And what would you rather that money go to? Wars overseas? Feeling up the few American kids who visit other countries? Keeping corrupt leaders in power?
"our taxes" have to go somewhere, do you want them being spent on your children, in the schools you attended as a child, or do you want it going elsewhere?
Lets face it, iPads are cheap, they are amazing, I've seen very young children using mine, its "magical" to them, they understand its technology, they learn how computers work from an early age, they use them to communicate with friends, the apps for education are MARVELLOUS and only getting better... and they are CHEAP!
If a school decides to spend money on living in 2011 rather than 1911, I'm all for it.
I can understand your belief that we *need* to "experiment" on other animals, I disagree with you very strongly, and I think we can both look forward to the day that nobody is hurt in the name of experimentation.
I realise it doesnt, however, the school went ahead with the iPads, as I said above, it was covered in The Invercargill Eye, a small, free publication which is unfortunately very difficult to share online! They want you to PAY per issue, to read a PDF!:-) Bugger that, and in a day/age where every student is given an iPad too!:-)
I suggest watching Apple's advertising, because THATS surely a legit and trustworthy source;-)
There are many other, longer testimonials about iPads in schools around the entire world. I used a local school, here in a rural city of 50,000 at the bottom of the world, please by all means investigate your own area.
The fact that a device can be given to each student, and it could legitimately replace ALL other "books" etc (I dont know if it is RIGHT NOW), thats great! That they own it, its theirs, its marvellous. I can imagine how I'd feel, were I one of those students, I have friends involved with the school, and they mention nothing but positive opinion, that students LOVE the device, they LOVE learning with them.
RE your "taxpayer money" argument, I'd be more worried about my taxes funding the killing of humans, multiple invasions and the instalment of puppet governments, than the HORROR of local students, my future children, at the schools I attended getting a cheap, reliable, fun, educational device to make them LOVE learning. Each to their own!:-)
The iPad is dirt cheap, dont believe so? Look at the competition, all those "floods of cheap Android devices" that will "kill the iPad", as our local Tui beer ads say, "Yeah Right". From what I've been told about US university costs, I'd think it cost effective for students to be GIVEN an iPad also, to have apps, text, podcasts, videos etc provided free, or, to help out the institute, have them for 99c! Imagine that, all your textbooks etc costing 99c US, with the majority going to the university/school.
"A Personal Computer does NOT replace a mainframe", "GUI is a toy, Command Line forever" etc:-)
I'll put it simply : where once schools might have given out "netbooks" - remember those? that little fad of shit quality machines for a few hundred dollars? -, now entire schools are given iPads, even in small, rural cities like mine, Invercargill, New Zealand.
Heres a local news story about the comparisons.... and the iPad won out by a huge margin. It was cheaper, better, "cooler" (by FAR), had more functionality via Apps... students would actually WANT to use it, to show their parents what they were working on, to use the device with their friends.
Thats a few hundred sales right there, and thats excluding the consumer and business markets. "Digital" is the way of the future, and thanks to the iPad, the present, even in my area, at the bottom of the world.
It makes me wonder though, what IS the iPhone 4's competition amongst Android handsets right now? If I wanted to suddenly throw my iPhone into a blackhole, and get an Android phone, which would I pick?
It seems there are literally a HUNDRED current phones out there, all slightly different in trivial ways, probably fitting into three main classes, cheap ass and nasty, kinda better, and high end. The cheap, and thats in a bad way, Android devices SUCK. And they are probably the ones making up the big "marketshare", collectively.
I have no problem with my American friends who have an EVO, or Nexus S, although both of those are majorly offputting to me, I dont think they are at all comparable to an iPhone 4, which has a *much* higher overall quality.
If someone wants a 3.7 inch handset (can you imagine the average customer going into a carriers store and asking for something "in a size 3.7 diagonally, perhaps an OLED..." ?), or a 4 inch handset, or a 4.3, there are options. The phones seem built around a certain spec, "we gotta have THIS", the rest of the device serves as life support for that one spec. Another example are the current Dual Core phones, which are universally butt ugly, "but they is the dual cores!!!111!!!"
I see the iPhone as built to be THE iPhone, its all together, its whole, it is more than the collection of its parts, an XXXX size battery, with a X.X "inch" screen, with a XMP camera etc. I dont feel the same way about Android devices.
What is *the* iPhone competitor with current Android devices? I dont think theres an exact match in the Android world? They are all larger, plastic, have inferior cameras, nowhere near as nice design....
And really, if I'm going to spend a thousand dollars on a phone, and then $10-20 USD a month to use it for an hour+ a day, with it on my person at all times, my lifeline to the world, why would I want some big ugly plastic lump, built as cheaply as possible, and all around one particular number?
I hope you can instead run it prepaid, in New Zealand, and pretty much any other country, you can OWN your phone, its yours, my iPhone 4 is mine, it cost about $1042 USD according to a Google conversion, its MINE. I can put in any SIM I like, from any of our three main carriers, and my phone costs me about 10-20 USD a month max. I mostly use it for 3G use only, I forget the last time I ever wanted to RING someone... its 2011!:-)
I couldnt imagine *not* having a smartphone, and I've only had one since 2008
I remember the defenders at first, but over the last six months, Flash seems to be getting kicked about more and more. I've long hated the damn thing, I grew over it after making heavily Flash based Homestead websites in highschool!
When I think of "Flash", I think of animated characters bouncing around, trying to sell me awful products, and websites that have a loading bar, "in just 10 seconds you'll be able to see the simple text, but once you click a link, it has to load THAT Flash page too! This is fun!"
I've long seen Flash as slow, annoying, buggy, insecure, and never optimised for my particular screen resolution. Apparently it absolutely sucks down The Juice on portable devices too. I hate waiting for a site to load, to then have it fill precisely a third of my screen real estate, having been designed for a computer resolution last common in a year beginning with 19.
