You will still have to create rulesets for this system. I don't think they'll be all that simple.
I think his intention is that a programmer creates the initial ruleset, and then the programmer's clients/customers can create incremental changes, such as change the sales tax rate from 8% to 8.25%, or modifying income tax tables.
That eliminates a lot of work for programmers, but by no means all.
Visual Basic made it possible for untrained people to write software, and Access made it possible for untrained people to write database applications, but neither of those applications has reduced or eliminated the need for people to create software.
As it becomes possible for more programs to be written, because these tools are cheaper to use, more programs get created, and as a general rule, more programmers are needed.
There are two serious career limitations for programmers. One is reliability; if this helps with that, it's good. The other is offshoring. If we can become more efficient, and reduce the cost of projects, then we can do more with less, and make it less of an issue than it is now. So it's very possible that this could be a boon for programmers, not a bust.
IT needs, as far as I can tell, are almost unlimited; they are not being met because we don't have the right tools. If we can get the right tools, I feel that we can empower our customers and wind up stronger than ever.
Well, that was an entertaining tour into the world of human inventiveness. So I will cheerfully admit there's plenty of variety, yes there is.
But is any of them as slick and user friendly and gorgeous as MacOS X? I'm sure they all have their partisians, and I don't want to hurt the feelings of people who obviously worked very hard, but the answer's pretty obvious. Open source projects attract nerds, not artists or human interface designers.
In short, variety, yes. Quality, no.
(And yes I did check out XFCE. It looks like a mutant cross between Windows and MacOS X, with considerably more of the former than the latter. This is probably just as well considering the sleek competence of Apple's IP lawyers).
I am a developer of web-based applications, not a developer of operating systems. I use what works for me with minimal hassle, and that would mean an out of the box install of some sort.
I made this point in an earlier response to someone else, but perhaps not as clearly as I should. If you're a student, you have time to try out six different windowing environments to find out which is best for you. If you're a typically time-stressed adult, with real projects begging for your attention, you use what the companies that sell you the software give you.
I know that when I had more spare time, I would spend hours playing with things like Enlightenment, trying in vain to understand why themes never quite worked for me. Now, unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time, and it was never all that fun for me anyway.
So I simply choose MacOS X, which takes care of that stuff for me, gives me a really cool interface, and lets me do what I do best, developing slick web applications.
Linux on the desktop exists as an entity, because it's marketed as one. If you ask Red Hat or SuSE if there is Linux on the desktop, they'll say it's what they sell. And for someone who doesn't want to really get into the intricacies of operating systems, that's it.
As for your other remarks, DRM as it presently works does not prevent you from playing MP3 files, and I don't think that's going to change. So all you get from having DRM is the opportunity to play AAC files; it doesn't take anything away from you that you already had.
Apple has been first-rate in issuing security patches to the OS, and there's no question its track record on security is far superior to MS.
Your best point, however, is cost. I can't sneak Macs into my company because they are so expensive, so the odds of anyone other than me getting a Mac are slim to none. This is true even though I experience the PC's crummy TCO every day. I believe I even pointed this out in my original message; the Mac will always be a minority because it's more expensive than the cheapest PCs. Cheap PCs may not be the best ones, but they're the ones that sell.
Thanks for writing; I appreciate the time you took for a thoughtful post.
Sadly, I think the links to your examples don't work. I finally discovered you can't get away with more informal HTML styles in Slashdot - you have to use quotes. So:
<a href = http://www.amazing.com>
won't work, but
<a href = "http://www.amazing.com">
does.
Some years back, when I used Linux on the desktop, I tried a few Enlightenment themes. For whatever reason, I found them quite difficult to set up, and far more attractive in screenshots than actual day by day use.
I'm older than I used to be, and a lot busier, and that means I don't have the many hours it takes to fine-tune things like this. So I choose MacOS X, which has done a beautiful job on my behalf.
So if you're young and poor, or just plain poor, use Linux and spend your free time making it look nice. But if you're old and rich, or just plain rich, get MacOS X and enjoy it as it is.
Obviously, someone does. Look around you - the two highest ranking topics as of the time I'm writing are on this question. People are using moderator points to push them up, a strong indicator of interest.
