The technical specifications of the original iPod were lame, if you were after an all-singing, all-dancing device with masses of storage space. However, that's an opinion from one particular perspective, not a statement of absolute fact.
it just threw together existing technology in a cutesy package and marketed it as a fashion accessory.
Its extremely improbable that fashion alone could propel sales of a truly bad product for the best part of a decade, and the "cutesy package" argument hasn't made sense since most other MP3 players (including the Sansa e280) started copying the iPod style some years ago. Unless you're referring to iTunes/iTMS integration, but if that's a feature people use and like that lacks viable competition it's hardly a mark against the iPod.
Sorry, but there has to be a more tangible reason why the iPod dominates.
I've owned several different MP3 players (currently a Sansa e280 with Rockbox) but I've never had any reason to purchase an iPod.
Nor have I, and I don't see why you should if it doesn't meet your needs. So including Taco, that's three sales Apple won't make.
But apparently a majority of MP3 player purchasers don't seem to want more than a simple tapeless Walkman equivalent. What they consider lame is features they'll never use: SD cards are just more crap to carry around and lose, WiFi doesn't recharge as it syncs, and OGG/FLAC is perhaps a caveman with an anti-aircraft gun...they don't know, they don't care, as long as their MP3 player plays MP3s exciting new features can go to early-adopter hell. I have no doubt Apple conducted extensive market research on this before spending $millions on product development, and the fact that 8 years later they're successfully selling a model with even fewer features and less storage space than the original indicates the validity of the simple appliance approach for their target market segment.
That doesn't make it lame; quite the opposite, that makes it a well thought out product. Just not the product you want, that's all.
I've seen tube tips like the Rotring Rapidograph series; their numbers are tip diameter in millimetres, but I couldn't say for other brands (depends where they're made, I suppose). I haven't used them, but if they're anything like fountain pens they'd be corroded and clogged by India ink, which contains shellac (the stuff used to stiffen felt hats).
I don't care much about the aesthetics of the pens...I'll take function over form any day.
I'd agree rollerballs are a vast improvement on biros, but I find they still skate around on the page a bit too much. I prefer felt tips like the Artline 200 0.4mm for the friction (and let's face it, who doesn't like a bit of friction when their tip is felt?).
Ergonomics. A good fountain pen's own weight provides almost all the pressure necessary, so instead of having to apply downward force and then attempt fine control you only need the fine control, which means you can write for longer without your hand cramping. Fountain pens (and fine felt-tip pens, for that matter) only scrape when you press down too hard, a habit that comes from using cheap biros with poor ink flow.
Let me put it this way: if people had laptops that were infected, were booted off the network because of security software, and then defeated that security software to get online (and infected machines around them, destroying some of them)...what would you say then?
Yes, its possible for humans to smell burned DVDs, but that's not the point. I'm thinking of the probable nature of the piracy operation, and why the MPA would consider a dog useful.
Consider the disadvantages of a single large press: expensive, long set up time, needs skilled operators to run, raw materials only come from a limited number of sources which makes it easy to trace, and the whole thing can be shut down with one bust. Plus, DVD presses don't become profitable until you're pressing millions of discs, and disposing of that many discs at a wholesale level is a good way of drawing attention to yourself. None of this is good if you're running an illegal operation.
On the other hand, let's say you have a syndicate of small shops, each with a room of replicator machines. Paying people to sit and feed them is cheap at Malaysian rates, almost anyone can do it, smaller orders of blank DVDs are perfectly normal and hard to trace, and if one shop gets busted it looks like a small-time racket, the rest of the operation goes on regardless without losing the entire investment. 20 shops with 10x10 disk replicators each easily could churn out 1000 DVDs to order within 6 hours; send someone round on a scooter to collect the discs and hand over the (untraceable) cash, and you've got a near perfect, just-in-time, low risk operation.
Now, bear in mind that the article doesn't say its a single batch of 35,000 of a single title (which I'd agree would be only realistically possible with a press). It says "several caches" of numerous titles totalling 35,000; in other words a few thousand of each, which is easily done with a distributed syndicate like I described. If that's what the MPA are up against, a dog that can sniff out the cyanide compounds in burned media makes perfect sense.
My guess is that it isn't the polycarbonate (which is common enough that the dogs would be in a constant frenzy), but rather the chemicals used in the dyes in burnable media (cyanide compounds, IIRC) which are aren't present in stamped media.
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Because in 18 years a bunch of heavy-set guys in Panasonic overalls will come around and make sure your Philips bulb has a little "accident".
Unless you used the salt-water shower; I don't think anything could live in that.
You could get a nasty lamprey infestation...
I don't know what you're so worried about.
The Keith Emerson soundtrack.
I want to drive to Seattle and set fire to the ELF's office
Careful: the last guy who tried to burn down an ELF office was Sauron, and look where it got him...
He was right, though - the iPod IS lame.
The technical specifications of the original iPod were lame, if you were after an all-singing, all-dancing device with masses of storage space. However, that's an opinion from one particular perspective, not a statement of absolute fact.
it just threw together existing technology in a cutesy package and marketed it as a fashion accessory.
