Have you owned a smart device that can actually multitask like you want? Tell me good sir, how long did your battery last running multiple background applications?
My Psion Series 5 PDA works quite well with multitasking. When I used it a lot, I could be connected to the internet connecting my cell phone via infrared and have Sheet (equivalent of Excel) running in the backround sometimes even more programs. Psion series 5mx was a better device because it had 16MB of RAM instead of 8MB and a 2x faster CPU. Oh, and with the backlight on it uses ~130mA and largest capacity NiMH AA betteries I have seen are 3300mAh.
A cold reboot actually started 9 applications so that they would be already in RAM and you could swith to them faster. I can close them if I want and save memory. Oh, and this is all on a 36MHz ARM 710T CPU (Series 5mx) or a slower 18MHz CPU (Series 5).
I think a device made with current technology should at least outperform a device made in 1999 (Series 5mx) or at least one made in 1997 (Series 5).
Does it really use that much power if I browse the web, while having a mp3 player and Skype in the background?
Apple has not banned Flash, they are just not providing it on their mobile devices.
No, Apple has banned Flash on their mobile devices. Adobe can make a Flash player that would run on the iPad, except that Apple would not allow it to be installed.
Microsoft does not provide Flash in their PC OS, but Adobe can make a compatible version and Microsoft does not prevent me from installing and using it.
Take, for example, installing an aftermarket stereo: Many new cars don't have a wire that supplies 12V when you turn the key on to turn on the radio, the radio is always powered and listens to the CAN bus for the command from the car's BCM (body control module) to turn itself on.
I think that this is not a big deal. The radio in my car is permanently connected to +12V and I can turn it on and listen to music with the engine off and the key in my pocket. As long as the car supplies power and the speakers are analog I think that this could be done to any car...
One of the reasons I like my 1982 car is that it has zero computers and no OBD or other nonsense. The electronics in the tape deck are probably more complex than in the car.
Yes, menu bars are a waste of space. On my old laptop (486DX 50MHz,16MB RAM, 640x480 screen) the 20px menu bar takes massive 4% of screen height and must be eliminated. Maybe I should use Chrome on that laptop if it works under Windows 98.
Of course, my desktop PC has screen resolution of 1600x1200 (can go up to unimaginable 1920x1440), but I'm probably the only one who has such a a high resolution monitor. Most people probably use 640x480 or maybe 320x240...
So, how about an option to turn the menu bar on and leave it there? One thing I like about Opera is that I can customize the interface however I want. I usually make it similar (not identical though) to the interface of Opera 7.25 because that's the way I like it.
If cars had EULAs similar to the ones software comes with, you would get:
* The Customer buys a license to use (drive) the Car, but does not actually own the Car. * The Car is provided without any warranty of suitability for any particular use (like going from point A to point B or starting the Car). * No guarantee is provided as to the safety of the Car. In case the Car explodes, bursts into flames, or otherwise damages or kills people inside, the Company will not be held liable for it, even if the damage was caused by an intentional action from the Company. * The Customer is not allowed to disassemble, modify, sell, rent or share the Car.
But I don't get how information that is digital is supposed to "rot" or somehow degrade simply because you are taking it from format A to B unless the settings in B are less than A. Care to explain and back it up with citation?
I can explain it. While digital information can be copied as many times as you want and still be identical to the original, the same is not true about some transcoding.
There are two compression types - lossy and lossless.
Lossless compression (zip, rar, flac, lagarith) compresses the original data so as to remove redundancies, but still have all of the information, for example, you can compress "AAAAAAAAAA" into "10A" and save 7 bytes, but still be able to expand back into the original form. However, this type of compression does not achieve high ratios.
Lossy compression throws some of the original data out. This is done to increase the compression ratio, but it is now impossible to expend back int othe original, some data will be missing. MP3 file sounds different than the original WAV, while a FLAC file sounds the same. This is because mp3 is lossy compression. However, mp3 file uses less space than flac file.
