That had nothing to do with it. Late revisions of the Newton's OS had very good handwriting recognition. The Palm has gotten where it is because it is very cheap and simple to use for the limited number of tasks it does. The Newton died because of Apple (surprise!) pricing it too high - although the technology itself was somewhat prohibitively priced at the time.
Right now, for little the Palm aims to do, it does very well. When something comes out that can do three times as much as what the current Palm can do, at the same price, without trying to fit a square peg into a round hole (ie. WinCE) then the Palm will die. Don't worry though, my bet is that it very well could be a complete revision of the current Palm technology.
It boggles the mind how many people on/. actually enjoy the idea of software being unintuitive.
Hmm. Isn't a prerequisite of a redundant connection that it is not affected to ailments of the primary connection? Whoever sold you on a redundant connection on the same cable I think ripped you off.:>
--- (And have the balls to call yourself an atheist, if you're going to be so uppity.) ---
Perhaps you should learn a thing or two before pointing out the nonexistant errors of other peoples' arguments.
Atheist - One who without a doubt believes that a god does not exist.
Agnostic - One who does not believe there is conclusive evidence either way.
...
The former is pretty clear cut. The latter could be anything from a near atheist (such as myself) who doesn't believe science can disprove a god, OR a Christian who believes in god but is open enough to scientific evidence to believe there is a chance that they are wrong.
In my personal opinion, the chance is non-zero of there being a 'god'. Of course, there's also a non-zero chance of there being a purple cow rotating around Uranus, but I'm not about to hold my breath (and am certainly not going to pray to it).
If you get anything out of this post, get this: agnostic != atheist.
Sadly, what you say about Hanford is correct. There appears to be a great deal more incidents of cancer around here than should be.
Of course, that doesn't even mention the liquid waste that is currently found to be leaking toward the Columbia river (follow it on a map and you'll see that it leads directly to Portland Oregon).
On the plus side, the industry here has gone from Nuclear power to cleanup. These things aren't really kept secrets any more.
Actually, I used to work for the government (well, kind of - I worked at one of the national labs that HASN'T been in the news due to leaks to the Chinese government).
Dress codes were pretty much non-existant after men started actually coming in dresses. We computer techs could wear anything halfway appropriate, but the suits had to wear, well, suits (although I'm not sure that was mandated).
Never had any tardiness policies that I know of. Flex time was actually pretty nice. Work five 8 hour days, four 10 hour days, whatever.
Zero mobility? Admittedly not as good as I'd have liked it to be, but not really as bad as you'd think. I'd agree somewhat with this - it's not as good as it should be (or rather, was misplaced).
Paperwork sucks, and there was a decent amount of that - but it wasn't quite as bad as you make it out to be. Then again I was a Mac tech, so we were phasing out floppies anyhow.:>
Mindless beureaucrats? We had a few - believe it or not, though, I actually liked my manager. Go figure.
As for pay, well, let's just say I'm working in the private sector now.:>
The upshot - if you can get in at a good level, the benefits and such as great - it's the kind of place you want to retire in. If you're looking for an incredibly exciting job, stock options, whatever then look elsewhere. Stability is the key - although it does keep some 'dead weight' around, you don't have the problems with layoffs and such. Great if you're raising a family (I'm not).
It's a matter of priorities, really. Then again, my old job could have been entirely different than someone else's. The government is a big place, and my place of employment wasn't really strictly government.
No kidding. Apple needs to come up with a plan - take whatever the executives decide on for minimum amount of RAM, and add 32 megs on top of that before shipping.
Luckly, a lot of the resellers out there realized this, as most iMac promotions come with 'free 32 MB RAM upgrade' deals.
Me? 128 MB in my PowerTower Pro, and 190+ something for my PowerBook G3 Bronze (well, once it gets here).:>
Re:Firewire is much more advanced than USB
on
Is firewire dying?
·
· Score: 1
--- 25 cents a system is pretty pricey for that $20 CD player -- or even a $100 stereo system -- companies budgets are tight -- and 25 cents can make a real difference. ---
Right. And if you are in the market for cheap crap for hardware, more power to you. Apple has stated that they have no interest in the $399 PC market, and I for one am thankful.
As far as I'm concerned, eMachines can have that market, and the inflated support costs related to it.
--- (Disclaimer: I'm a Mac user. Uh, sorry, or something.) ---
Good lord, that's the funniest thing I've seen in a long-ass time.
