Hey... "Aliens" was not a cheap starship troopers knock-off -- it was too expensive to have been a cheap anything.
And did you actually *read* Starship Troopers?? Because ST was a engaging but thinly veiled justification for xenophobia and 'might-makes-right' rule by force reasoning. "Aliens" was a commentary on man's arrogant attempt to master nature through technology... with interesting, if typical characterizations, and a cool switch on the expected with the "Artificial Being" ending up as a good guy.
If you're gonna slam a movie, *p-l-e-e-z* try to come up with something other than the old saw "it's been done before". In ancient times the Greeks broke down all fictional plots to something like 37 (or some number of) plotlines... so it's ALL been "done before". Do the research -- Heinlein had predecessors, influences, and people he stole from as well. And you may like "Alien" better than "Aliens" -- but don't tell me that the "Starship Troopers" movie was in the same league as either!!!
This is what passes for intelligent commentary on the internet?? The best you can say to repudiate Brin is to say that your "take is that Brin is simply jealous"?? Yet you start out by saying that you're out of your league, both because his vocabulary baffles you, and you can't follow a relatively straightforward, albeit complex, dissection of trends in comtemporary science fiction.
You dismiss Brin's argument because you can't understand it. That doesn't disprove it: deriding him for using ten-dollar words says NOTHING about whether his criticisms are valid. Then you offer jealousy (since you either can't, or won't, invalidate his argument intellectually) as... what? Proof that he's wrong, or proof that we should all keep our heads in the sand and just listen to the rich guy, because he's got all that money and thus must be doing something right??
Gee -- too bad you didn't take the time to get a dictionary, or a more intelligent friend and have them explain what Brin was talking about. Because your response merely proves most of the points he was making.
But hell, what do *I* know? I'm just jealous of Lucas' billions, right?
>> If you use your Palm Pilot for both business and personal work (as I do) I think it's a good idea to pay for it yourself no matter what.
I concur... I'll go one further: if you're going to use it AT ALL, own it. Nothing will suck worse than becoming totally dependent on it, depending on it like brain cells, then having to surrender it when you change firms.
Palm IIIx = 8MB max. Nothing that fits in the palm of my hand should bother annoying me with a miniature keyboard -- graffiti is fast and intuitive. I have e-mail, spreadsheet, text-editing, and why would I surf the web on something that small. My IIIx is my portable Administrative Assistant. If I need more than it can do, I take my laptop.
BTW -- it's not either or: a hedge trimmer and a chain saw are *both* tools. And clearly there are times when you would not use one in place of the other...
Have computer designed vehicles saved lives while simultaneously reducing the cost of prototyping?? Have computerized farming techiques increased production? Yes!!
Is the world better off for television, radio, portable CD players, video games, digital watches, automatic ice-makers, cruise control, premium ice cream?? I... don't think so; but I don't argue that they are useless.
As well as avoiding "luddite v. hi-tech" arguments, let us also avoid arguing unrealistic extremes in an attempt to invalidate. Clearly the discussion of palmtop computing devices has no relevance to starving third world inhabitants: but neither does this Internet based electronic forum...
This was journalism?? The only "users" he referenced were people who used Pilots as toys, and from that infinitesimal sample population he deduces that NOONE who owns it uses it productively?? C'mon.
To keep it brief: I used a Franklin Planner religiously, and this is what drove me to buy my first Palm III. As a Systems Administrator, I didn't just keep appointments and to-dos in it: I took lots of technical notes that I need to reference at a later date; sometimes more than half a year later (when those pages have been removed and filed away). The full search capabilities are what originally sold me on the Pilot: not games (I don't even play games on my REAL computer). The appointment reminders, and ability to sync up with my desktop were just icing on the cake.
THEN I lost my Palm III. After two weeks I bought a new one, synched it with my desktop and voila: one and a half years of appointments, to-dos, contacts, notes -- all restored. Then last week, my hard drive died on my desktop!!! No worries, mate: after rebuilding my boot disk and reinstalling (ugh!) Outlook, I now synched from my Palm to my desktop. TA-DA!! Nearly 300 contacts, with addresses, e-mail addresses, names, businesses, phone numbers, notes, to-dos, recurring appointments -- all restored.
I have a spreadsheet program (quicksheet) and project software (minimal, but effective) on my Palm. I BUILD the spreadsheets ON THE PALM, and upload them to the desktop for distribution. My hour-long commute is now the first hour of my workday as (thanx to public transportation), I can compose and review e-mail, create and fine-tune spreadsheets, map projects, outline long-term goals, review on-line documents (thanx to Teal Doc).... so, just a substitute for pencil and paper?? AS IF!!
Perhaps this supposed writer ought to have interviewed some PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE, instead of slackers who play antiquated video games on a $300 dollar tool....