I've personally switched from SGI Irix to Linux to MacOS X on the desktop, for both home and work. There have been some articles, in Infoworld and elsewhere, about normally geeky guys who have seen the virtues of Apple's creations. And CmdrTaco is the proud owner of a Mac laptop, which he apparently liked so much that he created an Apple section here on Slashdot.
Linux on the desktop seems to have done its best to imitate Windows on the desktop. If you want a user interface better than a pale imitation of Microsoft, then MacOS X is your OS.
For cost reasons, I don't think this is much of a threat to Linux or Microsoft. But I think it's a very interesting phenomenon that deserves more coverage.
I think this is the worst story I've ever seen on Slashdot. Even the article says Microsoft's advances were spurned, and quite frankly there is enough money in this IPO to keep Googleites set for life. If I could sell out ethically for $1 billion, and MSN offered me $2 billion, I'd take the $1b and I'm sure Google's head would too. (I think the numbers involved are larger but I think that's a good overall evaluation).
A "partnership", though, where Microsoft and Google share ad revenues for pages sent from MSN.COM, is not only not a takeover, it's probably good news. It emphathetically does not mean interference with management.
Yes, we should exercise more, and yes, we should eat better, but it looks like vitamin D deficiency is mainly a problem with kids because their bones are still growing and forming.
I suppose it's a nice frame to hang a discussion of diet and exercise on, but the issue itself doesn't seem like it applies to most of us.
Being in Southern California, and being outdoors way more than 45 minutes a week, it would appear that I'm taken care of for this problem. Pity that doesn't make me any lighter:-).
From my viewpoint, the real problem is that exercise strikes me as a mindless waste of time and effort. I watch people in gyms mindlessly walking to nowhere or pulling stuff on machines until they sweat and ache, and to be honest it sounds like a miserable, dumb and unproductive way to spend time.
Exercise and better diet strike me as a lot of pain for little gain. The negative effects on one's life show up immediately and the positive ones take huge amounts of time to appear. So it's all too easy to give up and say it's just not worth it.
That explains the problem; as of yet I have not come up with anything like a solution. But perhaps this statement of the problem will give people some ideas.
For a doctor-style application, where you're moving around and keeping your computer with you at all times, it seems to me it's realistic to stay logged in and leave applications open. After all, that's no less secure than a Palm or even a paper notebook. You don't need to log into either of those whenever you start using them!
The second suspend mode sounds tempting, but I'm betting it means a very short battery life.
If you do have to log in after hibernation, I think our friend with an Apple laptop has an excellent point - you open the case, your favourite application is open and you simply type and close the case. You don't have to log in or anything.
Or perhaps I misunderstood you? It seems surprising that you should have to log in (i.e. type your name and password into boxes) in order to wake up from hibernation.
Even if you can just open the laptop and write, if it takes you time to boot you are probably better off with a Palm. After all, you can hit the ON button on a Palm and be in the last application you used instantly. Then you can write (or even type on the fancier ones).
Seems to me that just the large form factor and the wait for action dooms the tablet to irrelevence - the Palm's way of working is far superior.
D
Re:Digital Photography Review
on
Digital 35mm SLRs?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I had a Nikon Coolpix 990 which I barely used and then got a Canon EOS D30 and took 7000 pictures with it in under a year.
The difference was that I really love the look and feel of the digital SLR as opposed to the consumer electronics style point and shoot. I've read almost all the answers to this question, and so far none of them have really considered the superior tactile feel of seeing directly through the lens, having manual focus and zoom rings, and having a precise view of focus and image framing, far superior to the puny LCDs lesser cameras provide.
I got a Microdrive with my D30, which can store about 700 photos. (The D30 is a 3.5 megapixel camera, unlike the more recent 6 megapixel models.) Then I put on Canon's 28-135 lens, which is just about perfect for the digital SLR (except for less wide angle coverage than I'd like). After those two accessories, I've enjoyed two years of cost-free photography. (Well, almost; it got stolen last year and I had to buy a new one on eBay, but that's not Canon's fault).
With my style of photography, interchangeable lenses are more a burden than a joy; I'd probably drop or lose any lenses I took with me. So I'm pretty much stuck with the one lens I have, and it's worked great for me in all kinds of conditions.
