Sneaky Charges Hassle Online Tax Filers
Plus: Floppies go away, graphics boards go to war, and SMS goes to Canada.1. Many Unhappy Returns
The Buzz: The idea behind electronic filing was to make
paying taxes simpler and to ensure that 60 percent of all people who filed
could do so for free. Though a staggering 54 million people are expected to
e-file this year, not everyone is satisfied. Some taxpayers are griping about
sluggish Web response and software bugs that forced them to start over or give
up altogether. Others have reported being charged for services they had assumed
were free. IRS spokesperson Nancy Mathis acknowledges that changes in the
criteria that private tax firms use to determine who's eligible to file for
free had caused some confusion--but she promises that "Next year, the criteria
will be more stable."
Bottom Line: What's the old saying? "Nothing is certain except death and taxes." Yeah, that and buggy software.
2. Farewell, My Floppy
The Buzz: Move over, kangaroo rats, spotted owls, and shortnose sturgeons. The floppy disk is about to join you on the endangered species list. Though most people stopped using the 3.5-inch disks at least five years ago--roughly when Apple gave floppies the boot--the drives have lingered on in most PCs. Until now. In March, Dell stopped including floppy drives as standard equipment on its high-end Dimension systems. Other vendors are sure to follow.
Bottom Line: Hello, Antiques Roadshow? Any interest in my vintage collection of America Online disks, circa 1995?
3. Graphics Wars Heat Up
The Buzz: Graphics chip maker NVidia has been king of
the hill for years among the gaming set. But that's all changing. First ATI's
Radeon 9700 Pro came out last year to smashing reviews. Then NVidia stumbled
with its GeForce FX 5800 Ultra, which got dinged for being noisy and bulky. ATI
hopes to open up its lead with the new Radeon 9800 Pro--at least until NVidia's
next counterstrike.
Bottom Line: High-end graphics boards are about bragging rights, not sales. Right now, ATI's doing all of the bragging.
4. Text Messages Take Off
The Buzz: Cell phone-to-cell phone text messaging (called SMS, or short message service) is finally making inroads in North America, horrifying good spellers and ergonomic specialists everywhere. Domestic SMS usage should receive another boost with the recent agreement among six major U.S. carriers (AT&T Wireless, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless) and Canada's four national phone service providers that allows wireless finger twiddlers to send text messages between the two countries.
Bottom Line: It's about time we got SMS in the States--it's huge in Europe. Then again, so is David Hasselhoff.
Contributing Editor Steve Fox covers buzzworthy products, ideas, and trends. Contact him at steve_fox@pcworld.com. Go here for more Plugged In.
Nagging Question: Why Is the Linux Mascot a Penguin?
When Linux Kernel Mailing List habitués were hunting for a logo to represent their brave young OS, Linux creator Linus Torvalds mentioned that he liked penguins, and Tux the penguin was born. Still, why a penguin? "No good reason, really," Torvalds explained in a 1996 e-mail message. "But a logo doesn't really have to mean anything--it's the association that counts. And I can think of many worse things than...being associated with penguins." It's a good thing Torvalds wasn't a fan of turkeys or weasels.