I really think that the video/tv functionality would be fantastic for someone who commutes to work on a bus or ferry every day.
Heh, that is probably the only real market for it(that and for parents who want to keep their kids silent on long trips). Is this a big enough audience to make a profit on?
Many people in the Eastern U.S. take commuter trains. Bay Area, too. And Europe, and Asia. Most of America drives to work, yes, but there's a huge market for commuters in other places. And of course there's the frequent flier crowd, too...
But I see another reason this device would be cool and I'm surprised it's not being pushed a little harder-- it has video out. You can load a bunch of movies and take them over to your (or anyone else's) TV. It's like a tiny digital VCR.
I really think that the video/tv functionality would be fantastic for someone who commutes to work on a bus or ferry every day.Heh, that is probably the only real market for it(that and for parents who want to keep their kids silent on long trips). Is this a big enough audience to make a profit on?
Many people in the Eastern U.S. take commuter trains. Bay Area, too. And Europe, and Asia. Most of America drives to work, yes, but there's a huge market for commuters in other places. And of course there's the frequent flier crowd, too...
But I see another reason this device would be cool and I'm surprised it's not being pushed a little harder-- it has video out. You can load a bunch of movies and take them over to your (or anyone else's) TV. It's like a tiny digital VCR.
"The Fringe Internet"
on
Internet Babylon
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
The problem with a book about the "darkest corners of the internet" is that many of the sites decribed will be gone forever by the time it's published.
I like books about strange, forgotten and fringe movies and music. But an anecdotes about how truly weird a band or film is only can go so far-- I'm going to want to see or hear it for myself.
I've been told it's a joke but that doesn't change the content).
No, that COMPLETELY changes the content. I'm well aware of Brujeria. They're actually well educated and their music is social commentary. Do you also think Public Enemy is hateful and racist?
From the FAQ I couldn't figure out how this works. If a visitor clicks the banner on your site, does that open their copy of iTunes and take them to the store? After all there is no iTunes store site to be directed to...
If that's the case, this sounds more like a way to get PC users to install iTunes than to actually sell songs. A bit on the sleazy side, isn't it Apple?
I do see a benefit for independant artists, assuming they can get their music in the iTunes music store in the first place (how does that work, anyway? Is anyone rejected?) Previously the best they could hope for is to direct you to Amazon, or, worse, tell you how to mail-order their music.
I can't imagine you're really going to come across any problems you can't figure out on your own as far as switching goes... Except that you may be S.O.L. as far as drivers go, especially for sub-name-brand peripherals.
BUT as an iBook owner I heartily recommend two things:
This keyboard protector. Buy it now and use it. White keyboards get very gross very fast, and it's impossible to clean dirt, pet hair and whatever else out from under the keys. And believe me, that stuff will show.
And if you're daring, try This patch. It enables you to use an external monitor in extended desktop mode instead of just mirroring the iBook screen. Evidently Apple locked this ability out to make that feature in the Powerbook more appealing. It works great, but read up on it before you use it.
Look at it this way. I'm trying to buy a computer, but I don't have a lot of money. I can get a PC that's 2 years old, still perfectly fine, and dirt cheap. My other option is to get a 2 year old Mac, but it's almost as expensive as a new Mac. Which one am I going to get?
Why should any manufacturer care what used computer you buy? They're not profiting either way.
As long as it can do what I need it to do, the PC still has worth to me. It just also happens to have a lower price tag. Buying a computer isn't like buying a house. Nobody cares how much it's going to sell for in 10 years.
I definitely care how much it's going to sell for when I decide to upgrade. Earlier this year I sold an original 400mhz G4 tower from 2000 for $650-- that's a lot of money for a four year old computer! That cut the cost of the (refurbished, which Apple gives full warranty on) G5 I replaced it with nearly in half. I'm about to sell my three-year-old 500mhz G3 iBook for $500 and replace it with a 12-inch G4 Powerbook (again refurb, approx. $1100 if you know where to look.)
This is the third time I've been through this cycle, and the relatively high resale value has helped me deal with the hefty Mac price tag each time.
Could be wrong, of course (these could just be for eMacs and iBooks) but considering the G5's heat issues I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be one more in-between model.
ted=0&sort=3&since) the iPod doesn't even have 50% of the portable mp3 player market so it appears the masses DO want something else. In the real world the masses do not spend $300 on a portable music player.
No, but I bet they have at least 50% of the hard drive based mp3 market. Flash-based players are a different market, and an outdated one.
And if they don't have 50% of the mp3 player market, they do have the majority. There's not a single brand that sells better. You can't lump the rest together, as in "iPod vs. everything else."
