I had to read some more to actually understand WTF this was about. It seems this APFS is some new, flash device optimized, encrypted filesystem for Apple products that is supposed to replace the incredibly crappy HFS+.
You can call HFS+ "crappy" all you want; but in the many, many years I have used HFS and HFS+ it has NEVER:
If Mac users wanted control they would have bought something other than an Apple product.
You mean, If Mac users wanted to continuously work ON their computers instead of working WITH their computers, they would have bought something other than an Apple product.
Quite frankly you will have a hard time even finding Mac users who could tell you what the current file system used on the Mac is and even fewer that could tell you why it matters.
Quite frankly you will have a hard time even finding any computer users who could tell you what the current file system used on the computer they are using is and even fewer that could tell you why it matters.
Fair enough, but not enough of a reason not to upgrade. HFS+ must go at some point, you need to get it over with eventually. It's been widely known that this change was coming for quite a while, any external tooling has had enough time to migrate where necessary.
I would be surprised if Apple dropped HFS+ support completely in less than 10 years, probably longer.
Well, ya know, the patents on NTFS are surely running out by now, and Linux knows NTFS inside and out too. MS just doesn't feel comfortable without some kind of lock-in.
macOS has had Read support for NTFS since at least version 10.1, and "experimental" R/W support since, IIRC, 10.8 or so, if not earlier.
"Experimental" means you have to flip a config option in Terminal. Since NTFS is undocumented, Apple pretty much HAS to call their support "Experimental".
being forced into a feature solely to boost the size of the user base for testing (captcha: debugs)...... it's beta. it's two fucking months old.. will be less than six months old when sierra goes gold.. still beta at that point, afaiac..... and it's a damn file system... just, ya know, the most important piece of an operating system that uses storage. no big. good thing apple has a totally flawless history of introducing new features with no bugs, huh? absolutely nothing to worry about.. not the first time apple has forced something on users.. won't be the last. this one just has the potential to be the nastiest..
i get it though. i wouldn't want to run "..the worst file system ever" (l.torvalds) either. hfs dates back to 1985. the year 'back to the future' hit theaters. hfs+ enhancements to it are from 1998 (os 8.1... EIGHT POINT ONE.. 680x0 was still a thing then, for fuck's sake). it's about time they use a file system actually designed for a unix-like operating system (everything has been duct tape and bailing wire since the first osx). yo, apple..what the fuck took you so long? your meta data engineer finally retire? and your new youngins don't know how to byte-swap on read or write?
Actually, APFS has been in development for almost 5 years now. Pretty much right after they decided to ditch the ZFS Project (Thanks, Oracle!). And it was actually "silently" deployed publicly (sort-of) in iOS 10.1 (IIRC) (that was the bug-check you speak of). That is a lot longer than you claim.
And, Apple actually has a nearly spotless record when it comes to File Systems. You can say some things about HFS+; but "unreliable" ain't one of 'em! And, generating from the LACK-of "all my data is gone!" reports from iOS owners, it looks like, despite its young age, that APFS is already quite reliable. That's why Apple feels like it's ok to roll it out to macOS.
So, if your iPhone/iPad is on 10.1 or greater, you have actually been at least temporarily exposed to APFS for that long, and so has the rest of the iOS-owning-public. That's why they felt it was trustworthy enough to roll-out permanently in iOS 10.3. Because they had already done a "dry run" on Millions of iOS devices.
I think the reason that HDDs/Fusion Drives aren't being automatically converted to APFS yet, is that they have spent the lion's share of optimization up to this point on Flash-Based systems, and will eventually circle back-around to optimizing HDD metrics, too.
Apple is definitely not "done" with APFS; but it is far from a Beta at this point.
And as for age: How old, exactly, is NTFS? How about ext? For NTFS, the first version was created in 1993, and the most recent version in 2001. Not too bloody different from HFS and HFS+. As for ext, it started as just plain-ol' "ext" in 1992, and the most recent version ("ext4"), like most open-source stuff, has a more, er, "storied" history. It looks like it was finally adopted in 2008, which is still nearly a decade ago.
