Do people care about PC games anymore?
on
The Sims 2 For Mac
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· Score: 4, Insightful
It has been posted that the Mac is not a good game platform or the PC always gets the games first but I don't see the appeal to playing games on the PC(or Mac) anymore.
Other than Tetris or some other arcade style time killer, what is the appeal to playing some long, complex game on a computer rather than a cheap console?
An Xbox/PS2/GameCube is about $150-200 and has ergonomic interfaces for game play, rather than a mouse and keyboard. So why buy an Alienware desktop for $2000 when you could buy every console and 10 games for each one for that price?
I play Civ3 on my Mac but I wouldn't cry if I had to buy a PS2 to play it the times that I want to. It really isn't that big a deal.
Buying from iTunes does 'support' the RIAA in the sense of putting money in their coffers. But I didn't say I don't support the RIAA. read again:
I don't like the RIAA's CD pricing and 'CD copyprotection' methods so I buy exclusively from iTunes Music Store or I download it from Limewire if iTunes doesn't carry it.
I don't like Wal-Mart's "kill the little retailer and the supplier" attitude, so I don't shop there.
I don't like the RIAA's CD pricing and 'CD copyprotection' methods so I buy exclusively from iTunes Music Store or I download it from Limewire if iTunes doesn't carry it.
Those who have built great companies have done so knowing that their time will come - either in death or retirement. Smart management requires the organization to not depend on a single point of failure.
True, Jobs is the living incarnatiuon of Apple, but Jobs did not deisgn the iPod. Jobs didn't design the iMac G4. Jobs didn't code OS X. In all these things, Jobs was part of the vision, in many cases at Apple, he seems to be the prime visionary, but this 'rubs off' and inspires others and will continue to.
Apple has a strong culture. Cultures don't change overnight and any Jobs replacement would have to fit the culture the Board wants to perpetuate.
Listening to the analyst conference call, which is a pretty interesting thing to do, regardless of the company, Apple disclosed, and did not disclose, some interesting items:
(1) They have reached supply/demand balance with the G5 processors with the potential exception of the top market 2.5 Ghz which may have slightly more demand over the next three months than IBM can supply for.
(2) They would not discuss the possibility of FLASH based iPods and/or lower cost units to penetrate the low end market
(3) Apple reitterated thier interest in the $800+ desktop market and not the sub $800 market
(4) About 30% of Apple store sales are to people who have previously owned Windows boxes and their sales to people who have never owned a PC are down from the pervious year, which Apple attributed to there being fewer and fewer people who have never owned a PC before.
(5) The new iMac G5 is off to an impressive start and they wish they could have had it for back to school buying season.
(6) Their current iPod promption is an exclusive pre-release with U2. Apple feels very good about their strategy that is holding 70% of the on-line legal download market with Wal-mart and Real at 6%, Napster with 10%.
(7) iPod is in lots of channels including BestBuy (ed note, I have also seen for sale at Foly's department store in Texas and the HP iPod is for sale at Radio Shack). This is iPod only but Apple continues to look for strong retail partners for CPUs as well.
(8) An analyst said 'hPod' and the Apple person corrected him to the tune of the HP branded iPod or something of that nature.
(9) Apple's board from time to time considers stock buy back programs but is not interested in one at this time. This is noteworthy because many top level Apple execs (Jobs being most notable) have very large stock option packages but low salary (Jobs' being $1). Since a share of stock is a percentage of ownership in the company, when the company issues more shares, this dilutes the value of a single share already outstanding. By buying back stock in the open market, a company would increase stock value, because exisitng stock would have the reverse effect, it would become a larger percentage of the company than it was previously. Since Apple is trading at over $40 per share now, not buying back the stock could signal that Apple Corp thinks it over valued at $40, does not want to drive the stock price higher, or simply is interested in investing the cash into R&D, merchandising, etc.
(10) Apple did have a truly wonderful quarter and it is a shame we will never know how it would have faired with a larger suply of iMac G4 or quicker availability of the iMac G5.
Partner/Invest/whatever to get OO.o running native with Aqua under Apple OS X.
Why?
Because this is a user group that: (1) has a proven track record of going against the trend (2) has gotten a great deal of attention in the same 4 years for their movements towards opensource development & compatibility (3) would be a customerbase with proven record of paying a prmium for good products (4) is outspoken and (5) is known for setting trends inthe industry
With these benefits, OO.o would generate both revenue and critical market mass to gain momentum in the land of Linux and pentially even move in on Microsoft's Windows.
