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Rendezvous, Microsoft And Apple
serendigital writes "MacCentral reports that a BusinessWeek article entitled: 'A Rendezvous with Redmond?' has -- with Rendezvous -- created an actual threat to Microsoft. As reported by MacCentral, it's interesting to note that BusinesWeek's 'Byte of the Apple' columnist Charles Haddad is on temporary leave and this article was written by a substitute columnist."
They come out with the coolest technologies and they just work great!
WHY is this interesting to note?? Charles Haddad is nothing but an apple apologist, a real zealot. Have you read his previous articles? They are all sugar-coated for Apple. He runs the Apple column at that site, so this is to be expected of course, but I prefer more objectivity.
How does that fit into Rendezvous?
why?
because its open source...
Ironicly this is in redmond favor.... since if they ever see it as a threat to themselves due to their lack of such a feature, they'll simply incorporate it... And with that the advantage apple had over MS is gone.
With the major printers on board amongst others begining to support it.... I highly doubt it will take Bill long to make sure MS also supports it AND adds their own special "windows enhanced" features to it.
This whole situation is anologous to when apple made the USB only imac.... in a time when USB was common, but USB products weren't.... Apple suddenly created a greatly under-supported market.... which suddenly rushed to fill the whole with plethras of USB devices.... that didn't even take a year to become predominatly PC.
--Enter The Sig --
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
Sure this "instant networking" is all very cool, but for most geeks in the know, we *want* to be able to configure till we die.
Security restrictions? Can I restrict the range of IP addresses that access my music folders? Password access? Encryption? I wanna tweak dammit! The problem with that is that as soon as you make the system more powerful and have all these geek-satisfying options, you need to be able to get down to the nuts and bolts of configuring it. Otherwise you end up in the same mess as MS, with users blindly enabling potentially insecure servers.
"In mathematics, it's not enough to read the words -- you have to hear the music"
OS/2, Windows, and Unix with Samba has had this abiltiy for quite a while.
On Windows, this is accessable via Network Neighborhood.
As far as IP configuration, with DynDNS and DHCP, it's zero-configuration and you get a sensible name.
I really don't see how this "rendezvous" is useful at all considering the prior art.
int func(int a);
func((b += 3, b));
That's the point. It's not written by the guy who is known to be a real zealot.
Personally, I think Rendezvous is going to revolutionize the trade show floor.
The trade show wireless network a small local network, the sort Rendezvous works with. Vendors and consultants will be able to promote themselves by having web sites and servers advertise themselves. You'll be able to find FTP or file servers and grab demo versions of products. You'll be able to chat with representatives. You'll be able to grab contact information into your address book and product release calendars into iCal. Who knows what else?
If Apple creates a Rendezvous implementation for Windows I fail to see how Apple's market share will grow. It will enable PC users to get the benefits of Rendezvous without owning a Mac. It will also allow existing Mac users connect with their PC using co-workers and friends. And since it is a completely open technology the PC users will not even need a Mac involved at all. So that begs the questions, how will this benefit Apple?
Apple does not make money by packaging software and making it available for everyone to use freely. Sure they get to innovate and make their customers happy, but it does not win them more customers. This article seems to imply that creating cool technology and implementing it on a PC will help Apple. There needs to be some proprietary software in place for this to be true.
Now if they created a Rendezvous implementation for corporate environments and a Software Development Kit to be used by companies like IBM. At work I use Lotus Notes which has a messenger client. I would like to automatically find co-workers without all of the initial setup that I had to do when I started using it. I would also like to be able to monitor the servers on the network and use the printers more easily. If Apple could sell software to do all of that, and perhaps sell XServe systems with it I bet that would benefit Apple.
I really hope Apple does break into the corporate workplace. It would really simplify much of extra work that I do so I can get back to my real work.
Brennan Stehling - http://brennan.offwhite.net/blog/
Actually, if I could get a Linux laptop that did everything my Tibook does, I would. But there aren't any and most of the x86 laptops out there are trash.
Apple's desktops are the sleekest or sexiest, but unless you home build you own whacked case with neon and shit, x86 desktops look like crap too.
So I think his "Bill's boxes to Steve's elegant machines" hits the nail on the head. I still love my Linux boxen, but my Macs, for overall design and availibility of all the software I need, are better.
