That's 256MB of "Application Memory". The N810 comes with 2MB of storage flash onboard, and a miniSD slot. (The N800 had no onboard flash -- no GPS = no Maps to preload, and two full SD slots) That means that you can put up to 256 MB of (mostly aptget repositoried) programs on there; anything more requires a little modification (you know, it's an open Linux device, so you can run the OS off the MMC, it just takes some doing).
iPhone/iPod Touch have similar application memory quantities.
I have an n800, and I'll speak to its attractions:
It's not about web browsing while traveling. Sure, it does come in handy there (or any number of places around the house). It's not about a lot of things.
At home, I have more Core 2 Duo with two big LCD screens and all kinds of fun and power. At work, I have a desktop computer that gets the job done. But these are all computers where you have to be seated, paying attention to the device. Even laptops are that way: they're designed for you to be sitting in front of them, looking at the screen.
There's plenty of things I do that involve using a computer, but in a secondary way: VoIP is one. If I can hook up a headset and drop the unit in my pocket (something the 810 will be better at), that's far better than sitting in front of the computer to take calls, and it's cheaper than a cellphone. Another is when I'm working with other people on a project. It's useful to have the internet, and a host of stored documents, on hand. If I want to show someone something, I hand them the tablet. Or yeah, checking slashdot from bed helps. GPS and the internet in a portable package means I can download Google Maps and Google Satellite tiles, and, when I'm out hiking, call up a satellite photograph of the area, which provides far more information than a standard GPS navigation unit. For me, the 800 and a keyboard is a good laptop replacement. When I'm traveling, most of my tasks don't require more of a computer now than what I had ten years ago. My last laptop weighed over 10 pounds (with power brick), so every time I go on the road, I am a happy man.
And the 810 supports a bunch of video formats on that 800x480 screen, so I'm sure it's a great porn device as well.
This is one of them '38 Mobos. Top-of-the-line. It has all kinds of other fancy bits that can't be used yet either. But think of it:
A $360 motherboard targets two groups: 1. the price-insensitive freaks who think they'll be getting the best of everything if they shell out a ton of cash, and 2. serious overclockers/hardware hackers/tech geeks.
Most people in both groups will find it completely useless, right up there with the fourth SATA channel. But some of group (1) will show it off as part of their interminable "look at my toys" spiel they suffer upon visiting males and females; and some of group (2) will look at that, and figure out that it's effectively a dual-boot BIOS with most of the hooks already there, and a second OS in flash memory. Some of them might even figure out a way to "break out of the box" and mount what they need.
Now think of Asus' costs and risks. Costs? A very small amount of flash. Heck, I'd be surprised if it was 256 MB, and that stuff is _cheap_ wholesale. Then they need some people to slap together the code. Oh yeah, they're already building an entire line of linux computers with a stripped-down version of Firefox and Skype on board. So it's cheap. The only risk is allowing access to the file system right out of the box. 'Cos Mr. Price-insensitive would have to secure the other operating system too...
Well, unless it's a reference to the quire (from the Latin quaternion, originally referring to a gathering of four bifolia, as apposed to a quinternion with five or sexternion with six, now taken by synechdoche to refer to any single gathering of pages; cf. the French cahier) the priest has in front of him, containing his sermon. In that case, I wouldn't be addressing a friendly audience, but rather replying to his post with the substance of his post.
Of course, "preaching to the choir" is the cliche', while "preaching to the quire" would be a novel usage. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Come to think of it, I'm gonna steal "preaching to the quire" for an article on the relationship between oral and written sermons in the XIVth century. Thanks again!
Yes: I agree that, if Joe Phishbait's going to have a computer he calls "home", it ain't gonna be some dinky thing with a tiny screen and a clumsy input device.
And, you are right that the current class of UMPCs suffers from poor design choices: they certainly sacrifice the wrong things, and leave other things the same. Putting a smaller battery in it may make a UMPC smaller and lighter, but it reduces its mobility. Using an operating system optimized for driving multiple screens and having multiple windows open at the same time, with lots of pretty animations and effects and a huge memory footprint, may not be the best choice for a handheld device.