And the iPod name is as ubiquitous as Xerox or Tivo. No other player has the cultural saturation that the iPod does.
I don't get what the fuss is all about... So, it let you download songs? Who's in it's right mind is gonna pay 400$ for a crappy radio that let me download songs? Hello? P2P? If you want to get (illegally) free songs, at least do it for FREE?:)
I'm not sure it's illegal. It's akin to taping off the radio, not sharing via P2P. In any event you're not broadcasting your IP when you'e doing it so there's little chance of getting caught.
It's definitely not worth $400. But it might be worth $40 to me, if I had XM anyway. Find a channel (type of music) you like, tape it all day, come home to a neat little stack of songs to wade through...
Seriously. You can lock the door religiously, but you'd better damn well hope your roommate is just as responsible. I'm convinced schools do their best to create "odd couple" situations, so there's a good chance you're going to be sleeping next to some guy you'd never in a million years talk to or trust otherwise. I had a bit of theft at school, and it was all directly related to my club-kid roommate and his sketchy friends.
My advice? Don't own anything worth stealing. Buy a used laptop for a couple hundred bucks. It'll be dated, but it'll get the job done, and most important, no one else will want it (and if they do, buy another and you'll still be saving money.) Back it up religiously, hide your data in a few locations, get a webmail account and send everything you worked on that day to yourself nightly. Life is much easier if you aren't carrying a two thousand dollar laptop around with you at all times, and if you remember that your work is more important that your machine.
The same goes for other electronics-- get a cheap stereo, you don't need a nice one in a tiny room. Same goes for TV, Microwave, etc.
Yeah, your stuff will look like crap compared to everyone else's, but chances are it won't be stolen. And if you don't go nuts buying cool stuff you might have some money left over for socializing, which will put you way ahead of the game. You'll make more friends if you can afford to hang out than you would by having a nice computer.
Oh, and if people think you're weird or poor, tell them you like "retro" computers. That usually works.
Great. A laptop that only a two-year-old can type on. Those of us with normal-sized hands can look forward to cramping, RSI, and other fun medical issues.
Well, considering you won't be buying this, what's the problem?
It's a Japanese product, remember.
" No... so, maybe we should just START to take a little blame for windows security problems. Stop running that cute screensaver your Aunt Matilda sent you. Don't go to webpages that advertise 'warez' and 'free 3leet mp3z!'"
People aren't that smart.
No, people aren't that educated. They don't know that things that were pretty safe to do a few years ago no longer are. And the information as to what exactly the dangers are, as well as how to avoid and fix them, is still pretty much distributed via word-of-mouth. Which means they're going to get different opinions from all sorts of sources, who may not be willing to admit they don't have all the answers.
I don't necessarily blame the average Windows user for being confused. I do blame Microsoft for not being forthcoming about the problems they helped create and for not doing their damndest to fix them as quickly as possible. A big list of warnings should be the first thing you see when you go to Microsoft.com.
A video iPod could be just the thing for long commutes and frequent fliers. I lived an hour outside NYC and had to take the train an hour and a half each way, every day for a while... I would've loved something like that. Sure, most Americans drive-- but on the East Coast, in the Bay Area, in Europe and Asia there are millions and millions with similar commutes.
Add video-out, and the 3-inch-screen complaints are meaningless. It's a handheld VCR. Anyway, a tiny screen is more watchable than you might think-- or have you never played a Game Boy?
And add to the mix a download service, where you can stock the thing with movies and TV shows for a fee. Make whole runs of TV series available, including back episodes and shows that have been long off the air. Accept independent and foreign programming so we would have access to a wider range of options-- and give "alternative" filmmakers an outlet, just as iTunes is open to many "alternative" musicians.
I'm not particularly a fan, but I say kudos to Kevin Smith for returning to his roots. Let's hope he hasn't forgotten them. I did like Clerks, but his movies got (IMHO) substanially worse as they went along. Probably in direct proportion to the budget, star power and expectations he was given.
But then, he's not the only director recently to have a great first movie and then never live up to the promise again (though at least Smith's retain his trademark style, love it or don't... Others are all to quick to go as mainstream as they can.) I firmly believe it takes a good director years and a string of low budget, yet artistically free films to become great and realize their promise (look at Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese...)
I don't believe it. Costco doesn't carry a wide line of HP products, just a few ready-made systems and a small variety of peripherals. Just because they deal with HP doesn't mean they'll carry the iPod.
I also can't imagine Costco would sell the iPod unless they could knock at least fifty bucks off the price. I'm not sure Apple would go for that, either.
