How did you get from "Person A didn't think this was a very good movie" to "Person A thinks art should never include any kind of political message" to "Person A is a torture advocate and probably eats babies"?
I mean, wow. That's a really impressive set of assumptions you've got there...
IFF Apple releases a money mgmt app for the iPhone, or IFF PocketQuicken worked with Moneydance, I'd bag Quicken Mac in a heartbeat.
But, for me, the killer app is finances on my PDA. First one to do that better than Palm/Quicken/Pocket Quicken gets my money. (Don't worry, the bar is VERY low...)
"Where are the good old days when a phone was just a phone, a thing people would call you when they actually have something to say?"
You look pretty silly trying to be a single-function device retrogrouch when you're sitting in front of one of the most multi-functional devices ever invented by human kind.
Might as well hearken for the old days when people wrote messages to each other with pointy sticks and clay. Once you're carrying a powerful computer in your pocket, adding features is basically free pie. Whether they're well designed or not, well, there's the rub, huh?
Apple's core competency is human-machine interaction. The thing they do better than anybody else is user interface. Apple sees an opportunity to improve the user experience for phones, and is betting they can leverage their expertise to improve a pretty lousy situation.
Are they right? Don't know. But it's NOT similar to Oracle starting to sell concrete.
No. It should be well enough designed that "get used to it" is an easy and transparent process. I've been a Treo user for two years and still trip over stupid UI gaffes, and this thing is supposed to be the best in the business. I can't imagine how bad Windows Mobile might be.
I have zero issues with voice quality or dropped calls, and the phone as modem performance is plenty acceptable, so none of these issues are Sprint issues.
I've finally found an application launcher that's not blindingly stupid (like the stock PalmOS one) called Facer Pro. It's great..except that I had to buy another utility to map the redundant green action button to "applications", because the other hard button just wouldn't work.
Some of these issues are carry-overs from when I had a Treo 650. Some are brand new stupidities with the 700p. All needed to be fixed three years ago.
So, yeah. IFF the iPhone fixes the dumb UI nonsense from the Treo, I'll buy one. I've got a lot more confidence that Apple will do it than Palm, because Palm has failed at every opportunity.
I've been a Palm user since the III, and I'm looking hard at the iPhone. My Treo 700p just pisses me off.
So, yes: User interface matters. Good design matters. Good engineering matters. Good marketing does not matter (to me). Depending on which of those factors Apple gets right, I might (might!) even be coerced into leaving Sprint for Cingular. (Not like Sprint has done me any favors lately.)
Me? I'm waiting until hardware ships to make decisions. Maybe other people would find my strategy advantageous. (Then again, it doesn't generate that many page views, so...YMMV.)
Actually, I was pointing out the important distinction that you missed. Don't worry, lots of people miss it. You're the one who decided to apply the "smug" appellation to all "greenies".
There are smug greenies. And there are humble greenies, and middlin' arrogant greenies, and every other type of greenie you might care to imagine. Talking about the smug ones should not be misinterpreted as asserting that all greenies are smug.
"although your characterization of greenies as "smug" might make some greenies reject you out of hand."
Well, most of the smart ones will notice that the existence of some greenies who are smug does not mean that all greenies are smug. Nor that all smug people are greenies.
I know, I know, it takes some thinking, and the rejection of the notion that the only two groups of people are 1) the ones that agree with you, and 2) ones that are wrong, but I think you might find this line of reasoning fruitful.
Slashdot Mirror
How did you get from "Person A didn't think this was a very good movie" to "Person A thinks art should never include any kind of political message" to "Person A is a torture advocate and probably eats babies"?
I mean, wow. That's a really impressive set of assumptions you've got there...
What is a "dousin"?
Stuff like this is, believe it or not, why I continue to read /.
Mod parent +A Million Really Interesting Stuff
I don't know about you, but I've got 7000 odd tracks on my 40gb. I might (might!) buy as many as 100 tracks from iTMS in the next year.
That's not a substantial impact on storage from my perspective. Your mileage almost certainly varies.
"Hacking a MAC is easier overall than Windows, trust me I do a lot of penetration testing."
*eyebrow*
So how many of the "If you can hack this Mac, you can keep it!" contests have you won?
IFF Apple releases a money mgmt app for the iPhone, or IFF PocketQuicken worked with Moneydance, I'd bag Quicken Mac in a heartbeat.
