March 2023 – Jeremy's Site

Electric cars, good or bad?

It’s no surprise that the electric car is taking over the car market. But are they actually any good? I’ll be looking at it from a consumer’s point of view and from a potential environmental point as well because for all we are told, it doesn’t seem to be that black and white.

The good?

Although it will be debated later, it is hard to deny the fact that electric cars will be better for the planet. The lack of a combustion engine means it doesn’t emit any CO2 and thus reducing our carbon footprint. Aside from that, electric cars allow for a new generation of technology to come through. A main focal point is the massive touchscreen pads. With many complain that this could be a distraction to drivers and could cause a serious hazard, but they think that it is more useful than it is dangerous. With the ability to make handless calls, listen to music and many other features that are to come, it is a great addition to the car and allows for the tech industry to thrive and produce more driving new innovations. The technology behind a self-driving car is extremely complicated but very interesting. The number of sensors and cameras needed and the coding aspects which have to take into account billions of situations at once may lead us to question whether we will need to drive at all anymore. Having seen the success that Tesla and Elon Musk has had at the moment it’s clear that we might be heading in this direction. This again opens up a whole new world of innovation for tech companies and car makers a like to create new and improved ways to maximise the self-driving aspect. The self-driving has come a long way from where it was first introduced and we are still seeing companies like google and even Apple trying to build an electric car and make them completely autonomous. Whether or not these cars are gonna be any good is another question in itself

For many, including myself, the idea of electric cars seems counterproductive. Although the cars themselves will not emit carbon emissions all the time. The way these cars are made is still not environmentally sound. Firstly, the lithium from within these batteries has to come from somewhere and this is done by digging massive holes in the ground, which itself is destroying areas around the world. And there is a finite amount of lithium in the world and thus will run out eventually. This is only of the many issues that electric car faces. From this, the lithium from the batteries has to be shipped from the said country to another country on a boat to be turned into batteries to then be shipped back to other countries to then be placed in the car and then be shipped again around the world. A famous clip from Jeremy Clarkson is a great example of how the challenge we face to make these cars environmentally friendly.But for those who are interested in cars, I think the thing that would trouble the most the the fact that they are losing the sense of what a car is. With everything being simply done for you, there is no sense of you and the car anymore. Driving for those is a hobby and is something they enjoy, the worry is that it will now just become “one of those things”. You lose the magic in the sense of a car. I think that despite the benefits of an electric car, they will never be able to replace the feeling and the sensation of an internal computation engine which is why I wish to still be driving in one for as long as possible. I could’ve used stats and figures but that’s not what this is about. It’s simply a matter of opinion

What is Harmony OS and is it the next big thing?

Harmony OS was developed by Huawei back in 2019. This was in direct response to the US government banning any companies from working with Huawei after it was found that they were selling and exporting goods to Iran.

Origins of Harmony OS

Despite the fact the OS was released in 2019, the reports of the Harmony OS have been in development since 2012. This could suggest that the company was expecting this sort of thing to happen and was prepared to take action when it did happen. As of 27 July 2022, Harmony is now on its third version. The OS is based on the Android EMUI but Huawei has added many new features which will be discussed later. It would seem that Harmony could help Huawei in increasing their sales and the popularity of their brand. It is not surprising if this allows them to compete directly with Apple’s IOS and Android.

Gernal thoughts

For many people who have tested the new Harmony OS, the response has been positive overall. Many praises that the system feels new and smooth. Many praise the new “snippet” feature. This allows users to see a preview of the app of their choice without having to open the app. It takes up a small portion of the screen and can be activated by swiping up on the app. Not only this but the OS was described as being very easy to read. This would allow for a larger audience and appeal towards the older generation, further, the OS has been complimented on it’s “car friendly” capability. Allowing users to have a more hands-free experience, meaning they can focus more on the driving at hand. Making the roads safer whilst still being able to use the technology to listen to music, navigate or many of the other features that the OS has to offer.

Customer reviews

Having read and listened to customers’ reviews on the Harmony OS system, these are some of the main features that they enjoyed about the OS. Firstly, they described how the OS ran amazingly well, being very smooth and easy to use. From this point, they also mentioned how the OS was very customisable having many different ways to change your phone to suit it to you and your needs. This is very important when taking into consideration the competition that Harmony faces. The minimalistic feel of the OS was another aspect that was commented on by customers, not having too much on the screen links to the smooth feel of the OS. Other features that they mentioned, make Harmony stand out. The “super devices” allows users to use the Bluetooth function and drag and connect multiple devices into one “bubble” allowing for an easier experience when working with other Harmony devices. The multi- the screen is an example of this, with many expressing that it is the best multi-screen function that they have used with a smooth feel and easy to setup.

Overview

It would seem that the Harmony OS system is on its way up. However, it would seem to lack the advertising that it needs to expand to users. The OS doesn’t seem to have any faults and will most likely only get better.

GTA VI What we know so far

As I am sure many of you are aware, Rockstar Games suffered a cyber attack on September 19 2022, although this wasn’t good news for Rockstar. It did allow us to see some newly leaked information about the long-awaited GTA VI game.

What do we know so far?

A question that I’m sure many of you are asking is which consoles GTA VI is going to be realising. With the introduction of the new-generation consoles of the Xbox series X and the PS5, we can assume that the game will be built with the intention of getting the best out of these consoles. Therefore it seems unlikely that the game will not be released on the older generation of consoles. Understandably, being that the game will see an increase in graphical performance, it would be difficult to see how Rockstar would want to release the new game on an older console. This would seem a step in the wrong direction. Another important factor which we should take into consideration is if the new game will have crossplay. Currently, GTA V does not have this feature and this seemingly frustrates the current user base, however, it is still not clear if the game will have crossplay when released. An educated guess would assume that the game would include this feature as many of the most popular games of the past and the present, had this feature.

What will the new map be like?

As has been anticipated, the GTA VI map looks to grow once more, with rumours of the long await Vice city to make a return to the game. It would seem that GTA VI is most likely to take place in a fictional version of Miami. However, more importantly, the game will look to expand and evolve over time, thus, as we saw with GTA V, the map and the game will see significant changes over time to maintain the popularity of the game. Although the expansion of the map is a good thing, I worry that the map may become too large. Ventures across the map could become tedious which could cause players to quit after the inevitable initial hype dies down. Despite this, I still feel that the new map will certainly be impressive and hopefully provide a lot of entertainment.

What will the new story be?

The leaks from 2022 revealed to us that GTA VI will most likely have two main characters. One male and a female character. Some are using this to assume that this might indicate that the two will be a couple on the run from the Miami authorities. I feel this is a step forward for Rockstar, this allows for more inclusiveness but is also a great opportunity for them to create a fantastic storyline. We’ve seen this in the past from Rockstar not just from GTA V but also the likes of both of the Red Dead games which are very well known for having amazing storylines and having played them myself I am inclined to agree. Although I must admit that I have a small concern about only having two characters and worry that the story may not be as long or detailed as the previous one. Losing that extra storyline from another character may be an issue. But, with the reduction of the characters, I assume that Rockstar is attempting to make the storyline more detailed and fun for the users.

Concluding

It’s clear that GTA VI is going to be a very exciting game on the whole, and I do believe that it will live up to its hype. Of course, there is still a lot to wait for from rockstar and it will be interesting to see how the game will develop. The online aspect will be a feature which I think will remain very similar because of the extreme success of the previous game. Although I will most likely not play the new game, I will still look to see what the general thought about the game will be.