How many people are still running Windows 98 because of this whole "I am too stubborn, lazy, cheap, or stupid to have to upgrade my computer".
Sorry, not intending to be flame bait, but its true. There is NO compelling reason for someone to keep using Windows 98.
Price, sorry, you got your money's worth out of an 8 year old OS. ANY OS that is 8 years old is a dinosaur these days.
If you say "but my computer is rock solid and stable", look, XP may have its issues, but I measure up-time in months without BSOD or system crashes. The entire XP/NT architecture these days can handle a software crash without wiping out the OS or BSOD'ing, something Windows 9X could never attest to. Sure, if you have used Win9X long enough, then most drivers and software has been upgraded and patched to death and finally work, but XP is overall a much better platform for driver/software support.
Can't say that 98 is more secure then XP, NO Windows OS is secure, at least Microsoft is working to make XP secure.
I mean, even the hardware your using 98 on must be slow and nearing its end of life. Just buy a new computer and XP will come installed on it. I know few computer components that last 8 years without burning out or running down, if your still running Windows 98, then you must perpetually wallow in the crap that is old legacy hardware.
Yes, sure, you can upgrade to Linux or buy a Mac, but someone using Windows 98 probably isn't savvy enough for either (and price is a BIG factor in getting a Mac).
I applaud Microsoft for finally ending the life of its 9X product, but it comes 5 years too late. Perhaps if Microsoft didn't have to worry about the skeletons in its closet it could focus on making ONE rock solid and secure OS rather then supporting a dozen crappy ones. I blame Windows 98 users for Windows XP not being secure. Microsoft had to keep you happy by sacrificing some of its developers to cater to 9X users.
Mozilla took great strides to make Firefox start up quickly, Google ended all that with one simple plug in.
I tried out Google Sync for a few hours, and had to uninstall it. The problem is that I don't want Firefox to take 30 seconds to launch like back in the pre 1.0 days. I also don't want to wait MINUTES for FireFox to exit. Honestly, not once did Google Sync actually finish syncing to its servers as I had to cancel the operation due to lack of patience.
Also, the stupid pop up tool tip that is displayed every time I launch FireFox is annoying. Windows has too many stupid popups, I kind of liked FireFox for being less stupid and annoying with popups.
I don't really need Google Sync either because I use Google homepage. I have all my bookmarks on Google's homepage, and FireFox on all my computers at work and home links to this home page, so technically, its all the SYNC that I need.
Its kind of a neat tool, but unless Google can dramatically improve performance (instant syncing and minimize in browser annoyances), this will be one of those tools from Google I will avoid like the plague (like Google Desktop).
I also have to question the "privacy" of having your history saved on Google Servers and passed around on the Internet between computers. I know its technically encrypted and you can turn it off, but really.
Honestly, when you get your new state of the art motherboard with quad-SLI and all the latest bells and whistles along with Dual Quad-core CPUs and 4 Dual-GPU video cards all in a lovely brushed aluminum case with see thru side panels and neon lights, it kind of breaks your heart when you see those big ugly Tin Can capacitors sprinkled over your system like warts. Transistors and resistors have shrunken in size, now its time for capacitors to become almost invisible as well.
I can Google and order food off the internet with my laptop, but I can't afford it because I have NO MONEY.
As I have said before, improve the infrastructure of most third world countries so that every citizen has access to food, clothing, shelter, clean water and medicine, then I will support the idea that children in these countries need a computer.
Children need to eat before they need to learn! MIT doesn't seem to think this is necessary, they even developed a computer that will kill off a child starving of faminie more quickly by forcing them to have to use up what little energy they have to wind their computer up. I think this will be used as a form of genocide. Don't worry about sending in the Red Cross, just air drop cheap laptops, that will take care of all those poor starving children!
Sorry, this will be a gimmick product that will sell well in developed countries but I don't believe for a second they will improve the life of third world children.
Apple doesn't want people to perceive their products as toys??????
WTF?
Apple's turnaround began when Steve Jobs came back and release colourful bubble computers called iMac's. These cheesy plastic CRT monitors with embedded Mac's kept Apple from bankruptcy and enabled Apple to develop another entertianment device, the iPod.
Apple followed up with release those clam shell iBook's.
Apple has always had both a Pro line and consumer line of computers. Their G4 PowerMacs were aimed to be clearly professional products ( complete with a professional look and feel along with a professional price tag), but those makes aimed at the average home user were typically colorful and aimed at entertainment.
