Exactly. It failed to take the market back over. It failed to be number one or two and push the third console into obscurity. It failed in a market share sense. Well, I think that's a needlessly harsh measurement. This ain't football. Not "winning" doesn't mean you've "lost".
I wouldn't say N64/GC was Nintendo "sitting on the sidelines". Yes, they were clearly in second place, but based on the huge number of great games and the amount of gamers talking about them, they are still a major damn player. Yes, they had 1/3 to 1/2 the shelfspace as Sony did this generation, but for multiplayer/party gaming, they were untouchable, with franchise power the other companies would drool over.
I'm still skeptical about these controllers. A LOT will be riding on how well they work...if they're only as reliable as Samba de Amigo maracas, for get it. If they're as exact as a lightgun, maybe they have a shot. But even then, its not clear if Revolution will still be a player w/ mainstream genres, or if it's just the next Eye Toy or Donkey Konga; some sales, but not enough to base a gaming life on.
If Nintendo would embrace the homebrew community, or at least throw them some bones, I would cut them a TON of slack than I will otherwise.
I still stand by my arguments that enough people like clone window that it deserves to be an option. Your usage pattern may or may not be typical, it shouldn't be mandatory.
I don't trust Firefox to remember what I type; I've seen it go either way (not sure if that's Firefox or IE, still sometimes it seems site-dependent.)
Options, if they are presented in a controlled way, are a good thing.
That "perfect" workaround is useless if you use tabs, which most people do.
The conversation was "odd he mentioned that Firefox should retain the last URL when opening a new window"...the question of should a new tab copy the former window is different.
I don't know exactly how IE clones windows, but on slower systems or systems with little memory
I use a PC that was cheapish 4 years ago and notice little lag.
Besides, it doesn't make any sense to copy the current window; the page you're already looking is the one page you're definitely not going to want in the new window.
Don't assume that just because something isn't in your usual usage pattern, it doesn't make any sense. Cloning the current window lets me have a "safe backup" of my current browsing state (one that might be annoying to recreate) and then "play" in the new window...for instance, if I was browsing Slashdot, started a reply, but then wanted to check out the conversation to cut and paste something, or do a quick ctrl-F, I can just hit ctrl-N, and then "back" in the new window (thanks to IE's niceness of duping browser history to) and be right back to my previous browse position, without having to renavigate through slashdot.
Can't do that without better window and browse history options than Firefox has out of the box.
If everything that could be a configuration option actually became one, the preferences window would be so huge and cluttered as to be impossible to use. As it is, there are several extensions that provide this functionality.
There are 3 levels of configuration, with an inverse relationship between "clutter" and "ease of use"...
1. put it in the preferences window 2. hide it in about:config 3. require a seperate download
There's enough strong feeling about this (enough people saying "thank god firefox gives me clean tabs|windows" vs "firefox doesn't work as well for me because it lacks this) that it deserves to be in the first category...I'd settle for 2. 3 seems like a stretch.
Yeah, I was wondering if that was going to come up, but I find taskbar-grouping to be inferior to tabs for two reasons:
1. Taskbar grouping is inconsistent, or at least difficult to model in my head. (which is crucial for my concept of usability.) Tasks get their own buttons til some uncertain critical mass is reached (dependent on how many other apps are going on), and then they leap together and apart, willy-nilly. If I use the start button to launch a new app, theres a chance its button will be subsumed into an existing group.
With tabs, I'm always in control of the grouping (which, 80%+ of the time, is "SDI"-ish), and I leave taskbar grouping off.
2. You can't see what windows are in taskbar group without clicking, or even how many windows there are without parsing a number. Tabs have high visibility, at a glance I know if I have "many" or "few", and often every site's window is a click away, (often with a visual-hook "favicon", unlike IE's [e] [e] [e] [e] where you have to read the site titles.)
Obviously different strokes for different folks, but I think this a pretty reasonable usage pattern, and given that tabs are utterly ignorable if you don't like 'em, they deserve their place.
Of course there is. Main one would be one of the reasons Firefox exists: If you include every possible configuration option in Preferences, you end up with Mozilla suite. Taken to an extreme, you have a browser with ZERO configuration options.
