But the XBOX, TiVo, etc., don't pretend to be personal computers. They are not sold as general-purpose computers any more than a microwave oven, setback thermostat, or any other embedded system is. I've got no problem with that, but the computer-for-the-unwashed-masses movement has lead to consumers with no technical knowledge making technology purchasing decisions. That's lead to substandard OSs that stress "pretty" over secure, efficient, and stable.
On the contrary, the XBOX, TiVo etc do exactly what they're designed to do without required user intervention. My Playstation 2 never stopped and asked me to install some missing codec when I put in a DVD, and I've never heard of an XBOX requiring someone to please insert Installation Disc 5 to use some new feature. I mean, let's face it, earlier PCs required too much "maintenance" work to perform their original function. While early Mac users were typing documents on a GUI screen in MacWrite in one of the first WYSIWYG environments, PC users were running memmaker over and over trying to free up as much of that 640k they could, and playing around with autoexec.bat and config.sys for hours tooling around with TSRs and CD-ROM ATAPI drivers.
Even today that tradition continues, with spyware removal tools and antivirus scanners.
Start with interpreted BASIC, move to the QuickBASIC compiler, and then migrate to Microsoft's BASIC Professional Development System.
I was teasing about the BASIC. I started out with BASIC on a Commodore 64. I thought I was a pro when I made my first EXE file in QuickBASIC 4.5.:)
You make a good point in that the tinkering factor is probably what made the PC-clone so successful.
But I would also argue that the "personal computer turned into an appliance" is exactly what is making the Playstation, XBOX and TiVo machines so successful now, and to a certain extent, that idea inspiring the Windows Media Center PCs and the new iMacs with FrontRow.
I would also argue calling MS-DOS's circa 1984 BASIC interpreter as a "programming language".:D
I hated the Apple II when it came out. To me, it signaled the end of computers as a hobby just for the intellectually gifted and, instead, was a pre-built toy for the unwashed masses. I hated the Macintosh. I hated the MacOS.
I think you hate the wrong unwashed masses OS, or perhaps you have other reasons.:P
I remember the first time I bought a Palm Pilot. The sync software was horrid. It took me hours to get it to connect, and days for it to sync with Outlook. Hunting down various patches for "conduits" on Palm's site was a joke.
iTunes was a very stark contrast. It worked right after I installed the iPod software and fired up iTunes. It's never not worked.
If anyone has this on record, taking a look at the historical adoption rate of Internet Explorer over Netscape Navigator might shed some light on Firefox vs IE.
I know for a fact it didn't happen overnight. As a matter of fact, I continued to use Netscape Navigator through version 4 up until Windows 2000 came out.
And they can take their "Sync" software with them
on
Palm's Mistakes
·
· Score: 1, Troll
If there ever were a textbook titled "10 examples of Bad, Unintuitive, Buggy, Horribly Designed UI, Takes Hours Of Fiddling, Praying and Teeth Nashing To Work Software", Palm Desktop would be numbers 1 through 5.
Which would you rather do? Write a single application that would run on all Windows systems, or six different ones, each with its own unique quality assurance and support problems? "
Wow, is there an IDE for Windows does that? Send me the download link. Oh, and be sure to send me the Windows 2000/NT/XP download link, not the Windows 95/98/ME link. Thanks!!
I can't answer that, but I can say that since Gentoo is not really a distro as it is a "DIY Linux Kit", I'd just unmask 3.4 in portage.keywords and recompile everything.:)
Yeah right. The same people who still switch the Windows XP theme to "Classic Windows" swore they'd never give up their precious Program Manager in Windows 3.1 when Windows 95 came along.
Those people will use what is given to them, especially in a corporate environment.
And it's those people that keep holding back GUI progress, in my opinion. They're usually also the same people who couldn't program their VCR.:)
Well, there is the problem of building that new beach front property when someone else's property is already there. It's the same problem as to who has to make room for the new city of Really New Orleans.
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Before:
// boolean Check_TPM_Owner(double chipValue) {};
boolean Check_TPM_Owner(double chipValue) {};
After:
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But the XBOX, TiVo, etc., don't pretend to be personal computers. They are not sold as general-purpose computers any more than a microwave oven, setback thermostat, or any other embedded system is. I've got no problem with that, but the computer-for-the-unwashed-masses movement has lead to consumers with no technical knowledge making technology purchasing decisions. That's lead to substandard OSs that stress "pretty" over secure, efficient, and stable.
:)
On the contrary, the XBOX, TiVo etc do exactly what they're designed to do without required user intervention. My Playstation 2 never stopped and asked me to install some missing codec when I put in a DVD, and I've never heard of an XBOX requiring someone to please insert Installation Disc 5 to use some new feature. I mean, let's face it, earlier PCs required too much "maintenance" work to perform their original function. While early Mac users were typing documents on a GUI screen in MacWrite in one of the first WYSIWYG environments, PC users were running memmaker over and over trying to free up as much of that 640k they could, and playing around with autoexec.bat and config.sys for hours tooling around with TSRs and CD-ROM ATAPI drivers.
