HD-DVD is letter soup. It's "just another kind of DVD". Nothing special. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, HD-DVD. Same thing.
Blu-Ray... that's cool. It's blue. No, not blue, 'Blu'. You see blue LEDs everywhere right now, they're "in". The name is like "hi-fi" or "hi-def". And it uses a ray. Ray guns are awesome. It's totally new.
Based on the name, I'd give it to Blu-Ray. A name can make a difference. Radio Flyer was named that way because both parts, radio and flying, were very new and high-tech things back when they first started producing their product. This made it "hip" and "sexy" (although I doubt those were the words used at the time).
I still think Blu-Ray will win for other reasons. Higher capacity, PS3 integration, and Java based menus are all good reasons. Not using MS's menu system is a good enough reason for me (yeah, yeah, "Sony will r00tkit my BR Playerz!").
There is no way to fix this in the US without pro-consumer laws. The market would sort it out, but the locks in place (including crippled phones, 2 year commitments, locked phones, etc.) prevent the market from being as effective as it should be.
I'm not normally pro-reguilation, but we need a few simple laws to fix this. Let's start with this:
You must publish phone prices just as large as the prices after discounts
You may not charge more for service to a customer who didn't buy their phone with you
Users must be able to take their phones to/from competitors with the same kind of network (from Sprint to Verizon, both CDMA)
You may not disable features of a phone or cripple them (no file uploads, no locking bluetooth down, no 'you must e-mail your photos, can't download them from your phone bypassing our extra charge')
You must clearly list which features of the phone would require extra service (i.e. most camera phone functionality on Sprint) and what it would cost. None of that "Extra charges may apply" bull at the end of a list of 40 features.
I'd like to just outlaw contracts longer than 6 months and bundling phones with service, but the above will do as a start. Hell, a government mandated network standard (instead of GSM/CDMA/EDGE) could be an improvement, even if in the form of a mandate for the industry to pick their own standard with some regulatory backing to the mandate ($1,000,000 per day per company per metropolitan area if they go over the deadline to decide or the deadline to implement sounds good to me).
Here are the things I can think of and the pros/cons:
Blink a LED - Cheap, but requires looking at a LED (easy in a server environment maybe, but not for 1000 corporate desktops).
Sound an Alarm - Noticeable, but loud and annoying, especially if false alarms exist more often than "almost never".
Network - Give it a network interface (sort of like pre-boot management interfaces on expensive servers), but it could easily notify people anywhere this way. Expensive though, needs network ports.
Wireless - Some kind of wireless response (so you walk by it with a little scanner and it says clean or compromised) not cheap, possibly short range, requires scanner.
Software - Easiest, but could be compromised unless it used the BIOS to send the message out somehow during boot.
Other - Things like the voodoo pass-though (mentioned in another reply), causing the keyboard LEDs to flash, and other such things. Tend to be kind of hokey.
This is why I don't buy games. I rent them. It is because of this kind of stuff (combined with just plain awful gameplay). There is only one way to fix this: stop buying the games.
A few years ago I downloaded the demo of Sim Golf and loved it. So I went out and bought the game. BIG MISTAKE. That game was horrendously buggy and most of the bugs were glaringly obvious too. Token example: golfer complain about having to walk up hills, so you get them golf carts. When driving a golf cart up hill... they would complain about walking up hills. They fixed this, but it's the kind of thing that struck you instantly and should have been caught. Add in bugs that prevented you from editing your courses, playing your courses, and other such things and the game became almost unplayable and lost all it's fun.
This is one of the reasons why I stick to console title now, but as I've said I rent them because this kind of stuff is starting to creep in (combined with just plain bad games). This is a real shame because if I find a game that I really like, I won't buy it because I beat it while it was rented and I have no reason to go buy it since I won't play it. It is a very rare exception that I buy the game (Frequency and Amplitude are about the only two).
There are only a few companies and game series that I will buy without playing first. Nintendo is probably 90% of that. Harmonix is another company that has achieved that status for me. Other companies that had it decided they didn't care and lost it due to blunders (bad games, buggy games, whatever).
If you buy a game and it's buggy... RETURN IT. COMPLAIN to the company and the retailer. It is DEFECTIVE. If you put up with that kind of treatment, it will only get worse (as history has shown).
I think a good test is the zero day patch for game-play. If there is a patch out when the game is released (or within any short time frame) that fixes game-play bugs (hardware compatibility stuff is OK) then that company just doesn't care. Don't give 'em your money.
Let's look at Nintendo. I can't remember experiencing any bugs in their games (I've seen them in plenty of others). Do you remember what happened when it was found out that Pokemon Gold & Silver wouldn't let you harvest berries after you had been playing for a year or two? Many companies would say "too bad" or "here's $5" or "send it it, but you'll lose all your data". Nintendo fixed it. For free. On a two year old game. And then even gave you a rare item or a rare Pokemon as an apology gift. Pure class.
