As an end user you don't even need to read the GPL, it doesn't apply to you.
Just because you, as an end-suer, do not read a given body of text does not necessarily mean that body of text is no an EULA. Lots of people don't read the EULAs associated with commercial software. Again, if you actually read the GPL (emphasis added:)
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
This whole section is referring to using the program, not "developing" or "modifying" the program (the other sections cover that). The above quoted section of the GPL directly addresses and pertains to the GPL. Furthermore, GNU themselves, instructs you to display the GPL to the end-user.
If the program does terminal interaction, make it output a short notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode: [example elided] Of course, your program's commands might be different; for a GUI interface, you would use an âoeabout boxâ.
Then go play Warcraft III or World of Warcraft or Starcraft II or...
the environments and equipment (unless possible enchanted) should reflect their likely rough and possibly sordid past.
I don't understand the mindset of a person who, when they encounter someone stating a desire for a future product to be one way (e.g. "it should be colorful"), tells that person to stop complaining and use a different product, but themselves feel free to state their own desires for a product (e.g. "it should reflect their likely rough and sordid past.").
If you can say that you wish the game were less colorful, why can't others say they wish the game were more colorful?
Except that it doesn't. Consider the examples you gave: ``EULAs, DRM, product activation, installation, acquiring media'': all these are obstacles to be dealt with before one can simply use the product. Yet products that feature those hurdles are overwhelmingly popular. Microsoft Windows. DVDs. iTunes Music Store. Need I go on?
Your examples prove the point. They are all simpler compared to the alternatives.
Windows: Just using whatever came installed with your computer is simpler than learning what an OS is, let alone start considering installing a different OS.
DVDs... what's complicated about that? They're like VHS, except you don't need to rewind them.
iTunes Music Store, it's advertised, so people have actually heard about it. It's much easier to use that, than to do actual research and find out about Bittorrent, eDonkey, LimeWire, etc.
EULA are counter to the spirit of open and free software. Software does not require a license to use, you have the right to use software as long as you acquired it legally.
Licenses like the MPL or the GPL are for those who wish to modify and distribute software, because those activities are restricted by copyright law and the licenses are needed to allow you to do them.
EULA's are contracts that force users to give up some of their rights or regulate how they use the software beyond the restrictions imposed by copyright.
Mozilla's EULA was relatively benign as far as EULAs go but a EULA just the same. Since having a EULA means an app isn't free software Ubuntu couldn't/wouldn't include the EULA version in Ubuntu.
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Sounds like the typical "By using this software, you give up the right to sue us" wording that appears in most EULAs.
The GPL contains a EULA just like all other software. It's practically financial/legal suicide to release software without a EULA in today's lawsuit happy world.
Thanks, I haven't seen this one yet, and it's pretty funny, with PC acting overly melodramatic, trying to refocus the attention on his injury, instead of Mac bragging about his iCamera, etc. The way they anthropomorphize computers by projecting human quirks and flaws onto them is amusing.
Yeah, I realize it's critical of PC design, but at the same time, it does highlight an interesting innovation, one that's been very helpful to me in the past.
Well, at least this one criticism is of a "flaw" (lack of feature?) that actually does exist with PC laptops (though in my 20+ years of computing, I've never had someone knock my laptop onto the floor by tripping on the power cord).
Contrast that against http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqVVy-egnLw&NR=1 (first video in the list of "related videos"), which basically state that if you want "fun", you'd best go with a Mac instead of a PC. What's the proportion of PC gamers to Mac gamers? What's the proportion of games released for PCs versus games releases for Mac? etc.
But you're right, the ads aren't all PC-negative. Thanks.
I laugh at a lot of pretty odd things, but I just didn't get these at all. Like the part about Bill's magnum Jupiter brain? That just made me cringe.
I found the ads midly amusing and entertaining. The one joke that actually made me LOLed was "I got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic". As for Jupiter-brains, it seemed very Jerry Seinfield-esque, in the sense that he's shallowly literate enough to come up with that reference, but definitely not a part of geek subculture since the reference was out of place.
I think it captures the feeling of us austistics tolerating the good natured misunderstanding of neurotypicals.
PC, "This is my [Microsoft store tool]. She's here to tell everyone how great Vista is. I see you have a friend. What does he do?"
Mac, "This is my genius. He helps everyone USE their Apple and answers any technical questions that they may have. PC, does your friend answer technical questions? Does your friend do anything other than try to convince people to spend money on a product and then leave them out in the cold when they have questions about it? Huh? Does he? Or is he just another over paid, worthless, Microsoft marketing..."
PC, "Shut up Mac!"
WTF is wrong with this Mac dude anyway? Why is he always an asshole? Seriously, I bring a friend over, and he insults him?
