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Environmental DVD Wrecks Apple Drives
FST777 writes "The British Mail on Sunday published its latest DVD giveaway on the EcoDisc, a thin and bendable DVD format that is supposed to be more environmentally-friendly than regular DVDs. Despite the clear warning against using them in Apple slot drives, some Mac users decided to give it a go. The result? A brisk trade for repair shops in the UK. 'The EcoDisc's manufacturer, ODS, insists the disc won't break drives. "We've produced over ten million of these discs — we've had less than a dozen phone calls," says managing director, Ray Wheeler. "There are ways to get the discs out." Wheeler says the problem stems from Apple's slot-loading drives. "It uses an ejection system that doesn't get approval from the DVD Forum." He claims the EcoDisc should work in other types of slot-loading drive, although admits that it hasn't been tested in the PlayStation 3.'"
Just throw the whole computer out and buy a new one!
"It uses an ejection system that doesn't get approval from the DVD Forum."
And these new discs do?
Apple has solved this problem by releasing the MacBook Air without a DVD drive built in- it's much easier to throw away and replace a USB accessory.
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We in the industry call that a "feature".
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On the plus side, this is a good form of idiot tax. This might not make sense to non-British readers but the Mail has, let's say, a certain reputation in the UK for its readership being most of Britain's jumpy, middle class, alarmist, conservative, "immigration is evil and all non-white immigrants should be castrated" type readers.
Circumcision is child abuse.
The environmentally friendly thing to do would be to have NO disc at all. Just point people at a download site and let them get the disk image from the tubes using zero plastics, chemicals, landfill, or other resources in the process.
although admits that it hasn't been tested in the PlayStation 3
Well, yeah, that's understandable seeing as it's still so hard to get a hold of a PS3.
Because the Internet doesn't use any electrical power?
I agree that it's probably more efficient to download data instead of burning it on DVD and distributing it that way, but by how much?
Actually, the Apple slot-loading drive was a response to durability problems experienced by students when they used Mac laptops. Apparently kids were liable to snap the DVD tray right off the laptop. (Not good.) So it wasn't a stupid idea. More like an attempt to balance out a variety of needs.
That being said, you could always get a MacBook Air. Nothing says "high technology" like a complete lack of an optical drive.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
That being said, you could always get a MacBook Air. Nothing says "high technology" like a complete lack of an optical drive. ;-)
That being said, you could always get an iMac. Nothing says "high technology" like a complete lack of a floppy drive.
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
Yes, non-Macintoshes have them, I suppose. But what about what happens when you put a regular bad CD into the drive? On a Mac, you can always eject the disk by going to the Disk Manager (whatever that thing is called). Unless, of course, the CD is bad, then the disk manager won't necessarily load. No problem, just hold down one of those funky keys while selecting "restart." That will work, provided the disk isn't bad.
Well, you can always boot the machine into console and issue a direct "eject disk" command.
But then, of course, you'd say it was the user's fault for not knowing the disk was bad before inserting it.
This will be fun: Non-standard DVD player and an unusual DVD. Does the DVD adhere to appropriate standards, in which case, we can all gloat that the stylish and disposable Mac du jour falls victim to its own preciousness, or is this a matter of shared liability?
The warning was:
"no Apple slot in drive"
Indeed. Remind me, what was the point of that?
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
It only takes one man to change the Wisdom of the Crowd to Tyranny of the Masses.
"I've heard the opposite- that slot-load drives are bad for schools because kids like to stick things in them."
And I've heard that what they stick in the slots is pieces of the trays they snap off from other machines that have (had?) tray loading drives.
-- Terry
Haven't you been reading? They don't work in them apples either...
"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule." --H.L. Mencken
I think I've accidentally been transported into a parallel universe. Is this not Slashdot?
What, you say it is Slashdot? Then how do you explain this article without someone (incorrectly) referring to "bricking" the Apple CD drive?
A friend once put such a disk in his MacBook and then called me after he couldn't get it out. I tried several things, including opening the Mac, with no luck. After some searching I found a solution on the net: Reboot the MacBook holding it upside down... the disk properly ejected right on booting. I don't know why and I don't know if it's reproducable, as I didn't want to try to put it in again. (btw, reading the disc while it was in worked fine.)
