Yeah when I used Linux I was sure spoiled all right. Spoiled by all those half-days and days spent struggling to install software. Spoiled by all that quality time trying to get my wireless adapter going. Spoiled by arcane command line syntax. Spoiled by the absence of decent documentation. Spoiled rotten, I say. ROTTEN!
Now I slog through my days running Mac OS X. The drudgery of one-click installs. And gone are those sweet, sweet hours of dealing with hardware compatibility issues! Add to that the cruel twist of LOTS of documentation where little is needed! I SUFFER! FEEL MY PAIN!
I put an HP Multifunction up on a Mac network and the Mac found the printer and used it without a hitch. Even scanning worked.
Maybe your experience was different in some way. But I can be reasonably sure that Apple at least *intended* network printer setup on a Mac to be as easy as everything else is on a Mac. Which is to say, 'pretty darn easy'.
Dubya is sure trying to put some zap into his reelection campaign with this nonsense.
Now, back to earth and things that matter: How about a plan to reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy? What I'd like to see is a commitment from our government to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel by... oh... 80% over the next 10 years.
Like the proposed space program, such an effort would produce profound advances in science and technology and create thousands of jobs. In fact, the technological and financial impact of fossil fuel reduction would be far in excess of anything a space program could possibly hope to accomplish.
But, unlike the space program, our efforts would be spent working on several very earthly problems: climate change and dependence on imported fuel.
'Impossible' you say? That's what they said when JFK proposed putting men on the moon within the decade. Technologically it's well within our grasp. All we need is the political will.
We can and should go to space when the time is right. But right now there are pressing matters to deal with here on earth: War, Nukes, Climate Change, War, etc.
Dubya and his posse are crooks. They could give a flying fuck about Mars or the Moon. They just want to get reelected. Ignore them.
I find it somewhat ironic that on the very day scientists announce a likely 15% to 37% reduction on plant and animal species due to climate change that Dubya spews forth something like this.
You claim that Rhapsody has 250,000 subscribers (and you even provide a link) yet you are mistaken. The article you link to states that they have '250,000 subscribers to its Digital Music Services' and also states, futher down, that
RealNetworks' digital music subscription services include RealOne RadioPass, a commercial free Internet radio service, and Rhapsody, the award-winning on-demand music service. For $9.95 per month
It's logical to assume that the bulk of the subscribers are there for the RadioPass (which is free) not Rhapsody (which costs $$$)
So before you accuse Steve Jobs of lying, do your research first!
Linux documentation means nothing. Why? Because the overall system is so terribly unusable in the first place.
Take, for example, an Apple computer. How much documentation comes with an Apple? Not much. How much documentation is *needed*? NOT MUCH. Effort was put into the UI design such that most things can be figured out without needing to read a book or refer to help. This is a Good Thing.
Linux, on the other hand, is a random helter-skelter mess of half-implemented and incompatible software systems that's lucky to run at all much less be intuitive to the user.
Before you Linux zealots go nuts congratulating yourself on how good your documentation is, remember this: For average people, Linux is NO WHERE CLOSE to being usable. And there ain't no amount of documentation that's going to fix that.
Replying to a Linux (for example) post in this fashion on this forum would be inappropriate since a good chunk of the audience does, in fact, know a great deal about Linux.
But when it comes to climate change, the quality of the posts plummets pretty quickly because very few of the posters know what they're talking about.
Instead of babbling on about the scientific facts only to be immediately refuted by misinformed (or made-up) 'facts' presented by somebody else, I'm opting in this case for a more general approach.
So are you using the command line software update because...
!) You have a legitimate, technical, logical reason why the gui version of software update is not sufficient?
2) You think it's cool? And cool overrides ease of use?
3) You have a brain disfunction which causes you to seek complexity and obsfucation instead of simplicity and clarity?
No *real* Mac user would go to the command line to do a software update because a *real* Mac user realizes that the command line is EVIL and is to be avoided at all cost. So either you're a sys admin type with a zillion machines to update (unlikely but possible) or your a geeky geek boy geek who's trying to impress us all with your geeky knowledge of the geeky command line (likely).
This is not a good development for the ecosystem of our planet.
