Think about it this way: there is practically no investment in making the Zune Mac compatible. That's a couple KB of firmware at the most (and if licenses are the issue I'm sure the MS Mac Business unit already pays for them).
Now, if you are a PC owner going out to buy an MP3 player and you have friends who have Macs, friends who have PCs - you're going to want something that is Mac compatible. That way you can hook it up to your friend's Mac and get all his music in addition to all of your music and your PC friends' music. Also, if you want to use your MP3 player as a regular storage device for files, you may need Mac compatibility for school/work/relatives/friends.
Microsoft fell victim to the same mistake you just did -- they assumed that Mac compatibility means nothing to PC-only users. Sure, that was true in the 90s, but that was a while ago. After over a decade of record breaking Mac hardware sales, compatibility matters. Also, not all Mac users are zealots (those are just the loudest). I know plenty of Mac users who also own an XBox.
I think you hit the nail on the head. There was a time when there was a huge skill set of knowledge that went along with being a man. Working with tools, especially. If one defines a nerd as someone who fixes and builds things, then almost every man in my grandfather's generation was a nerd. But that's not really how 'nerd' is defined.
There have been a lot of/. stories about what a nerd really is and what's happening with 'nerd culture.' The biggest flaw I see in all of these articles is this idea that a 'nerd' is a fixed thing. That it's static in some way. But that's not true, it's an abstract idea that is relative to time and culture. A good comparison would be the term 'honorable.' What was honorable to Victorians is much different than what was honorable to Native Americans 500 years ago which is much different than what is honorable today.
buy Macbooks instead of building a computer themselves
I agree with most of what you've said (or at least, I don't really disagree), but who builds their own laptop? Really, 'building' your own computer doesn't have much geek value anyway. It essentially amounts to round peg, round hole. To me, it's more geeky if you're doing it for ideological reasons (avoiding the Microsoft tax/Apple and installing Linux) than if you do it for the hardware's sake. Any moron can buy computer parts and slap them together - I've known plenty. In my book, you get way more geek cred for knowing how to use OS X's terminal and set it up as a server than being able to build a Windows box.
Where I do agree with you is that there probably isn't some huge nerd culture arising. It's probably just non-nerd adults seeing their kids do things like Facebook on their Macbook, play Rock Band, and watch anime and they just think "man, my kid's a nerd - and all his friends are nerds too - must be the new cool thing."
I'm sure being a geek is cool for Silicon Valley kids, but here in the midwest nothing's cooler than football. Videogames seem to be real popular with kids these days, but in my book that doesn't make them 'geeks' in the sense this article is talking about. Playing 8 billion hours of Call of Duty doesn't teach one science. In fact, it doesn't teach anything.
Really, Unity isn't that bad. I just use it the same way I use Spotlight on Mac OS X. If I'm plugged in I use KDE, but I'll use Unity when I'm not because it doesn't suck up battery life like KDE does (the search function works way better in Unity, though).
I think the problem most people have with Unity is that they're trying to use it like the older Gnome desktops - the same paradigm that Windows and older Mac OSes followed. It took me a long time to adjust to using Spotlight rather than automatically clicking on folders, because it was such a drastic change in the way I interacted with my computer. But now that I've adjusted to it, it's increased my productivity (and also decreased the wear and tear on my poor mouse). I'm pretty sure if I hadn't gotten used to Spotlight first, I might really hate Unity b/c it would be too big of an adjustment. Apple was smart to add Spotlight but leave the interface otherwise the same, so the transition was smooth and gradual.
So I don't usually use Unity, but I don't see the reason to hate on it. It's not like a linux install is limited to using a single user interface. If you want it to feel like Windows (without the evil), just install KDE.
My favorite thing about my MacBook is also the touchpad. You can get multi-touch support in Ubuntu but it just isn't the same. It will be awesome when Ubuntu can handle the two-finger click and drag. Right now I usually plug in a mouse when I use Ubuntu b/c I can't break the OS X multitouch habits. When OS X is going, I'll often have a mouse plugged in but ignore it.
Dual-booting OS X/Linux is definitely the way to go. OS X for the everyday stuff and Ubuntu for all the geeky (and free) software. I also recommend running both Gnome and KDE (install KDE after the regular Ubuntu install). Gnome for conserving battery, KDE for when you're plugged in and you want a slick interface.
