With the PDA, you have the screen size problem (a phone with a large screen takes up too much room in your pocket and drains too much power, and a PDA with a small screen is too hard to read.) With the camera, you have the lens problem. With the MP3 and video players, you have the storage capacity problem. With the game consoles, you have the control problem.
But in the case of a GPS, I see no reason why the mobile phone couldn't suffice. As far as I can see, they don't bulk the size of the phone up much, they don't require awesome processing power, and they don't require fancy controls.
It's not as bad as you think. The Motorola A925 (top of the line in the range, until the A1000 comes out) is only AU$700.
Nokia is another story, but Nokia are always overpriced.
The far bigger problem here is that any phone I actually want, isn't available to buy. Just try finding an A768. Or try getting Motorola to tell you when the next models of phones are coming out here, and they will say "don't know", or "have no plans."
Well, people were still willing to hold the N-Gage up to their ear, so 5 pounds of camera making someone look like a dick probably isn't much worse.:-)
I'm all for that, but since I also need a PDA, what do I do about the contact lists? Does the PDA have the definitive list, or does the phone have the definitive list?
Obviously the phone needs the list, otherwise you have no phone numbers to call. But if you only use the phone to enter all contact information, you're constrained to the tiny screen. And manually syncing the two every time one or the other gets new information is a horrible idea.
Since a PDA-sized phone is about as undesirable as a phone-sized PDA, I figure the only true way to solve this problem is to get the Bluetooth working so well that you can configure the phone to pull the list from the PDA if it can find it in its vicinity. That way, you only have to manage the list on the PDA, but the phone still has complete access to the list.
In the case of a PC, the integrated motherboard costs less than the original motherboard, a sound card, and a network card.
In the case of a phone, the integrated PDA+phone is far more expensive than a much better PDA, and a phone.
If only this weren't true, I would be a happy, happy person right now, as I'm looking for a new phone and a new PDA, and am hating that I can't afford the combined systems.
Actually, all the reviews I've read (and it's been a lot in the past week, because I need to buy a PDA and I'm doing heavy research) say that software was the main improvement on the 6000* compared to the 5x00*.
That being said, the 6000* _is_ way overpriced. And the Japanese seem to be paying more for the same model as the US, which is bad when the model I want isn't released anywhere but Japan.
The only real requirements I have for a device are... PIM features, preferably Qtopia/OPIE support, so that I don't have to wait five years to get sync software which works, and Bluetooth built-in. Wireless is a bonus, but Bluetooth is a requirement as if I'm going to suffer having both a phone _and_ a PDA, the two at least need to talk.
Combined setups might have been the way to go, but I can't find any of the phones I actually want, anywhere in the world. Go figure that all the best stuff isn't for sale.
I gather if you put the Zaurus SL-6000W against the other two though, that it wouldn't be quite so screwed by the other two. That way you get the 400MHz XScale processor, with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and the only real problem is the batteries are stupidly hard to find (harder to find than the unit itself, and that is really something!):-)
Therefore, none of them were actually scams. All the links went nowhere, and they were for some reason trying to trick us into thinking they went to some suspicious web site.
Normally, a scam would have the actual link to the suspicious web site, and then use JavaScript to trick us into thinking it's the real site.
I don't know about that. Are 512MB adapters even out? The 256MB versions already cost too much money, and buying more RAM and a new motherboard would take even more money out of your pocket, which would then all be unavailable for upgrading the graphics adapter.:-)
Couldn't you use a massive amount of RAM, and a fat AGP (or PCI-E, for that matter) interface, to deal with the 500MB of textures? That's how other applications used to do it, before the huge amounts of video RAM showed up. Actually, I recall something about that being the entire point of AGP.
Cool, is this ASF file I have here audio, or a video? Because apparently you can tell "just by looking at it." Never mind that nobody else can.:-)
The truth is, file extensions mean DICK in the grand scheme of things. Operating systems should choose more intelligent ways to distinguish filetypes... it doesn't matter if you use metadata or a program like file(1), either option are better than using file extensions to leap to conclusions.