First, I must mention that those who rush to blame anything and everything on climate change are just as irrational and stupid and those who rush to the assumption that climate change has nothing to do with anything. Both assumptions are erronous, unlearned, and emotionally modivated.
What we need to do hear folks is educate ourselves. As one who has done a fair amount of reading on the subject, I can assure you that although the world isn't going to end tomorrow, the effects of climate change (and man's contibution to climate change) are well worth taking seriously. Instead of blowing it all off as has been done with this subject on this forum in the past, I think we all need to grow up and at least seriously consider the very real possibility that this is in fact a very real problem and that perhaps we should rethink our dependence on fossil fuel and the rest. Because let me tell you folks, if it's half as bad as many scientists predict it is, we'd better get moving on this right now!
So please put aside your impulsive reactions for a bit and go out and learn more about this subject. It's important enough to offer it the benefit of the doubt.
I would venture to say that the 'classicist' thinker who trotted out the numbers mentioned above is, at some level, a Quality oriented thinker, albeit a rather twisted one. Case in point: Does scoring higher on Seti have any measurable real-world value? Does being able to compile a Linux kernel faster have any meaning compared to the fact that the kernel *needs* to be compiled in the first place? A Linux Zealot perceives Quality using different esthetic values then the rest of us. To most people, Apple's packaging is beautiful. To a Linux zealot, the specs are beautiful. Both the box and the specs are meaningless in the classicist sense. Had the original poster asked "Does 'packaging' feed my children? Does it make me more money?" etc. then he would have been a classicist thinker. But he's as hopelessly romantic as those of us who 'ooh' and 'aah' at Apple's packaging.
I live in Saint Paul, MN. Norm Colemam was our mayor for quite some time. Having been involved with local politics here to some degree, let me tell you this:
Norm Coleman is a self-serving, deal-making, conniving snake-in-the-grass. I don't trust Norm (or as we say here, with a nasal east-coast twang: 'Naaam') further than I can throw him.
Whatever it is he's trying to pull, don't get yourself comfortable with the idea that he's fighting for you. Because he ain't. He's doing it for pure political gain.
Sadly, he defeated Mondale, who replaced a *true* hero, Paul Wellstone. Paul was a real fighter. Norm is a crook just like the rest of them.
> Consider that they wouldn't sell it if they couldn't make money on it.
Apple, like all businesses, doesn't sell stuff unless they can make money doing so. Why would AppleCare be an exception? You state the obvious as if it's a bad evil thing. It's just business.
> + commission to salesman
Ask any Apple Store salesperson if they make commission and the answer will be "no".
Hey I've been programming for 20 years and you're quite correct -- programming is hard. But I must disagree with your assertion that just because it's hard means that bugs aren't mistakes. They ARE mistakes. And yes, it's generally somebody's fault when they occur. Level of difficulty doesn't let you off the hook here... sorry.
Sure, the specs on the Sony are nice. But the Powerbook runs an OS that Doesn't Suck. What'ya going to run on the Sony? Windows? Or worse yet, Linux?? See my point?
When Apple releases a machine with these specs I'll buy it. Sony can release a 20" platinum notebook weighing 1.2 lbs with FW800 and optical and god-knows-what for $699 and I still ain't buying on if I gotta run Windows (or Linux) on the damn thing. No way.
In typical slashdot fashion, it is, of course, assumed that EVERYBODY knows who this guy is and thus not worth mentioning. The arrogance gets annoying after a while.
I'm suprised they supported Linux in the first place! Why would any company bother to support a tiny tiny fraction of their market populated by arrogant geeks who whine all the time and never spend money?
Sounds to me like ATI has made a sound business decision.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah when I used Linux I was sure spoiled all right. Spoiled by all those half-days and days spent struggling to install software. Spoiled by all that quality time trying to get my wireless adapter going. Spoiled by arcane command line syntax. Spoiled by the absence of decent documentation. Spoiled rotten, I say. ROTTEN!
Now I slog through my days running Mac OS X. The drudgery of one-click installs. And gone are those sweet, sweet hours of dealing with hardware compatibility issues! Add to that the cruel twist of LOTS of documentation where little is needed! I SUFFER! FEEL MY PAIN!
(I'd still rather run Linux than Windows though!)
So, to summarize, you'd rather use 100% crappy free stuff than decent proprietary stuff.
