"Bogus. One has to wonder if this is an effort by some company to force Apple to open up the iPod without having to pay Apple to license it like HP has. Somebody somewhere is always trying to get something for free."
Boy I'm curious what your post would have been like if this had been Microsoft instead of Apple.
"Why is parent marked Troll? It's true. Just because someone got something to work on a certain device it was never intended to work on DOES NOT mean the Company is obligated to dump resources into supporting it. Be happy it even works."
Nothing wrong with letting them know we actually want this capability to work.
"Where is a device like this going to see the most use? At home most gadget customers have the equipment to play all sorts of media, a larger screen, and a couch."
I wonder if questions like this were raised when the first laptops came out.
I actually have a TabletPC that does basically that job for me. It has all my music and a few DivX rips of DVDs I have. Sometimes when I feel like laying down and watching a movie, I use it for that. I'd enjoy having a smaller more portable version of a media player for this. It'd be especially more useful if it either worked as a PVR (i.e. have it sitting in a cradle with the cable hooked up capturing shows) or if it could sync with my Replay over the network.
This isn't something you buy because you're a minimalist. It's something you get when you've got time you'd like to occupy in a more entertaining way. In high school I had a 45 minute ride home on the bus. I would have killed for something like this in those days. Sometimes I watch stuff (like Star Trek) that nobody else really wants to see. No problem, curl up in bed with the unit and watch peacefully. Etc.
I agree with you that it's not the most useful item ever, but with something like iTunes for video, I could see it being a huge hit. I think most of us find ourselves with time to kill yet not enough time to watch the TV shows we like. If we didn't, TiVO wouldn't be so popular.
"Am I the only one who finds it sad that these monstrosities are replacing PDA's?"
Are they? Well, let's assume they are:
I don't find it sad. It's hard to justify $500 for a PDA. Whoopee, it has a calender. Whoopee, it can kinda sorta browse the web and get email. Whoopee, some of them have cameras. Besides playing media, what use do they have that would appeal to a broad segment? Why is it so 'sad' that entertainment machines that are capable of storing fun-to-watch stuff is, as you say, popular?
I think it's sad that PDAs are limited enough that they don't have a killer app other than playing media. I don't think the attitudes of people who buy them are sad at all. Says more about the current state of PDAs than it does about people buying them.
"I hate to have to ruin my karma like this, but please refrain from lumping "HAM" operators with the CB groups. We frankly don't like that. Although, most "HAM" (amateur) operators usually train for stuff like this just incase we actually are needed. They have quite a few groups/classes that you can do to help learn where you fit in the 'disaster' picture."
I really would like to see this post modded up.
I got my HR license when I was 10 years old. After attaining that, I started attending the local Ham Radio meetings. Sadly, my memory of those meetings has faded, but one thing did burn into my mind: They urged people to use Ham radio for good. I remember we all stood to recognize a man who helped save somebody's life. A man suffered a heart attack. One person performed CPR while a Ham radio operator raised the paramedics. (Please bear in mind, this was long before cell phones were common everyday items.) They made a special point to draw attention to the good he did.
I don't have my license any more, but I certainly respect Hams. Never have a I met a kinder more intelligent group of people.
"They make money from games and licencing fees. I believe that this is the case for Sony as well with their PS2"
I'm really curious to know if MS has made the 2+ billion they spent on it back or not. Even if they don't, I imagine they'll make it up in the next gen. It's an interesting gamble. I'm curious to see how things end up in a few years.
"The best thing Nintendo could do, in my eyes, anyways, is stick to making hardware (because they do a damned fine job of that), license their stable of franchises out to 3rd parties (I mean, just look what Retro managed with Metroid Prime - those fucktards at Nintendo let their most adult-oriented franchise just rot for years and years, cranking out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA, and then Retro takes it off their hands and makes one of the best consoles games ever), and try to build a functional platform behind their console; something like Xbox Live."
Ouch. Talk about recipe for disaster.
A.) Nintendo makes its own hardware because it can afford to with all the first party titles it sells. Metroid Prime is cool and all, but it's hardly an indication that 3rd parties could, in general, carry Miyamoto's torch. So they'd lose money and there's a weaker guarantee of quality.
