How is a user supposed to trust a patch being issued by a company that is known to release vulnerable software in the first place?
Yes, it's not a reasonable standpoint for a user to have, but it's still valid!
Take this example: My system works. Apple releases Quicktime 6.3, iMovie 3.0.3, iSync 1.1, and Bluetooth 1.2.1 today. You expect me to update all of them?
Why? Just because? Because there are new features? Because they fix bugs? Because they improve performance? Just because Apple decided to release them?
But the difference is that I do trust Apple. Having used their OS and system for 2 years, now, I have found that Apple updates don't introduce more problems, do increase functionality, performance, and reliability, so I *will* update just because.
However, there *are* pieces of software I haven't updated. I haven't updated my base station software, yet, because it works and I don't want to restart it. I haven't updated my iPod software, again for the same. I haven't updated my IE because I don't use it, and have deleted it.
But I *don't* trust Microsoft. I've been using them for 10 years, and I won't update until there's feedback on whether there are new instabilities, problems, crashes, etc.
That... and did I mention I don't trust Microsoft?
But if you don't pay the Dixie Chicks *now*, how do you expect to get paid *later*?
And what happens if you sign up with someone, and then they get carried by iTunes Music Store... what would your attitude be if I said, "Why should I be paying for Tha_Mink when I can borrow it for free?"
And as for archiving.. history and science shows us that nothing can defeat entropy, the increase in disorder and noise. The only hope is to make as many copies as possible and vainly wish that one copy somewhere, somehow, survives for later generations.
Think stone tablets, manuscripts, tomes, books. How many of those exist in which only a single copy has managed to survive?
Well, it sounds like you agree with me that your job is going away:)
A $10 an hour admin is only possible if the software is powerful enough to allow it, else you're just going to be hiring more admins to make up the difference, right?
It sounds like you're going to be running headfirst into two different trends, then:
The upgrade cycle is gonna plateau, but it'll still be fairly rapid because PCs are going to become commodities, like radios or boom boxes; at some point in the near future, you'll have an integrated PC for $150 that does 90% of what a PC does today at 200% of the performance, and rather than 'squeezing' them at the end of their 4 year lifecycle, they'll just be upgraded because the $150 amortized over four years is less than $40 a year... when a decent admin is gonna be costing something like $30 an hour.
Now, counter this trend is the simplification of software, as evinced by OS X; it will simultaneously make *your* job easier, while also making it easier to get rid of your job altogether; your niche, as it were.
So you have cheap, commodity, integrated hardware that requires little admin because they are so simple and locked down, and you have enormously powerful and easy to use software that requires little administration by design, IE, Apple has decided to live in your niche, while Microsoft has decided to try to 'obsolete' your niche by changing the hardware life cycle (XBox, anyone?).
Embedding a hard drive means you can make certain design decisions: Smaller packaging, less connectors, less silicon, certain shapes and configurations, and manufacturing decisions.
The issue is also utility... The idea that Moore's law might make the object in question obsolete by the time you get around to upgrading the capcity, or that if not obsolete, upgrading the capcity makes less sense than getting a new device with new features and new capabilities.
We aren't talking general purpose computing, we're talking fixed MP digicameras, with fixed recording modes and features.
Of course, with good software, the features aren't fixed; look at the iPod, which has gained, over it's lifetime, the ability to synch calendars, notes, gained an equalizer, sound normalization, and a remote control.
In comparison, I have a PowerBook G4 that has enough battery life to play any DVD I've thrown at it at 15.2 inches, and it weighs 5.4 pounds. The smallest PowerBook weighs in at 4.6 pounds and there is a DVD capable iBook that also comes in at about 4.9 pounds both with significantly higher battery life.
IE, I wonder what you mean by 'a laptop doesn't cut it'
As for boot... You never turn off the system. You let it sleep.
An iBook has, on a single charge, an estimated 250+ hour sleep life, while a PowerBook seems to have about 100+ hours.
So boot/startup/shutdown is on the order of 2 seconds, or about the time it takes to open the lid.