I read though the replies and I at least understand what you are saying. Don't be bothered by those that have reading comprehension disorders compounded by their dislike for all things Apple. Yes, the technology might not be new, but its the implementation that is unique. Using the track pad as a secondary touch screen that can display various controls based on the running application is definitely the direction I see this going. My first thought after reading your comment was customizable control layouts for Garage Band and Logic. Perhaps that is why the new MacBook Pros sport such a large trackpad. Get every one used to giant track pad then add the touch bar like features to it later. This could also extend to the Magic Trackpad. You would then have a customizable control pad surface that could be used on any Mac or MacBook. This opens up new opportunities for developers to provide a unique user interface not (yet) available on other platforms. The only drawback I see right now might be the additional power consumption on battery powered devices.
I think they are waiting for the OLED prices to go down. That will be thin enough and low-power enough to make it practical from an engineering standpoint. Then the lower price will allow them to swap the TouchBar costs for the ViewPad costs.
Obviously not the same thing. It still has a conventional trackpad in the trackpad-location. That is just a laptop with a small, secondary touchscreen display.
I specially ask for a force sensitive secondary screen. FORCE SENSITIVE SECONDARY SCREEN. All those words mean something. You want to equate any touch screen as ample.
First of all, the distinction between primary and secondary display is a quibble at best. Second, as I've stated time and time again, capacitive touch interfaces are inherently force sensitive. Third, no, not any touch screen, just capacitive touch screens, for the aforementioned (and much repeated) reason.
Those are details was what I was talking about in the very beginning. Again this was my original post: "Also there is the underlying assumption that the Touch Bar never changes. Could it become a force touch sensitive in the next iteration? Could Apple use the same tech and make the entire Track Pad double as a screen?" It was there at the start. Many posts down the thread, you call those details which I mentioned at the start as "nitpicking."
So you finally quote the question I answered in my initial post. Yes. Yes, Apple could do that. It's simply touch screen technology that we've had for decades and secondary display technology that almost every consumer laptop has supported for at least as long.
You asked a question (which you then repeatedly denied asking despite my having quoted and referenced that exact question multiple times) and I answered it. You simply did not like my answer, although it affirmed your suspicion that yes, Apple could in fact implement this.
And you think I'm the one with the cognitive deficit? Sorry, no.
Actually, it is not whether the tech is unique; as you have repeatedly pointed-out, it is not. I believe what UnknowingFool is unsuccessfully trying to emphasize is that the APPLICATION of using a small touchscreen (force sensitive or not), in a laptop, in the classic "trackpad" location, and primarily for use like a trackpad; but also useful as a non-gorilla-arm-inducing alternative to making the main laptop display touch-sensitive, could possibly be, even if not unique, at least useful.
In fact, the first time I saw the 2016 MBP with that trackpad the size of an iPhone 5, I immediately thought of that. I would imagine that the reasons Apple hasn't done that in a product, yet, is increased battery drain, and cost. But OLED will hopefully fix the former, and time will fix the latter.
But I see Bronscon's point that the actual technology is NOT unique. FAR from it!
WTF you get the 200/mo figure? Please? What planet you live on? I get a pretty much full U-verse cable package for like 110 a month, and that includes renting their DVR, rest of equipment, access to on-demand content, and individual channel apps, either on PC or mobile devices, free of data charge if I happen to use their cell phone service too.
The biggest problem is the big content companies are starting to pull their shows from existing streaming services and plan to start their own.
Sorry, but by the time you subscribe to multiple streaming services just to get all the varied content you want, you're better off with cable and the big bite vs. being nibbled to death by all the little ones combined....
My wife complained about our cable bill and wanted other options after hearing some of her co-workers talk about cord-cutting and streaming. So I had her make a list of the shows/channels she wanted and that we'd need for our daughter. Then we started a research quest to fond out where we could get them. It would have taken 4 different streaming services to get most of what we wanted...