B.) XBOX live isn't making Microsoft any real money, nor is Sony's on-line service. If Nintendo provided one, they'd be lucky to get half a million subscribers. Lots of people want on-line pay, few actually want to pay $x per month for it.
C.) It'd be nice for Nintendo to get more 3rd party support. But there is a point of diminishing returns. I'll never forget when the PS1 first released. It had a TON of games on the shelves. Nearly all of them were CRAP. I was surprised that Sony hadn't created another 'Atari' here by flooding the market with a bunch of me-too -look-at-me-because-Im-3D games. I'm not saying it'd hurt Nintendo to have more 3rd party games, but if Sony and Nintendo got into "let's see how much we can cram the shelves" war, there'd be a serious risk of people just not caring anymore. (Just like what happened with the Atari 2600)
Nintendo's not in its death throes by any stretch of the imagination. But I do agree with you that they need to work harder to broaden their appeal. I just wanted you to know that, I'm not trying to shoot down your entire point. Just saying I don't agree with your plan.
"Just because the system isn't selling as well as the PS2 or XBox does not mean that Nintendo is losing money. With the already installed user base, Nintendo can make profits from sales of the games they release. So, your "equation" is wrong."
It's also worth noting that we're talking about 1 region here, not the entire world. As I recall, XBOX wasn't doing so well in Japan.
"I have a Toshiba m200 Tablet Pc. I was able to get with help from members of a local linux group to have most things working. But sadly the most important bit, the Pen Input was not working."
This was basically stated by another user, so sorry if I'm being redundant here. However, it's important to note that most TabletPCs (at least the ones that don't use actual touch screens) use Wacom digitizers. Whatever OS you install, if you can get a Wacom driver, you should be okay.
Figured I'd mention that in case there's any other OS out there somebody might want to install on their TabletPC. I've actually kicked around the idea of putting Win2K with a Wacom driver on it to see how that handles. I'd miss the on-screen keyboard, but I do a lot of Photoshop painting on this unit and I could use a lighter OS.
"I never really saw any reason to own a Tablet PC, what does it have over a labtop?"
You can hold it with one hand and control it via stylus with the other. (I.e. you can use it standing up.) Doesn't sound like much, but man, it is nice to use while on the couch. No more "Ack! IT's about to fall off!" moments.
It's great if ya need a PC to wander around with you. It's also great if you need to draw. I use my M200 for both and I'm quite happy with it. If those aren't appealing to you, though, then don't worry about it. I personally hate using a laptop on my lap, that's what lit a fire under me to get one of these.
"I've seen your posts for years now... yes you are a faker. Damn windoze luser."
Linux wouldn't offer me any gains over Win'doze'. I've looked into it, and the fact of the matter is that Windows 2000 (or even XP, which I use on my workstation at work) isn't the piece of shit that it's made out to be here.
I'm successful in my line of work, so you'll pardon me for not being offended by being called a 'luser'.;)
"is that it's people like these that caused so many problems for our friends at Valve and are responsible for most of the other irritating leaks of software."
It's worth mentioning that the game was a huge success despite all the 'damage' done by source code leaks.
My point is not to defend piracy or cracking, but merely to point out that damage reports are often inflated.
Slashdot Mirror
"Bogus. One has to wonder if this is an effort by some company to force Apple to open up the iPod without having to pay Apple to license it like HP has. Somebody somewhere is always trying to get something for free."
Boy I'm curious what your post would have been like if this had been Microsoft instead of Apple.
"Why does /. insist on posting articles that are simply promotions of useless web sites?"
Useless to you is not useless to all. I don't really care if it's an ad or not so far as it's interesting.
"will they run Linux?? XD"
Ugh. Talk about masochsistic.
2..2..2.. c.. ok... now 3..3..3.. d... crap, how do you make a slash!?
"It's called reading. Or listening to music as an aid."
And now you're talking to english speaking people, thus proving the gpp's point.
"Why is parent marked Troll? It's true. Just because someone got something to work on a certain device it was never intended to work on DOES NOT mean the Company is obligated to dump resources into supporting it. Be happy it even works."
