Still, a used book that was $150 is likely to cost around $80-$90, when the e-book was $30.
The e-book doesn't weigh anything. There's no standing in long lines at book store rush times. The text book doesn't have interactive search capability. My wife doesn't break her back lugging 50 lbs. of books around a giant, sweltering campus. Who's the dumbass again?
iPad versions of text books won't "cost so much less."
But you're wrong, because they do. $150 new text book for $30 in e-book version is the norm at the local University here. That's much more than 5% off.
I shouldn't be responding, since I was modded troll to start this whole thread..*rolls eyes*...
The page transition follows tried and true UI rules about giving the user feedback. When you change days/months/weeks/whatever, by pressing a button, the quick little animation gives you feedback that, not only did you invoke an action, but the system is acting on it. In the old version of iCal, for example, if you weren't paying attention, you'd not realized you changed months or years, and then you get all flustered when you can't find your appointments.
It really is that simple. It's not a very good transition from an aesthetic point of view, but it's better than no feedback. It's also not in your face nor does it bog down the system (something other designers are guilty of).
Says you? I doubt that the University of Texas, with 60,000 students, is atypical of anything. It's probably the most typical model out there, as far as tech-savvy undergrad programs go.
My wife's Math books were going to be about $600 for the semester (four books). The same four books were less than $200 as ebooks. That paid for an iPad. Multiply that by two semesters a year and 60,000 students and that's a lot of savings. Of course not all students will have the same price disparity as my wife's books, but pretty much all e-book versions are at least half the price of the print version ($150 versus $30 in one case)...at least on large US campuses.
Outside of Academia I don't see a lot of cost savings. Game of Thrones on iTunes is $8.99. I think the paperback version is $5.99.
The cost difference between my wife's Math textbooks and their equivalent e-book version was $400 for us last semester. In other words, an iPad pays for itself in one semester of school.
That me be the case, but we're talking about the page turn transition in Apple's OS X iCal app. For the most part, Apple transitions are for a purpose (genie be damned) and Microsoft's are for the "oh-look-at-me!" purpose.
The current nonsense just proves that there is such a thing as objective good and bad. It just happens to be most bad at the moment.
Principles of good design are timeless. The bible of this stuff, The Design of Everyday Things, is an old ass book, but all of the principles within still hold true today.
It's a fraction of a second, and it follows UI guidelines that you should provide visual evidence that something has changed when the user clicks something. The problem in the last version of iCal is you could accidentally change to the next month, and if you weren't paying close attention, you weren't aware you were in the next month. Then you get all mad because you can't find your appointment on Wednesday, and you could have sworn today was the 10th, not the 9th.
On a related note, Apple has always used silly analogies ("Desktop", "Trash", Eject by dropping to trash). I hope I offended everyone now.
Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is jumping on this one, other than maybe there's an entire generation of "power" users who don't realize the modern desktop's origins stem from the first Macintosh in 1984?
Maybe it's a tired metaphor, but it can't be that bad since Microsoft copied it. It will be interesting to see where desktop UIs go from here. I bet Win8 is a huge flop, as it tries to be both touch and desktop UI. Instead, I bet both are just poor versions of touch and desktop UIs that exist now.
People don't like the ribbon because it sucks, not because it's condescending. It makes doing the job HARDER for both new users AND experienced users.
The bookshelf/faux leather metaphor is simply that. It has no functionality. It doesn't get in the way, so it's a complete non-issue. It is slightly offensive to anyone with a design-sense, but the world doesn't end because of it.
The fact that geeks like this author feel like they are being talked down to is why the millions of other non-geeks call us geeks. Computers aren't the sole domain for us. Companies have to make money, and when there are millions of more computer-challenged customers than experts like this guy, so they'll make their product for them. The fact this guy is mad about that tells me somebody should give him a Linux build.
Your talking about a 2% difference over two years. Lets cheat a little on the compounding of money and say that's a 1% per year difference. That's not a bad improvement.
1% on $50 over the two year service period? Yes, I consider that a mind-numblingly-insane minor factor. It would be a minor factor even on the full cost of a phone + service contract for two years. If one service provider approached me and said, "but our service is 1% cheaper than our competitor", it wouldn't sway me one bit. If there service was BETTER, and just happened to be 1% cheaper, that would be great.