BTW: I'm a Mac user too (clone, actually). Err, sorry?
--- I don't mean this in a negative way, but this kind of analysis typifies the Mac v. PC debate. The typical PC user's assumption being: "I expect to pay no more than _x_ for _blank_ commodity since I saw _blank_ advertised for _x_ somewhere." Whereas the Mac user says "I need to do _y_ with my computer; how can I do this in the most efficient way, where _blank_ commodity is one piece of the puzzle." ---
Exactly. Price is rarely the primary consideration for Mac users - at least, those that I know. I guess it can't be, considering Apple's high prices (they're much better now, though). Apple simply doesn't make commodity systems, for better or for worse. The kind of people who buy Macs aren't generally thinking "gee, should I get this Apple system or a cheaper PC", they're thinking "gee, which Mac should I buy". PCs don't enter into the equation. Especially now, after the last 4 or so years shook out most of the fence sitting population.
Even now, the prevailent reaction of many Mac users toward other operating systems is disgust - particularly Windows. My take on it - MacOS has a sort of 'feel' to it, like you know the creators fell in love with the project. Linux has the same exact feel, even though it's a drastically different operating system. Both were made by artists with different intentions. Windows, on the other hand, is/was made by suits.
--- I agree, it is a sad thing whenever a technology dies. I think of my 386, with its 2x scsi cdrom on the soundcard, and I think of microchannel pc's...there's something beautiful about oddball computers. ---
This is all well and good, but Firewire isn't dying from what I can tell.
It's like saying SCSI died because it was pretty much supported exclusively in Macs for the desktop market. If Firewire is as good as dead, someone should tell Sony and Apple.
Someone scored this post down to a 0 - why? Seems pretty much accurate to me.
While the consensus amongst those who need to do more research is that 'Firewire is dead', those of us in the Mac community are happily plugging away with the technology. All Macs with exception to the iMac and iBook have Firewire standard (replacing the otherwise pretty fast SCSI). the next major rev of the iMac is rumored to come with at least one firewire port, and the iBook is sure to follow.
Slightly more expensive, but the graphics professionals andsuch who rely on it could care less. $50-70/hour chargeout rates will do that to a guy.
Someone - moderate the parent post up. Promote sanity on Slashdot!
Re:Hmmm. Is this encouraging?
on
Be on the G4
·
· Score: 1
--- As if they had a choice? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they were on PPC *first*, and then ran into a dead-end when Apple cut off their access to the G* specs. ---
Are you so sure Apple has done this? If so, how come LinuxPPC and Debian support for recent PowerMacs is so good? If Apple has the PowerPC platform by the balls (forgive the term), why have they provided pivotal source code for their upcoming OS (it may not be much, but it's bootable)? Why would they have supported the MkLinux project at all?
Last but not least, between people buying Macs to run BeOS and those buying PCs to run BeOS, what exactly does Apple have to lose? Hardware is, and always has been, Apple's main source of income. Remember, prior to MacOS 7.X the OS was free (as in beer). They may make some cash off of it now, but it's not their main source of funds.
MacOS sells PowerPC hardware, not the other way around. If the BeOS can help them in that aim, I doubt Apple would give a damn. Blame Be and their new investors.
Re:Hmmm. Is this encouraging?
on
Be on the G4
·
· Score: 1
Indeed, it would be in Apple's best interests to support the BeOS (just as they do with LinuxPPC and Darwin) on their boxen. They make their money off of hardware, not software.
Slashdot Mirror
That had nothing to do with it. Late revisions of the Newton's OS had very good handwriting recognition. The Palm has gotten where it is because it is very cheap and simple to use for the limited number of tasks it does. The Newton died because of Apple (surprise!) pricing it too high - although the technology itself was somewhat prohibitively priced at the time.
/. actually enjoy the idea of software being unintuitive.
Right now, for little the Palm aims to do, it does very well. When something comes out that can do three times as much as what the current Palm can do, at the same price, without trying to fit a square peg into a round hole (ie. WinCE) then the Palm will die. Don't worry though, my bet is that it very well could be a complete revision of the current Palm technology.
It boggles the mind how many people on
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Right, and if all else fails, you can engineer them with a build in lysine deficiency so that they die within a half day or so of escaping.
They're NEVER get past that. Har har har.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Hmm. Isn't a prerequisite of a redundant connection that it is not affected to ailments of the primary connection? Whoever sold you on a redundant connection on the same cable I think ripped you off. :>
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
---
(And have the balls to call yourself an atheist, if you're going to be so uppity.)
