Ok, first of all, I am over forty.
Secondly, I worked a LOT of different types of jobs before breaking into the computer industry. Mostly these were factory/unskilled worker type jobs. I also spent 10 years a a machinist (not much different than the factory work, except I was then considered "skilled").
All I have to say is, if you think your job is a dead end job, you should do some of those types of jobs for a while. You won't make half as much money, much of the time you will be risking serious injury all day long, working conditions are generally filthy...
Being burned out in that cubicle working on the same code over and over for what you consider to be not enough money will seem like a dream job in no time!
"That point being that most web designers don't think as much about how people will use the interface as much how good it will look."
That would be the one thing that I agree with him on. But, have you ever seen his website?
Sure, it may be easy to use... if you can stay awake long enough to click on a link;-)
Actually, I'll admit that it looks much better than it used to.
Once you get beyond that one point (which seems to me like it should be totally obvious), I can't think of anything I've ever read from him that wasn't ridiculous.
Does anyone else besides me think that Jakob Nielsen is an idiot?
I've read several things by this guy, and have yet to agree with him on anything substantial, and I'm a UI fanatic.
"Perhaps Apple should extend NetInfo to other UNIX operating systems--maybe even open source it to gain a greater support and technical base"
NetInfo was a part of NeXTstep/OPENstep (sorry if I got the capitalization wrong. I don't feel like looking it up). Wouldn't it already be open sourced as part of OPENstep?
Nope. Be was in the running to be the basis of Apple's new OS, but Gasse thought that he had them over a barrel and was asking WAY too much money. Apple turned around and bought NeXT instead. Now, Steve Jobs is back at the helm of Apple, and Gasse is out of business.
Hardly the fault of Apple.
Actually, this is already true (not quite as simplistic as the example, tho). Just ask George Harrison about "My Sweet Lord".
Well, don't actually ASK him... he won't answer. But, the point is, the composer of "He's So Fine" did exactly what the musical example states, and won.
To answer the question about a different key, IMHO, it wouldn't matter. It would still sound similar enough.
(snip) A lot of Jordan's comments are good suggestions (for instance, implementing the new standard of XML into the package process), but it seems that this problem will be tackled by *nix users like himself moving over to the OSX platform, and not by OS9 users delving into *nix for their first time. Still, it IS a good time to rethink things before momentum makes it difficult to change. I also agree with him that Apple should have spearheaded the process, and they probably will in time.(/snip)
Don't forget, Jordan Hubbard now works for Apple. So, technically, Apple IS spearheading this right now.
There are other reasons to be concerned than just desktop-tree-hugging.:-)
The simple fact is, these type of actions very often don't work out as planned. Introducing something new into an ecosystem can be disastrous. And those disasters don't just affect the plants and wildlfe, they affect the people of the area as well. We've attempted to "fix" problems in the past with similar solutions. Those attempts have often not only NOT solved the problems, but created worse ones that are still problems today.
The ecosystems of the world are incredibly complex. FAR beyond the ability of most, if not all of our scientists to fully understand (so far).
You missed one - Mac OS includes browsers for free with their OS'es.
BUT... those browsers could all be removed without causing instability to the OS (or MORE instability for Windows);-)
IE on Windows cannot. Even if you install other browsers and set them to be the main browser, IE will still jump in and take over for some tasks, and that CAN'T be changed. That's a big difference.
I have also been using OS X almost exclusively since the public beta. The OS has never crashed on me. Yes, I've had application crashes (and yes, many of these were MS apps), but the system was unaffected.
This is a throwback the old "supercomputer" ads. They were touting the fact that one CPU cycle executed faster than the amount of time it took for the light from the monitor to get to your eyes. STILL a pretty cool factoid...
Ok, so I'm nitpicking...
And before anyone asks, no, I'm not a doctor... but, I've watched someone playing one on TV.
A psychosomatic disease has real physical symptoms that can be diagnosed (typically caused by stress and exhaustion from worrying about something). What people normally refer to as psychosomatic is actually called a conversion reaction. No, it doesn't have the same ring to it, but...
Perhaps it just needs a good marketing campaign...
Apple did not STEAL anything from Parc. They PURCHASED the rights to Parc's ideas to augment their existing GUI. Parc made money on the deal. Of course it was nothing compared to what it was worth, but...
If you're actually interested in what happened rather than perpetuating this myth, check out GUI History
"...Unless I know beforehand, it would be hard to say that I was responsible to the little old ladies for selling that car."
Unless the party you were selling the car to had a well known history (that you were fully aware of) of running down little old ladies with newly purchased cars.
I'd put MS into that category...
Adobe Acrobat is very much a proprietary product, BUT the PDF file format specification is open. This is one of the big reasons that Apple chose PDF for the graphics engine for Mac OS X...
Slashdot Mirror
Ok, first of all, I am over forty.
Secondly, I worked a LOT of different types of jobs before breaking into the computer industry. Mostly these were factory/unskilled worker type jobs. I also spent 10 years a a machinist (not much different than the factory work, except I was then considered "skilled"). All I have to say is, if you think your job is a dead end job, you should do some of those types of jobs for a while. You won't make half as much money, much of the time you will be risking serious injury all day long, working conditions are generally filthy...
Being burned out in that cubicle working on the same code over and over for what you consider to be not enough money will seem like a dream job in no time!
