Well, this isn't really an "official" app store, unless someone decides to make it one.
There've been plenty of app stores over the years, both pre-Internet and post-Internet. Stores are nice for things like one-stop shopping in a "trusted" environment. If I have a choice between buying something from Amazon or "Joe's Internet Store", I might be a bit more concerned about whether I'll get my stuff from "Joe's Internet Store" than I would be with Amazon.
So I don't see a problem with yet another app store. I don't even see a problem with vendors pre-installing appropriate software to access it on their mobile phones. But if they actively go about blocking other stores, that's wrong.
Way back in fourth grade here in the US, they had an astronomy "elective." While most of it was classroom work, we did do a field trip to the observatory. One Teacher's Assistant and her boyfriend managed a half-dozen 10 year olds with no problems whatsoever. I still remember being awed at seeing Saturn through the 8" telescope.
It's one thing to see the pictures in a book. It's another thing to actually see it "real time."
After the translation, you'll hear advertising based upon what was said.
Person Using Translator: Excuse me, where is the bathroom? Phone in local Language: Excuse me, where is the bathroom? Local Person (in local language): Down that hall, third door on your left. Phone in Person's Language: Down that hall, third door on your left. By the way, One Week Bath will build your dream bathroom in one week, guaranteed! Visit www.OneWeekBath.com today!
While we're at it, we should close McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and cancel the plans to reopen the Byrd Station. It is a colossal waste of money to send us weak-ass little humans, who need protection for our weak bodies, plus food, water, a place to go to the toilet, etc., instead of robots. The robots are cheaper, take up less resources, can stay longer and thus get more work done, just better all around.
In case you're missing it, I'm being sarcastic.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, however. Personally, I'd like to see a little less exploration and a little more exploitation going on. I've babbled here a few times about setting up launch facilities on the Moon--complete with production--so that we can use some of the more exotic drive technologies that exist without worrying about polluting our atmosphere or the dreaded "What-If" scenarios.
And Apple would be sure to not include the best mobile web browser available in their mobile products.
I dunno. Have you ever tried any other mobile web browsers on their mobile products?
Oh, that's right. You can't.
Of course, I suppose that if I parse your sentence a little differently, I suppose you're right. Mobile Safari is the best mobile web browser available in their mobile product. Of course, it's the only one, but that must make it the best. Right?
Before Jobs returned, Apple was a collection of little fiefdoms who were working on their own "next big thing": QuickDraw GX, QuickDraw3D, Publish/Subscribe, OpenDoc, Open Collaborative Environment, OpenTransport, etc. Each of these little fiefdoms were shouting at the wind trying to get interest within Apple and with developers outside. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.
Some groups were working on similar things, some groups didn't like the idea, or the people who were involved with the idea. Mac OS started becoming a collection of neat technologies with no real rhyme or reason behind any of it.
The most notable thing Jobs did when he came back was chop up hardware. No more Performa 6600s competing with PowerMac 7500s, etc. But he also chopped a bunch of software projects (pretty much everything on the list above went away or was barely supported for compatibility purposes only) in going forward with Carbon.
Microsoft is in a similar boat. You seem to have lots of engineers running around and some of them are doing interesting stuff. The problem is getting others in the company to go along. There isn't a "Steve Jobs" at the highest level to say, "We're all going to go along with this and, if you don't agree, there's a door over there with your name on it."
If Palm believes their patents are so strong, why didn't they just go ahead and sue?
Uh, the same could be said for Apple. Other than beating their chest for analysts and the faithful, I haven't heard of Apple going after Palm or Google. Perhaps they don't think their hand is all that strong, either.
Palm has US Patent #7,268,775 for dymanic screen brightness and #7,231,208 for managing a phone call. Those are from the article that tacroy mentioned.
But also, remember that Palm has been making mobile devices since 1992. I'm sure they've got patents on quite a few things that Apple is using.
Personally, I would love a Tesla Roadster. I have no problem with the 300 mile range, which is easily within the realm of "everywhere I want to go." The rare occasion where it isn't, I'd rent something.
My commute is 65 miles roundtrip. So I could go about four days without recharging, which is great.
The only issue? I don't have $100,000+ sitting around to spend on a car. But if I did? I'd have one in my driveway yesterday.
[...] the thing is that Amazon already has a iPhone Kindle reader and it can take advantage of the greater space on the iPad.
And that's going to make things interesting.
