No, I'm not naive to the practices of record labels. But most artists are very favorable to Apple's conditions.
And tell me, how do you think downloading music without paying is helping artists?
For every (non-millionaire) artist you show me who condones stealing his work I can show you ten who'd love to have a quiet word or two with you.
I've helped a few artists make "some" of their work available for free, online. That's cool. They're cool. That doesn't mean they don't want you to buy their CD.
Most artists can barely pay the rent. They love everybody who buys their music.
I take it your post is more of a joke than a troll. If not, check out the G5 product pages (apple.com, too lazy to do this in html).
Apart from the fact that the G5 is per Apple's specs (which is not the same as "gimme a chip, we'll slam it on the motherboard")...
That bus speed is something, the whole motherboard is something, the whole 9 fans array is something. In fact the whole f*cking computer is awesome.
Remember, this is a PC, not a workstation. OK, that's maybe just a matter of words, but look at it this way: they built a capable, very very gorgeous (and I'm not even talking about looks) computer around this you can just go out and buy. And it runs backward compatible all your (ok, maybe not your, but absolutely my) favorite apps on a very very nice OS.
Not meaning disrespect to IBM, but when you talk about the G5 you talk about Apple.
FWIW I was stupid enough to aim my respons at "all complainers". Which inevitably means I'll insult some of you - and some of you undeserved. I apologise.
It was an emotional response. The short of it is supposed to go something like this:
we (as in we as consumers) never mind if stuff becomes horribly cheap due to outsourcing of labor.
But now predictably it starts happening in the brain-department.
And the amount of bull you suddenly get from the same people who happily wear nike's and buy barbies without a second thought is incredible.
But this has happened time and again, in all industries. Steel, shipping (as in boats), textiles, plastics,... you name it. And hundreds of thousands of people were laid off. We called it progress - which it probably is in the long run. All depends on your definition of the word progress.
I'm not sure it's a good thing. There are many many sides to consider. One of them is that partly this outsourcing does improve some countries and their people, so it's not all bad everywhere. And stuff gets cheaper, which is nice in a sort of narrowminded way.
So lacking an overall opinion I can only say am glad for the Indians who can get value from their education. One of the other reasons of outsourcing is better project stability. A few years back programmers were happily hopping from one job to another. This of course damaged the projects they were working on. This job hopping is -still- not so popular in India.
This is a reaction to basically everybody complaining about outsoursing.
I'm sure you all drive a US car, your clothes are made in the US (like *really* made there, not just a label or screw fitted), as are your computers, your children's toys, your furniture, your kick-ass sportshoes and flufferalia.
You don't buy stuff manufactured by children, no sirry, of course not.
FWIW I think it's great some real work is getting outsourced instead of only the menial jobs! More power to them.
Well, I think the Mac still has the clear advantage. No Hassle.
My wife's toshiba (2 months old) is as standard as can be - except for the security updates. We bought a wireless mouse last week and it worked out of the box. Until the next day... Suddenly no mouse, no sir.
Plug it in my Cube, hello mouse, no problems at all...
It seems - same as with other hardware and software experiences I have had - Windows is getting better at making things work sooner, but still can't keep it all working for more than a few months.
All true, but show me the artist who wants to work for free.
Most artists - most people - are looking for a way to have a fun life while paying the bills.
I personally don't know any artist who wants to do everything for free, or otoh was discouraged doing something for free once in a while - including putting mp3's online. Truth is: everything concerning original work (be it programming or art) is hopelessly complicated, not only the free part of it.
And while I like your mail and share your dislike of that "mob like business culture", I should point out that in western society paying composers and musicians is nothing new. All this suffering and poverty for art is a load of crap. Historically, most artists we now rever were pretty well off, only a minority suffered as they should;-)
For the same reason people tolerate paying for good software.
The DRM is implemented not as a big thorny stick in your ass, but as something nearly invisible that actually gives you more legal leeway than a *real* CD.
serious: I don't give a hoot about market share, all this proprietary crap (when I buy a car, I hope the engine they put in has some relation to the rest of the machine) and the OS someone prefers.
But the use of the word monopoly on apple hardware and software is a bit over the top.
If you choose to use OS X (instead of installing some very competent *nix distro) you know your hardware is supported, since it will only boot on a mac. In my book that's a feature, not a bug.
I'm not sure about that. Most windows people I know *never* buy anything. They run their pre-installed OS and copy copy copy copy...
Be it applications, games, music,... As far as they (the Windows people I know) are concerned it should all be free. The fact that they bought the computer is for them already a great concession...
There's a good example of a secure desktop system that doesn't let the mailer install stuff automatically: OS X.
