As a designer I have exactly the opposite problem. I have a strong foundation in (and teach) graphic design however my programming abilities are limited at best. Essentially I can install and configure scripts but that's about the limit of my abilities.
Since I own and operate a tiny web design studio (on a shoestring budget) this often leaves me in a bind when it comes to development projects. I can't afford to keep a full time PHP programmer on staff so I'm forced to sub things out on a project per project basis. Even though this work method is prone to failure (my experience has been that development projects are rarely, if ever delivered on time) I know well enough that programming isn't something you can just 'pick up' by reading a book. Like any other trade it requires training, dedication and at least a little bit of skill.
In my opinion this is the major problem with developers who "design" web sites. They marginalize the actual design of the site as if it's an afterthought (eg. who needs a designer, I have animating clip art!). The truth is, a successful site is a marriage of good design and solid programming. And until you realize that, and accept it, you're belittling all the work involved in either trade.
But it's not a bad fit for small biz. I pay nearly $200 per month for my Verizon 'basic' business phone service with bottom-of-the-line DSL for my design studio. Since Verizon is the only game in town I have to play to matter what they decide to charge. And I don't even use the phone all that much.
Conversely if I could convince Adelphia to install cable in my business I could grab cable for $60-$70 per month plus Vonage for about $30 and I've cut my bill in half. Too bad I can't actually get Adelphia to come out and install. Their local business high-speed rep is less than interested in my business.
But yes, in theory this might not be a bad fit for small, 1-3 person shops like myself that want to save money.
How did Apple find out that one of their employer's had created this?
I could be wrong, and probably am, but it's my understanding that the file was hosted on a.Mac site and listed on Apple's Mac OS X software downloads page. Can anyone else verify this?
Educate the consumer as to the law, sure... But, please give the proceeds to those who create the art, or you're supporting the system to the demise of those for which the system was originally set up. You need to teach that in your college class...
Actually the exploitation of the artist is always a key factor in our discussion. Especially since the bulk of these students are (or plan to be) artists as well. So no, I'm not force-feeding anyone the idea of bending down (or is it over?) and obeying the almighty RIAA. I'm just making them aware of the law - both the good and bad aspects of it.
I regularly take informal polls at the start of each semester in my college class just to see where exactly students stand on the copyright issue. Since I teach a computer-oriented course for art students I feel the topic is relevant and, as such, the sampling of results are often interesting.
Over the course of the last 5 semesters, it's been pretty clear that a good deal of those sampled have no real concept of what copyright is. I mean they understand it's there to protect the rights of the artist / creator but that's about the extent of it. Of course, that much is probably no big surprise. What is surprising is that many of these students believe it's perfectly legal to make a copy of your friend's CD/DVD/Video game/Microsoft Office CD as long as you have no intent to sell or distribute it. Of course some of that falls more under breaking your EULA than copyright, but the fact remains, the ethics of copying doesn't even apply here since they think it's perfectly legal to begin with.
At any rate, I think a lot of people are going to be in for a big wakeup call when the RIAA throws down the hammer. A good sampling of their "victims" might not even be aware that they're actually breaking any laws.
If you want the secret to success, I'll give it to you -and I won't even charge you a quarter. You know that sublimely flawed lead character in your comic strip? The one who pontificates endlessly on the infinite array of life's idiosyncrasies? Replace him with MegaMan. And while we're replacing stuff you might as well chop out all that ironic, witty humor you seem hopelessly enraptured with and just substitute it with some good ol' fashioned expletives. I'm not sure what it is, but there's just something deliriously funny about Megaman cursing. Trust me here -it's the theme of at least a half dozen highly successful strips.
Also, for the love of all that is holy, please stop updating your strip on a regular basis. Sure you've got to create enough interest to keep people coming to your forum (where would we be without the droll debates about oral sex and threesomes?) but definitely quit there. I'd say maybe one strip every two or three weeks. However, make sure to promise a new strip every day. Can't let people think you stopped working on the comic, since then they'll all leave. You could probably get away with 6 months of no updates using this method, easy.
Of course as to how all this will help you earn some money I can't say. But it's not like Mom makes you pay rent, anyway. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to indulge in the adventures of Sonic, that hedonistic Hedgehog...
It's kind of sad that they'll be going away, really. Oh how I'll miss that ever-present 10 second pause before they say hello. Or how they talk to my answering machine for a few minutes before they realize no one is there (with the general interest in telemarketing I could understand the confusion). And of course who can overlook the sheer amount of interesting stories they can provide a person.
