It's been true for at least 5 years. It used to be easy to find intelligent people online who ran into the same problem. Now all you find is rank amateurs posting stupid questions that happen to contain some words that are relevant to your search.
I think we all know that commercial software support is next to worthless; by the time you've spent 4 or so hours exhausting all possibilities on your own, you will call up the vendor and spend DAYS trying to get them to understand the process you went thru, and yes, the system is plugged in, and on and on thru their support script. And in the end you resolve it yourself anyway because nobody you can get on the phone is any more skilled than you are.
I like dealing with Sun equipment because they're generally pretty good at resolving hardware problems, and dealing with hardware problems on Sun stuff is infinitely easier than on IBM/Dell x86 stuff.
However, a related problem is that the S:N ratio online has gone WAY down. I used to be able to search for a relatively obscure error and find some record of someone who had a similar problem and it would help me in troubleshooting. Now when I search for detail on problem X with module Y, all you find on Google is pages and pages of complete newbies asking how to install the OS or something stupid like that.
Seriously? If you want a professional to do work for you, it's called "professional services", costs an arm and a leg, and only occasionally does something other than totally hose up your environment.
The "support" for most software (and even hardware) goes about as far as "is it plugged in?"
The only support I ever use is hardware support, and half the time, even with Sun, you have to tell then what part to send you.
Does anybody really sit on the phone with IBM, Sun, Microsoft, to try to troubleshoot a complex problem?
That's right, all of the "buy American" dolts destroyed the American auto industry. That is, the American-based carmakers, I'm not talking about foreign companies that build cars in the US like Honda and Toyota and BMW and Mercedes and.. well, probably just about everyone. For what it's worth, my BMW was built in South Carolina, and the quality is identical to the previous one built at the Motorsport factory in Germany, which is to say pretty damn good.
My car's in the (body) shop and I ended up with a Ford Taurus rental. 2 miles down the road and I concluded that every person involved in the Taurus should be immediately fired. The car sucked so much that I took it back the next day and ended up with a Mazda 6 instead (which I know from previous rentals to be a decent car).
The Taurus is a wholly incompetent car. I shudder to think that it was built in 2007. It droves like a 1984 Lincoln. Wallows all over the place, can't turn, can't brake, slow as hell, doesn't track straight, hard to see out of, big enough to require its own zip code, and ugly as sin, inside and out.
So, thanks for continuing to "buy American", thereby allowing our auto industry to maintain sales despite utterly worthless products.
Though I admit the Focus is a pretty decent car, that's actually what I had hoped to get in exchange for the Taurus.
What the hell crazy world are you living in that you need to reference Eminem when talking about a fifth of liquor.
Eminem sucks, and anyone who's ever been near anyone drinking knows a fifth is not really an honest fifth of liquid, it's 750mL. And a handle's not really a half gallon, it's 1.5L. And a pint isn't really a pint, it's 375mL, which is the most wrong of them all since it's about 100mL shy of an actual US pint.
Actually, a handle (sometimes referred to as a half gallon) is 1.75L, which would mean a gallon of liquor is 3.5L:)
Overpaying $1000 (or more, factoring in the life of the computer) is obviously way preferable to paying $30 for a Windows license. Riiiight...
I don't get it. First of all, you pulled the $1000 out of your ass, obviously, since some Apple systems are extremely price competitive just on hardware alone.
Second, why is it "... or more, factoring in the life of the computer?" Since when did we agree that Apple systems have a SHORTER useful life than a Windows machine?
Third, where do you get Windows licenses for $30?
Finally, how on earth did you get modded insightful?
But the Lord Jobs gave them all free iPhones! That surely has to make up for having to work for the biggest asshole in California. Why was Steve Jobs giving Oracle employees free iPhones? Man, he must be a really nice guy!
but legally fuzzy terms (such as "home audio recording device," and whether or not said term includes computers). Really? If the computer is a Device in my Home, and I am using it to Record Audio, I wonder how computers could possibly fail to qualify.
I wonder what definition of "obscene" the FCC would like to use. Tell me who'll be in The White House and I'll give you an answer. Censorship is one of the countless principles shared by Republicans and Democrats alike. Ever heard of Tipper Gore?
Republicans censor to keep Jesus from being offended at all our swears.
Democrats censor to make a shiny happy world in which to raise your perfect whitebread children, free from swears.
