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2004 Digital Media Winners and Losers
An anonymous reader writes "MP3 Newswire has just released Richard Menta's annual digital media winners and losers list. Apple tops the winners list for the second year in a row as does eDonkey and last spring's Grey Album protest. Losers include the term iPod Killers, Winamp, and the WMA format. BitTorrent made both lists. Menta also released a 2005 wishlist. Topping that list is an iPod in-dash unit similar to the old Rio Car. You can see Menta's previous years winners and losers lists."
In the winner side may be kind to name ARM, IBM, AMD and VIA designs; at the loser side, Intel, MIPS and Hitachi (CPU division) for being less paranoid than expected (that was the key secret for previous uP series: be paranoid in extremis to survive).
Slashdot operates on the CMS known as Slashcode WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashcode is written in Perl WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot's backend is MySQL WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot's web server is Apache WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot is runned by EXPERT administrators knowledgable IN OPEN SOURCE! Due to the nature of Open Source, it is impossible for there to be bugs or problems. Bugs can only be found in proprietary software.
This guy seriously needs to be more digital Media saavy...
With everyone making Tivo knockoffs (got my card @ newegg.com for $30 bucks last year) -- how is that service a winner?
Did the author forget Tivo charges for DVR when most of us that are tech saavy can get it for free?
or mainly their bitching, I heard about the Grey Album and downloaded it to see what the fuss was about. Had they not done anything I would of been none the wiser, now I posess an albums worth of good music.
Btw, I don't own any other illegal mp3s. Just the Grey album because EMI moaned rather than marketed it. Given a chance, I'd still pay for the cd however, the bit rates are lower (192kbps) than what I rip at (256kbps).
Jonathanjk.com
WMA's ability to load web content is NOT merely flaw. It's a flawed feature.
Think like Microsoft for a second. All it wants to do is dominate without any concern for security. It's trying to get the content industry to use its WMA format. Some lackey speaks up at a meeting:
"I have a great idea. Let's add a feature to WMA so that it'll open up web content. So if EMI wants to distribute an WMA song it'll open an option to buy the whole CD."
Of course all the brainless other lackeys at Microsoft agree that it's a great idea and implements it, completely oblivious to any security concerns.
My question is whether Microsoft will be smart enough to disable this feature in future releases.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
if you get and alpine cda-xxxx head unit, say like this head unit here, and also get this adapter you will be able to control the ipod from the head unit and have song titles and other info display on the head. this is not the same as the bmw thing...it is much much better.
i saw the baby, and the baby looked at me
Its becoming obvious that a totally open non-DRM format is a precondition for digital music.
are unfortunately the customers
Hey, this is my sig, if you don't like it, STOP READING MY POSTS!
Actually, I tried out Rhapsody and they have by far the best selection of music, in my favorite genres) of any store/online music service I've tried.
As for the cable boxes that are starting to include it, they're even worse than you could ever imagine. UI nightmares ahoy, terrible listings, horrible season pass implementations, and overall just too restrictive.
The only downside I can give Tivo is their Cablecard HD capable model wont be out until 2006, which is too long. It should have been released by summer 2004.
Using Lame 3.90.3 and the --alt-preset standard command line switch will give you much better results than a fixed bitrate encode at 256kbs. The file will also be about 25% smaller.
If file size doesn't matter to you, use --alt-preset extreme. The file size will be about the same, and you can sleep happy knowing that you used more bits.
You're paying for packaging and convenience.
Most maps are available online -- yet ADC and other companies still exist, who package and distribute maps. People still buy TV Guide, and yet again, it's something that people could get online for free, if they knew where to look.
I've written code to parse the NOAA's collection of METAR information, because my boss didn't want to pay some service provider for them to supply us with the information that had been converted to a more readily understood format.
But that's not to say that there is no sustainable market for those people who sell the information. In the case of TiVo, they're selling more than just the information, as you're also paying for the rest of your system, and continued R&D. [and of course, lining someone's pockets, but we'll just assume that part isn't a significant number].
