Two reasons: Nate is a person with a face (and a catchy name). A generic site like electionprojection.com doesn't have a personality, doesn't do interviews, and can't be ridiculed or praised for personal characteristics. Secondly, it's precisely because other sites' methods are open. Once you see how the magic trick is done, it's not interesting anymore.
The problem with lists like this is that truly lame products don't stick around long enough for most people to remember them. Consider the Macintosh TV. Only 10,000 were made before Apple came to its senses. Who would buy a 14" TV for $2,000? Sure it was a computer, too, but you could either compute, or watch TV, not both simultaneously.
Seems like anything from Apple with "TV" in the name is a dud.
My only other quibble with the list is the inclusion of the PowerPC platform. I bought a PowerMac 6100/60 when they came out in 1994 and used it until 2001. Heck, I still had it running (and on the web with Netscape 3.1) in 2005! Overall, PowerPC was a solid platform. The fact that the Performa line used its chips is a completely separate issue.
I agree that Amazon is reacting to competition, but I don't think it's mainly from Apple as much as from B&N's nook. The iPhone and the Kindle are starting from opposite ends of the spectrum. The Kindle is a gradual technology improvement (debatable) over a paper book, and is slowly growing in capabilities, whereas the iPhone was a fully-loaded device just begging for apps.
The iPhone was overbuilt with graphics capabilities, so lots of people saw the obvious possibilities. Consumers and developers begged and pleaded with Apple to LET them develop for the iPhone, and in typical Apple fashion, they kept everybody locked out for a long time just to heighten the anticipation. (You don't really think Apple didn't plan an SDK from the beginning, do you?)
I mean, who looked at a Kindle and thought, "Wow, that would be great for games!" ??? As far as I can tell, nobody. Amazon is mirroring the incremental improvements of the early computers- monochrome, small screens, closed systems gradually improve to more shades of grey, larger screens, and somewhat open platforms.
Nobody in the market for portable games (or photos, or video, or web surfing) is going to choose a Kindle over, say, and iPod touch or iPhone.
No, Amazon isn't reacting to Apple, but is just trying to stay one very small step ahead of the nook. If the Apple tablet does have e-book support, then the Kindle will only be able to compete on price, battery life, and catalog, but it will remain a niche device.
For all the Windows hating that Apple fanboys do, I can't believe they are really angry that they can't run Windows for long periods of time. In a VM. On battery.
As a BlackBook owner running XP and 7 in Fusion on the occasions I need it, I understand the need to run Windows occasionally. But if you really must use Windows for so long that you notice battery depletion, you should just go buy a Dell.
While you may be correct that the best reason to upgrade to Vista is the improved security, that was clearly not how the product was primarily advertised to the general public. People were shown ads with amazing Aero eye-candy, and told that Vista was the way to get it. When purchasing a computer that says "Vista capable," it's a reasonable assumption for a non-technical user (to which those ads were targeted) that buying a "Vista capable" computer will deliver the most prominently advertised feature of Vista.
I'm not saying it's a bulletproof case, because the small print was there, but it's rather self-contradictory to advertise Windows Vista as being easier than ever for novice users, but also expecting same novice users to understand the system requirements of a GUI that is an optional component of an OS.
Microsoft's REAL error was actually retaining these email messages instead of following their "do-not-save-e-mail directive" and "30-Day E-Mail Destruction Rule", like they did to thwart previous lawsuits.
I heard the rough draft was only 1,000 pages, so they double spaced, used a 16 point courier font, and increased the margins to 1.5". Just like my term papers.
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Two reasons: Nate is a person with a face (and a catchy name). A generic site like electionprojection.com doesn't have a personality, doesn't do interviews, and can't be ridiculed or praised for personal characteristics. Secondly, it's precisely because other sites' methods are open. Once you see how the magic trick is done, it's not interesting anymore.
Seems like anything from Apple with "TV" in the name is a dud.
My only other quibble with the list is the inclusion of the PowerPC platform. I bought a PowerMac 6100/60 when they came out in 1994 and used it until 2001. Heck, I still had it running (and on the web with Netscape 3.1) in 2005! Overall, PowerPC was a solid platform. The fact that the Performa line used its chips is a completely separate issue.
...the whole Lisa Nowak traveling-cross-country-in-diapers-to-kill-my-romantic-rival thing. You get coked up enough and that starts to make sense.
I agree that Amazon is reacting to competition, but I don't think it's mainly from Apple as much as from B&N's nook. The iPhone and the Kindle are starting from opposite ends of the spectrum. The Kindle is a gradual technology improvement (debatable) over a paper book, and is slowly growing in capabilities, whereas the iPhone was a fully-loaded device just begging for apps. The iPhone was overbuilt with graphics capabilities, so lots of people saw the obvious possibilities. Consumers and developers begged and pleaded with Apple to LET them develop for the iPhone, and in typical Apple fashion, they kept everybody locked out for a long time just to heighten the anticipation. (You don't really think Apple didn't plan an SDK from the beginning, do you?) I mean, who looked at a Kindle and thought, "Wow, that would be great for games!" ??? As far as I can tell, nobody. Amazon is mirroring the incremental improvements of the early computers- monochrome, small screens, closed systems gradually improve to more shades of grey, larger screens, and somewhat open platforms. Nobody in the market for portable games (or photos, or video, or web surfing) is going to choose a Kindle over, say, and iPod touch or iPhone. No, Amazon isn't reacting to Apple, but is just trying to stay one very small step ahead of the nook. If the Apple tablet does have e-book support, then the Kindle will only be able to compete on price, battery life, and catalog, but it will remain a niche device.
For all the Windows hating that Apple fanboys do, I can't believe they are really angry that they can't run Windows for long periods of time. In a VM. On battery. As a BlackBook owner running XP and 7 in Fusion on the occasions I need it, I understand the need to run Windows occasionally. But if you really must use Windows for so long that you notice battery depletion, you should just go buy a Dell.
While you may be correct that the best reason to upgrade to Vista is the improved security, that was clearly not how the product was primarily advertised to the general public. People were shown ads with amazing Aero eye-candy, and told that Vista was the way to get it. When purchasing a computer that says "Vista capable," it's a reasonable assumption for a non-technical user (to which those ads were targeted) that buying a "Vista capable" computer will deliver the most prominently advertised feature of Vista. I'm not saying it's a bulletproof case, because the small print was there, but it's rather self-contradictory to advertise Windows Vista as being easier than ever for novice users, but also expecting same novice users to understand the system requirements of a GUI that is an optional component of an OS.
Microsoft's REAL error was actually retaining these email messages instead of following their "do-not-save-e-mail directive" and "30-Day E-Mail Destruction Rule", like they did to thwart previous lawsuits.
I heard the rough draft was only 1,000 pages, so they double spaced, used a 16 point courier font, and increased the margins to 1.5". Just like my term papers.