And notice it took like two years of playing to find that bug. I realize that Pokemon Gold and Silver are less complex than Oblivion and other recent games... but the sheer number of bugs in such a large volume of games can't be blamed on complexity alone but hubris and an uncaring attitude towards the consumer.
The difference between socket 754 and 939 was quite legitmate. They needed the pins for the second memory channel. The difference between 939 and 940 was pointless and served to segment the market, much like Intel does between P4s and Xeons.
I seem to remember that AM2 was going to be their new socket for everything for a while on. Both budget and performance processors are going to use it (I think).
As another reply pointed out, this particular gripe only affects a tiny portion of the user base. I've been bitten by it (specifically Intel's socket->slot->socket->other socket game years ago). At least motherboards aren't generally $300-$400 like they used to be. Makes having to purchase a new one much easier to stomach.
There was an article somewhere recently (Anandtech? Tom's Hardware?) checking performance of DDR2 versus DDR on the Opteron. They determined that DDR speeds below 533 (IIRC) would hurt the performance. At 533, it was about even. As the processor and or memory speeds up then you will see the benefit. This isn't strictly necessary right now. I think it was actually due to the latency issue that you mentioned that this was the case.
I'd rather see FB-DIMMs, personally. But the move to DDR2 was going to happen at some point. Better now (when it's not necessary and people can still choose a great processor and DDR combo) then later (when DDR is more expensive and they were hurting for the change).
I seem to remember that was going to be something else with this socket upgrade (in the form of processor features) that was more interesting or offered better performance increases than the memory change. I don't remember if it was SSE4 (is that out yet?), a better branch predictor, AMD's Vanderpool (can't remember the name), or what.
I've been with Netflix for over two years now so I've seen a few of those.
That said, I've always wondered why Netflix didn't use more square envelopes. Some of the earlier designs looked that way. I wonder if it has to do with sorting or some such.
It's the same standard, basically. The problem is that the original SATA spec allowed for hot-plug and such (thus it could be used for external HDs) but it didn't specify the connector to be used for external SATA drives. A couple of 3rd party things sprang up (one just used the same connector, one used some other connector that looked like FireWire but had different pin outs, etc).
eSATA is just a standard for using SATA for external drives. It defines the connector, the cable, etc. This probably will replace FW for hard drives in a few years when computers start to include it. FW will still be around for scanners, cameras, and other things; but I expect that this will take over for HDs.
I would have liked to see how this compared to FW800.
I've played most of the rogue squadron games because they are the closest to X-Wing that there is.
The battles on the planets aren't great, but when you are out in space it's a major blast, just like the old days.
That said, the fact that you have to do other things (like those amazingly terrible third-person shooter missions) keeps me from buying the games, and often renting them or getting to the end of them.
I saw pictures of some of these players the other day, and I just double checked on the Toshiba website to see what I could find out.
Their HD-XA1 player (the more expensive player) has this, but the HD-A1 (the cheaper player) does not. Does anyone know what it's for? At first I thought it was for key revocation (in case it gets cracked, like DVD did) but since it's not on the cheaper player, I'm guessing that's not it.
Why would my DVD player need to be hooked up to a network? Are they planning on letting me stream movies between the boxes in my house? Or is this just to set the clock with NTP (a rather stupid reason to put the thing on there).
There have been MANY Star Wars games in the last 10 years. Some good, some bad. Lego Star Wars was very cute (I know there is a sequel in the works). But please, PLEASE, do what everyone who has played the games wants.
And this benefits the average customers...how exactly?
It benefits me and all my neighbors for one. We had a little local cable company. Practically a co-op. We got decent service at a very good price. Then Comcrud bought them out and now our service is terrible. Many channels are clearer if you pick them up with rabbit-ears. And this is in a very wealthy neighborhood. Service has gotten worse, prices skyrocketed, and our cable modem speed (actual, not advertised) plummeted.
The only competition is DirecTV (who we have and I like) and Dish (no experience with them). But since DirecTV and Dish have national pricing, as long as my local cable is $2 cheaper than an equivalent satellite package they can call it "cheaper" and not lower it any more. We have no choice. I've seen cable rates for areas that have two cable companies just a few miles away from where I live and they can be MUCH lower.
Then there is internet. My choices? Cable, dial-up, or ISDN. Cable is expensive ($45 or so for the lowest tier, and you must pay $15 if you don't have Comcrud cable (the basic minimum cable package? Yep. $15)). ISDN is VERY expensive (can be up to $150 a month if you include the ISP). Dial-up is slow (15.6k, thanks to the phone lines around here). There is no DSL (too far out, they won't bother to make it possible). You know those ads you see online "6 Mbps broadband for $23 a month" and "DSL starting at $15 a month"? Those are a pipe dream around here. You'll be spending $50 a month MINIMUM.
