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asv108 writes "It seems that people are finding new uses for their iPod. According to this story in Wired, a Dallas area CompUsa employee caught a teenager transferring a fresh copy of Office for OSX to his iPod from a store demo machine."
From teh article: Webb watched the teenager copy a couple of other applications. He left the kid to find a CompUSA employee. "I went over and told a CompUSA guy, but he looked at me like I was clueless," Webb said.
Isn't that a misprint? Should it not read: I look at him as though HE were clueless?
Sounds about right... CompUSA loser is thinking, "Yeah man, sure... the kids stealing apps off out machines with his Walkman. WHATever... don't forget your tinfoil hat on that way out!"
Just another moron who doesn't know his products or their capabilities.
(It's not just PC workers, even today's car salesmen don't know their product. I went shopping with a friend who wanted to buy a car in the same model that I own. My friend is an informed consumer; he and I had to correct the sales guy on model names, equipment on each, engine size and wheel size on three different cars.)
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
Okay, using your anti-criteria for news... Winchester touts their rifles' abilities to fire ammunition extremely accurately with immense force as one of their selling points. So when a person uses one to kill a president or a few dozen schoolchildren, is it newsworthy?
/.
Someone has discovered a new, ironic, and devious way to use an iPod for piracy. It's funny. And nerdy. And newsworthy. Especially on
Wait, a front page story on slashdot is a front page story on Wired that's entirely hearsay. A computer consultant says he saw a crime, CompUSA didn't believe him, and that's news?
Here's a suggestion: Physically block the fucking I/O ports on display models. Put a locked metal bar across them or something. Cheap, quick, and effective.
-- kwashiorkor --
Leaps in Logic
should not be confused with
Jumping to Conclusions.
Ah, but it's nice and easy with Mac apps because they don't generally sprinkle files all over the disk. You just drag'n'drop a single icon. It'll take longer for Microsoft to fix that than for USB2 to become common :-)
Quentin
About 10 years ago I used to hang out in the mac lab at a local university while my Mom went to classes. I used to have a 2GB external HD the pluged in to the wall and used a huge scsi cable to hook up to the back of the Mac. I had copies of everything and they (computer lab guys) watched me do it, and said nothing. Times have changed (a little)and I became an adult. Yes you can get in a significant amount of trouble *if your caught*. It is very easy to steal anything regardless of how you physically do it, thats why we laws that say if your *caught* you will be punished. If you are over 18 and you pulled this stunt, *I* would have no problem reporting you as a shoplifter. this kid is the reason/excuse we have for crappy laws like the DMCA. IMHO if your moral standards are such that you *know* your stealing from someone and say its ok because they didn't lock it up good enough, then your sliding down a very slippery slope. (but I'll still visit you in jail when you get caught)
"Get them before they get....
Even more interesting is the question of whether or not the iPod, or the binary data contained on the device, is subject to confiscation or seizure if they believe that you downloaded a copy of Office onto it.
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Nothing's missing . . . do they have the right to seize all those 1's and 0's?
You could make decent arguments for both sides . .
CompUSA eh? I'm surprised they even knew it WAS a Macintosh. Honestly, I've gone into that store to look for accessories for my mac and had them try and sell me a Compaq. Hello? Dumbass? I *HAVE* a mac, and I'm trying to purchase accesories for it. I don't want to buy a third rate PC with an updated "model number."
Incidentally, I'd like to point out that the ease with which you can pirate software from a Macintosh raises an interesting point with Apple's vision. You install OfficeX by copying it where you want it...similar to the way you installed software on PCs before the invention of the "install wizard." Somebody realised that a single motion (drag program to applications) was easier than clicking through a dozen confusing menus. Somebody realized the time to ask for a serial number was when you tried to run a program, not while the install CD was in the drive.
Oh, and I'd like to mention in this anonymous forum that I steal bandwidth from the Apple store all the time. That lovely open (well, i consider 128bit WEP pretty open) Airport network is perfect for chilling in the mall with my palmtop, comparing online prices to b&m.
Hey freaks: now you're ju
"Webb watched the teenager copy a couple of other applications. He left the kid to find a CompUSA employee. 'I went over and told a CompUSA guy, but he looked at me like I was clueless,' Webb said."
If this isn't a wake-up call to stores like CompUSA, I don't know what is. If you treat and pay your employees like Wal-Mart employees, you're going to get people with the computer knowledge of Wal-Mart employees. Hand-holding employees through training isn't the answer because all that will give you is employees that require somebody else to do all their thinking for them while making them believe that they already know everything.
The reason the employees in stores like these don't have half a brain is because those that DO have half a brain can make far more money doing something else. Hell, people who answer tech support calls typically make more money than retail employees.
This is nothing more than CompUSA getting what it pays for.
Umm... I hope you complained to his manager about his unacceptable behavior.
I'm so tired of rude, inconsiderate, and downright stupid sales clerks!
I'm starting to make a habit of filing complaints on these morons - because in the current economy, there's really no excuse for keeping some of these people employed. Much better individuals are out there, trying to find a job.
Just a few weeks ago, my wife got one of the people fired who worked at a Long John Silver's fast food place not far from here. They completely screwed up our order after we waited nearly 20 minutes for it (and while they served some friends of theirs first, even though they arrived after us) - and then copped an attitude when we just asked for a refund.
Kinkos has always been the best place to get software. Sure, you have to pay by the hour, but their Macs are/were equipped with zip drives, later CDR drives, but this new Firewire thing is a real boon for getting bloatware.
What I'd like to know is if the iPod can play music while you're getting your copy of Office. If Apple used Linux or Darwin in the iPod, that would be a no-braner!
"Only in their dreams can men truly be free 'twas always thus, and always thus will be."
--Tom Schulman
I needed to buy a replacement Lexmark printer, because they're cheap and I do a lot of printing in b/w format, and did some shopping at Best Buy and CompUSA for price comparisons.
At one Best Buy, they had a Z52 as a store display, as Z53s had just come out. There were no more Z52s left, and they had yet to receive the Z53s for their stock.
Asking a manager, I got the price reduced to almost half the retail, and still got their crappy service plan thrown in for a year. When they opened it up to check for any products inside in case I was trying to smuggle them out, the cashier removed the ink cartridges and ran them across their demagnetizer.
Why? Because they put anti-theft tags on the cartridges. People actually walk into stores and try to swipe open inkjet cartridges which have been used quite a bit as demonstration products, and are already open.
So they're aware that people try to steal innards, but as to how far they can go, who knows? RAM may not be protectable in these methods, but other items could be.
Human nature is the same everywhere; the modes only are different. -- Earl of Chesterfield
Do you know how many people switch to Linux when XP came out, just because of the XP Home Edition license stink?
Dozens? Perhaps hundreds?
Compared to the number of computers that have already shipped with XP pre-installed, I doubt anyone in Redmond is sweating it.