Actually I see another reason to keep the base model at 16Gb. App development is crucial to the iPhone (and any other smartphone out there), and many developers don't like to do the extra work to keep their application sizes sane. However, as long as the base model is 16Gb, app developers need to keep this in mind when developing their apps.
Thank God this logic has not applied for the last 30 years, or I'd still be using my Commodore 64 with 64k of RAM.
If this encourages even only some developers to keep their applications down to a sensible size (knowing that anyone with a 16Gb device will either avoid their application, or delete it as soon as they run low on space) then I guess it's worth it.
I would like to suggest that iDevices have actually regressed in terms of storage: Retina caused many apps to get much larger, and iOS has grown in size. This means 16 GB doesn't go as far as it used to.
Apple are just being cheap and greedy bastards, because they know they can get away with it and still make obscene profits.
When I researched the Office 365 advertisement notifications in Windows, I came across quite a few people saying that Windows Update was reinstalling the "Get Office 365" app and re-enabling the advertisement notifications. They suggested leaving it installed and just turning off notifications for it.
Anyway, my problem is solved, thanks. I'm more worried about Microsoft appearing to go back to their old, obnoxious, anti-competitive, monopolistic behavior.
GP probably purchased a pre-built PC from Best Buy, loaded with whatever Bloatware they felt like cramming in there. I have Win10 installed on a PC at home as well, and haven't seen anything obnoxious.
Fresh install of Windows 8.1 after I swapped mechanical hard drive for SSD. I downloaded the Windows 8.1 ISO from Microsoft.
The Windows 10 install was the automated one. The Office 365 notification app is well known on the Intarwebz. Google it.
Citations or screenshots please. I have Win10 on three PCs I use all the time and have not seen any of the bs you're talking about.
You're lucky. For those not so lucky, they can Google how to disable some of the bad behaviors.
As a freebie, here's how you disable the Office 365 advertising in Windows 10:
Start > Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Scroll down to "Show notifications from these apps" > Get Office > Off.
Microsoft knows non-technical people aren't likely to find and disable this kind of obnoxious behavior, so they'll be stuck with obnoxious "Get Office 365!" notifications forever. As well as the other things I mentioned.
I also have an iPad 2 which was bought at the exact same time. Same results, equivalent CPU, same RAM, runs just fine with the latest software from Apple. It will even support iOS9.
I have an iPad 2 as well, and I'm not so sure I'd say it "runs just fine."
It's quite laggy these days. Screen transitions are laggy, the software keyboard is laggy, opening apps is laggy, etc.
All that being said, I think it's super impressive that Apple is still pushing software updates out for it. I think that's great. Way better than most Android manufacturers who release an Android tablet and if you're lucky you get another update or two, then you're abandoned forever.
But still, the performance of Apple's iOS 9 on iPad 2 is kind of a disappointment, but the fact that they keep pushing updates out at all is amazing.
surely they know what they're doing and it's all for a better customer experience.
Oh, absolutely! Windows 10 is great!
So far, Windows 10 has reminded me repeatedly that I should: (1) Consider getting Office 365! (2) Consider installing Skype! (3) Should collect and use Bing Rewards! (4) That I should look into getting an Xbox! (5) That I should buy things from the Microsoft Store!
If I didn't like to play PC games, I'd have gotten a Mac instead. Microsoft is displaying some of the most ballsy behavior I've seen since the 1990's. The outright obnoxious behavior and contempt they're showing for their users astonishes me. I feel like the old anti-competitive, monopolistic Microsoft is back.
So much for Windows 10 being a good release. *sigh*
There are some good PC laptops out there. I really like the new Dell XPS 13, for example. But pound for pound, it costs about the same as a comparable Mac, particularly if you go with an SSD, which is standard on all Macs
The less expensive Macs (...which are still expensive...) still come with a paltry amount of SSD storage, though (128 GB? sheesh).
For example, the 13 inch MacBook "Pro" for $1299 (ouch!) only comes with 128 GB of SSD storage (double ouch!).
But I guess you can pay an extra $200 for an extra 128 GB of SSD storage (triple ouch!!!).
Seriously though, I'd recommend ditching caps lock, tab, insert, num lock, home, end, page up, page down, scroll lock, pause/break, and roll the delete and backspace keys into a single delete key.
As a software developer, I'd be pretty unhappy not having keys dedicated to caps lock, tab, home, end, page up, page down, delete, and backspace.
