You're kidding right? An intergrated Intel graphic chip and a 4200 RPM hard drive? A friend of mine complained about how slow the Mini is running DJ apps. The only thing a Mac mini might take on is a Nintendo hand held in terms of games.
The mini's actually have a 5400 RPM drive. And yes, the integrated graphics won't win any awards, but even with these defecencies the Mini makes a lot better home media center than a PS3 or XBox 360. It should be able to run slightly older 3d first person shooters acceptably (30 fps in UT 2004). Maybe Apple is planning on dropping the lower mini back down to 499 and offer a 599 or 699 mini with better graphics.
And I'm pretty sure a mini blows away a DS or PSP in terms of graphical power...:-) The GMA 950 looks like it could keep up with the PS2/GameCube/Xbox graphics if you're running it at 640X480 like those machines.
Anyway, it's all pure conjecture at this point, although I personally would spend $599 on a mini before $599 on a PS3!
What if they are gearing up for the Mac mini to take on the PS3? Apple has to be looking at the similar price points, and all it would take is to add some wireless controllers and the DVI-video adapter to the mini.
Yes, the PS3 blows the mini out of the water in performance, but if the Wii takes off, then Apple might want a piece of the action. Plus, it has all the home media hub functions already, and a distribution network for music and video.
As a person doing tech in the public school system, I see students making reference to Columbine all the time when they feel they are being limited (especially by the web filter). The feeling I get from them is that they throw Columbine into any argument because they know it will get them noticed. Students know that adults are scared to death of a school shooting, so it's an easy way to make an impact without thinking. Much like how profanity is used.
Test number two: try playing the high-definition (1080i) trailers on Apple's website. I'd be absolutely shocked if it manages to do it without dropping frames like crazy. My Macbook Pro barely breaks a sweat.
I went to the Apple Store today, and this was the second thing I tried! It was able to play the 1080i version trailer of Art School Confidential without any problem (except for some bandwidth issues downloading the 150MB file). I didn't look at how much processor was being used at the time though.
The Cars trailer (it was 8xx X 3xx something resolution) also played without a hitch.
Or, should I say blu-Elephant. Blu-ray is the next generation format for watch-at-home movies. So is HD-DVD, as some would argue. There's only one catch-- MILLIONS of blu-ray readers will already be in the clutches of PS3 owners. They'll get a next generation HD format with the bonus of a next-generation game machine. Stand alone players will cost $600 to $800 at the time the PS3 launches but you won't get a game machine with those. And because this all comes standard on BOTH the low and high end PS3, it's a winner.
I wouldn't count the low end as a blu-ray player, since the lack of HDMI will be a deal breaker for some. Couple this with the fact that most people can't tell the difference between standard defintion and high definition:
* Close to one in four (28%) of HDTV owners reported that they did not get any special equipment from their service provider to watch HDTV channels because the picture quality was already improved with the purchase of an HDTV.
* 23% of HDTV owners did not invest in special equipment to watch HDTV channels because a message at the beginning of the programs they watch tells them that those programs are being broadcast in HD.
You start to realize that a majority of people do not care about Blu-ray or HD DVD, and they'll both probably fail.
There is also the problem of plugging the equipment into your TV. I only have component video connectors on my HDTV, and am already out of inputs even though my JVC Receiver will switch inputs. I've got a DVD player, HD Cable Box, and a XBox using my three available inputs. To use my PS2 or Gamecube with component video, I have to start unplugging things. And those are problems with last generation equipment, which most people don't have the HD cables for. The current generation will just exasperate the problem. What happened to using something like Firewire to send audio/video/control signals through your AV equipment?
Blu-ray will not save the PS3. In fact, I feel that Sony will pull a Microsoft, and artificially restrict the supply so the PS3 is guaranteed to sell out this fall. They do not want to face what happened with the PSP launch and not sell out.
I switched to diet pop using diet mountain dew and diet A&W Root Beer. I used to not be able to stand the taste of diet, especially the after taste. After a week or two, regular pop tasted wrong, and the diet after taste was gone.
Now I prefer Code Red Diet Mountain Dew before 2:00pm and caffeine-free diet drinks such as caffeine-free diet MD or diet A&W root beer after. It helps me sleep if I try not to drink caffeine.
2600 Pacman had to be the most disappointing game ever.
My brother and I saved up our paper route money, bottle and can deposits, etc, preordered the game, waited about a month for it, popped it in and "WTF is this? You call *THIS* PACMAN?!?!"
Too bad I can't remember it, but my brothers and I had worked out a flawless pattern for 2600 Pacman. We played the same game for hours, that is, until the score flipped. Then we realized that there was no way to ever prove how high a score we got. Our quest for Pacman glory ended that evening...:-(
The cell phone solution to add twelve buttons instead of five like the ipod has. Put the buttons in a standard dial-pad orientation. Then replace the wheel shape with a rectangular touchpad.