Not having used one much, let me ask how, exactly, you are supposed to deal with 'keys' that are substantially smaller than a fingertip and have no tactile feedback to boot? Everyone I know who uses one still has trouble getting it to input the letter they want. The "keys" may be substantially smaller than a fingertip, but so are the keys on every other popular smartphone.
I type far faster on an iPhone than on a normal smartphone because striking a key is one motion (click) not two (move finger down, feel for button, adjust, click).
The cavets are typing without looking (good luck) and not being able to rely on autocorrect. The iPhone autocorrect is awesome -- the combination of faster keystrokes, plus error correction, is what allows it to be faster to type on than a normal smartphone. However, this could be a major drawback when trying to type non-english Unix commands:)
Had a bit of trouble figuring out which one was sin city.....Tel Aviv? Moscow?......no, must be Las Vegas. I suppose it's comforting to know that the US doesn't have a monopoly on 'sin', although arguably some other places might laugh at the idea that gambling is sin. Here's a hint. It's the only one of the 3 Sin Cities you list where the natives call it "Sin City." Why? Because they speak English in Vegas.
Meanwhile, at the Sony Style store, 5 blocks away, the glow of HDTVs illuminated the vapid faces of salespeople in tshirts as they stared across the racks over empty aisles. Aisles of laptops, PS3s, CDs and other items went unpurchased, and no one was there to see it.
Brand name computer stores are the outlet for those too weak to resist the urge to make impulse purchases in excess of a month's income. The fact Apple has been able to capitalize on this trend so well speaks to the fetishistic appeal of those shiny laptops and the absence of any real value in their products. Convinced the worth of something that is not even there, people are literally waiting in line to buy nothing.
Truly, they are the dead.
M Seriously?
First of all, I don't see how the Sony Style comment has anything to do with the rest of your comment, as it is showing a LACK of buyers, rather than supporting your conclusion.
Secondly,... seriously? Why do you assume people who buy stuff at an Apple store just because they're too weak to resist an impulse buy? Can't people impulse buy online, too? Are you saying that retail stores are bad because people can actually *use* the product before buying it? That seems like the opposite of an impulse buy.
I get the feeling you're parodying some well-known work, but.. I don't know what.
Left Friday, returned yesterday.. from the SF Bay area to Bimmerfest in Santa Barbara and back. Even managed over 300 miles on a small tank in a 2-seater that gets crappy mileage. Though my hatch probably carries more than a Tesla.
Ipod's will continue to sell to yuppies who enjoy paying for an overpriced mp3 player with a network of music that lacks diversity to foreign markets. As a US consume I can enjoy not having access to England, Hollands and Germany's fine selections of electronica, which Itunes America lacks almost entirely. Awesome, which is why I load all of my electronica onto my iPods from CDs.
Mac sales have gone up, most likely to the yuppies who cannot sync the Itunes software to a Windows box and decide to buy the Mac due to the customer support representative with Mac stating, "it works better with a Mac," or the idiots logical thought process that decides a Mac is a cost effective option (cough, cough). ... or because their experience with Apple products is light years ahead of their experience with the bargain-basement electronics companies that try to push their hacked-together products as computing solutions for the masses?
Buying a Mac is for the glorified rich who eat too many donuts and watch too much TV. If you enjoy my lovely view of the world, read my blog. No thanks.
What's really funny about this is that you seem to have it totally backwards. Your attitude puts you smack dab in the middle of the Mac stereotype.
Check out stuffwhitepeoplelike sometime. The Mac user is supposed to be a yuppie elitist who likes to brag about not owning a TV, drives a Hybrid, shops at flea markets, participates in athletic activities for fun (jogging, cycling, etc), listens to electronic music, and generally disdains middle america. In other words, you.
I'm a Mac user, but I guess it all makes sense because I'm a Bay Area elitist who drives a BMW and commuted 60 miles to work by bicycle today.
My only failing is that I refuse to apologize for the fact that I watch TV when I have nothing better to do.
I looked at macs when I bought my current laptop. I have a t61 thinkpad with multiple optional batteries (9 cell and drive battery give 8-10 hrs). Also have 4 gigs ram and the rest of the goodies you get with IBM.. 5 year warranty. The prices and feature set arent even comparable, as Apple doesnt offer the caliber of hardware that IBM does. And their policies of nigh everything being a service call pisses me off. I can change a keyboard module or hard drive, and in thinkpads, its really easy.