There are plenty of things that are sold where the initial sale results in a loss, but additional money is made over time to justify the cost. Cell phones are a prime example -- they give the phones away, so they can make a profit by selling service. If TiVo wasn't selling service, they'd have to charge you more upfront. [and in fact, there's the 'lifetime' charge, which takes this into consideration, however, they're still losing money in the expense of their modem banks, and whatever else it takes for them to supply to information and distribution infrastructure]
Just because you aren't willing to pay for the service, doesn't mean that no one else is willing to pay for convenience. We live in a commercial society where people are willing to pay extra for time savings (prepackaged meals), and to show off (luxury vehicles, oversized homes)
I'm not going to claim that I can predict that TiVo is going to flop, or not, and I did work with my roommate on building a TV-connected game system that was also a PVR a few years ago, and I thought the process was a pain in the ass. I do know that I don't bother using it with the current software, and I haven't gone to the trouble of rebuilding it. I'd probably pick up a TiVo, and recycle that system, rather than go to the process of updating it.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Jens of Sweden buy cheap stuff from Korea and puts a logo on it... and then sells it expensive
Not only is this a shill site, the author doesn't know the difference between lossy and lossless audio formats. Notice how they suggest FLAC might replace WMA.
A radio with a space for your iPod to actually slide into it - or an iPod dock that flips out of it somehow for the iPod to stand on, as long as it's secured well enough to not fall off when you corner like I do - would be pretty user-friendly. Make a couple models - AM/FM/CD/iPod Dock for those who haven't ripped everything they own and shoved it onto their iPod, and AM/FM/iPod Dock for those who have.
I googled, and I haven't seen anything meeting this exact description just yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Of course, we also need the trunk-mounted 6-iPod changer, with docks for half-a-dozen iPods... ;)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
I think what he was saying is that as good as any of those devices might be, none of them sell like the iPod.
To outdo the iPod you need to outdo the concept -- not just make what amounts to an iPod with way-too-small video playback and no iTMS compatibility. There are basically three companies that I believe could not only outdo the iPod in quality but then move the merchandise: Sony (if they get their act together), Microsoft (with their massive R&D potential), and Apple itself (Where do you think the iPod profits and the interest from that $4bn bank account are going? Most likely into research, the lifeblood of any company that depends largely on innovation).
It's my personal theory that the halo effect was just what Apple had in mind when they went full-bore with iPod and iTunes for Windows -- what may be the world's first self-sustaining itself-profitable ad campaign, with the intention of getting an iMac onto every desk and a PowerBook into every briefcase, with far higher margins than the iPod and a greater potential for sale of software.
This is particularly true for the iTunes Music Store, which is run at break-even -- its purpose is to provide iPod filler and introduce people slowly to Apple software. Why do you think the Windows version looks a lot like something out of OS X, when they could have easily made it look more like a regular Windows app? So when people go to the Apple store to get an iPod accessory, they stop to look at the G5 -- who could resist? -- and everything looks "just like iTunes" and they take one home. So it's not just a self-sustaining profitable ad campaign, but a multitiered one -- iTMS draws people to the iPod or vice versa, the iPod draws them into the Apple store or to the rear right corner of CompUSA, and then they buy a Mac.
That's why all the other online music stores are failing -- Napster isn't a hardware company, but they have to compete with Apple, which is running a superior product at just over even for the purposes of selling more hardware. So if anything is more "loser" than a theoretical iPod killer, it's an iTunes killer -- the Music Store business model isn't designed to be necessarily profitable (at least not to the extent of being a company's main business), but rather to transfer a low cost to the consumer to increase the likelihood of purchasing hardware.
How about this then from Dension here in the UK, just add a 2.5" HDD of your choice and go: http://www.dension.com/main.php?pageid=49&topid=42
Ive not had the pleasure of an iPod or 'iPod Killer', but most of my music is MP3-based and I use a car more than walk (not that I'd walk around with an iPod in my pocket these days). End of this month, I'll be hopefully getting hold of one - I think they retail for around £270 - £300 (what that is in $ is anyones guess atm).
They really don't use a lot of power. Now if you have 5 tvs running at the same time.. well.. ;-)
I'm not anti-social, I'm anti-idiot.
Here is Alpine's press release about their iPod ready head units.
This is the second post I've done about this, so I should say that I do not work for Alpine. I just like their products.
edonkey is a nice network but keep in mind eMule is the best client because of the many tweaking ability and it's clean cuz its open source.
As for Sony being #2 in Losers, they imo deserve a lower slot like 5 or 6. While ATRAC is a codec that provides you very limited possibilities (so many little choices of bitrates), the players themselves aren't bad in terms of features such as long battery life (at least on the NetMD, ~45-50 hours playback), 5-band equalizer and the great remotes that makes make it so you don't ever (almost) reach your player to do changes.I think the problem with Sony was really the Software and the Codec itself. If the Minidiscs supported mp3 playback and if the software Sonicstage would of been better (such as better interface and more functionalities) than what it is today, then it would of been a nice player to own.
