You don't need a l33t looking PDA-- from the descriptions in the books, the Guide is just a small computer (with a keyboard), nondescript in appearance except for "DON'T PANIC" written on it in large, friendly letters.
Sounds like an Atari Portfolio, to me. They go pretty cheap on eBay, where I got mine.
Remember that thing they were showing off at WinHEC, with the stupid arms on the side holding the phone handset and the camera?
Since Microsoft is taking an intense drubbing in the software-quality arena of late, they're going to try to steal Apple's thunder by portraying Windows running on hardware that looks like it slipped through a wormhole from the not-too-distant-future (where apparently Earth has been conquered by beings with extremely poor taste and design skill).
Fortunately, the PC companies are as bad at ripping off Apple's hardware designs as Microsoft is at ripping off Apple's OS. Most people will probably just get a good laugh at the ridiculous computer equipment that will begin appearing in TV shows.
Maybe one of the cop shows could have a copyright-infringement bust of a previously-untouchable "Mr. Big" type, whose organization is using pirated copies of Windows to run things-- You know, the same way they got Capone for something dumb and seemingly minor (tax evasion, or mail fraud, or some such) when they couldn't get him for the countless murders or anything else. [cut to Interrogation Room. Underling is cuffed to a chair, under a single light fixture]
Cop 1: Come on, Freddy, we don't want you. We want Mr. Big. Just tell us what we want to know.
Freddy: I wanna see my lawyer!
Cop 2: You ain't seeing no lawyer, Freddy, until you tell us-- how many Windows licenses does Mr. Big have??? If you testify, you'll stay outta jail. You know what they do to software pirates on the inside, don't you, Freddy?
Freddy: Ok! Ok! He's got 25 PCs, but he only bought one copy of Windows 98!
Cop 1: Good boy, Freddy. [to Cop 2] Call the judge, let's get the warrant.
Cop 2: Judge? Warrant? This is software piracy, remember? We didn't even need to squeeze that stuff out of Freddy to go crashing in there and haul everyone out in leg irons!
Cop 1: Oh, right. John Ashcroft's America. I keep forgetting.
However, there was one adapter (PS2->AT or serial->ps2, i forget which) that we charged ~$50 for when it was listed as $.50 cost in the computer... 1000% profit is not bad.
Yeah, CompUSA cable prices are extortionate. A few years ago, I needed a Mac-to-VGA adapter and an ethernet cable, and was outraged enough over the prices to actually post a rant about it.
I bought the monitor adapter, opened the packaging very carefully, and promptly ordered what I needed online for less than half what CompUSA was charging. As soon as my cheap adapter showed up a couple days later, the CompUSA one was repackaged and returned as "the wrong item."
Must everyone follow a successful Apple product with their own half-assed, 'me too' version of it? This is why Apple now attempts to patent or trademark everything they do, people!
This Dell thing (the "metooPod"?) looks similar enough to the iPod that maybe Apple should seriously kick around the idea of filing another 'trade dress' suit, the way they did to take care of the Future Power e-Power or the eMachines eOne-- I mean, since practically everything else Dell makes is dark in color, it seems mighty suspicious to me that this is white. The screen size and placement looks almost identical. From the photo I've seen it also looks like the GUI is pretty similar. I see they've taken pains to move the battery gauge from the upper right corner (where the iPod has it) to the upper left corner-- reminds me of the difference between the Apple menu and Start menu.
At least the iPod has enough mindshare amongst the target market that no amount of B.S. marketing from Dell will make people think they did it first (I still remember Michael Dell's bullshit claim that Dell was the first company to build wireless networking into their laptops). The only way Dell will move very many of these things is by irrevocably bundling them "free" with their systems. I predict we'll start seeing a lot of them on eBay after a while, and then the product will die a quiet, relatively quick death like Dell's iMac wanna-be, the WebPC.
Some day soon there will be a class action lawsuit against M$ regarless of their 'Hold Harmless Agreement' in the EULA.
