Odd that you mention that. I bought a GBA as my first system since a SNES, and liked it at first, had a couple of games, and then I started noticing the lack of a back-light. Put the thing down, and stopped using it.
Back for my 30th I got a PS2, and have been enjoying it a lot (mostly puzzle and platformer games with a few fighters thrown in, like the Ratchet and Clank series, Kindom Hearts, Lego:Star Wars, Virtua Fighter 4:EVO).
Recently I decided to pick up a hand-held system and piccked the PSP over the DS because of my previous negative experience with Nintendo, and my positive experience with the PS2. I'm glad I did. I've been enjoying it. Being able to transfer video is great and watch it on my commute is great. The games are fun. The screen is wonderful.
I think that neither Sony or Nintendo are "Perfect", but we'll know how their consoles compete with each other, and the X-Box 360 in less than three months, and I for one am looking forward to seeing how all three systems shake out.
One thing I haven't heard many wonder about though is "lifespan for the Wii-mote". How much abuse will it take before it has a problem. This might be an issue Nintendo will still have to address.
What is very clear with the PS3 is Sony has upset (through various actions) the hard-core gamer and geek population; being that these groups are heavily represented in the early-adopter crowd one would expect that the PS3 will have great difficulties selling their system at launch.
Nah. All it means is that the people who are "upset" are more vocal.
Scan through this thread, there are lots of responses from people who are sick and tired of the "Hey, its Sony, they tried to put DRM on my computer! Like I'll ever buy a PS3!" From the same crowd that would continue with "Now let me go play GTA:SA on my PS2."
I think a lot of the "Hard-Core gamer and geek population" might be ticked at Sony, but are also waiting to see what they come out with. Also remember that because the PS2 did so well, and moved beyond those 'traditional' groups, there might be more early-adopters who got hooked on the PS2, and are itching for the PS3 and what they see it can bring them.
If only a fraction of the PS2 owners buy a PS3, then the launch will succeed. The hard-core gamer and geek crowd doesn't have to be that fraction, if a game has some good buzz, some people want a next-gen player for their new HDTV, and some people want to get "the latest and greatest" then even without those traditional crowds, the launch works.
We keep talking about Nintendo moving beyond the traditional gamer market, and how gamers are aging so that more of the population can be considered "gamers", but I don't know if anyone has really though about the impact that these things have on the traditional launch demographics.
You are right that a lot of Bush's actions have gotten the Green Light from Congress, especially post 9/11.
I lived in New York at the time.
The President was practically given a carte-blanche to do what he wanted as the country rallied-round-the-flag mostly because the terrorists succeeded in their plan, and in so doing fulfilled their name... they spread terror.
Unfortunately one day has become a standard for every day. The introduction of the color coded "Terror Alert" status (that never seems to drop below yellow), helps maintain that. The media's harping helps. The actions in Iraq help. I'm not sure, as a country, how we can disengaged from that mentality, because right now, I believe, we are still scarred.
It is that scarring and fear, that shock from complacence that the average American experienced, which is what Bush has been using to drive his accumulation, and exercise of power in the Presidency, and his actions to promote xenophobia domestically, and increase antagonism toward the U.S. abroad, have only deepened the pit of problems we will have to climb out of.
First off, I'm not sure why the comment above is marked as a Troll, except perhaps the last bit knocking Zonk and Slashdot, and that is really more of Flamebait.
As far as specs go, the parent is pretty much on the money, although I'm not sure if Sony has announced about things like 1080p over component, we haven't seen what their on-line system is, and "we" (as a community) feel a bit burned after the PS2's "Linux Support".
On the other hand...
- backward compatibility is something that Sony HAS shown it "gets" (as opposed to MicroSoft's XBox), and that opens up a huge library of playable games from day 1 (similar to the advantage the DS has over the PSP, yet people seem to remember it on the handheld but discount it on the console). - I'm not sure if we've see a web browser announced for the PS3, but considering they got one in the PSP I wouldn't be surprised... does it matter though? - The prices on 1080p TVs are dropping like stones. The set that used to cost upwards of 10,000$ is now in the 2,000$ range. Is this higher than most people will spend? Sure. On the other hand, as the price drops it enters more people's buying range. As that happens, things like HDMI output, 1080p resolution and Blu-Ray DO become significant. The mandatory hard-drive is also a neat feature to have for hooking in extra content (or caching parts of a game that you might be working on). - Yes, its a computer, but one available in only one configuration (the size of the hard-drive, and how it connects to the net should be transparent from the perspective of any program running on the OS). Isn't that all ANY console is?
