In this brief guide to storage technology, we compare and contrast the benefits of flash drives and Hard Disk Drives (HDD) for enterprise storage and take a look at some other popular storage options.

What are Flash Drives? 

Flash drives, sometimes called Solid State Drives (SSDs), use ‘flash memory’ to store data. The flash memory (where the data is stored) is integrated circuits, i.e. an array of memory cells made from floating-gate transistors that hold the data when the drive isn’t powered. Unlike traditional hard drives, they don’t have moving parts and offer faster data access and increased reliability. Their compact size also makes them an ideal choice for devices such as laptops and mobile devices. Popular types include USB flash drives, SSDs for computers and servers for high-speed data access, and memory cards such as the type commonly used in cameras and mobile devices for lightweight, mobile storage.

Flash Storage in Business Use 

Businesses use flash storage for tasks requiring speed and efficiency, such as operating system installations, running applications, and data processing.

Enterprise flash storage, commonly found in enterprise-level datacentres, is a sophisticated solution designed for handling large-scale data storage needs in datacentres. In terms of its aggregated capacity, it can run from tens of terabytes (TB) to many petabytes (PB) – where a petabyte is one quadrillion bytes! It consists of multiple flash drives assembled in a rack-mounted array.  The system is operated and governed by controller hardware, i.e. a computer that handles the input/output from hosts to the storage. The controller also performs other advanced functions to help maintain optimal performance.

The Benefits 

Enterprise storage of this kind offers benefits like:

– High performance – superior speed and low latency, significantly enhancing performance for demanding applications.

– Reliability and efficiency. With no moving parts, flash drives are more reliable and consume less power compared to traditional hard disk drives (HDDs).

– Scalability. The modular nature allows for easy expansion to meet growing data needs.

What Is QLC Flash Storage? 

QLC (Quad-Level Cell) flash storage is the latest advanced technology where each memory cell stores four bits of data (hence the ‘quad’ part of the name). This design allows for higher storage density, enabling more data to be stored in less physical space. As a result, QLC offers a cost-effective solution for businesses, particularly effective for managing large volumes of unstructured data.

While QLC increases storage capacity and reduces cost per GB, it also presents challenges around endurance. However, ongoing advancements are addressing these issues, making QLC a promising option for businesses seeking efficient and economical data storage solutions.

What About NVMe Flash? 

Another flavour of business flash storage is NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express). This is essentially a protocol tailored for flash storage, that can deliver significant performance improvements over older HDD-oriented protocols like SATA and SAS. It works by optimising data queues and buffers specifically for flash memory, which leads to faster data access and transfer speeds.

Some of the key benefits of NMVe include:

– It’s fast. NVMe greatly accelerates data processing and access, crucial for applications needing quick data retrieval.

– It offers expanded connectivity. NVMe-over-fabrics technology enables high-speed connections across datacentre networks, thereby supporting scalability.

– It’s future-ready. Using NVMe enables businesses to leverage the latest in flash storage technology for efficiency and growth.

Hard Disk Drives (HDD) Explained 

Hard Disk Drives (HDDs), like the type found in desktop computers, store data on spinning magnetic disks. They offer larger storage capacities at a lower cost per GB compared to flash drives. This makes them suitable for storing vast amounts of data like archives and backups.

For enterprise storage, HDD rack-mounted arrays preceded flash storage arrays and are still widely used as pooled storage for multiple enterprise users.

Comparing HDDs and Flash Drives for Enterprise Storage

Here’s a quick and easy comparison between the advantages and disadvantages of flash storage compared to HDD in terms of performance, cost, reliability, and future-readiness.

Performance 

Flash storage, such as SSDs, significantly outperforms HDDs in speed. They offer lower latency, with access times in low milliseconds or even microseconds, compared to the multiple milliseconds of HDDs. This results in much higher input/output operations per second (IOPS) and throughput rates up to four or five times quicker than HDDs. The lack of moving parts in flash drives contributes to this rapid performance.

HDDs, however, are limited by their mechanical nature, i.e. the physical movement of the moving parts (spinning platters and read/write heads) results in slower access times and reduced IOPS compared to flash storage.

