If people were to rise up with torches and pitchforks over every new product that comes with hype, image, and bullshit we'd have a wonderful Luddite society.
Good thing they don't make tiny cameras that are essentially invisible because that would really be an issue, wouldn't it. We'd probably pass all sorts of laws to protect against that kind of invasion of privacy.
I think this calls for a social experiment. Walk down the street with a camcorder (very obvious that you are recording) and see how people react. Walk down the same street, same time of day with a smartphone but act like you are using it for navigation (obfuscating the recording but the smartphone is up at a level that could be recording). See how people react in both cases.
As a person who has done a lot of video work in public locations, it is rare to have someone jump out of the line of sight of the camera. I've never had anyone try to hide when I use a smartphone.
Of course, I could also build a little hidey pocket to record people with the smartphone without them knowing at all. I guess that would be even MORE of an invasion of privacy, right?
Why do you think this device is targeted towards kids? I never got that from how the device is being positioned in the market. I do believe this is a device that will have a 2nd and 3rd generation. Remember, Ipod was out long before Shuffle.
Seeing the difficulties Nokia and Motorola is having with the cellphone market I don't think this is going to be as fantastic as the commentary here has indicated. It is a solid market move for Apple, but if I'm a Sprint person happy with my phone and I already have a video Ipod, what will this do for me? I'm admittedly not a cellphone geek and don't give a flying leap about how thin, colorful, or hip a phone is - I want a phone I can hear and other people can hear me when I talk through it. That is all. I don't need a phone that is a kick ass camera... I have a kick ass camera for that purpose.
Breathe deep and let's actually see these things in action. Let's see how it reacts as your face pushes against the screen, etc.
Halloween is coming. Costumes are made. Comic book heroes are considered. DIY project. God damn you are right, nerds have no need for this type of news.
I think it gets repeated because NASA's failures and stupidity get repeated just as often. It is a counter balance to help point out that NASA isn't always doing crap.
All these 'brains' get scooped up by a few 'giants' spend a few years incubating in those environments and then will leave to explore other options, bringing with them new vibrant ideas and state-of-the-art skills that will invigorate start ups and other stagnating businesses.
Right now just isn't a good environment to begin a start up. People just need to learn the nature of business cycles.
I bought a box of cereal last week and it came with a DVD player. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but honestly at one point in time, I had 4 dvd players of differing quality (my real one, my Playstation, my computer, and I bought a vcr, the cheapest one came with a built in DVD).
So who buys VHS movies now a days? Not I. Unless of course I'm at Walgreens and I see a copy of The Wackiest Ship in the Army on sale for $3.99. I guess it is just habit for some and for others, they see no need to buy a DVD player if they can still buy movies on VHS.
For myself and a dozen million other people, VHS is still the cheapest easiest way to record TV programs. Yeah, yeah, I'm behind the tech curve because I don't TIVO or digitally record tv. I don't get tv via bit torrents and honestly, I just can't bring myself to spend the money or the time learning all of that. VCR. Put in Tape. Hit Record. Done.
A few months ago I got into an elevator and a guy in there had a Kozmo bag. I suddenly got real excited and asked if Kozmo was back in business. He laughed at me and said that the bag was his 'severence package'.
I still think it was an awesome idea. Link Kozmo with Netflix... man, that'd be awesome.
And I have a problem with all these kids drinking all that alcohol. Oh, wait, there are regulations in place to prevent the sell of alcohol to minors. And cigarettes and porn, too. Huh.
Yet young teens are playing Mature rated games. That doesn't sound like the industry's fault anymore than it is Seagram's fault that some teen somewhere is going to get drunk off his ass on their product this weeekend.
Government should set the minimums for society. This won't be the best connection ever, but it will be a connection.
The bar was originally set by libraries offering internet access. Now the government (Chicago) is just raising it slightly indicating that every citizen should have free and clear access.
This won't do anything to dissuade me from giving up my DSL because I like having someone to call and yell out when it isn't working (and all I need to do is reset the modem... but at 6am, I'm not all that rational).
And the cost? Well, that could be the sticky wicket in all of this, but at least I'm not going to shoot the idea out of the sky before I see some numbers.
Would the Commodore name have that value today if it wasn't for all the C-64/Amiga User Groups that kept the legacy alive for all these years? These are the same people that will get sued first, I'm willing to bet.
The national parks out west were first the playgrounds of the rich, those who could take off many weeks from work and lounge about looking at massive mountains and spending time in luxurious lodges.
If it weren't for the promise of these wealthy few, the infrastructure for the park system wouldn't have been built.
Slashdot Mirror
If people were to rise up with torches and pitchforks over every new product that comes with hype, image, and bullshit we'd have a wonderful Luddite society.
Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
Good thing they don't make tiny cameras that are essentially invisible because that would really be an issue, wouldn't it. We'd probably pass all sorts of laws to protect against that kind of invasion of privacy.
