That's fine. No problem with that. I hope you enjoy it.
But I want to clear up something that you touched on and that somebody else said: Computers get upgraded all the time. OS's require new computers regularly. That doesn't mean that a switch to XP means a brand new computer purchase.
Okay, so you have a ridiculously old computer to upgrade. You're probably due for a new system. A more modern system has a lot more flexibility. Using an age old strategy of 'scavenging old parts', I upgraded my P3 550 to an Athlon 1.2 gig machine for $500. Plus, a month or so later, I scrounged some more parts laying around and turned the 550 into a useful machine again.
When you go Mac, you're buying EVERYTHING all over again. Is that bad? Not necessarily, I'm just saying there's a difference.
If I buy a Mac (and that is a distinct probably as they are quite attractive nowadays), it'll probably be a laptop. Reason being that my laptop is old and I can't upgrade it, so I'm buying a new one anyway. I wouldn't buy a Mac to replace my desktop unless it was desperately old, and that's about 4 years away. This isn't anti-Mac bias, this is budgeting.
BTW, I'd highly recommend a Mac Laptop. (iBook) I know two people that have one and I'm envious.:)
"They're paying very close attention to what consumers are doing."
How exactly? The only company that knows I even turn my TV on is the power company.
"Not only would it take a great deal of storage space, and hours of manual editing every-day, but it would also use up huge ammounts of bandwidth for everyone."
Never been to Kazaa have ya? I acquired nearly the entire run of That 70's show to date. It ran about 60-70 megs an episode. I think I could get the whole show on 2-3 CD's. It didn't take that long to get the eps. I really didn't pay attention to how long because it ran in the background. It wasn't a big deal. People are doing it heaps today.
"You're solution is beyond moronic."
That's an extreme conclusion to come to coming from somebody who clearly has no idea what's really involved. Seeing as how you pointed out problems that aren't bothering millions of other people, I'd say my suggestion beat yours. Wait, what was your suggestion?
All true. But what happens when we're too saturated with adverts that we never really notice stuff anymore? Drivers will start running red lights! Pedestrians will walk out into streets with the "dont walk" signs flashing. People will respond to topics without reading the articles. Before long... uh... oh.... Hmm.
"While the obvious solution to the problem is to stop watching those channels that assault you with ads..."
And what would that do? Nothing. Let me tell you why: The TV Networks have no idea you're not watching TV. It's not like the internet, they can't log what you are or aren't watching. All they'll see (on the off chance that enough people will actually try this) is a decline in advertising response.
All that'll do is cause more ads to go up. Yah, that's really what we want.
My suggestion is that people build their own PC based PVRs and capture the shows. Take some time to edit out the commercials (even the popup ones, it's not that hard.) and make them available via Kazaa/ICQ/IRC/Anywhere possible.
My guess is that they'd see people willing to take all these ridiculous steps to remove the ads and hopefully find a better solution. I'll be honest, though: The TV Industry does not have a very good sense of what we want. My suggestion may end up causing more problems than solving, so perhaps it's not that good of idea. It is better than trying to boycott somebody that doesn't know you're boycotting them. Perhaps somebody can take my idea and evolve it?
Interesting question, isn't it? There's a point where I couldn't possibly have the money I'd need to buy all the great products out there.
Believe it or not, there is a hard-coded limit to how much revenue can actually be gained by advertising. Just because more ads are on the screen doesn't mean I'm going to free up more money to spend.
I hate to sound like a shallow person, but parent poster makes a good point. If I spend thousands of dollars for a car, it's gotta look cool.
You know.. if they're building it from the ground up, wouldn't it be cool if you could create your own 'case' for the car? Some of us 3D Modellers out there would have a field day with that! =)
I don't know why you included me in this message, I was being sarcastic when I said "it's okay to make fun of rednecks because there's not an organization defending them".
"A properly set up XP or 2000 machine should rarely, if ever blue screen."
Bluescreens in 95/98 were possible with software glitches. To get one in Windows 2000 (and presumably XP), you pretty much have to screw up the hardware. I support all 20 or so Windows 2000 boxes in my office, stability has never been an issue.
Unfortunately for Apple, they're likely to turn away knowledgable users with those ads. Frankly, I think they're better off playing to the more tech saavy Windows audience who's thinking of switching to Linux. If you're willing to pony up for a Mac (like an iBook), then OSX may be a very interesting choice for you.
I'm very close to advertising. I've watched some of the decision making. It's not ethical.