ARD did not come with the eMacs. The school would not pay for it. When _I_ saw the price tag, I obtained it through... other means. Given that these kids were 7th graders, her ability to shut down every computer when class was over (as well as perform other functions like upgrades, monitor which websites they were surfing, etc.) was invaluable.
If the admin was $100, I would have bought it myself and taken the tax write-off, no questions asked. Heck, I'd even consider getting it just for my own personal use. $500 is just too steep.
The education price for unlimited clients is $300... Works out to $10 a machine in this setting. For 10 clients it is $150.
That experience doesn't exist (to the best of my knowledge) with the MacOSX environment. Drives can be mounted at power up but I don't see the same experience that people are accustomed to in Windows.
I have an integrated environment where there is Mac and Windows on the same network sharing access to files. They both access the Novell and Linux server files. Windows does it better. Mac will lose its network mountings without cause that is obvious to the user and without a mounting script, the user would generally need to restart the computer (and the apps) to resume normal work. In windows, if users are dicconected from a server, the user is notified.
If you put the shared drives into the Login Items for the user, they'll automatically mount when the user logs in. On my network I've never had OS X just lose connections for no apparent reason. If I'm on a laptop and put it to sleep, I'm notified when I open it back up if it can't reconnect to any servers.
For a managed environment, you'd want to put in an OS X server. The OS X server can bind to Active Directory (and I'm assuming eDirectory) so your OS X clients will mount the users Home Directory automatically. You also get all the managing capabilities for your OS X clients. Networked home directories are really nice, and if you set it up right, you can have your users log into a Windows client, Linux client, or OS X client and have the same Desktop and Documents folder automatically.
OS X also doesn't have problems that you see with Windows and its roaming profiles.
Except Apple and iTunes should be shot for having a separate interface to put podcasts into their store that has nothing to do with having them on the web, and isn't compatible with any other podcatcher. At least I haven't yet found a (free) podcast I cared about that was only on iTunes since everyone does the RSS first anyway (and I think iTunes uses the RSS internally). However, I would encourage people not to use iTunes and in particular the ITMS for podcatching for this very reason.
Come on, Apple. Open standards, not lock-in. At least for free content. It's not that hard. Apple deserves no credit for their closed-off pseudo-web bullshit.
iTunes uses a website's RSS feed to grab the latest episodes just like every other podcatcher. In fact, you can export your podcast feeds as an opml file to import into any other RSS aggregator. This also works in the reverse, if you start out using Juice receiver and want to move to iTunes, just export your feeds from Juice and import them into iTunes. You can also bypass subscribing from the iTunes music store. Just go to the Advanced menu, select Subscribe to Podcast, and paste in the RSS feed url.
There isn't anything proprietary about the way iTunes works with podcasts... In fact, I would recommend using iTunes for someone starting out. You can always move to something else later.
Anyone can decrypt the DVD. The trick is in getting the authorization of the copyright owner, in this case represented by the DVD CCA. If you distribute software that decrypts a DVD without their authorization, then you got some 'splaining to do.
Apple already distributes software that decrypts a DVD, the DVD player. So Apple could just add a decrypt/compress into iPod format option to the DVD player and still be ok.
You're forgetting that in order to get a distribution license Apple will really have to guarantee a 'trusted path, NO hacks' for the movie decoding chain - which still requires HDCP which no current hardware supports. And guess who will have to be comfortable with such an online retail model? well, Sony Pictures Entertainment among few others (go check the holdings list in that link and see how many mainstream movies Apple will have to choose from if SPE won't play ball)
Apple can start out not worrying about Sony content, because they have an inside track to Disney content, which includes:
Walt Disney Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Miramax
Buena Vista
I think if Apple decides to start with just Disney content and is successful, other studios will jump on board. Look at Mark Cuban and his theaters/Production Company/HD Net? He would probably be one of the first to jump on board.
The DMCA, that's what. Even if Apple were to DRM the ripped DVD, it would be a violation of the DMCA, since they would have to decrypt it (that is, to circumvent an access control mechanism). They can't get permission, because the DVD CCA would never allow it.
But they already are able to decrypt the DVD, or the DVD player wouldn't work. So there is probably more to the story...
Reading the story, basically it says that companies sold $17.7 billion of Windows servers and $17.5 billion of Unix servers...
The real meat is several paragraphs in:
As in years past, much of the growth took place in lower-end servers costing $25,000 or less--a category that accounted for 6.8 million of the 7 million units shipped, Eastwood said.
Servers costing less than $25,000 accounted for 97% of these sales. So a majority of sales are going into smaller businesses that only know Windows, and will only buy Windows.
It would be more interesting how they counted machines sold without an OS. Were they not counted? Were they in some sort of other category.
