We know the iPhone isn't an open platform, already. The only people who think it's open are in denial.
Hell, Windows Mobile is more open than the iPhone, let alone poor doomed Palm... who have maintained a compatible open API longer than anyone in the handheld business but Nokia. Maybe.
I don't know about Nokia, I haven't paid attention to their handheld platform because the cheapest phone that runs their smartphone OS is out of my price range, and Nokia doesn't have a fanboy contingent on Slashdot to push it in everyone's face all the time. Can you still run Symbian-or-whatever-it's-called-this-week apps from 1998 on a Nokia phone today?
The jury's still out on Android. By making the API Java-only they are giving the carriers the option of locking Android phones. Which is why it's attracting more interest from the carriers than OpenMoko.
OpenMoko? Where's that at now?
When Microsoft's got one of the more open smartphone platforms, and the most open one is committing suicide, something's messed up in the phone market (in the US, anyway).
Oh, yeh, the carriers. Right...
Anyway, the iPhone isn't an open platform. Don't let yourself into thinking otherwise.
Quick photos (for example, showing your friends a funny wine label without having to find a digital camera, sync it, and then resize the giant 5-8MP image to send via the web).
This is what I would mostly like to use it for, but it's a pain in the butt BECAUSE the camera is tied into the laptop in such a daft location. At least 75% of the time my laptop is closed because I'm using an external monitor (an *apple* monitor, even!) and the rest of the time what I want to scan something it's too big. So I end up having to find a digital camera anyway.
So instead I use the camera in my phone. Which isn't nearly as nice.
If Microsoft has to pay people a rebate for computers they buy where they didn't want to buy Windows with it, I should be able to take my laptop in to a Genius bar, get the worthless camera removed or disabled, and get a rebate for an external camera.
I'd really like an external iSight, but they don't sell those any more.
Someone has to have bought a pair of Nikes to get the device, so why is it a problem? If I don't happen to like the Nike shoes, why shouldn't I be able to buy a pair and pull out the device? If they include an RFID tag or equivalent to tie the sensor to the shoes, then I guess I could just rip the tag out as well. Maybe it'll become "cool" to have the eviscerated skeleton of a "Nike+" shoe attached to your Reeboks.
The criticism from self-identified Apple "fanboys" in the comments on TFA are interesting, perhaps this will put a crack in the reality distortion field.
If there are any non-derogatory comments like "I'd wish they open source my old programs so I could show them to potential employers as proof of my work."
That's not what I suggested, by the way.
while not derogatory could be seen as damaging to their careers as a potential employer might not hire them because they would be afraid the person would open source their programs he/she writes for them
I don't think that likely. I typically provide potential employers with copies of my open source work when i interview, and even where they have a very strong policy on open source - one that requires jumping through hoops before even using FOSS in internal projects, regardless of the license, I haven't had any indication that this has biased them against me. It hasn't kept me from being hired.
And, as an aside, I don't see why you'd think liberals would be more likely than libertarians to make derogatory comments. My own experience is that people who self-identify as libertarians tend to be more outspoken about all manner of things.:)
Apple is the largest supplier of DRM media via the iTunes store.
Bigger than Blockbuster? I doubt very much that there's been more albums sold through the iTunes store than there's been DVDs shipped.
Microsoft is one of many vendors who has been strongarmed into supporting playback of DRM files.
Microsoft has aggressively marketed DRM. Windows is the only OS with kernel level support for strong DRM - Apple's DRM in itunes is practically "honor system" level... your DVD player has stronger DRM than that. Apple has actively opposed DRM ("we do not believe it is possible to protect digital content" -- Steve Jobs, the Rolling Stone interview, 2002), the iTunes store is the first major outlet to convince a label (EMI) to ship unprotected digital media.
Yes, I believe that Microsoft execs much prefer developing DRM to snorting blow off hookers. They actually believe this shit works.
I for one would prefer to not have a camera on my Macbook and to have the iSight as a separate product. the only time I've used he actual camera I've actually picked the whole laptop up and waved it at the object I was needed to take a picture of.
