Cool Office Supplies: Samurai USB Flash Memory Card

At the Saudi Gazette of all places, there is a small article about the ongoing ISOT Office Products Trade Show in Tokyo. Highlighted here are USB Flash Memory cards shaped like Samurai Warriors.

With a lot of video games, movies, and television in Japan focusing more on the Edo period (1603 to 1868 AD), Samurai culture is once again on the rise in Japan.

Of course, when you’re making a samurai-themed USB device, and you’re in Japan, of course it’s going to end up being cute. Call me a sucker for these kind of novelties, but I’d take a teeny cartoon samurai USB stick over a plain ol’ black one any day. Of course, I’m sure the prices are outrageous. For most consumers, the regular kind will probably do just fine.

Working from Home: What to Ask Your Broadband Provider

IT-director.com has an interesting piece from David Heyes, COO of TFM Networks, about some of the less-often-considered aspects of working from home. Namely: is it as simple as plugging your employees into a broadband connection and letting them go?

In the article, Heyes covers five key points you may not have thought of, and that your broadband provider might not like you to think of. Since these points imply something a little more involved than the plug-and-play aspect of working from home that a lot of companies (that want to sell you a “business broadband package”), it’s important to take a look before you dive in:

1. Service: What happens if the broadband connection fails?
2. Performance: What about speed, bandwidth and prioritizing key applications over your network?
3. Security: How important is this to you, including data protection?
4. Health & Safety: What are the regulations for home workers?
5. Maintenance and Procurement: Who provides the home office supplies and equipment?

All in all, the article is a decent breakdown of letting employees work from home. I personally had never considered, for example, how a from-home employee would still be covered by a business’s insurance plan, and how they might have to conduct site visits to make sure someone’s home office was up to spec.

Basically, this is an interesting read for anyone looking to pitch the idea of working from home, or any employers looking to expand into that area. As much as we’d like it to be as simple as throwing together a desk, a chair, a filing cabinet, some computers and a broadband connection, the reality is a little more complicated.

Article: Web and Marketing Firm Exists Sans Offices

PR Newswire has a really cool update about Web and Marketing firm Synergema, which is embracing the idea of a “Green” offce by having no office to speak of:

“Working from their homes, our employees aren’t using many of the resources than they would if they were out at an office for the day,” Steiger says. “By not making them come into an office and effectively double the use of the various resources, we’re saving money and also impacting the environment.”

From there, the ripples flow outward. The absence of a central office eliminates the need for trucks to deliver office supplies, which saves fuel. Meetings are conducted via videoconference, reducing the need for airline flights or auto trips to headquarters.

Perhaps the ones who benefit the most, though, are Synergema’s employees, Steiger says. “Our people don’t have to get in cars to come to work, so it’s not necessary for them to be stuck in long traffic tie-ups to get here,” he says.

And since the average American worker spends around 100 hours a year commuting — more than the 80 hours many get for vacation — giving that time back to the employee makes a huge difference. “That keeps them happier, and happier employees are more productive. Because they are driving less, they save money on fuel, insurance and auto maintenance,” Steiger says.

This, to me, is insanely cool. I’ve always loved working from home, and it’s boggled my mind how many companies are resistant to the idea of their employees saving time, money, supplies, and overall angst by being able to do their job in the comfort of their own home. Obviously the approach doesn’t work for everyone, but Synergema seems to have hit on a format that works for them, and I say congratulations.

One of the reasons we’re in the web-based office supply business is because the concept is green all around. We offer quality supplies shipped using existing methods to get them to your door faster. No getting in the car and going to some big-box store, which itself has to be built, maintained, powered, have their waste dealt with…to say nothing of THOSE employees who have to shlep themselves into work every day. If everyone kept an eye to the environment the way some companies are starting to, we’d not only have a happier workforce, but a happier planet as well. Corny, perhaps, but true.

Blurb: Using Social Media to Drive Sales

SmartBrief.com has a tiny piece mentioning that a lot of Office Supply companies are using social media to help boost sales:

Traditional retailers such as Office Depot, Staples, Macy’s and Nordstrom are finding success with using social media to boost sales, according to Brett Hurt, founder and chief executive of Bazaarvoice, which manages user-generated ratings and reviews for manufacturer and retailer sites. Among the firm’s products is BrandVoice, a service for manufacturers to place real product reviews on retail sites.

Hrmm. Is that so? Social media driving sales? This is breaking news! Tell your friends! When you get to our twitter page, tell them you read about it on our blog.

Question: Can I use any ink I want in my printer?

Short answer? Yes you can.

