Just need to go through the application and set the defaults from Metric to English, changed the default fonts to arial and times roman instead of the default Thorndale, etc. just for document compatibility. Also set the document save default to MS , since most folks will get caught by surprise otherwise first time they try to share a doc.
From a usability perspective, some sort of "setup wizard" or some such should be created to accomplish this. The last thing new end users (or corporate folks with larger deployments) arer going to want to do is to have to go in and tweak everything. Make the initial setups as close to "out-of-the-box" MS Office, and you will attract a LOT more people!
This reminds me of my experience about 2 years ago with Best Buy's web site. I saw a DVD advertized for $.02. Yes, that's two cents! I didn't even like the title, but figured, "what the heck, for two cents, let's get it!" I ordered the DVD, and a day or so later I received an email stating that my order had been cancelled due to a pricing error along with some appologies. I emailed customer service and said that it was wrong that they had canceled my order because they had advertized the price, and I was purchasing the product under the understanding that the pricing on the web site is correct. I asked how they would remedy the situation so as not to lose a customer.
They responded by giving me a $20.00 gift certificate code to be used on future orders. Needless to say, I was most pleased.
Of course, the issue at hand is of greater scope, but my point is that it can't hurt to stand up for yourself when a company screws you.
What's the big deal? Maybe I'm missing something here, but couldn't I just use my Visa or Discover or Amex card instead? Paypal currently accepts all of these.
"Even the toolbar options would change. The "home" icon on Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, for instance, would become a "Weather Channel" icon, steering users back to Weather.com's main page when they click on it. Sponsored links to other Web sites would replace Internet Explorer tools like "edit" and a link to RealNetworks Inc.'s Real.com Web site. Users don't have to download any software to set the process in motion."
[SNIP]
"The idea is to enhance the user experience and not deprive him or her of normal features they are used to," Entel said.
Don't these contradict each other? How are we supposed to trust this if they are misleading with the press?
"What do the browser manufacturers think? Netscape already lets people customize its browsers. Its client-customization kit lets Internet-service providers and others insert their logos to replace the Netscape logo in the browser toolbar, or insert specific bookmarks."
Wait a minute. There's a huge difference here. If I sign up with an ISP, it is not unreasonable to be given a browser to use that is branded by the ISP. However, if I surf to an ISP's site, they have no business changing my browser in any way.
By purchasing from SonicBlue you are supporting thier DVR patents, which are broad and unfair. Not that Tivo is much better by patenting similar items, but at the very least Tivo supports Linux, so they are the lesser of two evils (cause Micro$oft is in the mix now).
Oh give me a break! Just because TiVo supports Linux makes it better? Typical biased/. answer.
"Replay uses a proprietary real-time OS that may be related to VaxWorks (from their job postings). It is called Sutter and the Replay system uses XML extensively for data. The Replay OS is very efficient compared to Linux, allowing ReplayTV to use smaller processors and less memory for the same tasks."
/.ers should love the fact that ReplayTV doesn't use anything from Microsoft. Just because something uses Linux doean't necessarily make it superior. At least SonicBlue is standing up against the Media Mongers instead of caving in to them.
...that you still have to pay a monthly fee of $9.95 or a lifetime fee of $249.00.
This cost needs to be factored in to your price: $99.00 (TiVo) + $450.00 (2 120GB IDE drives at $225.00 as listed at www.pricewatch.com) + $250.00 (lifetime subscription) = $750.00
Yes, it's cheaper than a comparably priced ReplayTV 4000 box, but it's not as cheap as one might think.
This probably won't get mod'd up because it's really just a "me too" post, but...
It was SO COOL to type in my old, original email address that used when I first got Internet access. It returned almost 800 hits! I sorted the list by date and found some postings dating back to late 1993. Not too old for some, but I find it impressive!! What a blast from the past!
A two hour show recorded at high quality on a ReplayTV box (regardless of model) uses about 3GB per hour or 6GB of disk space. Given that my AT&T broadband connection is capped at 128k upload speeds (which is common, I understand), it would take about 12 hours to transfer a show.
