Society is a balance between privacy and sharing. When a so-called "social" website decides that everything that goes in the website should be "public by default" that really violates the public/private social balance.
In the absence of strong information/data privacy laws, only a fool would use Facebook to put more than even the basic public details about themselves; you only need take a look at the growing legal, workplace and criminal ramifications to see the end results.
The real tough part is that rabid facebook users can get you listed on Facebook just by "tagging" your photo. So you have to join to even purge the stupid... this is anti-social.
It would drive the carriers insane, but Apple could open up iOS a bit more without causing compatibility problems between apps and OS versions.
Anytime someone complains about Apple not being open enough, I'm compelled to state that just like with most large corporations, Apple exists to make money through some corporate vision, and that sometimes their business decisions override engineering decisions.
Overall, Apple still makes kit that is worth the purchase and inconvenience to a great number of folks, so Apple continues to make lots of money the hard way. Unlike Microsoft and other monopolists / rent-seekers, Apple (for the most part) isn't mandatory anywhere (exception being a few.edu places which require purchase of iPads or iPod Touch devices... I'm hoping these places either subsidize those required purchases or allow alternate options).
Since Chrome's flash plugin didn't have the goodies that Flash 10.2 gave (really reduced my CPU usage on web video sites, made 1080p flash video usable). Does Chrome 10 for Mac include the latest Flash hardware acceleration for OSX?
Nokia now has Elop (former MS exec) as CEO, has prematurely abandoned their most widely deployed OS for WP7, and likely pissed off a large section of their stockholders, customers, employees and suppliers (ie, the most important people to them in order).
I think that Nokia management finally realized that the money is gone and that their saunas will go unpowered without a cash infusion of some sort.
I'm not against this deal, but it's really sad that Nokia doesn't even have a WP7 phone to release or announce at the time of the "acquisition"... this stinks of desperation and complete lack of vision (guess it gets foggy in those sauna meetings).
The iPod line outprices nearly every other manufacturer of mp3 players, includes the cheapest headphones, has poor sound and is not expandable. The only thing it has going for it is chic-factor, name-recognition and the app store. Perhaps that has weight with some, for myself, I want my music player to have a long battery life, and play music well.
So you recognize why the iPod touch is so expensive?
It's not the same class of device. The others do some media and have resistive touch screens, the iPod Touch is an iPhone-lite, with full access to the app-store, an impressive 3rd-party accessories market, and it syncs with iTunes (which a lot of people really prefer).
How can you even compare these devices to the iPod Touch? Try an iPod Nano maybe.
I bought one for $50 on a lark. Figured it was worth at least a couple of laughs. What a waste... the thing was close to unusable, had horrendous battery life and wasn't comfortable to wear. It didn't sync well to my existing Palm profile, so my contacts were not there.
I unloaded it on craigslist in one of my "free - grab it" postings where you just dump usable stuff that nobody will otherwise take. Proves to me that "versatile" often means "doing many things poorly". Product focus is important. I'm happy with my $40 Wenger watch for the past 3 years. It tells me the time and date, and doesn't look cheap.
Why not provide a stylus and an app that would make the iPad behave like electronic paper. You could take notes in class, in meetings, draw tech diagrams, etc? Have it do OCR on whatever you write and have it produce a typed document (PDF) and keep the original handwritten work as well.
You do realize this was the entire premise of the Microsoft Tablet PC platform, right? You know, the one that's been selling for nearly a decade?
If Microsoft hasn't dominated the tablet market in that time, from their position of utmost strength, then perhaps the pen/tablet strategy isn't the solution (and Apple realized this).
It's not clear how this will shake out. Apple's position is not tenable without some clearer wording and compromises. As it stands, they are looking to cut their nose to spite their face... but Apple isn't stupid or crazy and they are probably well aware that their unmodified policy could damage their ecosystem, entice government regulation, and spoil their brand.
My take: they will clarify the rules and target the Amazon (and possibly Netflix) model of apps, while leaving others with minor/no impact... if they don't they might well have just created a reason for App devs to jump ship and formulate a 2nd platform.
Things normal people wanted and didn't get: USB port, wireless syncing, lower price, 7-inch version
You do realize that the camera adapter features a USB port, right? It has since last year, and works with a good number of USB devices. The reason that Apple doesn't include it by default is that USB is used for everything... which would mean they would then have to either whitelist or blacklist use cases and create drivers for... all this extra work, and they'd likely see meagre to no additional profit from it? From a business standpoint, funneling everything through the 30-pin adapter makes a whole lot more sense.
With HDMI and Camera (USB) adapters, iPad will meet the 80/20 pareto rule of extensibility already.