Without making a strong showing in the Apple OS X landscape, it is my opnion that OO.o will continue to make marginal strides (yes, I give them a "good" rating on a scale of "failing", "marginal", "good", "very good", "excellent", and "market leading") and will eventually make a couple or three desprate calls for donations before being bought and turned into a marginal product or dispanding as anything other than a weekend hacker effort.
store.apple.com then click the link on the right hand side with the large "SAVE" tag in red. This is the land of Apple deals which is often overlooked. I didn't see the $529 system he mentions (perhaps Apple has now sold them all) but this is a great place to look when new hardware is announced because the pervious generation is always available here for hundreds less.
Currently, the eMac 1.25GHz/256MB/80GB/SuperDrive/Ethernet/56K Modem (that includes the DVD/CD BURNER and 17" flatscreen) is only $850 and includes 1 yr. warranty and will be plenty powerful for years to come (my Powerbook G4 400 Mhz is humming right along as I type this). Great system to get your feet wet in the Apple world without spending a fortune.
So why don't these fools who are trying to hackFairplay do something useful in the fight against unreasonable DRM and turn their attention towards MHT.
Let's all face it, the reason us geeks don't, in general, buy Macs, music on-line, software, or manuals is that we feel this sort of entitlement that we know how to get around so many things and it becomes a fun game. There was that 'secret' BBS that had all the copyprotection hacks for Kings Quest and if you are 'smart', you can use Linux for FREE and don't have to pay the 'Microsoft Tax'.
It has been engrained in us that we don't HAVE to pay because we can figure out how not to and sub-contiously, paying, and especailly OVER-paying is analogous to being a non-tech who has no other choice and so we reject it with all out beings.
So get the hell over yourselves. You know what, the iPod, the iTunes Music Store, and Macs are awesome, 'premium prices' be damned. Take a look at teh 64-bit all-in-one iMac G5 that starts at $1,300 including a gorgeous display. If you've never been to the Apple Store, do yourself a favor and go.
So to answer the question, no, I wouldn't switch because the x86 architecture is a thing of the past living in the present. The best computing experience these days is coming out from Apple and that includes both the software and the hardware.
The real benefit of this type device is that it brings us one step closer to a 'Portable Profile' feature - allowing one to connect to ANY Mac via Firewire and 'login' to their roaming profile. With an iPod to transport LARGE files like A/V and a.Mac Account for managing preferences when you are Internet connected but don't have an iPod. The two (iPod and.Mac) would work well together and would help bolster the recurring revenue stream for Apple.
(PLUS, they would show non-Apple users how much farther ahead Apple is in the user experience game.)
The biggest issue I have with my "slow" 400 Mhz G4 TiBook, (Generation 1 celebrating it's 4 year birthday in January) is not the graphics or the CPU, it's the 802.11b range. With a high-gain antena upgrade to the base station, it is better, but how about some upgrade to the laptop antena too!
If I purchased an older PC with XP pre-installed, then bought a Linux box two years later and installed the XP license I bought with the first PC two years ago and formetted the orginal PC's hard drive, then does that count as a pirated PC?
I have purchased two computers off eBay as upgrades, used the same Windows98 license and CD on them, and formatted the old computer and donated it. Does this make me a software pirate and if so, do I get an eye patch?
I see your point and understand why you would be miffed that you were caught in the unescapable product cycle cyclone that anyone buying a product from a stereo to a cell phone to, well,.Mac gets swooped up in. There is no avoiding it. You did the right thing, you voted with your wallet because the current offering wasn't meeting your need.
As for me, I voted too and did not renew my.Mac account that expired September 1st. Because of the 30 day 'we hold your data' policy, I am reconsidering the $8.66 / mo. investment before Oct 1 so all my data stays intact.
I think.Mac is a wonderful service still growing into its own. It seems very chicken and egg though. Apple doesn't want to really push R&D into building out the service until more peopel subscribe, but people won't subscribe without all those cool little services.
When up on Mt. Rainier (over looks Seattle) we were told by guides that Mt. Rainier was a much larger active volcano with far more devistating potential than St. Helens because of both it's size and proximity to Seattle.
