You would if you found yourself near your blender at times where you can't reach your MP3 player. Maybe I'm just spoiled but my $100 phone does a good job as a phone and as a camera. Pity I don't have any mod points.
"You don't have to go to India to get a fair deal. I am on Fido in Canada using a SE T610 I got for $25. It has the most recent firmware, BT is active, I can use.midi files that I make myself as ringtones."
Well it's not like all of the USA is like that either. I have an MP3 ringtone I made. I put it on my phone by simply uploading it to my site and using my phone to download it. (no bluetooth on this phone.)
Maybe that'll change one day, but I don't find it all that likely. Cingular would really like me to pay by the KB.
"If you can type worth a damn, then it really doesn't save you any time abbreviating everything;"
Are you seriously saying that it doesn't take any more time to type more characters? BRB takes the same amount of time as "I will be right back."?
"The only time I could consider using such abbreviations is when I'm typing a text message on a phone, or some keyboard that is so hopelessly small that it doesn't lend itself to touch-typing."
Question: have you ever actually conversed on the internet in real time? Have you used ICQ or IRC or anything like that? I ask because the reason these abbreviations came about is because people are trying to keep up with the conversation. You may think they are being a 'tool', but frankly, you're not going to get anywhere changing people's minds about how they come across if you will not take the time to understand why these sort of things come about in the first place.
I'm being a hypocrite, though. I'm telling you to better understand the shades of gray here, but I'm sitting here thinking about how much I can't stand one-sided people who develop strong extreme opinions. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time I've been a jerk. Nothing personal.
"A lot of people in the "professional" work force don't seem to understand that professionalism is supposed to extend to their written communications, and things like "werd" and "brb" in an email to a higher level executive don't provide a professional image."
Will that be true with the next generation of executives?
I don't mean to be argumentative, but at my previous job I had an executive threaten to fire me because I came into the office with my hat on backwards.
"So we have one company (or municipality) lay the cable, and sell the access to ISPs. What's the problem?"
I wasn't trying to point out a 'problem', but rather ask a question. (Sadly, I forgot to put a question mark on the end of that sentence.)
"It's just like with cake: You cut the cake, I choose what piece I want. Keeps us both honest."
Sadly, I'm not a huge fan of this metaphor. The major problem with it is that the guy wanting to invest all the money into deploying a huge service is going to want a monopoly on it. He's going to be the one willing to spend billions to make it all happen to everybody and quickly.
I'm not claiming it's right. Nor am I even defending it. Rather I'm asking the question: Is this a good price to pay? If cable companies didn't get at least a temporary monopoly on their services, would they have deployed as fast as they did?
I guess the real question I'm asking is whether or not the big M word is such an evil word when we're trying to get something deployed on a per-person level.
"You're dodging the issue. One that you brought up I might add."
Not really, no. My point was that despite the convergence, it doesn't do an adequate job.
"I can fit two high quality, full length motion pictures in the space of 1GB."
A 1 gig memory stick is $160. I can buy a portable DVD player for that.
" Never have I needed them for gaming"
Not needing them is not the same as not being useful. Frankly, I can think of a number of times where I would have loved for the games I play to support the second monitor.
" (ie. no 3D on both of the DS screens)."
Agreed. However, it's not completely useless. I was actually surprised at the Metroid game that comes with the DS. Not only could I actually aim with the touch screen setup, but it also gave me another button there. Intuitive, nice.
"Tablet PC a non-gimmick? Please..."
Yes, it is a non-gimmick. Because of it's stylus, I can use my TPC in more cramped surroundings. I can also paint with it, though I don't expect that's a BFD to a lot of people. (That's originally what I bought it for.) And you certainly cannot argue that the stylus for the millions of Palm Pilots out there is a gimmick.
"Guess which console could do more? I'd rather pay $250 and get a DS with a nicer screen, better graphics, the ability to play films & music, an analog controller, a USB port, a MemoryStick slot, an existing internet play infrastructure and better games."
You're not getting that for $250, you're getting it for $$400. $150 for a 1 gig memory stick. You may be able to 'do more', but for an extreme cost and you're going to find it gets old pretty fast. It's like spending $5,000 extra to get a moon-roof for your car. Yeah, you can 'do more'. Heh.
I'm not leaning you towards the DS. Why? For the simple reason that I doubt you'd like the games on it. (Heck, I'm a Nintendo fan-boy and I still haven't seen a killer game for it.) I just think your justification for buying the PSP is silly. Games. Buy it for games. If you wouldn't pay $250 for it without the movie/music shit on it, then you're seriously a sucker.
