I did try it myself. I have no such effects. Granted, I have an older version of iTunes (7-something) and I never buy DRMed Music. Only "plus" songs and self-ripped songs.
Still, if you do not have DRMed Music, your music is still there on your harddisk, you just use another player. You don't/need/ iTunes. You do realise that, do you? So your statement of "losing your music" is 100% false and if you're talking DRMed files, then that's really your own damned fault. (The few I bought in the early days of iTunes (6 songs, grand total) were all liberated by the Hymn Project. I haven't tested if it still works these days)
I received an EeePC as a gift, but I could not run it because my conscience will not let me agree to the EULA. Finally, I asked someone to install a free GNU/Linux distro so the machine could be used.
Say about him what you want.... He does stand for his principles. That said: I never managed to get Debian Etch to run on my EEE 701 4G. The wired network card isn't even supported.:-(
I know this isn't a popular answer, but I believe that there are forces at work which guide our existence that we will never be able to grasp on our plane of existence.
Sure, you can believe that.... It is however, essentially the same as assuming an eternal "big bang/big crunch cycle". Because in the end, one has to ask where those "forces" come from you believe in. Sure, those forces might exists, but you're simply shifting the problem, not solving it.
Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
Now substitute "why" with "spoon". There is absolutely no need to have a "why". It is inherently human to want to give things a purpose, but it's not needed. Ask a small child the question "why is there grass". You'll get a reply in the line of "to feed the cows". However, if there were no cows, grass could still exist. There is no "why" to "grass", it simply exists.
No, but a P-III at 600MHz and up is still viable for basic office tasks. My dad runs a P-III 733MHz machine with 512Meg RAM and it is wholly sufficient for his needs. It's not yet 10years old, though. Myself? My last laptop was a P-III 600MHz with 512Meg RAM. It did all the stuff I needed and the only reason I replaced it was because it started to physically fall apart. The electronics were still fine. Granted, both of these machines ran Win2000 and later WinXP.
How many people are still running Windows 98, as their sole OS or their primary OS?
More than you think....
How many people are running hardware intended for Windows 98 (e.g., Pentium II)?
Also, more than you think.
How many manufacturers are making hardware that is compatible with 10 year old hardware?
Uuuuhm, like all manufacturers of PCI cards? That's a pretty large segment. I have a P-III 800MHz machine acting as NAT/firewall (+ other server functionalities). If I wanted to upgrade the NICs for some reason, I can buy any PCI card I want. You don't really think that PCIe has displaced PCI, do you?
How many are still making drivers for Windows 98?
With many USB Storage devices, you still get a CD with Windows 98 drivers. Odd, I admit, but it still happens.
All in all, I just want to say: We are now in a time where computers have a certain "expected functionality". This functionality can be perfectly accomodated with older hardware. Sure, you won't play top-notch games, but that lettre for the Tax deparment can be typed, the spreadsheet containing the mileage of your car can be done, the pictures of grandchildren can be viewed.
If you don't count the Asus EEE 701, I bought this year, I haven't bought a new computer in two years. The computer I bought two years ago was a el-cheapo-Vista-Capable (on sale) machine and I bought it to replace my above mentioned "falling-apart" machine. I could have saved that money: I find myself using my wifes PC much more (bought in 2003, which by your standards is "old") or the Asus. Before that laptop, my own "last computer" was from 2003 also.
Computers these days last long, very long, especially if you know how to maintain them. Sure, I can't watch HD movies on my PCs, nor can I play high-end games, but those things don't interest me. Normal folks don't do these things either: they have a nice TV for HD playback and a Wii for games, if a console at all.
Not in the evolutionary tree, no, they aren't. Bony fish are actually closer to us. You're thinking of parallel evolution. Seen that way, an octopus is "closely" related to us because they have eyes pretty much like ours.
Most Americans can get by with anything or only face laughable charges (and be acquitted for most of them) for stuff they would be executed for in the US if the victims were Americans.
When I went to school, we also had Lamarckism and Darwinism. The point was not to discredit Darwin. The point was to teach you to be skeptical (both do seem "logical" at first), look at the evidence, set up predictions and check the predictions.
Lamarckism was at least a scientific theory since it made predictions and was falsifiable. It was falsified, and in class we did so ourself. (Guided by the teacher, of course...)
That's one of the best arguments I read for disproving the "soul as an ethereal entity". Not that I believed in that, but next time a "soul exists" discussion comes up, I know how to tackle it.
While computers are nothing more than finite state machines (with an insane amount of states), their theoretical base can be found in Turing Machines and.... those come in a non deterministic flavour. Take note at the "Equivalence with DTMs" sections.
