i think Apple already talked about piggyback batteries at MWSF when people asked about battery life issues. it has the standard iPod dock connector, so whatever works for iPods should work. i am sure there will be sleeker pop-on battery booster things ready by june, so everyone can calm down. personally i have never bought an extra/replacement battery for a phone because i seem to replace them around the time the battery life is unacceptable. it seems about the same time that happens the phone is just beat to hell anyway.
1) the Euro version is not due for what, at least 6 months later? i would expect it to be at least slightly different. 2) it *sounds* like the iPhone 1.0 will be sealed up, but will support piggyback batteries like the iPods do. 3) it's not released yet, so who knows what will happen. i feel like people need a chance to touch one before they get hooked into buying one, or decide it might be kind of neat, but not worth it (cost, carrier, size whatever).
worst case scenario i see for Apple, they revise the thing for version 2. there have been rumors that a second model is right behind this one all along. i supposed because of FCC filings we will always hear about them a few months before they are up for sale? personally i would love having something like an iPhone Nano. i don't care about the iPod features or the wide screen. i just want a freaking phone that syncs reliably with OS X. i want a phone that seems almost as smart as my Palm III was, and i want it to be relatively normal sized (more RAZR size than Treo size). if Apple, or anyone else, makes one of those and it's not crazy expensive, i'll be psyched.
honestly, Verizon is often kind of behind the curve on the newest and coolest phones. i always assumed they were secure with massive business plans and didn't have to deal with that. on the other side, maybe they didn't want anything to do with it. they are notorious for ruining cool potential features to ensure a revenue stream. they try to cripple cameraphones with that terrible pixplace thing, they trash bluetooth. i would think the iPhone is not screwed down enough for them, though it's possible the negotiations ever got that far.
that's not DRM at all. if you are going to throw around laced buzzwords then use the right ones. i have NEVER owned a cellphone that allowed me to upload and run apps.
1) it's hard to complain too much when we are still months away from launch 2) maybe it will flop if it's that crappy and Apple/Cingular will rework the deal
who knows how much was Apple and how much was Cingular. same thing as iTMS. the DRM is because of the record labels, not Apple being weird. remember the RIP-MIX-BURN ad campaign a few months before iTMS went online?
the question has been raised that if you can get your hands on an iPhone without service (how is not important), how much can it do just with WiFi. more importantly what can it NOT do? is it a valid little PDA with WiFi?
i asked this elsewhere too when this came up...... could the driver be in 10.5?
this sounds like the G4 towers a few years ago. they shipped with the USB2.0 chipset, but not drivers. people started using some 3rd party drivers, but it was eventually included in the OS. how is that different? the USB ports worked 100% as USB1.0, but were USB2.0 capable.
it sounds like a weird way to get not anywhere near $5 after all their costs are incurred. i understand the drivers not being included before, since it's really still draft-N and they would probably have to support why their draft-N stuff is not working right with other draft-N stuff. we are still something like a year away from the final 802.11N specs. draft2-N is due about now, right?
the keynote was 2 hours. in the past they are usually 1 hour, sometimes 90 minutes. while i am surprised they did not show off any 10.5, they didn't have time.
as for Mac hardware, 2 or 3 years ago they announced some big time occupying things at MacWorld and then 2 tuesdays later the towers got speed bumps, or something like that. they may call a media event in a week or two to release the assumed iLife07, or maybe it will wait till 10.5 ships. maybe it is ok as is for this year?
unless i am mistaken the only Mac hardware upgraded predicted were possible quad-core MacPros and Xserves... but that was purely based on Intel releasing the chips and not any inside info. the MacBooks and MacBook Pro portables were upgraded in the fall, the iMac was upgraded in the late summer/early Fall... the Mac Mini in there somewhere too. unless they got a major overhaul, it would not be worth pulling time away from the iPhone and Apple TV.
or nobody has nailed it yet? there is an obvious demand for such a thing, but i guess they are either clunky, or nobody knows they exist. iTV has hype, so when it exists people will go see them in stores, and i am sure other people will say "well this product is kind of the same thing and it will do what you want just fine".
