The biggest change is that you really can print photos at home now. Ten years ago that wasn't practical. People like having physical copies of their photos for an album, and you just can't replicate that with a screen.
I know a lot of people like this, but I find it a little puzzling.
Don't get me wrong, I get your point about the t-shirts and bumper stickers. I also understand why someone would want a nice 8x10 or larger for their mantle or living room.
The part I don't understand is the 4x6 snapshot print. I also really don't get photo albums at all in this day and age. At least not for me or my fellow IT workers.
I was just at a family reunion and took a bunch of pictures. I uploaded them to my laptop and we passed it around. Instant 14" 'prints'. I also have a PSP. I took my memory stick out of my camera, put it in the PSP and I got the same effect (but smaller) without pulling out the notebook. The old folks didnt' know what a 'shoulder' button was, but they learned plenty quick and whipped through the whole memory card easily.
But my daughter likes to make things look pretty. She'll want a photo album, right? Nope, she prefers our web site or Powerpoint. And when our house goes up in flames, she's still going to enjoy her photo albums because we have nice backups at my sister's house.
The question is, at this point what bennefit do I get by printing a bunch of 4x6 photo's? They're small and portable, but so is my PSP, and even my cell phone. They have high resolution, but they're physically small and cant be zoomed unless you carry a loop or magifying glass with you. They're inconvienient, expensive and time consuming to print, not to mention the hassle of sending snail mail instead of the ease of web or email distribution.
I realize not everyone has a PDA, a PSP, a color cell phone with a large screen or even a computer at work. My truck driver father and barber grandfather appreciate snapshots quite a lot when I'm not around to provide the digital viewing gear. But people like you and me who always have a computer at arms length are gonna find it increasingly difficult to justify the cost and hassle of printing out photos for albums or show and tell.
That's the thing about MMOGs: there's always going to be someone who is obsessed with the game and have better stuff than you, and because of that, they're going to do better.
There's no "grind" in Uunreal Tournament or Counter Strike. Your only indicator that you're doing better is, well, doing better. You know it's fun because you're having a good time, not because you reached 60th level.
I kind of look at it like exercise.
If you gave a group of people $10 every time they went to the gym, then after a year you'd have some people with more money than others. Note that these might be the strongest, fastest or thinnest of the group. But they might not. They might be having fun, or they might not. I see these as the MMOGers
But what if instead you just said, "go to the gym as long as it's fun to you." At the end of that time some people are going to be more fit than others and some are going to be more happy than others. These people are winners because they're fit or happy, not because they have more money (levels).
But what do casual gamers want? They just want to have a good time, either by themselves or with their friends. If MMOGs want to attract these gamers, they're going to have to find a way to focus on haveing a good time instead of getting stuff.
The funny part is when they swallow our culture and they regurgitate it right back at us.
"Trigun" is a great example. It's the American Western seen through the eyes of Japanese and then, of course, re-imported back to it's culture of origin for me to watch. It makes me wonder how "Samurai Jack" plays in the land of the rising sun.
My daughter is a big time anime fan and I enjoy anime as well, but a lot of the anime she likes is just plain grating to me. She absolutely loves it when the characters scream in anger or delight and go 'chibi' but I find it very annoying. IT'S LIKE SOMEONE WRITING WITH ALL CAPS AND USEING LOTS OF PUNCTUATION!!!!! It's just not something the majority of Americans want to see.
Notice that it happens in a _lot_ of anime, but not very much in the anime that is legitimately popular in America. Even Pokemon didn't spend that much time on massive emotional displays compared to a lot of anime popular in Japan.
I hope anime studios are paying attention: If you want to hit it big with your anime on American soil, look at what Americans actually want. If it's a story that's compelling to Americans, we'll buy a lot of it. Period.
The only problem with that argument is that there was a market for DVDs when the PS2 came out. Right now, there is zero market for blu-ray.
As long as blue-ray discs start being released at about the same time as the PS3, people will justify part of the purchase price as going to their "free" blue-ray player. Sony will not only make money off PS3 games, but also off of an extensive library of hit movies that they'll be able to sell to PS3 owners.
If you want to see the model, it'll play out exactly like the PSP and UMDs. PSP early adopters justified a portion of their purchase price as going to the movie playing capabilities of the PSP. UMDs, despite high prices, have been selling well and making money for Sony. More UMD movies are on their way every week.
