This is probably a good thing for Microsoft: make it easier to run Unix (aka Posix) apps on their systems. Odds are, they walked into too many meetings like this:
Salesman: So, that's how much switching to Microsoft Server will cost.
IT Guy: Yeah, but then there's the development costs of porting over our Unix and Linux stuff over.
Salesman: Who needs it! We've got IIS!
IT Guy: Yeah, but we developed our own apps or used some open source stuff -
Salesman: Agggghhh! We speak not its name!
IT Guy: Um, right. Anyway, now we'd have to redevelop those for Windows. How much does that Unix thing cost on Microsoft?
So now the answer is "free". I'm not saying I like Windows servers over Unix-style boxen - but this was a good business choice for MS.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
I never used OS 9; I pretty much went from Desktop Linux to Desktop OS X so that I could run some apps (like MS Office and Warcraft) without a lot of muss and fuss.
I've been using OS X for about, oh, 12 months or so now. Never saw the OS 9 tabs and the like - went straight to Finder and Dock world.
I use Another Launcher 99% of the time - Control-Space, type in a few letters, and I'm done. The Dock hardly ever gets used, but I've never really hated it - if anything, I liked it more than most of the other "Windows Application Line" solutions I've seen.
Combined with Expose, and I can get to pretty much any window on the screen I need. Now, I do agree with the gentleman in his article about how it would be nice if the Dock featured a way to have more unique displays for files.
But I can't help but wonder: How much of this is "Well, we liked OS 9 and it did it this way, and now you change it!" Not to say he doesn't have some good point - but as a guy who uses his keyboard a lot more than his mouse (Terminal and Another Launcher get a huge workout from me daily), maybe I'm just missing a lot of the complaints.
For Apple, That's the Point
on
No WMA for HP iPod
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I think people would care if they downloaded a wma file that wouldn't run in their ipod.
And for Apple, that's the "bingo". The first time someone goes to buymusic.com and buys a WMA file and tries to play it on their iPod, they say "Oh - damn, this sucks!"
Either way, Apple wins. You buy the iPod, you use their file format. You use the free iTunes, you download a song - now you need an iPod or "iPod compatible" player.
That is what Apple - and Microsoft - is shooting for: that you support their format, or you feel pain.
No Reason for WMA in iPod
on
No WMA for HP iPod
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I never saw the logic in the iPod having WMA support. Maybe in the future if the market changes, but not now.
Right now, Apple enjoys a 70% market dominance in the online music sales market - and they have significant brand name and mindshare, which isn't going anywhere soon. Walk up to a standard non-geek person:
Question: What MP3 player works with the Apple Music store? (I know it's called the iTunes store, but who actually says that?)
Answer: iPod.
Question: What MP3 player works with Napster?
Answer: Ummmm....
A geek might know the answer, but most people do not.
So, based on that, Apple's move to have HP license the AAC+Freeplay system is a good move - it encourages the use of the protected AAC files, and Apple gets a cut of that licensing technology, whether through direct iPod sales, or through the purchase of "iPod compatible" devices.
Apple has a 5% market share because they didn't license their operating system - which is fine with them, they make money off of hardware. But licensing "iPod compatible" devices is a way to make money off of every MP3 player sold eventually. If you want to use the iTunes Music Store, and you sell MP3 players, you can either compete against the "de facto standard", or play with it.
If Apple added WMA support, perhaps that would in the short term increase iPod sales since it would work with all the music stores - but in the long term, that's bad for Apple, because then anybody who wanted to switch MP3 players would just pick any WMA compatible device.
Apple can't break into that desktop market at this time - but if they play the cards right, they could become, as Steve Jobs said, the "Microsoft of the online music world". Once that happens, maybe they'll sell more desktops, maybe not - but it would be interesting to see how much money Apple would make from "iPod compatible" devices as opposed to just computer sales alone.
If that became the case, then other online music stores would have to support the AAC+Freeplay "de facto standard" - which means that for every song sold online, Apple would get a cut for the licensing.
So what makes more money: WMA in iPod for short term sales, or take a gamble at getting the whole damned pie?
I realize that you are an AC, and as such I should just ignore you, but I'm hoping that if I state that riding the journalist gravy train does not lead me to believe that Novell's stock is doing terribly - merely that Novell, as any company would, is taking advantage of a situation.
