"Ah!" My friend says, "I'll just buy a DVD burner...I wanted one anyway!"
But Apple won't sell you a bare drive. If you want a DVD burner, you have to buy a whole new Mac.
An enterprising man made software that would sit between iDVD and a 'regular' DVD burner, and make iDVD think it was an Apple drive. Apple threatened him under the DMCA, and got him to remove his software from the market.
That's called "bending the truth". For your friend to have had a possession of iDVD without having purchased a mac with a DVD burner in built, he must have pirated the software.
Apple's application of the DMCA wasn't because he had modified the software. It was because his need to modify the software arose only due to pirating iDVD.
Apple's application of the law in this instance is entirely defendable.
bah! It's not about bad for Apple users. It's bad for everyone.
What I find funny is how the author thinks that because Apple doesn't have a DMCA-capable OS, that is going to miss out on the "next big thing". I don't know about everyone else, but I am actively encouraged by Apple's stance. Yes, "don't steal music", but no, don't fsck users simply to placate the gorillas in the MPAA and RIAA. Until a system comes along that lets people who have legitimately bought CDs to "rip mix burn", Apple are firmly on the side of the users. Unlike the MPAA and RIAA, they give a shit about their customers.
Anyway, as a result of MS's stance, I look forward to the article about "how the DMCA is bad for windows users".
Also, now is as good a time as any - get your ass over to the Copyright Office and let them know how the DMCA has legitimately infringed on your fair use rights. They've just opened up to submissions: "The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention"
I once had a Beige G3 300, and a spider of some description decided that the ethernet port seemed like a pretty attractive living space.
One day, I could not for the life of me figure out why the ethernet port wasn't working. I got round the back of the computer, and noticed a little bit of what appeared to be plastic thread hanging out. I pulled, and pulled and pulled, and I swear I pulled out the longest fucking piece of spider web you'll ever see.
I was referring to their on-line tech support, not calling in. You can download the manual, any driver you need, etc. for whatever system you purchase. I find that very useful and great, no matter what some magazine tells me. Dell may not be what they used to be, but they are still a good company to buy from.
I think you'll find there's nothing there that Apple doesn't provide. Apple's support page.
I wasn't trolling, but you didn't specify online support, you just said great tech support. Tech support to most people implies you actually speak to a living human being. Dell's tech support is going head first down the gurgler.
I run Windows XP w/ themeing disabled, and Windows GDI is amazingly fast. I also think MacOS9 is fast (until a process hangs...).
I've tried OS 9 and OS X running on the same lamp-y LCD iMacs. OSX is SLOW. Sure it may look cool, but just think of all the processing power required to render all that shiat!
There's a post above yours linking off to a maccentral article talking about Quartz Extreme. It (meaning the GPU) does most of the rendering now, freeing up the CPU.
I went to open a csh Terminal, and I seriously had to wait about 30 secs till I received the % prompt. Ridiculous.
That's atypical. Something else was going on - maybe there was a background task going on that you were unaware of. The terminal opens on my G3/500 in max 5 seconds.
Plus the font smoothing is overkill. The video seems to choppy as well, probably due to all that complex rendering. Yuck. OS X, you can keep it, thank you. Mac OS X is what made the Mac as popular as it is. Unlike WinXP, however, you can't disable the new overkill GUI and revert to a "Classic" style.
Just depends what you define as 'classic'. Next time you're at the login screen, try typing '>console' without the inverted commas:)
Ooh, you're really trolling aren't you? Luckily you included something more substantial, so I'll respond to that.
I was annoyed at your tone:P You speak down to somebody, they will tend to get annoyed. I certainly didn't do anything to deserve it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't a lot of the Aqua stuff based on NeXTstep/OpenStep that Steve Jobs brought with him from NeXT? That stuff went through a number of versions (version 4 was the last I think) over perhaps a decade. And my recollection might be off, but I thought it was longer than a year. Use your head, no one can come up with something like OS/X in only a year.
Aqua itself? No, they started on a completely fresh sheet. Yes, much of the OS X underpinnings came from NeXT - but not the user interface, not the ease of use. That was all developed within Apple once they had acquired NeXT etc.
