By my recollection, the installer craps out with a cryptic error message which you have to be pretty clever to figure out means "You need to log in as an administrator before you can do what you're doing". This is not sufficiently good UI.
I don't know or care what "they" are doing. I am paying premium for good design and superior utility. "they" can do whatever they want to. If "their" desire for nice looking gadgets motivate companies to build well designed gadgets (nice looking and well designed are not identical sets), then I'm a big fan of "they".
I'd take that even further. Good design is, by definition, never superficial. Good design pervades all the functions of the object in question. Good design makes the thing easy to use, obvious to use, and also elegant to look at.
The amp my dad bought 20 years ago (died, for one thing, meaning that just because it's old doesn't mean it's good) doesn't have enough inputs or outputs to do what I want it to do today. Of course, I can get an amp with all the features I want for less than $300, which is less than he paid for his (in then-dollars) back in the day.
So this argument doesn't make much sense to me. YOU might make value judgements like "Well, you don't NEED those features..." to which I say "You're welcome to your opinion, with which I disagree..." and we're at an impasse.
I'm still a little confused about your disclaimer. Since I am an American, should I not file a lawsuit when I have a grievance, because the rest of the world thinks Americans are lawsuit happy? Do non-Americans get some sort of card that entitles them to be exempt from people calling them lawsuit-happy?
Or is this just another one of the stupid generalizations that people make up about each other to make it seem like we're different?
I'll tell my boss some "punter" on Slashdot told me to do it, when he asks me why the web site looks like ass now. I'm sure I won't get fired or anything.
Whatever "png spec" does not involve "making transparencies not look like ass" is a broken spec.
So, fine, the spec is uffed up. The fact that IE doesn't support the png alpha channel properly is the only thing that's making migrating to png a nightmare.
But they are obliged to deliver on the deals they promise, even if it means a customer only buys merchandise that's on sale.
The rebate scam is a naughty thing for customers to do, and BB is well within its rights to not permit that sort of thing. However, it takes some real cheek to imply that a customer that takes advantage of the sale prices BB takes great pains to advertise is a "demon customer".
Me? I'd wear that label with pride. I'm thinking about making up T-Shirts: "Best Buy thinks I'm a Demon Customer!" and wear them every time I go into that store.
I don't want to be a dink. I just don't buy "instant rebates". I buy the product if the list price is a good deal, and the "rebate" is free money if and only if I get it.
My time is more valuable than jacking around in small claims court.
And what the hell does your nationality have to do with this conversation?
When did McDonald's ever try to bill themselves as "healthy"? I remember they made some sort of "lite" burger ten years ago, and people didn't buy it in droves.
I've no sympathy for people who go to McDonald's and don't eat well. What did they think was going to happen?
Uh, so American car manufacturers are turning out substandard products. Is that supposed to be some kind of news flash?
It's a long way from "American cars suck" to "All products manufactured today suck".
Everybody knows American cars suck. The only thing that surprises me is that people keep buying them. Ugly AND unreliable...I don't understand the appeal.
I wonder what insignificant fraction of rebate users actually do this? I bet it's smaller than the number of people who send in their rebates and get stiffed, and much much smaller than the people who don't send their rebates at all.
So, basically, Best Buy can go screw. Rebates are bad for everybody. Let's stop doing them.
The "average consumer" should go ahead and get used to the idea that they need to make a buying decision (IE a cost-benefit analysis) in the present, rather than waiting for some unspecified-future product improvements.
I don't understand how a new model "devalues" your current model, unless and until you want to resell it. Doesn't it still do all the things that were on the spec sheet? It was obviously worth $X to you to be able to do those things, and that list of things hasn't changed, so there is no decrease in value to you. And, if you're reselling it, you're competing with the original manufacturer, so they're hardly beholden to make life easier for you...
There are people who like to chase the bleeding edge of technology. I like to profit from their compulsiveness on the secondary market.
Slashdot Mirror
By my recollection, the installer craps out with a cryptic error message which you have to be pretty clever to figure out means "You need to log in as an administrator before you can do what you're doing". This is not sufficiently good UI.
I don't know or care what "they" are doing. I am paying premium for good design and superior utility. "they" can do whatever they want to. If "their" desire for nice looking gadgets motivate companies to build well designed gadgets (nice looking and well designed are not identical sets), then I'm a big fan of "they".
I'd take that even further. Good design is, by definition, never superficial. Good design pervades all the functions of the object in question. Good design makes the thing easy to use, obvious to use, and also elegant to look at.
And Apple has good design wired.
My copy here has "1984" on the cover, you pedantic twit.
