Seriously though, I'm not the only one who WANTS to see the day where we have a phone, iPod, and PDA all in one device... right?
You forgot "camera."
Anyway, I'm sure there are lots of people who want a combo device. If there wasn't a market for it, Motorola wouldn't be building it, right?
it's not like basic phones can't be purchased anymore.
It's getting harder and harder.The ones they do have are usually more expensive than the feature-laden phones, because the carriers realize that picute messaging and ringtone downloading are the only growth businesses in the industry.
Personally, though, I don't think anyone has yet come up with a way to build an interface for all these devices that works well enough. Phones have keypads, PDAs have tablet-screens, and iPods have clickwheels. Cameras, if you want to go there, have a button that you can press without your hand obscuring the screen.. Putting all that on a device that fits in a pocket is a huge challenge. Failing to put all that on the device will make it a pain to use.
Indeed. Microsoft should ditch Windows, Office, Media Player, and IE and go back to making compilers and interpeters. Thats how Microsoft started in the '70s, and that's about all it has consistently excelled at doing. (VisualBasic not withstanding.)
So, an AC who claims to have worked for an Apple competitor can prove that Apple has lied on its statements to investors and the SEC?
Sure, I believe you.
The margin Apple makes on its songs is not merely the selling price minus the price paid to the record companies. When doing that kind of accounting, you have to take bandwidth, advertising, credit card processing fees, and paying the employees. That's basic accounting.
You can't say "Well, the licensing fee was $.50, and we're charging $99, so we've got a $.49 profit. Even though you're paying $.47 in overhead costs.
Put that in an annual report, at the SEC will rip you a new one. It's not a lie, it's Business and Accounting 101.
wouldn't it be great to run PS3 games on your Mac? (As if that'll ever happen.)
Many years ago, there was a program from Connectix called Virtual Game Station that emulated a PlayStation (orginial) on a G3 Mac. Compatibliity was good, though not perfect. Google "Virtual Game Station" for more.
Sony sued, lost, then gave up and bought the technology from Connectix. (Connectix also developed the VirtualPC x86 emulator for the Mac. It has since been bought out by Microsoft.)
Thing is, the next Xbox will be using a PowerPC 970. So it will share a common ancestor (POWER) with the Cell.
I wonder, how compatible are the two CPUs' instruction sets? Will Microsoft be able to drop a Cell into a future revision of the Xbox2 and maintain backward compatibility? Could someone theoretically hack a PlayStation3 to run Xbox2 games?
The strange thing is, computers actually make cars more reliable. Remember back when engines had to get tune-ups every year or so? Computerized engine controls have largely eliminated them. You might have to get one every decade or so.
Computerized timing, valve control, and transmissions have made cars more efficient, cleaner to run, anddo fail, the repair cost is much higher.)
The LCDs used in aircraft are special units, with high contrast and much more powerful backlights than consumer LCDs. The conumer ones are mainly geared toward compactness, light weight, and low power consumption. The aviation displays end up being much bulkier and power-hungry (though still lighter than CRTs.)
If you could acquire such a panel, then you might be on to something.
On the other hand, search-dot-msn-dot-com is a lot harder to remember than google-dot-com. And I wonder if the money Microsoft is spending to get people to "Try MSN Search!" will be wasted when people logically enter MSN.com instead.
"...this thing is not a transistor... hence, end of moore's law."
If you look at the orignial paper, Moore is talking about "components," not specifically "transistors." There's no semantic reason why this couldn't continue to apply to the new technology.
IBM began including a similar feature on its ThinkPad notebook line in October 2003. Apple's patent application was filed in June 2003, but it wasn't published until last week.
I doubt Apple would actually try to sue IBM for infringment, even if it does get the patent. Apple needs its G5 chips too badly.
And, no, it's not always possible to just follow the link and copy the URL from the location bar. (For example, a link to a redirect page.)
A wise UI designer would let you highlight the link and choose a menu command.
As for the second part of your post...have you seen Microsoft Word lately? The menus are so cluttered that Microsoft experimented with "hiding" infrequently used menu items. (Which actually makes it harder to remember where those less-frequently-used options are, since they're missing most of the time.) Eclipse also has a horribly cluttered menu system. Even though there are plenty of right-click menus in both those apps.
Look at Photoshop for a really good example of this as the right-button still doesn't do anything particularly useful in the Windows version, which is a side effect of the Mac heritage.
And yet, somehow, Photoshop still manages to be an extremely powerful application. In fact, it dominates its market segment, on both the Mac and on Windows, despite costing hundreds of dollars, and despite the existence of a major, Free alternative.