I believe the point that the author was making was that this is one more tool to reduce platform-dependence. The more freely programs and peripherals are able to communicate with one another across various platforms, the more Microsoft and Windows shrink into the background.
That's why MS got all fired up about stomping Netscape into the ground, because the browser is supposed to enable platform-independent computing.
Yeah, it's kind of a stretch to think of Rendezvous as a "Windows killer," but it's just one technology of many to accomplish that task.
Actually, if I could get a Linux laptop that did everything my Tibook does, I would. But there aren't any and most of the x86 laptops out there are trash.
Well, there is nothing stoping you from running Linux on your Tibook, you know.
this technology is only insecure because of the lack of any premissions or access control lists. throw that in there and this is definitely a killer app.
It's quite relevant. One of the points of the article was that I/T configuration is a significant cost for companies, and the poster took it further by pointing out that competent I/T help is a factor that exacerbates the problem. The poster also correctly points out that in some places, Apple faces a severe uphill climb, because they're not even considered by some I/T "professionals" who've never given their products more than a cursory examination. In other places, I/T professionals (actual ones) have a wide grasp of technologies, not tied to a single vendor or platform, and they'll use whichever one seems to be the best value for the investment.
Apple solutions aren't always going to be the best. I'm not claiming that. I'd even go so far as to say that sometimes, using MS stuff is the right thing for a company or project, despite the fact that I detest their business practices (and think they've earned every bit of antipathy they've received). But the bottom line is: there's a world of I/T and software workers out there who'll never even consider (let alone attempt to become proficient with) technologies outside their favorites, and that's simply not professional. No company or platform out there holds a monopoly on good ideas.
Libertarianism is rich wolves and poor sheep playing gambler's ruin for dinner.
Actually, if I could get a Linux laptop that did everything my Tibook does, I would. But there aren't any and most of the x86 laptops out there are trash.
Have you ever seen worked with a Dell Latitude or an IBM Thinkpad? Lovely machines, built tough, great stuff. Some of the mini-laptops built primarily for Japanese consumption are also wonderful. However, you have to admit, Apple's laptops have been class acts pretty much from the word go. There have been some cruddy ones like the PB150 (I've got one), and the 5300, but most have been built for strength, capability and style.
Well, there is nothing stoping [sic] you from running Linux on your Tibook, you know.
Yellow Dog Linux will run on any G3/G4 Powerbook or iBook you please, with few exceptions. The TiBooks with the Radeon 9000 Mobility chipset are not supported yet, but I suspect this is only temporary. The question, in the case of TiBooks, is why anyone would want to run Linux on them. Once you get into G4 range, MacOS X is so compelling and works so well any desire to run Linux raises eyebrows. On the other hand, unless you pack it with as much RAM as you can cram most G3 laptops are incapable of running X well. That's where Yellow Dog shines.
I'm in the process of buying a Wallstreet Powerbook G3 from a friend of mine...that's going to dual-boot MacOS 9.2.2 and Yellow Dog. Moof. See you at Starbucks. I'll be the girl in the black mock turtleneck and black jeans with a black beret, sipping a Frappucino. Oh, and checking my email from my still-stylin' Wallybook.
"But you've already got a DVD. It lasts forever....In the digital world, we don't need back-ups..."
-- Jack Valenti
granted, I've never been inside of a mac,
Obviously.
but from what I know it's all propriety apple stuff
Then you don't know anything. No offense.
DDR RAM, IDE HDD (on a *gasp* ATA bus), AGP Video-cards, PCI expansion slots, USB, IEEE 1493 (Firewire, iLink), ZIF processors.... in every powermac sold today (and has been sold for a while).
In fact, my Powermac has a Seagate HDD, a nVidia videocard and shikatronics RAM.
I thought that this kind ignorance had disappeared, but I guess not.
sin(6cos(r)+5A)
I want to plug in my XP box and see everyone playing the game at the lan party....then I don't have to worry about all the dam config crap or anything...now THAT is plug and play.
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
"It's a form of distributed computing with no middleman required. "
You mean I can write wor...I mean software that will automatically find the most available hosts to infe...I mean utilize? And network resources are instantly available to me with little or no authentication?
Open WAPS just get more and more problematic. Imagine wireless aware worms that spread through the air quickly rendering the airwaves useless.
Imagine your printers printing 1000's of worm initiated pages of X11 camera ads or something...
The authentication mechanisms and potentials for abuse involved in these 'features' are truly scary.