That, and Apple just dropped the price on their 12" PowerBooks.
They said *electrical* insulator. So they aren't supposed to stop radiating fields, that's what the metal/semiconductor particles are for. The insulator is supposed to stop heat/current from building up by preventing a current from ever flowing through/around the device.
So what they are describing is a very poor Faraday cage embedded inside a non conducting matrix.
Like rebar inside a concrete building!
Notice how you get no cell phone reception inside? The building is acting like a Faraday cage by reflecting and absorbing all the radio.
If you use a copper sheath, for example, you have an *excellent* conductor; it means it will absorb the RF, convert it into electricity, and then that electricity, being essentially an inductive short, will heat up as more energy is pumped into it, and then get dumped back into the body as heat.
Man, what an elitist snob you are!
on
Alien Case Mod
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· Score: 1
The problem with something that changes the way we see the world, casts new light on the human condition, or expands our visual or conceptual vocabularies (art or otherwise) is that it is *subjective* and open to interpretation.
A man impaled on a cross with his bowels on display certainly qualifies for all of the above, but for some it is not art, it is disgusting.
A flower in a certain light at a certain time of day also qualifies for some people, but not for others.
I'm arrogant enough to believe that I have a better definition of art without invoking elitism or subjective valuation...
Art is the expression of an individual's perception, vision made reality. For people who agree with the vision, or people who choose to interpret/reinterpret the vision, it is art. For people who disagree with the vision, then it isn't art, it is something else... but it is still an outlet of construction, creativity, and expression.
If you're using the mouse, you have one hand (at the most) on the keyboard and the other at the pad; index on the pad, thumb on the button, and let's say your left hand on the keyboard...
Immediately that means you have a five button mouse at your disposal:
Click Shift-click Ctrl-click Option-click Co mmand-click
Not to mention chords: Shift-ctrl-click Shift-command-click Sh ift-option-click etc, etc, etc.
So... why is the lack of a right mouse button (ctrl-click, but you know this already, right?) stopping you from using a PowerBook, other than the lack of cash? Is it just an academic excuse not to own a Powerbook? (Oh, it doesn't have a dedicated right mouse button!)?
So a complement of 1.300, each paying $400 a month rent...
That's easily a half million rent a month! So living aboard, for a year, would generate $6 million, which covers the cost of upkeep and purchase in 2 years, and profitable in 3!
Re:MPEG-4 AAC is why Apple will never support Vorb
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
Yet... look at IE, Gecko, and KHTML. Apple's best interests are it's best interests, and supporting Ogg does not interfere with Apple's goals of getting AAC supported by the industry.
If Ogg gets a foothold, due to Apple, it means that Microsoft loses dominance because of the existence of 4 widely supported standards (Ogg, MP3, AAC, and WMA), and as long as that's true, it means Microsoft can't easily manhandle the market.
It is true that supporting Ogg divides Apple's limited resources, but it isn't something that denies the success of mpeg-4 or AAC:)
Re:claimed "iPod killer" features, no proof
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
Re:Same price as 15gb iPod
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Refresh my memory, but how many projects are we talking about that Apple has muscled into non existence?
In my recent memory I recall iCommune, which was 'settled' as a license issue, and they later rereleased software and are at 2.01.
Apple hasn't stopped Yellowdog from offering Linux, hasn't stopped Marathon from offering rackmount Macs, hasn't stopped MacOnLinux from booting Mac OS X or Classic inside Linux, released their own distro called mkLinux, released Darwin for PC and x86, still supports OpenDarwin, has yet to kill Amiga (which boots Mac OS X) or Pegasos from booting OS X, we have all these programs that allow you to unload MP3s from iPods, synching MP3s on multiple platforms, Sherlock plugins not approved by Apple, etc, etc, etc.
So, please, tell me what in Apple's behavior has made you so... paranoid and cautious about how they will treat you? I'm not saying 'Invest all your hopes and faith into Apple for they will do you no harm', but you seem awfully scared, for some reason.