When I bought my first CD player I had a couple of friends that commented, "but you don't have any CDs." Eveyone starts out this way with a new format and they don't let it stop them from making that purchase. The only thing that will stop people from factoring the value of blue-ray into their PS3 buying decision is if they think HD-DVD will win. Otherwise they'll be delighted at the possibility of getting a BR disc player so cheap.
If your spouse/child/parent was almost certainly going to die, would you sign the papers for the highly experimental procedure that might save their life?
I would too.
3rd party consent shouldn't be a problem with this.
Tobacco, wheat and corn growers don't have much of a problem selling to Americans despite this same obstacle. Bottled water companies thrive despite the fact that most people can get water for free, with no effort, right from their taps.
I have no doubt that pot would be a popular, big-money product if it were legalized.
Geez, is pirating all people want with this? I was hoping to be able to get some freeware games, or maybe some cheap homebrew games.
I'm a computer gamer. I loved FarCry and Half-Life 2, but I still play solitare and computer pinball. My daughter likes Mahjong. We both play internet Flash games. One thing I dislike about consoles is that that simple games are rarely made because they'd cost too much for the consumer after the manufacturer is done with licensing.
If the PSP were Free, as in speach, I'd be able to enjoy a wide variety of games. As it is now, all I get are blockbusters.
At Best Buy: PS2 classics game consisting of Dig Dug, Pole Position, Galaga and Pac Man.
At EBX games: Cartridge for Game Boy advanced with same games.
Under my Xmas tree six months ago: Similar games in a joystick that plugs into my TV.
At Target: A lot of other plug in joysticks with more classic games.
I agree with the abandonware argument, but a lot of these games are no longer abandonware. I'd agree with lowering copyright time periods, but the 20-25 years since most of these games were made doesn't even touch the surface of current copyright law.
Heck, I'd love a good argument to play these games free, but considering they cost less than 5 bucks apiece and are redily available, I can't help but think the ethical thing to do is to pay to play.
Anyone who wants to opt out of this database will be kept in another database instead (most probably named something like 'potential dissidents').
No, no, no, you got it all wrong. The second "opt out" database is a great idea. Only by keeping detailed info on you is it possible to make sure they never bother you again. I'm going to start sending all of my personal info to everyone who spams me so they can keep a more functional opt out database, just like the Army. This should get rid of my spam problem in no time.
You make a point, but you're also missing something.
A) yes, using the same hardware forces console game makers to squeeze more out of the hardware in their 2nd gen games.
However...
B) While PC games aren't as efficient, they still manage to get more beatiful at the same or faster rate, because new GPUs become available so quickly on PCs.
Check out Far Cry, Doom3 and Half Life. They all come from last year or earlier and thier visuals kick the butt out of anything available for any console today. Sure, they're not as efficient, but the tide rises so fast on the PC side that it almost doesn't matter.
I see the cycle like this:
-first release of console: console games usually slightly beat the high end PC games. But consoles beat the hell out of the equivilant PC hardware for price.
-2nd year: Consoles and mid-level PC games are on par visualy. The PCs cost more, but people buying a new computer anyway will only have to pay a little more for the video card neaded to play these games with most of the eye-candy. High end PC gamers get bragging rights, but for many times the cost of the consoles.
-third year: everyone who buys a PC and a mainstream, off-the-shelf game gets superior visuals to the console. It's only slightly better, but they don't have to pay extra for a special card. High-end PC gamers routinely get stuff that blows away the best the consoles can offer.
-fourth year: I start seeing comercials for console games and wonder how anyone can get excited by these. They look flat and uninspired visualy. I routinely play PC games with much better visuals on cheap hardware.
Ads for the new consoles are out, and people start getting interested, but no one can play the games for another year. What? That release date is only in Japan?!!? Shortages and cost of the new consoles will mean many people can't play the games for some time after the release. The early console adopters are looking a lot like PC early adopters - they'll pay any price for the latest, but it still isn't in the hands of the mainstream. Lack of cool games on startup will limit choice, while PC games can push old games to new levels by boosting reolution, using anti-aliasing and turning all eye-candy to maximum levels.
Rinse. Repeat.
From mid term to tail-end of both the PS1 and PS2 cycles, I was anything but jealous of their ability to deliver superior visuals for the hardware available.