Apparently, the lack of right-click functionality doesn't seem to hurt this application much. Maybe there's a UI lesson there.
Historically, Macs had only one mouse button because desktop computers only used one mouse button at the time, and Apple had a thing for simplifying anything they could reasonably.
The Xerox Star used a three-button mouse. The Star is the same computer Apple is often accused of "copying" to create the Mac. One of the major distinctions between the two is the single-button mouse. The Mac used the double-click and click-and-drag behaviors to eliminate the other two buttons.
And don't blame Steve, either. When Steve was forced out of Apple in the '80s, he started NeXT and built the NeXT, a machine that was supposed to beat the Mac in every way.
I went to a Saturn dealer to get a new remote key fob for my Mom's car to replace the one she lost. The service technician took the key and some kind of handheld computer to the port under the dash to program the car's computer to accept the new key's signal. (It appeared to work that way, and not the other way around, because they needed all the keys for that car, and went through them in sequence.)
First, she tried plugging the computer into the car's digagnostic port and cycling through the keys. No luck. So she calls the Alpha Technician and he comes over, carrying a paperclip. He proceded to short two of the pins on the diagnostic port using the paperclip, and rotate through the keys. This did the trick.
Pity I coudn't see which pins, or else I'd be able to unlock any GM vehicle using nothing but a paperclip, my own key, and physical access to the diagnostic port.
...DRM standard that locks playback to portable devices that our produced by the same company that distributes the music...
You mean, like portable CD players? Does Apple make those, now?...if Microsoft was the leading online music retailer and used a format that could only be played back on Microsoft hardware and software products, would people be defending them?...
And, when did Apple become a convicted monopolist?
Man, I must not be keeping up with the times.
We are thrilled that you have expressed interest in Apple products and/or services.
As you know, two years ago, we introduced Keynote, our package which allows you to easily create visually stunning presentations. This year, we have released version 2 of Keynote, along with our new document creation package, Pages.
Perhaps in another two years, we will introduce version 3 of Keynote, version 2 of Pages, and version 1 of some hypothetical spreadsheet package. Maybe then, we'll strike a deal with FileMaker, our wholly-owned subsidiary, to bring the powerful and easy-to-use FileMaker software available to iWork customers as part of a new bundled package.
In the meantime, I'd like to thank you for bringing this glaring omission to my attention. I never would have thought of it without your suggestion. I'm forever in your debt. I'll send you a free iPod, as a token of my appreciation.
Sincerely, Steve Jobs
[NOTE: Poster is not connected with Apple or Apple employees in any way. Above post is speculation. Please do not sue poster.]
Need to move text around? Select it, drag, and drop. Need to move images around? Drag and drop. Need to import a file into a document? Select the file in the Finder, drag it into the document, and drop it. Need to save an image off of a web page? Drag it to the desktop and drop it. Need to copy text from a web page? Three guesses.
Your girlfriend's Mac is not a Windows PC. It's not a Linux/BSD/Solaris/HPUX/Bob'sSuperUnix box. It's a Mac. It works in a specific way, like every other machine. Learn to use it, or get something she does understand.
Exactly. Since people must devote considerable effort to learn to type, they devote that effort in the manner that will yield the largest payback. Meaning, they lern the keyboard layout that is most commonly used.
Unless someone can create a zero-training-time layout, people will learn QWERTY.
I'm not sure about "decline in fortunes." Apple's got a crapload of money....something around $6 Billion, according to their last financial conference call.
2% of today's computer market is much larger, in terms of revenue and units sold, than 18% of the 1980s market.
And no, Apple was never very big in the corporate world. The corporate world bought mainframes, until the IBM PC came out. After which it bought IBM PCs, until the PC clones came out. Since which time it has bought PCs. Apple always sold mostly to hobbyists, home users, schools, and artistic/media people.
Slashdot Mirror
...have the computer scream, "Silent Alarm Activated! Silent Alarm Activated!"
Umm...shouldn't the computer think "Silent alarm activated" quitely to itself, while using its modem to call for backup?
Screaming "SILENT ALARM!" would defeat the purpose.
Seriously though, I'm not the only one who WANTS to see the day where we have a phone, iPod, and PDA all in one device... right?
You forgot "camera."
Anyway, I'm sure there are lots of people who want a combo device. If there wasn't a market for it, Motorola wouldn't be building it, right?
it's not like basic phones can't be purchased anymore.
It's getting harder and harder.The ones they do have are usually more expensive than the feature-laden phones, because the carriers realize that picute messaging and ringtone downloading are the only growth businesses in the industry.