So, if the human brain works non-deterministically, it can be simulated by a deterministic "brain". If this doesn't require infinite amount of states (considering what we know of the universe, this most likely won't be the case), it can thus be simulated again with a finite-state machine with an insane amount of states. That is exactly what a computer is, as I said before.
Throwing around "non-deterministic" won't save you. It might be something else that sets apart the human brain, but it won't be its non-deterministic nature.
I don't know where the original poster is from, but in Europe it is very common to have brick walls between rooms. Actually, wooden walls extremely uncommon.
Well, I can guarantee you that I know where I was at the election of any President of the United States during my conscious life: waking up in my bed listening to the announcement on the radio alarm clock;-)
Well, I used to own a Toshiba Satellite 210CT. That one had a whopping 11" TFT screen featuring 800x600, I kid you not. I guess one can find that on eBay.;-) Of course weight would kill the "netbook" status here, I think. The Libretto would be pretty cool.
I also had (still have) a Atari Portfolio, but that's from a really long time ago.
I understand.... The P-III I talked about cost me 100€ back in the day. However, I cannot call it a netbook. Size is intrinsic to the "netbook" status. Anything beyond 12" (arguably 10", because I used to own a 12" iBook and I can hardly call it small).
You do have to realise that my Asus EEE PC is half the size of a typical 15.4" laptop. You don't take a 15.4" laptop in your purse, I do take the Asus EEE PC in my "manpouch" (I have to admit to my greatest shame that I have one)
So, yes, a second hand laptop will give you more oompha for less money, but not the kind of portability you get with a real netbook.
That said, 1000$ is insane for a netbook even though I'm pretty sure they're talking AUD, which mitigates the 1000$ price.
Why are they coming out with laptops with such small screens, and underpowered CPU-wise?
The answer is simple: people who value size and price more than performance. I don't want to fall in a 640K is enough for anybody stance here, but be honest with yourself: how often do you use the full power of your machine when not gaming or photo-editing (for which these machines are woefully inadequate)? My work laptop, is currently using 1% to 5% of it's power and it's over two years old (the time I've been working at this company, and I'm not sure if it was new). That's it.... At home, my wifes desktop is much older (bought autum 2003) and it rarely uses up more than 10% for our typical usage. I consider our usage to be rather typical.
So, even 5 year old machines don't get to see much load. So, you're on the move want to surf a bit and read your email? Well, you don't need a Dual-Core Multi-Gigahertz machine for that anymore. So why spend more? So, that's for the performance part.
Now the size part: typical laptops are 15.4" or larger. I don't know about you, but that's pretty huge and not exactly something a woman would put in her purse. Indeed, there are machines that were small, but they were also very expensive...
Which brings us to price. The small portable machines from a few years ago were extremely expensive and also didn't have the oompha that their larger cousins have. I wouldn't ever spend 2500€ to have a small and slightly underpowered laptop. However, I have no qualms paying 300€ for a small-very-underpowered-but-adequate laptop.
As a matter of fact, up until January 2007, my primary laptop was an old P-III 600MHz/512Meg RAM dual-booting XP and Linux... It ran absolutely fine for my light usage. Compare that to the underclocked Celeron 630MHz in the original Asus EEE PC... Well, the only differences? The Asus is much smaller and lighter: I do lack a bit screen estate. The Asus EEE 900, however has a 1024x600 screen, which is pretty close to what my old P-III laptop had, being 1024x768.
Yes. My dad runs a Dell Inspiron 8500 (I think) which was bought in 2000 and came with Windows ME. Over time, I scavenged more RAM for it (512Meg instead of 256Meg) and a better harddisk (80Gig instead of 20Gig). It still runs great using Windows XP SP3.
On a similar note, I ran a laptop in the same category with the same specs up until January 2007. I replaced it, not because I wasn't happy with it but because the case began to seriously crack. That was a Fujitsu-Siemens.
form now, much less anything close to the latest Windows?
If you're talking about Vista... No... None of these, would... But then my iBook G3, I bought in 2001, wouldn't run Leopard, right? Besides, it died of a logic board failure in 2005. That laptop was much more pampered than any of the two laptops mentioned above.
Sorry, but I don't buy the "Apple is quality" or "Apple guarantees longevity" mantra. I've used one, and I'll consider buying one the day my wifes computer dies (which is a desktop from 2003, and I guess it won't happen anytime soon because I know how to repair it). The only reason it'll be an Apple then, is because she likes the design and I know it will be a hell of a lot easier for her to use. (She's not exactly computer literate).
For me that's the only reason to buy Apple. I get cheap PC hardware and run Linux, than you very much.