But those are two separate issues. Whoever started this is absolutely wrong about the utility of a super-cheap super-portable, insofar as it can replace a "base computer". But, on the other hand, he's right that they can do a lot of the basic tasks, and add portability to the mix. And, for most people, they will fill a need. You know, like a computer in the kitchen.
However, I think you've lost the pack with your need for expandibility. Joe ain't following you there. As you point out, we need to consider the purpose before we select the device. The form of a house is not bricks and wood arranged in a certain manner, but the purpose of providing protection from the elements. Likewise, if you design an UMPC as a low-power CPU, some memory, and a miniPCI-slots stuck inside a small box, you'll end up with today's crop of $1000 one-hour wonders.
The paradigm shift I'm seeing is that we're seeing a new use for computers emerging. Originally, computers were described as a "Lean-forward" system -- games, editing, word processing, whatever, you sat in an upright chair, and leaned in, actively engaged in the thing. Then, with the increase in power, we saw "Lean-back" uses: television (now streaming video), music, and so on. People can sit on couches now, and we're seeing PCs being hooked directly to televisions and running through them. The networking builds up and we see WLANs, mediaservers, and all kinds of cool stuff being used by everybody. But effectively, the same PC can serve as a both a "Lean-forward" and "Lean-back" device: just put a couch behind that office chair. The emergent use I'm seeing gets rid of all this "lean" nonsense altogether: it's the computer you use when you're doing a task that doesn't require constant or intensive interaction with the computer. And many people use their computers this way.
Having the internet on the conference table (among a pile of papers) for easy consultation of reference sources is a tremendous time saver. Need to look something up? grab the tablet and do it. Want to show it to someone else? Pass it around. Want to talk for hours to loved ones in a different country? put the thing in your pocket and go. Out hiking and curious what's over that ridge? bring up the satellite pictures and take a look for yourself. Need to write down detailed notes/instructions in a remote location? unfold the keyboard and go.
In theory, the by the (now $300 with memory cards) n800 can do these things, and if the thing fully worked in practice (aka, if it were not "immature"), it would serve these uses better than a $1000 UMPC or laptop. Battery life largely depends on how long you power the screen: with the screen running, it gives you about four hours (still too short, give me a bigger battery, dammit).
So these devices aren't working yet, and the price is still too high, but when they work, and when they cost around $200 (maybe a third-generation Eee, or a fourth-generation n770, or whatever MontaVista cooks up), they're gonna take up a place alongside desktop and laptop PCs.
arrr, well I recently bought the 800. The word on the street is that the folks at Nokia recognize they made a mistake by killing 770 support so fast.
That doesn't make me secure with the n800, as it has some clear architectural limitations that I'm hoping the next generation fixes. And when it does, it ain't gonna be backported.
BTW, the Nokia suits called 770s owners übergeeks. Just thought you'd like to know.
Heck, I look at the n800 and I see "enough things that don't work."
Skype in particular seems to insist on using the internal microphone. It won't even use the mic on the headset that came with the device. You can test this yourself by putting the n800 in your pocket and calling someone first on Skype, second on "Gtalk" (or whatever standard-based VoIP solution you prefer).
So GP should probably have said "Shame about Skype"; after all, the appeal of a portable device for Skype becomes less appealing if Skype makes it not-portable.
First, if there are bricked phones, will they at least revert them to the previous firmware so they work? Or will they claim that "unlocking the SIM card" voided the warranty? If they do the latter, then we move to the next step:
Can they demonstrate that their firmware update did not intentionally mess with unlocked sim cards? If those who are looking at iPhone internals from the outside are saying the sim card lock is entirely independent of the phone's functionality, what is their argument against that? 'Cos if this goes class-action, they're gonna need one.
But, knowing how Apple rolls, a few years from now, Apple will send a letter to iPhone owners, offering them maybe $10 at the ITMS as compensation for the Class Action suit in which a couple of current LSs made a few million.
