The problem is you'd have the same problem as with computer upgrades. When my systems get slow, I usually consider first just getting an upgrade, but usually the only one I'll actually do is get more ram. If I want my machine to be significantly faster, I find that I need to replace the ram, the cpu AND the motherboard at the very least (and I see the same with friends' boxen as well). If you try to do what you're suggesting with graphics cards, you'll only end up with the same situation: to get a significantly faster card, you need to replace the actual board, not just the GPU, because the board only has so much bandwidth, and a new GPU will need more bandwidth than the one you have now.
But that's not the idea. The idea is that you would still do all that stuff, but now instead of having to liscense an artist's work to make a derivative work (like sampling of one musician by another), you pay the originator some cash, and then they don't have copyright on their work for some amount of time, during which derivative works can be made. You'd still have bands performing at concerts and selling albums.
OK, now I agree that this isn't really applicable to most (any?) Slashdot readers, but there are people out there who may have an interest in some of these features who don't know that there are other things besides the iPod which do them better (or at all). When those people think "I want an MP3 player," what do you think they're gonna do? If they can afford it, they're probably going to get the small flashy one they see lots of people carrying around (the iPod, in case it wasn't obvious). Or they may ask someone else who knows more about it than they do for advice, and if that person doesn't know that the iPod doesn't do what they want, they may suggest that. Just my 2.
I think his point about DRM is that no record company is going to license their music to an online music store that sells non DRM files. Since it seems that people like the model of online music stores, they want their portable players to be able to play those DRM'ed files. That's the appeal to customers, not the DRM'ing of the music itself.
Growing up in farm country, I was under the impression that the grains that are most palateable to humans are crosses of two strains that in general tend to produce infertile seeds, so this shouldn't be an issue anyway.
if you look at Microsoft's profits year to year, they tend to have profits primarily in only one sector: the OS. Office is the only other sector that has any net profits, but it's a DISTANT second.
80 GB is a pretty small tape drive nowadays. At my office, we have an ITO Ultrium that does 200gb/tape, and I know they make 700gb tapes as well (don't remember who makes them though...).
of an idea I had in high school to cluster TI83's. We just couldn't figure out how to get them to talk to more than one other unit without cable switching...
Yes, but the ColumbiaNet terminals also run Linux, and ACiS (our computing people) aren't exactly the most knowledgable people in the world, so what else are they gonna use as the browser?
Actually, I was just thinking I could get an Asus GeForce 4 Ti 4600 Deluxe, one of those one handed keyboards and this mouse, and be able to lie in bed next to my computer while remaining totally able to function!
What's the point of a quiet fan? I like to have either virtually nothing, or total overkill. I have just the one original fan on my G4, and 5 intake fans, 4 exhaust fans, plus a 12000 RPM CPU fan on my T-bird machine.
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The problem is you'd have the same problem as with computer upgrades. When my systems get slow, I usually consider first just getting an upgrade, but usually the only one I'll actually do is get more ram. If I want my machine to be significantly faster, I find that I need to replace the ram, the cpu AND the motherboard at the very least (and I see the same with friends' boxen as well). If you try to do what you're suggesting with graphics cards, you'll only end up with the same situation: to get a significantly faster card, you need to replace the actual board, not just the GPU, because the board only has so much bandwidth, and a new GPU will need more bandwidth than the one you have now.
But that's not the idea. The idea is that you would still do all that stuff, but now instead of having to liscense an artist's work to make a derivative work (like sampling of one musician by another), you pay the originator some cash, and then they don't have copyright on their work for some amount of time, during which derivative works can be made. You'd still have bands performing at concerts and selling albums.
OK, now I agree that this isn't really applicable to most (any?) Slashdot readers, but there are people out there who may have an interest in some of these features who don't know that there are other things besides the iPod which do them better (or at all). When those people think "I want an MP3 player," what do you think they're gonna do? If they can afford it, they're probably going to get the small flashy one they see lots of people carrying around (the iPod, in case it wasn't obvious). Or they may ask someone else who knows more about it than they do for advice, and if that person doesn't know that the iPod doesn't do what they want, they may suggest that.
Just my 2.
I think his point about DRM is that no record company is going to license their music to an online music store that sells non DRM files. Since it seems that people like the model of online music stores, they want their portable players to be able to play those DRM'ed files. That's the appeal to customers, not the DRM'ing of the music itself.
If the volume goes to 0, shouldn't there be no sound? That's what happens on my stereo...
Sound isn't considered quantum mechanical; it doesn't have an indefinite state until observed like (for example) an electron waveform would.
Growing up in farm country, I was under the impression that the grains that are most palateable to humans are crosses of two strains that in general tend to produce infertile seeds, so this shouldn't be an issue anyway.
Their evidence for that is the cache size (256k vs 512k on the newer G4's). If memory serves, they make G3's with 256k of cache as well.
I doubt it's a heat issue, considering the 12" powerbook runs faster than that. Probably just making it entry level (as you said).
if you look at Microsoft's profits year to year, they tend to have profits primarily in only one sector: the OS. Office is the only other sector that has any net profits, but it's a DISTANT second.
80 GB is a pretty small tape drive nowadays. At my office, we have an ITO Ultrium that does 200gb/tape, and I know they make 700gb tapes as well (don't remember who makes them though...).
of an idea I had in high school to cluster TI83's. We just couldn't figure out how to get them to talk to more than one other unit without cable switching...
Yes, but the ColumbiaNet terminals also run Linux, and ACiS (our computing people) aren't exactly the most knowledgable people in the world, so what else are they gonna use as the browser?
Actually, I was just thinking I could get an Asus GeForce 4 Ti 4600 Deluxe, one of those one handed keyboards and this mouse, and be able to lie in bed next to my computer while remaining totally able to function!
Not really... the ratio is too low for that. A hosting company usually has on the order of 5-10 servers for each workstation.
What's the point of a quiet fan? I like to have either virtually nothing, or total overkill. I have just the one original fan on my G4, and 5 intake fans, 4 exhaust fans, plus a 12000 RPM CPU fan on my T-bird machine.