Let's say you like a movie. It doesn't make any money. You would have liked to see another one but since there wasn't enough money made there won't be another one You are making the assumption that a sequel to a good movie would also be a good movie. I have not generally found this to be the case.
I guess I must be missing the point because I feel like I'm doing well if the register monkey can ring me up correctly. They don't know shit about fuck, so why would I bother asking them anything? If they did know anything, they wouldn't be working there. The last time I asked a punchclock jockey at a CompUSA anything they told me that the product I was trying to buy didn't exist. (If they don't have it pretty much all retail goons will tell you it doesn't exist or you don't need it.)
The point of this kind of watermarking is that you can trace the copy that made it on to the net back to some original copy that you gave out. So, this is great in situations where you are able to uniquely watermark a copy of something and then give it to a specific person who then you can hold responsible for keeping it secret. It is also useful if you are going to put something like photography portfolio online. You can use this to track down people who have snagged copies from your website or whatever.
It doesn't help so much combating movie or music piracy because the legitimate copies aren't uniquely watermarked for each user you give it to. So, you find the watermark in some hollywood movie online? So what? You already knew the movie was pirated to begin with. The only way this is helpful is if you are tracing it back to a specific watermarked copy like the ones they give out for voting on the academy awards. (So, for example, you know that Robert Dinero's copy of "Seabiscuit" ended up on P2P and you can hold Mr. Dinero accountable.)
But it doesn't stop anyone from buying a CD and then ripping it because the watermark doesn't implicate the pirate.
The one thing it could potentially do, though, is differentiate between a file called "Usher.mp3" that was put onto a university web site by Professor Usher for his class vs. music by the musician called Usher. So, in theory ubiquitous use of this could help prevent false positives, but the last time I checked the RIAA/MPAA doesn't give a shit about sending false take down notices.
Easier said than done. I'm familiar with this technology. Typically you will not be aware that it is watermarked. Even if you are, removing the watermark is very hard.
When I need a 1U, rack-mountable, 8 port, KVM CompUSA has this?? Mine doesn't. Or at least, I couldn't find a decent KVM over there - I just needed one that had USB and DVI. All they had were cheap ones with crappy PS/2 ports.
If you are down at CompUSA trying to show off your "intelligence", it is probably because you have none.
I work maybe a block from a CompUSA and once in a while I go in there to buy something that I need right now and can't buy elsewhere (like dual layer DVD-Rs), but I never go there to have discussions with the employees. Why the hell would I do that?
Most users don't know about handango, but they will find all the software they need for iPhone at the iTunes store (same as the current games for iPod).
What software will exist will be found in one place and it will all be vetted by Apple so that it will work.
You will only be able to install software through Cingular, most likely. Wrong. I'll bet you whatever you want that you will install software via iTunes (like the games for the current iPod).
In addition, if random people can't develop software for the iPhone, then the library of available software will be utterly minuscule compared to that for windows mobile smartphones, and users WILL notice that. Users will notice that the software is available in one easy to find place: iTunes. They will also notice that it is high quality and priced at a good value.
Newton started off as a head-in-the-clouds lets-reinvent-computers type project that morphed into a product in a panic rather than have the whole thing killed. Sculley wasn't technical enough, smart enough, etc. to realize both the value of what he had and also how to turn it into a successful product. The way Newton came to market had more in common with the Apple III than with the Mac.
iPhone is a typical Steve Jobs product. It was heavily driven by business goals and ruthlessly refined into something that would work really well for the user.
Apple then was run by Bozo the Clown. Apple today is run by someone who understands both technology and business and who has his eye on the ball.
OMP and MP100 used four AAA batteries that I used to have to replace maybe twice per day. I used rechargable NiCad AAAs.
The MP120 used four AA batteries. These I had to replace about once per day.
The MP 2000 used four AA batteries but also had a rechargable battery that would last several days and could be recharged in the unit. Unfortunately it didn't have an external charger.
The eMate 300 had a non-replacable built-in rechargable battery.
NTK was nice and I liked the Inspector, but lack of a source level debugger was unfortunate.
Other problems: Since NTK stored your files in binary format, there wasn't a diff tool available. Woe for me when I got a new job and inherited a large source code base for the Newton that had three different branches:-(
Also, if you misspell a variable, it would just create a new one for you as a local. This common error had to be meticulously tracked down at runtime rather than being shown to you as a compile time error. This one rather unfortunate design choice wasted a lot of time. I used to copy and paste variable names rather than type them to try to avoid this problem.
