Sounds similar to my new car (Mazda 3). There's no remote-start (it's an add-on option that very few people bother with; it is keyless like any new car however), there's no over-the-air updates at all (you have to put the update on a USB thumb drive), and the only kind of network access is through your Bluetooth phone, and like you said, that doesn't even start until the engine is started by having your "key" within sensor range (i.e., inside the cabin). It's also only used for a few apps, such as the Pandora app, and of course for hands-free calling, reading texts, etc. The sat-nav is all on a separate SD card.
The only crappy things are that you have to go to the dealer to either get a system software update (the early versions were rather buggy), and updating the sat-nav maps is expensive (I think you get a couple freebies at first). However, if you know where to look you can download both on the internet and do it yourself for free.
The other nice thing is the infotainment is running Linux and is easily hackable (once you're physically connected using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter), so lots of people have come up with some handy tweaks and improvements for the system.
I really don't give a shit about a keyboard. I don't do a lot of typing on this thing, and I'm not willing to sacrifice screen space for a physical keyboard, and slider phones are bulky and delicate.
What I really want is some decent software for a change. Like not loading the phone with a bunch of crapware I can't uninstall, and being able to easily install 3rd-party ROMs.
A bigger battery would be good though, and make sure it's easily removed, along with a microSD card. The battery bit shouldn't even be hard: it really should be easy to make two battery options, with a different case-back for the larger size. There are 3rd-party companies that make these for some models, but according to all the reviews I've read, they suck and aren't as good as the OEM case-back (for instance, if you get one for a Galaxy S5, the 3rd-party back is not waterproof like the Samsung one).
In short: In an automatic you push down to go slower, in a shit car, you pull up and then push down.
You think cars with manual transmissions are shitty? Why did you need to add this kind of vulgar, biased language to what was otherwise a pretty good fact-based argument?
When it happened to me, they were meeting me at my home, so I could only tell them "no". But yeah, it's annoying as hell.
But it's not something that's happened a lot, out of all the Craigslist transactions I've had, only twice I think. Honestly, the success rate I've had with CL has been extremely high overall. I've managed to unload a bunch of used stuff (like furniture mainly) and get good cash for it, and I've gotten a lot of great deals on other stuff. Worrying about being robbed just seems like a bunch of paranoia to me. It probably is a good idea to bring a friend though, just in case.
I don't need to educate myself on shit, you condescending asshole. I have a smartphone, and no, despite what some dipshit hipster like you thinks, I do NOT want to type out lengthy posts on a fucking 5" screen. Fuck you.
And no, you don't need Windows, since you can use Mac or Linux, but you DO need a proper keyboard and screen.
This guy's a piece of shit, but we need to contact him and somehow get him to file a barrage of lawsuits against Microsoft (probably for stuff related to forcing Win10 on everyone). That'd be funny as hell to watch.
Yeah, no kidding. I've done countless transactions on Craigslist over the years and never had any problems, except for one wacky buyer of a washing machine who changed her mind after I delivered it, and one or two instances where they tried to change the price after arriving (they were foreigners most likely from a culture where this is common), but certainly nothing involving the danger of violence.
FYI, while we're correcting each other here, "it takes two to tango" is an idiom, or saying, not a simile. "Mark Zuckerberg is as ugly as a warthog" is an example of a simile.
And how exactly do you get malware to run on a Linux computer?
"Please download this attachment, then open up a terminal window, use 'chmod' to change the permissions to 755, then run the program by typing './runmalware.sh'"
Sorry, but anyone dumb enough to run random software from an email from a sender they don't know is not going to have a clue about how to make a downloaded file executable.
That said, pessimism is misleading too. PLENTY of scummy businessmen have dreamt of pushing these same models, but were rejected soundly by smaller customer bases - it just takes longer for Microsoft to fall the same way IBM and other scummy folks did.
I'm still amazed over and over by how people like you just don't seem to get it, and worse, on a nerd news site no less. Scummy businessmen in other industries aren't the same, because they actually have to worry about their customers abandoning them. MS doesn't have that problem: people will continue to use them no matter what. IBM never had the level of lock-in that MS enjoys.
It's really quite simple: if you don't like the MS treats you as a customer, then you need to find a new vendor. If you are unwilling to do that, then you'll have to put up with however they want to treat you.
