With the insane saturation advertising they had for the Xbox's Japanese release (the streets were literally lined with Xbox adverts [really!]), I suspect they could have sold quite a few warmed over turds...
[Note that I'm not saying the Xbox is a warmed over turd, just commenting on the advertising!]
... and to top it off, MS are not really based in Seattle, they're based in Redmond/Bellevue, which are mind-numbingly awful places. So close to Seattle, yet so far...
These people don't realize that good design does not involve compromizes. Good design is about presenting the content in such a manner that the appearance enhances the content presentation, not distracts from it.
Eh? As far as I can tell, everything involves compromise.
The point people are trying to make is that most of the `flashy graphics' people hate, don't `present the content in such a manner that the appearance enhances the content presentation'. At best, they look cool, and all too often, they actually obscure the content, and make using the page much harder.
So the other posters you're (rather pompously) dismissing are in fact saying basically the same thing you are.
A really good graphic designer doing web design, will design for the web, not draw pretty pictures and attempt to force-fit them into a web page after the fact. You can call this `compromise' or you can call it `embracing the medium', but either way, it's a lot better than the half-assed gee-whiz-it's-cool approach that most web `designers' seem to use.
People didn't like CD `cartridges' because they were annoying extra add-ons, that you had to stuff the CD into yourself (which was often harder than putting it into the player!). They were expensive enough that you really couldn't dedicate one to each of your CDs, so you had to share them, and screw with them every time you wanted to use a new CD.
Something like the integral shell that MDs use, on the other hand, would be great (if you haven't seen an MD, they basically have a slim shell with a shutter that the drive opens, like 3.5" floppy disks). I suspect this is the kind of thing that the original commenter was thinking of.
Don't moderate me flamebait because you disagree with my opinion.
Indeed. Moderate it as flamebait because, well, it's flamebait.
You'd do better to rebut my argument instead.
Which `arguments' are those? Oh, you mean your vaguely paranoid rantings about how RMS is out to claim credit for all your hard work, and how his sole motivation is a mad desire for personal fame?
That's precisely the kind of crap for which the `flamebait' category is designed.
What I don't want to see is for this to be turned into an argument for full keyboard configurability.
Well... tough.
I like being able to sit down at my friend's computer without having to worry about them having completely different keybindings than I do, and I don't want that to change.
So what, precisely, makes your desires more important that those of the people out there who do configurable key-bindings?
After all, most people use their own browser all the fucking time, but I'll bet you use your your friend's browser much, much less often. Thus we should optimize for the common case, and provide configurable key-bindings.
The only Gameboy that ever had a light was the (B&W) `Gameboy Lite', which as far as I know was never sold outside of Japan. The Gameboy Lite has a switchable backlight that sucks batteries like crazy while it's turned on. I own one, and never use(d) the light, because it's just too annoying to have the batteries keep dying.
It did come in cool case colors (silver & gold) though...
but after a while of buying products with no real use they will stop.
Perhaps so, but unfortunately that `little while' is often long enough for all the alternatives to go out of business. The next generation of consumers won't even have memories of how things might be otherwise.
I personally get along fine using the control key for all right-click-equivalent shortcuts in OS X.
... requiring you to keep your other (non-mouse) hand on the keyboard at all times -- wow, sounds pretty fucking annoying! This is what's usually termed a `workaround', not a `solution'.
Face it. Apple makes cool shit.
Indeed they do. Unfortunately, they make cool shit with too few mouse buttons...
[I understand that, by default, apple wishes to cater to the less, um, capable. But it would be nice if they'd offer an alternative for the rest of us.]
p.s. MS mice traditionally have too few mouse buttons too, but I guess the recent addition of the scroll wheel's fixed this a bit.
Maybe I am, but the fact is that it's a very very long time since RMS needed to work for a living; a fact which is reflected in his patronising attitude to those of us that do.
He's had the same attitude (patronising or not) since the beginning; the money came later.
Notably absent is the first mention of Kibo... just an early post BY him.:)
Well, he's always been his own biggest fan...
Re:Inevitably underwhelming thanks to the hype
on
New iMac Announced
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· Score: 1
My experience with the Mac world is very limited, but all the stories about it I've read on slashdot have given me the impression that these `mac rumor sites' are always completely and utterly wrong in their predictions.
Are they really that awful? Do they sometimes get something right? Do they have a reason for existance?
You're right, but you also have to consider that there's a point at which the misty-eyed nostalgia effect takes over. Maybe the highest multiplier should go to films about 25-30 years old -- too recent to be considered part of the `good old days', but too old to be fashionable.
The issue with the kittens is that the parts of their brain that would be used for that eye get taken up by other functions.