If there was a guaranteed way to increase the return on any retirement savings you have by 1% per year would you still think that's a minor factor?
My retirement savings have been averaging around 5-10% return a year over the past 15 years, so again, yes, I consider 1% to be a minor factor.
Imagine how different two peoples lives would be, if they started out identically, but one took the lower cost route like this on everything and the other said it was a non factor and spent the extra money.
Sorry, I can't imagine my life fretting over 1-2% price differences. I imagine I'd be an unhappy tightwad with no friends.
I don't buy that claim. Even back in 1995 it was pretty rare to not be able to get an alternative application for something that was "Windows Only". It's such a non-issue now days, that using the word "superior" in this context is laughable.
Remembering a few years ago, in the PC vs Mac debate, that PC fans argued that their platform was superior because there was much more software available.
And they were right. That is the primary selling point of Windows, and in that regard, Windows is superior.
And it's an even more stupid argument today than it was in 1995.
But price is a minor factor because most of the phones are about the same price, and all of the service providers charge about the same price for the service. $200 for a phone (regardless if it's an iPhone or and Android phone), is completely irrelevant to comparison shoppers because, a) all new smarthphones are roughly the same price, and b) they less than 10% of the total cost over the two year period. So if somebody is bickering between a $199 iPhone and a $99 Android phone, both with a Sprint/Verizon/AT&T 2-year required contract, you are talking about a cost difference of $50 out of a total cost of roughly $2500.
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Still, a used book that was $150 is likely to cost around $80-$90, when the e-book was $30.
The e-book doesn't weigh anything. There's no standing in long lines at book store rush times. The text book doesn't have interactive search capability. My wife doesn't break her back lugging 50 lbs. of books around a giant, sweltering campus. Who's the dumbass again?
You are getting screwed. Books at the University of Texas that sell in the $100-$150 range sell for $25-$30 in the e-book form.
iPad versions of text books won't "cost so much less."
But you're wrong, because they do. $150 new text book for $30 in e-book version is the norm at the local University here. That's much more than 5% off.
I shouldn't be responding, since I was modded troll to start this whole thread..*rolls eyes*...
The page transition follows tried and true UI rules about giving the user feedback. When you change days/months/weeks/whatever, by pressing a button, the quick little animation gives you feedback that, not only did you invoke an action, but the system is acting on it. In the old version of iCal, for example, if you weren't paying attention, you'd not realized you changed months or years, and then you get all flustered when you can't find your appointments.
It really is that simple. It's not a very good transition from an aesthetic point of view, but it's better than no feedback. It's also not in your face nor does it bog down the system (something other designers are guilty of).
Sorry to be so trollish...
Your experience is not typical..
Says you? I doubt that the University of Texas, with 60,000 students, is atypical of anything. It's probably the most typical model out there, as far as tech-savvy undergrad programs go.
My wife's Math books were going to be about $600 for the semester (four books). The same four books were less than $200 as ebooks. That paid for an iPad. Multiply that by two semesters a year and 60,000 students and that's a lot of savings. Of course not all students will have the same price disparity as my wife's books, but pretty much all e-book versions are at least half the price of the print version ($150 versus $30 in one case)...at least on large US campuses.
Outside of Academia I don't see a lot of cost savings. Game of Thrones on iTunes is $8.99. I think the paperback version is $5.99.
This is absolutely wrong. My wife's Math books last semester were $400 more for the text book over the e-book version. That paid for our new iPad.
The cost difference between my wife's Math textbooks and their equivalent e-book version was $400 for us last semester. In other words, an iPad pays for itself in one semester of school.
Quit saying that. We all know the history.
How many Xerox users did you know in 1984? How much Xerox stuff made it to the home user?
Mainstream adoption of the desktop metaphor is due to the Macintosh and Apple. This is not disputable. Nobody says they invented it.
Well stated. I'm not sure your comment will go over well in these parts. UI is not a science...to them.
Another whine about how PARC and Xerox invented all this stuff....*yawn*
Name one customer who ever used the Xerox-invented UI...
That me be the case, but we're talking about the page turn transition in Apple's OS X iCal app. For the most part, Apple transitions are for a purpose (genie be damned) and Microsoft's are for the "oh-look-at-me!" purpose.
The current nonsense just proves that there is such a thing as objective good and bad. It just happens to be most bad at the moment.