All of this is because of no competition. Cable competition would mean lower cable rates, better service, faster internet, cheaper internet, and better channel selection.
There is a bill that is in front of the state senate that would force them to open things up to competition. I only know this because of radio ads (that I assume that competition is paying for). I hope it passes. I REALLY hope it passes. What we have to face is ridiculous.
You should understand, I don't "hate" windows. I'm fed up with it. Windows is a nice OS. I used it for 12 years. I switched from a Mac over to Windows in the 3.1 days. I still use Windows every day on some of the computers around me that I must use. I was relatively happy on Windows. The only thing I didn't like about Windows was the development and command line environment. I had to SSH over to a Linux box, or install that Unix on Windows thing (I can't remember the name right now). Plus there were the usual things that would annoy me now and then.
When it came time to get a new computer, I decided to try a Mac because I was curious. I liked the idea the Unix guts, and I wanted to try iLife. I had used OS X for small spurts on my brothers machine (very occasionally). I had been curious about OS X since it's release, but for most of that time I hadn't even considered it.
Then I switched. And not only were those things that annoyed me gone, I realized that there were many more things that annoyed me than I realized. Things that I just put up with that I hadn't even considered before. Windows is just not in the same league, not by a long shot. But I didn't realize just how "bad" things were until I made the switch.
I tried Linux and messed around with it for years. I enjoyed it, but I liked the ease of use and "it just works" of Windows more than I liked the Unix-ness of Linux. So I stayed on Windows.
But the Mac is to Windows what Windows is to Linux.
I know you say it's expensive. It's not free like Linux. It's not cheap like if you had to buy Windows.
My suggestion to you would be to try OS X for a while. It's out there, download it and install it. I think you'd be surprised how different it is. Give it a month. You'll be amazed.
The people I help tend to be in my neighborhood and range from doing fine to quite wealthy. If you have no computer right now and price is very important, you are dead right. As much as I would like it a different way, you can get a Dell and an LCD for $400 or less.
But if you already have a computer (so you have the monitor and stuff around) then the Mini is a great little computer.
That said, when I told many people about Macs when they complained about Windows, many of them had that same kind of reaction. Or it was time to buy a new PC and I pointed out the Mac and they said something along those lines (Dell for $400).
You know what? They are still fed up. They bought the Windows computer or ignored my idea. And a year later that are very fed up with Windows and now they are listening and I think Apple has a good chance the next time they want a new computer.
It's true, if you ask me. I defected. I was sick of MS so I tried the change. There were other benefits (I got to have Unix, I got to try iLife), but I did it.
I help people around my area with computer problems, advise them on software, teach them how to do things, etc. Every single one hates windows. To them it's a bit like gas. No one likes paying for gas, but your car won't run without it. When I mention they have an alternative (Apple) many are somewhat interested. None of them want to go out and buy a new computer just for the OS, but they are fed up with MS. Even with the cost of having to learn a new OS (despite the similarities which they don't know of), they are ready to do almost anything to get a computer that "just works".
When it comes time to buy a new computer, many of them will be considering Macs. That may not be for two years or so (due to recent purchases or just hanging onto a computer for a long time), but if they ask me I'll be steering them towards Macs. I use my Mac at home and at school, doing all sorts of stuff. Then I get a call to fix a printer and have to go through tons of hassle to fix the printer on Windows. Or to make the internet work again. Or to remove spyware. Or to fix some odd windows problem (DNS just dies, only on one machine) that seems to require a reinstall to fix.
Windows is a pain. It always has been. It's gotten better, but not nearly enough. If I could turn back time and give all those people who I help a Mac instead of a PC I can not tell you how much easier of a time they would have had of things.
You won't see 20 million switchers a year. But they will switch. They've been doing it and it's been accelerating. Remember that with MS's market share, if even 1% of home users were to switch that would be a HUGE number. If this story gets "debunked" later and they say "only 0.25% of Windows users switched last year", remember that would be about a 10% boost to Apple's market share.
People are fed up. The only people I know who are NOT fed up with Windows are those who love to constantly tinker. I used to be that way, but I got tired of having to tinker. They will too one day.
If you build it, they will come.
If you advertise, they will come faster. I can't tell you how much Apple's sales would go up if they brought back the kind of ads they had during the first iMacs ("My family needed to do X and with their windows computer they had to do this and that and... and it didn't work. We plugged in my Mac and it worked instantly.").
Reminds me of a story a teacher told me about two idiots that he overheard one day while he was in the military. They were all the gym on the base (he didn't know them) and the two men were talking about needing to buy a gym membership in town. The second man said he didn't want to pay for it, and the first guy said "Join the gym I did, it's free."