Ok, so, since most Streaming services are in the $10/mo. range, your 4 Streaming services would be around $40 total.
That still sounds like a "deal" over 200 cable channels for $150 or more.
Remember, you must factor-out internet cost; since you WILL be having that no matter what.
I'm actually a fan of Apple TV; we have one hooked up to our family room TV (55", a/v receiver, 3' speakers, subwoofer literally the size of a steamer trunk) as well as one hooked up to our bedroom TV upstairs. And yet as I sit here at the dinner table on my laptop (we have one of the family room/dining area/kitchen open rooms), I'm listening to streaming music from...our Amazon Echo. Why? Because when I came downstairs to feed the dogs, all I had to say was "Alexa, play my 'Mornings' playlist", and it did. No remote to fumble with, no checking to be sure I was in the right 'spot' in the Apple TV menu to play a playlist.
Apple blew it by not releasing a hands-free, voice-activated Apple TV a year ago. 4K doesn't wow me; I have no plans to run out and buy a 4K tv any time soon. What I want is better and more functionality, and in particular true voice activated functionality.
Anyone want to predict what actual Apple HomePod sales end up being?
They'll announce it, and Phil Schiller will come on stage and say they've innovated their ass off, and figured out a way not to need to ship it with a remote.
"Just like the iPhone doesn't need a headphone jack, just like the MacBooks don't need a SD card slot, the new AppleTV doesn't need a remote! Why? Well, there's already millions of remotes out there: the iPhone. All you need to use the new AppleTV is an iPhone 7/7S/7+/7S+/8. And because we don't need to ship it with a remote, it's now $5 less! Aren't we just great?"
Apple TV has a Remote, with a touchpad and a voice interface.
They also have a Remote App for the iPhone and the iPad, that even does Voice input on my ancient iPad 2, even though that iPad has no Siri support.
Apple simply "planning an upgrade" makes news! Really? Think about it...Merely "planning" making news!
So next time Apple "plans" to upgrade another of its products will also make news I guess, right?
Qui it being overly literal.
It means that they WILL be upgrading Apple TV soon, like in about a month.
You KNOW what it means; but waste no opportunity to Hate on Apple.
They may be a bit late to the party on 4k; but their interface, voice control and App support is second to none.
Plus, if you already have Apple computers or other devices, the drop-dead simple peer-peer AirPlay streaming abilities are a really nice feature with deep integration in all the various Apple OSes and many Apps/Applications, that goes far beyond simple display mirroring (although it can do that, too),
Sliders mean precisely one thing in audio: attenuation.
I guess you've never seen an ARP synth.
...and you should hear the snowflakes whining about the sliders in the Korg Odyssei iOS App (ARP Odyssey sim). However, I used to own a real ARP Odyssey, and found the Korg sliders quite usable).
Wow, only an idiot would reach the conclusion that you are less free because you can't give away your rights! Remember, you still have to claim them. You are not forced by the government to exercise your rights.
By your logic people would be more free if they could sell themselves into slavery.
Talk for your country. In my country some laws have a provision that you "cannot waive this right contractually".
Yes, there are rights that you have, even if you explicitly say you don't want to have them.
So, you are actually LESS free; in that the STATE decides for you, that you can't be trusted to make your own decision as to waiver of rights on a "case-by-case" basis, right?
BTW, waivers in my country are generally disfavored by the courts, and the courts always examine any waiver proffered to make sure it was Knowing, Voluntary, and Express (specific).
You are right. In some countries (like USA) you can waive your rights. In most civilised countries however you cannot be forced to waive your rights.
You (theoretically) can't be FORCED to waive your rights in the USA, either. That's the "Voluntary" part of the requirement, which I now notice I forgot to mention...
