Sorry, but I don't buy it. The Mac was probably somewhat easier back then than Win 3.1,
Probably? Please.
Excuse the virtual guffaw, but as someone who used both back then, there was no comparison.
but the documentation you got with PCs was useful.
Useful to some folks, perhaps, but not to the average user. Thus the commercial.
Apple shipped a small manual by leaving out all the useful information.
What useful 80's-era Macintosh information are you talking about exactly? How to edit arcane text files to make sure your printer worked? How to troubleshoot your mouse when it didn't just work when you plugged it in? How to deal with your counter-intuitive word processing program corrupting your registry?
Oh, wait, I guess they actually didn't need to put that stuff in.
It was total marketing, not even close to reality.
It was a frickin' commercial, of course it was marketing. This one, however, had the advantage of being based in reality. Unlike your posts. But pray, continue, this is entertaining.:)
Re:Manual length and Macs vs. PC
on
Macintosh Clustering
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· Score: 3, Informative
So ever wonder why you get so little useful information with your computer? Blame Apple.
Nice flamebait, Reality Master, but I think cost savings had *way* more to do with PC manufacturers ditching the paper manuals than Apple ever did.
As far as that commercial goes, it was true for the average user (the commercial's target) -- the Mac didn't need a ton of manuals to do the equivalent tasks that you needed those manuals for on PCs.
It doesn't mean there shouldn't be better documentation nowadays, of course (apart from keeping David Pogue et al. in business). But let's try to keep our pre-conditioned biases as tenuously connected to reality as possible.
Ahmet Zappa is an acquired taste, to be sure, but he has toned down since last season. We grew to love the antics after a while. (One particular, ah, 'manuever' of his became a family meme: saying 'Robotica-style' and making convoluted hand motions.) He's the son of Frank Zappa, by the way, which might explain a bit;-) and brother to Moon Unit and Dweezil.
'Hey, hey, hey, its the big MCP everybody's been talking about!'
Actually, I think it's probably more true to the Internet of today than to computing in 1982...
'Theres a 68.71% chance you're right.'
at the time, the concept of so many computers around the country being connected together was vaguely absurd to the common viewer. Now it's commonplace.
'System's got more bugs than a bait store.'
It's kinda funny, I picked this nickname for Slashdot in a moment of sillyness, and hadn't seen the movie in quite a few years,
'Sit right there, make yourself comfortable, remember the time...'
but I since bought the DVD and found that I actually like the movie much more as an adult than I did as a kid.
'I wish Flynn was here to see this...'
I guess I'll have to get the new deluxe set and give my old DVD to my cousins.
I generally agree with you about the paucity of on-disk help files for Mac OS X (there's lot more info in the Knowledge Base), Mac OS 9 wasn't any more of a paragon of informative error messages. Witness the super-helpful 'Sorry, the application "Internet Explorer'" unexpectedly quit because an error of type [1, 2, or 3] occurred.'
Now *I* know that was probably an out of memory error or an extension conflict, but that comes from a lot of reading and experience. The average user calls someone like me and says words to the effect of 'WTF?!'
Re:Actor hopes to do DVD commentary track
on
Star Trek TNG DVDs
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· Score: 2
I don't know, Wil. Not after that Roxanne Dawson / Weakest Link incident.;-)
Re:Actor hopes to do DVD commentary track
on
Star Trek TNG DVDs
·
· Score: 2
I wonder if there would be a way to write a VB script to accomplish this same task automagically, then send it to a few of your fave Winusers. Oooh, the possibilties...
So this means I won't be able to get back into the country if I lose my corrective lenses?;-)
Seriously, though:
"Of course, that could make life easier for you too. What if your state/national ID card was your passport as well as your drivers' license? What if you could do your taxes at an ATM -- and then withdraw your refund? Or what if your national ID card was your ATM card, and your credit card, and your HMO card and your work ID and the passkey to your maximum-security apartment, all at once?"
I'm gonna wait for the implants to come around before adopting this. Don't need my muggers getting free health care when they steal my wallet.
Of course, once they figured out they were in Copenhagen, it was impossible to determine what went on. Doesn't make for a very thrilling movie, either.
Slashdot Mirror
who says he doesn't now? You'd be surprised who's behind some of these aliases
Gary? Is that you?
;-)
Better yet, pay Cringley to write followups on Katz. That would be quite, ah, entertaining. ;-)
Sorry, but I don't buy it. The Mac was probably somewhat easier back then than Win 3.1,
:)
Probably? Please.
Excuse the virtual guffaw, but as someone who used both back then, there was no comparison.
but the documentation you got with PCs was useful.
Useful to some folks, perhaps, but not to the average user. Thus the commercial.
Apple shipped a small manual by leaving out all the useful information.