BTW, how much does "Apple Ram" cost again? The problem is, you're still stuck with a Thinkpad. Don't try to tell me that the OS/hardware combo don't result in:
* 3 places to change the volume * A sleep mode that works, sometimes, or kills your network devices other times * 5 minutes to change your IP address via netsh * A docking station/presentation mode solution that sometimes changes your resolution, sometimes doesn't, and sometimes crashes the system * All kinds of other assorted hw/sw interface oddities
Don't get me wrong. The T60 I use every day is the best PC laptop hardware I've ever used. Obviously IBM offers some options Apple doesn't. But in day-to-day use, even the best x86/Windows laptop is kind of a third-rate sorta-kinda-works solution.
And don't even get me started on Office 2007, which has turned my formerly zippy dual-core 2ghz + 1.5GB ram machine into a 386/25.
And as long as the prices for the real thing stay and absurdly high levels that trend will actually spread. I can't afford the prices so I buy less expensive brands. My 8gig player was much cheaper that Apple's 4gig and the interface is fine. I'm not even confined to one vendor for application and use. That's fine. However, the OP was not about non-Apple MP3 players (which no doubt are as good or better than the iPod in their own ways) but about the tacky knockoff imposter crap which probably isn't 1/10th as good as a Zen or whatever.
None of these people buy enough hard drives to have any real say in which one is better than the other. Google probably buys enough drives, but they don't buy the consumer level desktop drives either, so I don't know if I'd trust their opinion much either. Yes, if only there was some way of figuring out what kind of experiences Google has had with hard drives...
Your octane is measured on a different scale, if it's anything like Europe. 95 RON is something like 91 MON and 98 RON is something like 93 MON. You can even buy 94 MON in Canada.
Apple users are just happy and content they spent $800 bucks it would seem for a phone and the company just turned it off, with no recourse...snip..
Mac Customers=Stupid Better buy your iPhone while the getting's good. In a year's time, idiots like you will have raised the price to $5000. $800 will seem like a bargain.
I'm glad I can't tell the difference between good and bad sound.
My Mac Pro's audio output (the analog one, at that!) goes to a cheap-ish Harman/Kardon stereo receiver and a pair of Paradigm Monitor 3's. I never understood why people spent $300-$400 on overdesigned plastic computer speaker setups when you could get a proper receiver and speakers for that much, even if they're nothing special.
Surround sound is enough of a PITA to setup in the living room, I don't need that hassle in my bedroom too.
Mac users really should stop being so blase about anti-virus software on their Macs because they should run it. snip
Switch to a Mac, and you still have a population of similar-enough machines across which a virus can also propagate and it is very dangerous to assume anything otherwise. Why? How dangerous? And how is it dangerous to assume otherwise?
Why should I spend my time, money, and CPU cycles on running AV on a system that has an essentially 0 rate of virus infection? I've got a firewall on my network, *and* I've got the host firewall running on my Mac. I read my email in GMail and almost never open documents in Office, except those that come thru my work mail (via Entourage), which is scanned at the corporate level anyway.
I back up my files, so I'm not at (too much) risk for data loss.
Maybe once there are *real* viruses out there for the Mac, I will reevaluate. Maybe I will be unlucky, be one of the first ones to be hit by a Mac virus in the wild and have to spend a few hours reinstalling all my apps and restoring from backups. But so far, if I ran AV, I'd just be investing real time and money into defending against an all-but-nonexistent threat. The cost/benefit just isn't there.
Slashdot Mirror
It's been true for at least 5 years. It used to be easy to find intelligent people online who ran into the same problem. Now all you find is rank amateurs posting stupid questions that happen to contain some words that are relevant to your search.
I think we all know that commercial software support is next to worthless; by the time you've spent 4 or so hours exhausting all possibilities on your own, you will call up the vendor and spend DAYS trying to get them to understand the process you went thru, and yes, the system is plugged in, and on and on thru their support script. And in the end you resolve it yourself anyway because nobody you can get on the phone is any more skilled than you are.
I like dealing with Sun equipment because they're generally pretty good at resolving hardware problems, and dealing with hardware problems on Sun stuff is infinitely easier than on IBM/Dell x86 stuff.