Cost 

In terms of cost, flash drives are historically more expensive per GB than HDDs, although the cost of flash storage has been decreasing. For example, as of October 2023, the cost averaged $0.075/GB. While still more costly, the price gap between flash and HDD is narrowing. For example, again in OCtober 2023, SAS HDDs averaged $0.05/GB, and SATA HDDs were even lower at $0.035/GB.

Reliability 

Solid State Drives (SSDs) are generally more reliable than HDDs due to the lack of moving parts, which makes them less susceptible to mechanical failures and physical shocks. The mechanical components in HDDs can also be more prone to wear and tear over time, potentially leading to higher failure rates compared to SSDs.

Future-Readiness 

With their superior speed and decreasing costs, flash drives are increasingly becoming the preferred choice for future-focused enterprise storage, offering scalability and efficiency for high-performance computing environments.

While HDDs still play a role in enterprise storage (especially for archival and low-cost, high-capacity storage needs), they may not be as well-suited for future high-speed, data-intensive applications as flash drives.

What About In the Cloud? 

Flash storage is ideal for cloud applications requiring high performance, such as databases (e.g. SQL, Oracle, SAP Hana) and computing environments with specific needs (e.g. Windows, Lustre, MacOS). It’s chosen for its speed, lower latency, and high IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second). For example, major cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) offer solid-state storage options with varying levels of performance and cost. Customers can select service levels based on capacity and IOPS, tailored to their specific workload requirements. There are also specialised flash storage options for file storage and offerings from specific suppliers (e.g. Azure’s NetApp Files).

HDD storage in the cloud, however, is mainly suitable for data that doesn’t require the high-speed access of flash storage. It’s often used for bulk storage, backups, archives, and other less performance-sensitive applications where cost is a more significant factor than speed. As such, cloud HDD storage is generally offered with service levels focused on capacity rather than speed. Customers can choose HDD storage for cost-effective, large-scale data storage needs and cloud providers may automatically use HDDs for certain types of storage services, particularly where high capacity at a lower cost is more important than performance.

All-Flash Datacentres? 

An all-flash datacentre is a concept where traditional storage media like HDDs and tapes are entirely replaced by flash storage. This idea has been gaining traction for about a decade, driven by the decreasing cost of flash storage (e.g. QLC flash) and its advantages in terms of rapid data access.

All-flash datacentres are an attractive proposition because flash storage’s rapid access speeds are particularly beneficial for tasks like running analytics on large datasets, where quick data retrieval is essential. Also, with flash storage, there is the potential to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) on extensive datasets, extracting more value from the data. In scenarios like ransomware attacks, the ability to quickly recover data from flash media may also prove to be a significant advantage.

Arrival and Challenges

The transition to all-flash datacentres is ongoing but gradual. While suppliers of flash storage are optimistic, analysts suggest that flash will penetrate secondary workloads but won’t completely replace spinning disks in the near future. As of now, a sizeable portion of data is still stored on HDDs.

One major challenge to the introduction of all-flash datacentres is the current lack of flash capacity to fully replace HDD storage. Also, despite falling prices, the cost of flash storage is still a consideration, especially for vast data storage requirements where HDDs can be more cost-effective.  It’s also worth remembering that certain types of data and use cases may still benefit from the characteristics of traditional HDD storage, delaying the complete shift to all-flash solutions.

Other Enterprise Storage Solutions 

A few examples of other enterprise data solutions include:

– Network Attached Storage (NAS). This refers to a network-connected device providing centralised data access to multiple users.

– Cloud Storage. Clearly, this online storage method (which incorporates flash and HDD) is the one that most businesses would recognise. Cloud services offer a range of benefits including cost-effectiveness, ease of use, scalability, remote access, and often enhanced security features.

– Hybrid Storage Systems that combine the speed of SSDs with the capacity of HDDs can be a way to offer a balanced solution.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

In today’s data-driven world, understanding your business’s unique storage requirements is key to selecting the right technology. The choice between flash drives and HDDs isn’t just about current requirements but also about anticipating future needs. Flash drives, with their high performance and reliability, are ideal for operations demanding speed and frequent data access, whereas HDDs are still relevant for large-scale storage where cost-effectiveness is paramount.

Cost is always a major concern for businesses and while flash storage costs are decreasing, they are still higher than HDDs and it may be a case of balancing the need for speed and performance against budget constraints. The narrowing price gap, however, may now be making flash a more accessible option for a broader range of applications.

