You probably don't know this, but back in the early 90s that's exactly how it was in the UK. The only way to buy a Mac was to go to an Apple approved store. You would then place an order for the Mac you wanted... and leave. When the Mac arrived, you'd go back and collect it.
Prices were typically 100% higher than in the USA. People would literally fly to New York to buy a Mac and bring it home, because it was cheaper than buying one in the UK.
As for software prices, don't get me started...
So it sounds like Apple Japan is just working the way it always has, and hasn't opened up yet.
Simple. Once FF works on Android, we can use its superior plugins like AdBlock and NoScript.
That's nice, but Google Chrome has NoScript and CookieSafe built in. The Firefox devs refuse to offer that, so Firefox is always going to have a bloat issue compared to Chrome. The same is likely true in the mobile browser space--I imagine Google are planning to keep the Android browser in step with Chrome.
As well as not working indoors, not working well in cities, and having a huge handset (mostly because of the huge antenna), there is also the issue that the satellites need to have a very low and hence unstable orbit. Hence, they burn up on a regular basis, and need to be replaced regularly. This is enormously expensive.
...and the developer agreement specifically prohibits sending device data to the server. That includes the data necessary to measure whether the user actually interacted with the ad.
i.e. any non-iAd advertising is effectively crippled.
Many of us tried to use OS/2, and found that it wouldn't install because it was much more picky about hardware than Windows. That's probably a big part of why it died.
At the company I was working at, we wanted to switch, but after attempting installs on three machines and having three different kinds of failure, we stuck with Windows.
The Wii does IPv6. Not sure about the PS3.
(I'm ready.)
Re:Buying ARM for a leg?
on
Apple To Buy ARM?
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Other than commercial iPhone Apps, you don't have to buy anything from their store.
That's like saying that other than mainframe software and spares, nobody had to buy anything from IBM. Or that other than gasoline, nobody had to buy anything from Standard Oil.
And anyone can get the developer kit for iPhone and install any app they want.
No, they can't, because the developer kit has conditions on what apps you are allowed to develop and install in the license, which you must explicitly agree to before you can download it.
I don't see you complaining that you can't run some exclusive Xbox game on your PS/3 or Wii.
Then you're not a console gamer. Do a quick Google Search for "GTA IV DLC PS3 2008" and you'll find endless amounts of complaining and flameage over the fact that some GTA IV content was Xbox-exclusive.
Furthermore, you're engaging in the fallacy known as "tu quoque". And believe me, if anyone offered a console that was competitive with the PS3 but completely open, I'd be all over it. It's just that consoles have always been locked down. Phones and portable computers haven't, which is why Apple's attempt to start locking them down pisses people off.
And finally, one must remember that ARM holdings licenses ARM technology to other companies to make their own specialized versions of ARM processors. They don't actually make all the ARM chips going into devices.
And the chip manufacturers license the intellectual property from ARM holdings. If Apple owns ARM holdings and refuses to extend the IP contracts, the chip manufacturers can't make any more ARM chips. And if Apple adds clauses to the contract saying they can only sell to Apple-approved customers, or that chips sold to parties other than Apple require a more expensive license, well...
No, while it may be technically valid, it's no more a good practice than embedding various high-ASCII characters (like #s 179-223) in your filenames. It just makes it extremely difficult for people to retype those things.
Fortunately I have one of those fancy modern keyboards that has both a tab key and double quotation marks.
I was working for a small company at the time, and we wanted to switch to OS/2 for stability when developing software. We tried Warp on three different developer machines, and it wouldn't run well on any of them. On one, the hard disk drivers didn't work; on the second, the network card didn't work; and on the third, the graphics card didn't work. So we gave up and stuck with Windows.
It seemed like IBM wasn't really interested in getting OS/2 working on anything other than IBM hardware.
"We're sick of dealing with corporate interference in our game design, pressure to produce endless sequels, and the online play being ruined. We're going to EA, where that stuff doesn't happen!"
Ah, but the more Apple succeeds in locking down and crippling the iPhone, the less attractive it is to users--and I want the iPhone to fail in the long run, because otherwise Apple will try to lock down OS X the same way, and other vendors will lock down their phones and web pads.
So I want Apple to win, because their ever-tightening grip on the iPhone will strangle it, and help openness to win.
I doubt Adobe are silly enough to cut off their software to Apple users.
They don't have to cut off their software entirely. They can just make their Mac versions half-assed ports of the Windows versions.
Oh, wait, they already did that... Well, they can release them months after the Windows versions.
Oh, wait, they already did that too... Well, they can make them even more half-assed, and maybe kill a few of the smaller apps on the Mac, like Premiere.
Oh, wait, they already did that for a while. Gosh, can't think why Apple isn't more enthusiastic about keeping Adobe happy...