The myth was not that this sort of rig could work, but rather that it was actually used against the Romans many centuries ago. Remember the whole discussion about politely asking the enemy ships to stay in one spot for several hours so they'd cook?:P
"Honestly, am I missing something? I don't mean to troll, but what is the huge advantage of being able to write on a pc screen with crappy recognition software?"
You can use it standing up. I've used mine to walk around the office taking inventory and entering it into a spreadsheet. I loathe the thought of doing that with a VAIO.
Well, I know you didn't pick a laptop over a desktop because it was cheaper and/or faster.
I'm not trying to arm twist you into wanting a TPC. Just trying to explain that speed's not everything. One of the things I really enjoy about my TabletPC is that I occasionally do sysadmin'ish jobs around the office. The TPC has built in ethernet and 802.11. I can walk around the office and use it without having to clear a spot to set it down. (Especially great when taking inventory.) Twice as many ghz and a bigger screen would not make this job go ANY easier.
It's all up to your needs, but I think the whole "well it doesn't perform as fast" argument is fairly weak considering this is the site that constantly makes comments about the average Joe not needing more than 300 mhz.
"I can't help but think that, for that pricing and performance, one would be better off getting a more conventional laptop or tablet and keeping an extra battery or two around. It's nice to see a notebook that actually acts like a portable, but sadly the battery life is about the only thing that this tablet has going for it."
Question: If you're using a laptop, as opposed to a desktop, are you not focusing on mobility over performance? If so, does it really matter if it's not as fast provided it's more portable and lasts longer on a battery?
"Seems to me it alot adu about nothing. Marketing is getting really slick. They keep selling people the same things, just with new names. Just like the republicans..."
Uh, okay.
To answer your question: Tablet PCs are more mobile since they don't require a flat surface to operate on. You can use one standing up, for example. That's definitely a huge plus in my opinion. I can carry my TPC around and use it in a lot more places than I could my old laptop.
Whether or not you care is entirely up to you, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss TPCs as 'the same things with new names'.
"Don't fear outsourcing. Saying "we can't demand better work conditions because they'd outsource us" makes you a slave at the mercy of your master."
Not only that, but outsourcing in this particular field isn't all that practical. If it were, why wouldn't EA just do that instead of over-demanding from their employees?
There's value in having an employee in the building. There's value in natively speaking the same language. There's value in not having a 12 hour time difference. There's value in having your employees on the local network instead of going over the net. There's value in you personally as an artist. There's value in all of your employees sharing the same space. (I refer to Pixar's decision to have a central bathroom...)
Frankly, I'm not afraid of outsourcing in this field.
This is a placeholder karma whore. I'll post about how this is really part of Microsoft's grande evil plan. Best part is, I'll get a higher score than any of you!
Given this particulr st of choices, I'd rather carry a book.
"You can convert them on your PC and transfer them to the PSP."
If you're lucky, you'll get one movie over to a seperately purchased card. That's a lot of hassle to go through to briefly entertain myself on a trip, assuming the battery even holds.
" Two screens is a gimmick because it's a feature nobody wanted. "
I have a dual monitor setup on my computer right now. I also have a tablet PC that uses a stylus. No gimmick here, and certainly more useful than playing back movies.
" Guess which console I can't play movies on? You guessed it, the one made by Nintendo."
Guess which console cost you $100 less. My point? I'd rather pay $150 and get a PSP without the movie playback and the other bullshit.
"I love how it seems to be OK for legislators to just completely ignore the Constitution these days, just in order to make a point."
Given that the blockage is optional, how is the Constitution being violated? (Note: I'm actually asking in all seriousness, I'm not challenging your point.)
Slashdot Mirror
"I don't want my blender to play mp3's."
You would if you found yourself near your blender at times where you can't reach your MP3 player. Maybe I'm just spoiled but my $100 phone does a good job as a phone and as a camera. Pity I don't have any mod points.
"You don't have to go to India to get a fair deal. I am on Fido in Canada using a SE T610 I got for $25. It has the most recent firmware, BT is active, I can use .midi files that I make myself as ringtones."
Well it's not like all of the USA is like that either. I have an MP3 ringtone I made. I put it on my phone by simply uploading it to my site and using my phone to download it. (no bluetooth on this phone.)
Maybe that'll change one day, but I don't find it all that likely. Cingular would really like me to pay by the KB.
"Whata ya wanna bet That the mother of all software companies drove a wedge into that deal.....?"
That depends on how low my karma is at the time.