First off, he thinks the UMPC problem is basically interface.
It isn't. UMPCs suffer because they're way too much computer for a portable device, and cost way too much. Let's face it, most people don't need desktop power shrunk to a 7 inch screen; we could use it, but only if it didn't cost more. The problem is that UMPCs are cool, but they cost considerably more than the cheapest laptop.
He also mentions Nokia's upcoming tablet, then dismisses it out-of-hand by pointing to the company's dispersion. Hold on. That's about the only reason that doesn't make sense. This product will be Nokia's third generation entry into the field, after the n770 and the n800. You can argue that "Nokia hasn't gotten it right yet, and they're not this time"; you can claim that "They won't be able to get the retail channels for their 'non-cellphone cellophone'"; you can claim that they still haven't put a basic software suite together -- all those would be questionable, but valid responses. But "Nokia has too many pots in the fire?" Uh, they have _one_ pot in the fire, and it happens to use a lot of the same parts as their cellphone mobile devices (reducing their cost of entry into the market).
Finally, he says the "Newton II" will be a winner if it's under $1000. Dude, we're talking about mobile devices here. Gadget freaks, especially those who get their toys for free, love all the cool stuff that comes with the high price tag. What Apple and Nokia are showing is that you don't need a $1000 device to give fundamental internet access.
Do the math this way: take a $400 internet tablet, and a $600 desktop computer. What are the limitations going to be using these two on a daily basis vs. what a $1000 table can do? Now remember that most of your target market already has a computer, and one better than $600. The real killer in this field is going to be cheap and with a good interface, not $999 and the apple brand. That way lies the Newton I
Heh. Yeah, I got me one of them N800s. Fun device, but lots of "yes-but" features. Yes Skype works, but only with the onboard condenser mike (and not the supplied headset). Yes, it has a camera for video phoning, but no software supports it. Yes, it shows PDFs, but you have to view them on the widescreen in landscape mode, and turning pages is a pain. Yes, it has an image viewer, but you can't rotate images (again landscape mode), and large images crash it. Yes, it uses a bunch of standard Nokia parts (including the same charger I use on my phone), but that battery only gives you 4 hours of use, tops. Yes, it shows video, but I wouldn't say it exactly "streams" it. Yes, it has a cool 800x480 pixel 4.1" widescreen, but the architecture isn't fast enough to allow seamless screen updates.
Am I happy I got it? Absolutely. It's cool, and eminently useful: it's a voip phone you can stick in your pocket, a full-sized web browser that weighs less than a paperback, a media player and document storage system. I find it comes in handy all over the place.
Still, the software leaves much to be desired. I get the feeling that the developers bought into the myth that linux fans would write the software it needs for free. That's not how it works. You develop a kick-ass suite of tools and software, with an engaging interface, open source it, and the fans make it incredible.
Damn straight. CSS is my route. But, heck, do you know how hard it is to set up a CSS in most idiot-centric web page utilities? They all default to pixels, and some stop there. Talk about moronic! I mean, hell, there ain't no standard on the size of a pixel on the screen! Higher-level, platform independent nerdity depends on relative measurements, not something entirely useless like the number of pixels. An absolute that is variable in an unpredictable way does not help: that's the worst kinda engineer-think.
For that matter, we might as well say that the folks at Google prioritize CSS with relative measurements.
It amazes me that I still see signs of this thinking. Web pages and services are tailored to small screens and people expect that to create the mobile internet. It won't. There is only one internet, and if your device cannot access it, you're out of luck. There is only one internet.
Sure, we can make some sites for mobile phones, but, come on, mobile-phone formatted pages never caught on. It's like camera phones: there might be a case where you can use them, but unless the camera is comparable to a point-and-shoot, it's pretty useless. So too with the internet. Adapting the internet to a device ain't gonna work, because most cellphones are pretty poor at displaying large amounts of information, their processors are pretty damn slow, input is tedious and access speed often quite painful. Since there's little interest, there's little hope a "Standard" way will come about. So every site mucks around with mobile content, when the best solution is to just serve the page, and let the browser deal with it. If your cellphone sucks as a browser, no amount of optimizing will change that. If a website has for cellphones a "low-bandwidth" variant, chances are most PC users would prefer it too.