Keep on smokin' whatever is you're smokin' then!
I put an HP Multifunction up on a Mac network and the Mac found the printer and used it without a hitch. Even scanning worked.
Maybe your experience was different in some way. But I can be reasonably sure that Apple at least *intended* network printer setup on a Mac to be as easy as everything else is on a Mac. Which is to say, 'pretty darn easy'.
> Sure, USB 2.0 is a nice standard.
Firewire and Firewire 2 are better though.
You lie like a rug. I don't believe you.
Dubya is sure trying to put some zap into his reelection campaign with this nonsense.
... oh ... 80% over the next 10 years.
Now, back to earth and things that matter: How about a plan to reduce our dependence on non-renewable sources of energy? What I'd like to see is a commitment from our government to reduce our dependence on fossil fuel by
Like the proposed space program, such an effort would produce profound advances in science and technology and create thousands of jobs. In fact, the technological and financial impact of fossil fuel reduction would be far in excess of anything a space program could possibly hope to accomplish.
But, unlike the space program, our efforts would be spent working on several very earthly problems: climate change and dependence on imported fuel.
'Impossible' you say? That's what they said when JFK proposed putting men on the moon within the decade. Technologically it's well within our grasp. All we need is the political will.
We can and should go to space when the time is right. But right now there are pressing matters to deal with here on earth: War, Nukes, Climate Change, War, etc.
Dubya and his posse are crooks. They could give a flying fuck about Mars or the Moon. They just want to get reelected. Ignore them.
I find it somewhat ironic that on the very day scientists announce a likely 15% to 37% reduction on plant and animal species due to climate change that Dubya spews forth something like this.
You claim that Rhapsody has 250,000 subscribers (and you even provide a link) yet you are mistaken. The article you link to states that they have '250,000 subscribers to its Digital Music Services' and also states, futher down, that
RealNetworks' digital music subscription services include RealOne RadioPass, a commercial free Internet radio service, and Rhapsody, the award-winning on-demand music service. For $9.95 per month
It's logical to assume that the bulk of the subscribers are there for the RadioPass (which is free) not Rhapsody (which costs $$$)
So before you accuse Steve Jobs of lying, do your research first!
Linux documentation means nothing. Why? Because the overall system is so terribly unusable in the first place.
Take, for example, an Apple computer. How much documentation comes with an Apple? Not much. How much documentation is *needed*? NOT MUCH. Effort was put into the UI design such that most things can be figured out without needing to read a book or refer to help. This is a Good Thing.
Linux, on the other hand, is a random helter-skelter mess of half-implemented and incompatible software systems that's lucky to run at all much less be intuitive to the user.
Before you Linux zealots go nuts congratulating yourself on how good your documentation is, remember this: For average people, Linux is NO WHERE CLOSE to being usable. And there ain't no amount of documentation that's going to fix that.
> (read Apple User for god's sake)
Although a great many Apple users are not neophytes, the fact that a neophyte can run an Apple is a testament to their ease of use.
So there.
Replying to a Linux (for example) post in this fashion on this forum would be inappropriate since a good chunk of the audience does, in fact, know a great deal about Linux.
But when it comes to climate change, the quality of the posts plummets pretty quickly because very few of the posters know what they're talking about.
Instead of babbling on about the scientific facts only to be immediately refuted by misinformed (or made-up) 'facts' presented by somebody else, I'm opting in this case for a more general approach.
One could. But that does not make the original "climate change" version any less compelling or any less true.
So are you using the command line software update because ...
!) You have a legitimate, technical, logical reason why the gui version of software update is not sufficient?
2) You think it's cool? And cool overrides ease of use?
3) You have a brain disfunction which causes you to seek complexity and obsfucation instead of simplicity and clarity?
No *real* Mac user would go to the command line to do a software update because a *real* Mac user realizes that the command line is EVIL and is to be avoided at all cost. So either you're a sys admin type with a zillion machines to update (unlikely but possible) or your a geeky geek boy geek who's trying to impress us all with your geeky knowledge of the geeky command line (likely).
This is not a good development for the ecosystem of our planet.
First, I must mention that those who rush to blame anything and everything on climate change are just as irrational and stupid and those who rush to the assumption that climate change has nothing to do with anything. Both assumptions are erronous, unlearned, and emotionally modivated.