But given how some people LOVE blank new windows and other people HATE them, and it's a pretty easy concept to express, I think it's a strong canidate for inclusion under "advanced"...I mean there's already a VERY similar 3 radio button "Open links from other applications in..." there.
I admit I dislike having to search through all the options even in IE's "advanced" options selection, but I think there they lack good grouping, lurping almost all options under Browsing and Security.
Supposedly you had some of this functionality from about:config, but people are saying it no longer works.
So I overspoke with "NO reason", but I think this would be a strong candidate for inclusion without too much risk of "configuration option hell".
PLEASE. This is so stupid. It's about having a browser with a multidocument interface rather than a single document interface - and SDI is far better. Forget tabs - just open another browser.
I thought your way for a long time...I like the Windows taskbar, so having the tabs seemed redundant.
BUT--tabs let me do things I can't with just the taskbar, namely, semantic grouping. I'll go to a message board site, and then open up all the threads I find interesting in a single browser, thus stopping them from cluttering up my taskbar, and letting me close the whole group at once if I please.
That's one advantage to tabs...if you don't that way of operating, you can totally ignore it and not even notice the option is there.
Tabs and Ctrl-F are the two things keeping me with FF for now.
Really, there's NO reason this couldn't be an esay to use configuration option: New Window: (_)Blank (*)Homepage (_)Clone Current New Tab: (*)Blank (_)Homepage (_)Clone Current
This is a religous issue for some people. Since a new browser window is always 2 or 3 keypresses away for me (windows key, f, return) I can't see why people are so adamant about blank windows...it's easier to get to a blank window from a cloned window than the other way around, that's for sure!
It's also odd he mentioned that Firefox should retain the last URL when opening a new window - this is perhaps the IE feature I hate the most, with a passion. Often I'm simply viewing a large site and want to spawn a clean window (since there are no tabs) - it has to reload the whole thing over again.
Conversely, I hate Firefox's empty window "with a passion".
But here's the thing...there's a relatively easy work around for you, it's trivial to make a new browser window 2 key presses away (if you're a windows user, I imagine other OSes can do similar), just put a firefox shortcut in your startmenu with a unique starting letter. Say "M" for "Mozilla Firefox" or "N" for "New Broser". Then just hit windows key, M. TA DA!
See the thing? Our gripes aren't symmetrical. There's an almost perfect workaround for you, no plugin needed. On the other hand, I need to download something and fiddle to be able to get a copy of this window...and reload the whole thing over again? 95% of the time doesn't it just pull it from cache? I rarely notice a lag in IE.
Really, there's NO reason this couldn't be an esay to use configuration option: New Window: (_)Blank (*)Homepage (_)Clone Current New Tab: (*)Blank (_)Homepage (_)Clone Current
I agree with most of what he says, especially that the Find sticking around is a good thing (I love...err, hate how IE puts in a random old search term when I hit ctrl-F, no consistency I can see) and options for ctrl-N and ctrl-T being blank, homepage, or clone window are really sorely lacking...and not having shift-click clone the window history is dumb, dumb, dumb.
My other Firefox gripes are: they broke having ctrl-F search textareas and seem to be in no hurry to fix it. bad news for anyone who edits big amounts of text online.
Tab to a link. Hit enter to follow. Hit alt-left arrow for back. In IE, the link I just followed still has the Tab selection...I can hit tab again and go to the next link. Firefox, it has NO idea what link I hit, and I'd have to tab tab tab to get back to where I was. (Netscape 4.7 was a follower not a leader in keyboard navigation, and it's irksome that Firefox still can't get this basic thing right.)
I guess tabbed browsing and the stateless search are the only things keeping me with Firefox. That and feeling less like an MSdrone...but not feeling like an MSdrone doesn't help in keyboard navigation...
Heh, also having everyone daisychained to each other like prisioners in a chain gang is kind of funny, but I suppose it's useful that only one person has to be near the console...could lead to cheating though:-)
N64 also gets credit for bringing back 4 controller ports on the system, something lost since the Atari 8-bits...every intermediate system neeeded a multitap, external hardware that never gets as much support as the base unit. DC and Xbox got the idea; Sony remains steadfast against it, and is the poor sister when it comes to party and splitscreen games.