Just because stock is rising doesn't mean they wouldn't like to see their name put out in a positive light even more - this is "marketing", which could get them more "customers", which would get them more "money", which would increase their stock price higher.
My comments on stock price was based on SCO's current model, which is "Stock price going down - release another press release!". Please reread the sentance, and if I did not make it clear, then I apologize.
Oh, and while you're at it - is there something you can do about that stick shoved up your ass? I think it's making you agitated. Thanks.
Of course, Novell is also riding the journalist gravy train - SCO's stock price is up mainly because investors are buying "lottery tickets" - the more they are in the news, the more some investors think they'll make the "big bucks" if SCO wins a court case.
So as long as SCO is in the news, Novell probably figures to ride on their coat tails and get practically free advertising.
Type 1: We now do Linux. This is one I like, since it's something I've hoped for some time: take Novell's kick ass administration tools (granted, last time was Netware 4.1-5, so maybe the new Java/web interface sucks, but I loved the old NWadmin tool and plugins), and mix it with Linux (powerful, free as in freedom, and has more configuration text files than most junior admins know what to do with).
I also like how they aren't going to "change" SuSE (at least, not yet). Their best bet would be to use SuSE as a development crew - moving things ahead, keeping a separate product (rather than wrecking it the way WordPerfect pretty much was), and incorporating it's advances into Netware [insert whatever number here] as an "added value Enterprise product" - much like Fedora versus Red Hat Enterprise.
Type 2: We will indemnify you. This doesn't bother me too much - after all, SCO is playing "Big Bad" to Linux out there: "Use Linux, and we will sue you." Novell is providing some legal peace of mind. Granted, you have to buy their "new" product, but my feelings are horribly hurt by that - after all, they have to pay for the scum sucking evil hearted - I mean, laywers after all.
Type 3: We actually own the UNIX copyright. This ties into Type 2 in a certain respect, only without lawyers. This is to give current SuSE and other Linux customers less fear. Basically, it boils down to this:
"We know that SCO says they own the UNIX copyright and because of that they think they can get money from you for anything Linux.
"Bullshit. The fact is, Novell still owns the important copyrights, and we won't sue you. See? We're nice.
"Please buy our products."
Type 3 doesn't bother me that much either, since it at least appears to be "We're nice people - honest!" Granted, they are still an amoral corporation which pretty much means they're not doing it out of the charity of their hearts but because they want to make a buck - but you have to admit *right now* they're at least showing more class than SCO.
Either way, I'm not concerned. I figure about 12-24 months from now, this will all go away when the lawsuits finally fail and SCO and such run out of money to pay the heartless gutter snipes - I mean lawyers, President Richard Simmons will be in office with the War on Fat, iTunes Music Store will enjoy brief market domination before being the aliens arrive from Zardon VI and eradicate the earth when they learn we've evolved lawyers.
GPL Group: Yes, it is. Look - you didn't even remove our "GPL License" warnings inside.
EPC: Oh, that. No, it looks like you stole our code.
GPL Group; What? Why would you put those warnings -
EPC: So we could prove when people steal our code! Now, leave us alone, you thieves!
GPL Group: Wait a second -
Scooby-Doo: Shaggy, look!
Fred: Why, it's Darl McBride! He's been making other perfectly honest proprietary companies look bad by giving code thieves an argument they can make to the press!
Darl McBride: And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling kids! By the way, I invented that talking dog, and his royalties are mine! Mine, I tell you!
Velma: We knew the truth when we asked you to show us your code history through the CVS archives which clearly showed when the Open Source code was developed.
(Everyone else looks at her.)
Velma: What? Didn't I look hot in the movie?
Hopefully we can stop this evil before it spreads too far. No, not Velma looking really good in the next "Scooby Doo" movie, but companies stealing GPL code, then arguing "Well, *you* must have stolen it from us", even though they can't prove it.
Actually, I've seen the opposite. Or a parallel Gameboy purchasing evolution.
I've seen quite a few of the penetration testers and other folks I work with whom have to travel picking up a GBA SP for themselves - especially when they see the strategy games they can play. Advance Wars 1 and 2 have sold quite a few games all on their own from what I've seen.