As stated above, the reliability of SSDs (due to their lack of moving parts) could offer peace of mind for businesses with critical data needs. Also, as technology moves towards faster and more data-intensive applications, SSDs are a future-ready choice, ensuring your business remains competitive and agile.

With cloud storage becoming a staple for many businesses, understanding the use of flash and HDD in the cloud is helpful. For example, flash is ideal for performance-hungry applications in the cloud, while HDDs serve well for less demanding, bulk storage tasks. This distinction can help guide businesses in optimising cloud storage expenses and performance.

Looking ahead, the concept of all-flash datacentres, while still developing, points to a future where rapid data access and processing will be standard. Businesses should monitor this trend, as it promises enhanced capabilities for data analytics and AI, alongside quicker recovery from data incidents.

Finally, many enterprises may want to consider a more holistic approach to data storage, possibly employing hybrid storage systems that combine the speed of SSDs with the high capacity of HDDs. This strategy allows businesses to leverage the best of both worlds, ensuring a balanced, efficient, and scalable storage infrastructure.

Hopefully, this brief guide has gone some way to demystifying some aspects of enterprise storage technologies.

Google has announced that Google Cloud customers who want to switch and migrate their network data to another cloud provider and/or on-premises will no longer be charged a transfer fee to do so.

How? 

The process for the free transfer away from Google involves contacting the Google Cloud account team (if one has been assigned), and completing and submitting an online form, after which there is a 60-day window for the user to transfer the data before terminating their Google Cloud agreement.

Who and When? 

The Google Cloud Exit free data transfers are available to Premium Tier Network Service Tier customers globally. Google says the change is effective immediately.

Why? 

As many tech commentators have noted, the charging of egress fees by cloud providers, such as Google, has come in for criticism by regulators, other public cloud providers, and customers. Egress fees, a lucrative source of revenue, are charges that cloud service providers impose when data is transferred out of their cloud infrastructure to another location, such as to a different cloud provider or to an on-premises data-centre. These fees can vary based on the amount of data being transferred, the destination of the data, and the specific policies of the cloud provider. Cloud providers claim that the purpose of egress fees is to cover the costs associated with data transfer and bandwidth usage.

Waiving the fees is therefore a way for Google to gain an advantage over competitors like Amazon (AWS) and Microsoft and put pressure on them in the highly competitive cloud market, and to escape further regulator criticism.

Swipe At Competitors 

In its announcement about stopping the fees, Google also took a swipe at its cloud provider competitors saying that the main issue stopping customers from working with their preferred cloud provider in the first place is “restrictive and unfair licensing practices.” Google explained that “Certain legacy providers leverage their on-premises software monopolies to create cloud monopolies, using restrictive licensing practices that lock in customers and warp competition.”  

Google gave examples of this among its competitors, highlighting how some may be using licensing restrictions to pick and choose their customers, charge then “5x the cost” if they want to use other competitors’ cloud, and “limiting interoperability of must-have software with competitors’ cloud infrastructure”.  It also claims that “these and other restrictions have no technical basis and may impose a 300% cost increase to customers”, and that, in contrast, “the cost for customers to migrate data out of a cloud provider is minimal.” 

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Egress fees (and licensing restrictions) are a major source of pain for many businesses that would like to switch their cloud provider. For example, a Global Market Intelligence report showed that more than a third of enterprises said that their use of cloud storage had been affected by egress fees, i.e. leading to them repatriating data on-premises or shifting to a provider who doesn’t charge for egress. Google’s move to waive egress fees will likely make it easier for enterprise cloud customers to switch and save themselves significant costs (egress fees can make up 6 per cent of cloud storage costs – IDC).

For Google, not charging egress fees and casting themselves as the ‘good guys’ who believe that “When customers’ business needs evolve, the cloud should be flexible enough to accommodate those changes,” the move could give them a competitive advantage and enable them to pick up users from other cloud providers. However, the move may put pressure on other providers to also stop or reduce their fees, making Google’s advantage temporary. In fact, it’s been reported that AWS claims that since 2021, over 90% of its customers haven’t been paying to transfer data out. Also, it could be the case that Google is simply preempting inevitable and impending regulations, such as the European Data Act which will require cloud providers to share certain data and lead to providers deciding to only charge cost for transfers anyway.

Worries about smartphone demand have been blamed for Microsoft’s stock market value ending a trading session higher than Apple’s last week for the first time since 2021.