---
Perhaps you should learn a thing or two before pointing out the nonexistant errors of other peoples' arguments.
Atheist - One who without a doubt believes that a god does not exist.
Agnostic - One who does not believe there is conclusive evidence either way.
...
The former is pretty clear cut. The latter could be anything from a near atheist (such as myself) who doesn't believe science can disprove a god, OR a Christian who believes in god but is open enough to scientific evidence to believe there is a chance that they are wrong.
In my personal opinion, the chance is non-zero of there being a 'god'. Of course, there's also a non-zero chance of there being a purple cow rotating around Uranus, but I'm not about to hold my breath (and am certainly not going to pray to it).
If you get anything out of this post, get this: agnostic != atheist.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Heh -
:>
Well, I was going to say about the same thing - I was just trying to be nice.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
...maybe because they're not really girls?
:>
Being a geek can be a lonely existance, after all.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
What's wrong with the BSD mascot?
:>
The christian version of a 'daemon' is not that shared by other religions (in particular, satanism). Why should Linux kowtow to any certain faith?
Forget it. The daemon stays.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Yep.
Despite popularly 'correct' opinion, many stereotypes have a grain of truth in them.
Some are firmly based in truth. It will be left as an exercise to the reader which ones fall in this category.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
True enough. I can't understand how Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock or whatever are getting so much airplay.
...And don't even get my started on Backstreet Boys.
*sigh*
(goes back to his Nine Inch Nails and SMG)
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
From what I've heard, Gates isn't a terribly great coder. Even if he were, I doubt he's touched a bit of code in over 15 years.
I could be wrong, but wasn't Paul Allen the actual brain behind early MS software development?
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Sadly, what you say about Hanford is correct. There appears to be a great deal more incidents of cancer around here than should be.
Of course, that doesn't even mention the liquid waste that is currently found to be leaking toward the Columbia river (follow it on a map and you'll see that it leads directly to Portland Oregon).
On the plus side, the industry here has gone from Nuclear power to cleanup. These things aren't really kept secrets any more.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Actually, I used to work for the government (well, kind of - I worked at one of the national labs that HASN'T been in the news due to leaks to the Chinese government).
:>
:>
Dress codes were pretty much non-existant after men started actually coming in dresses. We computer techs could wear anything halfway appropriate, but the suits had to wear, well, suits (although I'm not sure that was mandated).
Never had any tardiness policies that I know of. Flex time was actually pretty nice. Work five 8 hour days, four 10 hour days, whatever.
Zero mobility? Admittedly not as good as I'd have liked it to be, but not really as bad as you'd think. I'd agree somewhat with this - it's not as good as it should be (or rather, was misplaced).
Paperwork sucks, and there was a decent amount of that - but it wasn't quite as bad as you make it out to be. Then again I was a Mac tech, so we were phasing out floppies anyhow.
Mindless beureaucrats? We had a few - believe it or not, though, I actually liked my manager. Go figure.
As for pay, well, let's just say I'm working in the private sector now.
The upshot - if you can get in at a good level, the benefits and such as great - it's the kind of place you want to retire in. If you're looking for an incredibly exciting job, stock options, whatever then look elsewhere. Stability is the key - although it does keep some 'dead weight' around, you don't have the problems with layoffs and such. Great if you're raising a family (I'm not).
It's a matter of priorities, really. Then again, my old job could have been entirely different than someone else's. The government is a big place, and my place of employment wasn't really strictly government.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
NOTE: The previous message was paid for in full by the NSAPRF (NSA Public Relations Fund).
We're on your side. Really.
:>
Sorry, couldn' resist.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
He may only be 15, but it sounds like he has you beat in the maturity department.
The 'evils' of atheism, indeed.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Not only is this story redundant, but it has also been done before, AND it's not unique.
:>
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Apple has no reason to 'kill' the upgradability for the iMac, as it isn't even upgradable to begin with, really.
They are disposable computers, which suits my mother just fine.
I'll go for the G4, or a nice Powerbook G3 Series or something. If you can get over the fact that it's a Mac, you'd probably go for the latter too.
It's all about the market...
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
No kidding. Apple needs to come up with a plan - take whatever the executives decide on for minimum amount of RAM, and add 32 megs on top of that before shipping.
