You said " Same performance as far as I can tell." (direct quote) and now you're trying to reframe the argument to price when you're called on the fact that the Dell doesn't even remotely match the Air for performance.
The C2D is *a league* ahead of the Atom for horsepower, the SSD is much faster, quieter and lower power than the HDD, the RAM is twice the size in less space, and faster, the display is much better.
They both run Snow Leopard - I guess that's how they're "the same performance, as far as you can tell". The argument is not at all about price - if you want cheap, there are other cheap ultraportables. This is about the performance, which you are claiming is "the same" when it it demonstrably not.
It gives you the option to copy your apps back *from* the device into iTunes if they are missing. I know this because I too have not long recovered from an HD crash - as in last year or so. I can't imagine the function has been removed.
I would think that conforming to the official spec was a good thing, and then "cheating" with two devices that can identify each other as "safe to exceed 500mA".
If Apple used non-standard USB ports, we'd never hear the end of the rage about "subverting the spec and making their own proprietary USB".
USB was never designed for high power delivery - it's one of the reasons Firewire was so much better as a high bandwidth, high-power serial port: 18-30V at 1 amp available if the device requests it.
My USB charger also predates the iPhone, so I'm not sure how they "compensated" for the trick before the product even existed, unless it's an industry standard trick to get around the official current limits on the USB spec (my charger was originally designed for something else).
Worked in about 10 seconds on my Powerbook G4. Just connect cable between laptop and HDMI port, OS X picks it up right away.
It could be that your TV was not replying automatically when connected, in which case you can tell OS X to "detect displays" and it will usually pop up then. I can't say I've ever had an issue with a secondary screen not working - especially 6 hours of work trying to get an HDMI-driven TV on OS X. I suspect hardware failure.
2.9GB of patches and 6 reboots on a brand new machine from Apple? Bullshit.
I'll take a single, or perhaps two reboots if there has been a firmware update for the machine in question (some of the firmware updates for the iMac require two reboots) but normal software updates really don't require 6 reboots. If you get way behind on updates, the software updater goes for the combo pack, which rolls them together precisely so you don't have to reboot multiple times. The updater also doesn't "surprise" you by hiding updates that have dependencies on ones you have installed previously - it puts them alongside those updates (and will grey them out if you deselect a dependency) and installs them all at the same time (if you choose) when you click "install".
Six reboots? PEBKAC error I think.
Or hyperbole.
The only thing not "fully configured" about OS X on a new box is your name, address and username. Do you expect that all to be set up for you by Apple before the machine ships? The only thing you need to do is tell it who you are (optional) set up an admin account (mandatory) and click "ok" (and just tell them you're *sure* you don;t want to try Mobile.Me for free, since it asks you again if you skip over it). That is the sum total of the setup required. Perhaps you're talking about pairing the BT keyboard and mouse if you have them. It prompts you as soon as it boots for the first time if it doesn't detect a USB kb and/or mouse.
I have set up more than enough Macs in my time, since the dawn of 10.0 beta (and before) to know that setting them up for people is a question of asking "what username and password do you want, and what is the password for your wireless network (again, Apple does not know this information in advance - you do have to provide it yourself, so I guess more evidence of 'not configured').
I use the regular cable that came with my iPhone (which has the 30 pin dock connector on one end and a USB connector on the other) and use it with a cheap generic USB charger (a transformer with a USB port on it) when I'm away from home. It also charges from any USB port I plug it into on any computer I have used. I charge it sometimes from a friend's Dell laptop (which does not have any Apple software installed at all [iTunes/Quicktime etc]) and from the USB port on my car's stereo head unit.
In my experience, unless *everyone* has gone to Apple and asked for special licencing to charge the iPhone, it is pretty much just a normal USB device expecting 5V DC at up to 500mA.
It has never complained that I haven't plugged it into an "approved" charger. It may have some feature in the official charger that allows it to draw more than 500mA when it is connected (ie, breaking the USB spec), but this does not seem to affect it at all when you connect it to other USB ports.
The cheap USB charger I have is not a "name" or anything - it's generic, unbranded, and it works fine. My car's head unit is made by Kenwood, and the USB port on it *is* approved by Apple (the unit controls the iPhone via the steering wheel controls/head unit controls). The Dell laptop belonging to my friend has no indication it was approved or licenced by Apple.
The phone simulator is pretty good - it is part of Xcode, and part of the whole app building process, not just a sideline in case you don't have hardware to test on. It's a good reflection of what your app will do on different types of iPhone. It's not just cobbled together.
