You're telling me that nations in middle-Africa rely on television to broadcast where the next rice meal will be? They even need to tape these messages with Tivo? Your argument is flawed.
It's television. It's not bread, water or sleep. It isn't procreation. It isn't required to subsist. It *isn't an inalienable right*.
Therefore, it's a luxury. A luxury you pay for. A luxury you *don't have to pay for*. If you don't like the restraints this particular facet of the entertainment industry wishes to put on you *DON'T BUY A FUCKING TV*.
These arguments get me *so* pissed off. People are dying in other parts of the world because they can't get enough rice, and *we're* worried about a luxury we somehow view as an inalienable right.
"Over the long term, consumers will lose interest in hacking/development. It might take an entire generation, but it will happen."
And the problem with this is?...
Joe Sixpack doesn't want to hack. He doesn't want set up users with less permissions than him. He doesn't want to decode the assembly instructions used to craft a window in X. He doesn't want to waste time learning how to defrag or fsck a hard drive.
He wants to do those 5 things, and he isn't interested in having to take apart a device to do it. No other consumer device *in the world* is anything like a PC. There's a reason why they're so darn hard to "make easier" -- they're *too* configurable.
So Microsoft makes an all-purpose box that needs little maintenance, and Dell, Gateway, IBM, and Compaq/HP follow suit. Big deal. There will still be computers for us "regular hackers". They will be just as configurable: like Hot Rods versus your standard Buick. We, as techies, shouldn't *force* our culture onto everyone else (for some reason, we feel like we have a right to).
Not to be a nudge (XBox is my favorite console right now) but I think the video "input" is relatively simplistic: like telling the XBox a video kit is hooked up and which one (RCA, HDTV, S-Video, etc.). Also, it most likely tells the XBox when the wire is disconnected (try removing the wire and looking at the front light sometime).
Outside of this, yes it would be cool. But no, I don't think it'll happen.:)
Um, I live in the New York area, my apartment could be likened to a closet, but I don't choose a computer on size. I choose one on functionality, power, support, etc.
Then again, I guess it's sorta like that whole "Art for art's sake" thing here. Throw eggs at a canvas. It's "creative". It's art. Make a computer look like a desk lamp. It's "creative". It's a good product.
"Look, Apple will never take over the world, and we Macheads know that. That's okay."
If "that's ok", why do the same MacHeads come up to me and extol the virtue of their machines over... and over... and over...
Quite frankly, it kind of feels like I'm listening to the kid who got beaten up on the playground. "Yes, it's ok. All right. Ok now.... [mumbling to myself] *shut up kid*."
Um, you really shouldn't talk about weak arguments. Basically you took every point the original person made and said "you won't notice it", "I don't use it" and "who cares".
Well, I do 3D-rendering in both OpenGL and DirectX, and I do video editing. Guess what? I *will* notice the smaller hard drive. I *will* notice the lack of texture memory on the video card. I *will* notice the bottlenecks involved with using inferior RAM. I *will* notice the lack of support. And, quite frankly, I *will* notice the hundreds of thousands of applications I am able to use that make my life easier.
But hey, if you want to be a zealot go right ahead.
"What hardware do you own? Price a new iMac vs. a dell beige box with a flat panel screen. Same RAM, same Hard Drive, same ports, cheapest intel processor."
You're joking, right? Assuming you're talking about the entry level iMac (with the mid-range PC price), a comparibly equiped Dell would be around $1,000. That's including 3-year support.
Apple has always charged a premium over actual cost. Check out the Time article.
If Jobs actually conceded the operating system war to Microsoft, his company wouldn't be trying to tout the "UNIX-based" OS X every five minutes. He would get Microsoft to code a (new) version of NT/XP for PPC and be done with it.
The fact that Microsoft is getting involved in consumer electronics, and uber-consumer electronics, should scare the bejeesus out of Apple. Apple products have only been successful because of their design -- not because of their ease of use. Everyone knows Apple computers are easier to you -- but what put bread on the table for Jobs and Co. was the fact that you could get a computer in designer colors (coupled with the tech splurge of the late 90s). Now that has ended, and everyone wants functionality. If 90% of the world uses Windows, then most people will want that. And if Microsoft perfects the "pretty consumer design" way of computing, Apple is in big trouble.
"Well, maybe there's not as many bleeding-edge crazies out there."
Or maybe most of us are at work and are working on (relatively) stable workstations that we can't tinker with. I'm not a kernel hacker myself (I wait until a distro comes out with a new stable kernel and all the trimmings) but I can imagine that kernel traffic probably peaks after business hours.
I'm an ardent fan of wireless communications (practically my whole home network is wireless, I have a wireless connection between an MP3 server in the basement and speakers in my room, my PDA is wireless, and my cell phone [of course] is wireless). I think in terms of space, clutter, and speed (the 802.11b standard does 99.9% what I want it to do) wireless is the future.
However, as anyone who's ever taken an economics class (or played a RTS) can tell you, resources are everything. I'm wondering if by descreasing the number of wires, and increasing the number of wireless transmissions, we aren't opening up a huge can of radiation. Are we exchanging the resources built-in to wires (wasted space) with the ones built-in to wireless (radiation)? And what happens when we're being bombarded by waves (moreso than even today).
I'm no physicist or biologist, so either can shoot me down if this is all illogical. But sometimes I wonder if we can ever get away from the "problems" or we just change them into other ones.