So I agree with you - a lot of them go to kids, but don't be too surprised at the "older crowd" picking up what they might see as an "adult system".
I've already committed myself: if it's $149 and below, I'll get one. Any higher, and I'll wait to get one. (Unless Konami makes a Suikoden I and II remake on one disk - then we'll think about it.)
Of course, the nice thing about this is the hope that eventually we'll get that "$150 iPod mini" or some other small form factor device (like a Palm Pilot with a HDD - perfect for my NES emulator....)
But what I keep seeing is that while the physical size shrinks - 1", 0.85", etc, the space it holds remains fairly constant - 1GB, 4GB, so on.
Part of the problem I see is that nobody wants to make a really cheap 2GB solution, since "nobody wants 2GB for anything by then". I believe it's why Apple has their iPod Mini at 4GB and won't go cheaper - it's hard to simply find something that small with less capacity.
Kind of like ordering hard drives these days. I checked the prices on my old Proliant box. It's more expensive to order a 9 GB SCSI drive than to buy an 18 GB. Why? Who the hell wants to make a 9 GB when "everybody" wants to by an 18?
In the end, perhaps solid state will be the answer - probably in "another year or two". No big hurry, since I already have a 30 GB iPod - but it means my wife will have to wait longer;).
Or can I stream anything? I've got several fansubbed anime titles I'd like to watch stored on my PowerMac, and it would be nicer to see them on the TV than even on my laptop.
Is *any* OS supported via some sort of file share (http/ftp/samba), or will Linksys require some special streaming client?
I didn't see the details from the press release, but if it's just looking for a SMB fileshare you specify though a web interface (which would make the most sense in my mind), that would be the best and most open solution.
Time for the rescue mission. This is the perfect opportunity to launch mankind's first Mission to Mars.
I mean, who wants to be the one responsible for leaving a beagle on Mars? Can you just imagine the commercials?
"Lost: Puppy on Red Planet. Will accept offers to build a multi-billion dollar spacecraft to retrieve him. Answers to the name Beagle. Please help him come home with your donation."
I'm telling you, if people fall for Nigerian and Viagra schemes, we can get them to finance this thing within 10 years. Maybe less, if we also target the people who buy penis enhancement pills.
I've been playing around with some digital signatures solutions (like the one from arx.com) to deal with issues like these - documents that must be "signed" and verified beyond "reasonable doubt".
What it comes down to isn't necessarily a "Microsoft Word" problem - it's an issue with verifying that data has its integrity. Probably doing an MD5/SHA1 hash on all documents and attaching that with the document would be good enough - which means you could just use text files instead.
Fact #2: Linux doesn't lock you into license agreements.
Fact #3: Linux is Free!
Fact #4: Multiple venders means if one company charges too much for support, go shopping.
Fact #5: Linux is Free!
And, from what I've seen in various offices, that's pretty much the argument. And guess what? Most often, I've heard "Well, let's just put a Linux box in there, and maybe replace it later when we have to."
"Replace is later" often becomes "never" after a few months anyway.
Does drinking 6 cups of coffee a day reduce Type II diabetes
OR
Does drinking 6 cups of coffee a day supress hunger so people eat less, and therefore weigh less, which reduces the chance of Type II diabetes?
In my head, it's more the latter than any "wonder of coffee" - kind of like how a few years ago it was "red wine reduces heart attacks! Drink up, kids!", which then moved to "oh, well, grape juice does the same thing - it's all because of the antioxidants".
This truly could be the "iPod killer" people have been wondering about for some time. Granted, so far the iPod has that elusive "brand name" and "mind share" - but how long until something like this gains the same mind share with the public? Once that happens, the iPod becomes yesterday's door stop.
Hm - $400 for an MP3 player, or $400 for an MP3/portable video player? Granted, if the MPAA would allow people to "rip" their DVD's the same way we can "rip" a CD to a series of files we could carry around on our portable player that would make it worth my while (I'm not really big into watching "recorded TV shows" and the like).
The big questions are:
How accurate are these price figures? As the article mentions, most portable video players are well over $400 in price. And if the "mini-iPod" rumors are true (2.5 more hours to go) then Apple could still lock down the portable MP3 market.