I think this calls for a social experiment. Walk down the street with a camcorder (very obvious that you are recording) and see how people react. Walk down the same street, same time of day with a smartphone but act like you are using it for navigation (obfuscating the recording but the smartphone is up at a level that could be recording). See how people react in both cases.
As a person who has done a lot of video work in public locations, it is rare to have someone jump out of the line of sight of the camera. I've never had anyone try to hide when I use a smartphone.
Of course, I could also build a little hidey pocket to record people with the smartphone without them knowing at all. I guess that would be even MORE of an invasion of privacy, right?
I was thinking about going to jail to find people to play D&D with... now I know that it a bad idea.
The issue is... let's see the proximity sensor at work to see if it does what it should.
Why do you think this device is targeted towards kids? I never got that from how the device is being positioned in the market. I do believe this is a device that will have a 2nd and 3rd generation. Remember, Ipod was out long before Shuffle.
Seeing the difficulties Nokia and Motorola is having with the cellphone market I don't think this is going to be as fantastic as the commentary here has indicated. It is a solid market move for Apple, but if I'm a Sprint person happy with my phone and I already have a video Ipod, what will this do for me? I'm admittedly not a cellphone geek and don't give a flying leap about how thin, colorful, or hip a phone is - I want a phone I can hear and other people can hear me when I talk through it. That is all. I don't need a phone that is a kick ass camera... I have a kick ass camera for that purpose.
Breathe deep and let's actually see these things in action. Let's see how it reacts as your face pushes against the screen, etc.
How is this different than the Mvix Wireless HD Media Center (except for the clearly obvious differences, of course and the price) http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/8e50/.
Well, then, why DO you bother with this site?
Let's consider this...
Halloween is coming. Costumes are made. Comic book heroes are considered. DIY project. God damn you are right, nerds have no need for this type of news.
Lighten up.
I think it gets repeated because NASA's failures and stupidity get repeated just as often. It is a counter balance to help point out that NASA isn't always doing crap.
All these 'brains' get scooped up by a few 'giants' spend a few years incubating in those environments and then will leave to explore other options, bringing with them new vibrant ideas and state-of-the-art skills that will invigorate start ups and other stagnating businesses.
Right now just isn't a good environment to begin a start up. People just need to learn the nature of business cycles.
No surprise herre, the 7/9-7/15 issue of The Economist has an article on Reed Hastings and his effort to launch a new service for downloading movies.
BUT you need a TiVO to do that.
I bought a box of cereal last week and it came with a DVD player. Okay, that is an exaggeration, but honestly at one point in time, I had 4 dvd players of differing quality (my real one, my Playstation, my computer, and I bought a vcr, the cheapest one came with a built in DVD).
So who buys VHS movies now a days? Not I. Unless of course I'm at Walgreens and I see a copy of The Wackiest Ship in the Army on sale for $3.99. I guess it is just habit for some and for others, they see no need to buy a DVD player if they can still buy movies on VHS.
For myself and a dozen million other people, VHS is still the cheapest easiest way to record TV programs. Yeah, yeah, I'm behind the tech curve because I don't TIVO or digitally record tv. I don't get tv via bit torrents and honestly, I just can't bring myself to spend the money or the time learning all of that. VCR. Put in Tape. Hit Record. Done.
A few months ago I got into an elevator and a guy in there had a Kozmo bag. I suddenly got real excited and asked if Kozmo was back in business. He laughed at me and said that the bag was his 'severence package'.
I still think it was an awesome idea. Link Kozmo with Netflix... man, that'd be awesome.
And I have a problem with all these kids drinking all that alcohol. Oh, wait, there are regulations in place to prevent the sell of alcohol to minors. And cigarettes and porn, too. Huh.
Yet young teens are playing Mature rated games. That doesn't sound like the industry's fault anymore than it is Seagram's fault that some teen somewhere is going to get drunk off his ass on their product this weeekend.
Government should set the minimums for society. This won't be the best connection ever, but it will be a connection.
The bar was originally set by libraries offering internet access. Now the government (Chicago) is just raising it slightly indicating that every citizen should have free and clear access.
This won't do anything to dissuade me from giving up my DSL because I like having someone to call and yell out when it isn't working (and all I need to do is reset the modem... but at 6am, I'm not all that rational).
And the cost? Well, that could be the sticky wicket in all of this, but at least I'm not going to shoot the idea out of the sky before I see some numbers.
You should have sold out. Only a handful would have blamed you but you would have been able to laugh at them as you lounged on your tropical island.
This could be a real market potential... turning those power supplies into home heating units.
Would the Commodore name have that value today if it wasn't for all the C-64/Amiga User Groups that kept the legacy alive for all these years? These are the same people that will get sued first, I'm willing to bet.
I had the TI first and then a c-64 later. I also used my Uncle's sinclair a lot before getting the TI.
To further illustrate your point:
The national parks out west were first the playgrounds of the rich, those who could take off many weeks from work and lounge about looking at massive mountains and spending time in luxurious lodges.
If it weren't for the promise of these wealthy few, the infrastructure for the park system wouldn't have been built.