And yea, AAC is a standard, inasmuch as ISO is a standard, and the MPEG ISO group has defined and ratifed mpeg2 AAC and mpeg4 AAC as standards; much like they *also* defined the MP3 standard. Heck, they defined the mpeg2 video standard that lives in DVDs today!
But if you don't believe that, there's nothing I can say to tell you otherwise.
Re:Another recent review
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
It has USB2? Really? Thought it had USB 1.1 with future offers to 'upgrade' for free all purchased Neuros units to USB2...
Whilst the old iPods work fine on PCs and Linux with Firewire, and come June will support USB2 with only the purchase of a USB2 cable to the dock/stand...
Which seems to be more reasonable, for any and all Linux users with USB 1.1 (works), Firewire (works), or USB2 (RSN, just like the Neuros)
I'm sorry, I haven't played with those tools specifically, you really should talk to the developer and users of those tools.
But on reading those sites, it certainly seems more stable than the reviewed Neuros... though possibly the current shipping versions are better.
On the other hand, the iPod has 2 years plus and 3 hardware revisions to iron out hardware issues...
Re:Another recent review
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
People who've never ever seen an iPod?
People who've never held an iPod?
People who've never used an iPod?
People who don't know that an iPod works on Macs, Windows PCs, Linux, and just about any platform that has firewire, Java, or Perl?
I mean, if only 1 in every 4 MP3 players is an iPod, than that means, for those people who don't yet own an iPod, 3 out of every 4 potential buyer is a target for this device, right?
Re:Same price as 15gb iPod
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
Umm... if your friend can get his voicemail into MP3 format, then an Apple iPod has been able to play it for nearly two years...
Likely, if you can get it into text, mp3, or aac, the Apple iPod will be able to play, display, or present the data to you. For example, using text to speech the iPod can grab newsfeed headlines. Using QuickSpeech you can similarly turn any text into an MP3 the iPod can play... unread emails from prospective employees? Messages from your dad? Intrusion alerts from your web server mailed to your computer?
Lots of fun stuff:)
The point being that the Neuros isn't the only toy on the block that can do this stuff.
Oh, and the FM transmitter stuff? Griffin iTrip, since you're already willing to live with a backpack and 9 oz of weight. Still lighter, still more intuitive, and still more portable:D
Re:Same price as 15gb iPod
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 1
Reliability is another.
Usability is a fifth.
Re:Just make it work
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 3, Interesting
So... why not get an iPod?
You're willing to spend a bit more, and you don't have to deal with any product design issues...
Re:Submit Feedback! Get ogg support on iPods too!
on
Neuros Review
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· Score: 4, Insightful
How about the fact that two years ago, there was no Apple iPod, and now roughly 1 in 4 portable music players is an iPod?
Or the fact that until two months ago WMA was second to MP3, in marketshare, but now (with something like 3 million tracks sold) AAC is #2, despite only 3% of the potential market?
So far, far, more unlikely things have happened than Apple support Ogg; I mean, Apple supported MP3, right?
If half of your purchases are through albums (as is the Apple statistic, I think), then the prices get better! 10 Tracks @Real = $7.90 + $9.95 = $17.85 10 Singles @Apple = $9.90 + $0.00 = $9.90 1 Album @Apple = $9.99+ $0.00 = $9.99
The only downside to the Apple mechanism? You need a Mac running OS X and you cannot 'sample' for free. On the other hand, that's what radio/movie/tv/cable does for you. And I cannot see Apple not doing something to fix that... perhaps a tie into Internet Radio, which iTunes *already* has a feature for... Perhaps 'on demand iTunes radio'?
Slashdot Mirror
Sure, *blind* trust is bad.
Is what I'm doing 'blind'?
I actually still read the reports; do I need the update? Do I want the update? Is there any fixes or improvements I'll see? Do I want to restart?
But the first thing I don't ask is 'Do I trust Apple?'
I *know* mistakes happen. I work as a tester. I don't update software when I don't expect there to be an advantage, or a crucial fix.
Come on, that's hardly reasonable.
How is a user supposed to trust a patch being issued by a company that is known to release vulnerable software in the first place?
