Don't expect this as a real solution (not that you meant it that way). Product placement in shows can only do so much, because the ad is inseparable from the show.
Who knows when the show is taped? You can't exactly advertise a sale at Sears when the show was taped 7 months ago. So you're limited in what kind of ads you can do.
Also, there's the issue of repeats. Sure, Doritos might be paying for product placement in friends now, but very likely not when the show goes into syndication. But you can neither remove that ad from the show, nor can you stick a new one in.
Maybe you can use computers to put ads on every billboard or TV etc. in the show (for example, they do this behind home plate in baseball games)-- but then what do you do for an episode of Star Trek where there would be no such things around?
Also, it's one thing to be interrupted by commercials, or to have a can of cola from a show made to be Pepsi... it's another thing to have to alter the plot in the show in order to fit in the necessary amount of advertising.
Look, I just wanted you to be fair in your comparison originally. And to also consider the things you can't quantify exactly.
If you can show me that an Xserve can outperform a similarly priced Intel/AMD system (and no, not the most expensive one on the market *cough*HP*cough*) then maybe we can continue this discussion.
I'm not really trying to debate that one is better than the other. I'm just saying that things like the comfortable environment and ease of use is worth something to people. The system may not be the ultimate bargain of all time, shaving off pennies as every opportunity, but it will probably be great for some people.
Sorry, but if there's one thing these machines DON'T offer, it's value, unless you truly care what your rackmount looks like (in which case I don't think Apple's even the best) and are willing to pay a premium for that.
See above... if you disagree that this is anything, then definitely Apple has little to offer you in the way of servers. Linux can be a pain in the butt to set up and maintain. A Windows server will gut you with user licenses (and other Windows problems).
You're acting like I'm a representative of Apple or the Apple community with what I say... I'm not trying to "sell" their product to you here. I just think if you compare the two products, try to look at the whole picture. I'm not an Apple rep, and neither is the guy in the article.
I could imagine you having a similar reaction to the iPod when it came out, it has a pretty high price tag... and those are selling great. So, maybe Apple will be right on with this too. we'll just see if Xserve turns out to be of value to people like the iPod seems to be.
Until that day, Apple has no business pricing this machine at 50% more than "equivalent" Intel machines.
Apple can do whatever it wants, and if they have no business, they will have to pull the product. That's how it works.
But alas, I tried to inject some reality into the Mac users' circle-jerk.
That's definitely good. You can probably guess I'm not huge into games these days so I haven't been keeping up with all of it.
Still, a majority of games are 3D... I wonder if that trend will continue, or if there will be a resurge in 2D popularity once 3D has reached its "limits"? I could imagine it being analogous to painting. Ever since things could captured perfectly as photos, there has been an increase in abstract paintings. Could be an interesting thing.
I don't want to get into an argument about every detail. I don't know enough about the Dell machine and whatnot. Those two differences I mentioned with the RAM and HD were both emphasized in the original post, so I pointed that out.
The rest of my points, well, if that isn't worth squat to you, then of course it's good you didn't waste your money.
I think the overall Xserve package is going to be good for some people.
This is what I was thinking. I couldn't tell if Metroid is 100% 3D, but the other two are. Are we doomed to never having 2D games again? 3D games can be good, and definitely have a place, but it's sad to see all 2D games "replaced" by them. Can't we all just get along?
Mario 64 was cool, but if they made a 2D Mario as well, would kids really think it was lame?
Don't buy the RAM from Apple. That tacked on an extra $600 instead of $200.
Plus you're only getting 36GB of HD space, whereas the Apple has 60GB.
Be fair, at least.
Not to mention you get gigabit ethernet, good design (slim casing, swappable drives, etc.) and ease of use. Ease of use is a bigger deal than I think you would be willing to admit. Maintaining a Linux server is going to be harder in just about every way.
Well, you can also still be held at gunpoint and be forced to divulge your passwords. You could still have your child kidnapped. There could be an earthquake. There is no 100% safe solution!
you have to memorize the safe numbers in addition to the password you are using.
A safe combination is simpler than a complex password, and you can't use a computer to crack it. Or you have a key to the safe. Or the "safe" is a safety deposit box at the bank, if you are really paranoid.
My point was that you can use existing forms of physical security to protect physical copies of your passwords. That way you have an "out" in the event that you forget what it is.
Well, a person would get a safe to protect things. Why not write down your password, put it in a small safe, and lock that up? Then if you need it it's there, but your password is still secure.
Well, I'm also not worried about major problems for Apple, whatever happens.
But I think that if only Mac changes to Mozilla, then at best it won't make a difference-- but it almost certainly it won't be a plus.
But if all of AOL changes over to Mozilla, then then that changes this possible bad into an almost certain good, for Apple and the Internet as a whole perhaps (except Microsoft).
