Oh, that service... The one where I had maybe one or two friends sent me invites from a few years ago, I foolishly signed up, and to this day I still keep getting periodic automated E-Mails from?
You were actually able to view a MySpace page for long enough to want to rip your eyes out? I'm impressed. Back when MySpace was popular, most of those pages would crash my web browser long before I actually got to look at them.
I know we're way too deep in the discussion for anyone to notice, but this brings up an important platform characteristic point that I've mentioned from time to time. Namely, that the whole approach of Wintel involves gross hacks to avoid breaking closed-source software that cannot be patched. Today, the Internet enables patch distribution in a way that mitigates this a little bit, but that's relatively recent in the evolution of these systems.
To compare three major OS platforms, I see it like this: - Windows: Feel free to lose the source code to your software, we'll bend over backwards to avoid breaking the binary. (though this isn't 100% true anymore, hence the Vista FUD and the need for XP mode in Win7) - MacOSX: You better not lose the source code to your software, since it will break in the next update if you don't continually maintain it - Linux: Everything is open-source, so as long as someone cares to use your software, it will get fixed as necessary.
They won't have to. On the leaked RIM roadmaps, it looks like pretty much every single BlackBerry device planned for 2011 release will also have NFC built-in.
Not to mention that the public WiFi in any airport/hotel is likely to be so painfully slow that RDP (let alone video streaming) would be damn near impossible. (and you might have to pay extra for the usage privilege)
Unless, of course, they wanted another monthly bill for a wireless broadband card. (Or had a cell phone that could tether at usable speed/latency for such activities.)
This is why I hate conventional car GPS units. They go to great lengths to hide the map from you, and often make it difficult to use when you get to it. They keep you as ignorant as possible until 300ft prior to making a turn. This is why, despite its other limitations, I'm far more comfortable with Google Maps on my GPS-enabled phone. It actually shows me a route on an easily viewable map, so I get a feel for how I'm actually going to get there before I start driving.
Seriously, I've come to the conclusion that all of these cellphone/smartphone marketshare/sales statistics are full of crap. Why do I say that? It seems like every single one of them shows a different contender in the lead, and usually whichever contender the presenter of said statistics is favoring at the moment. There are probably a hundred different ways these statistics can be compiled, and each one takes a slightly different approach. Sometimes they're comparing a particular quarter, alighted to a particular fiscal calendar. Sometimes they're limited the class of devices. Sometimes its US-only, and sometimes its Global. Whichever platform you like best, you'll find someone showing a survey/pie-chart/analysis showing how they're ahead of the competition.
Regardless, here's how I see the three mentioned players handling their game:
iPhone - Single device (multiple revisions), OS and hardware by same company, limited cherry-picked markets
Android - Device-independent OS, plenty of fragmentation, available in as many markets as handset-makers/carriers want
BlackBerry - Device and OS by same company, tons of models, available in most markets globally
Here's the problem. Industry is more likely to cater to the 95% than to the 5%. So if you are in that 5%, this locked-down-device movement will deprive you of what you currently have easy access to. Heck, with economies of scale, it may only be a matter of time before only 5% of users can even afford the open-and-flexible computers. (And that subset of users may have little overlap with those that actually want said access. Just remember back when computer illiterate doctors/lawyers had the best PCs, and the geeks got by with whatever little hardware they could scrounge up.)
Doubtful. Half-way through the term of any president, you'll likely find someone making the same statement. It'll be especially strong if they side with the opposing political party.
You just have to hope that you agree with the positions of the puppeteer that is controlling the next incompetent hack more than the one controlling the current one.
This guy claims Windows has all the malware/virus problems it has because it's the biggest target.
That's an extremely common claim, which is only made by Windows fans. I wish we could better dispel it. Such a claim could explain a "many"-to-"very few" malware disparity, but it simply cannot explain a "many"-to-"effectively zero" disparity.
If you're talking about jet engines, they were actually independently developed by both the British and the Germans. The Germans were just the first ones to actually build an operational jet fighter.