Video uses a lot of data, RGB 1920x1080 video takes 5.9MB per frame and there are at least 24 frames per second, so uncompressed HD video takes ~142MB per second (SD 720x576 would be ~28MB/s). Lossless compression does not help here much, you need to use lossy compression. And all widely used video codecs are lossy, they throw out a lot of information to make the 1080p HD movie fit in a Bluray disc or ~11GB file. Or to make a SD movie fit in a DVD or even in a CD.
Lossy codec creates artifacts, that is, details that are not in the original video and are just the product of the codec throwing out information. When you watch a low bitrate video that has a lot of motion you get blocks. Blocks are one type of artifact.
Now, when you try to transcode, the first thing you do is decode from the original codec to uncompressed video (which can be passed straight to the other codec without storing it first). The encoder looks at the decoded video and again tries to throw out information to make the result fit in the specified space. This encoder has no way of telling which details in the video are real and which are just artifacts, therefore, it tries to encode all of them just as good. In the encoding process it produces its own artifacts and now you have a video that is of lower quality. A third generation video will be even lower quality.
This is the same as with analog, where each generation has not only the noise and distortions of the medium that it is recorded on but also noise and distortions of all of the previous generations.
GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, what other standards are there? My cellphone supports the first 4 and cell networks are backwards compatible, so an old GSM phone will work in a 3G cell network in 2010. Cellphones that support HS(D|U)PA can still work if the cell network supports only UMTS or GPRS. If the cell network supports only GSM then you will still be able to call and send SMS, but browsing the 'net would be slow because CSD is only (IIRC) 9.6kbps.
So, GSM = "Compatible with the rest of the world anytime after 2000" as far as calls and SMS are concerned.
So, you can watch Video CD images, DVD images or folders (.vob files) and DivX video? If not, then he ipad is worse than a standalone DVD/DivX player for watching video...
The freedom to see the content of the video is prioritized over seeing the code that makes the video.
Except you don't see the content of the video if it is encoded using a different codec.
There is a workaround for those bad UIs - it is possible to set the desktop to higher resolution, but then it won't fit in the screen and you will need to scroll, it's inconvenient, but it the big app is only used once in a while then it's ok.
It has a stylus and a place to hold it when not in use. Also, why would you touch the screen with a finger, wouldn't that make the screen dirty because of various oils present on the skin? When I used a PDA (Psion Series 5), I also used a stylus.
I think there were versions with 3G modem, but the one my dad has doesn't, so he either uses the modem or his flash drive (which does not need to be plugged in constantly).
1 USB port can be a problem, but you could get a bluetooth mouse and reduce your need of USB ports to 1. Alternatively, you could get a small USB hub.
Fujitsu U820 has 1280x800 resolution, 60 or 120GB HDD, faster CPU (1.6GHz vs 800MHz), has integrated GPS, also has the option of integrated 3G modem. Still only one USB port.
So you need a bigger device (a desktop or laptop pc) to prepare the video so you can watch it on the iPad. It also looks like the iPad cannot play DivX/XviD files. With a netbook I can watch the video file straight after downloading using uTorrent or whatever (iPad probably has a BitTorrent client, so downloading probably is not a problem, only watching).
Can you watch a video that's encoded using Theora codec?
Also, OpenOffice for Windows (or Linux) costs $0 and here probably are programs that do not have alternatives for the ipad. I can't list them because I'm too lazy to find out especially since I'm not planning to buy the ipad, but VmWare or similar (even though running multiple OSs on a netbook could be slow, but at least it's an option if I really need it) could be one, also flash.
I think flash games would run OK on a netbook. DOS games in Dosbox too.
Anyway, one of the reasons to buy a netbook (with the OS that the main PC has) instead of the iPad is so I can "run the same types of applications as you main machine", but have them on a portable device. I want to browse the internet? OK, I can have Firefox with various extensions (noscript/abp...) installed on both devices. I want to watch a movie? OK, the same player and the same codecs on both devices, so I know that if it plays on my main PC and it is not in HD then it will also play on the portable device.