I was born with improper muscular control over one eye, which meant that I never developed binocular vision. The problem was detected when I was still a very young infant, but the doctor said that it was too late -- they could fix the muscle problem, but the period during which my brain would be able to develop the necessary associated brain-bits (sorry for the technical term) was over.
It's more like, oh, say, the pittsburgh press -- boring, a bit lightweight, and sometimes annoyingly conservative, but basically solid.
I'd describe the various Japanese English-language dailies like this:
The Japan Times - The biggest, I'm not sure why. Seems to hire anyone who can write in English, and clearly written by and for expatriates. A typical editorial is something like `We Think Beer is Good.'
The Daily Yomiuri - Like I said above, somewhat boring, but seems more like a real newspaper (presumably because they can borrow resources from their parent newspaper). Occasionally has suspicious articles touting various Yomiuri-connected events.
The Asahi Evening News - Not that bad generally, but occasionally bat-wing loony (like a huge front-page article praising Imelda Marcos to high heaven).
None of them are great, but none of them is horrible. I'd go so far to say that the Daily Yomiuri is the least bad of the bunch.
[Note - I gave up reading any of these about a year ago, so perhaps they've all changed in the meantime.]
This is humorous, since you can just as easily type the name of the directories/files in a windows app's file selection dialog box, just as you would on the commandline. Better yet, autocompletion is available without having to hit TAB all the time!
Perhaps your MSWindows' apps do this, but none of mine seem to -- I can type the names, but it doesn't do any sort of completion, TAB or no.
This is absurd. Perhaps if they are navigating a tree of folders they are intimately familiar with, but I can navigate a tree or set of folders much quicker with a mouse then a CL and autocomplete.
Er, I don't know about you, but most of the time, I am entering familiar filenames in familiar directory hierarchies (do you really spend the majority of your time in unknown territory?).
And, using MSWindows' braindead file selection dialog, it's equally slow, every time.
You're right, of course, but on the other hand, they'll be a lot more connected with their surroundings on one of these things than they would be sitting in a 2-ton upholstered steel cage (aka a car).
My basic take is:
As a replacement for pedestrians -- bad!
As a replacement for cars -- good!
(of course, knowing what lazy sods most people are, I'm not overly optimistic...)
Re:Why can't anyone see the implications of this?
on
This is IT?
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· Score: 1
it's my understanding that Japan has far less crime then America (comparing cities to cities).
That may be true in general, but bike theft is very common in Japan.
I should note that the envisioned uses for this thing strongly resemble the way bikes are used in japan [and bikes can carry luggage]...
Slashdot Mirror
I have a few GNU/GPL friends, but unfortunately I have to share them with everyone.
Does that mean you keep your non-GPL friends locked in a closet?
[ah, well, I guess it's one way of promoting the GPL!]
With the insane saturation advertising they had for the Xbox's Japanese release (the streets were literally lined with Xbox adverts [really!]), I suspect they could have sold quite a few warmed over turds...
[Note that I'm not saying the Xbox is a warmed over turd, just commenting on the advertising!]
... and to top it off, MS are not really based in Seattle, they're based in Redmond/Bellevue, which are mind-numbingly awful places. So close to Seattle, yet so far...
Yeah, but that quote is intended to show that `interesting', or `cool' (style) can sometimes trump `usable' (function).
Windows is a poster child for the sacrifice of style in the name of usability -- who on earth would claim it's either interesting or cool?!?
These people don't realize that good design does not involve compromizes. Good design is about presenting the content in such a manner that the appearance enhances the content presentation, not distracts from it.
Eh? As far as I can tell, everything involves compromise.
The point people are trying to make is that most of the `flashy graphics' people hate, don't `present the content in such a manner that the appearance enhances the content presentation'. At best, they look cool, and all too often, they actually obscure the content, and make using the page much harder.
So the other posters you're (rather pompously) dismissing are in fact saying basically the same thing you are.
A really good graphic designer doing web design, will design for the web, not draw pretty pictures and attempt to force-fit them into a web page after the fact. You can call this `compromise' or you can call it `embracing the medium', but either way, it's a lot better than the half-assed gee-whiz-it's-cool approach that most web `designers' seem to use.
People didn't like CD `cartridges' because they were annoying extra add-ons, that you had to stuff the CD into yourself (which was often harder than putting it into the player!). They were expensive enough that you really couldn't dedicate one to each of your CDs, so you had to share them, and screw with them every time you wanted to use a new CD.
Something like the integral shell that MDs use, on the other hand, would be great (if you haven't seen an MD, they basically have a slim shell with a shutter that the drive opens, like 3.5" floppy disks). I suspect this is the kind of thing that the original commenter was thinking of.
Don't moderate me flamebait because you disagree with my opinion.