While this would definatly be useful for certain cases, do you really think that shows are going to be really be sent that often?
Yes, it's ultimatly a bandwidth issue, but given current infrastructure, this "feature" may not be so enticing.
First, "our server" refers to the service that the ReplayTV boxes connect to to download both program information and software updates. This is an automated process and is no different from TiVo's process or their current dial-in process. The only difference is that it will be done over a broadband connection instead of dial-up.
Second, they are saying because you are purchasing a box that can be dynamically updated, they reserve the right to control what features your box will or will not have. While this may not set well with the/. community, you have to put some trust into the fact that Sonic|Blue will not do anything that would negativly impact their business. Yes, you will have complaints from some users if a feature disappears, but you will aslo get praises as new features are added.
I don't know. Way back when, my wife and I got hooked on the Full Moon Pictures videos. You know, really great, bad movies like the "Trancers" and "Puppet Master" series, "Dr. Mordrid", "Demonic Toys", "Dollman", etc. We specifically looked for videos by this production company because they were just so wonderfilly trashy, and they included "Making Of" clips at the end.
That's one small case where we took advantage of "branding". That's not the norm, though.
The article states that the 4xxx models will use Macrovision to prevent the sending of shows. This is seemingly fine, but if networks begin adding Macrovision to their shows, existing ReplayTV "Showstopper" owners will get totally screwed because of the way Panasonic implemented Macrovision on the Showstoppers. The Showstopper won't play anything with Macrovision. Period. The ReplayTV-branded boxes will play anything. They just pass the Macrovision along with the signal (say, to a VCR.)
Hmmm. That means that for about $55 more, you get a Replay 4080 with Commercial Skip, an integrated Ethernet connection, and 30% more (20 hours) capacity.
OK, the bill and all the other hype specifies a "digital device". So why doesn't someone just design some sort of "interface" that connects to the digital source and simply converts the digital signal to some (probably yet-to-be-invented) "high-speed" analog signal. This analog signal then would be input to the DVR or set-top box, and converted back to digital. The conversion would just have to be fast enough to "keep up" with the digital speed.
That way, the input to PVR or set-top box would be analog thus exempting it from the legislation.
Not everyone realizes that they don't own the access card in their DirecTV receivers. DirecTV now has legalese on the box of new receivers stating that fact.
Of course, Joe Sixpack doesn't care--it's only the card hackers who it truely affects.
You were one of the only news sources...
on
Handling the Loads
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· Score: 1
I was in a training class all day Tuesday and our only contact to the outside world news was through the 'net (/. and a local newspaper site were about the only thing we could hit that had any reliable news.)
Don't sell yourselves short. The dedication of you guys, and the/. community in general, greatly helped keep many of us informed.
As a current ReplayTV owner, I can confirm that whiile 320 hours is accurate it may be a bit misleading. It really equates to:
320 hours at "standard" (low) quality mode
160 hours at "medium" quality mode
106 hours at "high" quality mode
While that may still seem like a lot of time, I would have killed for that much space during the last Olympics broadcast.
Also, another justification for such large capacities is that over time, you find yourself watching much less "live" TV and much more of what you have set up to record.
The article says:
"However downloads will only be available well after the DVD release of the same movie so as to not cut into DVD sales."
Will the downloadable version have all the "special" stuff that the DVD includes? I doubt it. The main reason I rent or purchase a DVD is for the special features. Without these special features, there is no incentive for me to download the movie.
This sounds a lot like the ill-fated Divx DVD format of two years ago. With Divx, you could buy a DVD and 'unlock' it for any 48-hour period for a few dollars.
Divx failed because it just wasn't convenient enough for the price ($100 more for a compatible DVD player, and you still had to go to a store for the discs), but this rent-a-book concept doesn't suffer the same problem if the books can simply be downloaded.
It'll be interesting to see what happens. If the rent-a-book concept succeeds, that means that renting bits (CD's? software?) might catch on again; if it fails, then don't expect to see anything else become rentable on your computer in the next few years.
