A.) It keeps most people on a similar OS version, making it easier for Apple and I'd suspect most developers appreciate this as well. It's no fun trying to support a million different OS configurations, which is the case with Windows.
Ahh, this must be why practically every piece of software ever written for Win32 still works in Windows 7, and why Visual Studio does such a good job of abstracting out newer features so that developers can use them and have a backwards-compatible fallback automatically with no extra effort.
I'm glad Apple has a patent on this; additionally, I hope they make the licensing fees exorbitant to discourage any other hardware manufacturers from adding this "feature."
If this bothers you, and you want to play the games so badly, why not just buy a console and play it there? If you refuse to do that, why do we have to listen to you bitch and moan?
Every one of your "I can build a sub-$450 gaming PC" (yesterday it was sub-$300) completely misses the point. I can't say I blame you though, because like most other graphics whores, I doubt if you have much appreciation for good presentation and think that more pixels = more prettier.
Since the Gamecube/XBox era, we have had hardware powerful enough for a good art director to get their vision onto a TV or computer screen. Games like Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, Viewtiful Joe, Metroid Prime, and *many* others showed that you can have a gorgeous game that stands the test of time if you have good art direction.
The point is, you don't need an expensive gaming machine to have amazing looking games. You just need to buy the amazing looking games instead of worrying about whether it runs in 720p or 1080p. What I find particularly funny is that people who care about hardware typically choose the blandest, ugly looking games to hold up as an example of how great the hardware is -- things like Military-themed FPS Of The Week.
So good for you for building HTPCs for people for under $450. The rest of us will keep enjoying our $200 units that work better, use less power, and have a more task-specific interface without worrying that a HD4850 is only $60. And for those that want them, we'll also have a PC that is as souped up as we want it.
It will die like the Gamecube mini-discs, and the N64/SNES/NES carts. It will die at the end of the lifetime of the console.
This isn't about trying to create a new format in the format wars. It's not like if they used BluRay or DVD that you'd be able to play the games on the 360 or PS3; this is a completely different situation than the BluRay/HDDVD situation was 4 years ago.
You're basically not worth responding to, but this logic is just beyond idiotic.
If we adopt a law holding that a person has the right to kill himself, soon we will also adopt euthanasia; because if the individual has the right to say when his life is no longer worth living, soon society will claim this right as well.
So... people currently have the right to jerk off. That means that inevitably, society will choose that they have the right to forcibly jerk people off?
People currently have the right to stand out in the rain when it suits them. So society is going to usurp the right and force people to stand out in the rain?
How mentally inept do you have to be to believe these slippery slope arguments?
So, what, are you implying that because the US has less social programs, it isn't having economic trouble? That economic troubles are exclusive to EU countries? If not, what, exactly, is your point?
Palin was only "right" if you twist her words and the facts away from what she actually said and what actually happened.
It would be kind of like if someone calling the Titanic a huge, successful cruise. Then everyone says, "no, idiot, the fucking thing sunk." Then a few white knights come in and say, "well, if you take into account the fact that there were a lot of happy people on board up until it sank, then you could really technically call it a success."
It doesn't make the original idiotic statement correct.
Heck there was a story in the local paper about a year ago about a couple month old baby dying, and there were 3 possible suspects (the death was sometime early in the morning, and the mom, dad, and baby sitter were all there at the time). Anyhow, an autopsy had shown physical trauma to the infant, but that's the last the paper has ever said.
And this is one of the biggest problems with all media, not just local media: a baby possibly being murdered is a tragedy, but it's certainly not news. I get sick of hearing about some kidnapped girl in Florida or California on the national news as if they have some relevance to *anything*. Sure, it's awful for the families, but it has *zero* effect on the other 300 million people in the country except to increase the perceived amount of crime.
Just because someone said something negative about Apple does not mean it is probably valid. It is very likely to not be valid considering the rabid anti-Apple nuts. All you've done is expose your own bias.
Yes, there are health risks, and it's my right to decide if I chose to accept those risks or not, not yours.
And it's our right to call you out on being stupid, and to ask you to get those reeking sticks away from us. (It's unbelievable how much nicer it is going out to bars now that smoking in them has been banned in my state.)
Also, good for you for rationalizing how "fun" smoking is; the joke is on you though, because once you've built up tolerance to nicotine, smoking just brings you back to the baseline "stimulated" level that the rest of us enjoy without it. I also really enjoy the "experience" of a fountain soda, but I realize that it's mainly from satisfying a caffeine/sugar addiction, not the soda itself, and I don't fool myself into believing that it's some "fun" thing.
How does giving you the tools to drive impaired and avoid being caught doing so make the roads safer? Seriously, what kind of doublethink does it take to think that "I'm too buzzed to risk a field sobriety test, but I'm still a safe driver"* is a reasonable statement?.*
I like how you fail to quote the part of his statement where GP chooses to not drive home, then fail to respond to any point that he makes. Good job!
I can't either. If you are drunk to the point that you are impaired (and it is *easy* for people to tell when they're impaired), yet decide to drive anyway, you deserve to have the book thrown at you.