With my setup, there really is no practical limit to the number of pictures I can take, and that's fantastic. I think it's fair to say that my digital SLR has revived my interest in photography and gave me unprecedented freedom to experiment.
I looked that up as you suggested, and you appear to be incorrect.
According to my own reading of USENET - and it was fascinating stuff, I have to admit - Revolution Helicopters apparently went out of business due to an appalling safety record.
I remember I got a spam from a company called Revolution Helicopters. I was so intrigued by the concept that I emailed them saying they really shouldn't spam but their product was interesting.
They emailed me back, saying the company will never do this again since the response was so hostile, and they had learned their lesson!
I was curious, so just now I did a search for the company. They are not in business anymore, but people are still using and maintaining the product.
So I have technically responded to a spam, but I never actually bought anything from one.
Obviously this double standard is not universal; just read a few more of the posts here.
But I, among others, hold the double standard, and the reason is pretty simple:
We love Macs and the Apple software that makes them shine
We really, really hate Microsoft Windows.
In that context, then, we resent paying Microsoft, but we line up at the Apple Store at 8:00pm Friday just to pay for Panther.
Many of us are more than happy to pay for something approaching greatness (MacOS X), and we are not happy to pay for something that isn't great or even all that good (Windows XP and friends).
Actually, we couldn't do that unless existing cars could run on hydrogen without modification, which is clearly absurd.
We might be able to go towards that goal in a couple of decades, but we're not going to get rid of OPEC tomorrow or even ten years from now, because most cars are still going to run on oil.
The Macintosh is a lot better because nobody bothers to write this kind of software for a platform that has 3% market share.
Of course Mac fans, such as myself, are always trying to change that, and we seem to be having some success - it looks like Apple's slide in market share is starting to reverse. But I'd say a realistic goal is probably 5%, and that's still not going to excite spyware writers.
10%'s another story. If we could get that high, we could be in serious trouble because it would start becoming pretty interesting financially to target us, especially since we tend to have and spend more money than PC users.
This all being said, in all honesty, I don't think we can blame typical users for not reading the 800-paragraph agreements that come with programs like Gator.
I would consider those agreements legally correct but morally dubious, because nobody who installs the program really understands what it does. A morally reasonable program would have an installer that said:
We're giving you some pretty pictures or some useful abilities, and in exchange you're going to have to watch popup ads.
(I think Gator may do this, in which case it is very far from the worst of these programs. However, I have seen many other programs that don't).
That way, people could agree or disagree to use the program. Of course if they were honest in that respect, few people would download the program.
I feel that most of these companies are guilty of fraud for how their programs are distributed and used.
I happen to own a PowerBook G4 1ghz that cost $3,000, so this is not about me.
This is about the symbolic meaning of having a product "Less than $1,000" in a cutthroat market. It's important to have something in that price range because it subliminally makes the whole range look cheaper.
Sadly, you are wrong; I, too, have X10 home control technology purchased from X10.com. They send me spam emails something like every day, but my Apple junk mail filter deep-sixes them.
The technology actually is pretty neat, but it's sadly built down to a price. I'd like to see higher quality alternatives which would dim lights more smoothly.
Fry's sells the X10 security camera line. Their advertising is horribly deceptive, since it implies that the cameras take high-quality pictures. This, of course, is not the case. The picture quality is just plain dismal. Images are fuzzy and have very poor colour.
I believe you can also buy X10 home control technology from Radio Shack, under one of their brands.
I would cautiously recommend the X10 home control systems to people who want home control. But I would not recommend the cameras at all.
Before you get the flight, make sure you know what the import duties are on the Mac. That could be a lot of the difference. Also note that spending a night in Manhattan's pretty expensive nowadays, even if you stay in a dive. You might want to consider Florida since the weather's better, hotels are cheaper, and there's still an Apple Store in Miami.
If you can straighten out those issues, it might - in all seriousness - be a good way to subsidize a vacation.
Car Magazine (UK) has had a lot of articles mentioning extremely high UK pricing for cars. A lot of people go to a European country, buy their car and re-import it into the UK to get around it. This makes me think that you might want to check Mac prices in Europe before you fly all the way to the US.
I don't know why the UK prices are so high, then, but it seems to not only be computers. Perhaps the cost of doing business in the UK is high.
I'm sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you, but hopefully this is some good food for thought.
