If you buy the iPhone 3G for $99 (subsidized) or $400 (unsubsidized), you are still going to pay for the same monthly rate. Is the 3G data rate cheaper for some other phone? It's not. Is the situation different with any other subsidized phone that requires data service? It's not. Is this situation different with any other carrier? It's not.
Rules are clear. If you buy a subsidized phone, you give up that freedom to switch carrier freely without incurring penalty. I don't see how iPhone 3G is unique in this regard?
But iPhone 3G being $99 is what it is. If you have any other 3G smartphone on AT&T, you'll pay the same amount. I'm not sure why people keep on bringing this up. Do other 3G smartphones on AT&T have unlimited data plan that's cheaper than $30 (that can do non proxied connection so you can access ports other than 80?)
When people sell cars, they say what the retail price is...they don't add the gas price + insurance price + whatever other cost to keep the car running.
As an informed consumer, you are suppose to calculate the total cost of ownership using your typical usage as a guide.
Use a DSLR camera with a high resolution.
Attach a VR Lens module so that you can go to any one location and take ONE picture for the full 360 degree coverage: Kaidan 360 One VR (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/360one_mod3.html), BugEyeDigital One Shot, etc. There are various kinds.
Use a good steady tripod that'll let you tilt the camera all the way. Best if it has a built in leveler.
I'm not sure about how to interconnect them though. I would just get a copy of a overhead map (Google, Yahoo, scan a real map)...link the GPS coordinates in that map to the individual VR views.
I think Sony's position is that people will gladly pay $600 thinking that they are getting a great deal on a Blu-Ray player. But to most people, PS3 is just a game machine. They'll compare it to Wii and 360 in terms of games and not other features. When parents have to buy their kids a game machine this holiday, they are going to compare apples to apples - Wii, PS3, and 360. And they'll be shocked at the PS3 price and that'll be the end of that.
Wii has the motion sensitive controllers. Geared toward people in a same room playing together. If not, it'll be kinda boring gesturing by yourself...
360 has Xbox Live. For people in a room by themselves going online to play against anybody.
And PS3 has...uh...Blu-ray player...If people don't want to play games, but want to watch a high-res movie in their mostly low-res TV.
As MS guy said before...I'd still buy 360+Wii for the price of PS3 and just wait for the next gen video player wars to die down.
I know it takes lot of resources to record an album, but as iTunes become more popular, wouldn't the artists sooner or later wise up and just skip the recording companies altogether?
Hire a PR/Event firm instead for PR and concert calendar, but record music go straight to iTunes. Then they get to keep majority of that $.99 and by pass all that silliness with the record companies.
I guess Sony has rights to the music that they helped publish, but can't the artist revoke some of that?
Microsoft isn't REQUIRED to build any type of specific feature into their products. All the lawsuits that they've lost were about Microsoft leveraging Window's entrenched market share to wedge itself into new markets by bundling new products into Windows that then went on to decimate the competition...all because people are lazy and they just end up using what's built in. If OpenGL or any other consortium went after MS, MS can simply drop OpenGL drivers altogether. Pretty much what Sun went through with their lawsuit over Java.
As someone up on the thread said before...Videocard companies always released their own drivers anyway. So this is completely a moot point.
But, I feel that NASA needs to do a better job of communicating the actual shuttle mission tasks and how it's useful to the program. Honestly...what was this mission about? Just to test to see if the Shuttle would fly and come back safely? (I hope I hope I hope it comes back safely!!!) If that's the case...how come people aren't getting fired for not getting it right again this time? Shuttle used for this mission is a lemon~ Single flight...and 2 big "if"'s already. One more...and it's definitely a lmon. Can I ask for my tax money back?
It'd be nice if NASA showed more of how the entire program benefits from each of these flights. Same with the Space Station. What the hell are they doing over there? I just don't see the point and can't connect with the typical..."it's for scientific experiments" reasoning. I'm sure it is...and I'm sure it's good. But I haven't heard anything come out from either of these projects and how it has advanced science. At least have a Discovery Channel special or something~!
I really do love the space program...it expands our imaginations and our reach. Nothing makes us dream bigger. But I wish NASA would bring itself down to earth a bit and connect with the tax payers a bit.
Unless that thing folds up to a pocketsize (like those Sony over the head headphones), why would anybody carry this around? What's the point of watching video on your cellphone using a goggle piece when the goggle is almost as big as a portable PMP that you can carry around?
I'm not aware of any software for the Treo 650 other than Versamail that syncs with MS Exchange. If you can name a couple, that'd be great. I'd love to get all our marketing/sales guys to switch to something that syncs not just email and some calendar function, but emails, calendar events AND contacts as well.
Last I checked, I didn't see any other viable alternatives that synced directly (without using some type of host computer).
