Regardless of the fact that I'm an iPhone owner - and I love the phone, btw - I have to agree with much of what you say. The needs or wants of the end users are not being met in this regard. Anyone who adamantly claims otherwise is foolish.
Yet I love my phone. The interface and included applications are unprecedented from anything I've ever experienced in a phone. That's why I own it and use it.
I also contend that anyone who purchased a phone expecting more from the SDK than what they are seeing should get their head checked. They bought it, it was worth the money for without additional features. It comes down to choice. What do you want and what are you willing to trade for it? And I don't just mean monetary value. Any iphone owner who complains about the lacking SDK should realize that they had the option to wait and see what the SDK would bring. If they had waited and found the SDK too restrictive, they could have spent their (in some cases) well-earned cash on a more open platform. I don't mind the restrictions because the phone has enough value to me without those benefits. There may come a time when I decide I need more from my phone. When that happens, I'll buy a new phone. It's every person's choice as a consumer. They shouldn't get upset because they jumped the gun, gambling on their own or media-fed assumptions. While more closed than it should be, the SDK does still add extensibility and value to the device.
Public outcry appears to be what got us the SDK in the first place, perhaps it will help nudge the doors open a bit more. Still, I see Apple's screening of programs as at least something of a benefit. It may turn out that we'll end up with less in the way of clutter and junk programs. The iPhone is such a huge target that I'd be glad to have the programs screened for security reasons, if nothing else. No FireFox is a disappointment - if it's true - but I can live with Safari. It still beats any other mobile browser available on any platform, imo.
Three broken stereo systems (the last sony product I bought failed at my wedding, big last straw), rootkits, and proprietary formats for portable audio players (mini-disc, some digital audio format which it dropped, etc).
Of course, I do still buy Sony movies and music. But the rest is enough for me to boycott any hardware purchases.
"Don't Make Me Think" is an absolutely fantastic book which covers the basics of good design in a clear voice. It contains images as samples and outlines why they are good. For someone who is old at the tech side and new to the design side, this book is a must-have.
I rather disagree with your summation of Javascript. However, I am aware of its security flaws and agree with most everything else you said. What I would recommend instead is to install the NoScript extension, disabling javascript except on sites where it's trusted and necessary.
I also thought a browser in kiosk mode, along with a couple of the other aforementioned precautions would be a good idea.
The software I've seen that does a scheduled total restore of a system is called DeepFreeze. I can't explain how it works, but there's no wait time for the restore. It's like magic. You can designate a folder or external drive for personal file storage and have the rest of the computer be inaccessible for writing - another handy feature.
I think I tried an early version of VideoDownloader that opened a new window and all kinds of stuff. This put an icon and menu in your toolbar (for me next to the address bar). Meaning two clicks and the file gets downloaded. The icon even animates when there's downloadable content in the page.
Amen. and Amen. I've refused to install it, even told my VP that I wouldn't install it. Like AOL software, I refuse to infect my PC with its filth. Besides, I only use Windows at work anymore, I've converted to linux (ubuntu - best damn distro period for those with the "it should just work mentality") full-time at home.
Um... You're hoping Blu-Ray wins because it has more storage capacity than DVD5/9 discs? That's comparing new to old, which makes no sense. HD-DVD is 15 or 30GB for single sided single or dual layer, respectively, which might be, might just be more storage capacity than DVD5/9 discs.
Make the comparison between the two new formats before making a selection. Unless you're a Sony fanboy and have already grossly overpaid for a PS3. I'll admit, however, that if anything were going to convince me to buy one, it would be FF13. Nothing was more upsetting than when that franchise went to Sony and their stupid, hand-wrenching controllers.
Also, it's annoying when people start their sentence in the subject line. Either you think it's clever, which it's not, or you don't actually know the subject of what you're talking about.
I'll grant you the DRM 'hoop' analogy, but I enjoy iTunes as a media player/organizer. I've been currently use Amarok which is great, have tried RythmBox, Banshee, and several others, but overall iTunes is my favorite player and thus, at least for me, not a 'hoop'.
None, that I'm aware, will sync video files to the ipod. I wouldn't have a problem if I owned a non-video ipod, but I like having movies for flights, and right now I have to boot into windows to make that happen. Every time I do, it's like a small part of me dies amidst screams of agony.