For example like the time I answered the phone only to find a telemarketer in the midst of conversation with her "girlfrient" Brandy in the next cubicle. This one didn't even bother to say hello, just kept on talking. At least she was kind enough to eventually tell me to, "Hold on minute, will you?" Or perhaps the one time I kindly the told the telemarketer that I wasn't interested in their offer and he promptly told me to screw off in his own expletive-ridden way. My favorite, however, was the time I told one I was actually interested in their product just for kicks.
Sales Drone: "Excuse me, sir? Did you say you were interested?"
Me: "Yeah, that's right."
Sales Drone: "No one is ever interested, sir. I'm not even sure how to make a sale."
(Sets phone down and yells to his associates)
Sales Drone: "Anyone here ever make a sale before!?"
(Short pause)
Sales Drone: "I'm going to have to get you a manager. Can we call you back?"
I agree 100%. In my experience it's the goal of nearly every "professional" online comic strip/book artist to break into the print world -not the other way around.
Why the heck would an established, published title want to come here? Very few, if any, online comics have found a way to be even remotely profitable. I'd say that's even doubly so for those who have attempted online comic books (which tend to suffer from readability & format issues).
In my opinion, any venture from the print world to the web would exist solely based upon the merit and profits of the print material. Perhaps at best the web could serve as a supplement to the print or even just as an advertising vehicle, but to migrate here? For profit? Good luck.
I recently started a weekly online comic strip in April and when I first launched the strip I ran an ad campaign (banner ads + Google ad words) to help drive some readers in. It worked, but only marginally. I was getting visitors but I had to pay for each one and, worst of all, my site had no real means of generating revenue.
Thankfully, as it would turn out, someone who ran a Blog site stumbled across my comic not too long after it's debut and wrote a quick blurb about it on their site. Within days I found myself linked on about a dozen other Blogs and then the traffic started pouring in. It wasn't a huge amount of visitors, perhaps 3-5 thousand uniques total but it was ten times more than the advertising and a heck of a lot less expensive.;)
Had this not happened I would have never guessed the relevance of personal/blog sites. It only goes to show that word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful forms of advertising.
A lot of people rag on the cartoons of the 80's as being nothing more than thinly guised ads to sell product. You're right, they were. But the important element that you've left out of this is that the kids were more than happy to buy those products since it allowed for a level of interactivity with the show. For example, I watched a lot of Transformers / GI Joe / Thundercats in the 80's and I bought a lot of Transformers / GI Joe / Thundercats toys. So not only did I watch the stuff on TV, I interacted with the shows by recreating my own scenarios and tiny plots with the toys. A very early form of the fanfic, if you will.
Nowadays, however, cartoons are far more different. Sure there are product tie-ins but the toons are more dialogue driven and rarely focus on the overall conflict of good vs. evil. Likewise heroes often take a backseat to more identifiable characters with more realistic qualities. When I was a kid the Autobots used to save children from the evil Decepticons, Now as an adult, the children save the Autobots. I think that says a lot about what
cartoons as a whole have evolved into.
But moreover it's that lack of interactivity with current toons that send kids flocking to video games and even in some ways to the Internet more so than the tube. I think kids are becoming conditioned to the fact that TV is a passive medium, you sit in front of it and it entertains you and you walk away. And really that's the entire problem in a nutshell. I mean I remember being a good consumer and buying those toys in the 80's, but I also remember spending hours coming up with my own stories, my own conflicts and my own characters through those toys. I don't think children have that now and it's a shame. Those shows in the 80's spawned interactivity (and creativity for that matter) and that element is gone now. Kids are tough customers, you lose their interest for a second and you've lost them forever.
The article makes a lot of good points, especially the fact that a lot of Linux users are picking up Apple portables. As a longtime Mac user I noticed this trend early last year on all the Mac boards I frequent. More and more Linux users were popping up talking not about how they "switched" but how they picked up an iBook to compliment their Linux desktop. The most common reasons for doing so seemed to be a combination of the stylish design of Apple's portable line, the slick GUI mixed with the familiar CLI and of course the long battery life.
On the contrary, the adoption of OS X on the desktop by Linux users seems quite a bit lower in my experience. Perhaps this is a testament to the fact that Apple is losing the edge in price/performance in the desktop market (even among its own users) and that it's just so much geekier to build your own box.:)
Either way I agree that both systems compliment one another quite nicely. Then again, as a web developer I produce my sites on OS X, test them on XP and host them on Linux boxes so in my opinion all the OSes have something good to offer.
