What HP really needed to make this deal a winner was an "HP Store". They could have employees dress all trendy and sell HP products and accessories for their iPod, as well as explain this whole deal to the public.
"So, this is an iPod, right?"
"No way, man. It's an HP iPod"
"But it looks like an iPod"
(pause) "Righteous! But it's totally an HP iPod. See this logo on the back?"
"But I wanted to get one of those iPods my friends have. I thought this was one."
I have a summer job answering the phone at a company which sells lawn mower parts. Not mowers, but parts to fix 'em when they break. Not if they break, but when.
I am amazed at how many dozens of calls I take each day where the customers have no idea what part is broken, certainly no idea of what part they need, and they expect a 1-800 number to be able to solve their problems.
Them: "My mow deck isn't working"
Me: (looking through my mower database) "Do you have the model number of your mower?"
Them: (pause) It's a five-horse with a mulching blade.
Me: (with a database of a few thousand mowers matching that description) Do you have a model number? There's not much I can do without knowing more about your specific mower.
Them: (longer pause) It's red.
Me: I'm sorry, but there is no way I can diagnose your problem over the phone, and no way to do anything at all without knowing what exact mower you have.
I like to help customers when I can, and I certainly do not enjoy making customers mad, but they have to be able to meet me halfway. The same should go for tech calls.
Many people told me in high school that a college degree is the road to success in life, and I have no doubt that it is. But after going to college for five years I have found that my friends who went straight into the workforce or learned a trade at a community college are now the ones who own houses, cars, and generally have much more money than I do.
On the other hand, my degree allows me to pursue the same quality of life they enjoy, but at a job which will be intellectually challenging and personally rewarding. I just have to wait a bit longer for the tangible benefits.
That said, I don't think it's appropriate to drop out of high school. College, sure, if you find something else you want to do. But for pete's sake, you really should have a high school diploma.
People generally want their computers (or other IT devices) to just work. If they don't work, it's the tech guy's fault. If they work, why bother having the tech guy around?
Yeah, I agree with you on just about everything. I don't think bandwidth is as much of an issue as it was, since speeds are getting faster and video compression is getting better. H.264 does offer some promising capabilities.
I think the sweet spot is probably an hour of download time over your average cable modem for a DVD-quality movie. Sure it would have DRM, but if they could hit that time, they would have a good chance of success.
While I don't know if it'll be next,
on
What's Next At Apple
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· Score: 4, Interesting
what would be nice is a video equivalent of the iTMS. Netflix has the best distribution model right now (not counting "Video on Demand" from cable companies, but DVDs are still more versatile) but as bandwidth continues to climb, the true video revolution will take place on the desktop computer. It's a lot like what's happened with music--why buy a CD if you can download it for the same price and make your own CD?
Apple should have a QtVS (Quicktime Video Store) where you can browse through thousands of films, TV shows, recorded speeches, documentaries, and videos. You could preview them much like you can with the iTMS and its music selections. Then, for a price comparable to a DVD, you could download these videos and burn your own DVDs. And now with H.264 coming in full force during the next few months, these videos could have very high quality with rather small file sizes.
In the next decade, the movie industry is going to find itself in the same position as the music industry was a few years ago, and it will have to change and adapt. Apple should be ready, and be able to offer a viable solution.
Macs used to have that feature in OS9 and possibly OS8, but it's gone in OSX. Weird. You could ctrl-click on any document and get an option to encrypt it.
When I was doing my student teaching, every time we were in the computer lab I had to go around showing my students how to turn off the grammar checker. Most of my students simply got frustrated with that squiggly green line and stopped writing altogether when it showed up. Sometimes it found actual grammatical errors, but most of the time it just found ways to piss off my students for no good reason.
I think the concept is a good one, but it sorely needs to be updated.
My cousin/roommate is in charge of security at a Target store. They had him come in early to do (his words) "crowd control" for the PSP launch. Not only was no one there for the launch, but they sold two that entire morning. He's not even sure what a PSP is.
Sony dropped the ball when it came to marketing this thing, and they dropped the ball on the price tag. Sure it's a bargain, and it's probably got $400 worth of actual hardware in it, and it has a lot of potential, but at the end of the day you still have to convince Joe-sumer to spend $250 on a big game boy.
and not owning a PC, I used to really dig this kind of stuff. I still don't own a PC, but my two roommates do, and the more I see these kinds of things on/. the more it reads like sour grapes from the linux community.
When one of my roommates got a Dell recently, I took a look at his XP before connecting to the internet. A few clicks and the firewall was on. A few more clicks and his anti-virus software was up and running. After connecting to our LAN I downloaded Firefox, and for the past month and a half he has had no problems with any security issues on his machine. No, Windows is inherently not as secure as linux, but if you know what you are doing, you will be able to set up your Wintel box to be decently safe and hacker-free.