Actually, Business Week had an article about that a couple days ago, which I submitted last night (it was rejected). The author closed with (paraphrasing) "Maybe it's time some big customers refused to buy software without some sort of guarantee."
These last few worms and e-mail viruses seem to have become the collective last straw. The unwashed masses are finally beginning to grouse about buggy software-- the tide is slowly beginning to turn against onerous "no liability" EULAs coupled to expensive software that is critical to business.
A few years ago, Microsoft was very quick to whine that any delay in the release of Windows 98 forced on them by the government would hurt the U.S. economy and/or bring about the end of the world as we know it. Well, what about all these businesses who have to eat the costs of cleanup and lost productivity every time there's another Windows worm? Nooooo, that doesn't hurt the economy at all, does it?
Shutting down a network on purpose is different from having it "fail" due to a virus.
Not by much, since both have the effect of putting a stake through the heart of user productivity for however long it takes to exorcise the virus from all the systems.
Quicksilver 733: OK iBook 800: OK Graphite 400 AGP: OK
The only anomaly I saw on two of them was some of the documents on my desktop had the wrong icons after the post-install reboot. They went back to normal after another reboot.
Needless to say, when the revised update surfaces I won't rush to install it on any machines at my clients. The three machines that I did today were non-critical.
...while you wait, component prices should drop an average of 3-5%, but you'll still pay the same amount for the Mac.
Did you even read my post?
The G5 still costs the same price it did in June, but the Dell costs $600 MORE than it did back then. I'd be interested to hear how little your theory on constantly-falling component prices explains that particular fact.
First, they said the Mac was hopelessly slow. Now we've got the G5's that are more than a match for much higher clocked x86 boxes.
Then they said the Mac was still too expensive. Now the top of the line G5 costs $3000, and the cheapest Dell with dual 3.06GHz Xeons, when you configure it to match the dual 2.0GHz G5's base configuration as closely as possible*, costs $4372. And that price has actually INCREASED BY $600 since June 28, when I first spec'd out an identical system in a previous discussion.
Now, they're down to "but you can have the Dell today, you have to wait two weeks for the G5."
Just give it up already, x86 apologists.
~Philly
*I configured a Dell PWS 450 by selecting two 3.06GHz Xeons, downgrading to 512MB of RAM, upgrading to a 120GB hard drive (still smaller than the G5's 160MB), upgrading to the cheapest drive that could write DVDs, adding a modem, adding a FireWire card, and subtracting a monitor. Components not specifically listed here were left at their default settings.
The internet has provided a crucial service-- it has prevented many a "Kirk vs. Picard" debate from coming to blows, merely by ensuring the participants are separated from each other. And if the internet didn't exist, what would we do with all those Pentiums that help to speed it up?
Finally, if we didn't have it, I'd have to go outside once in a while. And interact with real people! And someone could mug me, take my wallet, and use the information in there to impersonate me and open up credit accounts in my name. When I'm sitting at home on the internet, those kinds of things can't happen. I-- oops, hold on. It seems AOL has lost my account and credit card information, AGAIN! I'll finish this post in a sec, as soon as I fill out the form on the webpage they directed me to.
Today's laptops come standard with the stuff most people used to buy PC Cards for, i.e. modem/networking. What isn't built in already today, you can most likely just add via a USB peripheral, e.g. external hard drives, memory keys, and multi-format media card readers.
Sure, external devices are a little heavier/bulkier to carry around, but they're cheaper because they don't need super-miniaturized electronics to fit into the PC Card form factor. Also, you don't have to throw them out when you break or lose the chintzy dongle and find out that the asshole manufacturer doesn't sell replacement dongles, making your card useless. Another point in the favor of external USB devices is that you can use them on your desktop computer as well if you desire.
