No, the primary implication is that the "top dogs of the industry" who are naturally "smart" hang out at that particular convention. This is incorrect. Most of the "top dogs" at that convention are patent-holders and CEOs.
Saying they use Powerbooks, while PR people, politicians and high schoolers who end up in community colleges use them as well, totally defeats the validity of the statement. If I saw *just* high-end coders using Macs, I (and others with half a brain cell) would think differently.
Re:Powerusers && Powermacs
on
Return of the Mac
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· Score: 1, Flamebait
I think you're completely missing the point of the original poster. They were saying "Last year's Usenix conference was full of Powerbooks. Most of the top dogs in the industry." You consider the "top dogs" at the Usenix conference "smart"? Are you out of your mind? I'm talking about academia and the like. Some people at Usenix fall into that category, sure, but most are hasbeens and never-wasses deparately clinging onto 20-year old patents to make a quick buck.
"I said that when you see somebody smarter than you carrying a Powerbook, you notice."
Personally, I don't take notice of the kind of computer someone is using. I take notice with what they use it for. Someone can pull out a 286 orange-screen CGA bricktop for all I care. If they got it to do something insanely cool, like squeeze significant performance out of it, that's worth seeing. Seeing someone carry a Powerbook (which, incidentally, I see a lot of PR and politicians use -- do we also consider them smart?) doesn't qualify.
"Okay, so your definition of "smarter" hinges around having a pathological interest in stuff that's utterly obsolete and of no practical use to anybody."
No practical use? Gee... all these kids I hire for their exceptional assembly programming skills, who honed their skills taking apart Speak and Spells, obviously don't belong in crafting 64-bit chips, correct? I'll just take a Powerbook user with a flashy case.
"You know, I really wish your nickname were literally true."
You know, I wish yours wasn't. You spout just about the same amount of bullshit as the tube.
Replace "cooler" with "smarter" and you're right on. When you see people you've admired for years walking around with Powerbooks, you start to get the idea that maybe they know something you don't, you know?
Smarter? Because they bought a certain product? Sorry, I don't see anyone who buys one product over another "smarter".
They built their own Altair? They know the registers on an Apple II? That earns my respect. That quantifies "smarter" in my book.
I don't know about you, but have you actually seen Yahoo lately? A lot less ads. Very clean interface in all areas. The spam blocker in their webmail pretty much bests all. Hotjobs is beginning to rival Monster in usability.
I still use Google daily for search, but for everything else I'm beginning to use Yahoo.
Because, of course, the court cases that Jon went through (DMCA infringment involving DVD encryption) relate directly to DMA involved with iTunes. After all, DMCA is DMCA, right? Let's lump all the cases together.
In other news, I will no longer be going to court for any speeding tickets I get. Since I already went once, and was cleared of charges, it obviously means I can do so again and again.
Re:IMHO DS is far better and the review is compari
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PSP And DS Duke It Out
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· Score: 1
apples with oranges as well..
Actually, it's more like Macintoshes and Golden Delicious. Both are very similar.
True the touchscreen may not be the best option for navigability, but a button pad will pale before what a stylus can do when it comes to writing, careful manipulation of onscreen items. Personally, an analog stick does a better job. You also don't cover one of the screens when using it.
Sure yes, in a game you dont need much fine control, but what when DS starts supporting movies, mp3s and productivity apps for kids? Are you going to type using a button pad or are you using a stylus?
PSP has movies and MP3s now. DS doesn't. Personally, I'd rather use a D-pad over anything for a handheld media player. They can't use an iPod-style interface -- people tried with pPod and got sued.
And "productivity apps"? For the PSP and DS? What are you smoking?
The PSP costs 250 or more. DS is available now for around 120. Are you willing to pay more than double for the promise of better games, graphics and a better screen? Havent we learned enough from forking over hundreds to the Nvidia and ATI's?
I'm willing to pay double for better functionality out of the box, a longer list of game developers, etc...