And how come IDC comes up with different totals for sales ($51.3 billion) versus Gartner ($49.5 billion)?
One other big thing I noticed is what isn't there. It's called the "DS Lite" partly because you can change the brightness of the screen through a switch, right? I'm not seeing any brightness switch on the model in the pictures. Did they forget that part here, or am I missing it somewhere?
It could work the same way it does on the GB Micro. To adjust the backlight on the micro, you hold down the left shoulder button and use the volume control to turn up or down the brightness.
When I first read this I immediately thought of it being in short segments like Strongbad e-mails. I will wait and hold judgement until the first shows are released.
Quite honestly, who cares so much about the voice talent?
I don't want to under-stress the importance of good writing, but voice talent is just as important. I didn't think much about it until I read an interview of Billy West. He was talking about all these big animation movies tanking, and how part of the reason is because they go for the big names to do voices instead of tailoring the voices for the characters. Try to imagine Michael J. Fox doing the voice of Fry vs. Billy West? Who's going to make the character more interesting?
Now, there are shows like Between The Lions, Caillou, Higglytown Heroes, Lazytown, and The Backyardigans that have some good content and we watch and discuss them with her. Futurama is not my daughter's staple cartoon or TV show. Is it too mature for her? I would be lying if I said it didn't have some things that were more appropriate for teenagers.
Check out Hi-5 on TLC in the early morning. My daughter loves the show!
I started using Bloglines several months ago, and it's saved me so much time. For those that don't understand why it would be helpful, picture 40-50 sites that you read. Instead of visiting each site to see if there are updates, Bloglines just shows you the newest headlines from the last time you went to Bloglines. You can then see the headlines (and articles, depending on the site) and decide whether you want to visit the site to read the article. No more constantly visiting Slashdot or Digg, I just check Bloglines.
Bloglines offers a Subscribe to Bloglines bookmarklet, so I can easily subscribe to any website I visit.
Another RSS service is SuprGlu which will take all your feeds and put them on a web page for you.
If you modify the users HOSTS file to point pagead2.googlesyndication.com to a different machine you can serve your own Google ads. Pretty clever, I'm surprised this hasn't happen before. I don't know how Google could stop this.
Slashdot Mirror
Super Mario Bros!
The mini's actually have a 5400 RPM drive. And yes, the integrated graphics won't win any awards, but even with these defecencies the Mini makes a lot better home media center than a PS3 or XBox 360. It should be able to run slightly older 3d first person shooters acceptably (30 fps in UT 2004). Maybe Apple is planning on dropping the lower mini back down to 499 and offer a 599 or 699 mini with better graphics.
And I'm pretty sure a mini blows away a DS or PSP in terms of graphical power... :-) The GMA 950 looks like it could keep up with the PS2/GameCube/Xbox graphics if you're running it at 640X480 like those machines.
Anyway, it's all pure conjecture at this point, although I personally would spend $599 on a mini before $599 on a PS3!
Yes, the PS3 blows the mini out of the water in performance, but if the Wii takes off, then Apple might want a piece of the action. Plus, it has all the home media hub functions already, and a distribution network for music and video.
The return of the Apple Pippen? Ars technica had a journal article from 2005 about Apple and Sony integrating the iTMS with the PS3, could Apple just be deciding to do it themselves after they saw the price of the PS3? Remember the sales pitches of the 80's for the Commodores and Ataris? "It not only plays great games, but it is also a full blown computer!"
As a person doing tech in the public school system, I see students making reference to Columbine all the time when they feel they are being limited (especially by the web filter). The feeling I get from them is that they throw Columbine into any argument because they know it will get them noticed. Students know that adults are scared to death of a school shooting, so it's an easy way to make an impact without thinking. Much like how profanity is used.
I went to the Apple Store today, and this was the second thing I tried! It was able to play the 1080i version trailer of Art School Confidential without any problem (except for some bandwidth issues downloading the 150MB file). I didn't look at how much processor was being used at the time though.
The Cars trailer (it was 8xx X 3xx something resolution) also played without a hitch.
I wouldn't count the low end as a blu-ray player, since the lack of HDMI will be a deal breaker for some. Couple this with the fact that most people can't tell the difference between standard defintion and high definition:
You start to realize that a majority of people do not care about Blu-ray or HD DVD, and they'll both probably fail.
There is also the problem of plugging the equipment into your TV. I only have component video connectors on my HDTV, and am already out of inputs even though my JVC Receiver will switch inputs. I've got a DVD player, HD Cable Box, and a XBox using my three available inputs. To use my PS2 or Gamecube with component video, I have to start unplugging things. And those are problems with last generation equipment, which most people don't have the HD cables for. The current generation will just exasperate the problem. What happened to using something like Firewire to send audio/video/control signals through your AV equipment?