The 12" PowerBook looks like an endangered species. I can defend the 15" model because it has the wonderful large screen, but the 12" PowerBook screen is identical to the iBook screen. This was always a bit of a disappointment to me since the iBook screen is a distinctly inferior piece of work compared to the gorgeous screen they use on the 15".
The specifications of the 14" iBook is superior in every respect (speed, drives, etc) to the 12" PowerBook, and it's $100 cheaper. I think it's a pity they didn't speed up the 12" PowerBook, but perhaps there are problems with the faster and therefore hotter processor in such a small case.
My biggest disappointment in this new range is that they didn't leave in a $999 machine. I think they should have kept one G3 machine at $899 for the cheap charlies among us.
A careful reading of some of the other messages reveals that when Quark shuts itself down, it doesn't give you the opportunity to save your work. So if you have a bad hardware dongle, you'll lose your work done from your last save on.
This appears to be unusual. I have Final Cut Pro installed on my spanking new G5 and my PowerBook G4. When I put them both on the same network, it will not allow me to use one of them. But it lets me save my work first - I'm just not allowed to use the two applications concurrently. That's fair.
Because I really love the Apple operating system, and it's the best in the world, especially if you're a Unix geek who also likes doing arty stuff like video editing and compositing.
Because I'm working on some projects requiring heavy compositing and special effects, and I really wanted to have the most powerful Mac I could find.
Because the aesthetics of the Mac make me happy and make me enjoy work, and life, more. This is more important than one might think; considering all the time I spend in front of the screen, and the value of that time, it's well worth the bucks to get a computer I really like instead of one I don't.
Slashdot Mirror
You will still have to create rulesets for this system. I don't think they'll be all that simple.
I think his intention is that a programmer creates the initial ruleset, and then the programmer's clients/customers can create incremental changes, such as change the sales tax rate from 8% to 8.25%, or modifying income tax tables.
That eliminates a lot of work for programmers, but by no means all.
Visual Basic made it possible for untrained people to write software, and Access made it possible for untrained people to write database applications, but neither of those applications has reduced or eliminated the need for people to create software.
As it becomes possible for more programs to be written, because these tools are cheaper to use, more programs get created, and as a general rule, more programmers are needed.
There are two serious career limitations for programmers. One is reliability; if this helps with that, it's good. The other is offshoring. If we can become more efficient, and reduce the cost of projects, then we can do more with less, and make it less of an issue than it is now. So it's very possible that this could be a boon for programmers, not a bust.
IT needs, as far as I can tell, are almost unlimited; they are not being met because we don't have the right tools. If we can get the right tools, I feel that we can empower our customers and wind up stronger than ever.
D
Well, that was an entertaining tour into the world of human inventiveness. So I will cheerfully admit there's plenty of variety, yes there is.
But is any of them as slick and user friendly and gorgeous as MacOS X? I'm sure they all have their partisians, and I don't want to hurt the feelings of people who obviously worked very hard, but the answer's pretty obvious. Open source projects attract nerds, not artists or human interface designers.
In short, variety, yes. Quality, no.
(And yes I did check out XFCE. It looks like a mutant cross between Windows and MacOS X, with considerably more of the former than the latter. This is probably just as well considering the sleek competence of Apple's IP lawyers).
D
I am a developer of web-based applications, not a developer of operating systems. I use what works for me with minimal hassle, and that would mean an out of the box install of some sort.
I made this point in an earlier response to someone else, but perhaps not as clearly as I should. If you're a student, you have time to try out six different windowing environments to find out which is best for you. If you're a typically time-stressed adult, with real projects begging for your attention, you use what the companies that sell you the software give you.
I know that when I had more spare time, I would spend hours playing with things like Enlightenment, trying in vain to understand why themes never quite worked for me. Now, unfortunately, I don't have that kind of time, and it was never all that fun for me anyway.
So I simply choose MacOS X, which takes care of that stuff for me, gives me a really cool interface, and lets me do what I do best, developing slick web applications.
Linux on the desktop exists as an entity, because it's marketed as one. If you ask Red Hat or SuSE if there is Linux on the desktop, they'll say it's what they sell. And for someone who doesn't want to really get into the intricacies of operating systems, that's it.