I seriously doubt that even MS is THAT stupid. If they are that stupid, they deserve the bad press they will get when literally every win7 and win8 deployment gets backdoored hard by malware authors.
Why would MS give two shits about bad press? It's not like customers are going to stop using Windows and switch to another OS. Why should they care if their OS is easily infected with malware? That's nothing new at all; it's always been easy to get infected with viruses/malware on Windows. It certainly hasn't stopped anyone from using it.
Microsoft is really coming off as an Oracle-level asshole corp at this point. They need to stop. Really not liking the shitty direction the Satya Nadella era is bringing to them. I think he'll get ran out of town pretty soon, he demonstrates he has no respect for anyone using Microsoft products.
This is some seriously delusional thinking here. Their stock price is way up since Ballmer left, and I'm sure this strategy is working out well for them financially. Why should they give a shit about how the users feel? People like you and all the companies who are locked into their products are going to continue to support them, no matter what, so why should they even bother pretending to care? It's to their advantage to screw you over with these Win10 shenanigans, so Satya is doing exactly the right thing.
Translation: They were about to get sued (class-action style) for pulling that bullshit.
Haha. I've never seen MS get successfully sued for anything, no matter how badly they've acted. Good luck with that.
Oh yes, this "solution" is so much better for those who fucking don't want Windows 10. Yes, tell me again how this is some kind of "fix".
It's a fix because it makes clear that "I don't want it" is not an option. You can either have it right now, or schedule it for later. Opting out isn't a choice. If you don't like that, too bad. You chose the wrong OS vendor if you want that level of user choice. Choose better next time.
Outrage is good enough. The short version of Fuck You Very Much and Have A Nice Day is simply Fuck You.
Yes, that is exactly MS's attitude towards you, the user. So what are you going to do about it? Get angry? File a complaint? Threaten to sue? If you continue to use their products, that makes you a chump.
Sorry, but the justification for a class-action lawsuit still stands, and you sound like a Microsoft shill for attempting to dismiss it like this.
There it is again, a threat to sue. Haha. Good luck with that. I'm sure MS is quaking in their boots now. How much money do you have for a lawyer again?
It sure is fun watching this stuff from the sidelines while I happily use my Linux PCs. </smug>
There isn't supposed to be a "no" option. If you want options, and control over your computer, you're using the wrong OS. If you want to use Windows, then this is what you'll have to put up with.
Here's the bottom line: when you pay for a device, the manufacturer shouldn't force ads on you.
Why shouldn't it? If people happily sign up for this kind of treatment, why shouldn't Microsoft take advantage of it? Same for TV makers. At least with ISPs you can pull the monopolist card and argue that we need regulation to prevent that, but no one is forcing you to buy or use a smartTV or Windows. People are signing up for this stuff despite the existence of good alternatives.
Exactly. In fact I'm hoping MS doubles down on this strategy and starts aggressively issuing updates to disable these tools so that people using them will be forcibly converted to Win10 whether they like it or not. It'll be funny to see these "just use GWXToolbox!" people come back here with their tails between their legs complaining about how they got forcibly upgraded to Win10 despite all their efforts with 3rd-party tools and registry hacks. I'm really enjoying this to be honest, while I safely use my Linux systems.
How many people do you think are doing their "political talk" - or any social networking for that matter - from their Windows PCs?
Probably most of them, because political talk actually requires a fair amount of typing unless it's in txtspeak, and only an idiot would want to do large amounts of typing on a smartphone, and try to read stuff on a 5" screen.
Wow, this is a dumb post. Hairyfeet is well-known to operate a computer repair business; why would he be "lazy and making excuses"? If someone buys a shitty laptop that requires the whole thing to be torn apart to change the hard drive, the customer is going to be getting a big bill for all that time. Hairyfeet is just recommending that you not buy such a shitty laptop, and that many new laptops are indeed like this. Just because you haven't encountered one of these crappy new laptops doesn't mean they don't exist.
The laptops that are easy to work on are usually business models. Regular people buy cheap consumer crap, or Apple crap, which is not designed with the same goals in mind.
I second your recommendation of Dell Latitude laptops; those things are great (though the newer ones are kinda ugly; the E4600 and E4610 were the best-looking). Easy to work on, very easy to swap drives on, and they run Linux perfectly. They only use 2 screws on the HDs though (one at each end, diagonally).