Yeah, well I'm a non-Software Engineer and I'm sure I know more about C++ coding than many (Sanitation) Engineers.
If you're a company doing due diligence, you don't consult an american legal expert for the niceties of European IP law, especially if you've been warned that the guy's advice sucks. Even if he's right, there's no way he can go to bat for you in court.
Fair enough, and I am a fan of the Italian saying La madre dei coglioni e` sempre incinta, but even granting your insinuation that hardcore Apple fans are idiots, this tactic will reduce the field, not expand it. They are trading on capital, even if the net result is less than complete.
If their business plan only included the supertrendy and the hardcore fan base, it wouldn't have the rather expensive marketing campaign, or the goal of 10 million units. 10M units is not a cult; it's a religion. The difference is that cults prey on the weak; religions give enough in return to be worthwhile for a much larger demographic. Your argument is that the iPhone only aims to be a cult device. I maintain that the Mac fans who hold sway over so many mod points think different(ly).
Dude, I hear you, but as you no doubt also know, part of business and economics is also reinforcing the sense of value for those who already bought in. Deflating the price 33% is pretty aggressive, and likely to alienate early adopters. It's also a departure from the classic Apple tactic of discontinuing older brands as newer ones come in. In other words, up at that end of the price spectrum, the pickings were pretty slim, so they needed to slide down. The iPod touch is almost an admission that they suspect the AT&T contract was a dealbreaker.
So no, it's damage control, much like your multiple postings.
Dropping the price 1/3 in two months, and killing the cheap version translates to: "We're not selling the numbers we need". It's a damage control measure.
The Ipod Touch sounds like an attempt to sell the "coolness" of the iPhone without the crippling contract. The big dealbreaker there is no VoIP, and the device is intentionally crippled to prevent it.
People want PCs for a range of reasons. If they don't want to play the latest games, they don't buy a fancy video card; and if they aren't particularly interested in A/V, they don't spend the money on the best experience.
Personal computing is moving away from the good old days of the 8086, and sitting at a desk to do "Lean-in" applications only. Now, in addition to the old-skool word processing, spreadsheets, heavy data lifting tasks, we're using computers at the core of our entertainment systems and for our basic communications. Frankly, for communications, entertainment, and "on-site data entry", my 5-kilo desktop replacement is overkill. I would gladly trade power for weight (and size).
What made the Foleo inherently stupid was its reliance on the smartphone. Smartphones are cool and all that, but either they fulfill your portable comms and entertainment needs, or they don't. If they do, you're not going buy anything else to lug around. If they don't, you're not going to buy the smartphone, so forget about any costly addons.
The Eee, on the other hand, has the potential to be a winner. If they can deliver them really cheap (which has yet to be seen), then it's the ultimate satellite PC for a home network.
And somebody please explain why I shouldn't buy the n800...
The irony is, this is exactly the experience Windows is trying to provide: No/limited user interactions with the PC at anything but a high-level. But an increasing number of tasks are being taken over by embedded devices. Windows' "Swiss-army-knife" approach has produced an unmanageable mass of code that is ever less competitive against cheap devices running linux.
Skype has some pay features that come with interesting provisions. For example, you can buy a SkypeIn phone number cheaply for personal use. If you're a business, you pay a different rate for a number that you can use, say, from multiple sites (for example, for follow-the-sun customer service). Temp directory and hardware information are two things that are very rarely the same...
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That's 256MB of "Application Memory". The N810 comes with 2MB of storage flash onboard, and a miniSD slot. (The N800 had no onboard flash -- no GPS = no Maps to preload, and two full SD slots) That means that you can put up to 256 MB of (mostly aptget repositoried) programs on there; anything more requires a little modification (you know, it's an open Linux device, so you can run the OS off the MMC, it just takes some doing).
iPhone/iPod Touch have similar application memory quantities.
