I still have my doubts about the claims that an iPhone costs $600 when a comparable iTouch costs $200.. for a 3G antennae and a better camera?
You are missing three very large cost sources.
3G licensing - Apple did not invent the 3G technology and does not hold the patents. Companies like Qualcomm did, so Apple must pay for the patents they want to license on their phones.
3G electronics - modem, 3G antenna power amplifier, higher quality power supplies, and all the off-chip inductors and other components. They cost money and take up space, and probably require that the rest of the iTouch's components be miniaturized in order to fit everything else.
Apple's R&D - It's market segmentation. Apple put in serious R&D to develop the iPhone, so it sells at a high price point. The same R&D also produced the iTouch, but who would want to pay nearly as much as an iPhone for fewer features? Instead, the iTouch is sold at a lower price point to reach a market to whom the iPhone does not appeal.
$60 for a game, then $15 per month vs paying $60 for a game you're done with in a month, so then you're bored and go buy another one at $60.
Who do you think actually does that?
I'm not in dire economic straits or anything, but I wouldn't buy a $60 (heck, $50 or $40) game unless I was certain to get at least a good few months out of it. (i.e. Oblivion, Civilization, Mass Effect, Persona, etc.) It is a poor game that does not make me want to play it through at least twice.
Better yet, just buy it when it's on sale. I just purchased New Vegas for a few bucks from the Steam store. The game has now had the chance to mature, and will hopefully suffer from fewer of Bethesda's game-breaking bugs. I haven't played it yet, but I think it will guarantee at least a month or so of entertainment for the price of a burger and fries.
And I was never aware access to doctors was a problem.
Very much so.
My wife had friends (multiple) who died from a treatable heart condition because their limited HMO's did not and would not cover the doctors in the next city over who were quite well versed in the syndrome.
Saying "They have access to doctors, they just have to pay," [an argument that have seen elsewhere in this discussion] is comparable to saying that homelessness and hunger aren't issues as there are empty homes and uneaten food out there.
Now, this has nothing to do with Steve Jobs, I'll admit. I don't think that his Mercedes or parking habits have even a bit to do with what the Occupy movement is worried about. [Besides, TFA suggests that the "new Mercedes" was on paper only -- he simply renewed his regular lease at regular rates, it seems.] I just wanted to call attention to a serious issue that gets forgotten from time to time.
If I let you pick one value out of 2^10 = 1024, would you say that you have 10 bits of data or 1024 bits of data?
Well, actually, in my world of mixed signal and ADC design, we would refer to the resolution of the data as 10-bit. i.e. a 10 bit value. That 10 bit value can represent 1024 unique possibilities, or 1024 least-significant-bits (or, as we say, "bits") of data. For example, if our 10-bit ADC has 10 bits of error, then it is only a 1 % error.
Maybe it's an industry nomenclature thing. *shrug*
If my math is right, Planck's length as your resolution limit gives you 6.187x10^34 possible marking positions per meter of stick, which means you can encode about 115 bits with one mark on a 1m Planck-grade stick.
Not quite. You can record one 115 bit value, which is very different from 115 bits. a 115 bit value has 2^115 = 42 million billion billion billion (10^34) bits of information.
I had a friend who's drive was killed in a lightning strike. A friend of theirs swapped out the control board for another one. It physically fit, but released its magic smoke after just a few seconds.
Yeah. I missed "'s drive" the first time I read this comment. It seemed to be a very strange story.
I never got the appeal of mobile Internet due to the ridiculously low caps. It's too expensive to really use the Internet as you would on a desktop PC.
Or, you know, use Sprint. I have a gaming desktop and an Android phone. I do not feel as though I need a personal laptop -- my phone takes care of all my mobile needs and I never have to worry about a data cap.
Well, the article basically said that there is no reason to believe that Bulldozer is delayed at all. I dunno why the title reads "Intel and AMD may both delay"
... wait. Yes, I do. To get readers.
From the article:
The CPU's anticipated launch date is already close enough that the company should already know if it can launch the product or not; waiting until now to announce a delay isn't something Wall Street would take kindly. Moreover, AMD has been fairly transparent about its launch dates and delays ever since the badly botched launch of the original K10-based Phenom processor back in 2007. Llano has been shipping for revenue for several months, and we're not aware of any 32nm production troubles at GlobalFoundries.
So, I live (literally) around the corner from one of Solyndra's offices. And one thing I noticed is that, no matter when I left for work in the morning, drove out to the grocery store, or took the kids on a Sunday walk to the park, Solyndra's parking lot was always full and the lights were on in every laboratory.