Do many people really use the cameras in their Macbooks and iMacs? It seems like a supremely useless (and narcissistic) design to have a camera that you can only use part of the time and only to take a picture of yourself.
Scrub your online profiles of all party pictures and comments about former employers.
I assume you mean "derogatory comments", as opposed to professional comments (you know, talking about cool software development tools they used that you wish they'd open source so you could keep using them in your new job) and other material that isn't likely to get you into trouble.
Why would you put derogatory comments about former employers on your blog/profile/...?
Doesn't that seem like a career limiting move?
I'm amazed at the detail some people go into on sites like the Daily WTF, even.
You're saying that Apple has shipped more copies of iTunes than Microsoft has shipped copies of Windows XP and Vista (or Windows Media Player 9 for earlier versions of Windows)? That Apple has shipped more copies of iTunes than all DVD players combined (worldwide!)?
Well, no, actually, I think you're pretty far off base with that one.
If i buy an apple, how do i get rid of the OSX/Apple tax?
Don't buy a Mac.
Unless you really need an 8 core bedroom heater, or unless you're hooked on brushed aluminum in some particular shape, you can find a Wintendo that's functionally superior to pretty much any Macintosh, and 20-40% cheaper.
The only reasons to buy a Mac instead of a Wintendo are (a) you want OS X, or (b) you've got more money than you know what to do with and you're buying it for the style.
If you bought a Mac, and you're complaining about the price because you don't want OS X, put your analyst on danger money.
The Microsoft tax isn't that big a deal, at least not in the Thinkpad price range. Were their Linux-based laptops any cheaper? I know some other companies that offer Linux don't offer any discount for it.
A bigger concern is whether they're providing driver support for Linux installation or not.
while someone else is trying to crack the encryption protecting your bank records.
What, with a couple of percent of each file? And not "bytes 300 to 1900", but a couple of percent of a polynomial function describing all the bytes in the file.
Touchscreen phones are a niche market for the very good reason that touchscreens have traditionally been a very poor interface for phones. Most of the phones that support touch input still have a keyboard of some sort, with the touchscreen as a secondary interface for PDA functions, and my experience with a T-Mobile windows-powered phone is typical. None of the rest of my family was even willing to use it after one trial, because you simply can't use a touch screen as easily as a regular phone for the principle purpose of a phone... placing phone calls.
My daughter is amazing... she not only dials, she texts on her phone (standard 12-key pad with T9 prediction) one-handed without even looking at the screen except to check the message before hitting send.
OK, sorry, "believed" is too strong. And I certainly agree the closing sentence of the quote is a stronger statement than is justified by the evidence.
Again, maybe I'm wrong, but I'd be interested in a followup study that explored the question.
Me too. I'd also like to see how the color of the subject's avatar effected things.
I'd also like to see them do the same thing in Second Life, using human, alien, animal, robot, and abstract avatars.
In other words, we cannot address whether it was (a) the mere presence of the requesting avatar's dark skin that led to reduced DITF compliance, or (b) that participants instead made an attribution about the kind of user that would choose to have dark skin. We find the former explanation to be more likely given the nuances of the present findings. For one, avatar skin tone did not influence compliance in the control condition, yet presumably it would have done so if it triggered an attributional bias against a user who would choose an unusual skin tone. Moreover, because neither the light nor dark skin tone represented any of the three default skin tones in There.com, both would be seen as unusual choices. Importantly however, whether the DITF skin tone bias reflects either an automatic racial bias unfortunately imported from the real world or a thoughtful bias against users who would choose an unusually dark (but not unusually light) skin tone, both explanations undoubtedly have racist implications. -- EastickGardnerOnline.pdf
So, you believe "13-year-old griefers" have poisoned the well against the specific combination of "black, unreasonable request". I don't know how far I'd go along with that, but it's superficially at least as convincing as their conclusion.