Slashdot Mirror
I'll do as soon as I've got bit more time :-) Thanks for pointing it out!
I did try it myself. I have no such effects. Granted, I have an older version of iTunes (7-something) and I never buy DRMed Music. Only "plus" songs and self-ripped songs.
Still, if you do not have DRMed Music, your music is still there on your harddisk, you just use another player. You don't /need/ iTunes. You do realise that, do you? So your statement of "losing your music" is 100% false and if you're talking DRMed files, then that's really your own damned fault. (The few I bought in the early days of iTunes (6 songs, grand total) were all liberated by the Hymn Project. I haven't tested if it still works these days)
[Note: this was on Windows]
Thanks for that! Absolutely hilarious. At least now I know where 4.3 release song came from!
Say about him what you want.... He does stand for his principles. That said: I never managed to get Debian Etch to run on my EEE 701 4G. The wired network card isn't even supported. :-(
Sure, you can believe that.... It is however, essentially the same as assuming an eternal "big bang/big crunch cycle". Because in the end, one has to ask where those "forces" come from you believe in. Sure, those forces might exists, but you're simply shifting the problem, not solving it.
Spoon boy: Do not try and bend the spoon. That's impossible. Instead... only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no spoon.
Neo: There is no spoon?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see, that it is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
Now substitute "why" with "spoon". There is absolutely no need to have a "why". It is inherently human to want to give things a purpose, but it's not needed. Ask a small child the question "why is there grass". You'll get a reply in the line of "to feed the cows". However, if there were no cows, grass could still exist. There is no "why" to "grass", it simply exists.
That would be "chaise longue"....
It does? [citation needed]
No, but a P-III at 600MHz and up is still viable for basic office tasks. My dad runs a P-III 733MHz machine with 512Meg RAM and it is wholly sufficient for his needs. It's not yet 10years old, though. Myself? My last laptop was a P-III 600MHz with 512Meg RAM. It did all the stuff I needed and the only reason I replaced it was because it started to physically fall apart. The electronics were still fine. Granted, both of these machines ran Win2000 and later WinXP.
More than you think....
Also, more than you think.
Uuuuhm, like all manufacturers of PCI cards? That's a pretty large segment. I have a P-III 800MHz machine acting as NAT/firewall (+ other server functionalities). If I wanted to upgrade the NICs for some reason, I can buy any PCI card I want. You don't really think that PCIe has displaced PCI, do you?
With many USB Storage devices, you still get a CD with Windows 98 drivers. Odd, I admit, but it still happens.
All in all, I just want to say: We are now in a time where computers have a certain "expected functionality". This functionality can be perfectly accomodated with older hardware. Sure, you won't play top-notch games, but that lettre for the Tax deparment can be typed, the spreadsheet containing the mileage of your car can be done, the pictures of grandchildren can be viewed.
If you don't count the Asus EEE 701, I bought this year, I haven't bought a new computer in two years. The computer I bought two years ago was a el-cheapo-Vista-Capable (on sale) machine and I bought it to replace my above mentioned "falling-apart" machine. I could have saved that money: I find myself using my wifes PC much more (bought in 2003, which by your standards is "old") or the Asus. Before that laptop, my own "last computer" was from 2003 also.
Computers these days last long, very long, especially if you know how to maintain them. Sure, I can't watch HD movies on my PCs, nor can I play high-end games, but those things don't interest me. Normal folks don't do these things either: they have a nice TV for HD playback and a Wii for games, if a console at all.
Not in the evolutionary tree, no, they aren't. Bony fish are actually closer to us. You're thinking of parallel evolution. Seen that way, an octopus is "closely" related to us because they have eyes pretty much like ours.
Reminds me of this.
Big difference, since whales are mammals and sharks are fish. Cartilage fish at that, which came before bony fish.
I'm not betting on ever seeing virgin births from any mammal.
When I went to school, we also had Lamarckism and Darwinism. The point was not to discredit Darwin. The point was to teach you to be skeptical (both do seem "logical" at first), look at the evidence, set up predictions and check the predictions.
Lamarckism was at least a scientific theory since it made predictions and was falsifiable. It was falsified, and in class we did so ourself. (Guided by the teacher, of course...)
Whales?!? [citation needed]
No, not late... I read way too much slashdot :-P I like your explanation better. Mine is way too technical.
That's one of the best arguments I read for disproving the "soul as an ethereal entity". Not that I believed in that, but next time a "soul exists" discussion comes up, I know how to tackle it.
Thank you!
While computers are nothing more than finite state machines (with an insane amount of states), their theoretical base can be found in Turing Machines and.... those come in a non deterministic flavour. Take note at the "Equivalence with DTMs" sections.