My father has a really nice netbook - Fujitsu U810. It is small (171 x 154 x 26.5~32.0 mm, ~700g), has a 40GB hard drive, keyboard, mouse joystick and touchscreen, a slot for a SD card and a CF card or microdrive, 1 USB port, webcam, audio input/output, WiFi and Bluetooth. It probably has Infrared port too, but I'm not sure. If you connect a dongle then it also gets a VGA out and 10/100 Ethernet port. The only problem in my opinion is that the screen has low resolution - 1024x600, but since it is a small screen, it has high dpi already. You can use it as a little laptop or turn the screen around, close the lid and you'll get a tablet PC.
I think that the Fujitsu U810 is better than the iPad.
Some time ago I could legally rent Region 1, 2 and 5 disks, so it was either flash the DVD drive so it always has "4 changes left" or only rent disks for one region. I don't rent DVDs anymore so maybe they changed it now to region 2 and 5 only.
DVD CSS has been completely broken for many years and now is about as useful as a "please don't copy this" message on the disk, but new DVDs still have it. In principle it is not possible to make a working DRM for non-interactive medium, but they continue to try.
Why the block? Maybe they hope that most people would not know about devices like HDFury and as such be prevented from copying the movie (or even seeing it, if they have an older TV that does not support HDCP). But again, legitimate consumers will be more affected, since pirates know about HDCP strippers already or will find out about them very fast and then it will be business as usual. People who do not have a computer or use the internet will be affected, but most likely because they have an old TV and not because they want to pirate.
Get a converter? I know there is a HDMI->Component and HDMI->VGA converter and it would probably be possible to convert the VGA or component signal to S-Video or composite if needed.
Games don't need to be dumber, the average age of a gamer is over 25, we aren't morons so stop treating us like them.... in HL1 if you wasted your rockets you'd find the game difficult if not impossible at some points. Now days, even in HL2 there is an infinite "box-o-rockets" where you engage anything that needs them.
However, this average 25yo gamer probably has a job and/or other things to do with his time that are more important, which means that games get less time than if the gamer was a kid who could spend all day in front of the PC or TV every day after school.
Which means that forcing the gamer to redo huge parts of the game is more likely to result in the gamer abandoning the game, which leads to the "box-o-rockets", which is not the ideal solution but it is better than having the player not use the rocket launcher unless he was absolutely sure that this is the spot where the rocket launcher is needed.
On a side note, while limited inventory space is realistic, if you do that then also make dropped items not disappear, so I can come back to pick them up later (in open type games). SS2 had it right. Also, SS2 had the ammunition inventory right, or at least almost right - you can carry however many bullets you want and the energy guns are rechargeable, but probably made by Apple - you cannot swap the battery). Stalker had it even better - the ammunition has weight and you can only carry a limited amount, but nothing forbids you from carrying 30kg of one type of round. Other games (DeusEx for example) have
iMac / Mac Desktop - If he installs Linux and/or Windows on the Mac then why buy a Mac (and pay more) in the first place? And I'm sure it is possible to buy a laptop made by Acer and have it run the same apps that ran on a Dell laptop, since they both can run the same OS.
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Have you owned a smart device that can actually multitask like you want? Tell me good sir, how long did your battery last running multiple background applications?
My Psion Series 5 PDA works quite well with multitasking. When I used it a lot, I could be connected to the internet connecting my cell phone via infrared and have Sheet (equivalent of Excel) running in the backround sometimes even more programs. Psion series 5mx was a better device because it had 16MB of RAM instead of 8MB and a 2x faster CPU. Oh, and with the backlight on it uses ~130mA and largest capacity NiMH AA betteries I have seen are 3300mAh.