The sooner Flash gets the hell out of here, the happier I'll be. I've never ONCE missed Flash while using my iPad or iPhone, in fact, I'd rather not have it on my iMac either!
Hi putaro, I've enjoyed your comments, thank you for your time:-)
Can I ask where you got your number, ie "69% of New Zealand's electricity comes from fossil fuels, including coal" please? I dont dispute your other figures. True, we have essentially zero electric cars, most private transport runs on fossil fuels, but in electricity generation? No,
"The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. The 70% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in terms of electricity generation."
"Share of fossil energy 25.78%
Share of renewable energy 74.22%"
The Manapouri station is built in a National Park, there was initially talk of raising the water level, flooding several tiny islands, but "those damn greenies" as you might exclaim stopped the artificial "raising of the lake", thank goodness.
Tourism company offering popular tours of the underground plant, you take the boat ride over the lake, disembark at the tourist centre outside the power station, board the bus and drive down "inside the mountain" to the machine hall, carved from the rock, surrounded by lime deposits and the lovely dripping of water. Its like being in a cave... and then you go through a door and see the giant turbines providing efficient, "free" power to modern industry.
It really is a wonder to behold, I've been through the plant at least...four times? I've stood inside the second tunnel, before it was flooded for operation. I love it.
Coal is indeed the primary source for electricity worldwide, and its a bloody disgrace. I would personally not want to live in a nation reliant on coal, it would be abhorrent to me, perhaps to all who have lived in efficient countries without its disgrace.
As someone who respects all animal life, I too would advise against killing other animals for our pleasure, and not just because "eating their flesh gives you cancer!", or scares of mercury.
I'm all for a diversity of power sources, I'd stand behind my nations renewable sources anyday, hydro, windpower, perhaps offshore wave generators, we're getting out there and MAKING it happen.
The thought of using coal or Nuclear would be absolutely terrible to most NZers, it would be like "would you like a tiny dick or a big dick", it would be something to be ashamed of. We see our national image as "clean and green", its how our country is promoted, its in our national image and self esteem.
I eagerly look forward to future developments along a clean, renewable, efficient path.
My country produces over 70 percent of our power through renewable means, I live near the Manapouri Hydroelectric station, which provides electricity for an Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai point, producing "some of the worlds finest aluminium", its used in the Airbus A380's wing section for example.
It doesnt have to be "duh, we use the coal or we use the nuke-lar", get with the program man!:-)
Several workers were killed blasting out the initial water tunnel, drilling holes in rock, and placing explosives is not so safe. The second tunnel, finished decades later used a TBM, Tunnel Boring Machine, and had a safe, efficient operation.
When our power sources "have an accident", perhaps they break down, and other stations pick up slack. Absolute worst case, power goes out in certain regions, big deal.
When Nuclear disasters go, as the locals say, "tits up", we get "invisible clouds that float over the world", radioactive water that shows up overseas, many innocent people affected. Its kinda a big deal.
If New Zealand can do it, surely America can at least TRY and catch up! Enough of "its too hard to be like the rest of the world", quit yer bellyachin' and DO it!:-)
I asked a few weeks back on Slashdot "what the hells REALLY happening? Is this worth freaking out about, or, like so many apologists claim, "its not big deal"? " And look where we are now, its dragging out, things are STILL effed up, seemingly getting worse by the day, radioactive leaks, radiation detected worldwide from this thing... people scared shitless, and I still see a large number of defenders, "oh big deal, this doesnt happen that often! Its The Liberal Media who are to blame!"
If one person from a non Nuclear country is harmed, thats one too many. *Anyone* harmed by this accident is someone too many. This accident has caused a New Zealand outbreak of smug, its sickening, as we all pat ourselves on the back, "yup, we're so smart, everyone else is dumb", because we are a "Nuclear Free nation". We still have radioactive sources, smoke alarms, research etc, no Nuclear Power plants or weapons of mass destruction.
Apologies or excuse making gets us nowhere, the dead are dead, the people dead set against Nuclear are pushed "even more against it", the supporters complain about those reporting on this "little mishap"...the danger is getting WORSE...
Oh Sony! You mess EVERYTHING up! TV's, "LCD aint going nowhere!", music, "the kids dont want that emm peee free! They want a proprietary format, on tiny discs and made by SONY, we're cool, right?", to phones "yeah, who needs modern devices?"
The Xperia Play, that thing that got like, 6 out of 10 on Engadgets review?:-)
Nothing can compare to controls AWAY from the screen you're watching.
Sony and Nintendo hang onto their franchises, they should let them be multiplatform, of course, they do that, and sales of their hardware HALVE instantly.
I like the Dual shock 3 controller, its bluetooth, it SHOULD work with iOS and Android devices. Sony should allow it to be used, surely its just a matter of "giving it a driver" in the Operating Systems, and game developers writing code for a Dual Shock 3 button layout?
You'd put your iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone... or Android devices on a surface, and use the controller. It would be perfect! An iPad for example, the second generation is "Xbox 360 power", without any fan, it runs on its battery, and its INCREDIBLY THIN. It would be better than "the real thing".
I dont at all mind "touchscreen gaming", however, yes, there are certain things that dedicated buttons do better, no kidding. If Sony wanted to somehow "license" the controller, charging a set amount to large game makers like Gameloft, well, we'd be complaining about it no doubt, "it should be free", it would be a revenue stream for them, with "the drivers" built in to the smartphones operating system, free for users.
Even if you didnt already have a PS3, or Dual Shock 3 controller, what would you rather have, some knockoff "iPlay 4000" bluetooth controller made from cheap white plastic, or use Sony's long established bluetooth controller, with motion sensing, vibration, trigger style buttons.... and that gamers likely already own!
