You're misinterpreting my point. I don't believe Apple should simply cater to the whims of a single user.
I do believe that every customer's opinion counts, and Apple ought to believe this as well. The problem is, they have consistently followed their own path and been perplexed when some customers dare to suggest that one size doesn't fit all. Apple makes great products. They just can't see that some users (often large groups of users) really do know what they want, and won't be satisfied just because Apple tells them how great the product is.
Apple has a long history of pooh-poohing the needs of its users, developers, and retailers. If you don't see this, I can't help you.
Read Andy Hertzfeld's anecdote What's a Megaflop? if you want to see how out of touch The Steve was with his customers' needs in 1984 - and in many ways still is today.
>> The point is that Apple, once again, believes they know what their customers want and need better then the customers do.
> That's very presumptuous on your behalf.
Not really, it's a pattern of behavior I've observed through my 15 years as an Apple customer.
> How do you know what Apple customers want? Are you one?
See above. I only know what I myself want, and that Apple seems to think it's irrelevant.
> Are you in the majority? Does the majority matter?
Oh, I have all kinds of niche products I'd like to buy from Apple. The problem is that Apple typically gives you no choice, it's their way or the highway.
> Let the market decide, not your own opinion.
My own opinion is not irrelevant. It is a part of the market - you know, that "demand" you always hear about in "supply and demand"?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling a company what you would like to buy from them, even while you're buying something else they sell.
> Why do they sell so damned well lately if the customers don't want what Apple is offering?
I'm not saying people don't want what they sell; I'm saying they could sell more if they'd listen to what people ask for!
The point is that Apple, once again, believes they know what their customers want and need better then the customers do.
Despite the droves of 12" PowerBook owners telling Apple how nice it is to have so much power and flexibility in a small package, and pleading for a 12" MacBook Pro, Apple gave us the underwhelming MacBook Air instead.
Despite the huge buzz of speculation that Apple would come out with an eMate-size sub-notebook to compete with the little Vaios and Zauruses etc., Apple gave us the oversized MacBook Air instead.
It's the same old story - the Reality Distortion Field(TM) only works inside Apple's walls. When it tries to spread outward it gets smacked down by Real Reality(TM).
It all depends on who you trust to keep the information.
Even though you don't usually answer your cell phone, the service provider can tell where you are pretty much any time they want. Possibly even when your phone is turned 'off.'
Do you trust your mobile company not to help track you down on a Saturday, or not to set you up and murder you?
and if I ever see that in PRODUCTION code, I'd fire you.
this isn't school, kiddies; in the real world you write code to be UNDERSTOOD and not 'figured out' via quizzes and challenges to show how much c-manual you swallowed.
Just out of curiosity, what would be a clear, understandable, and maintainable way of declaring a function in C that takes a pointer to a void function(int) as an argument, and returns a pointer to a function(void) that returns a pointer to an array[SIZE] of chars..?
Well, for one thing, 'print' is a verb instead of a noun. Also '+' is often used as shorthand for 'and' in English, so it's probably semantically clearer and more intuitive.
Now, if anyone can tell me why C's indirection operator is the same as 'multiply', and its address operator is the same as bitwise AND?
I always thought it would make more sense to use '$' = 'value of' and '@' = 'address of' for these.
Typically when someone says "the Internet treats censorship as damage, and routes around it," the standard reply is "but what if the censorship is in the router"?
Slashdot Mirror
You're misinterpreting my point. I don't believe Apple should simply cater to the whims of a single user.
I do believe that every customer's opinion counts, and Apple ought to believe this as well. The problem is, they have consistently followed their own path and been perplexed when some customers dare to suggest that one size doesn't fit all. Apple makes great products. They just can't see that some users (often large groups of users) really do know what they want, and won't be satisfied just because Apple tells them how great the product is.
Apple has a long history of pooh-poohing the needs of its users, developers, and retailers. If you don't see this, I can't help you.
Read Andy Hertzfeld's anecdote What's a Megaflop? if you want to see how out of touch The Steve was with his customers' needs in 1984 - and in many ways still is today.
> You, as a single individual, ARE irrelevant. I am irrelevant in this case too.
Nice. You should work in Apple's Customer Service department....
>> The point is that Apple, once again, believes they know what their customers want and need better then the customers do.
> That's very presumptuous on your behalf.
Not really, it's a pattern of behavior I've observed through my 15 years as an Apple customer.