I am guessing that you haven't used OS X. Once you use it, you really start to get an idea of what an easy to use interface is. It is also the reason why you'll find so many of the/. crowd are making positive noise (see the link from my previous post) about Apple.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply:) It has improved, but there is a threshold over which I don't think Linux will ever reach in the ease of use stakes. Installation is one aspect, but there is the UI consistency and a number of other components that go into making software easy to use.
What happens if Joe Bloggs wants to get on the wireless bandwagon with his laptop? Do you think he'd be able to do it running Linux? This is just one aspect. How about plugging in a digital video camera?
You might say one or two more iterations of RedHat, but there'll be someone else that says one or two more iterations of Debian or SuSe or TurboLinux or Corel Linux or United linux. See where I'm going?
That's right. Just ignore the fact that Easel had a hopeless business model. (Selling a file manager? get real).
Yeah, well, least they were trying to sell something.
No, they were making Linux easy, and they failed. So everyone trying to make Linux easy is doomed to failure.
Let's just say it's got a great track record then.
Lets all say it unison so that we learn it right:
Is that what your kindergarten teacher said to you today?
Lots of companies sprung up in the dot-com era. Some of them were "Linux companies". Most of them had business models with un-sustainable and unrealistic revenue sources. Most of them crashed when the dot-com "bubble" burst. Don't be so quick to attribute their failures to Linux.
Apple took Unix and made it easy to use within what, a year?
How long have the various Linux varieties had? And by easy to use, I mean your grandma could do it.
Linux is not there. Like I said, I'll bank on it never getting there, either. There are a variety of reasons why I don't think it will, and they're up in the original post. Unlike you, I wasn't trying to flame or troll. They're valid points, and you may have said your bit on Easel, but the rest still stands.
Well, meaning to or not, you were trolling. I could tell you were trolling as soon as I saw this:
Not only that, but you get some really great tech support.
Latest PC World tech service scorecard: Last year, PC World readers told us they were unhappy with technical support. This year's survey shows little--if any--improvement. Dell, for example, tumbled in service overall--especially in hold times. The other big news: Apple rated higher than any other computer maker.
There are plenty of other reasons posted, but I just thought I'd pick up on that.
you guys just don't get it, do you. Instead of either of you addressing my criticisms, you quote cliches (even if they are by Ghandhi) and point me off to the RedHat site. Wow, I hadn't heard of RedHat before, thanks for pointing it out.
And to say I'm laughing at Linux, even figuratively, is crap. You're missing my point. What I was trying to say was, just because it's free, and open source, it does not mean it's going to be the panacea to the world's problems, IT or otherwise.
Linux being adopted in more places isn't necessarily a victory. If it performs badly, they will just switch back to Windows or UNIX. I hope, really, that they have decided on Linux because they believe it's the best tool for the job, and not simply to cut costs or to rebel against Microsoft. If Linux is the right tool for the job, only then is it really a victory. I would be cautiously optimistic about Linux being used on more and more places.
I am neither "for" nor against Linux, but whenever I hear about it hitting user desktop machines en masse I always chuckle. The problem isn't getting it out there on people's machines - that much is easy, it's given away for free. The problem isn't distribution, or cost. The problem is getting it to a state where it's actually usable for the vast majority of people.
I would be willing to bank on the fact that Linux in an easy-to-use state will never happen. It is made by nerds, for nerds. Every time there's an attempt to make it "easy to use", failure is the result. What was the name of the last company trying to make it easy to use? Easel, wasn't it? It was started up by the guys that started up Apple. They, like so many before them, failed. And you know where they ended up working? Apple.
You want easy to use Unix on the desktop? Salvation doesn't lie with Linux, I'll tell you that much... for an OS (or anything, really) there needs to be a degree of standardisation, and Linux's decentralised nature is the very thing that has made it successful in the server & enthusiast market.
This isn't to say having Linux in Govt is a bad thing - quite the opposite. But so often on Slashdot, people talk about sticking Linux everywhere. So often, what they don't see is that it would be like trying to fit a round peg in square hole.
There are a variety of tools available to solve every computer problem... don't assume that the one you know best is the one that will do the job best.