I don't believe for an instant that Apple perceives themselves as professional level consumer goods and want a reputation for being serious computers. This is the kind of arrogance that Apple fanatics seem to impose on the company.
Currently, Apple has been heavily focused on sleek style, putting computers into the smallest or thinnest possible cases and their color scheme has been metal, white or black. But, simply put, Apple's current focus it to try and market the FUN side of Apple, as those "I am a PC, I am a Mac" commercials are clearly showing. Apple wants you to use your Mac for entertainment value, such as music, movies, video, etc, etc, etc.
The reason why Apple doesn't get into gaming is the kind of dichotomy that has kept this company from reaching TRUE success. Its my fundamental believe that aside from Wanting to be a successful computer company, I think Apple is afraid to be too successful.
Apple has shown time and time again that they have the ability to release a product that everybody wants. But, how is it that Apple only hat 5% of the desktop market? With a superior OS and formerly superior hardware (sorry, Apple's Intel based computers are just fancy PC's, they are not better, just better looking), Apple never was able to capture more then 5% of the market from Wintel. I think for all the marketing hype and grandstanding and Steve Job's whipping Apple fanatics into a frenzy of lust every MacWorld event, Apple doesn't want to be #1 in the computer market. It will mean they will have to move from being a relatively small, personal and committed computer company to some large, aimless and impersonal monstrosity like Microsoft or Dell.
In the end, all Apple has to do to succeed is to simply listen to their consumers. A product developer at Apple need only to launch MacRumors.com or ThinkSecret and find out what people WANT out of Apple. But this is where Apple allows too much of Steve Job's arrogance to affect the company. Steve Jobs doesn't like PDA's, so Apple doesn't have a PDA, yet consumers are screaming for an Apple PDA/Cellphone. Steve Jobs doesn't like Home Theater PC's, yet consumers are screaming for a set-top all-in-wonder box to be the center of their multimedia universe. Steve Jobs apparently thinks gaming is a fad because Apple hasn't focused on gaming, period.
Its Steve Jobs' arrogance the prevents the company from becoming the success that consumers want Apple to become. I mean, it would take nothing for Apple to dominate in gaming. Because Mac's only come with a few video cards and hand picked hardware, game makers for Mac's could focus on bringing game console like performance to the Mac platform. When you consider that the Xbox is an Intel CPU with an nVidia video card, what the heck is the iMac? A PC with a considerably more powerful Intel CPU and nVidia video card then the Xbox. The iMac would kick the Xbox's ass if Apple focused some of its time in making the Mac an excellent gaming platform.
Combine kick ass gaming on a semi-dedicated gaming platform along with all the rest of the bell's and whistles that a Mac can offer, and you would start to see the tide turn in Apple's direction.
The fact that Apple doesn't focus on gaming despite wanting to be an entertainment-centric platform just boasts
Actually, I am surprised it has taken this long for people to realize that the P4 generation of products suck. I mean, for the last 3 years it has been reported that Intel hit a brick wall with the Netburst architecture and they needed to revamp their architecture before they could become competitive again. Each new revision of the P4 architecture simply prove that point, where even the P4EE CPU's with their $1000+ price tags fail to outperform $300 CPU's from AMD. New chips based on the Pentium 3/M architecture proved only to be able to offer decent performance per watt, but still failed to outperform AMD in most benchmarks.
I am also surprised that it has taken Intel so long to realize this. Even today, they are still flogging the P4 architecture. With the Duo Core CPU's out, you can't even buy this as a desktop system yet, and they are set to release the Duo Core 2 CPU's later this year. Intel should have scrubbed ALL products with the P4 architecture and simply moved forward to their Core architecture.
Anyways, I will once again be an interesting time in the CPU market as Intel releases their next generation products. Initial reviews seem positive that Intel has something that can compete against AMD, and this will only motivate AMD to produce new technology (AMD has been stuck in a rut as of late). A price war is necessary as CPU prices are staying far to high these days as neither company has really been in competitive form. AMD has locked the gaming market and Intel has the business market locked, these are two non-competing markets, and both companies have pretty much set their price lists accordingly.