Nothing wrong with letting them know we actually want this capability to work.
"well MS created the market in the first place, so they should at least be allowed to profit from it :)"
Heh. Yep, just like Honda should profit from the car theft market.
"Where is a device like this going to see the most use? At home most gadget customers have the equipment to play all sorts of media, a larger screen, and a couch."
I wonder if questions like this were raised when the first laptops came out.
I actually have a TabletPC that does basically that job for me. It has all my music and a few DivX rips of DVDs I have. Sometimes when I feel like laying down and watching a movie, I use it for that. I'd enjoy having a smaller more portable version of a media player for this. It'd be especially more useful if it either worked as a PVR (i.e. have it sitting in a cradle with the cable hooked up capturing shows) or if it could sync with my Replay over the network.
This isn't something you buy because you're a minimalist. It's something you get when you've got time you'd like to occupy in a more entertaining way. In high school I had a 45 minute ride home on the bus. I would have killed for something like this in those days. Sometimes I watch stuff (like Star Trek) that nobody else really wants to see. No problem, curl up in bed with the unit and watch peacefully. Etc.
I agree with you that it's not the most useful item ever, but with something like iTunes for video, I could see it being a huge hit. I think most of us find ourselves with time to kill yet not enough time to watch the TV shows we like. If we didn't, TiVO wouldn't be so popular.
"Am I the only one who finds it sad that these monstrosities are replacing PDA's?"
Are they? Well, let's assume they are:
I don't find it sad. It's hard to justify $500 for a PDA. Whoopee, it has a calender. Whoopee, it can kinda sorta browse the web and get email. Whoopee, some of them have cameras. Besides playing media, what use do they have that would appeal to a broad segment? Why is it so 'sad' that entertainment machines that are capable of storing fun-to-watch stuff is, as you say, popular?
I think it's sad that PDAs are limited enough that they don't have a killer app other than playing media. I don't think the attitudes of people who buy them are sad at all. Says more about the current state of PDAs than it does about people buying them.
"If Microsoft adds an anti-spyware tool free to Windows, how long until Mario Monte declares MS's move as an illegal monopolistic practice?"
Damned if they do, damned if they don't. Pretty lame, eh?
"73 - KL1SA"
Ack, thoguht you were a chick for a moment. *Shudder*
"I hate to have to ruin my karma like this, but please refrain from lumping "HAM" operators with the CB groups. We frankly don't like that. Although, most "HAM" (amateur) operators usually train for stuff like this just incase we actually are needed. They have quite a few groups/classes that you can do to help learn where you fit in the 'disaster' picture."
I really would like to see this post modded up.
I got my HR license when I was 10 years old. After attaining that, I started attending the local Ham Radio meetings. Sadly, my memory of those meetings has faded, but one thing did burn into my mind: They urged people to use Ham radio for good. I remember we all stood to recognize a man who helped save somebody's life. A man suffered a heart attack. One person performed CPR while a Ham radio operator raised the paramedics. (Please bear in mind, this was long before cell phones were common everyday items.) They made a special point to draw attention to the good he did.
I don't have my license any more, but I certainly respect Hams. Never have a I met a kinder more intelligent group of people.
"They make money from games and licencing fees. I believe that this is the case for Sony as well with their PS2"
I'm really curious to know if MS has made the 2+ billion they spent on it back or not. Even if they don't, I imagine they'll make it up in the next gen. It's an interesting gamble. I'm curious to see how things end up in a few years.
"Cant cure cancer. Cant cure AIDs either. Cant kill terrorists. But hell, lets blow up some comets!"
Yeah, it's pretty sad that Nasa's focus is on space travel instead of being a bunch of generalists.
"The dinosaurs tried the same thing in 60,000,000 B.C., and look what happened to them."
In all seriousness it would be cool to avert a catastrophe that the dinos couldn't. It'd prove we've actually evolved!
"The best thing Nintendo could do, in my eyes, anyways, is stick to making hardware (because they do a damned fine job of that), license their stable of franchises out to 3rd parties (I mean, just look what Retro managed with Metroid Prime - those fucktards at Nintendo let their most adult-oriented franchise just rot for years and years, cranking out the odd Super Metroid clone on the GBA, and then Retro takes it off their hands and makes one of the best consoles games ever), and try to build a functional platform behind their console; something like Xbox Live."