the Sling is not due to show up till mid 2007. Apple's iTV is due anytime from 1.5 hours from now till March (iirc). it seems that iTV will show up before this product. though this sounds kind of interesting. they may be waiting for the 802.11 draft2-N. i thought that was not due for a few months, and supposedly the draft2-N chips can be updated to final N with a firmware update (the current draft-N may be out of luck?).
i have heard the Xbox360 works pretty well as a computer2TV media interface, but i don't own one. even if they are a great solution, they still cost a lot considering i never play video games. *if* i was going to buy one for games, then the serving of content would be a great bonus. the same way *if i already had one* it would seem like a deal to get a HDDVD player for only $200 more.
all that being said, i'm a Mac person and i don't think the Xbox interfaces with iTunes anyway, right? personally i like iTunes, and that's what i use to sort my stuff, so some product that can interface with it would make my life easier. the Front Row like interface of iTV looks promising.
my 1996 car just had a recall this past fall for a software update. something about the car not flagging crappy exhaust fast enough (resulting in the CHECK ENGINE light). crazy it took them 10 years to realize it was a problem. i got the impression it was not a change in EPA standards, but that it was never done right in the first place.
because only guilty people bring lawyers to court? i hope you never get picked for jury duty.
besides... this is over paperwork, and iirc there was some loophole that some financial people felt they were taking advantage of and that's why so much of this recently is in the news. Steve Jobs would be crazy not to have a good lawyer.
this won't do anything to productivity at Apple, no matter what happens. look at other cases of this recently in the news.
as for the money people spend on accessories.... those accessories that are ipod-specific are only to the more recent dock connector models. i think most accessories that people buy are car kits, maybe a charger (plain old USB power adapter brick). i guess some people have those home speaker dock setups, but i wonder how many people *really* buy those (percentage wise). personally i still just use a minijack to RCA adapter or plug a set of computer speakers right into my iPod. then again that's the same thing i used to use for my minidisc player.
by the time their iPod dies they may be willing to replace everything. remember in the 80s when home stereo component systems tried to keep you tied to one manufacturer by having a multi-unit remote, or the receiver could use some special cable to link the remote control's instructions to your other gear.
the iPod surely has momentum, and iconic status, at this point. i think the real question is if people really NEED improvements beyond battery life and capacity. the iPod's popularity was because it was a relatively great MP3 player long before it became hip. it may not have had as many features as some other, but it was simple to use and small for its drive capacity. that's why people loved it, not because it could "do more".
iPods will surely evolve, and so will other music players, but it's going to be hard to beat something that's perfectly simple.
the upgrade cycle thing may be VERY valid. OS X 10.5 is due in the next 6 months or so, and it sounds like there will be upgrades for that. 6 months to really try these apps out (beyond the normal trial period) might make users really grow to like them. personally i have installed an app and only used it once or twice before the trial period ended. i never *really* got into the habit of using it, so i often don't end up buying it.
we'll only see something like this again if the developers think it was beneficial in some way. that will be the test.
unless they dramatically change how coins are made, it would probably be easier to fake one than it is to print passable fake paper currency. there are tons of presses sitting idle in this country that could turn out coins if somebody cared to make the dies. might not be as efficient as printing sheets of bills, but it could be done i would think. i am guessing the effort would only pay off for something like a $10 (and up) coin value.
i don't know how true it is, but i remember reading something stating that there were more counterfeit $10 bills now because they are generally not checked like a $20 or $50 would be (with that magic pen). i know they exist to some extent because my housemate got one somewhere. it looked valid, but the paper was junky. it looked like it had been passed around a good bit though. he had no idea where he picked it up and got stopped trying to use it to buy his morning coffee.
if the RIAA is not going to pay the old kinds of royalties, there is no reason the record labels can not walk away. they could form a new organization or figure out some other method of making their money. the RIAA and the labels have a symbiotic relationship though. i don't know if a new group would treat artists any better. i bet there will always be artists so hungry for fame that they are willing to sign just about anything. maybe with all the bad publicity the record labels and RIAA have gotten in the last few years, artists will at least think twice before blindly signing. some pretty big mainstream artists have come out and said they were being ripped off. there are documentaries about it too. if younger bands are still so crazy to sign 100 record deals (or something that lasts the entirety of their possible careers), then there is not a lot you can do.