IMHO, the PC Card is an idea whose time has passed, and this "new, improved" thing will only serve to confuse people. ~Philly
"In addition, the Power Mac G5 computer allows the user to control bus slewing mode. The options for specifying either high, reduced, or automatic processor and bus speeds are located at System Preferences>Energy Saver>Options; then select Automatic, Highest, or Reduced."
Martin: Behold, the power plant of the future, today! Burns: Yuchh. Too cold and sterile. Where's the heart? Martin: But it really generates power. It, it's lighting this room right now. [turns a knob, dimming the auditorium lights] Burns: You lose -- get off my property.
Also, what's with moving all the ports to the sides? Have you spent any time typing on a laptop with cables sticking out the side?
Er, yes. And it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I love that I can just lean to the side a little to see what I'm doing when I need to connect a cable. No more standing up and/or blindly feeling around the back of the laptop for the correct port. Apple did the right thing by putting the most commonly-used ports (i.e. modem and ethernet) closest to the rear, where they are least likely to get in the way. Same with the AC input on the opposite side. I've been working like that for two years with my iBooks, and never felt like protruding cables were stealing valuable workspace-- and I'm a lefty!
Also, you can't make the laptop particularly slim if you've got to put the hinge on top of a row of ports.
I also have no complaint about the single trackpad button. I am apt to click with either thumb at any given time, and it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about which side of the trackpad button is under that thumb. When I want to pull up a context menu, I have to consciously hold down Ctrl. I think this is the right way to go about it, because you're not concentrating on hitting the correct button by default-- only when you WANT to activate the secondary function.
I use a multibutton mouse with scroll wheel on my G4 at home, and I've set it up so that both buttons return a click, but clicking the mousewheel brings up context. This way I can tell by feel exactly what I'm clicking (and also so I don't get used to having the context menu pop up when I left-click, so I don't keep hitting the wrong button when 'm working on a righty's computer.)
are there any other USB solutions beside D-Link's?
There sure are. I have a pair of Mitsumi WIF-0402C adapters that do not claim any Mac support whatsoever from the manufacturer but work perfectly with Apple's Bluetooth software.
I got mine on eBay for about $20 each back in January from a guy in NYC who had a ton of them, but apparently the only Mitsumi Bluetooth adapters up for auction right now are being sold by people based in the UK.
I also know Belkin makes a USB Bluetooth adapter. I don't know the price, but considering how Belkin charges out the ass for everything else they make, it's probably not cheap.
Five minutes of googling will probably turn up reports of a few other brand names that people have tried with Macs.
Why didn't you just give the schmoe a Mac and a nice Wacom tablet to use as a pointing device for it? People at my last job were doing that for years, and that was in OS 8 and 9! Now it's even easier since Jaguar has built in HWR.
Hell, Wacom even makes LCD tablets, if you're really got a bottomless budget.
Wouldn't the adoption of Apple tie you down to a single software *and* hardware vendor?
Perhaps, but only for the client machines. Thanks to Apple's wholehearted adoption of open standards, you can mix and match to form the rest of your network, if you desire-- whereas Microsoft's stuff only plays nice with competitors' products grudgingly, when it plays nice at all.
...an end user at my last job was quite adept at spilling coffee on her running laptop, amazingly without killing it. Yet she never clued into the fact that maybe the spot on her desk where she kept putting her coffee mug was not the optimal location.
After the third time I had to disassemble and clean that laptop, I considered purchasing a sippy cup for her.
Should've really taken the parents to task over this-- trying to blame a third party when it is very obvious by their own inaction w/r/t the kid's performance in school that they are simply shitty parents.
Slashdot Mirror
Here in the UK, we have the TPS
/me ducks
I like the new cover sheets on their reports!
~Philly
You don't need a l33t looking PDA-- from the descriptions in the books, the Guide is just a small computer (with a keyboard), nondescript in appearance except for "DON'T PANIC" written on it in large, friendly letters.
Sounds like an Atari Portfolio, to me. They go pretty cheap on eBay, where I got mine.
~Philly
Remember that thing they were showing off at WinHEC, with the stupid arms on the side holding the phone handset and the camera?
