Off topic, and not quite what you asked for, but if you haven't settled on a remote control for your setup yet, I just picked up Logitech's Harmony 880 and it is fantastic. I know I sound like a commercial (and no, I'm not affiliated with Logitech), but the Harmony is really the best thing I've found on the market for controlling a high-end system. There are LCD-only remotes that allow you to customize the button layout more than the Harmony, but I found that having to hunt for a button everytime I needed to press it is not as easy as finding most of the buttons by feel. The price is high (US $250), but other model Harmony remotes are cheaper if your budget is tight. The list of devices that it can control is impressive (create a test login at Logitech's Harmony site to see if the components you have/are getting are already supported) and their customer service has been excellent so far. Be sure to check out the forums at Remote Central for discussion on the Harmony and other high-end remotes. And trust me, you won't be truly happy with your system until you can easily control it the way that you want.
the service is being developed as a piece of downloadable software separate from the standard Windows Media Player
It doesn't look like this service will be integrated with Media Player. However, I'd venture that only Media Player will be the only player that supports these files on the PC (at least at first).
Online digital music services have to get the big record labels to sign on before they can sell any (popular) music. To do that they need to give the recording industry's execs a warm fuzzy feeling by demonstrating how their technology will limit the online piracy that the RIAA has been fighting against for so long.
No, but it does support shortcuts which can be used for similar results. You'd have to be careful that your backup sofware understands how to handle the shortcuts. Other than that I'd imagine the most difficult thing would be to get your average user to have a good grasp of how to work with this and to understand the reasoning behind it.
Re:Folders may die, but what about directories?
on
The Death of Folders?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Just because the software needs to store and look at the files in a hierarchical way doesn't mean the the user has to see it in the same way. Computers are very good at transforming data from one view to another. The challenge, of course, is finding a view that is easy for the average user to grasp.
When we were computerizing, my manager thought that we should have copies of the scanned invoice in both the manufacturer's *and* client's folder.
I explained how much extra space this would take, and there were other documents that belonged in *several* folders. This was easily going to chew up all of our available disk space and backup in a few months.
Wouldn't sym links have been a quick and dirty solution to this problem? Place the document in one location and then link to it from both the manufacturer's and client's folder (and any other relevent folders).
Re:This on it's face looks pretty good.
on
The Death of Folders?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
It could also result in nightmares when trying to refer co-workers to documents that exist in a shared location. By forcing everyone in a work group to conform to a well-defined structure on file servers you can help to ensure that everyone knows the appropriate way to share documents with team members (by using previously specified directories).
I think that Smart Folders already provide a lot of functionality, have great potential, and are a good way to organize your personal collection of files. However, I don't think that the concept is advanced enough yet to be applied to shared file repositories like a corporate or division file server.
Rumor has it that you'll need an add-on to play DVDs on the Revolution, which is fine with me. I already own 2 DVD players and when I starting looking to buy a next-gen console, I want something to play games, not manage my media collection. I'll buy dedicated devices for different tasks (e.g. movie playback, music playback, etc.). I doubt that Nintendo lost many sales by not having DVD playback in the GC and I doubt that MS gained many sales by having DVD playback in the XBox. Sony, on the other hand, probably did gain sales buy having DVD playback in the PS2 since DVD players were not as commonplace in the US when the PS2 launched. However, I think the PS3 having Blu-Ray playback will be even less of a factor than DVD playback was in the current generation.
Can you really improve on DVD playing technology that much? Yes, you can give the consumer a player that can play back HD content. Then, of course, you can sell HD versions of the DVDs that consumers have bought in the last 5 or so years.
FYI, current generation DVD players are not DRM-less, the DRM is just transparent to most users so they can ignore it. With a system like this, the DRM just becomes obvious to the average Joe. Of course, maybe this is what we finally need to happen to give the average Joe a kick in the ass to be opposed to DRM.