The fact that so many tech *nix people are adopting this system makes it probable that the same ease of use will spread to Linux.
I can install what I like on my OS, but it requires a password. That's a little thing. I still don't feel I'm using a "harder" OS than windows - quite on the contrary.
My mail client doesn't auto-execute viruses. Again, I don't feel this makes my machine less easy to use. And btw: attachments are still extremely easy to handle, despite the fact they don't install themselves without me looking.
I'm sure the Mac ease of use in installing (and Update/Patching procedures) will be adopted sooner or later in Linux, since it so obviously pays off and since this is such a sore point for all developers who dream about a desktop Linux that actually gets adopted. And I'm equally sure they'll do it better and sooner than Microsoft.
Well, that's very easy... compared to command line. I've enabled root a few times the past few years.
But it's quite hard to do compared to for instance setting desktop preferences. Net Info Manager really is very hard to understand for the average guy/grrl.
And you get warnings along the way to disable root as soon as possible.
All in all I like the way it's done: you still get a GUI, but you have to work for it. After all, you're doing something that's not recommended and can seriously impair your system. I don't know anybody who logs in as root just for fun or out of ignorance.
1: "In order for Linux to become as popular and intuitive [shiver] as Windows, things like "setting execute permissions" need to be automatic"
I really really disagree with that statement. It can be very easy without being automatic. On my Mac, I'm prompted to fill in my Admin Password when installing software. That's really a very very small thing.
But so far it does the trick in two ways: 1) It gives me pause. If I'm asked my password, I know something "deep" is going to happen. And I'm more likely to remember this event when strange things start to happen. 2) It keeps significant others from messing up my system for me. They can happily do anything they like, but can't install stuff behind my back.
2: "But "Regular User Guy" won't apply that patch. Multiply that by a million users. Now you have millions of machines out there running a rootable linux box."
Again, on my Mac, I have an extremely friendly updater. It tells me I need to install something. I click "OK" and it installs it. That's a two step process. One: read their message, two: click "OK".
And notwithstanding the new geeky crowd, the majority of mac users couldn't tell you the difference between Root and Admin. This foolproof update mechanism has kept the overwhelming majority of macs up to date. Although Windows Update is not bad at all (and was there before us Mac-heads had a tool like that), it still is beyond regular user's understanding or too much of a hassle.
Both mechanisms can be adopted by other OS's. There's no reason why good ideas can't be copied, happens all the time. I know OS X isn't everybody's cup of tea (coffee, java, cool aid) but it's an example of a secure desktop system that proves you wrong: the system can be secure without being demanding. I want to hear the first person to state his mac is more difficult than his windows machine.
And as an afterthought: both the article and some posts have rightfully pointed out that by adhering to some sound design principles, even very simple, useable mail-clients can be a lot safer than outlook. Again: on my mac I use Mail which is quite acceptable. It's extremely easy to handle attachments, even for the totally clueless.
Disclaimer: I like outlook, always did. Simple and powerful at the same time. But running exe's and other doodahs without my permission is totally unacceptable.
Why not like this: - Hey Oskar, I'm in the mood for something completely arcane... Blurb some code will ya? What? Oh, whatever language you're into, you know. Let it um... yeah, let it say "Hello World" ahahahahaha
- Daddy, daddy, you playing with my computer again? You're confusing him, you know that!
- Is allright honey, the blasted thing just said "Hola Mundo" to me, is all... sigh, I'm oooold...;-)
That's about the lamest thing you can post on/. Sorry, that sounds trollish, but it's true. You're talking to a crowd that loves their OS (whichever, take your pick).
And anywho, you use your OS all the time. A lot of your application's stability comes from the OS, especially when you use disk/ram/whatever hardware intensive soft. And a lot of functionality comes built in thanks to the OS - at least it does with OS X...
I can dig Linux or even Win2000 adepts. When you get what you want from your OS, and especially in this crowd, that's worth a lot.
What I can't understand is the amount of ass-pounding OS X users get from that same crowd. OK, if it doesn't run your favorite distro, or if you think the whole world should run their apps through X (nevermind fonts, printing, blahblahblah), but it's a great OS with some excellent software thrown "for free" in the package - and that package happens to be some pretty cool hardware.
Yeah yeah cool aid, Steve Jobs boy whatever, but I'm sure I have saved huge amounts of money over all the years I've used macs. And I'm totally cool with my OS, it keeps getting better.
I hope you're right about keyboards becoming rare. I type pretty well, you know, fast, ten fingers, know my shortcuts etc etc
But when all's said and done I'd rather my babydaughter in 20 years will laugh when daddy shows her the thing she's broken only 19 years ago and ask "now what the **** is that?"