A very good first step is removing contractors from the equation
Just one thing most people forget. By and large, most technical things you all think of as "government developed" are actually developed by contractors (even if the gov't owns the code), with federal employees only existing on the management/contracting/paperwork/requirements* side of things.
* except when they contract out the requirements work, which also happens
Flash is a CPU hog on *any* platform, it has to either go on a diet or go away.
Given the amount of hog Flash is on Windows...
Its *more* of a hog on Mac than Windows.
Its *more* of a hog on Linux than Mac.
Its *more* of a hog on "other assorted platforms" than Linux.
As a user of all of the above, especially the bottom half of the list, I'm definitely rooting for Apple on this one. (The alternative is to be one of those cranky antisocial hermits who ignores the whole world of rich web content. I know plenty of those, but am not one of them.)
That reminds me of a problem I've been annoyed by for a long time... Getting high-res laptop LCDs has been *much* easier than getting high-res desktop LCDs. Probably still an issue too... Seriously, you can get a 15" laptop LCD with the same resolution as a 24" desktop LCD. But you have to get a 24" desktop LCD to get that sort of resolution, since anything smaller will be lower-res.
In the pre-widescreen days, I had to go all the way up to 20" to get a 1600x1200 desktop panel, since 17" and 19" panels were all a pitiful 1280x1024. Today, I don't think I could convince myself to buy anything smaller than 24" widescreen on the desktop for similar reasons.
The RIM BlackBerry doesn't need an app store either. They created one in the same me-too fashion as everyone else, of course. But MobiHand also has an app store that can run on the device.
Having an official app-store (and/or a 3rd party one) is important because without it, many users seem to think "it doesn't have apps". But, not requiring you to go through said app store is also important.
I find the Droid commercials quite amusing, actually. Not because they advertise anything special and unique, but because they've managed to turn "iPhone deficiencies" into "Droid features" (even if many other platforms also have those features).
This is the time of year where I am reminded of that quite strongly. You see, Passover starts next week. While the intent of the Passover diet is to "avoid unleavened bread," the reality involves also avoiding grains with self-leavening properties (i.e. corn) for many of our sects. And while avoiding bread is actually pretty easy, as you said so yourself, HFCS is in fucking everything. In fact, "avoiding HFCS" for a week is 90% of the difficulty of observing Passover.
RIM BlackBerry is another such platform. You can download and install 3rd party apps from anywhere. Of course the OS itself is closed (like most of 'em), but anyone can code for it.
They now have an App Store (because everyone else does), but there are also 3rd party App stores, and you can easily distribute your apps directly.
They do require code signing for some APIs, but its just a small one-time administrative fee (and then you can sign your own code as many times as you like). That's just to track who has access to some device integration and crypto features as a form of CYA, I think.
Someone please mod the parent up! My father is also a doctor, and he's told me about this same exact problem.
Seriously, this is something that most debaters completely ignore when considering healthcare cost issues and tort reform issues. Its a serious spiral-out-of-control issue. Now just imagine the sheer amount of CYA done at every step of a patent case, and imagine just how much that inflates the overall cost of care.
Though I have heard that it increases appetite disproportionally to any calorie burn. Maybe that's one reason for the, um, expansion I see all around me.
Also, don't forget that you had to pay someone to develop the system requirements and specifications for the toilet seat, to do source selection, have someone do PDR and CDR, then move into LRIP, then FRP. Oh, and we also have to factor in the total lifecycle costs of maintenance and disposal. (in the end, the incremental cost of the damn toilet seat itself is but a fraction of the cost)
net.rim.device.api.ui is the package for the whole UI API.
What the forum post mentions is "net.rim.device.api.ui.UiEngineInstance", a class that was added to BlackBerry OS 4.7
In other words, the Kindle app depends on the API of a version of the BlackBerry OS that is either 4.7 or newer.
Java solves the "one app, many devices" problem. It doesn't solve the "one app, many API versions" problem in any case other than backwards compatibility. (i.e. running older app on newer OS)
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anyone remember friendster?
Oh, that service... The one where I had maybe one or two friends sent me invites from a few years ago, I foolishly signed up, and to this day I still keep getting periodic automated E-Mails from?