Does the activity at St. Helens make Mt. Rainier and more or less likely to also erupt?
Where was this when anyone wanted it? (about twenty years ago)
The Special Editions were about as special as Bush's "Shock and Awe" and the prequils have been a huge disapointment. From the same person who gave use these back to back well-hyped-but-under-delivered duds, I don't want to waste more time with a TV show.
So what channel did you say it was coming on?
Being sure what action you are inciting
on
.Mac Storage Now 250MB
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· Score: 4, Insightful
Apple is taking the appropriate steps to ensure the product is used for what it has been marketed (advertised as, priced at) to be. Apple wants people to use the iDisk as an extention of the iApps.
If the iDisk is used to sync contacts, e-mail, iCal items, Safari favorites, etc. even the original 100MB is plenty o'space. I think this a two pronged decision to (1) curb detractors with the Gmail comparison (totally Apples V. Oranges to me) and (2) prepare the world for iProfiles or whatever Apple will call the ability to log into any Net connected Mac running Tiger and get YOUR desktop, without the security risk that sensative info is stored locally.
This would be killer for schools, libraries, offices, traveling professionals, etc.
With talk of Commercial Space Flight soon being a reality, I would think this issue will soon be solved.
Let's look to the US Space Program for an answer. Does NASA not solve the issue of intense light by tinting the glass in space vehicles?
Of course, there is the question of the source of the light, but that is for conspiracy theorists to imagine, er, solve.
What has Apple Records got to loose?
on
Beatles vs Apple
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· Score: 1
With every day that goes by, with every lame, generic pop song that is played, Appel Records looses a little more value.
I never hear teenagers singing the Beatles. When someone says "Isn't it good", no one says " Norwegian Wood".
For this reason alone, I say that closing this chapter is best for all parties. Apple computer gets to perhaps be the exclusive distributor of Beatles music on-line and Paul gets to make more money than he would otherwise.
Sure is sad when makeing money gets in the way of making things work.
I just came from helping a friend burn her first on-line purchaed songs from Microsoft. Too bad they will be her last. Between downloading the songs, getting them into Music Match with the rest of her songs, and then burning them on a CD (after being sure to buy the right CD-RW media that will work with her 4X burner) the songs still weren't able to be played on her portable jukebox, which was the purpose of the whole exercise.
"Next time, I'll just buy a CD", she resolved after she spent $15 on-line, wasted 4 CD-RWs along with three hours of her time (and one of mine).
This is the scenario that unfortunately awaits so many folks tempted into legal music downloading by disjointed services looking for a piece of the action.
In my opinion, it is only the complete solutions (at this time only provided by, by by no means limited to, Apple) that will prevail.
I say this because of the stark contrast of this friend's experience when compared to my Mac owning cousin of equal computer illiteracy. He, a year ago, sat down and bought a couple CD's of music from the iTunes Music Store, burned them, and was off and running in an hour, including music catalog browse time.
I don't know what the future holds for on-line music, and I know Micorosft is really gearing up for on-line video so it doesn't give Apple the foothold, but my recommendation is that if the solution is not complete, no company will be able to provide just a slice of the action and be successful.
According to the rights of $0.99 songs downloaded from iTunes Music Store, you may burn up to 7 copies of the same playlist and may burn the same song an unlimited number of times. According to the license as I read it, I have the right to distribute these copies for non-commercial purposes as long as I follow those rules.
By making 500 units, Rio is really making a statement.
Unlike the iPod mini, which was so successful it blew away Apple's ability to manufacture to meet demand (hence the production run joke), Rio is taking a wait and see approach by only investing in the production of 500 of these units.
My wild-ass-guess is that they want to project market demand with the first run and if numbers come out the way they want, they will build more. If not, then on to the next iPod mini Burninator.
This may be a good for Rio but bad for the early addopters of the pilot devices who get left with an uncommon Rio unit that may well be unsupported soon.
The iPod mini is a sure thing at the same $249 price point and, oh yeah, it plays Fairplay tracks so you don't have to support the evil that is WMA.
Slashdot Mirror
It has been posted that the Mac is not a good game platform or the PC always gets the games first but I don't see the appeal to playing games on the PC(or Mac) anymore.
Other than Tetris or some other arcade style time killer, what is the appeal to playing some long, complex game on a computer rather than a cheap console?