> How do you know what Apple customers want? Are you one?
See above. I only know what I myself want, and that Apple seems to think it's irrelevant.
> Are you in the majority? Does the majority matter?
Oh, I have all kinds of niche products I'd like to buy from Apple. The problem is that Apple typically gives you no choice, it's their way or the highway.
> Let the market decide, not your own opinion.
My own opinion is not irrelevant. It is a part of the market - you know, that "demand" you always hear about in "supply and demand"?
There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling a company what you would like to buy from them, even while you're buying something else they sell.
> Why do they sell so damned well lately if the customers don't want what Apple is offering?
I'm not saying people don't want what they sell; I'm saying they could sell more if they'd listen to what people ask for!
Which part of evolution do you think hasn't been observed or demonstrated?
Is it mutation? Natural selection? Sexual selection? Speciation in the lab and in the wild?
Typically we see this claim made about "macroevolution," as if it's a sum-greater-than-its-parts kind of thing. It isn't.
The point is that Apple, once again, believes they know what their customers want and need better then the customers do.
Despite the droves of 12" PowerBook owners telling Apple how nice it is to have so much power and flexibility in a small package, and pleading for a 12" MacBook Pro, Apple gave us the underwhelming MacBook Air instead.
Despite the huge buzz of speculation that Apple would come out with an eMate-size sub-notebook to compete with the little Vaios and Zauruses etc., Apple gave us the oversized MacBook Air instead.
It's the same old story - the Reality Distortion Field(TM) only works inside Apple's walls. When it tries to spread outward it gets smacked down by Real Reality(TM).
> What will they say about Slashdot? All I can think of is that the first page of the guest book at the way will be full of "FRIST PO$T!!1!"
They'll probably say "NETCRAFT CONFIRMS IT."
It all depends on who you trust to keep the information.
Even though you don't usually answer your cell phone, the service provider can tell where you are pretty much any time they want. Possibly even when your phone is turned 'off.'
Do you trust your mobile company not to help track you down on a Saturday, or not to set you up and murder you?
Do they see any concentric circles emanating from a glowing red dot?
Typically concentric circles are followed by at least a row of little human figures.
You missed the obvious conclusion:
In order to interpret the results, these researchers must know which signs indicate sexual interest in females!
For the life of me, I can't figure out why they titled it "ZERO WING" instead of the obvious "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!" :)
> Didja know, for example, spit contains water, mucus, antibacterial compounds, enzymes, and electrolytes?
Of course! It's got what plants crave!
'Course you don't get bloody wafers with it!!!
It's a bleedin' seabird, innit? It's bleedin' seabird flavour!
Actually methane is odorless.
Are you suggesting it's servers all the way down..?
I would call it an 'arty-joke,' but it has no heart.
[pun threshhold met]
What pun is that? :-/
Just out of curiosity, what would be a clear, understandable, and maintainable way of declaring a function in C that takes a pointer to a void function(int) as an argument, and returns a pointer to a function(void) that returns a pointer to an array[SIZE] of chars..?
Well, for one thing, 'print' is a verb instead of a noun. Also '+' is often used as shorthand for 'and' in English, so it's probably semantically clearer and more intuitive.
Now, if anyone can tell me why C's indirection operator is the same as 'multiply', and its address operator is the same as bitwise AND?
I always thought it would make more sense to use '$' = 'value of' and '@' = 'address of' for these.
Sorry, that was meant to be a joke!
Typically when someone says "the Internet treats censorship as damage, and routes around it," the standard reply is "but what if the censorship is in the router"?
But what if the entanglement is in the router...?
> In the meantime, couldn't a rotating space station be constructed so as that there is some simulated gravity environment on board?
There's a very interesting exploration of that very topic here (Google cache version):
http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3u.html
> Well, you must have. She claims she is famous now and won't take my calls.
:)
Gov. Spitzer, is that you??
> It ended up being just like every other night but it costs me an extra $125 to goto sleep because I was in a hotel room.
;)
Hey, quit complaining. Just imagine what it would have cost to take her into space for a little privacy!
> Anyways, did you get the part?
Ask your hotel girl.
Yeah, I was alone, so what? I was rehearsing for an audition. ;)
I'm not concerned whether YOU enjoyed it... it's all about you you you, isn't it?
Personally, I enjoy people being able to hear me scream at the Holiday Inn. :)