I've not seen absolute proof, so I'm willing to cut Apple a little slack. But Apple supposedly nixes applications that compete with their offerings. So you can't, for example, write an App that will allow you to buy and listen to music from Amazon's MP3 music store. Again, I don't know if this is true or more "Apple is evil" bashing, but let's assume it's true.
A whole industry has come up around selling books on the iPhone/iPod touch. In fact, the "Books" category is second only to games. Because many books are their own App, this has inflated the number of Apps in the App Store. And, as many have pointed out, the iPad is going to be at least a decent eBook reader and Apple has started their own book store.
So what happens to the Kindle app, which allow you to buy eBooks from Amazon? For that matter, what happens to a whole genre of Apps? Does Apple yank them (causing a sharp decline in the number of Apps in the App Store)? Do they just allow them to wither (ie, no updates)? Will Apple decide that these Apps cannot run "natively" on the iPad (eg, cannot take advantage of the larger screen) but they're okay for the iPhone/iPod touch?
On the other hand, can you imagine how much bad press Apple would get if they did anything like what I've mentioned? It's one thing to say that the iPhone/iPod touch already comes with Apple's music store so you can't make an App that competes. It's another thing when you've already made the App, it's already shipping and making money, and has created a large marketplace when suddenly Apple decides to enter the market and they kick you off? Developers would drop iPhone development so fast it would make your head swim! "Yes, we want iPhone developers! But if you look like you're going to be successful, we'll take over the market and not even allow you to compete!"
Even Phil Schiller and the Apple Fanbois couldn't double-talk their way out of that one.
Yes, it will be interesting, indeed, to see what happens.
Agreed. For example, I used to drive drunk all the time and I never had an accident or hurt anyone. So for 20 years of my life, I've never had an accident after drinking. Therefore, I think that I've proven that I can drink and drive and the government should give me a special waiver.
I also have this special amulet that keeps tigers from eating me. I've had it all my life and I've never been eaten by a tiger...
Unless users are way out in nowhere, those users already have most all of the same features of a stand-alone GPS.
On the other hand, if I'm way out in nowhere, I definitely need directions in order to get somewhere. That's where downloadable maps shine.
Also, keeping that connection open to the Internet in order to get your maps probably does not do wonders for your battery life. This isn't a big deal if you're in a car, granted, but some of us use alternate means of transportation.
[...] the Puffin can cruise at 240 kilometers per hour [...] With current state-of-the-art batteries, it has a range of just 80 kilometers if cruising [...]
So it can stay up about 20 minutes.
It would work for me. I could get to work in about 15 minutes and plug it in. At the end of the day, it's all charged up and I take it home.
Remember that you're returning to America, which is a pretty big place. While all providers claim "nationwide coverage", their definitions of "nationwide" can vary.
Personal example: I live in Southern California and have my iPhone and AT&T. It works great. I have no complaints at all with coverage or 3G speed. It works flawlessly.
I recently went back to see my Mom in Vermont and the coverage was horrible. Literally, I could stand someplace and get the "No Network" message and take a step to the right and I would get a bar. Sometimes I'd get three bars but couldn't place a call or use the Internet. The A-GPS had me pegged somewhere in a 10 mile radius.
(By the way, Verizon wasn't much better, at least for voice)
So it can really depend on where you live. You'll hear plenty of people here say how they love one network or another where they live--and you should keep that in mind. Just because everybody here says T-Mobile or AT&T or Verizon or Sprint doesn't mean it will work where you are. Your best choice is to check out how well it works where you live.
I know that, when I bought my iPhone, AT&T gave you a thirty-day trial. I hear Verizon does as well and it may be de rigeur for other providers. Go with whoever gives you the best deal and try it out for 30 days. If it doesn't work, take it back and try the next one up the line.
I understand the feeling--and I might even agree with you. The question is, what do you bring to the mission?
Frankly, I don't want to waste my tax dollars sending a computer guru to Mars--even if he wants to go on a suicide mission. I'd rather send geologists, possibly biologists, and other people who can actually do science.
Ideally, I'd like to send the best and brightest of those people. Not just the ones with a death wish.
If nokia is an 800lb gorilla, Apple is King Kong – Nokia's market cap is $50bn, apple's is $190bn.
True. But when it comes to phones, Nokia is the 800lb gorilla and Apple is Zippy the Chimp.
Why do I say this?