"heavily banking on digital" kind of sounds like it's a risky move. "sees the handwriting on the wall" is a little closer to reality. Even better: "has finally realized that B&W film is currently obsolete and acknowledges that color film is just around the corner."
photography is a profession, and countless hours of studying and practical experience goes into the final product.
Lets do a little comparison of the skill necessary to make a great wedding picture.
An entire family works together to plan and pay for a wedding. They hire a pianist and a decorator. They pick out the dresses and the tuxes. All their friends and family are guests. They rent a hall and hire a limo. They smile and wave. They laugh and cry. They dance. They pay big bucks to set all this up....and it's the photographer's skill that makes the picture beautiful so he gets to keep the copyright?
You gotta give credit where credit is due. Many photographers deserve a lot of credit, but if they take a picture of wedding, which by its nature is a staged event, then you have to give just as much credit to those doing the staging.
It's quite fair for the stagers to ask for copyright if that is their desire. After all, the broadway musical "Cats" isn't going to sign over copyright to a film company that wants to shoot their play. Photographers gotta make money, but someone who pays $25,000 on a wedding has just as much right to ask that their monitary needs be met.
There are other importnat social elements as well. When you go to see a movie with someone, you're getting out of the house. It's an event. If you're doing this with someone you know very well, then it's a change of pace and an opportunity to connect on a different level. If you're doing this with someone you don't know very well then it's a way to connect informally without the connotations that can come from spending two hours alone at your house in a darkened room.
Think of it like eating out. Chances are there's someone in your houshold that can cook far better than the food you'll find at most restaurants. My grilled steaks, for example, routinely beat the hell out of the vast majority of restaurants.
But eating out is a way to connect with friends and loved ones. There are many days that I'd rather have a steak that's meerly good and connect with someone I care about. Going to the movies with my daughter can accomplish much the same thing.
... or, as a less "cool," but possibly more effective alternative, you could have just put in the arguments for why you think I'm wrong instead of throwing in the 133t spelling and accusations of my motives. Believe it or not, it _is_ possible to like something MS makes without being a shill.
For a well run business with good perimeter and internal security, Win2K is just too good to move away from. It's stability is great and it doesnt' suffer the performance issues of WinXP with SP2. It's also the last OS from Microsoft that actually treated users like they were using a computer instead of dumbing things down. (In WInXP: control panel "lite", stupid road blocks if you want to browse the file system and, of course, that annoying dog as the default search, to name a few).
One of my fondest memories of Win2K was semi-regularly seeing Linux/Unix users on Slashdot give it grudging props. It was unpretentious, did what it was supposed to do and did it with reasonable stability. In my opinion, that's pretty much the basics of what an OS is supposed to be, and quite a few other computer users agreed.
Don't mean to start a GUI vs. CLI war, but it's a bit more complicated than that.
Let's say a coworker wanted to meet you at a restaurant for lunch. You've never been to that place, so you ask for directions from work. Your friend has three choices, write out turn-by-turn directions, make a map, or give directions based on a landmark.
If you're lucky and a landmark you both know is close by, this is by far the best solution. This is why people love to store files on their desktop or in a "my documents" type folder. They have a great landmark.
But what if there is no landmark? What's the best of what's left? I have a revelation for you: It totally depends on who you are.
My brain works best visually. I have a difficult time placing and remembering things base on verbal instructions, but if you show me a map, I can usually find my way after seeing it only once. Not surprisingly, I love to use a GUI and find it painful to remember exact path names when using the CLI.
On the other hand, I have friends that go nuts if you cant give them turn-by-turn directions. They want to know precisely where all the turns and street name are and they'll almost always be able to find a place if you give them precise phone directions. These folks find using a CLI much more precise and intuitive.
Mapquest does both. It gives you turn-by-turn and a map. I think this is best, because it suits both types of people well. Most modern OSs do the same, they give you a CLI and a GUI.
Both of these are "correct," depending on the type of person using the OS. Hate to say it, but claiming one of them superior is kind of prejudiced. Just because a person's brain works a little differently from yours does not mean it's wrong.
Have you looked at console's recently? I have quite a lot of settings in my PS2. Sure, playing a game is easy, provided you plug your provided cord into the front panel jack. But wait, what if you:
Have HDTV? Want to use surround sound? Want to watch DVDs on the console? Want to play online? Don't want cords in the middle of the room? Want to use more than one console? Want to use a DVR and a console? Want to use a DVD, DVR, VCR and cable box with the console?