Personally, though, I don't think anyone has yet come up with a way to build an interface for all these devices that works well enough. Phones have keypads, PDAs have tablet-screens, and iPods have clickwheels. Cameras, if you want to go there, have a button that you can press without your hand obscuring the screen.. Putting all that on a device that fits in a pocket is a huge challenge. Failing to put all that on the device will make it a pain to use.
Return to your roots!
Indeed. Microsoft should ditch Windows, Office, Media Player, and IE and go back to making compilers and interpeters. Thats how Microsoft started in the '70s, and that's about all it has consistently excelled at doing. (VisualBasic not withstanding.)
So, an AC who claims to have worked for an Apple competitor can prove that Apple has lied on its statements to investors and the SEC?
Sure, I believe you.
The margin Apple makes on its songs is not merely the selling price minus the price paid to the record companies. When doing that kind of accounting, you have to take bandwidth, advertising, credit card processing fees, and paying the employees. That's basic accounting.
You can't say "Well, the licensing fee was $.50, and we're charging $99, so we've got a $.49 profit. Even though you're paying $.47 in overhead costs.
Put that in an annual report, at the SEC will rip you a new one. It's not a lie, it's Business and Accounting 101.
wouldn't it be great to run PS3 games on your Mac? (As if that'll ever happen.)
Many years ago, there was a program from Connectix called Virtual Game Station that emulated a PlayStation (orginial) on a G3 Mac. Compatibliity was good, though not perfect. Google "Virtual Game Station" for more.
Sony sued, lost, then gave up and bought the technology from Connectix. (Connectix also developed the VirtualPC x86 emulator for the Mac. It has since been bought out by Microsoft.)
It is embarassing, but only because the AC is most likely not deaf at all. He's just trying for a laugh.
Talk about your "insensitive clods."
Thing is, the next Xbox will be using a PowerPC 970. So it will share a common ancestor (POWER) with the Cell.
I wonder, how compatible are the two CPUs' instruction sets? Will Microsoft be able to drop a Cell into a future revision of the Xbox2 and maintain backward compatibility? Could someone theoretically hack a PlayStation3 to run Xbox2 games?
The strange thing is, computers actually make cars more reliable. Remember back when engines had to get tune-ups every year or so? Computerized engine controls have largely eliminated them. You might have to get one every decade or so. Computerized timing, valve control, and transmissions have made cars more efficient, cleaner to run, anddo fail, the repair cost is much higher.)
The LCDs used in aircraft are special units, with high contrast and much more powerful backlights than consumer LCDs. The conumer ones are mainly geared toward compactness, light weight, and low power consumption. The aviation displays end up being much bulkier and power-hungry (though still lighter than CRTs.)
If you could acquire such a panel, then you might be on to something.
Apple would have been the monopoly instead of Microsoft...IMHO.
Sure, because everyone would have installed Macintosh System 7 on their 386s.
I mean, everyone would have ditched their 386s and bought Mac II-series machines.
I mean, everyone would have kept using their cheap DOS boxes.
The relevant page is not http://www.msn.com/ but http://search.msn.com/, which is sufficiently fast-loading to serve as a search page.
On the other hand, search-dot-msn-dot-com is a lot harder to remember than google-dot-com. And I wonder if the money Microsoft is spending to get people to "Try MSN Search!" will be wasted when people logically enter MSN.com instead.
"...this thing is not a transistor... hence, end of moore's law."
If you look at the orignial paper, Moore is talking about "components," not specifically "transistors." There's no semantic reason why this couldn't continue to apply to the new technology.
Apple Patent article
IBM began including a similar feature on its ThinkPad notebook line in October 2003. Apple's patent application was filed in June 2003, but it wasn't published until last week.
I doubt Apple would actually try to sue IBM for infringment, even if it does get the patent. Apple needs its G5 chips too badly.
...or "Copy Link URL" in any web browser.
And, no, it's not always possible to just follow the link and copy the URL from the location bar. (For example, a link to a redirect page.)
A wise UI designer would let you highlight the link and choose a menu command.
As for the second part of your post...have you seen Microsoft Word lately? The menus are so cluttered that Microsoft experimented with "hiding" infrequently used menu items. (Which actually makes it harder to remember where those less-frequently-used options are, since they're missing most of the time.) Eclipse also has a horribly cluttered menu system. Even though there are plenty of right-click menus in both those apps.
Look at Photoshop for a really good example of this as the right-button still doesn't do anything particularly useful in the Windows version, which is a side effect of the Mac heritage.