Since Microsoft is taking an intense drubbing in the software-quality arena of late, they're going to try to steal Apple's thunder by portraying Windows running on hardware that looks like it slipped through a wormhole from the not-too-distant-future (where apparently Earth has been conquered by beings with extremely poor taste and design skill).
Fortunately, the PC companies are as bad at ripping off Apple's hardware designs as Microsoft is at ripping off Apple's OS. Most people will probably just get a good laugh at the ridiculous computer equipment that will begin appearing in TV shows.
~Philly
Maybe one of the cop shows could have a copyright-infringement bust of a previously-untouchable "Mr. Big" type, whose organization is using pirated copies of Windows to run things-- You know, the same way they got Capone for something dumb and seemingly minor (tax evasion, or mail fraud, or some such) when they couldn't get him for the countless murders or anything else.
[cut to Interrogation Room. Underling is cuffed to a chair, under a single light fixture]
Cop 1: Come on, Freddy, we don't want you. We want Mr. Big. Just tell us what we want to know.
Freddy: I wanna see my lawyer!
Cop 2: You ain't seeing no lawyer, Freddy, until you tell us-- how many Windows licenses does Mr. Big have??? If you testify, you'll stay outta jail. You know what they do to software pirates on the inside, don't you, Freddy?
Freddy: Ok! Ok! He's got 25 PCs, but he only bought one copy of Windows 98!
Cop 1: Good boy, Freddy. [to Cop 2] Call the judge, let's get the warrant.
Cop 2: Judge? Warrant? This is software piracy, remember? We didn't even need to squeeze that stuff out of Freddy to go crashing in there and haul everyone out in leg irons!
Cop 1: Oh, right. John Ashcroft's America. I keep forgetting.
[cut to commercial]
..."Windows Powered"(TM) toaster sticks fork in YOU!
~Philly
However, there was one adapter (PS2->AT or serial->ps2, i forget which) that we charged ~$50 for when it was listed as $.50 cost in the computer... 1000% profit is not bad.
Yeah, CompUSA cable prices are extortionate. A few years ago, I needed a Mac-to-VGA adapter and an ethernet cable, and was outraged enough over the prices to actually post a rant about it.
I bought the monitor adapter, opened the packaging very carefully, and promptly ordered what I needed online for less than half what CompUSA was charging. As soon as my cheap adapter showed up a couple days later, the CompUSA one was repackaged and returned as "the wrong item."
~Philly
Must everyone follow a successful Apple product with their own half-assed, 'me too' version of it? This is why Apple now attempts to patent or trademark everything they do, people!
This Dell thing (the "metooPod"?) looks similar enough to the iPod that maybe Apple should seriously kick around the idea of filing another 'trade dress' suit, the way they did to take care of the Future Power e-Power or the eMachines eOne-- I mean, since practically everything else Dell makes is dark in color, it seems mighty suspicious to me that this is white. The screen size and placement looks almost identical. From the photo I've seen it also looks like the GUI is pretty similar. I see they've taken pains to move the battery gauge from the upper right corner (where the iPod has it) to the upper left corner-- reminds me of the difference between the Apple menu and Start menu.
At least the iPod has enough mindshare amongst the target market that no amount of B.S. marketing from Dell will make people think they did it first (I still remember Michael Dell's bullshit claim that Dell was the first company to build wireless networking into their laptops). The only way Dell will move very many of these things is by irrevocably bundling them "free" with their systems. I predict we'll start seeing a lot of them on eBay after a while, and then the product will die a quiet, relatively quick death like Dell's iMac wanna-be, the WebPC.
~Philly
So there's your defense, p2p users! Get a used G3 or G4 on eBay, run VPC with Win98, and use p2p all you want.
~Philly
Some day soon there will be a class action lawsuit against M$ regarless of their 'Hold Harmless Agreement' in the EULA.