All I want is iTunes compatibility. Sure, I can sync my ipod with Amarok or RythmBox, but I haven't found anything that works well for syncing video and I can't purchase music from the store. The kicker is, I would probably purchase LOTS more music if I had a solid linux port.
This will probably not happen in the near future, though. I think Apple is afraid that a linux port would get reverse-engineered and their DRM would be cracked in a week. But with their apparent success in locking down the iPhone, I find that unlikely.
"meant to up the ante on wasting government resources"
So... What does this mean for all those government employees 'supervising' the worker digging a new hole in the street? Or for those guys busy developing pens that write upside down? Or...[rambles on incoherently]
My boss uses a Mac and he'd rather it looked worse in IE than in Firefox. I'm still trying to convince him to let me put a big "Get a Better Browser Link" on our homepage for IE users.
I hate to say it, but according to Google Analytics and SmarterStats, 92% of my visitors are on some version of IE. It's mostly due to the fact that we are a hospital in a very rural community. ~40k visitors per month and most of them don't have a clue what a "browser" is nor that other options exist. To them IE = "the internet". It's a deficiency I try to correct by converting as many people as I can. I even burn Firefox, OpenOffice and other FOSS on cd's and hand them out. When I don't just get lazy and burn an OpenCD for them.
We also get ~5.8% Firefox, and
Despite those stats, I design for Firefox/Safari and then make adjustments to force the site to work right in IE.
I sincerely hope most other webmasters do the same. Most I know do, at least.
Slashdot Mirror
Glad I checked to see if anyone else commented on this before I posted. That's one helluva SUV.
"That, unfortunately, will mean work for site administrators."
Not so. I, for one, would welcome this work. Imagine, functional CSS for all!
Encrypted VPN tunnel. I work at a Hospital and that's our primary method for external data access.
Take this statement...
and this one...
and put them together.
Sounds to me like NASA bought a design created by NASA researchers for a mere 20x the cost to make it in the first place?
What the hell?
Then why did I get arrested for pushing a car into the local river? I was trying to help the environment, people!
Regardless of the fact that I'm an iPhone owner - and I love the phone, btw - I have to agree with much of what you say. The needs or wants of the end users are not being met in this regard. Anyone who adamantly claims otherwise is foolish.
Yet I love my phone. The interface and included applications are unprecedented from anything I've ever experienced in a phone. That's why I own it and use it.
I also contend that anyone who purchased a phone expecting more from the SDK than what they are seeing should get their head checked. They bought it, it was worth the money for without additional features. It comes down to choice. What do you want and what are you willing to trade for it? And I don't just mean monetary value. Any iphone owner who complains about the lacking SDK should realize that they had the option to wait and see what the SDK would bring. If they had waited and found the SDK too restrictive, they could have spent their (in some cases) well-earned cash on a more open platform. I don't mind the restrictions because the phone has enough value to me without those benefits. There may come a time when I decide I need more from my phone. When that happens, I'll buy a new phone. It's every person's choice as a consumer. They shouldn't get upset because they jumped the gun, gambling on their own or media-fed assumptions. While more closed than it should be, the SDK does still add extensibility and value to the device.
Public outcry appears to be what got us the SDK in the first place, perhaps it will help nudge the doors open a bit more. Still, I see Apple's screening of programs as at least something of a benefit. It may turn out that we'll end up with less in the way of clutter and junk programs. The iPhone is such a huge target that I'd be glad to have the programs screened for security reasons, if nothing else. No FireFox is a disappointment - if it's true - but I can live with Safari. It still beats any other mobile browser available on any platform, imo.
Three broken stereo systems (the last sony product I bought failed at my wedding, big last straw), rootkits, and proprietary formats for portable audio players (mini-disc, some digital audio format which it dropped, etc).
Of course, I do still buy Sony movies and music. But the rest is enough for me to boycott any hardware purchases.
"Don't Make Me Think" is an absolutely fantastic book which covers the basics of good design in a clear voice. It contains images as samples and outlines why they are good. For someone who is old at the tech side and new to the design side, this book is a must-have.
According to Apple, this would be about 120 gigs. (160GB iPod ~= 40k songs in yo' pocket)
I rather disagree with your summation of Javascript. However, I am aware of its security flaws and agree with most everything else you said. What I would recommend instead is to install the NoScript extension, disabling javascript except on sites where it's trusted and necessary.