As a coder-purist snob myself, my opinion is that using PHP disqualifies you from being either of the three. Honestly, why would you build a framework in a cobbled-together templating language?
So where's your closure support, Java? C++? Even ObjectiveC and *javascript* support closures, for crying out loud (something as cool as jQuery wouldn't exist without closure support).
Functional programming is a serious win for code reuse and extensibility.
Who's to say there aren't submarine patent issue with MeeGo as well? Given that *patent grants* are the problem, then maybe it's best if Google doesn't go run behind another rock and stand up and fight. Oracle has the patents and unless they're invalidated, Android will always be in their sights.
On another note, is this the reason why Apple is so against Java and other VM-based code running on their system?
...that for every one of you there's 100 other folks who just buy the latest stuff. Today that may be true, but tomorrow less so, and every day afterwards. I have yet to buy a BRDVD player nor any discs and don't pirate either.
I've noticed that./. is pretty much the only site I have problems with in terms of performance.
Are you serious? Have you tried loading any blog post that runs Disqus or IntenseDebate with tons of comments? Any serious user-moderated forum can be very slow. Slashdot has plenty of company here.
but exploiting fear in liberals is difficult compared to exploiting fear in conservatives
You have heard of Al Gore, yes? Or Michael Moore?
What about the recent campaign by MoveOn.org to "save public broadcasting" because of Republicans moving to cut off funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, despite the fact that public broadcasting as a whole gets only a small portion of its financing from the government?
People from across the political spectrum are open to FUD. The only real difference is which buttons you have to push.
What's amusing about your comment is that Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine" specifically targeted the reason for higher gun deaths in the US as mainly attributable to the culture of fear portrayed in the media... which, since 9/11 has been ratcheted up to 11.
Your false equivalence in effectively supporting the actor Beck by comparing him to Gore or Moore is purely conversational terrorism.
Or you could do as most people do, walk in their favorite dealership and have the sales guy deal with all that for you and narrow it down to two or three models.
I don't know about you, but in the US, there are very few independent shops here that aren't beholden to the carriers. They only tell you what they can sell you. In addition, many of the carrier shops are manned by less-than-knowledgeable folks.
Perhaps that's a major reason Nokia has consistently failed in the US market?
Nokia. No, not this OS deal, but in August 2009 ”The worldwide leader in software and the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer have entered into an alliance that is set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity. Today, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop and Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Öistämö announced the agreement, outlining a shared vision for the future of mobile productivity. This is the first time that either company has embarked on an alliance of this scope and nature.”
The plan was to bring “Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia’s Symbian devices.”
What happened? One and a half years later the same Stephen Elop announced that Symbian will be deprecated.
Have you ever noticed that these days, the first thing people do when they get into an elevator is reach for their phone to look at something... anything other than making eye contact or talking with people in the elevator?
Not sure about you, but I've always found it hard to speak to someone in an elevator... It's like speaking to someone in the airplane seat next to you. Some folks do it. Many folks don't. It's not like this is new.
You might want to make sure you're not imagining some fantasy past here.
With ATT/iPhone you can get a single-line $55/mo plan (450min + 200MB data). That's a whole lot less than $120. Our family plan runs $130/mo for 2 iPhones with unlimited data.. we could probably shave $30/mo off that by going reduced data (which is totally possible if I give up Pandora). Compare to my pre-iPhone verizon plan, we had 2 non-data phones for $75/mo (including 10% employer discount). So, for $30/mo more, we get iPhones and limited data... and for $60/mo more, we have unlimited data. Neither of use text messaging to a great extent, so we don't pay the extra fee.
Not quite the usurious rates you mention above... in our case, it is completely worth it.
Trust me, if I lost my job or found myself in hard times this would be the first thing to go. Unfortunately I'm in a two year contract -- yet another aspect that should scare you.
This is negotiable... you can usually find a way out of the subsidy/plan if you cite (and can prove) hardship... at least this was my experience with carriers.
If you have a smartphone that's on 2G, your data use can result in missed calls. This means they could be worse (data disconnect still happens in some areas even for 3G-enabled devices that fall-back to 2G).
The smartphone (since the iPhone) is more a data-driven mobile device that happens to make calls rather than the other way around.
I know someone who has an iPod touch and a trusty multi-SIM dumbphone. He seems to enjoy it quite well.
Slashdot Mirror
Society is a balance between privacy and sharing. When a so-called "social" website decides that everything that goes in the website should be "public by default" that really violates the public/private social balance.
In the absence of strong information/data privacy laws, only a fool would use Facebook to put more than even the basic public details about themselves; you only need take a look at the growing legal, workplace and criminal ramifications to see the end results.