I'd also take the damnable Windows logo off the command key and just refer to it as CMD across operating systems.
Let's talk about this. First of all, every language has undefined behavior, unless you mean ML, which is fully defined. That's part of the reason the NICTA team proved that the assembly output from the compiler matched the specification. You might have a point there, but you'll need to say it more clearly.
Okay, let me rephrase: the less undefined behavior in a programming language specification, the better. Programming is already a complex task -- having to worry about the hundreds of undefined behaviors in the C family of languages is a nontrivial burden.
Secondly, I'm not sure which aspect of 'memory safety' you're referring to. If you mean memory leaks, then a higher level language won't save you. I've fixed more memory leaks in Javascript and Java over the last year than in C. In one case, the guy was calling into JNI and spent a month looking for a memory leak in the C portion. I hooked it up to a Java profiler and found the memory leak in a day. "Memory safety" only lulls you into a false sense of security.
I'm referring to things like running off the end of an array and incorrectly set pointers resulting in damaged program state. This can be very hard to debug because often the system keeps running, and where you see the error can be far, far removed from the bad code that damaged program state in the first place.
Static and strong typing....I'd be interested in hearing why you chose this......there are plenty of people who disagree. I mentioned Javascript as the most popular, but of course Python is rising in popularity as well, especially as a replacement for PHP. Alan Kay considers dynamic typing (runtime type binding) to be vastly superior. Alan Kay is not some foolish programmer addicted to low-level stuff, and he knows what he's talking about.
Static typing because the compiler will error instead of errors at runtime.
Strong typing so that hidden promotions don't result in unexpected behavior -- the programmer will be more likely to stop for a moment and think about it.
In my experience, dynamically typed programming languages like Python don't scale (to large teams) or refactor well, and there's the ever present danger of runtime type failures.
That's the kind of things ideologues have said about languages they didn't like for half a century. You are fitting into the pattern.
Okay, I admit to a bit of hyperbole above.:-)
However, JavaScript was never really meant for the kinds of applications it's now used for. Brendan E. and Netscape expected JavaScript to be used for light scripting in web pages, not for full blown browser applications. Java was supposed to be the solution for "real" browser applications. Many of the design decisions in JavaScript were made with this in mind.
That being said, I don't think JavaScript is useless or hopeless. It has taken some positive evolutionary steps, and I hope it continues to do so. I still think, for the things it's used for, it's inferior to languages that have static typing and strong typing, but it's obviously still useful.
Regarding C, C++, and Objective-C, I think they made good sense, once upon a time. I used to love C, and spent over 20 years programming it professionally, and even longer personally. I'm no stranger to the problems in the C family of languages, and was a "cross platform expert" in C for a good long while, and became intimately familiar with many of its problems.
But the C family of languages make less and less sense for an expanding domain of applications. There's simply too much undefined and implementation defined behavior, not to mention the lack of memory safety. Even simple signed arithmetic -- a + b -- can invoke undefined behavior, unless you're very careful. There's just too much to worry about.
That's not to say I think C, C++, and Objective-C are worthless. They have their application domains, it's just that those application domains have been shrinking, and continue to shrink.
Most code should be written in a memory safe language with no undefined behavior, preferably with static typing and strong typing. When necessary, dropping down into a C family language makes sense, where memory layout, size, performance, etc. are crucial.
which is great because we need to rid ourselves from the c language and all the crime it spawned.
"The crime it spawned" presumably includes C++ and Objective-C, and Swift is certainly meant to replace Objective-C.
Programming is, slowly but surely, maturing. The value of static typing over dynamic typing, strong typing over weak typing, safe memory programming languages over unsafe memory programming language, etc. is becoming undeniable.
Good riddance to C, and all the crime it spawned.:-)
The iPad Air 2 model that costs $500 comes with a meager 16 GB of storage. Just like the original iPad, all those years ago. No progress at all, despite much lower storage prices.
In fact, given larger iOS sizes, and the fact that "retina" apps now require more space, iPad storage has essentially regressed.
An iPad Air 2 with 128 GB costs a whopping $700 (and that's wi-fi only). I guess you don't get hundreds of billions in the bank without grossly overcharging your customers.
Comparing X terminals to the web was a shitty analogy the first time someone uttered it, and it's still a shitty analogy. The shitty analogy keeps getting modded up to the moon, while I'm sure my correction will be ignored (or downvoted) AGAIN.
