"In America, you can't see naked people. In Europe, you can't see swastikas. In their respective locations, both types of censorship is done to protect the public. Both are about as silly"
Allow me to explain why you're totally wrong in this: - swastika's are a cultural exponent of a proven harmful ideology. - Breasts, vagina's, penises and armpits for that matter are an integral part of the human being. Nothing about them has been proven harmful (except maybe armpits) in se.
If you like, you can go one further on the swastika's and say, "Yeah, but the symbol itself doesn't harm, it's just a convergence of lines." And in the other direction you could say that every uncovered human bodypart ultimately leads to pornography and is degrading as such.
But I have this faint hope that people will see for themselves that nudity doesn't harm. That children don't go blind by seeing naked people, even when doing the productive thing.
On that note, if we have to live with a certain amount of restriction, let's ban the mindless violence in media for children and give them a bit more sex to ponder.
And no, it wasn't the English that started putting figleafs to statues. It was definitely the greek (them buggers) who started putting nudity on statues however.
Yup, you're right, 1) it's not a new thing, so it's not as 'cutting edge' as some people scream, and 2) its real strength indeed is in the integration with iTunes and iTMS. But I think you're wrong on some counts: 1) people won't be disappointed because these things work as advertised (they just don't make your pimples go away) 2) apple is in its own way doing truly new things, like for the first time making products in the consumer's spending sweet spots. 3) and they don't need more daring, they're plenty daring as it is right now, a new Newton would help them as much as a new Cube - which the mini isn't, I should know, I still use my cube as my primary computer. It's great but not for everyone. The mini has a much larger audience waiting.
the first PC's and predecessors were ridiculous machines, and expensive. Never underestimate the power of the Nerd crowd to put whatever ahead of whatever and to pay a premium for an immature and overpriced product like Sinclair/Vic 20/... was when it came out.
get over it, some people like things that work as advertised. and some people would pay anything for a good music experience that's as simple as a walkman.
they're not as geeky as you maybe, but just get over it.
"What's a shame is that Microsoft announced this as a feature of longhorn a couple years ago, but 10 bucks, no 100 bucks says when Longhorn comes out the slashdot crowd will scream copycat. "
While you're very right, I have to say the following:
1) who cares what the/. crowd screams, users look for a good experience, OS X will more likely give it to them, whichever system I or you prefer. This smart folder implementation will be a good example, just return to this issue in say four years time when MS has implemented it too. 2) not looking to bash MS per se, but just as Apple has this annoying shrowd of secrecy, MS has this annoying habit of announcing features years before production, and while baffled producers of same features flee the field, MS starts delaying and coming back on its word. A good example here is its new meta-data file system that now won't even be included in longhorn. What's different now as opposed to 10 years ago is that producers now say "Hey, deja vue, so go ahead Billy, do your worst, and meanwhile, look at this cool new search engine we built here..."
In short: even if MS announces something ahead of someone else, in my book that means dick. Walk your talk.
You are so completely right. I'm going to confiscate my father's, mother's, father in law's and aunt's mac, and I'll tell them to do it your way. Along the way I'll explain them the ins and outs of screwdrivers and from there move up to the other stuff.
Why? Because I enjoy doing free support. Because I think a PC is its hardware, like a car is its engine. Because I've never upgraded my Macs - oh, wait a minute, I have.
Anyway, we're talking about $500 for a machine previously geared towards professionals, and with an OS the other half of/. (those not already owning Apple portables) are dying to try out. So why not nitpick?
And while I'm at it, I'm going to tell all those portable non-upgradeable computer people they're mad, MAD!!!! They should just equip their tower and monitor with wheels. What were they thinking?
people who don't want to switch anyway. That seems to mean you buddy.
Keyboard: ps/2 have never been Apple standards, however, a ps/2 to usb costs next to nothing and can be bought virtually everywhere. Cheap USB keyboards and mice as well btw. VGA/DVI: VGA adaptor included. Read instead of looking at pretty pictures. Think Playboy. screen: if you want to buy cheap, you don't want to buy an Apple monitor. They are superior quality and expensive. Buy another brand and plug it in. Oh and about that superior quality, read some PC reviews, don't trust a mac-head. It's astonishing how cheap you can go, especially over the internet, even flat screen.