The real tough part is that rabid facebook users can get you listed on Facebook just by "tagging" your photo. So you have to join to even purge the stupid... this is anti-social.
It would drive the carriers insane, but Apple could open up iOS a bit more without causing compatibility problems between apps and OS versions.
Anytime someone complains about Apple not being open enough, I'm compelled to state that just like with most large corporations, Apple exists to make money through some corporate vision, and that sometimes their business decisions override engineering decisions.
Overall, Apple still makes kit that is worth the purchase and inconvenience to a great number of folks, so Apple continues to make lots of money the hard way. Unlike Microsoft and other monopolists / rent-seekers, Apple (for the most part) isn't mandatory anywhere (exception being a few .edu places which require purchase of iPads or iPod Touch devices... I'm hoping these places either subsidize those required purchases or allow alternate options).
Since Chrome's flash plugin didn't have the goodies that Flash 10.2 gave (really reduced my CPU usage on web video sites, made 1080p flash video usable).
Does Chrome 10 for Mac include the latest Flash hardware acceleration for OSX?
Nokia now has Elop (former MS exec) as CEO, has prematurely abandoned their most widely deployed OS for WP7, and likely pissed off a large section of their stockholders, customers, employees and suppliers (ie, the most important people to them in order).
I think that Nokia management finally realized that the money is gone and that their saunas will go unpowered without a cash infusion of some sort.
I'm not against this deal, but it's really sad that Nokia doesn't even have a WP7 phone to release or announce at the time of the "acquisition"... this stinks of desperation and complete lack of vision (guess it gets foggy in those sauna meetings).
Carriers already detect Internet traffic that isn't really an SMS and bills it as an SMS, such as various instant messengers.
cite?
The iPod line outprices nearly every other manufacturer of mp3 players, includes the cheapest headphones, has poor sound and is not expandable. The only thing it has going for it is chic-factor, name-recognition and the app store. Perhaps that has weight with some, for myself, I want my music player to have a long battery life, and play music well.
So you recognize why the iPod touch is so expensive?
It's not the same class of device. The others do some media and have resistive touch screens, the iPod Touch is an iPhone-lite, with full access to the app-store, an impressive 3rd-party accessories market, and it syncs with iTunes (which a lot of people really prefer).
How can you even compare these devices to the iPod Touch? Try an iPod Nano maybe.
The patent process now involves wrestling with a live bear. Anyone who successfully survives the experience is awarded the patent.
Are you a big fan of PLIF?
I bought one for $50 on a lark. Figured it was worth at least a couple of laughs. What a waste... the thing was close to unusable, had horrendous battery life and wasn't comfortable to wear. It didn't sync well to my existing Palm profile, so my contacts were not there.
I unloaded it on craigslist in one of my "free - grab it" postings where you just dump usable stuff that nobody will otherwise take. Proves to me that "versatile" often means "doing many things poorly". Product focus is important. I'm happy with my $40 Wenger watch for the past 3 years. It tells me the time and date, and doesn't look cheap.
Why not provide a stylus and an app that would make the iPad behave like electronic paper. You could take notes in class, in meetings, draw tech diagrams, etc? Have it do OCR on whatever you write and have it produce a typed document (PDF) and keep the original handwritten work as well.
You do realize this was the entire premise of the Microsoft Tablet PC platform, right? You know, the one that's been selling for nearly a decade?
If Microsoft hasn't dominated the tablet market in that time, from their position of utmost strength, then perhaps the pen/tablet strategy isn't the solution (and Apple realized this).
It's not clear how this will shake out. Apple's position is not tenable without some clearer wording and compromises. As it stands, they are looking to cut their nose to spite their face... but Apple isn't stupid or crazy and they are probably well aware that their unmodified policy could damage their ecosystem, entice government regulation, and spoil their brand.
My take: they will clarify the rules and target the Amazon (and possibly Netflix) model of apps, while leaving others with minor/no impact... if they don't they might well have just created a reason for App devs to jump ship and formulate a 2nd platform.
Things normal people wanted and didn't get: USB port, wireless syncing, lower price, 7-inch version
You do realize that the camera adapter features a USB port, right? It has since last year, and works with a good number of USB devices.
The reason that Apple doesn't include it by default is that USB is used for everything... which would mean they would then have to either whitelist or blacklist use cases and create drivers for... all this extra work, and they'd likely see meagre to no additional profit from it? From a business standpoint, funneling everything through the 30-pin adapter makes a whole lot more sense.
With HDMI and Camera (USB) adapters, iPad will meet the 80/20 pareto rule of extensibility already.
As a coder-purist snob myself, my opinion is that using PHP disqualifies you from being either of the three.