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Hey... "Aliens" was not a cheap starship troopers knock-off -- it was too expensive to have been a cheap anything.
And did you actually *read* Starship Troopers?? Because ST was a engaging but thinly veiled justification for xenophobia and 'might-makes-right' rule by force reasoning. "Aliens" was a commentary on man's arrogant attempt to master nature through technology... with interesting, if typical characterizations, and a cool switch on the expected with the "Artificial Being" ending up as a good guy.
If you're gonna slam a movie, *p-l-e-e-z* try to come up with something other than the old saw "it's been done before". In ancient times the Greeks broke down all fictional plots to something like 37 (or some number of) plotlines... so it's ALL been "done before". Do the research -- Heinlein had predecessors, influences, and people he stole from as well. And you may like "Alien" better than "Aliens" -- but don't tell me that the "Starship Troopers" movie was in the same league as either!!!
Huh?
This is what passes for intelligent commentary on the internet?? The best you can say to repudiate Brin is to say that your "take is that Brin is simply jealous"?? Yet you start out by saying that you're out of your league, both because his vocabulary baffles you, and you can't follow a relatively straightforward, albeit complex, dissection of trends in comtemporary science fiction.
You dismiss Brin's argument because you can't understand it. That doesn't disprove it: deriding him for using ten-dollar words says NOTHING about whether his criticisms are valid. Then you offer jealousy (since you either can't, or won't, invalidate his argument intellectually) as... what? Proof that he's wrong, or proof that we should all keep our heads in the sand and just listen to the rich guy, because he's got all that money and thus must be doing something right??
Gee -- too bad you didn't take the time to get a dictionary, or a more intelligent friend and have them explain what Brin was talking about. Because your response merely proves most of the points he was making.
But hell, what do *I* know? I'm just jealous of Lucas' billions, right?
>> If you use your Palm Pilot for both business and personal work (as I do) I think it's a good idea to pay for it yourself no matter what.
I concur... I'll go one further: if you're going to use it AT ALL, own it. Nothing will suck worse than becoming totally dependent on it, depending on it like brain cells, then having to surrender it when you change firms.
my $0.02 worth...
Palm IIIx = 8MB max. Nothing that fits in the palm of my hand should bother annoying me with a miniature keyboard -- graffiti is fast and intuitive. I have e-mail, spreadsheet, text-editing, and why would I surf the web on something that small. My IIIx is my portable Administrative Assistant. If I need more than it can do, I take my laptop.
BTW -- it's not either or: a hedge trimmer and a chain saw are *both* tools. And clearly there are times when you would not use one in place of the other...
Is this a true judge of the worth of technology??
Have computer designed vehicles saved lives while simultaneously reducing the cost of prototyping?? Have computerized farming techiques increased production? Yes!!
Is the world better off for television, radio, portable CD players, video games, digital watches, automatic ice-makers, cruise control, premium ice cream?? I... don't think so; but I don't argue that they are useless.
As well as avoiding "luddite v. hi-tech" arguments, let us also avoid arguing unrealistic extremes in an attempt to invalidate. Clearly the discussion of palmtop computing devices has no relevance to starving third world inhabitants: but neither does this Internet based electronic forum...
This was journalism?? The only "users" he referenced were people who used Pilots as toys, and from that infinitesimal sample population he deduces that NOONE who owns it uses it productively?? C'mon.
To keep it brief: I used a Franklin Planner religiously, and this is what drove me to buy my first Palm III. As a Systems Administrator, I didn't just keep appointments and to-dos in it: I took lots of technical notes that I need to reference at a later date; sometimes more than half a year later (when those pages have been removed and filed away). The full search capabilities are what originally sold me on the Pilot: not games (I don't even play games on my REAL computer). The appointment reminders, and ability to sync up with my desktop were just icing on the cake.
THEN I lost my Palm III. After two weeks I bought a new one, synched it with my desktop and voila: one and a half years of appointments, to-dos, contacts, notes -- all restored. Then last week, my hard drive died on my desktop!!! No worries, mate: after rebuilding my boot disk and reinstalling (ugh!) Outlook, I now synched from my Palm to my desktop. TA-DA!! Nearly 300 contacts, with addresses, e-mail addresses, names, businesses, phone numbers, notes, to-dos, recurring appointments -- all restored.
I have a spreadsheet program (quicksheet) and project software (minimal, but effective) on my Palm. I BUILD the spreadsheets ON THE PALM, and upload them to the desktop for distribution. My hour-long commute is now the first hour of my workday as (thanx to public transportation), I can compose and review e-mail, create and fine-tune spreadsheets, map projects, outline long-term goals, review on-line documents (thanx to Teal Doc).... so, just a substitute for pencil and paper?? AS IF!!
Perhaps this supposed writer ought to have interviewed some PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE, instead of slackers who play antiquated video games on a $300 dollar tool....