And anyway, both audio and video open using the same application, so who cares?;-)
I was wondering about that myself. The Motorola MPx is another handheld with Wi-Fi built-in which is due out fairly soon as I understand it, and presumably you could put some real SIP calling software on that phone in order to get the functionality without being locked to one company's expensive wireless gateways.
The modchip was AU$40, so probably about $25 in yank dollars.
I bought the Xbox itself on rewards from my credit card for AU$250, which I guess equates to $150 in yank dollars. Of course, it was bought for the purpose of replacing my broken DVD player, not for gaming since the GameCube was doing excellently at that, but when I discovered it could fairly effectively emulate the N64 as well as the GBA and SNES, I was fairly pleased (although I really do need to find a way to use the real controllers...)
KDE and GNOME certainly both have their issues. I would love to move back to something like Fluxbox or FVWM with ROX filer, if only I weren't so damn addicted to KDE.:-)
The only thing in KDE which irks me enough to make me change is its apparent inability to set the default web browser.
I figured that preference was there simply because they had IE on their system, but didn't have Mozilla/Firefox on it at all, and thus never saw what "superior" was.
Say, that sounds like a good idea. Instead of navigating around folders to get to files, we could be navigating around railroads to get at trains. Database records within a train could be the individual carriages of the train. It sounds good, but I wonder if it would work in practice...
They probably just left the word "free" out of their statement, that's all. Plus, not everyone wants to fork for expensive hardware just to run a pretty GUI.:-)
Not that I would be particularly worried about them breaking Debian any time soon, when you consider their pace of development. Who knows, by the time the next "stable" comes out, FreeDesktop's server might be final, and Duke Nukem Forever might be out.
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Like hell. I paid for my TV once already.
With the PDA, you have the screen size problem (a phone with a large screen takes up too much room in your pocket and drains too much power, and a PDA with a small screen is too hard to read.) With the camera, you have the lens problem. With the MP3 and video players, you have the storage capacity problem. With the game consoles, you have the control problem.
But in the case of a GPS, I see no reason why the mobile phone couldn't suffice. As far as I can see, they don't bulk the size of the phone up much, they don't require awesome processing power, and they don't require fancy controls.
It's not as bad as you think. The Motorola A925 (top of the line in the range, until the A1000 comes out) is only AU$700.
Nokia is another story, but Nokia are always overpriced.
The far bigger problem here is that any phone I actually want, isn't available to buy. Just try finding an A768. Or try getting Motorola to tell you when the next models of phones are coming out here, and they will say "don't know", or "have no plans."
Well, people were still willing to hold the N-Gage up to their ear, so 5 pounds of camera making someone look like a dick probably isn't much worse. :-)
I'm all for that, but since I also need a PDA, what do I do about the contact lists? Does the PDA have the definitive list, or does the phone have the definitive list?
Obviously the phone needs the list, otherwise you have no phone numbers to call. But if you only use the phone to enter all contact information, you're constrained to the tiny screen. And manually syncing the two every time one or the other gets new information is a horrible idea.
Since a PDA-sized phone is about as undesirable as a phone-sized PDA, I figure the only true way to solve this problem is to get the Bluetooth working so well that you can configure the phone to pull the list from the PDA if it can find it in its vicinity. That way, you only have to manage the list on the PDA, but the phone still has complete access to the list.
Unless, of course, someone like Canon start making those integrated cameras which come with the phones.
In the case of a PC, the integrated motherboard costs less than the original motherboard, a sound card, and a network card.
In the case of a phone, the integrated PDA+phone is far more expensive than a much better PDA, and a phone.
If only this weren't true, I would be a happy, happy person right now, as I'm looking for a new phone and a new PDA, and am hating that I can't afford the combined systems.
Actually, all the reviews I've read (and it's been a lot in the past week, because I need to buy a PDA and I'm doing heavy research) say that software was the main improvement on the 6000* compared to the 5x00*.
