I think the people going out and getting these either have money to burn or don't realize that you can get a pretty decent and big laptop for the same kind of money.
The people getting iPads DON'T WANT A BIG LAPTOP! They're getting the iPad specifically because it's NOT BIG. What part of that is so fucking hard to understand?!
I have never owned a laptop with screen resolution as low as an iPad.
You've never owned a 1024x768 screen? Until relatively recently, that's all you got in a 12" laptop (let alone a 10" like the iPad)! You either only recently got your first laptop or you've been using 14" (or bigger) behemoths the whole time and therefore aren't even slightly part of the demographic the iPad is targeting anyway.
The larger screen makes it much less cumbersome to use than an iPhone (and I'm not just talking about reading; remember, the on-screen keyboard gets bigger too).
There are some situations where netbooks work well, usually they involve field workers in non-harsh environments who have to run full desktop apps but want a 2 pound laptop instead of a 5 pound one.
What people really want -- and always wanted -- is an electronic substitute for a clipboard. They've been using netbooks (and Tablet PCs before that) because that's all that was available; now that the iPad exists there's no surprise that it's killing off those other devices! It still needs to lose another pound and get a better method of text/handwriting entry, though. (And be less proprietary...)
I think most people who bought netbooks really wanted an iPad-like device from the beginning, but settled because no such thing existed (for example, I ended up with a Tablet PC, bought just before the first netbook came out). Netbooks started off as a poor compromise, and only got worse (bigger and heavier) over time.
That perception is exactly the problem! The point of a netbook was never just to be cheap; the point was to be small (but not too small, like a PDA/smartphone). Recall that the first Eee PC came out at a time when you could easily get a 15"-screen, 10 lb. laptop for the same $300 that the Eee PC cost, but you sure as Hell couldn't easily get anything the same size!
Since then, manufacturers have been forgetting this point and started making bigger and bigger "netbooks," and that's what's killing their sales.
The reason the iPad is selling so well is that that sort of thinness and lightness is what netbook buyers have been really wanting from the beginning, and Apple finally got it right!
And last but not least there are the "closed" projects which rarely accept patches from "outsiders", they have a dedicated group of developers who will tell you to write your own patch and submit it when there's a bug that's been around for over a year with all reports closed as "WILLNOTFIX" or "NOTABUG", and when you do it will be rejected only to have one of the "regular" developers submit an almost identical patch a few days or weeks later (yes, this has happened to me a couple of times, can you feel the bitterness?).
Even if the code is open source, that's still plagiarism.
If your ROI is 25 years, then you don't have that much of a problem to begin with. Conversely, if you really have a problem then fixing it has a much shorter ROI.
keeping the cooling on all day while you're at work uses LESS energy than having to re-cool the house when you return from being at work all day
No it doesn't, for the same reason that keeping the heat on in your oven all the time doesn't use less energy than firing it up only when you want to bake something.
it's kind of stupid to move to the FUCKING DESERT and then complain that it's too hot and you need cooling and water.
I agree: if people want to live in Arizona, they need to live a house designed for it (lots of thermal mass, solar chimneys, etc.) instead of stick-built tract homes appropriate for the climate of New England.
You were talking about how text can grow beyond its bounding box when the DPI changes, and how this is sometimes only noticeable in certain languages (i.e. the more verbose ones, which need to fit more text in the box). Therefore, you claimed that extra testing was needed (for every combination of DPI and language) to detect that problem.
I disagree with your argument because I think that if the text changes size relative to the bounding box when the DPI changes, then it is a problem even if the whole string still fits. In that case, the problem should be detectable in any language.
I thought you couldn't do DRM on Linux thanks to the GPL, so how exactly would that work? After all wouldn't it be trivial to bypass any Steam DRM on Linux, by simply intercepting whatever hooks they use?
You can't make the DRM effective (except in the case below), but the GPL permits you to try.
Also, since the Linux kernel is licensed using (specifically) version 2 of the GPL, DRM'd systems can be created using it by creating hardware that only runs particular signed versions. This bug in the license was exploited by TiVo, among others.