Ouch. Talk about recipe for disaster.
A.) Nintendo makes its own hardware because it can afford to with all the first party titles it sells. Metroid Prime is cool and all, but it's hardly an indication that 3rd parties could, in general, carry Miyamoto's torch. So they'd lose money and there's a weaker guarantee of quality.
B.) XBOX live isn't making Microsoft any real money, nor is Sony's on-line service. If Nintendo provided one, they'd be lucky to get half a million subscribers. Lots of people want on-line pay, few actually want to pay $x per month for it.
C.) It'd be nice for Nintendo to get more 3rd party support. But there is a point of diminishing returns. I'll never forget when the PS1 first released. It had a TON of games on the shelves. Nearly all of them were CRAP. I was surprised that Sony hadn't created another 'Atari' here by flooding the market with a bunch of me-too -look-at-me-because-Im-3D games. I'm not saying it'd hurt Nintendo to have more 3rd party games, but if Sony and Nintendo got into "let's see how much we can cram the shelves" war, there'd be a serious risk of people just not caring anymore. (Just like what happened with the Atari 2600)
Nintendo's not in its death throes by any stretch of the imagination. But I do agree with you that they need to work harder to broaden their appeal. I just wanted you to know that, I'm not trying to shoot down your entire point. Just saying I don't agree with your plan.
"Just because the system isn't selling as well as the PS2 or XBox does not mean that Nintendo is losing money. With the already installed user base, Nintendo can make profits from sales of the games they release. So, your "equation" is wrong."
It's also worth noting that we're talking about 1 region here, not the entire world. As I recall, XBOX wasn't doing so well in Japan.
"I have a Toshiba m200 Tablet Pc. I was able to get with help from members of a local linux group to have most things working. But sadly the most important bit, the Pen Input was not working."
This was basically stated by another user, so sorry if I'm being redundant here. However, it's important to note that most TabletPCs (at least the ones that don't use actual touch screens) use Wacom digitizers. Whatever OS you install, if you can get a Wacom driver, you should be okay.
Figured I'd mention that in case there's any other OS out there somebody might want to install on their TabletPC. I've actually kicked around the idea of putting Win2K with a Wacom driver on it to see how that handles. I'd miss the on-screen keyboard, but I do a lot of Photoshop painting on this unit and I could use a lighter OS.
"I never really saw any reason to own a Tablet PC, what does it have over a labtop?"
You can hold it with one hand and control it via stylus with the other. (I.e. you can use it standing up.) Doesn't sound like much, but man, it is nice to use while on the couch. No more "Ack! IT's about to fall off!" moments.
It's great if ya need a PC to wander around with you. It's also great if you need to draw. I use my M200 for both and I'm quite happy with it. If those aren't appealing to you, though, then don't worry about it. I personally hate using a laptop on my lap, that's what lit a fire under me to get one of these.
I'm confused. Are you trying to say that a dead pixel is or isn't annoying?
"Can't wait for others of this caliber!!`~ Made me weep!!"
Wow. Never would expect that Nasa's using a Game Boy Camera...
"I've seen your posts for years now... yes you are a faker. Damn windoze luser."
;)
Linux wouldn't offer me any gains over Win'doze'. I've looked into it, and the fact of the matter is that Windows 2000 (or even XP, which I use on my workstation at work) isn't the piece of shit that it's made out to be here.
I'm successful in my line of work, so you'll pardon me for not being offended by being called a 'luser'.
"is that it's people like these that caused so many problems for our friends at Valve and are responsible for most of the other irritating leaks of software."
It's worth mentioning that the game was a huge success despite all the 'damage' done by source code leaks.
My point is not to defend piracy or cracking, but merely to point out that damage reports are often inflated.
"Do you refer to disc space as "memory"? Faker."
I do. Am I a faker, too?
" Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.crypto.com
Wow, that's pretty darned secure!
Wow, that's a shock. An anti-American post not modded as insightful? Are we seeing a New Year's resolution in effect?