As a small independent web developer, I often find myself developing sites that cater more towards IE on Windows than any other browser. That's not to say that my sites don't work on multiple browsers, just that most look best on IE. And the reason I do this is pretty simple. I deal with small budgets and small businesses.
In short, when you have a limited budget it's only natural that you're going to try and streamline the development process and shoot for the largest target demographic. However, you also can't overlook the fact that I'm not only at the mercy of my budget, I'm also at the mercy of my customers as well. So if Bob from Bob's Floral wants a specific feature that only works in IE (purportedly because his local competitor's site has the same feature) I'm stuck. I've got to accommodate.
What it boils down to is that Bob cares about making sure the site looks good on his browser, which incidentally is the same browser that his friends use and the same browser he assumes his customers use. He's not concerned with making his site work on Opera for Linux. He neither knows what Opera nor Linux is -nor does he care. Bob is in the business of moving merchandise by catering to his largest demographic. The truth of the matter is, he's willing to alienate that one Linux-using flower-buying customer for the sake of the rest of his customer base. That's just business.
This was a particularly underhanded marketing campaign and I figured it was only a matter of time before *someone* sued.
Thankfully I had a heads-up to this debacle and was able to contact all my clients and inform them not to transfer (or should I say renew?) their domains to Verisign. Turns out that two of them had already filled out the forms and were just about to send them when I called. Crafty.
I've been doing an online comic now for just over two years. I have a regular following of readers, manage to get decent traffic and the feedback I receive has generally been good. However, I have not made one dime from this venture and I can't imagine that I ever will.
This is partly due to the fact that the online advertising model is dead and/or severely flawed. Last year I grossed (yes grossed) around $3 and my poor readers suffered a bevy of pop-ups, pop-unders and other flashing menaces. Likewise the model of pay-per-download just doesn't work -people won't pay to be mildly entertained when then they can get the same stuff for free.
Ultimately, this caused me to abandon the comic, ending my adventure in online comics just as quickly as it began. Then something unexpected happened. People actually emailed me wondering what happened to the comic. For some unknown reason, they actually cared that my tiny contribution to the world of online comics vanished. And for me, that was enough to try and bring it back. So this February it returns.
If there's a point to any of this, it's that not everything has to be about money. The internet can be more than a virtual marketplace, if only people are willing to work at it. Sure, I'd love to make money from this, but just knowing that people get some enjoyment out of something I do has its perks. And it's good enough for me.
Sure, it's a gamble for Handspring, but it might just pay off. I've used both PocketPC and Palm OS devices extensively and found that if you want a lightweight, mini-pc, the PocketPC is far better suited to this. However, if you want something really lightweight (as in both form and function), the Palm OS is a nice addition to any phone.
In fact, I've got a Samsung Palm OS phone right now and it's a truly wonderful hybrid device - perfect for my needs. I can't wait to see what these new Treo phones bring to the table, especially the color model (should Handspring hang around long enough to deliver it).
Sorry Katz, but in the world of technology the concept of better product = success is bunk. It's all about market penetration and monopoly power. It makes very little difference if Mac OS X is better than Windows XP because 95% of the market already uses XP and I'm willing to bet that most of those folks have never even used a non-Microsoft OS. It's hard to compete when you can't even step on the field.
I have a perfect, highly unscientific example of this. I teach an introduction to Macintosh course in the art department of a local college. This course is a prerequisite to all the other design courses in the curriculum since all the classes are Mac-based. On average, less than 5% of my students have ever used a non-Microsoft OS and, in fact, most of these students thought "Windows" and "Computer" were synonymous -they were unaware you could even have one without the other.
Despite this demographic skew, at the conclusion of the course around 90% of my students stated that they were planning to switch from Windows to Macintosh. Now the question is, were the students switching because they liked the Mac better or because everyone in the art department used Macs? Part two of the question? Does it matter?
"Why Mac users are so complacent about Creator-based launching is beyond me."
As a longtime Mac user I think I might be able to shed some light on this situation. You see, double-clicking on a document's icon has long been the standard "Mac way" of both launching your content creation application as well as opening the file in question, all in one fell swoop. As the Macintosh has long been primarily a content creation platform (design being the most prominent field) it's particularly useful to be able to open up the file in question with the program you have created it in -all just by double-clicking.
Let me explain. For some it might make sense if OS X were to bind all.jpg, type "JPEG" files to the application "Preview" since, in essence, "Preview" is a most capable.jpg viewer. However, as a web developer, I work with a lot of JPEG files, most of which are created in Photoshop, my photo editing tool of choice. Whether out of habit or sheer convenience, it's far easier for me to just double click the file in question and have it launch Photoshop (the place where I created it and, presumably intend to work with it) and then open up the file. It's just an easy alternative to File--Open.