But hey I could be wrong. Are you just guessing or do you have inside information?
If a case has gone to court I'd like to hear about it. I have the feeling the RIAA doesn't want to take the chance of losing, which could happen if a case went before a jury... After all a jury could easily have one or two members with a folder full of mp3s on their computer at home, and worry that they're going to be next.
They could care less about the money. I really don't think they even care about the lawsuits. This is all P.R., pure and simple. It's an ad campaign. And it definitely works-- P2P goes on, but many casual users (or would-be casual users) are being scared away.
I don't think so. Flash drives are *not* more dependable that hard drives. They're good for a few thousand reads and writes, which is fine for a keychain device to swap files-- but if you're constantly swapping mp3's you can kill it relatively quickly.
Anyway, how much less bulky do you need to get than the iPod mini?
Cars have the lighter ac converter and I recall always being able to find an outlet for my laptop at the airports.
But they don't have outlets on the planes. Not usually, at least. My iBook's battery has never survived a cross-country flight.
I'm convinced one reason Game Boy did so well is because the batteries lasted a long, long time. A lot of adults play, but the main market is kids-- and Game Boys are the best pacifiers for a hyperactive 12-year old imaginable. They have to last on a long plane ride or car trip (where, I should add, the lighter adaptor won't reach into the back seat...) If the batteries on the PSP don't last, parents aren't going to buy it.
Outsourcing also raises the amount of money third world countries have. As they get richer, they start buying more expensive luxuries made in the industrialized nations.
Problem is, few expensive luxury items come from America any more. Really, the only thing we do have that is in high demand is real estate, which is coincidently being rapidly priced out of the average American's range.
Perhaps I'd being a little xenophobic, but look at New York City. It's become the playground for wealthy foreign nationals, and the middle class Americans have been almost completely displaced. Los Angeles is almost as bad, I was recently looking for a house and was outbid over and over again by the same.
Slashdot Mirror
I really think that the video/tv functionality would be fantastic for someone who commutes to work on a bus or ferry every day.
Heh, that is probably the only real market for it(that and for parents who want to keep their kids silent on long trips). Is this a big enough audience to make a profit on?
Many people in the Eastern U.S. take commuter trains. Bay Area, too. And Europe, and Asia. Most of America drives to work, yes, but there's a huge market for commuters in other places. And of course there's the frequent flier crowd, too...
But I see another reason this device would be cool and I'm surprised it's not being pushed a little harder-- it has video out. You can load a bunch of movies and take them over to your (or anyone else's) TV. It's like a tiny digital VCR.
I really think that the video/tv functionality would be fantastic for someone who commutes to work on a bus or ferry every day. Heh, that is probably the only real market for it(that and for parents who want to keep their kids silent on long trips). Is this a big enough audience to make a profit on? Many people in the Eastern U.S. take commuter trains. Bay Area, too. And Europe, and Asia. Most of America drives to work, yes, but there's a huge market for commuters in other places. And of course there's the frequent flier crowd, too... But I see another reason this device would be cool and I'm surprised it's not being pushed a little harder-- it has video out. You can load a bunch of movies and take them over to your (or anyone else's) TV. It's like a tiny digital VCR.
The problem with a book about the "darkest corners of the internet" is that many of the sites decribed will be gone forever by the time it's published.
I like books about strange, forgotten and fringe movies and music. But an anecdotes about how truly weird a band or film is only can go so far-- I'm going to want to see or hear it for myself.
I've been told it's a joke but that doesn't change the content).
No, that COMPLETELY changes the content. I'm well aware of Brujeria. They're actually well educated and their music is social commentary. Do you also think Public Enemy is hateful and racist?
From the FAQ I couldn't figure out how this works. If a visitor clicks the banner on your site, does that open their copy of iTunes and take them to the store? After all there is no iTunes store site to be directed to...
If that's the case, this sounds more like a way to get PC users to install iTunes than to actually sell songs. A bit on the sleazy side, isn't it Apple?
I do see a benefit for independant artists, assuming they can get their music in the iTunes music store in the first place (how does that work, anyway? Is anyone rejected?) Previously the best they could hope for is to direct you to Amazon, or, worse, tell you how to mail-order their music.
I can't imagine you're really going to come across any problems you can't figure out on your own as far as switching goes... Except that you may be S.O.L. as far as drivers go, especially for sub-name-brand peripherals.
BUT as an iBook owner I heartily recommend two things:
This keyboard protector. Buy it now and use it. White keyboards get very gross very fast, and it's impossible to clean dirt, pet hair and whatever else out from under the keys. And believe me, that stuff will show.