I don't care who makes the next best CPU, I am neither an Intel nor AMD fanboy, I want a system that performs well for the money. Its been AMD for the last 5 years and if Intel finally puts their money where their mouth is and actually delivers a product that offers good price/performance/power features, I will switch back to the Intel platform. Just, its about time Intel started focusing on RELEASING their next generation architecture to the masses and stop talking about it.
Look, if anything, PC's have the effect of standards blending. When the DVD+, DVD- format war began, PC makers simply blended the two standards and came out with universal drives that could read and write both formats. I am sure, give it a year or two, that you will see hybrid HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drives (that is if Blu-Ray actually succeeds).
The bottom line is, I am putting my money on HD-DVD simply because Sony has not yet developed a winning format. Sony will pretty much release Sony movies on their technology. HD-DVD has the backing of many more movie studios as well as Microsoft. Microsoft is the key to the next-generation DVD format war because they will most likely integrate HD-DVD support into a Windows Media player or OS. PC makers will offer HD-DVD drives simply because Windows will native support it (only Sony's Vaio line will including Blu-Ray drives, and who owns a Vaio?).
Sony can't even get the PS3 release with their own Blu-Ray format because they are still at odds with themselves about how Blu-Ray should be implemented. While I know there are other people in the Blu-Ray group, this is like saying you can't drive to work because you refuse to put gas in your car. Its your own damn fault, and its Sony's own damn fault they can't release Blu-Ray today. Blue light laser technology was feasible when DVD's first started coming out, the 5 years since then has been to figure out a way of protecting digital content, NOT in research and development of the technology.
Blu-Ray will enter Wikipedia along size Minidisk, SuperAudio, UMD, and BetaMax as failed Sony technologies that Sony alone was responsible for causing the failure. There is no format war, people are delusional to think that Blu-Ray will succeed. Those that do must enjoy self flagellation as the working at Sony must practice every day.
ALL next generation DVD players will feature dual pickup's, that is, having 2 sets of lasers to support backwards compatibility. This is true for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, both next gen DVD players use different wavelength lasers which cannot read current generation DVD's.
It would pretty much drive a format to quick obsoletion if the players didn't support both DVD and CD formats. It is easy and cheap enough to use both lasers in the same player as the technology to implement old DVD's is dirt cheap (consider that you can buy a DVD player for $30 these days, the cost of implementing a laser is probably well under $5 in parts).
Not that Sony is aware of what it takes to kill a format as they are the format killing champions. I am sure they will come out with a Blu-Ray player that isn't backwards compatible anyways.
I got bored of HL2 like a year ago, so I have little interest in buying/playing another chapter. If Valve can't release episodic content fast enough, then their consumer base will dry up as more interesting and exciting titles come along. I can only focus so much time on a game, I am not 12 years old anymore and don't have 8 hours of downtime after school or work every day to have 10 games on the go at a time. Once I have finished a game, I uninstall it and move on, and I am sure many HL2 players have moved on.
Don't think Apple would touch this with a ten foot
on
AppleBerry Predicted?
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pole.
I mean, honestly, Apple is going to partner up with a company that has been in litigation for most of its history about its product? I don't think Apple would want to expose itself to the kind of lawsuits that RIM has been struggling with. I am sure the moment an AppleBerry makes its way to the public, both RIM and Apple will be hit with patent infringement lawsuits and litigation.
The only reason I would see Apple needing to "partner" up with RIM is that Apple wants to use some of the patents RIM has in their product. Instead of paying licencing fees and having little control over it, partner up and then work with RIM to innovate.
But, this is all assuming that Apple is in the process of developing a PDA/Cellphone, which I think is still some Apple Fanboy's pipe dream. Steve Jobs has been very vocal against PDA's, and I think that an Apple PDA/Cellphone would be a small drop in a huge market, and Apple has never competed well in a market they didn't create (i.e. like the Desktop computer market, or the server market).
This is one of those Apple rumors I will believe when I have dropped $600 on the device and have buyers remorse for it.
Like the original dual Voodoo cards, multiple video cards is just one of those things that keeps going out of style (but like old fads, makes its appearance every decade or two).
The cost to implement and manufacture multiple video cards is ridiculous. Who honestly would spend $1400 just to have two video cards, and then only get at most 20% performance improvement.
With the current trend of multiple cores, I figured it would be just a matter of time for the SLI and Crossfire solutions to switch back to a single video card. Either they would dual core the GPU, or simply put two GPU on the same card.
