The problem with your argument is that you assume the presence of Enterprise doesn't affect those who dislike it. That is false.
1) Aired Trek becomes canon, that is, it becomes part of the mythos that needs to be factored in by, e.g., Trek novels -- those who dislike Enterprise also dislike the fact that future series and books will need to take its presence into account, and spend at least some energy addressing the (in their opinion) contradictions and dubious elements it introduces into the mythos.
2) The resources being used on Enterprise (squandered, according to those who dislike it) could be put to better use on better Trek if Enterprise was off the air.
Please realize that at least some of those who advocate the cancellation of Enterprise are not mean-spirited folk who want to take away your enjoyment, but rather equally earnest people trying to ensure the future of Trek they enjoy, in the same way that Enterprise supporters believe themselves to be acting.
Funny -- I just spent two years living in Israel, and I couldn't wait to get back to the US for customer service. You haven't seen outright lying, sliminess, pushiness, or rudeness until you've shopped in Israel, whether in the "larger" stores, smaller shops (those are the worst for pushiness -- one guy actually tried to sell my wife shoes that didn't fit -- after she had asked for her size and was told they didn't have stock -- by saying, "but these very good shoes, good quality." Maybe (probably not), but that doesn't really matter worth a damn if they don't fit!), or outdoor markets (Israeli or Arab, both are full of slimy liars). The idea of "service" was a joke -- I had a major problem switching dates on a plane ticket using the Israeli branch of my travel agent (STA) and was eventually told that I was screwed and to go away; when I called American customer service, the travel agent helped me right away, told me I shouldn't need to call overseas and that we could do it all through e-mail, which we did efficiently, quickly, and politely -- my new tickets were even expedited overseas at no charge to me. Even the American Consulate, which is staffed entirely by Arabs and Israelis, is a complete nightmare.
On my way back I spent a month in England, and generally received good service (although the prices were ridiculous), except for one supermarket in which we were overcharged 10 pounds (immediately upon receiving the change and seeing the receipt I said, "hey, we gave you a 20 and not a 10" and even the woman at the till said she screws up all the time, but the manager checked the till and claimed it was perfect -- meaning that this woman had screwed up before and we had to foot the 10 pound charge, even though we could identify the bill we gave by the folds).
I couldn't tell exactly for what this would be useful (besides the sheer hacking pleasure of it all), until I saw the bottom screenshot on the page. I wonder how many kids will use this for cheating purposes ("It's just an external power supply, don't worry, teacher") Luckily, most of those who would actually get the equipment and put it together are probably already smart enough to do well enough without cheating.
In addition to all the very important points raised by everyone concerning the need for printed manuals, there's the small (but growing, and important) audience of observant Jews who, by Jewish law, are unable to use electricity on Shabbat (Friday night -> Saturday night, our weekly holy day) and certain other festival days. It's nice to have a printed, bound manual to read to pass some time on those days.
My VCR (Panasonic PV-8662) has a commercial skip feature that invisibly marks the tape when it thinks commericals start and end (indicated by the fade to black or some such clue). It actually works very very well, even with shows such as Frasier and Law & Order (which have frequent fade-to-blacks between scenes).
I wonder how VCR recording factors into advertisers' figures -- i.e., do they just consider anything not watched "live" as not being seen, or are they/should they be really pissed off at Panasonic for this feature?
How about the Cuban Missile Crisis? The closest the world ever came to World War III, all because of the worst political screwups and misconceptions:
Kennedy didn't know there were actually missiles already in Cuba when he made his statement, "We will allow NO missiles in Cuba." Had he known, he would have said, "Will not allow any MORE missiles in Cuba." The resulting crisis was Kennedy trying ot save face.
And while we're at it, the Bay of Pigs was pretty dumb, too.
Kennedy's advisors were all willing to go to war. Had any of them been president, it is like there would have been at least a local thermonuclear war.
Castro was more than willing to use the nuclear missiles -- the Soviets were the ones holding him back.
The US invasion plans for Cuba _woefully_ underestimated the number of Soviet and Cuban troops they would be facing. Had they invaded, the US would have been outnumbered nearly two to one.
During the crisis, the US went to Defcon 3, which meant arming planes with nuclear warheads. Despite this, several test flights in various airfields were still performed.
The incoming nuclear warning system faced northeast. It was repositioned to face Cuba, in the southeast -- however, it was blocked by Cape Canaveral, and any launch from there would be read as an incoming nuclear strike from Cuba.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem with your argument is that you assume the presence of Enterprise doesn't affect those who dislike it. That is false.
