As I went got devices with larger more pleasant to use screens, I found I was using the web more and more. I switched to the leaked version of Froyo a month back and the availability of Flash video cranked up my usage another notch.
Flash on my Droid just isn't worth it. It seems to be too slow--though maybe if I overclocked the device, it would be a little better.
I think the Droid was a huge step up from the iPhone 3GS in that 3G data service is constant now, and the screen resolution & high pixel density was a joy compared to the 3GS.
Excellent points. I actually use my Droid as a GPS now when travelling--something I never did on my iPhone due to poor signal and no free turn-by-turn directions.
With the Droid, my phone became my primary web browsing device, and that's continued now with the Droid X.
My primary web browsing device is my netbook--though if I didn't have it, I would likely use my Droid more regularly at home. Even still, the predominance of wifi at most places where I would use my phone in this capacity would still keep my 3G usage low.
Nerd rage? There is a world of difference between putting out a new product with fewer features than the older one and removing features from a product I've already purchased through the use of firmware updates.
They are probably referring to this, in section 512:
`(i) CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY- `(1) ACCOMMODATION OF TECHNOLOGY- The limitations on liability established by this section shall apply to a service provider only if the service provider-- `(A) has adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network who are repeat infringers; and `(B) accommodates and does not interfere with standard technical measures.
Interesting. My usage actually went down going from an iPhone 3G to a Droid. I think it's because once the shiny wore off from getting a smartphone, my real usage patterns emerged. Frankly, I think the Droid is barely a step up from the 3G.
I'd be going to a Fascinate or an Incredible, but frankly, I think my preference would be to keep my unlimited data and my Droid, but if they breach the contract, I'm going to take advantage of it--just like I'm sure they'd charge me a few hundred if I decided to cancel under normal circumstances.
You can pretty easily look at your current usage and see how much you will use. My billing cycle ends in a week,and I've used 99MB. It's probably worth it to me to just get the 200MB plan when it comes out.
Of course, if they change my contract, I'll get a new phone while I'm at it.
For the data point, my wife and I loved Blockbuster Online at first. She got older movies from the online service, and I'd get newer ones in-store (our closest blockbuster had a terrible selection of films older than 10 years.) It worked out pretty well for a while. Then Blockbuster started raising prices and cutting services, while Netflix was adding services. So we switched, and have been really happy since.
Early on, the Blockbuster thing was a really good deal. We lived down the block from a Blockbuster store, so we picked up one of the cheaper plans. Got a DVD in the mail, watched it, exchanged it at the B&M store. Allegedly, once they scan it, it's considered returned and Blockbuster would ship the next DVD the next day. Effectively, you were getting twice the number of DVDs as the plan stated.
Then they upped the price a bit.
Then they limited the number of exchanges you could make in a month.
Then they upped the price again.
I was watching Netflix through all of this. They increased their price $1 at one point. Then they dropped it down by $1 around the same time that Blockbuster raised theirs. That was when we switched. The reasons to stay with Blockbuster were dwindling, whereas Netflix had just gotten streaming.
Later on, I heard that the stores hated the in-store exchange, because it cannibalized their discs. We never rented from Blockbuster before, so we weren't exactly costing them money by getting the discs free--however the discs weren't available for paying customers to rent. I think that model was an interesting idea in theory, but in practice, each Blockbuster Online customer was doubly harming the B&M stores--by not renting (due to getting it online) and by taking their discs.
Don't forget their end of latefees-- which ended up the king of late fees. Apparently, if you kept the DVD, no late fees occurred, because they just charged your credit card for the purchase of the movie.
Which only occurred after you didn't return it for a week! Did you think they were just going to let you keep the movie forever?
I think you're misremembering this bit.
Blockbuster charged you a $1.25 restocking fee after 7 days. It wasn't the traditional late fee, which was based upon the number of days you were late, but no reasonable person is going to believe that that $1.25 isn't, in reality, a late fee.
They charged you the full price of the movie after 30 days--way more reasonable than 7, but still a nasty surprise for some people.
Unless this changed since I worked there, this is out and out wrong. The rain check was for a FREE copy of that title on your next visit.
You are correct. The GP has his head up his behind, or just has a hate-on for Blockbuster.
When MP3s first came out, there wasn't a great way to distribute them. Lots and lots of people didn't have Internet access in their homes, and so the majority of people who had Internet access were poor students on fast networks conducive to file sharing. There weren't portable MP3 players, either, so practically the only use for the things was playing them on your computer. Storage was fairly limited, too. I think I had a 400MB drive when I first started seeing MP3s, and that was pretty average. MP3s were sitting at around 3MB at the time--each one was nearly 1% of my total drive capacity (certainly 1% of my available capacity once the OS and applications were installed.) That computer struggled to play the MP3s I had.