Nokia can conceivably stop Apple from selling a GSM phone, if they are successful. Apple will have to change the iPhone to run on CDMA networks, such as Verizon's here in the US. But the world-wide market for GSM phones is much larger than the market for CDMA phones. This will limit how well iPhones will sell outside of the US and hurt Apple's revenue dramatically.
In short, Nokia can do a fair amount of damage to iPhone sales.
In return, what can Apple do to Nokia? Stop them from selling phones? I doubt it. Nokia sells plenty of different kinds of phones. They may be able to lop off the top-end phones, but that's about it. I also assume Nokia makes plenty of money off of their patents, so Nokia wouldn't be hurt too badly if Apple stopped them from selling the N97. So if Apple prevails, Nokia may have to make some minor changes to their products, but that's about it.
That's why Nokia is the 800LB Gorilla.
That said, much like Apple licensing the Mac UI to Microsoft, Nokia's "mistake" was agreeing to RAND terms.
The main reason to retire the Shuttle, in my opinion, is that it costs too much to run for the "simple" task of delivering people to ISS. It's sort of like using an SUV to drive to the corner store to pick up a soda. Sure it will work, but it's kind of a pricey (and wasteful) way of doing it. And while I have no problem spending money on human space travel, I do have a problem wasting money on human space travel.
I don't believe in the whole "private industry exploring space." That said, if Space-X can launch two or three scientists to ISS cheaper than the shuttle and bring the same number back, I'm all for it. It provides the same capability and it's cheaper.
Let NASA work on lunar infrastructure--getting people to-and-from the Moon safely, getting equipment to the Moon, building useful things on the Moon, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, this isn't really an "official" app store, unless someone decides to make it one.
There've been plenty of app stores over the years, both pre-Internet and post-Internet. Stores are nice for things like one-stop shopping in a "trusted" environment. If I have a choice between buying something from Amazon or "Joe's Internet Store", I might be a bit more concerned about whether I'll get my stuff from "Joe's Internet Store" than I would be with Amazon.
So I don't see a problem with yet another app store. I don't even see a problem with vendors pre-installing appropriate software to access it on their mobile phones. But if they actively go about blocking other stores, that's wrong.
Yes! He'll forbid all of us!
Depends on the situation.
Way back in fourth grade here in the US, they had an astronomy "elective." While most of it was classroom work, we did do a field trip to the observatory. One Teacher's Assistant and her boyfriend managed a half-dozen 10 year olds with no problems whatsoever. I still remember being awed at seeing Saturn through the 8" telescope.
It's one thing to see the pictures in a book. It's another thing to actually see it "real time."
You save only 59 seconds over 8 miles by going 75 instead of 65. Do you really have to pass that guy?
Yes. Yes I do.
I drive the correct speed. Anyone who drives slower than me is an idiot. Anyone who drives faster than me is a maniac.
Silly! This is Google.
After the translation, you'll hear advertising based upon what was said.
Person Using Translator: Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
Phone in local Language: Excuse me, where is the bathroom?
Local Person (in local language): Down that hall, third door on your left.
Phone in Person's Language: Down that hall, third door on your left. By the way, One Week Bath will build your dream bathroom in one week, guaranteed! Visit www.OneWeekBath.com today!
While we're at it, we should close McMurdo Station, Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station, and cancel the plans to reopen the Byrd Station. It is a colossal waste of money to send us weak-ass little humans, who need protection for our weak bodies, plus food, water, a place to go to the toilet, etc., instead of robots. The robots are cheaper, take up less resources, can stay longer and thus get more work done, just better all around.
In case you're missing it, I'm being sarcastic.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, however. Personally, I'd like to see a little less exploration and a little more exploitation going on. I've babbled here a few times about setting up launch facilities on the Moon--complete with production--so that we can use some of the more exotic drive technologies that exist without worrying about polluting our atmosphere or the dreaded "What-If" scenarios.
And Apple would be sure to not include the best mobile web browser available in their mobile products.
I dunno. Have you ever tried any other mobile web browsers on their mobile products?
Oh, that's right. You can't.
Of course, I suppose that if I parse your sentence a little differently, I suppose you're right. Mobile Safari is the best mobile web browser available in their mobile product. Of course, it's the only one, but that must make it the best. Right?
That was my thought, too.