Principles of good design are timeless. The bible of this stuff, The Design of Everyday Things, is an old ass book, but all of the principles within still hold true today.
It's a fraction of a second, and it follows UI guidelines that you should provide visual evidence that something has changed when the user clicks something. The problem in the last version of iCal is you could accidentally change to the next month, and if you weren't paying close attention, you weren't aware you were in the next month. Then you get all mad because you can't find your appointment on Wednesday, and you could have sworn today was the 10th, not the 9th.
Nah, UI is one of those topics that isn't "objectively right".
There are entire fields of study dedicated to "UI". There is are objective ways to measure good/bad interfaces.
On a related note, Apple has always used silly analogies ("Desktop", "Trash", Eject by dropping to trash). I hope I offended everyone now.
Yeah, I'm not sure why everyone is jumping on this one, other than maybe there's an entire generation of "power" users who don't realize the modern desktop's origins stem from the first Macintosh in 1984?
Maybe it's a tired metaphor, but it can't be that bad since Microsoft copied it. It will be interesting to see where desktop UIs go from here. I bet Win8 is a huge flop, as it tries to be both touch and desktop UI. Instead, I bet both are just poor versions of touch and desktop UIs that exist now.
Ahh, the whole, "real people use Product X for 'serious' work" argument...That one never gets old!
You're complaining about a page turn animation that takes a tenth of a second? Try viewing by year if you need to see months without animations.
I'm convinced the 10.7 Address Book development team was kidnapped by Microsoft.
This article is terrible.
People don't like the ribbon because it sucks, not because it's condescending. It makes doing the job HARDER for both new users AND experienced users.
The bookshelf/faux leather metaphor is simply that. It has no functionality. It doesn't get in the way, so it's a complete non-issue. It is slightly offensive to anyone with a design-sense, but the world doesn't end because of it.
The fact that geeks like this author feel like they are being talked down to is why the millions of other non-geeks call us geeks. Computers aren't the sole domain for us. Companies have to make money, and when there are millions of more computer-challenged customers than experts like this guy, so they'll make their product for them. The fact this guy is mad about that tells me somebody should give him a Linux build.
Your talking about a 2% difference over two years. Lets cheat a little on the compounding of money and say that's a 1% per year difference. That's not a bad improvement.
1% on $50 over the two year service period? Yes, I consider that a mind-numblingly-insane minor factor. It would be a minor factor even on the full cost of a phone + service contract for two years. If one service provider approached me and said, "but our service is 1% cheaper than our competitor", it wouldn't sway me one bit. If there service was BETTER, and just happened to be 1% cheaper, that would be great.
If there was a guaranteed way to increase the return on any retirement savings you have by 1% per year would you still think that's a minor factor?
My retirement savings have been averaging around 5-10% return a year over the past 15 years, so again, yes, I consider 1% to be a minor factor.
Imagine how different two peoples lives would be, if they started out identically, but one took the lower cost route like this on everything and the other said it was a non factor and spent the extra money.
Sorry, I can't imagine my life fretting over 1-2% price differences. I imagine I'd be an unhappy tightwad with no friends.
I think you need a new adjective. "Benefit" of Windows is much more plausible than "superiority" of Windows.
I don't buy that claim. Even back in 1995 it was pretty rare to not be able to get an alternative application for something that was "Windows Only". It's such a non-issue now days, that using the word "superior" in this context is laughable.
Is Hong Kong a country?
Depends on whether you are Chinese or the rest of the world.
Remembering a few years ago, in the PC vs Mac debate, that PC fans argued that their platform was superior because there was much more software available.
And they were right. That is the primary selling point of Windows, and in that regard, Windows is superior.
And it's an even more stupid argument today than it was in 1995.
But price is a minor factor because most of the phones are about the same price, and all of the service providers charge about the same price for the service. $200 for a phone (regardless if it's an iPhone or and Android phone), is completely irrelevant to comparison shoppers because, a) all new smarthphones are roughly the same price, and b) they less than 10% of the total cost over the two year period. So if somebody is bickering between a $199 iPhone and a $99 Android phone, both with a Sprint/Verizon/AT&T 2-year required contract, you are talking about a cost difference of $50 out of a total cost of roughly $2500.
Why do you need (for instance) a Google Maps app when all you should have to do is surf to Google?
I find most embedded apps to be better than their web counterpart on any smartphone/tablet device.