I use Linux too for many reasons, but I also don't have to use various Windows-only software, except at work, where I do in fact suffer through using Windows. But at least at work, it's not my computer, and I really don't give a shit if the thing catches some malware or ransomware and ends up losing all my work: that's my employer's problem. As long as they pay me to show up every day, I'm happy. My personal data isn't on my work computer, it's safe on my Linux computer at home (and on backups, which my employer doesn't really do that well; again, not my problem).
But the VHS analogy is actually pretty good and disproves your point. People used VHS because everyone else did, and because all the rental stores rented VHS tapes. Were better alternatives available? Yes! Did people switch? No.
First, there was Betamax which came out roughly the same time (maybe slightly before). People didn't use that, they adopted VHS for various reasons, including that VHS tapes had longer play times (Beta fixed that later, but too little too late). The slightly superior video quality of Beta just wasn't enough to get people to switch.
Later on, Beta died out and VHS improved some (like with 4-head players). Then along came SuperVHS. Remember that? It was better than VHS in every way: better resolution/quality mainly, and it was even backwards compatible. Did people switch to that? Hell no. A few videophiles bought it up and paid $100 apiece for movies on it, but that's about it. Then along came Laserdisc. This had some real advantages: optical disc, didn't wear out, easy to zoom to a particular point in the video, etc. Did people adopt that en masse? Of course not. Like SVHS, it was expensive, and worse, it used gigantic discs that weren't all that portable or rugged.
Finally, the industry got together in a consortium and devised DVD: it was all digital (Laserdisc was analog), it had handy menus, optional extras like director's commentary tracks and different language tracks, you could zoom to any arbitrary point on the disc, it was basically just like music CDs but for video. And of course the quality was much better than VHS. The industry pushed this hard, and people bought it. It took a bit at first, but eventually everyone jumped on the bandwagon, helped out by the $50 Apex players.
So it took several things for VHS to finally be unseated (and by a technology which does not allow easy recording! A key feature of VHS for many): 1) it had to have significantly better quality than VHS, not just a little bit, 2) it had to have lots of killer features over VHS (menus, not wearing out, track skipping, not rewinding, size exactly the same as music CDs that everyone was used to), 3) it had to be cheap (SVHS and LD were pricey, DVD took off when it was cheap), and finally 4) it took the concerted effort of many industry players to work together to create the standard and then work to push it and popularize it.
Every recorded consumer video standard before and after DVD which didn't do these things has been a failure: S-VHS, LD, HD-DVD were all failures. Even Blu-Ray has only had limited uptake, and is now mainly being made obsolete by online streaming, while people still happily use DVDs and buy them for $5 from Walmart.
It's hard to say what's going to happen to Windows, but unfortunately as your example shows, it takes a LOT more than just a work-alike with a few advantages to get people to switch en masse from a de-facto standard that enjoys huge network effects.
I'd love it if everyone dumped Windows tomorrow and switched to Linux, but I'm under no illusion that that's going to happen. Either it's simply going to become obsolete somehow (but mobile devices alone can't do it: you can't do serious computing work on an iPad), or MS themselves is going to shoot themselves in the foot so badly that people will migrate over as ISVs improve their support for alternative platforms (MacOSX and Linux). What really needs to happen is some kind of big industry push (like wit
Sorry, that's just not true. It's not hard to find some screwball mechanic who'll sign off on stuff, or you can just not do the inspection at all. What's the FAA going to do? They don't send government inspectors around to check this stuff out, they just rely on operators to do things right, and on pilots to tattle on them if they don't. Pilots won't tattle usually because it means ending their careers (which is what happened to my ex-wife), so they just look for a new job and hope they don't get killed before they can find something better.
Yeah, I wasn't talking about phishing, I was talking about ransomware only. And yes, it would be eliminated by using Linux. No, it wouldn't be replaced, unless some company were stupid enough to create and popularize an email client that automatically executes code contained in an email attachment (or downloaded from a site pointed to by the email), and people were stupid enough to use this client in ridiculously huge numbers.