So, why not have all my JPEGs open up in Photoshop? Well, I have a myriad of unedited digital camera photos on my drive and frankly, Photoshop is quite a cumbersome image viewer. It's just a matter of being able to use the right tool for the job. While both a battering ram and a key are quite capable of opening a locked door, it's knowing which one fits the situation that makes all the difference.
I picked up a Samsung SPH-I300 at my local Best Buy two weeks ago, if for nothing else because the sales drone offered me 24 months 0% financing and the Sprint rep was willing to throw in 2 free Palm M100s and a $30 rebate. It was a sweet deal for a sweet... phone... or is it a PDA? Hard to say really. And I think that's where these convergence devices are going to be stuck just until they figure out exactly what it is they want to be.
I'm not saying that I don't love my SPH-I300, because I really do. It's a really wonderful little Palm (160x240, Virtual Graffiti, slim form factor, weighs around 6 oz.) and being able to check my e-mail and have (albeit slow) wireless web access is really an amazing thing. But it certainly doesn't excel as a phone. It's not nearly as durable or as tiny as I like my phones and the virtual keypad is, well, not as good as a real thing.
It is, however, a good compromise for those of us that need a PDA and have very limited phone use -which, in my opinion, is really the only market for these $500 PDA-Phone combos anyway. If you're looking to buy one of these devices and are expecting to get a phone with PDA capabilities, you're bound to be disappointed.
I don't pretend to understand a lot about the intricacies of the various implemented TLD system(s), but why not localize the browser to translate mycompany.com to mycompany.com.us? This way if you were trying to access Amazon's Australian site from inside Australia (and using a localized Australian browser) you'd just type in Amazon.com and be forwarded to Amazon.co.au? Likewise, if you were in the USA, type Amazon.com and you'd be sent to Amazon.co.us? Of course you could always manually type the address as well, thus being able to access non-US specific versions of a website.
It seems to make a lot more sense than manually localizing the heck out of every domain name. Especially when I don't see the country extensions as anything different than the company codes used for our phone network. You certainly don't dial the US country code to make a US to US call, neither should you do it for the web.
I create a weekly strip called Angerson.com and, like your friends mentioned, it takes anywhere from two to five hours to create a single strip. That is a lot of time invested and I can't imagine how these guys (and gals) create these strips everyday. After a while it engulfs your life. And with little reward.
Sadly, there really is no money to be earned from such a venture. I can always have hopes of being syndicated (not going to happen) and I already do the advertising thing but with only 4000 hits a month I usually earn around a dollar. Not exactly a living.
The only reason to create online comics is because you enjoy doing it and others enjoy your work. In the end appreciation is our only incentive.
It would really be nice to get SOME FORM of high speed access where I live. In my area there is no cable access, no DSL/ADSL, not even ISDN. Nothing. DirecPC would be the only option but as far as I know they don't support Macs and since they never replied to my e-mail, I would assume they don't intend to either.
The sad thing is that I live right between two fairly large cities. In fact, there's an international airport whose runway literally crosses over the end of my street not more than 200 yards away (yes, it's loud). So it's not like I'm in the middle of nowhere.
The reason we don't have highspeed access escapes me. My cable company delivers its programming over fiber, we have a decent sized ISP/TelCo not more than fifteen minutes from my house. Everything would seem to be in order, but it's not. To my knowledge there aren't even any plans to serve high speed access to my area -at all.
I hope this broadband through the air is legitimate. I'd love to get highspeed access and I'm willing to pay a premium -as long as it works.
The Last time Apple did this (around a year or so ago) I took advantage of the offer and traded in my Powerbook 190cs, which I had originally purchased for $999, towards the purchase of a base model 1998 Wallstreet 292 MHz. After taking part in the trade-in, my purchase price was $2100 or $700 off (at the time, a steal considering the re-sell value of the 190 was dipping well below $450).
It's a shame, though, that Apple ran out of 292MHz machines. They called me one day at work to let me know that they wouldn't be able to send me the Powerbook I wanted. But, since I had already paid for it, they were going to send me a 1999 Wallstreet 300MHz DVD Powerbook instead (even though, I believe at that time they retailed for $3200).
Yeah, I was a little more than elated to get $1100 off a new Powerbook. The ol' beast proved to be a good machine too. I'm still using it right now.