Ever see a picture of strawberries? Chances are, that strawberry is covered in lipstick to make it an appealing shade of red. Everybody knows that McDonald's burgers look nothing like their picture. Car commercials feature locations that nobody'd ever take the car too. Heck, one showed a Jeep outrun a helicopter up a mountain. Ads, as a general business, are deceptive. Ever see that popup that looks like a message box saying 'you have 1 new message'? Heh.
If advertising was ethical, products wouldn't be held in such a ludicrously high light. They take whatever means are necessary to get people to come visit, with no regard to whether or not they're being deceptive. This is why search engines must disclose paid links.
This is about advertising. There are no ethics in advertising. It's a business. They probably feel like disclosing who paid for the ad is the same as devaluing the ad.
" How can Linux, which embraces the little guy, allow such a place as Walmart to profit off of its existence?"
So who would be appropriate to 'profit off of Linux'? I'm asking in all seriousness. I figured everybody'd be happy that a main stream store was selling pre-installed Linux machines.
I know Walmart's reputation with/. is not that good, but frankly, I wouldn't be that picky.
"There is exactly one program for each task she needs to accomplish."
No. If I had said "why are there 6 'different programs' that would have been a good answer. I said 'six progs that do the same thing'. I swear KDE comes with 6 or so text editors.
Other than that, you have an unusual mom.;) (that's meant in a nice way...)
I had two comments in this thread marked as "Troll". Can anybody explain to me how I could possibly be trolling? I was responding to the comment that PC's hadn't caught up to XBOX standards, pointing out that Halo was running on earlier PC hardware. I'm sorry but I don't see how that's negative in anyway.
If my tone was negative or anything, somebody let me know? It wasn't intentional.
Slashdot Mirror
"12 cm or 12 inch? There's a big difference there...."
Most blondes don't know the difference.
Or unjustified anger directed people who use cell phones for anything?
"Not to mention internal windshield wipers."
Oh that is sick dude, hahaha.
You'll need a set of these too.
"because of the pr0n or slashdot?"
Probably Slashdot. Looking at porn is cool, reading Slashdot in lieu of pr0n will earn you a beating by Nelson.
That's fine. No problem with that. I hope you enjoy it.
:)
But I want to clear up something that you touched on and that somebody else said: Computers get upgraded all the time. OS's require new computers regularly. That doesn't mean that a switch to XP means a brand new computer purchase.
Okay, so you have a ridiculously old computer to upgrade. You're probably due for a new system. A more modern system has a lot more flexibility. Using an age old strategy of 'scavenging old parts', I upgraded my P3 550 to an Athlon 1.2 gig machine for $500. Plus, a month or so later, I scrounged some more parts laying around and turned the 550 into a useful machine again.
When you go Mac, you're buying EVERYTHING all over again. Is that bad? Not necessarily, I'm just saying there's a difference.
If I buy a Mac (and that is a distinct probably as they are quite attractive nowadays), it'll probably be a laptop. Reason being that my laptop is old and I can't upgrade it, so I'm buying a new one anyway. I wouldn't buy a Mac to replace my desktop unless it was desperately old, and that's about 4 years away. This isn't anti-Mac bias, this is budgeting.
BTW, I'd highly recommend a Mac Laptop. (iBook) I know two people that have one and I'm envious.
Hmm people reading Slashdot in the car...
Mark my words: One day Slashdot will be mentioned in the Darwin Awards.
Do the words "small, vocal minority" mean anything to you?
In relation to Slashdot? No, not really. Those words didn't even conjure up an old ep of Star Trek.
"They're paying very close attention to what consumers are doing."
How exactly? The only company that knows I even turn my TV on is the power company.
"Not only would it take a great deal of storage space, and hours of manual editing every-day, but it would also use up huge ammounts of bandwidth for everyone."
Never been to Kazaa have ya? I acquired nearly the entire run of That 70's show to date. It ran about 60-70 megs an episode. I think I could get the whole show on 2-3 CD's. It didn't take that long to get the eps. I really didn't pay attention to how long because it ran in the background. It wasn't a big deal. People are doing it heaps today.
"You're solution is beyond moronic."
That's an extreme conclusion to come to coming from somebody who clearly has no idea what's really involved. Seeing as how you pointed out problems that aren't bothering millions of other people, I'd say my suggestion beat yours. Wait, what was your suggestion?
I used beep in a programming course in High School. Unfortunately, every time I used it people shouted "nosound!".
All true. But what happens when we're too saturated with adverts that we never really notice stuff anymore? Drivers will start running red lights! Pedestrians will walk out into streets with the "dont walk" signs flashing. People will respond to topics without reading the articles. Before long... uh... oh.... Hmm.
"While the obvious solution to the problem is to stop watching those channels that assault you with ads..."
