It isn't out of the question for the price to double again over the next 5 years. Suddenly it is only 5 years to recoup the extra cost of the hybrid, and uptake of hybrids has increased and the price of them has gone down so it is actually only 3 years.
Meanwhile in Europe where we are taxed to death on petrol which we moan a lot about and look at the low cost of it in the US, whilst conveniently forgetting you drive what? twice as many miles as us on average? Maybe three or four times more... one advantage of not having much land area. So we've always been interested in fuel-efficient vehicles for the most part. It remains to be seen how the American dominated media companies will affect our market for these HDCP devices.
I wonder how much investment is going into non-hybrid engines these days compared to 5, 10 years ago?
Today, yes you are correct - you'd need a U320 SCSI controller and RAID array spanning around 10 discs to be able to write that bandwidth guaranteed. Unless you wrote a filter that compressed the data on the fly, maybe not perfectly, but enough.
When did DVDs come out? 1997? When did most people here buy their first DVD player? 2000? When did the mass market adopt them? 2002? 2003? Now they are ubiquituous. People are happy with the quality provided currently.
Next year: $2000. - introduction 2007: $1000 - Early adopters 2008: $500 - Techy adopters 2009: $200 - General adoption 2010: $100 - $30 players in Best Buy leading to riot
Early adopters get burnt. Late adopters get crushed in the sales.
I think that it is very hard to shake your first GUI out of your head. Me? I like the close button on the left, but I'd rather have the min and max buttons on the right. Why? Amiga OS. Of course, Apple-Q is quicker for quitting, Apple-M for minimising, Apple-, for Preferences and so on, and Maximise on Mac OS X is rather odd being more of a Resize Around Content than anything else.
Minimisation is pretty clear to me. Minimised windows are below the divider in the dock, and have a representation of the window with a small icon of the application super-imposed. File Open/Save is very nice however (the whole idea of attaching dialogs to windows in Mac OS X is brilliant, no floating modal dialogs, etc), unlike the Windows dialog - remember how long it took Microsoft to create a resizable File Open/Save dialog?!
You can hardly compare Mac OS 7 to Mac OS X. That's like comparing Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista!
The issue with Fitt's Law isn't the location, it is the size. Apart from the fact that I hate full screen windows anyway (why bother with a windowing system!). It is a lot harder to hit a 24x24 pixel icon that isn't on a screen edge than it is to hit an 80x20 Menu heading that is on a screen edge. I don't think you understand the issue. It'd be okay if Office 2004's 'Large Icons' option actually had clear icons, but it just scales up the default 24x24 (?) icons. At least it gives a larger area to aim for though.
As I said before, my issues with Windows aren't to do with stability, virii or spyware. It is just that it is not a nice environment to work under. It is quite common for people that haven't experienced better to deny to themselves that something better can exist. Did you ever use AmigaOS in the early 90's? If you did, then you'll understand what a step back Windows was to many people in terms of usability. Mac OS X is, to me, an OS with excellent usability.
(and I posted this and got a confirmation of posting this about 30 minutes ago, and then Slashdot 'lost' it?)
CVS worked out of the box on my mac at work. CVS server set up and working in minutes, piece of piss.
Cocoa is the native Mac OS X environment. If getting to grips with Objective C is so hard for you (and yes, it is a bit of a bummer that choice is so limited, although Java had full bindings for Cocoa until recently as well), then what kind of developer are you?
Xcode ain't brilliant, but it is free. It is pretty damn good for free. It hasn't crashed on me yet.
Erm, nano came on my Mac OS X by default. nano is the stand-alone pico implementation.
Please provide an example of needing VNC running for a terminal application? I haven't run into one yet. Apple also provide their remote desktop functionality, but you don't even appear to know about it.
What I guess is that you've never even attempted to get to grips with developing on Mac OS X, you don't even know what basic tools the OS provides. Sheesh. Talk about talking bullshit.
That game is really neat, I'm getting way over 100fps on my new iBook. An impressive display of what Java can do when combined with some choice libraries. Great inspiration to do something myself.
You can hardly compare Mac OS 7 to Mac OS X. That's like comparing Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista!