As for your other remarks, DRM as it presently works does not prevent you from playing MP3 files, and I don't think that's going to change. So all you get from having DRM is the opportunity to play AAC files; it doesn't take anything away from you that you already had.
Apple has been first-rate in issuing security patches to the OS, and there's no question its track record on security is far superior to MS.
Your best point, however, is cost. I can't sneak Macs into my company because they are so expensive, so the odds of anyone other than me getting a Mac are slim to none. This is true even though I experience the PC's crummy TCO every day. I believe I even pointed this out in my original message; the Mac will always be a minority because it's more expensive than the cheapest PCs. Cheap PCs may not be the best ones, but they're the ones that sell.
Thanks for writing; I appreciate the time you took for a thoughtful post.
D
Sadly, I think the links to your examples don't work. I finally discovered you can't get away with more informal HTML styles in Slashdot - you have to use quotes. So:
<a href = http://www.amazing.com>
won't work, but
<a href = "http://www.amazing.com">
does.
Some years back, when I used Linux on the desktop, I tried a few Enlightenment themes. For whatever reason, I found them quite difficult to set up, and far more attractive in screenshots than actual day by day use.
I'm older than I used to be, and a lot busier, and that means I don't have the many hours it takes to fine-tune things like this. So I choose MacOS X, which has done a beautiful job on my behalf.
So if you're young and poor, or just plain poor, use Linux and spend your free time making it look nice. But if you're old and rich, or just plain rich, get MacOS X and enjoy it as it is.
D
Obviously, someone does. Look around you - the two highest ranking topics as of the time I'm writing are on this question. People are using moderator points to push them up, a strong indicator of interest.
I've personally switched from SGI Irix to Linux to MacOS X on the desktop, for both home and work. There have been some articles, in Infoworld and elsewhere, about normally geeky guys who have seen the virtues of Apple's creations. And CmdrTaco is the proud owner of a Mac laptop, which he apparently liked so much that he created an Apple section here on Slashdot.
Linux on the desktop seems to have done its best to imitate Windows on the desktop. If you want a user interface better than a pale imitation of Microsoft, then MacOS X is your OS.
For cost reasons, I don't think this is much of a threat to Linux or Microsoft. But I think it's a very interesting phenomenon that deserves more coverage.
D
I think this is the worst story I've ever seen on Slashdot. Even the article says Microsoft's advances were spurned, and quite frankly there is enough money in this IPO to keep Googleites set for life. If I could sell out ethically for $1 billion, and MSN offered me $2 billion, I'd take the $1b and I'm sure Google's head would too. (I think the numbers involved are larger but I think that's a good overall evaluation).
A "partnership", though, where Microsoft and Google share ad revenues for pages sent from MSN.COM, is not only not a takeover, it's probably good news. It emphathetically does not mean interference with management.
D
Yes, we should exercise more, and yes, we should eat better, but it looks like vitamin D deficiency is mainly a problem with kids because their bones are still growing and forming.
:-).
I suppose it's a nice frame to hang a discussion of diet and exercise on, but the issue itself doesn't seem like it applies to most of us.
Being in Southern California, and being outdoors way more than 45 minutes a week, it would appear that I'm taken care of for this problem. Pity that doesn't make me any lighter
From my viewpoint, the real problem is that exercise strikes me as a mindless waste of time and effort. I watch people in gyms mindlessly walking to nowhere or pulling stuff on machines until they sweat and ache, and to be honest it sounds like a miserable, dumb and unproductive way to spend time.
Exercise and better diet strike me as a lot of pain for little gain. The negative effects on one's life show up immediately and the positive ones take huge amounts of time to appear. So it's all too easy to give up and say it's just not worth it.
That explains the problem; as of yet I have not come up with anything like a solution. But perhaps this statement of the problem will give people some ideas.
D
and I didn't get in the way of emergency vehicles, but here's my contribution - one picture and video.
I should have brought my tripod - everything's pretty shaky. But it does give you a good flavour for it.
The Chatsworth/Simi Valley Fire as it nears Topanga Canyon Blvd.
D
For a doctor-style application, where you're moving around and keeping your computer with you at all times, it seems to me it's realistic to stay logged in and leave applications open. After all, that's no less secure than a Palm or even a paper notebook. You don't need to log into either of those whenever you start using them!