Nintendo does this with the GBA and old NES and SNES games, but at least they have the balls to admit that they're just using it to try to make more money with a new system and old properties instead of claiming it is 'backwards compatibility' between the GBA and SNES.
As long as MS and XBox developers allow owners of the original XBox games to download these updates to the old games for free, it should be acceptable. But otherwise, this is a scam. And in no way can this be called 'backwards compatibility'.
Doubtful. Even if Nintendo were to offer its entire library online, for free (as in beer), there would still be emu sites to "provide backups" of 3rd party titles. Also, if someone doesn't own a Revolution, they presumedly wouldn't be able to take advantage of this and would still want the emulators.
And what's so wrong with DVD's anyway that a new standard is needed?
Easy: HD sets are becoming mainstream and consumers want to feel that their new $1000+ television was a worthwhile investment. If everyone is going to want HD-quality movies then we need a new standard since you can't pack 2+ hours of HD content onto a standard DVD.
The only reason for releasing the PS3 is to try and boost sales through increased press exposure and slightly prettier explosions.
I disagree; Sony and Microsoft look to be making the next generation of consoles about controlling the living room. The PS2 was the first DVD player in a lot of homes, and the PS3 may follow that up by being the first HD-capable player in a lot of homes, giving the Sony-backed Blu-Ray an advantage in the coming Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war. Add the list of non-game related features that this console supports (like video conferencing) and you can see that Sony isn't just selling a game console, but is trying to get consumers to consolidate many of their activities (games, movies, chatting, internet access) into a single device (with a big Sony logo on it). Microsoft is trying the same thing by having the XBox 360 play with Windows Media Center Edition and Windows XP computers on the network. Sometimes, the next generation of consoles hardly seems to be about the games at all.
Memory sticks with enough capacity for this run in the hundreds of dollars. It's almost cheaper to buy a PVP that supports non-DRM'ed video. Plus the PVP will probably have at least a 20GB HD, which will let you cary way more video. I just don't see the PSP being a competitve protable video solution.
The real barrier to this will likely be the price of memory sticks rather than technical difficulties. A 2GB memory stick (for a game that used the entire 1.8GB of the UMD) will run you at least US $200. I can't see many people forking over that much for a memory stick when the legit copies of the games are that much cheaper.
If you're looking to buy a Mac without a bundled monitor, then the iMac/eMac lines aren't for you. Look at the PowerMac or Mac mini lines instead and then plug one of those into your existing monitor. You said you've gone through 3 computers in the 6 years that you've had your monitor, so that's a new computer on average every 2 years. I imagine the Mac mini and low-end Power Mac would both last for at least two years (unless you're wanting to use these for gaming, but you say you don't care about the speed of the CPU, so that's probably not the case).
For some people, the integrated monitory/computer is nice though. People buying their first computer, or a 2nd computer may not have a monitor around and/or may not want to drop a large sum on a high end LCD. The iMac is also a great space-saver making it fairly appropriate for dorm life.
Doubtful, since Apple just upgraded the PowerMac line last week. The real reason that a less capable PowerMac is the same price as the more capable iMac is upgradeablility. The iMac is designed for the home user who just needs basic computing functionality, whereas the PowerMac is targeted at professional users who may need to upgrade their Mac to support their work.
The coupon thing helps if you have a sudden urge to see a particular movie (VoD would be better for this) or if a movie is only available on VHS. And like I said, video games. Netflix doesn't offer game rentals at all, and I don't want to subscribe to GameFly seperately for the 1 or maybe 2 games a month that I might rent. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I'd just like to chime in and say that I don't think that your experience with Blockbuster Online is universal. I've had really great turn around times with their service (3 - 4 days) and I also enjoy the 2 in-store rentals per month that are included with my online subscription. With those coupons, if there's a movie that I want to have immediately, I can drive to my local Blockbuster and pick it up. If I get to the end of the month and haven't used the coupons yet, I tend to go in and pick up a random video game that I otherwise wouldn't have played. I haven't tried Netflix's service, but I have several friends who use it and are happy customers.