Remember the Tablet! It was going to change how people use computers in their living room - and so far, it, um, hasn't. Last I checked, sales were good to art guys who like to use Photoshop and "draw", but most people find typing in a URL on a small laptop in their living room easier than "writing" it on a tablet. How many people actually need portable video? The only times I do is when I travel - and I'm no "road warrior", and I bet that neither is more of the world - and when I do, I've already got a laptop that plays DVD movies anyway.
(Side note: Ever notice how Microsoft really only has 3 profitable divisions: Windows, Office, and Server, and everything else they touch (Xbox, cable, phones, tablets, etc) is a money *loser* (Xbox alone has lost the company at least $200 million))? But businesses tend to forgive that on the off chance that *this* time they'll be right.)
How will Apple respond? Come out with an "iPod Advance" that does the same, or think "Number of people wanting portable music vs Number of people wanting portable video: compare cost analysis". And if they do come out with a portable video machine, can they convince the MPAA the way they convinced the RIAA that downloadable movies are a good idea? (I can imagine a 150-200 MB file containing a "locked down" MPEG-4 file, much like the AAC files - playable on 3 machines, unlimited "iPod Advanced", and each costing $10 - the price half a DVD, sales driven to sell more "iPod Advanced". If the movie industry did this, they could bitch a lot less about illegal movie downloads, because just like the ITMS, illegal song downloads would drop while legal downloadable song downloads would rise.)
Either way, next 12 months should be interesting all around. I'm actually glad of this announcement - competition tends to produce cheaper prices. And John oh so loves his cheaper prices;).
Granted, I haven't checked out the market for a bit, since I've pretty much gone "console only", and the only PC games I play anymore I just wait until they hit "OS X" - or do without. (Not that I don't have an oversized old games library as it is - I don't need to buy anymore....)
But I have friends who do LAN parties, and I've wondered about getting a Shuttle kind of machine, or preferably something the size of a Cappachino computer. Small, slip it into a backpack, show up with just that and a flat screen (keyboard, mouse, etc) - but it would be a small machine just for PC LAN gaming. It wouldn't need a huge video card - anything that can run most games published 2003 at 800x600 would be fine.
I wonder if these Transmeta chips could be used this way.
Some books that were "a hell of a lot better than I expected".
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was pretty good - some "duh" moments with the characters that made you want to smack them all in the head and shout "Stop acting like you're 12!", but overall, pretty damned good.
"Wolves of Callah". Go figure - I thought this would suck, since Mr. King seams to have lost something after his accident. But the story, even when I had pretty much figured things out, was still pretty good.
On the "not great but not bad" area I'd put "The Da Vinci Code". Clever as hell idea, some interesting observations that had me going to my art books to check it out - great from that point of view. Great book to get people interested in art and the symbols used in literature, paintings, music, and so on.
But why did the main characters Sophie and Robert suffer such massive brain farts at times? They'd talk about huge ideas in symbology - then 50 pages later, be stumped by a puzzle they had talked about earlier! (Well, and there was the incredible coincidence that a Harvard professor and a cryptologist both happen to be hot - how did that work out?)
I think for my most enjoyed book so far this year was "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" by Al Franken. I don't agree with all of his politics, thought he had some good points, some bad points, and some so-so points - but damn if it wasn't funny and at least thought provoking at times.
Worst book? "Chosen", the novelization for the last season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I mean - punctuation mistakes all over the place, and somebody used "find and replace" in a bad way. Amazing how the word First and Chosen are always capitzlized, even when "Buffy was First into the room"? Remember, kids - even after you use Command-F, Command-V, Enter, you still need to proof read the damned thing.
Just my opinions, of course. I still have to read Stephenson's "Quicksilver", but it's not out on peanutpress.com yet, and I'm not sure I have space in my backpack for another meatspace book.
I was in an Apple store today (eyeing Halo again) and asked about that. The Genius guy looked at me, looked at the iPod warrantee, and said "Have fun with Panther on it."
So I think you're describing a "non-issue" - but I'm buying Applecare for my iPod in January, so I'm not really concerned.
I can't claim originality - someone else mentioned they were using their "external HDD", and I thought "iPod" - I mean, I'm only using 15 GB for music on a 30 GB iPod. Jaguar and NOLF2 should fit on their with room to spare - unless I find out that Quicktime 6.5 works.
