Slashdot Mirror
New iMacs (and iPods)
Dilaudid writes "According to
this story at MacWorld Apple has just announced three new iMac models - all with Bluetooth and AirPort Extreme. More importantly there are new iPods too. Cool." The iMacs got a speed bump up to 1.25GHz, and the iPods were capacity-bumped up to 40GB.
...
"You lied to me! There is a Swansea!"
biznootches!
screw that, just go buy a new beetle and get your iPod...
This post was brought to you by the number 584811 and the characters / and .
2 Firewire 400 ports, but no firewire 800.
I would have thought they'd move to the new spec.
*shrug*
[overused_zing]
if I could afford one maybe i'd care more.
[/zing]
"You worthless post!"
-Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
...with prices in Dollars?
From Apple.com to avoid having to convert British pounds into prices that would be for the wrong market anyway...
Why do I h8 apple?
*cries*
;)
Good thing I have an iRiver discman though
-----Article:
>>>Apple upgrades iMac range
By Jonny Evans
Apple today introduced new iMac configurations featuring up to a 1.25GHz G4 processor and faster 333MHz DDR memory as standard.
Three models of iMac are now available as standard from the company: the 1GHz 15-inch screen Combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) iMac; the 17-inch model (with SuperDrive), hosting a 1.25GHz processor; and the 17-inch SuperDrive Plus model, which offers 1.25GHz, and ships with AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth built-in.
The 15-inch iMac costs 999; the 17-inch SuperDrive costs 1,449; and the 17-inch SuperDrive Plus costs 1,713. Prices include VAT.
All models are AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth ready, though the highest-end model is the only iMac with these features pre-installed. Other features common across the range include: 80GB hard drives (high end, 160GB); 10/100Base-T Ethernet; 56K internal modems; and Apple Pro speakers.
The new iMacs have three USB 2.0 ports and two FireWire 400 ports. They do not offer the new FireWire 800 standard.
The 15-inch model has an NVidia GeForce4 MX graphics card installed with 32MB dedicated DDR video memory - up from a GeForce2 MX. The two 17-inch iMacs offer NVidia GeForce FX 5200 Ultra graphics cards with 64MB DDR memory installed. Previously the 17-inch models featured the GeForce4 MX.
With Mac OS X 10.2 and Apple's iApps (iPhoto, iMovie, iTunes and iDVD), the software bundle includes: QuickTime, iCal, iChat, iSync, DVD Player, AppleWorks, Mac OS X Mail, Internet Explorer, Mac OS X Chess, Otto Matic, Deimos Rising, FAXstf, Acrobat Reader, and the Apple Hardware Test CD.
Apple has also introduced new iPods with a maximum 40GB storage:
>>>40GB iPod launched
By Macworld staff
Apple has introduced a 40GB iPod for 398.99 including VAT.
The new version replaces the 30GB iPod, although the price is unchanged. The 40GB model can hold 10,000 songs, and weighs 176 grams.
The 15GB version has also been replaced by a 20GB version, with pricing fixed at 299.
All iPods include earbud headphones, an iPod power adaptor, a FireWire cable and a 4-pin-to-6-pin iPod FireWire adaptor.
20GB and 40GB models include the iPod Dock, a carrying case and wired remote.
The link to the actual article is:
w sI D=6857
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?Ne
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
Why can't Apple make a less expensive headless box? All thier lower-priced units have some sort of monitor attached (e/iMac). Why not have an iMac-class system without the screen? Their product line seems to be all or nothing (G5 tower or iMac with integrated monitor).
Sure, they look cool, but the specs just aren't there for the $$.
"Want in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up first." - My Dad
I have recently upgraded from a Mac 8600/300 w/64 Megs of RAM to a new G5 dual 2GHz with AGP 8X and PCI-X to help me at my freelance gig where I copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder. On the G5 I spent about 20 minutes trying to install Adobe Arcobat 6. 20 minutes. At home, on my Pentium Pro 200 running NT 4, which by all standards should be a lot slower than this Mac, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.
In addition, during this file transfer, my iPod will not work. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even Safari is straining to keep up as I type this.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while working on various Macs, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a Mac that has run faster than its Wintel counterpart, despite the Macs' faster chip architecture. My 486/66 with 8MB of ram running MS Windows for Workgroups 3.11 is faster than this G5 dual 2GHz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the Macintosh is a superior machine.
Mac addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a Mac over other faster, cheaper, more stable systems.
Has Dell, Gateway, Compaq, MSFT, IBM, eMachines, or Alienware announced any new models to existing product lines lately?
Yes!
And it's earth-quaking news indeed.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Get these (relatively) unimpressive updates out of the way to make room for the real ones at Apple Expo in Paris.
You tell me how "whilst" differs from "while," and I'll stop calling you a pretentious jackass.
to bash the RIAA, SCO, and MS. Like, hardware is so boring man. Wake me when they've started replacing neurons in the brain.
Big Brother Bush is doubleplus ungood.
To fill the 40GB iPod with 40,000 songs you'd spend $40,000 on the iTunes Music store.
Did anyone else notice that with this announcement came a speed drop of the Dual 1.42 Ghz PowerMac to 1.25 Ghz???
...who ist not familar with using an mac, please be quiet. thank you
I thought you were saying that the new iPods had BlueTooth and Airport Extreme support, heh.
Now, that would rock. Apple, are you listening?
It's been a while since the iPod came out, and it still seems to be one of the best MP3 players out there. So what's next? Seems like more storage doesn't make a difference at some point (ooh 15,000 songs instead of 10,000).
warning: epoll_wait is not implemented and will always fail
Only the 1,713 17-inch SuperDrive Plus has BlueTooth and AirPort Extreme pre-installed. The cheaper models are just "AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth ready."
or you could just go to apple's site which is much less likely to get slashdotted:
http://www.apple.com/ipod/
http://www.apple.com/imac/
To this day I still can't forget the comment Taco made when he posted the initial IPod announcement:
No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
Oh well, I guess opinions change.
Seriously though, the ipod is great...
Maan
I read a couple of months ago that Best Buy was gearing up for another disatrous attempt at selling Macs. I have a stack of gift cards there and haven't seen anything worth buying. Anyone know if a) their Apple plans are still on and b) if they'll be selling iPods?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
All current models are pretty old and especially the 15'' (introduced November last year). The rumour is that Motorola has trouble churning out the latest G4 in any significant quantities. Or maybe they'll go G5 :) Anybody got any info?
Before you freak at the prices, those are in pounds, not dollars. 1,713 works out to about $2,715 at today's rate.
Still not a bad price, considering what you get. I'll probably settle for more RAM for my iMac rather than replacing it with one of these, but it's an awfully nice machine.
New iPods
New iMacs
The two smaller models are just Bluetooth and Airport ready, that means you have to purchase the add-on cards for 50$ respectively 99$ (according to Apple Store).
Make sure you order your internal Bluetooth module with your iMac, it can't be added later on (you'll need to use an external Bluetooth-USB-Dongle...).
no XServe that can survive a slashdotting.
Slashdot once again displays its inability to perform even the most basic fact checking. The new iMacs do not come with AirPort Extreme or Bluetooth. They have internal slots you can fill in a CTO configuration.
... an iCluster of these ...
Is there anyone out there who has actually filled up a 20Gb Ipod and would want a 40Gb version?
I'm not trying to knock Ipods- I'd actually really like to know if anyone does have that many MP3s etc. I think my entire CD collection would fit several times over in that much space.
I love it when my beloved mac rumor community misses stuff like this ipod. Chaos mint knew about an ad campaighn but no numbers 'The apple rummor community was caught napping with its trowsers down'
After the PowerMac G5, I'm not sure I'd ever want to buy an Apple with such a sluggish bus speed no matter how nice it was.
In case the site is slow, here is a mirror.
Martin Studio Slashdot Policy
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
I am still hoping a 15.4" AlBook with a 1.4GHz G4 comes out sometime before January (when I am due for a upgrade at work).
I would really like a G5 PowerBook, but I don't think we'll see those for at least 2 years. So for now I can only hope the PowerBooks in the G4 line get a speed boost...
Anyone placing any bets? You think January is reasonable to expect a new 15.4" AlBook?
-- Cameron
PS - I am officially making "the switch" in January.
Funny, there are a ton of other 40GB MP3 players that have been on the market for a little while.
This one is a bit cheaper than the iPod:
Archos
So, you might argue that the iPod is the smallest 40GB player out? Wrong again. Check this one out:
Rio Karma
Not that it's a BAD player- it's just not as Revolutionary as the Mac fanboys claim. :-)
Those iMacs don't look so bad... even if they're next to impossible to upgrade. :-)
Stewey
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Also announced along with larger capacity ipods (20 and 40 to replace 15 and 30 GB models with no other changes in HW or SW stated) and faster iMacs (the 1.25 Ghz 17" now packing a 160 GB HD) there is even more significant news.
The real news here is that since April 28th when the iTunes Music Store opened, there have been more than 10,000,000 songs downloaded by the US Apple consumer base runing OS 10.1 and iTunes 4. Very impressive in my opinion. The 10,000,000th song was "Complicated" and was sold on September 3rd. Apple stated they are selling 500,000 songs per week.
The first week Apple stated they sold 1,000,000 songs so that plus half a million a week after corroberates the 10 MM song claim and shows a steady rate.
It would be interesting to know how BuyMusic.com is doing with their knowck off...especially after all the bad press and sites like BoycottBuyMusic.com and DontBuyMusic.com have exposed some shady dealings with artists, consumers, and their advertising.
And Apple a day keeps Windows at bay
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
No, there's no actual proof that they're ever going to make one, but c'mon, isn't it the obvious next step? Record your entire classroom lecture for study purposes, record the next Phish show, record your own demos -- with a simple little multitracking app, it could kill portable 4-tracks. Or, plug your iSight into a video in and turn it into a video camera.
Also, with a mic in, you'll be able to use Apple's speech recognition software to give it voice commands -- no more fuddling around with menus, just speak into the mic: "iPod, play Smashing Pumpkins, album Gish" or something like that.
c-hack.com |
Its only cool if it runs the same os as the g4 towers!
in fact ALL the g4 towers for many months come preinstalled with Mac OS 9.2.2 as wells as OS X.
