This is in stark contrast to the Powerbooks, which dent quite easily
As a current AlBook owner, I'll agree with you that Powerbooks will dent, and scratch up a bit. Sure they might get beat up, but they also take a hell of a beating before they fail. I've personally dropped my AlBook 4ft. off of a lab bench onto a *concrete* floor. I have a couple dents, and my CD/DVD bay is bent a degree or two off of level... but everything works. No cracks on the motherboard, no problems with the LCD, NOTHING.
That's fucking amazing. When I heard the *crash* behind me I expected to turn around to at least a broken LCD... and yet my laptop had traded the lab bench for the floor and was happily turned on and functioning like nothing happened.
I'll take a dented laptop that keeps working perfectly... over many other manufactures (Dell/HP/Crapaq) plastic construction that breaks apart from that kind of height.
Well, it may be past 1am here, but I could have sworn I had read this comment before.
Oh, that's right. I did.
It looks like the parent has been beating the same, dead, horse, over and over again.
Enough of moderating this guy insightful, please! At least make him be a bit more creative. Between all the story dupes and the comment dupes as of late, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Oh wait... I'm complaining about creativity of the comments below an article about Dell. Sorry, carry on now.
It's not even designed by Apple for christ-sake. Steve Jobs called it "pretty cool". No RDF to be seen in action.
The chief purpose of this phone is to be there before anyone else, license the iTunes software and patent rights (common, does no-one except me remember the iPod patent with an antenna on the side?), and establish Apple as jointly the first to market.
The real news was the iPod Nano. Now quit bitching. And remember, if it's successful, there will be more to come (but not for awhile).
You watch. They're going to start handing out tonnes of free development software to get people re-interested in developing for Windows.
Actually, it's funny you mentioned it, because this is exactly what Microsoft has been doing the last few years here at Stanford. When I was still studying CS, one of the core programming courses had been given a boatload of the latest and greatest Visual Studio software. We had so many copies of that damn software... complete with cd-keys... it was ridiculous. Funniest thing though... under the cd-key was a notice: they didn't give us licenses.
(Of course, when I brought it up, Microsoft assured us that they were "developer copies" that didn't need a license. *rolls eyes*)
One other thing to remember. Besides being a cost cutting measure, this encourages users to migrate their iPods and other peripherals over to USB2.0... which will free up their Firewire port (and bus) (ie. on Apple laptops, etc. which only have one firewire port) for use with user's hi-def DV cams.
Begging the question, can NASA make any good decisions?
You're forgetting, they have to answer to the US Government. So I guess your actually getting at the question of whether the US Government can make any good decisions.
I leave the answer as an exercise for the reader (Hint: No.)
-S...
PS. To be honest... given NASA's budgetary, political, and social constraints... I'm just impressed that they manage to get any science done at all.
Well if it's anything to go by, the Stanford Bookstore cut the pricing on the full Apple laptop range rediculously (we're talking $100+ under standard _Academic_ pricing). The sale's valid "until Apple updates their product range."
So I'd say that we're seeing the start of the EOL cycle for the current lineup, which bodes well for a new release.
That said, I don't think we're going to see a G5 right away.
Read that as you want. One more speed bump perhaps before they EOL the Al-book design? Maybe the G5s are just ahead of most predictions...
My guess: Look for a final revision of the G4 based AlBooks in early Feb. G5 released with Tiger later this year.
Stanford Universitiy. Unincorporated portion of Santa Clara County, California, USA
Bike theft of up to 25 bikes per week (on a 6 thousand undergraduate student campus... that's pretty high), laptop theft of up to 10 per week.
The cops don't even bat an eye. The majority of the police force is out giving parking tickets. I didn't even bother to report my bike (worth US$500+ at the time it was stolen) stolen, because there's no chance they'd even try to find it.
The problem comes not because "burglery" (as an example) doesn't have a 100% solved rate... the problem comes because it's becomming the case that the police force doesn't care about "burglery" at all... such things don't make the police force money and arn't benificial to them.
People start getting annoyed when cops won't even investigate "burglery" but jump immediately on parking tickets (it pads their pockets), and copyright infringement (concern for corporations pockets).
What you really need to look at here is that there's now strong evidence IBM is turning away from their personal desktop market, and targeting business environments. POWER5 has proved itself in the server/workstation enviornment... and IBM has realized that they need to stay with what they do best: Business
If we all put down our/. goggles for a second and realize that in all honesty Linux on the desktop for "most" users is still a pipe dream that's at least 5 years away, then reconsider this data we have IBM developing a very strong chip that rocks under unix architecture...
Hm... I wonder what company, that's now partnered with IBM, stands to gain them most from this. Maybe a company with a very strong end user support base, a rock solid Unix operating system with a beautiful GUI... that also happens to be making it's strongest inroads to the personal computing market with new trendy stores opening across the country.
to figure this one out... quote the parent ("Nevermore"... ok, bad joke.):
"Indeed, by law, the CEO of every corporation has to act in the interests of the stockholders."