Blu-ray will not save the PS3. In fact, I feel that Sony will pull a Microsoft, and artificially restrict the supply so the PS3 is guaranteed to sell out this fall. They do not want to face what happened with the PSP launch and not sell out.
I switched to diet pop using diet mountain dew and diet A&W Root Beer. I used to not be able to stand the taste of diet, especially the after taste. After a week or two, regular pop tasted wrong, and the diet after taste was gone.
Now I prefer Code Red Diet Mountain Dew before 2:00pm and caffeine-free diet drinks such as caffeine-free diet MD or diet A&W root beer after. It helps me sleep if I try not to drink caffeine.
Try diet for a week or two.
Too bad I can't remember it, but my brothers and I had worked out a flawless pattern for 2600 Pacman. We played the same game for hours, that is, until the score flipped. Then we realized that there was no way to ever prove how high a score we got. Our quest for Pacman glory ended that evening... :-(
I think someone already perfected a rotary dialing interface.
The education price for unlimited clients is $300... Works out to $10 a machine in this setting. For 10 clients it is $150.
Even bigger news is that Appleinsider says that the required firmware updates [...] deliver EFI with BIOS support for the Intel Macs [...].
If you put the shared drives into the Login Items for the user, they'll automatically mount when the user logs in. On my network I've never had OS X just lose connections for no apparent reason. If I'm on a laptop and put it to sleep, I'm notified when I open it back up if it can't reconnect to any servers.
For a managed environment, you'd want to put in an OS X server. The OS X server can bind to Active Directory (and I'm assuming eDirectory) so your OS X clients will mount the users Home Directory automatically. You also get all the managing capabilities for your OS X clients. Networked home directories are really nice, and if you set it up right, you can have your users log into a Windows client, Linux client, or OS X client and have the same Desktop and Documents folder automatically.
OS X also doesn't have problems that you see with Windows and its roaming profiles.
iTunes uses a website's RSS feed to grab the latest episodes just like every other podcatcher. In fact, you can export your podcast feeds as an opml file to import into any other RSS aggregator. This also works in the reverse, if you start out using Juice receiver and want to move to iTunes, just export your feeds from Juice and import them into iTunes. You can also bypass subscribing from the iTunes music store. Just go to the Advanced menu, select Subscribe to Podcast, and paste in the RSS feed url.
There isn't anything proprietary about the way iTunes works with podcasts... In fact, I would recommend using iTunes for someone starting out. You can always move to something else later.
IIRC, it doesn't nag you anymore with QT7 under Windows or OS X. And it never nagged you with iTunes, only with the standalone quicktime player.
Apple already distributes software that decrypts a DVD, the DVD player. So Apple could just add a decrypt/compress into iPod format option to the DVD player and still be ok.
Apple can start out not worrying about Sony content, because they have an inside track to Disney content, which includes:
I think if Apple decides to start with just Disney content and is successful, other studios will jump on board. Look at Mark Cuban and his theaters/Production Company/HD Net? He would probably be one of the first to jump on board.
But they already are able to decrypt the DVD, or the DVD player wouldn't work. So there is probably more to the story...
The real meat is several paragraphs in:
Servers costing less than $25,000 accounted for 97% of these sales. So a majority of sales are going into smaller businesses that only know Windows, and will only buy Windows.
It would be more interesting how they counted machines sold without an OS. Were they not counted? Were they in some sort of other category.
And how come IDC comes up with different totals for sales ($51.3 billion) versus Gartner ($49.5 billion)?
It could work the same way it does on the GB Micro. To adjust the backlight on the micro, you hold down the left shoulder button and use the volume control to turn up or down the brightness.
When I first read this I immediately thought of it being in short segments like Strongbad e-mails. I will wait and hold judgement until the first shows are released.
I don't want to under-stress the importance of good writing, but voice talent is just as important. I didn't think much about it until I read an interview of Billy West. He was talking about all these big animation movies tanking, and how part of the reason is because they go for the big names to do voices instead of tailoring the voices for the characters. Try to imagine Michael J. Fox doing the voice of Fry vs. Billy West? Who's going to make the character more interesting?
Check out Hi-5 on TLC in the early morning. My daughter loves the show!
ABC hasn't made any money off of Monday Night Football for several years, that's why it's moving to ESPN...
I agree with a previous poster. Primetime Sunday nights shouldn't start until 8EST if you are showing a football game!
Bloglines offers a Subscribe to Bloglines bookmarklet, so I can easily subscribe to any website I visit.
Another RSS service is SuprGlu which will take all your feeds and put them on a web page for you.
If you modify the users HOSTS file to point pagead2.googlesyndication.com to a different machine you can serve your own Google ads. Pretty clever, I'm surprised this hasn't happen before. I don't know how Google could stop this.