The market has branded the iPod a winner, and this site just reports it. It's not spinning anything (as you would believe).
6 million iPods sold, possibly 8.
You also have some strange history there. Apple didn't create the first mp3 player. Or the second, third, or even 10th. Creative and Compaq were ahead of them with hard drive units and Rio, Samsung, and a few others were ahead of them with CD and flash based units.
Apple is #1 for transforming the mp3 market from niche to mainstream. That is why the iPod is synonymous with mp3 players; not because it's the first, but because it made the market it now rules.
Kind of like how Ford created the automobile market, even though they weren't by far the first cars.
What you want is not a list of "2004 winners," and "2004 losers," you want a list of "2004 cool gadgets," but then I would argue what is important:
The device that no one remembers?
The device that everyone knows?
GPL Deconstructed
Bittorrent is on the winners list, but several key torrent sites that were raided are on the losers list as they have been permanently closed. The maddening thing is that torrent sites don't trade music files, just torrents (little road signs to files) so there is no legal precedent in ANY country that makes them illegal. The problem is, these sites don't have the money to mount a case. The concept of guilty until proven innocent gets a boost here.
. htm .
That is not true actually, a few years ago, in Belgium, when mp3's where publicly available on http and ftp servers, some webmasters that only linked to those files or sites were sentenced/convicted in court (I don't know which is the most correct legal term). Here is a Dutch text that describes what happened: http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/jura/36n2/dumortier
This is one lame signature, please read the message above instead.
I want all my music needs sorted, car, plane and home.
When I am in my car I want to use the Head Unit to control my MP3 player, since the iPod is so common several companies such as Alpine and Pioneer supporting with there new Head Units (in Pioneer case you may already have a unit that supports the iPod Adapter).
I just bought a Pioneer DEH 7600 MP (£180) which is iPod Adaptor ready and the iPod Adapter will be available in March with a suggested RRP of US $140 (so with any luck it will be £100 in the UK).
For information on iPod Adapter goto:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/press/relea
For information on a range of Pioneer Head Units that support iPod adapter goto:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/press/relea
I have an Iriver IHP-120 that is a 20 gig mp3 player and I have to say that it beats the shit out of ANY mp3 player I have seen. The Ipod is great and I LOVE Ipods GUI but Iriver cannot be matched IMO. Three thing about it that cannot be beaten by Ipod: 1. Copying anything (music included) onto the ihp-120 is so much simpler than the Ipod it is rediculous. When you plug it into the computer, it shows up as an icon in my computer or on the desktop in the case of a mac. Create folders inside as if it is a removable HDD and drag and drop. That is it. No software required. Totally plug and play with ANY computer i have ever tried it with. 2. With an Ipod, to get anything, music or data, on or off the ipod, it must be connected to a computer. Not the iriver. There is a line in jack, a line out jack, and an optical input and output. Plus it has an internal microphone and the option to connect external mics. So not only can you directly connect the 120 to anything with an audio output and record music with real time MP3 encoding on the fly, to can also record anyting around you. I have used the internal mic in numerous buisness meetings and the quality is amazing. 3. A minor detail, but one definatly worth mentioning. Everyone has encountered the corrupted audio file that causes your mp3 player to freeze. With and ipod, most of the time you just have to wait for the battery to run out (which in this case is good cause the battery life is pretty short on an ipod as opposed to the iriver), but not with the 120. on the bottom of the device there is a reset button. Press it with a pin and the device reboots as if nothing happened. Yet, noone mentions the iriver anymore. I have not taken a personal look at the new irvier jukeboxes (http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/), but I have to say, the IRIVER IHP-120 IS THE IPOD KILLER.
It is better to be thought an idiot, than to speak and remove all doubt.
I would have thought Bose would have made the list. The company has majorly repositioned its legacy systems to support new digital units and formats.
What is your rate per kilowatt-hour. Over here it is 18 cents/kwh, and that works out to about $20/month for my computer running 24/7 (with the monitor on perhaps 12 hours a day - I am an addict).
1 watt costs you about 10 cents/month where I am, so that probably is about 200 watts, including the big and hungry CRT.
Being convicted means you are found guilty.
Being sentenced means you are given a punishment for the crime you are guilty of.
Conviction comes before sentencing.
I won't comment on the winners and losers list, but the number one thing *I* want to see? A volume control for the iPod. Yeah, the scroll wheel is a great metaphor, and I love it, but it's a pain in the ass for changing the volume.