Have I learned anything from nVidia/ATI? Yes. They make some damn good graphics cards that happen to be really expensive.
PSP Loading times??? A kid can be all grown up with in that time..
Because we all know 30-second loading time (which is about how much the average kid spends waiting for his crappy 56K connection to connect) wastes away a lifetime of childhood.
In the end the author gets it right when he stops comparing PSP with DS since the PSP should be compared with what Nintendo would throw next in to the ring.
Uh, no. That's like comparing the Super Nintendo with the Sega Master System. It's unfair and biased. People should compare what they have today with what's out there today, and make their own decisions.
I feel Sony is almost at its death throes after poking their finger in to far too many verticals than they could manage. And quality went downhill as well for almost everything they make.
While I agree that the their tendrills spread pretty tenuously, I don't think Sony is anywhere close to "death throes". Multi-billion dollar corporations with assets in movies, music and electronics don't go into "death throes" easily. I'd venture to say, if anything, Sony has never been in a stronger position to try some crazy stuff (like the Cell processor).
Re:Just to make sure we're all clear...
on
Juiced
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· Score: 1
"Anonymous World League Ball and Stick-type Game" (tm) by EA Sports.
"I hope companies start designing webpages for Firefox only and it will display a message when you try to access the site in IE saying please use firefox to access this website."
Huh? How could this possibly be a good thing? The goal of Firefox isn't to emulate IE, it's to do things right that IE could never do in the first place.
Given some of the homemade cases I've seen, I suspect tinkering with the Mac Mini to give it an iPod dock would make it a bit less "mini" and considerably less stylish.
And the problem with this would be...? Some people don't want a "stylish" computer. They want a functional one.
You know, I read your entire post 3 times now to see where a reference would be, and I can't find one. If you're citing Apple's numbers from a conference call, don't you think that lowers their credibility a bit? Or are you just doing a Google search? Wake me when you get independent numbers.
A very respected company that just works and keeps it that way.
This'll likely be judged as a troll, but I'd like to add the likely caveat "for now". Every company the tech community has taken a liken to at one point (Microsoft, Apple, RedHat, etc) has squandered that trust over time (antitrust, excessive litigation, leaving the base community for corporations).
I'm not saying Google will do this, but I can't think of a single, not-for-profit tech company that hasn't done some morally or ethically reprehensible thing at one point in its history. Can you?
Aww, com'on. Admit it. You had fun guessing those guys were U2. It took my wife 6 repeated viewings to figure that out (and it took my grandmother one viewing to spout "Why on earth would that girl twirl her hair around like that? She's going to get whiplash!")
How about taking the prime example of a great Linux user interface and removing Linux from the equation. I agree that Tivo has very little choice, at this point, but a move like this would end up only further pushing Linux into server rooms (and away from living rooms).
Re:When will they update the firmware for old iPod
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Apple Updates iPod
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· Score: 1
Well about freaking time!:) Why did they wait so long?!? Was anyone really buying iPods with the Shuffle feature over similar ones without?
Re:When will they update the firmware for old iPod
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Apple Updates iPod
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· Score: 2, Interesting
Well, you see, it's ridiculously complicated to add a Shuffle feature to the menu. I mean, it would've required rewriting 2 pointers.
Actually, I was pretty peeved when I bought an iPod, they shipped a new model a month later and didn't think to add this simple hack. And before you say "Just buy another iPod", no. No thank you. This is software.
A good example of what to do is Blizzard. Every time they release new features its gets updated up and down the board. With the Warcraft 3 Expansion they gave similar functionality to the original game in a patch (without the new units). It wouldn't have killed Apple to do the same.
Slashdot Mirror
No, the primary implication is that the "top dogs of the industry" who are naturally "smart" hang out at that particular convention. This is incorrect. Most of the "top dogs" at that convention are patent-holders and CEOs.
Saying they use Powerbooks, while PR people, politicians and high schoolers who end up in community colleges use them as well, totally defeats the validity of the statement. If I saw *just* high-end coders using Macs, I (and others with half a brain cell) would think differently.