Doh! You are, of course, correct. Now, I must spend a week in pop-culture prison!
You can download it from www.quicklime.apple.com...
No wait... In the words of the immortal Roseanne Rossanna Danna, "Nevermind".
"That point being that most web designers don't think as much about how people will use the interface as much how good it will look." That would be the one thing that I agree with him on. But, have you ever seen his website? Sure, it may be easy to use... if you can stay awake long enough to click on a link ;-)
Actually, I'll admit that it looks much better than it used to.
Once you get beyond that one point (which seems to me like it should be totally obvious), I can't think of anything I've ever read from him that wasn't ridiculous.
Does anyone else besides me think that Jakob Nielsen is an idiot? I've read several things by this guy, and have yet to agree with him on anything substantial, and I'm a UI fanatic.
"Perhaps Apple should extend NetInfo to other UNIX operating systems--maybe even open source it to gain a greater support and technical base" NetInfo was a part of NeXTstep/OPENstep (sorry if I got the capitalization wrong. I don't feel like looking it up). Wouldn't it already be open sourced as part of OPENstep?
You're both right. Some printers do vary the dot size to achieve a sort of anti-aliasing.
Nope. Be was in the running to be the basis of Apple's new OS, but Gasse thought that he had them over a barrel and was asking WAY too much money. Apple turned around and bought NeXT instead. Now, Steve Jobs is back at the helm of Apple, and Gasse is out of business. Hardly the fault of Apple.
This is something the (entire)Slashdot open source crowd should know about. It should be on the main page. Many won't see it in here.
Actually, this is already true (not quite as simplistic as the example, tho). Just ask George Harrison about "My Sweet Lord".
Well, don't actually ASK him... he won't answer. But, the point is, the composer of "He's So Fine" did exactly what the musical example states, and won.
To answer the question about a different key, IMHO, it wouldn't matter. It would still sound similar enough.
(snip) A lot of Jordan's comments are good suggestions (for instance, implementing the new standard of XML into the package process), but it seems that this problem will be tackled by *nix users like himself moving over to the OSX platform, and not by OS9 users delving into *nix for their first time. Still, it IS a good time to rethink things before momentum makes it difficult to change. I also agree with him that Apple should have spearheaded the process, and they probably will in time.(/snip)
Don't forget, Jordan Hubbard now works for Apple. So, technically, Apple IS spearheading this right now.
There are other reasons to be concerned than just desktop-tree-hugging. :-)
The simple fact is, these type of actions very often don't work out as planned. Introducing something new into an ecosystem can be disastrous. And those disasters don't just affect the plants and wildlfe, they affect the people of the area as well. We've attempted to "fix" problems in the past with similar solutions. Those attempts have often not only NOT solved the problems, but created worse ones that are still problems today.
The ecosystems of the world are incredibly complex. FAR beyond the ability of most, if not all of our scientists to fully understand (so far).
Prestonia???
:-)
Well... it shouldn't ever freeze up
Um... excuse me, but THE PEOPLE chose the other candidate. The Supreme Court chose to "give biz free reign".
You missed one - Mac OS includes browsers for free with their OS'es.
;-)
BUT... those browsers could all be removed without causing instability to the OS (or MORE instability for Windows)
IE on Windows cannot. Even if you install other browsers and set them to be the main browser, IE will still jump in and take over for some tasks, and that CAN'T be changed. That's a big difference.
Okay then.... how about if they call it RMS.GNET ? ;-)
What ever happened to CHRP?
... wait... Never mind...
I think Eric Estrada started asking for too much money and the ratings were slipping, so they cancelled it.
... no
Oh no... it's a "Me, too" post :-)
I have also been using OS X almost exclusively since the public beta. The OS has never crashed on me. Yes, I've had application crashes (and yes, many of these were MS apps), but the system was unaffected.
In other words... Me too!
This is a throwback the old "supercomputer" ads. They were touting the fact that one CPU cycle executed faster than the amount of time it took for the light from the monitor to get to your eyes. STILL a pretty cool factoid...
Ok, so I'm nitpicking...
And before anyone asks, no, I'm not a doctor... but, I've watched someone playing one on TV.
A psychosomatic disease has real physical symptoms that can be diagnosed (typically caused by stress and exhaustion from worrying about something). What people normally refer to as psychosomatic is actually called a conversion reaction. No, it doesn't have the same ring to it, but...
Perhaps it just needs a good marketing campaign...
Here we go... one more time...
Apple did not STEAL anything from Parc. They PURCHASED the rights to Parc's ideas to augment their existing GUI. Parc made money on the deal. Of course it was nothing compared to what it was worth, but...
If you're actually interested in what happened rather than perpetuating this myth, check out GUI History
"...Unless I know beforehand, it would be hard to say that I was responsible to the little old ladies for selling that car."
:-)
Unless the party you were selling the car to had a well known history (that you were fully aware of) of running down little old ladies with newly purchased cars.
I'd put MS into that category...
...only as an analogy, of course
Adobe Acrobat is very much a proprietary product, BUT the PDF file format specification is open. This is one of the big reasons that Apple chose PDF for the graphics engine for Mac OS X...
Ok, here we go again. All together now...
Xerox did not invent the mouse or the GUI. They simply advanced the works of others, probably most notably, Douglas Englebart of Stanford University.
Hmmm... sounds a lot like MS Outlook ;-)