Slashdot Mirror
Not proof that this exploit is a fake but proof that this image likely is. Here's a comparison:
g
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/222/fake0kq.jp
As a designer I have exactly the opposite problem. I have a strong foundation in (and teach) graphic design however my programming abilities are limited at best. Essentially I can install and configure scripts but that's about the limit of my abilities.
Since I own and operate a tiny web design studio (on a shoestring budget) this often leaves me in a bind when it comes to development projects. I can't afford to keep a full time PHP programmer on staff so I'm forced to sub things out on a project per project basis. Even though this work method is prone to failure (my experience has been that development projects are rarely, if ever delivered on time) I know well enough that programming isn't something you can just 'pick up' by reading a book. Like any other trade it requires training, dedication and at least a little bit of skill.
In my opinion this is the major problem with developers who "design" web sites. They marginalize the actual design of the site as if it's an afterthought (eg. who needs a designer, I have animating clip art!). The truth is, a successful site is a marriage of good design and solid programming. And until you realize that, and accept it, you're belittling all the work involved in either trade.
But it's not a bad fit for small biz. I pay nearly $200 per month for my Verizon 'basic' business phone service with bottom-of-the-line DSL for my design studio. Since Verizon is the only game in town I have to play to matter what they decide to charge. And I don't even use the phone all that much.
Conversely if I could convince Adelphia to install cable in my business I could grab cable for $60-$70 per month plus Vonage for about $30 and I've cut my bill in half. Too bad I can't actually get Adelphia to come out and install. Their local business high-speed rep is less than interested in my business.
But yes, in theory this might not be a bad fit for small, 1-3 person shops like myself that want to save money.
Actually the exploitation of the artist is always a key factor in our discussion. Especially since the bulk of these students are (or plan to be) artists as well. So no, I'm not force-feeding anyone the idea of bending down (or is it over?) and obeying the almighty RIAA. I'm just making them aware of the law - both the good and bad aspects of it.
I regularly take informal polls at the start of each semester in my college class just to see where exactly students stand on the copyright issue. Since I teach a computer-oriented course for art students I feel the topic is relevant and, as such, the sampling of results are often interesting.
Over the course of the last 5 semesters, it's been pretty clear that a good deal of those sampled have no real concept of what copyright is. I mean they understand it's there to protect the rights of the artist / creator but that's about the extent of it. Of course, that much is probably no big surprise. What is surprising is that many of these students believe it's perfectly legal to make a copy of your friend's CD/DVD/Video game/Microsoft Office CD as long as you have no intent to sell or distribute it. Of course some of that falls more under breaking your EULA than copyright, but the fact remains, the ethics of copying doesn't even apply here since they think it's perfectly legal to begin with.
At any rate, I think a lot of people are going to be in for a big wakeup call when the RIAA throws down the hammer. A good sampling of their "victims" might not even be aware that they're actually breaking any laws.
If you want the secret to success, I'll give it to you -and I won't even charge you a quarter. You know that sublimely flawed lead character in your comic strip? The one who pontificates endlessly on the infinite array of life's idiosyncrasies? Replace him with MegaMan. And while we're replacing stuff you might as well chop out all that ironic, witty humor you seem hopelessly enraptured with and just substitute it with some good ol' fashioned expletives. I'm not sure what it is, but there's just something deliriously funny about Megaman cursing. Trust me here -it's the theme of at least a half dozen highly successful strips.
...
Also, for the love of all that is holy, please stop updating your strip on a regular basis. Sure you've got to create enough interest to keep people coming to your forum (where would we be without the droll debates about oral sex and threesomes?) but definitely quit there. I'd say maybe one strip every two or three weeks. However, make sure to promise a new strip every day. Can't let people think you stopped working on the comic, since then they'll all leave. You could probably get away with 6 months of no updates using this method, easy.
Of course as to how all this will help you earn some money I can't say. But it's not like Mom makes you pay rent, anyway. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to indulge in the adventures of Sonic, that hedonistic Hedgehog
It's kind of sad that they'll be going away, really. Oh how I'll miss that ever-present 10 second pause before they say hello. Or how they talk to my answering machine for a few minutes before they realize no one is there (with the general interest in telemarketing I could understand the confusion). And of course who can overlook the sheer amount of interesting stories they can provide a person.
For example like the time I answered the phone only to find a telemarketer in the midst of conversation with her "girlfrient" Brandy in the next cubicle. This one didn't even bother to say hello, just kept on talking. At least she was kind enough to eventually tell me to, "Hold on minute, will you?" Or perhaps the one time I kindly the told the telemarketer that I wasn't interested in their offer and he promptly told me to screw off in his own expletive-ridden way. My favorite, however, was the time I told one I was actually interested in their product just for kicks.
