I get your point about subscription services still having advertisements. Amazon Prime stuff has started popping ads at the beginning of shows when I watch them, but they're relatively short and not inserted into the middle of the stream so they do not bother me.
I'm not entirely sure SlingTV or Playstation Vue could go ad free though, given their model is just to live stream the actual broadcast channel.
As a resident of West Virginia I find this...completely accurate. Even for those of us physically in the state that just wanted to be left alone it was damn near impossible to get away from the constant screaming.
For me the arguments in comments are the entertaining part of/. anymore. Gives me something to distract myself with while I'm at work.
The usefulness of buttons on the wheel should be maximized in controlling the interface to avoid having to "peck touchscreens or distant buttons with fingers", and multiple types of feedback - visual, tactile, auditory, etc - should reinforce the driver's sense of what actions he's taking in what context.
Microsoft and Ford are already close to this in existing cars with the Sync system. My 2015 Fusion, using the controls on the steering wheel, is actually very intuitive, and the voice control features aren't terribly implemented either. The menu affecting the vehicle itself is front and center in the instrument cluster, and is easy enough to glance at without completely distracting yourself from the road.
They do need to work on the feedback, though. If you're not using the voice controls, there almost isn't any outside of the tactile feel of pressing the button. Overall, what they're talking about here seems to be a good step in the right direction from existing technology.
This. I've actually seen this practice in action. My division is always in the red because we do not directly make money, we build the products, services and tech that another division then sells. So we end up looked down upon as a money sink while they are heralded as the saviors.
A home computer in 1980 could do way more than any cheap piece of plastic one of these printers will ever produce. Those kids would be better off with VIC-20's and Sinclairs, and they would be a lot cheaper.
I have to agree with this one.
My youngest daughter is now in middle school, 7th grade. Her school did not get a Makerbot donated to them, but they did purchase one for the computer lab. I have issue with this, but not because they have a 3D printer. It's because they spend money like this constantly (this isn't the only purchase they've made that I have issue with) and yet they do not even have the proper course materials available for students.
She has a total of one textbook. And it's of the dead tree variety. I don't believe that they need to make the immediate move to digital, though I think it would be beneficial. I have issue with the fact that they just do not have textbooks for all but one of her classes. So if she is having issues with the material that her teacher feels the need to send home with her, there is nothing for her to turn to for assistance.
Thankfully her mother and I are capable of helping her, but what about the students that don't have the family resources available to them for help? We also help tutor one of my daughter's friends, as her parents are either not capable or not willing to make themselves available to do so, but we cannot take on every student that needs help. We do not have that kind of time.
For students in her age range, this is nothing more than a toy. And a waste of money.
But don't the Windows Phone models sold on Verizon have that Data Sense or whatever it is which pretty much does......exactly this to compress data usage?
I could have a defective unit, which would not surprise me. It works reliably enough I haven't struck it with any blunt objects yet. They really are minor issues mostly.
Or that, yeah. That was the next thought I had right after I posted, that I would be the unlucky recipient of some worthless mutation, like webbed toes or something. And not even the good kind of webbing, like spider webbing between them.
I have a 2nd gen Apple TV (which is only 720p) but I believe the 3rd gen does support 1080p.
Only reason I bought one is ease of use. Wife and youngest daughter both have iPhones, and we have an iPad 2. Oldest daughter and I are both running Android phones (mine being an S3 and hers being some cheap LG thing that her grandparents bought for her out of the blue without consult). But both my wife and youngest daughter can pick up either of their phones, or the iPad, and quickly and easily do what they need/want to, both being too easily frustrated to really play with anything too complicated (in their mind).
The Apple products do play very well together. The lack of external storage did bother me at first, but having a NAS store the family iTunes library, with an el cheapo laptop running iTunes pointed at the NAS, and everything is accessible from the Apple TV. Entire ripped DVD library, all the music we've bought, and pictures through Photo Stream don't even need iTunes to be running.
I may not be one of Apple's biggest fans, but the ability to work within the ecosystem is quite nice. And the ability to stream an interesting video I may be watching on the iPad to the TV with a couple touches is a very nice feature.
There are drawbacks, such as the remote app on the phones and iPad randomly decide that I no longer have an Apple TV. And the Apple TV itself needs reset more often than I care for, even to get it to connect to Netflix to watch a movie. The slender little Apple remote is also a big piece of junk too, being on my 3rd one and the menu button is already flaky.