The issue with Fitt's Law isn't the location, it is the size. Apart from the fact that I hate full screen windows anyway (why bother with a windowing system!). It is a lot harder to hit a 24x24 pixel icon that isn't on a screen edge than it is to hit an 80x20 Menu heading that is on a screen edge. I don't think you understand the issue. It'd be okay if Office 2004's 'Large Icons' option actually had clear icons, but it just scales up the default 24x24 (?) icons. At least it gives a larger area to aim for though.
As I said before, my issues with Windows aren't to do with stability, virii or spyware. It is just that it is not a nice environment to work under. It is quite common for people that haven't experienced better to deny to themselves that something better can exist. Did you ever use AmigaOS in the early 90's? If you did, then you'll understand what a step back Windows was to many people in terms of usability. Mac OS X is, to me, an OS with excellent usability.
Thanks. Fink will be generally useful I imagine so I'll get it.
Mac OS X uses cups as its printing system already. I've tried installing the PPD file for the printer already, and it did not work, although the printer shows up in the CUPS web interface. I think I'll give it another try though, I feel I'm getting somewhere.
Anyway if that fails, I'm going to try using the driver for the ML-2150, as someone has reported success with this driver on Mac OS X.
Whilst Slashdot has been a bit unresponsive, I investigated further. There are drivers on Samsung's Global Download Centre, just not Samsung's main website. I'll give them a go shortly.
Actually I think that having a feature work as you expect it to is quite an important thing. I'm not saying that all the features in Windows or Office don't work, just that one or two important features can be a real bear to work with - for example, tables in Word.
I don't know many people myself that actually use toolbar icons. Best option is to remove the toolbars completely and have more screen estate, and maybe just one custom toolbar with the features you actually do want quick access to (bring up styles window/sidebar, etc).
Oh, and don't get me started on the idea of hiding uncommonly used items in menus. I know you can disable it. That is a disruption, as I mentioned in another post. That, and Microsoft's useless UK keymap which doesn't have many foreign characters at all (many of which are used in the English language too). Not that Apple's UK keyboard is winning here, requiring you to press alt-3 to get # - on a laptop that is quite a contortion. Never mind that the # isn't even printed on the keyboard. Yet there is a/± key*! Wtf use is that? I think I'll remap the to be # soon.
* Slashcode might remove the first character. It is a character that looks like an S with a circle in the middle, or one S above another slightly.
Take something like Word (and OpenOffice is guilty of the same thing).
Firstly, the preferences/options are splattered all over the place.
Secondly, it is always popping up the help sidebar, and various other things.
Thirdly, it is just frustrating to use. There is no enjoyment there. When all you need to create is a document, then to be honest bloody Wordstar would be enough, and I think that Word in particular has forgotten that its primary task is to create documents. Now Pages... with all the issues that it has... at least lets you create a document quickly that looks good, and it is reasonably enjoyable to use. Maybe it is all in the head, but I feel that Windows blocks creativity. Pages is very immature at the moment, but assuming that its development continues in the same way then I think it will get very good, and I think that it has a good way of working for the most part.
I rarely get issues with Windows crashing. Finder crashes a lot for me when the system goes to sleep with an attached Firewire hard drive - that is annoying.
I read recently that when a person is disrupted from their task, it can take them 10-20 minutes to get back into that task because of the disruption (out of 'the zone'). Whenever Windows or Windows applications get in my way, that is a disruption. Whenever clippy (yes, I know it is disableable) or help or something alters MY DESIRED screen layout that is a disruption. Just think - one disruption an hour isn't much, but it could be costing a company 1/6th to 1/3rd of its employees time. Of course the same goes for phone calls, invasive IM or Mail applications (i.e., popping something up on the screen rather than discretely making a quiet noise or increasing an unread mail icon somewhere) and the manager wandering around being annoying.
Oh, and for a person like me, you can't beat having Unix underneath.
Yeah, I have checked. Sadly they only have drivers for the network version of my printer. Maybe the network upgrade is cheap enough to buy on its own now - I'll have to have a look.
It is a real shame because the printer itself is pretty damn good, and Samsung's support is usually very good as well.
Re:This could be a really inconvenient to employee
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It is probably an economy of scale thing.
Then again, if these things cost half the price they are being sold at, I reckon they'd sell 4 or 5 times as many.
BT might not need to support 1000 people, but in some locations it might be their best option for providing broadband connectivity to a rural community. The $4000 unit could be ideal for the one phone box remaining in the community and support up to 250 users.