Yes and no. It is true that CEO's must act for the good of the stockholders, but just like anything, there are different ways of measuring "good."
For instance, Google, as a search company that depends on public perception and use for all it's revenue (if people don't use Google, Google goes away). If they start acting "evil," that kills their bottom line, not to mention their original mantra.
Not alienating your clients is a consequence of any long term service based business model (unless your a monopoly or microsoft... oh wait...).
Google's merely protecting their long term goals, and having a entire hord of companies attacking you with patent suits, especially as a company that depends heavily on innovation and new developements is a death sentence.
Tony's comments above are right on in my opinion... there's no way to stay out of such a consortium in the current state of IP law. I'm fairly familiar with all the recent happenings in IP (I'm contemplating law school and then the "good" side of (anti)Patent/Copyright/etc.) and they've become so mutilated by corporations that it's not even funny.
Of course, this isn't exactly a new phenominon, companies have been strongly influencing governmental policy in this country since (and even before) the industrial revolution. As soon as any entity gets enough power, they try using it to their benifit.
Usually it swings back the other way (ie. union busters, etc.) eventually. This time around I can only hope that Copyright and Patent law go back to their original intention (ie. framer's intent of copyright was 14 years to be just sufficient enough to encourage the creation of works). It might just be possible that we're on a one way road for awhile here... but just wait until another innovation or business model emerges that starts eroding the current IP business model.
Then we'll see changes.
Maybe. The only problem is that this injustice places corporate america against the people, and I gave up on the public actually caring enough to act a long time ago...
Slashdot Mirror
A small, rectangular object capable of making and receiving voice communications, perhaps using some type of numerical input pad.
That said, I haven't seen anything like that for sale in years. You know, a simple, cellular phone?
Our patent system, as broken as it is, doesn't incumber products nearly as much as incompetent companies and mindless consumers.
Just longer than FreeBSD's been dying if I recall correctly
Netcraft confirms it!
(In Soviet Russia Netcraft confirms YOU!)
*ducks*
Don't you know that nobody profits if it's released under Creative Commons?
Except we the people, right?
Um ... it didn't ring a bell at first then I figured out you just mispelled Itanic ;-)
No offense intended, but you know ... it's spelled "Dire Straits".
... kids these days ...
The funny part is, it was spelled correctly up top in the article. *Sigh*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dire_Straits
Unless the implementation of Safari supports Java (which, I would imagine it will)
...
Then remember that the closed platform doesn't matter
As a current AlBook owner, I'll agree with you that Powerbooks will dent, and scratch up a bit. Sure they might get beat up, but they also take a hell of a beating before they fail. I've personally dropped my AlBook 4ft. off of a lab bench onto a *concrete* floor. I have a couple dents, and my CD/DVD bay is bent a degree or two off of level
That's fucking amazing. When I heard the *crash* behind me I expected to turn around to at least a broken LCD
I'll take a dented laptop that keeps working perfectly
-S
Well, it may be past 1am here, but I could have sworn I had read this comment before.
... I'm complaining about creativity of the comments below an article about Dell. Sorry, carry on now.
Oh, that's right. I did.
It looks like the parent has been beating the same, dead, horse, over and over again.
Enough of moderating this guy insightful, please! At least make him be a bit more creative. Between all the story dupes and the comment dupes as of late, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Oh wait
It is not an iPod.
It is not designed, marketed, or sold as such.
It is a Motorola phone, that has iTunes.
It's not even designed by Apple for christ-sake. Steve Jobs called it "pretty cool". No RDF to be seen in action.
The chief purpose of this phone is to be there before anyone else, license the iTunes software and patent rights (common, does no-one except me remember the iPod patent with an antenna on the side?), and establish Apple as jointly the first to market.
The real news was the iPod Nano. Now quit bitching. And remember, if it's successful, there will be more to come (but not for awhile).
Microsoft vs Hell?
...
So, I'm kinda confused, why again would Microsoft sue themselves?
*ducks*
-S
You watch. They're going to start handing out tonnes of free development software to get people re-interested in developing for Windows.
... complete with cd-keys ... it was ridiculous. Funniest thing though ... under the cd-key was a notice: they didn't give us licenses.
...
Actually, it's funny you mentioned it, because this is exactly what Microsoft has been doing the last few years here at Stanford. When I was still studying CS, one of the core programming courses had been given a boatload of the latest and greatest Visual Studio software. We had so many copies of that damn software
(Of course, when I brought it up, Microsoft assured us that they were "developer copies" that didn't need a license. *rolls eyes*)
-S
Microsoft stealing IP from school children?
... but I think the more appropriate response is:
...
I wish I were shocked
Move along now. Nothing to see here.
-S
Complete and utter bullocks!
And because it's already rated so low (-1) I'm not even going to justify my reply any further than to say:
Yes, IAATM (ie. I am a Theoretical Mathematician)
One other thing to remember. Besides being a cost cutting measure, this encourages users to migrate their iPods and other peripherals over to USB2.0 ... which will free up their Firewire port (and bus) (ie. on Apple laptops, etc. which only have one firewire port) for use with user's hi-def DV cams.