I expect Sony to do a lot better than Slashdot expects (which seems to be as well as the Dreamcast).
From the launch of the iPod: CmdrTaco's editorial on the launch under the News Blurb, "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame." Comments went on to include: "Unfortunately $400 is about twice as much as I'd want to pay for something the size of a pack of cards." , "iPod is a good product, but nothing to get excited over."
Not all the comments were negative, but if I went by those comments alone, I doubt I would predict that people are starting to consider the iPod as a monopoly product.
Why don't we wait until the PS3 launches, and then we can see how it does? (oh... right... the "pundits" need to pontificate)
Technically... it takes an act of Congress for the U.S. to Declare War on a foreign power.
We've had Reagan talk about "The War on Drugs" and Bush talk about "The War on Terror" and the media LOVES to talk about "The War in Iraq", but none of these are "Wars"... at least as far as the Constitution is concerned. Heck The Power to declare war is one of the FEW things explicitly given to Congress (versus everything its grabbed via things like the "Interstate Commerce Clause"). We never actually declared war against Iraq. Bush going to Congress for an Act of War would have meant recognizing the Iraqi government as legitimate. It also would have reminded the world that U.S. would be invading a sovereign country. These things aren't usually done when that country is sitting half way around the world, and hasn't even sneezed in your direction... unless it happens to have something you want/need, like cheap Oil.
In some ways I think his current actions with the libraries and Iraq are good examples of Bush's presidency. Using Executive action and Executive order to create sweeping changes in the way things are done.
The framers of the Constitution wanted the ability for centralized control in times of crisis (instead of relying on congress to do anything rapidly), but feared centralizing too much power. Bush has been running roughshod over the Checks and Balances that are supposed to be in place to govern these sort of actions, when there ISN'T a crisis (and not every day after 9/11 is a crisis).
Not bad. But it's nothing compared to what you get if you start by feeding a bunch of thumbdrives to a bunch of in order to get 'em past the security checkpoint, and fill a 777 with 'em. Never underestimate the bandwidth of a muthafuckin' 777 full of muchta*BLAM BLAM BLAM*
Thats a great idea for a movie!
ThumbDrives On a Plane!
That's IT! I have HAD IT with these MUTHAFUCKIN' memes on this MUTHAFUCKIN' website!
Switch it around. They could offer the services for a company. Pay for them, and you can host your own GoogleServer locally, to handle business needs using their Proven technology, that people are already familiar with.
Then they've made money from corporations by providing a valuable service, while maintaining the free product for public use, as well as wedged themselves into the service/application provider marketplace.
Yes, there are lots of things for which a stand-alone computer need to be used, however from a practical perspective, we've been discussing diskless workstations and thin clients as being useful in a large percentage of the "work" market. If that is true, then there is no reason (outside of security or redundancy... which can both be addressed) why the browser can't be the interface for the majority of office users.
... but even at its worst I doubt all of the doomsday predictions that claim we will arrive back at the stone age from having everything in orbit nuked.
I agree, this is all speculation, but there is another thing to consider. Bare in mind how much (still dark) fiber got laid during the 90s tech boom. I expect having all the satellites blown/fried from orbit would be an inconvenience (albeit a major one) more than a disaster of epic proportions. Navigation for trans-oceanic plans/ships would probably suffer the most, and even that should be just fine. Inconvenienced, but otherwise okay.
On the other hand, FTFA:
Solar physicists have long known that sunspot magnetic fields reverse polarity from cycle to cycle. N-S becomes S-N and vice versa.
Who knew the Sun was wired for AC instead of DC? =)
C# is just a language. There is a specification for it that has been submitted to ECMA, as there are for lots of the pieces that make up MicroSoft's ".Net" initiative. Not all their ideas are bad ones, and anyone is free to implement standards.
The Mono Project is an open development initiative sponsored by Novell to develop an open source, UNIX version of the Microsoft.NET development platform. Its objective is to enable UNIX developers to build and deploy cross-platform.NET Applications. The project implements various technologies developed by Microsoft that have now been submitted to the ECMA for standardization.