I have an n800, and I'll speak to its attractions:
It's not about web browsing while traveling. Sure, it does come in handy there (or any number of places around the house).
It's not about a lot of things.
At home, I have more Core 2 Duo with two big LCD screens and all kinds of fun and power. At work, I have a desktop computer that gets the job done. But these are all computers where you have to be seated, paying attention to the device. Even laptops are that way: they're designed for you to be sitting in front of them, looking at the screen.
There's plenty of things I do that involve using a computer, but in a secondary way:
VoIP is one. If I can hook up a headset and drop the unit in my pocket (something the 810 will be better at), that's far better than sitting in front of the computer to take calls, and it's cheaper than a cellphone.
Another is when I'm working with other people on a project. It's useful to have the internet, and a host of stored documents, on hand. If I want to show someone something, I hand them the tablet.
Or yeah, checking slashdot from bed helps.
GPS and the internet in a portable package means I can download Google Maps and Google Satellite tiles, and, when I'm out hiking, call up a satellite photograph of the area, which provides far more information than a standard GPS navigation unit.
For me, the 800 and a keyboard is a good laptop replacement. When I'm traveling, most of my tasks don't require more of a computer now than what I had ten years ago. My last laptop weighed over 10 pounds (with power brick), so every time I go on the road, I am a happy man.
And the 810 supports a bunch of video formats on that 800x480 screen, so I'm sure it's a great porn device as well.
Most production horses bite you in the ass as a matter of routine.
Err... Use?
This is one of them '38 Mobos. Top-of-the-line. It has all kinds of other fancy bits that can't be used yet either. But think of it:
A $360 motherboard targets two groups: 1. the price-insensitive freaks who think they'll be getting the best of everything if they shell out a ton of cash, and 2. serious overclockers/hardware hackers/tech geeks.
Most people in both groups will find it completely useless, right up there with the fourth SATA channel. But some of group (1) will show it off as part of their interminable "look at my toys" spiel they suffer upon visiting males and females; and some of group (2) will look at that, and figure out that it's effectively a dual-boot BIOS with most of the hooks already there, and a second OS in flash memory. Some of them might even figure out a way to "break out of the box" and mount what they need.
Now think of Asus' costs and risks. Costs? A very small amount of flash. Heck, I'd be surprised if it was 256 MB, and that stuff is _cheap_ wholesale. Then they need some people to slap together the code. Oh yeah, they're already building an entire line of linux computers with a stripped-down version of Firefox and Skype on board. So it's cheap. The only risk is allowing access to the file system right out of the box. 'Cos Mr. Price-insensitive would have to secure the other operating system too...
Well, unless it's a reference to the quire (from the Latin quaternion, originally referring to a gathering of four bifolia, as apposed to a quinternion with five or sexternion with six, now taken by synechdoche to refer to any single gathering of pages; cf. the French cahier) the priest has in front of him, containing his sermon. In that case, I wouldn't be addressing a friendly audience, but rather replying to his post with the substance of his post.
Of course, "preaching to the choir" is the cliche', while "preaching to the quire" would be a novel usage. That doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Come to think of it, I'm gonna steal "preaching to the quire" for an article on the relationship between oral and written sermons in the XIVth century. Thanks again!
(I was GP, but switched to my coal-burner)
Yes: I agree that, if Joe Phishbait's going to have a computer he calls "home", it ain't gonna be some dinky thing with a tiny screen and a clumsy input device.
And, you are right that the current class of UMPCs suffers from poor design choices: they certainly sacrifice the wrong things, and leave other things the same. Putting a smaller battery in it may make a UMPC smaller and lighter, but it reduces its mobility. Using an operating system optimized for driving multiple screens and having multiple windows open at the same time, with lots of pretty animations and effects and a huge memory footprint, may not be the best choice for a handheld device.