Yes, it's not a reasonable standpoint for a user to have, but it's still valid!
Take this example: My system works. Apple releases Quicktime 6.3, iMovie 3.0.3, iSync 1.1, and Bluetooth 1.2.1 today. You expect me to update all of them?
Why? Just because? Because there are new features? Because they fix bugs? Because they improve performance? Just because Apple decided to release them?
But the difference is that I do trust Apple. Having used their OS and system for 2 years, now, I have found that Apple updates don't introduce more problems, do increase functionality, performance, and reliability, so I *will* update just because.
However, there *are* pieces of software I haven't updated. I haven't updated my base station software, yet, because it works and I don't want to restart it. I haven't updated my iPod software, again for the same. I haven't updated my IE because I don't use it, and have deleted it.
But I *don't* trust Microsoft. I've been using them for 10 years, and I won't update until there's feedback on whether there are new instabilities, problems, crashes, etc.
That... and did I mention I don't trust Microsoft?
But if you don't pay the Dixie Chicks *now*, how do you expect to get paid *later*?
And what happens if you sign up with someone, and then they get carried by iTunes Music Store... what would your attitude be if I said, "Why should I be paying for Tha_Mink when I can borrow it for free?"
And as for archiving.. history and science shows us that nothing can defeat entropy, the increase in disorder and noise. The only hope is to make as many copies as possible and vainly wish that one copy somewhere, somehow, survives for later generations.
Think stone tablets, manuscripts, tomes, books. How many of those exist in which only a single copy has managed to survive?
Well, it sounds like you agree with me that your job is going away :)
A $10 an hour admin is only possible if the software is powerful enough to allow it, else you're just going to be hiring more admins to make up the difference, right?
It sounds like you're going to be running headfirst into two different trends, then:
The upgrade cycle is gonna plateau, but it'll still be fairly rapid because PCs are going to become commodities, like radios or boom boxes; at some point in the near future, you'll have an integrated PC for $150 that does 90% of what a PC does today at 200% of the performance, and rather than 'squeezing' them at the end of their 4 year lifecycle, they'll just be upgraded because the $150 amortized over four years is less than $40 a year... when a decent admin is gonna be costing something like $30 an hour.
Now, counter this trend is the simplification of software, as evinced by OS X; it will simultaneously make *your* job easier, while also making it easier to get rid of your job altogether; your niche, as it were.
So you have cheap, commodity, integrated hardware that requires little admin because they are so simple and locked down, and you have enormously powerful and easy to use software that requires little administration by design, IE, Apple has decided to live in your niche, while Microsoft has decided to try to 'obsolete' your niche by changing the hardware life cycle (XBox, anyone?).
And/Or MetlFlos's link!
It's a design tradeoff.
Embedding a hard drive means you can make certain design decisions: Smaller packaging, less connectors, less silicon, certain shapes and configurations, and manufacturing decisions.
The issue is also utility... The idea that Moore's law might make the object in question obsolete by the time you get around to upgrading the capcity, or that if not obsolete, upgrading the capcity makes less sense than getting a new device with new features and new capabilities.
We aren't talking general purpose computing, we're talking fixed MP digicameras, with fixed recording modes and features.
Of course, with good software, the features aren't fixed; look at the iPod, which has gained, over it's lifetime, the ability to synch calendars, notes, gained an equalizer, sound normalization, and a remote control.
What kind of device is your DVD player?
In comparison, I have a PowerBook G4 that has enough battery life to play any DVD I've thrown at it at 15.2 inches, and it weighs 5.4 pounds. The smallest PowerBook weighs in at 4.6 pounds and there is a DVD capable iBook that also comes in at about 4.9 pounds both with significantly higher battery life.
IE, I wonder what you mean by 'a laptop doesn't cut it'
As for boot... You never turn off the system. You let it sleep.
An iBook has, on a single charge, an estimated 250+ hour sleep life, while a PowerBook seems to have about 100+ hours.
So boot/startup/shutdown is on the order of 2 seconds, or about the time it takes to open the lid.