However, I also can't stand MADD apologists who think that breathalyzers are actually a good approximation for BAC. It's easy enough to have someone walk a line or do any number of other sobriety tests to check for actual impairment. However, the legal system has been short-circuited to the point that there's no reason for the police to use any actual, you know, real judgement about how impaired someone is. Just force them to take the completely unscientific breath test, and if they refuse they're fucked. If they accept and blow something over the (very, very low) legal limit, they're fucked.
MADD used to be a noble organization; now they're just on a crusade to slowly reestablish prohibition. They've far outgrown any reasonable function -- much like PETA. I find most of their propaganda disgusting, and find the people who swallow it to be very sad moral crusaders. And I say this as a person who doesn't even drink.
Let me rephrase that to show you how ridiculous your statement is.
Do you really assert that Linux that ends up on this <random device> with the <random manufacturer> processor is the same as desktop Linux?
Believe it or not, an operating system really isn't that difficult to port to different hardware. Obviously the user interface may have to change, depending on the device it's running on, but the underlying OS can be nearly identical. All it needs to do is manage hardware and the user session(s).
Why the fuck do people keep bringing up the Power Glove as a Nintendo accessory when it was made by Mattel?
Also, you forgot the E-reader. But also, you forgot that people buy the accessories because they think they're worth buying for the uses that are available. Anyone who bought a Gameboy Printer and thought it was going to hit some mainstream feature status that all games would use was an idiot. Only a fool would buy something solely based on what it might be able to do in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
Time to grow a pair.
Says the anonymous coward.
--Jeremy
Yeah, those huge campaign contributions coming in from the Big Tree Hugging lobby are tough for any candidate to turn down.
--Jeremy
A.) It keeps most people on a similar OS version, making it easier for Apple and I'd suspect most developers appreciate this as well. It's no fun trying to support a million different OS configurations, which is the case with Windows.
Ahh, this must be why practically every piece of software ever written for Win32 still works in Windows 7, and why Visual Studio does such a good job of abstracting out newer features so that developers can use them and have a backwards-compatible fallback automatically with no extra effort.
--Jeremy
I'm glad Apple has a patent on this; additionally, I hope they make the licensing fees exorbitant to discourage any other hardware manufacturers from adding this "feature."
--Jeremy
That's a silly statement as I endorse, am proficient in and support over six quite different operating systems.
So ... 7? Or is it over 7, too?
--Jeremy
Let me guess: you're not in charge of any large corporation's bank accounts.
--Jeremy
If this bothers you, and you want to play the games so badly, why not just buy a console and play it there? If you refuse to do that, why do we have to listen to you bitch and moan?
--Jeremy
Every one of your "I can build a sub-$450 gaming PC" (yesterday it was sub-$300) completely misses the point. I can't say I blame you though, because like most other graphics whores, I doubt if you have much appreciation for good presentation and think that more pixels = more prettier.
Since the Gamecube/XBox era, we have had hardware powerful enough for a good art director to get their vision onto a TV or computer screen. Games like Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, Viewtiful Joe, Metroid Prime, and *many* others showed that you can have a gorgeous game that stands the test of time if you have good art direction.
The point is, you don't need an expensive gaming machine to have amazing looking games. You just need to buy the amazing looking games instead of worrying about whether it runs in 720p or 1080p. What I find particularly funny is that people who care about hardware typically choose the blandest, ugly looking games to hold up as an example of how great the hardware is -- things like Military-themed FPS Of The Week.
So good for you for building HTPCs for people for under $450. The rest of us will keep enjoying our $200 units that work better, use less power, and have a more task-specific interface without worrying that a HD4850 is only $60. And for those that want them, we'll also have a PC that is as souped up as we want it.
--Jeremy
It will die, but not like UMD.
It will die like the Gamecube mini-discs, and the N64/SNES/NES carts. It will die at the end of the lifetime of the console.
This isn't about trying to create a new format in the format wars. It's not like if they used BluRay or DVD that you'd be able to play the games on the 360 or PS3; this is a completely different situation than the BluRay/HDDVD situation was 4 years ago.
--Jeremy
And it is a popular conservative fabrication that the federal government is a 100% inefficient drag on the economy.
Maybe we can meet in the middle somewhere, where the truth lies?
--Jeremy
You're basically not worth responding to, but this logic is just beyond idiotic.
If we adopt a law holding that a person has the right to kill himself, soon we will also adopt euthanasia; because if the individual has the right to say when his life is no longer worth living, soon society will claim this right as well.
So ... people currently have the right to jerk off. That means that inevitably, society will choose that they have the right to forcibly jerk people off?
People currently have the right to stand out in the rain when it suits them. So society is going to usurp the right and force people to stand out in the rain?
How mentally inept do you have to be to believe these slippery slope arguments?
--Jeremy
death is my worse nightmare, so I really don't get it.
All that means is that you don't have much of an imagination.