But, for me, the killer app is finances on my PDA. First one to do that better than Palm/Quicken/Pocket Quicken gets my money. (Don't worry, the bar is VERY low...)
*bow*
I stand corrected, sir. The day is yours!
"Where are the good old days when a phone was just a phone, a thing people would call you when they actually have something to say?"
You look pretty silly trying to be a single-function device retrogrouch when you're sitting in front of one of the most multi-functional devices ever invented by human kind.
Might as well hearken for the old days when people wrote messages to each other with pointy sticks and clay. Once you're carrying a powerful computer in your pocket, adding features is basically free pie. Whether they're well designed or not, well, there's the rub, huh?
You utterly miss the point.
Apple's core competency is human-machine interaction. The thing they do better than anybody else is user interface. Apple sees an opportunity to improve the user experience for phones, and is betting they can leverage their expertise to improve a pretty lousy situation.
Are they right? Don't know. But it's NOT similar to Oracle starting to sell concrete.
Maybe when they said "Trump" they meant "Puts on a ridiculous toupee and goes bankrupt".
Just a theory.
"I know everything that is installed on the system and I can remove it if I don't like it."
How do you know whether to like it or not (from a security perspective, that is)?
"You just have to get used to it."
No. It should be well enough designed that "get used to it" is an easy and transparent process. I've been a Treo user for two years and still trip over stupid UI gaffes, and this thing is supposed to be the best in the business. I can't imagine how bad Windows Mobile might be.
I have zero issues with voice quality or dropped calls, and the phone as modem performance is plenty acceptable, so none of these issues are Sprint issues.
I've finally found an application launcher that's not blindingly stupid (like the stock PalmOS one) called Facer Pro. It's great..except that I had to buy another utility to map the redundant green action button to "applications", because the other hard button just wouldn't work.
Some of these issues are carry-overs from when I had a Treo 650. Some are brand new stupidities with the 700p. All needed to be fixed three years ago.
So, yeah. IFF the iPhone fixes the dumb UI nonsense from the Treo, I'll buy one. I've got a lot more confidence that Apple will do it than Palm, because Palm has failed at every opportunity.
Well, that didn't work...
POINT
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-YOU-
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/ \
I've been a Palm user since the III, and I'm looking hard at the iPhone. My Treo 700p just pisses me off.
So, yes: User interface matters. Good design matters. Good engineering matters. Good marketing does not matter (to me). Depending on which of those factors Apple gets right, I might (might!) even be coerced into leaving Sprint for Cingular. (Not like Sprint has done me any favors lately.)
Me? I'm waiting until hardware ships to make decisions. Maybe other people would find my strategy advantageous. (Then again, it doesn't generate that many page views, so...YMMV.)
Well, you need cooling fluid too, right? There's your solution!
I wouldn't class either of those activities as simple, but hey! That's just me!
Oooh! Sensitive! Want a hug?
Actually, I was pointing out the important distinction that you missed. Don't worry, lots of people miss it. You're the one who decided to apply the "smug" appellation to all "greenies".
There are smug greenies. And there are humble greenies, and middlin' arrogant greenies, and every other type of greenie you might care to imagine. Talking about the smug ones should not be misinterpreted as asserting that all greenies are smug.
Now all we need to do is make it a felony for Federal Agents to commit felonies. Then we'd be getting somewhere.
Nah, probably not.
"although your characterization of greenies as "smug" might make some greenies reject you out of hand."
Well, most of the smart ones will notice that the existence of some greenies who are smug does not mean that all greenies are smug. Nor that all smug people are greenies.
I know, I know, it takes some thinking, and the rejection of the notion that the only two groups of people are 1) the ones that agree with you, and 2) ones that are wrong, but I think you might find this line of reasoning fruitful.
Give it a try. Tell your friends.
"but I do need its enhanced reliability."
And you're contemplating upgrading to Vista...why?
It's especially important to make sure the optical connectors have gold plating.
(I had a good laugh when I saw that at the local Best Buy.)
"Exhaust the simple explanations before suggesting complex ones."
"In the worst case, try soldering the wires straight to the PCB."
These two sentences do not make sense. Chewbacca lives on Endor.
I wonder if there's some sort of distinction between artistic works and financial documents? I'm going to have to think about that very hard...
"The sort of over-engineered uber-cable rugged enough to handle all of these things at once is" called FireWire.
Just sayin'.