An Xbox/PS2/GameCube is about $150-200 and has ergonomic interfaces for game play, rather than a mouse and keyboard. So why buy an Alienware desktop for $2000 when you could buy every console and 10 games for each one for that price?
I play Civ3 on my Mac but I wouldn't cry if I had to buy a PS2 to play it the times that I want to. It really isn't that big a deal.
now I'm sensing someone who takes themselves bit too seriously. I'm getting good at this Hacker Sensing stuff!
really, watch all [I] take for granted slowly evaporate, ease up drama queen.
Choice quote: "(Hackers) can sense totalitarianism approaching from a distance, as animals can sense an approaching thunderstorm."
I sense an approaching bad essay.
Buying from iTunes does 'support' the RIAA in the sense of putting money in their coffers. But I didn't say I don't support the RIAA. read again:
I don't like the RIAA's CD pricing and 'CD copyprotection' methods so I buy exclusively from iTunes Music Store or I download it from Limewire if iTunes doesn't carry it.
See?
I don't like Wal-Mart's "kill the little retailer and the supplier" attitude, so I don't shop there.
I don't like the RIAA's CD pricing and 'CD copyprotection' methods so I buy exclusively from iTunes Music Store or I download it from Limewire if iTunes doesn't carry it.
You hold the power, it is in your wallet.
Those who have built great companies have done so knowing that their time will come - either in death or retirement. Smart management requires the organization to not depend on a single point of failure.
True, Jobs is the living incarnatiuon of Apple, but Jobs did not deisgn the iPod. Jobs didn't design the iMac G4. Jobs didn't code OS X. In all these things, Jobs was part of the vision, in many cases at Apple, he seems to be the prime visionary, but this 'rubs off' and inspires others and will continue to.
Apple has a strong culture. Cultures don't change overnight and any Jobs replacement would have to fit the culture the Board wants to perpetuate.
Just remembered another one:
Top things kids are asking for for Christmas:
- Car
- Clothes
- Money
- iPod
Listening to the analyst conference call, which is a pretty interesting thing to do, regardless of the company, Apple disclosed, and did not disclose, some interesting items:
(1) They have reached supply/demand balance with the G5 processors with the potential exception of the top market 2.5 Ghz which may have slightly more demand over the next three months than IBM can supply for.
(2) They would not discuss the possibility of FLASH based iPods and/or lower cost units to penetrate the low end market
(3) Apple reitterated thier interest in the $800+ desktop market and not the sub $800 market
(4) About 30% of Apple store sales are to people who have previously owned Windows boxes and their sales to people who have never owned a PC are down from the pervious year, which Apple attributed to there being fewer and fewer people who have never owned a PC before.
(5) The new iMac G5 is off to an impressive start and they wish they could have had it for back to school buying season.
(6) Their current iPod promption is an exclusive pre-release with U2. Apple feels very good about their strategy that is holding 70% of the on-line legal download market with Wal-mart and Real at 6%, Napster with 10%.
(7) iPod is in lots of channels including BestBuy (ed note, I have also seen for sale at Foly's department store in Texas and the HP iPod is for sale at Radio Shack). This is iPod only but Apple continues to look for strong retail partners for CPUs as well.
(8) An analyst said 'hPod' and the Apple person corrected him to the tune of the HP branded iPod or something of that nature.
(9) Apple's board from time to time considers stock buy back programs but is not interested in one at this time. This is noteworthy because many top level Apple execs (Jobs being most notable) have very large stock option packages but low salary (Jobs' being $1). Since a share of stock is a percentage of ownership in the company, when the company issues more shares, this dilutes the value of a single share already outstanding. By buying back stock in the open market, a company would increase stock value, because exisitng stock would have the reverse effect, it would become a larger percentage of the company than it was previously. Since Apple is trading at over $40 per share now, not buying back the stock could signal that Apple Corp thinks it over valued at $40, does not want to drive the stock price higher, or simply is interested in investing the cash into R&D, merchandising, etc.
(10) Apple did have a truly wonderful quarter and it is a shame we will never know how it would have faired with a larger suply of iMac G4 or quicker availability of the iMac G5.
Did you buy them a Mac? You know OS X supports PDF export natively by simply 'printing' from any application and selecting 'save as PDF'
Partner/Invest/whatever to get OO.o running native with Aqua under Apple OS X.