What are the connectors you are using? A standard HDD I see, not something you wire wrapped yourself?:-)
Again, so Linux On The Desktop was soooo successful, right? Its ALWAYS the year of "Linux in the home":-)
What do you *realistically* want in a phone? I mean, we cant expect a bag of parts to be in the box, "assemble however you want!":-) Nor assembled phones that ask "please insert an SD card with Operating System ISO of your choice:-)" upon the first boot.
I would think having devices that you can legally hack is the best of both worlds. I had a "jailbroken" Original iPhone, because it wasnt sold in my country. I supported financially those who "free us from the shackles...", and still do, with Geohot.
It has to be realistic, something that can actually happen. I'm 23, in my lifetime there have been AT LEAST five "open" mobile devices I can remember, openmoko and all that, Android was breathlessly described as "open", until it got too big, and now those same Stallman types are freaking out and bitching about.
I think hacking your Android or iOS device, and not being sent to Gitmo for it is the best of both worlds. A beautiful, REAL device, running whatever the heck you want to cook up in your basement:-)
"The PC Market"? Like who? CERTAINLY NOT WINDOWS! Talk about "warping the market"... christ!
So then you're meaning like, some Linux distro? Well, the closest you would have is that Maemo thing Nokia is trying to cook up, you know, the thing that will most likely NEVER come out? And when it does, its stuck on that wooooooonderful, cutting edge Nokia hardware?:-)
Nokia are moving to Windows Phone 7, ugh! "Moving", no no no, even this "most open of operating systems" company had their price, they were bought off, with "billions of dollars" thrown their way.
Theres a lot of talk about "extremely open" devices, but who buys them? NOBODY! And the ones that are closest on the market, like the N900, people HERE have them, but the thing got terrible reviews, felt years out of date, and was in no way comparable to a modern iOS or Android device.
Even gun nuts generally dont mind the government "taking away our rights" to Nuclear bombs. If Google say "the CPU must be at least this, the screen res..." to run their OS, then thats a GOOD thing. If anything, otherwise you end up with another Nokia, this big, POS, caught with their pants down, and utterly unable to compete.
Again, thats a matter of "plugging in the phone by USB, transferring to computer, opening in Photoshop/what have you, dragging the colour levels about...resaving it....
Its not something that can be done on the phone itself, it might actually be quite possible on an iOS (or Android device) with some of the new photo editing tools, not sure.
I'm sure most would rather have a camera that takes GREAT photos, be they a little bright, than have technical accuracy, with two bits of gravel more visible in some background shadow on the terrible Nokia's photo, compared to the fantastic iPhone's.
How many people have the "vivid" mode turned on their television? If they saw the "natural" picture, they'd say "hey, who turned down the colour?!?"
Have you seen photos from an iPhone 4? Its widely regarded as having the best "shooter" of all smartphones, the Nokia N8 takes technically more accurate images (ie more detail), with photos from the iPhone being more "vivid", artificially richer greens, reds, more pleasing to the eye.
Let's first take a look at the higher-res main camera. At his WWDC keynote, Jobs said that getting great looking images wasn't just about upping the camera's megapixels, but had more to do with grabbing more photons. Increase the photon count, let more light in, and your images will look better, the thought goes. So Apple's using a newer backside-illuminated sensor that's more sensitive to light in addition to upping those megapixels -- and we must say, pictures on the iPhone 4 look stunning. Our shots looked good right out of the gate, with few problems when it came to focusing or low light. With the flash on, we managed decent if somewhat blown out results (fairly common with smaller LED flashes) though impressively, the iPhone 4 was usually able to take completely useable and even handsome photos in fairly low light without the flash. It seems like that photon situation is definitely in play, because even shots taken in fairly dark lighting came out looking good. Autofocus worked well in most situations, and we were actually able to get some impressive looking macro shots (see the flowers and Penny below). In general, we'd have no trouble using the iPhone 4's camera as a stand-in for a dedicated camera.
I genuinely prefer using my iPhone to my "prosumer level" Sony digital camera from a few years ago, they both shoot at 5MP, which "isnt great" by todays standards, however, the resolution is more than enough for little old me:-)
It's always with me, its very, very thin, beautiful, and takes lovely photos, wait, I said GORGEOUS photos;-)
Could it do with Optical Zoom? Sure, and my Sony has "Night Vision" mode via IR photography. Big whoop, I'd rather use my iPhone than carry a seperate camera with me, even if the other camera was as slim...and if it could also upload images over 3G or wifi, directly onto Facebook, Flickr, videos to YouTube, have GPS...
Next up, using your phone as a calender, as a clock, and as a navigation unit:-)
I would also say the 30 FPS 720 HD video off my iPhone makes for GREAT movies too, although there is off course the "wobbly sensor" action common to such video cameras.
Heres a compressed video, YouTube does take a lot of the quality out, still looks great.
See, I remember all the Android arguments, "ITS FREEEEEEE!1!1!" when I mentioned having an iPhone. I love my phone, its slick, built like a piece of jewellery, very fast, takes gorgeous photos, it works great.
The supposed argument for "open" would be that "all the bad carriers will get kicked out, people will get fed up with their bullshit products, and go to another vendor. Consumer choice!"
Erm, no. The US market is already among the worlds worst for carriers, seriously, here in New Zealand - basically any other developed nation - I take my Micro SIM out, flip in a new one from any of the three major carriers, and it Just Works. I bought my phone outright, but even "on contract" phones are sold "unlocked" in NZ.
The reality is, "The Free Market" involves crooked deals among The Big Boys, ie Google giving out favours to Manufacturer X, so they get "The Best Phone", often with an exclusive new version of the OS, while the others - including other very big companies, some of which were the FORMER poster child - have to quietly whine, and wait for the new update, if it comes at all.
Think about the number of "Android device makers", how many are actually worth shit? I'd think about five, max! HTC, Motorola, perhaps Samsung (very high end tech in some ways, utterly crap quality in others).... hell, off the top of my head I only got three that I'd consider decent. The rest seem to be "clone phone" makers, the same crap, competing on price, "gotta make if five dollars cheaper than the other guy".