The requirements in the USA are:
1. Knowing
2. Voluntary
3. Specifically and Affirmatively stated (an "express" waiver).
Here's a contract case in the USA that has some good "waiver" cites in it:
I stopped using/buying 'home audio' equipment many years ago in favor of a small 'budget' music/live-performance/small-band-type PA/speaker system. I have an extremely flexible system that even includes basic audio mixing/EQ functionality and multiple input channels for a fraction of the cost of a 'home audio/entertainment' system that only provides a fraction of the audio functionality.
You also get a lot more bang for your buck when the manufacturer isn't spending a significant portion of the money to produce it on cosmetics and 'me too!' online functionality that adds little real value to the customer but provides an ongoing data-sales income stream for the manufacturer. Check out systems at musiciansfriend.com or sweetwatermusic.com for yourself.
Strat
Except for the fact that almost all Pro-Audio speaker cabs are EXTREMELY non-flat, frequency-response-wise.
The other gear is pretty much fine these days; but PA speakers are, well, PA speakers. Most have at least one or two parts that are horn-loaded, and the horn designs are generally designed for aesthetics rather than optimal audio specs (other than SPL;-) ). For example, almost everyone... no, everyone, that puts a midrange or high-end exponential horn in a cabinet design puts it in 90 degrees from the way it SHOULD be for optimal HORIZONTAL dispersion. No fooling, look it up in something like the venerable "Sound System Engineering" textbook, and you will find that a rectangular horn ACTUALLY disperses along the NARROW dimension. Weird, I know; but it has to do with phase cancellations, and if you start ganging-together horns next to each other, they actually get NARROWER in their dispersion-patterns. Again, due to phase-cancellations. But that's ok, most PA horns have HIDEOUS amounts of 2nd-harmonic distortion (which you really can't hear, per se; but it's there, swamping-out the higher-harmonics, and making everything sound "harsh"). That's one of the reasons why horns sound, er, "horn-y".
You CAN design PA cabs to avoid these effects somewhat (I believe the Dead did it in the late 1960s); but then, you end up with a whole bunch of essentially high-powered three-way "home speaker cabinets" (generally direct-radiating, ported Theile designs) flown overhead, with some subs on the floor. And since they don't have the efficiency of horn-loaded cabs, you better bring an extra truck for the additional power amp rack(s) you'll need to get the same SPL to each audience member. Some pro audio contractors, such as Claire Brothers, take this exact approach of "aiming a full-range cabinet at each audience member" (or small group of audience members); but it's an expensive way to go!
But if you are talking about club-sized PA stuff, you can actually get some fairly nice-sounding stuff these days from the likes of Mackie and JBL. In fact, some of the newish JBL/Crown's powered cabinets (can't remember model nos. off hand) can sound QUITE nice, even though they have a short-throat horn midrange, and even though I'm much more of an EV man when it comes to speakers. But the advantage of engineering a matched speaker cabinet and poweramp combo (especially for floor monitors, like some of the Mackie powered monitors) in a small PA is fairly obvious.
But I digress...
Still doesn't hold a candle to even a slightly better than mediocre home audio system, though; other than when it comes to LOUD...
Slashdot Mirror
I had to read some more to actually understand WTF this was about. It seems this APFS is some new, flash device optimized, encrypted filesystem for Apple products that is supposed to replace the incredibly crappy HFS+.
You can call HFS+ "crappy" all you want; but in the many, many years I have used HFS and HFS+ it has NEVER:
1. Lost a single byte of data.
2. Ever, Ever needed Defragmenting.
WTF ELSE is a Filesystem SUPPOSED to do, anyway?
It's not like Apple did the transitions to APFS seamlessly on hundreds of million of devices already without a hiccup,,,,oh wait...they did.
Exactly!
Because someone has custom software written around another file system?
The point is that no matter how good APFS is, there many be reasons some users can't use it. Apple's our way for f*** you is just plain wrong.
Add to that, Apple never gets version 1 right...it makes sense to hold off adapting an entire new file system for a few months.
It has already been running on millions of iOS devices longer than that.