Oh, and I'm torked their selling it in stores and don't have it working too. I mean - duh, people. At least my review copy of Alien Versus Predator 2 works.
Hm - hopefully this will fix the problem of "No One Lives Forever 2" not being able to function in Quicktime 6.4. Otherwise, I'm going to install Jaguar to my iPod and boot off that when I want some "Cate Archer" sneaking action.
Slashdot Mirror
So now the answer is "free". I'm not saying I like Windows servers over Unix-style boxen - but this was a good business choice for MS.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
I never used OS 9; I pretty much went from Desktop Linux to Desktop OS X so that I could run some apps (like MS Office and Warcraft) without a lot of muss and fuss.
I've been using OS X for about, oh, 12 months or so now. Never saw the OS 9 tabs and the like - went straight to Finder and Dock world.
I use Another Launcher 99% of the time - Control-Space, type in a few letters, and I'm done. The Dock hardly ever gets used, but I've never really hated it - if anything, I liked it more than most of the other "Windows Application Line" solutions I've seen.
Combined with Expose, and I can get to pretty much any window on the screen I need. Now, I do agree with the gentleman in his article about how it would be nice if the Dock featured a way to have more unique displays for files.
But I can't help but wonder: How much of this is "Well, we liked OS 9 and it did it this way, and now you change it!" Not to say he doesn't have some good point - but as a guy who uses his keyboard a lot more than his mouse (Terminal and Another Launcher get a huge workout from me daily), maybe I'm just missing a lot of the complaints.
And for Apple, that's the "bingo". The first time someone goes to buymusic.com and buys a WMA file and tries to play it on their iPod, they say "Oh - damn, this sucks!"
Guess where they're going to go next time they buy music online?
Either way, Apple wins. You buy the iPod, you use their file format. You use the free iTunes, you download a song - now you need an iPod or "iPod compatible" player.
That is what Apple - and Microsoft - is shooting for: that you support their format, or you feel pain.
I never saw the logic in the iPod having WMA support. Maybe in the future if the market changes, but not now.
Right now, Apple enjoys a 70% market dominance in the online music sales market - and they have significant brand name and mindshare, which isn't going anywhere soon. Walk up to a standard non-geek person:
Question: What MP3 player works with the Apple Music store? (I know it's called the iTunes store, but who actually says that?)
Answer: iPod.
Question: What MP3 player works with Napster?
Answer: Ummmm....
A geek might know the answer, but most people do not.
So, based on that, Apple's move to have HP license the AAC+Freeplay system is a good move - it encourages the use of the protected AAC files, and Apple gets a cut of that licensing technology, whether through direct iPod sales, or through the purchase of "iPod compatible" devices.
Apple has a 5% market share because they didn't license their operating system - which is fine with them, they make money off of hardware. But licensing "iPod compatible" devices is a way to make money off of every MP3 player sold eventually. If you want to use the iTunes Music Store, and you sell MP3 players, you can either compete against the "de facto standard", or play with it.
If Apple added WMA support, perhaps that would in the short term increase iPod sales since it would work with all the music stores - but in the long term, that's bad for Apple, because then anybody who wanted to switch MP3 players would just pick any WMA compatible device.
Apple can't break into that desktop market at this time - but if they play the cards right, they could become, as Steve Jobs said, the "Microsoft of the online music world". Once that happens, maybe they'll sell more desktops, maybe not - but it would be interesting to see how much money Apple would make from "iPod compatible" devices as opposed to just computer sales alone.
If that became the case, then other online music stores would have to support the AAC+Freeplay "de facto standard" - which means that for every song sold online, Apple would get a cut for the licensing.
So what makes more money: WMA in iPod for short term sales, or take a gamble at getting the whole damned pie?
Eh - just my thoughts. I could be wrong.
I realize that you are an AC, and as such I should just ignore you, but I'm hoping that if I state that riding the journalist gravy train does not lead me to believe that Novell's stock is doing terribly - merely that Novell, as any company would, is taking advantage of a situation.
Just because stock is rising doesn't mean they wouldn't like to see their name put out in a positive light even more - this is "marketing", which could get them more "customers", which would get them more "money", which would increase their stock price higher.
