When does it just stop being the sincerest form of flattery and just become utter, pathetic laziness? A long, long time ago. You would think a company that has roundly trounced their chief rival wouldn't need to keep pursuing the same simian mimicry strategy over and over again. Isn't market share in excess of 90% about the time that blatant rip-offs are no longer necessary? It's amazing that the paranoia that has allowed Microsoft to succeed has become so ingrained as to be utilized in an effort to stave off a competitor with what... 3% global market share? Pathetic was indeed the right word to describe this shameless copycat behavior. --
These companies have cranked out some very innovative products, for which they deserve much kudos and high praise. But between competition from the gatekeepers (cable and satellite TV companies), Japanese consumer electronics companies, and do-it-yourself PC-based solutions, they don't have much ground to stand on. Selling out to DirecTV or AT&T Cable while they still can is probably their best and safest bet.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw this article. What a small world! Back in 1995, I authored and hosted this guy's first web site. I've visited his studio a few times, and I can tell you firsthand that it's not like the place is crawling in hot chicks. Moreover, he didn't pay his bills on time and we ended up dropping him as a customer. Personally, I think the guy is a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
How are the Mac versions unusable? I've been using Mozilla 1.2 beta on OS X for weeks, and it's working wonderfully. Extremely stable (hasn't crashed once), reasonably fast rendering, and the best standards compliance I've seen on any browser. It would be great if the overall browsing speed were improved, but as the browser I use on a daily basis, it's certainly usable even in its current state.
I agree that it would be great if players were easily upgradable to support future codecs, but as long as they support Divx 3.x, 4.x, and ISO MPEG-4 (both Simple and Advanced profiles), there may not be a need to upgrade for a long, long time. Both Divx 5.x and Xvid provide support for encoding ISO MPEG-4 compliant video, and any future codecs from these camps should be ISO MPEG-4 compliant as well. (And if they aren't, you should use another codec that is!)
How about: "Some background..." To be blunt, I don't think too much of credentials. I know too many morons with postdoctorate degrees. =) Heck, I've spent many years in Japan, but I wouldn't advertise this as proof that I know what I'm talking about. (I don't.)
...but I'd like to point out that there are some places where technology has made less inroads than in North America, at least for the common consumer.
Absolutely true. But to be honest, these instances are really the exception rather than the rule. In nearly every category, advanced technology pervades Japanese (urban) life far more quickly than it does in the U.S. I'm sure entire treatises have been written on why this is the case, so I won't bother going into it here. Some of it is cultural, but a lot of it has to do with the fact that Japan is smaller and more centralized. It's a lot easier to implement prepaid telephone cards, for example, when you have one local telephone monopoly instead of a dozen companies spread out all over the country.
But the per capita use of cars in Japan is far less than here in America. Here, it would be tough to imagine a 5-member family without a car. But it would be no surprise in suburbs of Tokyo or Osaka.
Hmm... I don't think this supporting example makes a lot of sense. There are many reasons why a family in Tokyo or Osaka wouldn't have a car (very expensive, lack of parking, efficient alternative transportation options, etc.), and none of them have anything to do with technology adoption. Moreover, computerized technologies (e.g., car navigation systems) have cropped up in vehicles aimed at the Japanese market much more quickly than in North America.
Adoption of the PC, E-mail, WWW, etc, were far behind in Japan. Game consoles have been common, but general purpose PCs have seen far slower acceptance.
Another less-than-convincing example, albeit better than automobiles. As above, there are many reasons for the relative delay in per capita PC ownership/Internet use among Japanese consumers (e.g., higher cost of PCs, expensive telecommunications charges, fewer Japanese-language apps / web content, etc.) that don't have anything to do with the willingness to adopt new technology.
For regular folk, I don't think there's all that much difference between Japan and North America, technologically speaking.
On the whole, you're probably right. But when was the last time you saw heated toilet seats with bidets, dryers, and wireless remote control units in North America? =)
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Given that you can find iBooks for just a bit more (around $999), I think I'd rather have the Aqua interface.
When does it just stop being the sincerest form of flattery and just become utter, pathetic laziness? A long, long time ago. You would think a company that has roundly trounced their chief rival wouldn't need to keep pursuing the same simian mimicry strategy over and over again. Isn't market share in excess of 90% about the time that blatant rip-offs are no longer necessary? It's amazing that the paranoia that has allowed Microsoft to succeed has become so ingrained as to be utilized in an effort to stave off a competitor with what... 3% global market share? Pathetic was indeed the right word to describe this shameless copycat behavior.
--
These companies have cranked out some very innovative products, for which they deserve much kudos and high praise. But between competition from the gatekeepers (cable and satellite TV companies), Japanese consumer electronics companies, and do-it-yourself PC-based solutions, they don't have much ground to stand on. Selling out to DirecTV or AT&T Cable while they still can is probably their best and safest bet.
My jaw hit the floor when I saw this article. What a small world! Back in 1995, I authored and hosted this guy's first web site. I've visited his studio a few times, and I can tell you firsthand that it's not like the place is crawling in hot chicks. Moreover, he didn't pay his bills on time and we ended up dropping him as a customer. Personally, I think the guy is a few sandwiches short of a picnic.
...the Mac versions are basically unusable...
How are the Mac versions unusable? I've been using Mozilla 1.2 beta on OS X for weeks, and it's working wonderfully. Extremely stable (hasn't crashed once), reasonably fast rendering, and the best standards compliance I've seen on any browser. It would be great if the overall browsing speed were improved, but as the browser I use on a daily basis, it's certainly usable even in its current state.I agree that it would be great if players were easily upgradable to support future codecs, but as long as they support Divx 3.x, 4.x, and ISO MPEG-4 (both Simple and Advanced profiles), there may not be a need to upgrade for a long, long time. Both Divx 5.x and Xvid provide support for encoding ISO MPEG-4 compliant video, and any future codecs from these camps should be ISO MPEG-4 compliant as well. (And if they aren't, you should use another codec that is!)