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Sounds similar to my new car (Mazda 3). There's no remote-start (it's an add-on option that very few people bother with; it is keyless like any new car however), there's no over-the-air updates at all (you have to put the update on a USB thumb drive), and the only kind of network access is through your Bluetooth phone, and like you said, that doesn't even start until the engine is started by having your "key" within sensor range (i.e., inside the cabin). It's also only used for a few apps, such as the Pandora app, and of course for hands-free calling, reading texts, etc. The sat-nav is all on a separate SD card.
The only crappy things are that you have to go to the dealer to either get a system software update (the early versions were rather buggy), and updating the sat-nav maps is expensive (I think you get a couple freebies at first). However, if you know where to look you can download both on the internet and do it yourself for free.
The other nice thing is the infotainment is running Linux and is easily hackable (once you're physically connected using a USB-to-Ethernet adapter), so lots of people have come up with some handy tweaks and improvements for the system.
IPv11 is better. It has that extra push over the cliff.
Why would Hillary do that? She's in the pocket of the copyright cartels.
I really don't give a shit about a keyboard. I don't do a lot of typing on this thing, and I'm not willing to sacrifice screen space for a physical keyboard, and slider phones are bulky and delicate.
What I really want is some decent software for a change. Like not loading the phone with a bunch of crapware I can't uninstall, and being able to easily install 3rd-party ROMs.
A bigger battery would be good though, and make sure it's easily removed, along with a microSD card. The battery bit shouldn't even be hard: it really should be easy to make two battery options, with a different case-back for the larger size. There are 3rd-party companies that make these for some models, but according to all the reviews I've read, they suck and aren't as good as the OEM case-back (for instance, if you get one for a Galaxy S5, the 3rd-party back is not waterproof like the Samsung one).
In short: In an automatic you push down to go slower, in a shit car, you pull up and then push down.
You think cars with manual transmissions are shitty? Why did you need to add this kind of vulgar, biased language to what was otherwise a pretty good fact-based argument?
When it happened to me, they were meeting me at my home, so I could only tell them "no". But yeah, it's annoying as hell.
But it's not something that's happened a lot, out of all the Craigslist transactions I've had, only twice I think. Honestly, the success rate I've had with CL has been extremely high overall. I've managed to unload a bunch of used stuff (like furniture mainly) and get good cash for it, and I've gotten a lot of great deals on other stuff. Worrying about being robbed just seems like a bunch of paranoia to me. It probably is a good idea to bring a friend though, just in case.
WTF are you talking about? The guy is old: he emigrated from the Ukraine decades ago, and his mom is probably dead of old age.
I don't need to educate myself on shit, you condescending asshole. I have a smartphone, and no, despite what some dipshit hipster like you thinks, I do NOT want to type out lengthy posts on a fucking 5" screen. Fuck you.
And no, you don't need Windows, since you can use Mac or Linux, but you DO need a proper keyboard and screen.
This guy's a piece of shit, but we need to contact him and somehow get him to file a barrage of lawsuits against Microsoft (probably for stuff related to forcing Win10 on everyone). That'd be funny as hell to watch.
Yeah, no kidding. I've done countless transactions on Craigslist over the years and never had any problems, except for one wacky buyer of a washing machine who changed her mind after I delivered it, and one or two instances where they tried to change the price after arriving (they were foreigners most likely from a culture where this is common), but certainly nothing involving the danger of violence.
FYI, while we're correcting each other here, "it takes two to tango" is an idiom, or saying, not a simile. "Mark Zuckerberg is as ugly as a warthog" is an example of a simile.
And how exactly do you get malware to run on a Linux computer?
"Please download this attachment, then open up a terminal window, use 'chmod' to change the permissions to 755, then run the program by typing './runmalware.sh'"
Sorry, but anyone dumb enough to run random software from an email from a sender they don't know is not going to have a clue about how to make a downloaded file executable.
That said, pessimism is misleading too. PLENTY of scummy businessmen have dreamt of pushing these same models, but were rejected soundly by smaller customer bases - it just takes longer for Microsoft to fall the same way IBM and other scummy folks did.
I'm still amazed over and over by how people like you just don't seem to get it, and worse, on a nerd news site no less. Scummy businessmen in other industries aren't the same, because they actually have to worry about their customers abandoning them. MS doesn't have that problem: people will continue to use them no matter what. IBM never had the level of lock-in that MS enjoys.