I think you're completely missing the point of the original poster. They were saying "Last year's Usenix conference was full of Powerbooks. Most of the top dogs in the industry." You consider the "top dogs" at the Usenix conference "smart"? Are you out of your mind? I'm talking about academia and the like. Some people at Usenix fall into that category, sure, but most are hasbeens and never-wasses deparately clinging onto 20-year old patents to make a quick buck.
"I said that when you see somebody smarter than you carrying a Powerbook, you notice."
Personally, I don't take notice of the kind of computer someone is using. I take notice with what they use it for. Someone can pull out a 286 orange-screen CGA bricktop for all I care. If they got it to do something insanely cool, like squeeze significant performance out of it, that's worth seeing. Seeing someone carry a Powerbook (which, incidentally, I see a lot of PR and politicians use -- do we also consider them smart?) doesn't qualify.
"Okay, so your definition of "smarter" hinges around having a pathological interest in stuff that's utterly obsolete and of no practical use to anybody."
No practical use? Gee... all these kids I hire for their exceptional assembly programming skills, who honed their skills taking apart Speak and Spells, obviously don't belong in crafting 64-bit chips, correct? I'll just take a Powerbook user with a flashy case.
"You know, I really wish your nickname were literally true."
You know, I wish yours wasn't. You spout just about the same amount of bullshit as the tube.
Replace "cooler" with "smarter" and you're right on. When you see people you've admired for years walking around with Powerbooks, you start to get the idea that maybe they know something you don't, you know?
Smarter? Because they bought a certain product? Sorry, I don't see anyone who buys one product over another "smarter".
They built their own Altair? They know the registers on an Apple II? That earns my respect. That quantifies "smarter" in my book.
Or cable. Or a host of other things.
That said, this is similar to when Gator popped up advertisements over other advertisements. That was deemed plain old illegal.
I don't know about you, but have you actually seen Yahoo lately? A lot less ads. Very clean interface in all areas. The spam blocker in their webmail pretty much bests all. Hotjobs is beginning to rival Monster in usability.
I still use Google daily for search, but for everything else I'm beginning to use Yahoo.
Actually, Yahoo's spam filtering is excellent. I find it the best of all the services I've tried (Google, Hotmail, etc).
Because, of course, the court cases that Jon went through (DMCA infringment involving DVD encryption) relate directly to DMA involved with iTunes. After all, DMCA is DMCA, right? Let's lump all the cases together.
In other news, I will no longer be going to court for any speeding tickets I get. Since I already went once, and was cleared of charges, it obviously means I can do so again and again.
apples with oranges as well..
Actually, it's more like Macintoshes and Golden Delicious. Both are very similar.
True the touchscreen may not be the best option for navigability, but a button pad will pale before what a stylus can do when it comes to writing, careful manipulation of onscreen items.
Personally, an analog stick does a better job. You also don't cover one of the screens when using it.
Sure yes, in a game you dont need much fine control, but what when DS starts supporting movies, mp3s and productivity apps for kids? Are you going to type using a button pad or are you using a stylus?
PSP has movies and MP3s now. DS doesn't. Personally, I'd rather use a D-pad over anything for a handheld media player. They can't use an iPod-style interface -- people tried with pPod and got sued.
And "productivity apps"? For the PSP and DS? What are you smoking?
The PSP costs 250 or more. DS is available now for around 120. Are you willing to pay more than double for the promise of better games, graphics and a better screen? Havent we learned enough from forking over hundreds to the Nvidia and ATI's?
I'm willing to pay double for better functionality out of the box, a longer list of game developers, etc...
Have I learned anything from nVidia/ATI? Yes. They make some damn good graphics cards that happen to be really expensive.
PSP Loading times??? A kid can be all grown up with in that time..
Because we all know 30-second loading time (which is about how much the average kid spends waiting for his crappy 56K connection to connect) wastes away a lifetime of childhood.