things like the iTunes store has giving almost level distribution to smaller bands. the same 'store' that sells the biggest popular artists can also carry a small town band that plays in basements. the big artist may get an image on the splash page, but both are just as easy to find by typing the name in the search box. that whole thing about the long tail is what makes online stores like Amazon, Netflix or iTMS want a HUGE catalog of products. those smaller indie released books or CDs have a very valid place in the new business models. that seems to be a pretty widely accepted economic fact at this point.
i agree with you 100% that as long as the RIAA and the huge labels still have enough momentum, they will be able to keep pushing the hell out of the artists that play by their rules. the average citizen still learns about new popular music by the radio, MTV or whatever. artists that barrage them on tv, print, internet, radio etc etc are the ones whose songs will stick in their heads. if you don't have RIAA artist files on your computer, they can not (legally) harass you.
b.) the retail price will match the PS3 pre-release ebay price so Apple would use a business model that did not lose $300 per unit sold? talk about thinking different!
and Microsoft has always been associated with fun. in theory Apple could just buy up a bunch of game developers like Microsoft has done.
in all honesty it seems a bit out there. if these new Apple devices can play games, i would guess it's a secondary thing (if even that). if Apple is talking to game makers, or hiring a few in-house, i would think it is more likely to be for the iPod (or maybe iPhone, if it is real). Macs have always had some goofy little time killing games on them, like snake on older cell phones. becoming a full blown console maker is a bit hard to keep under wraps... even for Apple.
there was a table communicator prototype of the Apple Newton. one prototype that was never built but has been photographed and is somewhat documented. it's in the book of Apple design over the years.
as for.Mac integration.... *most* OS X features that require.Mac have been worked around in the past. i can't imagine it would be a dealbreaker kind of thing with the phone. when you consider the number of Mac users, and then take the subset that have.Mac, then take the subset that would buy an iPhone (for whatever reason)...... i can't imagine it's a huge target audience? i don't know how many cellphones are generally sold of a specific model, but it seems like a bad business plan. it may have some easy way to integrate with existing/new.Mac features... but that would be a small modification to some sort of web browsing abilities. maybe.Mac users can customize a cell phone 'startpage' kind of thing or something. it's a bear to check my personal favorite movie theaters on my phone.
i realize i am selling out the DIY ethic here, but...... those sync methods are sometimes unreliable. it seems to be oddly inconsistent even with the same devices. i have heard this from users i know to be above average with nrrdyness. some have a great time, some have lots of problems.
i have the Motorola E815 un-smartphone. i have had some luck with bluetooth sync of address book and ical. the problem is that when it doesn't work, the end result is often phone numbers going away or things being erased from my calendar. the kind of thing you not always notice at first. when i lose items it is generally when they are on the phone and not my Mac. my whole reason to sync the address book is so i have a backup in case i lose or upgrade the phone. randomly pruning some numbers kind of defeats that plan.
i appreciate all the work 3rd party developers are doing, but some stuff is risky. i hate typing this because i feel like it is the argument that M$ uses to bash *nix, but in this case there are so many devices that change so frequently that it generates sync issues (i guess?). i loved using BitPim on my old cell phone to extract pictures, upload graphics and ringtones and backup my phonebook. that never did anything destructive if it wasn't working. that is a darn great app.
whoa! where can i get one! 1970s Japanese motorcycles are among my favorites. i wonder if a new 2006 bootleg is any more dangerous on the highway than a 30 year old bike that i found on craigslist for $300?
ok, seems like a bad idea. but....... hmmmm.......
doesn't China make some of the bikes for some of the Japanese bike companies now? if so they will have the technology in place (to some degree) to make current bikes. as those plants upgrade, that older equipment is going to be used to make *something*. i know there are Korean motorcycles that are supposed to be in the US, or coming soon. same thing, they spent years making bikes for Honda etc and there are plants that have the technology and skilled workers in place. at some point the ultra efficient Honda people will upgrade their gear, so the old stuff will probably be sold off. the initial reviews i read of the US versions of Korean motorcycles seemed promising. they were not up to grade with the top of the line Japanese race bikes, but they were deemed a good buy for their price.