Why?
various http request loggers on massive sites shoe that os 9 is still more popular than os x!
thats wy apple paid engineers to get it workign again on all the g4 towers now sold in stores and on their web site.
its one of the main 7 "bullet point' features.
Steve jobs displayed a chart in his 2 hour demo in june that admitted that only 100,000 people in early january 2003 used os x at all.
and those were assumedly the developers!
100,000!
its in the video
but he said its finally at the halfway mark... 7 million os 9 and 7 million osx users this summer.
but countless applications only exist on os9, including many latency-critical audio VST plugins.
apple found out the hard way when sales plummeted in january when they pulled os 9.2.2 momentarily... and got hurt!
now os9 is on all the powerful g4 towers
i sure hope apple realizes these imacs could use os 9.2.2 as well.
(os 9.2.2 can issue 30,000 genuine different scsi io block requests per second through high end fibre-channel cards.... os x is so crappy it was rewritten 9the scsi) three times and still is only 25% of that speed due to massive overhead and bloat.
plus the os9 has timeouts honored for each io, and the osx does not typically.
and os9 can have over 10,000 pending ios issued from interrupt level, in fact, and completed in pci interrupts if needed, and osx only allows about 64 ios pending.
osx is a slow ass toy compared to the low latency of os9 and its ability to run modern "gigasamplers'
a gigasampler stores thousnads of notes digitally on hard drives and loads only a little bit of the notes attacks into about a gig of ram, but has 100 gigabytes of audio notes on hard drives and issues thousands of time critical head seeks per second.
and it sucks on pokey slow osx iokit.
(its not freebsd's fault, nor mach 3 fault, its iokit from apple's fault)
i sure hope apple notices that people want os9 as all the many web-click survey sites indicate.
Interesting that these machines use Bluetooth. My Thinkpad has bluetooth built in and I've just picked up a Bluetooth phone (Nokia 6310i). Bluetooth is *really* slick. I love not having to get my phone out of my bag to check contacts or sync with my address book. I can send SMS messages from my computer via Mobile Master again without having to locate my phone or punch text into a keyboard not designed for it.
I'm now very seriously considering getting a car speaker set for my vehicle and I'm certain my next PDA will have bluetooth. My next laptop will probably be a Powerbook and I hope they have bluetooth built in by then because I'm going to want it. It's one of those nifty technologies you wonder why you didn't bother with before.
Oh, if you do have a Nokia phone, their Nokia Connection Manager software is a bit hit/miss as to whether it will work with a given bluetooth device. Doesn't work with my T30 but I've been able to work around it. YMMV.
I've got 80+ albums at an average of $22 each or so (a lot of import CDs from Japan), so maybe $1,760 worth of music resides on my iPod... my then $399 now $299 10gb iPod is cheap insurance against my music collection getting stolen in my car, for example, while simultaneously allowing me to access *all* my music in a simple fashion.
Then there's the fact that my iPod is *also* a backup of my PowerMac, which is worth much more to me than $299; the peace of mind of having a portable bootable backup is immeasurable, short of spending 2 years recreating all the data on my PowerMac.
Sure, there are other hard drive based mp3 players, but none that allow me to boot my PowerMac, and none that allow me to copy my entire music collection onto it in 6 minutes.
GPL Deconstructed
NY Giants are going to win the Super Bowl!
Guess I know now. They were clearing out the 30s to be replaced by the 40s at the same price. Ah well. It holds more than enough music to keep me engaged.
Out of curiosity though, did anyone get lucky and order a 30, then get notice that they'd receive a 40 at the same price? That they aren't selling the 30 at all right after the announcement makes me think they waited until they'd completely exhausted inventory before the release.
What kind of moron modded it as offtopic? This is an extremely informative link...better than the original article.
It's not only an MP3 player, but also an external storage device.
That's the revolution, my friend. Vive la revolution!
What i don't like is the fact that, sure they [Apple] upped the Ghz on the iMac, but they don't have the slower model for less money. :P but it still pisses me off
I would buy the slower model (800mhz g4) for less money but Apple doesn't give me the option.
One has to pay the same price whenever they buy the computer from Apple.
I know, I know, profit margins and such
----
In Soviet Russia, the overlords welcome you!
You could have looked up http://www.xe.com/ucc and done the conversion yourself in less time than it took you to complain about it.
Consider it a reminder that you don't live in the center of the universe, and that there are actually people living elsewhere on this spinning rock that are just as entitled to have their currency represented as you are!
D'OH!!!!
And here I am with an out-dated 30GB ipod....
Maybe it's time for those pitchforks and flaming torches again....
If you go to the Apple Store, there are three base models of iMacs to choose from. The top model has the AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth built-in.
Whoa whoa!
The new BASELINE iMac is now a G4 1GHz, with a GeForce4 MX? All that, an 80 gig HDD, and a 15" LCD, for $1299, is pretty damn hard to beat..
iTunes Music Store for Windows, mainly. Already in the works.
That and the iSight FireWire webcam, which integrates nicely with iChat AV for broadband videoconferencing. Presumably if/when it's a hit, they'll start work on a USB 2.0 version and iChat AV for Windows.
I thought you were saying that the new iPods had BlueTooth and Airport Extreme support, heh.
Now, that would rock. Apple, are you listening?
Wow, I'll bet Steve Jobs is reading your Slashdot post right now thinking "wireless! Damn, why didn't I think of that!".
Still not a bad price, considering what you get.
What planet are you from?
"*pple : proudly going out of business for 25 years!"
ObFlame: Only thing that buckles easier under load is PHP.
Ya, but that VAT will nail you every time. In the US, they sell for $2,448 + tax.
My collection right now is 8994 songs at 46.05 GB. But I'm happy w/ 10 GB iPod.
It'd be nice to have everything backed up even more redundantly, though.
OS9 Is crap, the list of things that are crap about it are endless. OSX is the Sole reason I am now considering buying an apple laptop, OS9 die hards would know what a proper unix was let alone the many benefits it has of OS9. OSX has a proper terminal, it has proper multitasking, it has the mature stability of a BSD *nix, and the nicest gui I've ever seen on any *nix (although IMHO its a bit heavy weight) OSX can run industry standard web applications such as APACHE MySQL and PHP and half decent email servers. OS9'ers are stuck with the atrocities of EIM's, Webstar and god knows what else.
Windows is superior to OS9 in many ways I dont care what you say, But OSX pisses all over it.
Anyway thats my informative rant . I use 100% Gentoo Linux at the moment btw , And when I do get a nice Apple Laptop it will dual boot into Yellow Dog..
Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
Your forgetting that until Apple makes something it doesn't exist to the fanatics. For example apparently 64bit processors were a world-wide delusion and were never invented until 2003 when the Apple G5 was released. No one could purchase mp3's untill itunes came out. Apparently mp3.com and emusic.com and others were fabrications as well. There were also no mp3 players before the ipod.
Of course some zealot will just say soemthing along the lines of "well it was't done right till Apple did it" or some other such nonsense.
Ave Molech Setting
Could you please just make a PDA already?
If anything, it will force other PDA makers to keep up with you and we call can have better products.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
I'd have to agree with the SCSi comment. Backing up my Xserve to tape burns too much cpu that network connections get dropped. Using the official Apple SCSI card, with Retrospect 5.1 - but it just spends so much time in the kernel that you'd think it was busy waiting.
;)
Thats about the only problem I have with OS-X though - apart from that its pretty solid (and I run the backups in the middle of the night anyway
The Rio is bigger in two of the three dimensions - notably the ones that matter most when trying to fit it in your pocket.
It's also fugly, but you didn't mention prettyness in your post. =p
Don't beleive me? Heres my dmesg from my new 17" 1.25 Ghz iMac.
Mac OS X version 10.2.7 (Jaguar pro for Imac G4) (gcc version 3.2.2 (Compiled with Xserve!)) #1 Fri Mar 14 15:08:06 EST 2003
Kernel command line: auto BOOT_IMAGE=darwin ro root=307 devfs=mount hdc=ide-scsi acpi=off
ide_setup: hdc=ide-scsi
Found and enabled local APIC!
Initializing CPU#0
Detected 1256.934 MHz IBM PowerPC G4(r) processor.
Calibrating delay loop... 255510.02 BogoMIPS
Hardware.
0 PCI slots
160Gb hard drive
17" certified Apple AGP display
1 Button apple pro mouse.
One apple keyboard
One Piece of goat shit.
Checking iBIOS Checksum. OK 5949433!32
Checking length of users phallus.... 163209 MicroMetres.
Booting Aqua.......
Error in Aqua.exe, please download patch at http://www.goatse.cx/contrib/hello.mpg
Report bugs to jobs@apple.com
I have a 15gb iPod and when filled it on the first transfer--the problem being that I have a whole bunch of MP3 lectures and language training stuff on my library--I had to back things and just transfer some playlists instead.
Both of those are ugly as sin and lacking in basic features. No FireWire. No AAC support, either encrypted or unencrypted; oh-so-useful WMA instead. No on-the-go playlists. No synching with iTunes. No support for storing contacts and calendar items. The list goes on.
Nobody said the new iPods were revolutionary. (The first one was, of course.) Rather, they're simply better products than the competition.
Dear Apple,
I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance.
with much gayness,
Father Randy "Pudge" O'Day, S.J.
Just wait until the "right-click" concept just blows them away.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
The new Imacs have grown an analogue audio in port.
...to help me at my freelance gig where I copy a 17 Meg file from one folder on the hard drive to another folder.
I have experience in copying files of all sizes and can provide references! What's the pay-scale?
www.applele
Just mux the two 400 ports together, et voila! Firewire 800!
PS No, I can't imagine any kind of cluster of anything.
PPS Yes, I'm joking (about the first part, not the second). &:-P
I want to drag this out as long as possible. Bring me my protractor.
What are they thinking? This is what everyone wants.
This is what everyone is screaming for! (at least I am)
I mean, what with Sony being paranoid with their MD format, the market is screaming for a digital recorder that you can actually use.
Why is this so hard for Apple to understand.
-- I drank WHAT!!??!! , Socrates
Rio Karma - 2.7 X 3.0 X 0.9 = 7.29
:-)
Apple iPod - 4.1 X 2.4 X 0.62 = 6.1008
I make the iPod smaller.