Sales Drone: "Excuse me, sir? Did you say you were interested?"
Me: "Yeah, that's right."
Sales Drone: "No one is ever interested, sir. I'm not even sure how to make a sale."
(Sets phone down and yells to his associates)
Sales Drone: "Anyone here ever make a sale before!?"
(Short pause)
Sales Drone: "I'm going to have to get you a manager. Can we call you back?"
Seriously, will anyone miss these people?
I agree 100%. In my experience it's the goal of nearly every "professional" online comic strip/book artist to break into the print world -not the other way around.
Why the heck would an established, published title want to come here? Very few, if any, online comics have found a way to be even remotely profitable. I'd say that's even doubly so for those who have attempted online comic books (which tend to suffer from readability & format issues).
In my opinion, any venture from the print world to the web would exist solely based upon the merit and profits of the print material. Perhaps at best the web could serve as a supplement to the print or even just as an advertising vehicle, but to migrate here? For profit? Good luck.
I recently started a weekly online comic strip in April and when I first launched the strip I ran an ad campaign (banner ads + Google ad words) to help drive some readers in. It worked, but only marginally. I was getting visitors but I had to pay for each one and, worst of all, my site had no real means of generating revenue.
;)
Thankfully, as it would turn out, someone who ran a Blog site stumbled across my comic not too long after it's debut and wrote a quick blurb about it on their site. Within days I found myself linked on about a dozen other Blogs and then the traffic started pouring in. It wasn't a huge amount of visitors, perhaps 3-5 thousand uniques total but it was ten times more than the advertising and a heck of a lot less expensive.
Had this not happened I would have never guessed the relevance of personal/blog sites. It only goes to show that word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful forms of advertising.
A lot of people rag on the cartoons of the 80's as being nothing more than thinly guised ads to sell product. You're right, they were. But the important element that you've left out of this is that the kids were more than happy to buy those products since it allowed for a level of interactivity with the show. For example, I watched a lot of Transformers / GI Joe / Thundercats in the 80's and I bought a lot of Transformers / GI Joe / Thundercats toys. So not only did I watch the stuff on TV, I interacted with the shows by recreating my own scenarios and tiny plots with the toys. A very early form of the fanfic, if you will.
Nowadays, however, cartoons are far more different. Sure there are product tie-ins but the toons are more dialogue driven and rarely focus on the overall conflict of good vs. evil. Likewise heroes often take a backseat to more identifiable characters with more realistic qualities. When I was a kid the Autobots used to save children from the evil Decepticons, Now as an adult, the children save the Autobots. I think that says a lot about what cartoons as a whole have evolved into.
But moreover it's that lack of interactivity with current toons that send kids flocking to video games and even in some ways to the Internet more so than the tube. I think kids are becoming conditioned to the fact that TV is a passive medium, you sit in front of it and it entertains you and you walk away. And really that's the entire problem in a nutshell. I mean I remember being a good consumer and buying those toys in the 80's, but I also remember spending hours coming up with my own stories, my own conflicts and my own characters through those toys. I don't think children have that now and it's a shame. Those shows in the 80's spawned interactivity (and creativity for that matter) and that element is gone now. Kids are tough customers, you lose their interest for a second and you've lost them forever.
The article makes a lot of good points, especially the fact that a lot of Linux users are picking up Apple portables. As a longtime Mac user I noticed this trend early last year on all the Mac boards I frequent. More and more Linux users were popping up talking not about how they "switched" but how they picked up an iBook to compliment their Linux desktop. The most common reasons for doing so seemed to be a combination of the stylish design of Apple's portable line, the slick GUI mixed with the familiar CLI and of course the long battery life.
:)
On the contrary, the adoption of OS X on the desktop by Linux users seems quite a bit lower in my experience. Perhaps this is a testament to the fact that Apple is losing the edge in price/performance in the desktop market (even among its own users) and that it's just so much geekier to build your own box.
Either way I agree that both systems compliment one another quite nicely. Then again, as a web developer I produce my sites on OS X, test them on XP and host them on Linux boxes so in my opinion all the OSes have something good to offer.
As a small independent web developer, I often find myself developing sites that cater more towards IE on Windows than any other browser. That's not to say that my sites don't work on multiple browsers, just that most look best on IE. And the reason I do this is pretty simple. I deal with small budgets and small businesses.