As for Say what you will about the Sega Dreamcast, but can we at least admit that its standard control pad was a carnival of screwups?
I think that's a huge stretch. Maybe for fighters it could've used more buttons (though I hate 6 similar buttons), and possibly a second analog controller, it brought in good analog triggers, and the VMU was really really nifty...I wouldn't be shocked if future controllers get little screens builtin at somepoint.
Anywaym, If that winsupersite link is reasonably accurate...jeez. If it wasn't crippleware in terms of # of apps and what not, I think tons of people would be happy with the "start edition".
It seems like most of the further variations aren't really "OS" things, but bundled apps. Actually, more annoyingly, they sneak in one or two things that belong at the OS level (like Wi-Fi config) with a bunch of other app crap.
'the goal of the product edition differentiations in Windows Vista is to provide "clear value proposition"' -- yeah, good luck with that. I just can't wait for the infomercials they'll need to explain this crap. Come to think of it, the ONLY thing that matters is "which flavor came bundled with my PC without upping the base price?" because OSes are still a "hidden tax", Windows users would still be using '98 if thats what came with the computer.
Has anyone had good luck with scanning slightly larger things at Kinko's or whatever? I have a few oversized jazz band photos that I think are just a tad bigger than my 8.5*11 oriented flatbed can handle, and I'd rather not do it in sections and hope it comes together...any specific chain (or single place in the burbs of Boston) people would suggest?
I'm an early adopter, and it's still my favorite for the PIM stuff.
Were you able to transfer your old Palm data into the PIM of the Axim?
Also, how are the formfactors with that?
My Sony CLie is great formfactor wise...unlike Palm they realized it's better to be a little thicker than wide...much easier to hold than the Tungsten.
Hah. I did some toying around with PocketC but never got into real coding.
But I remember thinking... ooh! Palm is being spun off...they have a GREAT product....I should buy! For once my geekish knoweldge about what rocks can pay off in cash!
Kind of glad I never followed up on that impulse, even though it was just laziness stopping me, thanks for the reassurance.
I haven't used any Zaurus or Linux-derived PDA so I can't say, but I remember it took Microsoft YEARS to cope with the issue of scaling a "real" OS and UI down rather than building something small from the ground up, ala Palm.
(Of course, Linux isn't as tied to One UI in the way Windows is, which allows for more freedom, but less leverage as well)
It wasn't as tempting a target for hackers I guess, but Atari put some checksum encryption in the Atari 7800 that, in effect, stymied 3rd party/homebrew cart makers for YEARS. I think they finally got a handle on it, but still. Smart people are making the security, and while they have tremendous obstacles, they might not always bat.000 like people assume.
A more recent example...all those people who like homebrews so they have to be petrified of getting their PSP updated to > 1.5 whatever...
Poor 3rd party support is going to be one of the things which will listed on the death certificate as probable cause of death alongside people wanting the same os on a PDA as their desktop.
Really? For the late 90s, early 2000s the Palm seemed to have a pretty substantial and substative library of 3rd party software...in fact I thought I remember hearing a lot of envy from the WinCE / Pocket PC camps.
I don't think people "want" the same OS on their desktop as their PDA...though they may well want the same apps. Outlook integration was probably a big selling point (though I still prefer PalmOS UI for that) along with Office support, which office drones appreciate.
God, I remember WinCE promtoting their "no need to press a button" synching with the desktop, and how flaky and unreliable and "throw the cradle across the room"ish it was for my coworker. Sometimes you just want to synch NOW, and not wait for the file changes to be discovered....
The UI might have been nice but trying to write any useful apps on the Palm is a nightmare. No proper threading, no file system, stupid heap size limit, non-standard C libraries (Okay, M$ doesn't use standard libraries either but it doesn't make it impossible to use standard libraries).
Again, I think a lot of these were appropriate for the design specifications of the Palm...a highly functional, low-power consuming device. It was co-operative multitasking, ala Win 3.1, right? Not so great for multimedia in the background, but otherwise not that bad.
And the file system thing...I thought Palm's standards for instant app switching beat WinCE's "now loading" and seemingly arbitrary division of memory into "like RAM" "like disk" .