In short: three seconds of actual using of da brain would have given you these answers. This computer is for people who want to switch, or are in the market for a second machine (hence the advertising for a switch box) or a media centre.
I repeat, this computer is not for people who don't want to buy it. Have a nice day, brian.
Home users will get used to actually paying for their "Word". MS will be forced to offer a cheaper introduction package, but since Apple's installer base will most likely grow slightly they could in the end see their profit grow.
iWork isn't a replacement for Office, not in a long shot. This said, it's probably enough for me, and a lot of other home users - the crowd that may run Office but sure hasn't paid for it...
Heck, even my over 70 years old father in law got his Office "free of charge" from a fellow retired mac enthousiast. There you go, if old timers go swapping without the slightest remorse - as long as we're talking about what people perceive to be "essential" programs the price of a small computer...
Not to be cynical to the wrong crowd here, but what I think this means is that no FOSS package will get a serious foot in Apple's crack - I mean door.
If you're "only" a hardware freak, stick to whatever gives the biggest buzz for your buck, if however you're "also" a software freak, don't argue, just amaze yourself and buy the thing. All the stuff everybody's screaming about is included (apart from iWork).
If you don't like it, give to mother, sister or whoever, or sell on ebay. Or take apart and mod. Dig into something else for a change!
"I agree it's cool, proprietary hardware has the ability to make things nice and tiny - but really... it's all laptop components. Take the average base of a laptop, cut it in half, stack - you have your macmini*."
Yeah, that Volvo looks nice, but really, it's all just car components...
"i hope to see apple keep going in this direction and broadened their horizons by marketing to everyone, not just people that want to be trendy and to those that think the whole "it just works" thing still applies. "
Ok, not to flame you down, but you don't think the whole "it just works" thing doesn't apply anymore? In who's universe, XP heaven or OS X heaven? Or another one?
Imo the mac is still the only computer that give you the most "it just works" experience out of the box and after a year or two of use and abuse. Name one hardware/software experience that comes close - for those same people you're talking about, everyone, not just IT professionals, geeks and programmers.
This is not about computer religion, but about what you wish upon your neigbour (taking into account that you most probably will have to remove malware and virii, do updates, introduce the concept of backups, connect their sh*t be it camera's or headphones,...).
And for your information, the last time I felt trendy must have been oh easily 10 years ago. Buying an iPod won't help me there.:-)
The only difference would be the control and command keys, which on a mac are switched (or on a pc, whatever).
Which actually is very convenient, since most command-insert key shortcuts for mac are control-insert key shortcuts on PC. eg Command-P for print on mac and Control-P for print on a PC.
The keys may be different, but since the placing is switched, you're not really apt to notice.
then you can use Design Intuition (http://www.gizmolab.com/software/).
Go ahead, call me troll, but check out the program, it's what any decent wood-working maniac needs. Easy (and I mean reallllly easy) 2D design, instantly translated to cool 3D views, complete with bill of material. And great printing options. What else do you need?
Whether the mac is a good machine (or a cheap option) for the wood-shed is of course another matter, but hey, check out the program first and bash me later.
a prettied up textedit, a simplified keynote, a simple database app and a simplified excell. with plenty of templates that actually mean something to home users. and maybe some nice new ideas that hadn't occured to me yet (the typical apple surprises), but not a professional MS Office replacement. That'd be a futile exercise. Not that they wouldn't succeed, but they wouldn't be able to make it stick.
The majority of people in my country drive on the right side of the road. Hence I find it a good idea to do the same.
The majority of people read and write office/excell documents, hence I find it a good idea to at least write to that standard if not with the same apps (which happen to be not so bad as people make them out to be, regardless of the mud and blood that hangs on it). And incidentally I do enjoy being able to open these same documents, instead of sending them back with a note 'please accomodate me and my.1% preference.
There are a lot of barebones alternatives around. But most people WANT the features in Office. And I must say that up to now I haven't found an obvious Office replacement. And believe me, I'm looking. (one nice - and yes, less bloated - alternative would be a native KOffice, even then I couldn't really swear I wouldn't re-install Office) Disclaimer: not a FOSS critique, not at all! Just my preference, which seems to be shared by a majority, however uncool...