Even today that tradition continues, with spyware removal tools and antivirus scanners.
Start with interpreted BASIC, move to the QuickBASIC compiler, and then migrate to Microsoft's BASIC Professional Development System.
I was teasing about the BASIC. I started out with BASIC on a Commodore 64. I thought I was a pro when I made my first EXE file in QuickBASIC 4.5.
You make a good point in that the tinkering factor is probably what made the PC-clone so successful.
:D
But I would also argue that the "personal computer turned into an appliance" is exactly what is making the Playstation, XBOX and TiVo machines so successful now, and to a certain extent, that idea inspiring the Windows Media Center PCs and the new iMacs with FrontRow.
I would also argue calling MS-DOS's circa 1984 BASIC interpreter as a "programming language".
I hated the Apple II when it came out. To me, it signaled the end of computers as a hobby just for the intellectually gifted and, instead, was a pre-built toy for the unwashed masses. I hated the Macintosh. I hated the MacOS.
:P
I think you hate the wrong unwashed masses OS, or perhaps you have other reasons.
Then why can't I remember what I ate for lunch three days ago? Do I need a RAM upgrade?
:(
Also, why do I always struggle factoring equations? Do I need an OS upgrade?
Seems like an awful waste of processing power...
Let's see what happens when "AT&T" merges with AOL and Time Warner and Sprint/Nextel and Comcast and Verizon...
I sure hope my cable bill wouldn't go up!
I remember the first time I bought a Palm Pilot. The sync software was horrid. It took me hours to get it to connect, and days for it to sync with Outlook. Hunting down various patches for "conduits" on Palm's site was a joke.
iTunes was a very stark contrast. It worked right after I installed the iPod software and fired up iTunes. It's never not worked.
Examples are an outdated Internet Explorer, no Access database or Publisher, etc.
You say that like it's a bad thing.
Man, I would love to see how fast Gentoo would compile on that.
As any Gentoo forums user will tell you, Gentoo is a metadistribution. It's up to you to emerge whatever distro you want.
"I apologize sir, our system is compiling. Thanks for holding."
/obligatory... and ha ha, really I'm a Gentoo user
If anyone has this on record, taking a look at the historical adoption rate of Internet Explorer over Netscape Navigator might shed some light on Firefox vs IE.
I know for a fact it didn't happen overnight. As a matter of fact, I continued to use Netscape Navigator through version 4 up until Windows 2000 came out.
If there ever were a textbook titled "10 examples of Bad, Unintuitive, Buggy, Horribly Designed UI, Takes Hours Of Fiddling, Praying and Teeth Nashing To Work Software", Palm Desktop would be numbers 1 through 5.
I can buy a Sony DVD-ROM drive right now, I cannot find an Intel or Microsoft DVD-ROM drive.
Exactly how does Microsoft and Intel "backing" a format affect my choice in buying a new-generation DVD drive?
If that was Kirsten Dunst "acting", then who is the living zombie they call Kirsten Dunst?
As long as Google keeps everyone, including Microsoft, on their toes and reeacting passively to their products, the "onslaught" can be avoided.
Since they run on 1970s era 8-track players, they're protected by old school DRM schemes from the RIAA.
Which would you rather do? Write a single application that would run on all Windows systems, or six different ones, each with its own unique quality assurance and support problems? "
Wow, is there an IDE for Windows does that? Send me the download link. Oh, and be sure to send me the Windows 2000/NT/XP download link, not the Windows 95/98/ME link. Thanks!!
While 3.4.1.r1 and 3.4.3 are both stable on amd64, on x86 only 3.3.6 is marked as stable.
I'm not about to unmask any unstable packages on my server anytime soon.
I can't answer that, but I can say that since Gentoo is not really a distro as it is a "DIY Linux Kit", I'd just unmask 3.4 in portage.keywords and recompile everything. :)
3.4.x still marked as an unstable ebuild last time I checked.
Yeah right. The same people who still switch the Windows XP theme to "Classic Windows" swore they'd never give up their precious Program Manager in Windows 3.1 when Windows 95 came along.
:)
Those people will use what is given to them, especially in a corporate environment.
And it's those people that keep holding back GUI progress, in my opinion. They're usually also the same people who couldn't program their VCR.
Well, there is the problem of building that new beach front property when someone else's property is already there. It's the same problem as to who has to make room for the new city of Really New Orleans.
Steamy pile of...
There are plenty of better alternatives that have been around for *years*.
This might have mattered back in the early 1990s, back when pkzip was DOS only.