How Much? 

Microsoft adding 1 per cent to its stock value compared to just a 0.2 per cent rise from Apple saw Microsoft’s value (market capitalisation) reach an eye-watering $2.887 trillion, compared to Apple’s $2.875 trillion value. LSED data reported that this was Microsoft’s highest-ever valuation.

What Smartphone Demand Worries? 

Apple’s iPhone is still its main cash-cow and a recent cooling in demand for it has worried investors, affecting its market value. Most notably, recent demand worries over Apple’s iPhone can be attributed to:

– Apple facing increased competition from companies like Huawei in China at the same time as China’s economy is making a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

– Market saturation in the US, meaning a slower pace of customers switching to the newer iPhone models. Analysts predict that Apple’s sales in the U.S. will struggle, experiencing a year-over-year decline.

– Global challenges to the smartphone industry in recent times, such as component shortages, inventory build-up, and lengthening replacement cycles, all compounded by an uncertain macroeconomic environment.

– Internal (but very public) Apple issues, e.g. the (temporary) pause in sales of its latest smartwatch models due to a ruling by the International Trade Commission, and the huge payouts due to those affected by the iPhone throttling scandal.

What Is Microsoft Doing Right? 

Microsoft’s stock value overtaking Apple’s isn’t just down to Apple underperforming. Things that Microsoft has done that have had a positive impact on its own stock value are mainly related to it being a major player and investor in AI. For example:

– The incorporation of OpenAI’s technology (with whom it is an investor and partner – a strategic relationship) across its suite of productivity software (Copilot) that also boost its cloud-computing business in the July-September quarter.

– Its move into AI and incorporating it in its products and Bing helping to challenge Google’s dominance of web search.

– The monetisation of Microsoft’s AI products and services, helping to drive its share value upwards.

– Diversification and growth in cloud computing and gaming. For example, the acquisition of video game developer Activision Blizzard has helped Microsoft to control popular titles.

– Substantial investments in AI infrastructure, including a $3.2 billion investment in expanding its AI data centre infrastructure in the UK, thereby strategically enhancing its AI capabilities, and asserting dominance in the AI sector.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Microsoft has been a dominant force in the technology world for over four decades but Apple, which has also been around over four decades became the first £3 trillion dollar company last summer. However, with Apple still reliant on its iPhone, which has been around since 2007 as its main cash cow, a slowing in demand (and slump in China), coupled with Microsoft’s gains in cloud computing with its Azure and its major investment in AI has resulted in Microsoft’s significant creep ahead.

Microsoft’s leadership by CEO Satya Nadella (who took over in 2014), its ability to adapt and innovate, and its strategic partnership with OpenAI has all played major roles in its resurgence. That said, it’s facing an antitrust investigation over its apparent closeness to OpenAI which could be a threat to Microsoft’s momentum.

For Apple, all this could signal a need to further innovate and diversify its product offerings and strategies to maintain its competitive edge. Broadly speaking then, Microsoft overtaking Apple’s value for the first time since 2021 could be viewed as reflecting the growing importance and impact of AI and cloud computing in the tech landscape.

In compliance with the regulations in the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), and following the iOS 17.2 update, it’s been reported that Apple will soon be allowing iOS users to sideload app stores in the EU.

This means that iOS users will be able to download and install apps from sources other than its official Apple App Store, which has previously been the only source for downloading apps on iPhone and iPad.

It’s been reported that sideloading from app stores in the EU could be available to iOS users in the first half of 2024. This opening up of competition to something that Apple has had full control over could affect the company’s revenue if users choose non-Apple channels for app payments.

In line with the government’s aim to increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging points from 50,000 to 300,000 by 2030, the BT Group has announced that it will be repurposing its old, green street cabinets to EV charging points.

60,000 New EV Charging Points 

The move, as part of a pilot scheme beginning in Scotland “in the coming weeks” will see BT’s end-of-life green street cabinets being repurposed to add 60,000 new chargers nationwide.

Green Boxes 

BT’s green boxes, a familiar sight on many streets, have traditionally been used to house cabling for phone lines and broadband but BT says the cabinets are slowly becoming obsolete as fibre-optic broadband is rolled out across the country. The company says that when the boxes reach the end of their life the old broadband equipment can be recycled, and EV points housed there instead.