Apple is known first and foremost for being stupid simple. Hence the iPod's success. You might think it's the advertising and only the advertising. You would be wrong.
If - big if - this rumour is true, simplicity will be its selling point. Virus- and popup free internet for the masses, simple stupid picture viewing and organizing, streaming and organizing your iTunes and CD collection, zone-free DVD, maybe even HDR, and for the moderately seasoned computer users, having a mac in your network - adding to the tv/hifi experience for both Windows and Apple computers...
Don't think mac users are the arty-farty crowd. Most of us just don't have the stomach for half-baked production- or/and fun-environments. Because however you look at it, computers are expensive. I rather spend a premium for a nice experience than even half that to repeat my horrible PC experiences.
The same goes for most every iPod user. KISS rules (not the rock group)...
Very strange reasoning. Apple is first and foremost a marketing driven company. OK, they sell the fact that they're engineer driven, but the whole production process is aimed at fullfilling needs, the whole sales process is just wonderfully people oriented.
What *NIX vendor could make less confusing marketing noises than Apple's simplistic messages, what *NIX vendor could do better distribution for that matter?
If - and that's a verrrrrrry big if imo - this rumour is true, this box is aimed at the most average users for the most average tasks and for easy connection to your TV set, not necessarily your monitor. And it'll come with stupid simple software to do the most basic of things like internet (surfing and mail), iTunes distribution, DVD and picture viewing, recording and easy connection to your existing PC/mac/printer network.
Not that I believe this rumour for one minute. It would be cool but then again, I'm one of those people who thought the Cube was cool (am still using mine).
Slashdot Mirror
"In America, you can't see naked people.
In Europe, you can't see swastikas.
In their respective locations, both types of censorship is done to protect the public. Both are about as silly"
Allow me to explain why you're totally wrong in this:
- swastika's are a cultural exponent of a proven harmful ideology.
- Breasts, vagina's, penises and armpits for that matter are an integral part of the human being. Nothing about them has been proven harmful (except maybe armpits) in se.
If you like, you can go one further on the swastika's and say, "Yeah, but the symbol itself doesn't harm, it's just a convergence of lines."
And in the other direction you could say that every uncovered human bodypart ultimately leads to pornography and is degrading as such.
But I have this faint hope that people will see for themselves that nudity doesn't harm. That children don't go blind by seeing naked people, even when doing the productive thing.
On that note, if we have to live with a certain amount of restriction, let's ban the mindless violence in media for children and give them a bit more sex to ponder.
And no, it wasn't the English that started putting figleafs to statues. It was definitely the greek (them buggers) who started putting nudity on statues however.
Yup, you're right,
1) it's not a new thing, so it's not as 'cutting edge' as some people scream, and
2) its real strength indeed is in the integration with iTunes and iTMS.
But I think you're wrong on some counts:
1) people won't be disappointed because these things work as advertised (they just don't make your pimples go away)
2) apple is in its own way doing truly new things, like for the first time making products in the consumer's spending sweet spots.
3) and they don't need more daring, they're plenty daring as it is right now, a new Newton would help them as much as a new Cube - which the mini isn't, I should know, I still use my cube as my primary computer. It's great but not for everyone. The mini has a much larger audience waiting.
yadayada blablabla
the first PC's and predecessors were ridiculous machines, and expensive. Never underestimate the power of the Nerd crowd to put whatever ahead of whatever and to pay a premium for an immature and overpriced product like Sinclair/Vic 20/... was when it came out.
get over it, some people like things that work as advertised. and some people would pay anything for a good music experience that's as simple as a walkman.
they're not as geeky as you maybe, but just get over it.
"What's a shame is that Microsoft announced this as a feature of longhorn a couple years ago, but 10 bucks, no 100 bucks says when Longhorn comes out the slashdot crowd will scream copycat. "
/. crowd screams, users look for a good experience, OS X will more likely give it to them, whichever system I or you prefer. This smart folder implementation will be a good example, just return to this issue in say four years time when MS has implemented it too.
While you're very right, I have to say the following:
1) who cares what the
2) not looking to bash MS per se, but just as Apple has this annoying shrowd of secrecy, MS has this annoying habit of announcing features years before production, and while baffled producers of same features flee the field, MS starts delaying and coming back on its word. A good example here is its new meta-data file system that now won't even be included in longhorn. What's different now as opposed to 10 years ago is that producers now say "Hey, deja vue, so go ahead Billy, do your worst, and meanwhile, look at this cool new search engine we built here..."