It's a pretty powerful interface when you're programming or writing a book. For all other stuff, a keyboard and a mouse are um er primitive and counter intuitive.
When our blasted machines become more complex, I hope they'll at the same time get easier to manage, by voice, eye-tracking, gestures and pressure-sensitive screens or tablets, although writing on a tablet to see the result on a screen has also struck me as stupidly counter-intuitive. You need to have a special knack to pull that one off without having to retrain yourself completely.
I understand why we use the interfaces we have now, but when someone from Google makes predictions like this, I can only punch the air and shout Yessss!
Anyone saw that Sun movie where they predicted where we'd be by now? Too bad so little of their visions came true, but still very valid and imo workeable ideas.
Well, eventually most everyday technology will evolve to the point of being "magic", where some people will be very good at it, say "wizards" or geeks if you will and be able to do the weirdest things, but the vast majority of people will be proficient enough to say "give me the news of today, say the funny pages" and get what they asked for.
Electricity is pretty standard now, and most people don't have a clue how it actually works. To be more correct: nobody knows EXACTLY how electricity works. Still, we all manage to switch on the light. Maybe not everybody can change a lightbulb, but that's getting obsolete real fast as well. The more we integrate a thing, the more we adapt it to our limited understanding.
Computers are still pretty new and not yet stupified enough to be 100% accepted. They'll get simpler to use someday - or better still they'll be largely replaced with one-trick ponies and appliances.
Slashdot Mirror
No, I'm not naive to the practices of record labels. But most artists are very favorable to Apple's conditions.
And tell me, how do you think downloading music without paying is helping artists?
For every (non-millionaire) artist you show me who condones stealing his work I can show you ten who'd love to have a quiet word or two with you.
I've helped a few artists make "some" of their work available for free, online. That's cool. They're cool. That doesn't mean they don't want you to buy their CD.
Most artists can barely pay the rent. They love everybody who buys their music.
Is that naive?
Word of advice: don't do it.
Buy a refurb Mac, a second hand or whatever. You'll regret going Windows on the cheap.
If you have to go Windows (there are excellent reasons, like Dungeon Keeper II), at least try and get the hardware right.
Cheap does mean cheap. IOW: you'll get double the fun for half the price: a not so nice OS on faulty parts...
Someone forgot to take his prosac?
There, there. See, the nurse is all female, you can stop screaming...
"I mean .. who wants to pay for it?"
;-)
Us stupid people who like musicians to continue making music. This pay per download thing is by far the best option for musicians so far.
You want free music, buy a guitar.
BTW: I sniffed your IP, one of these days I'll come around to steal your mouse. Afterall, why should I pay for a mouse?
"What does Apple have to do with the G5?!"
I take it your post is more of a joke than a troll. If not, check out the G5 product pages (apple.com, too lazy to do this in html).
Apart from the fact that the G5 is per Apple's specs (which is not the same as "gimme a chip, we'll slam it on the motherboard")...
That bus speed is something, the whole motherboard is something, the whole 9 fans array is something. In fact the whole f*cking computer is awesome.
Remember, this is a PC, not a workstation. OK, that's maybe just a matter of words, but look at it this way:
they built a capable, very very gorgeous (and I'm not even talking about looks) computer around this you can just go out and buy. And it runs backward compatible all your (ok, maybe not your, but absolutely my) favorite apps on a very very nice OS.
Not meaning disrespect to IBM, but when you talk about the G5 you talk about Apple.
So?
Download RealOne.
FWIW I was stupid enough to aim my respons at "all complainers". Which inevitably means I'll insult some of you - and some of you undeserved. I apologise.
... you name it. And hundreds of thousands of people were laid off. We called it progress - which it probably is in the long run. All depends on your definition of the word progress.
It was an emotional response. The short of it is supposed to go something like this:
we (as in we as consumers) never mind if stuff becomes horribly cheap due to outsourcing of labor.
But now predictably it starts happening in the brain-department.
And the amount of bull you suddenly get from the same people who happily wear nike's and buy barbies without a second thought is incredible.
But this has happened time and again, in all industries. Steel, shipping (as in boats), textiles, plastics,
I'm not sure it's a good thing. There are many many sides to consider. One of them is that partly this outsourcing does improve some countries and their people, so it's not all bad everywhere. And stuff gets cheaper, which is nice in a sort of narrowminded way.
So lacking an overall opinion I can only say am glad for the Indians who can get value from their education. One of the other reasons of outsourcing is better project stability. A few years back programmers were happily hopping from one job to another. This of course damaged the projects they were working on. This job hopping is -still- not so popular in India.
