I had a wonderful experience with my Powerbook, with Apple. The LCD stopped working one day (the 15" PowerBook LCD problem that was floating around half a year ago).
They were very nice, and they sent me a box to put the PowerBook in and ship it to them. It arrived the NEXT DAY.
I send it to them. I thought I'd probably get it back next week or something.
But, no, I come home the NEXT DAY, and there it is, sitting on my doorstep. Fixed. With all of my data left alone, and the LCD seemed a bit better than the other one too!
Good, in my book. My experience at other places has been mediocre to horrible. Doesn't help that I have to speak through an intermediary of a relay interpreter (since I'm hard of hearing).
I make no claim on the quality of videophones nowdays, just that the technology is what we have been waiting for. As the other replier said, people _are_ using videophones effectively, at 20-30 fps, to communicate to others via sign language.
I see some comments here saying that video-as-phone won't be useful. I beg to differ.
I'm deaf; and along with that comes the inability to use voice phones. Video phones, either through dedicated lines or on the computer, are a Godsend to people like us. We've been waiting a long time for this.
Being able to sign to a loved one or a friend, instead of using kludgy relay systems like this or others. In fact, there's a company called Sorenson (yes of the codec fame) that has a set-top box for televisions that allows a Deaf person to connect to either (1) any other set-top box or (2) the relay service or (3) another webcam -- all for video chat purposes.
For those that are wondering, by "Relay" I refer to the act of me typing to a person (paid by the government) that voices my message to an person at the other end of a phone number, and types back to me what that person says. Nifty but very very slow and time-consuming.
Before you knock a new technology (ew, I don't want to see Daddy on the toilet) or say its only for business purposes, think about it.
When I first saw the post about the NYT article I went, "Oooo, new inventions to read about." I went there, dragged from memory my NYT login from five years ago, and logged in.
After reading the first few paragraphs I was like, "Where are they," then I noticed the sidebar, where they were.
After reading what the people had to say, frankly, I'm disappointed with the article. I agree with others that it would have been appropriate a few years ago, but I'm sorry, most of the ideas were simply lame -- usually not because of the ideas themselves, but because of the staccato editing and a general flippant tone. I do like the thrust of most of them though -- simplify technology.
My favorite one was the "MePod" but Powell's idea would make Lessig turn in his grave, early, before he's even dead. A workable solution for personal information management needs to be made by _us_ and not by corporations or the government. If we wait, THEY will make it FOR us and we will be stuck with their choices. So that is why I like the idea, but geeks savvy about the value choices implicit in tech and code choices need to be making these decisions.
I haven't seen Vonnegut mentioned here yet, so I'll mention. He's written some incandescent books, the most notable to many is Slaughterhouse Five. Others written by him include Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle and a list of others.
Also, I agree with many comments here, that a walk into the Fiction & Literature section would be highly benefical to all. I did so recently and found several books that are now my favorites (Johnathan Franzen's The Corrections, Dai Sije's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and O'Toole's Confedracy of Dunces). Ray Bradbury is often recommended by friends -- he seems to be a nice bridge between fiction and science fiction.
Also check out Umberto Eco (Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum). Great, and will make you feel smart if you finish them. After all that, finish up with a delicious reading of 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Yeah... I don't know about any of you, but it really, really has been my experience that games on the consoles are far mor polished than their PC bretheren. For instance, Metroid Prime -- it really is a polished game.
If any PC game manufacturers are listening, I look at this polish and completeness the first time I boot a game up. It is a nice feeling when Retro Studios/Nintendo think about almost every possible thing and implement it in the case of Metroid Prime. In contrast, take Unreal Tournament 2003 -- I found it rather... blah, for a lack of a better word. I found UT's original interface far more original and understandable. The original's gameplay was also simpler and somehow more fun.
Anyway, my point is, I feel that console games on the whole go through the wringer far longer than PC games do (granted they are a closed platform and suffer less variability in hardware).
To reply to the inane comments about the airplane whipping around in winds and such -- the webpage explicitly gives three functions the base can do:
-Free Rotate (with smoothing of motion)
-Motor Rotate (you control its rotation)
-Completely locked
I'd imagine that being completely locked would prevent said 'rotating like a pinwheel' effect in high winds.
It definitely looks anti-competitive -- many other companies and persons have codecs that are just as good or better than Windows Media. Its only Microsoft's clout that gets them 'in bed' with the DVD chipset manufacturers.
Apple, for one, will not like this.
Haven't seen this mentioned yet... James Morrow is an excellent writer... blending reality and religion, along with fantasy and science fiction to craft marvelous works of satire.
I think they're great! His books list among: Towing Jehovah, Blameless in Abaddon, This Is The Way The World Ends, Only Begotten Daughter, Bible stories for Adults, Wine of Violence. You gotta admire and respect an author who will write about God's 2-mile long body floating in the sea, after falling from the sky.