... it is the "Year of DV"
...
After all
-S
I'd be more worried about the RIAA getting ahold of that list ...
...
*cringe*
-S
Most of the Google people are from California after all ;)
...
120 on a open highway isn't that far off.
-S
Begging the question, can NASA make any good decisions?
...
... given NASA's budgetary, political, and social constraints ... I'm just impressed that they manage to get any science done at all.
You're forgetting, they have to answer to the US Government. So I guess your actually getting at the question of whether the US Government can make any good decisions.
I leave the answer as an exercise for the reader (Hint: No.)
-S
PS. To be honest
Well if it's anything to go by, the Stanford Bookstore cut the pricing on the full Apple laptop range rediculously (we're talking $100+ under standard _Academic_ pricing). The sale's valid "until Apple updates their product range."
...
...
So I'd say that we're seeing the start of the EOL cycle for the current lineup, which bodes well for a new release.
That said, I don't think we're going to see a G5 right away.
Read that as you want. One more speed bump perhaps before they EOL the Al-book design? Maybe the G5s are just ahead of most predictions
My guess: Look for a final revision of the G4 based AlBooks in early Feb. G5 released with Tiger later this year.
Just my $.02
-S
I knew he couldn't pull off this case design in 3 dimensions. 6 ... well that makes things easy!
:)
...
If I had 3 extra dimensions to hide all the duct tape and string in I'm sure I could make a pretty cool case too
-S
Stanford Universitiy. Unincorporated portion of Santa Clara County, California, USA
... that's pretty high), laptop theft of up to 10 per week.
...
Bike theft of up to 25 bikes per week (on a 6 thousand undergraduate student campus
The cops don't even bat an eye. The majority of the police force is out giving parking tickets. I didn't even bother to report my bike (worth US$500+ at the time it was stolen) stolen, because there's no chance they'd even try to find it.
-S
The problem comes not because "burglery" (as an example) doesn't have a 100% solved rate ... the problem comes because it's becomming the case that the police force doesn't care about "burglery" at all ... such things don't make the police force money and arn't benificial to them.
...
People start getting annoyed when cops won't even investigate "burglery" but jump immediately on parking tickets (it pads their pockets), and copyright infringement (concern for corporations pockets).
Sad really.
-S
What you really need to look at here is that there's now strong evidence IBM is turning away from their personal desktop market, and targeting business environments. POWER5 has proved itself in the server/workstation enviornment ... and IBM has realized that they need to stay with what they do best: Business
/. goggles for a second and realize that in all honesty Linux on the desktop for "most" users is still a pipe dream that's at least 5 years away, then reconsider this data we have IBM developing a very strong chip that rocks under unix architecture ...
... I wonder what company, that's now partnered with IBM, stands to gain them most from this. Maybe a company with a very strong end user support base, a rock solid Unix operating system with a beautiful GUI ... that also happens to be making it's strongest inroads to the personal computing market with new trendy stores opening across the country.
... only stronger than ever ...
If we all put down our
Hm
Here's my prediction:
Apple + IBM
IBM: Business
Apple: Desktop
Fricking beautifully played.
Since when have Apple Lossless Encoding and WAV been "lossy"
:)
...
I think I missed the memo on this one
-S
to figure this one out ... quote the parent ("Nevermore" ... ok, bad joke.):
... oh wait ...).
...
"Indeed, by law, the CEO of every corporation has to act in the interests of the stockholders."
Yes and no. It is true that CEO's must act for the good of the stockholders, but just like anything, there are different ways of measuring "good."
For instance, Google, as a search company that depends on public perception and use for all it's revenue (if people don't use Google, Google goes away). If they start acting "evil," that kills their bottom line, not to mention their original mantra.
Not alienating your clients is a consequence of any long term service based business model (unless your a monopoly or microsoft
Google's merely protecting their long term goals, and having a entire hord of companies attacking you with patent suits, especially as a company that depends heavily on innovation and new developements is a death sentence.
-S
Tony's comments above are right on in my opinion ... there's no way to stay out of such a consortium in the current state of IP law. I'm fairly familiar with all the recent happenings in IP (I'm contemplating law school and then the "good" side of (anti)Patent/Copyright/etc.) and they've become so mutilated by corporations that it's not even funny.
... but just wait until another innovation or business model emerges that starts eroding the current IP business model.
...
...)
...
Of course, this isn't exactly a new phenominon, companies have been strongly influencing governmental policy in this country since (and even before) the industrial revolution. As soon as any entity gets enough power, they try using it to their benifit.
Usually it swings back the other way (ie. union busters, etc.) eventually. This time around I can only hope that Copyright and Patent law go back to their original intention (ie. framer's intent of copyright was 14 years to be just sufficient enough to encourage the creation of works). It might just be possible that we're on a one way road for awhile here
Then we'll see changes.
Maybe. The only problem is that this injustice places corporate america against the people, and I gave up on the public actually caring enough to act a long time ago
(damn you red states
-S