My comments on stock price was based on SCO's current model, which is "Stock price going down - release another press release!". Please reread the sentance, and if I did not make it clear, then I apologize.
Oh, and while you're at it - is there something you can do about that stick shoved up your ass? I think it's making you agitated. Thanks.
Of course, Novell is also riding the journalist gravy train - SCO's stock price is up mainly because investors are buying "lottery tickets" - the more they are in the news, the more some investors think they'll make the "big bucks" if SCO wins a court case.
So as long as SCO is in the news, Novell probably figures to ride on their coat tails and get practically free advertising.
Type 1: We now do Linux. This is one I like, since it's something I've hoped for some time: take Novell's kick ass administration tools (granted, last time was Netware 4.1-5, so maybe the new Java/web interface sucks, but I loved the old NWadmin tool and plugins), and mix it with Linux (powerful, free as in freedom, and has more configuration text files than most junior admins know what to do with).
I also like how they aren't going to "change" SuSE (at least, not yet). Their best bet would be to use SuSE as a development crew - moving things ahead, keeping a separate product (rather than wrecking it the way WordPerfect pretty much was), and incorporating it's advances into Netware [insert whatever number here] as an "added value Enterprise product" - much like Fedora versus Red Hat Enterprise.
Type 2: We will indemnify you. This doesn't bother me too much - after all, SCO is playing "Big Bad" to Linux out there: "Use Linux, and we will sue you." Novell is providing some legal peace of mind. Granted, you have to buy their "new" product, but my feelings are horribly hurt by that - after all, they have to pay for the scum sucking evil hearted - I mean, laywers after all.
Type 3: We actually own the UNIX copyright. This ties into Type 2 in a certain respect, only without lawyers. This is to give current SuSE and other Linux customers less fear. Basically, it boils down to this:
"We know that SCO says they own the UNIX copyright and because of that they think they can get money from you for anything Linux.
"Bullshit. The fact is, Novell still owns the important copyrights, and we won't sue you. See? We're nice.
"Please buy our products."
Type 3 doesn't bother me that much either, since it at least appears to be "We're nice people - honest!" Granted, they are still an amoral corporation which pretty much means they're not doing it out of the charity of their hearts but because they want to make a buck - but you have to admit *right now* they're at least showing more class than SCO.
Either way, I'm not concerned. I figure about 12-24 months from now, this will all go away when the lawsuits finally fail and SCO and such run out of money to pay the heartless gutter snipes - I mean lawyers, President Richard Simmons will be in office with the War on Fat, iTunes Music Store will enjoy brief market domination before being the aliens arrive from Zardon VI and eradicate the earth when they learn we've evolved lawyers.
Or - something like that. Just my opinion.
Hopefully we can stop this evil before it spreads too far. No, not Velma looking really good in the next "Scooby Doo" movie, but companies stealing GPL code, then arguing "Well, *you* must have stolen it from us", even though they can't prove it.
Actually, I've seen the opposite. Or a parallel Gameboy purchasing evolution.
I've seen quite a few of the penetration testers and other folks I work with whom have to travel picking up a GBA SP for themselves - especially when they see the strategy games they can play. Advance Wars 1 and 2 have sold quite a few games all on their own from what I've seen.
So I agree with you - a lot of them go to kids, but don't be too surprised at the "older crowd" picking up what they might see as an "adult system".
I've already committed myself: if it's $149 and below, I'll get one. Any higher, and I'll wait to get one. (Unless Konami makes a Suikoden I and II remake on one disk - then we'll think about it.)
Of course, the nice thing about this is the hope that eventually we'll get that "$150 iPod mini" or some other small form factor device (like a Palm Pilot with a HDD - perfect for my NES emulator....)
;).
But what I keep seeing is that while the physical size shrinks - 1", 0.85", etc, the space it holds remains fairly constant - 1GB, 4GB, so on.
Part of the problem I see is that nobody wants to make a really cheap 2GB solution, since "nobody wants 2GB for anything by then". I believe it's why Apple has their iPod Mini at 4GB and won't go cheaper - it's hard to simply find something that small with less capacity.
Kind of like ordering hard drives these days. I checked the prices on my old Proliant box. It's more expensive to order a 9 GB SCSI drive than to buy an 18 GB. Why? Who the hell wants to make a 9 GB when "everybody" wants to by an 18?