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Off topic, and not quite what you asked for, but if you haven't settled on a remote control for your setup yet, I just picked up Logitech's Harmony 880 and it is fantastic. I know I sound like a commercial (and no, I'm not affiliated with Logitech), but the Harmony is really the best thing I've found on the market for controlling a high-end system. There are LCD-only remotes that allow you to customize the button layout more than the Harmony, but I found that having to hunt for a button everytime I needed to press it is not as easy as finding most of the buttons by feel. The price is high (US $250), but other model Harmony remotes are cheaper if your budget is tight. The list of devices that it can control is impressive (create a test login at Logitech's Harmony site to see if the components you have/are getting are already supported) and their customer service has been excellent so far. Be sure to check out the forums at Remote Central for discussion on the Harmony and other high-end remotes. And trust me, you won't be truly happy with your system until you can easily control it the way that you want.
Do you mean like the ones mentioned here?
I just can't wait until one is hacked to complain about the pain in all of the dioeds down its left side.
It doesn't look like this service will be integrated with Media Player. However, I'd venture that only Media Player will be the only player that supports these files on the PC (at least at first).
Online digital music services have to get the big record labels to sign on before they can sell any (popular) music. To do that they need to give the recording industry's execs a warm fuzzy feeling by demonstrating how their technology will limit the online piracy that the RIAA has been fighting against for so long.
No, but it does support shortcuts which can be used for similar results. You'd have to be careful that your backup sofware understands how to handle the shortcuts. Other than that I'd imagine the most difficult thing would be to get your average user to have a good grasp of how to work with this and to understand the reasoning behind it.
Just because the software needs to store and look at the files in a hierarchical way doesn't mean the the user has to see it in the same way. Computers are very good at transforming data from one view to another. The challenge, of course, is finding a view that is easy for the average user to grasp.
Wouldn't sym links have been a quick and dirty solution to this problem? Place the document in one location and then link to it from both the manufacturer's and client's folder (and any other relevent folders).
It could also result in nightmares when trying to refer co-workers to documents that exist in a shared location. By forcing everyone in a work group to conform to a well-defined structure on file servers you can help to ensure that everyone knows the appropriate way to share documents with team members (by using previously specified directories).
I think that Smart Folders already provide a lot of functionality, have great potential, and are a good way to organize your personal collection of files. However, I don't think that the concept is advanced enough yet to be applied to shared file repositories like a corporate or division file server.
Do you think there is anyway to get my account transfered to the Beta and and the final version, or will there be a server wipe?
Rumor has it that you'll need an add-on to play DVDs on the Revolution, which is fine with me. I already own 2 DVD players and when I starting looking to buy a next-gen console, I want something to play games, not manage my media collection. I'll buy dedicated devices for different tasks (e.g. movie playback, music playback, etc.). I doubt that Nintendo lost many sales by not having DVD playback in the GC and I doubt that MS gained many sales by having DVD playback in the XBox. Sony, on the other hand, probably did gain sales buy having DVD playback in the PS2 since DVD players were not as commonplace in the US when the PS2 launched. However, I think the PS3 having Blu-Ray playback will be even less of a factor than DVD playback was in the current generation.
Can you really improve on DVD playing technology that much?
Yes, you can give the consumer a player that can play back HD content. Then, of course, you can sell HD versions of the DVDs that consumers have bought in the last 5 or so years.
FYI, current generation DVD players are not DRM-less, the DRM is just transparent to most users so they can ignore it. With a system like this, the DRM just becomes obvious to the average Joe. Of course, maybe this is what we finally need to happen to give the average Joe a kick in the ass to be opposed to DRM.
Nintendo does this with the GBA and old NES and SNES games, but at least they have the balls to admit that they're just using it to try to make more money with a new system and old properties instead of claiming it is 'backwards compatibility' between the GBA and SNES.