Disclaimer: I'm a Mac OS X convert as of two months ago. Before that I was a FreeBSD / Linux person that used Windows for various things (Office, games, etc) but without much enjoyment.
Windows: Tries to get in your way, force you to do things its way, doesn't provide a decent option to de-dumb globally. Office is a nightmare of over-featured bloat that most users will never use. When something goes wrong, it takes ages to fix because whilst you know what is wrong, Windows tries to stop you fixing it.
Linux / FreeBSD: Works well. If you know your stuff, it is easy to fix stuff and set up. I've had issues with upgrades however, after some time it will eventually mess up. Desktop applications are a mishmash of good and bad, or poorly thought out in a single crucial aspect whilst being very powerful.
Mac OS X: Doesn't get in your way. Allows you to actually get work done. Many applications are much more specific in their task (alternatively known as not having as many features, but the features that it does have actually work as you expect them to). Dashboard sucks. I don't think it can be beaten as an end-user operating system, however I can see that it lacks certain things that corporations would like in a desktop computer.
Computers come down to personal preference and what you are used to. If you only know how to do something in Windows and you aren't of a mind to sit down and learn how it is done in Linux or Mac OS X, then you are simply going to state that you need Windows for that task. Despite the frustration that you might have with it in Windows (e.g., tables in Word).
One thing that I like about Mac OS X is that it generally eschews the dozens of small icons in a toolbar that you can't really make out that well and thus never really use. Applications like Pages, Keynote, Mail and so on have a few buttons that bring up or hide inspectors or sidebars. A good design guide means that you'll always know how to do the common tasks (save, open, print) and you don't need a small icon that is hard to hit (Fitt's Law) present.
However it will take you a while to get used to this alternative way of working. Once you are there though, you will know you are more productive and find computing much less of a drag. What is unfortunate is that this goes for migrating from Linux or FreeBSD as well as migrating from Windows.
Also there are issues such as Logitech's APPALLING lack of support for Mac OS X for their webcam range. Canon's DIRE support for their scanners (hurrah for ScanVue). Samsung's AWFUL support for their printers (can't use my 1 year old ML-2250 under Mac OS X, but you can under Windows and Linux, sheesh). Now that the Mac seems to be having a small revival, maybe some companies will spend a little time on supporting it. When you run into something like this, it can be very demoralising, and appear as a negative against the OS.
But is there anything I *must* use Windows for? I can't think of anything in my line of work that couldn't be done in Mac OS X. However I think that there are big gaps in the software range for Linux, such as good finance/accounting/tax applications. Specialist software is another area where Windows can have a stranglehold, and if you use some of that, then you'll have issues.
Re:This could be a really inconvenient to employee
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And volume. In the UK BT installs its OpenZone wifi access in the top of its extensive network of telephone boxes. There isn't much room there.
And you still have the problem of having 16 devices to troubleshoot, 16 antennas to aim, 16 cables to ensure are working fine, and a switch.
But yes, if you have the area for the setup, and the time to configure it, that solution is fine.
I'd tell them to replace the laptop, and you'll accept nothing else, the number of issues you've had with it make it a dud, and the law should be on your side.
Maybe it is like that nylon stuff, like in school you had a bucket of liquid polymer goop, and you stick a needle into it and bring it out, and you get a thread of nylon attached to the end?
I'm quite surprised at the rate of development relating to nanotubes. Motorola have those displays utilising nanotubes to direct electrons. Now we have sheets of them suitable for multiple applications. What next?
Re:I love the math they did to come up with this..
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Good points. I remember when I worked at BT that the building I was in which was built in the 60s had to have a false floor put down during refurbishment so as to allow easier laying of ethernet and power cables (they were changing to open-plan from walled laboratories).
Re:This could be a really inconvenient to employee
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Thank you for the figures.
So one of these $12000 devices can cover 4.5m square foot, or 1/6th of a square mile. A normal AP can cover 1/100th of a square mile.
Yes, you could use 16 APs to cover the same area, with 16 cable runs, 16x as many people disrupted, 16x as many locations to administer. 16 $100 (decent) APs with 16 $100 cable runs and a decent switch. That's probably around $4000 before ongoing running costs (33x as many things to go wrong).