Properly written web apps can push A LOT of the work client side. Web apps can be very client/server, with emphasis on client, if written properly!
X apps display on your workstation but run almost entirely on the server. Even to the point that mouse movement and every keystroke is traversing the Internet. Are my keystokes, as I'm typing this comment, traversing the Internet right now? NO, they are NOT. I'm getting very low latency on every key press because the client side is handling all my comment typing.
The web is far better than X apps ever were, because they allow the developer to balance the client vs. server as desired.
But seriously, as AC has posted, the question is meaningless if time "started" at the point of the Big Bang.
That's a mighty big "if". I like watching all the armchair physicists around here assume they know the answer with a religious-like fervor.
For all we know, the Big Bang had a cause. What caused it may exist in a "lower level" time that we don't knowingly experience. We might just experience our local time.
No, definitely meaningless. Time itself began with the Big Bang. The instant of the Big Bang is t=0. There is no t = -1.
It's not meaningless.
The time we experience may have started with the Big Bang, but there may be a lower level time component to the greater universe. For example, one theory is that two Branes colliding caused the Big Bang we know and love. In order for two Branes to collide, they must exist in their own time, lower level than our time.
Slashdot Mirror
So you aren't tracked on the web when you use a web browser in Linux?
I use Gopher, you insensitive clod!
I think you mean Surface 3 PRO. The Surface 3 has no fan.I have a Surface 3 and I will admit its a compromise between laptop and tablet.
Indeed you are correct, thanks for the correction.
It's the software and OS it runs that matters.
A friend of mine owns a Surface 3, and it doesn't sound that great.
* A somewhat loud, whining fan, that cranks up far too often
* Bad keyboard
* Most of the software it runs is not touch friendly
* Windows 10
It still looks like a combination of a poor laptop and poor tablet to me.
Actually I see another reason to keep the base model at 16Gb. App development is crucial to the iPhone (and any other smartphone out there), and many developers don't like to do the extra work to keep their application sizes sane. However, as long as the base model is 16Gb, app developers need to keep this in mind when developing their apps.
Thank God this logic has not applied for the last 30 years, or I'd still be using my Commodore 64 with 64k of RAM.
If this encourages even only some developers to keep their applications down to a sensible size (knowing that anyone with a 16Gb device will either avoid their application, or delete it as soon as they run low on space) then I guess it's worth it.
I would like to suggest that iDevices have actually regressed in terms of storage: Retina caused many apps to get much larger, and iOS has grown in size. This means 16 GB doesn't go as far as it used to.
Apple are just being cheap and greedy bastards, because they know they can get away with it and still make obscene profits.
iOS9 isn't out yet. Did you try a developer's version?
Oh, sorry, my bad. I'm running whatever the latest regular release is.
Right click the tile. Uninstall.
When I researched the Office 365 advertisement notifications in Windows, I came across quite a few people saying that Windows Update was reinstalling the "Get Office 365" app and re-enabling the advertisement notifications. They suggested leaving it installed and just turning off notifications for it.
Anyway, my problem is solved, thanks. I'm more worried about Microsoft appearing to go back to their old, obnoxious, anti-competitive, monopolistic behavior.
GP probably purchased a pre-built PC from Best Buy, loaded with whatever Bloatware they felt like cramming in there. I have Win10 installed on a PC at home as well, and haven't seen anything obnoxious.
Fresh install of Windows 8.1 after I swapped mechanical hard drive for SSD. I downloaded the Windows 8.1 ISO from Microsoft.
The Windows 10 install was the automated one. The Office 365 notification app is well known on the Intarwebz. Google it.
Citations or screenshots please. I have Win10 on three PCs I use all the time and have not seen any of the bs you're talking about.
You're lucky. For those not so lucky, they can Google how to disable some of the bad behaviors.
As a freebie, here's how you disable the Office 365 advertising in Windows 10:
Start > Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Scroll down to "Show notifications from these apps" > Get Office > Off.
Microsoft knows non-technical people aren't likely to find and disable this kind of obnoxious behavior, so they'll be stuck with obnoxious "Get Office 365!" notifications forever. As well as the other things I mentioned.
I also have an iPad 2 which was bought at the exact same time. Same results, equivalent CPU, same RAM, runs just fine with the latest software from Apple. It will even support iOS9.