Still haven't seen a reason to login since.
You were actually able to view a MySpace page for long enough to want to rip your eyes out? I'm impressed. Back when MySpace was popular, most of those pages would crash my web browser long before I actually got to look at them.
I know we're way too deep in the discussion for anyone to notice, but this brings up an important platform characteristic point that I've mentioned from time to time. Namely, that the whole approach of Wintel involves gross hacks to avoid breaking closed-source software that cannot be patched. Today, the Internet enables patch distribution in a way that mitigates this a little bit, but that's relatively recent in the evolution of these systems.
To compare three major OS platforms, I see it like this:
- Windows: Feel free to lose the source code to your software, we'll bend over backwards to avoid breaking the binary. (though this isn't 100% true anymore, hence the Vista FUD and the need for XP mode in Win7)
- MacOSX: You better not lose the source code to your software, since it will break in the next update if you don't continually maintain it
- Linux: Everything is open-source, so as long as someone cares to use your software, it will get fixed as necessary.
They won't have to. On the leaked RIM roadmaps, it looks like pretty much every single BlackBerry device planned for 2011 release will also have NFC built-in.
Not to mention that the public WiFi in any airport/hotel is likely to be so painfully slow that RDP (let alone video streaming) would be damn near impossible. (and you might have to pay extra for the usage privilege)
Unless, of course, they wanted another monthly bill for a wireless broadband card. (Or had a cell phone that could tether at usable speed/latency for such activities.)
This is why I hate conventional car GPS units. They go to great lengths to hide the map from you, and often make it difficult to use when you get to it. They keep you as ignorant as possible until 300ft prior to making a turn. This is why, despite its other limitations, I'm far more comfortable with Google Maps on my GPS-enabled phone. It actually shows me a route on an easily viewable map, so I get a feel for how I'm actually going to get there before I start driving.
Seriously, I've come to the conclusion that all of these cellphone/smartphone marketshare/sales statistics are full of crap. Why do I say that? It seems like every single one of them shows a different contender in the lead, and usually whichever contender the presenter of said statistics is favoring at the moment. There are probably a hundred different ways these statistics can be compiled, and each one takes a slightly different approach. Sometimes they're comparing a particular quarter, alighted to a particular fiscal calendar. Sometimes they're limited the class of devices. Sometimes its US-only, and sometimes its Global. Whichever platform you like best, you'll find someone showing a survey/pie-chart/analysis showing how they're ahead of the competition.
Regardless, here's how I see the three mentioned players handling their game:
Here's the problem. Industry is more likely to cater to the 95% than to the 5%. So if you are in that 5%, this locked-down-device movement will deprive you of what you currently have easy access to. Heck, with economies of scale, it may only be a matter of time before only 5% of users can even afford the open-and-flexible computers. (And that subset of users may have little overlap with those that actually want said access. Just remember back when computer illiterate doctors/lawyers had the best PCs, and the geeks got by with whatever little hardware they could scrounge up.)
Doubtful. Half-way through the term of any president, you'll likely find someone making the same statement. It'll be especially strong if they side with the opposing political party.
You just have to hope that you agree with the positions of the puppeteer that is controlling the next incompetent hack more than the one controlling the current one.
Actually, the way all these cases seem to go, they really only need to withdraw from the east Texas market.
I didn't say zero. I said effectively zero. In other words, small enough that you normally don't even consider it.
This guy claims Windows has all the malware/virus problems it has because it's the biggest target.
That's an extremely common claim, which is only made by Windows fans. I wish we could better dispel it. Such a claim could explain a "many"-to-"very few" malware disparity, but it simply cannot explain a "many"-to-"effectively zero" disparity.
It actually looks a lot more like a Centari Vorchan class warship.
If you're talking about jet engines, they were actually independently developed by both the British and the Germans. The Germans were just the first ones to actually build an operational jet fighter.
A very good first step is removing contractors from the equation
Just one thing most people forget. By and large, most technical things you all think of as "government developed" are actually developed by contractors (even if the gov't owns the code), with federal employees only existing on the management/contracting/paperwork/requirements* side of things.