However, more than one person, pointed out the obvious. If Apple slashed its prices by say even $500 dollars on the big boy G4s and Powerbooks they would get a lot more converts. I can see paying a bit more for a mac but the laptop prices are just outrageous in my opinion. Not even comparing them to bargain basement priced PCs but to Dells for example and you have to sit back and scratch your head. They are good, sure. But are they that damn good?
And you wonder where that extra money goes?. This was posted by PC World today: This year's survey shows little--if any--improvement. Dell, for example, tumbled in service overall--especially in hold times. The other big news: Apple rated higher than any other computer maker.
There isn't a real lot to choose between the different offerrings from the major phone manufacturers. Nokia is now going for market differentiation with premium models in pretty housings. This isn't the diamond studded version, but the Ti alloy housing will seriously push the price upwards.
I would agree, with one key exception... Nokia is not pushing Bluetooth anywhere near enough. Sony-Ericsson has it on almost all their mid range phones - Nokia has it on like two. One of them is the titanium thing, and you'd be nuts to spend that much on a phone IMO.
One of the funnies games I ever layed was called "Eric the Unready". I laughed my ass of while trying to solve some pretty hard puzzels. Yet I can not find anybody else that has played it....
Well, I definitely enjoyed the JP II, but I wouldn've gone so far as to sleep with it...:P
Seriously, I know what you mean. There are these brilliant games out there, and I guess other than pot luck or lots of good reviews, it relies purely on marketing muscle or a good reputation.
It's a shame, because we all miss out as a result.
The thing is, there are some absolutely brilliant games out there, that nobody ever hears about.
I remember the Journeyman Project II - I got number II as a birthday present - and I swear, it was the best game I ever played (along with Marathon... but that's another story:). There was plot, humour, intelligence, and it took you back in time to interesting places. It was hard to finish. And you couldn't just look up on the net for cheats.
I was filled with the most enormous sense of satisfaction when I completed that game.
Then, I hear the news about a month ago that Presto Studios, the makers of the game, have just shut down. A real shame. I for one will remember and appreciate their work, if only on that game.
next time you hear the words "campaign reform" or "finance reform" in the mouth of a political representative, don't just pass it off as a unimportant/fringe issue. It matters, nowhere more so than in the United States. I don't live over there, but I sure as hell would have loved to have seen John McCain get up and put his campaign finance reform measures through. It would have cleaned up the politics of your country, and done so much good for the entire world - because decisions made in the US (often very much influenced by lobbyists) reverberate around the rest of the globe.
If you want a DVD player, you're much better off going with a dedicated unit for the same $$$. It will give you infinitely better picture quality.
If you want an MP3/etc player, head for an iPod or that new Creative device. It'll be smaller (and even the cheapest version will still have as much memory as a DVD), and the battery life will be better because it doesn't have to spin the damn dvd around all the time.
One of those cases of big wow factor because of convergence/size/cuteness, but when you look at it objectively - jack of all trades, master of none.
Who want's to have their trade shows run by the "Trade Shows for Dummies" company, when instead they can have them run by the alpha geeks! Maybe Jobs could even do a switch ad for O'Reilly:)
That's exactly what I thought. (Well, not the bit about the switch ad, but the bit about Apple switching to O'Reilly). Those two companies have drawn much closer recently.
Slashdot Mirror
That's called "bending the truth". For your friend to have had a possession of iDVD without having purchased a mac with a DVD burner in built, he must have pirated the software.
Apple's application of the DMCA wasn't because he had modified the software. It was because his need to modify the software arose only due to pirating iDVD.
Apple's application of the law in this instance is entirely defendable.
-- james
bah! It's not about bad for Apple users. It's bad for everyone.
What I find funny is how the author thinks that because Apple doesn't have a DMCA-capable OS, that is going to miss out on the "next big thing". I don't know about everyone else, but I am actively encouraged by Apple's stance. Yes, "don't steal music", but no, don't fsck users simply to placate the gorillas in the MPAA and RIAA. Until a system comes along that lets people who have legitimately bought CDs to "rip mix burn", Apple are firmly on the side of the users. Unlike the MPAA and RIAA, they give a shit about their customers.