Or do you like being forced to "agree"?
What happened with the Linux Kernel switched from ext3 to ext4? Was there REALLY any REAL choice going forward?
If Mac users wanted control they would have bought something other than an Apple product.
You mean, If Mac users wanted to continuously work ON their computers instead of working WITH their computers, they would have bought something other than an Apple product.
Quite frankly you will have a hard time even finding Mac users who could tell you what the current file system used on the Mac is and even fewer that could tell you why it matters.
Quite frankly you will have a hard time even finding any computer users who could tell you what the current file system used on the computer they are using is and even fewer that could tell you why it matters.
FTFY.
Fair enough, but not enough of a reason not to upgrade. HFS+ must go at some point, you need to get it over with eventually. It's been widely known that this change was coming for quite a while, any external tooling has had enough time to migrate where necessary.
I would be surprised if Apple dropped HFS+ support completely in less than 10 years, probably longer.
Well, ya know, the patents on NTFS are surely running out by now, and Linux knows NTFS inside and out too. MS just doesn't feel comfortable without some kind of lock-in.
macOS has had Read support for NTFS since at least version 10.1, and "experimental" R/W support since, IIRC, 10.8 or so, if not earlier.
"Experimental" means you have to flip a config option in Terminal. Since NTFS is undocumented, Apple pretty much HAS to call their support "Experimental".
http://www.techrepublic.com/ar...
it's exactly like windows.
being forced into a feature solely to boost the size of the user base for testing (captcha: debugs)...... it's beta. it's two fucking months old.. will be less than six months old when sierra goes gold.. still beta at that point, afaiac..... and it's a damn file system... just, ya know, the most important piece of an operating system that uses storage. no big. good thing apple has a totally flawless history of introducing new features with no bugs, huh? absolutely nothing to worry about.. not the first time apple has forced something on users.. won't be the last. this one just has the potential to be the nastiest..
i get it though. i wouldn't want to run "..the worst file system ever" (l.torvalds) either. hfs dates back to 1985. the year 'back to the future' hit theaters. hfs+ enhancements to it are from 1998 (os 8.1... EIGHT POINT ONE.. 680x0 was still a thing then, for fuck's sake). it's about time they use a file system actually designed for a unix-like operating system (everything has been duct tape and bailing wire since the first osx). yo, apple..what the fuck took you so long? your meta data engineer finally retire? and your new youngins don't know how to byte-swap on read or write?
Actually, APFS has been in development for almost 5 years now. Pretty much right after they decided to ditch the ZFS Project (Thanks, Oracle!). And it was actually "silently" deployed publicly (sort-of) in iOS 10.1 (IIRC) (that was the bug-check you speak of). That is a lot longer than you claim.
https://www.macobserver.com/an...
And, Apple actually has a nearly spotless record when it comes to File Systems. You can say some things about HFS+; but "unreliable" ain't one of 'em! And, generating from the LACK-of "all my data is gone!" reports from iOS owners, it looks like, despite its young age, that APFS is already quite reliable. That's why Apple feels like it's ok to roll it out to macOS.
So, if your iPhone/iPad is on 10.1 or greater, you have actually been at least temporarily exposed to APFS for that long, and so has the rest of the iOS-owning-public. That's why they felt it was trustworthy enough to roll-out permanently in iOS 10.3. Because they had already done a "dry run" on Millions of iOS devices.
I think the reason that HDDs/Fusion Drives aren't being automatically converted to APFS yet, is that they have spent the lion's share of optimization up to this point on Flash-Based systems, and will eventually circle back-around to optimizing HDD metrics, too.
Apple is definitely not "done" with APFS; but it is far from a Beta at this point.
And as for age: How old, exactly, is NTFS? How about ext? For NTFS, the first version was created in 1993, and the most recent version in 2001. Not too bloody different from HFS and HFS+. As for ext, it started as just plain-ol' "ext" in 1992, and the most recent version ("ext4"), like most open-source stuff, has a more, er, "storied" history. It looks like it was finally adopted in 2008, which is still nearly a decade ago.