For one thing, you have to be at the "Now Playing" screen for volume to even be available. Now, imagine you have the unit in your shirt pocket, walking down the street. The next song comes on way too loud (or way too quiet). Quick - reach in and try to find the right spot on the wheel and rotate it in the right direction, without hitting any of the other buttons. Or, try to press the pause/next/previous buttons. Not too easy, is it?
Ideally, there would be a volume slider and the three playback buttons on the top of the unit, between the hold switch and the remote adapter on the Mini. The hold switch is too big anyway, and could be rotated 90 degrees so so that it moves front-to-back, with no loss of usability.
Yes, I know you can get an aftermarket remote-control dongle from Apple that does this, but have you looked at those? Big, ugly, heavy things that dangle from the headphones like a tumor. Couldn't they have made something that fit flat against the top of the unit - you know, kind of an elegant design?
Anyway, I love the unit, but hate the annoyance. It's a small annoyance, but it makes an obvious wart on a really clean design.
Oh, and the ability to randomize a playlist/album would be absolutely fantastic.
What if life is just a side effect of some other process and God has no idea we exist?
Based on recent computer history (for example, when Word ousted WordPerfect), to outdo the leader, you need to offer "more for less". WP, for all its power, didn't look as nice or seem as easy to use as Word (note the word "seem" - advanced Word features can be just as arcane to find as advanced WP ones), while "buy Word and Excel - get PowerPoint free" seemed like a good idea at the time. OK, so hindsight shows that looks aren't everything.
So, for a company to outdo Apple in either player or media ditribution, they need to offer something that seems to be "better" than an easy to use player, or something that gives "more" than an easy to purchase download site. Yes, there are players with more capacity / cost less / more features than an iPod, but the public aren't convinced that these make the player "better". Most competitors use tech style naming - look at the name of Sony's MP3 player as an example - when the public is still going fo rthe simple name (iPod + capacity / size). As for the download sites, what people appeciate is consistency. Tracks that are different prices, because record label A wants more money than record label B don't translate well to consumers, who may not be aware (or care) what label an artist is with. Similarly, being able to burn some bought tracks to CD, but not others, or only being able to listen to the music while you continue to subscribe to the service, does not make sense to people who can understand the concept of buying a CD. So, it looks as though the "iTunes killer" has to be something that is as consistent as iTMS for price and burn to CD, and as easy to go from download to "listen" as the iTunes / iTMS integration. The problem is that the bar is already pretty high, so a new player would have to be very very good to make people want to download it and use instead of Media Player / iTunes (those who use something like WinAmp would already consider the option, but may not be a large enough group for the "new" player to make money).
So, maybe a combined p2p / torrent / general media player, that has a link to an online store with a larger catalogue than the current leaders will become dominant. Because anything less will not be "more for less".
"She's furniture with a pulse"
I must concur. WMA, while proprietary, is a great-sounding format. Even 64kb/sec is tolerable--not so with mp3. 128kb/sec on my Creative Muvo sounds fantastic.
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
I agree that WMA is a *good* format, but with *great* open source formats like FLAC and OGG arround, i wonder if it worth selling our privacy to MS for a good format ?
But still i do find it good that MS users have a decent format that they can call their own.
Lima India November Uniform X-ray
Their OS is based on an open source kernel, they don't have any security holes that allow bots to spread
Let me translate this...
1) Apple couldn't develop a stable kernel, even though they had many rhapsody and pink projects for over 10 years, so they did the only thing they could, they took other peoples work, and slapped an apple logo on it and are now shoving it with closed and high priced hardware down consumers throats cause they don't know any better.
Apple's only open source work is DIRECTLY tied to what SPECIFICALLY they had to keep open by license. Anything that falls outside of the license is more closed than even Microsoft Windows. Anyone have the OSX GUI running on a box with the open source Apple distributed? I don't think so.
2) Apple doesn't have security holes and Mac's don't crash. (Actually they have both, but Apple made most flaws so cosmetically transparent, the users don't even realize their machine just took a dive). It amazes me how many Mac users that have sudden reboots, and crashes but yet don't even know that this is what a crash is, or have an application 'disappear', and then turn around and tell the IT department they never have crashes on their Macs. It is quite amusing at the user ignorance. One company I was in the other day the IT department manager was literally choking from laughing so hard. They had two users in one day, need IT support because of the 'programs disappearing' off the screen, and then turned around and told the IT people that they never had a crash on their Mac.
If you aren't bright enough to realize that your machine restarting is a crash, then yep, OSX is secure and crash free.