1) Aired Trek becomes canon, that is, it becomes part of the mythos that needs to be factored in by, e.g., Trek novels -- those who dislike Enterprise also dislike the fact that future series and books will need to take its presence into account, and spend at least some energy addressing the (in their opinion) contradictions and dubious elements it introduces into the mythos.
2) The resources being used on Enterprise (squandered, according to those who dislike it) could be put to better use on better Trek if Enterprise was off the air.
Please realize that at least some of those who advocate the cancellation of Enterprise are not mean-spirited folk who want to take away your enjoyment, but rather equally earnest people trying to ensure the future of Trek they enjoy, in the same way that Enterprise supporters believe themselves to be acting.
Funny -- I just spent two years living in Israel, and I couldn't wait to get back to the US for customer service. You haven't seen outright lying, sliminess, pushiness, or rudeness until you've shopped in Israel, whether in the "larger" stores, smaller shops (those are the worst for pushiness -- one guy actually tried to sell my wife shoes that didn't fit -- after she had asked for her size and was told they didn't have stock -- by saying, "but these very good shoes, good quality." Maybe (probably not), but that doesn't really matter worth a damn if they don't fit!), or outdoor markets (Israeli or Arab, both are full of slimy liars). The idea of "service" was a joke -- I had a major problem switching dates on a plane ticket using the Israeli branch of my travel agent (STA) and was eventually told that I was screwed and to go away; when I called American customer service, the travel agent helped me right away, told me I shouldn't need to call overseas and that we could do it all through e-mail, which we did efficiently, quickly, and politely -- my new tickets were even expedited overseas at no charge to me. Even the American Consulate, which is staffed entirely by Arabs and Israelis, is a complete nightmare.
On my way back I spent a month in England, and generally received good service (although the prices were ridiculous), except for one supermarket in which we were overcharged 10 pounds (immediately upon receiving the change and seeing the receipt I said, "hey, we gave you a 20 and not a 10" and even the woman at the till said she screws up all the time, but the manager checked the till and claimed it was perfect -- meaning that this woman had screwed up before and we had to foot the 10 pound charge, even though we could identify the bill we gave by the folds).
I'm glad to be back in the US.
I couldn't tell exactly for what this would be useful (besides the sheer hacking pleasure of it all), until I saw the bottom screenshot on the page. I wonder how many kids will use this for cheating purposes ("It's just an external power supply, don't worry, teacher") Luckily, most of those who would actually get the equipment and put it together are probably already smart enough to do well enough without cheating.
In addition to all the very important points raised by everyone concerning the need for printed manuals, there's the small (but growing, and important) audience of observant Jews who, by Jewish law, are unable to use electricity on Shabbat (Friday night -> Saturday night, our weekly holy day) and certain other festival days. It's nice to have a printed, bound manual to read to pass some time on those days.
My VCR (Panasonic PV-8662) has a commercial skip feature that invisibly marks the tape when it thinks commericals start and end (indicated by the fade to black or some such clue). It actually works very very well, even with shows such as Frasier and Law & Order (which have frequent fade-to-blacks between scenes).
I wonder how VCR recording factors into advertisers' figures -- i.e., do they just consider anything not watched "live" as not being seen, or are they/should they be really pissed off at Panasonic for this feature?
How about the Cuban Missile Crisis? The closest the world ever came to World War III, all because of the worst political screwups and misconceptions:
Kennedy didn't know there were actually missiles already in Cuba when he made his statement, "We will allow NO missiles in Cuba." Had he known, he would have said, "Will not allow any MORE missiles in Cuba." The resulting crisis was Kennedy trying ot save face.
And while we're at it, the Bay of Pigs was pretty dumb, too.
Kennedy's advisors were all willing to go to war. Had any of them been president, it is like there would have been at least a local thermonuclear war.
Castro was more than willing to use the nuclear missiles -- the Soviets were the ones holding him back.
The US invasion plans for Cuba _woefully_ underestimated the number of Soviet and Cuban troops they would be facing. Had they invaded, the US would have been outnumbered nearly two to one.
During the crisis, the US went to Defcon 3, which meant arming planes with nuclear warheads. Despite this, several test flights in various airfields were still performed.
The incoming nuclear warning system faced northeast. It was repositioned to face Cuba, in the southeast -- however, it was blocked by Cape Canaveral, and any launch from there would be read as an incoming nuclear strike from Cuba.