The second suspend mode sounds tempting, but I'm betting it means a very short battery life.
D
But why do you have to log in after hibernation?
Aren't you already logged in?
If you do have to log in after hibernation, I think our friend with an Apple laptop has an excellent point - you open the case, your favourite application is open and you simply type and close the case. You don't have to log in or anything.
Or perhaps I misunderstood you? It seems surprising that you should have to log in (i.e. type your name and password into boxes) in order to wake up from hibernation.
Even if you can just open the laptop and write, if it takes you time to boot you are probably better off with a Palm. After all, you can hit the ON button on a Palm and be in the last application you used instantly. Then you can write (or even type on the fancier ones).
Seems to me that just the large form factor and the wait for action dooms the tablet to irrelevence - the Palm's way of working is far superior.
D
I had a Nikon Coolpix 990 which I barely used and then got a Canon EOS D30 and took 7000 pictures with it in under a year.
The difference was that I really love the look and feel of the digital SLR as opposed to the consumer electronics style point and shoot. I've read almost all the answers to this question, and so far none of them have really considered the superior tactile feel of seeing directly through the lens, having manual focus and zoom rings, and having a precise view of focus and image framing, far superior to the puny LCDs lesser cameras provide.
I got a Microdrive with my D30, which can store about 700 photos. (The D30 is a 3.5 megapixel camera, unlike the more recent 6 megapixel models.) Then I put on Canon's 28-135 lens, which is just about perfect for the digital SLR (except for less wide angle coverage than I'd like). After those two accessories, I've enjoyed two years of cost-free photography. (Well, almost; it got stolen last year and I had to buy a new one on eBay, but that's not Canon's fault).
With my style of photography, interchangeable lenses are more a burden than a joy; I'd probably drop or lose any lenses I took with me. So I'm pretty much stuck with the one lens I have, and it's worked great for me in all kinds of conditions.
With my setup, there really is no practical limit to the number of pictures I can take, and that's fantastic. I think it's fair to say that my digital SLR has revived my interest in photography and gave me unprecedented freedom to experiment.
Hope that helps.
D
I looked that up as you suggested, and you appear to be incorrect.
According to my own reading of USENET - and it was fascinating stuff, I have to admit - Revolution Helicopters apparently went out of business due to an appalling safety record.
D
I remember I got a spam from a company called Revolution Helicopters. I was so intrigued by the concept that I emailed them saying they really shouldn't spam but their product was interesting.
They emailed me back, saying the company will never do this again since the response was so hostile, and they had learned their lesson!
I was curious, so just now I did a search for the company. They are not in business anymore, but people are still using and maintaining the product.
So I have technically responded to a spam, but I never actually bought anything from one.
D
But I, among others, hold the double standard, and the reason is pretty simple:
- We love Macs and the Apple software that makes them shine
- We really, really hate Microsoft Windows.
In that context, then, we resent paying Microsoft, but we line up at the Apple Store at 8:00pm Friday just to pay for Panther.Many of us are more than happy to pay for something approaching greatness (MacOS X), and we are not happy to pay for something that isn't great or even all that good (Windows XP and friends).
Did that help?
D
Actually, we couldn't do that unless existing cars could run on hydrogen without modification, which is clearly absurd.
We might be able to go towards that goal in a couple of decades, but we're not going to get rid of OPEC tomorrow or even ten years from now, because most cars are still going to run on oil.
That can change only gradually.
D
The Macintosh is a lot better because nobody bothers to write this kind of software for a platform that has 3% market share.
Of course Mac fans, such as myself, are always trying to change that, and we seem to be having some success - it looks like Apple's slide in market share is starting to reverse. But I'd say a realistic goal is probably 5%, and that's still not going to excite spyware writers.
10%'s another story. If we could get that high, we could be in serious trouble because it would start becoming pretty interesting financially to target us, especially since we tend to have and spend more money than PC users.
This all being said, in all honesty, I don't think we can blame typical users for not reading the 800-paragraph agreements that come with programs like Gator.
I would consider those agreements legally correct but morally dubious, because nobody who installs the program really understands what it does. A morally reasonable program would have an installer that said:
We're giving you some pretty pictures or some useful abilities, and in exchange you're going to have to watch popup ads.