Its extremely improbable that fashion alone could propel sales of a truly bad product for the best part of a decade, and the "cutesy package" argument hasn't made sense since most other MP3 players (including the Sansa e280) started copying the iPod style some years ago. Unless you're referring to iTunes/iTMS integration, but if that's a feature people use and like that lacks viable competition it's hardly a mark against the iPod.
Sorry, but there has to be a more tangible reason why the iPod dominates.
I've owned several different MP3 players (currently a Sansa e280 with Rockbox) but I've never had any reason to purchase an iPod.
Nor have I, and I don't see why you should if it doesn't meet your needs. So including Taco, that's three sales Apple won't make.
But apparently a majority of MP3 player purchasers don't seem to want more than a simple tapeless Walkman equivalent. What they consider lame is features they'll never use: SD cards are just more crap to carry around and lose, WiFi doesn't recharge as it syncs, and OGG/FLAC is perhaps a caveman with an anti-aircraft gun...they don't know, they don't care, as long as their MP3 player plays MP3s exciting new features can go to early-adopter hell. I have no doubt Apple conducted extensive market research on this before spending $millions on product development, and the fact that 8 years later they're successfully selling a model with even fewer features and less storage space than the original indicates the validity of the simple appliance approach for their target market segment.
That doesn't make it lame; quite the opposite, that makes it a well thought out product. Just not the product you want, that's all.
Who could forget Cmdr Taco's little gem?
No, please do. I have a revolutionary new process that converts the drool of idiots into biofuel...
I've seen tube tips like the Rotring Rapidograph series; their numbers are tip diameter in millimetres, but I couldn't say for other brands (depends where they're made, I suppose). I haven't used them, but if they're anything like fountain pens they'd be corroded and clogged by India ink, which contains shellac (the stuff used to stiffen felt hats).
I don't care much about the aesthetics of the pens...I'll take function over form any day.
That's because Transformers are artificial intelligence, not artificial stupidity.
I'd agree rollerballs are a vast improvement on biros, but I find they still skate around on the page a bit too much. I prefer felt tips like the Artline 200 0.4mm for the friction (and let's face it, who doesn't like a bit of friction when their tip is felt?).
Ergonomics. A good fountain pen's own weight provides almost all the pressure necessary, so instead of having to apply downward force and then attempt fine control you only need the fine control, which means you can write for longer without your hand cramping. Fountain pens (and fine felt-tip pens, for that matter) only scrape when you press down too hard, a habit that comes from using cheap biros with poor ink flow.
Sometimes PhDs seem a little bit arrogant when they demand to be called "Doctor" rather than "Mister"...
Of course, when your surname is Hankey you probably want to be called something other than "Mister" regardless of your education.
Slashcode ate my link.
And just so you know what the other half is...
Then again, I'm in Philadelphia and have no idea what whale blood looks like
Now you know.
But, but... I almost had first post!
"Almost" isn't obsessive-compulsive enough.
Let me put it this way: if people had laptops that were infected, were booted off the network because of security software, and then defeated that security software to get online (and infected machines around them, destroying some of them)...what would you say then?
Nothing. That's what LARTs are for.
Of course I'd hate to see one of these babies turned into a zombie...
Redefining "war driving".
Yes, its possible for humans to smell burned DVDs, but that's not the point. I'm thinking of the probable nature of the piracy operation, and why the MPA would consider a dog useful.
Consider the disadvantages of a single large press: expensive, long set up time, needs skilled operators to run, raw materials only come from a limited number of sources which makes it easy to trace, and the whole thing can be shut down with one bust. Plus, DVD presses don't become profitable until you're pressing millions of discs, and disposing of that many discs at a wholesale level is a good way of drawing attention to yourself. None of this is good if you're running an illegal operation.
On the other hand, let's say you have a syndicate of small shops, each with a room of replicator machines. Paying people to sit and feed them is cheap at Malaysian rates, almost anyone can do it, smaller orders of blank DVDs are perfectly normal and hard to trace, and if one shop gets busted it looks like a small-time racket, the rest of the operation goes on regardless without losing the entire investment. 20 shops with 10x10 disk replicators each easily could churn out 1000 DVDs to order within 6 hours; send someone round on a scooter to collect the discs and hand over the (untraceable) cash, and you've got a near perfect, just-in-time, low risk operation.
Now, bear in mind that the article doesn't say its a single batch of 35,000 of a single title (which I'd agree would be only realistically possible with a press). It says "several caches" of numerous titles totalling 35,000; in other words a few thousand of each, which is easily done with a distributed syndicate like I described. If that's what the MPA are up against, a dog that can sniff out the cyanide compounds in burned media makes perfect sense.
My guess is that it isn't the polycarbonate (which is common enough that the dogs would be in a constant frenzy), but rather the chemicals used in the dyes in burnable media (cyanide compounds, IIRC) which are aren't present in stamped media.
instead of training dogs to help guide handicapped people
They are; the heads of organisations like the MPA clearly have learning difficulties.
But what makes their lobbyists any different than any other telcos?
"The bribe was late" doesn't answer that question?
But what makes it different than any other ISP?
Their bribe was late.
Just as well you didn't find her using this online service...
Martian bonfires anyone ?
Didn't he write Born To Be Wild?