But those are two separate issues. Whoever started this is absolutely wrong about the utility of a super-cheap super-portable, insofar as it can replace a "base computer". But, on the other hand, he's right that they can do a lot of the basic tasks, and add portability to the mix. And, for most people, they will fill a need. You know, like a computer in the kitchen.
However, I think you've lost the pack with your need for expandibility. Joe ain't following you there. As you point out, we need to consider the purpose before we select the device. The form of a house is not bricks and wood arranged in a certain manner, but the purpose of providing protection from the elements. Likewise, if you design an UMPC as a low-power CPU, some memory, and a miniPCI-slots stuck inside a small box, you'll end up with today's crop of $1000 one-hour wonders.
The paradigm shift I'm seeing is that we're seeing a new use for computers emerging. Originally, computers were described as a "Lean-forward" system -- games, editing, word processing, whatever, you sat in an upright chair, and leaned in, actively engaged in the thing. Then, with the increase in power, we saw "Lean-back" uses: television (now streaming video), music, and so on. People can sit on couches now, and we're seeing PCs being hooked directly to televisions and running through them. The networking builds up and we see WLANs, mediaservers, and all kinds of cool stuff being used by everybody. But effectively, the same PC can serve as a both a "Lean-forward" and "Lean-back" device: just put a couch behind that office chair. The emergent use I'm seeing gets rid of all this "lean" nonsense altogether: it's the computer you use when you're doing a task that doesn't require constant or intensive interaction with the computer. And many people use their computers this way.
Having the internet on the conference table (among a pile of papers) for easy consultation of reference sources is a tremendous time saver. Need to look something up? grab the tablet and do it. Want to show it to someone else? Pass it around. Want to talk for hours to loved ones in a different country? put the thing in your pocket and go. Out hiking and curious what's over that ridge? bring up the satellite pictures and take a look for yourself. Need to write down detailed notes/instructions in a remote location? unfold the keyboard and go.
In theory, the by the (now $300 with memory cards) n800 can do these things, and if the thing fully worked in practice (aka, if it were not "immature"), it would serve these uses better than a $1000 UMPC or laptop. Battery life largely depends on how long you power the screen: with the screen running, it gives you about four hours (still too short, give me a bigger battery, dammit).
So these devices aren't working yet, and the price is still too high, but when they work, and when they cost around $200 (maybe a third-generation Eee, or a fourth-generation n770, or whatever MontaVista cooks up), they're gonna take up a place alongside desktop and laptop PCs.
But you knew that already.
arrr, well I recently bought the 800. The word on the street is that the folks at Nokia recognize they made a mistake by killing 770 support so fast.
That doesn't make me secure with the n800, as it has some clear architectural limitations that I'm hoping the next generation fixes. And when it does, it ain't gonna be backported.
BTW, the Nokia suits called 770s owners übergeeks. Just thought you'd like to know.
Heck, I look at the n800 and I see "enough things that don't work."
Skype in particular seems to insist on using the internal microphone. It won't even use the mic on the headset that came with the device. You can test this yourself by putting the n800 in your pocket and calling someone first on Skype, second on "Gtalk" (or whatever standard-based VoIP solution you prefer).
So GP should probably have said "Shame about Skype"; after all, the appeal of a portable device for Skype becomes less appealing if Skype makes it not-portable.
It's not a brick, it's an iBrick: the same functionality as a brick, but far more expensive, and also more stylish!
It'll all boil down to company internals.
First, if there are bricked phones, will they at least revert them to the previous firmware so they work? Or will they claim that "unlocking the SIM card" voided the warranty? If they do the latter, then we move to the next step:
Can they demonstrate that their firmware update did not intentionally mess with unlocked sim cards? If those who are looking at iPhone internals from the outside are saying the sim card lock is entirely independent of the phone's functionality, what is their argument against that? 'Cos if this goes class-action, they're gonna need one.
But, knowing how Apple rolls, a few years from now, Apple will send a letter to iPhone owners, offering them maybe $10 at the ITMS as compensation for the Class Action suit in which a couple of current LSs made a few million.