Hello... Earth to SlashDot... Is anyone there...?
UPnP is an industry standard which does everything Rendevouz does and more, and it's been around for quite a bit longer.
The editor, Hemos, took out my comments before posting the article.
I said that implying that Rendezvouz is a threat to Microsoft is grossly overstating the facts.
I also said, "expect Microsoft to announce a product called something like "Lliason" any day now, and to tout it as being highly innovative." ahem
Rendezvouz is VERY COOL, and will cause many people to consider a Macintosh, but a threat to Microsoft, I don't think so. That Rendezvouz increases Apple's viability as an alternative to Microsoft would have been MUCH more accurate. I'm sure that Charles Haddad would have written a much more informed article.
It is possible that this has been in Apple's business plan for a while new. Keep in mind that they do own the domain iPhone.com.
So not true. That was a demo - not actual functionality. Rendezvous does not 'just work'; try it sometime. If you have a split network (ie some people on wifi and some on ethernet for example, or as is the case here, my mac is on wifi to the neighbour and shares a network out to the rest of the house via ethernet - naughty but nice!) and even iConquer games can't automagically see each other on my network. I have seen iChats fail to see each other in a similar set up. It's a great idea and i'm sure will get there soon, but it is not really there now.
Want to change your printer configuration wirelessly? Apple's speedy new Safari browser will let you do that if your printer is Rendezvous-compatible -- without your having to hunt down a specific IP (Internet protocol) address.
why is this specific to Safari? I understood once rendesvous has announced my printer to my mac then anything capable of using the print cener would be able to use that printer. what sarafi does do is list web servers that have announced themselves via rendesvous in the bookmarks list.
As promised last summer, most of the major printer makers have upgraded their machines to support Rendezvous.
no they havn't, they have announced that they will be doing so however.
This routine normally involves wading through dozens of folders in search of the proper IP addresses for our office printers, a confusing process that has resulted in more than one call to the help desk.
I'm sorry but this is just FUD. Sure it can be a pain to get a printer hooked up to some windoze machines, just as it can be a pain to get some printers to talk to the mac. some printers are just rubbish. now getting Linux to talk to a printer - that can be hard work.
Add enough of these simplifications together, and it becomes hard to refute that running an office network using Rendezvous-equipped Macs will end up costing less than comparable Windows software -- because there really isn't any.
I'm sorry what was that? in proper english sentences this time? was the author paid for this article? do they have any editors working there?
With Windows, you still need a file server and a print server, with Rendezvous and Apple you don't.
riiiight.... - puts pinkie in corner of mouth.
no for sure no-one ever thought to distribute computing load seamlessly across a network. no-one. ever. not ever, nope. just never occured to anyone before. idiot.
Apple has even obligingly offered the Rendezvous software in Windows code. In fact, Apple has open-sourced Rendezvous and released source code for versions designed to work on Linux machines as well.
It's called 'written in C' I believe.
If more Rendezvous-enabled pieces of Windows software start hitting the shelves, slowly but surely, Apple will start to break down the obstacles to switching platforms from Bill's boxes to Steve's elegant machines.
aside from the obvious frothing at the mouth editorialising here, i think it is in apple's interests to let other people do the work of making windows and linux software. apple sell computers and software, M$ sell software and video games consols. should apple just offer to rewrite MS office et al for bill?
it's hard to decide if this article is sh1t or fuçking shit.
ps: If you want a list of software that is Rendezvous compatable, check version tracker.
I used to have a better sig than this, but I got tired of it
That ad got a lot of flack, and I ignored it as I hadn't seen the spot. Last weekend, though, I was checking out the Apple store in NYC and got to see it. She was right! Assume it's Christmas. Dad just got a digital camera. He takes a picture of grandma and wants to print it out on his new photo printer. He plugs the camera and printer into his Windows PC and spends an hour downloading the XP drivers (because the camera only came with WinME), and there's some strange daemon keeping the parallel port open.
-OR-
He plugs all the devices into his Mac. iPhoto comes up automatically and he removes grandma's redeye and crops the picture down, then prints it out five minutes later on the new printer.
That's why I want a Mac. I can (and do) deal with Windows dumbness, but I don't want to have to. On my Mac, I can just do more. My friend tried to get his digital camera working for hours before I came over with my PowerBook and plugged it, opened iMovie, and produced results. That's why I have a Mac.