As it turns out, as single entities consumer electronics are easier. But as soon as you want to hook them up with all your other goodies, they get really complicated, really fast. Want to go through a little thought experiment? How's this:
Experiment #1: You buy a 27" standard definition (regular) TV and a PS2 for your 16 year old daughter. You give her the boxes, unopened, and have her set them up in her room by herself. Is she successful? Great. My daughter would do just fine too. But wait, there's more.
Experiment #2: You buy a 27" HDTV and a PS2 for your 16 year old daughter. You also get her an HDTV-ready cable box. You get her surround speakers. You get her a surround reciever. You get her a DVD-recorder. You get her a Tivo. You give her all these things brand new and in their boxes and you send her to her room to set them up.
Is she successful? Well, it depends on how you define success. She might have plugged them all in, but she's already missing a bunch of cables. She might not even be able to hook up the speakers, much less have surround sound for the PS2.
Let's say she bought some cables and eventually got everything working. You go to look at her system and find:
-The picture is fuzzy because she used composite video cables. You ask her about component and she gives you a blank stare.
-She has 5 different remote controls and can barely keep track of them.
-There are wires all over the floor because of the surround sound.
-The sound is bad because she's used zip-ties to bundle all the cords, including the power, all the RCAs and the speaker wire. She just accepts it and figures she'll have to buy better speakers later on to improve her sound.
-She has at least a dozen manual-looking thing. Some are just "don't use your toaster in the bathtub" type warnings, but she doesn't know the difference. All she knows is she has more than 200 pages worth of stuff to read if she wants a better understanding of her equipment.
As I said, one console is easy. But in the real world when you want to use more than one device (the equipment I listed is very realistic) Consumer Electronics, as a whole, are not easy at all.
I don't think the difference is as big as most people assume. Yes, OSs are huge, complicated and amazingly difficult to master, but the average person has no need of mastery. When you look at what the average person does, it's actually fairly easy.
-turn on, click on web browser, type URL of favorite site. -turn on, insert disc, hit next, next, next, finished, use newly installed software. -turn on, insert disc, hit next, next, next, finished, plug in USB hardware, use new hardware.
Have you ever tried to dial-in surround sound? Have you ever tried to make your TV, surround sound reciever, cable/sat box, and DVD player all work well using a single remote control? Have you ever tried to watch a TV, then switch to DVD using all of the remote controls that hadn't been unified into a single one?
Yes, OSs are complicated. Consumer electronics is too.
A: Hey, we're just taking about moving an entire platform to a new CPU architecture (again). Let's not get crazy!
Real answer: Yes
Why would Steve wake up and smell the coffee, buy shares of the coffee company, have five different coffee makers in his house and 15 pounds of primo, custom-roasted brew in his cupboard, but then turn around and refuse to actually drink the damn coffee. It would be insanity.
Then again, this is Apple. You never know for sure 'til they actually do it.
I'll go a step further. In a product as complex as an operating system, a Zealot is the person that can't concede there are any problems with their product of choice.
Macs have problems. Windows has problems. Linux has problems. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god." If you're talking to someone who thinks there are no problems with their favorite OS then turn your back on them. An opinion that is incapable of making a distinction between good and bad is simply not an opinion that holds any value.
Problems: Did you test the speed with a single open window, or with mulitple open windows for several apps? Did you notice how on a Mac you have to switch apps before you even start the acquisition and did you factor that into your tests? Did you try running multiple apps on multiple displays?
The problem with testing is that you have to test the whole thing, not just the most critical part. That's why video card benchmarks are done almost exclusively with real-world games instead of benchmark tools these days. Target acquisition is only a piece of the puzzle. If you can show me some studies with real-world tasks then I'd be more impressed.
One test option: Open your email app then open 5 messages. Open three web pages that two of the messages contain links for. Reply to three of the messages, two of the replies must contain data from the relevant web pages and all must reference info in the preivious messages. Half of the Mac tests are done with one-button mice and half are done with the two-button variety. Half of the tests are done with two displays.
I'm sure target acquisition will make a difference, but my guess is that other factors will tend to minimize that difference. I'm not claiming you're wrong, justt that being right in this case might be far less exciting when you take the real world into account.