Sounds like the embrace phase of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish". Microsoft must think people have short memories.
Maybe they'll allow Steam on Xbox... (says with a straight face)
Exactly what I came here to post.
I read though the replies and I at least understand what you are saying. Don't be bothered by those that have reading comprehension disorders compounded by their dislike for all things Apple. Yes, the technology might not be new, but its the implementation that is unique. Using the track pad as a secondary touch screen that can display various controls based on the running application is definitely the direction I see this going. My first thought after reading your comment was customizable control layouts for Garage Band and Logic. Perhaps that is why the new MacBook Pros sport such a large trackpad. Get every one used to giant track pad then add the touch bar like features to it later. This could also extend to the Magic Trackpad. You would then have a customizable control pad surface that could be used on any Mac or MacBook. This opens up new opportunities for developers to provide a unique user interface not (yet) available on other platforms. The only drawback I see right now might be the additional power consumption on battery powered devices.
I think they are waiting for the OLED prices to go down. That will be thin enough and low-power enough to make it practical from an engineering standpoint. Then the lower price will allow them to swap the TouchBar costs for the ViewPad costs.
Razer. They made a laptop since 2011 with this: https://www.wired.com/2011/08/...
Obviously not the same thing. It still has a conventional trackpad in the trackpad-location. That is just a laptop with a small, secondary touchscreen display.
I specially ask for a force sensitive secondary screen. FORCE SENSITIVE SECONDARY SCREEN. All those words mean something. You want to equate any touch screen as ample.
First of all, the distinction between primary and secondary display is a quibble at best. Second, as I've stated time and time again, capacitive touch interfaces are inherently force sensitive. Third, no, not any touch screen, just capacitive touch screens, for the aforementioned (and much repeated) reason.
Those are details was what I was talking about in the very beginning. Again this was my original post: "Also there is the underlying assumption that the Touch Bar never changes. Could it become a force touch sensitive in the next iteration? Could Apple use the same tech and make the entire Track Pad double as a screen?" It was there at the start. Many posts down the thread, you call those details which I mentioned at the start as "nitpicking."
So you finally quote the question I answered in my initial post. Yes. Yes, Apple could do that. It's simply touch screen technology that we've had for decades and secondary display technology that almost every consumer laptop has supported for at least as long.
You asked a question (which you then repeatedly denied asking despite my having quoted and referenced that exact question multiple times) and I answered it. You simply did not like my answer, although it affirmed your suspicion that yes, Apple could in fact implement this.
And you think I'm the one with the cognitive deficit? Sorry, no.
Actually, it is not whether the tech is unique; as you have repeatedly pointed-out, it is not. I believe what UnknowingFool is unsuccessfully trying to emphasize is that the APPLICATION of using a small touchscreen (force sensitive or not), in a laptop, in the classic "trackpad" location, and primarily for use like a trackpad; but also useful as a non-gorilla-arm-inducing alternative to making the main laptop display touch-sensitive, could possibly be, even if not unique, at least useful.
In fact, the first time I saw the 2016 MBP with that trackpad the size of an iPhone 5, I immediately thought of that. I would imagine that the reasons Apple hasn't done that in a product, yet, is increased battery drain, and cost. But OLED will hopefully fix the former, and time will fix the latter.
But I see Bronscon's point that the actual technology is NOT unique. FAR from it!
WTF you get the 200/mo figure? Please? What planet you live on? I get a pretty much full U-verse cable package for like 110 a month, and that includes renting their DVR, rest of equipment, access to on-demand content, and individual channel apps, either on PC or mobile devices, free of data charge if I happen to use their cell phone service too.
Please, stop that BS talk.
Yes, but it's U-Verse.
The biggest problem is the big content companies are starting to pull their shows from existing streaming services and plan to start their own.