Palm did everything right with WebOS except the marketing.
They failed to make a GSM version of their phones available. That's a bit more than a mere marketing failure. It meant that they limited their customer base to the US only; and worse, to those prepared to use the bottom-ranked (for customer satisfaction) mobile network in the US.
If they'd just sold unlocked GSM Pres from day 1, there's a good chance I'd have considered buying one; but at this stage, the platform is starting to smell funny and has vultures circling overhead.
Funny you should mention NoScript. The daily builds for Chrome just got regexp support in the per-site preferences for JavaScript, cookie and pop-up permissions.
In other words: You can now run with scripting and cookies off, and turn them on for all servers at the specific domains you trust. So CookieSafe and NoScript are built in to Chrome, or will be next time the code from the daily builds makes it into a full release. All it needs is for someone to write the friendly front-end to stick it in a button on the UI now, instead of your having to go to the options.
As someone else already pointed out, AdBlock equivalents are available too.
I suggested to the Firefox devs that this core functionality was needed in Firefox, but they weren't interested. Too busy implementing useless crap like address books. Same story with calling the OS for video rendering; that would have allowed me to play MPEG-4/h.264 video like every other browser. Far too sensible, so they refused to implement it and shoved Ogg Theora into the browser instead.
In addition, I was tired of the bloat, tired of the daily crashes, tired of the refusal to build basic browser functionality into the browser. So I'm one of the people who just ditched Firefox. (I'm really enjoying the Chrome developer tools, which work much better than Firebug ever did.)
Fun fact: holding down the mouse button gave full CPU to the GUI.
Same was true of the X Window System at the time. A fact which was discovered by a developer of hospital life support machine control software. (See comp.risks passim.)
Yeah, hasn't someone started a class action suit yet? I'm in. I've been holding off updating my PS3, so I've been unable to use PSN and several of my games.
The Air was pretty obviously designed to compete with premium-priced ultraportables such as the Sony Vaios.
Except it didn't, because it was as big as a full-size laptop; just thinner.
It was basically a failure to understand what customers want. I say this because I've only ever seen one person using one.
Everybody hoped the Apple tablet was going to be the small portable Mac everyone has been waiting for, that the Air failed to be. It wasn't, so we're all still waiting.
Ultimately, the Air was a piece of fancy industrial design that was priced too high and involved too many compromises, without cutting the things that needed to be cut. Kinda like the G4 cube.
Slashdot Mirror
You probably don't know this, but back in the early 90s that's exactly how it was in the UK. The only way to buy a Mac was to go to an Apple approved store. You would then place an order for the Mac you wanted... and leave. When the Mac arrived, you'd go back and collect it.
Prices were typically 100% higher than in the USA. People would literally fly to New York to buy a Mac and bring it home, because it was cheaper than buying one in the UK.
As for software prices, don't get me started...
So it sounds like Apple Japan is just working the way it always has, and hasn't opened up yet.
Android has a C API. I imagine they ported Gecko via that, and then implemented XUL using Android UI components.
That's nice, but Google Chrome has NoScript and CookieSafe built in. The Firefox devs refuse to offer that, so Firefox is always going to have a bloat issue compared to Chrome. The same is likely true in the mobile browser space--I imagine Google are planning to keep the Android browser in step with Chrome.
As well as not working indoors, not working well in cities, and having a huge handset (mostly because of the huge antenna), there is also the issue that the satellites need to have a very low and hence unstable orbit. Hence, they burn up on a regular basis, and need to be replaced regularly. This is enormously expensive.
Sprint's already launching the EVO 4G, which should outdo the Nexus One.
...and the developer agreement specifically prohibits sending device data to the server. That includes the data necessary to measure whether the user actually interacted with the ad.
i.e. any non-iAd advertising is effectively crippled.
I think you missed his point.
Many of us tried to use OS/2, and found that it wouldn't install because it was much more picky about hardware than Windows. That's probably a big part of why it died.
At the company I was working at, we wanted to switch, but after attempting installs on three machines and having three different kinds of failure, we stuck with Windows.
Free Usenet?
The Wii does IPv6. Not sure about the PS3. (I'm ready.)
That's like saying that other than mainframe software and spares, nobody had to buy anything from IBM. Or that other than gasoline, nobody had to buy anything from Standard Oil.
No, they can't, because the developer kit has conditions on what apps you are allowed to develop and install in the license, which you must explicitly agree to before you can download it.
Then you're not a console gamer. Do a quick Google Search for "GTA IV DLC PS3 2008" and you'll find endless amounts of complaining and flameage over the fact that some GTA IV content was Xbox-exclusive.