Agreed. I was originally going to respond to the GP with a comment along the lines of "You know, this commercial you wrote doesn't sound like it'd be very effective, 'cause it makes the Mac guy seem quite hostile, and generally give off 'negative vibes' which is usually not what you want in a commercial." but then I remembered that most of Apple's official commercials tend to have this tone.
You know what my response to Mac is in this case? "You know what Mac? You can just go f' yourself. You think you're so f'ing hot with your vendor lock in and limited developer support. Hey, I've got a question for you Mac. If your OS is so f'ing great, then why the hell did you create boot camp to run Windows. Why are you just some fancy unix operating system that sells for twice the price as the cost of an equivelently configured Ubuntu box?"
Actually, I feel like your ending then makes the PC guy drop down to the Mac Guy's level. If I wanted to promoted Microsoft over Apple, I'd probably instead end it like this:
Mac: This is my genius. He helps everyone USE their Apple and answers any technical questions that they may have. PC, does your friend answer technical questions? Does your friend do anything other than try to convince people to spend money on a product and then leave them out in the cold when they have questions about it? Huh? Does he? Or is he just another over paid, worthless, Microsoft marketing...
PC: Hey man, what's your problem? Why are you always being an asshole? Seriously, I bring a friend over and you insult him? Look, I was trying to be your friend and hang out with you and stuff, but you're always putting me down. And for what? My choice in operating systems? Anyway, look, I'm gonna go hang out with my friend here. If you want to talk about this again in a couple of days, give me a call or something. Or if you just want to end our friendship right here and now, that's fine too. Whatever, is fine. But you've really made the situation awkward right now for badmouthing my friend before he even said hello. So maybe I'll see you around later. (Nodding to the Apple Genius) Oh, and it was nice to meet you. Sorry we couldn't have met under better conditions.
If I wanted to promote Apple's products over Microsoft's products, on the other hand, I probably would have gone with a completely different approach than the "Mac guy vs PC guy", 'cause as I hinted above, I really don't find the Mac guy appealing because of his antagonism. Maybe I'd go back to that old "computers for the rest of us" image, and try to imply that non-Apple computers are what you use at boring desk jobs, but when you're at home, having fun, Apple is the only way to go. And completely drop mentions of one specific enemy (e.g. Microsoft) altogether.
Actually, I don't think your questions are particularly difficult. Here are the answers I suspect a well trained Windows Guru would answer (note I am not saying that I agree with these answers; just that I can easily imagine a Guru giving such an answer without much difficulty).
"I'm really interested in Vista, but I can't afford it. Are there any cheaper alternatives?"
"If you're buying a new PC, Vista will be bundled with your new computer for free. If you've already got a computer, you can probably buy the upgrade license which is only around $99."
Generally this is a safe response because most people who are coming into Best Buy looking to upgrade their computer would be running Windows XP.
"Hey, can I still use X feature of Vista if I downgrade to XP? Why not?"
"No, feature X is only available in Vista, and Microsoft is going to discontinue XP soon anyway, so you should probably upgrade."
"Quick question -- when is the next operating system after Vista coming out? I'm really excited about that one. No, I don't know anything about it yet..."
"The next one after Vista? You mean Mojave?"
"How does Vista compare to non-Windows operating systems?" (Open ended, should provide some laughs)
"Well, it really depends. Most home users out there right now are using Windows, which means anytime you walk into a Best Buy and buy a computer product like a program or a game or something, it'll probably only run on Windows. There are other OSes out there, but they really tend to be geared for 'computer-people'. If you really know computers well, they can be great, but if you just want to use your computer with as little hassle as possible, your best bet is probably to stick with Windows Vista."
"If Vista is so good, why are you being $20/hour to stand around and tell me how good it is?"
"Vista has been getting a lot of negative PR -- unfairly, in my opinion -- and so a lot of people who don't even know what an operating system is already have this negative vibe associated with Vista because of an article they read somewhere. They actually did this experiment a while ago, they called it the 'Mojave' experiment. What they did is they took people who said they disliked Vista, even though they did not personally try it out for themselves, and then let them try this new OS called 'Mojave'. Everyone who tried it almost unilaterally loved this new OS. And then they revealed that 'Mojave' was actually Vista all along. So you see, Vista really has this undeserved reputation, and Microsoft is trying to fix this by hiring people like me."
How do I get a refund if I refuse the Vista EULA on the computer and want to install something else?
"Sorry, but I'm not a lawyer, so I'm really not qualified to answer that question. I mean, I can tell you what I've personally heard, which is that usually you have to contact the computer manufacturer (e.g. Dell, Gateway, or whoever), and they'll each have their own process for giving you the refund, but I really can't offer you any concrete legal advice."