And consider your typical metropolitan wireless network. It is unlikely that you'll find a location every 1/100th of a square mile to install an AP, but you'll find a location every 1/6th of a square mile. Installation costs per AP are probably a lot higher too, what with needing a network to connect to at each location. Even in a residential estate (one house per 5000 square foot say, you can encompass 900 properties. Not bad if one in five are each paying you $10 a month for access - you'll break even in a year. In the UK where a residential estate typically has plots of around 1500 square foot you'll cover 3000 properties - if you got one in 10 paying for wireless service you'd make back AP costs in 4 months, and hopefully the $3000 a month after that would be more than enough to pay off upstream bandwidth costs. Run a few of these networks and you'd have a nice income. Great for smaller towns that don't have broadband access too.
Weirdtastic! 15.5V? Only 2A? The capacity is probably a function of the current voltage (voltage drops off as the capacity drops) and because the voltage is so high (and possibly the voltage drop off is a curve when graphed) it is reporting a massive capacity.
Apart from that, I have no idea! Send Apple an email, heh.
Re:This could be a really inconvenient to employee
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Exactly.
Also, I've just read another review, and the 802.11a reception was 22mbit at 100ft from the AP, and it looked pretty good at 150ft. So even if you were in a normal office building (instead of a 100ft radius cylinder, heh) it would reach pretty much everyone on at least 2 floors. For an L shaped office building, 200ft long by 80ft wide (floor area = 26500sq ft, which is 265 - 500 employees per floor)) it would be ideal
I see from the reviews images that you got pretty good 802.11a coverage at around 150ft from the device, did you ever find out how far you could get away from the device and keep up a decent connection?
Re:This could be a really inconvenient to employee
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Range of 100ft?
That covers an area of 31400 square feet. A typical office worker has a 10ft by 10ft cubicle, for 100 sq ft, so 314 workers could use this device.
I've noticed a tendancy for office space to utilise curvy tables and thinner desks with TFTs to cut the per user space down to around 10ftx8ft, or even 8ftx6ft. The latter would allow you to fit 620 workers within range.
Slashdot Mirror
Just rebutting blatant lies. If you have issues with the truth, then so be it.
And that's with prices at current levels.
... one advantage of not having much land area. So we've always been interested in fuel-efficient vehicles for the most part. It remains to be seen how the American dominated media companies will affect our market for these HDCP devices.
It isn't out of the question for the price to double again over the next 5 years. Suddenly it is only 5 years to recoup the extra cost of the hybrid, and uptake of hybrids has increased and the price of them has gone down so it is actually only 3 years.
Meanwhile in Europe where we are taxed to death on petrol which we moan a lot about and look at the low cost of it in the US, whilst conveniently forgetting you drive what? twice as many miles as us on average? Maybe three or four times more
I wonder how much investment is going into non-hybrid engines these days compared to 5, 10 years ago?
Today, yes you are correct - you'd need a U320 SCSI controller and RAID array spanning around 10 discs to be able to write that bandwidth guaranteed. Unless you wrote a filter that compressed the data on the fly, maybe not perfectly, but enough.
When did DVDs come out? 1997? When did most people here buy their first DVD player? 2000? When did the mass market adopt them? 2002? 2003? Now they are ubiquituous. People are happy with the quality provided currently.
Next year: $2000. - introduction
2007: $1000 - Early adopters
2008: $500 - Techy adopters
2009: $200 - General adoption
2010: $100 - $30 players in Best Buy leading to riot
Early adopters get burnt. Late adopters get crushed in the sales.
I think that it is very hard to shake your first GUI out of your head. Me? I like the close button on the left, but I'd rather have the min and max buttons on the right. Why? Amiga OS. Of course, Apple-Q is quicker for quitting, Apple-M for minimising, Apple-, for Preferences and so on, and Maximise on Mac OS X is rather odd being more of a Resize Around Content than anything else.
Minimisation is pretty clear to me. Minimised windows are below the divider in the dock, and have a representation of the window with a small icon of the application super-imposed. File Open/Save is very nice however (the whole idea of attaching dialogs to windows in Mac OS X is brilliant, no floating modal dialogs, etc), unlike the Windows dialog - remember how long it took Microsoft to create a resizable File Open/Save dialog?!
Now people have different tastes, but
You can hardly compare Mac OS 7 to Mac OS X. That's like comparing Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista!