This is a reaction to basically everybody complaining about outsoursing.
I'm sure you all drive a US car, your clothes are made in the US (like *really* made there, not just a label or screw fitted), as are your computers, your children's toys, your furniture, your kick-ass sportshoes and flufferalia.
You don't buy stuff manufactured by children, no sirry, of course not.
FWIW I think it's great some real work is getting outsourced instead of only the menial jobs! More power to them.
Well, I think the Mac still has the clear advantage. No Hassle.
My wife's toshiba (2 months old) is as standard as can be - except for the security updates. We bought a wireless mouse last week and it worked out of the box. Until the next day... Suddenly no mouse, no sir.
Plug it in my Cube, hello mouse, no problems at all...
It seems - same as with other hardware and software experiences I have had - Windows is getting better at making things work sooner, but still can't keep it all working for more than a few months.
All true, but show me the artist who wants to work for free.
;-)
Most artists - most people - are looking for a way to have a fun life while paying the bills.
I personally don't know any artist who wants to do everything for free, or otoh was discouraged doing something for free once in a while - including putting mp3's online. Truth is: everything concerning original work (be it programming or art) is hopelessly complicated, not only the free part of it.
And while I like your mail and share your dislike of that "mob like business culture", I should point out that in western society paying composers and musicians is nothing new. All this suffering and poverty for art is a load of crap. Historically, most artists we now rever were pretty well off, only a minority suffered as they should
For the same reason people tolerate paying for good software.
The DRM is implemented not as a big thorny stick in your ass, but as something nearly invisible that actually gives you more legal leeway than a *real* CD.
Yeah, but we like it like that :-)
serious:
I don't give a hoot about market share, all this proprietary crap (when I buy a car, I hope the engine they put in has some relation to the rest of the machine) and the OS someone prefers.
But the use of the word monopoly on apple hardware and software is a bit over the top.
If you choose to use OS X (instead of installing some very competent *nix distro) you know your hardware is supported, since it will only boot on a mac. In my book that's a feature, not a bug.
You want free music? Plug in your fucking guitar and make a song.
I don't say downloading is stealing, I say it's cheap. Trying to hide behind some sort of ideology is cheaper still.
Um, that's all folks...
Real nerds check out their preferences pane and disable any "power-feature" they don't like.
You don't even have to RTFM for that...
I'm not sure about that. Most windows people I know *never* buy anything. They run their pre-installed OS and copy copy copy copy...
... As far as they (the Windows people I know) are concerned it should all be free. The fact that they bought the computer is for them already a great concession...
Be it applications, games, music,
(and they bitch when their OS falls apart)
They'll explain they don't have any intention to go after the end user and close their australian branch...
There's a good example of a secure desktop system that doesn't let the mailer install stuff automatically: OS X.
The fact that so many tech *nix people are adopting this system makes it probable that the same ease of use will spread to Linux.
I can install what I like on my OS, but it requires a password. That's a little thing. I still don't feel I'm using a "harder" OS than windows - quite on the contrary.
My mail client doesn't auto-execute viruses. Again, I don't feel this makes my machine less easy to use. And btw: attachments are still extremely easy to handle, despite the fact they don't install themselves without me looking.
I'm sure the Mac ease of use in installing (and Update/Patching procedures) will be adopted sooner or later in Linux, since it so obviously pays off and since this is such a sore point for all developers who dream about a desktop Linux that actually gets adopted. And I'm equally sure they'll do it better and sooner than Microsoft.
Well, that's very easy ... compared to command line. I've enabled root a few times the past few years.
But it's quite hard to do compared to for instance setting desktop preferences. Net Info Manager really is very hard to understand for the average guy/grrl.
And you get warnings along the way to disable root as soon as possible.
All in all I like the way it's done: you still get a GUI, but you have to work for it. After all, you're doing something that's not recommended and can seriously impair your system.
I don't know anybody who logs in as root just for fun or out of ignorance.
Two reactions:
1:
"In order for Linux to become as popular and intuitive [shiver] as Windows, things like "setting execute permissions" need to be automatic"
I really really disagree with that statement. It can be very easy without being automatic.
On my Mac, I'm prompted to fill in my Admin Password when installing software. That's really a very very small thing.
But so far it does the trick in two ways:
1) It gives me pause. If I'm asked my password, I know something "deep" is going to happen. And I'm more likely to remember this event when strange things start to happen.
2) It keeps significant others from messing up my system for me. They can happily do anything they like, but can't install stuff behind my back.
2:
"But "Regular User Guy" won't apply that patch. Multiply that by a million users. Now you have millions of machines out there running a rootable linux box."