A cold reboot actually started 9 applications so that they would be already in RAM and you could swith to them faster. I can close them if I want and save memory. Oh, and this is all on a 36MHz ARM 710T CPU (Series 5mx) or a slower 18MHz CPU (Series 5).
I think a device made with current technology should at least outperform a device made in 1999 (Series 5mx) or at least one made in 1997 (Series 5).
Does it really use that much power if I browse the web, while having a mp3 player and Skype in the background?
Apple has not banned Flash, they are just not providing it on their mobile devices.
No, Apple has banned Flash on their mobile devices. Adobe can make a Flash player that would run on the iPad, except that Apple would not allow it to be installed.
Microsoft does not provide Flash in their PC OS, but Adobe can make a compatible version and Microsoft does not prevent me from installing and using it.
replacing the smallest makes the most sense
You know what makes even more sense? Buying/building a device with a lot of drive bays and just adding new drives while keeping the old ones.
Take, for example, installing an aftermarket stereo: Many new cars don't have a wire that supplies 12V when you turn the key on to turn on the radio, the radio is always powered and listens to the CAN bus for the command from the car's BCM (body control module) to turn itself on.
I think that this is not a big deal. The radio in my car is permanently connected to +12V and I can turn it on and listen to music with the engine off and the key in my pocket. As long as the car supplies power and the speakers are analog I think that this could be done to any car...
One of the reasons I like my 1982 car is that it has zero computers and no OBD or other nonsense. The electronics in the tape deck are probably more complex than in the car.
thanks :)
No, it's still wrong. The only way to write it is:
Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Service Pack 2
Or are the spaces before "(" also needed?
Yes, menu bars are a waste of space. On my old laptop (486DX 50MHz,16MB RAM, 640x480 screen) the 20px menu bar takes massive 4% of screen height and must be eliminated. Maybe I should use Chrome on that laptop if it works under Windows 98.
Of course, my desktop PC has screen resolution of 1600x1200 (can go up to unimaginable 1920x1440), but I'm probably the only one who has such a a high resolution monitor. Most people probably use 640x480 or maybe 320x240...
So, how about an option to turn the menu bar on and leave it there? One thing I like about Opera is that I can customize the interface however I want. I usually make it similar (not identical though) to the interface of Opera 7.25 because that's the way I like it.
If cars had EULAs similar to the ones software comes with, you would get:
* The Customer buys a license to use (drive) the Car, but does not actually own the Car.
* The Car is provided without any warranty of suitability for any particular use (like going from point A to point B or starting the Car).
* No guarantee is provided as to the safety of the Car. In case the Car explodes, bursts into flames, or otherwise damages or kills people inside, the Company will not be held liable for it, even if the damage was caused by an intentional action from the Company.
* The Customer is not allowed to disassemble, modify, sell, rent or share the Car.
Or something like that :)
But I don't get how information that is digital is supposed to "rot" or somehow degrade simply because you are taking it from format A to B unless the settings in B are less than A. Care to explain and back it up with citation?
I can explain it. While digital information can be copied as many times as you want and still be identical to the original, the same is not true about some transcoding.
There are two compression types - lossy and lossless.
Lossless compression (zip, rar, flac, lagarith) compresses the original data so as to remove redundancies, but still have all of the information, for example, you can compress "AAAAAAAAAA" into "10A" and save 7 bytes, but still be able to expand back into the original form. However, this type of compression does not achieve high ratios.
Lossy compression throws some of the original data out. This is done to increase the compression ratio, but it is now impossible to expend back int othe original, some data will be missing. MP3 file sounds different than the original WAV, while a FLAC file sounds the same. This is because mp3 is lossy compression. However, mp3 file uses less space than flac file.
Video uses a lot of data, RGB 1920x1080 video takes 5.9MB per frame and there are at least 24 frames per second, so uncompressed HD video takes ~142MB per second (SD 720x576 would be ~28MB/s). Lossless compression does not help here much, you need to use lossy compression. And all widely used video codecs are lossy, they throw out a lot of information to make the 1080p HD movie fit in a Bluray disc or ~11GB file. Or to make a SD movie fit in a DVD or even in a CD.