I'd be livid if something I bought for $500 broke after only 5 months use, and if I then found out that because I was living in a country with barely any consumer rights I had no way to get this sorted out in a fair manner. I'd rip someone's guts out if they were in any way associated with that purchase.
You have a reasonable expectation at purchase that the goods will last a certain minimum amount of time.
(Empaasis added)
Do you also feel that one should have reasonable expectations about what scenarios will lead to having one's guts ripped out?
A: I'd like to return this $500 device which broke after only 5 months use.
B: Did you purchase the extended warranty?
A: No.
B: Sorry, the basic warranty only lets you return the product within 30 days of purchase.
A: I am livid for having found out that I live in a country with barely any consumer rights.
B: Hey, I hear you man. I'm actually a member of several consumer's rights groups, and have written quite a few letters to my political representatives.
A: I am going to rip your guts out, since you are associated with the purchase.
B: What? Are you serious? Hey, man, look, I'm just a poor college kid. I only got $20 bucks on me; but if you let me call my parents, I can try to get $500 bucks. I'll pay you out of my own pocket if it'll mean you won't kill me.
A: Rip. Guts. Out. Anyone associated.
B: Aaaaiiieeeee!
The difference is, is Firefox hangs on Linux I can usually manage to click on a terminal or switch to a terminal to kill it. On Windows the entire system locks up.
What version of Windows are you using? On both XP and Vista, if Firefox hangs, I can open the task manager and kill the process.
I personally like Space Cadet; its only one sentence, but the character has a pocket-sized portable telephone. 40 years ahead of the curve on the cellphone.
Having a very short attention span, I was delighted to hear of a Robert Heinlein story which was only one sentence long. However, upon acquiring Space Cadet, I realized that this story is significantly longer than one sentence.
So was Sim City a toy or a game? And did it matter?
Depends on the version. Toys generally encourage free form exploration and have no explict goal. You can't "win" at toy soldiers. Games usually have a goal, a victory condition. Super Mario Bros is a game.
The PC version of the Sim City was a toy. You played until you got bored. The Super Nintendo version was a game. You had specific goals (reach a certain population, reach a certain amount of money, etc.).
And it does kinda matter, because some people prefer games over toys and vice versa. I didn't like the PC version of Sim City. I liked the SNES version.
You willfully blind people, always talking about money. Look at demographics. Look at how they are affecting what is currently happening in Japan. Old folks homes with robots and minimal staff, looking like the worst elements of the Matrix
Look at hyper-inflation.Watch some old videos of Russian grandmothers trying to buy bread with wheelbarrows of cash.
Understand that this is the future for all western cultures. Blame the chemist who sells the birth control and the feminists and capitalists who tell young people they should get an education and a mortgage and put off child rearing till their 30s or later. Blame the aftermath second world war for creating the cultural trauma that created this malignant social order. But for fucks sake, understand what is happening.
(Emphasis added)
I would like to understand "what is happening". I'm assuming as a pre-requisite for that, I would first need to understand what you are talking about. Do you have any recommendations for further reading starting from scratch for someone who knows nothing about history nor politics nor economics? I'm so uncertain about what you are talking about, I'm not even sure if those are the appropriate domains one needs to be knowledgeable within to understand what you're saying.
I had absolutly no idea who this guy is, or why him being in a Microsoft ad campaign was noteworthy, but here's what Wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_seinfeld
[...]
So apparantly this "Jerry" is some old sitcom comedian guy from the 90's?
And Microsoft thinks having a washed up sitcom actor pushing Vista will help them... how, exactly?
I'm honestly curious.
How old are you? Honestly, I'm curious.
I know Jerry Seinfield. He's sort of from "my generation". I was never a big fan of him, but back in highschool, my classmates would talk about him a lot and re-enact or recite some funny scenes from his show.
Back in highschool, I had negligeable income. I wasn't buying computers, my parents were. I was pirating my software. I'm 26 now. I have disposable income now. I no longer pirate software. I am clearly part of the demographics that Microsoft is targeting, and while I personally was not a big fan of Seinfield, a lot of people in my age bracket are. I think it'll work.
For $300M, MS could send out bands of programmers to vendors get their Vista drivers working better. Wouldn't that generate better PR than using a deadbeat comedian?
Nope.
If you think a non-negligible section of Vista's target market even know what the term "drivers" mean, let alone make that the number one reason they avoid Vista, then you probably don't know much about PR.
Just an FYI, mac users are pretty similar to PC users. Most of us just don't care.