Again, on my Mac, I have an extremely friendly updater. It tells me I need to install something. I click "OK" and it installs it. That's a two step process.
One: read their message,
two: click "OK".
And notwithstanding the new geeky crowd, the majority of mac users couldn't tell you the difference between Root and Admin. This foolproof update mechanism has kept the overwhelming majority of macs up to date. Although Windows Update is not bad at all (and was there before us Mac-heads had a tool like that), it still is beyond regular user's understanding or too much of a hassle.
Both mechanisms can be adopted by other OS's. There's no reason why good ideas can't be copied, happens all the time. I know OS X isn't everybody's cup of tea (coffee, java, cool aid) but it's an example of a secure desktop system that proves you wrong: the system can be secure without being demanding. I want to hear the first person to state his mac is more difficult than his windows machine.
And as an afterthought: both the article and some posts have rightfully pointed out that by adhering to some sound design principles, even very simple, useable mail-clients can be a lot safer than outlook.
Again: on my mac I use Mail which is quite acceptable. It's extremely easy to handle attachments, even for the totally clueless.
Disclaimer: I like outlook, always did. Simple and powerful at the same time. But running exe's and other doodahs without my permission is totally unacceptable.
"And, just to give you an idea of the technical competence of the reviewer"...
Ok, so the guy didn't RTFM. That makes him stupid, I guess. We all here always RTFM, just as we RTFA, always. Cause we smart, yeh...
Why not like this:
;-)
- Hey Oskar, I'm in the mood for something completely arcane... Blurb some code will ya? What? Oh, whatever language you're into, you know.
Let it um... yeah, let it say "Hello World" ahahahahaha
- Daddy, daddy, you playing with my computer again? You're confusing him, you know that!
- Is allright honey, the blasted thing just said "Hola Mundo" to me, is all... sigh, I'm oooold...
That's about the lamest thing you can post on /.
...
Sorry, that sounds trollish, but it's true. You're talking to a crowd that loves their OS (whichever, take your pick).
And anywho, you use your OS all the time. A lot of your application's stability comes from the OS, especially when you use disk/ram/whatever hardware intensive soft. And a lot of functionality comes built in thanks to the OS - at least it does with OS X
I can dig Linux or even Win2000 adepts. When you get what you want from your OS, and especially in this crowd, that's worth a lot.
What I can't understand is the amount of ass-pounding OS X users get from that same crowd. OK, if it doesn't run your favorite distro, or if you think the whole world should run their apps through X (nevermind fonts, printing, blahblahblah), but it's a great OS with some excellent software thrown "for free" in the package - and that package happens to be some pretty cool hardware.
Yeah yeah cool aid, Steve Jobs boy whatever, but I'm sure I have saved huge amounts of money over all the years I've used macs. And I'm totally cool with my OS, it keeps getting better.
Thank god we now have iChat AV...
I hope you're right about keyboards becoming rare. I type pretty well, you know, fast, ten fingers, know my shortcuts etc etc
But when all's said and done I'd rather my babydaughter in 20 years will laugh when daddy shows her the thing she's broken only 19 years ago and ask "now what the **** is that?"
It's a pretty powerful interface when you're programming or writing a book. For all other stuff, a keyboard and a mouse are um er primitive and counter intuitive.
When our blasted machines become more complex, I hope they'll at the same time get easier to manage, by voice, eye-tracking, gestures and pressure-sensitive screens or tablets, although writing on a tablet to see the result on a screen has also struck me as stupidly counter-intuitive. You need to have a special knack to pull that one off without having to retrain yourself completely.
I understand why we use the interfaces we have now, but when someone from Google makes predictions like this, I can only punch the air and shout Yessss!
Anyone saw that Sun movie where they predicted where we'd be by now? Too bad so little of their visions came true, but still very valid and imo workeable ideas.
OK, rant over
Cheers
Well, eventually most everyday technology will evolve to the point of being "magic", where some people will be very good at it, say "wizards" or geeks if you will and be able to do the weirdest things, but the vast majority of people will be proficient enough to say "give me the news of today, say the funny pages" and get what they asked for.
Electricity is pretty standard now, and most people don't have a clue how it actually works. To be more correct: nobody knows EXACTLY how electricity works. Still, we all manage to switch on the light. Maybe not everybody can change a lightbulb, but that's getting obsolete real fast as well. The more we integrate a thing, the more we adapt it to our limited understanding.
Computers are still pretty new and not yet stupified enough to be 100% accepted. They'll get simpler to use someday - or better still they'll be largely replaced with one-trick ponies and appliances.