What useful 80's-era Macintosh information are you talking about exactly? How to edit arcane text files to make sure your printer worked? How to troubleshoot your mouse when it didn't just work when you plugged it in? How to deal with your counter-intuitive word processing program corrupting your registry?
Oh, wait, I guess they actually didn't need to put that stuff in.
It was total marketing, not even close to reality.
It was a frickin' commercial, of course it was marketing. This one, however, had the advantage of being based in reality. Unlike your posts. But pray, continue, this is entertaining.
So ever wonder why you get so little useful information with your computer? Blame Apple.
Nice flamebait, Reality Master, but I think cost savings had *way* more to do with PC manufacturers ditching the paper manuals than Apple ever did.
As far as that commercial goes, it was true for the average user (the commercial's target) -- the Mac didn't need a ton of manuals to do the equivalent tasks that you needed those manuals for on PCs.
It doesn't mean there shouldn't be better documentation nowadays, of course (apart from keeping David Pogue et al. in business). But let's try to keep our pre-conditioned biases as tenuously connected to reality as possible.
http://www.enron.com/corp/
Ahmet Zappa is an acquired taste, to be sure, but he has toned down since last season. We grew to love the antics after a while. (One particular, ah, 'manuever' of his became a family meme: saying 'Robotica-style' and making convoluted hand motions.) He's the son of Frank Zappa, by the way, which might explain a bit ;-) and brother to Moon Unit and Dweezil.
Say what you want about Carrot Top, but he must have a HELL of an agent. How does this guy get work??
I think you answered your own question. He *does* have a HELL of an agent.
Yeah, Carmen is cool to look at, but she doesn't hold a candle to the beautiful, brainy, and British Cathy Rogers.
What a grate idea! It would be a gouda whey to let a user know when something curdled.
Microsoft today announced a security patch for Longhorn, to counteract the 'Sharp Cheddar' trojan horse, which shreds hard drives.
Must be about time to invade France then.
;-)
Yeah, but the French are saying their Maginot Firewall is completely impregnable!
Troll? Please note use of ;-) emoticon.
Somebody got up on the wrong side of the keyboard this morning. ;-)
BURKE: I heard you were working in the cargo docks.
RIPLEY: That's right.
BURKE: Running loaders, forklifts, that sort of thing?
===
It's obvious that this is a dead-end profession just waiting to happen!!! Don't buy into the hype!
Only if you prefer a chooser menu to a taskbar, or programs that don't close without opening a menu.
Yeah, hitting Apple-Q on the keyboard is *way* harder, especially since it's the same way in every program.
Apple computers are like wine and Windows is like water.....
No. Windows is a really foul-tasting liquid that everyone drinks, convinced they have to since every one else does.
Now heading over to Preferences to block Katz......
'Hey, hey, hey, its the big MCP everybody's been talking about!'
Actually, I think it's probably more true to the Internet of today than to computing in 1982...
'Theres a 68.71% chance you're right.'
at the time, the concept of so many computers around the country being connected together was vaguely absurd to the common viewer. Now it's commonplace.
'System's got more bugs than a bait store.'
It's kinda funny, I picked this nickname for Slashdot in a moment of sillyness, and hadn't seen the movie in quite a few years,
'Sit right there, make yourself comfortable, remember the time...'
but I since bought the DVD and found that I actually like the movie much more as an adult than I did as a kid.
'I wish Flynn was here to see this...'
I guess I'll have to get the new deluxe set and give my old DVD to my cousins.
'...This code disc means freedom'
--
End of line
(with thanks to The Unofficial Tron Web Page)
I generally agree with you about the paucity of on-disk help files for Mac OS X (there's lot more info in the Knowledge Base), Mac OS 9 wasn't any more of a paragon of informative error messages. Witness the super-helpful 'Sorry, the application "Internet Explorer'" unexpectedly quit because an error of type [1, 2, or 3] occurred.'
Now *I* know that was probably an out of memory error or an extension conflict, but that comes from a lot of reading and experience. The average user calls someone like me and says words to the effect of 'WTF?!'
I don't know, Wil. Not after that Roxanne Dawson / Weakest Link incident. ;-)
Do we really want Wil -- heck, anybody -- to reprise the infamous spoken-word 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'? :)
I wonder if there would be a way to write a VB script to accomplish this same task automagically, then send it to a few of your fave Winusers. Oooh, the possibilties...
I'd like to nominate Microsoft's Living Our Values page for short fiction.
And this is different how?
Seriously, though:
I'm gonna wait for the implants to come around before adopting this. Don't need my muggers getting free health care when they steal my wallet.
Of course, once they figured out they were in Copenhagen, it was impossible to determine what went on. Doesn't make for a very thrilling movie, either.