All in all, I would just as soon replace it all, but that would be a costly endeavor at this point. And it would need to work as seemlessly. And, no, I do not own any consoles.
If I had the spare cash, I would buy this in a heartbeat. My favorite console system to date.
My wife would probably think I had completely lost my mind, but it would give me the opportunity to introduce my kids to a portion of my childhood that they probably don't care about, but damn it, that is part of my job as a parent, to annoy my children with annoying amounts of nostalgia!
What if I want a 4-core system, but the motherboard I want is only sold with more expensive 6-core CPUs? Or, vice-versa?
This is the part that concerns me the most. I'm picky when it comes to what CPU and motherboard I put together in my systems. What if their list of available combinations does not meet the specifications I actually need in my system? At the same time eliminating the ability to pick and choose which of each I want in my system?
It's not the conditions in which this occurred that needs to be taken into account. Your same example of a Trans Am driving out of a lake, would you expect to be able to get out of said Trans Am?
Now what if that Trans Am burst into flames, simply because it got wet? Now do you expect to be able to get out of it? Yes, this one scenario, with no one in the cars, is going to be a "you're screwed" moment for any vehicle. I'm not talking about this one scenario, I'm thinking about all the scenarios where a vehicle could end up even partially submerged in water. Flash flood? Get hit while crossing a bridge that doesn't rise that far over a waterway? Sure, you might survive the car being swamped, but would you then survive the resulting fire?
Was it just sea water that would cause the ignition into flames? Would fresh water have the same effect, despite not being as corrosive? Was it even the submersion that caused the fire, or was it something else? This raises concerns outside of this single scenario.
There's a huge difference between expecting to perform like a submarine and ending up in a situation that you may have little to no control over. I have been in situations with deep water that I certainly did not go looking for.
I can't argue with a single point you are making here. And I do agree, Apple has had to do a lot of research to build such consumer (not geek/nerd, consumer) friendly devices. I have an iPhone 4 currently, and an iPad, and they are friendly to the majority of the populace that just wants to pick up a device, play a simple game here and there, maybe watch some videos on Youtube or something. They are good for consumption of media, which is all most people care about.
My issue was with this getting such attention. I'm not suggesting they should ignore Microsoft, but what purpose does any of this really serve being splattered all over the internet the way it is? A simple search brings up so many results of everyone linking to/repeating this same story. There may even be more results for that than there are about the actual release of Windows 8.
And his review is hardly unbiased. As I said before, how exactly is a Microsoft competitor having issues with their newest designs news worthy?
In the interest of full disclosure, I have actually been debating about picking up one of the new WP8 devices for my next phone purchase. I'm not that interested in the iPhone 5, and otherwise I'll end up back on Android if nothing else. I don't dislike Apple, I just don't get why it's such a big deal that competitors complain about each other.
I am currently an iPhone user, but never bought into the whole "Apple can do no wrong" aspect of things. It was a functional device that allowed me to do what I wanted with it.
But I'm not going to buy an iPhone 5 when my upgrade comes around in November. I was honestly considering a Lumia, but not if all I'm going to be given the option of (being on Verizon) some lower end model. If they do pick up the 920, then I may seriously consider giving it a purchase.
Otherwise, I'll end up with an S3. I'm not married to any particular type of phone (had the original Moto Droid, with no real complaints) but I do tend to dislike when companies do things that just don't seem to make sense from a consumer standpoint. I am aware they don't want Google anything on their phones anymore, for obvious reasons, but I don't like anything done at the cost of experience. Being petty and spiteful really does not serve others well.
My co-workers now think I'm going crazy with random bouts of laughter. Totally worth it though, I've had pretty much that same vision for quite some time.
Slashdot Mirror
I get your point about subscription services still having advertisements. Amazon Prime stuff has started popping ads at the beginning of shows when I watch them, but they're relatively short and not inserted into the middle of the stream so they do not bother me.
I'm not entirely sure SlingTV or Playstation Vue could go ad free though, given their model is just to live stream the actual broadcast channel.
As a resident of West Virginia I find this...completely accurate. Even for those of us physically in the state that just wanted to be left alone it was damn near impossible to get away from the constant screaming.