I think a lot of Mac users already feel alienated.
Yes, but I'm talking about potential first-time Mac users. This kind of person buys a Mac, gets AOL going, and then finds that many webpages that work on friends' PCs don't work on this Mac. This is the kind of alienation I'm talking about, not what hardcore Mac users have been feeling to different degrees for the past 10 years.
AOL has always used Mac users as guinea pigs
I wouldn't say that the initial release of AOL was using the Mac as a guinea pig. This was the early 90s-- Windows was not the totally dominant platform and was unarguably inferior to the Mac OS. So AOL was initially Mac-only because this made good business sense. Later they supported Windows, and then gradually Windows took a more dominant role in the market, and in AOL's support.
Anyway, my main underlying point is that having only the Mac version of AOL use Gecko IMO is bad, both for Apple and for AOL (though worse for Apple).
Could you please explain why you feel the need to spoil every major plot point of Episode II in your sig? I'm curious what would possess someone to do that.
That would be predatory pricing and it would be considered an illegal anti-competitive practice. Of course they made Internet Explorer free, and look how that turned out.
Yeah, I think I saw that. My money is on them changing everything, really. I just hope that they do it all at once. If there's a period of several months where Mac users have transitioned but Windows users haven't, it could be some bad PR as well (though not as bad if Windows eventually changed too).
This could be a very bad thing for the Mac in general and OS X in particular if AOL doesn't actually switch their Windose users too.
This is a *very* good point. If AOL moves itself completely over the Mozilla, then that will probably force a change in the compatibility of lots of websites. But if AOL only moves its minority of OS X users, those users will just feel alienated, and perhaps go for the "superior" Windows version, and therefore an x86 box.
So this is actually almost bad news, unless we're just seeing a preview of what is going on in all versions of AOL.
So before you question whether or not this is a valid and acceptable form of art, just consider that it can take dozens of people years to create one game.
Accounting is hard too, but we don't go calling that art.
Not that I don't think that video games could be considered art... I just don't think that something requiring a lot of effort qualifies it as a more viable art form.
Most CD drives have a mechanical (manual) eject that can be hit with a pen or paper clip. In that case you can just pull the CD out and you're fine.
The new iMac doesn't have any manual way to do it.
In other cases, perhaps you might need to get creative to get that CD out. Perhaps you need to pull the drive apart - who knows. The point is, the article made it clear that there is no permanent damage to the machine.
Oh of course. All you have to do is dismantle the computer and void your warranty to get the CD out? Man, some people are just whiners!
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Don't expect this as a real solution (not that you meant it that way). Product placement in shows can only do so much, because the ad is inseparable from the show.
Who knows when the show is taped? You can't exactly advertise a sale at Sears when the show was taped 7 months ago. So you're limited in what kind of ads you can do.
Also, there's the issue of repeats. Sure, Doritos might be paying for product placement in friends now, but very likely not when the show goes into syndication. But you can neither remove that ad from the show, nor can you stick a new one in.
Maybe you can use computers to put ads on every billboard or TV etc. in the show (for example, they do this behind home plate in baseball games)-- but then what do you do for an episode of Star Trek where there would be no such things around?
Also, it's one thing to be interrupted by commercials, or to have a can of cola from a show made to be Pepsi... it's another thing to have to alter the plot in the show in order to fit in the necessary amount of advertising.
mark
I'm not really trying to debate that one is better than the other. I'm just saying that things like the comfortable environment and ease of use is worth something to people. The system may not be the ultimate bargain of all time, shaving off pennies as every opportunity, but it will probably be great for some people.
See above... if you disagree that this is anything, then definitely Apple has little to offer you in the way of servers. Linux can be a pain in the butt to set up and maintain. A Windows server will gut you with user licenses (and other Windows problems).
You're acting like I'm a representative of Apple or the Apple community with what I say... I'm not trying to "sell" their product to you here. I just think if you compare the two products, try to look at the whole picture. I'm not an Apple rep, and neither is the guy in the article.
I could imagine you having a similar reaction to the iPod when it came out, it has a pretty high price tag... and those are selling great. So, maybe Apple will be right on with this too. we'll just see if Xserve turns out to be of value to people like the iPod seems to be.
Apple can do whatever it wants, and if they have no business, they will have to pull the product. That's how it works.
How noble.
mark
That's definitely good. You can probably guess I'm not huge into games these days so I haven't been keeping up with all of it.
Still, a majority of games are 3D... I wonder if that trend will continue, or if there will be a resurge in 2D popularity once 3D has reached its "limits"? I could imagine it being analogous to painting. Ever since things could captured perfectly as photos, there has been an increase in abstract paintings. Could be an interesting thing.
mark
I don't want to get into an argument about every detail. I don't know enough about the Dell machine and whatnot. Those two differences I mentioned with the RAM and HD were both emphasized in the original post, so I pointed that out.