If Apple even gains a 5% market share, it'll mean huge numbers to their revenue. It's not neccessary for Apple to actually beat Dell in order for this to be a good move for the company.
Slashdot Mirror
The biggest change is that you really can print photos at home now. Ten years ago that wasn't practical. People like having physical copies of their photos for an album, and you just can't replicate that with a screen.
I know a lot of people like this, but I find it a little puzzling.
Don't get me wrong, I get your point about the t-shirts and bumper stickers. I also understand why someone would want a nice 8x10 or larger for their mantle or living room.
The part I don't understand is the 4x6 snapshot print. I also really don't get photo albums at all in this day and age. At least not for me or my fellow IT workers.
I was just at a family reunion and took a bunch of pictures. I uploaded them to my laptop and we passed it around. Instant 14" 'prints'. I also have a PSP. I took my memory stick out of my camera, put it in the PSP and I got the same effect (but smaller) without pulling out the notebook. The old folks didnt' know what a 'shoulder' button was, but they learned plenty quick and whipped through the whole memory card easily.
But my daughter likes to make things look pretty. She'll want a photo album, right? Nope, she prefers our web site or Powerpoint. And when our house goes up in flames, she's still going to enjoy her photo albums because we have nice backups at my sister's house.
The question is, at this point what bennefit do I get by printing a bunch of 4x6 photo's? They're small and portable, but so is my PSP, and even my cell phone. They have high resolution, but they're physically small and cant be zoomed unless you carry a loop or magifying glass with you. They're inconvienient, expensive and time consuming to print, not to mention the hassle of sending snail mail instead of the ease of web or email distribution.
I realize not everyone has a PDA, a PSP, a color cell phone with a large screen or even a computer at work. My truck driver father and barber grandfather appreciate snapshots quite a lot when I'm not around to provide the digital viewing gear. But people like you and me who always have a computer at arms length are gonna find it increasingly difficult to justify the cost and hassle of printing out photos for albums or show and tell.
TW
That's the thing about MMOGs: there's always going to be someone who is obsessed with the game and have better stuff than you, and because of that, they're going to do better.
There's no "grind" in Uunreal Tournament or Counter Strike. Your only indicator that you're doing better is, well, doing better. You know it's fun because you're having a good time, not because you reached 60th level.
I kind of look at it like exercise.
If you gave a group of people $10 every time they went to the gym, then after a year you'd have some people with more money than others. Note that these might be the strongest, fastest or thinnest of the group. But they might not. They might be having fun, or they might not. I see these as the MMOGers
But what if instead you just said, "go to the gym as long as it's fun to you." At the end of that time some people are going to be more fit than others and some are going to be more happy than others. These people are winners because they're fit or happy, not because they have more money (levels).
But what do casual gamers want? They just want to have a good time, either by themselves or with their friends. If MMOGs want to attract these gamers, they're going to have to find a way to focus on haveing a good time instead of getting stuff.
TW
The funny part is when they swallow our culture and they regurgitate it right back at us.
"Trigun" is a great example. It's the American Western seen through the eyes of Japanese and then, of course, re-imported back to it's culture of origin for me to watch. It makes me wonder how "Samurai Jack" plays in the land of the rising sun.
TW
Yeah, it's C).
My daughter is a big time anime fan and I enjoy anime as well, but a lot of the anime she likes is just plain grating to me. She absolutely loves it when the characters scream in anger or delight and go 'chibi' but I find it very annoying. IT'S LIKE SOMEONE WRITING WITH ALL CAPS AND USEING LOTS OF PUNCTUATION!!!!! It's just not something the majority of Americans want to see.
Notice that it happens in a _lot_ of anime, but not very much in the anime that is legitimately popular in America. Even Pokemon didn't spend that much time on massive emotional displays compared to a lot of anime popular in Japan.
I hope anime studios are paying attention: If you want to hit it big with your anime on American soil, look at what Americans actually want. If it's a story that's compelling to Americans, we'll buy a lot of it. Period.
The only problem with that argument is that there was a market for DVDs when the PS2 came out. Right now, there is zero market for blu-ray.
As long as blue-ray discs start being released at about the same time as the PS3, people will justify part of the purchase price as going to their "free" blue-ray player. Sony will not only make money off PS3 games, but also off of an extensive library of hit movies that they'll be able to sell to PS3 owners.