That, and Apple just dropped the price on their 12" PowerBooks.
They said *electrical* insulator. So they aren't supposed to stop radiating fields, that's what the metal/semiconductor particles are for. The insulator is supposed to stop heat/current from building up by preventing a current from ever flowing through/around the device.
So what they are describing is a very poor Faraday cage embedded inside a non conducting matrix.
Like rebar inside a concrete building!
Notice how you get no cell phone reception inside? The building is acting like a Faraday cage by reflecting and absorbing all the radio.
If you use a copper sheath, for example, you have an *excellent* conductor; it means it will absorb the RF, convert it into electricity, and then that electricity, being essentially an inductive short, will heat up as more energy is pumped into it, and then get dumped back into the body as heat.
The problem with something that changes the way we see the world, casts new light on the human condition, or expands our visual or conceptual vocabularies (art or otherwise) is that it is *subjective* and open to interpretation.
A man impaled on a cross with his bowels on display certainly qualifies for all of the above, but for some it is not art, it is disgusting.
A flower in a certain light at a certain time of day also qualifies for some people, but not for others.
I'm arrogant enough to believe that I have a better definition of art without invoking elitism or subjective valuation...
Art is the expression of an individual's perception, vision made reality. For people who agree with the vision, or people who choose to interpret/reinterpret the vision, it is art. For people who disagree with the vision, then it isn't art, it is something else... but it is still an outlet of construction, creativity, and expression.
If you're using the mouse, you have one hand (at the most) on the keyboard and the other at the pad; index on the pad, thumb on the button, and let's say your left hand on the keyboard...
o mmand-click
h ift-option-click
Immediately that means you have a five button mouse at your disposal:
Click
Shift-click
Ctrl-click
Option-click
C
Not to mention chords:
Shift-ctrl-click
Shift-command-click
S
etc, etc, etc.
So... why is the lack of a right mouse button (ctrl-click, but you know this already, right?) stopping you from using a PowerBook, other than the lack of cash? Is it just an academic excuse not to own a Powerbook? (Oh, it doesn't have a dedicated right mouse button!)?
So a complement of 1.300, each paying $400 a month rent...
That's easily a half million rent a month! So living aboard, for a year, would generate $6 million, which covers the cost of upkeep and purchase in 2 years, and profitable in 3!
Yet... look at IE, Gecko, and KHTML. Apple's best interests are it's best interests, and supporting Ogg does not interfere with Apple's goals of getting AAC supported by the industry.
:)
If Ogg gets a foothold, due to Apple, it means that Microsoft loses dominance because of the existence of 4 widely supported standards (Ogg, MP3, AAC, and WMA), and as long as that's true, it means Microsoft can't easily manhandle the market.
It is true that supporting Ogg divides Apple's limited resources, but it isn't something that denies the success of mpeg-4 or AAC
iTrip + iPod == SOLUTION
:D
That, and it's still much, much lighter
Refresh my memory, but how many projects are we talking about that Apple has muscled into non existence?
In my recent memory I recall iCommune, which was 'settled' as a license issue, and they later rereleased software and are at 2.01.
Apple hasn't stopped Yellowdog from offering Linux, hasn't stopped Marathon from offering rackmount Macs, hasn't stopped MacOnLinux from booting Mac OS X or Classic inside Linux, released their own distro called mkLinux, released Darwin for PC and x86, still supports OpenDarwin, has yet to kill Amiga (which boots Mac OS X) or Pegasos from booting OS X, we have all these programs that allow you to unload MP3s from iPods, synching MP3s on multiple platforms, Sherlock plugins not approved by Apple, etc, etc, etc.
So, please, tell me what in Apple's behavior has made you so... paranoid and cautious about how they will treat you? I'm not saying 'Invest all your hopes and faith into Apple for they will do you no harm', but you seem awfully scared, for some reason.
And yea, AAC is a standard, inasmuch as ISO is a standard, and the MPEG ISO group has defined and ratifed mpeg2 AAC and mpeg4 AAC as standards; much like they *also* defined the MP3 standard. Heck, they defined the mpeg2 video standard that lives in DVDs today!