As for security, really, no holes at all? Then why does Apple's site have patches and articles themselves that say there have been SEVERAL security holes. Even with the release of last OSX update, that apple CHARGED their users another $100 for, it listed MANY security flaws fixed in the OS, and the only way users could get the 'high risk' security holes fixed, was to buy the upgrade. (Apple got another $100 out of the Mac users, and Microsoft and *nix variants are criticized for just posting updates and fixes for free.) How does Apple distort reality for its users so easily? Is it the ignorance level of the main user base, or do they have an active brainwashing program?
Actually, for low-bitrate encodings -- spoken-word in particular -- I have found WMA to be far superior to both MP3 and OGG.
-----
PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
Has anyone seen that new poster advertising the IP Addresses of everyone they sued? Keep in mind they're getting at least a couple thousand dollars from each of those IP's, and there are quite a few of them.
All it really takes is a shitty-ass lawyer to take a couple hours (10 at very most) of his time to print some data, send a nasty letter to an ISP, send a nasty letter home, and BOOM, 3-4 figures of instant revenue.
Although the amount of simultaneous p2p users may not have been affected that much, I'd say they're doing a pretty decnet job of scaring a good nuumber of people.
But alas, let's pretend they're not scaring anyone. They're still suing a ton of teenagers for what is more or less their life savings or more, and that just goes to cash in the bank. The RIAA is not collapsing and it's not being threatened. For whoever hasn't noticed, CD sales are up this year.
The majority of the Losers List is companies/products that failed miserably and dumped a lot of money into something that's not paying off. RIAA seems to be excelling quite well. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but support your bands, buy theiir mp3's online, but STOP BUYING RECORDS.
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
Don't be rediculous!
You want to know who isn't running Firefox 2.x? They spell it "definately" and "rediculous".
Exactly where/when do you claim macs running OSX 'randomly rebooting'? I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Not once has my entire computer ever crashed in the middle of operation. I assume by random reboot, you mean something along the lines of a blue-screen, which I haven't seen/heard of since.
Next is ignorant users. Actually, Mac users know a lot more about using their computers than most windows users. Granted they're more detached from the actual computer operations, but who cares? They're much better using applications, which is what the concept of a GUI is based on. Ever heard the phrase "I just click on the e" or "my computer is slow maybe it'll go faster if I defrag it (for the 3rd time this week)"?
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
Security Holes, my friend, are updated and patched automatically, similar to windows update, only much less frequent and urgent (due to OS being much more stable and having many fewer security holes), aa well as having smaller download sizes.
Mac OS being 'crash free' isn't quite accurate, but it's unquestionably the best OS out there. I ran Red Hat 8 for a while, and even the integrated Shoot-em-up game and the Penguin game crashed within a few minutes. Oh sorry, the applications disappeared. OpenOffice still has some miles to go until it can sync well with MS Office, and I wouldn't consider that bug-free either.
As for Windows, famous of IE and Outlook Express, I think I've said enough.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
Mod parent up!
I disagree, I think that they are losing. For one thing, the lawyers are getting paid, even if they're on a payroll rather than hourly, they're being taken away from other things they could be doing. Not to mention, due to all of this bad publicity, they are taking a cut in sales. Despite a yearly growth of 3(?) percent, in the record industry, their particular labels, especially the main ones, are taking a hit, as people like myself, run from anything they touch, and support the alternatives... They aren't dead yet, and they wont be dead for a long time, but I think they're boat has already begun taking in water.
WANNAWIKI Wannawiki WannaWiki WANNAWIKI!
A present from my very generous other half. It's great. The little disk caddy hooks up to a PC as a USB 2.0 hard drive for easy and fast file transfer, then slots into the head unit behind the faceplate. I'm very happy with it and highly recommend it. Of course now I have to put all my cd's onto it which is taking aaaaages....
Dension dh100ix + 40Gbig toshiba drive = all your music available in the car.
Dension also do an iPod adaptor for other makes of stereo to allow you to hook up your iPod to the cd-changer port on most major branded head units and control it through their changer controls.
Cool company, if I was the type to invest in the stock market I'd be buying dension right now.
FYI they're a hungarian company I believe.
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
When Panther was released, there was a mass of buzz because Apple specifically said it would not issue security updates for Jaguar. After about a month of bad press and consumers complaining, Apple retracted this policy requiring users to buy the new version to get the security updates.
However, prior to this, with the release of Jaguar, Apple DID require users to buy the updated OSX in order to get the security fixes that came with Jaguar.
