something to consider is e-bay. you can probably sell it for close to 90+% of its original value. i know it's a bit of a hassle, but most places would have stuck you with a restocking fee of 15% anyway. it's too bad you had to go through all of this hassle though.
well, after reading through the additional details (assuming they're true) i'd have to say that Apple screwed the pooch on this one.
for starters, it was an Xserve they sold, which means it's probably going into a heavy production style enviornment. why wouldn't you want to keep those customers happy?
adding their own RAM and drives shouldn't make your machine unreturnable. that's just lame. it's from Apple's site, it's their hardware, they should take it back.
sure they'll have to sell it as a refurb, but so what? at some point keeping the customers coming back has value.
as for the original poster, i know it's too late now, but for a long time Apple was offering free 30 day trials on their Xserve hardware. it might be too late for you, but other posters who would be interested should call up and ask.
and of course i have the same question as everyone else. what are you doing with the non-fucntional (for your needs) Xserve?
The new pricing policy really hurt RedHat and Linux at our school. What folks had been promoting as a cheap alternative to MS software has now closed ranks on price. It took a pile of work to get admins to understand that "RedHat = good", and the fact that "RedHat" as they know it now costs money has been enough to push a variety of departments off the Linux path.
I know they have to make money, I just wish it wasn't at the cost of marketshare. It would really make my life easier if I could port more people to Linux or OSX.
so how long until some enterprising thief figures out how it works, and makes their own. or, along the same lines, steals on from the police.
now you've got a crook who can disable any car at a whim. talk about your easy robbery. now just wait until that RX8 pulls around the corner, shut it off, throw the driver out and turn off your "tractor beam".
i wonder if the police have their liability war chest paid up. first time this happens they're going to get sued into oblivion, as well they should.
No, I didn't mean a 10 year old install of Office, rather that they've been using Office for their word processing, spreadsheets etc. for the last 10 years. (although mutiple revisions)
Much like WordPerfect users didn't want to switch to Office (who can blame them) because they'd been using Word Perfect forever (and it actually funtioned properly, and could show codes). That doesn't mean they're still using version 3.1 though.
Now, I do a lot of IT work, seeing as it's my job. One thing I've found more often than not is that people DON'T like to change whatever it is they're used to.
So, if everyone has been using Office for the last 10 years, they aren't going to want to try anything new, irregardless of the benefits of said change.
When this is the case, I find that users will suddenly get stupider. As dumb as they were before, and as clueless as they were before, they are now clueless with a purpose. That purpose? To make you regret making them change their desktop. Suddenly many will be looking for reasons to have things not work. The simplest of these being folks who think something doesn't work at all now, just because it doesn't work exactly like it used to. Others being the type who actively search for weak areas in the software so they can bitch about the lack of some arcane/unused feature that used to be available.
So, the solution to all this? Cut 'em a check. That's right, instead of just switching them over and telling them it's for the good of XYZ, figure out how much money you'll save to switch over to Open Office. Then take about 70% of your savings the first year and cut a check to be split up amongst your users. I would think that if everyone got a $100 in cash on the day you put Open Office on their machines, suddenly the guy installing OO around the office would be getting calls left and right by people who can't wait to get updated, vs. the grumblind you'd otherwise face.
After the first year you're still saving a bundle, everyone is used to OO, and the County can pocket the savings, all with a lot less headache.
Interesting read. It sounds like the folks at Blizzard have put a lot of though into this game (like not picking stats right from the start). They've had a chance to see where other MMPORG's fail, and will have an opportunity to relsease one that doesn't suck.
Toss into the mix that I'll be able to play this on my PowerBook, and I might have to go back on my "never pay a monthly fee" attitude.
that's not a console only company. that's not a hardware company, it's not a software company.
the video game brand isn't exactly that restrictive. they can do software, hardware, etc.
if i want video games, i want video games. i don't want something that records tv, plays dvd's, answers the phone, does spreadsheets and whatever else.
i want a gaming machien to play games one. unless they are that 1 in 100 company that manages to get a product right that does 5 different things, they just cripple themselves with either inadequite hardware or tacked on afterthought "features".
total waste of my money to toss shit on there i don't want.