Sorry, but by the time you subscribe to multiple streaming services just to get all the varied content you want, you're better off with cable and the big bite vs. being nibbled to death by all the little ones combined....
My wife complained about our cable bill and wanted other options after hearing some of her co-workers talk about cord-cutting and streaming. So I had her make a list of the shows/channels she wanted and that we'd need for our daughter. Then we started a research quest to fond out where we could get them. It would have taken 4 different streaming services to get most of what we wanted...
Ok, so, since most Streaming services are in the $10/mo. range, your 4 Streaming services would be around $40 total.
That still sounds like a "deal" over 200 cable channels for $150 or more.
Remember, you must factor-out internet cost; since you WILL be having that no matter what.
I'm actually a fan of Apple TV; we have one hooked up to our family room TV (55", a/v receiver, 3' speakers, subwoofer literally the size of a steamer trunk) as well as one hooked up to our bedroom TV upstairs. And yet as I sit here at the dinner table on my laptop (we have one of the family room/dining area/kitchen open rooms), I'm listening to streaming music from...our Amazon Echo. Why? Because when I came downstairs to feed the dogs, all I had to say was "Alexa, play my 'Mornings' playlist", and it did. No remote to fumble with, no checking to be sure I was in the right 'spot' in the Apple TV menu to play a playlist.
Apple blew it by not releasing a hands-free, voice-activated Apple TV a year ago. 4K doesn't wow me; I have no plans to run out and buy a 4K tv any time soon. What I want is better and more functionality, and in particular true voice activated functionality.
Anyone want to predict what actual Apple HomePod sales end up being?
Yep. Spectacular.
...and it'll only work with Apple iRemote, which will cost at least $100!
The Apple TV comes with its Touchpad/voice Remote.
The Apple TV Remote App for iPhone/iPad is free on the iOS App Store. I think there is a macOS version, too.
so, as usual, the AC Hater is talking out their ass...
They'll announce it, and Phil Schiller will come on stage and say they've innovated their ass off, and figured out a way not to need to ship it with a remote.
"Just like the iPhone doesn't need a headphone jack, just like the MacBooks don't need a SD card slot, the new AppleTV doesn't need a remote! Why? Well, there's already millions of remotes out there: the iPhone. All you need to use the new AppleTV is an iPhone 7/7S/7+/7S+/8. And because we don't need to ship it with a remote, it's now $5 less! Aren't we just great?"
Apple TV has a Remote, with a touchpad and a voice interface.
They also have a Remote App for the iPhone and the iPad, that even does Voice input on my ancient iPad 2, even though that iPad has no Siri support.
So, WTF are you saying, Hater?
Apple simply "planning an upgrade" makes news! Really? Think about it...Merely "planning" making news!
So next time Apple "plans" to upgrade another of its products will also make news I guess, right?
Qui it being overly literal.
It means that they WILL be upgrading Apple TV soon, like in about a month.
You KNOW what it means; but waste no opportunity to Hate on Apple.
They may be a bit late to the party on 4k; but their interface, voice control and App support is second to none.
Plus, if you already have Apple computers or other devices, the drop-dead simple peer-peer AirPlay streaming abilities are a really nice feature with deep integration in all the various Apple OSes and many Apps/Applications, that goes far beyond simple display mirroring (although it can do that, too),
Knobs don't belong in UIs, full stop. Use sliders instead.
Not long ago I would have agreed with you, but touchscreens are in now.
And rotary controls are nearly as hard to deal with on a touchscreen as with a mouse.
Sliders mean precisely one thing in audio: attenuation.
I guess you've never seen an ARP synth.
...and you should hear the snowflakes whining about the sliders in the Korg Odyssei iOS App (ARP Odyssey sim). However, I used to own a real ARP Odyssey, and found the Korg sliders quite usable).
Wow, only an idiot would reach the conclusion that you are less free because you can't give away your rights! Remember, you still have to claim them. You are not forced by the government to exercise your rights.
By your logic people would be more free if they could sell themselves into slavery.