And they all come loaded with BS! Except for the "stock" phone, which is what I'd go for. Oh, but theres not currently a "stock" phone with the larger screen? With a dual core CPU? So, people might be lured away from The Righteous Path, into crapware oblivion.
The majority of people seem to put up with the awful ads, the programs you cannot delete (without superpowers), they take it as a given.
Its the new version of "intel inside", everyone wants their little medals to show up, to build brand recognition, to profit from the consumer.
I'd rather have a "free market with rules", with a Google who sets limits, ie no trial apps that work for 15 days, then ask you for ten dollars, that will otherwise remain on your phone undelete-able for eternity.
If you're an Android user, speak up about this! Send a polite complaint email to the manufacturer, I dont think they will care about "your phone is the sux coause the motorolas has the sweet as screen...", and lets get people INTERESTED about how their devices SHOULD work!
Name a non military use of "klicks". It was used in the USA forces, because they didnt want to say "kilometre". I doubt that US soldiers would even have LEARNT what a kilometre was before service, as in they wouldnt know accurately nor "think in" metric. I know what a "mile" is, I have roughly an idea of how it compares to a kilometre, I wouldnt have a clue what two miles in length looks like, I can easily picture two kilometres.
I was out geocaching with friends today, watching my iPhone measure distances to hidden treasures. I know very well what metres and kilometres look like. Growing up outside of those three little countries that use "imperial" in the year 2011, I wouldnt have a friggin clue about working in miles.
"klomeddres" takes about as long to say as "miles", its not difficult, IF you're used to it:-) In the same way that I stumble pronouncing names in languages other than English.
Thank you very much:-)
An English friends wife is Japanese, she had been very depressed about the news as it broke, I believe she had family members who were among those told to "stay indoors, keep a paper mask over your mouth" (the masks are somewhat common in Japan)... that is terrifying on a scale I could not comprehend. To be told that there MIGHT be an "invisible cloud of radioactive shit" (not literal shit:-) ) flying through the air, and all you can do is lock your door and strap paper to your head? Imagine walking around like that, not leaving your house, never knowing if The Evil Cloud was about to hit you!
In New Zealand, we have not been concerned about it directly affecting us. I have however been keeping up with US news, with those on the West coast who believed it would get to them... and those who outright deny that "anything bad" is happening.
Its a crazy world, especially when we cannot even know what IS or IS NOT going on!:-)
An English friends wife is Japanese, she had been very depressed about the news as it broke, I believe she had family members who were among those told to "stay indoors, keep a paper mask over your mouth" (the masks are somewhat common in Japan)... that is terrifying on a scale I could not comprehend. To be told that there MIGHT be an "invisible cloud of radioactive shit" (not literal shit:-) ) flying through the air, and all you can do is lock your door and strap paper to your head? Imagine walking around like that, not leaving your house, never knowing if The Evil Cloud was about to hit you!
In New Zealand, we have not been concerned about it directly affecting us. I have however been keeping up with US news, with those on the West coast who believed it would get to them... and those who outright deny that "anything bad" is happening.
Its a crazy world, especially when we cannot even know what IS or IS NOT going on!:-)
Well I've truly appreciated your comments so far:-)
I think I will find myself mentioning this time in coming years, as my New Zealand definition of "partisan", where person X will scream and shout about their viewpoint, and person Y will (apparently, to be fair) go on about THEIR viewpoint, and its ALL based upon something that should be a FACT.
Either the thing IS or IS NOT leaking. Either it IS or it IS NOT a gigantic disaster. Either it IS or IS NOT a reason why we should NOT go Nuclear. Either it IS or IS NOT a reason TO GO Nuclear...
I was staggered by the first comments I saw online about the situation. And I'm talking mainly of Slashdot too, which is a knowledgeable crowd, I tried to avoid YouTube comments etc:-)
Some were vehemently fighting that this showed Nuclear was SAFE.... "it didnt kill a billion people, its safe!", others, who I would include myself among, were of the opinion if this thing was doing A QUARTER of what was reported, it was terrifyingly bad.
I have not been keeping up with the cooling system woes, it seems absolutely, 100% out of control to a layman like myself, of absolute pulled-out-of-their-ass measures, of plugs not fitting, of using sea water (mental image of people dipping plastic buckets into the sea, passing them human-chain style to the site and emptying over glowing rods...), and of the government not wanting the truth to come out. Of International Atomic institutes saying that this disaster should be rated as higher on the "shit's outta control" scale, played down in an attempt at face saving.
I'll check the sources you mentioned periodically, but will look forward to when its all over, as those involved directly will. I have one or two friends in Japan, they are safe, I have friends and family involved with the recent New Zealand earthquakes, and they too are safe. I wish those battling this Nuclear disaster all the best, I wish I could help.
I believe if the facts could be stated clearly, then that would be a huge boon to everyone, regardless of your politics.
From the Japanese government "not wanting images from American drones to get out", "is there a leak, isnt there a leak" etc... I think I'll just have to wait and see "what the truth is" once its all over and done with.
Slashdot Mirror
And what would you rather that money go to? Wars overseas? Feeling up the few American kids who visit other countries? Keeping corrupt leaders in power?
"our taxes" have to go somewhere, do you want them being spent on your children, in the schools you attended as a child, or do you want it going elsewhere?
Lets face it, iPads are cheap, they are amazing, I've seen very young children using mine, its "magical" to them, they understand its technology, they learn how computers work from an early age, they use them to communicate with friends, the apps for education are MARVELLOUS and only getting better... and they are CHEAP!
If a school decides to spend money on living in 2011 rather than 1911, I'm all for it.
I hope you'll decide to be Vegan, and to extend your respect towards all other animals.