So, if the human brain works non-deterministically, it can be simulated by a deterministic "brain". If this doesn't require infinite amount of states (considering what we know of the universe, this most likely won't be the case), it can thus be simulated again with a finite-state machine with an insane amount of states. That is exactly what a computer is, as I said before.
Throwing around "non-deterministic" won't save you. It might be something else that sets apart the human brain, but it won't be its non-deterministic nature.
I don't know where the original poster is from, but in Europe it is very common to have brick walls between rooms. Actually, wooden walls extremely uncommon.
Well, I can guarantee you that I know where I was at the election of any President of the United States during my conscious life: waking up in my bed listening to the announcement on the radio alarm clock ;-)
roblimo is the version used by Grand Theft Auto
Many leasings come with a gas-card tied to one gas station brand.
Well, I used to own a Toshiba Satellite 210CT. That one had a whopping 11" TFT screen featuring 800x600, I kid you not. I guess one can find that on eBay. ;-) Of course weight would kill the "netbook" status here, I think. The Libretto would be pretty cool.
I also had (still have) a Atari Portfolio, but that's from a really long time ago.
I understand.... The P-III I talked about cost me 100€ back in the day. However, I cannot call it a netbook. Size is intrinsic to the "netbook" status. Anything beyond 12" (arguably 10", because I used to own a 12" iBook and I can hardly call it small).
You do have to realise that my Asus EEE PC is half the size of a typical 15.4" laptop. You don't take a 15.4" laptop in your purse, I do take the Asus EEE PC in my "manpouch" (I have to admit to my greatest shame that I have one)
So, yes, a second hand laptop will give you more oompha for less money, but not the kind of portability you get with a real netbook.
That said, 1000$ is insane for a netbook even though I'm pretty sure they're talking AUD, which mitigates the 1000$ price.
The answer is simple: people who value size and price more than performance. I don't want to fall in a 640K is enough for anybody stance here, but be honest with yourself: how often do you use the full power of your machine when not gaming or photo-editing (for which these machines are woefully inadequate)? My work laptop, is currently using 1% to 5% of it's power and it's over two years old (the time I've been working at this company, and I'm not sure if it was new). That's it.... At home, my wifes desktop is much older (bought autum 2003) and it rarely uses up more than 10% for our typical usage. I consider our usage to be rather typical.
So, even 5 year old machines don't get to see much load. So, you're on the move want to surf a bit and read your email? Well, you don't need a Dual-Core Multi-Gigahertz machine for that anymore. So why spend more? So, that's for the performance part.
Now the size part: typical laptops are 15.4" or larger. I don't know about you, but that's pretty huge and not exactly something a woman would put in her purse. Indeed, there are machines that were small, but they were also very expensive...
Which brings us to price. The small portable machines from a few years ago were extremely expensive and also didn't have the oompha that their larger cousins have. I wouldn't ever spend 2500€ to have a small and slightly underpowered laptop. However, I have no qualms paying 300€ for a small-very-underpowered-but-adequate laptop.
As a matter of fact, up until January 2007, my primary laptop was an old P-III 600MHz/512Meg RAM dual-booting XP and Linux... It ran absolutely fine for my light usage. Compare that to the underclocked Celeron 630MHz in the original Asus EEE PC... Well, the only differences? The Asus is much smaller and lighter: I do lack a bit screen estate. The Asus EEE 900, however has a 1024x600 screen, which is pretty close to what my old P-III laptop had, being 1024x768.
Yes. My dad runs a Dell Inspiron 8500 (I think) which was bought in 2000 and came with Windows ME. Over time, I scavenged more RAM for it (512Meg instead of 256Meg) and a better harddisk (80Gig instead of 20Gig). It still runs great using Windows XP SP3.
On a similar note, I ran a laptop in the same category with the same specs up until January 2007. I replaced it, not because I wasn't happy with it but because the case began to seriously crack. That was a Fujitsu-Siemens.
If you're talking about Vista... No... None of these, would... But then my iBook G3, I bought in 2001, wouldn't run Leopard, right? Besides, it died of a logic board failure in 2005. That laptop was much more pampered than any of the two laptops mentioned above.
Sorry, but I don't buy the "Apple is quality" or "Apple guarantees longevity" mantra. I've used one, and I'll consider buying one the day my wifes computer dies (which is a desktop from 2003, and I guess it won't happen anytime soon because I know how to repair it). The only reason it'll be an Apple then, is because she likes the design and I know it will be a hell of a lot easier for her to use. (She's not exactly computer literate).
For me that's the only reason to buy Apple. I get cheap PC hardware and run Linux, than you very much.