The iPad

The iPad has been the first successful Tablet PC after Microsoft's failed attempt some years back.

Apple's powerful brand image and style has been a key selling point, with customers willing to spend well over £400 for the iPad.

Tablet PC's are in the no man's land between a smart phone and a laptop or indeed a laptop and a PC. That was Microsoft's problem. Many people just didn't need one.

Apple have sold in excess of 3.5 million iPads since the launch in April.

However it still is not compatible with Macromedia Flash - meaning many internet applications cannot be utilised properly.

The competition is starting to take note of what Apple did well and producing imitations such as the Samsung Galaxy Tablet PC which has many of the features of the iPad, but it can make calls and has two cameras. The Galaxy is crucially nearly £100 cheaper!

So what will be the future of the iPad and the Tablet PC?

Higher / Int 2 Business NAB

A date for your diaries...

Tuesday the 19th October is the date I have set aside for the Business Enterprise NAB.

Remember this will contain topics from:

• Business in Contemporary Society
• Business Information and ICT
• Decision Making

You will have to read your notes and generate possible answers to likely questions.

Also, please ensure you understand the Command Words!

The Ryder Cup 2010 - Celtic Manor

On Friday morning at 0745 the Ryder Cup tees off.

What was once a challenge match between the professional golfers of Great Britain and Ireland and the United States is now a multi-million advertising and sponsorship bonanza!

The Europe v USA battle will be watched by millions on TV and by thousands paying top dollar at the Welsh course, near Newport.

Indeed many Wales Tourism adverts have sprouted up as Newport and Wales hope to have added benefits long after the Ryder Cup leave.

So be ready for high octane golf, amazing excitement, and possibly a very narrow winning margin.

But also look out for the sponsors. And the advert spots on Sky TV.

As for the match? I am going against the trend and I predict a USA victor 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.

I hope I am wrong, but I just have this feeling Monty and Europe are underestimating Corey Pavin's men and one Mr Eldrick Woods in particular.

Virgin Galactic: Space Ship Two

Ever since Richard Branson first announced his Virgin brand were going into the Final Frontier people laughed.

However some six years later and Space Ship Two is in testing.

Above is an artists impression of the sub-orbital spacecraft.

Richard Branson has a dream to commercialise space travel for the ordinary man and woman, after being inspired by fellow millionaire, Dennis Tito who went into Space as the world's first space tourist as a cosmonaut in 2001.

Star Trek's William Shatner was invited to be aboard the inaugural flight, but the TV legend politely declined saying: "At my age I need the guarantee of coming back down."

Travel Industry

The Problems

Terrorism

Recession

SARS virus

Strikes

Icelandic ash cloud

The World's Most Revolutionary Car?

F1 designer Professor Gordon Murray has designed a new car called the T.25 which may well revolutionise the future of urban transport.

The car is made from glass fibre, recycled plastic bottles and steel tubes. It uses just a fifth of materials to construct regular cars.

The T.25 is a 3 seater, can hit a top speed of 100mph and will retail at around £6,000.

The space saving car has doors that open from the engine and windscreen out as opposed to doors opening at the side - a tremendous space saver. Also the driver sits in the middle at the front, with two passengers at the rear.

The Professor intends to use his new technological lightweight advances to apply it to larger vehicles such as buses!

The method of production is called iStream which uses complex software to allow the makers to modify the size or shape or colour of the frames or body panels. This offers tremendous flexibility for manufacturers including the ability to change oroduction of the engine from petrol or diesel or even electric cells.

Because because fewer parts are being used (and cheaper, lightweight ones at that), massive production savings will come into play and hopefully be passed on to the consumer - just like Henry Ford did with his legendary Model T-Ford.

Professor Murray also says that due to less capital being invested at the start-up of the i-Stream production process, more entrepreneurs and investors are likely to get on board as there is less risk.

The result is a car which for once - unlike the much heralded Electric Car or the Hybrids - may actually change the world we live in for the better.

Think of the impact such lightweight, tiny cars can have on congested megacities or China and India who are becoming more industrialised and urbanised every day.

Could this car be the ultimate in saving the world?

For the full article go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11301831

In the news...

AIRLINES MAKE A PROFIT
The world's airlines are expected to post a profit of $8.9bn (£5.7bn) this year, an industry body has said, in a sharp upgrade of its previous forecast.

The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said the industry recovery had been "stronger and faster than anyone predicted".

In June, it had predicted a much smaller profit of $2.5bn. In March, it had expected a loss of $2.8bn. Iata said increasing demand and stable costs were driving the recovery.

US RECESSION LONGEST SINCE WW2
The US recession lasted 18 months and was the most prolonged since World War II, a report has concluded. The National Bureau of Economic Research said the recovery began in June 2009, with recession having begun in 2007.

Its views carry weight in the US, even though there is usually a lag before it reaches a position.
The organisation's figures take in data beyond simply GDP. Income, employment industrial production and wholesale retail sales also form part of the analysis.

The previous longest postwar recessions in 1973-75 and 1981-82 both lasted 16 months, it said.


Source: BBC Business News

Technical Issues

Sorry about the long delay between posts but there has been a technical issue with Slideshare embeds causing a problem when I tried to log in at my school.

Thankfully that has been resolved now and I can get back to blogging!

Back to work!

A very busy holiday period is now over and a very busy time back at school is now on again!

I hope to produce and share more resources online, with an obvious focus on Curriculum for Excellence.

I have to admit that there have been some incredible news stories of late, with the Chilean Miner's Crisis one that everyone prays will have a happy ending.

But the devastating floods in Pakistan, the massive earthquake in Christchurch, the Pakistani Cricketers Scandal, Tony Blair's book launch, end of US military operations in Iraq... an incredible period for news, business and the economic saga.

Also I felt pretty sad at the woman who threw that cat in the bin. Shameful.