Why?
Because this is a user group that:
(1) has a proven track record of going against the trend
(2) has gotten a great deal of attention in the same 4 years for their movements towards opensource development & compatibility
(3) would be a customerbase with proven record of paying a prmium for good products
(4) is outspoken and
(5) is known for setting trends inthe industry
With these benefits, OO.o would generate both revenue and critical market mass to gain momentum in the land of Linux and pentially even move in on Microsoft's Windows.
Without making a strong showing in the Apple OS X landscape, it is my opnion that OO.o will continue to make marginal strides (yes, I give them a "good" rating on a scale of "failing", "marginal", "good", "very good", "excellent", and "market leading") and will eventually make a couple or three desprate calls for donations before being bought and turned into a marginal product or dispanding as anything other than a weekend hacker effort.
store.apple.com then click the link on the right hand side with the large "SAVE" tag in red. This is the land of Apple deals which is often overlooked. I didn't see the $529 system he mentions (perhaps Apple has now sold them all) but this is a great place to look when new hardware is announced because the pervious generation is always available here for hundreds less.
Currently, the eMac 1.25GHz/256MB/80GB/SuperDrive/Ethernet/56K Modem (that includes the DVD/CD BURNER and 17" flatscreen) is only $850 and includes 1 yr. warranty and will be plenty powerful for years to come (my Powerbook G4 400 Mhz is humming right along as I type this). Great system to get your feet wet in the Apple world without spending a fortune.
So why don't these fools who are trying to hack Fairplay do something useful in the fight against unreasonable DRM and turn their attention towards MHT.
Let's all face it, the reason us geeks don't, in general, buy Macs, music on-line, software, or manuals is that we feel this sort of entitlement that we know how to get around so many things and it becomes a fun game. There was that 'secret' BBS that had all the copyprotection hacks for Kings Quest and if you are 'smart', you can use Linux for FREE and don't have to pay the 'Microsoft Tax'.
It has been engrained in us that we don't HAVE to pay because we can figure out how not to and sub-contiously, paying, and especailly OVER-paying is analogous to being a non-tech who has no other choice and so we reject it with all out beings.
So get the hell over yourselves. You know what, the iPod, the iTunes Music Store, and Macs are awesome, 'premium prices' be damned. Take a look at teh 64-bit all-in-one iMac G5 that starts at $1,300 including a gorgeous display. If you've never been to the Apple Store, do yourself a favor and go.
So to answer the question, no, I wouldn't switch because the x86 architecture is a thing of the past living in the present. The best computing experience these days is coming out from Apple and that includes both the software and the hardware.
The real benefit of this type device is that it brings us one step closer to a 'Portable Profile' feature - allowing one to connect to ANY Mac via Firewire and 'login' to their roaming profile. With an iPod to transport LARGE files like A/V and a .Mac Account for managing preferences when you are Internet connected but don't have an iPod. The two (iPod and .Mac) would work well together and would help bolster the recurring revenue stream for Apple.
(PLUS, they would show non-Apple users how much farther ahead Apple is in the user experience game.)
The biggest thing I think is missing is....
AIRPORT ANTENA UPGRADE!!!
The biggest issue I have with my "slow" 400 Mhz G4 TiBook, (Generation 1 celebrating it's 4 year birthday in January) is not the graphics or the CPU, it's the 802.11b range. With a high-gain antena upgrade to the base station, it is better, but how about some upgrade to the laptop antena too!
(Have not read the study)
If I purchased an older PC with XP pre-installed, then bought a Linux box two years later and installed the XP license I bought with the first PC two years ago and formetted the orginal PC's hard drive, then does that count as a pirated PC?
I have purchased two computers off eBay as upgrades, used the same Windows98 license and CD on them, and formatted the old computer and donated it. Does this make me a software pirate and if so, do I get an eye patch?
I see your point and understand why you would be miffed that you were caught in the unescapable product cycle cyclone that anyone buying a product from a stereo to a cell phone to, well, .Mac gets swooped up in. There is no avoiding it. You did the right thing, you voted with your wallet because the current offering wasn't meeting your need.
.Mac account that expired September 1st. Because of the 30 day 'we hold your data' policy, I am reconsidering the $8.66 / mo. investment before Oct 1 so all my data stays intact.
