better group dynamic. Each employees will now share their own ideas with each other,  from their own projects, allowing for a hive like dynamic where problems and hurdles that can occur are overcome easily and quickly because everyone has shared techniques and tools that allow for an easier and quicker build to whatever they may be working on.

This sort of model can be interpreted and adapted to other jobs allowing for a more efficient and well rounded work place. Allowing each member to be appreciated and inspired to work batter for their company know they are are appreciated. It could change the dynamic of a company for the better benefiting everyone on each level because they would feel appreciated and inspired knowing they have the opportunity.