"Really, it's FREE?" said the second guy?
The first guy responded "Yeah. You just pay them $25 on the first day of the month, and it's free the rest of the days of the month!"
The second guy was impressed, and the first guy continued on about how if you paid them $60 on the first of the month, they would let you in for the next 4 months for free, etc.
No one seems to realize what "free" is these days.
I completely agree. I tried WoW for a few days, and decided it wasn't for me. I wasn't on a role playing server, but still that kind of stuff was an INSTANT turn off from the game. I was enjoying walking around killing low level creatures when two idiots (who I did report) decided to run through the area yelling to everyone. It went something like this:
Dick Haney: Look out Georgy! Terrorists! Prezy-Dent: Oh no, protect me Dick Haney! Dick Haney: Don't worry, I'll blow them up...
And on and on and on. Clear, OBVIOUS, greifing. They were out to do nothing about annoy people. That was within the first half-hour I played the game. If I'm going to play a MMO I want to play a MMO. I don't want nonsense (relative to the game world) about the president of the US, advertising for GLBT guilds, or anything else like that. The game is supposed to be escapist. You want to do all that stuff, go to second life (a sandbox) or invent a virtual world that is supposed to mirror the real world in many ways.
And I wouldn't care if everyone in your guild WAS GLBT. You could advertise yourself outside of WoW as the GLBT guild, but don't drag that kind of stuff into the game.
p>While I understand how the person felt with all the "this is gay" (I got sick of it real fast and I'm straight, so I can see how they felt), there is no need to draw that into the game and start a GLBT guild. Just ignore those people, or report it to Blizzard and see if they'll give the person a warning.
That may be true, but that's not an option for me. I have a Dell Axim x50v. OpenZarus is only for Zaruses (Zaruai?). Familar rates my model as "not ready for users".
I use my PDA too much to spend 2 weeks+ fiddling with it trying to get some unsupported OS running on it (that rates it's self as unready for my device).
They look nice, but they really aren't an option for most users. Before I would switch, I would need my WiFi to work minimum, along with syncing to my Mac, which it didn't look like was an option.
If I was out to buy a new PDA, I'd really consider Familiar. WM 2003 is a complete piece of junk. But I've already got a PDA and it looks like I'm stuck with WM 2003 until Apple rescues me.
I'm aware of that and I would use it except for two things.
First, you need a cable to sync. I know people talk about BlueTooth iPods and say "Why use BlueTooth headphones?" and I agree. But if they put BT 2 in the next iPods (like is in the current Macs) it would be fast enough to easily Sync playlist data and add a few new tracks to your iPod fast (every time you get within range maybe?). Sure when you replace 6 gigs of music you'll want to use a cable, but when you add one CD it'd be great. It would make syncing updates if it's a PDA easy too.
The main killer is that it is read only. I take my iPod with me so that wouldn't be a problem, but I keep my PDA so I can write things down as they happen (new assignments, appointments, etc) because otherwise I'll forget them. If I were to use an iPod, I'd have to keep a sticky-note attached to the back of it and keep a pencil with me. If I'm going to do that, why bother using the iPod, why not just use a little date book?
Even if they implemented the ability to change/add things, it would just take too long. You'd have to use the scroll wheel for letter selections, FF/REW for moving left, right, etc. Even with predictive text entry, it would take way WAY too long to be useful. I can tap out a pretty long message on the onscreen keyboard of my Axim very fast.
I hope they do it. I'd love to be able to have both the iPod and the PDA in one device. I don't use my PDA for anything demanding. I'd love the Apple usability. I'd also like an excuse to buy a newer iPod (I want to be able to see album art for no good reason!). When they announce it, I will order it. It's that simple.
Syncing, for example, was annoying enough on Windows. On my Mac I have to use a program called "The Missing Sync" which works, but I've become quite mad at the company that makes it. Why? They knew Tiger was coming for what, a year? They didn't have an update in time for the release. They didn't even get a beta out (for beta testers only, I managed to get in) for like two months which meant that anything that happened in that time frame was on my PDA only and if something happened it would have been lost. Combine this with a few other things (I can sync automatically on connect, but I can't close the program automatically when the sync is over) and I'll be glad to get off the program.
Not that I like Syncing on Windows any better.
PDAs Are Terrible, Where is Apple?
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The Future of the PDA
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· Score: 3, Insightful
As someone who uses a PDA (Dell Axim x50v, WM2003) every day, I can say that PDAs have a large number of problems. The browser MS ships is amazingly terrible (if a page is long enough, it just stops drawing the background at certain points, for example). The way programs run is pathetic (there is no way to exit them by default, Dell ships a little utility to "fix" that problem). Large parts of the configuration is just hard to do (wireless for example). The calendar program on my device (whatever MS's program is) just looks ugly. Terribly ugly. I would KILL to get iCal on the thing. All the applications look like they were designed for 4 color devices, when I don't think there was anything under 256 when I bought my PDA (which is 65k). Other applications supplied with it are as hard to use. The interface used to add new appointments and tasks isn't very easy to use either. Don't get me started on ActiveSync. Installing applications is a major pain too.