Easy To Repurpose 

The BT Group says green boxes can be converted simply by using a small device to supply renewable energy to an on-street charging point, without the need to create a new power connection. The technology can actually be deployed in cabinets which are either in use or due for retirement.

Huge Step 

Tom Guy, Managing Director at BT Group said: “Our new charging solution is a huge step in bringing EV charging kerbside and exploring how we can address key barriers customers are currently facing.” 

Other Ideas 

An insufficient number of charging stations and whether charging points are available at home (or at work) have long been seen as major challenges to the growth of EV ownership in the UK (along with other factors like the price of EVs).

Some of the many suggestions for other potential kerbside solutions include:

– Lamp posts, especially in residential areas where traditional charging stations might be impractical, and they already have an electrical connection, which can be modified to include charging points.

– Parking meters. This would save space plus make use of the existing power supply and payment systems.

– Utility poles (similar to lamp posts), which have an existing power supply and are widely distributed, making them a viable option for EV charging.

– Street furniture such as benches, bus shelters, or other street furniture with integrated solar panels which could be equipped with charging capabilities.

– Retired/classic telephone boxes (only available now in some areas) can (and have been) repurposed as EV charging points, combining cultural heritage with modern technology.

– Bollards could be equipped with charging technology.

– Public toilets, which have been getting scarcer due to closures from council cuts, already have electricity for lighting and heating, and could be adapted to include EV charging points.

– Solar-powered recycling bins with built-in Wi-Fi and charging capabilities are one suggestion of an innovative way to combine waste-management and EV charging.

– Pop-up, temporary charging hubs / mobile charging stations, in areas with high demand, using existing power sources or portable generators.

What Does This Mean For Your Organisation? 

The innovative repurposing of BT’s green street cabinets essentially kills two birds with one stone, breathing new life into old infrastructure while tackling the UK’s lack of EV charging points. It’s one step in the right direction towards sustainable technology and environmental responsibility and it sounds as though it has the potential to make a major contribution (60,000) to the UK’s target of having 300,000 EV charging points by 2030. However, bear in mind that this is still only a pilot scheme.

It also seems like quite a practical option for a broad segment of the population. For organisations operating in the EV sphere, this expansion could also open new avenues for growth and innovation, as the increased infrastructure will likely stimulate demand for electric vehicles.

Environmentally, the repurposing of existing structures for EV charging aligns with green initiatives and carbon reduction goals and utilising existing assets, such as BT’s green boxes, is a way to reduce the environmental impact of constructing the necessary new EV charging stations in the UK. It also highlights how sustainability can be achieved through intelligent innovation, rather than just new construction.

Exploring the other potential kerbside solutions, like integrating charging capabilities into lamp posts, parking meters, and even public toilets, underscores the potential for creative solutions to the EV charging challenge. A versatile approach like this could well be the key to meeting the challenge of insufficient charging points in a faster, more affordable way at scale.

However, it’s still important to acknowledge that there are other remaining challenges within the EV market, such as the high initial cost of EVs, the need for widespread adoption of renewable energy sources to truly realise the environmental benefits of EVs, and the technical challenges associated with rapidly scaling up EV charging infrastructure. Addressing these issues requires a concerted effort from both the private and public sectors, with continued innovation and investment in sustainable technologies being paramount.

That said repurposing BT’s green street cabinets, alongside other innovative kerbside solutions, could offer a blueprint for how we can meet our environmental targets while fostering the growth of the EV market in the UK.

The ‘Add-Ins’ link on the menu (top-right) in Microsoft Word in Office 365 enables you to use many useful apps and tools directly within Word, including ChatGPT. Here’s how it works:

Open a Word document and click on ‘Add-Ins’ (a grid symbol) top-right in the horizontal menu bar at the top of the page.

From the dropdown of options, select ‘ChatGPT for Excel and Word’ and follow the very brief instructions to set it up.

Write your document and use the ChatGPT add-in, which appears in the right pane, to research details which you can copy directly into your document using the ‘Copy’ or ‘Insert’ button provided.

Following the news that Volkswagen (VW) is to add ChatGPT to the IDA voice assistant in its cars and SUVs, we look at what this could mean for the direction of technology for cars.