They should care -- they pay for that
I think you are conflating two different usages of the phrase "they pay for that". One usage means "They are giving money, with the intent that this money be used for such and such a purpose". Another usage means "They are giving money, and it just so happened that the manner in which the money was used is such and such". Most people who are buying Macs are probably not handing over a thousand bucks, in exchange for having Macs used in product placement. Rather, they are spending over a thousand bucks to buy a Mac.
Once you separate these two usages, it should be easier to understand why just because someone pays for a Mac, they don't necessarily care how Apple spends their profits.
The problem is that users learn to ignore the pop-ups, and they happen so often that most users can't even tell if it's because of their own actions, or those of a malicious attack. Because of this, the messages serve no real security purpose, since even if someone were to maliciously try to abuse someone's computer, the user would probably just dismiss all of the pop-ups without a second thought. Also, most of the 'security' pop-up windows are not from other programs requiring administrator rights, the majority of them come from the operating system itself, for example you have to go through a couple of them just to open the device manager.
To play devil's advocate:
I'm an Ubuntu user. I used to be all cautious about "sudo", but frankly, there's just so much that I don't know about Linux/Ubuntu system administration, that most of the time I'm just copying and pasting commands from webpages, all liberally sprinkled with sudos. You want to be able to listen to mp3s? Type "sudo bla bla bla". You want to be able to watch divxes? Type "sudo yakity yakity yak". Want to be able to sync your music collection with your iPod? You gotta type sudo.
As a novice Linux user, I've become numb to these "sudos", just as you accuse novice Vista users becoming numb to the pop-ups. Just the other day, I had an Linux-knowledgeable friend of mine ask me to change one line of a configuration file to another. The file was writable only by root, so of course, I "sudo gedit", made the change, and saved it. And I have no idea what that change does. I'm just trusting my friend not to screw me over because that's the path of least resistance. I'm sure a lot of novice Windows users just blindly follow the advice they receive from their more advanced Windows using friends.
There's simply no fix for stupid/lazy users. I'm stupid and lazy when it comes to Ubuntu. There is nothing you can do to change that because frankly Ubuntu is such a tiny part of my life that it's not worth the extra time and effort required to actually fully understand all the implications of every sudo command I type in. I don't keep any valuable data on my Ubuntu box. If it comes to it (perhaps because someone gains root access to my box and locks me out), I can simply reformat and reinstall Ubuntu.
Guess what? A lot of people feel the same way about Windows: They simply don't feel it's worth their time and effort to learn all the implications of every prompt they click "yes" to. And if it comes to it, they'll just reinstall Windows. It's simply not that big a deal to them.
And just like your complaint about the majority of the prompts coming from the OS itself, a lot of the sudos I have to type in seem to come from the "Ubuntu OS" itself. You might try and get technical on me and tell me that this module or that section strictly speaking isn't part of the "OS", but really, I don't care. I'm using Ubuntu. I go into the Synaptic package manager, something which, as far as my user experience is concerned, is entirely "part of Ubuntu", and it's giving me that sudo password prompt. So really, from my personal perspective, Vista is no worst than Ubuntu (and Ubuntu is, IMHO, the best Linux distro ever), but it has the added bonus of actually being able to run all the Windows-only apps which I simply refuse to give up.
Instead of paying already rich celebrities to pimp out Vista, how about invest that $300 million into developing a SP2 that fixes the damn thing already.
Because there really isn't all that much broken with it in the first place. Vista's problem is PR and user perception one, not a technical one. Microsoft got a bunch of Vista-haters to try out their next gen operating system, and the Vista-haters loved it. Then, Microsoft revealed that this "next gen OS" was actually Vista all along. The vast majority of people who hate Vista hate it because it's fashionable to hate Vista, not because of any failing in Vista itself.
Thus spending $300 million on PR is the most efficient way to solve the problem, since the problem is a PR one.
Making up your own answers like the ones you suggest might seem fine, but just you wait until someone at the bank challenges you on the phone with to confirm your answer to "what's your favorite sport?" and you have to answer "Moorcock".
I just list all my account details for websites in a CSV file, then upload it to BitTorrent as "18 yr old bj porn xxx strip". That way, I'll always be able to download it.
Oh, thanks a lot, jerk. I wasted 40 hours looking for the codec that would play that file.
Slashdot Mirror
As an end user you don't even need to read the GPL, it doesn't apply to you.
Just because you, as an end-suer, do not read a given body of text does not necessarily mean that body of text is no an EULA. Lots of people don't read the EULAs associated with commercial software. Again, if you actually read the GPL (emphasis added:)
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
This whole section is referring to using the program, not "developing" or "modifying" the program (the other sections cover that). The above quoted section of the GPL directly addresses and pertains to the GPL. Furthermore, GNU themselves, instructs you to display the GPL to the end-user.