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Exactly! And one reason the iPad is succeeding is that it's managed to shave off another half a pound.
It's not new; it's a PADD (even the name is almost the same). The only surprising thing is that it took this long to actually build a decent one!
He doesn't want the "Apple experience;" he wants Mac OS X -- which, not coincidentally, is missing from the iPad.
The people getting iPads DON'T WANT A BIG LAPTOP! They're getting the iPad specifically because it's NOT BIG. What part of that is so fucking hard to understand?!
You've never owned a 1024x768 screen? Until relatively recently, that's all you got in a 12" laptop (let alone a 10" like the iPad)! You either only recently got your first laptop or you've been using 14" (or bigger) behemoths the whole time and therefore aren't even slightly part of the demographic the iPad is targeting anyway.
The larger screen makes it much less cumbersome to use than an iPhone (and I'm not just talking about reading; remember, the on-screen keyboard gets bigger too).
Don't you realize that describes the majority of netbook users already?
Using your own device in whatever manner you wish is your right!
What people really want -- and always wanted -- is an electronic substitute for a clipboard. They've been using netbooks (and Tablet PCs before that) because that's all that was available; now that the iPad exists there's no surprise that it's killing off those other devices! It still needs to lose another pound and get a better method of text/handwriting entry, though. (And be less proprietary...)
I think most people who bought netbooks really wanted an iPad-like device from the beginning, but settled because no such thing existed (for example, I ended up with a Tablet PC, bought just before the first netbook came out). Netbooks started off as a poor compromise, and only got worse (bigger and heavier) over time.
That perception is exactly the problem! The point of a netbook was never just to be cheap; the point was to be small (but not too small, like a PDA/smartphone). Recall that the first Eee PC came out at a time when you could easily get a 15"-screen, 10 lb. laptop for the same $300 that the Eee PC cost, but you sure as Hell couldn't easily get anything the same size!
Since then, manufacturers have been forgetting this point and started making bigger and bigger "netbooks," and that's what's killing their sales.
The reason the iPad is selling so well is that that sort of thinness and lightness is what netbook buyers have been really wanting from the beginning, and Apple finally got it right!
Even if the code is open source, that's still plagiarism.
No, we're stuck in the paranoid NIMBY dumbass age. People who actually care about the environment like nuclear power!
Obviously, your province is a third-world hellhole. Sucks to be you!
I'd imagine the company's bankruptcy would cause abandonment of the panels, not repossession of them.
Either the solar panels will pay for themselves, or the power company isn't actually price-gouging you. Which is it?
Just be sure not to try that in Florida!
If your ROI is 25 years, then you don't have that much of a problem to begin with. Conversely, if you really have a problem then fixing it has a much shorter ROI.
Yo momma's so fat she's living on all three of the coasts?
Your apartment only has one operable window?
If your power really costs that much, you'd get a massive ROI for installing solar panels.
No it doesn't, for the same reason that keeping the heat on in your oven all the time doesn't use less energy than firing it up only when you want to bake something.
I agree: if people want to live in Arizona, they need to live a house designed for it (lots of thermal mass, solar chimneys, etc.) instead of stick-built tract homes appropriate for the climate of New England.
You were talking about how text can grow beyond its bounding box when the DPI changes, and how this is sometimes only noticeable in certain languages (i.e. the more verbose ones, which need to fit more text in the box). Therefore, you claimed that extra testing was needed (for every combination of DPI and language) to detect that problem.
I disagree with your argument because I think that if the text changes size relative to the bounding box when the DPI changes, then it is a problem even if the whole string still fits. In that case, the problem should be detectable in any language.
You can't make the DRM effective (except in the case below), but the GPL permits you to try.
Also, since the Linux kernel is licensed using (specifically) version 2 of the GPL, DRM'd systems can be created using it by creating hardware that only runs particular signed versions. This bug in the license was exploited by TiVo, among others.
Indeed, no true Scotsman plays Steam games on a laptop!