But if you don't believe that, there's nothing I can say to tell you otherwise.
It has USB2? Really? Thought it had USB 1.1 with future offers to 'upgrade' for free all purchased Neuros units to USB2...
Whilst the old iPods work fine on PCs and Linux with Firewire, and come June will support USB2 with only the purchase of a USB2 cable to the dock/stand...
Which seems to be more reasonable, for any and all Linux users with USB 1.1 (works), Firewire (works), or USB2 (RSN, just like the Neuros)
I'm sorry, I haven't played with those tools specifically, you really should talk to the developer and users of those tools.
But on reading those sites, it certainly seems more stable than the reviewed Neuros... though possibly the current shipping versions are better.
On the other hand, the iPod has 2 years plus and 3 hardware revisions to iron out hardware issues...
People who've never ever seen an iPod?
People who've never held an iPod?
People who've never used an iPod?
People who don't know that an iPod works on Macs, Windows PCs, Linux, and just about any platform that has firewire, Java, or Perl?
I mean, if only 1 in every 4 MP3 players is an iPod, than that means, for those people who don't yet own an iPod, 3 out of every 4 potential buyer is a target for this device, right?
Ah, quite right, Linux support is important.
Of course, I do understand that Neuros *officially* supports Linux, in beta, while Apple hasn't; it's all be community stuff for the iPod.
Oh, and aac is a standard, though arguably not open, while ogg is open, but not a standard. Semantics are a bitch, aren't they?
Umm... if your friend can get his voicemail into MP3 format, then an Apple iPod has been able to play it for nearly two years...
:)
:D
Likely, if you can get it into text, mp3, or aac, the Apple iPod will be able to play, display, or present the data to you. For example, using text to speech the iPod can grab newsfeed headlines. Using QuickSpeech you can similarly turn any text into an MP3 the iPod can play... unread emails from prospective employees? Messages from your dad? Intrusion alerts from your web server mailed to your computer?
Lots of fun stuff
The point being that the Neuros isn't the only toy on the block that can do this stuff.
Oh, and the FM transmitter stuff? Griffin iTrip, since you're already willing to live with a backpack and 9 oz of weight. Still lighter, still more intuitive, and still more portable
Reliability is another.
Usability is a fifth.
So... why not get an iPod?
You're willing to spend a bit more, and you don't have to deal with any product design issues...
And it just works. FAT32 iPod.
DIY
GTKPod
How about the fact that two years ago, there was no Apple iPod, and now roughly 1 in 4 portable music players is an iPod?
Or the fact that until two months ago WMA was second to MP3, in marketshare, but now (with something like 3 million tracks sold) AAC is #2, despite only 3% of the potential market?
So far, far, more unlikely things have happened than Apple support Ogg; I mean, Apple supported MP3, right?
Well, yeah, 30 second samples... I've used that. Not quite the same, but I suppose it'll do in a pinch :)
If half of your purchases are through albums (as is the Apple statistic, I think), then the prices get better!
10 Tracks @Real = $7.90 + $9.95 = $17.85
10 Singles @Apple = $9.90 + $0.00 = $9.90
1 Album @Apple = $9.99+ $0.00 = $9.99
25 Tracks @Real = $19.75 + $9.95 = $29.70
25 Singles @Apple = $24.75 + $0.00 = $24.75
1 Album + 13 Singles @Apple = $9.99 + $12.87 +$0.00 = $22.86
50 Tracks @Real = $39.50 + $9.95 = $49.95
50 Singles @Apple = $49.50 + $0.00 = $49.50
2 Albums + 25 Singles @Apple = $19.98 + $24.75 + $0.00 = $44.73
The only downside to the Apple mechanism? You need a Mac running OS X and you cannot 'sample' for free. On the other hand, that's what radio/movie/tv/cable does for you. And I cannot see Apple not doing something to fix that... perhaps a tie into Internet Radio, which iTunes *already* has a feature for... Perhaps 'on demand iTunes radio'?