You mean I'll finally be able to install a Windows file/print server without having IIS installed with it?:)
Not bashing (I actually think the MMC is pretty dandy at keeping users in check) but that was always a sticking point with me. "It's a good server, but it basically forces me to install this drek..."
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You're telling me that nations in middle-Africa rely on television to broadcast where the next rice meal will be? They even need to tape these messages with Tivo? Your argument is flawed.
The people who complain about this stuff don't recognize that the whole idea of technology is a luxury in a majority of cases.
Therefore, it's a luxury. A luxury you pay for. A luxury you *don't have to pay for*. If you don't like the restraints this particular facet of the entertainment industry wishes to put on you *DON'T BUY A FUCKING TV*.
These arguments get me *so* pissed off. People are dying in other parts of the world because they can't get enough rice, and *we're* worried about a luxury we somehow view as an inalienable right.
And the problem with this is?...
Joe Sixpack doesn't want to hack. He doesn't want set up users with less permissions than him. He doesn't want to decode the assembly instructions used to craft a window in X. He doesn't want to waste time learning how to defrag or fsck a hard drive.
He wants to do those 5 things, and he isn't interested in having to take apart a device to do it. No other consumer device *in the world* is anything like a PC. There's a reason why they're so darn hard to "make easier" -- they're *too* configurable.
So Microsoft makes an all-purpose box that needs little maintenance, and Dell, Gateway, IBM, and Compaq/HP follow suit. Big deal. There will still be computers for us "regular hackers". They will be just as configurable: like Hot Rods versus your standard Buick. We, as techies, shouldn't *force* our culture onto everyone else (for some reason, we feel like we have a right to).
How come this guy didn't get modded down? It's just a fanboy rant.
Outside of this, yes it would be cool. But no, I don't think it'll happen. :)
Thank god. Cartoon Network and Comedy Central are practically the only channels I watch on TV. I didn't want AOL owning both of them.
How did this old story manage to make the front page of Slashdot when this new story with far greater implications didn't?
Um, I live in the New York area, my apartment could be likened to a closet, but I don't choose a computer on size. I choose one on functionality, power, support, etc.
Then again, I guess it's sorta like that whole "Art for art's sake" thing here. Throw eggs at a canvas. It's "creative". It's art. Make a computer look like a desk lamp. It's "creative". It's a good product.
If "that's ok", why do the same MacHeads come up to me and extol the virtue of their machines over... and over... and over...
Quite frankly, it kind of feels like I'm listening to the kid who got beaten up on the playground. "Yes, it's ok. All right. Ok now.... [mumbling to myself] *shut up kid*."
Oh, by the way, I can definitely vouch for the fact that Windows XP Home does *not* run as root. Anyone who's told you that is wrong.
Well, I do 3D-rendering in both OpenGL and DirectX, and I do video editing. Guess what? I *will* notice the smaller hard drive. I *will* notice the lack of texture memory on the video card. I *will* notice the bottlenecks involved with using inferior RAM. I *will* notice the lack of support. And, quite frankly, I *will* notice the hundreds of thousands of applications I am able to use that make my life easier.
But hey, if you want to be a zealot go right ahead.
You're joking, right? Assuming you're talking about the entry level iMac (with the mid-range PC price), a comparibly equiped Dell would be around $1,000. That's including 3-year support.
Apple has always charged a premium over actual cost. Check out the Time article.
The fact that Microsoft is getting involved in consumer electronics, and uber-consumer electronics, should scare the bejeesus out of Apple. Apple products have only been successful because of their design -- not because of their ease of use. Everyone knows Apple computers are easier to you -- but what put bread on the table for Jobs and Co. was the fact that you could get a computer in designer colors (coupled with the tech splurge of the late 90s). Now that has ended, and everyone wants functionality. If 90% of the world uses Windows, then most people will want that. And if Microsoft perfects the "pretty consumer design" way of computing, Apple is in big trouble.
And don't forget how many people are going to learn to make "pretty pictures" out of their rollable circuit boards.
Or maybe most of us are at work and are working on (relatively) stable workstations that we can't tinker with. I'm not a kernel hacker myself (I wait until a distro comes out with a new stable kernel and all the trimmings) but I can imagine that kernel traffic probably peaks after business hours.
Just plug in 128-bit WEP and use a decent password. Done. No one else will have your connection.
However, as anyone who's ever taken an economics class (or played a RTS) can tell you, resources are everything. I'm wondering if by descreasing the number of wires, and increasing the number of wireless transmissions, we aren't opening up a huge can of radiation. Are we exchanging the resources built-in to wires (wasted space) with the ones built-in to wireless (radiation)? And what happens when we're being bombarded by waves (moreso than even today).
I'm no physicist or biologist, so either can shoot me down if this is all illogical. But sometimes I wonder if we can ever get away from the "problems" or we just change them into other ones.
My argument is, if it costs more than most home entertainment devices (DVD players, consoles) then it's overpriced.
Nerds don't watch movies?
I LIKED Katz's review, and I'll be the first to say it! Before anyone else gets their first-post complaints in! Hahaha!
Not bashing (I actually think the MMC is pretty dandy at keeping users in check) but that was always a sticking point with me. "It's a good server, but it basically forces me to install this drek..."
This sounds more like a rebuttal just because they happen to support some Open Source. I'm not buying your biases.
Welcome to my killfile: *ploink*
And Quake using a different engine but having the same gameplay is better?