--Jeremy
So, what, are you implying that because the US has less social programs, it isn't having economic trouble? That economic troubles are exclusive to EU countries? If not, what, exactly, is your point?
--Jeremy
Your entire argument can be summed up thus:
"There are people who have it even worse, so everyone else should just shut the fuck up and like it."
--Jeremy
No. Unions are useful in one case, and only one case: when a lack of industry regulation puts workers in peril.
[citation needed]
And the entire rest of your post is based on this assumption. I believe we call this "begging the question."
--Jeremy
Palin was only "right" if you twist her words and the facts away from what she actually said and what actually happened.
It would be kind of like if someone calling the Titanic a huge, successful cruise. Then everyone says, "no, idiot, the fucking thing sunk." Then a few white knights come in and say, "well, if you take into account the fact that there were a lot of happy people on board up until it sank, then you could really technically call it a success."
It doesn't make the original idiotic statement correct.
--Jeremy
Heck there was a story in the local paper about a year ago about a couple month old baby dying, and there were 3 possible suspects (the death was sometime early in the morning, and the mom, dad, and baby sitter were all there at the time). Anyhow, an autopsy had shown physical trauma to the infant, but that's the last the paper has ever said.
And this is one of the biggest problems with all media, not just local media: a baby possibly being murdered is a tragedy, but it's certainly not news. I get sick of hearing about some kidnapped girl in Florida or California on the national news as if they have some relevance to *anything*. Sure, it's awful for the families, but it has *zero* effect on the other 300 million people in the country except to increase the perceived amount of crime.
--Jeremy
Just because someone said something negative about Apple does not mean it is probably valid. It is very likely to not be valid considering the rabid anti-Apple nuts. All you've done is expose your own bias.
And you just exposed yours.
--Jeremy
Yes, there are health risks, and it's my right to decide if I chose to accept those risks or not, not yours.
And it's our right to call you out on being stupid, and to ask you to get those reeking sticks away from us. (It's unbelievable how much nicer it is going out to bars now that smoking in them has been banned in my state.)
Also, good for you for rationalizing how "fun" smoking is; the joke is on you though, because once you've built up tolerance to nicotine, smoking just brings you back to the baseline "stimulated" level that the rest of us enjoy without it. I also really enjoy the "experience" of a fountain soda, but I realize that it's mainly from satisfying a caffeine/sugar addiction, not the soda itself, and I don't fool myself into believing that it's some "fun" thing.
--Jeremy
How does giving you the tools to drive impaired and avoid being caught doing so make the roads safer? Seriously, what kind of doublethink does it take to think that "I'm too buzzed to risk a field sobriety test, but I'm still a safe driver"* is a reasonable statement?.*
I like how you fail to quote the part of his statement where GP chooses to not drive home, then fail to respond to any point that he makes. Good job!
--Jeremy
I can't stand drunk driving apologists.
I can't either. If you are drunk to the point that you are impaired (and it is *easy* for people to tell when they're impaired), yet decide to drive anyway, you deserve to have the book thrown at you.
However, I also can't stand MADD apologists who think that breathalyzers are actually a good approximation for BAC. It's easy enough to have someone walk a line or do any number of other sobriety tests to check for actual impairment. However, the legal system has been short-circuited to the point that there's no reason for the police to use any actual, you know, real judgement about how impaired someone is. Just force them to take the completely unscientific breath test, and if they refuse they're fucked. If they accept and blow something over the (very, very low) legal limit, they're fucked.
MADD used to be a noble organization; now they're just on a crusade to slowly reestablish prohibition. They've far outgrown any reasonable function -- much like PETA. I find most of their propaganda disgusting, and find the people who swallow it to be very sad moral crusaders. And I say this as a person who doesn't even drink.
--Jeremy
Microsoft didn't screw over FoxPro developers -- FoxPro screwed over FoxPro developers by being absolutely terrible.
It's a database! It's a development environment! It's a GUI! It's a floor wax! It's a dessert topping!
--Jeremy
Here's one:
C#
string test = null; // throws null exception
if (test == "")
VB.Net
Dim test As String = Nothing
if test = "" ' Does not throw null exception
There are many other subtle differences. I have to (unfortunately) write in and support both languages every day at work.
--Jeremy
Let me rephrase that to show you how ridiculous your statement is.
Do you really assert that Linux that ends up on this <random device> with the <random manufacturer> processor is the same as desktop Linux?
Believe it or not, an operating system really isn't that difficult to port to different hardware. Obviously the user interface may have to change, depending on the device it's running on, but the underlying OS can be nearly identical. All it needs to do is manage hardware and the user session(s).
--Jeremy
Why the fuck do people keep bringing up the Power Glove as a Nintendo accessory when it was made by Mattel?
Also, you forgot the E-reader. But also, you forgot that people buy the accessories because they think they're worth buying for the uses that are available. Anyone who bought a Gameboy Printer and thought it was going to hit some mainstream feature status that all games would use was an idiot. Only a fool would buy something solely based on what it might be able to do in the future.
--Jeremy