Very interesting solution, thanks for writing. I'm considering this as well, since I love the instant gratification thing, but the DRM is just aggravating. It's just good enough that it would be acceptible to most consumers, but not for the more savvy user.
There are bound to be some production, assembly, and distribution snafus with any new product. Someone on the assembly line didn't know he was supposed to stick the piece of plastic on the screen before shipping it out. I understand your need for a new laptop, but in this case you did not allow Apple's employees to do their jobs. As a Mac consultant, I would have told you to return the machine and get a replacement. And if the replacement was bad, to get another. But when you know it's brand new, and it's so cool that there are backorders running into the tens if not hundreds of thousands of units, you have to be patient. Yelling at Apple Customer Relations doesn't get the guys on the production line to read the memo that they're screwing up any faster.
If you had to have a Mac for your trip, I'd have told you to buy an iBook or PowerBook 15" for the trip, then dump it on eBay when you returned and pick up a new AlPB if you weren't satisfied with the Mac you had.
Please, please. The worst sci-fi movie of all time MUST be Millennium. Read the reviews at IMDB. I watched this with a friend who's also into sci-fi. At first we were laughing. Then the people around us were laughing. You know it's bad when the only reason to stay is to say "I saw it" so you NEVER watch it again.
If that's the best you can do to explain the bugs you're seeing, then perhaps it's just as well that you haven't bothered to register for a bugzilla account.
There are those who believe that with a little help from everyone, Mozilla will become the best browser on every platform. And there are those who believe that Mozilla "sucks" currently, or laziness sets in, so there's no reason to help out at all. For the first set, I invite you to check out
http://www.mozilla.org/get-involved.html. With just a bit of your time, you can help make Mozilla the best browser on any platform. And every time you spend 15-30 minutes helping out the project in whatever way you choose to, keep in mind that someone else has spent 30 minutes helping fix something that won't be a problem for you. That's why it works.
In the end, if something you come across isn't working, and you do nothing to help, then it's your fault. The project only gets better when you do the work to properly post your bugs to Bugzilla.
- Adam
Look at today and tomorrow
on
Penguin2Apple
·
· Score: 1
You need to look at what Apple is giving you today. Today, you have a machine & OS that can run proprietary OS X software, Windows software, it can run much of the free software that can be compiled for FreeBSD, and it can even run Aqua utilites that control command-line apps to make them easy and quick to use. (I say quick, because I believe I can configure an ipfw with Brickhouse faster than you can on the command line.;) )
I like open source for the same reason you do: nobody can ever take it away from you. Guess what? Nobody can ever take it away from you on OS X either. And if Apple tanked? Dump your Mac on eBay, move your code to FreeBSD or Linux on Intel, and get back to work. Or even load a Linux distro on your Mac (there are several). You can write your software to be fairly portable, so there's no worry there. Therefore, your investment in a new Mac is automatically protected. For the first time in a long time, there is no real reason NOT to try a Mac, especially if most of your day is spent working on UNIX class systems.
I think the next few years will be a very exciting time, as people learn exactly what Apple has done. It will start with the technically proficient, and steadily move to the masses, since they generally follow the advice of the local tech guru anyway. Anything that breaks up the Windows stranglehold is a good thing for the computer industry, whether you like Apple or not. Competition is good.
If nothing else, you have to admit Apple makes some kick-ass portables.
Slashdot Mirror
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gc i212506,00.html
- Adam
Very interesting solution, thanks for writing. I'm considering this as well, since I love the instant gratification thing, but the DRM is just aggravating. It's just good enough that it would be acceptible to most consumers, but not for the more savvy user.
There are bound to be some production, assembly, and distribution snafus with any new product. Someone on the assembly line didn't know he was supposed to stick the piece of plastic on the screen before shipping it out. I understand your need for a new laptop, but in this case you did not allow Apple's employees to do their jobs. As a Mac consultant, I would have told you to return the machine and get a replacement. And if the replacement was bad, to get another. But when you know it's brand new, and it's so cool that there are backorders running into the tens if not hundreds of thousands of units, you have to be patient. Yelling at Apple Customer Relations doesn't get the guys on the production line to read the memo that they're screwing up any faster.
If you had to have a Mac for your trip, I'd have told you to buy an iBook or PowerBook 15" for the trip, then dump it on eBay when you returned and pick up a new AlPB if you weren't satisfied with the Mac you had.
Please, please. The worst sci-fi movie of all time MUST be Millennium. Read the reviews at IMDB. I watched this with a friend who's also into sci-fi. At first we were laughing. Then the people around us were laughing. You know it's bad when the only reason to stay is to say "I saw it" so you NEVER watch it again.
There are those who believe that with a little help from everyone, Mozilla will become the best browser on every platform. And there are those who believe that Mozilla "sucks" currently, or laziness sets in, so there's no reason to help out at all. For the first set, I invite you to check out http://www.mozilla.org/get-involved.html. With just a bit of your time, you can help make Mozilla the best browser on any platform. And every time you spend 15-30 minutes helping out the project in whatever way you choose to, keep in mind that someone else has spent 30 minutes helping fix something that won't be a problem for you. That's why it works.
In the end, if something you come across isn't working, and you do nothing to help, then it's your fault. The project only gets better when you do the work to properly post your bugs to Bugzilla.
- Adam
You need to look at what Apple is giving you today. Today, you have a machine & OS that can run proprietary OS X software, Windows software, it can run much of the free software that can be compiled for FreeBSD, and it can even run Aqua utilites that control command-line apps to make them easy and quick to use. (I say quick, because I believe I can configure an ipfw with Brickhouse faster than you can on the command line. ;) )
I like open source for the same reason you do: nobody can ever take it away from you. Guess what? Nobody can ever take it away from you on OS X either. And if Apple tanked? Dump your Mac on eBay, move your code to FreeBSD or Linux on Intel, and get back to work. Or even load a Linux distro on your Mac (there are several). You can write your software to be fairly portable, so there's no worry there. Therefore, your investment in a new Mac is automatically protected. For the first time in a long time, there is no real reason NOT to try a Mac, especially if most of your day is spent working on UNIX class systems.
I think the next few years will be a very exciting time, as people learn exactly what Apple has done. It will start with the technically proficient, and steadily move to the masses, since they generally follow the advice of the local tech guru anyway. Anything that breaks up the Windows stranglehold is a good thing for the computer industry, whether you like Apple or not. Competition is good.
If nothing else, you have to admit Apple makes some kick-ass portables.