I've had various Palms and PocketPC devices...enough that I lost count. And through out it all...I realized one thing. I'm just a very disorganized person. These things don't save time nor help me organize nor help me manage all the information I have...because I'M NOT. And if I were a that type of person organized and anal enough to use it, it wouldn't matter to me WHAT I used...I could use a spiral bound notebook and I bet I'd be just as organized.
But now, I use Motorola MPx220 and I support few people in our company that use their Treo650 connecting to our Exchange server. There is no comparison. If your company use MS infrastructure, you gotta go PocketPC. It allows you the sync Contacts, Calendar, Emails over wireless (wifi, cellular, etc). Palm Treo does this...but they use a crutch product called Versa Mail which really sucks. And it ONLY syncs emails . It does sync calendar items, but very unreliably. It doesn't sync contacts at all. You have to hotsync with your computer for that. I think if Treo650's next version synced with Exchange server completely, then I'd consider it again.
Good programming skills allows you to solve problems quickly. It's the way you approach the problem. So having tier-1 programmer as you call it might help you get the product out faster. But you don't need world class developers to make good software. All you need is team of knowledgeable programmers that can follow directions well. How much technical skill is required to make a dialog box? How much programming prowess is required to make a good spelling checker? Good programming skills don't somehow allow you to make good software.
Good UI, good design, and thoughtful approach to the problem at hand and solving those interface issues turn out good software. Giving people what they need to solve their problems turn out good software.
I think MS has the same approach as you...thinking if they hire good programmers, they'll write good software....instead, they should listen to their users and start making simpler, more secure, less buggy software for the 90% of the people that use 10% of the features in MS Office and Windows.
I think lot of you guys don't understand how internet advertising work.
Without a doubt, I'm in favor of non-annoying ads. But I do want to see ads on my favorite sites so that these sites can make money and continue to operate. If all I have to do is view ads and sometimes click on a few to support these sites, it's lot better than me paying $2-5 a month to view that site.
Besides that point...it's not Doubleclick that's putting popups and rollovers and floaters on your favorite websites. It's the websites. Someone can't put a full page ad on LA Times without LA Times working on that ad. Same with ads on the internet. Everything is at the Web publisher's discretion. Unless...they turn over all their page impressions to these ad networks (fastclick, etc...) without approving any ads. That in turn, is webpub's responsibility.
Our society has turn more and more selfish where people only think about themselves. Like all the users who block ads to an ad supported site that they visit frequently...and advertisers who do whatever they can to get their message across without caring about how annoying it is to the users.
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If you buy the iPhone 3G for $99 (subsidized) or $400 (unsubsidized), you are still going to pay for the same monthly rate. Is the 3G data rate cheaper for some other phone? It's not. Is the situation different with any other subsidized phone that requires data service? It's not. Is this situation different with any other carrier? It's not. Rules are clear. If you buy a subsidized phone, you give up that freedom to switch carrier freely without incurring penalty. I don't see how iPhone 3G is unique in this regard?
But iPhone 3G being $99 is what it is. If you have any other 3G smartphone on AT&T, you'll pay the same amount. I'm not sure why people keep on bringing this up. Do other 3G smartphones on AT&T have unlimited data plan that's cheaper than $30 (that can do non proxied connection so you can access ports other than 80?) When people sell cars, they say what the retail price is...they don't add the gas price + insurance price + whatever other cost to keep the car running. As an informed consumer, you are suppose to calculate the total cost of ownership using your typical usage as a guide.
Use a DSLR camera with a high resolution. Attach a VR Lens module so that you can go to any one location and take ONE picture for the full 360 degree coverage: Kaidan 360 One VR (http://www.steves-digicams.com/2005_reviews/360one_mod3.html), BugEyeDigital One Shot, etc. There are various kinds. Use a good steady tripod that'll let you tilt the camera all the way. Best if it has a built in leveler. I'm not sure about how to interconnect them though. I would just get a copy of a overhead map (Google, Yahoo, scan a real map)...link the GPS coordinates in that map to the individual VR views.
What if hundreds/thousands of people dump it in their trashcan, and they all leak into the water supply?
I think Sony's position is that people will gladly pay $600 thinking that they are getting a great deal on a Blu-Ray player. But to most people, PS3 is just a game machine. They'll compare it to Wii and 360 in terms of games and not other features. When parents have to buy their kids a game machine this holiday, they are going to compare apples to apples - Wii, PS3, and 360. And they'll be shocked at the PS3 price and that'll be the end of that. Wii has the motion sensitive controllers. Geared toward people in a same room playing together. If not, it'll be kinda boring gesturing by yourself... 360 has Xbox Live. For people in a room by themselves going online to play against anybody. And PS3 has...uh...Blu-ray player...If people don't want to play games, but want to watch a high-res movie in their mostly low-res TV. As MS guy said before...I'd still buy 360+Wii for the price of PS3 and just wait for the next gen video player wars to die down.
I know it takes lot of resources to record an album, but as iTunes become more popular, wouldn't the artists sooner or later wise up and just skip the recording companies altogether?