In the end the author gets it right when he stops comparing PSP with DS since the PSP should be compared with what Nintendo would throw next in to the ring.
Uh, no. That's like comparing the Super Nintendo with the Sega Master System. It's unfair and biased. People should compare what they have today with what's out there today, and make their own decisions.
I feel Sony is almost at its death throes after poking their finger in to far too many verticals than they could manage. And quality went downhill as well for almost everything they make.
While I agree that the their tendrills spread pretty tenuously, I don't think Sony is anywhere close to "death throes". Multi-billion dollar corporations with assets in movies, music and electronics don't go into "death throes" easily. I'd venture to say, if anything, Sony has never been in a stronger position to try some crazy stuff (like the Cell processor).
"Anonymous World League Ball and Stick-type Game" (tm) by EA Sports.
Time taken to execute all of this: several hours (not counting the 6-month way).
Cost of iPod: $300 for a decent one.
At my salary, it's not worth it. Just pay the cash -- and get it today instead of half-a-year from now.
Baseball's that game with the ball and the stick, right? Or am I thinking of something else? Cricket?
(Yes, I'm being sarcastic.)
"I hope companies start designing webpages for Firefox only and it will display a message when you try to access the site in IE saying please use firefox to access this website."
Huh? How could this possibly be a good thing? The goal of Firefox isn't to emulate IE, it's to do things right that IE could never do in the first place.
The DirecTV boxes still can't talk via Ethernet without a hack to enable the USB ports.
Better than the model that only uses imaginary numbers.
If you want big, blocky pixels, sure. It'd be better if they went a higher res and line-doubled (tripled?) existing HDTV.
Now we are letting inanimate objects raise our kids!
Forget Awesomo. What about the glowing box in the living room? "Raising Children Since the 50's" (tm)
Given some of the homemade cases I've seen, I suspect tinkering with the Mac Mini to give it an iPod dock would make it a bit less "mini" and considerably less stylish.
And the problem with this would be...? Some people don't want a "stylish" computer. They want a functional one.
Agreed, but with the way people talk, you'd think Firefox and Google were Christs incarnate.
You know, I read your entire post 3 times now to see where a reference would be, and I can't find one. If you're citing Apple's numbers from a conference call, don't you think that lowers their credibility a bit? Or are you just doing a Google search? Wake me when you get independent numbers.
A very respected company that just works and keeps it that way.
This'll likely be judged as a troll, but I'd like to add the likely caveat "for now". Every company the tech community has taken a liken to at one point (Microsoft, Apple, RedHat, etc) has squandered that trust over time (antitrust, excessive litigation, leaving the base community for corporations).
I'm not saying Google will do this, but I can't think of a single, not-for-profit tech company that hasn't done some morally or ethically reprehensible thing at one point in its history. Can you?
"We don't have to guess at this stuff. We have actual data."
Who's "we"? Where did you get this data?
Aww, com'on. Admit it. You had fun guessing those guys were U2. It took my wife 6 repeated viewings to figure that out (and it took my grandmother one viewing to spout "Why on earth would that girl twirl her hair around like that? She's going to get whiplash!")
"How can this not be a good idea?"
How about taking the prime example of a great Linux user interface and removing Linux from the equation. I agree that Tivo has very little choice, at this point, but a move like this would end up only further pushing Linux into server rooms (and away from living rooms).
Well about freaking time! :) Why did they wait so long?!? Was anyone really buying iPods with the Shuffle feature over similar ones without?
Well, you see, it's ridiculously complicated to add a Shuffle feature to the menu. I mean, it would've required rewriting 2 pointers.
Actually, I was pretty peeved when I bought an iPod, they shipped a new model a month later and didn't think to add this simple hack. And before you say "Just buy another iPod", no. No thank you. This is software.
A good example of what to do is Blizzard. Every time they release new features its gets updated up and down the board. With the Warcraft 3 Expansion they gave similar functionality to the original game in a patch (without the new units). It wouldn't have killed Apple to do the same.