For me the arguments in comments are the entertaining part of /. anymore. Gives me something to distract myself with while I'm at work.
The usefulness of buttons on the wheel should be maximized in controlling the interface to avoid having to "peck touchscreens or distant buttons with fingers", and multiple types of feedback - visual, tactile, auditory, etc - should reinforce the driver's sense of what actions he's taking in what context.
Microsoft and Ford are already close to this in existing cars with the Sync system. My 2015 Fusion, using the controls on the steering wheel, is actually very intuitive, and the voice control features aren't terribly implemented either. The menu affecting the vehicle itself is front and center in the instrument cluster, and is easy enough to glance at without completely distracting yourself from the road.
They do need to work on the feedback, though. If you're not using the voice controls, there almost isn't any outside of the tactile feel of pressing the button. Overall, what they're talking about here seems to be a good step in the right direction from existing technology.
Fucker Only Runs Downhill
This. I've actually seen this practice in action. My division is always in the red because we do not directly make money, we build the products, services and tech that another division then sells. So we end up looked down upon as a money sink while they are heralded as the saviors.
A home computer in 1980 could do way more than any cheap piece of plastic one of these printers will ever produce. Those kids would be better off with VIC-20's and Sinclairs, and they would be a lot cheaper.
I have to agree with this one.
My youngest daughter is now in middle school, 7th grade. Her school did not get a Makerbot donated to them, but they did purchase one for the computer lab. I have issue with this, but not because they have a 3D printer. It's because they spend money like this constantly (this isn't the only purchase they've made that I have issue with) and yet they do not even have the proper course materials available for students.
She has a total of one textbook. And it's of the dead tree variety. I don't believe that they need to make the immediate move to digital, though I think it would be beneficial. I have issue with the fact that they just do not have textbooks for all but one of her classes. So if she is having issues with the material that her teacher feels the need to send home with her, there is nothing for her to turn to for assistance.
Thankfully her mother and I are capable of helping her, but what about the students that don't have the family resources available to them for help? We also help tutor one of my daughter's friends, as her parents are either not capable or not willing to make themselves available to do so, but we cannot take on every student that needs help. We do not have that kind of time.
For students in her age range, this is nothing more than a toy. And a waste of money.
Now that I would listen to. "JL clone parodies the hits!"
Having your brain smashed out by a slice of lemon wrapped around a large, gold brick.....that does sound appealing most days.
But don't the Windows Phone models sold on Verizon have that Data Sense or whatever it is which pretty much does......exactly this to compress data usage?
I could have a defective unit, which would not surprise me. It works reliably enough I haven't struck it with any blunt objects yet. They really are minor issues mostly.
Or that, yeah. That was the next thought I had right after I posted, that I would be the unlucky recipient of some worthless mutation, like webbed toes or something. And not even the good kind of webbing, like spider webbing between them.
I have a 2nd gen Apple TV (which is only 720p) but I believe the 3rd gen does support 1080p.
Only reason I bought one is ease of use. Wife and youngest daughter both have iPhones, and we have an iPad 2. Oldest daughter and I are both running Android phones (mine being an S3 and hers being some cheap LG thing that her grandparents bought for her out of the blue without consult). But both my wife and youngest daughter can pick up either of their phones, or the iPad, and quickly and easily do what they need/want to, both being too easily frustrated to really play with anything too complicated (in their mind).
The Apple products do play very well together. The lack of external storage did bother me at first, but having a NAS store the family iTunes library, with an el cheapo laptop running iTunes pointed at the NAS, and everything is accessible from the Apple TV. Entire ripped DVD library, all the music we've bought, and pictures through Photo Stream don't even need iTunes to be running.
I may not be one of Apple's biggest fans, but the ability to work within the ecosystem is quite nice. And the ability to stream an interesting video I may be watching on the iPad to the TV with a couple touches is a very nice feature.
There are drawbacks, such as the remote app on the phones and iPad randomly decide that I no longer have an Apple TV. And the Apple TV itself needs reset more often than I care for, even to get it to connect to Netflix to watch a movie. The slender little Apple remote is also a big piece of junk too, being on my 3rd one and the menu button is already flaky.
All in all, I would just as soon replace it all, but that would be a costly endeavor at this point. And it would need to work as seemlessly. And, no, I do not own any consoles.