In short: even if MS announces something ahead of someone else, in my book that means dick. Walk your talk.
You are so completely right. I'm going to confiscate my father's, mother's, father in law's and aunt's mac, and I'll tell them to do it your way. Along the way I'll explain them the ins and outs of screwdrivers and from there move up to the other stuff.
/. (those not already owning Apple portables) are dying to try out. So why not nitpick?
Why? Because I enjoy doing free support. Because I think a PC is its hardware, like a car is its engine. Because I've never upgraded my Macs - oh, wait a minute, I have.
Anyway, we're talking about $500 for a machine previously geared towards professionals, and with an OS the other half of
And while I'm at it, I'm going to tell all those portable non-upgradeable computer people they're mad, MAD!!!! They should just equip their tower and monitor with wheels. What were they thinking?
Thanks for clarifying this for me.
people who don't want to switch anyway. That seems to mean you buddy.
Keyboard: ps/2 have never been Apple standards, however, a ps/2 to usb costs next to nothing and can be bought virtually everywhere. Cheap USB keyboards and mice as well btw.
VGA/DVI: VGA adaptor included. Read instead of looking at pretty pictures. Think Playboy.
screen: if you want to buy cheap, you don't want to buy an Apple monitor. They are superior quality and expensive. Buy another brand and plug it in. Oh and about that superior quality, read some PC reviews, don't trust a mac-head. It's astonishing how cheap you can go, especially over the internet, even flat screen.
In short: three seconds of actual using of da brain would have given you these answers. This computer is for people who want to switch, or are in the market for a second machine (hence the advertising for a switch box) or a media centre.
I repeat, this computer is not for people who don't want to buy it. Have a nice day, brian.
Nothing wrong with this kind of patent (method).
If they start to enforce the patent immediately and are reasonable about it (going high volume instead of price), why not?
If however they intend to hide it in the closet and go "Ahaaaaah" ten years later, screw them.
Home users will get used to actually paying for their "Word".
MS will be forced to offer a cheaper introduction package, but since Apple's installer base will most likely grow slightly they could in the end see their profit grow.
iWork isn't a replacement for Office, not in a long shot. This said, it's probably enough for me, and a lot of other home users - the crowd that may run Office but sure hasn't paid for it...
Heck, even my over 70 years old father in law got his Office "free of charge" from a fellow retired mac enthousiast. There you go, if old timers go swapping without the slightest remorse - as long as we're talking about what people perceive to be "essential" programs the price of a small computer...
Not to be cynical to the wrong crowd here, but what I think this means is that no FOSS package will get a serious foot in Apple's crack - I mean door.
If you're "only" a hardware freak, stick to whatever gives the biggest buzz for your buck, if however you're "also" a software freak, don't argue, just amaze yourself and buy the thing. All the stuff everybody's screaming about is included (apart from iWork).
If you don't like it, give to mother, sister or whoever, or sell on ebay. Or take apart and mod. Dig into something else for a change!
A real nerd would go for it, no?
"We seem to have slashdotted the apple store, too."
And here I was, thinking Jobs had the patent on reality distortion?
I'm looking at my cube here and keep thinking "If I could just saw this thing in two pieces..."
It may be a lookalike, but they didn't have to rip off any other design than their own.
Do you have any, I mean any idea how many computers that is compared to when you could actually go out and buy an Amiga?
"I agree it's cool, proprietary hardware has the ability to make things nice and tiny - but really ... it's all laptop components. Take the average base of a laptop, cut it in half, stack - you have your macmini*."
Yeah, that Volvo looks nice, but really, it's all just car components...
"i hope to see apple keep going in this direction and broadened their horizons by marketing to everyone, not just people that want to be trendy and to those that think the whole "it just works" thing still applies. "
...).
:-)
Ok, not to flame you down, but you don't think the whole "it just works" thing doesn't apply anymore? In who's universe, XP heaven or OS X heaven? Or another one?
Imo the mac is still the only computer that give you the most "it just works" experience out of the box and after a year or two of use and abuse. Name one hardware/software experience that comes close - for those same people you're talking about, everyone, not just IT professionals, geeks and programmers.