I admit it was a bit challenging, and my homebrew efforts never got anywhere, though I did make some cool little apps in this language called PocketC...it was a ton of fun coding and compiling and running all on the Palm itself.
I think Palm suffered from a lot of factors...being good enough so early (along with only incremental UI improvements) reduced the incentive to update, since the oldest hardware had no performance issues it all came down to form factor and screen quality as spurs to upgrade. Other devices like cellphones started meeting some people's needs for PDA as well...
Is PocketPC selling like hotcakes either? I think Palm is suffering the fate of the standalone PDA more than really succumbing to direct competitors.
Palm had such a nice OS. It was such a friendly, crisp, easy interface...so much better than the attempts to scale shoehorn in the Windows desktop that WinCE was pursuing.
I still love my Sony Clie...320x320 screen, good battery life, nice UI. (On the other hand...the 4k memo limit and even smaller clipboard ALWAYS seemed gratuitous to me.)
Personally I thought the writing was on the wall once they had to switch to Graffiti 2...I've only dabbled with it, but for people accustomed to Graffiti (an idea it took me a while to warm to) it's jarring. And tht Xerox "unistrokes patent" lawsuit was SUCH CRAP...Graffiti is so much better than those stupid squiggles that didn't even look like any human alphabet.
Feh. Hopefully when its time to upgrade I can find some kind of Palm work alike. And hopefully whatever I switch to can import Palm data; I love that I have my schedule going back to 1997 riding around on my hip, not to mention assorted memos, contacts, and todos...
I think it was in the first Super Monkey Ball, this level we're everythings on a giant slope/arch, and you have to navigate back and forth. I just found it completely unbeatable.
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly. It failed to take the market back over. It failed to be number one or two and push the third console into obscurity. It failed in a market share sense.
Well, I think that's a needlessly harsh measurement. This ain't football. Not "winning" doesn't mean you've "lost".
I agree that the GC failed (even though I played it more than anything else this generation), but it Nintendo is still here.
If its goal was to kick Sony's ass, it failed. If it was to provide a lot of good games and keep Nintendo as a major player, I'd say it suceeded.
I wouldn't say N64/GC was Nintendo "sitting on the sidelines". Yes, they were clearly in second place, but based on the huge number of great games and the amount of gamers talking about them, they are still a major damn player. Yes, they had 1/3 to 1/2 the shelfspace as Sony did this generation, but for multiplayer/party gaming, they were untouchable, with franchise power the other companies would drool over.
I'm still skeptical about these controllers. A LOT will be riding on how well they work...if they're only as reliable as Samba de Amigo maracas, for get it. If they're as exact as a lightgun, maybe they have a shot. But even then, its not clear if Revolution will still be a player w/ mainstream genres, or if it's just the next Eye Toy or Donkey Konga; some sales, but not enough to base a gaming life on.
If Nintendo would embrace the homebrew community, or at least throw them some bones, I would cut them a TON of slack than I will otherwise.
Maybe nothing...didn't RTFA closely enough, I'm just thinking of stuff like the light guns on PSX etc...
Think it will work with rear projection screens?
Overall I got a bad feeling about this...
I still stand by my arguments that enough people like clone window that it deserves to be an option. Your usage pattern may or may not be typical, it shouldn't be mandatory.
I don't trust Firefox to remember what I type; I've seen it go either way (not sure if that's Firefox or IE, still sometimes it seems site-dependent.)
Options, if they are presented in a controlled way, are a good thing.
That "perfect" workaround is useless if you use tabs, which most people do.
The conversation was "odd he mentioned that Firefox should retain the last URL when opening a new window"...the question of should a new tab copy the former window is different.
I don't know exactly how IE clones windows, but on slower systems or systems with little memory
I use a PC that was cheapish 4 years ago and notice little lag.
Besides, it doesn't make any sense to copy the current window; the page you're already looking is the one page you're definitely not going to want in the new window.
Don't assume that just because something isn't in your usual usage pattern, it doesn't make any sense. Cloning the current window lets me have a "safe backup" of my current browsing state (one that might be annoying to recreate) and then "play" in the new window...for instance, if I was browsing Slashdot, started a reply, but then wanted to check out the conversation to cut and paste something, or do a quick ctrl-F, I can just hit ctrl-N, and then "back" in the new window (thanks to IE's niceness of duping browser history to) and be right back to my previous browse position, without having to renavigate through slashdot.