What we need to do hear folks is educate ourselves. As one who has done a fair amount of reading on the subject, I can assure you that although the world isn't going to end tomorrow, the effects of climate change (and man's contibution to climate change) are well worth taking seriously. Instead of blowing it all off as has been done with this subject on this forum in the past, I think we all need to grow up and at least seriously consider the very real possibility that this is in fact a very real problem and that perhaps we should rethink our dependence on fossil fuel and the rest. Because let me tell you folks, if it's half as bad as many scientists predict it is, we'd better get moving on this right now!
So please put aside your impulsive reactions for a bit and go out and learn more about this subject. It's important enough to offer it the benefit of the doubt.
I just upgraded my Mac to 10.2.6 by clicking "Check Now" in software update. Took about 20 minutes.
Have fun upgrading those Linux boxes! I'll be going to the Minnesota State Fair.
I'm pretty sure the default shell that opens in Terminal can be changed. But I don't know how it's done. Does anybody?
I would venture to say that the 'classicist' thinker who trotted out the numbers mentioned above is, at some level, a Quality oriented thinker, albeit a rather twisted one. Case in point: Does scoring higher on Seti have any measurable real-world value? Does being able to compile a Linux kernel faster have any meaning compared to the fact that the kernel *needs* to be compiled in the first place? A Linux Zealot perceives Quality using different esthetic values then the rest of us. To most people, Apple's packaging is beautiful. To a Linux zealot, the specs are beautiful. Both the box and the specs are meaningless in the classicist sense. Had the original poster asked "Does 'packaging' feed my children? Does it make me more money?" etc. then he would have been a classicist thinker. But he's as hopelessly romantic as those of us who 'ooh' and 'aah' at Apple's packaging.
That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
I live in Saint Paul, MN. Norm Colemam was our mayor for quite some time. Having been involved with local politics here to some degree, let me tell you this:
Norm Coleman is a self-serving, deal-making, conniving snake-in-the-grass. I don't trust Norm (or as we say here, with a nasal east-coast twang: 'Naaam') further than I can throw him.
Whatever it is he's trying to pull, don't get yourself comfortable with the idea that he's fighting for you. Because he ain't. He's doing it for pure political gain.
Sadly, he defeated Mondale, who replaced a *true* hero, Paul Wellstone. Paul was a real fighter. Norm is a crook just like the rest of them.
> why would they try to sell you something they would lose money on?
Truer words were never spoken.
OK, so Apple makes money on AppleCare so you shouldn't buy it. OK. Apple makes money on Powerbooks too! Does that mean I shouldn't buy a Powerbook?
Your logic is seriously flawed.
> Consider that they wouldn't sell it if they couldn't make money on it.
Apple, like all businesses, doesn't sell stuff unless they can make money doing so. Why would AppleCare be an exception? You state the obvious as if it's a bad evil thing. It's just business.
> + commission to salesman
Ask any Apple Store salesperson if they make commission and the answer will be "no".
> I don't know specifically about AppleCare.
Obviously.
Hey I've been programming for 20 years and you're quite correct -- programming is hard. But I must disagree with your assertion that just because it's hard means that bugs aren't mistakes. They ARE mistakes. And yes, it's generally somebody's fault when they occur. Level of difficulty doesn't let you off the hook here ... sorry.
Build it yourself? Gentoo? 'typycal'? I pity you.
Sure, the specs on the Sony are nice. But the Powerbook runs an OS that Doesn't Suck. What'ya going to run on the Sony? Windows? Or worse yet, Linux?? See my point?
When Apple releases a machine with these specs I'll buy it. Sony can release a 20" platinum notebook weighing 1.2 lbs with FW800 and optical and god-knows-what for $699 and I still ain't buying on if I gotta run Windows (or Linux) on the damn thing. No way.
Heh heh!
Who the f*ck is Edward James Olmos?
In typical slashdot fashion, it is, of course, assumed that EVERYBODY knows who this guy is and thus not worth mentioning. The arrogance gets annoying after a while.
I'm suprised they supported Linux in the first place! Why would any company bother to support a tiny tiny fraction of their market populated by arrogant geeks who whine all the time and never spend money?
Sounds to me like ATI has made a sound business decision.