(I think Gator may do this, in which case it is very far from the worst of these programs. However, I have seen many other programs that don't).
That way, people could agree or disagree to use the program. Of course if they were honest in that respect, few people would download the program.
I feel that most of these companies are guilty of fraud for how their programs are distributed and used.
D
I happen to own a PowerBook G4 1ghz that cost $3,000, so this is not about me.
This is about the symbolic meaning of having a product "Less than $1,000" in a cutthroat market. It's important to have something in that price range because it subliminally makes the whole range look cheaper.
That was my point.
D
Sadly, you are wrong; I, too, have X10 home control technology purchased from X10.com. They send me spam emails something like every day, but my Apple junk mail filter deep-sixes them.
The technology actually is pretty neat, but it's sadly built down to a price. I'd like to see higher quality alternatives which would dim lights more smoothly.
Fry's sells the X10 security camera line. Their advertising is horribly deceptive, since it implies that the cameras take high-quality pictures. This, of course, is not the case. The picture quality is just plain dismal. Images are fuzzy and have very poor colour.
I believe you can also buy X10 home control technology from Radio Shack, under one of their brands.
I would cautiously recommend the X10 home control systems to people who want home control. But I would not recommend the cameras at all.
D
Before you get the flight, make sure you know what the import duties are on the Mac. That could be a lot of the difference. Also note that spending a night in Manhattan's pretty expensive nowadays, even if you stay in a dive. You might want to consider Florida since the weather's better, hotels are cheaper, and there's still an Apple Store in Miami.
If you can straighten out those issues, it might - in all seriousness - be a good way to subsidize a vacation.
Car Magazine (UK) has had a lot of articles mentioning extremely high UK pricing for cars. A lot of people go to a European country, buy their car and re-import it into the UK to get around it. This makes me think that you might want to check Mac prices in Europe before you fly all the way to the US.
I don't know why the UK prices are so high, then, but it seems to not only be computers. Perhaps the cost of doing business in the UK is high.
I'm sorry I don't have a definitive answer for you, but hopefully this is some good food for thought.
D
The 12" PowerBook looks like an endangered species. I can defend the 15" model because it has the wonderful large screen, but the 12" PowerBook screen is identical to the iBook screen. This was always a bit of a disappointment to me since the iBook screen is a distinctly inferior piece of work compared to the gorgeous screen they use on the 15".
The specifications of the 14" iBook is superior in every respect (speed, drives, etc) to the 12" PowerBook, and it's $100 cheaper. I think it's a pity they didn't speed up the 12" PowerBook, but perhaps there are problems with the faster and therefore hotter processor in such a small case.
My biggest disappointment in this new range is that they didn't leave in a $999 machine. I think they should have kept one G3 machine at $899 for the cheap charlies among us.
To try and pull the subject away from the usual trolls, this sounds like something I really need on my web server.
Has anyone tried it? Any success or failure stories?
D
A careful reading of some of the other messages reveals that when Quark shuts itself down, it doesn't give you the opportunity to save your work. So if you have a bad hardware dongle, you'll lose your work done from your last save on.
This appears to be unusual. I have Final Cut Pro installed on my spanking new G5 and my PowerBook G4. When I put them both on the same network, it will not allow me to use one of them. But it lets me save my work first - I'm just not allowed to use the two applications concurrently. That's fair.
I'd call Quark's approach a serious problem.
D
If this really happened, call Apple back and scream at them.
The $19.95 upgrade is good for ALL G5 systems, regardless of the time of purchase.
Hope that helps.
D
Were you one of the early downloaders of 2.8?
There's a new 2.8 which showed up in my sofware update a few days ago - maybe that would solve your problems?
I haven't hd any problems with my original 2.8, but that might be just because I don't use bluetooth.
D
I blew $3,000.
Why?
Because I really love the Apple operating system, and it's the best in the world, especially if you're a Unix geek who also likes doing arty stuff like video editing and compositing.
Because I'm working on some projects requiring heavy compositing and special effects, and I really wanted to have the most powerful Mac I could find.
Because the aesthetics of the Mac make me happy and make me enjoy work, and life, more. This is more important than one might think; considering all the time I spend in front of the screen, and the value of that time, it's well worth the bucks to get a computer I really like instead of one I don't.
Hope that helps.
D