Personally its a rather nice language.
Oh, as far as:
There are also potential patent issues (I can't believe that there would be _no_ patents that cover C#.)
Unless you know something the rest of us don't, this strikes me more as spreading FUD then anything else.
Ah. I reread your comments, and realized we were talking about buying "anything" from Sony, and you are right, this part of their product line IS much different than MS, and has to deal with being in a very different market, however:
Sony has a history of 'sleak' product design on par with Apple.
When Palm's handhelds looked clunky, Sony was the first to unveil a palm based handheld with a camera, integrated keyboard, and an on-screen writing area.
The Viao laptops were, for a long time, the smallest, lightest laptops you could buy, and as Sony is proudly stating on their website, the Viao line recently turned 10 years old.
Sony has been known for inovative consumer designs such as the AIBO. Do you need one? No. Do you want one? Maybe. Are you willing to shell out what they want for one? Definately not. Does it stick in peoples minds? Absolutely!
The fact that there is a Sony media group that produced movies people went to see (Such as Spiderman 1 & 2), means that the name gets thrown into the average consumer's head.
Lastly, for the most part, Sony's products have always played well together. When I got my first TV and VCR they were Sony. The VCR remote came with a toggle switch that could be in the TV or VCR position. It controlled the Sony TV perfectly, and meant I could put the TV remote away in a drawer and cut down on clutter. Obviously a universal remote can solve this issue anywhere, but it was a nice touch they included fifteen year ago.
I certainly won't feel constrained to buy Sony when I (eventually), upgrade my TV to 1080p set (just as soon as they become affordable in a few dozen years:D), Toshiba have been putting out nice products (heck my TiVo is a branded Toshiba DVD player also... again, to save space), as have Samsung (great deals on well made FlatPanel monitors), but writing off a company without even looking at its products seems odd.
Okay, you start off by saying MS is different, because no one feels they have (or decides) to go with the alternatives. Then you say the electronics market is different, because all the products interact. And you finish off with,
The game console market cannot say the same as the parts are not compatible with the competition.
Which I think means that this is NOT your typical Electronics Industry Product and brings them right back to a comparison with an OS maker. The games are programs, and you can't run one consoles games on another. You have to decide which console you want (or which ones you want), and vote with your dollars (pounds, euros, yen).
I'm not saying Sony is right and we should all yeild to their magnificence, but to say that their arogance is different then MS, is a fallacy only because MS has a much tighter control on the OS marketplace (for whatever reason, and whether they should or not is a seperate issue).
Don't forget their intentionally installing malware on customer's machines, and continuous pushing of proprietary technology over open standards. I'm amazed that anyone still buys anything from Sony.
That description sounds like MicroSoft, and yet people still buy their products also.
Sony made a mistake with the root kits. They also push technology that they view as an advantage to themselves... just like every other company (MS, Apple, RedHat). Get over it.
It's nice that you can build a Forth machine with about 4000 gates, but who cares today
Considering that we seem to be entering the vacuum tube era in nano-tech, perhaps a 4000 gate forth machine can be used to run programmable nano-machines.
Hell, even plugged in, the PSP will drain out of power in 10 hours.
Not to nitpick, but I've got this cute little after-market cable that connects my PSP to the USB port of my computer (cost all of ~$10). The PSP end has two connectors, one goes to the mini-usb port on the PSP, the other goes to the power input.
Alternatively, you can just draw power off the USB port, leaving off the data connector plug and rely on Bluetooth for the connectivity.
Plugged in either of these ways the PSP might last a tad longer that 10 hours.
True, so, for the next iteration they need lots of small panels linked together (kind of like Chinese armor?) instead of one large piece. This will probably require more magnets and drive the price up... unless some enterprising engineer decides that a bed, while technologically advanced, doesn't need to be priced like a "one of a kind" artwork.
You're right about Tiger itself, but I was talking about OS X Server 10.4.
If you buy an intel Mac Pro you can get an intel version of OS X Server 10.4 (or at least they are selling you a copy of Server 10.4, so I assume it will run on the Mac Pro). On the other hand, if you take a look at the 10.4 Server requirements, it says its PowerPC only.