Lossy codec creates artifacts, that is, details that are not in the original video and are just the product of the codec throwing out information. When you watch a low bitrate video that has a lot of motion you get blocks. Blocks are one type of artifact.
Now, when you try to transcode, the first thing you do is decode from the original codec to uncompressed video (which can be passed straight to the other codec without storing it first). The encoder looks at the decoded video and again tries to throw out information to make the result fit in the specified space. This encoder has no way of telling which details in the video are real and which are just artifacts, therefore, it tries to encode all of them just as good. In the encoding process it produces its own artifacts and now you have a video that is of lower quality. A third generation video will be even lower quality.
This is the same as with analog, where each generation has not only the noise and distortions of the medium that it is recorded on but also noise and distortions of all of the previous generations.
GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSDPA, HSUPA, what other standards are there? My cellphone supports the first 4 and cell networks are backwards compatible, so an old GSM phone will work in a 3G cell network in 2010. Cellphones that support HS(D|U)PA can still work if the cell network supports only UMTS or GPRS. If the cell network supports only GSM then you will still be able to call and send SMS, but browsing the 'net would be slow because CSD is only (IIRC) 9.6kbps.
So, GSM = "Compatible with the rest of the world anytime after 2000" as far as calls and SMS are concerned.
The touchscreen is like the one on a Psion Series 5, works by pressure, so you can touch it with anything, unlike the touchpad of a laptop.
ISO Standard Video...
So, you can watch Video CD images, DVD images or folders (.vob files) and DivX video? If not, then he ipad is worse than a standalone DVD/DivX player for watching video...
The freedom to see the content of the video is prioritized over seeing the code that makes the video.
Except you don't see the content of the video if it is encoded using a different codec.
There is a workaround for those bad UIs - it is possible to set the desktop to higher resolution, but then it won't fit in the screen and you will need to scroll, it's inconvenient, but it the big app is only used once in a while then it's ok.
It has a stylus and a place to hold it when not in use. Also, why would you touch the screen with a finger, wouldn't that make the screen dirty because of various oils present on the skin? When I used a PDA (Psion Series 5), I also used a stylus.
I think there were versions with 3G modem, but the one my dad has doesn't, so he either uses the modem or his flash drive (which does not need to be plugged in constantly).
1 USB port can be a problem, but you could get a bluetooth mouse and reduce your need of USB ports to 1. Alternatively, you could get a small USB hub.
Fujitsu U820 has 1280x800 resolution, 60 or 120GB HDD, faster CPU (1.6GHz vs 800MHz), has integrated GPS, also has the option of integrated 3G modem. Still only one USB port.
So you need a bigger device (a desktop or laptop pc) to prepare the video so you can watch it on the iPad. It also looks like the iPad cannot play DivX/XviD files. With a netbook I can watch the video file straight after downloading using uTorrent or whatever (iPad probably has a BitTorrent client, so downloading probably is not a problem, only watching).
Can you watch a video that's encoded using Theora codec?
Also, OpenOffice for Windows (or Linux) costs $0 and here probably are programs that do not have alternatives for the ipad. I can't list them because I'm too lazy to find out especially since I'm not planning to buy the ipad, but VmWare or similar (even though running multiple OSs on a netbook could be slow, but at least it's an option if I really need it) could be one, also flash.
I think flash games would run OK on a netbook. DOS games in Dosbox too.
Anyway, one of the reasons to buy a netbook (with the OS that the main PC has) instead of the iPad is so I can "run the same types of applications as you main machine", but have them on a portable device. I want to browse the internet? OK, I can have Firefox with various extensions (noscript/abp...) installed on both devices. I want to watch a movie? OK, the same player and the same codecs on both devices, so I know that if it plays on my main PC and it is not in HD then it will also play on the portable device.