I haven't noticed big black guys being particularly common in Second Life griefers. In Second Life those kinds of people tend to present as extremely distorted avatars (giant belly, skinny limbs, huge nose, random patterns all over their body), GI-Joe types, or extreme non-human avatars like "Mister Hankey" from South Park. Possibly There.COM doesn't give the 13YOG enough room for their natural urges?
I've looked at K-Meleon, but it had a ways to go before I'd call it "a decent browser".
But why not accept that the Web is not a native app, and neither needs nor should have native widgets?
I'm not talking about the web user interface (the HTML document itself) at all, though I do admit that having standard widgets inside the HTML frame that supported most of the features of native widgets (such as services and contextual menus on the Mac) was an early advantage of Camino for me... on Windows that's less of an issue since Firefox has always mimicked the behavior of Windows controls best. No, I'm talking about the application user interface outside the HTML document (navigation bar, shortcut bar, tabs, status bar, etc...). Having the application interface itself implemented in HTML, XML, and Javascript means that it's far more complex, less reliable, and less secure.
This is not a theoretical objection, either. This is a matter of hard experience with Firefox on both Windows and the Mac, and actual vulnerabilities exposed in interfaces like XPI.
To test Vista versus XP performance, we built what we think is a fairly middle-of-the-road rig--an Intel Q6600 quad core with 2GB of memory and a GeForce 8800 GTS videocard.
I don't know who thinks this is "middle of the road", but I sure don't.
an iPod blow up on you because of a failed iTunes update that destroys your entire library
Haven't had that happen, but I've had my system disk fail and take my whole iTunes library with it.
Thank god for backups? No, thank yourself for backups, God had nothing to do with it.
Anyway, I think the point is that Apple doesn't go out of its way to annoy customers, though they're beginning to copy some of Microsoft's annoying behaviors (like unnecessary popup dialogs (to make up for broken application security), and copy-protected operating systems (though only on the iPhone family so far)). They haven't followed Microsoft down the strong DRM path and into the Redmond-Seattle Fire Swamp of Windows Genuine Advantage yet, at least...
Slashdot Mirror
But why does Nike care? They sold you the dongle, they got your money, why should they care what you do with it?
Did they port the security holes like Google Update as well?
Or maybe... can they document the Google Update security model?
We know the iPhone isn't an open platform, already. The only people who think it's open are in denial.
Hell, Windows Mobile is more open than the iPhone, let alone poor doomed Palm... who have maintained a compatible open API longer than anyone in the handheld business but Nokia. Maybe.
I don't know about Nokia, I haven't paid attention to their handheld platform because the cheapest phone that runs their smartphone OS is out of my price range, and Nokia doesn't have a fanboy contingent on Slashdot to push it in everyone's face all the time. Can you still run Symbian-or-whatever-it's-called-this-week apps from 1998 on a Nokia phone today?
The jury's still out on Android. By making the API Java-only they are giving the carriers the option of locking Android phones. Which is why it's attracting more interest from the carriers than OpenMoko.
OpenMoko? Where's that at now?
When Microsoft's got one of the more open smartphone platforms, and the most open one is committing suicide, something's messed up in the phone market (in the US, anyway).
Oh, yeh, the carriers. Right...
Anyway, the iPhone isn't an open platform. Don't let yourself into thinking otherwise.
Quick photos (for example, showing your friends a funny wine label without having to find a digital camera, sync it, and then resize the giant 5-8MP image to send via the web).
This is what I would mostly like to use it for, but it's a pain in the butt BECAUSE the camera is tied into the laptop in such a daft location. At least 75% of the time my laptop is closed because I'm using an external monitor (an *apple* monitor, even!) and the rest of the time what I want to scan something it's too big. So I end up having to find a digital camera anyway.
So instead I use the camera in my phone. Which isn't nearly as nice.
If Microsoft has to pay people a rebate for computers they buy where they didn't want to buy Windows with it, I should be able to take my laptop in to a Genius bar, get the worthless camera removed or disabled, and get a rebate for an external camera.
I'd really like an external iSight, but they don't sell those any more.