For a small office that doesn't need a full blown server, an intel based iMac or MacMini running OS X Server migt make a good, small form factor 'all-in-one swiss army knife' product. If Apple does as well with making things easy to use and integrated as they have in the past, it could give MS's SMB a run for its money.
I want Core 2 Duo Mac Mini with OS X. Please and Thank You.
Odd thing is, Tiger (if you buy it as an upgrade) claims PowerPC compatibility only, and yet it is being offered with the new Mac Pros. I guess I'll have to wait on Leopard's release, but that pushes me into a whole new accounting cycle.:)
Slashdot Mirror
You might want to skip this generation then, and wait until the next one uses solid state memory again.
If you go with Homebrew, yes, it does.
If you use the native features, then no, it doesn't.
As much as the average Slashdotter might use homebrew features, I think the average PSP owner is more reluctant to flash his own BIOS.
Odd that you mention that. I bought a GBA as my first system since a SNES, and liked it at first, had a couple of games, and then I started noticing the lack of a back-light. Put the thing down, and stopped using it.
Back for my 30th I got a PS2, and have been enjoying it a lot (mostly puzzle and platformer games with a few fighters thrown in, like the Ratchet and Clank series, Kindom Hearts, Lego:Star Wars, Virtua Fighter 4:EVO).
Recently I decided to pick up a hand-held system and piccked the PSP over the DS because of my previous negative experience with Nintendo, and my positive experience with the PS2. I'm glad I did. I've been enjoying it. Being able to transfer video is great and watch it on my commute is great. The games are fun. The screen is wonderful.
I think that neither Sony or Nintendo are "Perfect", but we'll know how their consoles compete with each other, and the X-Box 360 in less than three months, and I for one am looking forward to seeing how all three systems shake out.
One thing I haven't heard many wonder about though is "lifespan for the Wii-mote". How much abuse will it take before it has a problem. This might be an issue Nintendo will still have to address.
Nah. All it means is that the people who are "upset" are more vocal.
Scan through this thread, there are lots of responses from people who are sick and tired of the "Hey, its Sony, they tried to put DRM on my computer! Like I'll ever buy a PS3!" From the same crowd that would continue with "Now let me go play GTA:SA on my PS2."
I think a lot of the "Hard-Core gamer and geek population" might be ticked at Sony, but are also waiting to see what they come out with. Also remember that because the PS2 did so well, and moved beyond those 'traditional' groups, there might be more early-adopters who got hooked on the PS2, and are itching for the PS3 and what they see it can bring them.
If only a fraction of the PS2 owners buy a PS3, then the launch will succeed. The hard-core gamer and geek crowd doesn't have to be that fraction, if a game has some good buzz, some people want a next-gen player for their new HDTV, and some people want to get "the latest and greatest" then even without those traditional crowds, the launch works.
We keep talking about Nintendo moving beyond the traditional gamer market, and how gamers are aging so that more of the population can be considered "gamers", but I don't know if anyone has really though about the impact that these things have on the traditional launch demographics.
You are right that a lot of Bush's actions have gotten the Green Light from Congress, especially post 9/11.
... they spread terror.
I lived in New York at the time.
The President was practically given a carte-blanche to do what he wanted as the country rallied-round-the-flag mostly because the terrorists succeeded in their plan, and in so doing fulfilled their name
Unfortunately one day has become a standard for every day. The introduction of the color coded "Terror Alert" status (that never seems to drop below yellow), helps maintain that. The media's harping helps. The actions in Iraq help. I'm not sure, as a country, how we can disengaged from that mentality, because right now, I believe, we are still scarred.
It is that scarring and fear, that shock from complacence that the average American experienced, which is what Bush has been using to drive his accumulation, and exercise of power in the Presidency, and his actions to promote xenophobia domestically, and increase antagonism toward the U.S. abroad, have only deepened the pit of problems we will have to climb out of.
First off, I'm not sure why the comment above is marked as a Troll, except perhaps the last bit knocking Zonk and Slashdot, and that is really more of Flamebait.
...
... does it matter though?
... right ... the "pundits" need to pontificate)
As far as specs go, the parent is pretty much on the money, although I'm not sure if Sony has announced about things like 1080p over component, we haven't seen what their on-line system is, and "we" (as a community) feel a bit burned after the PS2's "Linux Support".
On the other hand
- backward compatibility is something that Sony HAS shown it "gets" (as opposed to MicroSoft's XBox), and that opens up a huge library of playable games from day 1 (similar to the advantage the DS has over the PSP, yet people seem to remember it on the handheld but discount it on the console).
- I'm not sure if we've see a web browser announced for the PS3, but considering they got one in the PSP I wouldn't be surprised
- The prices on 1080p TVs are dropping like stones. The set that used to cost upwards of 10,000$ is now in the 2,000$ range. Is this higher than most people will spend? Sure. On the other hand, as the price drops it enters more people's buying range. As that happens, things like HDMI output, 1080p resolution and Blu-Ray DO become significant. The mandatory hard-drive is also a neat feature to have for hooking in extra content (or caching parts of a game that you might be working on).
- Yes, its a computer, but one available in only one configuration (the size of the hard-drive, and how it connects to the net should be transparent from the perspective of any program running on the OS). Isn't that all ANY console is?
I expect Sony to do a lot better than Slashdot expects (which seems to be as well as the Dreamcast).
From the launch of the iPod:
CmdrTaco's editorial on the launch under the News Blurb, "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."
Comments went on to include:
"Unfortunately $400 is about twice as much as I'd want to pay for something the size of a pack of cards." , "iPod is a good product, but nothing to get excited over."
Not all the comments were negative, but if I went by those comments alone, I doubt I would predict that people are starting to consider the iPod as a monopoly product.
Why don't we wait until the PS3 launches, and then we can see how it does? (oh
Technically
We've had Reagan talk about "The War on Drugs" and Bush talk about "The War on Terror" and the media LOVES to talk about "The War in Iraq", but none of these are "Wars"
In some ways I think his current actions with the libraries and Iraq are good examples of Bush's presidency. Using Executive action and Executive order to create sweeping changes in the way things are done.
The framers of the Constitution wanted the ability for centralized control in times of crisis (instead of relying on congress to do anything rapidly), but feared centralizing too much power. Bush has been running roughshod over the Checks and Balances that are supposed to be in place to govern these sort of actions, when there ISN'T a crisis (and not every day after 9/11 is a crisis).
True. In Ep I: Robots on a Planet
There were these Robots, and there was this planet, and Sam Jackson didn't save the day, some annoying brat did.
Sam Jackson saving the day would have been rather cool, but was instead reserved for the Clone Wars animated series
Thats a great idea for a movie!
ThumbDrives On a Plane!
That's what I'm talking about!
Switch it around. They could offer the services for a company. Pay for them, and you can host your own GoogleServer locally, to handle business needs using their Proven technology, that people are already familiar with.
Then they've made money from corporations by providing a valuable service, while maintaining the free product for public use, as well as wedged themselves into the service/application provider marketplace.
yeah ... I don't see Google ever being able to be used for real office work like Word Processing with Collaboration, Spreadsheets or Email and Calendaring. :)
... which can both be addressed) why the browser can't be the interface for the majority of office users.
Yes, there are lots of things for which a stand-alone computer need to be used, however from a practical perspective, we've been discussing diskless workstations and thin clients as being useful in a large percentage of the "work" market. If that is true, then there is no reason (outside of security or redundancy
I agree, this is all speculation, but there is another thing to consider. Bare in mind how much (still dark) fiber got laid during the 90s tech boom. I expect having all the satellites blown/fried from orbit would be an inconvenience (albeit a major one) more than a disaster of epic proportions. Navigation for trans-oceanic plans/ships would probably suffer the most, and even that should be just fine. Inconvenienced, but otherwise okay.
On the other hand, FTFA:
Who knew the Sun was wired for AC instead of DC? =)
I object! You are merely playing into populist stances by using such a stereotypical last name!
... "Mohammed Doe"
You should instead use a last name like "Doe"
The price dop will be in used DS units flooding the market, since all their owners upgraded to the super cool DS-Lite. ;)
... and PSP owners are accused of wasting money? =D
I've heard five people claim they swapped out their "old" DS for a new "DS-Lite" recently
To quote Mono's FAQ page:
The Mono Project is an open development initiative sponsored by Novell to develop an open source, UNIX version of the Microsoft
Personally its a rather nice language.
