Since it will be useless in a few years. I feel bad for those who are paying in the hundreds for that kind of stuff. That's just how tech works, I guess.
The Rochester Institute of Technology still uses VMS for a few of it's systems. 100% of class registration runs through the VMS, and students have the option of using VMS for their e-mail. Personally, I think it's one of the most confusing operating systems I've ever had the displeasure of sitting at, but I guess I thought the same thing about Linux at first..
To put it another way, if you want to increase adoption rates for Mac OS X among the SOHO group in particular, a really bad strategy is to break parts of printing and wireless networking. Yes, we survived, but I think the gripes here are legitimate.
At least we can rest assured that this was a one-time dilemma. Apple was under a crunch to get something out the door, and we all know they released an unfinished product.
Office is here, Photoshop is here, now USB Printer Sharing and Software Base Station are here. I don't think we have to worry about losing them any time soon, as a transition as drastic as OS 9 -> OS X is nowhere in the forseeable future (unless Apple is downright crazy.)
Apple probably includes this functionality as part of Rendezvous. (Rendezvous allows for networking with "zero-configuration"). Their site only mentions hardware options, where networked computers automatically find Rendezvous-aware printers, but given the nature of the interface I would think they could extend USB Printer Sharing to use it, also.
OS X has been a dependable, full-featured OS since version 10.1. I'll be the first to admit that pre-10.1 was sluggish and not ready for prime-time. It's now fast, has a large base of native applications, and it's becoming increasingly mature with each release (as good software tends to do).
I don't think OS X should be weighed so heavily against OS 9. For every feature that we lost in the transition to X, we gained two improvements.
As for people still stuck with machines that can't run OS X.. I don't know, I can't even imagine taking four or five years between buying new computer hardware.
I didn't know it even ran on today's computers, let alone still used. What is so attractive about HyperCard that prevents people from using things like PowerPoint, or Director, or web-based solutions, or any other number of things?
I think a slightly higher price tag is worth it. It's important to be environmentally-conscious, and it's probably hella cheaper to build alternative energy sources now that it would be to clean up our mess in the future.
This kind of thing is going to become the norm before too long. People become too complacent, too accepting of what the government and corporations feed us. Nothing short of riots and fires will keep us from sinking into a pit where the masses can't fart without being fined and the elite keep themselves warm at night with the flames of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Disillusioned? What's that?
Not going to AC this time. Kill my karma, if you really think I'm wrong.
with all respect to your G'father, he has probably not operated enough electronic items to learn the "language" of electronic gadgets. The more he operates, the more likely he would intuitively understand how to use something.
Yes, you would think so. I have the same trouble with my mother, though. She's set up with my old iMac running OS X. No matter how many times I tell her to go to the Applications window, I always hear, "Applications window... Applications... window... Where's that?" It's in the top level of the Go menu in the Finder, but I sincerely believe this is something she will never get the hang of. The whole computer interface is completely foreign to her, even after 10 years of exposure to it.
She is by no means unintelligent, but she seems to have a hard time remembering things like where the control panels are, how to copy/paste, etc. Maybe all she needs is to do these things a few times a day for a week or two, but that's something that most casual users aren't prepared to do.
So, I know there have been ~200 posts already, so no one will actually read this (either that, or I'm being redundant), but:
24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour is kinda handy, when you think about it. It's easier for people to think about. You can divide 24 into halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, and eights pretty easiliy. It's the same deal with 60 minutes in an hour. Tenths, halves, thirds, sixths, they're all easy to wrap your head around. No fractions, no decimals.
Metric would still be pretty good, but after halves and quarters it begins to get messy. Hey, I'm lazy, so it's 24 hours days for me for the forseeable future.;)
This is the most accurate reply so far. 15-20 years is an eternity in computer time. No one can say what codecs will be supported, even remembered, that far into the future. Maybe storing an old computer isn't the best solution, but if you really want to stay up to date you need to watch the developments and convert your files to new formats as time goes along. This has the added side effect of knowing that your data is still intact as the years go by, since even poorly made CD-Rs are prone to data loss.
I like Play, and played good consumer and bought the CD at my local retailer. I'm not real big on the first single from 18 (whatever the title is). As such, I don't have a copy of the album in any form, and neither does anyone I know. Is Moby just assuming people are pirating his music?
I ended up doing the same thing when I learned how to use Linux. I started out with RedHat, and that was newbie-tolerant enough to get my Mac-trained head around all the concepts. I'm a full-time Slack guy now, and I credit RedHat for getting me started on it all.
It is hard to complain about a 24-hour response time for a bug.
