My G4 is writing 2 minute videos to 4xDVD-R's as I write this and it turns out the recent firmware "update" to the Pioneer superdrive means that 4x disks now write at 1x, which makes me realize yet again that I MUST READ THE READ ME's before buying a 50 pack of 4x blank DVD-R media.
Hopefully Apple will start making faster DVD burners standard in their G5's very soon now!
"I started off in '81 with a ZX81 (they had a different name in the US, but I can't remember what it was now)which had 1Kb of onboard memory, or a 16Kb add-on pack."
You were lucky.
When I were a lad we'd have to carry over three thousand tons of coal around in our back pockets, heated to the required temperature by a two hundred ton blast furnace we had to grip between our legs, just to get the welcome screen to come on!
Don't forget that because the government doesn't control the internet it therefore doesn't care less whether the whole damm thing gets bogged down by Viagra ads or not.
Bob Dole, ex-senator and a very popular presidential candidate, was Viagra's official spokesperson for godsakes.
Real were always too focussed on streaming technologies instead of creating higher quality self contained files designed for download in their entirety to the client, or playable from removable media, which is what QuickTime was primarily designed to do.
Apple's iTunes store continues this approach by promoting the download of the file to the host computer for playback instead of merely streaming it, as most of the subscription models do.
Now that so many people are hooked up to the internet via higher speed connections they can buy, download and keep their music and movies.
This is what is killing Real, and also the middle managers who spend all day in meetings trying to figure out what it is they are meant to be doing there.
They've been described as being Troubled for a while and I was wondering if there's a scale of adjectives that journalists use to describe how deep in shit a company is.
If I remember rightly Apple went straight to Beleagured status almost overnight, and stayed that way for around five years!
The bit that gives me hope for a better retailing future is this:
"American business has been through this before. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the grocery-store chain, stood astride the U.S. market in the 1920s and 1930s with a dominance that has likely never been duplicated. At its peak, A&P had five times the number of stores Wal-Mart has now (although much smaller ones), and at one point, it owned 80% of the supermarket business."
A&P who? Maybe eighty years from now people will be saying Wal-Mart who!
"Walmart sells cheap crap because the masses want it"
Last Summer the heels went out on a pair of Fruit Of The Loom "sport" socks I bought from K-Mart. I dug up the receipt and noticed I'd only bought them a month earlier. I suddenly realized that these so-called bargain packs of socks were getting less and less usable to the point that I'd soon be buying a three pack every two weeks.
So I took a trip to an actual shoe shop and bought a few pairs of their socks for about double the price of the FOTL's and I still have them almost a year later.
So don't assume just because something is cheap that it's a better deal!
I'm guessing your average hardcore Wal-Mart shopper would pay an 11 cent per track shipping and handling charge, which should help raise the bottom line if the going gets tough.
As you all know there are millions of recipes out there, but try finding one single recipe for a decent curry, the kind you can get at your favorite indian restaurant, and I bet you can't.
Sure, most come close, but even playing indian new age music while sitting down to eat your creation just doesn't cut it!
It's actually five, the initial "ding" then the four note riff.
It amazes me that the Windows XP startup chime is basically the same thing, but with the notes in a different order. They can't even think up an original chime!!
"More important than the sheer volume of songs is the profitabilty of iTunes vs. that of Napster."
Profitabilty has nothing to do with it. Napster is merely one of hundreds of pimps selling WMA for Microsoft, and nothing more.
That's how Microsoft gets to be so big, by having the peons push their products, end up fighting over the spoils and getting to be top dog on the block.
I doubt Napster will be the music store equivalent of DELL though.
"eventual safety valve where disaffected members of society can go off to a Moon or Mars colony to start a new life rather than remaining on crowded Earth."
If someone gets so disaffected with Earth, and their fellow humans, that they have to leave and live on another planet, I'm guessing they'll be leaving a few surprises behind so their ancestors can come back and have the place to themselves.
Slashdot Mirror
My G4 is writing 2 minute videos to 4xDVD-R's as I write this and it turns out the recent firmware "update" to the Pioneer superdrive means that 4x disks now write at 1x, which makes me realize yet again that I MUST READ THE READ ME's before buying a 50 pack of 4x blank DVD-R media.
Hopefully Apple will start making faster DVD burners standard in their G5's very soon now!
"I started off in '81 with a ZX81 (they had a different name in the US, but I can't remember what it was now)which had 1Kb of onboard memory, or a 16Kb add-on pack."
You were lucky.
When I were a lad we'd have to carry over three thousand tons of coal around in our back pockets, heated to the required temperature by a two hundred ton blast furnace we had to grip between our legs, just to get the welcome screen to come on!
"congress wouldn't be passing laws about spam"
Don't forget that because the government doesn't control the internet it therefore doesn't care less whether the whole damm thing gets bogged down by Viagra ads or not.
Bob Dole, ex-senator and a very popular presidential candidate, was Viagra's official spokesperson for godsakes.
I really like their pantyhosecrawler companion site.
Very cool research tool.