"Why are we putting up with this kind of thing in here in the US, anyway?"
It's a non-issue for most people out there, that's why. Geeks are not in the majority when it comes to buying cell phones.
"Maybe I'm crazy, but it looks to me like Sony already has experience in the whole "beating someone after over a decade of dominance" thing."
They also have plenty of experience in not beating somebody with years of dominance. Clie comes to mind.
"If you can type worth a damn, then it really doesn't save you any time abbreviating everything;"
Are you seriously saying that it doesn't take any more time to type more characters? BRB takes the same amount of time as "I will be right back."?
"The only time I could consider using such abbreviations is when I'm typing a text message on a phone, or some keyboard that is so hopelessly small that it doesn't lend itself to touch-typing."
Question: have you ever actually conversed on the internet in real time? Have you used ICQ or IRC or anything like that? I ask because the reason these abbreviations came about is because people are trying to keep up with the conversation. You may think they are being a 'tool', but frankly, you're not going to get anywhere changing people's minds about how they come across if you will not take the time to understand why these sort of things come about in the first place.
I'm being a hypocrite, though. I'm telling you to better understand the shades of gray here, but I'm sitting here thinking about how much I can't stand one-sided people who develop strong extreme opinions. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time I've been a jerk. Nothing personal.
"A lot of people in the "professional" work force don't seem to understand that professionalism is supposed to extend to their written communications, and things like "werd" and "brb" in an email to a higher level executive don't provide a professional image."
Will that be true with the next generation of executives?
I don't mean to be argumentative, but at my previous job I had an executive threaten to fire me because I came into the office with my hat on backwards.
"So we have one company (or municipality) lay the cable, and sell the access to ISPs. What's the problem?"
I wasn't trying to point out a 'problem', but rather ask a question. (Sadly, I forgot to put a question mark on the end of that sentence.)
"It's just like with cake: You cut the cake, I choose what piece I want. Keeps us both honest."
Sadly, I'm not a huge fan of this metaphor. The major problem with it is that the guy wanting to invest all the money into deploying a huge service is going to want a monopoly on it. He's going to be the one willing to spend billions to make it all happen to everybody and quickly.
I'm not claiming it's right. Nor am I even defending it. Rather I'm asking the question: Is this a good price to pay? If cable companies didn't get at least a temporary monopoly on their services, would they have deployed as fast as they did?
I guess the real question I'm asking is whether or not the big M word is such an evil word when we're trying to get something deployed on a per-person level.
Is the cost of that, though, that companies will be less willing to build that sort of infrastructure down the road.
I mean, seriously, would you spend billions of dollars laying fibre if you're just building it for your competitors?
"On the other hand they are forcing you to use Linux. Makes a nice change to today where so many bank websites do not work on anything but IE."
Forcing it's users to change OS's? That's a 'nice change'?
I wouldn't mind but I get an earful anytime I suggest Linux users dual boot with Windows instead of going on with WINE to play games.
"let's say they did go after BIOS settings to disable the CD boot option. What would the malware creators gain from doing that?"
Well, it'd certainly make debugging a little more interesting. Heh.
"You're dodging the issue. One that you brought up I might add."
Not really, no. My point was that despite the convergence, it doesn't do an adequate job.
"I can fit two high quality, full length motion pictures in the space of 1GB."
A 1 gig memory stick is $160. I can buy a portable DVD player for that.
" Never have I needed them for gaming"
Not needing them is not the same as not being useful. Frankly, I can think of a number of times where I would have loved for the games I play to support the second monitor.
" (ie. no 3D on both of the DS screens)."
Agreed. However, it's not completely useless. I was actually surprised at the Metroid game that comes with the DS. Not only could I actually aim with the touch screen setup, but it also gave me another button there. Intuitive, nice.
"Tablet PC a non-gimmick? Please..."
Yes, it is a non-gimmick. Because of it's stylus, I can use my TPC in more cramped surroundings. I can also paint with it, though I don't expect that's a BFD to a lot of people. (That's originally what I bought it for.) And you certainly cannot argue that the stylus for the millions of Palm Pilots out there is a gimmick.
"Guess which console could do more? I'd rather pay $250 and get a DS with a nicer screen, better graphics, the ability to play films & music, an analog controller, a USB port, a MemoryStick slot, an existing internet play infrastructure and better games."
You're not getting that for $250, you're getting it for $$400. $150 for a 1 gig memory stick. You may be able to 'do more', but for an extreme cost and you're going to find it gets old pretty fast. It's like spending $5,000 extra to get a moon-roof for your car. Yeah, you can 'do more'. Heh.