I found Professor Gary Franciones website useful when I first become Vegan, http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/ as well as the many podcast shows out there, heads up, Coexisting is my own show, http://bit.ly/veganpodcastinfo
I can understand your belief that we *need* to "experiment" on other animals, I disagree with you very strongly, and I think we can both look forward to the day that nobody is hurt in the name of experimentation.
I realise it doesnt, however, the school went ahead with the iPads, as I said above, it was covered in The Invercargill Eye, a small, free publication which is unfortunately very difficult to share online! They want you to PAY per issue, to read a PDF! :-) Bugger that, and in a day/age where every student is given an iPad too! :-)
;-)
:-)
:-)
I suggest watching Apple's advertising, because THATS surely a legit and trustworthy source
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2DGi_inE10
There are many other, longer testimonials about iPads in schools around the entire world. I used a local school, here in a rural city of 50,000 at the bottom of the world, please by all means investigate your own area.
The fact that a device can be given to each student, and it could legitimately replace ALL other "books" etc (I dont know if it is RIGHT NOW), thats great! That they own it, its theirs, its marvellous. I can imagine how I'd feel, were I one of those students, I have friends involved with the school, and they mention nothing but positive opinion, that students LOVE the device, they LOVE learning with them.
RE your "taxpayer money" argument, I'd be more worried about my taxes funding the killing of humans, multiple invasions and the instalment of puppet governments, than the HORROR of local students, my future children, at the schools I attended getting a cheap, reliable, fun, educational device to make them LOVE learning. Each to their own!
The iPad is dirt cheap, dont believe so? Look at the competition, all those "floods of cheap Android devices" that will "kill the iPad", as our local Tui beer ads say, "Yeah Right". From what I've been told about US university costs, I'd think it cost effective for students to be GIVEN an iPad also, to have apps, text, podcasts, videos etc provided free, or, to help out the institute, have them for 99c! Imagine that, all your textbooks etc costing 99c US, with the majority going to the university/school.
"A Personal Computer does NOT replace a mainframe", "GUI is a toy, Command Line forever" etc
I'll put it simply : where once schools might have given out "netbooks" - remember those? that little fad of shit quality machines for a few hundred dollars? -, now entire schools are given iPads, even in small, rural cities like mine, Invercargill, New Zealand.
Heres a local news story about the comparisons.... and the iPad won out by a huge margin. It was cheaper, better, "cooler" (by FAR), had more functionality via Apps... students would actually WANT to use it, to show their parents what they were working on, to use the device with their friends.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4070984/School-trialling-portable-devices-to-augment-students-learning
Thats a few hundred sales right there, and thats excluding the consumer and business markets. "Digital" is the way of the future, and thanks to the iPad, the present, even in my area, at the bottom of the world.
It makes me wonder though, what IS the iPhone 4's competition amongst Android handsets right now? If I wanted to suddenly throw my iPhone into a blackhole, and get an Android phone, which would I pick?
It seems there are literally a HUNDRED current phones out there, all slightly different in trivial ways, probably fitting into three main classes, cheap ass and nasty, kinda better, and high end. The cheap, and thats in a bad way, Android devices SUCK. And they are probably the ones making up the big "marketshare", collectively.
I have no problem with my American friends who have an EVO, or Nexus S, although both of those are majorly offputting to me, I dont think they are at all comparable to an iPhone 4, which has a *much* higher overall quality.
If someone wants a 3.7 inch handset (can you imagine the average customer going into a carriers store and asking for something "in a size 3.7 diagonally, perhaps an OLED..." ?), or a 4 inch handset, or a 4.3, there are options. The phones seem built around a certain spec, "we gotta have THIS", the rest of the device serves as life support for that one spec. Another example are the current Dual Core phones, which are universally butt ugly, "but they is the dual cores!!!111!!!"
I see the iPhone as built to be THE iPhone, its all together, its whole, it is more than the collection of its parts, an XXXX size battery, with a X.X "inch" screen, with a XMP camera etc. I dont feel the same way about Android devices.
What is *the* iPhone competitor with current Android devices? I dont think theres an exact match in the Android world? They are all larger, plastic, have inferior cameras, nowhere near as nice design....
And really, if I'm going to spend a thousand dollars on a phone, and then $10-20 USD a month to use it for an hour+ a day, with it on my person at all times, my lifeline to the world, why would I want some big ugly plastic lump, built as cheaply as possible, and all around one particular number?
I hope you can instead run it prepaid, in New Zealand, and pretty much any other country, you can OWN your phone, its yours, my iPhone 4 is mine, it cost about $1042 USD according to a Google conversion, its MINE. I can put in any SIM I like, from any of our three main carriers, and my phone costs me about 10-20 USD a month max. I mostly use it for 3G use only, I forget the last time I ever wanted to RING someone... its 2011! :-)
I couldnt imagine *not* having a smartphone, and I've only had one since 2008
I remember the defenders at first, but over the last six months, Flash seems to be getting kicked about more and more. I've long hated the damn thing, I grew over it after making heavily Flash based Homestead websites in highschool!
When I think of "Flash", I think of animated characters bouncing around, trying to sell me awful products, and websites that have a loading bar, "in just 10 seconds you'll be able to see the simple text, but once you click a link, it has to load THAT Flash page too! This is fun!"
I've long seen Flash as slow, annoying, buggy, insecure, and never optimised for my particular screen resolution. Apparently it absolutely sucks down The Juice on portable devices too. I hate waiting for a site to load, to then have it fill precisely a third of my screen real estate, having been designed for a computer resolution last common in a year beginning with 19.
The sooner Flash gets the hell out of here, the happier I'll be. I've never ONCE missed Flash while using my iPad or iPhone, in fact, I'd rather not have it on my iMac either!
Nice to know putaro, I'd long known we had "over 70% renewable", which has always been close enough for me, an average citizen :-)
Please stay safe, I hope you enjoy living in Japan.
