One thing I've learned since my first computer (Vic-20) is never bet against Apple. Or at least don't make stupid predictions about them. Comments like "No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame." were lame at the time and on the wrong side of history.
I dunno, as a consumer, "good enough" kind of pisses me off. Then again, we've kind of grown accustom to getting "good enough". They'll patch it later. That's why I find companies who strive to be better than "good enough".
I'm a fan of software that works on PCs properly as well. But in the design field, those are few and far between. Like I inferred, I don't like much of ANY new software, and I got my start back in the late 80s on Macs, so my "influential" list is probably different than Visual Basic guy.
Too many people are hung up on "an additional click or two" being the sole measure of usability.
Disagree. A few additional clicks is what separates good UI from awful UI. All the extra steps in Windows 8 is what makes it so terrible. Windows 8 has awful UI by trying to be too many things, instead of just focusing on doing a few things really well. But that's the history of Microsoft...they've just taken it to ludicrous speed now.
Most trackpads on commodity grade PCs are garbage. Apple track pads are pretty good but I prefer a connected mouse. There are a few gestures that only work with a trackpad, so it's nice to have the trackpad available (sort of a two-handed approach).
Here are a few that were great in the beginning but have become bloated and kind of overbearing since:
Word 4.0 for Mac (fast, stable, good UI, nearly perfect) Photoshop 1.0 and then 3.0 (when they added layers) Early versions of Excel (for Mac, then later Win95) FreeHand (when it was Aldus) PageMaker (when it was Aldus...see a pattern here?) Aldus Persuasion (notice I didn't say PowerPoint?) iMovie (compare to any version of movie editing software bundled with Windows ever...no contest) Honorable Mention: Garage Band (too niche to be mainstream)
Hey, this is slashdot! You know, the place I've lamented for its lack of being able to edit a typo or a poorly worded section by being ridiculed by the slashmob: "That'sch why you schould ushe the preview button!. Beschides, I code all me reschponesh scho i don't even need any editing toolsch!"
While something tells me you are very happy with this sort of attitude, it's pretty much the one thing that sets mediocre and greatness apart. I guess you'll always be "good enough", which is fine if you don't ever want to be better. I want to be better.
This is the best car analogy I've ever seen here. Those tiptronic things are just like Windows 8. Trying to be two things and being bad at both instead of just focusing on one thing and being really good.
Wait, what? My wife goes to the University of Texas. Last I checked there are 40,000 or more students on campus every day. There is campus-wide free wi-fi so why wouldn't any one of the classrooms be able to support 50 clients at a time?
I haven't found a simple installer for GIMP in over five years. That alone is keeping 99% of potential users away.
In other news, Pixelmator (Mac App Store, $14.99) does 90% of everything Photoshop does, which is plenty, considering most people only ever use about 5% of Photoshop's capabilities. I'm sure there are alternatives for Windows as well. I even work in multi-media development and haven't had a need for Adobe bloatware in probably 5 years. YMMV.
Also like Office, Adobe CS has high prices because every business on the planet is willing to pay the high prices. I think it's much smarter to buy inexpensive alternatives that meet the business requirements, but it's easier (for the MBA types) to plop down $X thousands of dollars every year in site licenses to check all the requirement blocks in one easy purchase.
Somebody still has to: design, develop, engineer, produce, manufacture, maintain, repair, ship/receive, install, order, track expenses, train all the people who handle robots, etc. etc. etc. Given that it won't be one giant Flip-the-switch-and-everything-is-now-robots, this probably means MORE jobs for everyone (some in the old non-robot industries and many new ones in the new robot industries).
Guy who used to hammer 1000000000 rivets a day needs to learn a new skill...perhaps lubricating the elbow of 1000000000 robots a day, or something equally menial that has equivalent low-skill requirements? Or better yet, maybe hammer guy doesn't have to work 60 hours a week in a factory, can read stuff and get more educated, and then can start managing robot orders or something.
That's the walled garden that so many companies are now trying to drag us into. And I think it stinks.
So don't buy in. Some of us like the business model. A lot of us, evidently. But really, it's as easy as you picking a different brand if you don't like it.
Public transit is a big enough outlier they could have positioned its exclusion better with minimal impact. Instead, the uproar over such a minimal problem is much loader than the reality of the bigger issue of stuff not being correct in the data. I personally haven't had any problems, but my city database is probably pretty good. I'm in California traveling and again, no problems. But, I'm not going to pretend the problems that people have posted aren't there, I only submit that they are an overly loud minority with a big voice (the Internet).
Well how do you explain the Windows stores that are popping up then? Direct rip-off, albeit with less style, of Apple stores.
You need to revisit history to refresh your flawed memory.
One thing I've learned since my first computer (Vic-20) is never bet against Apple. Or at least don't make stupid predictions about them. Comments like "No wireless, less space than a Nomad. Lame." were lame at the time and on the wrong side of history.