If the program does terminal interaction, make it output a short notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode: [example elided] Of course, your program's commands might be different; for a GUI interface, you would use an âoeabout boxâ.
I like color.
Then go play Warcraft III or World of Warcraft or Starcraft II or...
the environments and equipment (unless possible enchanted) should reflect their likely rough and possibly sordid past.
I don't understand the mindset of a person who, when they encounter someone stating a desire for a future product to be one way (e.g. "it should be colorful"), tells that person to stop complaining and use a different product, but themselves feel free to state their own desires for a product (e.g. "it should reflect their likely rough and sordid past.").
If you can say that you wish the game were less colorful, why can't others say they wish the game were more colorful?
``"Simple" wins every time.''
Except that it doesn't. Consider the examples you gave: ``EULAs, DRM, product activation, installation, acquiring media'': all these are obstacles to be dealt with before one can simply use the product. Yet products that feature those hurdles are overwhelmingly popular. Microsoft Windows. DVDs. iTunes Music Store. Need I go on?
Your examples prove the point. They are all simpler compared to the alternatives.
Windows: Just using whatever came installed with your computer is simpler than learning what an OS is, let alone start considering installing a different OS.
DVDs... what's complicated about that? They're like VHS, except you don't need to rewind them.
iTunes Music Store, it's advertised, so people have actually heard about it. It's much easier to use that, than to do actual research and find out about Bittorrent, eDonkey, LimeWire, etc.
EULA are counter to the spirit of open and free software. Software does not require a license to use, you have the right to use software as long as you acquired it legally.
Licenses like the MPL or the GPL are for those who wish to modify and distribute software, because those activities are restricted by copyright law and the licenses are needed to allow you to do them.
EULA's are contracts that force users to give up some of their rights or regulate how they use the software beyond the restrictions imposed by copyright.
Mozilla's EULA was relatively benign as far as EULAs go but a EULA just the same. Since having a EULA means an app isn't free software Ubuntu couldn't/wouldn't include the EULA version in Ubuntu.
(Emphasis added)
Did you ever read the GPL?
IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MODIFIES AND/OR CONVEYS THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
Sounds like the typical "By using this software, you give up the right to sue us" wording that appears in most EULAs.
The GPL contains a EULA just like all other software. It's practically financial/legal suicide to release software without a EULA in today's lawsuit happy world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4pVGbBD6v4
Thanks, I haven't seen this one yet, and it's pretty funny, with PC acting overly melodramatic, trying to refocus the attention on his injury, instead of Mac bragging about his iCamera, etc. The way they anthropomorphize computers by projecting human quirks and flaws onto them is amusing.
Yeah, I realize it's critical of PC design, but at the same time, it does highlight an interesting innovation, one that's been very helpful to me in the past.
Well, at least this one criticism is of a "flaw" (lack of feature?) that actually does exist with PC laptops (though in my 20+ years of computing, I've never had someone knock my laptop onto the floor by tripping on the power cord).
Contrast that against http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqVVy-egnLw&NR=1 (first video in the list of "related videos"), which basically state that if you want "fun", you'd best go with a Mac instead of a PC. What's the proportion of PC gamers to Mac gamers? What's the proportion of games released for PCs versus games releases for Mac? etc.
But you're right, the ads aren't all PC-negative. Thanks.
Got a Youtube link to the Mac vs PC ad where they talk about the magnetic laptop cord?
I laugh at a lot of pretty odd things, but I just didn't get these at all. Like the part about Bill's magnum Jupiter brain? That just made me cringe.
I found the ads midly amusing and entertaining. The one joke that actually made me LOLed was "I got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic". As for Jupiter-brains, it seemed very Jerry Seinfield-esque, in the sense that he's shallowly literate enough to come up with that reference, but definitely not a part of geek subculture since the reference was out of place.
I think it captures the feeling of us austistics tolerating the good natured misunderstanding of neurotypicals.
[Enter PC and Mac. Each of them has a friend.]
Mac, "Hey PC, who is your friend?"
PC, "This is my [Microsoft store tool]. She's here to tell everyone how great Vista is. I see you have a friend. What does he do?"
Mac, "This is my genius. He helps everyone USE their Apple and answers any technical questions that they may have. PC, does your friend answer technical questions? Does your friend do anything other than try to convince people to spend money on a product and then leave them out in the cold when they have questions about it? Huh? Does he? Or is he just another over paid, worthless, Microsoft marketing..."
PC, "Shut up Mac!"
WTF is wrong with this Mac dude anyway? Why is he always an asshole? Seriously, I bring a friend over, and he insults him?