A forward-thinking CEO might have noted this and predicted devices like the iPod. I doubt it, though. This was before the tech bubble, and while a lot of stuff was already being made in China, we didn't have the vast glut of cheap electronics that we did even 5 years later.
I consider netbooks to be a subset of notebooks. There's really a fairly fine distinction between them. Frankly, a 13" notebook is just fine for me for portability. It's would also be nice to avoid dealing with the Atom processors--they're fine for a lot of things, but my computer really bogs down occasionally. I tried doing some work with Postgresql on my Mini10, and it was flat out unusable. Tried on a full-fledged laptop (with the same drive) and it was fine.
My perfect machine would have a Core2Duo or i5, plenty of RAM, and probably a 11"-13" screen. A decent graphics card would be nice. Right now, the Alienware m11x seems to fit the bill, though its' so gaudy that I'm having a hard time actually plonking down the money for it (and I'm in the middle of an upgrade cycle anyway, so I'd need to sell off my old notebook to justify it.)
That said, I do have an iPad, and I do enjoy it. I prefer it to my netbook for reading books, it's less to carry around, and gets about 25% more battery life than my Mini-10. The screen is slightly larger, too, and the difference between the two is really the cutoff point for certain types of reading (comic books, for example.) Lastly, scrolling on the iPad is a dream compared to a notebook. It's hard to describe, but the touch interface just feels like I have more control over speed, direction, and precision. The best way to experience the difference, imo, is to take a high-resolution photograph and pan around it on both devices.
However, I recognize that the iPad is pretty much non-essential. I could do everything I need to and want to with my Mini-10. It's just that the iPad does a few of those things better.
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that.
I was answering the question posed. And we are talking about replacement, as in "Should a college student buy an iPad or a laptop" (paraphrasing of an earlier post.)
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't.
I wasn't. If you think I was, you might want to check for sand in your nether regions--you're being oversensitive.
How do you get them onto the iPad? Do you have to have a computer in order to do that?
Can you watch them on the TV? An App must specifically authorize use of the VGA-out dongle.
All this while still being cheaper then a laptop and having better battery life.
Better battery life? Probably. Cheaper? Not so much. The cheapest iPad is $500. I can go to my local Best Buy and get a laptop for less than that. I haven't seen US prices for Android tablets yet, but if they're similar to the prices we've been seeing for other countries, they won't be cheaper than the iPad.
Also most have 3G connectivity so there is no need to be stuck near a hotspot while working.
Most what have 3G? Tablets? iPads?
Most iPads don't have 3G. And it costs $130 more than the model you're getting in order to get 3G.
Most Android tablets are being announced with 3G, but there are no details yet whether or not they will require a contract. If they require a contract, that's about $30/mo you can expect to have to pay in addition to the cost of the device.
There's functionality and there's ease of use. Let's discuss this.
What functionality does a regular laptop have that an iPad+Keyboard doesnt?
For one, a mouse. Sure, you can tap, but that's clumsy if you need to reach, or if you are trying to remote into a computer.
For another, multitasking. I'm not just talking about the iPad doing two things at once, I'm talking about the user being able to do two things at once. With a notebook, I can easily arrange my screen so that I have a reference (such as a webpage) while I'm typing something out. With modal applications, that's just not possible. I have to switch back and forth. Even with iOS 4.2, I doubt switching will be as easy as with a real computer. Is there even a keyboard shortcut for iOS4 to enable multitasking?
The iPad is good for a lot of things, but I think it will be a long while before it's a complete laptop replacement for a the majority.
Bravo! I applaud this. Too many individuals on Slashdot post comments with such conviction, yet they know nothing about the topic at hand. Too many uneducated rationalizations.
Ostensibly, the reason is that you are handling dangerous chemicals that could explode. The real reason is to keep jobs. But yes, there are states where the law is that individuals may not pump their own gas from public gas stations (you could own your own gas pump, though.)
I tend to think that I scan faster than the checker, but I don't know if that's because I'm actively doing the scanning instead of passively waiting for them to finish. I certainly feel like it takes forever waiting for the people in front of me to finish checking out.
This is what APIs are for. A geolocation API which allows for manufacturers to provide for the back-end (or just use Google's back-end) solves this problem, and this is a very well-understood pattern. It's how device drivers work on every platform.
Slashdot Mirror
I was angry that my cookbook took 7 chapters to get to chicken florentine. What good is that!?
As I went got devices with larger more pleasant to use screens, I found I was using the web more and more. I switched to the leaked version of Froyo a month back and the availability of Flash video cranked up my usage another notch.
Flash on my Droid just isn't worth it. It seems to be too slow--though maybe if I overclocked the device, it would be a little better.
I think the Droid was a huge step up from the iPhone 3GS in that 3G data service is constant now, and the screen resolution & high pixel density was a joy compared to the 3GS.