Someone has to have bought a pair of Nikes to get the device, so why is it a problem? If I don't happen to like the Nike shoes, why shouldn't I be able to buy a pair and pull out the device? If they include an RFID tag or equivalent to tie the sensor to the shoes, then I guess I could just rip the tag out as well. Maybe it'll become "cool" to have the eviscerated skeleton of a "Nike+" shoe attached to your Reeboks.
The criticism from self-identified Apple "fanboys" in the comments on TFA are interesting, perhaps this will put a crack in the reality distortion field.
Sounds to me like you're an agnostic, not an atheist.
If there are any non-derogatory comments like "I'd wish they open source my old programs so I could show them to potential employers as proof of my work."
That's not what I suggested, by the way.
while not derogatory could be seen as damaging to their careers as a potential employer might not hire them because they would be afraid the person would open source their programs he/she writes for them
I don't think that likely. I typically provide potential employers with copies of my open source work when i interview, and even where they have a very strong policy on open source - one that requires jumping through hoops before even using FOSS in internal projects, regardless of the license, I haven't had any indication that this has biased them against me. It hasn't kept me from being hired.
And, as an aside, I don't see why you'd think liberals would be more likely than libertarians to make derogatory comments. My own experience is that people who self-identify as libertarians tend to be more outspoken about all manner of things. :)
Apple is the largest supplier of DRM media via the iTunes store.
Bigger than Blockbuster? I doubt very much that there's been more albums sold through the iTunes store than there's been DVDs shipped.
Microsoft is one of many vendors who has been strongarmed into supporting playback of DRM files.
Microsoft has aggressively marketed DRM. Windows is the only OS with kernel level support for strong DRM - Apple's DRM in itunes is practically "honor system" level... your DVD player has stronger DRM than that. Apple has actively opposed DRM ("we do not believe it is possible to protect digital content" -- Steve Jobs, the Rolling Stone interview, 2002), the iTunes store is the first major outlet to convince a label (EMI) to ship unprotected digital media.
Yes, I believe that Microsoft execs much prefer developing DRM to snorting blow off hookers. They actually believe this shit works.
I for one would prefer to not have a camera on my Macbook and to have the iSight as a separate product. the only time I've used he actual camera I've actually picked the whole laptop up and waved it at the object I was needed to take a picture of.
Do many people really use the cameras in their Macbooks and iMacs? It seems like a supremely useless (and narcissistic) design to have a camera that you can only use part of the time and only to take a picture of yourself.
Scrub your online profiles of all party pictures and comments about former employers.
I assume you mean "derogatory comments", as opposed to professional comments (you know, talking about cool software development tools they used that you wish they'd open source so you could keep using them in your new job) and other material that isn't likely to get you into trouble.
Why would you put derogatory comments about former employers on your blog/profile/...?
Doesn't that seem like a career limiting move?
I'm amazed at the detail some people go into on sites like the Daily WTF, even.
Oddly enough, there is another person with the same first and last name as me, who's about 10 years older and living in the other side of the US.
My Internet alter-ego lives in San Francisco and does "exotic photography". Pretty racy stuff.
Haven't had an employer ask about a sitting yet. Pity.
Is the largest pusher of DRM technology
You're saying that Apple has shipped more copies of iTunes than Microsoft has shipped copies of Windows XP and Vista (or Windows Media Player 9 for earlier versions of Windows)? That Apple has shipped more copies of iTunes than all DVD players combined (worldwide!)?
Well, no, actually, I think you're pretty far off base with that one.
If Lenovo was selling enough units with Linux to make any difference to Microsoft's bottom line you can bloody well bet they'd have kept the option.
If i buy an apple, how do i get rid of the OSX/Apple tax?
Don't buy a Mac.
Unless you really need an 8 core bedroom heater, or unless you're hooked on brushed aluminum in some particular shape, you can find a Wintendo that's functionally superior to pretty much any Macintosh, and 20-40% cheaper.
The only reasons to buy a Mac instead of a Wintendo are (a) you want OS X, or (b) you've got more money than you know what to do with and you're buying it for the style.