Agreed. I was originally going to respond to the GP with a comment along the lines of "You know, this commercial you wrote doesn't sound like it'd be very effective, 'cause it makes the Mac guy seem quite hostile, and generally give off 'negative vibes' which is usually not what you want in a commercial." but then I remembered that most of Apple's official commercials tend to have this tone.
You know what my response to Mac is in this case? "You know what Mac? You can just go f' yourself. You think you're so f'ing hot with your vendor lock in and limited developer support. Hey, I've got a question for you Mac. If your OS is so f'ing great, then why the hell did you create boot camp to run Windows. Why are you just some fancy unix operating system that sells for twice the price as the cost of an equivelently configured Ubuntu box?"
Actually, I feel like your ending then makes the PC guy drop down to the Mac Guy's level. If I wanted to promoted Microsoft over Apple, I'd probably instead end it like this:
Mac: This is my genius. He helps everyone USE their Apple and answers any technical questions that they may have. PC, does your friend answer technical questions? Does your friend do anything other than try to convince people to spend money on a product and then leave them out in the cold when they have questions about it? Huh? Does he? Or is he just another over paid, worthless, Microsoft marketing...
PC: Hey man, what's your problem? Why are you always being an asshole? Seriously, I bring a friend over and you insult him? Look, I was trying to be your friend and hang out with you and stuff, but you're always putting me down. And for what? My choice in operating systems? Anyway, look, I'm gonna go hang out with my friend here. If you want to talk about this again in a couple of days, give me a call or something. Or if you just want to end our friendship right here and now, that's fine too. Whatever, is fine. But you've really made the situation awkward right now for badmouthing my friend before he even said hello. So maybe I'll see you around later. (Nodding to the Apple Genius) Oh, and it was nice to meet you. Sorry we couldn't have met under better conditions.
If I wanted to promote Apple's products over Microsoft's products, on the other hand, I probably would have gone with a completely different approach than the "Mac guy vs PC guy", 'cause as I hinted above, I really don't find the Mac guy appealing because of his antagonism. Maybe I'd go back to that old "computers for the rest of us" image, and try to imply that non-Apple computers are what you use at boring desk jobs, but when you're at home, having fun, Apple is the only way to go. And completely drop mentions of one specific enemy (e.g. Microsoft) altogether.
Actually, I don't think your questions are particularly difficult. Here are the answers I suspect a well trained Windows Guru would answer (note I am not saying that I agree with these answers; just that I can easily imagine a Guru giving such an answer without much difficulty).
"I'm really interested in Vista, but I can't afford it. Are there any cheaper alternatives?"
"If you're buying a new PC, Vista will be bundled with your new computer for free. If you've already got a computer, you can probably buy the upgrade license which is only around $99."
Generally this is a safe response because most people who are coming into Best Buy looking to upgrade their computer would be running Windows XP.
"Hey, can I still use X feature of Vista if I downgrade to XP? Why not?"
"No, feature X is only available in Vista, and Microsoft is going to discontinue XP soon anyway, so you should probably upgrade."
"Quick question -- when is the next operating system after Vista coming out? I'm really excited about that one. No, I don't know anything about it yet..."
"The next one after Vista? You mean Mojave?"
"How does Vista compare to non-Windows operating systems?" (Open ended, should provide some laughs)
"Well, it really depends. Most home users out there right now are using Windows, which means anytime you walk into a Best Buy and buy a computer product like a program or a game or something, it'll probably only run on Windows. There are other OSes out there, but they really tend to be geared for 'computer-people'. If you really know computers well, they can be great, but if you just want to use your computer with as little hassle as possible, your best bet is probably to stick with Windows Vista."
"If Vista is so good, why are you being $20/hour to stand around and tell me how good it is?"
"Vista has been getting a lot of negative PR -- unfairly, in my opinion -- and so a lot of people who don't even know what an operating system is already have this negative vibe associated with Vista because of an article they read somewhere. They actually did this experiment a while ago, they called it the 'Mojave' experiment. What they did is they took people who said they disliked Vista, even though they did not personally try it out for themselves, and then let them try this new OS called 'Mojave'. Everyone who tried it almost unilaterally loved this new OS. And then they revealed that 'Mojave' was actually Vista all along. So you see, Vista really has this undeserved reputation, and Microsoft is trying to fix this by hiring people like me."
How do I get a refund if I refuse the Vista EULA on the computer and want to install something else?
"Sorry, but I'm not a lawyer, so I'm really not qualified to answer that question. I mean, I can tell you what I've personally heard, which is that usually you have to contact the computer manufacturer (e.g. Dell, Gateway, or whoever), and they'll each have their own process for giving you the refund, but I really can't offer you any concrete legal advice."