Anyway, as a result of MS's stance, I look forward to the article about "how the DMCA is bad for windows users".
Also, now is as good a time as any - get your ass over to the Copyright Office and let them know how the DMCA has legitimately infringed on your fair use rights. They've just opened up to submissions: "The purpose of this rulemaking proceeding is to determine whether there are particular classes of works as to which users are, or are likely to be, adversely affected in their ability to make noninfringing uses due to the prohibition on circumvention"
-- james
I once had a Beige G3 300, and a spider of some description decided that the ethernet port seemed like a pretty attractive living space.
One day, I could not for the life of me figure out why the ethernet port wasn't working. I got round the back of the computer, and noticed a little bit of what appeared to be plastic thread hanging out. I pulled, and pulled and pulled, and I swear I pulled out the longest fucking piece of spider web you'll ever see.
-- james
I'm looking forward to all the maps of the world being redrawn... with Australia on the top, where it belongs
-- james
I think you'll find there's nothing there that Apple doesn't provide. Apple's support page.
I wasn't trolling, but you didn't specify online support, you just said great tech support. Tech support to most people implies you actually speak to a living human being. Dell's tech support is going head first down the gurgler.
-- james
science has been making waves.
-- james
There's a post above yours linking off to a maccentral article talking about Quartz Extreme. It (meaning the GPU) does most of the rendering now, freeing up the CPU.
That's atypical. Something else was going on - maybe there was a background task going on that you were unaware of. The terminal opens on my G3/500 in max 5 seconds.
Just depends what you define as 'classic'. Next time you're at the login screen, try typing '>console' without the inverted commas
-- james
I was annoyed at your tone
Aqua itself? No, they started on a completely fresh sheet. Yes, much of the OS X underpinnings came from NeXT - but not the user interface, not the ease of use. That was all developed within Apple once they had acquired NeXT etc.
I am guessing that you haven't used OS X. Once you use it, you really start to get an idea of what an easy to use interface is. It is also the reason why you'll find so many of the
-- james
Thanks for the thoughtful reply :) It has improved, but there is a threshold over which I don't think Linux will ever reach in the ease of use stakes. Installation is one aspect, but there is the UI consistency and a number of other components that go into making software easy to use.
What happens if Joe Bloggs wants to get on the wireless bandwagon with his laptop? Do you think he'd be able to do it running Linux? This is just one aspect. How about plugging in a digital video camera?
You might say one or two more iterations of RedHat, but there'll be someone else that says one or two more iterations of Debian or SuSe or TurboLinux or Corel Linux or United linux. See where I'm going?
-- james
Yeah, well, least they were trying to sell something.
Let's just say it's got a great track record then.
Is that what your kindergarten teacher said to you today?
Apple took Unix and made it easy to use within what, a year?
How long have the various Linux varieties had? And by easy to use, I mean your grandma could do it.
Linux is not there. Like I said, I'll bank on it never getting there, either. There are a variety of reasons why I don't think it will, and they're up in the original post. Unlike you, I wasn't trying to flame or troll. They're valid points, and you may have said your bit on Easel, but the rest still stands.
-- james
Latest PC World tech service scorecard: Last year, PC World readers told us they were unhappy with technical support. This year's survey shows little--if any--improvement. Dell, for example, tumbled in service overall--especially in hold times. The other big news: Apple rated higher than any other computer maker.
There are plenty of other reasons posted, but I just thought I'd pick up on that.
-- james
you guys just don't get it, do you. Instead of either of you addressing my criticisms, you quote cliches (even if they are by Ghandhi) and point me off to the RedHat site. Wow, I hadn't heard of RedHat before, thanks for pointing it out.
And to say I'm laughing at Linux, even figuratively, is crap. You're missing my point. What I was trying to say was, just because it's free, and open source, it does not mean it's going to be the panacea to the world's problems, IT or otherwise.
-- james
I am neither "for" nor against Linux, but whenever I hear about it hitting user desktop machines en masse I always chuckle. The problem isn't getting it out there on people's machines - that much is easy, it's given away for free. The problem isn't distribution, or cost. The problem is getting it to a state where it's actually usable for the vast majority of people.