It would be cool if Motorola, for example, would just sell phones with no operating system. Then you could hook it up to your computer and download an open source operating system for free (like Android). Then it wouldn't be Motorola's problem if Microsoft claims mobile linux platforms infringe on their patents. They'd just have to worry about hardware, where I'm sure Motorola has a diverse enough battlechest of patents to protect themselves.
I have a feeling the telecommunications companies stand in the way of this, but I'd love to see it tried.
While I admit I'm a big fan of Apple products, if you don't like Apple I would recommend the new Razr Motorola is bringing out. They're the one's standing up to Microsoft, after all.
You can preach personality responsibility all day long, but that doesn't change the fact that it's bad for society when we just let the vast majority fail. That's why prison populations are growing at outrageous rates. Why unemployment is skyrocketing. Why the United States is in decline.
What you consider 'very little money' is a whole lot to some people. And mentioning post-secondary options for high schoolers is just insulting. I wasn't able to attend post-secondary because I didn't have a car. All the kids who were in post-secondary classes when I was in high school were the ones with parents who could buy their education anyway. Also, a student has to be an above-average performer for post-secondary. How do you expect someone with uneducated parents to perform at that level in high school?
This attitude of, "it's your fault if you don't succeed, society has no business ensuring that you do" is the same attitude that has led to all the problems this country is facing. The college students who spend their time getting drunk and partying aren't the ones who cut their teeth just so they can attend. They're the rich fucks who have all their bills paid by mommy and daddy.
No they're not. I would show you proof but I don't want to post my tax forms and receipts online. The Federal Education Tax Credit covers less than half of one semester at the cheapest community college in my state. That tax credit doesn't even cover book costs for a single semester.
I understand needing a permit if lots of heavy equipment needs to be dragged in and set up - like when they lay track to follow something with the camera - but to prohibit a person from using just video cameras is absurd. Shooting a movie shouldn't be an issue unless it could have an effect on the ecosystem or would require some form of construction.
A lot of times a policy is set up with good intentions but isn't specific enough so it's used as an excuse for something else. This is a good example of that. So is the U.S. Constitution.
Attacking stuff you don't like isn't vigilantism. By that definition terrorists are vigilantes. Vigilantism is illegally enforcing the law. Like Batman.
While some of the stuff that Anon has done, like this anti-child porn stuff, is vigilantism; other stuff like attacking Sony and Paypal most definitely is not. Since the minority of Anon's actions qualify as vigilantism, I wouldn't label them as a vigilante group. They may be on their way toward becoming one, but at this point I think it's an inaccurate description.
Yeah. Although I have to admit I enjoyed seeing the Anon vs. Scientology conflict, that's not vigilantism. It's more akin to attacking the KKK or some other legitimate organization of nutjobs. Sure, both the KKK and the Church of Scientology have been involved in illegal acts, but they are not illegal organizations. Anonymous has been incorrectly labeled as a vigilante organization in the past, but this act is the first time they've been true vigilantes (to the best of my knowledge).
I don't think the GOP is really against government, they're just against functional government. If someone brought a bill to congress that proposed slashing all those pointless "Homeland Security" positions that were created post-9/11 the GOP would be quick to oppose (and unfortunately so would most Dems).
Regarding the less pay part: there are perks that government employees get that can make it worth it. Vacation, pension, holidays, job security. Would you rather a high salary job with some tech startup that's the pet project of a couple VCs (and will require many hours) or a government job that pays half as much? I would guess that an unrooted bachelor would be inclined to go with the startup whereas a family man would lean towards the government job. A lot of times if you break it down to dollars per hour the government job will pay as much or more.
I do agree that the GOP's agenda of slashing government pay/benefits can only be detrimental, but I do think the government can get away with paying less provided the benefits balance it out.
Aside from my bafflement that the government leased one of its domains out to monster.com, the thing that stuck me as most odd about this is that the government has a Facebook page. Why?
It's getting to the point where abstaining from Facebook ostracizes one from society. It's like the internet's turning into AOL all over again, but worse.
Slashdot Mirror
Think about it this way: there is practically no investment in making the Zune Mac compatible. That's a couple KB of firmware at the most (and if licenses are the issue I'm sure the MS Mac Business unit already pays for them).
Now, if you are a PC owner going out to buy an MP3 player and you have friends who have Macs, friends who have PCs - you're going to want something that is Mac compatible. That way you can hook it up to your friend's Mac and get all his music in addition to all of your music and your PC friends' music. Also, if you want to use your MP3 player as a regular storage device for files, you may need Mac compatibility for school/work/relatives/friends.