So they bought Orrin Hatch. Crap. Now what do we do? I'll tell you what we do. We buy our own Senator the old fasioned way. With voice and votes. If you don't like what Orrin is doing I suggest you contact Norm Coleman. He's been more than willing to go after these assholes before, and if we can show that enough people care, I'm sure he'll continue to do so. Do something about it rather than sitting around and squaking like a bunch of tired old men.
i know everyone always says this is a terrible mindset, but considering how many OS/2 ATM's have been hammered, there might be something to this after all.
think about the work you'd have to go through to get your hands on OS/2 code to figure out where holes might be.
then you have to write your own virus. it'll only be aimed specifically at ATM's etc.
just seems like there's a lot more legwork involved in hitting obscure OS'es.
instead, if they run XP, someone else grabs the code and distributes it. then another person writes a hack and distributes/releases that.
the end person in this case just needs to take baby steps off of the great strides of others to get a virus that can hit an ATM. sure obscurity shouldn't be a sole security measure, but it seems it would be relatively effective to me.
but is it going to be the one where Han shoots first, and we see Jabba the Hutt, or is it going to be the actual original?
i don't know that i want the stupid redited 20 years later versions. it's probably stupid but i want to watch the movies the way i remember them, not the way they were remade.
This perceived financial advantage over Microsoft--based on the belief that it will never make a profit on Xbox--seems to be the reason Nintendo is so confident that its conservative and efficient business model will keep it alive in the never-ending console war. "We're very well run that way," Kaplan explains. "We're always making a profit on our hardware; we don't just live to make profit on the software.
Slashdot Mirror
something to consider is e-bay. you can probably sell it for close to 90+% of its original value. i know it's a bit of a hassle, but most places would have stuck you with a restocking fee of 15% anyway. it's too bad you had to go through all of this hassle though.
well, after reading through the additional details (assuming they're true) i'd have to say that Apple screwed the pooch on this one.
for starters, it was an Xserve they sold, which means it's probably going into a heavy production style enviornment. why wouldn't you want to keep those customers happy?
adding their own RAM and drives shouldn't make your machine unreturnable. that's just lame. it's from Apple's site, it's their hardware, they should take it back.
sure they'll have to sell it as a refurb, but so what? at some point keeping the customers coming back has value.
as for the original poster, i know it's too late now, but for a long time Apple was offering free 30 day trials on their Xserve hardware. it might be too late for you, but other posters who would be interested should call up and ask.
and of course i have the same question as everyone else. what are you doing with the non-fucntional (for your needs) Xserve?
Since it's already slashdotted i'll paraphrase.
Tip the damn bottle.
If it constains the word "song" you won.
Buy that bottle.
The end.
One nice thing about NWN (although not officially supported) is that all the PC released expansions work just fine on your Mac.
Just wanted to say thanks for making a great game.
Was the first time i bothered dust off my PC tower in months.
(my other machine is a Mac, sorry linux folks)
anyway, great game, and keep up the good work. now that it's at 2.0 i should fire that puppy up again.
The new pricing policy really hurt RedHat and Linux at our school. What folks had been promoting as a cheap alternative to MS software has now closed ranks on price. It took a pile of work to get admins to understand that "RedHat = good", and the fact that "RedHat" as they know it now costs money has been enough to push a variety of departments off the Linux path.
I know they have to make money, I just wish it wasn't at the cost of marketshare. It would really make my life easier if I could port more people to Linux or OSX.
maybe it's all the booze, but i'm not quite sure what the hell this is about. anyone care the flesh out the original "article?"
so how long until some enterprising thief figures out how it works, and makes their own. or, along the same lines, steals on from the police.
now you've got a crook who can disable any car at a whim. talk about your easy robbery. now just wait until that RX8 pulls around the corner, shut it off, throw the driver out and turn off your "tractor beam".
i wonder if the police have their liability war chest paid up. first time this happens they're going to get sued into oblivion, as well they should.
morons.
i absolutely love Viewtiful Joe, it's been a blast. lots of fun to play, and looks great while you're doing it.
(rather than looks great, but isn't much fun to play)
Step one: Return machine to store and get a Mac.
Step two: ?????
Step three: Enjoy your computer.
No, I didn't mean a 10 year old install of Office, rather that they've been using Office for their word processing, spreadsheets etc. for the last 10 years. (although mutiple revisions)
Much like WordPerfect users didn't want to switch to Office (who can blame them) because they'd been using Word Perfect forever (and it actually funtioned properly, and could show codes). That doesn't mean they're still using version 3.1 though.