Not that the Karma is a BAD player - it's just not as small as the Rio fanboys claim
Matt Thompson - Actuality - Insert product here.
eDigital's been selling their Odyssey 1000 player for a very long time, which is almost the size of an iPod, stores 20GB, and though it doesn't appear to have a line-in, it does have a built-in mic to record your lectures. Also, its mic does the voice-recognition thing so you can cue up your Phish shows without having to press any annoying buttons. Battery lasts 12hrs, and it also sports an FM tuner.
Snort. Complaining that a 2 year old product isn't revolutionary is pretty funny.
I am beginning to wonder when apple will be brave enough to release what has to be the "killer" 802.11 application for mp3 players - personal streaming.
l
;)
Just imagine how cool it would be to share your music and playlists with any other ipod user within range. Tired of your own collection? Try listening to Bob's ipod 4 seats behind you.
The register has also thought about this - http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/39/28467.htm
What do people think? I would love this, but there are - erm - interesting legal aspects..
1. The styling and usability - nice, but not revolutionary. I suspect this accounts for many sales. Include in this the very nice desktop integration with Macs
2. Firewire support. Not sure if the other devices you site have this, but it makes a real difference managing large libraries. Also makes it a much more practical external disk.
3. Programmability. This, I think sets it apart from the herd - teh sheer number of hacks, tweaks 'turn-your-iPod-into-a-PDA' patches out there makes the iPod quite an interesting open-ish platform.
No, I don't have one. But I would really rather like one.
Ah, yes. Somebody else who doesn't get it.
The "right click" concept blows away the users. Ever talk to a computer novice about the notion of "right click?" It's not obvious. It makes no sense. It has to be learned. What's worse, for the very young and very old who lack the same manual dexterity you've got, it's downright difficult to execute.
There is no operation in Mac OS X that requires a second mouse button. (Some programs depend on three mouse buttons, but that's different.) In fact, in Mac OS X Panther, the second mouse button context menu has been all but done away with, replaced by the ubiquitous Action button. (The menus are still there, but they're utterly unnecessary and deprecated by the interface guidelines.)
The objective is to make computers simpler. Not more complex.
10M songs? Yeah, but it's only 0.99 per song, so that's less than $10M. IIRC, Apple keeps about a third of that, so ~$3M.
How much did it cost to program, to feed the lawyers to get all the contracts, to set up the servers/bandwidth needed? (And the Apple Store is *fast*- they didn't skimp here.)
I can't imagine this is going to have a big positive impact on Apple's bottom line, unless (and it's a big unless) the publicity they are getting sells more Macs/iPods. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the sole reason they are bothering.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
Argh, still no radio built in. I need an AM/FM radio and don't want to always take 2 devices with me, how much would it cost to add a radio and satisfy the wish/requirement of many?
It has kept me from buying an Ipod until now. Once Irivers IHP-100 gets a larger harddisk (min. 15GB) I'll buy one of those.
Surprised no one has mentioned it yet, but I think the next 'big' thing in the iPod line is adding a good screen and video capability.
Um... my G4 that I have came with a 2 button mouse and I use the second button rather than "option-click" because my work doesn't require very much of the keyboard - so the less I have to touch anything other than my mouse the better.
Ave Molech Setting
A number of computer manufacturers are using the marketing con, of "'insert technology name here' ready". For example "bluetooth ready". In most cases taking a closer look at the specifications reveals that the computer does not come with the technology mentioned, but simply has a slot that will accept the device. So in the case of the iMac, you are going to have to buy the bluetooth card, unless it says something like 'bluetooth included'. I know of a couple of friends being caught on this one.
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
Look, I am as big an Apple fan boy as the next guy, but minor product updates on the front page of slashdot? I think Hemos has been hit by the Jobian Reality Distortion Field.
Assuming that a Apple user only downloads songs legally through iTunes MS.
The 40GB ipod would hold $10,000 dollars worth of songs. That's a little too much change to be carrying around in you pocket don't you think. You could get mugged for that kinda dough.
Mugger: hand me you wallet.... no wait, Say, that's one of em new 40GB iPods ain't it, whats that iPod worth.
Guy being mugged: I'd say about 5 grand, it's only half full.
Mugger: Screw the wallet, hand me that iPod.
Man, I was really hoping to see a G5 in there. Too hot? Or would that spread the limited G5 supply too thin? BTW US dollar prices are: $1299 $1799 $2448
Maybe partying will help...
As a avidly practicising homosexual (I dare say that I could be considered flamingly so...) I must strongly protest your implication that I am a Mac user! Choose your bon-mots more wisely in the future, sir, or you may very well be prosecuted for hate-speach! Just a friendly warning.
Yrs,
Nancy Flaming Poofter, (Mr.)
... Apple has finally broken the 1GHz barrier :-)
I would love [Drool] an NVRAM-based iPod, about the size of a smallish cell phone, with no HDD, about 1GB and bluetooth.... [/Drool].
Seriously, isn't the HDD-based player just waiting to die when enough solid state space is available?
"You owe me $666!" "Why?" "Because I said SCO!"
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
>Ever talk to a computer novice about the notion of "right click?"
"Drag and drop" is hard.
"Action|Option|Shift" keys and clicking on a mouse button is hard.
>The objective is to make computers simpler. Not more complex.
Whats the point of function keys? Why have 12 of them? Doesn't 12 extra keys make things more "complex" for the old and young? What is one button compaired to 12 half-sized keys? How does 12 keys more make things more "simple"?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
...not sure why I am responding to an AC...
I think you misinterpreted some figures. Mac OS X has well over 100,000 active users... so that number must have been talking about something else. Even if you don't believe the 7 million user number (which comes from Mac OS X sales figures) consider that Apple has sold 100s of thousand of computer systems that are only supported by Mac OS X (close to a million by now). If you look at web browser usage and pick out Safari hits you will note that the number of Mac OS X users is far greater then 1 million as well. (note having Mac OS 9 installed on a system does not mean the system can boot into Mac OS 9, classic in Mac OS X can run it however on unsupported hardware)
It also looks like Apple is set to sell 200+ PowerMac G5 in the first month after release (shipping). Expect 800+ in the next year.
---
On Mac OS X 10.2 and 10.3 I have tested my own fibre channel driver with 256 in flight (issued to the external device) SCSI commands. The 256 limit in this case comes from limits I put in place in my driver to reflect resource limitations of the adapter. I could reconfigure to run with more in flight IOs (up to an adapter max of 1024) but at the cost of the max IO size (as configured 4MB). I have also had well over a 512MB of IO requests in flight.
I believe you may be seeing a limit of the file system not of IOKit or the SCSI sub-system... (not sure the source of your reported 64 IO limit). It could also be a limit of the driver you are using on Mac OS X for your fibre channel adapter...
Mac OS X has one of the lowest and consistent latency of any main stream preemptively scheduled operating system (remember Mac OS 9 is not truly preemptively scheduled, in fact a lot of what you talk about above had to be done at interrupt on Mac OS 9 to insure correct timing, stalling the OS of course in the process). The audio sub-system if far better designed then what existed in Mac OS 9.
Also if you believe you have found issues report them... Bug Reporter.
Mac OS X is obviously a different OS and hence doing things the "9 way" isn't guaranteed to get the same results on Mac OS X (in fact may "9 way" things are not allowed and for good reason)... time to rethink designs. Adapt or be left behind.
Finally Apple has said they will maintain selling the PowerMac G4 1.25 for those folks that want/need Mac OS 9.2.2. It was even worded "as long as people what them we will be keep making them" (or something close to that). Apple will not maintain support for Mac OS 9.2.2 on any other systems going forward. They are not doing further development on Mac OS 9.2.2.
(Is your shift key broken?)
Airport Extreme in an iPod, combined with Rendezvous, means your iPod could connect with any other iPod in the vicinity and swap tunes. Just need some simple protocol to advertise what you have and what you're looking for.
Anyone notice that IE is still default software, with no mention of Safari at all? Despite the fact that MS has publicly announced the end of IE for Mac? Isn't the MS-Apple agreement over? Maybe Apple doesn't want to let MS off the hook with the "bundle software with the OS to take over the market" approach.
I think the objective would be to make the interface more efficient. Personally, I think the menus that make LESS overall clicks are better.
I miss my old Windows 3.1 interface, where I had set up something similar to a "start menu" on my right-click context menu. It allowed fully customizable links, including things like "minimize all windows" and things.
The right-click context menu is one of the most efficient features of Windows. I would favor having a seaparate context menu connected to another button. I would definatley appreciate a "middle click" context menu that was customizable and a standard "right click" context menu in addition.
Stewey
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Open your ears and hear how good Dolby AAC sounds.
Also get a life...
It'll cost you about $35 to add FM capability to your iPod.
GPL Deconstructed
Most models have slots for the wireless adapters, but not the actual adapter. Lamo.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
I really don't think there's much of a big deal about new model configurations.
What really makes me wonder, having been an Apple fan for almost three decades now, is what their next revolutionary product will be.
You see, The "new" LCD imac was a long-awaited and logical follow up to the "old" 1998 imac, but the "old" imac almost came out of no where. And likewise, the ipod too came out of no where, and so did the 1984 macintosh.
If my expectations are right, apple will come out next with a product that'll be revolutionary in an unexpected way, and in a way that almost doesn't make much logical or historical sense except for the love of originality and their creative insanity.
I'm just wondering what that might be. I just feel it, that'll be next, Steve Jobs' butt is itching right now and he can't just settle down; he can't tolerate aesthetic boredom that attention freak.
I thouht this same thing, then it hit me, what if bobs ipod is just ads?
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I believe they understand the market fairly well.
Of the 10 iPod users I know not one is interested... a couple would like to see an FM tuner but none want recording ability.
"Drag and drop" is hard.
No, "drag and drop" is easy. Novices get the notion of "drag and drop" very quickly.
"Action|Option|Shift" keys and clicking on a mouse button is hard.
Yes. Modifiers are hard. It takes a while for novices to get the idea of modifiers. That's why they're deprecated in Panther in favor of the action menu.
Whats the point of function keys?
None, really. The Mac doesn't use them, except for Expose. They're on the keyboard because it's traditional.