.Mac is a wonderful service still growing into its own. It seems very chicken and egg though. Apple doesn't want to really push R&D into building out the service until more peopel subscribe, but people won't subscribe without all those cool little services.
As for me, I voted too and did not renew my
I think
When up on Mt. Rainier (over looks Seattle) we were told by guides that Mt. Rainier was a much larger active volcano with far more devistating potential than St. Helens because of both it's size and proximity to Seattle.
Does the activity at St. Helens make Mt. Rainier and more or less likely to also erupt?
Where was this when anyone wanted it? (about twenty years ago)
The Special Editions were about as special as Bush's "Shock and Awe" and the prequils have been a huge disapointment. From the same person who gave use these back to back well-hyped-but-under-delivered duds, I don't want to waste more time with a TV show.
So what channel did you say it was coming on?
Apple is taking the appropriate steps to ensure the product is used for what it has been marketed (advertised as, priced at) to be. Apple wants people to use the iDisk as an extention of the iApps.
If the iDisk is used to sync contacts, e-mail, iCal items, Safari favorites, etc. even the original 100MB is plenty o'space. I think this a two pronged decision to (1) curb detractors with the Gmail comparison (totally Apples V. Oranges to me) and (2) prepare the world for iProfiles or whatever Apple will call the ability to log into any Net connected Mac running Tiger and get YOUR desktop, without the security risk that sensative info is stored locally.
This would be killer for schools, libraries, offices, traveling professionals, etc.
With talk of Commercial Space Flight soon being a reality, I would think this issue will soon be solved.
Let's look to the US Space Program for an answer. Does NASA not solve the issue of intense light by tinting the glass in space vehicles?
Of course, there is the question of the source of the light, but that is for conspiracy theorists to imagine, er, solve.
With every day that goes by, with every lame, generic pop song that is played, Appel Records looses a little more value.
I never hear teenagers singing the Beatles. When someone says "Isn't it good", no one says " Norwegian Wood".
For this reason alone, I say that closing this chapter is best for all parties. Apple computer gets to perhaps be the exclusive distributor of Beatles music on-line and Paul gets to make more money than he would otherwise.
Win-win-the-end
Sure is sad when makeing money gets in the way of making things work.
I just came from helping a friend burn her first on-line purchaed songs from Microsoft. Too bad they will be her last. Between downloading the songs, getting them into Music Match with the rest of her songs, and then burning them on a CD (after being sure to buy the right CD-RW media that will work with her 4X burner) the songs still weren't able to be played on her portable jukebox, which was the purpose of the whole exercise.
"Next time, I'll just buy a CD", she resolved after she spent $15 on-line, wasted 4 CD-RWs along with three hours of her time (and one of mine).
This is the scenario that unfortunately awaits so many folks tempted into legal music downloading by disjointed services looking for a piece of the action.
In my opinion, it is only the complete solutions (at this time only provided by, by by no means limited to, Apple) that will prevail.
I say this because of the stark contrast of this friend's experience when compared to my Mac owning cousin of equal computer illiteracy. He, a year ago, sat down and bought a couple CD's of music from the iTunes Music Store, burned them, and was off and running in an hour, including music catalog browse time.
I don't know what the future holds for on-line music, and I know Micorosft is really gearing up for on-line video so it doesn't give Apple the foothold, but my recommendation is that if the solution is not complete, no company will be able to provide just a slice of the action and be successful.
According to the rights of $0.99 songs downloaded from iTunes Music Store, you may burn up to 7 copies of the same playlist and may burn the same song an unlimited number of times. According to the license as I read it, I have the right to distribute these copies for non-commercial purposes as long as I follow those rules.
By making 500 units, Rio is really making a statement.
Unlike the iPod mini, which was so successful it blew away Apple's ability to manufacture to meet demand (hence the production run joke), Rio is taking a wait and see approach by only investing in the production of 500 of these units.
My wild-ass-guess is that they want to project market demand with the first run and if numbers come out the way they want, they will build more. If not, then on to the next iPod mini Burninator.
This may be a good for Rio but bad for the early addopters of the pilot devices who get left with an uncommon Rio unit that may well be unsupported soon.
The iPod mini is a sure thing at the same $249 price point and, oh yeah, it plays Fairplay tracks so you don't have to support the evil that is WMA.