Hire a PR/Event firm instead for PR and concert calendar, but record music go straight to iTunes. Then they get to keep majority of that $.99 and by pass all that silliness with the record companies.
I guess Sony has rights to the music that they helped publish, but can't the artist revoke some of that?
Microsoft isn't REQUIRED to build any type of specific feature into their products. All the lawsuits that they've lost were about Microsoft leveraging Window's entrenched market share to wedge itself into new markets by bundling new products into Windows that then went on to decimate the competition...all because people are lazy and they just end up using what's built in. If OpenGL or any other consortium went after MS, MS can simply drop OpenGL drivers altogether. Pretty much what Sun went through with their lawsuit over Java.
As someone up on the thread said before...Videocard companies always released their own drivers anyway. So this is completely a moot point.
I wholeheartedly support the space mission.
But, I feel that NASA needs to do a better job of communicating the actual shuttle mission tasks and how it's useful to the program. Honestly...what was this mission about? Just to test to see if the Shuttle would fly and come back safely? (I hope I hope I hope it comes back safely!!!) If that's the case...how come people aren't getting fired for not getting it right again this time? Shuttle used for this mission is a lemon~ Single flight...and 2 big "if"'s already. One more...and it's definitely a lmon. Can I ask for my tax money back?
It'd be nice if NASA showed more of how the entire program benefits from each of these flights. Same with the Space Station. What the hell are they doing over there? I just don't see the point and can't connect with the typical..."it's for scientific experiments" reasoning. I'm sure it is...and I'm sure it's good. But I haven't heard anything come out from either of these projects and how it has advanced science. At least have a Discovery Channel special or something~!
I really do love the space program...it expands our imaginations and our reach. Nothing makes us dream bigger. But I wish NASA would bring itself down to earth a bit and connect with the tax payers a bit.
Unless that thing folds up to a pocketsize (like those Sony over the head headphones), why would anybody carry this around? What's the point of watching video on your cellphone using a goggle piece when the goggle is almost as big as a portable PMP that you can carry around?
I'm not aware of any software for the Treo 650 other than Versamail that syncs with MS Exchange. If you can name a couple, that'd be great. I'd love to get all our marketing/sales guys to switch to something that syncs not just email and some calendar function, but emails, calendar events AND contacts as well.
Last I checked, I didn't see any other viable alternatives that synced directly (without using some type of host computer).
I've had various Palms and PocketPC devices...enough that I lost count. And through out it all...I realized one thing. I'm just a very disorganized person. These things don't save time nor help me organize nor help me manage all the information I have...because I'M NOT. And if I were a that type of person organized and anal enough to use it, it wouldn't matter to me WHAT I used...I could use a spiral bound notebook and I bet I'd be just as organized.
But now, I use Motorola MPx220 and I support few people in our company that use their Treo650 connecting to our Exchange server. There is no comparison. If your company use MS infrastructure, you gotta go PocketPC. It allows you the sync Contacts, Calendar, Emails over wireless (wifi, cellular, etc). Palm Treo does this...but they use a crutch product called Versa Mail which really sucks. And it ONLY syncs emails . It does sync calendar items, but very unreliably. It doesn't sync contacts at all. You have to hotsync with your computer for that. I think if Treo650's next version synced with Exchange server completely, then I'd consider it again.
Good programming skills allows you to solve problems quickly. It's the way you approach the problem. So having tier-1 programmer as you call it might help you get the product out faster. But you don't need world class developers to make good software. All you need is team of knowledgeable programmers that can follow directions well. How much technical skill is required to make a dialog box? How much programming prowess is required to make a good spelling checker? Good programming skills don't somehow allow you to make good software. Good UI, good design, and thoughtful approach to the problem at hand and solving those interface issues turn out good software. Giving people what they need to solve their problems turn out good software. I think MS has the same approach as you...thinking if they hire good programmers, they'll write good software....instead, they should listen to their users and start making simpler, more secure, less buggy software for the 90% of the people that use 10% of the features in MS Office and Windows.
I think lot of you guys don't understand how internet advertising work.
Without a doubt, I'm in favor of non-annoying ads. But I do want to see ads on my favorite sites so that these sites can make money and continue to operate. If all I have to do is view ads and sometimes click on a few to support these sites, it's lot better than me paying $2-5 a month to view that site.
Besides that point...it's not Doubleclick that's putting popups and rollovers and floaters on your favorite websites. It's the websites. Someone can't put a full page ad on LA Times without LA Times working on that ad. Same with ads on the internet. Everything is at the Web publisher's discretion. Unless...they turn over all their page impressions to these ad networks (fastclick, etc...) without approving any ads. That in turn, is webpub's responsibility.
Our society has turn more and more selfish where people only think about themselves. Like all the users who block ads to an ad supported site that they visit frequently...and advertisers who do whatever they can to get their message across without caring about how annoying it is to the users.