If you build a Hackintosh, you can run your Xcode environment on the same hardware as your Android one, or you can buy a second hand Mac - I searched ebay and found at least three listed right now for Buy-It-Now prices of $299-300 (all intel Mac Minis), but as with any second hand purchase, YMMV. I live in the UK and have been eyeing ebay.co,uk up for some time for a reasonable intel Mac Mini to use an an XBMC box, and intel Mac Minis on there are hovering around £150-£200 (exchange rate may vary, and things are generally more expensive here than the US).
I'm not disputing that developing for Android isn't cheaper - it clearly is, but I am disputing your supposition that you need a minimum $599 to "enter the iPhone development market".
So you're not getting new, but do you really need new, if your budget is low? Sure you can get a new nettop or netbook, but if one of the criteria is "iphone development" it just doesn't stretch to new hardware if you want to get in at that price.
Either way, the cost of entry is much the same as an Android development environment, apart from the $99 fee to publish to the app store/push to a phone (you can develop an app entirely for free [minus the 'cost of getting Xcode' - a machine running OS X] without paying the fee if you use the built in phone simulation environment. It's no substitute for actual hardware testing, but if you can afford a broad range of handsets [3G, 3GS, 4, iPod Touch] to test on, you can afford the fee).
The majority of the comments that say the manufacturers won't go for it is in response to the exclusivity requirement - the need to either have the FSF badge (assuming the product qualifies), or the Made for Mac / Works with Windows badges, but not both. The reason appears to be entirely political, since the idea that people interested in the FSF badge would be "confused" about it appearing alongside other badges like those.
That is why it won't fly - manufacturers are not going to drop the "MfM" and "WwW" badges in favour of the FSF one entirely down to consumer base; there are going to be a lot more people who want to know at a glance if the product is Windows or Mac (or perhaps even both at the same time!) compatible than there are people looking at the FSF's endorsement (at least at this very early stage in its life cycle).
So, the idea is a good one. The exclusivity requirement is *totally brainless* and will almost guarantee the project will be DoA or have extremely limited penetration in the market, defeating the entire object of the exercise.
Apple doesn't charge you $599 for a "special computer" to run Xcode - you are not mandated to buy a new one. Any Mac with an Intel processor will do it, and there are many for sale cheaply.
You can also just create a Hackintosh if you really want (licence nonwithstanding).
You do actually need *some* form of computer hardware to develop on though, that is unavoidable. It's not mandatory to get that hardware brand new from the Apple store though, as you seem to be suggesting.
The rule specifically states that you *cannot* also badge your product with a "competing" (ie, a similar endorsement scheme to the FSF's) scheme such as "Works with Vista/XP/7" or "Made for Mac", even if all other parts of their criteria are met (and in doing so, just so happens to also work just fine with Mac and Windows). That is shooting themselves in the foot, since 1) the Windows and Mac endorsements/compatibility testing is very widespread, effective and useful system, 2) this idea from the FSF is a good idea (more consumer product information is good) but is setting itself up to be incompatible.
So, they either convince manufacturers to drop the Mac and Windows compatibility badges in order to carry theirs (and thus, make it harder for consumers than it was before - not much harder, but adding a needless speedbump) or they convince manufacturers to run multiple packaging schemes for the FSF-badged line of otherwise identical product, which would add cost to the whole operation and create logistics complexity where it need not exist.
Neither of those options is a good starting point, so I don't see this getting off the ground, although it really should.
Do they really think so little of their target demographic that their excuse is "people might get confused and think it requires the proprietary compatibility badges" - if you are looking for hardware that has the blessing of the FSF, you really aren't going to make that mistake. I think the real reason is just sour grapes/cutting off their nose to spite their face.
My 3G is as good as the day I bought it, going on 2 years ago now (or more - I'm well, well outside of contract). Battery is just fine. No scratches, bumps, breaks or damage. But then, I don;t treat it like crap, sit on it in my back pocket, put it in with my keys etc.
True, but Xcode is *everything* - not a light version. I think the fact that it has always been free was the spur for MS to release the Express version of their IDE - it never used to be free. Good that it is though; I'm sure there's enough there to get your feet wet. It doesn't quite match the fact that Xcode as supplied free of charge is exactly what Apple is using to develop OS X and iOS and their associated apps.