Microsoft fell victim to the same mistake you just did -- they assumed that Mac compatibility means nothing to PC-only users. Sure, that was true in the 90s, but that was a while ago. After over a decade of record breaking Mac hardware sales, compatibility matters. Also, not all Mac users are zealots (those are just the loudest). I know plenty of Mac users who also own an XBox.
I think you hit the nail on the head. There was a time when there was a huge skill set of knowledge that went along with being a man. Working with tools, especially. If one defines a nerd as someone who fixes and builds things, then almost every man in my grandfather's generation was a nerd. But that's not really how 'nerd' is defined.
There have been a lot of /. stories about what a nerd really is and what's happening with 'nerd culture.' The biggest flaw I see in all of these articles is this idea that a 'nerd' is a fixed thing. That it's static in some way. But that's not true, it's an abstract idea that is relative to time and culture. A good comparison would be the term 'honorable.' What was honorable to Victorians is much different than what was honorable to Native Americans 500 years ago which is much different than what is honorable today.
buy Macbooks instead of building a computer themselves
I agree with most of what you've said (or at least, I don't really disagree), but who builds their own laptop? Really, 'building' your own computer doesn't have much geek value anyway. It essentially amounts to round peg, round hole. To me, it's more geeky if you're doing it for ideological reasons (avoiding the Microsoft tax/Apple and installing Linux) than if you do it for the hardware's sake. Any moron can buy computer parts and slap them together - I've known plenty. In my book, you get way more geek cred for knowing how to use OS X's terminal and set it up as a server than being able to build a Windows box.
Where I do agree with you is that there probably isn't some huge nerd culture arising. It's probably just non-nerd adults seeing their kids do things like Facebook on their Macbook, play Rock Band, and watch anime and they just think "man, my kid's a nerd - and all his friends are nerds too - must be the new cool thing."
I'm sure being a geek is cool for Silicon Valley kids, but here in the midwest nothing's cooler than football. Videogames seem to be real popular with kids these days, but in my book that doesn't make them 'geeks' in the sense this article is talking about. Playing 8 billion hours of Call of Duty doesn't teach one science. In fact, it doesn't teach anything.
You should be promoted to upper management.
Really, Unity isn't that bad. I just use it the same way I use Spotlight on Mac OS X. If I'm plugged in I use KDE, but I'll use Unity when I'm not because it doesn't suck up battery life like KDE does (the search function works way better in Unity, though).
I think the problem most people have with Unity is that they're trying to use it like the older Gnome desktops - the same paradigm that Windows and older Mac OSes followed. It took me a long time to adjust to using Spotlight rather than automatically clicking on folders, because it was such a drastic change in the way I interacted with my computer. But now that I've adjusted to it, it's increased my productivity (and also decreased the wear and tear on my poor mouse). I'm pretty sure if I hadn't gotten used to Spotlight first, I might really hate Unity b/c it would be too big of an adjustment. Apple was smart to add Spotlight but leave the interface otherwise the same, so the transition was smooth and gradual.
So I don't usually use Unity, but I don't see the reason to hate on it. It's not like a linux install is limited to using a single user interface. If you want it to feel like Windows (without the evil), just install KDE.
My understanding is the publishing protocols thing is with the EU so the U.S. oversight has nothing to do with it.
My favorite thing about my MacBook is also the touchpad. You can get multi-touch support in Ubuntu but it just isn't the same. It will be awesome when Ubuntu can handle the two-finger click and drag. Right now I usually plug in a mouse when I use Ubuntu b/c I can't break the OS X multitouch habits. When OS X is going, I'll often have a mouse plugged in but ignore it.
Dual-booting OS X/Linux is definitely the way to go. OS X for the everyday stuff and Ubuntu for all the geeky (and free) software. I also recommend running both Gnome and KDE (install KDE after the regular Ubuntu install). Gnome for conserving battery, KDE for when you're plugged in and you want a slick interface.
Hell, even the name is close.
You mean the iPaq that came out two years after the iMac?
It would be cool if Motorola, for example, would just sell phones with no operating system. Then you could hook it up to your computer and download an open source operating system for free (like Android). Then it wouldn't be Motorola's problem if Microsoft claims mobile linux platforms infringe on their patents. They'd just have to worry about hardware, where I'm sure Motorola has a diverse enough battlechest of patents to protect themselves.