Indeed. Moderate it as flamebait because, well, it's flamebait.
You'd do better to rebut my argument instead.
Which `arguments' are those? Oh, you mean your vaguely paranoid rantings about how RMS is out to claim credit for all your hard work, and how his sole motivation is a mad desire for personal fame?
That's precisely the kind of crap for which the `flamebait' category is designed.
What I don't want to see is for this to be turned into an argument for full keyboard configurability.
... tough.
Well
I like being able to sit down at my friend's computer without having to worry about them having completely different keybindings than I do, and I don't want that to change.
So what, precisely, makes your desires more important that those of the people out there who do configurable key-bindings?
After all, most people use their own browser all the fucking time, but I'll bet you use your your friend's browser much, much less often. Thus we should optimize for the common case, and provide configurable key-bindings.
Why is it that every time there is a release announcement, this same lame joke gets modded up?
Well, it may not be a good joke, but it is a standard one. And, as you can read elsewhere in the comments for this story, standards are good!
You will let us know what she says, won't you Taco?
... sure!
Well, with the new slashdot privacy policy in place
My wife made me promise that computers wouldn't be involved in my proposal.
So I guess you had to use your backup plan -- lasers!
The only Gameboy that ever had a light was the (B&W) `Gameboy Lite', which as far as I know was never sold outside of Japan. The Gameboy Lite has a switchable backlight that sucks batteries like crazy while it's turned on. I own one, and never use(d) the light, because it's just too annoying to have the batteries keep dying.
It did come in cool case colors (silver & gold) though...
but after a while of buying products with no real use they will stop.
Perhaps so, but unfortunately that `little while' is often long enough for all the alternatives to go out of business. The next generation of consumers won't even have memories of how things might be otherwise.
The big companies know this, and count on it.
Be afraid.
I personally get along fine using the control key for all right-click-equivalent shortcuts in OS X.
... requiring you to keep your other (non-mouse) hand on the keyboard at all times -- wow, sounds pretty fucking annoying! This is what's usually termed a `workaround', not a `solution'.
Face it. Apple makes cool shit.
Indeed they do. Unfortunately, they make cool shit with too few mouse buttons...
[I understand that, by default, apple wishes to cater to the less, um, capable. But it would be nice if they'd offer an alternative for the rest of us.]
p.s. MS mice traditionally have too few mouse buttons too, but I guess the recent addition of the scroll wheel's fixed this a bit.
Maybe I am, but the fact is that it's a very very long time since RMS needed to work for a living; a fact which is reflected in his patronising attitude to those of us that do.
He's had the same attitude (patronising or not) since the beginning; the money came later.
p.s. I write free software for a living.
Notably absent is the first mention of Kibo... just an early post BY him. :)
Well, he's always been his own biggest fan...
My experience with the Mac world is very limited, but all the stories about it I've read on slashdot have given me the impression that these `mac rumor sites' are always completely and utterly wrong in their predictions.
Are they really that awful? Do they sometimes get something right? Do they have a reason for existance?
You're right, but you also have to consider that there's a point at which the misty-eyed nostalgia effect takes over. Maybe the highest multiplier should go to films about 25-30 years old -- too recent to be considered part of the `good old days', but too old to be fashionable.
The issue with the kittens is that the parts of their brain that would be used for that eye get taken up by other functions.
I was born with improper muscular control over one eye, which meant that I never developed binocular vision. The problem was detected when I was still a very young infant, but the doctor said that it was too late -- they could fix the muscle problem, but the period during which my brain would be able to develop the necessary associated brain-bits (sorry for the technical term) was over.
Sucks, really.
It's more like, oh, say, the pittsburgh press -- boring, a bit lightweight, and sometimes annoyingly conservative, but basically solid.
I'd describe the various Japanese English-language dailies like this:
None of them are great, but none of them is horrible. I'd go so far to say that the Daily Yomiuri is the least bad of the bunch.
[Note - I gave up reading any of these about a year ago, so perhaps they've all changed in the meantime.]
Perhaps your MSWindows' apps do this, but none of mine seem to -- I can type the names, but it doesn't do any sort of completion, TAB or no.
Er, I don't know about you, but most of the time, I am entering familiar filenames in familiar directory hierarchies (do you really spend the majority of your time in unknown territory?).
And, using MSWindows' braindead file selection dialog, it's equally slow, every time.
Yay, GUIs!
Yes... The sort of bus that only Bill Gates could afford to buy!
My basic take is:
(of course, knowing what lazy sods most people are, I'm not overly optimistic...)
That may be true in general, but bike theft is very common in Japan.
I should note that the envisioned uses for this thing strongly resemble the way bikes are used in japan [and bikes can carry luggage]...