The issue with Fitt's Law isn't the location, it is the size. Apart from the fact that I hate full screen windows anyway (why bother with a windowing system!). It is a lot harder to hit a 24x24 pixel icon that isn't on a screen edge than it is to hit an 80x20 Menu heading that is on a screen edge. I don't think you understand the issue. It'd be okay if Office 2004's 'Large Icons' option actually had clear icons, but it just scales up the default 24x24 (?) icons. At least it gives a larger area to aim for though.
As I said before, my issues with Windows aren't to do with stability, virii or spyware. It is just that it is not a nice environment to work under. It is quite common for people that haven't experienced better to deny to themselves that something better can exist. Did you ever use AmigaOS in the early 90's? If you did, then you'll understand what a step back Windows was to many people in terms of usability. Mac OS X is, to me, an OS with excellent usability.
(and I posted this and got a confirmation of posting this about 30 minutes ago, and then Slashdot 'lost' it?)
God, what a pile of shit you are spewing.
CVS worked out of the box on my mac at work. CVS server set up and working in minutes, piece of piss.
Cocoa is the native Mac OS X environment. If getting to grips with Objective C is so hard for you (and yes, it is a bit of a bummer that choice is so limited, although Java had full bindings for Cocoa until recently as well), then what kind of developer are you?
Xcode ain't brilliant, but it is free. It is pretty damn good for free. It hasn't crashed on me yet.
Erm, nano came on my Mac OS X by default. nano is the stand-alone pico implementation.
Please provide an example of needing VNC running for a terminal application? I haven't run into one yet. Apple also provide their remote desktop functionality, but you don't even appear to know about it.
What I guess is that you've never even attempted to get to grips with developing on Mac OS X, you don't even know what basic tools the OS provides. Sheesh. Talk about talking bullshit.
That game is really neat, I'm getting way over 100fps on my new iBook. An impressive display of what Java can do when combined with some choice libraries. Great inspiration to do something myself.
You can hardly compare Mac OS 7 to Mac OS X. That's like comparing Windows 3.1 to Windows Vista!
The issue with Fitt's Law isn't the location, it is the size. Apart from the fact that I hate full screen windows anyway (why bother with a windowing system!). It is a lot harder to hit a 24x24 pixel icon that isn't on a screen edge than it is to hit an 80x20 Menu heading that is on a screen edge. I don't think you understand the issue. It'd be okay if Office 2004's 'Large Icons' option actually had clear icons, but it just scales up the default 24x24 (?) icons. At least it gives a larger area to aim for though.
As I said before, my issues with Windows aren't to do with stability, virii or spyware. It is just that it is not a nice environment to work under. It is quite common for people that haven't experienced better to deny to themselves that something better can exist. Did you ever use AmigaOS in the early 90's? If you did, then you'll understand what a step back Windows was to many people in terms of usability. Mac OS X is, to me, an OS with excellent usability.
Thanks. Fink will be generally useful I imagine so I'll get it.
Mac OS X uses cups as its printing system already. I've tried installing the PPD file for the printer already, and it did not work, although the printer shows up in the CUPS web interface. I think I'll give it another try though, I feel I'm getting somewhere.
Anyway if that fails, I'm going to try using the driver for the ML-2150, as someone has reported success with this driver on Mac OS X.
Whilst Slashdot has been a bit unresponsive, I investigated further. There are drivers on Samsung's Global Download Centre, just not Samsung's main website. I'll give them a go shortly.
Actually I think that having a feature work as you expect it to is quite an important thing. I'm not saying that all the features in Windows or Office don't work, just that one or two important features can be a real bear to work with - for example, tables in Word.
/± key*! Wtf use is that? I think I'll remap the to be # soon.
I don't know many people myself that actually use toolbar icons. Best option is to remove the toolbars completely and have more screen estate, and maybe just one custom toolbar with the features you actually do want quick access to (bring up styles window/sidebar, etc).
Oh, and don't get me started on the idea of hiding uncommonly used items in menus. I know you can disable it. That is a disruption, as I mentioned in another post. That, and Microsoft's useless UK keymap which doesn't have many foreign characters at all (many of which are used in the English language too). Not that Apple's UK keyboard is winning here, requiring you to press alt-3 to get # - on a laptop that is quite a contortion. Never mind that the # isn't even printed on the keyboard. Yet there is a
* Slashcode might remove the first character. It is a character that looks like an S with a circle in the middle, or one S above another slightly.