Hi putaro, I've enjoyed your comments, thank you for your time :-)
Can I ask where you got your number, ie "69% of New Zealand's electricity comes from fossil fuels, including coal" please? I dont dispute your other figures. True, we have essentially zero electric cars, most private transport runs on fossil fuels, but in electricity generation? No,
"The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. The 70% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in terms of electricity generation."
"Share of fossil energy 25.78% Share of renewable energy 74.22%"
From the infallible resource! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electricity_sector_in_New_Zealand
Best wishes.
The Manapouri station is built in a National Park, there was initially talk of raising the water level, flooding several tiny islands, but "those damn greenies" as you might exclaim stopped the artificial "raising of the lake", thank goodness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manapouri_Hydroelectric_Power_Station
Tourism company offering popular tours of the underground plant, you take the boat ride over the lake, disembark at the tourist centre outside the power station, board the bus and drive down "inside the mountain" to the machine hall, carved from the rock, surrounded by lime deposits and the lovely dripping of water. Its like being in a cave... and then you go through a door and see the giant turbines providing efficient, "free" power to modern industry.
http://www.realjourneys.co.nz/Main/Powerstation/
Google Images
http://www.google.co.nz/search?q=manapouri+power+station&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=teY&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&prmd=ivnsm&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=j_ujTfq6MpLcvQPDvJmLCg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CA0Q_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=594
It really is a wonder to behold, I've been through the plant at least...four times? I've stood inside the second tunnel, before it was flooded for operation. I love it.
Coal is indeed the primary source for electricity worldwide, and its a bloody disgrace. I would personally not want to live in a nation reliant on coal, it would be abhorrent to me, perhaps to all who have lived in efficient countries without its disgrace.
As someone who respects all animal life, I too would advise against killing other animals for our pleasure, and not just because "eating their flesh gives you cancer!", or scares of mercury.
I'm all for a diversity of power sources, I'd stand behind my nations renewable sources anyday, hydro, windpower, perhaps offshore wave generators, we're getting out there and MAKING it happen.
The thought of using coal or Nuclear would be absolutely terrible to most NZers, it would be like "would you like a tiny dick or a big dick", it would be something to be ashamed of. We see our national image as "clean and green", its how our country is promoted, its in our national image and self esteem.
I eagerly look forward to future developments along a clean, renewable, efficient path.
My country produces over 70 percent of our power through renewable means, I live near the Manapouri Hydroelectric station, which provides electricity for an Aluminium Smelter at Tiwai point, producing "some of the worlds finest aluminium", its used in the Airbus A380's wing section for example.
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It doesnt have to be "duh, we use the coal or we use the nuke-lar", get with the program man!
Several workers were killed blasting out the initial water tunnel, drilling holes in rock, and placing explosives is not so safe. The second tunnel, finished decades later used a TBM, Tunnel Boring Machine, and had a safe, efficient operation.
When our power sources "have an accident", perhaps they break down, and other stations pick up slack. Absolute worst case, power goes out in certain regions, big deal.
When Nuclear disasters go, as the locals say, "tits up", we get "invisible clouds that float over the world", radioactive water that shows up overseas, many innocent people affected. Its kinda a big deal.
If New Zealand can do it, surely America can at least TRY and catch up! Enough of "its too hard to be like the rest of the world", quit yer bellyachin' and DO it!
I asked a few weeks back on Slashdot "what the hells REALLY happening? Is this worth freaking out about, or, like so many apologists claim, "its not big deal"? " And look where we are now, its dragging out, things are STILL effed up, seemingly getting worse by the day, radioactive leaks, radiation detected worldwide from this thing... people scared shitless, and I still see a large number of defenders, "oh big deal, this doesnt happen that often! Its The Liberal Media who are to blame!"
If one person from a non Nuclear country is harmed, thats one too many. *Anyone* harmed by this accident is someone too many. This accident has caused a New Zealand outbreak of smug, its sickening, as we all pat ourselves on the back, "yup, we're so smart, everyone else is dumb", because we are a "Nuclear Free nation". We still have radioactive sources, smoke alarms, research etc, no Nuclear Power plants or weapons of mass destruction.
Apologies or excuse making gets us nowhere, the dead are dead, the people dead set against Nuclear are pushed "even more against it", the supporters complain about those reporting on this "little mishap"...the danger is getting WORSE...
And nothing changes.
Wish I could mod you "funny" and post here too ;-)
:-)
Oh Sony! You mess EVERYTHING up! TV's, "LCD aint going nowhere!", music, "the kids dont want that emm peee free! They want a proprietary format, on tiny discs and made by SONY, we're cool, right?", to phones "yeah, who needs modern devices?"
The Xperia Play, that thing that got like, 6 out of 10 on Engadgets review?
Nothing can compare to controls AWAY from the screen you're watching.
Sony and Nintendo hang onto their franchises, they should let them be multiplatform, of course, they do that, and sales of their hardware HALVE instantly.
I like the Dual shock 3 controller, its bluetooth, it SHOULD work with iOS and Android devices. Sony should allow it to be used, surely its just a matter of "giving it a driver" in the Operating Systems, and game developers writing code for a Dual Shock 3 button layout?
You'd put your iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone... or Android devices on a surface, and use the controller. It would be perfect! An iPad for example, the second generation is "Xbox 360 power", without any fan, it runs on its battery, and its INCREDIBLY THIN. It would be better than "the real thing".
I dont at all mind "touchscreen gaming", however, yes, there are certain things that dedicated buttons do better, no kidding. If Sony wanted to somehow "license" the controller, charging a set amount to large game makers like Gameloft, well, we'd be complaining about it no doubt, "it should be free", it would be a revenue stream for them, with "the drivers" built in to the smartphones operating system, free for users.