Excellent points. I actually use my Droid as a GPS now when travelling--something I never did on my iPhone due to poor signal and no free turn-by-turn directions.
With the Droid, my phone became my primary web browsing device, and that's continued now with the Droid X.
My primary web browsing device is my netbook--though if I didn't have it, I would likely use my Droid more regularly at home. Even still, the predominance of wifi at most places where I would use my phone in this capacity would still keep my 3G usage low.
Nerd rage? There is a world of difference between putting out a new product with fewer features than the older one and removing features from a product I've already purchased through the use of firmware updates.
They are probably referring to this, in section 512:
`(i) CONDITIONS FOR ELIGIBILITY-
`(1) ACCOMMODATION OF TECHNOLOGY- The limitations on liability established by this section shall apply to a service provider only if the service provider--
`(A) has adopted and reasonably implemented, and informs subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network of, a policy that provides for the termination in appropriate circumstances of subscribers and account holders of the service provider's system or network who are repeat infringers; and
`(B) accommodates and does not interfere with standard technical measures.
Interesting. My usage actually went down going from an iPhone 3G to a Droid. I think it's because once the shiny wore off from getting a smartphone, my real usage patterns emerged. Frankly, I think the Droid is barely a step up from the 3G.
I'd be going to a Fascinate or an Incredible, but frankly, I think my preference would be to keep my unlimited data and my Droid, but if they breach the contract, I'm going to take advantage of it--just like I'm sure they'd charge me a few hundred if I decided to cancel under normal circumstances.
You can pretty easily look at your current usage and see how much you will use. My billing cycle ends in a week,and I've used 99MB. It's probably worth it to me to just get the 200MB plan when it comes out.
Of course, if they change my contract, I'll get a new phone while I'm at it.
For the data point, my wife and I loved Blockbuster Online at first. She got older movies from the online service, and I'd get newer ones in-store (our closest blockbuster had a terrible selection of films older than 10 years.) It worked out pretty well for a while. Then Blockbuster started raising prices and cutting services, while Netflix was adding services. So we switched, and have been really happy since.
Early on, the Blockbuster thing was a really good deal. We lived down the block from a Blockbuster store, so we picked up one of the cheaper plans. Got a DVD in the mail, watched it, exchanged it at the B&M store. Allegedly, once they scan it, it's considered returned and Blockbuster would ship the next DVD the next day. Effectively, you were getting twice the number of DVDs as the plan stated.
Then they upped the price a bit.
Then they limited the number of exchanges you could make in a month.
Then they upped the price again.
I was watching Netflix through all of this. They increased their price $1 at one point. Then they dropped it down by $1 around the same time that Blockbuster raised theirs. That was when we switched. The reasons to stay with Blockbuster were dwindling, whereas Netflix had just gotten streaming.
Later on, I heard that the stores hated the in-store exchange, because it cannibalized their discs. We never rented from Blockbuster before, so we weren't exactly costing them money by getting the discs free--however the discs weren't available for paying customers to rent. I think that model was an interesting idea in theory, but in practice, each Blockbuster Online customer was doubly harming the B&M stores--by not renting (due to getting it online) and by taking their discs.
Don't forget their end of latefees-- which ended up the king of late fees. Apparently, if you kept the DVD, no late fees occurred, because they just charged your credit card for the purchase of the movie.
Which only occurred after you didn't return it for a week! Did you think they were just going to let you keep the movie forever?
I think you're misremembering this bit.
Blockbuster charged you a $1.25 restocking fee after 7 days. It wasn't the traditional late fee, which was based upon the number of days you were late, but no reasonable person is going to believe that that $1.25 isn't, in reality, a late fee.
They charged you the full price of the movie after 30 days--way more reasonable than 7, but still a nasty surprise for some people.
Unless this changed since I worked there, this is out and out wrong. The rain check was for a FREE copy of that title on your next visit.
You are correct. The GP has his head up his behind, or just has a hate-on for Blockbuster.
When MP3s first came out, there wasn't a great way to distribute them. Lots and lots of people didn't have Internet access in their homes, and so the majority of people who had Internet access were poor students on fast networks conducive to file sharing. There weren't portable MP3 players, either, so practically the only use for the things was playing them on your computer. Storage was fairly limited, too. I think I had a 400MB drive when I first started seeing MP3s, and that was pretty average. MP3s were sitting at around 3MB at the time--each one was nearly 1% of my total drive capacity (certainly 1% of my available capacity once the OS and applications were installed.) That computer struggled to play the MP3s I had.
A forward-thinking CEO might have noted this and predicted devices like the iPod. I doubt it, though. This was before the tech bubble, and while a lot of stuff was already being made in China, we didn't have the vast glut of cheap electronics that we did even 5 years later.
Of course it is. The analogy was quite apt. I'm not sure why he got so much shit for making it.