Furthermore, you're engaging in the fallacy known as "tu quoque". And believe me, if anyone offered a console that was competitive with the PS3 but completely open, I'd be all over it. It's just that consoles have always been locked down. Phones and portable computers haven't, which is why Apple's attempt to start locking them down pisses people off.
And the chip manufacturers license the intellectual property from ARM holdings. If Apple owns ARM holdings and refuses to extend the IP contracts, the chip manufacturers can't make any more ARM chips. And if Apple adds clauses to the contract saying they can only sell to Apple-approved customers, or that chips sold to parties other than Apple require a more expensive license, well...
Does ksh have Unicode support? I switched to bash to get that.
You load an entire Java VM, and an interpreted language on top of that, just to create a systray notification? Please tell me you're kidding.
Fortunately I have one of those fancy modern keyboards that has both a tab key and double quotation marks.
It wasn't just license cost and marketing.
I was working for a small company at the time, and we wanted to switch to OS/2 for stability when developing software. We tried Warp on three different developer machines, and it wouldn't run well on any of them. On one, the hard disk drivers didn't work; on the second, the network card didn't work; and on the third, the graphics card didn't work. So we gave up and stuck with Windows.
It seemed like IBM wasn't really interested in getting OS/2 working on anything other than IBM hardware.
[Opinions mine, not IBM's.]
"We're sick of dealing with corporate interference in our game design, pressure to produce endless sequels, and the online play being ruined. We're going to EA, where that stuff doesn't happen!"
Ah, but the more Apple succeeds in locking down and crippling the iPhone, the less attractive it is to users--and I want the iPhone to fail in the long run, because otherwise Apple will try to lock down OS X the same way, and other vendors will lock down their phones and web pads.
So I want Apple to win, because their ever-tightening grip on the iPhone will strangle it, and help openness to win.
They don't have to cut off their software entirely. They can just make their Mac versions half-assed ports of the Windows versions.
Oh, wait, they already did that... Well, they can release them months after the Windows versions.
Oh, wait, they already did that too... Well, they can make them even more half-assed, and maybe kill a few of the smaller apps on the Mac, like Premiere.
Oh, wait, they already did that for a while. Gosh, can't think why Apple isn't more enthusiastic about keeping Adobe happy...
They failed to make a GSM version of their phones available. That's a bit more than a mere marketing failure. It meant that they limited their customer base to the US only; and worse, to those prepared to use the bottom-ranked (for customer satisfaction) mobile network in the US.
If they'd just sold unlocked GSM Pres from day 1, there's a good chance I'd have considered buying one; but at this stage, the platform is starting to smell funny and has vultures circling overhead.
Yeah, I'd like to see Google or HTC buy Palm in order to get a patent portfolio capable of fending off Apple...
Yes, but if only there was some open standard protocol he could use to tell Google how often to index which parts of his site, which Google implemented...
proper multi-tasking pre-emptively schedules any kind of process, without it needing to be specially written or compiled to support multi-tasking.
Funny you should mention NoScript. The daily builds for Chrome just got regexp support in the per-site preferences for JavaScript, cookie and pop-up permissions.
In other words: You can now run with scripting and cookies off, and turn them on for all servers at the specific domains you trust. So CookieSafe and NoScript are built in to Chrome, or will be next time the code from the daily builds makes it into a full release. All it needs is for someone to write the friendly front-end to stick it in a button on the UI now, instead of your having to go to the options.
As someone else already pointed out, AdBlock equivalents are available too.
I suggested to the Firefox devs that this core functionality was needed in Firefox, but they weren't interested. Too busy implementing useless crap like address books. Same story with calling the OS for video rendering; that would have allowed me to play MPEG-4/h.264 video like every other browser. Far too sensible, so they refused to implement it and shoved Ogg Theora into the browser instead.
In addition, I was tired of the bloat, tired of the daily crashes, tired of the refusal to build basic browser functionality into the browser. So I'm one of the people who just ditched Firefox. (I'm really enjoying the Chrome developer tools, which work much better than Firebug ever did.)
Same was true of the X Window System at the time. A fact which was discovered by a developer of hospital life support machine control software. (See comp.risks passim.)
Yeah, hasn't someone started a class action suit yet? I'm in. I've been holding off updating my PS3, so I've been unable to use PSN and several of my games.
Except it didn't, because it was as big as a full-size laptop; just thinner.
It was basically a failure to understand what customers want. I say this because I've only ever seen one person using one.
Everybody hoped the Apple tablet was going to be the small portable Mac everyone has been waiting for, that the Air failed to be. It wasn't, so we're all still waiting.
Ultimately, the Air was a piece of fancy industrial design that was priced too high and involved too many compromises, without cutting the things that needed to be cut. Kinda like the G4 cube.