In short, when you have a limited budget it's only natural that you're going to try and streamline the development process and shoot for the largest target demographic. However, you also can't overlook the fact that I'm not only at the mercy of my budget, I'm also at the mercy of my customers as well. So if Bob from Bob's Floral wants a specific feature that only works in IE (purportedly because his local competitor's site has the same feature) I'm stuck. I've got to accommodate.
What it boils down to is that Bob cares about making sure the site looks good on his browser, which incidentally is the same browser that his friends use and the same browser he assumes his customers use. He's not concerned with making his site work on Opera for Linux. He neither knows what Opera nor Linux is -nor does he care. Bob is in the business of moving merchandise by catering to his largest demographic. The truth of the matter is, he's willing to alienate that one Linux-using flower-buying customer for the sake of the rest of his customer base. That's just business.
This was a particularly underhanded marketing campaign and I figured it was only a matter of time before *someone* sued.
Thankfully I had a heads-up to this debacle and was able to contact all my clients and inform them not to transfer (or should I say renew?) their domains to Verisign. Turns out that two of them had already filled out the forms and were just about to send them when I called. Crafty.
He could have just searched Google for "Who put up all those work from home signs?". The answer was in the second result.
I've been doing an online comic now for just over two years. I have a regular following of readers, manage to get decent traffic and the feedback I receive has generally been good. However, I have not made one dime from this venture and I can't imagine that I ever will.
This is partly due to the fact that the online advertising model is dead and/or severely flawed. Last year I grossed (yes grossed) around $3 and my poor readers suffered a bevy of pop-ups, pop-unders and other flashing menaces. Likewise the model of pay-per-download just doesn't work -people won't pay to be mildly entertained when then they can get the same stuff for free.
Ultimately, this caused me to abandon the comic, ending my adventure in online comics just as quickly as it began. Then something unexpected happened. People actually emailed me wondering what happened to the comic. For some unknown reason, they actually cared that my tiny contribution to the world of online comics vanished. And for me, that was enough to try and bring it back. So this February it returns.
If there's a point to any of this, it's that not everything has to be about money. The internet can be more than a virtual marketplace, if only people are willing to work at it. Sure, I'd love to make money from this, but just knowing that people get some enjoyment out of something I do has its perks. And it's good enough for me.
Sure, it's a gamble for Handspring, but it might just pay off. I've used both PocketPC and Palm OS devices extensively and found that if you want a lightweight, mini-pc, the PocketPC is far better suited to this. However, if you want something really lightweight (as in both form and function), the Palm OS is a nice addition to any phone.
In fact, I've got a Samsung Palm OS phone right now and it's a truly wonderful hybrid device - perfect for my needs. I can't wait to see what these new Treo phones bring to the table, especially the color model (should Handspring hang around long enough to deliver it).
Sorry Katz, but in the world of technology the concept of better product = success is bunk. It's all about market penetration and monopoly power. It makes very little difference if Mac OS X is better than Windows XP because 95% of the market already uses XP and I'm willing to bet that most of those folks have never even used a non-Microsoft OS. It's hard to compete when you can't even step on the field.
I have a perfect, highly unscientific example of this. I teach an introduction to Macintosh course in the art department of a local college. This course is a prerequisite to all the other design courses in the curriculum since all the classes are Mac-based. On average, less than 5% of my students have ever used a non-Microsoft OS and, in fact, most of these students thought "Windows" and "Computer" were synonymous -they were unaware you could even have one without the other.
Despite this demographic skew, at the conclusion of the course around 90% of my students stated that they were planning to switch from Windows to Macintosh. Now the question is, were the students switching because they liked the Mac better or because everyone in the art department used Macs? Part two of the question? Does it matter?
Marketshare = success. Plain and simple.
"Why Mac users are so complacent about Creator-based launching is beyond me."
.jpg, type "JPEG" files to the application "Preview" since, in essence, "Preview" is a most capable .jpg viewer. However, as a web developer, I work with a lot of JPEG files, most of which are created in Photoshop, my photo editing tool of choice. Whether out of habit or sheer convenience, it's far easier for me to just double click the file in question and have it launch Photoshop (the place where I created it and, presumably intend to work with it) and then open up the file. It's just an easy alternative to File--Open.
As a longtime Mac user I think I might be able to shed some light on this situation. You see, double-clicking on a document's icon has long been the standard "Mac way" of both launching your content creation application as well as opening the file in question, all in one fell swoop. As the Macintosh has long been primarily a content creation platform (design being the most prominent field) it's particularly useful to be able to open up the file in question with the program you have created it in -all just by double-clicking.