just a theory, but you figure the gas prices were ramping up slowly, but they totally spiked post-Katrina. there was still 1/3 of 2005 left, but the gas prices did not really drop when the oil processing plants were back online. people seem to have accepted that the days of $1/gallon gas are gone and making adjustments to their lives. maybe it's just people i know, or the ones that talk about it, but i know people have started to drive less. if they drive, they are more likely to carpool. in a way it's great. it make people reconsider public transportation and bicycles. it made hybrid cars seem far more sensible than they did a few years ago. people actually check the air pressure in their tires. it's too bad it came at the expense of the oil companies making record profits.
on a side thought.... how come my natural gas prices (in Philadelphia PA) spiked "due to disruptions caused by Hurrican Katrina" and 14 months later they have not gone down one cent? at least gasoline is down about $1/gallon from its peak. natural gas, nothing!
i didn't mean to imply the information overload was a bad thing. i think people have not yet adjusted to it. younger people are going to grow up with it, but older people are probably still overwhelmed. i don't know where that line is drawn (in age). then you also consider that at some point you hit people that grew up watching the news coverage of the Viet-Nam conflict, or those that lived during WW2. being a kid during (or serving in) WW2 may have had a lasting effect that skews perception of anything to follow.
it seems like the big windows things that spread to everyday users require a MS Windows machine to send itself to another MS Windows machine (vie email app or something). a Mac or *nix box will break the chain. in theory even a critical Mac attack might require a Mac-Mac transmission, right? it might spread around a group of graphic designers or something, but that may be where the Mac minority REALLY helps keep the machines safe.
i'm not talking about things that infect servers or corporate/edu networks, but the things that CNN reports because it will hit joe 6-pack home users. that's what would probably have an effect on what a home user would think about when buying a new machine.
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i think Apple already talked about piggyback batteries at MWSF when people asked about battery life issues. it has the standard iPod dock connector, so whatever works for iPods should work. i am sure there will be sleeker pop-on battery booster things ready by june, so everyone can calm down.
personally i have never bought an extra/replacement battery for a phone because i seem to replace them around the time the battery life is unacceptable. it seems about the same time that happens the phone is just beat to hell anyway.
1) the Euro version is not due for what, at least 6 months later? i would expect it to be at least slightly different.
2) it *sounds* like the iPhone 1.0 will be sealed up, but will support piggyback batteries like the iPods do.
3) it's not released yet, so who knows what will happen. i feel like people need a chance to touch one before they get hooked into buying one, or decide it might be kind of neat, but not worth it (cost, carrier, size whatever).
worst case scenario i see for Apple, they revise the thing for version 2. there have been rumors that a second model is right behind this one all along. i supposed because of FCC filings we will always hear about them a few months before they are up for sale? personally i would love having something like an iPhone Nano. i don't care about the iPod features or the wide screen. i just want a freaking phone that syncs reliably with OS X. i want a phone that seems almost as smart as my Palm III was, and i want it to be relatively normal sized (more RAZR size than Treo size). if Apple, or anyone else, makes one of those and it's not crazy expensive, i'll be psyched.
honestly, Verizon is often kind of behind the curve on the newest and coolest phones. i always assumed they were secure with massive business plans and didn't have to deal with that.
on the other side, maybe they didn't want anything to do with it. they are notorious for ruining cool potential features to ensure a revenue stream. they try to cripple cameraphones with that terrible pixplace thing, they trash bluetooth. i would think the iPhone is not screwed down enough for them, though it's possible the negotiations ever got that far.
that's not DRM at all. if you are going to throw around laced buzzwords then use the right ones. i have NEVER owned a cellphone that allowed me to upload and run apps.