I'd be livid if something I bought for $500 broke after only 5 months use, and if I then found out that because I was living in a country with barely any consumer rights I had no way to get this sorted out in a fair manner. I'd rip someone's guts out if they were in any way associated with that purchase.
You have a reasonable expectation at purchase that the goods will last a certain minimum amount of time.
(Empaasis added)
Do you also feel that one should have reasonable expectations about what scenarios will lead to having one's guts ripped out?
A: I'd like to return this $500 device which broke after only 5 months use.
B: Did you purchase the extended warranty?
A: No.
B: Sorry, the basic warranty only lets you return the product within 30 days of purchase.
A: I am livid for having found out that I live in a country with barely any consumer rights.
B: Hey, I hear you man. I'm actually a member of several consumer's rights groups, and have written quite a few letters to my political representatives.
A: I am going to rip your guts out, since you are associated with the purchase.
B: What? Are you serious? Hey, man, look, I'm just a poor college kid. I only got $20 bucks on me; but if you let me call my parents, I can try to get $500 bucks. I'll pay you out of my own pocket if it'll mean you won't kill me.
A: Rip. Guts. Out. Anyone associated.
B: Aaaaiiieeeee!
The difference is, is Firefox hangs on Linux I can usually manage to click on a terminal or switch to a terminal to kill it. On Windows the entire system locks up.
What version of Windows are you using? On both XP and Vista, if Firefox hangs, I can open the task manager and kill the process.
If you've got a better answer than Heinlein, then quit writing it on Slashdot and start a novel.
Perhaps being good at answering questions doesn't necessary imply being good at writing novels.
I personally like Space Cadet; its only one sentence, but the character has a pocket-sized portable telephone. 40 years ahead of the curve on the cellphone.
Having a very short attention span, I was delighted to hear of a Robert Heinlein story which was only one sentence long. However, upon acquiring Space Cadet, I realized that this story is significantly longer than one sentence.
Thus, I request that yo
So was Sim City a toy or a game? And did it matter?
Depends on the version. Toys generally encourage free form exploration and have no explict goal. You can't "win" at toy soldiers. Games usually have a goal, a victory condition. Super Mario Bros is a game.
The PC version of the Sim City was a toy. You played until you got bored. The Super Nintendo version was a game. You had specific goals (reach a certain population, reach a certain amount of money, etc.).
And it does kinda matter, because some people prefer games over toys and vice versa. I didn't like the PC version of Sim City. I liked the SNES version.
I hadn't heard about SecuROM and I'm a geek, a gamer (though mostly console) and a slashdot reader.
That sentence is inconsistent.
You willfully blind people, always talking about money. Look at demographics. Look at how they are affecting what is currently happening in Japan. Old folks homes with robots and minimal staff, looking like the worst elements of the Matrix
Look at hyper-inflation.Watch some old videos of Russian grandmothers trying to buy bread with wheelbarrows of cash.
Understand that this is the future for all western cultures. Blame the chemist who sells the birth control and the feminists and capitalists who tell young people they should get an education and a mortgage and put off child rearing till their 30s or later. Blame the aftermath second world war for creating the cultural trauma that created this malignant social order. But for fucks sake, understand what is happening.
(Emphasis added)
I would like to understand "what is happening". I'm assuming as a pre-requisite for that, I would first need to understand what you are talking about. Do you have any recommendations for further reading starting from scratch for someone who knows nothing about history nor politics nor economics? I'm so uncertain about what you are talking about, I'm not even sure if those are the appropriate domains one needs to be knowledgeable within to understand what you're saying.
Yeah, I hate it when I'm being earnest and get modded Troll too. Not much one can do about it, I guess.
I had absolutly no idea who this guy is, or why him being in a Microsoft ad campaign was noteworthy, but here's what Wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_seinfeld [...] So apparantly this "Jerry" is some old sitcom comedian guy from the 90's? And Microsoft thinks having a washed up sitcom actor pushing Vista will help them... how, exactly? I'm honestly curious.
How old are you? Honestly, I'm curious.
I know Jerry Seinfield. He's sort of from "my generation". I was never a big fan of him, but back in highschool, my classmates would talk about him a lot and re-enact or recite some funny scenes from his show.
Back in highschool, I had negligeable income. I wasn't buying computers, my parents were. I was pirating my software. I'm 26 now. I have disposable income now. I no longer pirate software. I am clearly part of the demographics that Microsoft is targeting, and while I personally was not a big fan of Seinfield, a lot of people in my age bracket are. I think it'll work.
For $300M, MS could send out bands of programmers to vendors get their Vista drivers working better. Wouldn't that generate better PR than using a deadbeat comedian?
Nope.