I'm not leaning you towards the DS. Why? For the simple reason that I doubt you'd like the games on it. (Heck, I'm a Nintendo fan-boy and I still haven't seen a killer game for it.) I just think your justification for buying the PSP is silly. Games. Buy it for games. If you wouldn't pay $250 for it without the movie/music shit on it, then you're seriously a sucker.
"There needs to be some sort of penalty for filing fraudulent patent applications like this,"
There is. It's called a counter-suit.
The myth was not that this sort of rig could work, but rather that it was actually used against the Romans many centuries ago. Remember the whole discussion about politely asking the enemy ships to stay in one spot for several hours so they'd cook? :P
"Honestly, am I missing something? I don't mean to troll, but what is the huge advantage of being able to write on a pc screen with crappy recognition software?"
You can use it standing up. I've used mine to walk around the office taking inventory and entering it into a spreadsheet. I loathe the thought of doing that with a VAIO.
Oh, and btw, the recognition isn't so crappy.
"Who said anything about desktops?"
Well, I know you didn't pick a laptop over a desktop because it was cheaper and/or faster.
I'm not trying to arm twist you into wanting a TPC. Just trying to explain that speed's not everything. One of the things I really enjoy about my TabletPC is that I occasionally do sysadmin'ish jobs around the office. The TPC has built in ethernet and 802.11. I can walk around the office and use it without having to clear a spot to set it down. (Especially great when taking inventory.) Twice as many ghz and a bigger screen would not make this job go ANY easier.
It's all up to your needs, but I think the whole "well it doesn't perform as fast" argument is fairly weak considering this is the site that constantly makes comments about the average Joe not needing more than 300 mhz.
"I can't help but think that, for that pricing and performance, one would be better off getting a more conventional laptop or tablet and keeping an extra battery or two around. It's nice to see a notebook that actually acts like a portable, but sadly the battery life is about the only thing that this tablet has going for it."
Question: If you're using a laptop, as opposed to a desktop, are you not focusing on mobility over performance? If so, does it really matter if it's not as fast provided it's more portable and lasts longer on a battery?
"Seems to me it alot adu about nothing. Marketing is getting really slick. They keep selling people the same things, just with new names. Just like the republicans..."
Uh, okay.
To answer your question: Tablet PCs are more mobile since they don't require a flat surface to operate on. You can use one standing up, for example. That's definitely a huge plus in my opinion. I can carry my TPC around and use it in a lot more places than I could my old laptop.
Whether or not you care is entirely up to you, but I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss TPCs as 'the same things with new names'.
"Don't fear outsourcing. Saying "we can't demand better work conditions because they'd outsource us" makes you a slave at the mercy of your master."
Not only that, but outsourcing in this particular field isn't all that practical. If it were, why wouldn't EA just do that instead of over-demanding from their employees?
There's value in having an employee in the building. There's value in natively speaking the same language. There's value in not having a 12 hour time difference. There's value in having your employees on the local network instead of going over the net. There's value in you personally as an artist. There's value in all of your employees sharing the same space. (I refer to Pixar's decision to have a central bathroom...)
Frankly, I'm not afraid of outsourcing in this field.
This is a placeholder karma whore. I'll post about how this is really part of Microsoft's grande evil plan. Best part is, I'll get a higher score than any of you!
"So you would rather carry around 3 devices? "
Given this particulr st of choices, I'd rather carry a book.
"You can convert them on your PC and transfer them to the PSP."
If you're lucky, you'll get one movie over to a seperately purchased card. That's a lot of hassle to go through to briefly entertain myself on a trip, assuming the battery even holds.
" Two screens is a gimmick because it's a feature nobody wanted. "
I have a dual monitor setup on my computer right now. I also have a tablet PC that uses a stylus. No gimmick here, and certainly more useful than playing back movies.
" Guess which console I can't play movies on? You guessed it, the one made by Nintendo."
Guess which console cost you $100 less. My point? I'd rather pay $150 and get a PSP without the movie playback and the other bullshit.
"I took the blue pill"
Break out the puncture repair kit, and unpack Rachel!
"Where's the OS X version?"
That's what you get for taking the aqua pill.
I really wish whoever had modded my previous post as 'Overrated' would simply have pressed 'Reply' instead.
"I love how it seems to be OK for legislators to just completely ignore the Constitution these days, just in order to make a point."
Given that the blockage is optional, how is the Constitution being violated? (Note: I'm actually asking in all seriousness, I'm not challenging your point.)