I just makes sense to keep a video card as a single card. You dont have to duplicate the production costs and all the other components that are wasted in a dual card configuration, you also dont have to duplicate the bus technology on the motherboard in order to implement dual video cards. Overall, this will be a much cheaper configuration that will actually bring high performance video technology into the realm of being practical.
Eventually, 4 way GPU cards will be released, and eventually nVidia and/or ATI will start to dual core their GPUs, those spending money on their expensive dual or even quad based SLI configurations just wasted a bunch of money.
Honestly? top 100 technology? When did a crappy cluttered website become a technology product? Why do people care about this website? Its just one of these buzz sites that everybody talks about, but a limited few really uses. Sorry, if I was writting an article about how NOT to write a website, craigslist.org would be at the top. For online classifieds, even newcomer Kijiji.com is infinitly more well designed then this crap site. For a blog site, myspace ranks far higher then craigslist.org.
No self respecting gamer will run a game at 640 x 480 resolution, especially with minimum detail, so posting benchmarks at that resolution is moot.
There are many sites that do good benchmarking, and I wish other sites would follow the lead of anandtech and tom's hardware. Rather then a bunch of numbers for unrealistic senarios, put together tests that cover all the bases. Where is video encoding benchmarks, where is compiling benchmarks? Where are REAL benchmarks for senarios we all use. Showing us how well the CPU can run at some obscure resolution with no graphics details just proves that CPU's today are more then capable of running a game at 100+ fps in VGA mode.
Also, why not post results running same the benchmarks at least on AMD's flagship. I don't care if the Conroe performs faster for gaming then the PEE 965, I want to know if Intel finaly can outperform AMD with their next generation architeture for gaming, of if I should stick with AMD for another generation.
The BBC finally figured out this Internet thing and found it to be a wonderful resource for news. information and education.
Duh!, I could have told you the Arctic was once a tropical region. I live in Canada and in school we discussed and saw videos of how there are petrified remains of entire large tropical trees in the artic, proof that there once was a tropical environment up there. Continental drift IS the exlpanation for it being a tropical region, along with changes of the tilt of the Earth's axis over time. This is hardly a mystery or news.
I don't understand where the BBC is coming from, they keep posting stories about the Arctic like it is going to melt and destroy the world (to be fair, England won't fair that well in that scenario, but the world WILL live on without the Queen) and now new and mysterious evidence that the Arctic was once tropical. Someone over at the BBC must have some facination boner for the Arctic.
I think that BBC reporters should be forced to look at Wikipedia before they start posting stories like "This just in: The Arctic was once a tropical paradise! It could happen again!".
Vista is to Windows XP as Windows 95 was to Windows 3.11 as OSX was to OS9.
A new playground for new ideas and technologies.
MICROSOFT SHOULD FOCUS on security, and leave such bells and whistles as usability aside. This is the NUMBER 1 thing that people have been complaining about Windows XP for the last 4 years, its glaring security problems. Now they are complaining that ALL Vista is is a focus on security. What do ya want people?
Vista is also introducing a high level UI presentation layer. Vista Aero is just an example of what is possible, but from a GUI perspective its an infant looking to mature.
People are getting hung up on how long it is taking Vista to get released ( the same people probably complained when Microsoft was rolling out a new version of Windows every 18 months), but you have to remember that Microsoft is making big technology leaps, this isn't just polishing off XP and offering an incremental upgrade, this is a new infrastructure.
In all honestly, I would expect that within 3 years of Vista being released, Microsoft will release the TRUE next generation OS, just like they did with Windows 98. You could wait that long if you really wanted, or you could get Vista and find out where Microsoft is going (and give some teeth to your complaints about Vista, which many of you have not used yet).
I don't have high hopes for Vista as being Microsoft's best OS to date, but I do see it as an important leap for Microsoft to move forward with a new more secure operating system that offers 21st century concepts. Vista will have rough edges for sure, but they will get filed down over time.
Microsoft has made how many crappy operating systems and they are still the number one software maker in the world.
How many good quality Linux distros are there, and they still can't make a dent in the PC market.
Obviously, people don't want quality when it comes to operating systems. Microsoft has made a business empire out of this fact, there is no point in arguing it. People want something easy to use and functional, period. Even with all the security holes, its just an excuse for Symantec or McAfee to stay in business.