Newton Toolkit: Development Environment of Champions!
It's also simply not true that the Newton didn't have competition. In the same year that Apple introduced the 2000, the first MP that worked really well, Palm introduced the Pilot, which had a radically different view of a PDA. Your timeline is way off. The original Palm Pilot came out way before the Newton Messagepad 2000. It hit the market in March 1996. The MP2K came out in March 1997 - a year later.
I remember flying to my interview for my job writing software for the Newton. I had my Newton 120 and my PowerBook with me on the plane and I was working on some Newton software that I was writing at the time. Someone on the plane asked me if I liked my "Pilot". This was long before the MP2K hit the market, but my company did have a prototype unit of the MP2K (code named "Q") at the time.
Okay, just STOP. This is a LIE. The newton would allow you to install additional software, of your choice. The iPhone doesn't. That means the Newton was dramatically more capable for the actual user. Why? Because you could download the Star Trek Tricorder app? The fact that you could write third party apps for the Newton (and I did - and made my living from it) had very little benefit for the average consumer user.
There will be third party apps for iPhone. You just have to contact Apple Developer Relations and convince them to give you the SDK and then you have to get your binary signed. As far as USEFUL software, the iPhone will have it. What they won't have will be quirky third party software. Like maybe we won't see the next Salling Clicker (and by that, I mean a really creative third party app that does something no one else thought of).
The people who bought the software my company made didn't even care necessarily that they were getting a Newton - they wanted our software. There was also some software that sold to the general Newton user community, but it wasn't that signficant for the average user.
The first iProduct, the iMac, might have been a design icon, but what were its actual sales as a fraction of the total PC market? The original iMac was the #2 selling personal computer model at the time. The first iMacs were consistantly in the top 5 PC models.
Two superior devices (the best camera phone + the best portable HD based video player) for less than an overhyped, overpriced product... hmm. I wonder what people are going to buy. iPhone - Duh! Who wants to carry around two devices?
I'm sure some uber-nerd like yourself will buy two devices and gas on about saving 45 dollars, but those of us who are not wearing Star Trek uniforms to the grocery store just want a phone and an iPod in one unit. If it has usable email - cool. I'd rather have a small number of usable features than a larger number of potential features that suck.
I don't want to sent a jillion emails from the iPhone. If I wanted to do that, I'd already own a blackberry. And I don't own a blackberry because I mostly send email from my computer. I don't want to heavily use email from my phone. I want to be able to check email and figure out how to send a reply once in a while without having to remember some tricky to use interface that works great if you use it every second, but really bad if you use it once month.
But mostly I want a video iPod and a phone that I can make a call on.
I seem to recall that there are rumours AT&T/Cingular will reduce the price on the service plan. Cingular already sent out a press release denying this specific rumor.
Slashdot Mirror
I guess I must be missing the point because I feel like I'm doing well if the register monkey can ring me up correctly. They don't know shit about fuck, so why would I bother asking them anything? If they did know anything, they wouldn't be working there. The last time I asked a punchclock jockey at a CompUSA anything they told me that the product I was trying to buy didn't exist. (If they don't have it pretty much all retail goons will tell you it doesn't exist or you don't need it.)
The point of this kind of watermarking is that you can trace the copy that made it on to the net back to some original copy that you gave out. So, this is great in situations where you are able to uniquely watermark a copy of something and then give it to a specific person who then you can hold responsible for keeping it secret. It is also useful if you are going to put something like photography portfolio online. You can use this to track down people who have snagged copies from your website or whatever.
It doesn't help so much combating movie or music piracy because the legitimate copies aren't uniquely watermarked for each user you give it to. So, you find the watermark in some hollywood movie online? So what? You already knew the movie was pirated to begin with. The only way this is helpful is if you are tracing it back to a specific watermarked copy like the ones they give out for voting on the academy awards. (So, for example, you know that Robert Dinero's copy of "Seabiscuit" ended up on P2P and you can hold Mr. Dinero accountable.)
But it doesn't stop anyone from buying a CD and then ripping it because the watermark doesn't implicate the pirate.
The one thing it could potentially do, though, is differentiate between a file called "Usher.mp3" that was put onto a university web site by Professor Usher for his class vs. music by the musician called Usher. So, in theory ubiquitous use of this could help prevent false positives, but the last time I checked the RIAA/MPAA doesn't give a shit about sending false take down notices.
Easier said than done. I'm familiar with this technology. Typically you will not be aware that it is watermarked. Even if you are, removing the watermark is very hard.
