Cool! How much you want for it? Seriously. I am in the market. I lost my Visor Edge, and it's like I lost a third of my brain. Dead serious: Email me if you want to sell this thing.
It's not irrelevant, it's just not that important.
Re:So much easier to knock down than to build up
on
Top 10 Apple Flops
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Uh huh. I had one of those beige boxes, and that PC card. (It wasn't PCI, it was Processor Direct). Great card: I played Wing Commander III on it years before the Mac version shipped. It worked beautifully.
I liked Apple then. I like them better now. Go Steve Go.
Re:So much easier to knock down than to build up
on
Top 10 Apple Flops
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
No, you really can't.
Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine.
There's no MP3 player on the market that's anywhere near as easy to use as the iPod. I can't imagine bothering with anything else.
So what? My Powerbook works great, and I don't give a damn if more people buy Acers than Macs. They're welcome to their choices...they do not impact mine.
Market share is just not that important.
Re:So much easier to knock down than to build up
on
Top 10 Apple Flops
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Guess you haven't been around very long.
The reason Apple gets credit around here (and believe me, they used to get NO love whatsoever) is because they consistently deliver kick-ass products. If I could read the article, I'd be curious to count how many of these "flops" were presided over by Mr. Jobs, and how many were the responsibility of the not-visionary CEOs Apple got beleaguered under.
Yeah, that keyboard and auto dimming of the monitor is HAWT. Screw the faster processor, and the bigger screen isn't THAT much bigger, but that kb and auto-dimming? That's teh awesome.
I did a quick Google, and apparently you can't easily retrofit the backlit kb, because the light sensor is in the speaker grilles next to the kb on the bigger laptops.
You're being abusive, and I'm done with you. HAND. However, while we're playing ad hominem attacks,
"I mean, do you want the perception that Apple's products are produced primarily for mental defectives? Because that's been the knock for a long time."
You're certainly not helping that perception. Maybe if you were smarter you'd be able to understand that everybody is not like you.
Yeah, I often thought "Gosh, I coulda spent another $500 and gotten a bigger screen and the backlit keyboard..." but I absolutely love the portability. This thing is TINY.
1) I'm not talking about Apple people, I'm talking about the Windows users I'm responsible for supporting. 2) It's not logically easier. Why do you think I said this? If a user is comfortable enough with the computer to use keyboard shortcuts, the ctrl-click is easy. If the user is not, they never have to see it.
I'm not arguing whether they should exist, I'm arguing that they should never be mandatory. I have seen first hand how poorly they can be designed, and I don't blame Apple for a minute that they're reluctant to make a change in their well-proven design.
Again: You are free to disagree. Have you installed SideTrack and solved your problem, or would you rather just bitch about it?
"Because to depress the ctrl effectively, I have to remove my left hand from the keyboard."
You have weird hands.
"Or I might not have been using the keyboard - maybe I'm navigating a webpage with right hand only?"
Well, I'm right handed, so I usually navigate left-hand only, but whatever.
"Maybe I'm disabled and only have one working hand?"
Then it's a good thing you're using a Mac, which has superior usability for disabled persons.
"Look, you'll never win the argument that it's physically easier to use another hand and another device than to use your finger on a device it's already interacting with"
Since that has nothing to do with my argument, I don't really care.
"But when you introduce the idea of keyboard modifiers, it defeats the entire purpose of GUI transparency. They're no more transparent than right clicking..."
Uh huh. Which is why they're very optional. They are shortcuts for experienced users, most of whom don't have a big problem plugging in a mouse.
"From a GUI standpoint, it does the same thing. Apple is essentially admitting its GUI standard is woefully outdated."
Yeah, it must have something to do with the fact that they're so beleaguered.
"At that point, the only question is, which way is physically easier?"
Apple is asking "Which way is less confusing?", and I think that's the better question. You disagree. You're free to do so.
"What's annoying is that this outdated 1985 orthodoxy..."
I deal with the problems related to two-button mice daily. You (the proficient computer user) are in the minority.
Have you installed SideTrack yet? If not, why do you keep complaining?
I think there is harm from having another button. I know there's harm, because I deal with it every single day. That second mouse button confuses people, and Apple wants to minimize confusion.