At first, I was fairly intimidated. I was new to the Valley, and wondered if this was the pace I would be expected to keep for my employer. After a few months, though, I realized that Solyndra was the exception, not the norm, and not even the more hardcore start-ups in my field matched the hours their employees put in.
As I watched their work pattern, I wondered at the office culture that would lead to such employee behavior, as well as the pay and benefits that had to be backing it up. I could never shake the uneasy impression that Solyndra was vigorously burning the candle at both ends, with potentially disastrous consequences in store.
Steady as she goes, I guess. Even in Silicon Valley.
I agree fully. I made a similar transition from Verizon to Sprint after seeing the absurd charges Verizon levels on texting and data plans, as well as their lack of any decent HTC Android phones. Yes, Verizon has some great voice plans, but my wife and I use our phones for far more than voice calls, now. I made up my early termination fee within a few months, and have been saving $50 per month from there on out.
The tradeoff? Urban coverage for rural coverage. With Verizon, I had great data coverage in the middle of the Great Basin, but with Sprint I actually have coverage in my office! For me, at least, the latter is a bit more useful.
I'm not denying it (and I quite enjoyed Boatmurdered, and the upgraded followups Headshoots and Syrupleaf (Syrupleaf being arguably the best of the three)), but it's saying something when a collection of forum posts from SA can get that kind of praise in a dead tree newspaper with global circulation like the New York Times. Wow.
My wife and I called our youngest "Smudge" from the first smudgy ultrasound until birth. The nickname was picked up quickly and well received by our extended families.
...Though some of her blog readers were rather put off by our seemingly insensitive choice of name for a son.
The problem is that, basically, invariably there's the assumption that such a piece of code is 100% proven and bug-free itself. You know, unlike the rest of the program and unlike other shitty pieces of DRM.
One of my favorite games when I was young was Robot Odyssey, the Learning Company game on the PCjr. Being a TLC game, about half of the fun was in the many tutorial/learning levels, and the other half was the game itself. Though I enjoyed the tutorials to no end, I was unable to properly re-wire the robots in the actual game, and so was only able to complete the first few levels (about 40 %) of the main game. I tried different strategies on and off for years to try and either fix or get around this odd behavior, but could never get anything to work.
A decade and a half later, I finally learned that the game had an odd disk-read-based copy protection scheme which, if it failed, quietly prevented you from re-wiring the robots, making it impossible to progress. However, I had an original game, box, manual, and all, yet the DRM bugged out on me.
The point is, had there been a more blatant or clear message, we could have called TLC and asked for a replacement copy. As it was, I simply believed for years that I just couldn't figure out how to play the game.
Hence the amazing TES Editor, subsequent amazing mods (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Francesco's Leveled Lists/Creatures Mod, Martigen's Monster Mod, FCOM, etc.), and amazing community support and efforts which address this issue in their own ways.
To me, at least, that is what TES has been about since Morrowind: A platform on which to build and a sandbox in which to play. I never understood the appeal of purchasing Oblivion on the PS#, it seemed to me to be voluntarily crippling the game.
You see, before I started bringing out the phone, he would keep saying "dow! dow!" [Down], as he would get bored of whatever interaction I could provide after a few minutes and want to go chasing after the dog/baby/balloon/whatever else he saw. So, instead, he and I play with the cat together, and I exit the menus he accidentally brings up every minute or two.
But, like I mentioned, at some point I need to unload the cart or talk to someone or whatnot, and my eyes are off of him long enough for him to hit the buttons that could really make a mess on an iPhone.
Autism doesn't make the kid retarded. It makes him a nerd.
Wait, I... what?
Are you serious? Autism is a huge set of communication delays, disorders, and impediments, sensory issues, related behavior problems, and co-morbid mental issues such as anxiety disorders and depression.
Some of the more successful and intelligent kids with autism will one day rise to the level of "nerd".
No its not, its providing an ALTERNATIVE to what might become bad behavior.
Exactly. Has the GP ever tried to keep a child under three quiet and calm in a new and intriguing environment for any length of time? This allows my son to indulge his curiosity without bringing up the temper-tantrum/punishment cycle. He knows this, to a point. When we get into situations like this, he is learning to, rather than getting too fussy, ask for the phone and the talking cat application.
On top of that, my son is on the autism spectrum. Receiving a reward at home, maybe an hour or so later, is well beyond his present understanding.
Slashdot Mirror
I still have my doubts about the claims that an iPhone costs $600 when a comparable iTouch costs $200.. for a 3G antennae and a better camera?
