You were resting your keyboard on your Mini? Why? I don't understand. You don't mistreat beautiful things. Do you wash your new car with an old dirty rag? Would you prefer that the mini or ipod was made out the standard beige durable plastic? Hell, even if it was made of steel you'd still dent it and scrape it. Don't blame Apple because you're expecting a gorgeous under $500 consumer product to be impervious to wear.
I remember as far back as playing Warcraft against my friends and people I didn't know. The learning curve was astronomical compared to the techniques you'd learn against the computer. Most of these people were just too good to learn to beat. Beyond that, a lot of them used hacks or cheats. 5 minutes into the game you wouldn't know what hit you and then it would be over. I don't need to get beat in real life and then come home and get beat way worse in a game!
This is only anecdotal evidence, but in evergreen forests in the North East, the forests actually are much cooler than the open areas. Sometime in summer, walk into a densely forested area and it can be 10 degrees cooler. Even if the trees are just acting as shade, I don't think they're doing much of anything to increase the temperature. Maybe it's different in other parts of the world but surely the total tree-heat is millions of times less than BURNING things.
So many sites require IE to be returned as the browser ID. At least with the crappy version we had we could get into the sites. Now many of those sites will simply not be accessible. In the long run, maybe this will help open those sites up because of the growing need to develop for more than IE, but in the short term it's going to suck.
Your theory is all well and good, but how old is the polar bear species? Over 100 years? How old are other species that WE'VE wiped out? Older than 100 years? The fact is that none of these species are going to survive because none can adapt quick enough. Sure "nature" will survive but it will be so different from what we have now that it would be hard with good conscious not to consider our responsibility in bringing it about. I guess you're just hoping that humans don't make it to have to deal with the consequences of having no animal species to live amongst?
I own a record store and run a site devoted to independent record stores. The iPod is the single biggest reason for the shift in the way people use music. By allowing you to hear only the songs you like and not having to sit through 3/4 of an album that sucks it gives so much more value to what you have. People feel less of a need to buy another album to try to move on from the previous album they got tired of. People NEVER really liked looking for new music but it was a lesser sin than having to listen to only a few crappy albums for years. Now that they don't have to they're content to just stick with the good stuff they've got, sometimes only 200 songs on an iPod shuffle. This is all about psychology.
The other half of it is what the article talks about, poor quality new music, idiotic pricing and orwellian companies.
But, I can tell you from my experience, it's ALL true. There isn't going to be physical media for the masses in 2 years.
I think a decent way to ensure articles aren't completely changed is to have an approval rating system for users. If an article is well thought of it gets modded up as reliable. Other users may still change it but with less ease than if it had a neutral or negative approval rating. To combat the popular-makes-it-correct argument you could give mod points to experts in that field based on how many edits or articles they do. If they are highly rated contributors then they can still modify highly approved articles. Basically Wikipedia needs a social structure to reward quality contributors and quality articles so that there is social momentum to resist pranksters the same way we give journalists and broadcasters trust based on past accuracy.
The self-checkout is not even close to fool-proof. If anything it's way easier to fool. I find they get confused at the slightest change in weight in your bag. You could easily scan a cheap item place it in the bag and then take the item out. When the machine starts yelling at you to put the item back in the bag you could easily put a more expensive item in instead. The key with all this is that slow, cautious clerks bring down theft. The more it's automated, the more nobody knows what's happening to the merchandise.
I was in the grocery store today and noticed tons of products with switched bar codes. I've been thinking about the whole thing because it's been happening at our record store a lot more than it used to. I don't know whether people are more broke or just more inclined to try it since cashiers just scan everything through absent-mindedly.
I know this is supposed to be a joke but that interface is nothing like OS X except for its shinyness. It breaks every possible UI convention. Mac users revolted over Word 6 and they are going to drop the whole suite now just because of the interface. It's a monstrosity.
The reason there are no competitors to the iPod is because the iPod got it right way before anyone else. Like with any technology, a competitor has to be twice as good or half the price to really make any headway. The fact is that no competitor will EVER be twice as good or half the price because the iPod has already maximized both.
The economy cannot generate rewards greater than the amount of money in the system (money=natural resources), minus however much gets taken off the top (one-way conversions such as burning oil). You are using a tool that decays, in a system already rigged to prevent any net growth. Your tool will break, and you will buy another one, in the hopes of getting the big payoff. It's a gambling system dressed in some livelier colors.
People want to buy a format that has longevity. You can still buy a huge range of record players, CD players and even tape players. Any of those media will last 20 to 100 years with basic care. Can you still buy an 8-track player? DRM is artificially making all formats like 8-tracks, they have no inherent longevity. Some *may* last that long and keep up to date with your computer hardware/software but I think that's a ton less likely than previous formats we've had.
Except, unless you rip them all as WAVs or some other uncompressed format you're double-compressing the original file. A lot of compressed files sound bad to begin with, but they sound terrible when you compress them a second time. I doubt we all have room to keep files as WAVs. Besides, isn't the bigger issue that we're paying for something that we might not be able to use in the future (at least not uncompromised)?