Adding ChatGPT 

At the current CET in Las Vegas, VW announced that starting in Europe in the second quarter of this year, the famous chatbot will be added to a variety of VW EVs, including the D.7, ID.4, ID.5 and ID.3, Tiguan, Passat, and Golf.

Drivers will be able to use ChatGPT hands-free via VW’s existing onboard IDA voice assistant, with Cerence Chat Pro from technology partner Cerence Inc acting as the foundation of the new function, which VW says, “offers a uniquely intelligent, automotive-grade ChatGPT integration.”

Within Limits 

It’s been reported, however, that certain limits have been placed on the kinds of questions that VW’s ChatGPT will answer, e.g. no profanity or ‘sensitive’ topics (it’s a family car).

Why? 

VW’s newsroom says the ChatGPT integration will mean that: “The IDA voice assistant can be used to control the infotainment, navigation, and air conditioning, or to answer general knowledge questions.” Also, VW envisions that: “In the future, AI will provide additional information in response to questions that go beyond this as part of its continuously expanding capabilities. This can be helpful on many levels during a car journey: Enriching conversations, clearing up questions, interacting in intuitive language, receiving vehicle-specific information, and much more – purely hands-free.” 

Just The Start 

Stefan Ortmanns, CEO of Cerence, the company tasked with the integration of ChatGPT with the onboard voice assistant has indicated that this is just the beginning, and that VW looks likely to ramp-up the power of its onboard AI going forward. For example, Ortmanns says: “As we look to the future, together Volkswagen and Cerence will explore collaboration to design a new, large-language-model-based (LLM) user experience as the foundation of Volkswagen’s next-generation in-car assistant.” 

What If It Was Combined With Autonomous Vehicles? 

This first for a volume car manufacturer and commitment to integrating generative AI with vehicles, coupled with the recent UK government suggestion that autonomous cars could be on our roads by 2026 raises some tantalising possibilities and questions. For example, what if AI chatbots like ChatGPT were integrated into autonomous vehicles and how could this affect the evolution of our cars and our commuting experience? Let’s explore some of the potential impacts and transformations this could bring.

Transformation into Access-Pods? 

Cars could evolve from traditional vehicles into “access-pods” and become spaces not just for travel but for various activities. In an autonomous vehicle, the need for a driver is eliminated, which would allow for the interior to be redesigned. For example, seats could become more like comfortable office chairs, and the inclusion of small tables or workstations could become standard. This could transform the car into a mobile office or a personal lounge, making the journey itself a productive or leisurely part of the day.

Working During Commute 

With autonomous vehicles, people could start working during their commute, just as they do on the train (only in a more personal setting). This could significantly change daily schedules, allowing for more flexible work hours. Also, as travel time becomes working time, the distinction between office and home could blur, perhaps leading to a more fluid work-life integration.

Could It Lead To A Societal Shift In Work Habits? 

The ability to work from a private car might lead to changes in living patterns. People might be more willing to live further from their workplaces if they can be productive during longer commutes. This could also have a wider impact on the property market, with less emphasis on living close to urban centres.

Enhanced Productivity and Entertainment 

The integration of AI chatbots in cars (whether autonomous or not) could, as VW suggests, make a journey more interactive and informative. Passengers can engage in productive tasks like setting up meetings, conducting research, or learning new skills through conversational AI. Additionally, entertainment options could become more personalised and interactive.

Safety and Accessibility 

For people who are unable to drive due to various reasons such as age, disability, or other factors, autonomous vehicles with AI integration could offer new levels of independence and mobility.

Traffic and Environmental Impact 

If autonomous vehicles and AI lead to smoother traffic flow and more efficient travel, there could be positive environmental impacts. However, if it encourages longer commutes, it might have the opposite effect.

Regulatory and Ethical Considerations 

With these possible advancements would come the need for new regulations and ethical guidelines, particularly concerning data privacy, cybersecurity, and liability in the event of accidents.

New Business Models?