That being said, the 6000* _is_ way overpriced. And the Japanese seem to be paying more for the same model as the US, which is bad when the model I want isn't released anywhere but Japan.
The only real requirements I have for a device are... PIM features, preferably Qtopia/OPIE support, so that I don't have to wait five years to get sync software which works, and Bluetooth built-in. Wireless is a bonus, but Bluetooth is a requirement as if I'm going to suffer having both a phone _and_ a PDA, the two at least need to talk.
Combined setups might have been the way to go, but I can't find any of the phones I actually want, anywhere in the world. Go figure that all the best stuff isn't for sale.
I gather if you put the Zaurus SL-6000W against the other two though, that it wouldn't be quite so screwed by the other two. That way you get the 400MHz XScale processor, with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, and the only real problem is the batteries are stupidly hard to find (harder to find than the unit itself, and that is really something!) :-)
Therefore, none of them were actually scams. All the links went nowhere, and they were for some reason trying to trick us into thinking they went to some suspicious web site.
Normally, a scam would have the actual link to the suspicious web site, and then use JavaScript to trick us into thinking it's the real site.
They fail it.
I don't know about that. Are 512MB adapters even out? The 256MB versions already cost too much money, and buying more RAM and a new motherboard would take even more money out of your pocket, which would then all be unavailable for upgrading the graphics adapter. :-)
Couldn't you use a massive amount of RAM, and a fat AGP (or PCI-E, for that matter) interface, to deal with the 500MB of textures? That's how other applications used to do it, before the huge amounts of video RAM showed up. Actually, I recall something about that being the entire point of AGP.
Cool, is this ASF file I have here audio, or a video? Because apparently you can tell "just by looking at it." Never mind that nobody else can. :-)
The truth is, file extensions mean DICK in the grand scheme of things. Operating systems should choose more intelligent ways to distinguish filetypes... it doesn't matter if you use metadata or a program like file(1), either option are better than using file extensions to leap to conclusions.
And anyway, both audio and video open using the same application, so who cares? ;-)
I'm hoping that Creative answer this by putting the decoding in hardware like they claim to have for MP3. ;-)
I find it slightly ironic, or perhaps just lop-sided, that stability is considered important for "their" server but not for "my" handset.
I was wondering about that myself. The Motorola MPx is another handheld with Wi-Fi built-in which is due out fairly soon as I understand it, and presumably you could put some real SIP calling software on that phone in order to get the functionality without being locked to one company's expensive wireless gateways.
More importantly, will any Microsoft operating system ever ship with a DVD player out of the box?
The modchip was AU$40, so probably about $25 in yank dollars.
I bought the Xbox itself on rewards from my credit card for AU$250, which I guess equates to $150 in yank dollars. Of course, it was bought for the purpose of replacing my broken DVD player, not for gaming since the GameCube was doing excellently at that, but when I discovered it could fairly effectively emulate the N64 as well as the GBA and SNES, I was fairly pleased (although I really do need to find a way to use the real controllers...)
Maybe in US dollars, it does.
KDE and GNOME certainly both have their issues. I would love to move back to something like Fluxbox or FVWM with ROX filer, if only I weren't so damn addicted to KDE. :-)
The only thing in KDE which irks me enough to make me change is its apparent inability to set the default web browser.
I figured that preference was there simply because they had IE on their system, but didn't have Mozilla/Firefox on it at all, and thus never saw what "superior" was.
Say, that sounds like a good idea. Instead of navigating around folders to get to files, we could be navigating around railroads to get at trains. Database records within a train could be the individual carriages of the train. It sounds good, but I wonder if it would work in practice...
They probably just left the word "free" out of their statement, that's all. Plus, not everyone wants to fork for expensive hardware just to run a pretty GUI. :-)
I use the Xbox to play all the old Nintendo games. It might seem wrong, but I didn't have to pay $100 for a GameBoy Player either.
Not that I would be particularly worried about them breaking Debian any time soon, when you consider their pace of development. Who knows, by the time the next "stable" comes out, FreeDesktop's server might be final, and Duke Nukem Forever might be out.