And yet, somehow, Photoshop still manages to be an extremely powerful application. In fact, it dominates its market segment, on both the Mac and on Windows, despite costing hundreds of dollars, and despite the existence of a major, Free alternative.
Apparently, the lack of right-click functionality doesn't seem to hurt this application much. Maybe there's a UI lesson there.
Historically, Macs had only one mouse button because desktop computers only used one mouse button at the time, and Apple had a thing for simplifying anything they could reasonably.
The Xerox Star used a three-button mouse. The Star is the same computer Apple is often accused of "copying" to create the Mac. One of the major distinctions between the two is the single-button mouse. The Mac used the double-click and click-and-drag behaviors to eliminate the other two buttons.
And don't blame Steve, either. When Steve was forced out of Apple in the '80s, he started NeXT and built the NeXT, a machine that was supposed to beat the Mac in every way.
It used a two-button mouse.
Interesting story.
I went to a Saturn dealer to get a new remote key fob for my Mom's car to replace the one she lost. The service technician took the key and some kind of handheld computer to the port under the dash to program the car's computer to accept the new key's signal. (It appeared to work that way, and not the other way around, because they needed all the keys for that car, and went through them in sequence.)
First, she tried plugging the computer into the car's digagnostic port and cycling through the keys. No luck. So she calls the Alpha Technician and he comes over, carrying a paperclip. He proceded to short two of the pins on the diagnostic port using the paperclip, and rotate through the keys. This did the trick.
Pity I coudn't see which pins, or else I'd be able to unlock any GM vehicle using nothing but a paperclip, my own key, and physical access to the diagnostic port.
...DRM standard that locks playback to portable devices that our produced by the same company that distributes the music... You mean, like portable CD players? Does Apple make those, now? ...if Microsoft was the leading online music retailer and used a format that could only be played back on Microsoft hardware and software products, would people be defending them?...
And, when did Apple become a convicted monopolist?
Man, I must not be keeping up with the times.
We are thrilled that you have expressed interest in Apple products and/or services.
As you know, two years ago, we introduced Keynote, our package which allows you to easily create visually stunning presentations. This year, we have released version 2 of Keynote, along with our new document creation package, Pages.
Perhaps in another two years, we will introduce version 3 of Keynote, version 2 of Pages, and version 1 of some hypothetical spreadsheet package. Maybe then, we'll strike a deal with FileMaker, our wholly-owned subsidiary, to bring the powerful and easy-to-use FileMaker software available to iWork customers as part of a new bundled package.
In the meantime, I'd like to thank you for bringing this glaring omission to my attention. I never would have thought of it without your suggestion. I'm forever in your debt. I'll send you a free iPod, as a token of my appreciation.
Sincerely,
Steve Jobs
[NOTE: Poster is not connected with Apple or Apple employees in any way. Above post is speculation. Please do not sue poster.]
I always wanted a $2 bill.
Wow, finally a good reason to go to a strip club.
When AT&T was split up, a portion of Bell Labs, Bellcore, was split off and jointly owned by the RBOCs. Bellcore became Telcordia.
Bell Labs(TM) was owned by AT&T until 1996, at which time it was spun off as Lucent.
I definitely think SBC-ATT should keep the AT&T name. And re-introduce the Bell logo, while they're at it.
Need to move text around? Select it, drag, and drop.
Need to move images around? Drag and drop.
Need to import a file into a document? Select the file in the Finder, drag it into the document, and drop it.
Need to save an image off of a web page? Drag it to the desktop and drop it.
Need to copy text from a web page? Three guesses.
Your girlfriend's Mac is not a Windows PC. It's not a Linux/BSD/Solaris/HPUX/Bob'sSuperUnix box. It's a Mac. It works in a specific way, like every other machine. Learn to use it, or get something she does understand.
...C64, Mac, IBM PC, take your pick...
I noticed you left out the Apple II. Which was designed by two kids in a garage.
Exactly. Since people must devote considerable effort to learn to type, they devote that effort in the manner that will yield the largest payback. Meaning, they lern the keyboard layout that is most commonly used.
Unless someone can create a zero-training-time layout, people will learn QWERTY.
I'm not sure about "decline in fortunes." Apple's got a crapload of money....something around $6 Billion, according to their last financial conference call.
2% of today's computer market is much larger, in terms of revenue and units sold, than 18% of the 1980s market.
And no, Apple was never very big in the corporate world. The corporate world bought mainframes, until the IBM PC came out. After which it bought IBM PCs, until the PC clones came out. Since which time it has bought PCs. Apple always sold mostly to hobbyists, home users, schools, and artistic/media people.