The prospect of generative AI-controlled autonomous vehicles could also lead to new business models. For example, this could include things like subscription-based access to luxury autonomous pods for commuting, or services that combine transportation with other amenities like fitness, relaxation, or entertainment.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

Although VW’s integration of generative AI with vehicle voice assistants is a first for a volume car manufacturer, there was a kind of inevitability to it and it’s unlikely to take long for other car manufacturers to announce the same (they’re probably already working on it). For VW, it’s (currently) a value-adding and differentiating introduction, so provided that the restrictions on what the onboard ChatGPT can discuss aren’t too strict, it could make the driving time much more interesting, productive, and a much more personalised experience. Linking it to the sat-nav for example, may also be a feature that motorists really value, as may be the greater feeling of control, reassurance, and novelty of having something that can tell you about the car and its performance and issues. It may also provide a societal purpose and make people feel less alone while driving and perhaps more alert. Using hands-free voice commands to operate more aspects of the car (e.g. the radio, the hands-free phone etc), may also improve driver safety.

Looking ahead, perhaps to the integration of generative AI with autonomous vehicles, it’s possible that a societal shift could occur where our vehicles become more like productive and comfortable access-pods, which could have wider implications for our work/life balance and business models and could have knock-on effects for whole industries. It could even open new business and entertainment opportunities focused on access-pod occupants. This move by Volkswagen, therefore, offers us a glimpse of a better future for our personal transport options.

With January 1 being ‘Public Domain Day’, we look at what ‘public domain’ actually means in relation to works of literature, music, art, and science.

Public Domain Day

New Year’s Day each year is called ‘Public Domain Day’ because it’s the day that the copyright protection on a wide range of creative works such as literature, music, art, and science from the past expire. This means that they enter the ‘public domain’, i.e. they become free to use and adapt by everyone, with no licence required.

Life Of The Author Plus 70 Years (In The UK) 

In the UK for example, the duration of copyright is generally the life of the author plus 70 years. This means that a work enters the public domain 70 years after the death of the creator.

In the case of anonymous or pseudonymous works, the copyright lasts for 70 years from the date the work was made available to the public, unless the author’s identity becomes known within those 70 years. In these cases, the copyright duration reverts to the ‘life plus 70 years’ rule.

It’s important to note, however, that these rules can vary depending on the type of work and the circumstances of its publication. Also, different rules can apply to works published before a certain date or to works of authors who died many years ago. Copyright laws also differ from country to country.

Recent Examples 

Some examples of works that have just entered the public domain in 2024 include:

Books and Literary Works 

Some books by Agatha Christie, Virginia Woolf, W.E.B. Du Bois, D.H. Lawrence, H.G. Wells, Evelyn Waugh, and A.A. Milne. These include “The House at Pooh Corner” (1928) by A.A. Milne and “Orlando: A Biography” by Virginia Woolf. Also, Erich Maria Remarque’s “All Quiet on the Western Front” and Radclyffe Hall’s “The Well of Loneliness” have now entered the public domain, as has the poem “An American in Paris” by George Gershwin.

Films 

Some notable films such as Charlie Chaplin’s “The Circus” and “Steamboat Willie,” which features the earliest incarnations of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (1928), have entered the public domain. Also, films like “The Passion of Joan of Arc” directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and “In Old Arizona” are now in the public domain.

Other Notable Works 

In the art world, paintings by Francis Picabia and works by Cecil Hepworth, such as the 1903 film “Alice in Wonderland,” are now public domain. In music, compositions by Joseph Jongen and Django Reinhardt have also entered the public domain.

Memes and Adaptations 

The widespread circulation of memes and adaptations on the same subject often indicate an event or popular news story in today’s society. For example, as mentioned above, following years of legal battles, Steamboat Willie has now entered the public domain and, therefore, so have the earliest versions of Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse – this early Mickey Mouse has a more mischievous character. The film (and the accompanying Mickey and Minnie) was due to enter the public domain in 1984 but had its copyright extended. The extra 40 year wait and the legal wranglings with Disney (dubbed the ‘Mickey Mouse Protection Act’) have therefore made its public domain entrance newsworthy and a cause for celebration for some (e.g. those who saw it as a fight now lost by a large corporation). The result has been the appearance of many memes and adaptations appearing in multiple forms and locations (the first big meme of 2024), almost as a way to rub Disney’s nose in the fact that it has finally given up the Steamboat Willie Mickey and Minnie prizes to the rest of us.

Exceptions 

Some works, however, don’t fall under standard public domain rules due to specific reasons. These include:

– Works never covered by copyright such as facts, ideas, and methods of operation, which are not eligible for copyright.

– In some countries, government-produced works are public domain.

– Works where creators have chosen to waive copyright and place their works in the public domain anyway.