And if you don't believe this, you are either living in a dream world, or have no idea about what Apple does with its users. Do a quick google on the subject.
My company deals with TONS of Apple, *nix, and Windows users, trust me, I have been around this topic a bit to long for your revisionist history.
I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Really, a windows computer does this too? Hmm... Do you even know what standby and hibernate are? Do you even know that a computer cannot run indefinitely without power? Geesh...
And I never said random reboots were predominate on OSX, I said when the OS does crash and the system reboots, there are a lot of Mac users that have no idea that their computer just crashed.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
And yet you claim above you don't have crashes, which is it, or does my conclusion that Mac users don't get what crashes are hold true?
So far with both things you point out, you are just providing evidence for my rash generalization. And I meant it as a rash generalization, I didn't realize that SlashDot Mac users were going to chime in to prove they know nothing about their computer in depth. - Geesh
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
I wasn't even claiming I'm better than or don't even like Macs. I however don't put them on a false pedestal above all other OSes or Computers out of my ignorance or love of their ideal. I use OSX, Windows, and several *nixes on a daily basis. Not only for support, personal use, and development.
To even hint that I love any one of these far above the others is absurd, you have no idea who I am or what I stand for, so stop putting words in my mouth.
We can only better the computing world by finding and exploring the best ideals from ALL OS concepts and expanding the best ideas to a fulfilled reality. To state that one is the greatest and ignore the rest is not only ignorant, but does nothing but close your mind and stifle your ability to offer insightful or creative input to the computing world.
Maybe you're one of ten people who's HEARD about this. But you know, I've SEEN my Win98 box, and even my WinXP box pull random reboots too, and they happen a lot more often.
I have two Macs in my office alone, are you sure you are barking up the right tree?
-Assumption is the intuition of fools.
No. re-read teh comment. It said that the TERM "iPod killers" i sthe loser. Not the actual products.
or do they have an active brainwashing program?
Dear Sir,
It has come to our attention that you have been posting confidential, proprietary marketing information in a public forum, for the express purpose of exposing underlying technology and processes held by Apple Computer, Inc. Apple aggressively enforces our company's proprietary rights under the U.S. copyright laws, therefore we ask that you remove all references to "ignorance level of the main user base" and "active brainwashing program", or any grammatical variations thereof. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Apple Legal Dept.
Apple Computer, Inc.
How can they say this brillant plan didn't work? Here's what I did:
Bought broken iPod from friend - $5
Buy Dell's Digital Jukebox - $200
Send in iPod, recieve rebate + $100
Sold Jukebox on Ebay + $175
Final Count = $70 Profit! Thank you Dell!
Macs do crash, usually because of bad RAM, either as a freeze or a kernel panic with a screen that says so in several languages. Annoyingly mine has frozen once to date, that was after only 2 years of using OS X. YMMV.
Application crashes are a bit more frequent, the good news being that they don't affect the system. They can be a symptom of running out of free unfragmented hard disc space for OS X to play in.
And this is different from any other modern OS how?
Just because the Mac finally got a quite good OS with OSX, doesn't mean that tons of other OSes have not been around doing THE VERY SAME THING FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE OSX.
You want to stick with XP, go ahead. I hear it's almost as stable as OS X.
I think OSX is a good OS, I never said it wasn't, nor did I say that XP, Linux, Solaris, BSD, or 20 other OSes were any better than OSX. Funny that you would paint me as an XP person. It is a good OS too, but NOT THE BEST IN THE WORLD EITHER.
The difference is I don't blindly stick my head up Apples butt just because they finally are offering their customers something that *nix variants, Open Source OSes, and EVEN Microsoft has been offering its customers for years.
Apple is STILL NEW restrospectivily to having a modern OS, and it is great that they finally do. But I get sick of hearing how it is more secure, crashes less, or when people hype 'cool' features in OSX, when these features have been in other OSes for years.
It also annoys me to see people in the Open Source world bend to Apples will when Apple has done VERY LITTLE for the Open Source market or movement. Apple's bread and butter is a Closed Software GUI on Closed Hardware. Apple only pays credit to the Open Source and BSD underpinnings in OSX when licenses require them to, or they get a shot of publicity or fanfar by snow blowing the open source world.
If Apple flips open the GUI and discloses the source, then I will completely rethink the Apple Open Source connectivity, right now it just isn't as real as people would like to believe.
PS. Why do all the I love this OS or I love that OS zealots almost always respond anonymous?
Wow, how did that get modded Troll?
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm