Yeah well, there is a lot of crap in audiophilia but there is equally a lot of crap rejecting it blindly.
In theory a dirt cheap cd or blu ray player and an expensive one have very similar paper specifications for audio. That is what scientific measurements would tell you.
However if you listen on a good system the sound quality difference between the cheap and the expensive player is immediately obvious, without needing to be an audiophile maniac.
Similarly I compared a few D/A convertors, as I had a few sources with only optical out (such as an Apple TV, and a blu-ray player with only hdmi and optical) and an old but good analogue-only amp. Well, there was a subtle difference between the models up to say $800. I could always pick the same one which was a bit better than the other 2 I compared against. Not much difference but it was there.
Actually, labels like Linn and Naim (sister companies of very good hifi producers) and a few make recordings available at different quality levels. You won't find typical hit music there, but a lot of interesting jazz for example.
In demos with very good gear and very good speakers I do notice that a lossless source sounds at CD quality level a bit better than a 320 kbps mp3. It is not a difference in detail level but a bit of a feeling of depth in the music (assuming it is well recorded of course), the mp3 sounds a bit more flat. If you don't listen closely then the 320kbps mp3 is perfectly acceptable of course.
Comparing then to the same recording at studio master quality level (24/192), well it is difficult for me, I have the impression that the three dimensionality of a good acoustic recording is still a bit better at the top quality level, but the difference is subtle at best to my ears.
(I also replied the following elsewhere in this discussion, but it is apt here as well)
I currently live in Asia. Whatsapp is very, very popular over here.
A good number of my European contacts are also using it.
I don't know how popular it is in the USA.
I find it a very useful piece of software, one of the most used apps on my iphone.
I currently live in Asia. Whatsapp is very, very popular over here.
A good number of my European contacts are also using it.
I don't know how popular it is in the USA.
I find it a very useful piece of software, one of the most used apps on my iphone.
I am less sceptical than the average slahdot reaction regarding these rumores
Medical devices: an area that could use good innovation. I can imagine Apple being well placed to combine lots of non-invasive sensors into a userfriendly (watch?) deivce) to monitor health. It is not an unrealistic expectation.
They also bought a home automation company some time ago, I can see them defining a standard that will be as popular as Airplay is these days. I can imagine using an idevice/watch to quickly dim the light in the living room for example.
Tesla, now that is really interesting. Indeed a different industry but that does not need to spell failure. Both companies have an innovative attitude, both companies have experience with high quality manufacturing. I can imagine the skills and experience to be nicely complementary. Currently these cars are a the top end of the market, and issues remain, but I bet it is a growth area.
It is not really a news site, but I would pay for wikipedia if paywalled. I did voluntary pay a bit, twice. It is in general very useful for me.
Otherwise perhaps occasionaly for an in depth article by a repute dpublisher (even then, max. $2), but not a subscription.
Back then a colleague of mine wanted to buy a mini disc player (remember?) with a pile of discs for her frequent business travels.She is not a technically minded person.
I recommended her to check out the newfangled original ipod. She loved it immediately. Simplicity in use, no piles of discs.
Subsequently, I helped her by ripping her 50 or so CDs on my Mac and then putting the music on her iPod (in 128K quality if I remember well, unthinkably low these days) - she did not have a computer with firewire.
Anyway, the lady had several years of pleasure out of it.
I can imgine that the iWatch would wirelessly communicate with the iphone which the user has in a pocket, for various functions. The iphone has GPS. The iWatch would suffice to show only sections of the map, it would not need to do the positioning.
But indeed, battery life will be an issue for a truly "smart" watch.
Thanks, MR James.
I don't expect that the wd tv live would be able to completely replace the Apple TV if it were running xbmc. Would it run as smoothly and as elegantly integrated with the Mac environment as the apple TV? Can you mirror the iphone and ipad screens on it through wifi? Can you rent movies from iTunes? Can my visiting friends immediately stream the media on their ios device to the tv via wifi? All nice features of the Apple TV.
These are 2 very smalll boxes, I don't mind having two of these devices around.
I have to admit: I wrote that it plays ALMOST anything. Of late there have been some anime files that don't play at all. They do play on the Mac on VLC. The use h264 codec. really puzzling. But in general it works like a charm.
The Western Digital TV live box is cheap and it plays almost any reasonable media file (except flv) you'd throw at it. Certainly the ones prevalent on internet. It can access a shared folder on your computer so you don't have to walk around with that stick anymore.
To be fair, I only use it for downloaded video files.
For music and photo I have an Apple TV, I love its GUI and easy integration in our Mac/IOS based home.
Apple bought a home automation company some time ago. A sensible rumor is that the upcoming iwatch could also be used to for example remotely dim your living room lights, etc. I can see Google aiminh for a similar path forward.
I recently read an article on Watson, on how hard it was to model medical knowledge in it (in one of the first commercial applications that is being created now). In essence this kind of modelling must happen for all potential applications, these are projects of significant effort.
But, it is surely interesting how this more modern expert system technology is inching forward, even if I expect that it will be many years before we encounter a machine comparable to HAL.
Newer technology applied by one side in a conflict have cause important victories before throughout history.
The ability to totally outclass an adversary is from a military point of view desirable.
I did skim the linked article, one issue is that of proportionality, but still, those who win do not really care.
If I read the article correctly, the impressive part is not that the game takes place in a generated maze, but rather that the AI created from scratch a game, however simple, that takes place inside that world. That step which involves working with concepts is far from trivial.
Angelina's first game may be very simple, but it is conceptually quite something. For example it is interesting to read in the words of Angelina how she picked the music.
So, let us not focus on how "meh" this first outing is but rather think of it as an interesting first step. By 2020 a hypotetical Angelina v6 should already be much farther evolved.
I have several Apple products and in general I like them. Still it is sad for such premium products that the maker has to be strongarmed into agreeing to local law.
Thankfully, with the ugly exception of worldwide tax avoidance, it's only in the USA that Apple appears to be above and beyond the law. Because you love them so much, this genuinely makes you sad?
BTW I am European. "Sad" is perhaps a strong word, but yes, in general my satisfaction is pretty high (App Store and all!) so while they do a lot of things right in my experience, it is irritating that they do this so obviously wrong.
I have several Apple products and in general I like them. Still it is sad for such premium products that the maker has to be strongarmed into agreeing to local law.
The same happened in Europe where (and I think it is reasonable) products such as laptops should have a 2 year guarantee. Perhaps not on Applecare level (which is really good, I had to use it once and was happy with the service quality - a technician came to my home to replace my 27" imac screen panel), but at least a normal guarantee should be expected.
Of course Applecare becomes less attractive if it is just a one year extension and a higher service level. But frankly the products while well made are expensive enough to have the above mandatory local guarantee applied without hassle.
It's supposed to say "Apple pushes developers to Android"
By the way, it's around 6:1 now for android to apple phone counts.
Yes, that could be since there are so many low end android devices worldwide.
However it seems that in the US (copied this from Macrumors):
According to data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel posted earlier this month, the iPhone's market share in the U.S. hit 52.8% in October following the launch of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. In the previous year, Apple's market share was at 53.3% following the launch of the iPhone 5, and was at 36% and 25% in the two years prior with the launch of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, respectively.
Over here in Hong Kong where I currently live I see more people with Android than with iphone but the ratio is rather 1.5 : 1. From my discussions with friends and colleagues, I think that a number of them may switch back once Apple offers a bigger phone (most people outside Slashdot still give the brand quite some goodwill).
Also in statistics once again it seems that the iphones are used more for internet activities than the bigger number of android phones - leading me to suspect that the cheaper android devices are first and foremost used as a pure phone with some games etc thrown in.
Clearly you have very little imagination. Read the article and marvel on how much functionality that they can pack into one gram.
This kind of fundamental experimentation will eventually lead to intelligent small flying machines.
You sure have a good point. In my case, living in a different continent from my family and old friends I find FB nice to keep in touch and exchange pictures.
Occasionally I notice in my Facebook feed that an acquaintance has unlocked a level in some inane IOS game.
I wonder if anyone cares to read or even deliver such updates?
It seems that MS and Sony think that it would be good, but it sure doesn't make my life better.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah well, there is a lot of crap in audiophilia but there is equally a lot of crap rejecting it blindly. In theory a dirt cheap cd or blu ray player and an expensive one have very similar paper specifications for audio. That is what scientific measurements would tell you.
However if you listen on a good system the sound quality difference between the cheap and the expensive player is immediately obvious, without needing to be an audiophile maniac. Similarly I compared a few D/A convertors, as I had a few sources with only optical out (such as an Apple TV, and a blu-ray player with only hdmi and optical) and an old but good analogue-only amp. Well, there was a subtle difference between the models up to say $800. I could always pick the same one which was a bit better than the other 2 I compared against. Not much difference but it was there.
Actually, labels like Linn and Naim (sister companies of very good hifi producers) and a few make recordings available at different quality levels. You won't find typical hit music there, but a lot of interesting jazz for example.
In demos with very good gear and very good speakers I do notice that a lossless source sounds at CD quality level a bit better than a 320 kbps mp3. It is not a difference in detail level but a bit of a feeling of depth in the music (assuming it is well recorded of course), the mp3 sounds a bit more flat. If you don't listen closely then the 320kbps mp3 is perfectly acceptable of course.
Comparing then to the same recording at studio master quality level (24/192), well it is difficult for me, I have the impression that the three dimensionality of a good acoustic recording is still a bit better at the top quality level, but the difference is subtle at best to my ears.
(I also replied the following elsewhere in this discussion, but it is apt here as well)
I currently live in Asia. Whatsapp is very, very popular over here.
A good number of my European contacts are also using it.
I don't know how popular it is in the USA.
I find it a very useful piece of software, one of the most used apps on my iphone.
I currently live in Asia. Whatsapp is very, very popular over here.
A good number of my European contacts are also using it.
I don't know how popular it is in the USA.
I find it a very useful piece of software, one of the most used apps on my iphone.
I am less sceptical than the average slahdot reaction regarding these rumores
Medical devices: an area that could use good innovation. I can imagine Apple being well placed to combine lots of non-invasive sensors into a userfriendly (watch?) deivce) to monitor health. It is not an unrealistic expectation.
They also bought a home automation company some time ago, I can see them defining a standard that will be as popular as Airplay is these days. I can imagine using an idevice/watch to quickly dim the light in the living room for example.
Tesla, now that is really interesting. Indeed a different industry but that does not need to spell failure. Both companies have an innovative attitude, both companies have experience with high quality manufacturing. I can imagine the skills and experience to be nicely complementary. Currently these cars are a the top end of the market, and issues remain, but I bet it is a growth area.
It is not really a news site, but I would pay for wikipedia if paywalled. I did voluntary pay a bit, twice. It is in general very useful for me. Otherwise perhaps occasionaly for an in depth article by a repute dpublisher (even then, max. $2), but not a subscription.
Back then a colleague of mine wanted to buy a mini disc player (remember?) with a pile of discs for her frequent business travels.She is not a technically minded person. I recommended her to check out the newfangled original ipod. She loved it immediately. Simplicity in use, no piles of discs. Subsequently, I helped her by ripping her 50 or so CDs on my Mac and then putting the music on her iPod (in 128K quality if I remember well, unthinkably low these days) - she did not have a computer with firewire. Anyway, the lady had several years of pleasure out of it.
I can imgine that the iWatch would wirelessly communicate with the iphone which the user has in a pocket, for various functions. The iphone has GPS. The iWatch would suffice to show only sections of the map, it would not need to do the positioning. But indeed, battery life will be an issue for a truly "smart" watch.
Fully agree. There is no journalistic reason to link to the leaked script. No serious journalist would do that.
Thanks, MR James. I don't expect that the wd tv live would be able to completely replace the Apple TV if it were running xbmc. Would it run as smoothly and as elegantly integrated with the Mac environment as the apple TV? Can you mirror the iphone and ipad screens on it through wifi? Can you rent movies from iTunes? Can my visiting friends immediately stream the media on their ios device to the tv via wifi? All nice features of the Apple TV.
These are 2 very smalll boxes, I don't mind having two of these devices around.
I have to admit: I wrote that it plays ALMOST anything. Of late there have been some anime files that don't play at all. They do play on the Mac on VLC. The use h264 codec. really puzzling. But in general it works like a charm.
The Western Digital TV live box is cheap and it plays almost any reasonable media file (except flv) you'd throw at it. Certainly the ones prevalent on internet. It can access a shared folder on your computer so you don't have to walk around with that stick anymore. To be fair, I only use it for downloaded video files. For music and photo I have an Apple TV, I love its GUI and easy integration in our Mac/IOS based home.
Apple bought a home automation company some time ago. A sensible rumor is that the upcoming iwatch could also be used to for example remotely dim your living room lights, etc. I can see Google aiminh for a similar path forward.
I recently read an article on Watson, on how hard it was to model medical knowledge in it (in one of the first commercial applications that is being created now). In essence this kind of modelling must happen for all potential applications, these are projects of significant effort. But, it is surely interesting how this more modern expert system technology is inching forward, even if I expect that it will be many years before we encounter a machine comparable to HAL.
Newer technology applied by one side in a conflict have cause important victories before throughout history. The ability to totally outclass an adversary is from a military point of view desirable. I did skim the linked article, one issue is that of proportionality, but still, those who win do not really care.
If I read the article correctly, the impressive part is not that the game takes place in a generated maze, but rather that the AI created from scratch a game, however simple, that takes place inside that world. That step which involves working with concepts is far from trivial.
Angelina's first game may be very simple, but it is conceptually quite something. For example it is interesting to read in the words of Angelina how she picked the music. So, let us not focus on how "meh" this first outing is but rather think of it as an interesting first step. By 2020 a hypotetical Angelina v6 should already be much farther evolved.
I have several Apple products and in general I like them. Still it is sad for such premium products that the maker has to be strongarmed into agreeing to local law.
Thankfully, with the ugly exception of worldwide tax avoidance, it's only in the USA that Apple appears to be above and beyond the law. Because you love them so much, this genuinely makes you sad?
BTW I am European. "Sad" is perhaps a strong word, but yes, in general my satisfaction is pretty high (App Store and all!) so while they do a lot of things right in my experience, it is irritating that they do this so obviously wrong.
I have several Apple products and in general I like them. Still it is sad for such premium products that the maker has to be strongarmed into agreeing to local law. The same happened in Europe where (and I think it is reasonable) products such as laptops should have a 2 year guarantee. Perhaps not on Applecare level (which is really good, I had to use it once and was happy with the service quality - a technician came to my home to replace my 27" imac screen panel), but at least a normal guarantee should be expected.
Of course Applecare becomes less attractive if it is just a one year extension and a higher service level. But frankly the products while well made are expensive enough to have the above mandatory local guarantee applied without hassle.
leading me to suspect that the cheaper android devices are first and foremost used as a pure phone with some games etc thrown in.
And this is bad...why?
Did I write or imply "bad"?
Simply context providing.
It's supposed to say "Apple pushes developers to Android" By the way, it's around 6:1 now for android to apple phone counts.
Yes, that could be since there are so many low end android devices worldwide.
However it seems that in the US (copied this from Macrumors):
According to data from research firm Kantar Worldpanel posted earlier this month, the iPhone's market share in the U.S. hit 52.8% in October following the launch of the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 5c. In the previous year, Apple's market share was at 53.3% following the launch of the iPhone 5, and was at 36% and 25% in the two years prior with the launch of the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, respectively.
Over here in Hong Kong where I currently live I see more people with Android than with iphone but the ratio is rather 1.5 : 1. From my discussions with friends and colleagues, I think that a number of them may switch back once Apple offers a bigger phone (most people outside Slashdot still give the brand quite some goodwill).
Also in statistics once again it seems that the iphones are used more for internet activities than the bigger number of android phones - leading me to suspect that the cheaper android devices are first and foremost used as a pure phone with some games etc thrown in.
Saab was so very cool up to the 1980s. The writer Roald Dahl. Affordable furniture.
Clearly you have very little imagination. Read the article and marvel on how much functionality that they can pack into one gram. This kind of fundamental experimentation will eventually lead to intelligent small flying machines.
You sure have a good point.
In my case, living in a different continent from my family and old friends I find FB nice to keep in touch and exchange pictures.
Occasionally I notice in my Facebook feed that an acquaintance has unlocked a level in some inane IOS game. I wonder if anyone cares to read or even deliver such updates? It seems that MS and Sony think that it would be good, but it sure doesn't make my life better.