1) it's hard to complain too much when we are still months away from launch
2) maybe it will flop if it's that crappy and Apple/Cingular will rework the deal
who knows how much was Apple and how much was Cingular. same thing as iTMS. the DRM is because of the record labels, not Apple being weird. remember the RIP-MIX-BURN ad campaign a few months before iTMS went online?
the question has been raised that if you can get your hands on an iPhone without service (how is not important), how much can it do just with WiFi. more importantly what can it NOT do? is it a valid little PDA with WiFi?
i asked this elsewhere too when this came up...... could the driver be in 10.5?
this sounds like the G4 towers a few years ago. they shipped with the USB2.0 chipset, but not drivers. people started using some 3rd party drivers, but it was eventually included in the OS. how is that different? the USB ports worked 100% as USB1.0, but were USB2.0 capable.
it sounds like a weird way to get not anywhere near $5 after all their costs are incurred. i understand the drivers not being included before, since it's really still draft-N and they would probably have to support why their draft-N stuff is not working right with other draft-N stuff. we are still something like a year away from the final 802.11N specs. draft2-N is due about now, right?
lawsuit vs cease and desist letter. there is a big difference.
the keynote was 2 hours. in the past they are usually 1 hour, sometimes 90 minutes. while i am surprised they did not show off any 10.5, they didn't have time.
as for Mac hardware, 2 or 3 years ago they announced some big time occupying things at MacWorld and then 2 tuesdays later the towers got speed bumps, or something like that. they may call a media event in a week or two to release the assumed iLife07, or maybe it will wait till 10.5 ships. maybe it is ok as is for this year?
unless i am mistaken the only Mac hardware upgraded predicted were possible quad-core MacPros and Xserves... but that was purely based on Intel releasing the chips and not any inside info. the MacBooks and MacBook Pro portables were upgraded in the fall, the iMac was upgraded in the late summer/early Fall... the Mac Mini in there somewhere too. unless they got a major overhaul, it would not be worth pulling time away from the iPhone and Apple TV.
or nobody has nailed it yet? there is an obvious demand for such a thing, but i guess they are either clunky, or nobody knows they exist. iTV has hype, so when it exists people will go see them in stores, and i am sure other people will say "well this product is kind of the same thing and it will do what you want just fine".
the Sling is not due to show up till mid 2007. Apple's iTV is due anytime from 1.5 hours from now till March (iirc). it seems that iTV will show up before this product. though this sounds kind of interesting. they may be waiting for the 802.11 draft2-N. i thought that was not due for a few months, and supposedly the draft2-N chips can be updated to final N with a firmware update (the current draft-N may be out of luck?).
i have heard the Xbox360 works pretty well as a computer2TV media interface, but i don't own one. even if they are a great solution, they still cost a lot considering i never play video games. *if* i was going to buy one for games, then the serving of content would be a great bonus. the same way *if i already had one* it would seem like a deal to get a HDDVD player for only $200 more.
all that being said, i'm a Mac person and i don't think the Xbox interfaces with iTunes anyway, right? personally i like iTunes, and that's what i use to sort my stuff, so some product that can interface with it would make my life easier. the Front Row like interface of iTV looks promising.
my 1996 car just had a recall this past fall for a software update. something about the car not flagging crappy exhaust fast enough (resulting in the CHECK ENGINE light). crazy it took them 10 years to realize it was a problem. i got the impression it was not a change in EPA standards, but that it was never done right in the first place.
because only guilty people bring lawyers to court? i hope you never get picked for jury duty.
besides... this is over paperwork, and iirc there was some loophole that some financial people felt they were taking advantage of and that's why so much of this recently is in the news. Steve Jobs would be crazy not to have a good lawyer.
this won't do anything to productivity at Apple, no matter what happens. look at other cases of this recently in the news.
as for the money people spend on accessories.... those accessories that are ipod-specific are only to the more recent dock connector models. i think most accessories that people buy are car kits, maybe a charger (plain old USB power adapter brick). i guess some people have those home speaker dock setups, but i wonder how many people *really* buy those (percentage wise). personally i still just use a minijack to RCA adapter or plug a set of computer speakers right into my iPod. then again that's the same thing i used to use for my minidisc player.
by the time their iPod dies they may be willing to replace everything. remember in the 80s when home stereo component systems tried to keep you tied to one manufacturer by having a multi-unit remote, or the receiver could use some special cable to link the remote control's instructions to your other gear.