Why have 12 of them?
Look again. It's 15.
Doesn't 12 extra keys make things more "complex" for the old and young?
Uh... no. If you can hit one key on the keyboard, you can hit any key on the keyboard. The extra keys don't make things any harder, thought they do add unnecessary complexity. That's why the Mac doesn't use them, generally.
I think the objective would be to make the interface more efficient.
That's why you're not a user interface expert. "Efficient" doesn't matter for shit. Simple is the goal.
The right-click context menu is one of the most efficient features of Windows.
Only if you know how to use it. There are two buttons on the mouse. One of them has a special function that is not obvious. This button is called the right mouse button... unless you're left handed, in which case it's the left mouse button, but we still call it the right mouse button. Click this button to invoke a special menu... but not all the time. Only when the mouse pointer is over things that have special menus associated with them. There's no visual cue that there's a special menu. You just have to know that it's there. Or right (or left) click randomly and see what pops up.
I repeat: "efficient" doesn't matter for shit. Simple is the goal.
Let me just say I'm very happy to have my music backed up.
Once again an overzealous slashdotter fails to read as well and commits the same sin. Verbatim from the article:
/. article for misleading information about the Macworld article, but you didn't follow up with accurate information yourself.
"All models are AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth ready, though the highest-end model is the only iMac with these features pre-installed."
You were right to criticize the
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
Is that now Avril Lavigne will actually have a footnote in the history of music. Sad.
Can you please shut up and let the rest of the world use an efficient OS dumbass.
This is exactly why I don't get why Apple just doesn't include them.
All your points are either "Its simple to learn." or "Its just take some learning." Yet apparently there its so obvious why these don't apply to the second mouse button.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
The reason that it was worth noting was the 15" before this had the old rev motherboard, so it only supported BlueTooth with a USB adaptor, and regular AirPort, not Airport Extreme.
Mod point free since 2001
It does make sense that the 10 people you know who own an iPod don't care - why would anyone drop 300 bucks for something that doesn't do what you want?
I've been waiting for this... not because the extra speed is so great, but because I want a 17" 1ghz iMac at a more reasonable price than $1800. I've read on mac rumors sites that the channel is flooded with inventory (I think Insight had several hundred units in stock), so when will the price drops come to help clear out inventory? Macmall has the new models, and "add to cart for new lower price!!!" on the 1ghz model. I was stunned this morning to see an amazing... $22 price drop. Although now that it's a little later in the day, it's down to $1594, a $200 price drop. That's more like it.
clicky clicky...
Actually, the iPod is still smaller. Both in actual volume, and feel. The Rio is a good bit thicker than the iPod, which contributes significantly to how big it feels in your pocket. However, the new Toshiba Gigabeat, I think, might be smaller. It is slimmer, but taller. Anyway, the iPod has been largely unchanged (the 3nd gen revision was largely cosmetic and incremental) for 2 years now. If it was just released today, yeah, the iPod wouldn't be revoluationary. But it was released two years ago and it is only now that the competition is catching up to it. That's revolutionary by any measure!
A deep unwavering belief is a sure sign you're missing something...
go to the "special deals" section (bottom-left link at store.apple.com) for a ton of "refurbished" ipods at lower prices.
YOU FUCKERZ! I hate every last one of you butt smoking bukkake slurping mother fucking faggortz. You are simply out of your league when you try to aspire to being as 31337 as I am. If anyone mods this down, you will forever be a pussy who won't get any action for individuals of your desired sexual preference. So why don't you just shut the fuck up and die? Don't you fucking dare to mod me down!!!
Now onto the serious but admitedly off topic stuff:
Why is it that when someone posts something like I just did above, the immediate knee-jerk reaction of moderators is to mod it down instead of responding to it? Sure, it's off-topic, but it does warrant some kind of response. After all the whole idea of "please don't feed the trolls" is just ludicrous! Sometimes, by responding to well crafted trolls like the one above, it's possible to get some very interesting reactions out of people and find out a little bit more about ourselves as a community. The Slashdot community is slowly having the life extinguished from it by moderators who do their best to "sanitize" Slashdot into some kind of boring web publication instead of what it really excels at: being a web community.
The thing that has irked me the most since I've been a Slashdot reader (since 1997) is that Slashdot has become less humorous and obscure. What I mean by obscure is the brand of humor, not the notoriety of Slashdot. This is a sad thing since one of the most attractive features of Slashdot used to be that it was a community of people who were just "slightly off" from the rest of society. The people who have become members as of late, are not that brand of person and definitely should not dictate the way that Slashdot is run. In fact, I would aruge that the original "slightly off" members should be the ones who dictate how the new members interact with the site. After all, this is OUR site. Not the AOHell, MSN, Microsoftian "computer know it all" masses that have been polluting the culture since the rise of the dotbombs. Face it, if you can't deal with a CLI and you got your first computer post-1980, then you don't belong on Slashdot.
Now... the challenge:
Who will respond to this valliant post that dares to question the current status quo of Slashdot which, frankly, sucks? I want intelligent responses. Not just stupid "fuck off" or "I AM SHITTING CORN IN YOUR FORESKIN" types of responses. No Goatse responses either. (Although we must all hail the power of the Giver and the Receiver).
Hah, hah...'artsy-fartsy halfwits'...You kids today...
I think your pointed barb is so half-witty...In fact, I think your post should be moded 'Score:6, So-Funny-I-Forgot-How-To-Spell-Defies'...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
In fact, there are 8 iPods in the top 20 best sellers. The question is would the new models kick the competitions out of the top 10 altogether.
5 663
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t g/browse/-/300330/ref=br_bx_c_1_5/002-8192629-304
This is not most people work. Rather, they want the number of cognitive steps involved in doing something reduced. What do I mean by a cognitive step? It's a step in the translation of goal->action.
For instance, take the task of writing a letter on the computer. Here, the goal is to write a letter, and the sequence of physical actions are the mouse and keyboard movements / presses that cause Word to be opened. You know how to find Word, so you hit Windows-button P M downarrow downarrow downarrow enter. This is quite efficient compared to moving the mouse around and selecting something on the desktop. However, the number of cognitive steps here for someone who hasn't become intuitively familiar with that method of opening programs is high:
- Remember that the program to write a letter in is Microsoft Word
- Remember that Word is stored in the Start Menu
- Remember that the windows key opens up the start menu
- Remember that it's stored under "programs", and that "programs" can be keyed with the letter "p".
- Remember that it's called "Microsoft Word" instead of "Word"
- Remember that you can only scroll to the first item in the list with a given first letter.
- Hit an "m" and start banging on the downarrow until it comes into view
Needless to say this is an incredibly complex operation for anyone who hasn't got it ingrained in their muscle memory. However, if a person has an icon for Word on their desktop, the number of steps is reduced vastly:- Remember that the program to write a letter in is Microsoft Word
- Remember that Word is stored on the desktop
- Aim the mouse at Word (this step alone probably takes more time than your key-sequence)
- Execute a double-click on Word (once again a very time-consuming operation in the hands of someone who is not terribly dextrous)
But, surprise surprise, this is only four steps! This is what makes certain computer systems (like Mac OS X) easier than others (Windows, or Linux).The new iPods are firmware upgradable to have audio in. You can already see the recording software in its early form if you go into diagnostic mode: http://www.pocketthings.com/index.php?ID=1139 Still, it's not certain that Apple will enable this anytime soon, and it will probably work through an accessory that plugs into the new docking port.
"Reality is just a convenient measure of complexity" -Alvy Ray Smith
If I want a 17" iMac Im basically forced to pay for an Apple SuperDrive? What if I already own a nice external FW/USB DVD burner. Is there really no way to buy a 17" iMac without a SuperDrive?
The cube did poorly because they went with the dvd player instead of the CDRW drive.
The climate at the time seemed to be still hanging on the cd writers, and nobody wanted the dvd player over that. And also to the best of my recollection, they didn't offer a choice on the drive.
Confirm?
__
Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one.
Consider citing lack of the online store instead (yes, I know it depends on AAC).
I see your point. But I amvery much active in the music arena. Not just listening but writing, performing, scoring,....
.02
I have already found the iPod to be great in the editing and scoring field. It allows me to carry entire scores and move them from home to the recording studio for laydown onto film.
Yet having the ability to be able to record a practice, or live instruments, along with the portability of the iPod would make it ideal.
I know that several hundred would be sold here at UCLA film just for that reason alone.
I just think lots of people would find that a useful feature if it was there. recording voice memos, phone numbers while you are driving. I think there would be many uses othere than just music....
Just my
Uh...I think MS-Word installs an icon on the desktop for Windows operating systems. How does your lengthy explanation differentiate the MacOS from WinXX?
The neat thing about the iPod is that it is very easy to navigate the files as long as you have them with the correct ID3tags. I have tagged most of my mp3s, but still quite a few to go through.
Can anyone recommend a good program to fix the mp3 tags? Something that can do recursive tagging, batch copying between ID3v1, ID3v2 and file names and runs on a linux/windoze computer?
"There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
they're simply better products than the competition.
Hey Astroturfer! You need to log on if you expect to collect a comission from Apple Marketing for spewing stuff like that.
OK, Problem one appears to be that are are using a box that doesn't ship for 3-5 weeks. That tends to make them slow. So in reality I'm guessing that it will take you ($delivery_date + $unpacking_time + $boot_time + 5min) to install Acrobat 6.
Also, are you sure you are qualified for a job that requires you to copy a file form one folder to another? Maybe you should practice the following: "Would you like fries with that?" and "Do you want to SuperSize that?"
Have a nice day
Hah, hah...Again, a "/."-er's biting wit and insight sets me straight...Cutting so close to the bone...Ouch!
Is it 'earning' if I had to kill the person I inherited my treasure chest of gold from? What if I slept with that leprechan that I met at the end of the rainbow -- if I got paid by him that doesn't make me gay, right?
I just figured you'd have some experience 'earning' your money that way and all...Come to think of it, I bet your idea of work is pumping your parents for more allowance.
Okay, okay...Move along...nothing to read here...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
Are you going to post a "news item" every time HP or Dell release a new model, too? Can we please limit the Apple advertising to the banner ads? Thank you.
Hey Stewey,
You used one yet?