A lot of manufacturers try to bully you into buying official, name-brand ink from them at exorbitant prices by claiming that you will be voiding your warranty or have to pay more for maintenance if you use anything other than their ink. Well, it was recently brought to my attention that not only is this claim ridiculous, it’s also illegal.

Under the Warranty Improvement Act, United States Code Annotated, Title 15 Commerce and Trade, Chapter 50: Consumer Product Warranties 15, Section 2302:

(c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the tears of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection may be waived by the commission if:

  1. The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and
  2. The Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.

So basically, unless the manufacturer can claim (and prove) that using a third-party product, like printer ink or toner, is doing some kind of harm to the device, than anything else they say about it is forfeit. And guess what? No one has yet come forward with that kind of proof.

Not only does this mean you can use any ink or refill kit you want without fear of your warranty being voided, but the company can also not threaten to remove or discontinue support, break a lease, or basically do anything else about it, either:

The Supreme Court (IBM vs. The United States) held that IBM could not threaten customers with termination of their data processing equipment leases just because they did not use supplies manufactured by IBM. Such practice constituted a “tying agreement” and was found to be to violation of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Law.

So there you have it. Buy whatever ink you want, to your heart’s content (though remember, buy from your friendly neighborhood online store, not those other guys). This goes for computer parts, replacement parts, and just about anything you might need to buy. You learn something new every day!

 

State Department joins DHS in Office Supply Consolidation

Just a little update to the article I posted previously about President Obama saying he would help cut the budget, in part, by consolidating the purchase of office supplies by some governmental agencies.

The first article mentioned the Department of Homeland Security being where the idea originated, but according to Federal Computer Week, the State Department is on board, as well:

For example, the Homeland Security Department plans to consolidate its purchase of office supplies and computer software across the organization, qualifying the department for larger bulk discounts. DHS officials expect to save up to $59 million during the next five years. The State Department is taking similar measures.

Obviously this comes as part of a larger budget-reduction package that includes lots of cuts that don’t really apply to us here, at an office supplies blog. Still, for some reason this little quote has legs; pundits from all over have chided or lauded Obama’s “office supply cutbacks” line as something either indicative of a forward-thinking president who isn’t ashamed to make those sort of “it was right in front of us all along” sort of decisions, or as something indicating he’s out of touch if he thinks buying office supplies differently can save our budget.

Personally, I’m inclined to think he’s on the right path. A couple of simple changes here and there are how you tend to make real progress. And if the President is looking for a good company to snag those Sharpies* from, he can get in touch with me.

*Note: I doubt the government really needs Tropical Color Mini Sharpies. But if they do, that’s awesome.

Article: 9 Ways to Geek Your Office

Just found this over at eWeek.com – it’s a slideshow of some pretty impressive office gear. While it’s a little more unique than the stuff we sell, things like this still hold a special place in my heart as a gadget lover. I think the perfect office is one that blends over-the-top tech like this with a full pantry of the basics; pens, paper, toner, that kind of thing. And while the best bet for, say, picking a reliable office chair is to find something comfortable and affordable, I’ll always drool over some of this stuff, like this Motoart B-52 Ejection Chair. Check out the E-Week article for more geeky pipe dreams.

Big Box Watch: Office store stock “uncertainty” on the rise

A recent article by Morningstar has listed their appraisal of OfficeMax stock to an uncertainty level of “extreme”. In a quote that I feel is only good news for online retailers and the end-user consumers, Morningstar said:

Office supply retailers have been disproportionately impacted by the current economic downturn as well as mounting competition from mass merchants and online retailers. In our view, an industry shakeout is inevitable, and it is unlikely that all three office supply superstore chains will survive in their current form.

And while they feel that Staples may be the best positioned to survive the economic storm, given their greater geographic reach and availability of online options over the other two big-box names, they went on to state:

…It is not immediately apparent whether OfficeMax or Office Depot (if either) is better-positioned to weather a severe economic downturn. Both firms carry heavy debt burdens on their balance sheets, and with few indications of an imminent pickup in office product sales, we expect free cash-flow generation to be increasingly difficult over the coming years.

I think this sort of uncertainty is definitely not a new concept, and is certainly being felt across the industry. The availability of quality online alternatives to big-box retailers has been chipping away at their stranglehold on the market for several years, and coupled with the downturn in the economy and stories of impropriety, consumer faith in the office megastore is at an all-time low.