I have a feeling the telecommunications companies stand in the way of this, but I'd love to see it tried.
While I admit I'm a big fan of Apple products, if you don't like Apple I would recommend the new Razr Motorola is bringing out. They're the one's standing up to Microsoft, after all.
You didn't really answer my question though. Seriously.
Why do you need a NDA to disclose which patents are being violated? They are publicly available...
Because that's not how extortion works.
Sarcasm? I hope so, sometimes it's hard to tell.
You can preach personality responsibility all day long, but that doesn't change the fact that it's bad for society when we just let the vast majority fail. That's why prison populations are growing at outrageous rates. Why unemployment is skyrocketing. Why the United States is in decline.
What you consider 'very little money' is a whole lot to some people. And mentioning post-secondary options for high schoolers is just insulting. I wasn't able to attend post-secondary because I didn't have a car. All the kids who were in post-secondary classes when I was in high school were the ones with parents who could buy their education anyway. Also, a student has to be an above-average performer for post-secondary. How do you expect someone with uneducated parents to perform at that level in high school?
This attitude of, "it's your fault if you don't succeed, society has no business ensuring that you do" is the same attitude that has led to all the problems this country is facing. The college students who spend their time getting drunk and partying aren't the ones who cut their teeth just so they can attend. They're the rich fucks who have all their bills paid by mommy and daddy.
My mother did this in the 70s.
No they're not. I would show you proof but I don't want to post my tax forms and receipts online. The Federal Education Tax Credit covers less than half of one semester at the cheapest community college in my state. That tax credit doesn't even cover book costs for a single semester.
I understand needing a permit if lots of heavy equipment needs to be dragged in and set up - like when they lay track to follow something with the camera - but to prohibit a person from using just video cameras is absurd. Shooting a movie shouldn't be an issue unless it could have an effect on the ecosystem or would require some form of construction.
A lot of times a policy is set up with good intentions but isn't specific enough so it's used as an excuse for something else. This is a good example of that. So is the U.S. Constitution.
Yeah, I thought it was funny, too. But some weirdo modded me interesting. Interesting? WTF?
Your post is philosophically incoherent.
Attacking stuff you don't like isn't vigilantism. By that definition terrorists are vigilantes. Vigilantism is illegally enforcing the law. Like Batman.
While some of the stuff that Anon has done, like this anti-child porn stuff, is vigilantism; other stuff like attacking Sony and Paypal most definitely is not. Since the minority of Anon's actions qualify as vigilantism, I wouldn't label them as a vigilante group. They may be on their way toward becoming one, but at this point I think it's an inaccurate description.
Yeah. Although I have to admit I enjoyed seeing the Anon vs. Scientology conflict, that's not vigilantism. It's more akin to attacking the KKK or some other legitimate organization of nutjobs. Sure, both the KKK and the Church of Scientology have been involved in illegal acts, but they are not illegal organizations. Anonymous has been incorrectly labeled as a vigilante organization in the past, but this act is the first time they've been true vigilantes (to the best of my knowledge).
When will /. have a like/+1 button on posts.
Hopefully never. One of the best things about /. is its willingness to abstain from such silly trends.
There is no God. . . 153,678 people liked this post.
Microsoft is cool. . . 0 people liked this post.
We don't need those buttons, popular opinions on /. are well known to anyone who has visited here more than a couple times.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/11/gop_wins_could_mean_cuts_in_pa.html
I don't think the GOP is really against government, they're just against functional government. If someone brought a bill to congress that proposed slashing all those pointless "Homeland Security" positions that were created post-9/11 the GOP would be quick to oppose (and unfortunately so would most Dems).
Regarding the less pay part: there are perks that government employees get that can make it worth it. Vacation, pension, holidays, job security. Would you rather a high salary job with some tech startup that's the pet project of a couple VCs (and will require many hours) or a government job that pays half as much? I would guess that an unrooted bachelor would be inclined to go with the startup whereas a family man would lean towards the government job. A lot of times if you break it down to dollars per hour the government job will pay as much or more.
I do agree that the GOP's agenda of slashing government pay/benefits can only be detrimental, but I do think the government can get away with paying less provided the benefits balance it out.
Aside from my bafflement that the government leased one of its domains out to monster.com, the thing that stuck me as most odd about this is that the government has a Facebook page. Why?
It's getting to the point where abstaining from Facebook ostracizes one from society. It's like the internet's turning into AOL all over again, but worse.