If you bought a Mac, and you're complaining about the price because you don't want OS X, put your analyst on danger money.
Oh, nice catch.
The Microsoft tax isn't that big a deal, at least not in the Thinkpad price range. Were their Linux-based laptops any cheaper? I know some other companies that offer Linux don't offer any discount for it.
A bigger concern is whether they're providing driver support for Linux installation or not.
while someone else is trying to crack the encryption protecting your bank records.
What, with a couple of percent of each file? And not "bytes 300 to 1900", but a couple of percent of a polynomial function describing all the bytes in the file.
Touchscreen phones are a niche market for the very good reason that touchscreens have traditionally been a very poor interface for phones. Most of the phones that support touch input still have a keyboard of some sort, with the touchscreen as a secondary interface for PDA functions, and my experience with a T-Mobile windows-powered phone is typical. None of the rest of my family was even willing to use it after one trial, because you simply can't use a touch screen as easily as a regular phone for the principle purpose of a phone... placing phone calls.
My daughter is amazing... she not only dials, she texts on her phone (standard 12-key pad with T9 prediction) one-handed without even looking at the screen except to check the message before hitting send.
OK, sorry, "believed" is too strong. And I certainly agree the closing sentence of the quote is a stronger statement than is justified by the evidence.
Again, maybe I'm wrong, but I'd be interested in a followup study that explored the question.
Me too. I'd also like to see how the color of the subject's avatar effected things.
I'd also like to see them do the same thing in Second Life, using human, alien, animal, robot, and abstract avatars.
So, you believe "13-year-old griefers" have poisoned the well against the specific combination of "black, unreasonable request". I don't know how far I'd go along with that, but it's superficially at least as convincing as their conclusion.
I haven't noticed big black guys being particularly common in Second Life griefers. In Second Life those kinds of people tend to present as extremely distorted avatars (giant belly, skinny limbs, huge nose, random patterns all over their body), GI-Joe types, or extreme non-human avatars like "Mister Hankey" from South Park. Possibly There.COM doesn't give the 13YOG enough room for their natural urges?
I've looked at K-Meleon, but it had a ways to go before I'd call it "a decent browser".
But why not accept that the Web is not a native app, and neither needs nor should have native widgets?
I'm not talking about the web user interface (the HTML document itself) at all, though I do admit that having standard widgets inside the HTML frame that supported most of the features of native widgets (such as services and contextual menus on the Mac) was an early advantage of Camino for me... on Windows that's less of an issue since Firefox has always mimicked the behavior of Windows controls best. No, I'm talking about the application user interface outside the HTML document (navigation bar, shortcut bar, tabs, status bar, etc...). Having the application interface itself implemented in HTML, XML, and Javascript means that it's far more complex, less reliable, and less secure.
This is not a theoretical objection, either. This is a matter of hard experience with Firefox on both Windows and the Mac, and actual vulnerabilities exposed in interfaces like XPI.
It would be interesting to see the correlation with the skin tone of the subject's avatars, at least.
To test Vista versus XP performance, we built what we think is a fairly middle-of-the-road rig--an Intel Q6600 quad core with 2GB of memory and a GeForce 8800 GTS videocard.
I don't know who thinks this is "middle of the road", but I sure don't.
an iPod blow up on you because of a failed iTunes update that destroys your entire library
Haven't had that happen, but I've had my system disk fail and take my whole iTunes library with it.
Thank god for backups? No, thank yourself for backups, God had nothing to do with it.
Anyway, I think the point is that Apple doesn't go out of its way to annoy customers, though they're beginning to copy some of Microsoft's annoying behaviors (like unnecessary popup dialogs (to make up for broken application security), and copy-protected operating systems (though only on the iPhone family so far)). They haven't followed Microsoft down the strong DRM path and into the Redmond-Seattle Fire Swamp of Windows Genuine Advantage yet, at least...
*snort*
But for a few minutes distraction, I'd have beaten you with my cat-girl reference. :)