Before Jobs returned, Apple was a collection of little fiefdoms who were working on their own "next big thing": QuickDraw GX, QuickDraw3D, Publish/Subscribe, OpenDoc, Open Collaborative Environment, OpenTransport, etc. Each of these little fiefdoms were shouting at the wind trying to get interest within Apple and with developers outside. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.
Some groups were working on similar things, some groups didn't like the idea, or the people who were involved with the idea. Mac OS started becoming a collection of neat technologies with no real rhyme or reason behind any of it.
The most notable thing Jobs did when he came back was chop up hardware. No more Performa 6600s competing with PowerMac 7500s, etc. But he also chopped a bunch of software projects (pretty much everything on the list above went away or was barely supported for compatibility purposes only) in going forward with Carbon.
Microsoft is in a similar boat. You seem to have lots of engineers running around and some of them are doing interesting stuff. The problem is getting others in the company to go along. There isn't a "Steve Jobs" at the highest level to say, "We're all going to go along with this and, if you don't agree, there's a door over there with your name on it."
If Palm believes their patents are so strong, why didn't they just go ahead and sue?
Uh, the same could be said for Apple. Other than beating their chest for analysts and the faithful, I haven't heard of Apple going after Palm or Google. Perhaps they don't think their hand is all that strong, either.
Let's see...
Palm has US Patent #7,268,775 for dymanic screen brightness and #7,231,208 for managing a phone call. Those are from the article that tacroy mentioned.
But also, remember that Palm has been making mobile devices since 1992. I'm sure they've got patents on quite a few things that Apple is using.
Agreed. That said...
Personally, I would love a Tesla Roadster. I have no problem with the 300 mile range, which is easily within the realm of "everywhere I want to go." The rare occasion where it isn't, I'd rent something.
My commute is 65 miles roundtrip. So I could go about four days without recharging, which is great.
The only issue? I don't have $100,000+ sitting around to spend on a car. But if I did? I'd have one in my driveway yesterday.
...or skis. Or something like this.
[...] the thing is that Amazon already has a iPhone Kindle reader and it can take advantage of the greater space on the iPad.
And that's going to make things interesting.
I've not seen absolute proof, so I'm willing to cut Apple a little slack. But Apple supposedly nixes applications that compete with their offerings. So you can't, for example, write an App that will allow you to buy and listen to music from Amazon's MP3 music store. Again, I don't know if this is true or more "Apple is evil" bashing, but let's assume it's true.
A whole industry has come up around selling books on the iPhone/iPod touch. In fact, the "Books" category is second only to games. Because many books are their own App, this has inflated the number of Apps in the App Store. And, as many have pointed out, the iPad is going to be at least a decent eBook reader and Apple has started their own book store.
So what happens to the Kindle app, which allow you to buy eBooks from Amazon? For that matter, what happens to a whole genre of Apps? Does Apple yank them (causing a sharp decline in the number of Apps in the App Store)? Do they just allow them to wither (ie, no updates)? Will Apple decide that these Apps cannot run "natively" on the iPad (eg, cannot take advantage of the larger screen) but they're okay for the iPhone/iPod touch?
On the other hand, can you imagine how much bad press Apple would get if they did anything like what I've mentioned? It's one thing to say that the iPhone/iPod touch already comes with Apple's music store so you can't make an App that competes. It's another thing when you've already made the App, it's already shipping and making money, and has created a large marketplace when suddenly Apple decides to enter the market and they kick you off? Developers would drop iPhone development so fast it would make your head swim! "Yes, we want iPhone developers! But if you look like you're going to be successful, we'll take over the market and not even allow you to compete!"
Even Phil Schiller and the Apple Fanbois couldn't double-talk their way out of that one.
Yes, it will be interesting, indeed, to see what happens.
Agreed. For example, I used to drive drunk all the time and I never had an accident or hurt anyone. So for 20 years of my life, I've never had an accident after drinking. Therefore, I think that I've proven that I can drink and drive and the government should give me a special waiver.
I also have this special amulet that keeps tigers from eating me. I've had it all my life and I've never been eaten by a tiger...
Really? You mean I can carry around an iPad and a laptop?! Ooh! Where do I sign up?!?
That said, there are other ways besides carrying around a computer.
...and their fitness program is to take the stairs so you don't have to worry about being fired in an elevator.
(before I get marked as evil, I mean IN GAMES)
Now you tell me...
I just told him that back when I was a kid, I used to get shot in the head every day while walking 20 miles uphill through the snow to get school.