It's a bit childish to get so excited over mere technology, but man, these devices make you feel all powerfullllllll!
You go out and get your hands on all those players mentioned, then tell me you don't think the iPod is revolutionary. Their best - revolutionary - feature is you forget you have a computer-powered gadget in your hands.
It's not about having this or that feature first, it's the whole package.
Warning: if you turn into a drooling "fanboy", don't blame it on me, blame it on Apple and their engineers...
I think, therefore I am...I think.
And a good thing they don't. Not everybody wants their phone to communicate with their computer.
Ye gods, I want my phone to communicate with the fishes... somewhere deep deep in the ocean!
I think, therefore I am...I think.
AAC on Windows is about as useful as WMA for a Mac user.
Nope. AAC is an open, freely licensable codec. WMA, on the other hand, is proprietary and encrypted. AAC is technically superior to both MP3 and WMA, producing music that sounds better at lower bitrates.
The only reason WMA exists is to funnel licensing dollars into Microsoft's pockets while preventing users from making fair use of their own music.
No comparison.
Heh.. did anyone else get the ad banner for the "UK Final Cut Pro User's Group?" UKFCUG - how do you pronounce that? Uck-Fug? Ook-Kug? Worst Acronym Ever :P
Is anyone else getting really slow connections to Slashdot? This might be the first time a slashdotted site is faster than slashdot itself...
While bluetooth is really cool, I'd be worried about being "bluejacked" ("bluespammed"?). With the current generation of bluetooth phones (US only?), you can supposedly scan for and send messages to any nearby bluetooth-enabled phone. There seems to be no way to prevent from getting spammed, aside from disabling bluetooth on your phone (which is a real bummer, as bluetooth headsets are really cool).
Not really a worry as far as I can tell. My phone allows you to specify whether Bluetooth broadcasts to everyone or whether it is "hidden" (much like hidding your SSID with WiFi). You also can specify which devices are allowed to pair with your phone, and request physical confirmation (you push a button) to authorize a connection. As long as you give your phone a unique name, I don't see spam as being a significant problem.
I take it you're one who likes to take it up the ass? Just because someone doesn't want to waste $400+ on an mp3 player when a $50 one does what he wants doesn't mean they are cheap. He got a $50 player and it does what he wants.
That of course makes perfect sense. The Karma's size is used to compenstate for, how you say, other inadequacies?
Whats the point of function keys?
Thinking of this?
My music collection is in FLAC. Instead of creating a redundant collection in MP3/AAC, I want to simply sync a portion of my existing files. Why should Apple deliver FLAC support in a firmware upgrade? 1.) The competition is already there: Rio Karma and the Nueros (will) support FLAC. 2.) What better way to seller the high end models with the large hard drives: FLAC needs on average 5x more space than MP3. 3.) Unlike AAC v. OGG, there is no competing Apple lossless codec.
you dont know what the hell you are talking about. in may 2003 apple stopped selling all the firewire 800 port g4s adn scrapped every tower design back to fall of 2002 to sell the only machine that the public wants to buy... g4 towers that come preinstalled with os9.
apples ENTIRE g4 tower product line is os9!!!!!
you are living in the embarrassing past.
apple did not sell millions of osx-only machines... that is why os9 was RE-released as stock standard on all g4 towers in all distribution channels.
doubt me still? look at apples web store now!!!!
also i seriosuly doubt ANY osx fibre card can do 30,000 ios per second that win nt can do and os9 also does with ease.
even if your card can do 256 instead of 64 like i assume it really does, i doubt you can do it in as few microseconds as os 9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
that is why audio music experts use os 9 and win nt for now. (mostly os9) its all about latency.
osx can barely do 2 millisecond.
apple selling osx has NOTHING to do with gooble web http requests adn other loggers that prove osx is unwanted.
10M songs? Yeah, but it's only 0.99 per song, so that's less than $10M. IIRC, Apple keeps about a third of that, so ~$3M.
Forget about the money Apple is making from the store, and notice that it is a great big Get Out Of Jail Free card for Apple.
The Apple platform is so great for digital media because it provides a set of powerful and easy tools for manipulating digital content. With a moto like "Rip, Mix, Burn," and products like the MP3-playing iPod apple was about half a step from Napster's legal trouble.
With the iTunes Store, Apple has turned into the best way for the music industry to market their wares online. Legal trouble averted. Cool thing is that they have made three million dollars doing this. Double Cool!
Easier for the novice but more frustrating for the expert.
Perhaps that's why there is a fairly negative view of AOL and MacOS and the various other things that have gained the reputation of "training wheels". Sure they're great when you can't ride a bike correctly, but they would probably make Lance Armstrong fall off his bike at a crucial moment.
Stewey
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Just about ever comment consitst of "DROOL," "The Ipod Is t3h best ev4r!!11," and "any other player you list sucks and we the rabid fanboys will attack you because you are sooo wrong!"
Apple Store has previous generation ten gigs for as low as $170
I actually bought a second-gen 10 gig from Target for $199.99 when they clearenced them when the 3rd-gerneration ones came out.. Drove around to 3 targets until I found one that had several, bought all 5, resold the other 4 for a profit. I love iPods.
I have blog like everyone else
Ahh yes... Intuition...
Well, when I see something floating around my screen and I want to know how to deal with it, the first thing I do is "right click" on it to see what options I have available. Then I check the various menus or buttons associated with it.
Seems simple enough to me.
Stewey
There are 10 kinds of people in the world. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Did I say it did? Nope. Both of those steps were described on Windows. Other factors play into this on MacOS vs Windows; some of them are more subtle.
Instead of increasing the disk capacity of the iPods, they should include bluetooth or WIFI.
This would allow one to listen to live stream with their iPod. This could also be used to use the iPod as the computer headset so you can ear the system sounds while listening to your music.
Another use (which the RIAA would certainly not approve) would be to allow one to stream it's music to somebody else (make it to one device at a time with not recording feature, so the "industry" is not to grumpy about it) listen to ones tracks.
Not quite, drang and drop is a very simple and intuitive concept to most users. I have never had to explain more than once to a person how it works, becuase it's designed to work just like it would in the real world.
However, second button context menus have no real world equivilent. As such, they are much harder to use and learn for novices.
Next up, modifiers keys yes take some effort to learn, but the beauty is, they aren't required. Everything that can be done from a modifier key can be done without it as well. Modifier keys are dsigned to make things faster for a more advanced user.
Finaly the issue of the function keys. The function keys in and of themselves do nothing in the OS. They are assigned extra and highlighted functions such as brightness and volume on the laptops, but otherwise, their function is limited to user defined functions. Even exposes can be changed to a different setting and does not require the use of function keys to work.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Why not just pick up a Qube II off of e-bay?
;)
It'll run Woody just fine and some minimal upgrades would give you a pretty decent box for simple file serving/mp3 storage pretty cheap. Dual NIC interfaces, extra PCI slot for wireless, etc. etc.
And it *is* totally silent. At least mine is.
Check out http://www.shon.org/qube/ for more info (although his is running NetBSD).
You don't get it.
click-plus-keypress is not more simple than click.
Really. It's not.
Either you remember left is different to right - hardly a radical concept there - or you remember for-this-I-need-the-keyboard-AND-the-mouse.
Oh, and yes, I have explained the notion of a "right-click" to a novice computer user. My father, at 70, grasped the concept from being told once. I think he'd have had more trouble with being old he had to use both mouse and keyboard at the same time, in fact.
Of course, control-clicking is tricky for people with just one arm or hand. And it's trucky for those who lack manual dexterity, too.
Face it. Control-click is NOT simpler than right-click. And despite various later assertions, it's no more intuitive. In fact, I'd consider it much less so. After all, when using the mouse, it is more intuitive to a) click with the various mouse-buttons or b) click a button whilst also holding a button on the keyboard - a complete separate device! - down?
Face it. Computers aren't intuitive. Very few man-made devices are, in fact.
So, what is the point of just one button? Is it so drooling idiots who can't tell left from right can still use computers? Seriously, that's the only way I can see a single button being more useful.
$insult = 'Fools!';
$question = 'pay so much for a piece of hardware';
$alt = 'the iRiver discman';
$reasons = 'costs less AND it plays and plays OGG files';
$endingFlame = 'Apple is dying. Everyone knows it but you';
print <<REPLY;
$insult
Why would you ever $question?
Don't you know $alt is SO MUCH COOLER?
I mean, it $reasons!
Jesus! If you fuckheads paid attention, you'd realize $endingFlame!
REPLY
#disclaimer - The above Slashdot parody is provided without warranty, and if you can't recognize the saracasm, you left your sense of humor at home.
>I sure wouldn't want to become just "one of the >crowd"
And here is the number one reason why geeks buy expensive toys or Macs....
status.
We might laugh at the gang-bangers who have to wear the latest 300$ running shoes or 40$ baseball cap but its all the same.
personal fullfilment through over-spending.
zeke
And what pray tell is preventing you from doing this in OS X?
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
>I don't need to post a comment bitching about >something I'm not going to buy, though.
./ , are we?
New to
zack
Well, when I see something floating around my screen and I want to know how to deal with it, the first thing I do is "right click" on it to see what options I have available.
That's fairly stupid. How often do you "see something floating around your screen?" I'd bet never. Things don't just "float" around your screen. They're contained within windows, and windows have a basic set of rules that define how they work. (Things like, they can be opened and closed, moved and resized; that kind of thing.)
Now, if you're talking about icons, that's even easier. Icons can be selected, double-clicked, and dragged. Other operations are encapsulated in the action menu. No need to guess as to what they are. They're right there in front of you.
Here's the bottom line: you don't know thing one about human user interfaces. You're just a moron. So we're no longer interested in hearing your opinion on this or any other matter. Please get the fuck out of there and never, ever come back, you fucking cocksucker.
I don't think they sell x86 processors rated that low any more, do they? :)
>However, second button context menus have no real world equivilent.
Task bar.
Hover-over.
Scroll bar.
These have no real world equilvance. I'm not sure they fall into the "hard to learn so leave them out" category.
>modifiers keys yes take some effort to learn, but the beauty is, they aren't required
Just like the second mouse button?
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
click-plus-keypress is not more simple than click.
Agreed. That's why click-plus-keypress is reserved for shortcut features.