Dude, it's not a hack if you pay Apple at least five bucks to change the wallpaper. Welcome to the world of incremental payments.
First off, he thinks the UMPC problem is basically interface.
It isn't. UMPCs suffer because they're way too much computer for a portable device, and cost way too much. Let's face it, most people don't need desktop power shrunk to a 7 inch screen; we could use it, but only if it didn't cost more. The problem is that UMPCs are cool, but they cost considerably more than the cheapest laptop.
He also mentions Nokia's upcoming tablet, then dismisses it out-of-hand by pointing to the company's dispersion. Hold on. That's about the only reason that doesn't make sense. This product will be Nokia's third generation entry into the field, after the n770 and the n800. You can argue that "Nokia hasn't gotten it right yet, and they're not this time"; you can claim that "They won't be able to get the retail channels for their 'non-cellphone cellophone'"; you can claim that they still haven't put a basic software suite together -- all those would be questionable, but valid responses. But "Nokia has too many pots in the fire?" Uh, they have _one_ pot in the fire, and it happens to use a lot of the same parts as their cellphone mobile devices (reducing their cost of entry into the market).
Finally, he says the "Newton II" will be a winner if it's under $1000. Dude, we're talking about mobile devices here. Gadget freaks, especially those who get their toys for free, love all the cool stuff that comes with the high price tag. What Apple and Nokia are showing is that you don't need a $1000 device to give fundamental internet access.
Do the math this way: take a $400 internet tablet, and a $600 desktop computer. What are the limitations going to be using these two on a daily basis vs. what a $1000 table can do? Now remember that most of your target market already has a computer, and one better than $600. The real killer in this field is going to be cheap and with a good interface, not $999 and the apple brand. That way lies the Newton I
Heh. Yeah, I got me one of them N800s. Fun device, but lots of "yes-but" features. Yes Skype works, but only with the onboard condenser mike (and not the supplied headset). Yes, it has a camera for video phoning, but no software supports it. Yes, it shows PDFs, but you have to view them on the widescreen in landscape mode, and turning pages is a pain. Yes, it has an image viewer, but you can't rotate images (again landscape mode), and large images crash it. Yes, it uses a bunch of standard Nokia parts (including the same charger I use on my phone), but that battery only gives you 4 hours of use, tops. Yes, it shows video, but I wouldn't say it exactly "streams" it. Yes, it has a cool 800x480 pixel 4.1" widescreen, but the architecture isn't fast enough to allow seamless screen updates.
Am I happy I got it? Absolutely. It's cool, and eminently useful: it's a voip phone you can stick in your pocket, a full-sized web browser that weighs less than a paperback, a media player and document storage system. I find it comes in handy all over the place.
Still, the software leaves much to be desired. I get the feeling that the developers bought into the myth that linux fans would write the software it needs for free. That's not how it works. You develop a kick-ass suite of tools and software, with an engaging interface, open source it, and the fans make it incredible.
Damn straight. CSS is my route. But, heck, do you know how hard it is to set up a CSS in most idiot-centric web page utilities? They all default to pixels, and some stop there. Talk about moronic! I mean, hell, there ain't no standard on the size of a pixel on the screen! Higher-level, platform independent nerdity depends on relative measurements, not something entirely useless like the number of pixels. An absolute that is variable in an unpredictable way does not help: that's the worst kinda engineer-think.
For that matter, we might as well say that the folks at Google prioritize CSS with relative measurements.
Sure, we can make some sites for mobile phones, but, come on, mobile-phone formatted pages never caught on. It's like camera phones: there might be a case where you can use them, but unless the camera is comparable to a point-and-shoot, it's pretty useless. So too with the internet. Adapting the internet to a device ain't gonna work, because most cellphones are pretty poor at displaying large amounts of information, their processors are pretty damn slow, input is tedious and access speed often quite painful. Since there's little interest, there's little hope a "Standard" way will come about. So every site mucks around with mobile content, when the best solution is to just serve the page, and let the browser deal with it. If your cellphone sucks as a browser, no amount of optimizing will change that. If a website has for cellphones a "low-bandwidth" variant, chances are most PC users would prefer it too.