The rest of my points, well, if that isn't worth squat to you, then of course it's good you didn't waste your money.
I think the overall Xserve package is going to be good for some people.
mark
Hey, whatever man, I'm secure in my sense-of-humorality.
Just tell me something that's actually funny, and I'll laugh!
mark
This is what I was thinking. I couldn't tell if Metroid is 100% 3D, but the other two are. Are we doomed to never having 2D games again? 3D games can be good, and definitely have a place, but it's sad to see all 2D games "replaced" by them. Can't we all just get along?
Mario 64 was cool, but if they made a 2D Mario as well, would kids really think it was lame?
mark
Don't buy the RAM from Apple. That tacked on an extra $600 instead of $200.
Plus you're only getting 36GB of HD space, whereas the Apple has 60GB.
Be fair, at least.
Not to mention you get gigabit ethernet, good design (slim casing, swappable drives, etc.) and ease of use. Ease of use is a bigger deal than I think you would be willing to admit. Maintaining a Linux server is going to be harder in just about every way.
The Xserve might not be for you. Fine.
mark
This is +1 insightful? It was already officially introduced as ex-serve. So no. +1 funny maybe, although that is debatable.
mark
You are probably trolling, so I won't get into it in depth.
If Apple's ad appears to be advertising graphics over real server stuff, then you are missing something. Intentionally, I'm sure.
mark
Well, you can also still be held at gunpoint and be forced to divulge your passwords. You could still have your child kidnapped. There could be an earthquake. There is no 100% safe solution!
A safe combination is simpler than a complex password, and you can't use a computer to crack it. Or you have a key to the safe. Or the "safe" is a safety deposit box at the bank, if you are really paranoid.
My point was that you can use existing forms of physical security to protect physical copies of your passwords. That way you have an "out" in the event that you forget what it is.
mark
Well, a person would get a safe to protect things. Why not write down your password, put it in a small safe, and lock that up? Then if you need it it's there, but your password is still secure.
Just a thought.
mark
Well, I'm also not worried about major problems for Apple, whatever happens.
But I think that if only Mac changes to Mozilla, then at best it won't make a difference-- but it almost certainly it won't be a plus.
But if all of AOL changes over to Mozilla, then then that changes this possible bad into an almost certain good, for Apple and the Internet as a whole perhaps (except Microsoft).
mark
Yes, but I'm talking about potential first-time Mac users. This kind of person buys a Mac, gets AOL going, and then finds that many webpages that work on friends' PCs don't work on this Mac. This is the kind of alienation I'm talking about, not what hardcore Mac users have been feeling to different degrees for the past 10 years.
I wouldn't say that the initial release of AOL was using the Mac as a guinea pig. This was the early 90s-- Windows was not the totally dominant platform and was unarguably inferior to the Mac OS. So AOL was initially Mac-only because this made good business sense. Later they supported Windows, and then gradually Windows took a more dominant role in the market, and in AOL's support.
Anyway, my main underlying point is that having only the Mac version of AOL use Gecko IMO is bad, both for Apple and for AOL (though worse for Apple).
mark
Could you please explain why you feel the need to spoil every major plot point of Episode II in your sig? I'm curious what would possess someone to do that.
mark
That would be predatory pricing and it would be considered an illegal anti-competitive practice. Of course they made Internet Explorer free, and look how that turned out.
mark
Yeah, I think I saw that. My money is on them changing everything, really. I just hope that they do it all at once. If there's a period of several months where Mac users have transitioned but Windows users haven't, it could be some bad PR as well (though not as bad if Windows eventually changed too).
mark
This is a *very* good point. If AOL moves itself completely over the Mozilla, then that will probably force a change in the compatibility of lots of websites. But if AOL only moves its minority of OS X users, those users will just feel alienated, and perhaps go for the "superior" Windows version, and therefore an x86 box.
So this is actually almost bad news, unless we're just seeing a preview of what is going on in all versions of AOL.
mark
Ah yes! Good call!
Gee, didn't see that coming. How original.
Accounting is hard too, but we don't go calling that art.
Not that I don't think that video games could be considered art... I just don't think that something requiring a lot of effort qualifies it as a more viable art form.
mark
iCab, OmniWeb, Konqueror...
The first thing I thought when I looked at this weblog was "man, it sure looks like the Crazy Apple Rumors website.
mark
No, it isn't for consumers. (iMac, iBook, iPhoto, etc. are consumer products. PowerBook, PowerMac, etc. are not.)
mark
Man: Well, I believe I'll vote for a third-party candidate.
Kang: Go ahead, throw your vote away. MWAHAHAHA!!
The new iMac doesn't have any manual way to do it.
Oh of course. All you have to do is dismantle the computer and void your warranty to get the CD out? Man, some people are just whiners!
mark