Even if you didnt already have a PS3, or Dual Shock 3 controller, what would you rather have, some knockoff "iPlay 4000" bluetooth controller made from cheap white plastic, or use Sony's long established bluetooth controller, with motion sensing, vibration, trigger style buttons.... and that gamers likely already own!
Its win-win for everyone.
What are the connectors you are using? A standard HDD I see, not something you wire wrapped yourself? :-)
:-)
:-) Nor assembled phones that ask "please insert an SD card with Operating System ISO of your choice :-)" upon the first boot.
:-)
Again, so Linux On The Desktop was soooo successful, right? Its ALWAYS the year of "Linux in the home"
What do you *realistically* want in a phone? I mean, we cant expect a bag of parts to be in the box, "assemble however you want!"
I would think having devices that you can legally hack is the best of both worlds. I had a "jailbroken" Original iPhone, because it wasnt sold in my country. I supported financially those who "free us from the shackles...", and still do, with Geohot.
It has to be realistic, something that can actually happen. I'm 23, in my lifetime there have been AT LEAST five "open" mobile devices I can remember, openmoko and all that, Android was breathlessly described as "open", until it got too big, and now those same Stallman types are freaking out and bitching about.
I think hacking your Android or iOS device, and not being sent to Gitmo for it is the best of both worlds. A beautiful, REAL device, running whatever the heck you want to cook up in your basement
"The PC Market"? Like who? CERTAINLY NOT WINDOWS! Talk about "warping the market"... christ!
:-)
So then you're meaning like, some Linux distro? Well, the closest you would have is that Maemo thing Nokia is trying to cook up, you know, the thing that will most likely NEVER come out? And when it does, its stuck on that wooooooonderful, cutting edge Nokia hardware?
Nokia are moving to Windows Phone 7, ugh! "Moving", no no no, even this "most open of operating systems" company had their price, they were bought off, with "billions of dollars" thrown their way.
Theres a lot of talk about "extremely open" devices, but who buys them? NOBODY! And the ones that are closest on the market, like the N900, people HERE have them, but the thing got terrible reviews, felt years out of date, and was in no way comparable to a modern iOS or Android device.
Even gun nuts generally dont mind the government "taking away our rights" to Nuclear bombs. If Google say "the CPU must be at least this, the screen res..." to run their OS, then thats a GOOD thing. If anything, otherwise you end up with another Nokia, this big, POS, caught with their pants down, and utterly unable to compete.
Again, thats a matter of "plugging in the phone by USB, transferring to computer, opening in Photoshop/what have you, dragging the colour levels about...resaving it....
Its not something that can be done on the phone itself, it might actually be quite possible on an iOS (or Android device) with some of the new photo editing tools, not sure.
I'm sure most would rather have a camera that takes GREAT photos, be they a little bright, than have technical accuracy, with two bits of gravel more visible in some background shadow on the terrible Nokia's photo, compared to the fantastic iPhone's.
How many people have the "vivid" mode turned on their television? If they saw the "natural" picture, they'd say "hey, who turned down the colour?!?"
Have you seen photos from an iPhone 4? Its widely regarded as having the best "shooter" of all smartphones, the Nokia N8 takes technically more accurate images (ie more detail), with photos from the iPhone being more "vivid", artificially richer greens, reds, more pleasing to the eye.
Let's first take a look at the higher-res main camera. At his WWDC keynote, Jobs said that getting great looking images wasn't just about upping the camera's megapixels, but had more to do with grabbing more photons. Increase the photon count, let more light in, and your images will look better, the thought goes. So Apple's using a newer backside-illuminated sensor that's more sensitive to light in addition to upping those megapixels -- and we must say, pictures on the iPhone 4 look stunning. Our shots looked good right out of the gate, with few problems when it came to focusing or low light. With the flash on, we managed decent if somewhat blown out results (fairly common with smaller LED flashes) though impressively, the iPhone 4 was usually able to take completely useable and even handsome photos in fairly low light without the flash. It seems like that photon situation is definitely in play, because even shots taken in fairly dark lighting came out looking good. Autofocus worked well in most situations, and we were actually able to get some impressive looking macro shots (see the flowers and Penny below). In general, we'd have no trouble using the iPhone 4's camera as a stand-in for a dedicated camera.
Engadget Review
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:-)
I genuinely prefer using my iPhone to my "prosumer level" Sony digital camera from a few years ago, they both shoot at 5MP, which "isnt great" by todays standards, however, the resolution is more than enough for little old me
It's always with me, its very, very thin, beautiful, and takes lovely photos, wait, I said GORGEOUS photos
Could it do with Optical Zoom? Sure, and my Sony has "Night Vision" mode via IR photography. Big whoop, I'd rather use my iPhone than carry a seperate camera with me, even if the other camera was as slim...and if it could also upload images over 3G or wifi, directly onto Facebook, Flickr, videos to YouTube, have GPS...
Next up, using your phone as a calender, as a clock, and as a navigation unit
I would also say the 30 FPS 720 HD video off my iPhone makes for GREAT movies too, although there is off course the "wobbly sensor" action common to such video cameras.
Heres a compressed video, YouTube does take a lot of the quality out, still looks great.
http://coexistingwithnonhumananimals.blogspot.com/2011/03/chicken-friend-salad-video.html
Best wishes
See, I remember all the Android arguments, "ITS FREEEEEEE!1!1!" when I mentioned having an iPhone. I love my phone, its slick, built like a piece of jewellery, very fast, takes gorgeous photos, it works great.
The supposed argument for "open" would be that "all the bad carriers will get kicked out, people will get fed up with their bullshit products, and go to another vendor. Consumer choice!"
Erm, no. The US market is already among the worlds worst for carriers, seriously, here in New Zealand - basically any other developed nation - I take my Micro SIM out, flip in a new one from any of the three major carriers, and it Just Works. I bought my phone outright, but even "on contract" phones are sold "unlocked" in NZ.