Oh, as far as:
Unless you know something the rest of us don't, this strikes me more as spreading FUD then anything else.
Ah. I reread your comments, and realized we were talking about buying "anything" from Sony, and you are right, this part of their product line IS much different than MS, and has to deal with being in a very different market, however:
:D), Toshiba have been putting out nice products (heck my TiVo is a branded Toshiba DVD player also ... again, to save space), as have Samsung (great deals on well made FlatPanel monitors), but writing off a company without even looking at its products seems odd.
Sony has a history of 'sleak' product design on par with Apple.
When Palm's handhelds looked clunky, Sony was the first to unveil a palm based handheld with a camera, integrated keyboard, and an on-screen writing area.
The Viao laptops were, for a long time, the smallest, lightest laptops you could buy, and as Sony is proudly stating on their website, the Viao line recently turned 10 years old.
Sony has been known for inovative consumer designs such as the AIBO. Do you need one? No. Do you want one? Maybe. Are you willing to shell out what they want for one? Definately not. Does it stick in peoples minds? Absolutely!
The fact that there is a Sony media group that produced movies people went to see (Such as Spiderman 1 & 2), means that the name gets thrown into the average consumer's head.
Lastly, for the most part, Sony's products have always played well together. When I got my first TV and VCR they were Sony. The VCR remote came with a toggle switch that could be in the TV or VCR position. It controlled the Sony TV perfectly, and meant I could put the TV remote away in a drawer and cut down on clutter. Obviously a universal remote can solve this issue anywhere, but it was a nice touch they included fifteen year ago.
I certainly won't feel constrained to buy Sony when I (eventually), upgrade my TV to 1080p set (just as soon as they become affordable in a few dozen years
Which I think means that this is NOT your typical Electronics Industry Product and brings them right back to a comparison with an OS maker. The games are programs, and you can't run one consoles games on another. You have to decide which console you want (or which ones you want), and vote with your dollars (pounds, euros, yen).
I'm not saying Sony is right and we should all yeild to their magnificence, but to say that their arogance is different then MS, is a fallacy only because MS has a much tighter control on the OS marketplace (for whatever reason, and whether they should or not is a seperate issue).
That description sounds like MicroSoft, and yet people still buy their products also.
Sony made a mistake with the root kits. They also push technology that they view as an advantage to themselves
Considering that we seem to be entering the vacuum tube era in nano-tech, perhaps a 4000 gate forth machine can be used to run programmable nano-machines.
Well ... if you're Hungary, you should try the Turkey with Swiss. Just don't let the mrs catch you getting Greece on her best China.
Not to nitpick, but I've got this cute little after-market cable that connects my PSP to the USB port of my computer (cost all of ~$10). The PSP end has two connectors, one goes to the mini-usb port on the PSP, the other goes to the power input.
Alternatively, you can just draw power off the USB port, leaving off the data connector plug and rely on Bluetooth for the connectivity.
Plugged in either of these ways the PSP might last a tad longer that 10 hours.
True, so, for the next iteration they need lots of small panels linked together (kind of like Chinese armor?) instead of one large piece. This will probably require more magnets and drive the price up ... unless some enterprising engineer decides that a bed, while technologically advanced, doesn't need to be priced like a "one of a kind" artwork.
Oddly your description of Objective-C resonates with descriptions of Perl I have read. :)
I'm going to have to take a look at it.
You're right about Tiger itself, but I was talking about OS X Server 10.4.
If you buy an intel Mac Pro you can get an intel version of OS X Server 10.4 (or at least they are selling you a copy of Server 10.4, so I assume it will run on the Mac Pro). On the other hand, if you take a look at the 10.4 Server requirements, it says its PowerPC only.
For a small office that doesn't need a full blown server, an intel based iMac or MacMini running OS X Server migt make a good, small form factor 'all-in-one swiss army knife' product. If Apple does as well with making things easy to use and integrated as they have in the past, it could give MS's SMB a run for its money.
I want Core 2 Duo Mac Mini with OS X. Please and Thank You.
:)
Odd thing is, Tiger (if you buy it as an upgrade) claims PowerPC compatibility only, and yet it is being offered with the new Mac Pros. I guess I'll have to wait on Leopard's release, but that pushes me into a whole new accounting cycle.