Either you remember left is different to right - hardly a radical concept there
Absolutely it is a radical concept. Pretend you're six years old. You're just barely clear on what "right" and "left" mean. Pretend you're one of the 13% of humans who is left handed. You're constantly told to "right click," but in fact that means you have to "left click" because your mouse is reversed. Pretend you're old and suffering from arthritis, or that you're young and suffering from a repetitive stress injury, and manipulating small buttons is difficult for you.
In other words, pretend you are, taken in total, one of the MAJORITY of people who use computers.
My father, at 70, grasped the concept from being told once.
Oh, well, then it must be okay. Decades of research into human-machine interaction must be wrong.
Of course, control-clicking is tricky for people with just one arm or hand.
Right. Which is why the preferred way to bring up a context menu in Mac OS 9 and X is click-and-hold. Which is why the context menu itself has been almost completely deprecated in Mac OS X (only one operation requires it; do you know what it is?) and completely deprecated in Panther.
Face it. Control-click is NOT simpler than right-click.
No, it's not. Which is why the Mac does not require it.
And despite various later assertions, it's no more intuitive.
True. Which is why the Mac does not require it.
click with the various mouse-buttons
Why are there different buttons? What do they do? How do you know which one to use for which operation? Does it matter if you use your right hand or your left? And so on.
Face it. Computers aren't intuitive.
The only truly intuitive user interface is the nipple. Everything else must be learned. The question is, how much learning is required? Less learning is better. Which is why things you can see (like the action button) are superior to things you can't see but have to guess at (like contextual menus).
So, what is the point of just one button? Is it so drooling idiots who can't tell left from right can still use computers?
Yes. Exactly. Finally, you get it. It's so drooling idiots who can't tell left from right--i.e., children and elderly people--can use computers.
No AAC support, but the Karma has ogg support, which frankly is a better codec, albeit with less commercial backing.
Task bar does not exist in the Mac OS, at best you could say the Dock, but the Dock does have a real world counterpart, a menu (like a McDonalds menu) see what you want and click it.
Hoverover is not used in OS X as far as I know except in third party programs.
Scroll bars granted have little resemblence to anything in the real world, but what else is there to use? Besides, scroll bars are faily intuitive anyways, down to scroll down, up to scroll up.
Just like the second mouse button?
No. In windows, the second mouse button is REQUIRED for many tasks. For example (and one that a novice user might want to do) there is no way to create a new folder on my desktop in windows without using the second mouse button.
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
Driving out of San Francisco the other night, along a highway previously peppered with the classic guitar and applemusic.com byline, there is now a buymusic.com billboard.
It's the same guitar, smashed. applemusic.com has been replaced with buymusic.com, and they ruin the entire composition by putting a big PC up in the corner.
But like a graphic designer worth their salt would be willing to design an anti-Mac ad.
kinda reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer says something to the matter of how he never leaves a project unfinished, and suddenly a half built robot appears pleading to Homer, "Father, give me legs." Homer just says "No" and points outside and forces the robot to drag itself out.
>For example (and one that a novice user might want to do) there is no way to create a new folder on my desktop in windows without using the second mouse button.
In Windows Explorer, select the folder where you want to create the new folder, left-click on File, left-click on New, left-click on New Folder.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
No AAC support, but the Karma has ogg support, which frankly is a better codec
Dead horse. Numerous studies from earlier this year put the lie to that assertion. OGG is not a superior codec than AAC, in either the purely abstract or pragmatic senses. In abstract tests, AAC (Dolby encoder) has been found to be superior to OGG at 128 kbps. In pragmatic terms, OGG's dependence of floating point arithmetic makes it impractical for portable devices.
OGG is pretty much an evolutionary dead end. Neat experiment, no longer relevant in the real world.
Now if they could just do this for the 15" powerbook. I'd be first in line. I don't need another desktop, especially one that looks like a lamp. How do you open those cases anyway?
No FireWire. No AAC support
Who needs Firewire and AAC when you have Ethernet and Ogg?
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
And if anybody could do it well and end-to-end then it would be Apple. Anybody who's ever used Rendezvous in iTunes can attest to how easy and freaking cool it is to listen to other people's music in their libraries over the network.
But the tradeoff would be that doing that much streaming would either increase the size of the ipod (big no-no) or make the battery life seriously dip off (another no-no)
I wouldn't hold my breath, however cool it would be.
NEWS!!!!!
The most successful legal music downloading service in pc history and its not front page news?. Apple is back in black and trolls have another nail for their.
*niX MacDogg
Who needs Firewire and AAC when you have Ethernet and Ogg?
Me. Ethernet is useless. It's far slower than FireWire, unless you're talking about putting gigabit in a portable device which is possibly the stupidest thing I've heard of so far today, and that's saying something. Furthermore, it requires far too much electronics on the device, making it expensive and error-prone.
And OGG? Pfeh. Nobody uses it, which is the first and last strike against it. Can you go to the iTunes music store (or anywhere else) and buy music in OGG format? No? Never mind then.
Why does nobody use it? Because even MP3 is superior to OGG at 128 kbps, and AAC blows the doors off of both MP3 and OGG at that bit rate. (Numerous studies, some scientific and some less so, were done earlier this year. Look 'em up.) Furthermore, OGG's dependence on floating-point arithmetic makes it impractical in the extreme for portable devices.
What part of "on the desktop" did you not understand?
2 things. Wireless headphones, and wireless remote. (Maybe even one with a display.)
Does anyone else find it funny that apple lists a VW New Beetle as an iPod accessory? Wait until I tell my wife...
:q!
I think you're missing that fact that the combination of small and large at the same time is a very, very cool thing.
mbbac
Color coordination. Only do it if the colors of the iPod and the New Beetle match. Also, what colors do the new iMacs come in?
[Hums "Dedicated Follower of Fashion" by the Kinks]
"A great democracy must be progressive or it will soon cease to be a great democracy." --Theodore Roosevelt
>>Just wait until the "right-click" concept just blows them away.>>
This has always been a stupid discussion point. You need to know the history. One of the biggest complaints among users generally was that their were not more keyboard equivalents to pull-down menu options. So, in the early days using a keyboard combination with another key created standard menu equivalents. So it was natural for users to use a ctrl-mouse click for additional shortcuts as it was the way menu shortcuts worked as well. Thus Macs have always had context menus.
When a second mouse button was introduced, Mac users were already used to the keyboard-mouse click approach. A second button meant a different way to do the same thing and that violates usability rules of the time. Though rules are made to be broken if the underlying principle stays in tact. What has occurred over the last decade is that many users have learned to use the second button for contextual commands and for many shortcut keys. So now the second button is natural. That is why Apple supports two and three button and scroll wheel mouses in OS X.
So the question is, should Apple release a two-button scroll-wheel mouse with Mac purchases? I don't think so, I believe generally a user should be taught good user interface guidelines up front, and these will be portable to other platforms. Every manufacturer includes a cheap mouse with their systems and charges extra for better mice. Likewise, any user can buy a different mouse really cheap if they don't like the included mouse. Personally, I usually just use the optical mouse I bought a year ago and store away the mouse that comes with newer Wintel or Mac PC's.
One more very important point, in Windows the right click can be changed to do different things besides a context menu. So different users understand the right click to mean different things. So from a usability point of view, the original Mac OS approach was a better implementation.
No, bandwidth costs are not fixed but presumably, as bandwidth usage rises, this correlates into an increase in purchaes. Therefore, the rises are automatically offset.
This sig has been temporarily disconnected or is no longer in service
...yet I've NEVER seen one mentioned on Slashdot.
Why? The only possible answers: 1-Apple pays you or 2-You are some kind of nutcase zealot
It's "Mac" not 'MAC".
Other than that, you are just one more in a long line of clueless Apple-haters, you must be so proud.
Again, I said on the desktop. Now, if you would like to explain to someone how to navigate through the windows filesystem to find their desktop you can. I would rather just tell them, clikc on the desktop, click on the File Menu, click on New Folder
T Money
World Domination with a plastic spoon since 1984
$47.00 - ECS K7S5A mainboard, AGP 2x/4x, USB 2.0 (onboard 10/100 NIC)
$74.00 - AMD AthlonXP 2200+ (1.8GHz, 266MHz FSB) retail
$80.00 - 512MB PC2100 RAM (major brand)
$129.00 - Nvidia GeForceFX 5200 Ultra 128MB DDR
$33.00 - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Dolby Digital 5.1 SB0220
$63.00 - Acer DVD/CDRW 48x24x48x16 Drive
$72.50 - Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM 2MB cache
$40.00 - Standard ATX AOpen case with 300watt and front USB ports
$34.99 - Belkin Wireless keyboard and mouse combo
$369.00 - Optiquest Q170 17" LCD Monitor, 1280x1024, 80Hz
Grand Total: $942.49
With Linux from ISO: $942.49
With Microsoft Windows XP Home, SP1a ($93): $1,035.49
The above system is more powerful than Apple's midrange "revamped" offering, the 1.25GHz G4 with a 17" display, which runs $1,799.00. That's $763.51 more expensive than the above system with Windows XP Home SP1a. $763.51 more for a system with closed hardware, half the system memory, half the video RAM, and less raw computing power. Why would anyone willingly pay so much more money for so much less?
Well, since you're the one who brought up the gigabit point, I guess that make YOU the stupidest person you've heard today. This is usually the case. I'm usually the stupidest person I've heard in any given day. Its a red-letter day when I find someone who says something dumber out-loud than my internal thought processes occasionally churn out in my head. It usually means I've found someone who doesn't know when to keep their mouth closed or their typing fingers idle...
AAC? No one but Ipod users use it. Period. Deal. I've had to play far more Ogg files (probably 5-10 total) than AAC files in my life ( 0 ) The ratio causes MY computer to throw an exception. Worrying about which of the two nice formats is more "uber" makes MY brain throw an exception, and makes me want to throw bricks through windows. Besides, anyone who's anyone knows that if you want to be a REAL techno-elite uber snob (I think this is where you are going.) you stump for FLAC, not AAC. Lossy compression is just SOOOOO 90s.