Take something like Word (and OpenOffice is guilty of the same thing).
... with all the issues that it has ... at least lets you create a document quickly that looks good, and it is reasonably enjoyable to use. Maybe it is all in the head, but I feel that Windows blocks creativity. Pages is very immature at the moment, but assuming that its development continues in the same way then I think it will get very good, and I think that it has a good way of working for the most part.
Firstly, the preferences/options are splattered all over the place.
Secondly, it is always popping up the help sidebar, and various other things.
Thirdly, it is just frustrating to use. There is no enjoyment there. When all you need to create is a document, then to be honest bloody Wordstar would be enough, and I think that Word in particular has forgotten that its primary task is to create documents. Now Pages
I rarely get issues with Windows crashing. Finder crashes a lot for me when the system goes to sleep with an attached Firewire hard drive - that is annoying.
I read recently that when a person is disrupted from their task, it can take them 10-20 minutes to get back into that task because of the disruption (out of 'the zone'). Whenever Windows or Windows applications get in my way, that is a disruption. Whenever clippy (yes, I know it is disableable) or help or something alters MY DESIRED screen layout that is a disruption. Just think - one disruption an hour isn't much, but it could be costing a company 1/6th to 1/3rd of its employees time. Of course the same goes for phone calls, invasive IM or Mail applications (i.e., popping something up on the screen rather than discretely making a quiet noise or increasing an unread mail icon somewhere) and the manager wandering around being annoying.
Oh, and for a person like me, you can't beat having Unix underneath.
So, you smoked it but didn't inhale? :-)
I think it was laced with rat poison.
Yeah, I have checked. Sadly they only have drivers for the network version of my printer. Maybe the network upgrade is cheap enough to buy on its own now - I'll have to have a look.
It is a real shame because the printer itself is pretty damn good, and Samsung's support is usually very good as well.
It is probably an economy of scale thing.
Then again, if these things cost half the price they are being sold at, I reckon they'd sell 4 or 5 times as many.
BT might not need to support 1000 people, but in some locations it might be their best option for providing broadband connectivity to a rural community. The $4000 unit could be ideal for the one phone box remaining in the community and support up to 250 users.
Disclaimer: I'm a Mac OS X convert as of two months ago. Before that I was a FreeBSD / Linux person that used Windows for various things (Office, games, etc) but without much enjoyment.
Windows: Tries to get in your way, force you to do things its way, doesn't provide a decent option to de-dumb globally. Office is a nightmare of over-featured bloat that most users will never use. When something goes wrong, it takes ages to fix because whilst you know what is wrong, Windows tries to stop you fixing it.
Linux / FreeBSD: Works well. If you know your stuff, it is easy to fix stuff and set up. I've had issues with upgrades however, after some time it will eventually mess up. Desktop applications are a mishmash of good and bad, or poorly thought out in a single crucial aspect whilst being very powerful.
Mac OS X: Doesn't get in your way. Allows you to actually get work done. Many applications are much more specific in their task (alternatively known as not having as many features, but the features that it does have actually work as you expect them to). Dashboard sucks. I don't think it can be beaten as an end-user operating system, however I can see that it lacks certain things that corporations would like in a desktop computer.
Computers come down to personal preference and what you are used to. If you only know how to do something in Windows and you aren't of a mind to sit down and learn how it is done in Linux or Mac OS X, then you are simply going to state that you need Windows for that task. Despite the frustration that you might have with it in Windows (e.g., tables in Word).
One thing that I like about Mac OS X is that it generally eschews the dozens of small icons in a toolbar that you can't really make out that well and thus never really use. Applications like Pages, Keynote, Mail and so on have a few buttons that bring up or hide inspectors or sidebars. A good design guide means that you'll always know how to do the common tasks (save, open, print) and you don't need a small icon that is hard to hit (Fitt's Law) present.
However it will take you a while to get used to this alternative way of working. Once you are there though, you will know you are more productive and find computing much less of a drag. What is unfortunate is that this goes for migrating from Linux or FreeBSD as well as migrating from Windows.