Impossible question to answer.
The amp my dad bought 20 years ago (died, for one thing, meaning that just because it's old doesn't mean it's good) doesn't have enough inputs or outputs to do what I want it to do today. Of course, I can get an amp with all the features I want for less than $300, which is less than he paid for his (in then-dollars) back in the day.
So this argument doesn't make much sense to me. YOU might make value judgements like "Well, you don't NEED those features..." to which I say "You're welcome to your opinion, with which I disagree..." and we're at an impasse.
So, like I said: There were no good old days.
Or maybe we'll let the nice author call his book whatever the hell he wants, without any pseudointellectual dicking about from you, eh?
Yes, I did mistype: I meant mail-in rebates.
I'm still a little confused about your disclaimer. Since I am an American, should I not file a lawsuit when I have a grievance, because the rest of the world thinks Americans are lawsuit happy? Do non-Americans get some sort of card that entitles them to be exempt from people calling them lawsuit-happy?
Or is this just another one of the stupid generalizations that people make up about each other to make it seem like we're different?
If you were my dad, I'd shit in your moccasins just on general principle.
Wow. You're an ass.
I'll tell my boss some "punter" on Slashdot told me to do it, when he asks me why the web site looks like ass now. I'm sure I won't get fired or anything.
Whatever "png spec" does not involve "making transparencies not look like ass" is a broken spec.
So, fine, the spec is uffed up. The fact that IE doesn't support the png alpha channel properly is the only thing that's making migrating to png a nightmare.
Sell it on eBay to somebody who can operate a screwdriver.
Can not be replaced, huh? Right.
Don't buy a iPod, that's fine. But why you gotta be a hata?
But they are obliged to deliver on the deals they promise, even if it means a customer only buys merchandise that's on sale.
The rebate scam is a naughty thing for customers to do, and BB is well within its rights to not permit that sort of thing. However, it takes some real cheek to imply that a customer that takes advantage of the sale prices BB takes great pains to advertise is a "demon customer".
Me? I'd wear that label with pride. I'm thinking about making up T-Shirts: "Best Buy thinks I'm a Demon Customer!" and wear them every time I go into that store.
I don't want to be a dink. I just don't buy "instant rebates". I buy the product if the list price is a good deal, and the "rebate" is free money if and only if I get it.
My time is more valuable than jacking around in small claims court.
And what the hell does your nationality have to do with this conversation?
I'll remember your sanctimonious asshattery next time I get a memo back from the rebate provider that they've changed their PO box number.
Rebates are a scam. End of story.
When did McDonald's ever try to bill themselves as "healthy"? I remember they made some sort of "lite" burger ten years ago, and people didn't buy it in droves.
I've no sympathy for people who go to McDonald's and don't eat well. What did they think was going to happen?
So, you've got a lot of money in the bank and you never spend it...
Sounds to me like the bank should be sending you free hookers.
Wow, with an attitude like that, it's a wonder you're not out-competing Best Buy?
I'd love to come to your store and get told to fuck off. Do I get to pay you for the privilege?
Uh, so American car manufacturers are turning out substandard products. Is that supposed to be some kind of news flash?
It's a long way from "American cars suck" to "All products manufactured today suck".
Everybody knows American cars suck. The only thing that surprises me is that people keep buying them. Ugly AND unreliable...I don't understand the appeal.
The planet slows down.
Not very much, of course, because the planet is really, really, really, really, really, really, really big.
If you build one, you can call it whatever the hell you want to. Until then, it's all wanking. (that means masturbation.)
I wonder what insignificant fraction of rebate users actually do this? I bet it's smaller than the number of people who send in their rebates and get stiffed, and much much smaller than the people who don't send their rebates at all.
So, basically, Best Buy can go screw. Rebates are bad for everybody. Let's stop doing them.
*eyebrow*
I've got the same camera, and I don't know what half the controls do. Creeping featuritis was invented by photography geeks thirty years ago.
Things are also a lot cheaper (in real dollars) than they used to be.
There were no good old days.
The "average consumer" should go ahead and get used to the idea that they need to make a buying decision (IE a cost-benefit analysis) in the present, rather than waiting for some unspecified-future product improvements.
I don't understand how a new model "devalues" your current model, unless and until you want to resell it. Doesn't it still do all the things that were on the spec sheet? It was obviously worth $X to you to be able to do those things, and that list of things hasn't changed, so there is no decrease in value to you. And, if you're reselling it, you're competing with the original manufacturer, so they're hardly beholden to make life easier for you...
There are people who like to chase the bleeding edge of technology. I like to profit from their compulsiveness on the secondary market.