I'm ethnic Chinese and was born in Vietnam, but the difference is that I grew up in Western countries, so I never had a chance to be brainwashed and indoctrinated by an oppressive dictatorship. With even teenagers from mainland China, it's already too late, they've been through the schools, they've only known one reality and one truth: China's. They'll come to your country, and they'll help steal military/industrial/trade secrets, they'll help harass and spy on dissidents, human rights activists, Tibetans, Uighurs etc. There are some courageous exceptions (dissidents), but for the most part, this is overwhelmingly true.
This is basically what has been happening ever since Mao. The communists have destroyed a beautiful country and turned it into something truly ugly.
So yes, I'm afraid what littlewink says is true. It's almost certain that China will go to war with the USA and Taiwan within the next 5-15 years. It's as inevitable as the next big stockmarket crash and double-dip recession, aka Great Depression.
My loyalties do not lie with any one country (many would call me a traitor for saying this). I just want to do the right thing -- I'll answer to the truth, not to some arbitrary nationalistic or patriotic agenda. I'm in Australia, which is a close ally to the USA. Once war with China breaks out, I have no doubt that I'll be taunted and spat on in the streets, just like the Nisei were.
It's a small number in the big picture, but the importance of losing a firearm should not be underestimated. It should be grounds for instant dismissal and punishment.
But are Homeland Security personnel actually cops? Aren't they more like glorified security guards?
It's a bit like the Australian Protective Service after they were absorbed into the Australian Federal Police. Many of them don't even have the same arrest powers as a police officer has, so they're effectively just government security officers. It's really stupid -- if they're going to wear the label of police, they should have the same powers and training as proper police do.
The way I see it, Photoshop is for professionals, and is priced as such. A lot of home users pirate it for the prestige (the same way they think using Dreamweaver makes them a "pro"), not because they actually need all the powerful features of the software.
Obviously Adobe make the vast majority of their profits from corporate customers, much like Microsoft does.
Since when do Apple products "impress" with their hardware features? It's all about usability and great software.
My geek friends were all initially underwhelmed by the official iPad announcement. But now we're warming up to it. We see the possibilities provided by the software.
As for non-techie friends, they're all eager to try it when it's released.
Agreed on the "coolness" just being a byproduct of good design. I've never viewed Apple gear as particularly cool -- if anything, their products tend to look quite conservative compared to their competitors. In recent years, at least.
I think the crux of the matter is that enterprise/corporate just doesn't give a shit about usability or user-friendliness. Even though that could save a lot of money and increase productivity. The smart, nimble companies realise this, but the behemoth bureaucracies don't.
Agreed. I prefer Macs myself, but I've never had to work in a Windows environment which is as screwed up as what OP describes. And why are they still using Office 2000?
Various Linux distros perked my interest as a refreshing alternative to Windows, but ever since Mac OS X came along, that has more than satisfied my needs. Ubuntu does look promising, but as you point out the money just isn't there.
Are there any Linux distros which charge a significant amount of money (e.g. $100) for their use? I'm thinking that a Linux distro would have to be commercialised in order for it to be polished and user-friendly enough to compete with Windows and OS X.
Even among pocket calculators there's a huge variety of different devices. Some are for complex scientific work, others are just for adding up your weekly grocery expenses. Surely the complex scientific calcs are going to continue to evolve, just like laptop computers will continue to evolve. Either that or they'll be replaced by all-in-one devices like smartphones running specialised software.
I agree with the gist of your post, I think we'll see more and more "appliance" type computers which will be so simple to use that they'll be like everyday appliances which anyone can use intuitively. At the same time we'll definitely continue to see "real computers" which are customisable and hackable, though the market for these will no doubt be smaller, since most consumers just want something which works out of the box.
Rest assured there'll always be something geeky for people to play around with.
People like Steve Jobs seem to get a lot of disdain from certain geek quarters, but he's far more of a geek than most give him credit for. He's far more than just a marketer and a glitzy showman. The man is incredibly savvy about business and tech, which is why Apple often leads the trends -- despite what the geeks claim. Human computer interaction and UX is an extremely important aspect of computing which readily gets dismissed by a lot of geeks, and this is going to become more evident as we enter the age of computing appliances for everyday people.