The thing that needs to happen is that a real company has to decide to do a Linux for Consumers. Corel did a half assed job and other small groups are trying, but you simply need a company with money and organisation and influence to throw around to get it done.
Why doesn't Google or Real or IBM do it. 90% of the work is done but nobody has put the polishing touch on it. In today's world, to get a project to the finish line AND to make it successful takes massive co-ordination and a singular vision only a mid to large company can provide.
The server and specialist strains of Linux are going to flourish on their own but there's a big opportunity for the company that brings Apple-style leadership to Linux.
I remember being 5 or 6 years old and getting together will all my friends to watch the Wizard of Oz on Halloween night. Gotta love CBC. That's the best night of the year to watch it...
Maybe I'm in the minority but my TV watching has declined immensely since the late 90s. The shows are worse, the schedule doesn't work for me and the Internet provides more entertainment value. I don't pay for cable and only watch TV on the rare occasion that I need to veg. out. Then, I don't really care what's on anyway. I do miss certain shows, but that's the beauty of downloading a program for $2. It's a lot cheaper than paying monthly cable and TIVO bills. I can get stuff through bitorrent too. Whether I watch it on the iPod is almost incosequential. I may, but I'm quite happy to watch it on my computer. If subscribing to music sucks, subscribing to TV (cable/sat.) is just the same.
If anything they're presenting the RIAA with a means of first suing everybody on the network and then suing the sh*t out of LimeWire for allowing their "secure" system to easily be compromised. It's an admission of guilt that they need the "safeguard" in the first place. The only other scenario is that they have or will have a deal with the RIAA to be the authorized "legal" P2P client, but this seems far fetched at present.
I understand what you're saying, but the proof is in the concept. The keyboard is great, the screen is great, the thumbwheel works a treat. It's the best interface you're going to get in something that small.
A friend bought a new HipTop phone/PDA/camera device. It is amazing. The various functions are about 80% of what a laptop can do, but that 80% is done right and only the stuff you need. It could easily replace most of my phone, e-mail, web and photo needs plus it's always on and you can fit it in your pocket.
I don't think any of us are going to "have to hate Microsoft" for much longer. Linux is a credible alternative and very usable. Even if you switched to Mac right now you'd find yourself with much less hate for Microsoft. In a few years, I don't think there will be any reason to choose Windows.
Slashdot Mirror
You were resting your keyboard on your Mini? Why? I don't understand. You don't mistreat beautiful things. Do you wash your new car with an old dirty rag? Would you prefer that the mini or ipod was made out the standard beige durable plastic? Hell, even if it was made of steel you'd still dent it and scrape it. Don't blame Apple because you're expecting a gorgeous under $500 consumer product to be impervious to wear.
I remember as far back as playing Warcraft against my friends and people I didn't know. The learning curve was astronomical compared to the techniques you'd learn against the computer. Most of these people were just too good to learn to beat. Beyond that, a lot of them used hacks or cheats. 5 minutes into the game you wouldn't know what hit you and then it would be over. I don't need to get beat in real life and then come home and get beat way worse in a game!
This is only anecdotal evidence, but in evergreen forests in the North East, the forests actually are much cooler than the open areas. Sometime in summer, walk into a densely forested area and it can be 10 degrees cooler. Even if the trees are just acting as shade, I don't think they're doing much of anything to increase the temperature. Maybe it's different in other parts of the world but surely the total tree-heat is millions of times less than BURNING things.
Doing any of those is far from the default behavior.
So many sites require IE to be returned as the browser ID. At least with the crappy version we had we could get into the sites. Now many of those sites will simply not be accessible. In the long run, maybe this will help open those sites up because of the growing need to develop for more than IE, but in the short term it's going to suck.
Your theory is all well and good, but how old is the polar bear species? Over 100 years? How old are other species that WE'VE wiped out? Older than 100 years? The fact is that none of these species are going to survive because none can adapt quick enough. Sure "nature" will survive but it will be so different from what we have now that it would be hard with good conscious not to consider our responsibility in bringing it about. I guess you're just hoping that humans don't make it to have to deal with the consequences of having no animal species to live amongst?
I own a record store and run a site devoted to independent record stores. The iPod is the single biggest reason for the shift in the way people use music. By allowing you to hear only the songs you like and not having to sit through 3/4 of an album that sucks it gives so much more value to what you have. People feel less of a need to buy another album to try to move on from the previous album they got tired of. People NEVER really liked looking for new music but it was a lesser sin than having to listen to only a few crappy albums for years. Now that they don't have to they're content to just stick with the good stuff they've got, sometimes only 200 songs on an iPod shuffle. This is all about psychology.
The other half of it is what the article talks about, poor quality new music, idiotic pricing and orwellian companies.
But, I can tell you from my experience, it's ALL true. There isn't going to be physical media for the masses in 2 years.
The economy's kind of in the toilet... for the average consumer spender anyway.
It's obvious from the headline that the researchers are just looking for a cute, cuddly way of curing their SADness...