Real were always too focussed on streaming technologies instead of creating higher quality self contained files designed for download in their entirety to the client, or playable from removable media, which is what QuickTime was primarily designed to do.
Apple's iTunes store continues this approach by promoting the download of the file to the host computer for playback instead of merely streaming it, as most of the subscription models do.
Now that so many people are hooked up to the internet via higher speed connections they can buy, download and keep their music and movies.
This is what is killing Real, and also the middle managers who spend all day in meetings trying to figure out what it is they are meant to be doing there.
"For the wife using publisher, Staroffice or Openoffice will suffice"
Oh, cool. And this is available at Office Depot, Staples or Costco?
Give me a break. The day you wake up in the real world take a look around and spend the rest of your life making a list of what's wrong!
Man, you just don't get it!
At what point do Gateway become Beleagured?
They've been described as being Troubled for a while and I was wondering if there's a scale of adjectives that journalists use to describe how deep in shit a company is.
If I remember rightly Apple went straight to Beleagured status almost overnight, and stayed that way for around five years!
"First, the process is NOT tedious, at least in North Carolina. You fill out a form online, and mail it in."
Yep, that's tedious!
Great story - thanks for the link.
The bit that gives me hope for a better retailing future is this:
"American business has been through this before. The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., the grocery-store chain, stood astride the U.S. market in the 1920s and 1930s with a dominance that has likely never been duplicated. At its peak, A&P had five times the number of stores Wal-Mart has now (although much smaller ones), and at one point, it owned 80% of the supermarket business."
A&P who? Maybe eighty years from now people will be saying Wal-Mart who!
"Walmart sells cheap crap because the masses want it"
Last Summer the heels went out on a pair of Fruit Of The Loom "sport" socks I bought from K-Mart. I dug up the receipt and noticed I'd only bought them a month earlier. I suddenly realized that these so-called bargain packs of socks were getting less and less usable to the point that I'd soon be buying a three pack every two weeks.
So I took a trip to an actual shoe shop and bought a few pairs of their socks for about double the price of the FOTL's and I still have them almost a year later.
So don't assume just because something is cheap that it's a better deal!
I'm guessing your average hardcore Wal-Mart shopper would pay an 11 cent per track shipping and handling charge, which should help raise the bottom line if the going gets tough.
Saying Tom Baker is the best Dr. Who is like saying Roger Moore was the best James Bond.
There's only one Dr. Who and that's Jon Pertwee, although this new bloke looks like one of the best Dr. Who's since Pertwee!!!
He should write a letter to these guys letting them know he's getting low on stuff and needs more:
YE Saver, 1440 Coral Ridge Dr., Suite 191, Coral Springs, FL 33071
Say No To Spam, P.O. Box 631, Clearwater, FL 33756
Flowing Deals, 5444 Westheimer., #1975, Houston, TX 77056
Email Department c/o NorthBeachTrends 20533 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 4-1322 Aventura, FL 33180
Meditay LLC c/o ERC 180 South 300 West, Suite 318 Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Sweepsgame.com at 160 International Pkwy ste 250, Heathrow, FL 32746
Optinrealbig.com LLC, 1333 W 120th Ave. Suite 101, Westminster, Colorado 80234
I turned my filters off for about thirty seconds to get these samples.
"idiot box"
I prefer Shit Pump
"Eh, just have them use Macs."
I heard army.com lives on a Mac - or maybe that's just some old Evangelist distortion field stuff floating around.
"Goggle"
giggle - thanks for the link!
As you all know there are millions of recipes out there, but try finding one single recipe for a decent curry, the kind you can get at your favorite indian restaurant, and I bet you can't.
Sure, most come close, but even playing indian new age music while sitting down to eat your creation just doesn't cut it!
So what's the secret?
For anyone not familiar with Cincinnati, Skyline is a chain of restaurants.
Why can't people just raise their hand when a candidates name is called out, and a van goes around and counts all the votes.
Then, when all the votes have been counted, all the vans meet somewhere and add them all up.
This system would be so much easier than using computers!
Weird, he doesn't look rich. Maybe next time I see a picture of him he will.
It's four damn notes"
It's actually five, the initial "ding" then the four note riff.
It amazes me that the Windows XP startup chime is basically the same thing, but with the notes in a different order. They can't even think up an original chime!!
"If I were Sendmail, I'd frankly be scared."
Erm, don't you mean MSendmail
"More important than the sheer volume of songs is the profitabilty of iTunes vs. that of Napster."
Profitabilty has nothing to do with it. Napster is merely one of hundreds of pimps selling WMA for Microsoft, and nothing more.
That's how Microsoft gets to be so big, by having the peons push their products, end up fighting over the spoils and getting to be top dog on the block.
I doubt Napster will be the music store equivalent of DELL though.
"eventual safety valve where disaffected members of society can go off to a Moon or Mars colony to start a new life rather than remaining on crowded Earth."
If someone gets so disaffected with Earth, and their fellow humans, that they have to leave and live on another planet, I'm guessing they'll be leaving a few surprises behind so their ancestors can come back and have the place to themselves.