I had a Newton long ago. It was a very nice device. It was big and heavy because it was ahead of it's time, but the interface was quite nice. If Apple were to release a new Newton (or whatever they decide to call it) that was nothing more than iCan and Address Book I would be happy. VERY happy. They could add more and make it a full-fledged PDA (SafariMini, iMail2Go, whatever) I would only be happier. Someone with a decent UI touch is badly needed. I've heard rumors that the touch-screen iPod will do this (we'll see if that even exists) and if it does I will gladly upgrade.
Or imagine how long it could last without a charge if it used ePaper? They could make it the size of a PC Card (like the old Rex PDAs) with a touch screen. Considering all the high-rez high-color screens we see out there (in phones, other PDAs, digital cameras, PSPs and DSes, etc.) they could put a great screen in there and have good battery life if they didn't go the ePaper route.
PDAs are OK, but they have enough problems that I can see why more people wouldn't want them (especially if your phone is half-decent and can sync with your computer, stupid Sprint crippleware LG PM-325).
Give me an OLD Newton. Same as it was. Just shrink it (as would be trivial with today's technology) and make it sync with iCal and AddressBook and I'd be happy.
Please Apple, give us a good PDA. You did it for computers, you did it for digital music players, do it for PDAs.
I've heard that before. I've used those Macs but never had occaision to work on them. Almost all their computers for the past 14 years or so (LC II being a random baseline) have been rather easy to open. Often just a screw or two and then slide things out. Compare that to taking off 6 case screws only to have to fight to open some of the PC cases I've seen (I know you say Macs we designed to be unopenable, but there are some PCs I've worked on that would serve well as mini-vaults in Fort Knox).
But I can tell you from personal expiriance talking to my female friends at school (I'm a guy) that they get hit on. A lot. By geeks. And nerds. And losers. And nice guys.
But that tension is there, at least in the beginning. As you get further into your degree and know you classmates better then the girls are seen by more people as colleges instead of "the girl" which many may see them as up front.
It's not terrible, but don't think that being a girl in a CS program would be just like if you were the girl in the Fine Arts or as an English major.
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HD-DVD is letter soup. It's "just another kind of DVD". Nothing special. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, HD-DVD. Same thing.
Blu-Ray... that's cool. It's blue. No, not blue, 'Blu'. You see blue LEDs everywhere right now, they're "in". The name is like "hi-fi" or "hi-def". And it uses a ray. Ray guns are awesome. It's totally new.
Based on the name, I'd give it to Blu-Ray. A name can make a difference. Radio Flyer was named that way because both parts, radio and flying, were very new and high-tech things back when they first started producing their product. This made it "hip" and "sexy" (although I doubt those were the words used at the time).
I still think Blu-Ray will win for other reasons. Higher capacity, PS3 integration, and Java based menus are all good reasons. Not using MS's menu system is a good enough reason for me (yeah, yeah, "Sony will r00tkit my BR Playerz!").
HD good. Blu-Ray better.
I'm not normally pro-reguilation, but we need a few simple laws to fix this. Let's start with this:
I'd like to just outlaw contracts longer than 6 months and bundling phones with service, but the above will do as a start. Hell, a government mandated network standard (instead of GSM/CDMA/EDGE) could be an improvement, even if in the form of a mandate for the industry to pick their own standard with some regulatory backing to the mandate ($1,000,000 per day per company per metropolitan area if they go over the deadline to decide or the deadline to implement sounds good to me).
A few years ago I downloaded the demo of Sim Golf and loved it. So I went out and bought the game. BIG MISTAKE. That game was horrendously buggy and most of the bugs were glaringly obvious too. Token example: golfer complain about having to walk up hills, so you get them golf carts. When driving a golf cart up hill... they would complain about walking up hills. They fixed this, but it's the kind of thing that struck you instantly and should have been caught. Add in bugs that prevented you from editing your courses, playing your courses, and other such things and the game became almost unplayable and lost all it's fun.
This is one of the reasons why I stick to console title now, but as I've said I rent them because this kind of stuff is starting to creep in (combined with just plain bad games). This is a real shame because if I find a game that I really like, I won't buy it because I beat it while it was rented and I have no reason to go buy it since I won't play it. It is a very rare exception that I buy the game (Frequency and Amplitude are about the only two).