The iPhone and iPad are just the beginning, and I'm sure many other companies will step in and fill the space. It's an exciting time to be in computing.
So Windows is necessary but Mac OS X isn't? How do you come to that conclusion?
As for running Mac OS X on iPad... why? It might be fun to a few geeks but it's absolutely pointless for the average consumer, which is what the iPad is targeted at. Not sure if you've ever actually used a hackintosh, but they're a royal pain in the butt to maintain.
As for Apple being a "take it or leave it" kind of company, you're absolutely right. That's how Steve Jobs has always been and how he'll deal in the future as well. Until he leaves the company, that's how Apple will be. They're not going to change their ways, because what they're doing works perfectly well for them. As long as they keep making great products, I'll continue to buy them.
Apple gear isn't a good fit for most of the geeks on Slashdot and the like, but that should come as no surprise. The average consumer isn't a geek.
It was a stupid decision to reject the app based on that, but I doubt this is an official Apple rule. More likely some overzealous App Store Reviewer, and the decision will get overturned in the near future.
I doubt Apple are bound by contracts to keep their devices off Linux... it's just a simple business decision. There's very few Linux users compared to Windows and Mac users, so to Apple it's not worth expending the resources it would take to make things work (and keep things working) on the various Linux distros.
There's your reason. iTunes runs a lot better under OS X. I think the whole application is much more "OS X-like" and that's one of the reasons why it confounds a lot of Windows users. Other reasons are that the Windows version feels slow and clunky.
I hesitate to recommend iPods/iPhones to people running Windows machines.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm ethnic Chinese and was born in Vietnam, but the difference is that I grew up in Western countries, so I never had a chance to be brainwashed and indoctrinated by an oppressive dictatorship. With even teenagers from mainland China, it's already too late, they've been through the schools, they've only known one reality and one truth: China's. They'll come to your country, and they'll help steal military/industrial/trade secrets, they'll help harass and spy on dissidents, human rights activists, Tibetans, Uighurs etc. There are some courageous exceptions (dissidents), but for the most part, this is overwhelmingly true.
This is basically what has been happening ever since Mao. The communists have destroyed a beautiful country and turned it into something truly ugly.
So yes, I'm afraid what littlewink says is true. It's almost certain that China will go to war with the USA and Taiwan within the next 5-15 years. It's as inevitable as the next big stockmarket crash and double-dip recession, aka Great Depression.
My loyalties do not lie with any one country (many would call me a traitor for saying this). I just want to do the right thing -- I'll answer to the truth, not to some arbitrary nationalistic or patriotic agenda. I'm in Australia, which is a close ally to the USA. Once war with China breaks out, I have no doubt that I'll be taunted and spat on in the streets, just like the Nisei were.
It's a small number in the big picture, but the importance of losing a firearm should not be underestimated. It should be grounds for instant dismissal and punishment.
But are Homeland Security personnel actually cops? Aren't they more like glorified security guards?
It's a bit like the Australian Protective Service after they were absorbed into the Australian Federal Police. Many of them don't even have the same arrest powers as a police officer has, so they're effectively just government security officers. It's really stupid -- if they're going to wear the label of police, they should have the same powers and training as proper police do.
The way I see it, Photoshop is for professionals, and is priced as such. A lot of home users pirate it for the prestige (the same way they think using Dreamweaver makes them a "pro"), not because they actually need all the powerful features of the software.
Obviously Adobe make the vast majority of their profits from corporate customers, much like Microsoft does.
So a handful of guys are dodgy and fudged their data. That doesn't mean there's a worldwide conspiracy afoot.
Since when do Apple products "impress" with their hardware features? It's all about usability and great software.
My geek friends were all initially underwhelmed by the official iPad announcement. But now we're warming up to it. We see the possibilities provided by the software.
As for non-techie friends, they're all eager to try it when it's released.
Agreed on the repairs issue, that's a major liability when using Macs in the corporate sector.
