The Portable Website

Thank you for the many positive and critical responses to our first CD-ROM. The feedback has shown us that our thoughts on mobility and the lack of satisfactory internet connections are correct. It just isn’t possible to always have a stable connection to the web-based services.

Many of the users mentioned a situation that we just did not perceive, namely that a CD-ROM is not always taken along on a trip. Although small and handy, the silver disks are just not part of the commonly packed luggage. Moreover, many of the users have several CDs that they use regularly, and the necessity to jockey these back and forth is cumbersome.

Most interestingly though, a large number of responses indicated that while travelling, the portable computers or laptops are reconfigured to save weight and increase usage time by having the CD-Drives replaced with a second battery pack, or, even more importantly it eems to us, that the mobile computer is not fitted with a CD-Drive at all.

A further group, although smaller in number, mentions that the portability of the application is essential, but that the usage is limited to systems found in situ at their destinations where it is impossible for them to foresee the availability of a CD-Drive.

One workaround for most of these users, bar the latter, is to copy the entire contents of the CD to the hard disk of their portables. This not only saves the necessity to carry the CD-ROM, but also makes the application a little faster.

However, we have thought about this long and hard and come up with a solution that we feel is not only satisfactory but has added value to the user. As of the second portable production we have decided to load the application onto a USB-Stick instead of on a CD-ROM. The stick will have loads of free space for the user to carry additional data and should be universally usable, wherever there is a USB port available on a computer, be that on ones own portable or in situ.

The functionality of the application on the USB-Stick is comparable to that of the CD-ROM with better performance and higher flexibility.

We are aware of the possibility of users not having any free USB ports, just as we have been made aware of the problems that confront the users of our CD-ROMs. It is our sincere belief, however, that the majority of users will be able to use the new system with greater efficiency and higher productivity. Should you have any concerns on this matter we will be happy to respond to your query. Please write to prodpromo@intercable.ch .

This is an exciting project, and we trust that you will be just as thrilled with the outcome as we are!

Take our website with you!

The availability of the internet cannot be taken for granted in every corner of the world. Some smaller businesses have a need for a fast and efficient research system, but do not have the means to use the Internet. For many of them, our portable product is an invaluable tool, allowing it's use on any computer system that has a modern browser installed. The structure of the data is similar to the internet application. The data is updated and published annually.

There are times when a user may need data but does not have a connection to the Internet. This can be any situation e.g. when a user is on the move (train, bus, airplane) or in a remote area.

To assist in the flexibility we publish a portable application annually. This is a stand-alone application that is produced by creating an image of the website at a given time.

The functionality is comparable to that available online. The available data, however, is that available at the time of production and may therefore be less up-to-date than what is featured online. All that is required to run the Portable-Application is a computer with a functioning USB slot and a compatible browser installed. The portable application runs on both Windows and Apple computers and its installation is minimally intrusive. All installed components are run off the USB-Stick itself, and removed from memory on exiting the application.