There are only a few companies and game series that I will buy without playing first. Nintendo is probably 90% of that. Harmonix is another company that has achieved that status for me. Other companies that had it decided they didn't care and lost it due to blunders (bad games, buggy games, whatever).
If you buy a game and it's buggy... RETURN IT. COMPLAIN to the company and the retailer. It is DEFECTIVE. If you put up with that kind of treatment, it will only get worse (as history has shown).
I think a good test is the zero day patch for game-play. If there is a patch out when the game is released (or within any short time frame) that fixes game-play bugs (hardware compatibility stuff is OK) then that company just doesn't care. Don't give 'em your money.
Let's look at Nintendo. I can't remember experiencing any bugs in their games (I've seen them in plenty of others). Do you remember what happened when it was found out that Pokemon Gold & Silver wouldn't let you harvest berries after you had been playing for a year or two? Many companies would say "too bad" or "here's $5" or "send it it, but you'll lose all your data". Nintendo fixed it. For free. On a two year old game. And then even gave you a rare item or a rare Pokemon as an apology gift. Pure class.
And notice it took like two years of playing to find that bug. I realize that Pokemon Gold and Silver are less complex than Oblivion and other recent games... but the sheer number of bugs in such a large volume of games can't be blamed on complexity alone but hubris and an uncaring attitude towards the consumer.
I seem to remember that AM2 was going to be their new socket for everything for a while on. Both budget and performance processors are going to use it (I think).
As another reply pointed out, this particular gripe only affects a tiny portion of the user base. I've been bitten by it (specifically Intel's socket->slot->socket->other socket game years ago). At least motherboards aren't generally $300-$400 like they used to be. Makes having to purchase a new one much easier to stomach.
I'd rather see FB-DIMMs, personally. But the move to DDR2 was going to happen at some point. Better now (when it's not necessary and people can still choose a great processor and DDR combo) then later (when DDR is more expensive and they were hurting for the change).
I seem to remember that was going to be something else with this socket upgrade (in the form of processor features) that was more interesting or offered better performance increases than the memory change. I don't remember if it was SSE4 (is that out yet?), a better branch predictor, AMD's Vanderpool (can't remember the name), or what.
Sounds like a CD to me. As long as they are subject to the fee, why not save the 1/2 cent on paper?
That said, I've always wondered why Netflix didn't use more square envelopes. Some of the earlier designs looked that way. I wonder if it has to do with sorting or some such.
Luckily there are lots of examples of Enterprise quality out there. The Daily WTF has lots of great stuff. Here are two recent examples.
eSATA is just a standard for using SATA for external drives. It defines the connector, the cable, etc. This probably will replace FW for hard drives in a few years when computers start to include it. FW will still be around for scanners, cameras, and other things; but I expect that this will take over for HDs.
I would have liked to see how this compared to FW800.
The battles on the planets aren't great, but when you are out in space it's a major blast, just like the old days.
That said, the fact that you have to do other things (like those amazingly terrible third-person shooter missions) keeps me from buying the games, and often renting them or getting to the end of them.
Their HD-XA1 player (the more expensive player) has this, but the HD-A1 (the cheaper player) does not. Does anyone know what it's for? At first I thought it was for key revocation (in case it gets cracked, like DVD did) but since it's not on the cheaper player, I'm guessing that's not it.
Why would my DVD player need to be hooked up to a network? Are they planning on letting me stream movies between the boxes in my house? Or is this just to set the clock with NTP (a rather stupid reason to put the thing on there).
Update X-Wing and Tie Fighter.
Better graphics, online play, new missions.
Please, please, please!
It benefits me and all my neighbors for one. We had a little local cable company. Practically a co-op. We got decent service at a very good price. Then Comcrud bought them out and now our service is terrible. Many channels are clearer if you pick them up with rabbit-ears. And this is in a very wealthy neighborhood. Service has gotten worse, prices skyrocketed, and our cable modem speed (actual, not advertised) plummeted.
The only competition is DirecTV (who we have and I like) and Dish (no experience with them). But since DirecTV and Dish have national pricing, as long as my local cable is $2 cheaper than an equivalent satellite package they can call it "cheaper" and not lower it any more. We have no choice. I've seen cable rates for areas that have two cable companies just a few miles away from where I live and they can be MUCH lower.
Then there is internet. My choices? Cable, dial-up, or ISDN. Cable is expensive ($45 or so for the lowest tier, and you must pay $15 if you don't have Comcrud cable (the basic minimum cable package? Yep. $15)). ISDN is VERY expensive (can be up to $150 a month if you include the ISP). Dial-up is slow (15.6k, thanks to the phone lines around here). There is no DSL (too far out, they won't bother to make it possible). You know those ads you see online "6 Mbps broadband for $23 a month" and "DSL starting at $15 a month"? Those are a pipe dream around here. You'll be spending $50 a month MINIMUM.