I would be willing to bank on the fact that Linux in an easy-to-use state will never happen. It is made by nerds, for nerds. Every time there's an attempt to make it "easy to use", failure is the result. What was the name of the last company trying to make it easy to use? Easel, wasn't it? It was started up by the guys that started up Apple. They, like so many before them, failed. And you know where they ended up working? Apple.
You want easy to use Unix on the desktop? Salvation doesn't lie with Linux, I'll tell you that much... for an OS (or anything, really) there needs to be a degree of standardisation, and Linux's decentralised nature is the very thing that has made it successful in the server & enthusiast market.
This isn't to say having Linux in Govt is a bad thing - quite the opposite. But so often on Slashdot, people talk about sticking Linux everywhere. So often, what they don't see is that it would be like trying to fit a round peg in square hole.
There are a variety of tools available to solve every computer problem... don't assume that the one you know best is the one that will do the job best.
-- james
get a patch for your drive, then get Region X; warning, direct download link to control the number of region changes you have left.
Works flawlessly for me, but usual disclaimers about fscking your dvd drive with a 3rd party mod apply.
-- james
And you wonder where that extra money goes?. This was posted by PC World today: This year's survey shows little--if any--improvement. Dell, for example, tumbled in service overall--especially in hold times. The other big news: Apple rated higher than any other computer maker.
-- james
I would agree, with one key exception... Nokia is not pushing Bluetooth anywhere near enough. Sony-Ericsson has it on almost all their mid range phones - Nokia has it on like two. One of them is the titanium thing, and you'd be nuts to spend that much on a phone IMO.
-- james
To me, that was the day Bungie died. They're no longer bobs... they're assimilated bobs. All of them.
-- james
Well, I definitely enjoyed the JP II, but I wouldn've gone so far as to sleep with it...
Seriously, I know what you mean. There are these brilliant games out there, and I guess other than pot luck or lots of good reviews, it relies purely on marketing muscle or a good reputation.
It's a shame, because we all miss out as a result.
-- james
The thing is, there are some absolutely brilliant games out there, that nobody ever hears about.
:). There was plot, humour, intelligence, and it took you back in time to interesting places. It was hard to finish. And you couldn't just look up on the net for cheats.
I remember the Journeyman Project II - I got number II as a birthday present - and I swear, it was the best game I ever played (along with Marathon... but that's another story
I was filled with the most enormous sense of satisfaction when I completed that game.
Then, I hear the news about a month ago that Presto Studios, the makers of the game, have just shut down. A real shame. I for one will remember and appreciate their work, if only on that game.
-- james
next time you hear the words "campaign reform" or "finance reform" in the mouth of a political representative, don't just pass it off as a unimportant/fringe issue. It matters, nowhere more so than in the United States. I don't live over there, but I sure as hell would have loved to have seen John McCain get up and put his campaign finance reform measures through. It would have cleaned up the politics of your country, and done so much good for the entire world - because decisions made in the US (often very much influenced by lobbyists) reverberate around the rest of the globe.
-- james
You're calling the Mac guys fools?
.sig, punk
I'll refer you to my
-- james
I think a more accurate title would be - Congress Members Support Campaign Contributors.
I mean seriously, this is the US - is anyone that surprised? Politicians can be bought, and MS has damn deep pockets.
-- james
I mean, seriously, is this such a bargain?
If you want a DVD player, you're much better off going with a dedicated unit for the same $$$. It will give you infinitely better picture quality.
If you want an MP3/etc player, head for an iPod or that new Creative device. It'll be smaller (and even the cheapest version will still have as much memory as a DVD), and the battery life will be better because it doesn't have to spin the damn dvd around all the time.
One of those cases of big wow factor because of convergence/size/cuteness, but when you look at it objectively - jack of all trades, master of none.
-- james
Oh come on, it's just a PR stunt. I'm surprised you didn't see right through it.
-- james
That's exactly what I thought. (Well, not the bit about the switch ad, but the bit about Apple switching to O'Reilly). Those two companies have drawn much closer recently.
-- james