Actually, Business Week had an article about that a couple days ago, which I submitted last night (it was rejected). The author closed with (paraphrasing) "Maybe it's time some big customers refused to buy software without some sort of guarantee."
These last few worms and e-mail viruses seem to have become the collective last straw. The unwashed masses are finally beginning to grouse about buggy software-- the tide is slowly beginning to turn against onerous "no liability" EULAs coupled to expensive software that is critical to business.
A few years ago, Microsoft was very quick to whine that any delay in the release of Windows 98 forced on them by the government would hurt the U.S. economy and/or bring about the end of the world as we know it. Well, what about all these businesses who have to eat the costs of cleanup and lost productivity every time there's another Windows worm? Nooooo, that doesn't hurt the economy at all, does it?
~Philly
Shutting down a network on purpose is different from having it "fail" due to a virus.
Not by much, since both have the effect of putting a stake through the heart of user productivity for however long it takes to exorcise the virus from all the systems.
~Philly
Quicksilver 733: OK
iBook 800: OK
Graphite 400 AGP: OK
The only anomaly I saw on two of them was some of the documents on my desktop had the wrong icons after the post-install reboot. They went back to normal after another reboot.
Needless to say, when the revised update surfaces I won't rush to install it on any machines at my clients. The three machines that I did today were non-critical.
~Philly
Well, it looks like your keyboard didn't include shift keys. :-)
...while you wait, component prices should drop an average of 3-5%, but you'll still pay the same amount for the Mac.
Did you even read my post?
The G5 still costs the same price it did in June, but the Dell costs $600 MORE than it did back then. I'd be interested to hear how little your theory on constantly-falling component prices explains that particular fact.
~Philly
So, let's see.
First, they said the Mac was hopelessly slow. Now we've got the G5's that are more than a match for much higher clocked x86 boxes.
Then they said the Mac was still too expensive. Now the top of the line G5 costs $3000, and the cheapest Dell with dual 3.06GHz Xeons, when you configure it to match the dual 2.0GHz G5's base configuration as closely as possible*, costs $4372. And that price has actually INCREASED BY $600 since June 28, when I first spec'd out an identical system in a previous discussion.
Now, they're down to "but you can have the Dell today, you have to wait two weeks for the G5."
Just give it up already, x86 apologists.
~Philly
*I configured a Dell PWS 450 by selecting two 3.06GHz Xeons, downgrading to 512MB of RAM, upgrading to a 120GB hard drive (still smaller than the G5's 160MB), upgrading to the cheapest drive that could write DVDs, adding a modem, adding a FireWire card, and subtracting a monitor. Components not specifically listed here were left at their default settings.
The internet has provided a crucial service-- it has prevented many a "Kirk vs. Picard" debate from coming to blows, merely by ensuring the participants are separated from each other. And if the internet didn't exist, what would we do with all those Pentiums that help to speed it up?
Finally, if we didn't have it, I'd have to go outside once in a while. And interact with real people! And someone could mug me, take my wallet, and use the information in there to impersonate me and open up credit accounts in my name. When I'm sitting at home on the internet, those kinds of things can't happen. I-- oops, hold on. It seems AOL has lost my account and credit card information, AGAIN! I'll finish this post in a sec, as soon as I fill out the form on the webpage they directed me to.
BRB...
~Philly
Today's laptops come standard with the stuff most people used to buy PC Cards for, i.e. modem/networking. What isn't built in already today, you can most likely just add via a USB peripheral, e.g. external hard drives, memory keys, and multi-format media card readers.
Sure, external devices are a little heavier/bulkier to carry around, but they're cheaper because they don't need super-miniaturized electronics to fit into the PC Card form factor. Also, you don't have to throw them out when you break or lose the chintzy dongle and find out that the asshole manufacturer doesn't sell replacement dongles, making your card useless. Another point in the favor of external USB devices is that you can use them on your desktop computer as well if you desire.
IMHO, the PC Card is an idea whose time has passed, and this "new, improved" thing will only serve to confuse people.