And what would that do? Nothing. Let me tell you why: The TV Networks have no idea you're not watching TV. It's not like the internet, they can't log what you are or aren't watching. All they'll see (on the off chance that enough people will actually try this) is a decline in advertising response.
All that'll do is cause more ads to go up. Yah, that's really what we want.
My suggestion is that people build their own PC based PVRs and capture the shows. Take some time to edit out the commercials (even the popup ones, it's not that hard.) and make them available via Kazaa/ICQ/IRC/Anywhere possible.
My guess is that they'd see people willing to take all these ridiculous steps to remove the ads and hopefully find a better solution. I'll be honest, though: The TV Industry does not have a very good sense of what we want. My suggestion may end up causing more problems than solving, so perhaps it's not that good of idea. It is better than trying to boycott somebody that doesn't know you're boycotting them. Perhaps somebody can take my idea and evolve it?
Star Trek First Contact: Microsoft
Interesting question, isn't it? There's a point where I couldn't possibly have the money I'd need to buy all the great products out there.
Believe it or not, there is a hard-coded limit to how much revenue can actually be gained by advertising. Just because more ads are on the screen doesn't mean I'm going to free up more money to spend.
I hate to sound like a shallow person, but parent poster makes a good point. If I spend thousands of dollars for a car, it's gotta look cool.
You know.. if they're building it from the ground up, wouldn't it be cool if you could create your own 'case' for the car? Some of us 3D Modellers out there would have a field day with that! =)
hehee okie, no worries.
:)
Have a good day, man.
I don't know why you included me in this message, I was being sarcastic when I said "it's okay to make fun of rednecks because there's not an organization defending them".
Psst you're stereotyping as well, heh.
"What makes you think Mac OS X isn't "real competition" for Microsoft?"
I can name two reasons:
1.) A switch to Apple requires a new computer purchase.
2.) Microsoft has Office and IE for Mac. Apple's success = MS's success.
"A properly set up XP or 2000 machine should rarely, if ever blue screen."
Bluescreens in 95/98 were possible with software glitches. To get one in Windows 2000 (and presumably XP), you pretty much have to screw up the hardware. I support all 20 or so Windows 2000 boxes in my office, stability has never been an issue.
Unfortunately for Apple, they're likely to turn away knowledgable users with those ads. Frankly, I think they're better off playing to the more tech saavy Windows audience who's thinking of switching to Linux. If you're willing to pony up for a Mac (like an iBook), then OSX may be a very interesting choice for you.
I'm very close to advertising. I've watched some of the decision making. It's not ethical.
Ever see a picture of strawberries? Chances are, that strawberry is covered in lipstick to make it an appealing shade of red. Everybody knows that McDonald's burgers look nothing like their picture. Car commercials feature locations that nobody'd ever take the car too. Heck, one showed a Jeep outrun a helicopter up a mountain. Ads, as a general business, are deceptive. Ever see that popup that looks like a message box saying 'you have 1 new message'? Heh.
If advertising was ethical, products wouldn't be held in such a ludicrously high light. They take whatever means are necessary to get people to come visit, with no regard to whether or not they're being deceptive. This is why search engines must disclose paid links.
This is about advertising. There are no ethics in advertising. It's a business. They probably feel like disclosing who paid for the ad is the same as devaluing the ad.
" How can Linux, which embraces the little guy, allow such a place as Walmart to profit off of its existence?"
/. is not that good, but frankly, I wouldn't be that picky.
So who would be appropriate to 'profit off of Linux'? I'm asking in all seriousness. I figured everybody'd be happy that a main stream store was selling pre-installed Linux machines.
I know Walmart's reputation with
It's perfectly okay to insult Rednecks. They don't have an anti-defamation league so we're safe from being sued.
"There is exactly one program for each task she needs to accomplish."
;) (that's meant in a nice way...)
No. If I had said "why are there 6 'different programs' that would have been a good answer. I said 'six progs that do the same thing'. I swear KDE comes with 6 or so text editors.
Other than that, you have an unusual mom.
I had two comments in this thread marked as "Troll". Can anybody explain to me how I could possibly be trolling? I was responding to the comment that PC's hadn't caught up to XBOX standards, pointing out that Halo was running on earlier PC hardware. I'm sorry but I don't see how that's negative in anyway.
If my tone was negative or anything, somebody let me know? It wasn't intentional.
You're right, it did come with GameBoys. However after they started selling GB sans Tetris, they still moved quite a few copies of it.
Wish I had some #'s for you guys, but I don't. I just remember we could never keep used copies of it in, but they were always being traded in.