Sure you have to pay to develop on your phone (if you want to go the iPhone route) but the SDK is included by default and you can use it to create fully working apps without paying (you can test on the simulated phone, which obviously is not suitable for a production app, but if you are going to sell it, you pay the fee and get the ability to deploy it to your phone, and the app store). The OS X side is completely free.
From my experience too, on returning after a hiatus to find the gear score thing in place (and my character still being pretty well end-raid geared (ulduar 25/tournament 25), it seemed that the people demanding the really high gearscores and pre-completed raids didn't meet their own requirements - ie, they just wanted boosting.
I'll still never forget being turned away from a Karazan badge farming run on my 6/8 T6 mage with Sunwell off pieces for "too little spell power". Perhaps it was because I wasn't 8/8 - the sunwell pieces were better than the equivalent T6.
The "proof" at the lack of 1080 support was in Steve Jobs' actual keynote when he announced the thing - he made no secret that it only supported 720p. So he "did say it wouldn't do" 1080i and 1080p.
For $100, are those competing devices the size of of the new AppleTV (including the PSU)? Not all products address the same exact specs - that's why there are choices. It would be dull if they all did exactly the same thing with no variation whatsoever.
Not sure about cheaper, unless you're buying used. Many of the boxes out there are $150+, but you do get a little more (like a DVD drive in some) but they are physically bigger units.
I still think a Mac Mini makes a better HTPC box for XBMC, but there's something to be said for the sheer tiny size of the new AppleTV that makes it attractive.
It's a satirical take on the sort of comments that appear on other articles that feature video links with files encoded in H.264 and other formats that people always moan about "would love to watch it but needs quicktime, so I won't!" or "it's in H.264, which is patented so I can't watch it legally!" etc etc.
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Yes, a 1.4GHz C2D will run rings around a 1.8GHz dual core Atom. It's about twice as good.
You said " Same performance as far as I can tell." (direct quote) and now you're trying to reframe the argument to price when you're called on the fact that the Dell doesn't even remotely match the Air for performance.
The C2D is *a league* ahead of the Atom for horsepower, the SSD is much faster, quieter and lower power than the HDD, the RAM is twice the size in less space, and faster, the display is much better.
They both run Snow Leopard - I guess that's how they're "the same performance, as far as you can tell". The argument is not at all about price - if you want cheap, there are other cheap ultraportables. This is about the performance, which you are claiming is "the same" when it it demonstrably not.
It gives you the option to copy your apps back *from* the device into iTunes if they are missing. I know this because I too have not long recovered from an HD crash - as in last year or so. I can't imagine the function has been removed.
I installed Xcode (with the iPhone SDK) right off the Apple site - 6.2GB disk image, but fully up to date. One reboot.
It's not installed by default in OS X anymore. Did you install Tiger and then connect to the internet?
So what's wrong with that?
I would think that conforming to the official spec was a good thing, and then "cheating" with two devices that can identify each other as "safe to exceed 500mA".
If Apple used non-standard USB ports, we'd never hear the end of the rage about "subverting the spec and making their own proprietary USB".
USB was never designed for high power delivery - it's one of the reasons Firewire was so much better as a high bandwidth, high-power serial port: 18-30V at 1 amp available if the device requests it.
My USB charger also predates the iPhone, so I'm not sure how they "compensated" for the trick before the product even existed, unless it's an industry standard trick to get around the official current limits on the USB spec (my charger was originally designed for something else).
Some of us care. We're not all entirely constrained to the GUI.
Your Macbook is broken then.
Worked in about 10 seconds on my Powerbook G4. Just connect cable between laptop and HDMI port, OS X picks it up right away.
It could be that your TV was not replying automatically when connected, in which case you can tell OS X to "detect displays" and it will usually pop up then. I can't say I've ever had an issue with a secondary screen not working - especially 6 hours of work trying to get an HDMI-driven TV on OS X. I suspect hardware failure.
2.9GB of patches and 6 reboots on a brand new machine from Apple? Bullshit.
I'll take a single, or perhaps two reboots if there has been a firmware update for the machine in question (some of the firmware updates for the iMac require two reboots) but normal software updates really don't require 6 reboots. If you get way behind on updates, the software updater goes for the combo pack, which rolls them together precisely so you don't have to reboot multiple times. The updater also doesn't "surprise" you by hiding updates that have dependencies on ones you have installed previously - it puts them alongside those updates (and will grey them out if you deselect a dependency) and installs them all at the same time (if you choose) when you click "install".