:>
Luckly, a lot of the resellers out there realized this, as most iMac promotions come with 'free 32 MB RAM upgrade' deals.
Me? 128 MB in my PowerTower Pro, and 190+ something for my PowerBook G3 Bronze (well, once it gets here).
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Blame Be.
The LinuxPPC people, Debian, Yellow Dog, etc. haven't had any problems.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
---
25 cents a system is pretty pricey for that $20 CD player -- or even a $100 stereo system -- companies budgets are tight -- and 25 cents can make a real difference.
---
Right. And if you are in the market for cheap crap for hardware, more power to you. Apple has stated that they have no interest in the $399 PC market, and I for one am thankful.
As far as I'm concerned, eMachines can have that market, and the inflated support costs related to it.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
---
(Disclaimer: I'm a Mac user. Uh, sorry, or something.)
---
Good lord, that's the funniest thing I've seen in a long-ass time.
BTW: I'm a Mac user too (clone, actually). Err, sorry?
---
I don't mean this in a negative way, but this kind of analysis typifies the Mac v. PC debate. The typical PC user's assumption being: "I expect to pay no more than _x_ for _blank_ commodity since I saw _blank_ advertised for _x_ somewhere." Whereas the Mac user says "I need to do _y_ with my computer; how can I do this in the most efficient way, where _blank_ commodity is one piece of the puzzle."
---
Exactly. Price is rarely the primary consideration for Mac users - at least, those that I know. I guess it can't be, considering Apple's high prices (they're much better now, though). Apple simply doesn't make commodity systems, for better or for worse. The kind of people who buy Macs aren't generally thinking "gee, should I get this Apple system or a cheaper PC", they're thinking "gee, which Mac should I buy". PCs don't enter into the equation. Especially now, after the last 4 or so years shook out most of the fence sitting population.
Even now, the prevailent reaction of many Mac users toward other operating systems is disgust - particularly Windows. My take on it - MacOS has a sort of 'feel' to it, like you know the creators fell in love with the project. Linux has the same exact feel, even though it's a drastically different operating system. Both were made by artists with different intentions. Windows, on the other hand, is/was made by suits.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
---
I agree, it is a sad thing whenever a technology dies. I think of my 386, with its 2x scsi cdrom on the soundcard, and I think of microchannel pc's...there's something beautiful about oddball computers.
---
This is all well and good, but Firewire isn't dying from what I can tell.
It's like saying SCSI died because it was pretty much supported exclusively in Macs for the desktop market. If Firewire is as good as dead, someone should tell Sony and Apple.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Boy, that AC sure got you.
>From the IEEE 1394 Trade Association Website:
>http://www.1394ta.org/Press/1999.05.12.htm
How's the foot?
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Someone scored this post down to a 0 - why? Seems pretty much accurate to me.
While the consensus amongst those who need to do more research is that 'Firewire is dead', those of us in the Mac community are happily plugging away with the technology. All Macs with exception to the iMac and iBook have Firewire standard (replacing the otherwise pretty fast SCSI). the next major rev of the iMac is rumored to come with at least one firewire port, and the iBook is sure to follow.
Slightly more expensive, but the graphics professionals andsuch who rely on it could care less. $50-70/hour chargeout rates will do that to a guy.
Someone - moderate the parent post up. Promote sanity on Slashdot!
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
---
As if they had a choice? Correct me if I'm wrong, but they were on PPC *first*, and then ran into
a dead-end when Apple cut off their access to the
G* specs.
---
Are you so sure Apple has done this? If so, how come LinuxPPC and Debian support for recent PowerMacs is so good? If Apple has the PowerPC platform by the balls (forgive the term), why have they provided pivotal source code for their upcoming OS (it may not be much, but it's bootable)? Why would they have supported the MkLinux project at all?
Last but not least, between people buying Macs to run BeOS and those buying PCs to run BeOS, what exactly does Apple have to lose? Hardware is, and always has been, Apple's main source of income. Remember, prior to MacOS 7.X the OS was free (as in beer). They may make some cash off of it now, but it's not their main source of funds.
MacOS sells PowerPC hardware, not the other way around. If the BeOS can help them in that aim, I doubt Apple would give a damn. Blame Be and their new investors.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net
Indeed, it would be in Apple's best interests to support the BeOS (just as they do with LinuxPPC and Darwin) on their boxen. They make their money off of hardware, not software.
- Darchmare
- Axis Mutatis, http://www.axismutatis.net