I agree with you mostly. And yeah, when it's Apple, there is an assumption of "just works" - and even though the Newton is a great example of it not "just working," Jobs killed that cow quickly.
GPS would be great. The Google Maps integration asks for it more than anything, especially given Jobs' example of searching for a Starbucks and calling directly from the Maps listing. 3G would also be nice, but Apple sometimes goes for technologies it thinks will work better instead of technologies everyone else wants to use. Remember how much of a coup it was for the iPod to even add USB 2.0, when now it's the only option included. Plus, with all their new ties to Google, perhaps they're expecting to use Google's free wifi blankets, should those ever come to pass.
The touchscreen is going to be the killer app. If it works as well as it was shown in the keynote address, it'll rock. If not, v2 will make a lot of changes.
Bingo. Even as a big fan of what Apple can do in general, I'm not calling this one until it comes out. Apple is bad about not wanting to get into short upgrade cycles, so if by June something strange happens and 3G is suddenly huge, they'll put it in there rather than waiting for v2 a year or so down the road. iPod, (apple)tv, the switch to Intel - everything Apple has done recently has been criticized, but then the stock flies through the roof and sales are at record levels. Too many people underestimate the willingness of the general public and even those in the know about technology to pay extra for something that hits enough of the tech high points and "just works," regardless of whether it has all the bells, whistles, and radios it needs to be completely state-of-the-art.
Sure, only those who can afford it can use a service like Akamai to get their bytes better transit over the 'net, but that's called capitalism. The core problem with non-net-neutrality is not that one person would be able to pay more than the others for better service, its that the same companies who provide the infrastructure would be the ones charging for tiered service. Akamai is a third-party, and while we all might think of them as infrastructure because they provide such a critical service to so many very very large sites, they aren't the telcos providing core access to the 'net itself.
It's like any other utility - power, water, gas, etc. - where it costs a lot to buy the equipment needed to access large amounts of the utility at once, but you still pay the same rates as the guy who can't afford the bigger water pumps, better power grid, etc.
No, like I said, I'm not sure how much of all that was grounded in reality (haven't really even touched Vista yet). I was just pointing out what said fears (or FUD, most likely) were based on, which is in contrast to what TFsummary was implying.
Windows Firewall XP SP2 fails every test, so the fears that the days of third party firewall software was over seem groundless.
The fears aren't because MS figured out how to build a good firewall; the fears are based on supposed "features" in Vista that would make it very hard/impossible for third party vendors to access parts of the OS needed to build good security software without first going through MS for some kind of certification. Not only that, but as MS integrates other security into Windows, like anti-virus, it may become very difficult to install third party AV and firewalls because the built-in AV wouldn't allow it.
Now, I'm not sure how much of these fears were grounded in reality, but I'm pretty sure they had nothing to do with some perceived accomplishment of the built-in Windows Firewall.
Is Jobs scared of Aero?, does it make sense to go for a new UI now?, has Aqua run out of steam?
How old is Aqua? Perhaps they're just wanting to update it to add new features, take advantage of dual/quad/bajillion core CPUs, etc., etc. A lot has happened since Aqua debuted, and Apple has rarely been one to simply sit on a good product and not try to continue to make it better/newer.
So they don't "officially" support Vista. It isn't "officially" out yet. Big deal. They also aren't supporting anything other than XP SP2 and MCE 2005. ME, 2000, etc. are all left out.
What I want to know, is whether they plan to even attempt native Mac OS X support. At least Apple supports Windows with iTunes. After all the complaining about choice, DRM that goes too far, etc., MS is doing even worse.
But give them credit - the iPod was initially Mac-only, Firewire-only, and had no music store attached to it, and it started out fine. Sure, opening the flood gates with Windows + iTunes really propelled it, but this is the first edition.
Linux fans, there's an article about Blizzard banning WoW Linux users down a couple more on the front page. Don't even bother with this discussion.:)
I agree with you (and, more importantly, the Market agrees with you), but maybe GP has a point... albeit accidentally.
Backed by the U.S. government only goes so far as the U.S. government can exert its influence. Sure, that's just about anywhere it damn well pleases at the moment (militarily, economically, politically, whatever), but maybe that's the point to make with SL. Items in SL are backed just as far as the game/construct/whatever can exert influence. The problem is that a lot of people are placing "real" value on these items, and there's no way SL rules are going to be able to exert themselves outside of SL. A EULA could get close, but even that means you just get kicked out of SL if you break the rules, no "real" world consequences on face value - unless you put "real" value in SL, which, in our current analogy, would be like holding up some other commodity as risk-free instead of US bonds.