If you want to see the model, it'll play out exactly like the PSP and UMDs. PSP early adopters justified a portion of their purchase price as going to the movie playing capabilities of the PSP. UMDs, despite high prices, have been selling well and making money for Sony. More UMD movies are on their way every week.
When I bought my first CD player I had a couple of friends that commented, "but you don't have any CDs." Eveyone starts out this way with a new format and they don't let it stop them from making that purchase. The only thing that will stop people from factoring the value of blue-ray into their PS3 buying decision is if they think HD-DVD will win. Otherwise they'll be delighted at the possibility of getting a BR disc player so cheap.
TW
If your spouse/child/parent was almost certainly going to die, would you sign the papers for the highly experimental procedure that might save their life?
I would too.
3rd party consent shouldn't be a problem with this.
Tobacco, wheat and corn growers don't have much of a problem selling to Americans despite this same obstacle. Bottled water companies thrive despite the fact that most people can get water for free, with no effort, right from their taps.
I have no doubt that pot would be a popular, big-money product if it were legalized.
Geez, is pirating all people want with this? I was hoping to be able to get some freeware games, or maybe some cheap homebrew games.
I'm a computer gamer. I loved FarCry and Half-Life 2, but I still play solitare and computer pinball. My daughter likes Mahjong. We both play internet Flash games. One thing I dislike about consoles is that that simple games are rarely made because they'd cost too much for the consumer after the manufacturer is done with licensing.
If the PSP were Free, as in speach, I'd be able to enjoy a wide variety of games. As it is now, all I get are blockbusters.
TW
Things I've seen recently:
At Best Buy: PS2 classics game consisting of Dig Dug, Pole Position, Galaga and Pac Man.
At EBX games: Cartridge for Game Boy advanced with same games.
Under my Xmas tree six months ago: Similar games in a joystick that plugs into my TV.
At Target: A lot of other plug in joysticks with more classic games.
I agree with the abandonware argument, but a lot of these games are no longer abandonware. I'd agree with lowering copyright time periods, but the 20-25 years since most of these games were made doesn't even touch the surface of current copyright law.
Heck, I'd love a good argument to play these games free, but considering they cost less than 5 bucks apiece and are redily available, I can't help but think the ethical thing to do is to pay to play.
TW
TW
TW
You make a point, but you're also missing something.
A) yes, using the same hardware forces console game makers to squeeze more out of the hardware in their 2nd gen games.
However...
B) While PC games aren't as efficient, they still manage to get more beatiful at the same or faster rate, because new GPUs become available so quickly on PCs.
Check out Far Cry, Doom3 and Half Life. They all come from last year or earlier and thier visuals kick the butt out of anything available for any console today. Sure, they're not as efficient, but the tide rises so fast on the PC side that it almost doesn't matter.
I see the cycle like this:
-first release of console: console games usually slightly beat the high end PC games. But consoles beat the hell out of the equivilant PC hardware for price.
-2nd year: Consoles and mid-level PC games are on par visualy. The PCs cost more, but people buying a new computer anyway will only have to pay a little more for the video card neaded to play these games with most of the eye-candy. High end PC gamers get bragging rights, but for many times the cost of the consoles.
-third year: everyone who buys a PC and a mainstream, off-the-shelf game gets superior visuals to the console. It's only slightly better, but they don't have to pay extra for a special card. High-end PC gamers routinely get stuff that blows away the best the consoles can offer.
-fourth year: I start seeing comercials for console games and wonder how anyone can get excited by these. They look flat and uninspired visualy. I routinely play PC games with much better visuals on cheap hardware.
Ads for the new consoles are out, and people start getting interested, but no one can play the games for another year. What? That release date is only in Japan?!!? Shortages and cost of the new consoles will mean many people can't play the games for some time after the release. The early console adopters are looking a lot like PC early adopters - they'll pay any price for the latest, but it still isn't in the hands of the mainstream. Lack of cool games on startup will limit choice, while PC games can push old games to new levels by boosting reolution, using anti-aliasing and turning all eye-candy to maximum levels.
Rinse. Repeat.
From mid term to tail-end of both the PS1 and PS2 cycles, I was anything but jealous of their ability to deliver superior visuals for the hardware available.
TW
"heavily banking on digital" kind of sounds like it's a risky move. "sees the handwriting on the wall" is a little closer to reality. Even better: "has finally realized that B&W film is currently obsolete and acknowledges that color film is just around the corner."