I consider netbooks to be a subset of notebooks. There's really a fairly fine distinction between them. Frankly, a 13" notebook is just fine for me for portability. It's would also be nice to avoid dealing with the Atom processors--they're fine for a lot of things, but my computer really bogs down occasionally. I tried doing some work with Postgresql on my Mini10, and it was flat out unusable. Tried on a full-fledged laptop (with the same drive) and it was fine.
My perfect machine would have a Core2Duo or i5, plenty of RAM, and probably a 11"-13" screen. A decent graphics card would be nice. Right now, the Alienware m11x seems to fit the bill, though its' so gaudy that I'm having a hard time actually plonking down the money for it (and I'm in the middle of an upgrade cycle anyway, so I'd need to sell off my old notebook to justify it.)
That said, I do have an iPad, and I do enjoy it. I prefer it to my netbook for reading books, it's less to carry around, and gets about 25% more battery life than my Mini-10. The screen is slightly larger, too, and the difference between the two is really the cutoff point for certain types of reading (comic books, for example.) Lastly, scrolling on the iPad is a dream compared to a notebook. It's hard to describe, but the touch interface just feels like I have more control over speed, direction, and precision. The best way to experience the difference, imo, is to take a high-resolution photograph and pan around it on both devices.
However, I recognize that the iPad is pretty much non-essential. I could do everything I need to and want to with my Mini-10. It's just that the iPad does a few of those things better.
The iPad is designed as a peripheral to a computer. 'tis obvious it lacks the mass storage, big screen, rapid input, etc. of a full-blown computer - it's not supposed to, so stop harping on that.
I was answering the question posed. And we are talking about replacement, as in "Should a college student buy an iPad or a laptop" (paraphrasing of an earlier post.)
Stop bashing the iPad for not being what it isn't.
I wasn't. If you think I was, you might want to check for sand in your nether regions--you're being oversensitive.
iPad can already watch videos downloaded from TPB
How do you get them onto the iPad? Do you have to have a computer in order to do that?
Can you watch them on the TV? An App must specifically authorize use of the VGA-out dongle.
All this while still being cheaper then a laptop and having better battery life.
Better battery life? Probably. Cheaper? Not so much. The cheapest iPad is $500. I can go to my local Best Buy and get a laptop for less than that. I haven't seen US prices for Android tablets yet, but if they're similar to the prices we've been seeing for other countries, they won't be cheaper than the iPad.
Also most have 3G connectivity so there is no need to be stuck near a hotspot while working.
Most what have 3G? Tablets? iPads?
Most iPads don't have 3G. And it costs $130 more than the model you're getting in order to get 3G.
Most Android tablets are being announced with 3G, but there are no details yet whether or not they will require a contract. If they require a contract, that's about $30/mo you can expect to have to pay in addition to the cost of the device.
There's functionality and there's ease of use. Let's discuss this.
What functionality does a regular laptop have that an iPad+Keyboard doesnt?
For one, a mouse. Sure, you can tap, but that's clumsy if you need to reach, or if you are trying to remote into a computer.
For another, multitasking. I'm not just talking about the iPad doing two things at once, I'm talking about the user being able to do two things at once. With a notebook, I can easily arrange my screen so that I have a reference (such as a webpage) while I'm typing something out. With modal applications, that's just not possible. I have to switch back and forth. Even with iOS 4.2, I doubt switching will be as easy as with a real computer. Is there even a keyboard shortcut for iOS4 to enable multitasking?
The iPad is good for a lot of things, but I think it will be a long while before it's a complete laptop replacement for a the majority.
Bravo! I applaud this. Too many individuals on Slashdot post comments with such conviction, yet they know nothing about the topic at hand. Too many uneducated rationalizations.
Well, that's your opinion.
Ostensibly, the reason is that you are handling dangerous chemicals that could explode. The real reason is to keep jobs. But yes, there are states where the law is that individuals may not pump their own gas from public gas stations (you could own your own gas pump, though.)
I tend to think that I scan faster than the checker, but I don't know if that's because I'm actively doing the scanning instead of passively waiting for them to finish. I certainly feel like it takes forever waiting for the people in front of me to finish checking out.
What about people who went to the site, didn't realize it was a joke, and won't be back?
This is what APIs are for. A geolocation API which allows for manufacturers to provide for the back-end (or just use Google's back-end) solves this problem, and this is a very well-understood pattern. It's how device drivers work on every platform.
The definition we are using was in a post by Space cowboy about 6 up from this one.
"If you believe in openness, if you believe in choice, if you believe in innovation from everyone, then welcome to Android"
You can innovate away your ability to be called an Android device.
That'd be a pretty good analogy if Ford claimed to be selling open cars.
Heck, my netbook didn't slow to a crawl. The animation was slow, but the rest of the machine was fine.
Apparently. I'm used to bashing Microsoft that way, not Google.
Obviously s/Microsoft/Google/ in that post.