Oh joy, this version of history, as explained by slashdot yet again...
I don't know where you've been lately but texts and IMs are virtually indistinguishable to me these days.
Still wrong because you can watch porn on Safari.
I dunno, as a consumer, "good enough" kind of pisses me off. Then again, we've kind of grown accustom to getting "good enough". They'll patch it later. That's why I find companies who strive to be better than "good enough".
I'm a fan of software that works on PCs properly as well. But in the design field, those are few and far between. Like I inferred, I don't like much of ANY new software, and I got my start back in the late 80s on Macs, so my "influential" list is probably different than Visual Basic guy.
Too many people are hung up on "an additional click or two" being the sole measure of usability.
Disagree. A few additional clicks is what separates good UI from awful UI. All the extra steps in Windows 8 is what makes it so terrible. Windows 8 has awful UI by trying to be too many things, instead of just focusing on doing a few things really well. But that's the history of Microsoft...they've just taken it to ludicrous speed now.
Most trackpads on commodity grade PCs are garbage. Apple track pads are pretty good but I prefer a connected mouse. There are a few gestures that only work with a trackpad, so it's nice to have the trackpad available (sort of a two-handed approach).
Here are a few that were great in the beginning but have become bloated and kind of overbearing since:
Word 4.0 for Mac (fast, stable, good UI, nearly perfect)
Photoshop 1.0 and then 3.0 (when they added layers)
Early versions of Excel (for Mac, then later Win95)
FreeHand (when it was Aldus)
PageMaker (when it was Aldus...see a pattern here?)
Aldus Persuasion (notice I didn't say PowerPoint?)
iMovie (compare to any version of movie editing software bundled with Windows ever...no contest)
Honorable Mention: Garage Band (too niche to be mainstream)
I don't disagree, but it's not the developer's role.
Doing it right the first time is terrible for job security. Or at least that's what the devs I've been around lead me to believe.
Hey, this is slashdot! You know, the place I've lamented for its lack of being able to edit a typo or a poorly worded section by being ridiculed by the slashmob: "That'sch why you schould ushe the preview button!. Beschides, I code all me reschponesh scho i don't even need any editing toolsch!"
While something tells me you are very happy with this sort of attitude, it's pretty much the one thing that sets mediocre and greatness apart. I guess you'll always be "good enough", which is fine if you don't ever want to be better. I want to be better.
This is the best car analogy I've ever seen here. Those tiptronic things are just like Windows 8. Trying to be two things and being bad at both instead of just focusing on one thing and being really good.
This post brought to you by Brawndo. It's got electrolytes! Don't miss tonight's episode of "Ow, My Balls!".
And the phrase, "painting with a broad brush" is also unfortunately true.
Wait, what? My wife goes to the University of Texas. Last I checked there are 40,000 or more students on campus every day. There is campus-wide free wi-fi so why wouldn't any one of the classrooms be able to support 50 clients at a time?
I haven't found a simple installer for GIMP in over five years. That alone is keeping 99% of potential users away.
In other news, Pixelmator (Mac App Store, $14.99) does 90% of everything Photoshop does, which is plenty, considering most people only ever use about 5% of Photoshop's capabilities. I'm sure there are alternatives for Windows as well. I even work in multi-media development and haven't had a need for Adobe bloatware in probably 5 years. YMMV.
Also like Office, Adobe CS has high prices because every business on the planet is willing to pay the high prices. I think it's much smarter to buy inexpensive alternatives that meet the business requirements, but it's easier (for the MBA types) to plop down $X thousands of dollars every year in site licenses to check all the requirement blocks in one easy purchase.
Somebody still has to: design, develop, engineer, produce, manufacture, maintain, repair, ship/receive, install, order, track expenses, train all the people who handle robots, etc. etc. etc. Given that it won't be one giant Flip-the-switch-and-everything-is-now-robots, this probably means MORE jobs for everyone (some in the old non-robot industries and many new ones in the new robot industries).
Guy who used to hammer 1000000000 rivets a day needs to learn a new skill...perhaps lubricating the elbow of 1000000000 robots a day, or something equally menial that has equivalent low-skill requirements? Or better yet, maybe hammer guy doesn't have to work 60 hours a week in a factory, can read stuff and get more educated, and then can start managing robot orders or something.
He's an AC - Asshole, Cantankerous.
That's the walled garden that so many companies are now trying to drag us into. And I think it stinks.
So don't buy in. Some of us like the business model. A lot of us, evidently. But really, it's as easy as you picking a different brand if you don't like it.
Public transit is a big enough outlier they could have positioned its exclusion better with minimal impact. Instead, the uproar over such a minimal problem is much loader than the reality of the bigger issue of stuff not being correct in the data. I personally haven't had any problems, but my city database is probably pretty good. I'm in California traveling and again, no problems. But, I'm not going to pretend the problems that people have posted aren't there, I only submit that they are an overly loud minority with a big voice (the Internet).