If the possibility of becoming a mutant existed 20 years ago, I probably would have given a military career more thought.
Or a cyborg. Either way, yeah, I'm willing to bet a lot more of us would have considered it.
If I had the spare cash, I would buy this in a heartbeat. My favorite console system to date.
My wife would probably think I had completely lost my mind, but it would give me the opportunity to introduce my kids to a portion of my childhood that they probably don't care about, but damn it, that is part of my job as a parent, to annoy my children with annoying amounts of nostalgia!
This was the first thought I had. How long before they can no longer claim to offer "unlimited" data?
What if I want a 4-core system, but the motherboard I want is only sold with more expensive 6-core CPUs? Or, vice-versa?
This is the part that concerns me the most. I'm picky when it comes to what CPU and motherboard I put together in my systems. What if their list of available combinations does not meet the specifications I actually need in my system? At the same time eliminating the ability to pick and choose which of each I want in my system?
I had the exact issue with my original Motorola Droid. Wife didn't. I'm thinking some of it was just defects. The OS was incredibly stable though.
I do have an S3 now, and have had no issues with it to date. Not a single lock up. YMMV
It's not the conditions in which this occurred that needs to be taken into account. Your same example of a Trans Am driving out of a lake, would you expect to be able to get out of said Trans Am?
Now what if that Trans Am burst into flames, simply because it got wet? Now do you expect to be able to get out of it? Yes, this one scenario, with no one in the cars, is going to be a "you're screwed" moment for any vehicle. I'm not talking about this one scenario, I'm thinking about all the scenarios where a vehicle could end up even partially submerged in water. Flash flood? Get hit while crossing a bridge that doesn't rise that far over a waterway? Sure, you might survive the car being swamped, but would you then survive the resulting fire?
Was it just sea water that would cause the ignition into flames? Would fresh water have the same effect, despite not being as corrosive? Was it even the submersion that caused the fire, or was it something else? This raises concerns outside of this single scenario.
There's a huge difference between expecting to perform like a submarine and ending up in a situation that you may have little to no control over. I have been in situations with deep water that I certainly did not go looking for.
I can't argue with a single point you are making here. And I do agree, Apple has had to do a lot of research to build such consumer (not geek/nerd, consumer) friendly devices. I have an iPhone 4 currently, and an iPad, and they are friendly to the majority of the populace that just wants to pick up a device, play a simple game here and there, maybe watch some videos on Youtube or something. They are good for consumption of media, which is all most people care about.
My issue was with this getting such attention. I'm not suggesting they should ignore Microsoft, but what purpose does any of this really serve being splattered all over the internet the way it is? A simple search brings up so many results of everyone linking to/repeating this same story. There may even be more results for that than there are about the actual release of Windows 8.
And his review is hardly unbiased. As I said before, how exactly is a Microsoft competitor having issues with their newest designs news worthy?
In the interest of full disclosure, I have actually been debating about picking up one of the new WP8 devices for my next phone purchase. I'm not that interested in the iPhone 5, and otherwise I'll end up back on Android if nothing else. I don't dislike Apple, I just don't get why it's such a big deal that competitors complain about each other.
My thought exactly.
Competitor bashes Microsoft product. Film at 11.
What exactly is news worthy about this?
I am currently an iPhone user, but never bought into the whole "Apple can do no wrong" aspect of things. It was a functional device that allowed me to do what I wanted with it.
But I'm not going to buy an iPhone 5 when my upgrade comes around in November. I was honestly considering a Lumia, but not if all I'm going to be given the option of (being on Verizon) some lower end model. If they do pick up the 920, then I may seriously consider giving it a purchase.
Otherwise, I'll end up with an S3. I'm not married to any particular type of phone (had the original Moto Droid, with no real complaints) but I do tend to dislike when companies do things that just don't seem to make sense from a consumer standpoint. I am aware they don't want Google anything on their phones anymore, for obvious reasons, but I don't like anything done at the cost of experience. Being petty and spiteful really does not serve others well.
My co-workers now think I'm going crazy with random bouts of laughter. Totally worth it though, I've had pretty much that same vision for quite some time.
Woodsford Reserve is definitely some very tasty bourbon. Never go wrong with that.
Now I have "feel it, feel it!" on repeat in my brain. Thanks for that.