It's really quite simple: if you don't like the MS treats you as a customer, then you need to find a new vendor. If you are unwilling to do that, then you'll have to put up with however they want to treat you.
I seriously doubt that even MS is THAT stupid. If they are that stupid, they deserve the bad press they will get when literally every win7 and win8 deployment gets backdoored hard by malware authors.
Why would MS give two shits about bad press? It's not like customers are going to stop using Windows and switch to another OS. Why should they care if their OS is easily infected with malware? That's nothing new at all; it's always been easy to get infected with viruses/malware on Windows. It certainly hasn't stopped anyone from using it.
Microsoft is really coming off as an Oracle-level asshole corp at this point. They need to stop. Really not liking the shitty direction the Satya Nadella era is bringing to them. I think he'll get ran out of town pretty soon, he demonstrates he has no respect for anyone using Microsoft products.
This is some seriously delusional thinking here. Their stock price is way up since Ballmer left, and I'm sure this strategy is working out well for them financially. Why should they give a shit about how the users feel? People like you and all the companies who are locked into their products are going to continue to support them, no matter what, so why should they even bother pretending to care? It's to their advantage to screw you over with these Win10 shenanigans, so Satya is doing exactly the right thing.
Personally, I'm enjoying watching this.
Translation: They were about to get sued (class-action style) for pulling that bullshit.
Haha. I've never seen MS get successfully sued for anything, no matter how badly they've acted. Good luck with that.
Oh yes, this "solution" is so much better for those who fucking don't want Windows 10. Yes, tell me again how this is some kind of "fix".
It's a fix because it makes clear that "I don't want it" is not an option. You can either have it right now, or schedule it for later. Opting out isn't a choice. If you don't like that, too bad. You chose the wrong OS vendor if you want that level of user choice. Choose better next time.
Outrage is good enough. The short version of Fuck You Very Much and Have A Nice Day is simply Fuck You.
Yes, that is exactly MS's attitude towards you, the user. So what are you going to do about it? Get angry? File a complaint? Threaten to sue? If you continue to use their products, that makes you a chump.
Sorry, but the justification for a class-action lawsuit still stands, and you sound like a Microsoft shill for attempting to dismiss it like this.
There it is again, a threat to sue. Haha. Good luck with that. I'm sure MS is quaking in their boots now. How much money do you have for a lawyer again?
It sure is fun watching this stuff from the sidelines while I happily use my Linux PCs. </smug>
There isn't supposed to be a "no" option. If you want options, and control over your computer, you're using the wrong OS. If you want to use Windows, then this is what you'll have to put up with.
Here's the bottom line: when you pay for a device, the manufacturer shouldn't force ads on you.
Why shouldn't it? If people happily sign up for this kind of treatment, why shouldn't Microsoft take advantage of it? Same for TV makers. At least with ISPs you can pull the monopolist card and argue that we need regulation to prevent that, but no one is forcing you to buy or use a smartTV or Windows. People are signing up for this stuff despite the existence of good alternatives.
Exactly. In fact I'm hoping MS doubles down on this strategy and starts aggressively issuing updates to disable these tools so that people using them will be forcibly converted to Win10 whether they like it or not. It'll be funny to see these "just use GWXToolbox!" people come back here with their tails between their legs complaining about how they got forcibly upgraded to Win10 despite all their efforts with 3rd-party tools and registry hacks. I'm really enjoying this to be honest, while I safely use my Linux systems.
How many people do you think are doing their "political talk" - or any social networking for that matter - from their Windows PCs?
Probably most of them, because political talk actually requires a fair amount of typing unless it's in txtspeak, and only an idiot would want to do large amounts of typing on a smartphone, and try to read stuff on a 5" screen.
Wow, this is a dumb post. Hairyfeet is well-known to operate a computer repair business; why would he be "lazy and making excuses"? If someone buys a shitty laptop that requires the whole thing to be torn apart to change the hard drive, the customer is going to be getting a big bill for all that time. Hairyfeet is just recommending that you not buy such a shitty laptop, and that many new laptops are indeed like this. Just because you haven't encountered one of these crappy new laptops doesn't mean they don't exist.
The laptops that are easy to work on are usually business models. Regular people buy cheap consumer crap, or Apple crap, which is not designed with the same goals in mind.