I'm fairly certain your parent post was pointing out how people bitched up a fit about the iMac not having that piece of junk back in 1998, not when the major PC builders finally dropped them from their standard configuration within the last 2 years.
Of course, back then the complaint was perfectly valid because Apple didn't replace it with anything.
Had the iMac shipped with a CDRW drive, they would have actually been "innovative", rather than "cheap".
They've specifically said they wouldn't support Apple's non compliant hardware, which Apple dishonestly marketed as compliant.
I particularly love the way that you can add files to projects by drag-and-drop! Oh, wait, no you can't, you have to add them with an "Add file" dialog.
- Opens up the 'src' folder in the Finder
- Selects a file
- Drags it to the 'Sources' folder in the XCode project
- Sees import-folder-to-project sheet drop down
- Wonders what the fuss is about
But at least you can add a whole bunch at once! Oh, wait, no you can't, you can only add one at a time
- Does same as above, but selects multiple files
- Wonders what the fuss is all about
- Tries using the dialogue box, in case Apple had gone insane... Nope, multi-select works just fine...
But at least the dialog box remembers where the files were so you don't have to navigate your directory structure again and again for every single file! Oh, wait, no it doesn't, it always goes right back to the project directory
* This one I'll give you, but then I tend to keep my source files for a given project within the project folder anyway, so it works quite well for me...
the only way to change the build settings for your project is to right-click on the build target name and select the intuitively named "Get Info" option
- Wonders why the coward just doesn't double-click the project...
Thinks to himself: "Perhaps reading the manual might be a useful exercise for this coward". Here's a hint: If you're doing something that you think is a monumental waste of time, something the computer could do far better, and make your life far easier, you're probably missing something. Reading the fine manual before blowing off steam in public saves making an ass of yourself.
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
wow, you criticized apple fanboys with a side swipe at apple. And didn't click the no Karma, or Anonymous check box? a.) I didn't side-swipe Apple. I'm not sure why you're seeing that. The "He's telling the truth" bit is a reference to his ownership of an iPod, not to his critcism.
b.) This is basically a throw-away account. I've been lurking on Slashdot for far longer than my ID implies. One day there was a story about another company complaining about iTune's monopoly. Everybody poo-poo'd that complaint, so I mentioned that he had a point and why I thought so. (As opposed to saying something like "APPLE SUX!! EVERYBODY WHO LIKES APPLE SUCKS!") My comment was initially modded insightful. Unfortunately, that invited criticism. Instead of taking my point head-on, lots of people took jabs at my post. One guy shot up to a +5 for cooking up a hypothetical (and, if anybody spent more than 3 seconds pondering it, non-sensical) scenario about my motivations for making the comment. Silly stuff, but not really out of the norm for Slashdot. The silliness shot to an extreme when all of my recent posts started dropping. Before long, some 30 negative moderations had been made, actually causing me to get banned from Slashdot for a couple of months. (It was specific to an IP range, I could still post from home.) A couple of months later, I started posting again, and those new posts were automatically modded as troll.
So I created this account to avoid that BS attached by my old nick. Frankly, if this one gets toasted by ridiculously organized Apple fanboys too, I really don't care. I can create a new account. BFD. I'm not giving Steve Jobs verbal fellatio just to be cool with a group of people. I'm also not giving Apple any more credit than I'd give Microsoft. They're motivated by profit just like BillyG, so I'm not defending them just because I like my iPod.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
You fail to mention that illegal immigrants killed Diana, presumably while stealing our jobs and living off benefits.
[FUCK BETA]
Calling them DVD drives certainly does that, and really, not coming clean with the fact that they're *not* is enough.
My memory is fine. less than a minute to upload a 1 MB file. Floppy drives took the same amount of time to save. I used Netscape. Never a fan of Claris Emailer, but I digress. I worked in service for a Apple Authorized Service Center in 98. I am aware of internet reports of a "click of death" I saw very little of this. The reason it had a short span was due to the quick decrease in price of burners and media. Not to mention every computer had a CD reading device. I do remember the external drives hanging off Macs. But was that due to necessity for a floppy replacement, graphic artists use large files and Macs (remember Syquest drives before floppies were removed from Macs and Zips were introduced), or struggle of end users to accept a new paradigm?