When I switched to a Mac as my primary machine, I decided to move away from MS Office on my PC and try OpenOffice. It was ok for some casual things, but when I started creating more serious documents (like my resume), I ran into many issues. Formatting was not always consistent and printing did not always match what was on screen. Often times, there would be display problems, like incorrect screen redraws when scrolling. These are important on any platform, but were particularly annoying on OS X where display/output consistency has traditionally been a stong point.
Another issue, although not OOo's specifically, is that.doc is still the format required by many sites and the filter used by OOo doesn't always produce correctly formatted documents.
Now I realize that these issues may be specific to the Mac port of OOo, but they were enough to deter me from it. I tried very hard to avoid MS Office (even tried iWork, but lack of.doc was a killer), but until other file formats (like OpenDocument) become more accepted, it will be hard for other products to be competitive.
...on the future. This future is the fully connected device, whether it be a smartphone, netbook or something completely different. Now I'm not saying that all data will live in the cloud like many vendors do, but enough will that an always connected device will pretty much be a requirement. And these carriers are all very quick to sell high end packages and lock customers into long term contracts. They also want to partner with manufacturers and offer devices and services to sell even larger packages. Unfortunately, I think they are unable to understand data use trends and still think of mobile devices as having the functionality of the cell phones of the 90's.
Now I understand that AT&T may not have been able to guess at the popularity of the iPhone and how it would be used when they signed the original contract with Apple, but if I was a wireless carrier, I'd much rather have the problem of too much usage on my network than not enough (think Sprint).
My advice to AT&T: Get to work! And remember that if you are going to build out your network, don't build it for tomorrow, build it for the next decade.
Aside from the occasional clever game, I could certainly do without Flash in general, let alone on the iPhone. And even if Flash were available, I suspect that most Flash apps would have to be rewritten to work well on the size screen and the touch interface of the iPhone. If you are going to write an app for a specific platform then, use the appropriate tools for the job. Certainly, Apple tries its best to keep all aspects of its machines under its own control, but anything to reduce the annoyance of Flash is a good thing IMO.
Because I've definitely seen elephants that weren't really there. And the weird thing is that they were always pink. And only showed up after I've had a few... Hmmmm.
I think LTE may be what Apple is after, as it seems that Verizon is being more aggressive with that technology than AT&T. It would be a data-only device, probably bundled with Verizon's VoIP service. I could hope that somewhere down the road, you would have a choice there, maybe Skype, Vonage or any other VoIP provider.
If I hadn't been fast forwarding through the commercials on my VCR all these years, I'd have known about this new fangled "Digital Video Recorder" long ago!
Why not implement both and let the user decide? I am no web developer, but I have seen sites that allow you to choose your page style (at least when using Firefox, "View -> Page Style"). Would that be possible here, or is it too much work to maintain?
I remember my only entrance into the ACM programming contest. It was the first round of competition. We felt pretty good going in (calling ourselves team "Kwik Fill" after the gas station we stopped at along the way). We were the cream of the crop of the state school we attended.
The first bump in the road was the compiler on the VAX. "Couldn't it have been a Sparc, or at least a Mac?", I thought, as we spent the first hour of the competition trying to understand how to get the compiler to work. You might ask why we spent the first hour on the system and not working out algorithms to address the problems. To that, I answer: Have you seen those problems?
By now, the Dew buzz was wearing off. We almost got two programs working and took several pictures of us pretending to toss the VT220 terminal out the window before time expired.
All in all, it was a good performance. IIRC, we tied for 4th, as one team scored 4 points, two scored 3 points, one scored 2 and we were tied with the other eight teams with 1/2 point.
After that, I started focusing on networks. Ah, the good old days.
It certainly couldn't be the possibility that few people like the subscription model you are pushing.
I think a good deal of the reason iTunes has been successful (other than good integration with the iPod) is that you more or less own the song you buy. Although I don't care for it myself, Apple's DRM restrictions don't seem to bother too many people and I don't know anyone that is comfortable subscribing to a service. They don't want to lose access to their entire library if they choose to stop paying for it.
Napster has an option that lets you buy songs permanently for $0.99, but you wouldn't know it unless you did a little searching.
Like the old adage, Napster, when you point your finger at someone, three more are pointing back at you.
Meaning: as soon as it looks like all the patents are void, so I don't have to incur the wrath of all the Blackberry owners.
Re:Big Brother and the iTunes Company
on
iTunes is Malware?
·
· Score: 1
I wish Apple would make a service called halfTunes
So you could buy half a song?
Or maybe a song from a half-assed band?
Re:After having a Tivo for about five years now...
on
Women Control the DVR
·
· Score: 1
The only way I can watch one of my shows on Tivo is to pick the recording that runs somewhere between 2am and 5am and get it moved to my computer before 7am, which must be when my wife "cleans out the junk".
Slashdot Mirror
Try this: http://techresearch.intel.com/articles/None/1813.htm
When I switched to a Mac as my primary machine, I decided to move away from MS Office on my PC and try OpenOffice. It was ok for some casual things, but when I started creating more serious documents (like my resume), I ran into many issues. Formatting was not always consistent and printing did not always match what was on screen. Often times, there would be display problems, like incorrect screen redraws when scrolling. These are important on any platform, but were particularly annoying on OS X where display/output consistency has traditionally been a stong point.