I think this is the real advantage of OSS. It's people that make Apache, not some group of nameless programmers in a high-rise somewhere. The Apache programmers use Apache on a daily basis, so they stand to gain just as much as the rest of us do by releasing a quick fix. I honestly think they care about making it a good, bug-free product. I put much more trust into the open-source projects than I do for any closed source commercial package.
It can't really be called journalism. There is no investigating or interviewing involved. It's just an endless stream of links and editorials. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just not the New York Times.
Who in their right mind would call Slashdot a "blog"? Blogs to me have always been personal journals. Slashdot is more professional than personal, though it doesn't fit well into either category. Maybe it's just that I find/. useful, and journals self-centered and annoying. =P
Off-topic? =)
The US government claims that 1% of citizens control 75% of the American wealth. As a result, the government will be raising taxes for those that abuse the middle- and lower-class masses.
Here's a hypothetical situation: I need to use, say, Adobe Illustrator to finsh my homework for a graphic design course. I'm a starving college student, taking home about $50-$75 a week working part time. I have expenses like school supplies, gas, food, etc. I'm obviously not going to buy Illustrator because of the high price tag, even though I would like to support the developers and their wonderful program. Even the educational pricing is prohibitive. Instead, I have two choices: use the school-supplied computer labs, or download a copy and use it from the convenience of my home.
In either case, I don't have the means to pay for the program. I could go without having the program on my own machine. I could pirate, which in other hypothetical situations might mean the difference between finishing and not finishing the work. If I pirate, you say the company is losing money. I say the money was never headed in it's direction anyway. It "lost" money it never had any claim on.
I believe these two things: people buy good software, and pirates grow to be consumers. Piracy has the potential to be harmless, and it has been in most cases that I've seen. Don't knock the 19 year old college student that pirates a copy of Word. Go for the computer consultant installing free copies of Office XP on every machine that comes through his door.
Slashdot Mirror
Since it will be useless in a few years. I feel bad for those who are paying in the hundreds for that kind of stuff. That's just how tech works, I guess.
It would be an entirely different story if you had 5k+ desktop users to install to, support, and make happy.
As if you can make 5,000+ people happy with a single solution. That's something I'd like to see..
The Rochester Institute of Technology still uses VMS for a few of it's systems. 100% of class registration runs through the VMS, and students have the option of using VMS for their e-mail. Personally, I think it's one of the most confusing operating systems I've ever had the displeasure of sitting at, but I guess I thought the same thing about Linux at first..
To put it another way, if you want to increase adoption rates for Mac OS X among the SOHO group in particular, a really bad strategy is to break parts of printing and wireless networking. Yes, we survived, but I think the gripes here are legitimate.
At least we can rest assured that this was a one-time dilemma. Apple was under a crunch to get something out the door, and we all know they released an unfinished product. Office is here, Photoshop is here, now USB Printer Sharing and Software Base Station are here. I don't think we have to worry about losing them any time soon, as a transition as drastic as OS 9 -> OS X is nowhere in the forseeable future (unless Apple is downright crazy.)
Apple probably includes this functionality as part of Rendezvous. (Rendezvous allows for networking with "zero-configuration"). Their site only mentions hardware options, where networked computers automatically find Rendezvous-aware printers, but given the nature of the interface I would think they could extend USB Printer Sharing to use it, also.
OS X has been a dependable, full-featured OS since version 10.1. I'll be the first to admit that pre-10.1 was sluggish and not ready for prime-time. It's now fast, has a large base of native applications, and it's becoming increasingly mature with each release (as good software tends to do).
I don't think OS X should be weighed so heavily against OS 9. For every feature that we lost in the transition to X, we gained two improvements.
As for people still stuck with machines that can't run OS X.. I don't know, I can't even imagine taking four or five years between buying new computer hardware.
I didn't know it even ran on today's computers, let alone still used. What is so attractive about HyperCard that prevents people from using things like PowerPoint, or Director, or web-based solutions, or any other number of things?
I think a slightly higher price tag is worth it. It's important to be environmentally-conscious, and it's probably hella cheaper to build alternative energy sources now that it would be to clean up our mess in the future.
This kind of thing is going to become the norm before too long. People become too complacent, too accepting of what the government and corporations feed us. Nothing short of riots and fires will keep us from sinking into a pit where the masses can't fart without being fined and the elite keep themselves warm at night with the flames of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.
Disillusioned? What's that?
Not going to AC this time. Kill my karma, if you really think I'm wrong.
So stop cooking with aluminum pots and pans.
Not that us geeks know how to cook. Might be useful for those "other" people, though.