TW
An entire family works together to plan and pay for a wedding. They hire a pianist and a decorator. They pick out the dresses and the tuxes. All their friends and family are guests. They rent a hall and hire a limo. They smile and wave. They laugh and cry. They dance. They pay big bucks to set all this up.
You gotta give credit where credit is due. Many photographers deserve a lot of credit, but if they take a picture of wedding, which by its nature is a staged event, then you have to give just as much credit to those doing the staging.
It's quite fair for the stagers to ask for copyright if that is their desire. After all, the broadway musical "Cats" isn't going to sign over copyright to a film company that wants to shoot their play. Photographers gotta make money, but someone who pays $25,000 on a wedding has just as much right to ask that their monitary needs be met.
TW
Anyone have an explenation for why tiny Turkey sells 10% more than India? Do Turkish people just like music more?
TW
There are other importnat social elements as well. When you go to see a movie with someone, you're getting out of the house. It's an event. If you're doing this with someone you know very well, then it's a change of pace and an opportunity to connect on a different level. If you're doing this with someone you don't know very well then it's a way to connect informally without the connotations that can come from spending two hours alone at your house in a darkened room.
Think of it like eating out. Chances are there's someone in your houshold that can cook far better than the food you'll find at most restaurants. My grilled steaks, for example, routinely beat the hell out of the vast majority of restaurants.
But eating out is a way to connect with friends and loved ones. There are many days that I'd rather have a steak that's meerly good and connect with someone I care about. Going to the movies with my daughter can accomplish much the same thing.
TW
... or, as a less "cool," but possibly more effective alternative, you could have just put in the arguments for why you think I'm wrong instead of throwing in the 133t spelling and accusations of my motives. Believe it or not, it _is_ possible to like something MS makes without being a shill.
TW
For a well run business with good perimeter and internal security, Win2K is just too good to move away from. It's stability is great and it doesnt' suffer the performance issues of WinXP with SP2. It's also the last OS from Microsoft that actually treated users like they were using a computer instead of dumbing things down. (In WInXP: control panel "lite", stupid road blocks if you want to browse the file system and, of course, that annoying dog as the default search, to name a few).
One of my fondest memories of Win2K was semi-regularly seeing Linux/Unix users on Slashdot give it grudging props. It was unpretentious, did what it was supposed to do and did it with reasonable stability. In my opinion, that's pretty much the basics of what an OS is supposed to be, and quite a few other computer users agreed.
Don't mean to start a GUI vs. CLI war, but it's a bit more complicated than that.
Let's say a coworker wanted to meet you at a restaurant for lunch. You've never been to that place, so you ask for directions from work. Your friend has three choices, write out turn-by-turn directions, make a map, or give directions based on a landmark.
If you're lucky and a landmark you both know is close by, this is by far the best solution. This is why people love to store files on their desktop or in a "my documents" type folder. They have a great landmark.
But what if there is no landmark? What's the best of what's left? I have a revelation for you: It totally depends on who you are.
My brain works best visually. I have a difficult time placing and remembering things base on verbal instructions, but if you show me a map, I can usually find my way after seeing it only once. Not surprisingly, I love to use a GUI and find it painful to remember exact path names when using the CLI.
On the other hand, I have friends that go nuts if you cant give them turn-by-turn directions. They want to know precisely where all the turns and street name are and they'll almost always be able to find a place if you give them precise phone directions. These folks find using a CLI much more precise and intuitive.
Mapquest does both. It gives you turn-by-turn and a map. I think this is best, because it suits both types of people well. Most modern OSs do the same, they give you a CLI and a GUI.
Both of these are "correct," depending on the type of person using the OS. Hate to say it, but claiming one of them superior is kind of prejudiced. Just because a person's brain works a little differently from yours does not mean it's wrong.
TW
Have you looked at console's recently? I have quite a lot of settings in my PS2. Sure, playing a game is easy, provided you plug your provided cord into the front panel jack. But wait, what if you:
Have HDTV?
Want to use surround sound?
Want to watch DVDs on the console?
Want to play online?
Don't want cords in the middle of the room?
Want to use more than one console?
Want to use a DVR and a console?
Want to use a DVD, DVR, VCR and cable box with the console?