– Works with unknown or contested authorship, where there may be unclear copyright status.

– Works which have longer copyright due to specific legislation (like the US Copyright Term Extension Act).

– Unpublished works. These may have different copyright durations compared to published works.

– International variations whereby copyright laws vary by country, affecting public domain status.

– Corporate or anonymous works. These have different rules for copyright duration, often based on the publication date.

How Do You Check? 

For those wanting to quickly check whether a work is now in the public domain (more rigorous legal checks may be advisable), and find public domain works you can use, you can try websites like:

The Public Domain Review (publicdomainreview.org) – this focuses on historical and cultural works, including art and film, that are in the public domain.

Europeana Collections (www.europeana.eu) – offering access to millions of artworks, photographs, books, and music from European museums, galleries, libraries, and archives.

Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) – focusing on books and offers a vast collection of works that are in the public domain.

Internet Archive (www.archive.org) – a digital library offering free access to books, movies, music, and more, many of which are in the public domain.

The Public Domain Review (publicdomainreview.org) – offering a curated collection of works that have entered the public domain.

The Library of Congress Digital Collections (www.loc.gov/collections/) – offering access to a wide range of historical films, photographs, and documents, many of which are in the public domain.

What Does This Mean For Your Business? 

In its most basic form, when works come into the public domain it means no need for the cost of licences or legal worries for businesses wanting to use parts of them or adapt them. Wikipedia (which dedicated a whole page to the now public domain ‘Steamboat Willie’ Mickey Mouse suggests that when major works become free to enjoy, share, and re-use, it’s not just an event for creatives and knowledge collectors, but “also for all of us – as ‘consumers’ of knowledge.”  It seems, therefore, that ‘public domain’ has a legal definition in different countries but can also mean many things depending on who you are and what it’s taken to get something into the public domain. For example, it can be seen as a victory over large corporations, where all of us gaining something of rare value, or as a supply of free value-adding content that’s ripe for adaptation for a number of promotional and marketing purposes.

In the first change to Microsoft keyboards in 30 years, an AI key is to be added to Microsoft Windows 11 PC keyboards from February.

Copilot Key 

In a move that Microsoft says will make “2024 the year of the AI PC” and to mark a “shift toward a more personal and intelligent computing future where AI will be seamlessly woven into Windows from the system”, the new AI key will be added to allow the launch of Copilot directly from the keyboard.

Copilot is Microsoft’s AI-powered “companion” that’s been embedded into 365’s popular apps to provide intelligent suggestions and automation. This includes areas like Office Suite, where it can help in creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations by suggesting content, layouts, data insights and help with coding. It’s designed to enhance productivity and creativity, and to streamline tasks across different Microsoft software.

First Change To Keyboard In Three Decades 

In a blog post announcing the change, Microsoft says “the Copilot key marks the first significant change to the Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades. We believe it will empower people to participate in the AI transformation more easily.” 

When? 

Microsoft says that over the coming days leading up to and at the Computer Electronics Show (CES), in Las Vegas January 9-12, 2024, users will notice the Copilot key being added to many of the new Windows 11 PCs from its own partners, with availability beginning later in January through Spring, including on upcoming Surface devices.

Competition

Microsoft has invested heavily in (and worked in partnership with) OpenAI (ChatGPT’s creators) and this small but significant keyboard change shows how competition in the relatively new generative AI field is hotting up. With Google’s Bard and Duet AI (its equivalent of Copilot) plus Gemini and AI Studio, Microsoft’s move to compete and make it easier to access Copilot is behind this latest keyboard change. Some commentators compared it to when Apple added a Siri button (or option) to its touch bar on MacBooks to support voice usage.

What Does This Mean For Your Business?

The introduction of the first change to Windows PC keyboard in nearly three decades reflects Microsoft’s investment in AI and the fact they’re competing with rivals such as Google. Clearly, they’ll want to gain share in the generative AI market, and support and boost user numbers for Copilot. It’s also a way for Microsoft to bind users to its many products and ensure that the company remains a front-runner in what Microsoft sees as a world where AI is here to stay and grow in importance.

The company’s need to be leading the field may in no small way be the reason why its relationship has become so close to OpenAI (with the recent high-profile boardroom turmoil) that the relationship has become the subject of antitrust investigations. Expect more significant changes as the fast-evolving and highly competitive generative AI market grows.