Sorry I don't have a URL to back this up. It's late, and you can use Google just as well as I can.
with all respect to your G'father, he has probably not operated enough electronic items to learn the "language" of electronic gadgets. The more he operates, the more likely he would intuitively understand how to use something.
Yes, you would think so. I have the same trouble with my mother, though. She's set up with my old iMac running OS X. No matter how many times I tell her to go to the Applications window, I always hear, "Applications window... Applications... window... Where's that?" It's in the top level of the Go menu in the Finder, but I sincerely believe this is something she will never get the hang of. The whole computer interface is completely foreign to her, even after 10 years of exposure to it.
She is by no means unintelligent, but she seems to have a hard time remembering things like where the control panels are, how to copy/paste, etc. Maybe all she needs is to do these things a few times a day for a week or two, but that's something that most casual users aren't prepared to do.
So, I know there have been ~200 posts already, so no one will actually read this (either that, or I'm being redundant), but:
24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour is kinda handy, when you think about it. It's easier for people to think about. You can divide 24 into halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, and eights pretty easiliy. It's the same deal with 60 minutes in an hour. Tenths, halves, thirds, sixths, they're all easy to wrap your head around. No fractions, no decimals.
Metric would still be pretty good, but after halves and quarters it begins to get messy. Hey, I'm lazy, so it's 24 hours days for me for the forseeable future. ;)
This is the most accurate reply so far. 15-20 years is an eternity in computer time. No one can say what codecs will be supported, even remembered, that far into the future. Maybe storing an old computer isn't the best solution, but if you really want to stay up to date you need to watch the developments and convert your files to new formats as time goes along. This has the added side effect of knowing that your data is still intact as the years go by, since even poorly made CD-Rs are prone to data loss.
I like Play, and played good consumer and bought the CD at my local retailer. I'm not real big on the first single from 18 (whatever the title is). As such, I don't have a copy of the album in any form, and neither does anyone I know. Is Moby just assuming people are pirating his music?
Its primary use will be studying the influence of proteins on cancer, and, more importantly, large film and animation projects.
It's nice that the /. community is sensitive to a variety of issues.
Well they're probably just Slashdotted, you troll.
I ended up doing the same thing when I learned how to use Linux. I started out with RedHat, and that was newbie-tolerant enough to get my Mac-trained head around all the concepts. I'm a full-time Slack guy now, and I credit RedHat for getting me started on it all.
It is hard to complain about a 24-hour response time for a bug.
I think this is the real advantage of OSS. It's people that make Apache, not some group of nameless programmers in a high-rise somewhere. The Apache programmers use Apache on a daily basis, so they stand to gain just as much as the rest of us do by releasing a quick fix. I honestly think they care about making it a good, bug-free product. I put much more trust into the open-source projects than I do for any closed source commercial package.
It can't really be called journalism. There is no investigating or interviewing involved. It's just an endless stream of links and editorials. Not that it's a bad thing, it's just not the New York Times.
Who in their right mind would call Slashdot a "blog"? Blogs to me have always been personal journals. Slashdot is more professional than personal, though it doesn't fit well into either category. Maybe it's just that I find /. useful, and journals self-centered and annoying. =P
Off-topic? =)
Make sure nobody wants to pay for the movie in the first place. Then there's no one to make a rip.
The US government claims that 1% of citizens control 75% of the American wealth. As a result, the government will be raising taxes for those that abuse the middle- and lower-class masses.
.. Don't believe any unpublished scientific findings.
;)
Maybe I'll cut down on the Doritos anyway..
Not that I think this company should have been fined, but how much of this will the artists be getting?
Here's a hypothetical situation: I need to use, say, Adobe Illustrator to finsh my homework for a graphic design course. I'm a starving college student, taking home about $50-$75 a week working part time. I have expenses like school supplies, gas, food, etc. I'm obviously not going to buy Illustrator because of the high price tag, even though I would like to support the developers and their wonderful program. Even the educational pricing is prohibitive. Instead, I have two choices: use the school-supplied computer labs, or download a copy and use it from the convenience of my home.
In either case, I don't have the means to pay for the program. I could go without having the program on my own machine. I could pirate, which in other hypothetical situations might mean the difference between finishing and not finishing the work. If I pirate, you say the company is losing money. I say the money was never headed in it's direction anyway. It "lost" money it never had any claim on.
I believe these two things: people buy good software, and pirates grow to be consumers. Piracy has the potential to be harmless, and it has been in most cases that I've seen. Don't knock the 19 year old college student that pirates a copy of Word. Go for the computer consultant installing free copies of Office XP on every machine that comes through his door.