the iPod surely has momentum, and iconic status, at this point. i think the real question is if people really NEED improvements beyond battery life and capacity. the iPod's popularity was because it was a relatively great MP3 player long before it became hip. it may not have had as many features as some other, but it was simple to use and small for its drive capacity. that's why people loved it, not because it could "do more".
iPods will surely evolve, and so will other music players, but it's going to be hard to beat something that's perfectly simple.
the upgrade cycle thing may be VERY valid. OS X 10.5 is due in the next 6 months or so, and it sounds like there will be upgrades for that. 6 months to really try these apps out (beyond the normal trial period) might make users really grow to like them. personally i have installed an app and only used it once or twice before the trial period ended. i never *really* got into the habit of using it, so i often don't end up buying it.
we'll only see something like this again if the developers think it was beneficial in some way. that will be the test.
unless they dramatically change how coins are made, it would probably be easier to fake one than it is to print passable fake paper currency. there are tons of presses sitting idle in this country that could turn out coins if somebody cared to make the dies. might not be as efficient as printing sheets of bills, but it could be done i would think. i am guessing the effort would only pay off for something like a $10 (and up) coin value.
i don't know how true it is, but i remember reading something stating that there were more counterfeit $10 bills now because they are generally not checked like a $20 or $50 would be (with that magic pen). i know they exist to some extent because my housemate got one somewhere. it looked valid, but the paper was junky. it looked like it had been passed around a good bit though. he had no idea where he picked it up and got stopped trying to use it to buy his morning coffee.
if the RIAA is not going to pay the old kinds of royalties, there is no reason the record labels can not walk away. they could form a new organization or figure out some other method of making their money. the RIAA and the labels have a symbiotic relationship though. i don't know if a new group would treat artists any better. i bet there will always be artists so hungry for fame that they are willing to sign just about anything. maybe with all the bad publicity the record labels and RIAA have gotten in the last few years, artists will at least think twice before blindly signing. some pretty big mainstream artists have come out and said they were being ripped off. there are documentaries about it too. if younger bands are still so crazy to sign 100 record deals (or something that lasts the entirety of their possible careers), then there is not a lot you can do.
things like the iTunes store has giving almost level distribution to smaller bands. the same 'store' that sells the biggest popular artists can also carry a small town band that plays in basements. the big artist may get an image on the splash page, but both are just as easy to find by typing the name in the search box. that whole thing about the long tail is what makes online stores like Amazon, Netflix or iTMS want a HUGE catalog of products. those smaller indie released books or CDs have a very valid place in the new business models. that seems to be a pretty widely accepted economic fact at this point.
i agree with you 100% that as long as the RIAA and the huge labels still have enough momentum, they will be able to keep pushing the hell out of the artists that play by their rules. the average citizen still learns about new popular music by the radio, MTV or whatever. artists that barrage them on tv, print, internet, radio etc etc are the ones whose songs will stick in their heads. if you don't have RIAA artist files on your computer, they can not (legally) harass you.
talk about thinking different!
and Microsoft has always been associated with fun. in theory Apple could just buy up a bunch of game developers like Microsoft has done.
in all honesty it seems a bit out there. if these new Apple devices can play games, i would guess it's a secondary thing (if even that). if Apple is talking to game makers, or hiring a few in-house, i would think it is more likely to be for the iPod (or maybe iPhone, if it is real). Macs have always had some goofy little time killing games on them, like snake on older cell phones. becoming a full blown console maker is a bit hard to keep under wraps... even for Apple.
bottom of that page says:
Article ID: 93548 Date Created: December 15, 2003 Date Modified: September 26, 2005
the question did say OS X compatible, but did not mention if they have to use iTunes. so maybe there are more options.
there was a table communicator prototype of the Apple Newton. one prototype that was never built but has been photographed and is somewhat documented. it's in the book of Apple design over the years.