Can't do that without better window and browse history options than Firefox has out of the box.
If everything that could be a configuration option actually became one, the preferences window would be so huge and cluttered as to be impossible to use. As it is, there are several extensions that provide this functionality.
There are 3 levels of configuration, with an inverse relationship between "clutter" and "ease of use"...
1. put it in the preferences window
2. hide it in about:config
3. require a seperate download
There's enough strong feeling about this (enough people saying "thank god firefox gives me clean tabs|windows" vs "firefox doesn't work as well for me because it lacks this) that it deserves to be in the first category...I'd settle for 2. 3 seems like a stretch.
Yeah, I was wondering if that was going to come up, but I find taskbar-grouping to be inferior to tabs for two reasons:
1. Taskbar grouping is inconsistent, or at least difficult to model in my head. (which is crucial for my concept of usability.) Tasks get their own buttons til some uncertain critical mass is reached (dependent on how many other apps are going on), and then they leap together and apart, willy-nilly. If I use the start button to launch a new app, theres a chance its button will be subsumed into an existing group.
With tabs, I'm always in control of the grouping (which, 80%+ of the time, is "SDI"-ish), and I leave taskbar grouping off.
2. You can't see what windows are in taskbar group without clicking, or even how many windows there are without parsing a number. Tabs have high visibility, at a glance I know if I have "many" or "few", and often every site's window is a click away, (often with a visual-hook "favicon", unlike IE's [e] [e] [e] [e] where you have to read the site titles.)
Obviously different strokes for different folks, but I think this a pretty reasonable usage pattern, and given that tabs are utterly ignorable if you don't like 'em, they deserve their place.
Of course there is. Main one would be one of the reasons Firefox exists: If you include every possible configuration option in Preferences, you end up with Mozilla suite.
Taken to an extreme, you have a browser with ZERO configuration options.
But given how some people LOVE blank new windows and other people HATE them, and it's a pretty easy concept to express, I think it's a strong canidate for inclusion under "advanced"...I mean there's already a VERY similar 3 radio button "Open links from other applications in..." there.
I admit I dislike having to search through all the options even in IE's "advanced" options selection, but I think there they lack good grouping, lurping almost all options under Browsing and Security.
Supposedly you had some of this functionality from about:config, but people are saying it no longer works.
So I overspoke with "NO reason", but I think this would be a strong candidate for inclusion without too much risk of "configuration option hell".
PLEASE. This is so stupid. It's about having a browser with a multidocument interface rather than a single document interface - and SDI is far better. Forget tabs - just open another browser.
I thought your way for a long time...I like the Windows taskbar, so having the tabs seemed redundant.
BUT--tabs let me do things I can't with just the taskbar, namely, semantic grouping. I'll go to a message board site, and then open up all the threads I find interesting in a single browser, thus stopping them from cluttering up my taskbar, and letting me close the whole group at once if I please.
That's one advantage to tabs...if you don't that way of operating, you can totally ignore it and not even notice the option is there.
Tabs and Ctrl-F are the two things keeping me with FF for now.
MOD PARENT UP.
Really, there's NO reason this couldn't be an esay to use configuration option:
New Window: (_)Blank (*)Homepage (_)Clone Current
New Tab: (*)Blank (_)Homepage (_)Clone Current
This is a religous issue for some people. Since a new browser window is always 2 or 3 keypresses away for me (windows key, f, return) I can't see why people are so adamant about blank windows...it's easier to get to a blank window from a cloned window than the other way around, that's for sure!
It's also odd he mentioned that Firefox should retain the last URL when opening a new window - this is perhaps the IE feature I hate the most, with a passion. Often I'm simply viewing a large site and want to spawn a clean window (since there are no tabs) - it has to reload the whole thing over again.
Conversely, I hate Firefox's empty window "with a passion".
But here's the thing...there's a relatively easy work around for you, it's trivial to make a new browser window 2 key presses away (if you're a windows user, I imagine other OSes can do similar), just put a firefox shortcut in your startmenu with a unique starting letter. Say "M" for "Mozilla Firefox" or "N" for "New Broser". Then just hit windows key, M. TA DA!