* except when they contract out the requirements work, which also happens
Flash is a CPU hog on *any* platform, it has to either go on a diet or go away.
Given the amount of hog Flash is on Windows...
Its *more* of a hog on Mac than Windows.
Its *more* of a hog on Linux than Mac.
Its *more* of a hog on "other assorted platforms" than Linux.
As a user of all of the above, especially the bottom half of the list, I'm definitely rooting for Apple on this one. (The alternative is to be one of those cranky antisocial hermits who ignores the whole world of rich web content. I know plenty of those, but am not one of them.)
That reminds me of a problem I've been annoyed by for a long time... Getting high-res laptop LCDs has been *much* easier than getting high-res desktop LCDs. Probably still an issue too... Seriously, you can get a 15" laptop LCD with the same resolution as a 24" desktop LCD. But you have to get a 24" desktop LCD to get that sort of resolution, since anything smaller will be lower-res.
In the pre-widescreen days, I had to go all the way up to 20" to get a 1600x1200 desktop panel, since 17" and 19" panels were all a pitiful 1280x1024. Today, I don't think I could convince myself to buy anything smaller than 24" widescreen on the desktop for similar reasons.
The RIM BlackBerry doesn't need an app store either. They created one in the same me-too fashion as everyone else, of course. But MobiHand also has an app store that can run on the device.
Having an official app-store (and/or a 3rd party one) is important because without it, many users seem to think "it doesn't have apps". But, not requiring you to go through said app store is also important.
I find the Droid commercials quite amusing, actually. Not because they advertise anything special and unique, but because they've managed to turn "iPhone deficiencies" into "Droid features" (even if many other platforms also have those features).
Trouble is...HFCS is in fucking everything..
This is the time of year where I am reminded of that quite strongly. You see, Passover starts next week. While the intent of the Passover diet is to "avoid unleavened bread," the reality involves also avoiding grains with self-leavening properties (i.e. corn) for many of our sects. And while avoiding bread is actually pretty easy, as you said so yourself, HFCS is in fucking everything. In fact, "avoiding HFCS" for a week is 90% of the difficulty of observing Passover.
RIM BlackBerry is another such platform. You can download and install 3rd party apps from anywhere. Of course the OS itself is closed (like most of 'em), but anyone can code for it.
They now have an App Store (because everyone else does), but there are also 3rd party App stores, and you can easily distribute your apps directly.
They do require code signing for some APIs, but its just a small one-time administrative fee (and then you can sign your own code as many times as you like). That's just to track who has access to some device integration and crypto features as a form of CYA, I think.
Someone please mod the parent up! My father is also a doctor, and he's told me about this same exact problem.
Seriously, this is something that most debaters completely ignore when considering healthcare cost issues and tort reform issues. Its a serious spiral-out-of-control issue. Now just imagine the sheer amount of CYA done at every step of a patent case, and imagine just how much that inflates the overall cost of care.
Don't forget... The job is a 6-month contract position based on a $34k (USD) annual salary.
Though I have heard that it increases appetite disproportionally to any calorie burn. Maybe that's one reason for the, um, expansion I see all around me.
Are you thinking of what's now called the DCMA?
Also, don't forget that you had to pay someone to develop the system requirements and specifications for the toilet seat, to do source selection, have someone do PDR and CDR, then move into LRIP, then FRP. Oh, and we also have to factor in the total lifecycle costs of maintenance and disposal. (in the end, the incremental cost of the damn toilet seat itself is but a fraction of the cost)
Here's the chart:
https://acc.dau.mil/ifc/
net.rim.device.api.ui is the package for the whole UI API.
What the forum post mentions is "net.rim.device.api.ui.UiEngineInstance", a class that was added to BlackBerry OS 4.7
In other words, the Kindle app depends on the API of a version of the BlackBerry OS that is either 4.7 or newer.
Java solves the "one app, many devices" problem. It doesn't solve the "one app, many API versions" problem in any case other than backwards compatibility. (i.e. running older app on newer OS)