If you hate their design that much, don't use it.
"other than crackpot theories of rogue developers doing away with standard menus?"
I don't know what "crackpot theories" you're talking about, but I'm talking about the dramatic inconsistencies I see on everyday Windows apps. Contextual menus are rarely, if ever, well-implemented. Sometimes they're convenient, but I'd rather have a consistent, predictable interface than one that might have a handy shortcut buried somewhere.
It's an accelerometer, and I'm sure it can read "Oh, I'm in free fall...better park the heads". I bet it will also park the heads if it reads a jolt (like a car coming to a sudden stop).
Since parking the heads can happen so fast, I suspect that nobody would be the wiser if it parked 'em and unparked 'em over the course of a second or so. Yeah, if you're burning a DVD, you might have a problem, but for the majority of user tasks they'd never notice.
Right click is always, always, always, never not ctrl-click. I don't know what all those other meta keys you're confused about have to do with bringing up contextual menus.
I'm sitting here with my right hand on the home row, pinkie on the ctrl key, and my left thumb on the trackpad. The world is not exploding. You've got two hands, all the controls are right beneath them, why not use them?
Install SideTrack. Be happy. Apple isn't going to be changing their basic UI design any time soon, so I suggest that you might be well advised to look for other strategies.
I completely disagree with you that it's bad UI design. It's certainly UI design that you don't like, but I think Apple is absolutely correct.
What else could they do? Are mice REALLY that hard to come by that this inconveniences anybody? Have you ever actually tried to use the system as designed, or are you just assuming that it doesn't work very well?
"My biggest complaint with Apple's insistance on keeping with the one button mouse is that there isn't a nice, elegant, ergonomic multi-button mouse from Apple."
Slashdot Mirror
I lose paper, and there's no backup.
If I lose or break my Palm, I get another one cheap, push the "sync" button, and I'm ready to go.
The only thing that's important is my data. I want the most reliable data storage and retrieval medium. Paper doesn't work for me.
Cool! How much you want for it? Seriously. I am in the market. I lost my Visor Edge, and it's like I lost a third of my brain. Dead serious: Email me if you want to sell this thing.
Yay secondary market!
"Write" means "pen".
You want to try to be a wiseass, you're gonna get shut down. Get used to it.
I'd have wadded it up, thrown it in the trash, and told you to give me 1000 written with a Husky pencil.
Sometimes, when you're a teacher, you gotta crack the whip...
I'm not sure I understand your point. Are we supposed to cut MS slack because they take brilliant people and turn out bad products?
It's not irrelevant, it's just not that important.
Uh huh. I had one of those beige boxes, and that PC card. (It wasn't PCI, it was Processor Direct). Great card: I played Wing Commander III on it years before the Mac version shipped. It worked beautifully.
I liked Apple then. I like them better now. Go Steve Go.
No, you really can't.
Of course, you are entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to mine.
There's no MP3 player on the market that's anywhere near as easy to use as the iPod. I can't imagine bothering with anything else.
Love my Powerbook too.
Log in and we can talk.
So what? My Powerbook works great, and I don't give a damn if more people buy Acers than Macs. They're welcome to their choices...they do not impact mine.
Market share is just not that important.
Guess you haven't been around very long.
The reason Apple gets credit around here (and believe me, they used to get NO love whatsoever) is because they consistently deliver kick-ass products. If I could read the article, I'd be curious to count how many of these "flops" were presided over by Mr. Jobs, and how many were the responsibility of the not-visionary CEOs Apple got beleaguered under.
Exactly.
Yeah, that keyboard and auto dimming of the monitor is HAWT. Screw the faster processor, and the bigger screen isn't THAT much bigger, but that kb and auto-dimming? That's teh awesome.
I did a quick Google, and apparently you can't easily retrofit the backlit kb, because the light sensor is in the speaker grilles next to the kb on the bigger laptops.
Someday....
You're being abusive, and I'm done with you. HAND. However, while we're playing ad hominem attacks,
"I mean, do you want the perception that Apple's products are produced primarily for mental defectives? Because that's been the knock for a long time."
You're certainly not helping that perception. Maybe if you were smarter you'd be able to understand that everybody is not like you.