All of this is because of no competition. Cable competition would mean lower cable rates, better service, faster internet, cheaper internet, and better channel selection.
There is a bill that is in front of the state senate that would force them to open things up to competition. I only know this because of radio ads (that I assume that competition is paying for). I hope it passes. I REALLY hope it passes. What we have to face is ridiculous.
When it came time to get a new computer, I decided to try a Mac because I was curious. I liked the idea the Unix guts, and I wanted to try iLife. I had used OS X for small spurts on my brothers machine (very occasionally). I had been curious about OS X since it's release, but for most of that time I hadn't even considered it.
Then I switched. And not only were those things that annoyed me gone, I realized that there were many more things that annoyed me than I realized. Things that I just put up with that I hadn't even considered before. Windows is just not in the same league, not by a long shot. But I didn't realize just how "bad" things were until I made the switch.
I tried Linux and messed around with it for years. I enjoyed it, but I liked the ease of use and "it just works" of Windows more than I liked the Unix-ness of Linux. So I stayed on Windows.
But the Mac is to Windows what Windows is to Linux.
I know you say it's expensive. It's not free like Linux. It's not cheap like if you had to buy Windows.
My suggestion to you would be to try OS X for a while. It's out there, download it and install it. I think you'd be surprised how different it is. Give it a month. You'll be amazed.
But if you already have a computer (so you have the monitor and stuff around) then the Mini is a great little computer.
That said, when I told many people about Macs when they complained about Windows, many of them had that same kind of reaction. Or it was time to buy a new PC and I pointed out the Mac and they said something along those lines (Dell for $400).
You know what? They are still fed up. They bought the Windows computer or ignored my idea. And a year later that are very fed up with Windows and now they are listening and I think Apple has a good chance the next time they want a new computer.
I help people around my area with computer problems, advise them on software, teach them how to do things, etc. Every single one hates windows. To them it's a bit like gas. No one likes paying for gas, but your car won't run without it. When I mention they have an alternative (Apple) many are somewhat interested. None of them want to go out and buy a new computer just for the OS, but they are fed up with MS. Even with the cost of having to learn a new OS (despite the similarities which they don't know of), they are ready to do almost anything to get a computer that "just works".
When it comes time to buy a new computer, many of them will be considering Macs. That may not be for two years or so (due to recent purchases or just hanging onto a computer for a long time), but if they ask me I'll be steering them towards Macs. I use my Mac at home and at school, doing all sorts of stuff. Then I get a call to fix a printer and have to go through tons of hassle to fix the printer on Windows. Or to make the internet work again. Or to remove spyware. Or to fix some odd windows problem (DNS just dies, only on one machine) that seems to require a reinstall to fix.
Windows is a pain. It always has been. It's gotten better, but not nearly enough. If I could turn back time and give all those people who I help a Mac instead of a PC I can not tell you how much easier of a time they would have had of things.
You won't see 20 million switchers a year. But they will switch. They've been doing it and it's been accelerating. Remember that with MS's market share, if even 1% of home users were to switch that would be a HUGE number. If this story gets "debunked" later and they say "only 0.25% of Windows users switched last year", remember that would be about a 10% boost to Apple's market share.
People are fed up. The only people I know who are NOT fed up with Windows are those who love to constantly tinker. I used to be that way, but I got tired of having to tinker. They will too one day.
If you build it, they will come.
If you advertise, they will come faster. I can't tell you how much Apple's sales would go up if they brought back the kind of ads they had during the first iMacs ("My family needed to do X and with their windows computer they had to do this and that and... and it didn't work. We plugged in my Mac and it worked instantly.").
"Really, it's FREE?" said the second guy?
The first guy responded "Yeah. You just pay them $25 on the first day of the month, and it's free the rest of the days of the month!"
The second guy was impressed, and the first guy continued on about how if you paid them $60 on the first of the month, they would let you in for the next 4 months for free, etc.
No one seems to realize what "free" is these days.
Dick Haney: Look out Georgy! Terrorists!
Prezy-Dent: Oh no, protect me Dick Haney!
Dick Haney: Don't worry, I'll blow them up...
And on and on and on. Clear, OBVIOUS, greifing. They were out to do nothing about annoy people. That was within the first half-hour I played the game. If I'm going to play a MMO I want to play a MMO. I don't want nonsense (relative to the game world) about the president of the US, advertising for GLBT guilds, or anything else like that. The game is supposed to be escapist. You want to do all that stuff, go to second life (a sandbox) or invent a virtual world that is supposed to mirror the real world in many ways.
And I wouldn't care if everyone in your guild WAS GLBT. You could advertise yourself outside of WoW as the GLBT guild, but don't drag that kind of stuff into the game. p>While I understand how the person felt with all the "this is gay" (I got sick of it real fast and I'm straight, so I can see how they felt), there is no need to draw that into the game and start a GLBT guild. Just ignore those people, or report it to Blizzard and see if they'll give the person a warning.