.Mac integration.... *most* OS X features that require .Mac have been worked around in the past. i can't imagine it would be a dealbreaker kind of thing with the phone. when you consider the number of Mac users, and then take the subset that have .Mac, then take the subset that would buy an iPhone (for whatever reason)...... i can't imagine it's a huge target audience? i don't know how many cellphones are generally sold of a specific model, but it seems like a bad business plan. it may have some easy way to integrate with existing/new .Mac features... but that would be a small modification to some sort of web browsing abilities. maybe .Mac users can customize a cell phone 'startpage' kind of thing or something. it's a bear to check my personal favorite movie theaters on my phone.
as for
i realize i am selling out the DIY ethic here, but......
those sync methods are sometimes unreliable. it seems to be oddly inconsistent even with the same devices. i have heard this from users i know to be above average with nrrdyness. some have a great time, some have lots of problems.
i have the Motorola E815 un-smartphone. i have had some luck with bluetooth sync of address book and ical. the problem is that when it doesn't work, the end result is often phone numbers going away or things being erased from my calendar. the kind of thing you not always notice at first. when i lose items it is generally when they are on the phone and not my Mac. my whole reason to sync the address book is so i have a backup in case i lose or upgrade the phone. randomly pruning some numbers kind of defeats that plan.
i appreciate all the work 3rd party developers are doing, but some stuff is risky. i hate typing this because i feel like it is the argument that M$ uses to bash *nix, but in this case there are so many devices that change so frequently that it generates sync issues (i guess?). i loved using BitPim on my old cell phone to extract pictures, upload graphics and ringtones and backup my phonebook. that never did anything destructive if it wasn't working. that is a darn great app.
whoa! where can i get one! 1970s Japanese motorcycles are among my favorites. i wonder if a new 2006 bootleg is any more dangerous on the highway than a 30 year old bike that i found on craigslist for $300?
ok, seems like a bad idea. but....... hmmmm.......
doesn't China make some of the bikes for some of the Japanese bike companies now? if so they will have the technology in place (to some degree) to make current bikes. as those plants upgrade, that older equipment is going to be used to make *something*. i know there are Korean motorcycles that are supposed to be in the US, or coming soon. same thing, they spent years making bikes for Honda etc and there are plants that have the technology and skilled workers in place. at some point the ultra efficient Honda people will upgrade their gear, so the old stuff will probably be sold off. the initial reviews i read of the US versions of Korean motorcycles seemed promising. they were not up to grade with the top of the line Japanese race bikes, but they were deemed a good buy for their price.
that i understand. it read as though there were fully complete bootleg cars on some secret showroom.
just a theory, but you figure the gas prices were ramping up slowly, but they totally spiked post-Katrina. there was still 1/3 of 2005 left, but the gas prices did not really drop when the oil processing plants were back online. people seem to have accepted that the days of $1/gallon gas are gone and making adjustments to their lives. maybe it's just people i know, or the ones that talk about it, but i know people have started to drive less. if they drive, they are more likely to carpool. in a way it's great. it make people reconsider public transportation and bicycles. it made hybrid cars seem far more sensible than they did a few years ago. people actually check the air pressure in their tires. it's too bad it came at the expense of the oil companies making record profits.
on a side thought.... how come my natural gas prices (in Philadelphia PA) spiked "due to disruptions caused by Hurrican Katrina" and 14 months later they have not gone down one cent? at least gasoline is down about $1/gallon from its peak. natural gas, nothing!
i didn't mean to imply the information overload was a bad thing. i think people have not yet adjusted to it. younger people are going to grow up with it, but older people are probably still overwhelmed.
i don't know where that line is drawn (in age). then you also consider that at some point you hit people that grew up watching the news coverage of the Viet-Nam conflict, or those that lived during WW2. being a kid during (or serving in) WW2 may have had a lasting effect that skews perception of anything to follow.
it seems like the big windows things that spread to everyday users require a MS Windows machine to send itself to another MS Windows machine (vie email app or something). a Mac or *nix box will break the chain. in theory even a critical Mac attack might require a Mac-Mac transmission, right? it might spread around a group of graphic designers or something, but that may be where the Mac minority REALLY helps keep the machines safe.
i'm not talking about things that infect servers or corporate/edu networks, but the things that CNN reports because it will hit joe 6-pack home users. that's what would probably have an effect on what a home user would think about when buying a new machine.