See the thing? Our gripes aren't symmetrical. There's an almost perfect workaround for you, no plugin needed. On the other hand, I need to download something and fiddle to be able to get a copy of this window...and reload the whole thing over again? 95% of the time doesn't it just pull it from cache? I rarely notice a lag in IE.
Really, there's NO reason this couldn't be an esay to use configuration option:
New Window: (_)Blank (*)Homepage (_)Clone Current
New Tab: (*)Blank (_)Homepage (_)Clone Current
I agree with most of what he says, especially that the Find sticking around is a good thing (I love...err, hate how IE puts in a random old search term when I hit ctrl-F, no consistency I can see) and options for ctrl-N and ctrl-T being blank, homepage, or clone window are really sorely lacking...and not having shift-click clone the window history is dumb, dumb, dumb.
My other Firefox gripes are:
they broke having ctrl-F search textareas and seem to be in no hurry to fix it. bad news for anyone who edits big amounts of text online.
Tab to a link. Hit enter to follow. Hit alt-left arrow for back. In IE, the link I just followed still has the Tab selection...I can hit tab again and go to the next link. Firefox, it has NO idea what link I hit, and I'd have to tab tab tab to get back to where I was. (Netscape 4.7 was a follower not a leader in keyboard navigation, and it's irksome that Firefox still can't get this basic thing right.)
I guess tabbed browsing and the stateless search are the only things keeping me with Firefox. That and feeling less like an MSdrone...but not feeling like an MSdrone doesn't help in keyboard navigation...
Heh, also having everyone daisychained to each other like prisioners in a chain gang is kind of funny, but I suppose it's useful that only one person has to be near the console...could lead to cheating though :-)
Heh, I had forgotten about that...
Also I heard the N64 controller was a variant of a remake prototype 3D0 controller.
I'll have to modify my line about the N64 then, though could I say "succesful"? 3D0 was kind of a flop.
Wish 3D0 had made a proper sequel to Battle Tanx on a nextgen platform before folding...
N64 also gets credit for bringing back 4 controller ports on the system, something lost since the Atari 8-bits...every intermediate system neeeded a multitap, external hardware that never gets as much support as the base unit. DC and Xbox got the idea; Sony remains steadfast against it, and is the poor sister when it comes to party and splitscreen games.
As for
Say what you will about the Sega Dreamcast, but can we at least admit that its standard control pad was a carnival of screwups?
I think that's a huge stretch. Maybe for fighters it could've used more buttons (though I hate 6 similar buttons), and possibly a second analog controller, it brought in good analog triggers, and the VMU was really really nifty...I wouldn't be shocked if future controllers get little screens builtin at somepoint.
"hilarious", huh?
Anywaym, If that winsupersite link is reasonably accurate...jeez. If it wasn't crippleware in terms of # of apps and what not, I think tons of people would be happy with the "start edition".
It seems like most of the further variations aren't really "OS" things, but bundled apps. Actually, more annoyingly, they sneak in one or two things that belong at the OS level (like Wi-Fi config) with a bunch of other app crap.
'the goal of the product edition differentiations in Windows Vista is to provide "clear value proposition"' -- yeah, good luck with that. I just can't wait for the infomercials they'll need to explain this crap. Come to think of it, the ONLY thing that matters is "which flavor came bundled with my PC without upping the base price?" because OSes are still a "hidden tax", Windows users would still be using '98 if thats what came with the computer.
Has anyone had good luck with scanning slightly larger things at Kinko's or whatever? I have a few oversized jazz band photos that I think are just a tad bigger than my 8.5*11 oriented flatbed can handle, and I'd rather not do it in sections and hope it comes together...any specific chain (or single place in the burbs of Boston) people would suggest?
I'm an early adopter, and it's still my favorite for the PIM stuff.
Were you able to transfer your old Palm data into the PIM of the Axim?
Also, how are the formfactors with that?
My Sony CLie is great formfactor wise...unlike Palm they realized it's better to be a little thicker than wide...much easier to hold than the Tungsten.
Hah.