To be fair, these businesses have no one to blame but themselves. They’re clinging to an outdated business model in a time where people are looking to move forward. Office supply sales is an old industry, but that doesn’t mean it needs to keep a death-grip on old ideas. Guess what, guys? Turns out if you provide good, lasting value to your customers, stock the inventory they want at a price that is reasonable and appealing, and deal with them in a friendly manner, your business ends up doing just fine. Who’d have guessed?

Universities suffering from “Paper Cuts”

In these troubled economic times, lots of universities are forced to cut spending wherever they can, and unfortunately office supplies are often first on the block. While it might seem like a few sheets of paper here or there don’t make much difference, new articles show the results of these cutbacks can be worse than originally anticipated. An article recently posted in The Central Florida Future, the University of Central Florida student paper, shows that cutbacks to office supplies are having a damaging effect on the way professors teach:

Humanities professor Debra Maukonen can no longer allow students to keep their tests as study tools because she has to collect them due to the recent cut in paper.

These changes are part of an effort to cut back on office supplies because of decreased budgets.

The lack of office supplies “makes it more difficult for instructors to do their jobs,” Maukonen said. “In the larger picture, it’s more than paper — it’s people.”

She said a smaller budget means just what students are seeing now: reduced faculty, staff and services; reduced course offerings; reduced face-to-face classes and more online classes; larger class sizes; and an higher student-teacher ratio.

“I know we are saving trees and money by going paperless, but I am seeing a difference in teaching,” Maukonen said.

The trend towards a paperless office has seen huge strides in recent years with the advancement of technology, and in certain places it works wonders for helping an office “go green” and cut back on costs. But it seems like in a university setting cutting the office supply budget is only hurting students.

At UCF, last year, office desk accessories, such as organizers and calculators, totaled around $164,500, and mailing supplies totaled about $34,000. This year, the totals dropped to about $83,800 and $11,900, respectively. Print, copy and fax supplies had the biggest budget for the two years. Last year, they cost the university about $182,800. That number was nearly cut in half for this year to about $94,600.

I think it’s important for universities to consider the impact of slashing budgets on the quality of education they can provide. Rather than unilaterally make huge sweeping cuts, institutions need to consider their options when picking an office supply retailer. Any self-respecting office supply dealer will offer bulk pricing on office supplies, as well as make special deals for educational and governmental institutions. It’s all a matter of shopping around for the best deal, and I can only hope that a university will exhaust all other options before making budget cuts that may harm students.

Terminology Roundup: DVD and CD formats

terminology-roundup-dvd-and-cd-formats

When writing my last article, I was searching for a good link to printable DVDs. I noticed that they came in both DVD-R and DVD+R variations, and realized that despite having seen both terms before, I was unclear on the difference. In the event that you feel the same way, I’ve compiled the results of my research here.

DVD-R is the first recordable DVD format, developed by Pioneer in 1997. It is officially recognized by the DVD Forum, an international organization composed of hardware, software, media and content companies that use and develop the DVD and HD DVD formats. The Forum was initially known as the DVD Consortium when it was founded in 1995.

DVD+R was developed in 2002 by a competing collection of companies, which was known after-the-fact as The DVD+RW Alliance. DVD+R was made a direct competitor to DVD-R, which caused the DVD Forum to not recognize it as an official format until January of 2008.

Here’s where it gets weird: the differences between the two formats are highly technical and mostly negligible. The main difference is an incredibly small difference in how much each disc can hold, measured in GiB, or Gibibytes (a shortening of “giga binary byte”), with DVD-R claiming 4.38 GiB and DVD+R offering 4.377 GiB. Hardly a difference that matters to the average consumer. Other small differences include the way data is archived on each disc, with each format offering slightly different technology which is, again, basically invisible to the traditional user.

Since combination drives that burn and read both formats have been commercially available for years now, there is not much reason to choose one over another. DVD-R has been around longer, so if you are burning a disc and are unsure of who will be playing it, DVD-R may be the best choice as it will work in older drives (both computer and home video player) than DVD+R will. Other than that, it’s simply a case of two competing companies offering a product and the industry never setting a standard. If you’re working on a highly technical project, find out the technical details and choose the one that best suits your needs. Otherwise, either should be fine.

It’s important to note that CDs do not suffer from the same problem of nomenclature, and one CD-R will be comparable to the next. There is no such thing as a CD+R, as far as I can figure out.

The addition of RW to any of these brands (including CD-RW) means that the disc is re-writable and can be burned over with new data more than once, while regular CD-R and DVD-R (or +R) discs are write-once and need to be “finalized” (meaning no more data can be added) before they will work in most players.

Hopefully this breakdown shed a little light on an otherwise baffling subject. It was interesting to learn about the history of these products and I’ll continue to demystify office and tech terms in the future.