The downside is, of course, that Microsoft could do a lot more to make Windows more secure out of the box. But Linux (and the Linux community) has a long way to go before the average wal-sumer will feel comfortable using Linux machines, much less knowing how to run them.
Most of my problems with the whole Tablet PC concept stem from the marketing: how are you supposed to sell this thing? It's not a laptop, it's not a desktop, it's not a palm pilot, and yet it seems to do most of the same thing those other devices do, and costs upwards of a thousand dollars. I can't think of any situation in which I would have a good use for it, but it certainly would be cool to have. I never thought about using it for kids, though. That's a really good idea...
But just because you can't see any benefit from them doesn't mean that is the general case as well.
I'm glad someone is buying them, because I believe this is a market that has a lot of potential. Just because I don't see the need for one now doesn't mean others don't. I think, as someone already mentioned, the problem here is marketing. If MS, Toshiba, HP, etc. could get their message out that tablets do have some useful features, more people (such as myself) would buy them.
You bring up some good points, but other than the ability to scribble in the margins and use the tablet while lying down, I don't see much difference between a tablet and a laptop or standard PDA. But while I would not buy one, I do see the appeal, however limited it may be. (i.e. tablets really have not taken off as any sort of mobile revolution in the way notebook PCs did in the late 90's)
and it had a guy in the stairwell writing something on his tablet. The tagline of the ad was something like "For those times when inspiration occurs between floors". The gist of it was that with a tablet PC you are not limited to using a PC at your desk, or some other such stationary place.
What it left me wondering, though, was why not whip out a note pad or sticky note?
The tablet PC has yet to prove itself as a device that is truly useful and practical--moreso than any notebook computer, that is. It may function just fine, and it may be a fine product, but it still seems to have very little actual purpose.
is a concept that many companies don't understand. They stress, over and over, the idea of customer satisfaction, customer service, and friendly employees. I worked in retail for nine years and we were told day after day to smile, be friendly, be helpful, and care for the customer. But I found, day after day, that my employer was not willing to extend the same courtesies to me and the other employees.
I believe that if a company's employees enjoy their job, they will gladly serve the customers, help the customers, and extend that sense of friendliness without being prodded and told to do so.
Slashdot Mirror
No, I don't think so.
What HP really needed to make this deal a winner was an "HP Store". They could have employees dress all trendy and sell HP products and accessories for their iPod, as well as explain this whole deal to the public.
...It's an HP iPod!"
"So, this is an iPod, right?"
"No way, man. It's an HP iPod"
"But it looks like an iPod"
(pause) "Righteous! But it's totally an HP iPod. See this logo on the back?"
"But I wanted to get one of those iPods my friends have. I thought this was one."
(longer pause)
So it was you who managed to get a copy, eh?
was said to be impossible too, but it happened...somehow.
I have a summer job answering the phone at a company which sells lawn mower parts. Not mowers, but parts to fix 'em when they break. Not if they break, but when.
I am amazed at how many dozens of calls I take each day where the customers have no idea what part is broken, certainly no idea of what part they need, and they expect a 1-800 number to be able to solve their problems.
Them: "My mow deck isn't working"
Me: (looking through my mower database) "Do you have the model number of your mower?"
Them: (pause) It's a five-horse with a mulching blade.
Me: (with a database of a few thousand mowers matching that description) Do you have a model number? There's not much I can do without knowing more about your specific mower.
Them: (longer pause) It's red.
Me: I'm sorry, but there is no way I can diagnose your problem over the phone, and no way to do anything at all without knowing what exact mower you have.
I like to help customers when I can, and I certainly do not enjoy making customers mad, but they have to be able to meet me halfway. The same should go for tech calls.
Accurate or not, it was a pretty bad movie. :)
Many people told me in high school that a college degree is the road to success in life, and I have no doubt that it is. But after going to college for five years I have found that my friends who went straight into the workforce or learned a trade at a community college are now the ones who own houses, cars, and generally have much more money than I do.
On the other hand, my degree allows me to pursue the same quality of life they enjoy, but at a job which will be intellectually challenging and personally rewarding. I just have to wait a bit longer for the tangible benefits.
That said, I don't think it's appropriate to drop out of high school. College, sure, if you find something else you want to do. But for pete's sake, you really should have a high school diploma.
if you get your ice water from an un-electric fridge.
This book has always been one of the most comprehensive Macintosh references out there. Strange that Apple would pull it. Hrmmm...
Come on, you know they shipped it early to avoid Microsoft stealing their thunder. Rumor has it they were going to announce Xbox 2 on April 28...
or does /. really have a separate category for "Sony"?
Must be some sort of pre-April-fool's joke. But I guess on the east coast it's already April 1...
People generally want their computers (or other IT devices) to just work. If they don't work, it's the tech guy's fault. If they work, why bother having the tech guy around?
Yeah, I agree with you on just about everything. I don't think bandwidth is as much of an issue as it was, since speeds are getting faster and video compression is getting better. H.264 does offer some promising capabilities.