I have an iPad 2 as well, and I'm not so sure I'd say it "runs just fine."
It's quite laggy these days. Screen transitions are laggy, the software keyboard is laggy, opening apps is laggy, etc.
All that being said, I think it's super impressive that Apple is still pushing software updates out for it. I think that's great. Way better than most Android manufacturers who release an Android tablet and if you're lucky you get another update or two, then you're abandoned forever.
But still, the performance of Apple's iOS 9 on iPad 2 is kind of a disappointment, but the fact that they keep pushing updates out at all is amazing.
surely they know what they're doing and it's all for a better customer experience.
Oh, absolutely! Windows 10 is great!
So far, Windows 10 has reminded me repeatedly that I should: (1) Consider getting Office 365! (2) Consider installing Skype! (3) Should collect and use Bing Rewards! (4) That I should look into getting an Xbox! (5) That I should buy things from the Microsoft Store!
If I didn't like to play PC games, I'd have gotten a Mac instead. Microsoft is displaying some of the most ballsy behavior I've seen since the 1990's. The outright obnoxious behavior and contempt they're showing for their users astonishes me. I feel like the old anti-competitive, monopolistic Microsoft is back.
So much for Windows 10 being a good release. *sigh*
There are some good PC laptops out there. I really like the new Dell XPS 13, for example. But pound for pound, it costs about the same as a comparable Mac, particularly if you go with an SSD, which is standard on all Macs
The less expensive Macs (...which are still expensive...) still come with a paltry amount of SSD storage, though (128 GB? sheesh).
For example, the 13 inch MacBook "Pro" for $1299 (ouch!) only comes with 128 GB of SSD storage (double ouch!).
But I guess you can pay an extra $200 for an extra 128 GB of SSD storage (triple ouch!!!).
Seriously though, I'd recommend ditching caps lock, tab, insert, num lock, home, end, page up, page down, scroll lock, pause/break, and roll the delete and backspace keys into a single delete key.
As a software developer, I'd be pretty unhappy not having keys dedicated to caps lock, tab, home, end, page up, page down, delete, and backspace.
I'd also take the damnable Windows logo off the command key and just refer to it as CMD across operating systems.
I like this idea.
Let's talk about this. First of all, every language has undefined behavior, unless you mean ML, which is fully defined. That's part of the reason the NICTA team proved that the assembly output from the compiler matched the specification. You might have a point there, but you'll need to say it more clearly.
Okay, let me rephrase: the less undefined behavior in a programming language specification, the better. Programming is already a complex task -- having to worry about the hundreds of undefined behaviors in the C family of languages is a nontrivial burden.
Secondly, I'm not sure which aspect of 'memory safety' you're referring to. If you mean memory leaks, then a higher level language won't save you. I've fixed more memory leaks in Javascript and Java over the last year than in C. In one case, the guy was calling into JNI and spent a month looking for a memory leak in the C portion. I hooked it up to a Java profiler and found the memory leak in a day. "Memory safety" only lulls you into a false sense of security.
I'm referring to things like running off the end of an array and incorrectly set pointers resulting in damaged program state. This can be very hard to debug because often the system keeps running, and where you see the error can be far, far removed from the bad code that damaged program state in the first place.
Static and strong typing....I'd be interested in hearing why you chose this......there are plenty of people who disagree. I mentioned Javascript as the most popular, but of course Python is rising in popularity as well, especially as a replacement for PHP. Alan Kay considers dynamic typing (runtime type binding) to be vastly superior. Alan Kay is not some foolish programmer addicted to low-level stuff, and he knows what he's talking about.
Static typing because the compiler will error instead of errors at runtime.
Strong typing so that hidden promotions don't result in unexpected behavior -- the programmer will be more likely to stop for a moment and think about it.
In my experience, dynamically typed programming languages like Python don't scale (to large teams) or refactor well, and there's the ever present danger of runtime type failures.
That's the kind of things ideologues have said about languages they didn't like for half a century. You are fitting into the pattern.
Okay, I admit to a bit of hyperbole above. :-)
However, JavaScript was never really meant for the kinds of applications it's now used for. Brendan E. and Netscape expected JavaScript to be used for light scripting in web pages, not for full blown browser applications. Java was supposed to be the solution for "real" browser applications. Many of the design decisions in JavaScript were made with this in mind.