The reality is, "The Free Market" involves crooked deals among The Big Boys, ie Google giving out favours to Manufacturer X, so they get "The Best Phone", often with an exclusive new version of the OS, while the others - including other very big companies, some of which were the FORMER poster child - have to quietly whine, and wait for the new update, if it comes at all.
Think about the number of "Android device makers", how many are actually worth shit? I'd think about five, max! HTC, Motorola, perhaps Samsung (very high end tech in some ways, utterly crap quality in others).... hell, off the top of my head I only got three that I'd consider decent. The rest seem to be "clone phone" makers, the same crap, competing on price, "gotta make if five dollars cheaper than the other guy".
And they all come loaded with BS! Except for the "stock" phone, which is what I'd go for. Oh, but theres not currently a "stock" phone with the larger screen? With a dual core CPU? So, people might be lured away from The Righteous Path, into crapware oblivion.
The majority of people seem to put up with the awful ads, the programs you cannot delete (without superpowers), they take it as a given.
Its the new version of "intel inside", everyone wants their little medals to show up, to build brand recognition, to profit from the consumer.
I'd rather have a "free market with rules", with a Google who sets limits, ie no trial apps that work for 15 days, then ask you for ten dollars, that will otherwise remain on your phone undelete-able for eternity.
If you're an Android user, speak up about this! Send a polite complaint email to the manufacturer, I dont think they will care about "your phone is the sux coause the motorolas has the sweet as screen...", and lets get people INTERESTED about how their devices SHOULD work!
Name a non military use of "klicks". It was used in the USA forces, because they didnt want to say "kilometre". I doubt that US soldiers would even have LEARNT what a kilometre was before service, as in they wouldnt know accurately nor "think in" metric. I know what a "mile" is, I have roughly an idea of how it compares to a kilometre, I wouldnt have a clue what two miles in length looks like, I can easily picture two kilometres.
:-) In the same way that I stumble pronouncing names in languages other than English.
I was out geocaching with friends today, watching my iPhone measure distances to hidden treasures. I know very well what metres and kilometres look like. Growing up outside of those three little countries that use "imperial" in the year 2011, I wouldnt have a friggin clue about working in miles.
"klomeddres" takes about as long to say as "miles", its not difficult, IF you're used to it
just like when the military there use "klicks", unable to use that nasty FRENCH measurement openly, right? They mean kilometres.
Thank you very much :-)
An English friends wife is Japanese, she had been very depressed about the news as it broke, I believe she had family members who were among those told to "stay indoors, keep a paper mask over your mouth" (the masks are somewhat common in Japan)... that is terrifying on a scale I could not comprehend. To be told that there MIGHT be an "invisible cloud of radioactive shit" (not literal shit :-) ) flying through the air, and all you can do is lock your door and strap paper to your head? Imagine walking around like that, not leaving your house, never knowing if The Evil Cloud was about to hit you!
In New Zealand, we have not been concerned about it directly affecting us. I have however been keeping up with US news, with those on the West coast who believed it would get to them... and those who outright deny that "anything bad" is happening.
Its a crazy world, especially when we cannot even know what IS or IS NOT going on! :-)
Thank you very much :-)
:-) ) flying through the air, and all you can do is lock your door and strap paper to your head? Imagine walking around like that, not leaving your house, never knowing if The Evil Cloud was about to hit you!
:-)
An English friends wife is Japanese, she had been very depressed about the news as it broke, I believe she had family members who were among those told to "stay indoors, keep a paper mask over your mouth" (the masks are somewhat common in Japan)... that is terrifying on a scale I could not comprehend. To be told that there MIGHT be an "invisible cloud of radioactive shit" (not literal shit
In New Zealand, we have not been concerned about it directly affecting us. I have however been keeping up with US news, with those on the West coast who believed it would get to them... and those who outright deny that "anything bad" is happening.
Its a crazy world, especially when we cannot even know what IS or IS NOT going on!
Well I've truly appreciated your comments so far :-)
:-)
I think I will find myself mentioning this time in coming years, as my New Zealand definition of "partisan", where person X will scream and shout about their viewpoint, and person Y will (apparently, to be fair) go on about THEIR viewpoint, and its ALL based upon something that should be a FACT.
Either the thing IS or IS NOT leaking. Either it IS or it IS NOT a gigantic disaster. Either it IS or IS NOT a reason why we should NOT go Nuclear. Either it IS or IS NOT a reason TO GO Nuclear...
I was staggered by the first comments I saw online about the situation. And I'm talking mainly of Slashdot too, which is a knowledgeable crowd, I tried to avoid YouTube comments etc
Some were vehemently fighting that this showed Nuclear was SAFE.... "it didnt kill a billion people, its safe!", others, who I would include myself among, were of the opinion if this thing was doing A QUARTER of what was reported, it was terrifyingly bad.
I have not been keeping up with the cooling system woes, it seems absolutely, 100% out of control to a layman like myself, of absolute pulled-out-of-their-ass measures, of plugs not fitting, of using sea water (mental image of people dipping plastic buckets into the sea, passing them human-chain style to the site and emptying over glowing rods...), and of the government not wanting the truth to come out. Of International Atomic institutes saying that this disaster should be rated as higher on the "shit's outta control" scale, played down in an attempt at face saving.
I'll check the sources you mentioned periodically, but will look forward to when its all over, as those involved directly will. I have one or two friends in Japan, they are safe, I have friends and family involved with the recent New Zealand earthquakes, and they too are safe. I wish those battling this Nuclear disaster all the best, I wish I could help.
I believe if the facts could be stated clearly, then that would be a huge boon to everyone, regardless of your politics.
Thank you very much for that :-)
From the Japanese government "not wanting images from American drones to get out", "is there a leak, isnt there a leak" etc... I think I'll just have to wait and see "what the truth is" once its all over and done with.