I think the sweet spot is probably an hour of download time over your average cable modem for a DVD-quality movie. Sure it would have DRM, but if they could hit that time, they would have a good chance of success.
what would be nice is a video equivalent of the iTMS. Netflix has the best distribution model right now (not counting "Video on Demand" from cable companies, but DVDs are still more versatile) but as bandwidth continues to climb, the true video revolution will take place on the desktop computer. It's a lot like what's happened with music--why buy a CD if you can download it for the same price and make your own CD?
Apple should have a QtVS (Quicktime Video Store) where you can browse through thousands of films, TV shows, recorded speeches, documentaries, and videos. You could preview them much like you can with the iTMS and its music selections. Then, for a price comparable to a DVD, you could download these videos and burn your own DVDs. And now with H.264 coming in full force during the next few months, these videos could have very high quality with rather small file sizes.
In the next decade, the movie industry is going to find itself in the same position as the music industry was a few years ago, and it will have to change and adapt. Apple should be ready, and be able to offer a viable solution.
Macs used to have that feature in OS9 and possibly OS8, but it's gone in OSX. Weird. You could ctrl-click on any document and get an option to encrypt it.
When I was doing my student teaching, every time we were in the computer lab I had to go around showing my students how to turn off the grammar checker. Most of my students simply got frustrated with that squiggly green line and stopped writing altogether when it showed up. Sometimes it found actual grammatical errors, but most of the time it just found ways to piss off my students for no good reason.
I think the concept is a good one, but it sorely needs to be updated.
My cousin/roommate is in charge of security at a Target store. They had him come in early to do (his words) "crowd control" for the PSP launch. Not only was no one there for the launch, but they sold two that entire morning. He's not even sure what a PSP is.
Sony dropped the ball when it came to marketing this thing, and they dropped the ball on the price tag. Sure it's a bargain, and it's probably got $400 worth of actual hardware in it, and it has a lot of potential, but at the end of the day you still have to convince Joe-sumer to spend $250 on a big game boy.
and not owning a PC, I used to really dig this kind of stuff. I still don't own a PC, but my two roommates do, and the more I see these kinds of things on /. the more it reads like sour grapes from the linux community.
When one of my roommates got a Dell recently, I took a look at his XP before connecting to the internet. A few clicks and the firewall was on. A few more clicks and his anti-virus software was up and running. After connecting to our LAN I downloaded Firefox, and for the past month and a half he has had no problems with any security issues on his machine. No, Windows is inherently not as secure as linux, but if you know what you are doing, you will be able to set up your Wintel box to be decently safe and hacker-free.
The downside is, of course, that Microsoft could do a lot more to make Windows more secure out of the box. But Linux (and the Linux community) has a long way to go before the average wal-sumer will feel comfortable using Linux machines, much less knowing how to run them.
John Cusack's mom would have to say about this?
Most of my problems with the whole Tablet PC concept stem from the marketing: how are you supposed to sell this thing? It's not a laptop, it's not a desktop, it's not a palm pilot, and yet it seems to do most of the same thing those other devices do, and costs upwards of a thousand dollars. I can't think of any situation in which I would have a good use for it, but it certainly would be cool to have. I never thought about using it for kids, though. That's a really good idea...
But just because you can't see any benefit from them doesn't mean that is the general case as well.
I'm glad someone is buying them, because I believe this is a market that has a lot of potential. Just because I don't see the need for one now doesn't mean others don't. I think, as someone already mentioned, the problem here is marketing. If MS, Toshiba, HP, etc. could get their message out that tablets do have some useful features, more people (such as myself) would buy them.
You bring up some good points, but other than the ability to scribble in the margins and use the tablet while lying down, I don't see much difference between a tablet and a laptop or standard PDA. But while I would not buy one, I do see the appeal, however limited it may be. (i.e. tablets really have not taken off as any sort of mobile revolution in the way notebook PCs did in the late 90's)
Good point. In some settings they do have a use, but it seems like the makers of Tablet PCs are, in large part, simply trying to reinvent the wheel.
and it had a guy in the stairwell writing something on his tablet. The tagline of the ad was something like "For those times when inspiration occurs between floors". The gist of it was that with a tablet PC you are not limited to using a PC at your desk, or some other such stationary place.
What it left me wondering, though, was why not whip out a note pad or sticky note?
The tablet PC has yet to prove itself as a device that is truly useful and practical--moreso than any notebook computer, that is. It may function just fine, and it may be a fine product, but it still seems to have very little actual purpose.
is a concept that many companies don't understand. They stress, over and over, the idea of customer satisfaction, customer service, and friendly employees. I worked in retail for nine years and we were told day after day to smile, be friendly, be helpful, and care for the customer. But I found, day after day, that my employer was not willing to extend the same courtesies to me and the other employees.
I believe that if a company's employees enjoy their job, they will gladly serve the customers, help the customers, and extend that sense of friendliness without being prodded and told to do so.