I second your recommendation of Dell Latitude laptops; those things are great (though the newer ones are kinda ugly; the E4600 and E4610 were the best-looking). Easy to work on, very easy to swap drives on, and they run Linux perfectly. They only use 2 screws on the HDs though (one at each end, diagonally).
I use Linux too for many reasons, but I also don't have to use various Windows-only software, except at work, where I do in fact suffer through using Windows. But at least at work, it's not my computer, and I really don't give a shit if the thing catches some malware or ransomware and ends up losing all my work: that's my employer's problem. As long as they pay me to show up every day, I'm happy. My personal data isn't on my work computer, it's safe on my Linux computer at home (and on backups, which my employer doesn't really do that well; again, not my problem).
But the VHS analogy is actually pretty good and disproves your point. People used VHS because everyone else did, and because all the rental stores rented VHS tapes. Were better alternatives available? Yes! Did people switch? No.
First, there was Betamax which came out roughly the same time (maybe slightly before). People didn't use that, they adopted VHS for various reasons, including that VHS tapes had longer play times (Beta fixed that later, but too little too late). The slightly superior video quality of Beta just wasn't enough to get people to switch.
Later on, Beta died out and VHS improved some (like with 4-head players). Then along came SuperVHS. Remember that? It was better than VHS in every way: better resolution/quality mainly, and it was even backwards compatible. Did people switch to that? Hell no. A few videophiles bought it up and paid $100 apiece for movies on it, but that's about it. Then along came Laserdisc. This had some real advantages: optical disc, didn't wear out, easy to zoom to a particular point in the video, etc. Did people adopt that en masse? Of course not. Like SVHS, it was expensive, and worse, it used gigantic discs that weren't all that portable or rugged.
Finally, the industry got together in a consortium and devised DVD: it was all digital (Laserdisc was analog), it had handy menus, optional extras like director's commentary tracks and different language tracks, you could zoom to any arbitrary point on the disc, it was basically just like music CDs but for video. And of course the quality was much better than VHS. The industry pushed this hard, and people bought it. It took a bit at first, but eventually everyone jumped on the bandwagon, helped out by the $50 Apex players.
So it took several things for VHS to finally be unseated (and by a technology which does not allow easy recording! A key feature of VHS for many): 1) it had to have significantly better quality than VHS, not just a little bit, 2) it had to have lots of killer features over VHS (menus, not wearing out, track skipping, not rewinding, size exactly the same as music CDs that everyone was used to), 3) it had to be cheap (SVHS and LD were pricey, DVD took off when it was cheap), and finally 4) it took the concerted effort of many industry players to work together to create the standard and then work to push it and popularize it.
Every recorded consumer video standard before and after DVD which didn't do these things has been a failure: S-VHS, LD, HD-DVD were all failures. Even Blu-Ray has only had limited uptake, and is now mainly being made obsolete by online streaming, while people still happily use DVDs and buy them for $5 from Walmart.
It's hard to say what's going to happen to Windows, but unfortunately as your example shows, it takes a LOT more than just a work-alike with a few advantages to get people to switch en masse from a de-facto standard that enjoys huge network effects.
I'd love it if everyone dumped Windows tomorrow and switched to Linux, but I'm under no illusion that that's going to happen. Either it's simply going to become obsolete somehow (but mobile devices alone can't do it: you can't do serious computing work on an iPad), or MS themselves is going to shoot themselves in the foot so badly that people will migrate over as ISVs improve their support for alternative platforms (MacOSX and Linux). What really needs to happen is some kind of big industry push (like wit
Sorry, that's just not true. It's not hard to find some screwball mechanic who'll sign off on stuff, or you can just not do the inspection at all. What's the FAA going to do? They don't send government inspectors around to check this stuff out, they just rely on operators to do things right, and on pilots to tattle on them if they don't. Pilots won't tattle usually because it means ending their careers (which is what happened to my ex-wife), so they just look for a new job and hope they don't get killed before they can find something better.
Yeah, I wasn't talking about phishing, I was talking about ransomware only. And yes, it would be eliminated by using Linux. No, it wouldn't be replaced, unless some company were stupid enough to create and popularize an email client that automatically executes code contained in an email attachment (or downloaded from a site pointed to by the email), and people were stupid enough to use this client in ridiculously huge numbers.