Honestly, why would you build a framework in a cobbled-together templating language?
So where's your closure support, Java? C++?
Even ObjectiveC and *javascript* support closures, for crying out loud (something as cool as jQuery wouldn't exist without closure support).
Functional programming is a serious win for code reuse and extensibility.
Who's to say there aren't submarine patent issue with MeeGo as well?
Given that *patent grants* are the problem, then maybe it's best if Google doesn't go run behind another rock and stand up and fight.
Oracle has the patents and unless they're invalidated, Android will always be in their sights.
On another note, is this the reason why Apple is so against Java and other VM-based code running on their system?
...that for every one of you there's 100 other folks who just buy the latest stuff.
Today that may be true, but tomorrow less so, and every day afterwards.
I have yet to buy a BRDVD player nor any discs and don't pirate either.
I've noticed that. /. is pretty much the only site I have problems with in terms of performance.
Are you serious?
Have you tried loading any blog post that runs Disqus or IntenseDebate with tons of comments? Any serious user-moderated forum can be very slow. Slashdot has plenty of company here.
I'm shocked. I would've assumed it was priests, or maybe economists.
There's really no difference between the two.
but exploiting fear in liberals is difficult compared to exploiting fear in conservatives
You have heard of Al Gore, yes? Or Michael Moore?
What about the recent campaign by MoveOn.org to "save public broadcasting" because of Republicans moving to cut off funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, despite the fact that public broadcasting as a whole gets only a small portion of its financing from the government?
People from across the political spectrum are open to FUD. The only real difference is which buttons you have to push.
What's amusing about your comment is that Moore's film "Bowling for Columbine" specifically targeted the reason for higher gun deaths in the US as mainly attributable to the culture of fear portrayed in the media... which, since 9/11 has been ratcheted up to 11.
Your false equivalence in effectively supporting the actor Beck by comparing him to Gore or Moore is purely conversational terrorism.
Or you could do as most people do, walk in their favorite dealership and have the sales guy deal with all that for you and narrow it down to two or three models.
I don't know about you, but in the US, there are very few independent shops here that aren't beholden to the carriers. They only tell you what they can sell you. In addition, many of the carrier shops are manned by less-than-knowledgeable folks.
Perhaps that's a major reason Nokia has consistently failed in the US market?
... probably due to AJE's spectacular, consistent coverage of the Egyptian revolution.
Here. My favorite one:
And finally,
Nokia. No, not this OS deal, but in August 2009 ”The worldwide leader in software and the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer have entered into an alliance that is set to deliver a groundbreaking, enterprise-grade solution for mobile productivity. Today, Microsoft Business Division President Stephen Elop and Nokia’s Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Öistämö announced the agreement, outlining a shared vision for the future of mobile productivity. This is the first time that either company has embarked on an alliance of this scope and nature.”
The plan was to bring “Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft business communications, collaboration and device management software to Nokia’s Symbian devices.”
What happened? One and a half years later the same Stephen Elop announced that Symbian will be deprecated.
Have you ever noticed that these days, the first thing people do when they get into an elevator is reach for their phone to look at something... anything other than making eye contact or talking with people in the elevator?
Not sure about you, but I've always found it hard to speak to someone in an elevator... It's like speaking to someone in the airplane seat next to you. Some folks do it. Many folks don't. It's not like this is new.
You might want to make sure you're not imagining some fantasy past here.
With ATT/iPhone you can get a single-line $55/mo plan (450min + 200MB data). That's a whole lot less than $120. Our family plan runs $130/mo for 2 iPhones with unlimited data.. we could probably shave $30/mo off that by going reduced data (which is totally possible if I give up Pandora). Compare to my pre-iPhone verizon plan, we had 2 non-data phones for $75/mo (including 10% employer discount). So, for $30/mo more, we get iPhones and limited data... and for $60/mo more, we have unlimited data. Neither of use text messaging to a great extent, so we don't pay the extra fee.
Not quite the usurious rates you mention above... in our case, it is completely worth it.
Trust me, if I lost my job or found myself in hard times this would be the first thing to go. Unfortunately I'm in a two year contract -- yet another aspect that should scare you.
This is negotiable... you can usually find a way out of the subsidy/plan if you cite (and can prove) hardship... at least this was my experience with carriers.
If you have a smartphone that's on 2G, your data use can result in missed calls.
This means they could be worse (data disconnect still happens in some areas even for 3G-enabled devices that fall-back to 2G).
The smartphone (since the iPhone) is more a data-driven mobile device that happens to make calls rather than the other way around.
I know someone who has an iPod touch and a trusty multi-SIM dumbphone. He seems to enjoy it quite well.
Other than that I hardly use mobile data over wifi.