I think a decent way to ensure articles aren't completely changed is to have an approval rating system for users. If an article is well thought of it gets modded up as reliable. Other users may still change it but with less ease than if it had a neutral or negative approval rating. To combat the popular-makes-it-correct argument you could give mod points to experts in that field based on how many edits or articles they do. If they are highly rated contributors then they can still modify highly approved articles. Basically Wikipedia needs a social structure to reward quality contributors and quality articles so that there is social momentum to resist pranksters the same way we give journalists and broadcasters trust based on past accuracy.
The self-checkout is not even close to fool-proof. If anything it's way easier to fool. I find they get confused at the slightest change in weight in your bag. You could easily scan a cheap item place it in the bag and then take the item out. When the machine starts yelling at you to put the item back in the bag you could easily put a more expensive item in instead. The key with all this is that slow, cautious clerks bring down theft. The more it's automated, the more nobody knows what's happening to the merchandise.
I was in the grocery store today and noticed tons of products with switched bar codes. I've been thinking about the whole thing because it's been happening at our record store a lot more than it used to. I don't know whether people are more broke or just more inclined to try it since cashiers just scan everything through absent-mindedly.
Ironic it was the French who did this first...
Eyes Without a Face
I know this is supposed to be a joke but that interface is nothing like OS X except for its shinyness. It breaks every possible UI convention. Mac users revolted over Word 6 and they are going to drop the whole suite now just because of the interface. It's a monstrosity.
The reason there are no competitors to the iPod is because the iPod got it right way before anyone else. Like with any technology, a competitor has to be twice as good or half the price to really make any headway. The fact is that no competitor will EVER be twice as good or half the price because the iPod has already maximized both.
The economy cannot generate rewards greater than the amount of money in the system (money=natural resources), minus however much gets taken off the top (one-way conversions such as burning oil). You are using a tool that decays, in a system already rigged to prevent any net growth. Your tool will break, and you will buy another one, in the hopes of getting the big payoff. It's a gambling system dressed in some livelier colors.
People want to buy a format that has longevity. You can still buy a huge range of record players, CD players and even tape players. Any of those media will last 20 to 100 years with basic care. Can you still buy an 8-track player? DRM is artificially making all formats like 8-tracks, they have no inherent longevity. Some *may* last that long and keep up to date with your computer hardware/software but I think that's a ton less likely than previous formats we've had.
Except, unless you rip them all as WAVs or some other uncompressed format you're double-compressing the original file. A lot of compressed files sound bad to begin with, but they sound terrible when you compress them a second time. I doubt we all have room to keep files as WAVs. Besides, isn't the bigger issue that we're paying for something that we might not be able to use in the future (at least not uncompromised)?
The thing that needs to happen is that a real company has to decide to do a Linux for Consumers. Corel did a half assed job and other small groups are trying, but you simply need a company with money and organisation and influence to throw around to get it done. Why doesn't Google or Real or IBM do it. 90% of the work is done but nobody has put the polishing touch on it. In today's world, to get a project to the finish line AND to make it successful takes massive co-ordination and a singular vision only a mid to large company can provide. The server and specialist strains of Linux are going to flourish on their own but there's a big opportunity for the company that brings Apple-style leadership to Linux.
I remember being 5 or 6 years old and getting together will all my friends to watch the Wizard of Oz on Halloween night. Gotta love CBC. That's the best night of the year to watch it...
Maybe I'm in the minority but my TV watching has declined immensely since the late 90s. The shows are worse, the schedule doesn't work for me and the Internet provides more entertainment value. I don't pay for cable and only watch TV on the rare occasion that I need to veg. out. Then, I don't really care what's on anyway. I do miss certain shows, but that's the beauty of downloading a program for $2. It's a lot cheaper than paying monthly cable and TIVO bills. I can get stuff through bitorrent too. Whether I watch it on the iPod is almost incosequential. I may, but I'm quite happy to watch it on my computer. If subscribing to music sucks, subscribing to TV (cable/sat.) is just the same.
If anything they're presenting the RIAA with a means of first suing everybody on the network and then suing the sh*t out of LimeWire for allowing their "secure" system to easily be compromised. It's an admission of guilt that they need the "safeguard" in the first place. The only other scenario is that they have or will have a deal with the RIAA to be the authorized "legal" P2P client, but this seems far fetched at present.
I understand what you're saying, but the proof is in the concept. The keyboard is great, the screen is great, the thumbwheel works a treat. It's the best interface you're going to get in something that small.
A friend bought a new HipTop phone/PDA/camera device. It is amazing. The various functions are about 80% of what a laptop can do, but that 80% is done right and only the stuff you need. It could easily replace most of my phone, e-mail, web and photo needs plus it's always on and you can fit it in your pocket.
I don't think any of us are going to "have to hate Microsoft" for much longer. Linux is a credible alternative and very usable. Even if you switched to Mac right now you'd find yourself with much less hate for Microsoft. In a few years, I don't think there will be any reason to choose Windows.