My father has a really nice netbook - Fujitsu U810. It is small (171 x 154 x 26.5~32.0 mm, ~700g), has a 40GB hard drive, keyboard, mouse joystick and touchscreen, a slot for a SD card and a CF card or microdrive, 1 USB port, webcam, audio input/output, WiFi and Bluetooth. It probably has Infrared port too, but I'm not sure. If you connect a dongle then it also gets a VGA out and 10/100 Ethernet port. The only problem in my opinion is that the screen has low resolution - 1024x600, but since it is a small screen, it has high dpi already. You can use it as a little laptop or turn the screen around, close the lid and you'll get a tablet PC.
I think that the Fujitsu U810 is better than the iPad.
You mean you don't have a region-free player?
Some time ago I could legally rent Region 1, 2 and 5 disks, so it was either flash the DVD drive so it always has "4 changes left" or only rent disks for one region. I don't rent DVDs anymore so maybe they changed it now to region 2 and 5 only.
I don't know.
DVD CSS has been completely broken for many years and now is about as useful as a "please don't copy this" message on the disk, but new DVDs still have it. In principle it is not possible to make a working DRM for non-interactive medium, but they continue to try.
Why the block? Maybe they hope that most people would not know about devices like HDFury and as such be prevented from copying the movie (or even seeing it, if they have an older TV that does not support HDCP). But again, legitimate consumers will be more affected, since pirates know about HDCP strippers already or will find out about them very fast and then it will be business as usual. People who do not have a computer or use the internet will be affected, but most likely because they have an old TV and not because they want to pirate.
Seems that there are devices that can decode HDCP to analog.
HDfury3 specifications:
Input: 2 x HDMI v1.3 (DVI 1.0 compatible) (Switch: Auto / PortA / PortB ) ...
Output: VGA FEMALE output connector, 10 bit analog resolution.
Output format: Either RGB or YPbPr, dip-switch selectable
HDCP supported (Integrated HDCP decipher engine, Pre-programmed HDCP key)
Use this: http://www.hdfury.com/
Get a converter? I know there is a HDMI->Component and HDMI->VGA converter and it would probably be possible to convert the VGA or component signal to S-Video or composite if needed.
I can still record TV with the tuner software but as yet I don't have guide information available so that I can scan ahead and choose what to record.
Can't you do it in the old way by reading a paper or online TV guide and then manually programming the start/stop times (like I do with a VCR)?
Games don't need to be dumber, the average age of a gamer is over 25, we aren't morons so stop treating us like them. ...
in HL1 if you wasted your rockets you'd find the game difficult if not impossible at some points. Now days, even in HL2 there is an infinite "box-o-rockets" where you engage anything that needs them.
However, this average 25yo gamer probably has a job and/or other things to do with his time that are more important, which means that games get less time than if the gamer was a kid who could spend all day in front of the PC or TV every day after school.
Which means that forcing the gamer to redo huge parts of the game is more likely to result in the gamer abandoning the game, which leads to the "box-o-rockets", which is not the ideal solution but it is better than having the player not use the rocket launcher unless he was absolutely sure that this is the spot where the rocket launcher is needed.
On a side note, while limited inventory space is realistic, if you do that then also make dropped items not disappear, so I can come back to pick them up later (in open type games). SS2 had it right. Also, SS2 had the ammunition inventory right, or at least almost right - you can carry however many bullets you want and the energy guns are rechargeable, but probably made by Apple - you cannot swap the battery). Stalker had it even better - the ammunition has weight and you can only carry a limited amount, but nothing forbids you from carrying 30kg of one type of round.
Other games (DeusEx for example) have
iMac / Mac Desktop - If he installs Linux and/or Windows on the Mac then why buy a Mac (and pay more) in the first place? And I'm sure it is possible to buy a laptop made by Acer and have it run the same apps that ran on a Dell laptop, since they both can run the same OS.