Yeah, well I'm a non-Software Engineer and I'm sure I know more about C++ coding than many (Sanitation) Engineers.
If you're a company doing due diligence, you don't consult an american legal expert for the niceties of European IP law, especially if you've been warned that the guy's advice sucks. Even if he's right, there's no way he can go to bat for you in court.
Fair enough, and I am a fan of the Italian saying La madre dei coglioni e` sempre incinta, but even granting your insinuation that hardcore Apple fans are idiots, this tactic will reduce the field, not expand it. They are trading on capital, even if the net result is less than complete.
If their business plan only included the supertrendy and the hardcore fan base, it wouldn't have the rather expensive marketing campaign, or the goal of 10 million units. 10M units is not a cult; it's a religion. The difference is that cults prey on the weak; religions give enough in return to be worthwhile for a much larger demographic. Your argument is that the iPhone only aims to be a cult device. I maintain that the Mac fans who hold sway over so many mod points think different(ly).
Dude, I hear you, but as you no doubt also know, part of business and economics is also reinforcing the sense of value for those who already bought in. Deflating the price 33% is pretty aggressive, and likely to alienate early adopters. It's also a departure from the classic Apple tactic of discontinuing older brands as newer ones come in. In other words, up at that end of the price spectrum, the pickings were pretty slim, so they needed to slide down. The iPod touch is almost an admission that they suspect the AT&T contract was a dealbreaker.
So no, it's damage control, much like your multiple postings.
Dropping the price 1/3 in two months, and killing the cheap version translates to: "We're not selling the numbers we need". It's a damage control measure.
The Ipod Touch sounds like an attempt to sell the "coolness" of the iPhone without the crippling contract. The big dealbreaker there is no VoIP, and the device is intentionally crippled to prevent it.
Heck, just today, they went ahead and osborned the first-generation Eee PC. The Eee is definitely a "hold" until next summer at the earliest.
Nice idea in theory. In practice, the first network cable they go for is the one coming out of your ass.
"Looks like somebody gets a snow day"
People want PCs for a range of reasons. If they don't want to play the latest games, they don't buy a fancy video card; and if they aren't particularly interested in A/V, they don't spend the money on the best experience.
Personal computing is moving away from the good old days of the 8086, and sitting at a desk to do "Lean-in" applications only. Now, in addition to the old-skool word processing, spreadsheets, heavy data lifting tasks, we're using computers at the core of our entertainment systems and for our basic communications. Frankly, for communications, entertainment, and "on-site data entry", my 5-kilo desktop replacement is overkill. I would gladly trade power for weight (and size).
What made the Foleo inherently stupid was its reliance on the smartphone. Smartphones are cool and all that, but either they fulfill your portable comms and entertainment needs, or they don't. If they do, you're not going buy anything else to lug around. If they don't, you're not going to buy the smartphone, so forget about any costly addons.
The Eee, on the other hand, has the potential to be a winner. If they can deliver them really cheap (which has yet to be seen), then it's the ultimate satellite PC for a home network.
And somebody please explain why I shouldn't buy the n800...
Yup: you've got to ride all the way to the end of the line and it's a one-way trip and the last stop is the cemetery.
The irony is, this is exactly the experience Windows is trying to provide: No/limited user interactions with the PC at anything but a high-level. But an increasing number of tasks are being taken over by embedded devices. Windows' "Swiss-army-knife" approach has produced an unmanageable mass of code that is ever less competitive against cheap devices running linux.
Skype has some pay features that come with interesting provisions. For example, you can buy a SkypeIn phone number cheaply for personal use. If you're a business, you pay a different rate for a number that you can use, say, from multiple sites (for example, for follow-the-sun customer service). Temp directory and hardware information are two things that are very rarely the same...