Of course, he just sat there and gave me this vacant stare while the blood poured down his face.
Kids today...
Sorry--I didn't say that correctly. I meant "previously downloaded" maps shine (ie maps stored on the phone).
Mea culpa.
Unless users are way out in nowhere, those users already have most all of the same features of a stand-alone GPS.
On the other hand, if I'm way out in nowhere, I definitely need directions in order to get somewhere. That's where downloadable maps shine.
Also, keeping that connection open to the Internet in order to get your maps probably does not do wonders for your battery life. This isn't a big deal if you're in a car, granted, but some of us use alternate means of transportation.
Well, let's see...
FTFA:
[...] the Puffin can cruise at 240 kilometers per hour [...] With current state-of-the-art batteries, it has a range of just 80 kilometers if cruising [...]
So it can stay up about 20 minutes.
It would work for me. I could get to work in about 15 minutes and plug it in. At the end of the day, it's all charged up and I take it home.
So, yes. I want one.
Mod the parent up--this is the important part.
Remember that you're returning to America, which is a pretty big place. While all providers claim "nationwide coverage", their definitions of "nationwide" can vary.
Personal example: I live in Southern California and have my iPhone and AT&T. It works great. I have no complaints at all with coverage or 3G speed. It works flawlessly.
I recently went back to see my Mom in Vermont and the coverage was horrible. Literally, I could stand someplace and get the "No Network" message and take a step to the right and I would get a bar. Sometimes I'd get three bars but couldn't place a call or use the Internet. The A-GPS had me pegged somewhere in a 10 mile radius.
(By the way, Verizon wasn't much better, at least for voice)
So it can really depend on where you live. You'll hear plenty of people here say how they love one network or another where they live--and you should keep that in mind. Just because everybody here says T-Mobile or AT&T or Verizon or Sprint doesn't mean it will work where you are. Your best choice is to check out how well it works where you live.
I know that, when I bought my iPhone, AT&T gave you a thirty-day trial. I hear Verizon does as well and it may be de rigeur for other providers. Go with whoever gives you the best deal and try it out for 30 days. If it doesn't work, take it back and try the next one up the line.
Oh yeah. And Apple will just let that through...
I understand the feeling--and I might even agree with you. The question is, what do you bring to the mission?
Frankly, I don't want to waste my tax dollars sending a computer guru to Mars--even if he wants to go on a suicide mission. I'd rather send geologists, possibly biologists, and other people who can actually do science.
Ideally, I'd like to send the best and brightest of those people. Not just the ones with a death wish.
If nokia is an 800lb gorilla, Apple is King Kong – Nokia's market cap is $50bn, apple's is $190bn.
True. But when it comes to phones, Nokia is the 800lb gorilla and Apple is Zippy the Chimp.
Why do I say this?
Nokia can conceivably stop Apple from selling a GSM phone, if they are successful. Apple will have to change the iPhone to run on CDMA networks, such as Verizon's here in the US. But the world-wide market for GSM phones is much larger than the market for CDMA phones. This will limit how well iPhones will sell outside of the US and hurt Apple's revenue dramatically.
In short, Nokia can do a fair amount of damage to iPhone sales.
In return, what can Apple do to Nokia? Stop them from selling phones? I doubt it. Nokia sells plenty of different kinds of phones. They may be able to lop off the top-end phones, but that's about it. I also assume Nokia makes plenty of money off of their patents, so Nokia wouldn't be hurt too badly if Apple stopped them from selling the N97. So if Apple prevails, Nokia may have to make some minor changes to their products, but that's about it.
That's why Nokia is the 800LB Gorilla.
That said, much like Apple licensing the Mac UI to Microsoft, Nokia's "mistake" was agreeing to RAND terms.
The main reason to retire the Shuttle, in my opinion, is that it costs too much to run for the "simple" task of delivering people to ISS. It's sort of like using an SUV to drive to the corner store to pick up a soda. Sure it will work, but it's kind of a pricey (and wasteful) way of doing it. And while I have no problem spending money on human space travel, I do have a problem wasting money on human space travel.
I don't believe in the whole "private industry exploring space." That said, if Space-X can launch two or three scientists to ISS cheaper than the shuttle and bring the same number back, I'm all for it. It provides the same capability and it's cheaper.
Let NASA work on lunar infrastructure--getting people to-and-from the Moon safely, getting equipment to the Moon, building useful things on the Moon, etc.