This is not about computer religion, but about what you wish upon your neigbour (taking into account that you most probably will have to remove malware and virii, do updates, introduce the concept of backups, connect their sh*t be it camera's or headphones,
And for your information, the last time I felt trendy must have been oh easily 10 years ago. Buying an iPod won't help me there.
The first ever mac to come without keyboard and you insist on an apple keyboard?
The only difference would be the control and command keys, which on a mac are switched (or on a pc, whatever).
Which actually is very convenient, since most command-insert key shortcuts for mac are control-insert key shortcuts on PC. eg Command-P for print on mac and Control-P for print on a PC.
The keys may be different, but since the placing is switched, you're not really apt to notice.
Cool, no?
then you can use Design Intuition (http://www.gizmolab.com/software/).
Go ahead, call me troll, but check out the program, it's what any decent wood-working maniac needs. Easy (and I mean reallllly easy) 2D design, instantly translated to cool 3D views, complete with bill of material. And great printing options. What else do you need?
Whether the mac is a good machine (or a cheap option) for the wood-shed is of course another matter, but hey, check out the program first and bash me later.
Oops, I thought MacWrite was actually written by MS.
a prettied up textedit, a simplified keynote, a simple database app and a simplified excell.
with plenty of templates that actually mean something to home users. and maybe some nice new ideas that hadn't occured to me yet (the typical apple surprises), but not a professional MS Office replacement. That'd be a futile exercise. Not that they wouldn't succeed, but they wouldn't be able to make it stick.
If "macwrite the sequel" would be written by those MS hippies, then we'd be full circle!
The majority of people in my country drive on the right side of the road. Hence I find it a good idea to do the same.
.1% preference.
The majority of people read and write office/excell documents, hence I find it a good idea to at least write to that standard if not with the same apps (which happen to be not so bad as people make them out to be, regardless of the mud and blood that hangs on it). And incidentally I do enjoy being able to open these same documents, instead of sending them back with a note 'please accomodate me and my
Cheers!
There are a lot of barebones alternatives around. But most people WANT the features in Office. And I must say that up to now I haven't found an obvious Office replacement. And believe me, I'm looking.
(one nice - and yes, less bloated - alternative would be a native KOffice, even then I couldn't really swear I wouldn't re-install Office)
Disclaimer: not a FOSS critique, not at all! Just my preference, which seems to be shared by a majority, however uncool...
with those specs you'd have a better chance running those on your iPod.
Seriously, what do you expect, that a $500 Dell box runs Avid?
The only plus needed.
:-(
Apple is known first and foremost for being stupid simple. Hence the iPod's success. You might think it's the advertising and only the advertising. You would be wrong.
If - big if - this rumour is true, simplicity will be its selling point. Virus- and popup free internet for the masses, simple stupid picture viewing and organizing, streaming and organizing your iTunes and CD collection, zone-free DVD, maybe even HDR, and for the moderately seasoned computer users, having a mac in your network - adding to the tv/hifi experience for both Windows and Apple computers...
Don't think mac users are the arty-farty crowd. Most of us just don't have the stomach for half-baked production- or/and fun-environments. Because however you look at it, computers are expensive. I rather spend a premium for a nice experience than even half that to repeat my horrible PC experiences.
The same goes for most every iPod user. KISS rules (not the rock group)...
But I'm not holding my breath for this one
Very strange reasoning. Apple is first and foremost a marketing driven company. OK, they sell the fact that they're engineer driven, but the whole production process is aimed at fullfilling needs, the whole sales process is just wonderfully people oriented.
What *NIX vendor could make less confusing marketing noises than Apple's simplistic messages, what *NIX vendor could do better distribution for that matter?
If - and that's a verrrrrrry big if imo - this rumour is true, this box is aimed at the most average users for the most average tasks and for easy connection to your TV set, not necessarily your monitor. And it'll come with stupid simple software to do the most basic of things like internet (surfing and mail), iTunes distribution, DVD and picture viewing, recording and easy connection to your existing PC/mac/printer network.
Not that I believe this rumour for one minute. It would be cool but then again, I'm one of those people who thought the Cube was cool (am still using mine).
Cheers