But there is a key difference: Divx allowed unlimited access for 48 consecutive hours whereas these books allow unlimited access for 10 cumulitive 10 hours. That's a HUGE difference. It lets you, the reader, determine when you actually want to read. This is even more flexible than with a library because a library, like Divx, forces you to return (or stop viewing) the book in a fixed time.
try hooking your dvd player up through your replayTV and you will get a nice "you arent allowed to record this" message.
To be fair, this only happens if it is a Panasonic "Showstopper" box--their Macrovision handling is designed very poorly. On the other hand, "ReplayTV"-branded systems completely ignore all MacroVision coding. In fact, many people use their ReplayTV boxes just as you describe to "time-shift" viewing of rented DVDs.
I own a ReplayTV box, and its 30-second "QuikSkip" button means that not only do I skip over the commercials, but I don't have to watch them. A TiVo user can only fast-forward through the commercials, so they are still seeing content.
Let's be honest here. Who is really breaking the law? The person who provides the MP3 file or the person who downloads the MP3 file? If he didn't own a copy of the song (CD, tape, etc.) and he downloaded it then he is clearly in violation of the copyright.
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This reminds me of my experience about 2 years ago with Best Buy's web site. I saw a DVD advertized for $.02. Yes, that's two cents! I didn't even like the title, but figured, "what the heck, for two cents, let's get it!" I ordered the DVD, and a day or so later I received an email stating that my order had been cancelled due to a pricing error along with some appologies. I emailed customer service and said that it was wrong that they had canceled my order because they had advertized the price, and I was purchasing the product under the understanding that the pricing on the web site is correct. I asked how they would remedy the situation so as not to lose a customer.
They responded by giving me a $20.00 gift certificate code to be used on future orders. Needless to say, I was most pleased.
Of course, the issue at hand is of greater scope, but my point is that it can't hurt to stand up for yourself when a company screws you.
What's the big deal? Maybe I'm missing something here, but couldn't I just use my Visa or Discover or Amex card instead? Paypal currently accepts all of these.
Right. Like people outside the USA actually contibuted anything to computing.
Next you'll tell me that some guy from Finland wrote his own OS...
...Oh wait!
Wait a minute. There's a huge difference here. If I sign up with an ISP, it is not unreasonable to be given a browser to use that is branded by the ISP. However, if I surf to an ISP's site, they have no business changing my browser in any way.
Fact is, (according to the ReplayTV FAQ): /.ers should love the fact that ReplayTV doesn't use anything from Microsoft. Just because something uses Linux doean't necessarily make it superior. At least SonicBlue is standing up against the Media Mongers instead of caving in to them.
...that you still have to pay a monthly fee of $9.95 or a lifetime fee of $249.00.
This cost needs to be factored in to your price: $99.00 (TiVo) + $450.00 (2 120GB IDE drives at $225.00 as listed at www.pricewatch.com) + $250.00 (lifetime subscription) = $750.00
Yes, it's cheaper than a comparably priced ReplayTV 4000 box, but it's not as cheap as one might think.
This probably won't get mod'd up because it's really just a "me too" post, but...
It was SO COOL to type in my old, original email address that used when I first got Internet access. It returned almost 800 hits! I sorted the list by date and found some postings dating back to late 1993. Not too old for some, but I find it impressive!! What a blast from the past!
A two hour show recorded at high quality on a ReplayTV box (regardless of model) uses about 3GB per hour or 6GB of disk space. Given that my AT&T broadband connection is capped at 128k upload speeds (which is common, I understand), it would take about 12 hours to transfer a show.
While this would definatly be useful for certain cases, do you really think that shows are going to be really be sent that often?
Yes, it's ultimatly a bandwidth issue, but given current infrastructure, this "feature" may not be so enticing.
First, "our server" refers to the service that the ReplayTV boxes connect to to download both program information and software updates. This is an automated process and is no different from TiVo's process or their current dial-in process. The only difference is that it will be done over a broadband connection instead of dial-up.