Now, I do a lot of IT work, seeing as it's my job. One thing I've found more often than not is that people DON'T like to change whatever it is they're used to.
So, if everyone has been using Office for the last 10 years, they aren't going to want to try anything new, irregardless of the benefits of said change.
When this is the case, I find that users will suddenly get stupider. As dumb as they were before, and as clueless as they were before, they are now clueless with a purpose. That purpose? To make you regret making them change their desktop. Suddenly many will be looking for reasons to have things not work. The simplest of these being folks who think something doesn't work at all now, just because it doesn't work exactly like it used to. Others being the type who actively search for weak areas in the software so they can bitch about the lack of some arcane/unused feature that used to be available.
So, the solution to all this? Cut 'em a check. That's right, instead of just switching them over and telling them it's for the good of XYZ, figure out how much money you'll save to switch over to Open Office. Then take about 70% of your savings the first year and cut a check to be split up amongst your users. I would think that if everyone got a $100 in cash on the day you put Open Office on their machines, suddenly the guy installing OO around the office would be getting calls left and right by people who can't wait to get updated, vs. the grumblind you'd otherwise face.
After the first year you're still saving a bundle, everyone is used to OO, and the County can pocket the savings, all with a lot less headache.
Interesting read. It sounds like the folks at Blizzard have put a lot of though into this game (like not picking stats right from the start). They've had a chance to see where other MMPORG's fail, and will have an opportunity to relsease one that doesn't suck.
Toss into the mix that I'll be able to play this on my PowerBook, and I might have to go back on my "never pay a monthly fee" attitude.
My god, it is so amazing. And at only a little over $100k, you know your friends will all have one.
Fat lot of good a NOC does you if you're dead.
You don't put your product on sale unless you have some need to put it on sale.
They have marketshare, and they have a product that's selling like mad. Why lower the price when people are buying as many as you can make anyway?
Because you just can't be too careful, no Master and Slave fish either!!!
so they said they were a "video game company"
that's not a console only company. that's not a hardware company, it's not a software company.
the video game brand isn't exactly that restrictive. they can do software, hardware, etc.
if i want video games, i want video games. i don't want something that records tv, plays dvd's, answers the phone, does spreadsheets and whatever else.
i want a gaming machien to play games one. unless they are that 1 in 100 company that manages to get a product right that does 5 different things, they just cripple themselves with either inadequite hardware or tacked on afterthought "features".
total waste of my money to toss shit on there i don't want.
We buy our own Senator the old fasioned way. With voice and votes. If you don't like what Orrin is doing I suggest you contact Norm Coleman. He's been more than willing to go after these assholes before, and if we can show that enough people care, I'm sure he'll continue to do so. Do something about it rather than sitting around and squaking like a bunch of tired old men.
i know everyone always says this is a terrible mindset, but considering how many OS/2 ATM's have been hammered, there might be something to this after all.
think about the work you'd have to go through to get your hands on OS/2 code to figure out where holes might be.
then you have to write your own virus. it'll only be aimed specifically at ATM's etc.
just seems like there's a lot more legwork involved in hitting obscure OS'es.
instead, if they run XP, someone else grabs the code and distributes it. then another person writes a hack and distributes/releases that.
the end person in this case just needs to take baby steps off of the great strides of others to get a virus that can hit an ATM. sure obscurity shouldn't be a sole security measure, but it seems it would be relatively effective to me.
but is it going to be the one where Han shoots first, and we see Jabba the Hutt, or is it going to be the actual original?
i don't know that i want the stupid redited 20 years later versions. it's probably stupid but i want to watch the movies the way i remember them, not the way they were remade.
hmm, so for each freeze it loses a star....
man, if you'd reviewed Windows98 it'd have been a -78 stars.
Featured on
For the same reason that I don't buy one of those stupid Fax/Scanner/Printer deals either.
You end up with a machine that can do all three but can't do any of them that well.
I'm not willing to sacrifice on quality and end up with something that's the jack of all trades and king of none.
Nintendo tried this, and it really hurt their sales at the beginning, when DVD players were expensive.
I know a number of people who helped justify the cost of their playstation 2 in part because it had a DVD player.
Now, in reality I think that this theory is correct. If you want a gaming machine get one. If you want a DVD player get one. Dunno.
Of course Nintendo's the only one making any money on hardware sales, so go figure.