It's an interesting and no doubt will be a growing sociological and psychological issue. Our whole basis for value is often how well the most basic unit can be backed. For money, that's a solid guarantee that if the US economy completely collapses we all go Mad Max. For SL and many other "non-real" worlds, well, it's definitely not that solid.
Vaccuum Lack of hospitable worlds within a light-lifetime of Earth Space junk in LEO Lack of food/flora/fauna Lack of easy return trips Metric/English conversions Klingons Frakking toasters Pod bay doors Random ion storms which give superhuman powers Maniacal dictators who for some reason want to use their newest Deus Ex Machina on Earth...
I believe he meant that some overlap, i.e., support both MySQL and PgSQL - supporting two competing products in the same function category is not illegal you know. Unless of course it's vi and emacs, but I didn't even have to say that.
The page should have less articles so it's "proportionate"? What do they think it is, a book?
Actually, yeah, probably. One of the biggest problems with many "design" experts is that they never learned true design - just how to design to a specific medium. Many of the shortcomings of web designers is that many were previously print designers who switched over without learning what the differences in user expectations, interactions, etc. are.
So let's say this works - which language will we use as a primary one now that it doesn't matter, since everyone can understand everyone else easily?
Anyone who has studied languages knows (not "no"s or "nose") that English absolutely sucks (as in is bad, not as in pulls air into itself), but we use it widely (as in across a large range of people and places, not as in having a large girth) in large part (as in a significant reason, not as in being a big piece of something) due to the primary sources of finance and technology being in English-speaking countries (not literally the countries, but their people).
I like the idea, and see the huge, positive social impact it could have, but I feel sorry for the guy/gal responsible for it to test its ability to translate into/out of English.
Honestly, is IE7 going to make up that much marketshare just because Debian users start using a different browser? Just because there's another option for one small tiny part of the population doesn't mean a great mass are going to be affected.
Slashdot Mirror
The new new HD format - a giant holo-sphere that shoots you with a planet-killer laser beam if you try to use it with a PC or other "Rebel" device.
No, he had it right - 8,000,000/6,000,000,000 = 0.0013333... or about 0.1%
I agree with you mostly. And yeah, when it's Apple, there is an assumption of "just works" - and even though the Newton is a great example of it not "just working," Jobs killed that cow quickly. GPS would be great. The Google Maps integration asks for it more than anything, especially given Jobs' example of searching for a Starbucks and calling directly from the Maps listing. 3G would also be nice, but Apple sometimes goes for technologies it thinks will work better instead of technologies everyone else wants to use. Remember how much of a coup it was for the iPod to even add USB 2.0, when now it's the only option included. Plus, with all their new ties to Google, perhaps they're expecting to use Google's free wifi blankets, should those ever come to pass. The touchscreen is going to be the killer app. If it works as well as it was shown in the keynote address, it'll rock. If not, v2 will make a lot of changes.
Bingo. Even as a big fan of what Apple can do in general, I'm not calling this one until it comes out. Apple is bad about not wanting to get into short upgrade cycles, so if by June something strange happens and 3G is suddenly huge, they'll put it in there rather than waiting for v2 a year or so down the road. iPod, (apple)tv, the switch to Intel - everything Apple has done recently has been criticized, but then the stock flies through the roof and sales are at record levels. Too many people underestimate the willingness of the general public and even those in the know about technology to pay extra for something that hits enough of the tech high points and "just works," regardless of whether it has all the bells, whistles, and radios it needs to be completely state-of-the-art.
Sure, only those who can afford it can use a service like Akamai to get their bytes better transit over the 'net, but that's called capitalism. The core problem with non-net-neutrality is not that one person would be able to pay more than the others for better service, its that the same companies who provide the infrastructure would be the ones charging for tiered service. Akamai is a third-party, and while we all might think of them as infrastructure because they provide such a critical service to so many very very large sites, they aren't the telcos providing core access to the 'net itself.
It's like any other utility - power, water, gas, etc. - where it costs a lot to buy the equipment needed to access large amounts of the utility at once, but you still pay the same rates as the guy who can't afford the bigger water pumps, better power grid, etc.
The plot revolves around a hacker breaking into a terrorism-simulation computer.
No AWPs!
Sadly, I think that would win a poll of the average /.er and others.
It says ISS and Shuttle astronauts, as in both groups of astronauts, becuase, yes, it would hard to hide a battlestation...er...space station.
You know, I bet it's also a good book for learning how to develop applications with Java.
No, like I said, I'm not sure how much of all that was grounded in reality (haven't really even touched Vista yet). I was just pointing out what said fears (or FUD, most likely) were based on, which is in contrast to what TFsummary was implying.
Windows Firewall XP SP2 fails every test, so the fears that the days of third party firewall software was over seem groundless.