... ooh! Palm is being spun off...they have a GREAT product....I should buy! For once my geekish knoweldge about what rocks can pay off in cash!
I did some toying around with PocketC but never got into real coding.
But I remember thinking
Kind of glad I never followed up on that impulse, even though it was just laziness stopping me, thanks for the reassurance.
I haven't used any Zaurus or Linux-derived PDA so I can't say, but I remember it took Microsoft YEARS to cope with the issue of scaling a "real" OS and UI down rather than building something small from the ground up, ala Palm.
(Of course, Linux isn't as tied to One UI in the way Windows is, which allows for more freedom, but less leverage as well)
You make a decent point.
.000 like people assume.
It wasn't as tempting a target for hackers I guess, but Atari put some checksum encryption in the Atari 7800 that, in effect, stymied 3rd party/homebrew cart makers for YEARS. I think they finally got a handle on it, but still. Smart people are making the security, and while they have tremendous obstacles, they might not always bat
A more recent example...all those people who like homebrews so they have to be petrified of getting their PSP updated to > 1.5 whatever...
(Quoting reversed for rhetorical purposes)
Poor 3rd party support is going to be one of the things which will listed on the death certificate as probable cause of death alongside people wanting the same os on a PDA as their desktop.
Really? For the late 90s, early 2000s the Palm seemed to have a pretty substantial and substative library of 3rd party software...in fact I thought I remember hearing a lot of envy from the WinCE / Pocket PC camps.
I don't think people "want" the same OS on their desktop as their PDA...though they may well want the same apps. Outlook integration was probably a big selling point (though I still prefer PalmOS UI for that) along with Office support, which office drones appreciate.
God, I remember WinCE promtoting their "no need to press a button" synching with the desktop, and how flaky and unreliable and "throw the cradle across the room"ish it was for my coworker. Sometimes you just want to synch NOW, and not wait for the file changes to be discovered....
The UI might have been nice but trying to write any useful apps on the Palm is a nightmare. No proper threading, no file system, stupid heap size limit, non-standard C libraries (Okay, M$ doesn't use standard libraries either but it doesn't make it impossible to use standard libraries).
Again, I think a lot of these were appropriate for the design specifications of the Palm...a highly functional, low-power consuming device. It was co-operative multitasking, ala Win 3.1, right? Not so great for multimedia in the background, but otherwise not that bad.
And the file system thing...I thought Palm's standards for instant app switching beat WinCE's "now loading" and seemingly arbitrary division of memory into "like RAM" "like disk" .
I admit it was a bit challenging, and my homebrew efforts never got anywhere, though I did make some cool little apps in this language called PocketC...it was a ton of fun coding and compiling and running all on the Palm itself.
I think Palm suffered from a lot of factors...being good enough so early (along with only incremental UI improvements) reduced the incentive to update, since the oldest hardware had no performance issues it all came down to form factor and screen quality as spurs to upgrade. Other devices like cellphones started meeting some people's needs for PDA as well...
Is PocketPC selling like hotcakes either? I think Palm is suffering the fate of the standalone PDA more than really succumbing to direct competitors.
Palm had such a nice OS. It was such a friendly, crisp, easy interface...so much better than the attempts to scale shoehorn in the Windows desktop that WinCE was pursuing.
I still love my Sony Clie...320x320 screen, good battery life, nice UI. (On the other hand...the 4k memo limit and even smaller clipboard ALWAYS seemed gratuitous to me.)
Personally I thought the writing was on the wall once they had to switch to Graffiti 2...I've only dabbled with it, but for people accustomed to Graffiti (an idea it took me a while to warm to) it's jarring. And tht Xerox "unistrokes patent" lawsuit was SUCH CRAP...Graffiti is so much better than those stupid squiggles that didn't even look like any human alphabet.
Feh. Hopefully when its time to upgrade I can find some kind of Palm work alike. And hopefully whatever I switch to can import Palm data; I love that I have my schedule going back to 1997 riding around on my hip, not to mention assorted memos, contacts, and todos...
Well, different strokes for different folks.
I think it was in the first Super Monkey Ball, this level we're everythings on a giant slope/arch, and you have to navigate back and forth. I just found it completely unbeatable.