You are missing three very large cost sources.
$60 for a game, then $15 per month vs paying $60 for a game you're done with in a month, so then you're bored and go buy another one at $60.
Who do you think actually does that?
I'm not in dire economic straits or anything, but I wouldn't buy a $60 (heck, $50 or $40) game unless I was certain to get at least a good few months out of it. (i.e. Oblivion, Civilization, Mass Effect, Persona, etc.) It is a poor game that does not make me want to play it through at least twice.
Better yet, just buy it when it's on sale. I just purchased New Vegas for a few bucks from the Steam store. The game has now had the chance to mature, and will hopefully suffer from fewer of Bethesda's game-breaking bugs. I haven't played it yet, but I think it will guarantee at least a month or so of entertainment for the price of a burger and fries.
And I was never aware access to doctors was a problem.
Very much so.
My wife had friends (multiple) who died from a treatable heart condition because their limited HMO's did not and would not cover the doctors in the next city over who were quite well versed in the syndrome.
Saying "They have access to doctors, they just have to pay," [an argument that have seen elsewhere in this discussion] is comparable to saying that homelessness and hunger aren't issues as there are empty homes and uneaten food out there.
Now, this has nothing to do with Steve Jobs, I'll admit. I don't think that his Mercedes or parking habits have even a bit to do with what the Occupy movement is worried about. [Besides, TFA suggests that the "new Mercedes" was on paper only -- he simply renewed his regular lease at regular rates, it seems.] I just wanted to call attention to a serious issue that gets forgotten from time to time.
I believe I understand what you are saying... After all, your binary search is my successive approximation ADC
But I don't see how that disagrees with my previous point.
If I let you pick one value out of 2^10 = 1024, would you say that you have 10 bits of data or 1024 bits of data?
Well, actually, in my world of mixed signal and ADC design, we would refer to the resolution of the data as 10-bit. i.e. a 10 bit value. That 10 bit value can represent 1024 unique possibilities, or 1024 least-significant-bits (or, as we say, "bits") of data. For example, if our 10-bit ADC has 10 bits of error, then it is only a 1 % error.
Maybe it's an industry nomenclature thing. *shrug*
If my math is right, Planck's length as your resolution limit gives you 6.187x10^34 possible marking positions per meter of stick, which means you can encode about 115 bits with one mark on a 1m Planck-grade stick.
Not quite. You can record one 115 bit value, which is very different from 115 bits. a 115 bit value has 2^115 = 42 million billion billion billion (10^34) bits of information.
A slight difference.
I had a friend who's drive was killed in a lightning strike. A friend of theirs swapped out the control board for another one. It physically fit, but released its magic smoke after just a few seconds.
Yeah. I missed "'s drive" the first time I read this comment. It seemed to be a very strange story.
I'll tell you what's wrong with this phoenix, it's dead.
Don't worry, that shouldn't be a problem for long.
I never got the appeal of mobile Internet due to the ridiculously low caps. It's too expensive to really use the Internet as you would on a desktop PC.
Or, you know, use Sprint. I have a gaming desktop and an Android phone. I do not feel as though I need a personal laptop -- my phone takes care of all my mobile needs and I never have to worry about a data cap.
... wait. Yes, I do. To get readers.
From the article:
The CPU's anticipated launch date is already close enough that the company should already know if it can launch the product or not; waiting until now to announce a delay isn't something Wall Street would take kindly. Moreover, AMD has been fairly transparent about its launch dates and delays ever since the badly botched launch of the original K10-based Phenom processor back in 2007. Llano has been shipping for revenue for several months, and we're not aware of any 32nm production troubles at GlobalFoundries.
So, I live (literally) around the corner from one of Solyndra's offices. And one thing I noticed is that, no matter when I left for work in the morning, drove out to the grocery store, or took the kids on a Sunday walk to the park, Solyndra's parking lot was always full and the lights were on in every laboratory.
At first, I was fairly intimidated. I was new to the Valley, and wondered if this was the pace I would be expected to keep for my employer. After a few months, though, I realized that Solyndra was the exception, not the norm, and not even the more hardcore start-ups in my field matched the hours their employees put in.
As I watched their work pattern, I wondered at the office culture that would lead to such employee behavior, as well as the pay and benefits that had to be backing it up. I could never shake the uneasy impression that Solyndra was vigorously burning the candle at both ends, with potentially disastrous consequences in store.
Steady as she goes, I guess. Even in Silicon Valley.