Yeah, I often thought "Gosh, I coulda spent another $500 and gotten a bigger screen and the backlit keyboard..." but I absolutely love the portability. This thing is TINY.
I really would like that backlit kb, though...
1) I'm not talking about Apple people, I'm talking about the Windows users I'm responsible for supporting. 2) It's not logically easier. Why do you think I said this? If a user is comfortable enough with the computer to use keyboard shortcuts, the ctrl-click is easy. If the user is not, they never have to see it.
I'm not arguing whether they should exist, I'm arguing that they should never be mandatory. I have seen first hand how poorly they can be designed, and I don't blame Apple for a minute that they're reluctant to make a change in their well-proven design.
Again: You are free to disagree. Have you installed SideTrack and solved your problem, or would you rather just bitch about it?
"Because to depress the ctrl effectively, I have to remove my left hand from the keyboard."
You have weird hands.
"Or I might not have been using the keyboard - maybe I'm navigating a webpage with right hand only?"
Well, I'm right handed, so I usually navigate left-hand only, but whatever.
"Maybe I'm disabled and only have one working hand?"
Then it's a good thing you're using a Mac, which has superior usability for disabled persons.
"Look, you'll never win the argument that it's physically easier to use another hand and another device than to use your finger on a device it's already interacting with"
Since that has nothing to do with my argument, I don't really care.
"But when you introduce the idea of keyboard modifiers, it defeats the entire purpose of GUI transparency. They're no more transparent than right clicking..."
Uh huh. Which is why they're very optional. They are shortcuts for experienced users, most of whom don't have a big problem plugging in a mouse.
"From a GUI standpoint, it does the same thing. Apple is essentially admitting its GUI standard is woefully outdated."
Yeah, it must have something to do with the fact that they're so beleaguered.
"At that point, the only question is, which way is physically easier?"
Apple is asking "Which way is less confusing?", and I think that's the better question. You disagree. You're free to do so.
"What's annoying is that this outdated 1985 orthodoxy..."
I deal with the problems related to two-button mice daily. You (the proficient computer user) are in the minority.
Have you installed SideTrack yet? If not, why do you keep complaining?
I think there is harm from having another button. I know there's harm, because I deal with it every single day. That second mouse button confuses people, and Apple wants to minimize confusion.
If you hate their design that much, don't use it.
"other than crackpot theories of rogue developers doing away with standard menus?"
I don't know what "crackpot theories" you're talking about, but I'm talking about the dramatic inconsistencies I see on everyday Windows apps. Contextual menus are rarely, if ever, well-implemented. Sometimes they're convenient, but I'd rather have a consistent, predictable interface than one that might have a handy shortcut buried somewhere.
Except they can indeed label your independent paper as contraband, and forbid it on school grounds.
Not that I think that's at all acceptable, but that's what will happen.
It's an accelerometer, and I'm sure it can read "Oh, I'm in free fall...better park the heads". I bet it will also park the heads if it reads a jolt (like a car coming to a sudden stop).
Since parking the heads can happen so fast, I suspect that nobody would be the wiser if it parked 'em and unparked 'em over the course of a second or so. Yeah, if you're burning a DVD, you might have a problem, but for the majority of user tasks they'd never notice.
Oh yeah, forgot to point out:
Right click is always, always, always, never not ctrl-click. I don't know what all those other meta keys you're confused about have to do with bringing up contextual menus.
I'm sitting here with my right hand on the home row, pinkie on the ctrl key, and my left thumb on the trackpad. The world is not exploding. You've got two hands, all the controls are right beneath them, why not use them?
Install SideTrack. Be happy. Apple isn't going to be changing their basic UI design any time soon, so I suggest that you might be well advised to look for other strategies.
I completely disagree with you that it's bad UI design. It's certainly UI design that you don't like, but I think Apple is absolutely correct.
Somebody needs a hug. C'mere, big guy.
What else could they do? Are mice REALLY that hard to come by that this inconveniences anybody? Have you ever actually tried to use the system as designed, or are you just assuming that it doesn't work very well?
"My biggest complaint with Apple's insistance on keeping with the one button mouse is that there isn't a nice, elegant, ergonomic multi-button mouse from Apple."
Sure there is.
They look factory and work great.