Android is only in the position it's in because manufacturers were looking for a standard OS to compete with, and it was in the right place at the right time at the right price. It's not there because of some ideological virtue of "openness".
It's true. Android isn't popular because it's "open", it's popular because after the iPhone launch handset manufacturers were clamouring for an OS to compete with it, and Google just happened to have Android under development and told everyone "Here, you can use this. It's free." The handset manufacturers clamped onto it because it meant they didn't have to go to the trouble of developing their own modern mobile OS.
If Microsoft, or even Palm, had had their shit together at the time, Android may have just been a niche OS today. But they didn't, so here we are.
I remember the conspiracy theorist in our office muttering 10 or so years ago about how he wasn't going to install Windows XP or buy a Pentium 4 because of "Trusted Computing" they would implement.
2.5 generations of OS and several CPU generations later...
Sure, there's nothing wrong with RIM. You could argue that. Just as you could argue with any company that's seen their market disappear from under them due to inaction. If things simply hadn't changed, they'd still be rolling along nicely.
"Metro" seems to have a very loose definition within Microsoft.
It's like "Sandwich". Unless you explicitly define the types of bread, types of filling, types of condiments, and way of cutting it, each department is going to end up with their own very different sandwich. Ham and cheese on a bun, PB&J on white bread, possibly some pita wrap, and eventually some bizarre abomination from someone with no kitchen skills whatsoever.
The problem is that the corporation is too large and unwieldy to properly enforce the design goals throughout.
"Regardless of one's feelings on Microsoft, that company has consistently and continually tried to make their user interfaces as attractive and easy to use as is possible."
That happened to me in NYC. I bought something and made my payment, which included a Canadian penny, and the woman behind the counter had this expression on her face like I'd just dropped a dead rat on the counter. She asked me for a US penny, with a voice full of contempt.
Apple doesn't care if this device gets much fanfare. It's user-subsidized research for them. You pay Apple $99, and they put a little media box on your shelf that studies how you use it. This is just a way for them to do a mass-study on how to best go about tackling the TV project. Better to get it right first on a cheap, tiny box than jump straight into selling a big, expensive TV.
The new "app" layout and the fact that Netflix can bill directly to your iTunes account is a pretty clear sign that they're now gearing up to allow more third party content providers on it.
That said, I've got a 2nd gen one, and I like it. Sure, it's not full of features, but it does a better job at Netflix than my PS3 and I love streaming music on it to my big stereo system.
American currency is stuck in the 19th century. All around the world, countries with currencies that Americans scoff at as "worthless" have invested time and money in redesigning their currency to 21st century levels that make it harder to counterfeit. But, whenever anyone in power even breathes a word of redesigning US currency, the populace flies into a rage, foaming at the mouth about anyone daring to pervert their sacred greenbacks. All efforts to bring the bills up to date have resulted in hideous, half-assed results.
I've actually heard stories first hand from a currency expert, who used to print banknotes in Europe, who was invited by the US to offer ideas on bringing the currency up to date, and the officials there rejecting each and every idea he put forward because they were "too different".
It's kind of sad. Everyone wants to counterfeit your money, and they're good at it, but you're too sentimentally attached to its archaic design that you're completely unwilling to change it.
I agree. He's not trolling, he's just making a horrible argument.
But it's true, Apple *helped* bring computers out of the nerd dens. Let's travel back 30 years, give or take a few. The Apple II was the first truly mainstream "personal computer". The Mac was the first commercially viable computer that was "friendly".
Some bottled water is indeed tapwater. Also, some bottled water is actually trucked-in from pure springs. (If the bottle says "natural spring water", and it's not direct from a spring, that's false labeling.) It all depends on the brand and the plant. Sometimes they do both in the same plant, for different sub-brands.
Take it from a guy who's helped install water purification systems in these places.
Random account holder uploads large encrypted file with relatively meaningless name. They don't know who the uploader is and they don't have any sort of clue about what's in the file. Let's assume files like this get uploaded by countless users all the time, every day.
Do they waste their time and resources attempting to decrypt it? Possible, but very, very unlikely.
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...and neither is a trustworthy authority on anything.
You're missing my point, and you proved my point.
Android is only in the position it's in because manufacturers were looking for a standard OS to compete with, and it was in the right place at the right time at the right price. It's not there because of some ideological virtue of "openness".
It's true. Android isn't popular because it's "open", it's popular because after the iPhone launch handset manufacturers were clamouring for an OS to compete with it, and Google just happened to have Android under development and told everyone "Here, you can use this. It's free." The handset manufacturers clamped onto it because it meant they didn't have to go to the trouble of developing their own modern mobile OS.
If Microsoft, or even Palm, had had their shit together at the time, Android may have just been a niche OS today. But they didn't, so here we are.
And not a single fuck was given that day.
I remember the conspiracy theorist in our office muttering 10 or so years ago about how he wasn't going to install Windows XP or buy a Pentium 4 because of "Trusted Computing" they would implement.
