It's not for SLI, it's for running eight displays. Say you want to work with a resolution of 7680x2400. How else would you do it?
Now, I recognise that this is an extreme case. And it's hard for a gamer to understand the desire. But for professionals in many fields, the workspace size is important and the 3D accelleration is not.
By all means, increase the res of the 12" (1024x768 is a let down)
What? The 12" model already has over a hundred dots per inch. A higher resolution would sacrifice usability: it's harder to find icons, controls, and menu items when they're smaller. I don't want to squint to use my computer. Maybe you're different.
I don't think automation is a problem. Paul Graham says it best:
The prospect of technological leverage will of course raise the specter of unemployment. I'm surprised people still worry about this. After centuries of supposedly job-killing innovations, the number of jobs is within ten percent of the number of people who want them. This can't be a coincidence. There must be some kind of balancing mechanism.
This is what has always happened since the Industrial Revolution: we find other things to do. The next hot industry, the more important work, is always around the corner. This phenomenon is suggested in an essay in Wired about the coming "Conceptual Age". The jobs that can't be automated - jobs that require creativity, empathy, or insight - will become our society's important work. The greater value in them will attract more people. It's as simple as that.
Why? it's a complete ripoff of the sonos device here.
No, the Mac mini is not modelled after the Sonos System. At least, not deliberately. Rather, it's in the pattern of the iPod mini, which started the fashion of anodised aluminum verticals wrapping around white plastic horizontals with rounded vertical edges and unrounded horizontal edges. As the latest iMac adopts many design aspects from the full-size iPod, so too does the Mac mini mean to look like a fat iPod mini.
I think the Sonos System didn't influence the Mac mini's look, which would be the same regardless of the Sonos's existence. Of course, I'm not suggesting that the Sonos's design is a ripoff of the iPod mini's either. Except for the scroll wheel on the remote control, which is a total rip, the Sonos does look fairly novel.
I do say the Mac mini design deserves its gold award, for quality if not originality. And the Sonos Digital Music System, which didn't win any of last year's awards, deserved at least a bronze.
No, this does not mean cheaper Macs. You seem to think that the clone, with Linux on it, is equivalent to a Mac mini. But unfortunately, it wouldn't be as good.
It wouldn't come with iLife, for example. iLife is one of the biggest reasons to get a Mac. If you want to enjoy iPhoto's advanced photo fixing tools, iMovie HD's "Magic iMovie" feature, iDVD's great DVD menu themes, or GarageBand's overall awesomeness - and, especially, if you want all these tools working together seamlessly - you have to spend 30 000 rupees on a real Mac. Nothing that's available for Windows or Linux is nearly as good as iLife.
There's really no way around it: if you want a computer with better software, you have to pay more. But it is usually worth it.
This isn't 1997, you know. Apple has changed. They do have products that compete on price.
A 512MB flash player for $100? A full-featured desktop computer for $500? A combination audio streamer and 11G base station for $130? A real-time motion graphics application for $300? How about an operating system that's half the price of its biggest competitor?
Apple may not have the absolute cheapest product in a lot of categories, but these days they do have many products that are average price or better.
But this news is just part of the very story that you describe.
Here's another relevant quote:
Companions the creator seeks, not corpses, not herds and believers. Fellow creators the creator seeks--those who write new values on new tablets. Companions the creator seeks, and fellow harvesters; for everything about him is ripe for the harvest.
Why do you insist that the human genetic code is "sacred" or "taboo"? It is a chemical process and nothing more. For that matter
we are chemical processes and nothing more. If you deny yourself a useful tool simply because it reminds you uncomfortably of your mortality, you have uselessly and pointlessly crippled yourself.
--Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Looking God in the Eye"
Business people can't afford to spend time dealing with "iWorks doesn't support _______".
But can you really fill in that blank? Pages exports to PDF, RTF, Word, plain text, or HTML. Keynote exports to PDF, PPT, Flash, QT movie, or a series of JPEG, PNG or TIFF images. Now what crucial format don't they support, again?
If they used un-DRMed music, they would not be able to get deals with any major record labels.
I'll play them a sad song on my tiny violin. Is it Apple's fault that the RIAA only did business with Real when Real agreed to use a format that wasn't one of the many that play on iPods? Real didn't have to do business with the RIAA. Incompatibility with the iPod was a consequence of Real's decision to resell the big labels' music, a consequence that Real certainly forsaw - and not one that Apple can be blamed for.
You are confusing apps which run in Windows with apps that are built with the Win32 API's. In fact, Win32 is not necessary. iTunes for Windows is very much a Carbon app, not a Win32 one.
Remember when you didn't have to get out of your car to get the tank filled, a nice attendant did it for you. In the better petrol stations he washed your windows and checked your oil as well. This still happened when I was a kid, and I'm only 26. I'd happily pay extra for this convenience.
These excellent services stopped being provided in the name of cutting costs.
You don't have full-service stations in the States? How strange! Here in Canada, there are self-serves and full-serves almost everywhere. You have a choice: the full-serves are about a couple cents per litre more expensive, but of course you get the service.
I worked at a full-service station for two months this summer. Here's how I served people:
Vehicle pulls up; driver rolls down window.
RAFE: Good morning! CUSTOMER: Hi, twenty bucks regular please. RAFE: Twenty regular. How's everything under the hood? CUSTOMER: Just fine. RAFE: Okay.