In the end, perhaps solid state will be the answer - probably in "another year or two". No big hurry, since I already have a 30 GB iPod - but it means my wife will have to wait longer
Hm - I wonder if Virtual PC would be fast enough....
Or can I stream anything? I've got several fansubbed anime titles I'd like to watch stored on my PowerMac, and it would be nicer to see them on the TV than even on my laptop.
Is *any* OS supported via some sort of file share (http/ftp/samba), or will Linksys require some special streaming client?
I didn't see the details from the press release, but if it's just looking for a SMB fileshare you specify though a web interface (which would make the most sense in my mind), that would be the best and most open solution.
Time for the rescue mission. This is the perfect opportunity to launch mankind's first Mission to Mars.
I mean, who wants to be the one responsible for leaving a beagle on Mars? Can you just imagine the commercials?
"Lost: Puppy on Red Planet. Will accept offers to build a multi-billion dollar spacecraft to retrieve him. Answers to the name Beagle. Please help him come home with your donation."
I'm telling you, if people fall for Nigerian and Viagra schemes, we can get them to finance this thing within 10 years. Maybe less, if we also target the people who buy penis enhancement pills.
I've been playing around with some digital signatures solutions (like the one from arx.com) to deal with issues like these - documents that must be "signed" and verified beyond "reasonable doubt".
What it comes down to isn't necessarily a "Microsoft Word" problem - it's an issue with verifying that data has its integrity. Probably doing an MD5/SHA1 hash on all documents and attaching that with the document would be good enough - which means you could just use text files instead.
Fact #1: Linux is Free!
Fact #2: Linux doesn't lock you into license agreements.
Fact #3: Linux is Free!
Fact #4: Multiple venders means if one company charges too much for support, go shopping.
Fact #5: Linux is Free!
And, from what I've seen in various offices, that's pretty much the argument. And guess what? Most often, I've heard "Well, let's just put a Linux box in there, and maybe replace it later when we have to."
"Replace is later" often becomes "never" after a few months anyway.
Does drinking 6 cups of coffee a day reduce Type II diabetes
OR
Does drinking 6 cups of coffee a day supress hunger so people eat less, and therefore weigh less, which reduces the chance of Type II diabetes?
In my head, it's more the latter than any "wonder of coffee" - kind of like how a few years ago it was "red wine reduces heart attacks! Drink up, kids!", which then moved to "oh, well, grape juice does the same thing - it's all because of the antioxidants".
This truly could be the "iPod killer" people have been wondering about for some time. Granted, so far the iPod has that elusive "brand name" and "mind share" - but how long until something like this gains the same mind share with the public? Once that happens, the iPod becomes yesterday's door stop.
;).
Hm - $400 for an MP3 player, or $400 for an MP3/portable video player? Granted, if the MPAA would allow people to "rip" their DVD's the same way we can "rip" a CD to a series of files we could carry around on our portable player that would make it worth my while (I'm not really big into watching "recorded TV shows" and the like).
The big questions are:
How accurate are these price figures? As the article mentions, most portable video players are well over $400 in price. And if the "mini-iPod" rumors are true (2.5 more hours to go) then Apple could still lock down the portable MP3 market.
Remember the Tablet! It was going to change how people use computers in their living room - and so far, it, um, hasn't. Last I checked, sales were good to art guys who like to use Photoshop and "draw", but most people find typing in a URL on a small laptop in their living room easier than "writing" it on a tablet. How many people actually need portable video? The only times I do is when I travel - and I'm no "road warrior", and I bet that neither is more of the world - and when I do, I've already got a laptop that plays DVD movies anyway.
(Side note: Ever notice how Microsoft really only has 3 profitable divisions: Windows, Office, and Server, and everything else they touch (Xbox, cable, phones, tablets, etc) is a money *loser* (Xbox alone has lost the company at least $200 million))? But businesses tend to forgive that on the off chance that *this* time they'll be right.)
