Rule #1: check the wire

by Volker Weber

If there is any ground rule I have learned in 30 years of IT, it's to always check the wire first. A lot of problems can be solved in seconds instead of hours following this rule.

If there is no wire, things get complicated.

Do not rely on wireless technology in front of a large audience. Most likely, it won't work, unless it is handled by real pros. Example: Sennheiser has techs that make sure wireless transceivers work during concerts. Google failed big time when they wanted to present their Google TV at Google I/O 2010. It worked during rehearsal but not with thousands of geeks in the room.

Remember when Ron Sebastian did not show up on stage at Lotusphere? He was backstage in a Faraday cage so he could use Wi-Fi to demo mobile devices when everybody else in the room was having trouble with Wi-Fi.

You always want a wire. Between your machine and your presentation screen. And between your machine and the Internet, if you need Internet access to present. Without that wire, you are bound to fail.

Comments

There was no wire for Android in 2010 - the OS had no USB host support prior to Honeycomb, hence the epic Google TV demo fail. I bet the engineers started implementing it shortly after that keynote.

Jeff Gilfelt, 2011-06-01

Is that your answer to my comment concerning the iPhone and Keynote? :)

Johannes Matzke, 2011-06-01

Agree! I'm currently in the process of building a new house here in Sydney, and one of the top priorities is to get CAT6-cable into every room of the house. Some friends may disagree and think I should rely on wireless, but nothing beats wire.

Erik Ferrari, 2011-06-01

Amen.. and Amen. Plan for a 1995 architecture when you demo.

Paul Mooney, 2011-06-01

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