Another issue, although not OOo's specifically, is that .doc is still the format required by many sites and the filter used by OOo doesn't always produce correctly formatted documents.
Now I realize that these issues may be specific to the Mac port of OOo, but they were enough to deter me from it. I tried very hard to avoid MS Office (even tried iWork, but lack of .doc was a killer), but until other file formats (like OpenDocument) become more accepted, it will be hard for other products to be competitive.
...on the future. This future is the fully connected device, whether it be a smartphone, netbook or something completely different. Now I'm not saying that all data will live in the cloud like many vendors do, but enough will that an always connected device will pretty much be a requirement. And these carriers are all very quick to sell high end packages and lock customers into long term contracts. They also want to partner with manufacturers and offer devices and services to sell even larger packages. Unfortunately, I think they are unable to understand data use trends and still think of mobile devices as having the functionality of the cell phones of the 90's.
Now I understand that AT&T may not have been able to guess at the popularity of the iPhone and how it would be used when they signed the original contract with Apple, but if I was a wireless carrier, I'd much rather have the problem of too much usage on my network than not enough (think Sprint).
My advice to AT&T: Get to work! And remember that if you are going to build out your network, don't build it for tomorrow, build it for the next decade.
Aside from the occasional clever game, I could certainly do without Flash in general, let alone on the iPhone. And even if Flash were available, I suspect that most Flash apps would have to be rewritten to work well on the size screen and the touch interface of the iPhone. If you are going to write an app for a specific platform then, use the appropriate tools for the job. Certainly, Apple tries its best to keep all aspects of its machines under its own control, but anything to reduce the annoyance of Flash is a good thing IMO.
I don't have any experience with unschooling, but am currently trying out unworking.
Wait for it...
Because I've definitely seen elephants that weren't really there. And the weird thing is that they were always pink. And only showed up after I've had a few... Hmmmm.
I think LTE may be what Apple is after, as it seems that Verizon is being more aggressive with that technology than AT&T. It would be a data-only device, probably bundled with Verizon's VoIP service. I could hope that somewhere down the road, you would have a choice there, maybe Skype, Vonage or any other VoIP provider.
by Douglas Comer. Got me started in networking and I learned as much from this series of books as any other.
Now everyone will know that I have nothing going on every Friday and Saturday night for the foreseeable future...
If I hadn't been fast forwarding through the commercials on my VCR all these years, I'd have known about this new fangled "Digital Video Recorder" long ago!
Hmmm... I've been working on a character for years and years and all I have to show for it is a gecko corpse that I am afraid to eat.
@
You obviously are lying. No self respecting slashdotter would use IE. Use a real browser.
Don't forget the yeast cakes!
time that NTP got what was coming to them.
...but I admit I don't much mind seeing Jessica Alba in a Bikini.
Why not implement both and let the user decide? I am no web developer, but I have seen sites that allow you to choose your page style (at least when using Firefox, "View -> Page Style"). Would that be possible here, or is it too much work to maintain?
Nintendo Wheeeee!
I think they might be close to finishing up Pink as well.
I remember my only entrance into the ACM programming contest. It was the first round of competition. We felt pretty good going in (calling ourselves team "Kwik Fill" after the gas station we stopped at along the way). We were the cream of the crop of the state school we attended.
The first bump in the road was the compiler on the VAX. "Couldn't it have been a Sparc, or at least a Mac?", I thought, as we spent the first hour of the competition trying to understand how to get the compiler to work. You might ask why we spent the first hour on the system and not working out algorithms to address the problems. To that, I answer: Have you seen those problems?
By now, the Dew buzz was wearing off. We almost got two programs working and took several pictures of us pretending to toss the VT220 terminal out the window before time expired.
All in all, it was a good performance. IIRC, we tied for 4th, as one team scored 4 points, two scored 3 points, one scored 2 and we were tied with the other eight teams with 1/2 point.
After that, I started focusing on networks. Ah, the good old days.
From the headline, I got excited that I might be able to break out my Rambus rumba to crank out status reports as well!
It certainly couldn't be the possibility that few people like the subscription model you are pushing.
I think a good deal of the reason iTunes has been successful (other than good integration with the iPod) is that you more or less own the song you buy. Although I don't care for it myself, Apple's DRM restrictions don't seem to bother too many people and I don't know anyone that is comfortable subscribing to a service. They don't want to lose access to their entire library if they choose to stop paying for it.
Napster has an option that lets you buy songs permanently for $0.99, but you wouldn't know it unless you did a little searching.
Like the old adage, Napster, when you point your finger at someone, three more are pointing back at you.
as soon as reasonably possible
Meaning: as soon as it looks like all the patents are void, so I don't have to incur the wrath of all the Blackberry owners.The only way I can watch one of my shows on Tivo is to pick the recording that runs somewhere between 2am and 5am and get it moved to my computer before 7am, which must be when my wife "cleans out the junk".