~Philly
But hopefully Apple, unlike Sony, will allow an easy way to control which gets priority.
They already do:
"In addition, the Power Mac G5 computer allows the user to control bus slewing mode. The options for specifying either high, reduced, or automatic processor and bus speeds are located at System Preferences>Energy Saver>Options; then select Automatic, Highest, or Reduced."
~Philly
By the way, I did RTFA, and I am aware that the kid's reactor does not generate power.
Martin: Behold, the power plant of the future, today!
Burns: Yuchh. Too cold and sterile. Where's the heart?
Martin: But it really generates power. It, it's lighting this room right now. [turns a knob, dimming the auditorium lights]
Burns: You lose -- get off my property.
From "Homer's Enemy" (the Frank Grimes episode)
~Philly
Also, what's with moving all the ports to the sides? Have you spent any time typing on a laptop with cables sticking out the side?
Er, yes. And it doesn't bother me at all. In fact, I love that I can just lean to the side a little to see what I'm doing when I need to connect a cable. No more standing up and/or blindly feeling around the back of the laptop for the correct port. Apple did the right thing by putting the most commonly-used ports (i.e. modem and ethernet) closest to the rear, where they are least likely to get in the way. Same with the AC input on the opposite side. I've been working like that for two years with my iBooks, and never felt like protruding cables were stealing valuable workspace-- and I'm a lefty!
Also, you can't make the laptop particularly slim if you've got to put the hinge on top of a row of ports.
I also have no complaint about the single trackpad button. I am apt to click with either thumb at any given time, and it's nice to know that I don't have to worry about which side of the trackpad button is under that thumb. When I want to pull up a context menu, I have to consciously hold down Ctrl. I think this is the right way to go about it, because you're not concentrating on hitting the correct button by default-- only when you WANT to activate the secondary function.
I use a multibutton mouse with scroll wheel on my G4 at home, and I've set it up so that both buttons return a click, but clicking the mousewheel brings up context. This way I can tell by feel exactly what I'm clicking (and also so I don't get used to having the context menu pop up when I left-click, so I don't keep hitting the wrong button when 'm working on a righty's computer.)
~Philly
are there any other USB solutions beside D-Link's?
There sure are. I have a pair of Mitsumi WIF-0402C adapters that do not claim any Mac support whatsoever from the manufacturer but work perfectly with Apple's Bluetooth software.
I got mine on eBay for about $20 each back in January from a guy in NYC who had a ton of them, but apparently the only Mitsumi Bluetooth adapters up for auction right now are being sold by people based in the UK.
I also know Belkin makes a USB Bluetooth adapter. I don't know the price, but considering how Belkin charges out the ass for everything else they make, it's probably not cheap.
Five minutes of googling will probably turn up reports of a few other brand names that people have tried with Macs.
~Philly
Why didn't you just give the schmoe a Mac and a nice Wacom tablet to use as a pointing device for it? People at my last job were doing that for years, and that was in OS 8 and 9! Now it's even easier since Jaguar has built in HWR.
Hell, Wacom even makes LCD tablets, if you're really got a bottomless budget.
~Philly
Wouldn't the adoption of Apple tie you down to a single software *and* hardware vendor?
Perhaps, but only for the client machines. Thanks to Apple's wholehearted adoption of open standards, you can mix and match to form the rest of your network, if you desire-- whereas Microsoft's stuff only plays nice with competitors' products grudgingly, when it plays nice at all.
~Philly
...an end user at my last job was quite adept at spilling coffee on her running laptop, amazingly without killing it. Yet she never clued into the fact that maybe the spot on her desk where she kept putting her coffee mug was not the optimal location.
After the third time I had to disassemble and clean that laptop, I considered purchasing a sippy cup for her.
~Philly
Should've really taken the parents to task over this-- trying to blame a third party when it is very obvious by their own inaction w/r/t the kid's performance in school that they are simply shitty parents.
~Philly