/. community, you have to put some trust into the fact that Sonic|Blue will not do anything that would negativly impact their business. Yes, you will have complaints from some users if a feature disappears, but you will aslo get praises as new features are added.
Second, they are saying because you are purchasing a box that can be dynamically updated, they reserve the right to control what features your box will or will not have. While this may not set well with the
I don't know. Way back when, my wife and I got hooked on the Full Moon Pictures videos. You know, really great, bad movies like the "Trancers" and "Puppet Master" series, "Dr. Mordrid", "Demonic Toys", "Dollman", etc. We specifically looked for videos by this production company because they were just so wonderfilly trashy, and they included "Making Of" clips at the end.
That's one small case where we took advantage of "branding". That's not the norm, though.
The article states that the 4xxx models will use Macrovision to prevent the sending of shows. This is seemingly fine, but if networks begin adding Macrovision to their shows, existing ReplayTV "Showstopper" owners will get totally screwed because of the way Panasonic implemented Macrovision on the Showstoppers. The Showstopper won't play anything with Macrovision. Period. The ReplayTV-branded boxes will play anything. They just pass the Macrovision along with the signal (say, to a VCR.)
/.ers embracing a PocketPC platform? What's this world coming to?!?
Of course, if you really do the math, you see that the two boxes really aren't too far off:
Tivo (Philips HDR 612): $600 for the box + $250 for a lifetime subscription + $20 (for shipping from BestBuy.com) = $870
ReplayTV (4080): $1000 (for the box) + $25 (for shipping) - $100 (Promo rebate) = $925
Hmmm. That means that for about $55 more, you get a Replay 4080 with Commercial Skip, an integrated Ethernet connection, and 30% more (20 hours) capacity.
OK, the bill and all the other hype specifies a "digital device". So why doesn't someone just design some sort of "interface" that connects to the digital source and simply converts the digital signal to some (probably yet-to-be-invented) "high-speed" analog signal. This analog signal then would be input to the DVR or set-top box, and converted back to digital. The conversion would just have to be fast enough to "keep up" with the digital speed.
That way, the input to PVR or set-top box would be analog thus exempting it from the legislation.
Whatcha think?
Not everyone realizes that they don't own the access card in their DirecTV receivers. DirecTV now has legalese on the box of new receivers stating that fact.
Of course, Joe Sixpack doesn't care--it's only the card hackers who it truely affects.
I was in a training class all day Tuesday and our only contact to the outside world news was through the 'net (/. and a local newspaper site were about the only thing we could hit that had any reliable news.)
/. community in general, greatly helped keep many of us informed.
Don't sell yourselves short. The dedication of you guys, and the
We do it for the challenge.
We do it for the sense of community.
We do it because we are altruistic.
These are definatly not motivating factors in the business world.
As a current ReplayTV owner, I can confirm that whiile 320 hours is accurate it may be a bit misleading. It really equates to:
320 hours at "standard" (low) quality mode
160 hours at "medium" quality mode
106 hours at "high" quality mode
While that may still seem like a lot of time, I would have killed for that much space during the last Olympics broadcast.
Also, another justification for such large capacities is that over time, you find yourself watching much less "live" TV and much more of what you have set up to record.
The article says:
"However downloads will only be available well after the DVD release of the same movie so as to not cut into DVD sales."
Will the downloadable version have all the "special" stuff that the DVD includes? I doubt it. The main reason I rent or purchase a DVD is for the special features. Without these special features, there is no incentive for me to download the movie.
I own a ReplayTV box, and its 30-second "QuikSkip" button means that not only do I skip over the commercials, but I don't have to watch them. A TiVo user can only fast-forward through the commercials, so they are still seeing content.
Let's be honest here. Who is really breaking the law? The person who provides the MP3 file or the person who downloads the MP3 file? If he didn't own a copy of the song (CD, tape, etc.) and he downloaded it then he is clearly in violation of the copyright.