How will Apple respond? Come out with an "iPod Advance" that does the same, or think "Number of people wanting portable music vs Number of people wanting portable video: compare cost analysis". And if they do come out with a portable video machine, can they convince the MPAA the way they convinced the RIAA that downloadable movies are a good idea? (I can imagine a 150-200 MB file containing a "locked down" MPEG-4 file, much like the AAC files - playable on 3 machines, unlimited "iPod Advanced", and each costing $10 - the price half a DVD, sales driven to sell more "iPod Advanced". If the movie industry did this, they could bitch a lot less about illegal movie downloads, because just like the ITMS, illegal song downloads would drop while legal downloadable song downloads would rise.)
Either way, next 12 months should be interesting all around. I'm actually glad of this announcement - competition tends to produce cheaper prices. And John oh so loves his cheaper prices
Granted, I haven't checked out the market for a bit, since I've pretty much gone "console only", and the only PC games I play anymore I just wait until they hit "OS X" - or do without. (Not that I don't have an oversized old games library as it is - I don't need to buy anymore....)
But I have friends who do LAN parties, and I've wondered about getting a Shuttle kind of machine, or preferably something the size of a Cappachino computer. Small, slip it into a backpack, show up with just that and a flat screen (keyboard, mouse, etc) - but it would be a small machine just for PC LAN gaming. It wouldn't need a huge video card - anything that can run most games published 2003 at 800x600 would be fine.
I wonder if these Transmeta chips could be used this way.
Some books that were "a hell of a lot better than I expected".
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was pretty good - some "duh" moments with the characters that made you want to smack them all in the head and shout "Stop acting like you're 12!", but overall, pretty damned good.
"Wolves of Callah". Go figure - I thought this would suck, since Mr. King seams to have lost something after his accident. But the story, even when I had pretty much figured things out, was still pretty good.
On the "not great but not bad" area I'd put "The Da Vinci Code". Clever as hell idea, some interesting observations that had me going to my art books to check it out - great from that point of view. Great book to get people interested in art and the symbols used in literature, paintings, music, and so on.
But why did the main characters Sophie and Robert suffer such massive brain farts at times? They'd talk about huge ideas in symbology - then 50 pages later, be stumped by a puzzle they had talked about earlier! (Well, and there was the incredible coincidence that a Harvard professor and a cryptologist both happen to be hot - how did that work out?)
I think for my most enjoyed book so far this year was "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them" by Al Franken. I don't agree with all of his politics, thought he had some good points, some bad points, and some so-so points - but damn if it wasn't funny and at least thought provoking at times.
Worst book? "Chosen", the novelization for the last season of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". I mean - punctuation mistakes all over the place, and somebody used "find and replace" in a bad way. Amazing how the word First and Chosen are always capitzlized, even when "Buffy was First into the room"? Remember, kids - even after you use Command-F, Command-V, Enter, you still need to proof read the damned thing.
Just my opinions, of course. I still have to read Stephenson's "Quicksilver", but it's not out on peanutpress.com yet, and I'm not sure I have space in my backpack for another meatspace book.
I've been using my Palm Pilot and Peanutpress.com for that - no Robert Jordan books (I think - let me check - well, screw me, they've got some).
;).
Backlit, nice PDA to start, and the text for me is pretty clear - a Zire is pretty cheap these days and works with Peanutpress as well I understand.
Then again, I have a Tungsten C - it makes a great Nintendo emulator
I was in an Apple store today (eyeing Halo again) and asked about that. The Genius guy looked at me, looked at the iPod warrantee, and said "Have fun with Panther on it."
So I think you're describing a "non-issue" - but I'm buying Applecare for my iPod in January, so I'm not really concerned.
Damn - I left it out in my car.
Damn! Well, that saves me some time. When I get home, time to pull out the Panther CD and my iPod.
Poop. Poop, poop, poop.
I can't claim originality - someone else mentioned they were using their "external HDD", and I thought "iPod" - I mean, I'm only using 15 GB for music on a 30 GB iPod. Jaguar and NOLF2 should fit on their with room to spare - unless I find out that Quicktime 6.5 works.
Oh, and I'm torked their selling it in stores and don't have it working too. I mean - duh, people. At least my review copy of Alien Versus Predator 2 works.
Hm - hopefully this will fix the problem of "No One Lives Forever 2" not being able to function in Quicktime 6.4. Otherwise, I'm going to install Jaguar to my iPod and boot off that when I want some "Cate Archer" sneaking action.
Hm - I have 15 GB free on my iPod - that sounds like a great idea.