And if you're daring, try This patch. It enables you to use an external monitor in extended desktop mode instead of just mirroring the iBook screen. Evidently Apple locked this ability out to make that feature in the Powerbook more appealing. It works great, but read up on it before you use it.
Look at it this way. I'm trying to buy a computer, but I don't have a lot of money. I can get a PC that's 2 years old, still perfectly fine, and dirt cheap. My other option is to get a 2 year old Mac, but it's almost as expensive as a new Mac. Which one am I going to get?
Why should any manufacturer care what used computer you buy? They're not profiting either way.
As long as it can do what I need it to do, the PC still has worth to me. It just also happens to have a lower price tag. Buying a computer isn't like buying a house. Nobody cares how much it's going to sell for in 10 years.
I definitely care how much it's going to sell for when I decide to upgrade. Earlier this year I sold an original 400mhz G4 tower from 2000 for $650-- that's a lot of money for a four year old computer! That cut the cost of the (refurbished, which Apple gives full warranty on) G5 I replaced it with nearly in half. I'm about to sell my three-year-old 500mhz G3 iBook for $500 and replace it with a 12-inch G4 Powerbook (again refurb, approx. $1100 if you know where to look.)
This is the third time I've been through this cycle, and the relatively high resale value has helped me deal with the hefty Mac price tag each time.
I read the frekkin question, I read the frekkin thread, I missed the frekkin line. But thanks for being an ass.
Could be wrong, of course (these could just be for eMacs and iBooks) but considering the G5's heat issues I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be one more in-between model.
ted=0&sort=3&since)
the iPod doesn't even have 50% of the portable mp3 player market so it appears the masses DO want something else. In the real world the masses do not spend $300 on a portable music player.
No, but I bet they have at least 50% of the hard drive based mp3 market. Flash-based players are a different market, and an outdated one.
And if they don't have 50% of the mp3 player market, they do have the majority. There's not a single brand that sells better. You can't lump the rest together, as in "iPod vs. everything else."
And the iPod name is as ubiquitous as Xerox or Tivo. No other player has the cultural saturation that the iPod does.
I don't think you know what you're talking about.
Problem is there's no network install, only local disks. (Hence the subject line...)
I don't get what the fuss is all about... So, it let you download songs? Who's in it's right mind is gonna pay 400$ for a crappy radio that let me download songs? Hello? P2P? If you want to get (illegally) free songs, at least do it for FREE? :)
I'm not sure it's illegal. It's akin to taping off the radio, not sharing via P2P. In any event you're not broadcasting your IP when you'e doing it so there's little chance of getting caught.
It's definitely not worth $400. But it might be worth $40 to me, if I had XM anyway. Find a channel (type of music) you like, tape it all day, come home to a neat little stack of songs to wade through...
Seriously. You can lock the door religiously, but you'd better damn well hope your roommate is just as responsible. I'm convinced schools do their best to create "odd couple" situations, so there's a good chance you're going to be sleeping next to some guy you'd never in a million years talk to or trust otherwise. I had a bit of theft at school, and it was all directly related to my club-kid roommate and his sketchy friends.
My advice? Don't own anything worth stealing. Buy a used laptop for a couple hundred bucks. It'll be dated, but it'll get the job done, and most important, no one else will want it (and if they do, buy another and you'll still be saving money.) Back it up religiously, hide your data in a few locations, get a webmail account and send everything you worked on that day to yourself nightly. Life is much easier if you aren't carrying a two thousand dollar laptop around with you at all times, and if you remember that your work is more important that your machine.
The same goes for other electronics-- get a cheap stereo, you don't need a nice one in a tiny room. Same goes for TV, Microwave, etc.
Yeah, your stuff will look like crap compared to everyone else's, but chances are it won't be stolen. And if you don't go nuts buying cool stuff you might have some money left over for socializing, which will put you way ahead of the game. You'll make more friends if you can afford to hang out than you would by having a nice computer.
Oh, and if people think you're weird or poor, tell them you like "retro" computers. That usually works.
You've never heard of them, but if you've ever used an ATM you've used their products.
Of course I doubt Diebold's ATMs are as horible insecure as the voting machines. Draw conspiracy theory conclusions as you see fit.
Great. A laptop that only a two-year-old can type on. Those of us with normal-sized hands can look forward to cramping, RSI, and other fun medical issues. Well, considering you won't be buying this, what's the problem? It's a Japanese product, remember.