As long as MS and XBox developers allow owners of the original XBox games to download these updates to the old games for free, it should be acceptable. But otherwise, this is a scam. And in no way can this be called 'backwards compatibility'.
Doubtful. Even if Nintendo were to offer its entire library online, for free (as in beer), there would still be emu sites to "provide backups" of 3rd party titles. Also, if someone doesn't own a Revolution, they presumedly wouldn't be able to take advantage of this and would still want the emulators.
You're thinking of Mir. Skylab was operated by the US.
Easy: HD sets are becoming mainstream and consumers want to feel that their new $1000+ television was a worthwhile investment. If everyone is going to want HD-quality movies then we need a new standard since you can't pack 2+ hours of HD content onto a standard DVD.
I disagree; Sony and Microsoft look to be making the next generation of consoles about controlling the living room. The PS2 was the first DVD player in a lot of homes, and the PS3 may follow that up by being the first HD-capable player in a lot of homes, giving the Sony-backed Blu-Ray an advantage in the coming Blu-Ray/HD-DVD war. Add the list of non-game related features that this console supports (like video conferencing) and you can see that Sony isn't just selling a game console, but is trying to get consumers to consolidate many of their activities (games, movies, chatting, internet access) into a single device (with a big Sony logo on it). Microsoft is trying the same thing by having the XBox 360 play with Windows Media Center Edition and Windows XP computers on the network. Sometimes, the next generation of consoles hardly seems to be about the games at all.
Memory sticks with enough capacity for this run in the hundreds of dollars. It's almost cheaper to buy a PVP that supports non-DRM'ed video. Plus the PVP will probably have at least a 20GB HD, which will let you cary way more video. I just don't see the PSP being a competitve protable video solution.
The real barrier to this will likely be the price of memory sticks rather than technical difficulties. A 2GB memory stick (for a game that used the entire 1.8GB of the UMD) will run you at least US $200. I can't see many people forking over that much for a memory stick when the legit copies of the games are that much cheaper.
The E3 expo homepage has all of the details. Looks like it runs May 17 - 20.
If you're looking to buy a Mac without a bundled monitor, then the iMac/eMac lines aren't for you. Look at the PowerMac or Mac mini lines instead and then plug one of those into your existing monitor. You said you've gone through 3 computers in the 6 years that you've had your monitor, so that's a new computer on average every 2 years. I imagine the Mac mini and low-end Power Mac would both last for at least two years (unless you're wanting to use these for gaming, but you say you don't care about the speed of the CPU, so that's probably not the case).
For some people, the integrated monitory/computer is nice though. People buying their first computer, or a 2nd computer may not have a monitor around and/or may not want to drop a large sum on a high end LCD. The iMac is also a great space-saver making it fairly appropriate for dorm life.
Doubtful, since Apple just upgraded the PowerMac line last week. The real reason that a less capable PowerMac is the same price as the more capable iMac is upgradeablility. The iMac is designed for the home user who just needs basic computing functionality, whereas the PowerMac is targeted at professional users who may need to upgrade their Mac to support their work.
The article seems to indicate that the messages are being marked as spam by AOLs automated spam filtering engines.
The coupon thing helps if you have a sudden urge to see a particular movie (VoD would be better for this) or if a movie is only available on VHS. And like I said, video games. Netflix doesn't offer game rentals at all, and I don't want to subscribe to GameFly seperately for the 1 or maybe 2 games a month that I might rent. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I'd just like to chime in and say that I don't think that your experience with Blockbuster Online is universal. I've had really great turn around times with their service (3 - 4 days) and I also enjoy the 2 in-store rentals per month that are included with my online subscription. With those coupons, if there's a movie that I want to have immediately, I can drive to my local Blockbuster and pick it up. If I get to the end of the month and haven't used the coupons yet, I tend to go in and pick up a random video game that I otherwise wouldn't have played. I haven't tried Netflix's service, but I have several friends who use it and are happy customers.