The fears aren't because MS figured out how to build a good firewall; the fears are based on supposed "features" in Vista that would make it very hard/impossible for third party vendors to access parts of the OS needed to build good security software without first going through MS for some kind of certification. Not only that, but as MS integrates other security into Windows, like anti-virus, it may become very difficult to install third party AV and firewalls because the built-in AV wouldn't allow it.
Now, I'm not sure how much of these fears were grounded in reality, but I'm pretty sure they had nothing to do with some perceived accomplishment of the built-in Windows Firewall.
True - the NES was my home computer of choice during those years. :) Wasn't paying attention to much else.
Is Jobs scared of Aero?, does it make sense to go for a new UI now?, has Aqua run out of steam?
How old is Aqua? Perhaps they're just wanting to update it to add new features, take advantage of dual/quad/bajillion core CPUs, etc., etc. A lot has happened since Aqua debuted, and Apple has rarely been one to simply sit on a good product and not try to continue to make it better/newer.
appears to be taking a page out of the M$ playbook and tying the device tightly to the OS to drive OS X sales
Um, have you ever heard of Apple Macintosh computers?
Some? That's generous.
a reasonably intelligent audience
HA!
*puts on flamesuit*
:)
So they don't "officially" support Vista. It isn't "officially" out yet. Big deal. They also aren't supporting anything other than XP SP2 and MCE 2005. ME, 2000, etc. are all left out.
What I want to know, is whether they plan to even attempt native Mac OS X support. At least Apple supports Windows with iTunes. After all the complaining about choice, DRM that goes too far, etc., MS is doing even worse.
But give them credit - the iPod was initially Mac-only, Firewire-only, and had no music store attached to it, and it started out fine. Sure, opening the flood gates with Windows + iTunes really propelled it, but this is the first edition.
Linux fans, there's an article about Blizzard banning WoW Linux users down a couple more on the front page. Don't even bother with this discussion.
I agree with you (and, more importantly, the Market agrees with you), but maybe GP has a point... albeit accidentally.
Backed by the U.S. government only goes so far as the U.S. government can exert its influence. Sure, that's just about anywhere it damn well pleases at the moment (militarily, economically, politically, whatever), but maybe that's the point to make with SL. Items in SL are backed just as far as the game/construct/whatever can exert influence. The problem is that a lot of people are placing "real" value on these items, and there's no way SL rules are going to be able to exert themselves outside of SL. A EULA could get close, but even that means you just get kicked out of SL if you break the rules, no "real" world consequences on face value - unless you put "real" value in SL, which, in our current analogy, would be like holding up some other commodity as risk-free instead of US bonds.
It's an interesting and no doubt will be a growing sociological and psychological issue. Our whole basis for value is often how well the most basic unit can be backed. For money, that's a solid guarantee that if the US economy completely collapses we all go Mad Max. For SL and many other "non-real" worlds, well, it's definitely not that solid.
Other things that are bad for humans in space:
...
Vaccuum
Lack of hospitable worlds within a light-lifetime of Earth
Space junk in LEO
Lack of food/flora/fauna
Lack of easy return trips
Metric/English conversions
Klingons
Frakking toasters
Pod bay doors
Random ion storms which give superhuman powers
Maniacal dictators who for some reason want to use their newest Deus Ex Machina on Earth
I believe he meant that some overlap, i.e., support both MySQL and PgSQL - supporting two competing products in the same function category is not illegal you know. Unless of course it's vi and emacs, but I didn't even have to say that.
The page should have less articles so it's "proportionate"? What do they think it is, a book?
Actually, yeah, probably. One of the biggest problems with many "design" experts is that they never learned true design - just how to design to a specific medium. Many of the shortcomings of web designers is that many were previously print designers who switched over without learning what the differences in user expectations, interactions, etc. are.
0.3i
So let's say this works - which language will we use as a primary one now that it doesn't matter, since everyone can understand everyone else easily?
Anyone who has studied languages knows (not "no"s or "nose") that English absolutely sucks (as in is bad, not as in pulls air into itself), but we use it widely (as in across a large range of people and places, not as in having a large girth) in large part (as in a significant reason, not as in being a big piece of something) due to the primary sources of finance and technology being in English-speaking countries (not literally the countries, but their people).
I like the idea, and see the huge, positive social impact it could have, but I feel sorry for the guy/gal responsible for it to test its ability to translate into/out of English.
Gotta love Wikipedia:
Animated GIF showing the abridged entire intro of Zero Wing
The abridged entire intro? So it's some of all of it?
Honestly, is IE7 going to make up that much marketshare just because Debian users start using a different browser? Just because there's another option for one small tiny part of the population doesn't mean a great mass are going to be affected.