I used to live within easy walking distance of a Frys. I miss that.
If you are down at CompUSA trying to show off your "intelligence", it is probably because you have none.
I work maybe a block from a CompUSA and once in a while I go in there to buy something that I need right now and can't buy elsewhere (like dual layer DVD-Rs), but I never go there to have discussions with the employees. Why the hell would I do that?
Unless I'm getting a percentage of the revenue, why do I care how much money a movie makes?
On the other hand, whether it sucks or not certainly has an impact on my enjoyment.
I don't think they can make a DS9 movie because of the law they passed that hollywood has to make only movies that suck.
Why should little companies get tax breaks and big companies not?
How about tax breaks when it is in the public's interest for their to be tax breaks (i.e. tax breaks for using less energy, etc.)?
Just being small is no virtue - nor it being big a vice in an of itself.
Obviously the iMac was pretty much all Apple had at the time. I'm not claiming they dominated the market, but they were strong sellers.
Most users don't know about handango, but they will find all the software they need for iPhone at the iTunes store (same as the current games for iPod).
What software will exist will be found in one place and it will all be vetted by Apple so that it will work.
In addition, if random people can't develop software for the iPhone, then the library of available software will be utterly minuscule compared to that for windows mobile smartphones, and users WILL notice that. Users will notice that the software is available in one easy to find place: iTunes. They will also notice that it is high quality and priced at a good value.
Newton started off as a head-in-the-clouds lets-reinvent-computers type project that morphed into a product in a panic rather than have the whole thing killed. Sculley wasn't technical enough, smart enough, etc. to realize both the value of what he had and also how to turn it into a successful product. The way Newton came to market had more in common with the Apple III than with the Mac.
iPhone is a typical Steve Jobs product. It was heavily driven by business goals and ruthlessly refined into something that would work really well for the user.
Apple then was run by Bozo the Clown. Apple today is run by someone who understands both technology and business and who has his eye on the ball.
You are absolutely correct. This was a great post. Sorry I don't have mod points to give you.
OMP and MP100 used four AAA batteries that I used to have to replace maybe twice per day. I used rechargable NiCad AAAs.
The MP120 used four AA batteries. These I had to replace about once per day.
The MP 2000 used four AA batteries but also had a rechargable battery that would last several days and could be recharged in the unit. Unfortunately it didn't have an external charger.
The eMate 300 had a non-replacable built-in rechargable battery.
NTK was nice and I liked the Inspector, but lack of a source level debugger was unfortunate.
:-(
Other problems: Since NTK stored your files in binary format, there wasn't a diff tool available. Woe for me when I got a new job and inherited a large source code base for the Newton that had three different branches
Also, if you misspell a variable, it would just create a new one for you as a local. This common error had to be meticulously tracked down at runtime rather than being shown to you as a compile time error. This one rather unfortunate design choice wasted a lot of time. I used to copy and paste variable names rather than type them to try to avoid this problem.
Newton Toolkit: Development Environment of Champions!
I remember flying to my interview for my job writing software for the Newton. I had my Newton 120 and my PowerBook with me on the plane and I was working on some Newton software that I was writing at the time. Someone on the plane asked me if I liked my "Pilot". This was long before the MP2K hit the market, but my company did have a prototype unit of the MP2K (code named "Q") at the time.
There will be third party apps for iPhone. You just have to contact Apple Developer Relations and convince them to give you the SDK and then you have to get your binary signed. As far as USEFUL software, the iPhone will have it. What they won't have will be quirky third party software. Like maybe we won't see the next Salling Clicker (and by that, I mean a really creative third party app that does something no one else thought of).
The people who bought the software my company made didn't even care necessarily that they were getting a Newton - they wanted our software. There was also some software that sold to the general Newton user community, but it wasn't that signficant for the average user.
His mom thinks he is cool.
I'm sure some uber-nerd like yourself will buy two devices and gas on about saving 45 dollars, but those of us who are not wearing Star Trek uniforms to the grocery store just want a phone and an iPod in one unit. If it has usable email - cool. I'd rather have a small number of usable features than a larger number of potential features that suck.
I don't want to sent a jillion emails from the iPhone. If I wanted to do that, I'd already own a blackberry. And I don't own a blackberry because I mostly send email from my computer. I don't want to heavily use email from my phone. I want to be able to check email and figure out how to send a reply once in a while without having to remember some tricky to use interface that works great if you use it every second, but really bad if you use it once month.
But mostly I want a video iPod and a phone that I can make a call on.
He said 1%, not 10%.