" No... so, maybe we should just START to take a little blame for windows security problems. Stop running that cute screensaver your Aunt Matilda sent you. Don't go to webpages that advertise 'warez' and 'free 3leet mp3z!'"
People aren't that smart.
No, people aren't that educated. They don't know that things that were pretty safe to do a few years ago no longer are.
And the information as to what exactly the dangers are, as well as how to avoid and fix them, is still pretty much distributed via word-of-mouth. Which means they're going to get different opinions from all sorts of sources, who may not be willing to admit they don't have all the answers.
I don't necessarily blame the average Windows user for being confused. I do blame Microsoft for not being forthcoming about the problems they helped create and for not doing their damndest to fix them as quickly as possible. A big list of warnings should be the first thing you see when you go to Microsoft.com.
A video iPod could be just the thing for long commutes and frequent fliers. I lived an hour outside NYC and had to take the train an hour and a half each way, every day for a while... I would've loved something like that. Sure, most Americans drive-- but on the East Coast, in the Bay Area, in Europe and Asia there are millions and millions with similar commutes.
Add video-out, and the 3-inch-screen complaints are meaningless. It's a handheld VCR. Anyway, a tiny screen is more watchable than you might think-- or have you never played a Game Boy?
And add to the mix a download service, where you can stock the thing with movies and TV shows for a fee. Make whole runs of TV series available, including back episodes and shows that have been long off the air. Accept independent and foreign programming so we would have access to a wider range of options-- and give "alternative" filmmakers an outlet, just as iTunes is open to many "alternative" musicians.
Ehh, just dreaming.
I'm not particularly a fan, but I say kudos to Kevin Smith for returning to his roots. Let's hope he hasn't forgotten them. I did like Clerks, but his movies got (IMHO) substanially worse as they went along. Probably in direct proportion to the budget, star power and expectations he was given.
But then, he's not the only director recently to have a great first movie and then never live up to the promise again (though at least Smith's retain his trademark style, love it or don't... Others are all to quick to go as mainstream as they can.) I firmly believe it takes a good director years and a string of low budget, yet artistically free films to become great and realize their promise (look at Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese...)
Costco will carry them for example.
I don't believe it. Costco doesn't carry a wide line of HP products, just a few ready-made systems and a small variety of peripherals. Just because they deal with HP doesn't mean they'll carry the iPod.
I also can't imagine Costco would sell the iPod unless they could knock at least fifty bucks off the price. I'm not sure Apple would go for that, either.
But hey I could be wrong. Are you just guessing or do you have inside information?
If a case has gone to court I'd like to hear about it. I have the feeling the RIAA doesn't want to take the chance of losing, which could happen if a case went before a jury... After all a jury could easily have one or two members with a folder full of mp3s on their computer at home, and worry that they're going to be next.
They could care less about the money. I really don't think they even care about the lawsuits. This is all P.R., pure and simple. It's an ad campaign. And it definitely works-- P2P goes on, but many casual users (or would-be casual users) are being scared away.
I just came around to buying the Evanescence CD yesterday for 13.88.
Iam returning it tomorrow to walmart as a vote against RIAA
You bought a CD?
Dude, don't you know? They got this thing called Kerzaa now, you can just download that shit!
I don't think so. Flash drives are *not* more dependable that hard drives. They're good for a few thousand reads and writes, which is fine for a keychain device to swap files-- but if you're constantly swapping mp3's you can kill it relatively quickly.
Anyway, how much less bulky do you need to get than the iPod mini?
Cars have the lighter ac converter and I recall always being able to find an outlet for my laptop at the airports.
But they don't have outlets on the planes. Not usually, at least. My iBook's battery has never survived a cross-country flight.
I'm convinced one reason Game Boy did so well is because the batteries lasted a long, long time. A lot of adults play, but the main market is kids-- and Game Boys are the best pacifiers for a hyperactive 12-year old imaginable. They have to last on a long plane ride or car trip (where, I should add, the lighter adaptor won't reach into the back seat...) If the batteries on the PSP don't last, parents aren't going to buy it.
I'm not sure, but something tells me this will void the warranty.
Outsourcing also raises the amount of money third world countries have. As they get richer, they start buying more expensive luxuries made in the industrialized nations.
Problem is, few expensive luxury items come from America any more. Really, the only thing we do have that is in high demand is real estate, which is coincidently being rapidly priced out of the average American's range.
Perhaps I'd being a little xenophobic, but look at New York City. It's become the playground for wealthy foreign nationals, and the middle class Americans have been almost completely displaced. Los Angeles is almost as bad, I was recently looking for a house and was outbid over and over again by the same.