Agreed on the "coolness" just being a byproduct of good design. I've never viewed Apple gear as particularly cool -- if anything, their products tend to look quite conservative compared to their competitors. In recent years, at least.
I think the crux of the matter is that enterprise/corporate just doesn't give a shit about usability or user-friendliness. Even though that could save a lot of money and increase productivity. The smart, nimble companies realise this, but the behemoth bureaucracies don't.
Agreed. I prefer Macs myself, but I've never had to work in a Windows environment which is as screwed up as what OP describes. And why are they still using Office 2000?
Very eloquently put.
Various Linux distros perked my interest as a refreshing alternative to Windows, but ever since Mac OS X came along, that has more than satisfied my needs. Ubuntu does look promising, but as you point out the money just isn't there.
Are there any Linux distros which charge a significant amount of money (e.g. $100) for their use? I'm thinking that a Linux distro would have to be commercialised in order for it to be polished and user-friendly enough to compete with Windows and OS X.
Every one of your points sounds like completely fabricated bullshit.
Next time, login before you post.
Your comparison doesn't make any sense.
Even among pocket calculators there's a huge variety of different devices. Some are for complex scientific work, others are just for adding up your weekly grocery expenses. Surely the complex scientific calcs are going to continue to evolve, just like laptop computers will continue to evolve. Either that or they'll be replaced by all-in-one devices like smartphones running specialised software.
I agree with the gist of your post, I think we'll see more and more "appliance" type computers which will be so simple to use that they'll be like everyday appliances which anyone can use intuitively. At the same time we'll definitely continue to see "real computers" which are customisable and hackable, though the market for these will no doubt be smaller, since most consumers just want something which works out of the box.
Rest assured there'll always be something geeky for people to play around with.
Which jackass is modding all the responses down?
People like Steve Jobs seem to get a lot of disdain from certain geek quarters, but he's far more of a geek than most give him credit for. He's far more than just a marketer and a glitzy showman. The man is incredibly savvy about business and tech, which is why Apple often leads the trends -- despite what the geeks claim. Human computer interaction and UX is an extremely important aspect of computing which readily gets dismissed by a lot of geeks, and this is going to become more evident as we enter the age of computing appliances for everyday people.
The iPhone and iPad are just the beginning, and I'm sure many other companies will step in and fill the space. It's an exciting time to be in computing.
So Windows is necessary but Mac OS X isn't? How do you come to that conclusion?
As for running Mac OS X on iPad... why? It might be fun to a few geeks but it's absolutely pointless for the average consumer, which is what the iPad is targeted at. Not sure if you've ever actually used a hackintosh, but they're a royal pain in the butt to maintain.
As for Apple being a "take it or leave it" kind of company, you're absolutely right. That's how Steve Jobs has always been and how he'll deal in the future as well. Until he leaves the company, that's how Apple will be. They're not going to change their ways, because what they're doing works perfectly well for them. As long as they keep making great products, I'll continue to buy them.
Apple gear isn't a good fit for most of the geeks on Slashdot and the like, but that should come as no surprise. The average consumer isn't a geek.
You haven't got any actual experience designing and building user interfaces, have you?
Wow, that's one of the most nonsensical analogies I've read here.
It was a stupid decision to reject the app based on that, but I doubt this is an official Apple rule. More likely some overzealous App Store Reviewer, and the decision will get overturned in the near future.
I doubt Apple are bound by contracts to keep their devices off Linux... it's just a simple business decision. There's very few Linux users compared to Windows and Mac users, so to Apple it's not worth expending the resources it would take to make things work (and keep things working) on the various Linux distros.
Agreed on the folks who automatically start spewing stuff about "Apple fanbois", they're the ones who are the real nutters.
There's your reason. iTunes runs a lot better under OS X. I think the whole application is much more "OS X-like" and that's one of the reasons why it confounds a lot of Windows users. Other reasons are that the Windows version feels slow and clunky.
I hesitate to recommend iPods/iPhones to people running Windows machines.
Jesus, why support a company whose practices you hate? Does your wife really need to watch video that badly when training at the gym?
That was brilliant!