Slashdot Mirror
Agreed!
I had a wonderful experience with my Powerbook, with Apple. The LCD stopped working one day (the 15" PowerBook LCD problem that was floating around half a year ago).
They were very nice, and they sent me a box to put the PowerBook in and ship it to them. It arrived the NEXT DAY.
I send it to them. I thought I'd probably get it back next week or something.
But, no, I come home the NEXT DAY, and there it is, sitting on my doorstep. Fixed. With all of my data left alone, and the LCD seemed a bit better than the other one too!
Good, in my book. My experience at other places has been mediocre to horrible. Doesn't help that I have to speak through an intermediary of a relay interpreter (since I'm hard of hearing).
It only costs $.99 - $1.X (dollars, euros, pounds, etc) to find out. What's stopping you? =)
I make no claim on the quality of videophones nowdays, just that the technology is what we have been waiting for. As the other replier said, people _are_ using videophones effectively, at 20-30 fps, to communicate to others via sign language.
I see some comments here saying that video-as-phone won't be useful. I beg to differ.
I'm deaf; and along with that comes the inability to use voice phones. Video phones, either through dedicated lines or on the computer, are a Godsend to people like us. We've been waiting a long time for this.
Being able to sign to a loved one or a friend, instead of using kludgy relay systems like this or others. In fact, there's a company called Sorenson (yes of the codec fame) that has a set-top box for televisions that allows a Deaf person to connect to either (1) any other set-top box or (2) the relay service or (3) another webcam -- all for video chat purposes.
For those that are wondering, by "Relay" I refer to the act of me typing to a person (paid by the government) that voices my message to an person at the other end of a phone number, and types back to me what that person says. Nifty but very very slow and time-consuming.
Before you knock a new technology (ew, I don't want to see Daddy on the toilet) or say its only for business purposes, think about it.
When I first saw the post about the NYT article I went, "Oooo, new inventions to read about." I went there, dragged from memory my NYT login from five years ago, and logged in.
After reading the first few paragraphs I was like, "Where are they," then I noticed the sidebar, where they were.
After reading what the people had to say, frankly, I'm disappointed with the article. I agree with others that it would have been appropriate a few years ago, but I'm sorry, most of the ideas were simply lame -- usually not because of the ideas themselves, but because of the staccato editing and a general flippant tone. I do like the thrust of most of them though -- simplify technology.
My favorite one was the "MePod" but Powell's idea would make Lessig turn in his grave, early, before he's even dead. A workable solution for personal information management needs to be made by _us_ and not by corporations or the government. If we wait, THEY will make it FOR us and we will be stuck with their choices. So that is why I like the idea, but geeks savvy about the value choices implicit in tech and code choices need to be making these decisions.
Happy Commercialized Halloween.
Also, I agree with many comments here, that a walk into the Fiction & Literature section would be highly benefical to all. I did so recently and found several books that are now my favorites (Johnathan Franzen's The Corrections, Dai Sije's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and O'Toole's Confedracy of Dunces). Ray Bradbury is often recommended by friends -- he seems to be a nice bridge between fiction and science fiction.
Also check out Umberto Eco (Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum). Great, and will make you feel smart if you finish them. After all that, finish up with a delicious reading of 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Yeah... I don't know about any of you, but it really, really has been my experience that games on the consoles are far mor polished than their PC bretheren. For instance, Metroid Prime -- it really is a polished game. If any PC game manufacturers are listening, I look at this polish and completeness the first time I boot a game up. It is a nice feeling when Retro Studios/Nintendo think about almost every possible thing and implement it in the case of Metroid Prime. In contrast, take Unreal Tournament 2003 -- I found it rather ... blah, for a lack of a better word. I found UT's original interface far more original and understandable. The original's gameplay was also simpler and somehow more fun.
Anyway, my point is, I feel that console games on the whole go through the wringer far longer than PC games do (granted they are a closed platform and suffer less variability in hardware).
To reply to the inane comments about the airplane whipping around in winds and such -- the webpage explicitly gives three functions the base can do: -Free Rotate (with smoothing of motion) -Motor Rotate (you control its rotation) -Completely locked I'd imagine that being completely locked would prevent said 'rotating like a pinwheel' effect in high winds.
It definitely looks anti-competitive -- many other companies and persons have codecs that are just as good or better than Windows Media. Its only Microsoft's clout that gets them 'in bed' with the DVD chipset manufacturers. Apple, for one, will not like this.
Haven't seen this mentioned yet... James Morrow is an excellent writer... blending reality and religion, along with fantasy and science fiction to craft marvelous works of satire. I think they're great! His books list among: Towing Jehovah, Blameless in Abaddon, This Is The Way The World Ends, Only Begotten Daughter, Bible stories for Adults, Wine of Violence. You gotta admire and respect an author who will write about God's 2-mile long body floating in the sea, after falling from the sky.