I preset pump to $20 and start it, then squeegee the windshield. If there are a lot of bug guts, I spray the windshield with a citrus solution first to loosen the guts. If there is time after the windshield, I squeegee the back window too. When the pump goes off I hang it up, then go to the customer.
RAFE: That'll be twenty dollars.
Customer hands me a credit card. I go into the store, hand the card to the guy at the till and tell him what pump it's from. He performs the transaction and I clip the card and receipts to the little clipboard. I go out to the vehicle. The customer signs our receipt and takes his own and the card.
Have you considered the Smart Fortwo? From what I've read, it's ridiculously roomy for its size, and it gets about 60 mpg. If you don't need more than two seats, it's ideal.
Slashdot Mirror
Hungary Officials Raid Fridge
Now, I recognise that this is an extreme case. And it's hard for a gamer to understand the desire. But for professionals in many fields, the workspace size is important and the 3D accelleration is not.
Does that mean the yen is overvalued?
What? The 12" model already has over a hundred dots per inch. A higher resolution would sacrifice usability: it's harder to find icons, controls, and menu items when they're smaller. I don't want to squint to use my computer. Maybe you're different.
I think the Sonos System didn't influence the Mac mini's look, which would be the same regardless of the Sonos's existence. Of course, I'm not suggesting that the Sonos's design is a ripoff of the iPod mini's either. Except for the scroll wheel on the remote control, which is a total rip, the Sonos does look fairly novel.
I do say the Mac mini design deserves its gold award, for quality if not originality. And the Sonos Digital Music System, which didn't win any of last year's awards, deserved at least a bronze.
The Mac OS X Setup Assistant does it all for you.
It wouldn't come with iLife, for example. iLife is one of the biggest reasons to get a Mac. If you want to enjoy iPhoto's advanced photo fixing tools, iMovie HD's "Magic iMovie" feature, iDVD's great DVD menu themes, or GarageBand's overall awesomeness - and, especially, if you want all these tools working together seamlessly - you have to spend 30 000 rupees on a real Mac. Nothing that's available for Windows or Linux is nearly as good as iLife.
There's really no way around it: if you want a computer with better software, you have to pay more. But it is usually worth it.
Motion. Compare it with Adobe After Effects, which is $400 for a limited time only and whose regular price of $700 is more than twice Motion's.
A 512MB flash player for $100? A full-featured desktop computer for $500? A combination audio streamer and 11G base station for $130? A real-time motion graphics application for $300? How about an operating system that's half the price of its biggest competitor?
Apple may not have the absolute cheapest product in a lot of categories, but these days they do have many products that are average price or better.
eMusic is an online music store compatible with the iPod. So there.
Ack, that's too many choices!
See, that was my natural reaction. I really wouldn't know what choices to make without a lot of research or a helping hand, and that's a big problem.
IIRC, Michael Jackson owns the Lennon-McCartney compositions, not the Beatles' recordings. It's not like the iTMS sells sheet music.
Listen to me, toddestan. If you're a real geek, you know better than to imply that clock speed is everything. Clock speed is almost nothing.
Let me get this straight: it's a computer case with a motherboard inside? How is that a PC?
But can you really fill in that blank? Pages exports to PDF, RTF, Word, plain text, or HTML. Keynote exports to PDF, PPT, Flash, QT movie, or a series of JPEG, PNG or TIFF images. Now what crucial format don't they support, again?
Oh, how could I forget about that law that requires Apple to do business with Real? Everyone knows about that weird law! Come on.
If they used un-DRMed music, they would not be able to get deals with any major record labels.
I'll play them a sad song on my tiny violin. Is it Apple's fault that the RIAA only did business with Real when Real agreed to use a format that wasn't one of the many that play on iPods? Real didn't have to do business with the RIAA. Incompatibility with the iPod was a consequence of Real's decision to resell the big labels' music, a consequence that Real certainly forsaw - and not one that Apple can be blamed for.
itunes is available on win32
You are confusing apps which run in Windows with apps that are built with the Win32 API's. In fact, Win32 is not necessary. iTunes for Windows is very much a Carbon app, not a Win32 one.
You don't have full-service stations in the States? How strange! Here in Canada, there are self-serves and full-serves almost everywhere. You have a choice: the full-serves are about a couple cents per litre more expensive, but of course you get the service.
I worked at a full-service station for two months this summer. Here's how I served people:
Vehicle pulls up; driver rolls down window.
RAFE: Good morning!
CUSTOMER: Hi, twenty bucks regular please.
RAFE: Twenty regular. How's everything under the hood?
CUSTOMER: Just fine.
RAFE: Okay.
I preset pump to $20 and start it, then squeegee the windshield. If there are a lot of bug guts, I spray the windshield with a citrus solution first to loosen the guts. If there is time after the windshield, I squeegee the back window too. When the pump goes off I hang it up, then go to the customer.
RAFE: That'll be twenty dollars.
Customer hands me a credit card. I go into the store, hand the card to the guy at the till and tell him what pump it's from. He performs the transaction and I clip the card and receipts to the little clipboard. I go out to the vehicle. The customer signs our receipt and takes his own and the card.
RAFE: Have a good day!
Have you considered the Smart Fortwo? From what I've read, it's ridiculously roomy for its size, and it gets about 60 mpg. If you don't need more than two seats, it's ideal.