The whole generation thing is stupid anyway. The whole concept started when it was noticed that there was a whole bunch of babies born after WWII. They've been trying to pigeonhole everybody else since then. It's all arbitrary and doesn't mean anything besides.
This is a very good point. The fact that I can add USB 3.0 to any of my computers relatively easily means that I won't have a problem buying a USB 3.0 device when the time comes. But if I need to buy all new computers to use something that uses Thunderbolt means that I'm pretty unlikely to buy a Thunderbolt device any time soon. Especially since Thunderbolt is locked to Apple for the time being, and even after that it looks like it'll be locked to certain Intel processors/chipsets after that. (sorry AMD users, or people who buy Intel's budget hardware).
You're also forgetting that for some reason the USB type A plugs are pretty much exactly the same width as a ethernet plug. Luckily you usually won't damage an ethernet port by "plugging" a USB cable into it though.
That was basically my experience when I tried to add eSATA to one of the first motherboards that supported SATA via one of those eSATA brackets that plugs into one of the SATA ports. I just wrote if off as "motherboard too old" and move on.
Huh? First of all, most LCD monitors cannot reproduce the colors exactly as intended. Most cheap ones don't have a very good gamut, and there are still lots of panels out there that are not 16 bit, a concept that doesn't even apply to analog CRTs. And your LCD needs periodic calibration too, as the backlight will change slowly over time as it ages.
On the other hand, they have a history doing their own things. Off the top of my head:
Propriety "ADC" video connection vs. standard DVI and VGA
The odd-ball mini-DVI/Displayport/whatever on their current lacptops that no one else uses
Non-standard connector for serial ports
NuBus
One of the last companies to adopt USB2.0 in their computers as they were too busy pushing Firewire at the time
Also, they just introduced a propriety SATA connector for the hard drive in their latest iMacs
And seriously, IDE/ATA? I remember Apple stubbornly sticking to SCSI long after the PC industry had adopted IDE/ATA in desktop computers. I predict that likewise they'll be one of the last companies to integrate USB 3.0 into their machines.
I'm not sure Bush's base would have stood for it. They were pretty up in arms about Obama signing it. Of course, you also have to take into account their ability to rationalize just about anything so long as it's their guy doing it...
Besides, it probably would have never reached Bush's desk anyway. Both Bush and Obama are pretty good at making sure that only legislation they already approve of hits their desk at the first place.
Currently the schools already dictate what calculator students are expected to buy (or rather, their parents are expected to buy). When I was in high school, it was the TI-82 (later the TI-83). And yes, the school had a case full of the things that I sometimes had to use during a test. Now, you could, at least when I was in school, use whatever calculator you wanted for regular classwork, but if you were given the approved TI model for a test you were expected to know how to use it.
I don't know why they didn't just stick with the HD-DVD format. Just because it's dead for everything else doesn't mean they couldn't still use it on their console for games. If anything, HD-DVD's increasing obscurity would help them combat piracy.
I challenge you (again!) to point to one bill signed by President Lawnchair that would not have been signed by Bush. I'll save you the time right now, there isn't one.
Do you think that Bush would have signed the bill into law repealing "Don't Act, Don't Tell"? (not that I don't agree that Obama and Bush are extremely similar, but I also like a good challenge).
I actually tried that. Too bad you lose the sub-pixel rendering of fonts that way. On some setups *cough*Apple*cough* where you can't turn it off, using a monitor sideways looks absolutely terrible.
He's probably talking about the 1600x900 ard the 1366x768 screens. The 1920x1080 screens are tolerable, but the lower resolution 16:9 screens are useless.
I know it was used commercially on some early AFMs (atomic force microscopes). You'd control the microscope through the monochrome screen, and the microscope image would be displayed on the VGA screen. I actually use this set up at work, on an ancient microscope controlled by a 486 computer. While the VGA screen is now a LCD to save space on my desk, there isn't much I can do about the monochrome CRT as the video signal used to drive it is not understood by newer monitors.
He's probably a Mac user. The Steve has declared that Macs shall not have a maximize button, so therefore they still lack a basic functionality that every other window manager has.
Well, you've got to have some serious hardware to drive that many pixels. Being how old that monitor is now, I'm sure it can be done now. But instead we have to settle for 1080p 16:9 widescreen garbage.
You can buy IPS monitors for about $400, HP even has one for under $300 (the ZR22w). It's not really that much, and they last a long time.
Though nowadays you've got to watch the TN panels. The cheap ones now won't set you back much, but are really cheap and nasty, to the point where they make the run of the mill TN panels from 3-4 years ago look like a high end screen.
I haven't seen one yet that doesn't have stuttering issues after a while - especially if they get near full, which is easy to do if you only have 80GB. Yes, even the Intel SSDs. I guess it's not really a failure, as you can restore the performance by backing everything up, wiping it, and restoring, but your average user isn't going to want to do that. They'd be better off buying spinning rust, spending the money on extra ram (larger disk cache), and waiting for the SSD tech to mature some more.
You don't need a 120 Hz TV to do that though. Many "60 Hz" TVs are capable of slowing down their refresh rate to 24 Hz to match the frame rate of the input. Obviously, this was an issue for the old CRT HDTVs, but for any decent Plasma or LCD its not going to be a problem.
That's also a really poor quality cable, much like most other Apple cables. There's absolutely no strain relief on that cable. It's probably fine for something where you hook it up once and never touch it again, but in any situation where the cable will get tugged (like a gaming system) or is repeatably unplugged and plugged that cable will fail pretty quickly.
Slashdot Mirror
Somehow, I don't think Paypal would make a good social networking site.
Xenix. Way before A/UX.