Six reboots? PEBKAC error I think.
Or hyperbole.
The only thing not "fully configured" about OS X on a new box is your name, address and username. Do you expect that all to be set up for you by Apple before the machine ships? The only thing you need to do is tell it who you are (optional) set up an admin account (mandatory) and click "ok" (and just tell them you're *sure* you don;t want to try Mobile.Me for free, since it asks you again if you skip over it). That is the sum total of the setup required. Perhaps you're talking about pairing the BT keyboard and mouse if you have them. It prompts you as soon as it boots for the first time if it doesn't detect a USB kb and/or mouse.
I have set up more than enough Macs in my time, since the dawn of 10.0 beta (and before) to know that setting them up for people is a question of asking "what username and password do you want, and what is the password for your wireless network (again, Apple does not know this information in advance - you do have to provide it yourself, so I guess more evidence of 'not configured').
On slashdot, I think that is the equivalent of calling the monitor "the computer" or the desktop case "the cpu".
What connector? The USB connector?
I use the regular cable that came with my iPhone (which has the 30 pin dock connector on one end and a USB connector on the other) and use it with a cheap generic USB charger (a transformer with a USB port on it) when I'm away from home. It also charges from any USB port I plug it into on any computer I have used. I charge it sometimes from a friend's Dell laptop (which does not have any Apple software installed at all [iTunes/Quicktime etc]) and from the USB port on my car's stereo head unit.
In my experience, unless *everyone* has gone to Apple and asked for special licencing to charge the iPhone, it is pretty much just a normal USB device expecting 5V DC at up to 500mA.
It has never complained that I haven't plugged it into an "approved" charger. It may have some feature in the official charger that allows it to draw more than 500mA when it is connected (ie, breaking the USB spec), but this does not seem to affect it at all when you connect it to other USB ports.
The cheap USB charger I have is not a "name" or anything - it's generic, unbranded, and it works fine. My car's head unit is made by Kenwood, and the USB port on it *is* approved by Apple (the unit controls the iPhone via the steering wheel controls/head unit controls). The Dell laptop belonging to my friend has no indication it was approved or licenced by Apple.
Horses per submarine is much more effective measurement for that sort of thing.
My non-Apple USB charger and my Apple iPhone (non-jailbroken) beg to differ with your misinformed opinion.
The phone simulator is pretty good - it is part of Xcode, and part of the whole app building process, not just a sideline in case you don't have hardware to test on. It's a good reflection of what your app will do on different types of iPhone. It's not just cobbled together.
If you build a Hackintosh, you can run your Xcode environment on the same hardware as your Android one, or you can buy a second hand Mac - I searched ebay and found at least three listed right now for Buy-It-Now prices of $299-300 (all intel Mac Minis), but as with any second hand purchase, YMMV. I live in the UK and have been eyeing ebay.co,uk up for some time for a reasonable intel Mac Mini to use an an XBMC box, and intel Mac Minis on there are hovering around £150-£200 (exchange rate may vary, and things are generally more expensive here than the US).
I'm not disputing that developing for Android isn't cheaper - it clearly is, but I am disputing your supposition that you need a minimum $599 to "enter the iPhone development market".
You can also buy second hand Macs for $200-$300.
So you're not getting new, but do you really need new, if your budget is low? Sure you can get a new nettop or netbook, but if one of the criteria is "iphone development" it just doesn't stretch to new hardware if you want to get in at that price.
Either way, the cost of entry is much the same as an Android development environment, apart from the $99 fee to publish to the app store/push to a phone (you can develop an app entirely for free [minus the 'cost of getting Xcode' - a machine running OS X] without paying the fee if you use the built in phone simulation environment. It's no substitute for actual hardware testing, but if you can afford a broad range of handsets [3G, 3GS, 4, iPod Touch] to test on, you can afford the fee).
The majority of the comments that say the manufacturers won't go for it is in response to the exclusivity requirement - the need to either have the FSF badge (assuming the product qualifies), or the Made for Mac / Works with Windows badges, but not both. The reason appears to be entirely political, since the idea that people interested in the FSF badge would be "confused" about it appearing alongside other badges like those.
That is why it won't fly - manufacturers are not going to drop the "MfM" and "WwW" badges in favour of the FSF one entirely down to consumer base; there are going to be a lot more people who want to know at a glance if the product is Windows or Mac (or perhaps even both at the same time!) compatible than there are people looking at the FSF's endorsement (at least at this very early stage in its life cycle).