If you think a non-negligible section of Vista's target market even know what the term "drivers" mean, let alone make that the number one reason they avoid Vista, then you probably don't know much about PR.
Just an FYI, mac users are pretty similar to PC users. Most of us just don't care.
They should care -- they pay for that
I think you are conflating two different usages of the phrase "they pay for that". One usage means "They are giving money, with the intent that this money be used for such and such a purpose". Another usage means "They are giving money, and it just so happened that the manner in which the money was used is such and such". Most people who are buying Macs are probably not handing over a thousand bucks, in exchange for having Macs used in product placement. Rather, they are spending over a thousand bucks to buy a Mac.
Once you separate these two usages, it should be easier to understand why just because someone pays for a Mac, they don't necessarily care how Apple spends their profits.
The problem is that users learn to ignore the pop-ups, and they happen so often that most users can't even tell if it's because of their own actions, or those of a malicious attack. Because of this, the messages serve no real security purpose, since even if someone were to maliciously try to abuse someone's computer, the user would probably just dismiss all of the pop-ups without a second thought. Also, most of the 'security' pop-up windows are not from other programs requiring administrator rights, the majority of them come from the operating system itself, for example you have to go through a couple of them just to open the device manager.
To play devil's advocate:
I'm an Ubuntu user. I used to be all cautious about "sudo", but frankly, there's just so much that I don't know about Linux/Ubuntu system administration, that most of the time I'm just copying and pasting commands from webpages, all liberally sprinkled with sudos. You want to be able to listen to mp3s? Type "sudo bla bla bla". You want to be able to watch divxes? Type "sudo yakity yakity yak". Want to be able to sync your music collection with your iPod? You gotta type sudo.
As a novice Linux user, I've become numb to these "sudos", just as you accuse novice Vista users becoming numb to the pop-ups. Just the other day, I had an Linux-knowledgeable friend of mine ask me to change one line of a configuration file to another. The file was writable only by root, so of course, I "sudo gedit", made the change, and saved it. And I have no idea what that change does. I'm just trusting my friend not to screw me over because that's the path of least resistance. I'm sure a lot of novice Windows users just blindly follow the advice they receive from their more advanced Windows using friends.
There's simply no fix for stupid/lazy users. I'm stupid and lazy when it comes to Ubuntu. There is nothing you can do to change that because frankly Ubuntu is such a tiny part of my life that it's not worth the extra time and effort required to actually fully understand all the implications of every sudo command I type in. I don't keep any valuable data on my Ubuntu box. If it comes to it (perhaps because someone gains root access to my box and locks me out), I can simply reformat and reinstall Ubuntu.
Guess what? A lot of people feel the same way about Windows: They simply don't feel it's worth their time and effort to learn all the implications of every prompt they click "yes" to. And if it comes to it, they'll just reinstall Windows. It's simply not that big a deal to them.
And just like your complaint about the majority of the prompts coming from the OS itself, a lot of the sudos I have to type in seem to come from the "Ubuntu OS" itself. You might try and get technical on me and tell me that this module or that section strictly speaking isn't part of the "OS", but really, I don't care. I'm using Ubuntu. I go into the Synaptic package manager, something which, as far as my user experience is concerned, is entirely "part of Ubuntu", and it's giving me that sudo password prompt. So really, from my personal perspective, Vista is no worst than Ubuntu (and Ubuntu is, IMHO, the best Linux distro ever), but it has the added bonus of actually being able to run all the Windows-only apps which I simply refuse to give up.
Instead of paying already rich celebrities to pimp out Vista, how about invest that $300 million into developing a SP2 that fixes the damn thing already.
Because there really isn't all that much broken with it in the first place. Vista's problem is PR and user perception one, not a technical one. Microsoft got a bunch of Vista-haters to try out their next gen operating system, and the Vista-haters loved it. Then, Microsoft revealed that this "next gen OS" was actually Vista all along. The vast majority of people who hate Vista hate it because it's fashionable to hate Vista, not because of any failing in Vista itself.
Thus spending $300 million on PR is the most efficient way to solve the problem, since the problem is a PR one.
Making up your own answers like the ones you suggest might seem fine, but just you wait until someone at the bank challenges you on the phone with to confirm your answer to "what's your favorite sport?" and you have to answer "Moorcock".
Reading Moorcock is my favorite sport, you insensitive clod!
I just list all my account details for websites in a CSV file, then upload it to BitTorrent as "18 yr old bj porn xxx strip". That way, I'll always be able to download it.
Oh, thanks a lot, jerk. I wasted 40 hours looking for the codec that would play that file.
Just lie on these questions! Put in answers you would know, but aren't factually correct.. =)
I have enough trouble remembering the factually correct answers (when the hell is my birthday again?), nevermind the lies.