Also there are issues such as Logitech's APPALLING lack of support for Mac OS X for their webcam range. Canon's DIRE support for their scanners (hurrah for ScanVue). Samsung's AWFUL support for their printers (can't use my 1 year old ML-2250 under Mac OS X, but you can under Windows and Linux, sheesh). Now that the Mac seems to be having a small revival, maybe some companies will spend a little time on supporting it. When you run into something like this, it can be very demoralising, and appear as a negative against the OS.
But is there anything I *must* use Windows for? I can't think of anything in my line of work that couldn't be done in Mac OS X. However I think that there are big gaps in the software range for Linux, such as good finance/accounting/tax applications. Specialist software is another area where Windows can have a stranglehold, and if you use some of that, then you'll have issues.
And volume. In the UK BT installs its OpenZone wifi access in the top of its extensive network of telephone boxes. There isn't much room there.
And you still have the problem of having 16 devices to troubleshoot, 16 antennas to aim, 16 cables to ensure are working fine, and a switch.
But yes, if you have the area for the setup, and the time to configure it, that solution is fine.
I'd tell them to replace the laptop, and you'll accept nothing else, the number of issues you've had with it make it a dud, and the law should be on your side.
Maybe it is like that nylon stuff, like in school you had a bucket of liquid polymer goop, and you stick a needle into it and bring it out, and you get a thread of nylon attached to the end?
I'm quite surprised at the rate of development relating to nanotubes. Motorola have those displays utilising nanotubes to direct electrons. Now we have sheets of them suitable for multiple applications. What next?
Good points. I remember when I worked at BT that the building I was in which was built in the 60s had to have a false floor put down during refurbishment so as to allow easier laying of ethernet and power cables (they were changing to open-plan from walled laboratories).
Thank you for the figures.
So one of these $12000 devices can cover 4.5m square foot, or 1/6th of a square mile. A normal AP can cover 1/100th of a square mile.
Yes, you could use 16 APs to cover the same area, with 16 cable runs, 16x as many people disrupted, 16x as many locations to administer. 16 $100 (decent) APs with 16 $100 cable runs and a decent switch. That's probably around $4000 before ongoing running costs (33x as many things to go wrong).
And consider your typical metropolitan wireless network. It is unlikely that you'll find a location every 1/100th of a square mile to install an AP, but you'll find a location every 1/6th of a square mile. Installation costs per AP are probably a lot higher too, what with needing a network to connect to at each location. Even in a residential estate (one house per 5000 square foot say, you can encompass 900 properties. Not bad if one in five are each paying you $10 a month for access - you'll break even in a year. In the UK where a residential estate typically has plots of around 1500 square foot you'll cover 3000 properties - if you got one in 10 paying for wireless service you'd make back AP costs in 4 months, and hopefully the $3000 a month after that would be more than enough to pay off upstream bandwidth costs. Run a few of these networks and you'd have a nice income. Great for smaller towns that don't have broadband access too.
Weirdtastic! 15.5V? Only 2A? The capacity is probably a function of the current voltage (voltage drops off as the capacity drops) and because the voltage is so high (and possibly the voltage drop off is a curve when graphed) it is reporting a massive capacity.
Apart from that, I have no idea! Send Apple an email, heh.
Exactly.
Also, I've just read another review, and the 802.11a reception was 22mbit at 100ft from the AP, and it looked pretty good at 150ft. So even if you were in a normal office building (instead of a 100ft radius cylinder, heh) it would reach pretty much everyone on at least 2 floors. For an L shaped office building, 200ft long by 80ft wide (floor area = 26500sq ft, which is 265 - 500 employees per floor)) it would be ideal
I see from the reviews images that you got pretty good 802.11a coverage at around 150ft from the device, did you ever find out how far you could get away from the device and keep up a decent connection?
Range of 100ft?
That covers an area of 31400 square feet. A typical office worker has a 10ft by 10ft cubicle, for 100 sq ft, so 314 workers could use this device.
I've noticed a tendancy for office space to utilise curvy tables and thinner desks with TFTs to cut the per user space down to around 10ftx8ft, or even 8ftx6ft. The latter would allow you to fit 620 workers within range.
It is using directional antennas.
Let's assume it uses 6 channels for the 12 801.11a APs.
Rotationally, you would go (at 30 degree angles): 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 6, 1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 6
Shouldn't be much interference, except under the device...