As it turns out, as single entities consumer electronics are easier. But as soon as you want to hook them up with all your other goodies, they get really complicated, really fast. Want to go through a little thought experiment? How's this:
Experiment #1:
You buy a 27" standard definition (regular) TV and a PS2 for your 16 year old daughter. You give her the boxes, unopened, and have her set them up in her room by herself. Is she successful? Great. My daughter would do just fine too. But wait, there's more.
Experiment #2:
You buy a 27" HDTV and a PS2 for your 16 year old daughter. You also get her an HDTV-ready cable box. You get her surround speakers. You get her a surround reciever. You get her a DVD-recorder. You get her a Tivo. You give her all these things brand new and in their boxes and you send her to her room to set them up.
Is she successful? Well, it depends on how you define success. She might have plugged them all in, but she's already missing a bunch of cables. She might not even be able to hook up the speakers, much less have surround sound for the PS2.
Let's say she bought some cables and eventually got everything working. You go to look at her system and find:
-The picture is fuzzy because she used composite video cables. You ask her about component and she gives you a blank stare.
-She has 5 different remote controls and can barely keep track of them.
-There are wires all over the floor because of the surround sound.
-The sound is bad because she's used zip-ties to bundle all the cords, including the power, all the RCAs and the speaker wire. She just accepts it and figures she'll have to buy better speakers later on to improve her sound.
-She has at least a dozen manual-looking thing. Some are just "don't use your toaster in the bathtub" type warnings, but she doesn't know the difference. All she knows is she has more than 200 pages worth of stuff to read if she wants a better understanding of her equipment.
As I said, one console is easy. But in the real world when you want to use more than one device (the equipment I listed is very realistic) Consumer Electronics, as a whole, are not easy at all.
TW
"Of course they're harder to use!"
I don't think the difference is as big as most people assume. Yes, OSs are huge, complicated and amazingly difficult to master, but the average person has no need of mastery. When you look at what the average person does, it's actually fairly easy.
-turn on, click on web browser, type URL of favorite site.
-turn on, insert disc, hit next, next, next, finished, use newly installed software.
-turn on, insert disc, hit next, next, next, finished, plug in USB hardware, use new hardware.
Have you ever tried to dial-in surround sound? Have you ever tried to make your TV, surround sound reciever, cable/sat box, and DVD player all work well using a single remote control? Have you ever tried to watch a TV, then switch to DVD using all of the remote controls that hadn't been unified into a single one?
Yes, OSs are complicated. Consumer electronics is too.
TW
TW
Real answer: Yes
Why would Steve wake up and smell the coffee, buy shares of the coffee company, have five different coffee makers in his house and 15 pounds of primo, custom-roasted brew in his cupboard, but then turn around and refuse to actually drink the damn coffee. It would be insanity.
Then again, this is Apple. You never know for sure 'til they actually do it.
TW
I'll go a step further. In a product as complex as an operating system, a Zealot is the person that can't concede there are any problems with their product of choice.
Macs have problems. Windows has problems. Linux has problems. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of god." If you're talking to someone who thinks there are no problems with their favorite OS then turn your back on them. An opinion that is incapable of making a distinction between good and bad is simply not an opinion that holds any value.
TW
Problems: Did you test the speed with a single open window, or with mulitple open windows for several apps? Did you notice how on a Mac you have to switch apps before you even start the acquisition and did you factor that into your tests? Did you try running multiple apps on multiple displays?
The problem with testing is that you have to test the whole thing, not just the most critical part. That's why video card benchmarks are done almost exclusively with real-world games instead of benchmark tools these days. Target acquisition is only a piece of the puzzle. If you can show me some studies with real-world tasks then I'd be more impressed.
One test option: Open your email app then open 5 messages. Open three web pages that two of the messages contain links for. Reply to three of the messages, two of the replies must contain data from the relevant web pages and all must reference info in the preivious messages. Half of the Mac tests are done with one-button mice and half are done with the two-button variety. Half of the tests are done with two displays.
I'm sure target acquisition will make a difference, but my guess is that other factors will tend to minimize that difference. I'm not claiming you're wrong, justt that being right in this case might be far less exciting when you take the real world into account.
TW
If Apple even gains a 5% market share, it'll mean huge numbers to their revenue. It's not neccessary for Apple to actually beat Dell in order for this to be a good move for the company.
TW