That being said, I don't think JavaScript is useless or hopeless. It has taken some positive evolutionary steps, and I hope it continues to do so. I still think, for the things it's used for, it's inferior to languages that have static typing and strong typing, but it's obviously still useful.
Regarding C, C++, and Objective-C, I think they made good sense, once upon a time. I used to love C, and spent over 20 years programming it professionally, and even longer personally. I'm no stranger to the problems in the C family of languages, and was a "cross platform expert" in C for a good long while, and became intimately familiar with many of its problems.
But the C family of languages make less and less sense for an expanding domain of applications. There's simply too much undefined and implementation defined behavior, not to mention the lack of memory safety. Even simple signed arithmetic -- a + b -- can invoke undefined behavior, unless you're very careful. There's just too much to worry about.
That's not to say I think C, C++, and Objective-C are worthless. They have their application domains, it's just that those application domains have been shrinking, and continue to shrink.
Most code should be written in a memory safe language with no undefined behavior, preferably with static typing and strong typing. When necessary, dropping down into a C family language makes sense, where memory layout, size, performance, etc. are crucial.
Now you are dreaming.......have you looked at Javascript?
Yes, it's terrible. Its popularity is merely a historical accident.
Swift isn't a replacement for C.
The OP said:
which is great because we need to rid ourselves from the c language and all the crime it spawned.
"The crime it spawned" presumably includes C++ and Objective-C, and Swift is certainly meant to replace Objective-C.
Programming is, slowly but surely, maturing. The value of static typing over dynamic typing, strong typing over weak typing, safe memory programming languages over unsafe memory programming language, etc. is becoming undeniable.
Good riddance to C, and all the crime it spawned. :-)
The iPad Air 2 with 128 GB of storage costs $500.
Wait, what? No, this is wrong.
The iPad Air 2 model that costs $500 comes with a meager 16 GB of storage. Just like the original iPad, all those years ago. No progress at all, despite much lower storage prices.
In fact, given larger iOS sizes, and the fact that "retina" apps now require more space, iPad storage has essentially regressed.
An iPad Air 2 with 128 GB costs a whopping $700 (and that's wi-fi only). I guess you don't get hundreds of billions in the bank without grossly overcharging your customers.
Linux has been free for over twenty years.
Not quite.
For most of those years -- possibly all of them -- Linux has only been free if your time is worth nothing.
...why, yes, I have had my share of problems with Linux on the desktop...
would you pay more for an ad-free Netflix?
I would rather pay more than have ads.
$109 OEM for the home version, $149 for Pro. Makes Chromebooks look better and better - not to mention Linux loaded on your old PC.
Yikes, that's expensive. If all the Pro features were available in the base version, then maybe... but, sheesh.
Samsung t139. It costs about $15 to $20 brand new (unsubsidized). I spend $5 to $10 per month on minutes (T-Mobile).
In the 80s and 90s. X terminals and the like.
Comparing X terminals to the web was a shitty analogy the first time someone uttered it, and it's still a shitty analogy. The shitty analogy keeps getting modded up to the moon, while I'm sure my correction will be ignored (or downvoted) AGAIN.
Properly written web apps can push A LOT of the work client side. Web apps can be very client/server, with emphasis on client, if written properly!
X apps display on your workstation but run almost entirely on the server. Even to the point that mouse movement and every keystroke is traversing the Internet. Are my keystokes, as I'm typing this comment, traversing the Internet right now? NO, they are NOT. I'm getting very low latency on every key press because the client side is handling all my comment typing.
The web is far better than X apps ever were, because they allow the developer to balance the client vs. server as desired.
The cleaner nanites make my teeth slippery.
But seriously, as AC has posted, the question is meaningless if time "started" at the point of the Big Bang.
That's a mighty big "if". I like watching all the armchair physicists around here assume they know the answer with a religious-like fervor.
For all we know, the Big Bang had a cause. What caused it may exist in a "lower level" time that we don't knowingly experience. We might just experience our local time.
No, definitely meaningless. Time itself began with the Big Bang. The instant of the Big Bang is t=0. There is no t = -1.
It's not meaningless.
The time we experience may have started with the Big Bang, but there may be a lower level time component to the greater universe. For example, one theory is that two Branes colliding caused the Big Bang we know and love. In order for two Branes to collide, they must exist in their own time, lower level than our time.