The whole generation thing is stupid anyway. The whole concept started when it was noticed that there was a whole bunch of babies born after WWII. They've been trying to pigeonhole everybody else since then. It's all arbitrary and doesn't mean anything besides.
This is a very good point. The fact that I can add USB 3.0 to any of my computers relatively easily means that I won't have a problem buying a USB 3.0 device when the time comes. But if I need to buy all new computers to use something that uses Thunderbolt means that I'm pretty unlikely to buy a Thunderbolt device any time soon. Especially since Thunderbolt is locked to Apple for the time being, and even after that it looks like it'll be locked to certain Intel processors/chipsets after that. (sorry AMD users, or people who buy Intel's budget hardware).
You're also forgetting that for some reason the USB type A plugs are pretty much exactly the same width as a ethernet plug. Luckily you usually won't damage an ethernet port by "plugging" a USB cable into it though.
That was basically my experience when I tried to add eSATA to one of the first motherboards that supported SATA via one of those eSATA brackets that plugs into one of the SATA ports. I just wrote if off as "motherboard too old" and move on.
Huh? First of all, most LCD monitors cannot reproduce the colors exactly as intended. Most cheap ones don't have a very good gamut, and there are still lots of panels out there that are not 16 bit, a concept that doesn't even apply to analog CRTs. And your LCD needs periodic calibration too, as the backlight will change slowly over time as it ages.
On the other hand, they have a history doing their own things. Off the top of my head:
Propriety "ADC" video connection vs. standard DVI and VGA
The odd-ball mini-DVI/Displayport/whatever on their current lacptops that no one else uses
Non-standard connector for serial ports
NuBus
One of the last companies to adopt USB2.0 in their computers as they were too busy pushing Firewire at the time
Also, they just introduced a propriety SATA connector for the hard drive in their latest iMacs
And seriously, IDE/ATA? I remember Apple stubbornly sticking to SCSI long after the PC industry had adopted IDE/ATA in desktop computers. I predict that likewise they'll be one of the last companies to integrate USB 3.0 into their machines.
I'm not sure Bush's base would have stood for it. They were pretty up in arms about Obama signing it. Of course, you also have to take into account their ability to rationalize just about anything so long as it's their guy doing it...
Besides, it probably would have never reached Bush's desk anyway. Both Bush and Obama are pretty good at making sure that only legislation they already approve of hits their desk at the first place.
What exams that disallow the HP-50G also don't disallow the TI-89?
Currently the schools already dictate what calculator students are expected to buy (or rather, their parents are expected to buy). When I was in high school, it was the TI-82 (later the TI-83). And yes, the school had a case full of the things that I sometimes had to use during a test. Now, you could, at least when I was in school, use whatever calculator you wanted for regular classwork, but if you were given the approved TI model for a test you were expected to know how to use it.
I don't know why they didn't just stick with the HD-DVD format. Just because it's dead for everything else doesn't mean they couldn't still use it on their console for games. If anything, HD-DVD's increasing obscurity would help them combat piracy.
Then why are you then required to maintain a computer running iTunes for your iPad?
Do you think that Bush would have signed the bill into law repealing "Don't Act, Don't Tell"? (not that I don't agree that Obama and Bush are extremely similar, but I also like a good challenge).
I actually tried that. Too bad you lose the sub-pixel rendering of fonts that way. On some setups *cough*Apple*cough* where you can't turn it off, using a monitor sideways looks absolutely terrible.
He's probably talking about the 1600x900 ard the 1366x768 screens. The 1920x1080 screens are tolerable, but the lower resolution 16:9 screens are useless.
He's a Senator now?
I know it was used commercially on some early AFMs (atomic force microscopes). You'd control the microscope through the monochrome screen, and the microscope image would be displayed on the VGA screen. I actually use this set up at work, on an ancient microscope controlled by a 486 computer. While the VGA screen is now a LCD to save space on my desk, there isn't much I can do about the monochrome CRT as the video signal used to drive it is not understood by newer monitors.
He's probably a Mac user. The Steve has declared that Macs shall not have a maximize button, so therefore they still lack a basic functionality that every other window manager has.
Well, you've got to have some serious hardware to drive that many pixels. Being how old that monitor is now, I'm sure it can be done now. But instead we have to settle for 1080p 16:9 widescreen garbage.
You can buy IPS monitors for about $400, HP even has one for under $300 (the ZR22w). It's not really that much, and they last a long time.
Though nowadays you've got to watch the TN panels. The cheap ones now won't set you back much, but are really cheap and nasty, to the point where they make the run of the mill TN panels from 3-4 years ago look like a high end screen.
I haven't seen one yet that doesn't have stuttering issues after a while - especially if they get near full, which is easy to do if you only have 80GB. Yes, even the Intel SSDs. I guess it's not really a failure, as you can restore the performance by backing everything up, wiping it, and restoring, but your average user isn't going to want to do that. They'd be better off buying spinning rust, spending the money on extra ram (larger disk cache), and waiting for the SSD tech to mature some more.
It would be helpful for troubleshooting set ups. Besides, all you really need is an "uncorrectable error" count.
You don't need a 120 Hz TV to do that though. Many "60 Hz" TVs are capable of slowing down their refresh rate to 24 Hz to match the frame rate of the input. Obviously, this was an issue for the old CRT HDTVs, but for any decent Plasma or LCD its not going to be a problem.
That's also a really poor quality cable, much like most other Apple cables. There's absolutely no strain relief on that cable. It's probably fine for something where you hook it up once and never touch it again, but in any situation where the cable will get tugged (like a gaming system) or is repeatably unplugged and plugged that cable will fail pretty quickly.