So, the idea is a good one. The exclusivity requirement is *totally brainless* and will almost guarantee the project will be DoA or have extremely limited penetration in the market, defeating the entire object of the exercise.
Apple doesn't charge you $599 for a "special computer" to run Xcode - you are not mandated to buy a new one. Any Mac with an Intel processor will do it, and there are many for sale cheaply.
You can also just create a Hackintosh if you really want (licence nonwithstanding).
You do actually need *some* form of computer hardware to develop on though, that is unavoidable. It's not mandatory to get that hardware brand new from the Apple store though, as you seem to be suggesting.
The rule specifically states that you *cannot* also badge your product with a "competing" (ie, a similar endorsement scheme to the FSF's) scheme such as "Works with Vista/XP/7" or "Made for Mac", even if all other parts of their criteria are met (and in doing so, just so happens to also work just fine with Mac and Windows). That is shooting themselves in the foot, since 1) the Windows and Mac endorsements/compatibility testing is very widespread, effective and useful system, 2) this idea from the FSF is a good idea (more consumer product information is good) but is setting itself up to be incompatible.
So, they either convince manufacturers to drop the Mac and Windows compatibility badges in order to carry theirs (and thus, make it harder for consumers than it was before - not much harder, but adding a needless speedbump) or they convince manufacturers to run multiple packaging schemes for the FSF-badged line of otherwise identical product, which would add cost to the whole operation and create logistics complexity where it need not exist.
Neither of those options is a good starting point, so I don't see this getting off the ground, although it really should.
Do they really think so little of their target demographic that their excuse is "people might get confused and think it requires the proprietary compatibility badges" - if you are looking for hardware that has the blessing of the FSF, you really aren't going to make that mistake. I think the real reason is just sour grapes/cutting off their nose to spite their face.
My 3G is as good as the day I bought it, going on 2 years ago now (or more - I'm well, well outside of contract). Battery is just fine. No scratches, bumps, breaks or damage. But then, I don;t treat it like crap, sit on it in my back pocket, put it in with my keys etc.
Doesn't have a case either.
Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.
Or that Linux is a good server OS, by that chalk, if we're going with "popular = automatically rubbish".
True, but Xcode is *everything* - not a light version. I think the fact that it has always been free was the spur for MS to release the Express version of their IDE - it never used to be free. Good that it is though; I'm sure there's enough there to get your feet wet. It doesn't quite match the fact that Xcode as supplied free of charge is exactly what Apple is using to develop OS X and iOS and their associated apps.
Sure you have to pay to develop on your phone (if you want to go the iPhone route) but the SDK is included by default and you can use it to create fully working apps without paying (you can test on the simulated phone, which obviously is not suitable for a production app, but if you are going to sell it, you pay the fee and get the ability to deploy it to your phone, and the app store). The OS X side is completely free.
From my experience too, on returning after a hiatus to find the gear score thing in place (and my character still being pretty well end-raid geared (ulduar 25/tournament 25), it seemed that the people demanding the really high gearscores and pre-completed raids didn't meet their own requirements - ie, they just wanted boosting.
I'll still never forget being turned away from a Karazan badge farming run on my 6/8 T6 mage with Sunwell off pieces for "too little spell power". Perhaps it was because I wasn't 8/8 - the sunwell pieces were better than the equivalent T6.
The "proof" at the lack of 1080 support was in Steve Jobs' actual keynote when he announced the thing - he made no secret that it only supported 720p. So he "did say it wouldn't do" 1080i and 1080p.
For $100, are those competing devices the size of of the new AppleTV (including the PSU)? Not all products address the same exact specs - that's why there are choices. It would be dull if they all did exactly the same thing with no variation whatsoever.
Not sure about cheaper, unless you're buying used. Many of the boxes out there are $150+, but you do get a little more (like a DVD drive in some) but they are physically bigger units.
I still think a Mac Mini makes a better HTPC box for XBMC, but there's something to be said for the sheer tiny size of the new AppleTV that makes it attractive.
It prints at 25, 29.97 or 24 fps to a large, electronic whiteboard-style thing. ;)
Whoosh.....
It's a satirical take on the sort of comments that appear on other articles that feature video links with files encoded in H.264 and other formats that people always moan about "would love to watch it but needs quicktime, so I won't!" or "it's in H.264, which is patented so I can't watch it legally!" etc etc.