Let me explain. For some it might make sense if OS X were to bind all
So, why not have all my JPEGs open up in Photoshop? Well, I have a myriad of unedited digital camera photos on my drive and frankly, Photoshop is quite a cumbersome image viewer. It's just a matter of being able to use the right tool for the job. While both a battering ram and a key are quite capable of opening a locked door, it's knowing which one fits the situation that makes all the difference.
I picked up a Samsung SPH-I300 at my local Best Buy two weeks ago, if for nothing else because the sales drone offered me 24 months 0% financing and the Sprint rep was willing to throw in 2 free Palm M100s and a $30 rebate. It was a sweet deal for a sweet... phone... or is it a PDA? Hard to say really. And I think that's where these convergence devices are going to be stuck just until they figure out exactly what it is they want to be.
I'm not saying that I don't love my SPH-I300, because I really do. It's a really wonderful little Palm (160x240, Virtual Graffiti, slim form factor, weighs around 6 oz.) and being able to check my e-mail and have (albeit slow) wireless web access is really an amazing thing. But it certainly doesn't excel as a phone. It's not nearly as durable or as tiny as I like my phones and the virtual keypad is, well, not as good as a real thing.
It is, however, a good compromise for those of us that need a PDA and have very limited phone use -which, in my opinion, is really the only market for these $500 PDA-Phone combos anyway. If you're looking to buy one of these devices and are expecting to get a phone with PDA capabilities, you're bound to be disappointed.
Heh, oops. Maybe I should stick to making comics. But seriously I still think localized browsers might be a good solution.
I don't pretend to understand a lot about the intricacies of the various implemented TLD system(s), but why not localize the browser to translate mycompany.com to mycompany.com.us? This way if you were trying to access Amazon's Australian site from inside Australia (and using a localized Australian browser) you'd just type in Amazon.com and be forwarded to Amazon.co.au? Likewise, if you were in the USA, type Amazon.com and you'd be sent to Amazon.co.us? Of course you could always manually type the address as well, thus being able to access non-US specific versions of a website.
It seems to make a lot more sense than manually localizing the heck out of every domain name. Especially when I don't see the country extensions as anything different than the company codes used for our phone network. You certainly don't dial the US country code to make a US to US call, neither should you do it for the web.
I create a weekly strip called Angerson.com and, like your friends mentioned, it takes anywhere from two to five hours to create a single strip. That is a lot of time invested and I can't imagine how these guys (and gals) create these strips everyday. After a while it engulfs your life. And with little reward.
Sadly, there really is no money to be earned from such a venture. I can always have hopes of being syndicated (not going to happen) and I already do the advertising thing but with only 4000 hits a month I usually earn around a dollar. Not exactly a living.
The only reason to create online comics is because you enjoy doing it and others enjoy your work. In the end appreciation is our only incentive.
It would really be nice to get SOME FORM of high speed access where I live. In my area there is no cable access, no DSL/ADSL, not even ISDN. Nothing. DirecPC would be the only option but as far as I know they don't support Macs and since they never replied to my e-mail, I would assume they don't intend to either.
The sad thing is that I live right between two fairly large cities. In fact, there's an international airport whose runway literally crosses over the end of my street not more than 200 yards away (yes, it's loud). So it's not like I'm in the middle of nowhere.
The reason we don't have highspeed access escapes me. My cable company delivers its programming over fiber, we have a decent sized ISP/TelCo not more than fifteen minutes from my house. Everything would seem to be in order, but it's not. To my knowledge there aren't even any plans to serve high speed access to my area -at all.
I hope this broadband through the air is legitimate. I'd love to get highspeed access and I'm willing to pay a premium -as long as it works.
The Last time Apple did this (around a year or so ago) I took advantage of the offer and traded in my Powerbook 190cs, which I had originally purchased for $999, towards the purchase of a base model 1998 Wallstreet 292 MHz. After taking part in the trade-in, my purchase price was $2100 or $700 off (at the time, a steal considering the re-sell value of the 190 was dipping well below $450).
It's a shame, though, that Apple ran out of 292MHz machines. They called me one day at work to let me know that they wouldn't be able to send me the Powerbook I wanted. But, since I had already paid for it, they were going to send me a 1999 Wallstreet 300MHz DVD Powerbook instead (even though, I believe at that time they retailed for $3200).
Yeah, I was a little more than elated to get $1100 off a new Powerbook. The ol' beast proved to be a good machine too. I'm still using it right now.