However, a related problem is that the S:N ratio online has gone WAY down. I used to be able to search for a relatively obscure error and find some record of someone who had a similar problem and it would help me in troubleshooting. Now when I search for detail on problem X with module Y, all you find on Google is pages and pages of complete newbies asking how to install the OS or something stupid like that.
Grr.
Seriously? If you want a professional to do work for you, it's called "professional services", costs an arm and a leg, and only occasionally does something other than totally hose up your environment.
The "support" for most software (and even hardware) goes about as far as "is it plugged in?"
The only support I ever use is hardware support, and half the time, even with Sun, you have to tell then what part to send you.
Does anybody really sit on the phone with IBM, Sun, Microsoft, to try to troubleshoot a complex problem?
Too bad there's not an advanced app like Lightroom available for the Mac.
Oh, wait...
That's right, all of the "buy American" dolts destroyed the American auto industry. That is, the American-based carmakers, I'm not talking about foreign companies that build cars in the US like Honda and Toyota and BMW and Mercedes and.. well, probably just about everyone. For what it's worth, my BMW was built in South Carolina, and the quality is identical to the previous one built at the Motorsport factory in Germany, which is to say pretty damn good.
My car's in the (body) shop and I ended up with a Ford Taurus rental. 2 miles down the road and I concluded that every person involved in the Taurus should be immediately fired. The car sucked so much that I took it back the next day and ended up with a Mazda 6 instead (which I know from previous rentals to be a decent car).
The Taurus is a wholly incompetent car. I shudder to think that it was built in 2007. It droves like a 1984 Lincoln. Wallows all over the place, can't turn, can't brake, slow as hell, doesn't track straight, hard to see out of, big enough to require its own zip code, and ugly as sin, inside and out.
So, thanks for continuing to "buy American", thereby allowing our auto industry to maintain sales despite utterly worthless products.
Though I admit the Focus is a pretty decent car, that's actually what I had hoped to get in exchange for the Taurus.
What the hell crazy world are you living in that you need to reference Eminem when talking about a fifth of liquor.
Eminem sucks, and anyone who's ever been near anyone drinking knows a fifth is not really an honest fifth of liquid, it's 750mL. And a handle's not really a half gallon, it's 1.5L. And a pint isn't really a pint, it's 375mL, which is the most wrong of them all since it's about 100mL shy of an actual US pint.
Actually, a handle (sometimes referred to as a half gallon) is 1.75L, which would mean a gallon of liquor is 3.5L :)
Overpaying $1000 (or more, factoring in the life of the computer) is obviously way preferable to paying $30 for a Windows license. Riiiight...
I don't get it. First of all, you pulled the $1000 out of your ass, obviously, since some Apple systems are extremely price competitive just on hardware alone.
Second, why is it "... or more, factoring in the life of the computer?" Since when did we agree that Apple systems have a SHORTER useful life than a Windows machine?
Third, where do you get Windows licenses for $30?
Finally, how on earth did you get modded insightful?
An Ask Slashdot question where the person in question actually contacted experts directly to try to get his questions answered BEFORE asking slashdot?
(this time posted in the correct thread.. after i got kicked out last time trying to post, then ended up posting to the Pringles can thread)
An Ask Slashdot question where the person in question actually contacted experts directly to try to get his questions answered BEFORE asking slashdot?
Republicans censor to keep Jesus from being offended at all our swears.
Democrats censor to make a shiny happy world in which to raise your perfect whitebread children, free from swears.
I type far faster on an iPhone than on a normal smartphone because striking a key is one motion (click) not two (move finger down, feel for button, adjust, click).
The cavets are typing without looking (good luck) and not being able to rely on autocorrect. The iPhone autocorrect is awesome -- the combination of faster keystrokes, plus error correction, is what allows it to be faster to type on than a normal smartphone. However, this could be a major drawback when trying to type non-english Unix commands
Brand name computer stores are the outlet for those too weak to resist the urge to make impulse purchases in excess of a month's income. The fact Apple has been able to capitalize on this trend so well speaks to the fetishistic appeal of those shiny laptops and the absence of any real value in their products. Convinced the worth of something that is not even there, people are literally waiting in line to buy nothing.
Truly, they are the dead.
M Seriously?
First of all, I don't see how the Sony Style comment has anything to do with the rest of your comment, as it is showing a LACK of buyers, rather than supporting your conclusion.
Secondly,
I get the feeling you're parodying some well-known work, but.. I don't know what.