Firewire? When was the last time I used that??? Oh, wait, for ANOTHER portable hard drive, and mainly just to prove that the Firewire port worked on my Spacewalker box and on my laptop. Heck, for the laptop I had to go buy a 4pin to 6pin cable, and then STILL had to plug in a USB cable because a 4pin port provides no power. Bleh. You want "cool": Give me USB 2.0. Wait, you say, its "not as technically glaftorizible as my FireWire hoobajabits is!!!" (See, if _I_ put words in someones mouth, I, at least, make them interesting.) Well, gee, maybe not, but it IS on every computer I currently own, and if they're smart, its backwards compatible to USB 1.1 and then its on every computer I own, my PS2, my TiVO, an Xbox, quite possibly my cat (I haven't looked lately), and a few odd looking boxes in my house that I can't quite figure out (The government put them there. Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it). And if its slower than FireWire (and USB 2.0 only marginally is, in general, even if its bit rate is a bit faster than 400 FireWire), so what? But then again, I'm not the kind of person that would USE an entire 40GB Ipod anyhow.
Frankly, even Ethernet would be cooler. Have a mode where you drop your player on the net, it grabs an IP, sets up a "whatever this months equivalent of Shoutcast" stream, and starts playing away. I'll pay a few extra ounces for that, if we're talking about utility. If not, then lets get back to the USB deal.
In summary: BLAH BLAH BLAH.
I'm one of those drooling idiots who can't tell left from right. I'm lefthanded and use two computers at work:
:)
my one computer with mouse at the left side and mouse buttons reversed and a shared computer with a 'normal' mouse. When I use the shared computer I just move the mouse to the left.
My boss convinced me to alternate between lefthanded mouse-use and righthanded mouse-use because "this will reduce the risk of RSI".
He hoped that I would use the mouse righthanded on my own computer at work so that co-workers would have less problems to use my computer. Unfortunely for him I switched to righthanded mouse-use on my home computer.
So, forgive me for being a little bit confused about the left/right mouse button. I just call it
"the other button", the button you do not use to select things. My co-workers understand it, I think
"It wasn't me, I didn't do it, I don't post, the bite marks still haven't healed from last time." Ryan/jrc
Actually, the pricing is $1299 US for the 15 inch, 1ghz model and $1799 for the 17 inch 1.25 model. The higher price quoted above is for apples best model, which gives more ram and bigger hard drive for a premium that even apple fans like me can't justify. 1799 is more accurate for what someone would buy.
"He who laughs last, didn't get the joke."-Cap
Anyone else notice that the new iMac configurations are shipping with Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4? Right on.
Just follow the day, and reach fo
"Absolutely it is a radical concept. Pretend you're six years old. You're just barely clear on what "right" and "left" mean. Pretend you're one of the 13% of humans who is left handed. You're constantly told to "right click," but in fact that means you have to "left click" because your mouse is reversed. Pretend you're old and suffering from arthritis, or that you're young and suffering from a repetitive stress injury, and manipulating small buttons is difficult for you."
... which is irrelevent, given this is a discussion between the merits of ctrl-plus-click vs right-button.
Let's see.
Firstly, computers are designed primarily for adults. However, at 6, I knew the difference between right and left. It's not a fundamentally difficult concept, especially since the majority of kids are reading and writing before then.
Of course, at 6, most kids won't have much use for context-sensitive-menus... but I'm sure those that do can learn which button they press.
My mouse has bigger buttons than my keyboard, too. In fact, my arthritic father - the same 70yr old who grasped "right click" first time - manages his mouse just fine. I'd expect managing a mouse at all the be the real issue there.
As for right-handed-vs-left-handed, that's an implementation detail. It's poorly chosen language that is at issue there, not that it's difficult.
As it happens, I'm left-handed. Never found it a problem.
"In other words, pretend you are, taken in total, one of the MAJORITY of people who use computers."
ROTFL.
So the majority that use computers are either around 6, left-handed or arthritic/RSI suffers?
Get real.
"Oh, well, then it must be okay. Decades of research into human-machine interaction must be wrong."
Quite possibly.
In fact, a great deal of research on all sorts is complete and utter bollocks.
That's probably the same research that claims that using a mouse is faster than using keyboard shortcuts.
That too is bollocks. Yes, I know the whole "amnesia" theory. I've also tested it - I was genuinely curious - and it turned out shortcut keys are much faster for those of us that use computers a lot. For everyone else, there's the mouse. But I digress...
"Right. Which is why the preferred way to bring up a context menu in Mac OS 9 and X is click-and-hold. Which is why the context menu itself has been almost completely deprecated in Mac OS X (only one operation requires it; do you know what it is?) and completely deprecated in Panther."
"Why are there different buttons? What do they do? How do you know which one to use for which operation? Does it matter if you use your right hand or your left? And so on."
Why does the keyboard have various buttons? Should we not just use a single-button mouse to choose letters from an onscreen display?
"The only truly intuitive user interface is the nipple. Everything else must be learned. The question is, how much learning is required? Less learning is better. Which is why things you can see (like the action button) are superior to things you can't see but have to guess at (like contextual menus)."
Yes, because 'press the right button on the mouse' is a really HARD concept to learn.
Windows users, the group most universally derided over intelligence, can grasp the right-button-context-menu concept. Are they smarter than Mac users? Or is it just it's not a fundamentally difficult concept to grasp?
Of course, there's always the press-the-context-menu button on the keyboard, if we're talking Windows...
"Yes. Exactly. Finally, you get it. It's so drooling idiots who can't tell left from right--i.e., children and elderly people--can use computers."
Wonderful attitude there. So the elderly and kids are "drooling" now, huh?
Talk about arrogance...
I guess that's why you feel that group - and apparently, many other people - can't grasp such a simple concept as more than one button on a mouse.
No wonder Mac users have gotten such a bad reputation...
Or are you just karma whoring to support your trolls?
.Net was a good one, even the so called experts fell for it.
Oh well, you do sucker in the dumbest slashbots. The bs you pulled with
Well, technically, the third gen iPods have had recording capability. You go into the debug menu and its got a test for the record capabilites. I'm sure that in a few months time (with the release of panther perhaps?) Apple will do a firmware update for the 3rd gen ipods that enables it. So patience grasshopper. All good things come to those who wait.
11 was a racehorse
12 was 12
1111 Race
12112
One possibility would be to use bluetooth as a "splitter" for multiple, wireless headsets. It would be great to keep the ipod safely away in a backpack or coat pocket, while a bluetooth remote controlled the tracks (and duplicated the display) and a bluetooth headset played the music. a friedn could them easily "authenticate" their bluetooth headset for the iPod and share the tunes, er, itunes.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
I can't even stand my local classical station (KUSC) because even they are too repetitious for me.
Amen, brother (and I am not even close to being seriously into classical yet even I can tell)!
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
Heh. A lot of people with 1st generation ipods were sure that Apple would release a firmware update with playlist editing, alarm clock, custom menus, and all the things that newer iPods have.
Yeah, Apple will write support for recording eventually, but you WILL have to get a new iPod for it. If you're going to base a purchasing decision on features that have not been announced, well, that's pretty dumb. This is not the customer-friendly Apple of 1990 or so. Today's Apple has fully embraced planned obsolescence.
I have a positive modifier on Troll. When I mod someone Troll their karma should go UP!
I think he's talking about pop-ups, which can plague Windows users. I only know this from playing America's Army and occasionally finding other players frozen while they try to close some spam. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.
AAC? No one but Ipod users use it. Period. Deal.
It's the audio codec for HD-DVD. It's the audio codec for digital satellite radio (XM and others). It's the audio codec for HDTV. Plus, you know, iPod.
Period. Deal.
Lossy compression is just SOOOOO 90s.
You want to carry around 1,000 CD's without compressing them? Go ahead. I'll continue to use my iPod, thanks.
You want "cool": Give me USB 2.0.
Oh, man, that's hilarious. That's really funny.
my PS2, my TiVO, an Xbox
So? Are you planning on plugging your (USB-equipped) iPod into your Xbox, whatever that is?
And if its slower than FireWire (and USB 2.0 only marginally is, in general, even if its bit rate is a bit faster than 400 FireWire), so what?
So it's slower. Not slightly, either. In real-world disk-to-disk throughput, USB 2 is about half the speed of FireWire 400... and FireWire 400 is obsolete.
But then again, I'm not the kind of person that would USE an entire 40GB Ipod anyhow.
Then what the hell are you doing posting in this thread? Just being a troll?
I'll pay a few extra ounces for that, if we're talking about utility.
I won't. I want small and light.
If not, then lets get back to the USB deal.
I'll say it again: iPods have USB. They also have FireWire. Everybody who can uses FireWire, because FireWire is better. The competition, if you can call it that, does not even offer FireWire, because it is inferior.
In summary: BLAH BLAH BLAH.
You said it, cockknocker.
Please consider your Apple zealotry here:
Disregarding nearly-irrelevant side efforts, just because a spec is open does not mean it is commonly accepted (native Ogg on windows? not.) The point about WMA being pure money grubbing by MS holds no water in this case considering Apple's (albeit circumventable) DRM tactics with iTunes/AAC on Macintosh.
Perhaps we differ at a more base level-- as a Macintosh apostate accepting WinNT, I believe that market share matters. As a Apple zealot, perhaps it does not matter to you since you can invoke jihad on the Windows installed market share.
If we differ at such a base level, I hope you have fun with all those 'brand new' OS X games ported from two year old Windows products.
If you read the Details about the Archos unit, you'll notice that the weight is listed as "10.23 lb."
I think I'll pay the extra $80 for the iPod - probably pay for itself in fewer trips to the chiropractor.
---------------------------------------------
SERENITY NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But.... it doesn't support LPs!
Geez I don't understand why every time apple comes out with a new machine it gets on slashdot. News flash: Apple is on it's last leg. It's dead, dying and gone. The machines are so damn expensive that now they even have to put out articles with prices in British pounds :) The only people that buy them are printers & layout houses. I'll stop buying them too as soon as I can get quark and the font problems figured out. Boy it would be great to dump the rest of our Windows & Macs for Linux machines here.
Really, the machines are so outragously priced you'd have to be a total nutcase to by one if you are running Linux. Worse, people not running Linux almost all run Windows; Apple needs to join up with us and try to help kick M$ out.