I agree fully. I made a similar transition from Verizon to Sprint after seeing the absurd charges Verizon levels on texting and data plans, as well as their lack of any decent HTC Android phones. Yes, Verizon has some great voice plans, but my wife and I use our phones for far more than voice calls, now. I made up my early termination fee within a few months, and have been saving $50 per month from there on out.
The tradeoff? Urban coverage for rural coverage. With Verizon, I had great data coverage in the middle of the Great Basin, but with Sprint I actually have coverage in my office! For me, at least, the latter is a bit more useful.
Point taken.
Huh. When did that comic hit everybody-reads-it-now status, anyways?
As usual, XKCD covered this.
>started last Sunday Slashdot. Yesterday's news next week.
Well of course. All the editors joined this past week, so it took this long to actually get the story out.
Wow. The New York Times just described a Something Awful Let's Play forum series as a fascinating saga.
I'm not denying it (and I quite enjoyed Boatmurdered, and the upgraded followups Headshoots and Syrupleaf (Syrupleaf being arguably the best of the three)), but it's saying something when a collection of forum posts from SA can get that kind of praise in a dead tree newspaper with global circulation like the New York Times. Wow.
Nah. Too vulnerable to dictionary attacks.
My wife and I called our youngest "Smudge" from the first smudgy ultrasound until birth. The nickname was picked up quickly and well received by our extended families.
...Though some of her blog readers were rather put off by our seemingly insensitive choice of name for a son.
Thirdly, Microsoft is why Nokia will continue to lose money.
Which makes me (and others in my field) wonder... When is Microsoft planning on scooping up Nokia?
The problem is that, basically, invariably there's the assumption that such a piece of code is 100% proven and bug-free itself. You know, unlike the rest of the program and unlike other shitty pieces of DRM.
One of my favorite games when I was young was Robot Odyssey, the Learning Company game on the PCjr. Being a TLC game, about half of the fun was in the many tutorial/learning levels, and the other half was the game itself. Though I enjoyed the tutorials to no end, I was unable to properly re-wire the robots in the actual game, and so was only able to complete the first few levels (about 40 %) of the main game. I tried different strategies on and off for years to try and either fix or get around this odd behavior, but could never get anything to work.
A decade and a half later, I finally learned that the game had an odd disk-read-based copy protection scheme which, if it failed, quietly prevented you from re-wiring the robots, making it impossible to progress. However, I had an original game, box, manual, and all, yet the DRM bugged out on me.
The point is, had there been a more blatant or clear message, we could have called TLC and asked for a replacement copy. As it was, I simply believed for years that I just couldn't figure out how to play the game.
Hence the amazing TES Editor, subsequent amazing mods (Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul, Francesco's Leveled Lists/Creatures Mod, Martigen's Monster Mod, FCOM, etc.), and amazing community support and efforts which address this issue in their own ways.
To me, at least, that is what TES has been about since Morrowind: A platform on which to build and a sandbox in which to play. I never understood the appeal of purchasing Oblivion on the PS#, it seemed to me to be voluntarily crippling the game.
Warning! Parent is worse than a Goatse Troll!
It's a Rebecca Black Troll!
Well, to clarify, I play with the app with him.
You see, before I started bringing out the phone, he would keep saying "dow! dow!" [Down], as he would get bored of whatever interaction I could provide after a few minutes and want to go chasing after the dog/baby/balloon/whatever else he saw. So, instead, he and I play with the cat together, and I exit the menus he accidentally brings up every minute or two.
But, like I mentioned, at some point I need to unload the cart or talk to someone or whatnot, and my eyes are off of him long enough for him to hit the buttons that could really make a mess on an iPhone.
Autism doesn't make the kid retarded. It makes him a nerd.
Wait, I... what?
Are you serious? Autism is a huge set of communication delays, disorders, and impediments, sensory issues, related behavior problems, and co-morbid mental issues such as anxiety disorders and depression.
Some of the more successful and intelligent kids with autism will one day rise to the level of "nerd".
Many, sadly, will not.
No its not, its providing an ALTERNATIVE to what might become bad behavior.
Exactly. Has the GP ever tried to keep a child under three quiet and calm in a new and intriguing environment for any length of time? This allows my son to indulge his curiosity without bringing up the temper-tantrum/punishment cycle. He knows this, to a point. When we get into situations like this, he is learning to, rather than getting too fussy, ask for the phone and the talking cat application.
On top of that, my son is on the autism spectrum. Receiving a reward at home, maybe an hour or so later, is well beyond his present understanding.