I use my PDA too much to spend 2 weeks+ fiddling with it trying to get some unsupported OS running on it (that rates it's self as unready for my device).
They look nice, but they really aren't an option for most users. Before I would switch, I would need my WiFi to work minimum, along with syncing to my Mac, which it didn't look like was an option.
If I was out to buy a new PDA, I'd really consider Familiar. WM 2003 is a complete piece of junk. But I've already got a PDA and it looks like I'm stuck with WM 2003 until Apple rescues me.
First, you need a cable to sync. I know people talk about BlueTooth iPods and say "Why use BlueTooth headphones?" and I agree. But if they put BT 2 in the next iPods (like is in the current Macs) it would be fast enough to easily Sync playlist data and add a few new tracks to your iPod fast (every time you get within range maybe?). Sure when you replace 6 gigs of music you'll want to use a cable, but when you add one CD it'd be great. It would make syncing updates if it's a PDA easy too.
The main killer is that it is read only. I take my iPod with me so that wouldn't be a problem, but I keep my PDA so I can write things down as they happen (new assignments, appointments, etc) because otherwise I'll forget them. If I were to use an iPod, I'd have to keep a sticky-note attached to the back of it and keep a pencil with me. If I'm going to do that, why bother using the iPod, why not just use a little date book?
Even if they implemented the ability to change/add things, it would just take too long. You'd have to use the scroll wheel for letter selections, FF/REW for moving left, right, etc. Even with predictive text entry, it would take way WAY too long to be useful. I can tap out a pretty long message on the onscreen keyboard of my Axim very fast.
I hope they do it. I'd love to be able to have both the iPod and the PDA in one device. I don't use my PDA for anything demanding. I'd love the Apple usability. I'd also like an excuse to buy a newer iPod (I want to be able to see album art for no good reason!). When they announce it, I will order it. It's that simple.
Syncing, for example, was annoying enough on Windows. On my Mac I have to use a program called "The Missing Sync" which works, but I've become quite mad at the company that makes it. Why? They knew Tiger was coming for what, a year? They didn't have an update in time for the release. They didn't even get a beta out (for beta testers only, I managed to get in) for like two months which meant that anything that happened in that time frame was on my PDA only and if something happened it would have been lost. Combine this with a few other things (I can sync automatically on connect, but I can't close the program automatically when the sync is over) and I'll be glad to get off the program.
Not that I like Syncing on Windows any better.
I had a Newton long ago. It was a very nice device. It was big and heavy because it was ahead of it's time, but the interface was quite nice. If Apple were to release a new Newton (or whatever they decide to call it) that was nothing more than iCan and Address Book I would be happy. VERY happy. They could add more and make it a full-fledged PDA (SafariMini, iMail2Go, whatever) I would only be happier. Someone with a decent UI touch is badly needed. I've heard rumors that the touch-screen iPod will do this (we'll see if that even exists) and if it does I will gladly upgrade.
Or imagine how long it could last without a charge if it used ePaper? They could make it the size of a PC Card (like the old Rex PDAs) with a touch screen. Considering all the high-rez high-color screens we see out there (in phones, other PDAs, digital cameras, PSPs and DSes, etc.) they could put a great screen in there and have good battery life if they didn't go the ePaper route.
PDAs are OK, but they have enough problems that I can see why more people wouldn't want them (especially if your phone is half-decent and can sync with your computer, stupid Sprint crippleware LG PM-325).
Give me an OLD Newton. Same as it was. Just shrink it (as would be trivial with today's technology) and make it sync with iCal and AddressBook and I'd be happy.
Please Apple, give us a good PDA. You did it for computers, you did it for digital music players, do it for PDAs.
I've heard that before. I've used those Macs but never had occaision to work on them. Almost all their computers for the past 14 years or so (LC II being a random baseline) have been rather easy to open. Often just a screw or two and then slide things out. Compare that to taking off 6 case screws only to have to fight to open some of the PC cases I've seen (I know you say Macs we designed to be unopenable, but there are some PCs I've worked on that would serve well as mini-vaults in Fort Knox).
True. But actual salary doesn't matter. It's the PERCIEVED salary of people who get millions or even hundres of thousands that lures people in.
But I can tell you from personal expiriance talking to my female friends at school (I'm a guy) that they get hit on. A lot. By geeks. And nerds. And losers. And nice guys.
But that tension is there, at least in the beginning. As you get further into your degree and know you classmates better then the girls are seen by more people as colleges instead of "the girl" which many may see them as up front.
It's not terrible, but don't think that being a girl in a CS program would be just like if you were the girl in the Fine Arts or as an English major.