It's especially unfortunate that you don't like being called an elitist, when everything from Apple's ads to pricing is pitched at elites. You don't think it's the Volkswagon Beetle of computers, now, do you? (I'm referring to the cheap VW Bug of yesterday, obviously, not the expensive mutation built today for elites--and featuring an iPod deal right now, LOL!)
I bought my Mac for various reasons, and people can think whatever they please. But one thing is certain: Apple designs and markets its machines for a niche audience, not for Everyperson, and that strategy invites invidious response just as all expensive goods do. Why pretend otherwise?
This sucks. I just replaced my old 10GB model with a 15GB iPod two days ago. I'll replace the damn thing with the 20GB model by paying the return fee, but man, am I ticked off...
"The deluded are always filled with absolutes. The rest of us have to live with ambiguity." - Aristoi, Walter Jon Willia
Haha!
AMD Athlon XP, 2.2 GHz
Intel Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz
Manipulate the moderator system! Mod someone as "overrated" today.
Let alone multiple.
Learn about the technology first.
Bluetooth maxes out at about 800kbit/second. It takes 1.5mbit/second to stream audio.
You could stream compressed audio, but then you need a special headset with a decompressor in it. That headset would be expensive and have short battery life.
This basically means that PC's will get the same treatment within the next year.
I can't wait until bluetooth becomes ubiquitous.
I've played a lot of computer games which use Ogg Vorbis as a codec for their sounds, and for good reason. The first, is of course, they don't have to pay for it. The second is, it's so much smaller, so you can have more sounds on a CD, which really matters because it's a limited space storage device. If you're wondering... it's Operation Flashpoint.
Firstly, computers are designed primarily for adults.
Right out of the gate, you're wrong.
So the majority that use computers are either around 6, left-handed or arthritic/RSI suffers?
Yup. The majority of computer users are the young, the old, the left-handed, the disabled, the differently abled, the infirm, the disfigured, or the injured.
You're an elitist pig if you think that the majority is composed of physically perfect people. Or perhaps, based on your first comment, you just believe that computers ought to be reserved for physically perfect people?
For everyone else, there's the mouse. But I digress...
"Digress" is an understatement of the highest order. You don't digress. You spin wildly off-topic, making oblique references to things that are not only completely unrelated, but are in fact dubious in their very veracity!
Yes, because 'press the right button on the mouse' is a really HARD concept to learn.
Yes. It is. Of course, your arrogance won't let you see this. "I've mastered it, so obviously anybody who can't or hasn't is a moron who shouldn't be using a computer."
Whatever, little friend. You're either an elitist, a pig, a twit, or a buffoon. Which is it?
Either way, I hope you get cancer and die.
I specificaly mentioned how Ogg isn't patent encumbered(hence MP3 is). I also mentioned how its great that game companies have a FREE(hense MP3 not being Free) codec to work with.
I well aware of what you mentioned, but like I pointed out the fact the MP3 has patent problems and isn't "truly free" doesn't mean anything to almost anyone.
666th post
(no shit!)
Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born.
--Ronald Reagan
The Creative Zen gets 14h play time and recharges over USB, so it is possible to do this; its main disadvantage are its software, user interface, and design. The Zen is somewhat larger than the iPod, but I'd rather have a larger MP3 player that doesn't die halfway through the day. With some careful engineering, Apple might be able to get Zen-like battery-life in a unit the size of the old iPod (all the extra thickness could be battery).
What the F do you care what people think about your rinky-dink little Mac.
You want to "think different", but what you really want is "oooh, you're such a rebel, you have a Mac".
Please. Go away. Just go the F away.
Apple laptops are effectively unusable for unix users.
I am a long-time Unix user. That means I need to have the Ctrl key to the left of the A key. This is a genuine need, not merely a want; it is based upon ergonomics. The Ctrl key is heavily used in unix, and it must be easily accessable. It cannot be off in the lower left corner of the keyboard where it is difficult to get at, and where it distorts the position of your left hand such that you can't easily type other keys while holding the Ctrl key down.
Apple desktop keyboards are now all USB. They are all OK. The CapsLock key can be re-mapped into a Ctrl key.
Unfortunately, even in this modern age, all Apple laptops have built-in ADB keyboards. The ADB keyboard is broken-by-design. It is, in general, not possible to remap the CapsLock key into a Ctrl key.
There are some exceptions, but they are horrible kludges. They are horrible kludges because the original design of the ADB keyboard was a horrible kludge. The correct solution would be for Apple to re-design their laptop motherboards to use built-in USB keyboards. This hasn't happened yet. If you run Linux, use Debian's solution. For Mac OS X users, uControl works. There are no solutions (that I know of) for either NetBSD or OpenBSD. Please note once again that the "solutions" above are in fact kludges, because of the original bad design of the ADB keyboard.
Apple provides a technical note on how to remap the keyboard, but provides no solution to the hardware problems caused by the design of the ADB keyboard. This tech note helps foreign language users, but does nothing for the CapsLock/Ctrl problem.
Apple is (currently) ignoring Unix users! This is not merely speculation on my part. In an on-going email exchange I am having with an Apple employee (whom I won't name) in their marketing department, the Apple marketing person directly stated to me that Apple was catering to their historic Mac customers, and is purposely ignoring the Unix market. He also claimed that Apple would soon start paying more attention to the Unix market. I won't hold my breath. Apple has been ignoring Unix users for more than 13 years. I expect that trend to continue. (Also note that my Apple contact indicated that Macs would never ship with a 3-button mouse, even though Apple intended to port almost all X-window software and deliver it either on a CD/DVD or installed directly on each Mac's hard drive. How Unix friendly is a 1-button mouse with X programs that often require 3 buttons?)
Apple has now lost two opportunities to sell me hardware. I really wanted an Apple laptop for their superior battery life, and for the PowerPC with Altivec CPU. (The Altivec is vastly superior to the x86 line for DSP.) Because I can't live with the broken-by-design built-in ADB keyboard in all Apple laptops, Sony and IBM sold me laptops instead. If Apple fixes this problem, they will sell me a PowerBook next year; if they don't, I'll still be running OpenBSD on x86 hardware, and wishing I could use a Mac.
All we need now is a WiFi iPOD and wifi networks
at most music stores so you could purchase songs via your WiPOD as you walk! no queue, just choose and click!
Oh and btw Steve, if you do this send me the cash for this business plan!
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Unless you're running RAID, it is highly unlikely that you will fill the bandwidth of Firewire 400, let alone Firewire 800. The fastest 7200 RPM hard drive on the market does 55 MBps tops, just 5 more than 50 MBps, and not even close to 100 MBps. I guess its good to have headroom for firewire hard drives or something, but seriously, its not even going to come close.
Let alone what the iPod has in it. A 3600 RPM drive if you're lucky. Probably not. 20 MBps? 10? My roommate says he can transfer at 2 MBps; highest report are 7-8 MBps.
The space unintentionally left unblank.
remember, even thought that WOULD be a killer app, these ipods run on batteries, with a bluetooth streaming feature you can bet that those batteries would only last a handful of songs before they went kaput.
http://m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?speedbump
Main Entry: speed bump
Function: noun
Date: 1972
: a low raised ridge across a roadway (as in a parking lot) to limit vehicle speed
Quote: "No wonder Mac users have gotten such a bad reputation..."
/. just a week or so ago. I waxed poetic on the wonder that is the key. I use a Macintosh and a Wacom tabet for all of my work use. (Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects & Lightwave) I have three buttons... The tip and two barrel switches. The tip is a single click and the first barrel switch is a double click. I've never used the second barrel switch in nine years. My left hand is always sitting on the keyboard with my thumb just above the Command key. My pinky is ready to hit Control and my middle finger is on Option. It is in my opinion, the fastest way to use Photoshop. Now, when I'm at home, I just use a two button mouse. The great thing is, that when I use a system with a single button mouse, I'm not lacking any functions. On Windows, some things have to be accessed via the Right click. If the Right click menu isn't duplicated in the drop-down menus then THAT is poor interface design. I actually think that Amiga did the two button mouse thing better anyway.
And you're making me fall in love with Windows, all over again.
There was a poll question here on
It's mandatory to wash your hands before returning to the land of Dairy Queen.
Outside usa, good old apple again makes their prices WAY TOO MUCH!!!
Is it apple usa's fault for its export prices? or the importers fault for having exclusive import rights that jack the price up, then blame it on import duties/tarrifs and sales taxes and need to make a profit that it ends up 50% more?
Its like in 1998 when a powerbook cost $7500 in AU, yet $2999 in USA, it was cheaper to fly to usa to pick it up instead of buying local.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Correct me if im wrong, but doesnt Bluetooth ALWAYS ON, suck a lot of battery on mobiles?
Consider yourself corrected.
In the interest of historical preservation,
:))
I am revisiting this tired thread in the hopes of leaving it on a constructive note. My initial attempt at comunicating this point was somewhat missinterpreted...
"Bleed those artsy-fartsy halfwits dry"
This mild barb instigated a mild reply...
I was then asked "if I was happy now?"
I then replied, stating my case for tolerance (not in comparison to racism or sexism, but rather in the spirit of brotherhood and egalitarianism)
I was then accused of being an elitist, of claiming discrimination, etc...
I have no problem being part of a minority...I have no problem with other people not liking my choice of platform...my problem is with those who feel compelled to go beyond mere opinion-sharing to outright rude and unwarranted vitriol...
For once and for all, I do not feel like a 'rebel' for using a mac. I don't need anyone else to think of me as 'different'. I don't buy macs as an expression of my wealth, and I am not 'gay' (not that there is anything wrong with that
Again I make a heartfelt plea in the spirit of reconcillitation...
"I am a computer nerd. Regardless of platform, OS, hardware, or IDE, my hope is that we all can appreciate each other for our shared interest and not divide ourselves because of our brand-awareness."
Thanks for reading...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
It is in my opinion, the fastest way to use Photoshop.
Agreed, 100%. I used Photoshop and Illustrator in basically the way you describe every day for nearly seven years.
Apple has a tendency to bloat the features of their products. AAC is nowhere near as good as MP3 is, but they come out with ambitious, if not overly deceptive messages like "rivals CD quality", when it is nowhere near MP3, and MP3 being nowhere near CD quality.