Now you're getting it!
Talk for your country. In my country some laws have a provision that you "cannot waive this right contractually".
Yes, there are rights that you have, even if you explicitly say you don't want to have them.
So, you are actually LESS free; in that the STATE decides for you, that you can't be trusted to make your own decision as to waiver of rights on a "case-by-case" basis, right?
BTW, waivers in my country are generally disfavored by the courts, and the courts always examine any waiver proffered to make sure it was Knowing, Voluntary, and Express (specific).
You are right. In some countries (like USA) you can waive your rights. In most civilised countries however you cannot be forced to waive your rights.
You (theoretically) can't be FORCED to waive your rights in the USA, either. That's the "Voluntary" part of the requirement, which I now notice I forgot to mention...
The requirements in the USA are:
1. Knowing
2. Voluntary
3. Specifically and Affirmatively stated (an "express" waiver).
Here's a contract case in the USA that has some good "waiver" cites in it:
https://supreme.justia.com/cas...
I stopped using/buying 'home audio' equipment many years ago in favor of a small 'budget' music/live-performance/small-band-type PA/speaker system. I have an extremely flexible system that even includes basic audio mixing/EQ functionality and multiple input channels for a fraction of the cost of a 'home audio/entertainment' system that only provides a fraction of the audio functionality.
You also get a lot more bang for your buck when the manufacturer isn't spending a significant portion of the money to produce it on cosmetics and 'me too!' online functionality that adds little real value to the customer but provides an ongoing data-sales income stream for the manufacturer. Check out systems at musiciansfriend.com or sweetwatermusic.com for yourself.
Strat
Except for the fact that almost all Pro-Audio speaker cabs are EXTREMELY non-flat, frequency-response-wise.
The other gear is pretty much fine these days; but PA speakers are, well, PA speakers. Most have at least one or two parts that are horn-loaded, and the horn designs are generally designed for aesthetics rather than optimal audio specs (other than SPL ;-) ). For example, almost everyone... no, everyone, that puts a midrange or high-end exponential horn in a cabinet design puts it in 90 degrees from the way it SHOULD be for optimal HORIZONTAL dispersion. No fooling, look it up in something like the venerable "Sound System Engineering" textbook, and you will find that a rectangular horn ACTUALLY disperses along the NARROW dimension. Weird, I know; but it has to do with phase cancellations, and if you start ganging-together horns next to each other, they actually get NARROWER in their dispersion-patterns. Again, due to phase-cancellations. But that's ok, most PA horns have HIDEOUS amounts of 2nd-harmonic distortion (which you really can't hear, per se; but it's there, swamping-out the higher-harmonics, and making everything sound "harsh"). That's one of the reasons why horns sound, er, "horn-y".
You CAN design PA cabs to avoid these effects somewhat (I believe the Dead did it in the late 1960s); but then, you end up with a whole bunch of essentially high-powered three-way "home speaker cabinets" (generally direct-radiating, ported Theile designs) flown overhead, with some subs on the floor. And since they don't have the efficiency of horn-loaded cabs, you better bring an extra truck for the additional power amp rack(s) you'll need to get the same SPL to each audience member. Some pro audio contractors, such as Claire Brothers, take this exact approach of "aiming a full-range cabinet at each audience member" (or small group of audience members); but it's an expensive way to go!
But if you are talking about club-sized PA stuff, you can actually get some fairly nice-sounding stuff these days from the likes of Mackie and JBL. In fact, some of the newish JBL/Crown's powered cabinets (can't remember model nos. off hand) can sound QUITE nice, even though they have a short-throat horn midrange, and even though I'm much more of an EV man when it comes to speakers. But the advantage of engineering a matched speaker cabinet and poweramp combo (especially for floor monitors, like some of the Mackie powered monitors) in a small PA is fairly obvious.
But I digress...
Still doesn't hold a candle to even a slightly better than mediocre home audio system, though; other than when it comes to LOUD...