I also thought a browser in kiosk mode, along with a couple of the other aforementioned precautions would be a good idea.
The software I've seen that does a scheduled total restore of a system is called DeepFreeze. I can't explain how it works, but there's no wait time for the restore. It's like magic. You can designate a folder or external drive for personal file storage and have the rest of the computer be inaccessible for writing - another handy feature.
I think I tried an early version of VideoDownloader that opened a new window and all kinds of stuff. This put an icon and menu in your toolbar (for me next to the address bar). Meaning two clicks and the file gets downloaded. The icon even animates when there's downloadable content in the page.
Finally, a true master's weapon. The One Power-forged, heron-mark blade server.
I hope I haven't made the first WoT reference.
Not sure, but VLC may open the stream. Worth checking out - it's the best platform-independent player available.
There's also a Firefox extension called DownloadHelper - I use that. Hasn't failed me yet.
Amen. and Amen. I've refused to install it, even told my VP that I wouldn't install it. Like AOL software, I refuse to infect my PC with its filth. Besides, I only use Windows at work anymore, I've converted to linux (ubuntu - best damn distro period for those with the "it should just work mentality") full-time at home.
Um... You're hoping Blu-Ray wins because it has more storage capacity than DVD5/9 discs? That's comparing new to old, which makes no sense. HD-DVD is 15 or 30GB for single sided single or dual layer, respectively, which might be, might just be more storage capacity than DVD5/9 discs.
Make the comparison between the two new formats before making a selection. Unless you're a Sony fanboy and have already grossly overpaid for a PS3. I'll admit, however, that if anything were going to convince me to buy one, it would be FF13. Nothing was more upsetting than when that franchise went to Sony and their stupid, hand-wrenching controllers.
Also, it's annoying when people start their sentence in the subject line. Either you think it's clever, which it's not, or you don't actually know the subject of what you're talking about.
I'll grant you the DRM 'hoop' analogy, but I enjoy iTunes as a media player/organizer. I've been currently use Amarok which is great, have tried RythmBox, Banshee, and several others, but overall iTunes is my favorite player and thus, at least for me, not a 'hoop'.
As I understand, that only works for older versions of iTunes - which to me is unacceptable.
None, that I'm aware, will sync video files to the ipod. I wouldn't have a problem if I owned a non-video ipod, but I like having movies for flights, and right now I have to boot into windows to make that happen. Every time I do, it's like a small part of me dies amidst screams of agony.
All I want is iTunes compatibility. Sure, I can sync my ipod with Amarok or RythmBox, but I haven't found anything that works well for syncing video and I can't purchase music from the store. The kicker is, I would probably purchase LOTS more music if I had a solid linux port.
This will probably not happen in the near future, though. I think Apple is afraid that a linux port would get reverse-engineered and their DRM would be cracked in a week. But with their apparent success in locking down the iPhone, I find that unlikely.
I've got a simpler idea, why don't we just ask people a simple true/false question. I've got the first:
A single html radio-button form-based multiple choice question is a reasonable security measure.
A) True
B) False
But I think there should be an option "C," though that would make this not a real t/f question:
C) WTF?!
As a web developer, I can't imagine a scenario where I would like to see the text on my site better in this 'new' format.
"meant to up the ante on wasting government resources"
So... What does this mean for all those government employees 'supervising' the worker digging a new hole in the street? Or for those guys busy developing pens that write upside down? Or...[rambles on incoherently]
Somebody's gotta say it, might as well be me.
My boss uses a Mac and he'd rather it looked worse in IE than in Firefox. I'm still trying to convince him to let me put a big "Get a Better Browser Link" on our homepage for IE users.
I have a dream.
I hate to say it, but according to Google Analytics and SmarterStats, 92% of my visitors are on some version of IE. It's mostly due to the fact that we are a hospital in a very rural community. ~40k visitors per month and most of them don't have a clue what a "browser" is nor that other options exist. To them IE = "the internet". It's a deficiency I try to correct by converting as many people as I can. I even burn Firefox, OpenOffice and other FOSS on cd's and hand them out. When I don't just get lazy and burn an OpenCD for them.
We also get ~5.8% Firefox, and
Despite those stats, I design for Firefox/Safari and then make adjustments to force the site to work right in IE.
I sincerely hope most other webmasters do the same. Most I know do, at least.