2.5 generations of OS and several CPU generations later...
"Samsung, with the help of Google, has been pushing out an over-the-air software update to make its phones worse."
The connotation of "worse" is that it was already bad to begin with.
Not only could no one else get it, they all moaned and complained "we never had to do that before" after he showed them.
So not only are they unwilling to adapt on their own, they seem to take umbrage at being shown something new.
Sure, there's nothing wrong with RIM. You could argue that. Just as you could argue with any company that's seen their market disappear from under them due to inaction. If things simply hadn't changed, they'd still be rolling along nicely.
But that's the problem: Things change.
"Metro" seems to have a very loose definition within Microsoft.
It's like "Sandwich". Unless you explicitly define the types of bread, types of filling, types of condiments, and way of cutting it, each department is going to end up with their own very different sandwich. Ham and cheese on a bun, PB&J on white bread, possibly some pita wrap, and eventually some bizarre abomination from someone with no kitchen skills whatsoever.
The problem is that the corporation is too large and unwieldy to properly enforce the design goals throughout.
"Regardless of one's feelings on Microsoft, that company has consistently and continually tried to make their user interfaces as attractive and easy to use as is possible."
Are you talking about the same Microsoft I know?
Oh, right, they're "trying".
Now all those big companies will have to buy 220 more variations of each of their domains. Big bucks coming in for the registrars!
Then call the OS on phones and tablets something other than "Windows", because even though they share a similar codebase, it's not Windows.
I'd go beyond the annual software refresh and look at the annual hardware refresh.
Apple makes a killing release ONE new phone a year, whereas Nokia is used to releasing a dozen or so new phones a year.
I have all of that at my disposal and know how to use it, and I used to host my own photos... but honestly, I'd rather not anymore.
Maybe not a "Dead OS". An OS with a gun pointed at its temple, a finger on the trigger, and a bullet in one of the 6 chambers.
That happened to me in NYC. I bought something and made my payment, which included a Canadian penny, and the woman behind the counter had this expression on her face like I'd just dropped a dead rat on the counter. She asked me for a US penny, with a voice full of contempt.
Wow. I almost cost you $0.0001. Sorry 'bout that.
Newfoundland was found quite a long time ago. Go ask them why they don't change the name of their province.
Apple doesn't care if this device gets much fanfare. It's user-subsidized research for them. You pay Apple $99, and they put a little media box on your shelf that studies how you use it. This is just a way for them to do a mass-study on how to best go about tackling the TV project. Better to get it right first on a cheap, tiny box than jump straight into selling a big, expensive TV.
The new "app" layout and the fact that Netflix can bill directly to your iTunes account is a pretty clear sign that they're now gearing up to allow more third party content providers on it.
That said, I've got a 2nd gen one, and I like it. Sure, it's not full of features, but it does a better job at Netflix than my PS3 and I love streaming music on it to my big stereo system.
The CN Tower gets dwarfed yet again.
Oh well, it had a nice, long run as tallest freestanding structure.
Wonderful. Now you've given me a horrible mental image of Steve Ballmer as the Baron Harkonnen.
American currency is stuck in the 19th century. All around the world, countries with currencies that Americans scoff at as "worthless" have invested time and money in redesigning their currency to 21st century levels that make it harder to counterfeit. But, whenever anyone in power even breathes a word of redesigning US currency, the populace flies into a rage, foaming at the mouth about anyone daring to pervert their sacred greenbacks. All efforts to bring the bills up to date have resulted in hideous, half-assed results.
I've actually heard stories first hand from a currency expert, who used to print banknotes in Europe, who was invited by the US to offer ideas on bringing the currency up to date, and the officials there rejecting each and every idea he put forward because they were "too different".
It's kind of sad. Everyone wants to counterfeit your money, and they're good at it, but you're too sentimentally attached to its archaic design that you're completely unwilling to change it.
We report to our boss, not yours, this includes every time a user refuses to do something we tell them to do.
It's all a big laugh until your boss, or your boss' boss, gets an iPhone. Then comes the knock on the IT office's door.
I agree. He's not trolling, he's just making a horrible argument.
But it's true, Apple *helped* bring computers out of the nerd dens. Let's travel back 30 years, give or take a few. The Apple II was the first truly mainstream "personal computer". The Mac was the first commercially viable computer that was "friendly".
Some bottled water is indeed tapwater. Also, some bottled water is actually trucked-in from pure springs. (If the bottle says "natural spring water", and it's not direct from a spring, that's false labeling.) It all depends on the brand and the plant. Sometimes they do both in the same plant, for different sub-brands.
Take it from a guy who's helped install water purification systems in these places.
Let's think about this for a sec.
Random account holder uploads large encrypted file with relatively meaningless name. They don't know who the uploader is and they don't have any sort of clue about what's in the file. Let's assume files like this get uploaded by countless users all the time, every day.
Do they waste their time and resources attempting to decrypt it? Possible, but very, very unlikely.