Left Friday, returned yesterday.. from the SF Bay area to Bimmerfest in Santa Barbara and back. Even managed over 300 miles on a small tank in a 2-seater that gets crappy mileage. Though my hatch probably carries more than a Tesla.
entirely. Awesome, which is why I load all of my electronica onto my iPods from CDs. Mac sales have gone up, most likely to the yuppies who cannot sync the Itunes software to a Windows box and decide to buy the Mac due to the customer support representative with Mac stating, "it works better with a Mac," or the idiots logical thought process that decides a Mac is a cost effective option (cough, cough). ... or because their experience with Apple products is light years ahead of their experience with the bargain-basement electronics companies that try to push their hacked-together products as computing solutions for the masses? Buying a Mac is for the glorified rich who eat too many donuts and watch too much TV. If you enjoy my lovely view of the world, read my blog. No thanks.
What's really funny about this is that you seem to have it totally backwards. Your attitude puts you smack dab in the middle of the Mac stereotype.
Check out stuffwhitepeoplelike sometime. The Mac user is supposed to be a yuppie elitist who likes to brag about not owning a TV, drives a Hybrid, shops at flea markets, participates in athletic activities for fun (jogging, cycling, etc), listens to electronic music, and generally disdains middle america. In other words, you.
I'm a Mac user, but I guess it all makes sense because I'm a Bay Area elitist who drives a BMW and commuted 60 miles to work by bicycle today.
My only failing is that I refuse to apologize for the fact that I watch TV when I have nothing better to do.
I looked at macs when I bought my current laptop. I have a t61 thinkpad with multiple optional batteries (9 cell and drive battery give 8-10 hrs). Also have 4 gigs ram and the rest of the goodies you get with IBM.. 5 year warranty. The prices and feature set arent even comparable, as Apple doesnt offer the caliber of hardware that IBM does. And their policies of nigh everything being a service call pisses me off. I can change a keyboard module or hard drive, and in thinkpads, its really easy.
BTW, how much does "Apple Ram" cost again? The problem is, you're still stuck with a Thinkpad. Don't try to tell me that the OS/hardware combo don't result in:
* 3 places to change the volume
* A sleep mode that works, sometimes, or kills your network devices other times
* 5 minutes to change your IP address via netsh
* A docking station/presentation mode solution that sometimes changes your resolution, sometimes doesn't, and sometimes crashes the system
* All kinds of other assorted hw/sw interface oddities
Don't get me wrong. The T60 I use every day is the best PC laptop hardware I've ever used. Obviously IBM offers some options Apple doesn't. But in day-to-day use, even the best x86/Windows laptop is kind of a third-rate sorta-kinda-works solution.
And don't even get me started on Office 2007, which has turned my formerly zippy dual-core 2ghz + 1.5GB ram machine into a 386/25.
Your octane is measured on a different scale, if it's anything like Europe. 95 RON is something like 91 MON and 98 RON is something like 93 MON. You can even buy 94 MON in Canada.
Mac Customers=Stupid Better buy your iPhone while the getting's good. In a year's time, idiots like you will have raised the price to $5000. $800 will seem like a bargain.
I'm glad I can't tell the difference between good and bad sound.
My Mac Pro's audio output (the analog one, at that!) goes to a cheap-ish Harman/Kardon stereo receiver and a pair of Paradigm Monitor 3's. I never understood why people spent $300-$400 on overdesigned plastic computer speaker setups when you could get a proper receiver and speakers for that much, even if they're nothing special.
Surround sound is enough of a PITA to setup in the living room, I don't need that hassle in my bedroom too.
Guy just sounds like another whiny "I'm special" nerd.
Why should I spend my time, money, and CPU cycles on running AV on a system that has an essentially 0 rate of virus infection? I've got a firewall on my network, *and* I've got the host firewall running on my Mac. I read my email in GMail and almost never open documents in Office, except those that come thru my work mail (via Entourage), which is scanned at the corporate level anyway.
I back up my files, so I'm not at (too much) risk for data loss.
Maybe once there are *real* viruses out there for the Mac, I will reevaluate. Maybe I will be unlucky, be one of the first ones to be hit by a Mac virus in the wild and have to spend a few hours reinstalling all my apps and restoring from backups. But so far, if I ran AV, I'd just be investing real time and money into defending against an all-but-nonexistent threat. The cost/benefit just isn't there.