I design software for Windows, and will retire making a healthly living in that endeavour.
The sad part is to spend your life waiting for Linux to take over, or even OSX for that matter.
If Microsoft's days are numbered, then ALL operating systems days are numbered because that is the day that the world blows up to make way for an intergalactic highway. I for one will bow down to our new poetic overlords.
Just because Apple is a smaller company doesn't mean you should expect better quality assurance out of the same Asian factories that output HP or Dell products. I mean, overseas, its all the same. Apple's stuff is made in China, just like Dell or HP. Apple only designs their stuff and once it is in production, they have little control over quality assurance. If an Asian manufacture is screwing up, then Apple will find another manufacture or take steps to improve the process, but I think the opposite is true.
Dell make 10x the amount of computers that Apple does in a quarter. Dell NEEDS better quality assurance because they make more products. By the same logic, Dell has a lot more potential to find problems and fix them then Apple. If Apple sells 1 million iMac's in a quarter, they may not see glaring quality problems until months later, where as Dell will see glaring problems if 10 million units are shipped.
It may be growing pains for Apple as they have never had the kind of successful product as the iPod. They sell 5+ million iPods in a quarter, more product then they ever used to ship. For Apple, this is new, and finding the right manufacturer to assemble the units while balancing finding the right design that will work for mass quantities is key.
I still think that people over exaggerate Apple's "Quality Assurance" problems, but I do feel that Apple's biggest flaw is style over substance. They want the thinnest and lightest notebooks, but forget that putting a hot processor in a metal box is going to make the box get hot. Plastic wrapping aside, you can't get enough airflow in a thin notebook in order to exhaust the heat without the case getting hot, and I find the Power/Macbooks biggest flaw is the fact the case becomes uncomfortable during heavy processor loads.
Apple needs to learn that there is no point being the smallest, or thinnest or lightest if you can't be the coolest!
Apple will create a wall socket Mac and say they reinvented the PC. It will be the finest looking wall socket you have every seen.
Seriously though, what should be a goal for this type of device is to allow for distributed computing through them. If you could connect the processing of all the thin clients together and have them aid the server by contributing free CPU cycles, then I think they could be a real hit. Every new thin client you add to your office boosts performance of your networked apps.
My computer died so I threw it out, but then I found out that power was lost to my neighbourhood.
Look, Apple has a warranty plan, and an extended Apple care plan. Call up Apple, tell them about your iPod problems, and they will fix it. Apple's service is top notch, and I know of a few people that returned an iPod and received an upgraded refurbished model. This is true if you have an older generation model that Apple doesn't sell or have refurb stock.
I know that people love to go after the top guy and start stirring up crap about them, but when it comes to Apple's and iPod's, iPods maintain a level of quality that few other consumer electronics products can offer.
Apple will have the same manufacturing nightmares that any other company can have. Steve Job's doesn't caress every iPod as it leaves the factory (although I am sure he would want to). So, your going to get batches with a bad hard drive connection or some other problem, its simply the nature of the game.
But, to pitch it out the window or to write up slanderous articles about iPod and how Apple singled you out and screwed up your life because your iPod failed, well, that is just childish.
Apple has excellent customer service and technical support. Use it. Write an artcle about how good their service was and how quickly you got back a fixed iPod, don't write a story about you throwing a tantrum.
I switched to Vonage after using Primus Canada's Talk Broadband for nearly a year. The reason, I didn't like the way Primus treats their customers (I got slapped a $25 NSF charge because of ONE failed attempt to authorize a credit card payment, they didn't even bother to try again (which would have worked), they just automatically billed me).
Anyways, I kept hearing about Vonage, Vonage, Vonage. Every big box electronics store promotes Vonage to death, every website has about a dozen Vonage ads on it. Slashdot and other blog sites is always Vonage this and Vonage that, so I decided to switch to Vonage.
I liked the fact that I could walk into a big box store and buy a $65 VOIP router (that wasn't a DLINK router like what Primus uses, I hate DLINK). After 90 days of service, Vonage will rebate your $65 as an account credit. I also liked to option of buying a VOIP integrated phone system if I wanted at a later date.
Installing and registering Vonage was easy and flawless and I was up and running with a new virtual number in no time while my current phone number was being switched from Primus to Vonage.
Then my love affair with Vonage abruptly ended. As soon as my phone number was switched to Vonage, I started getting frequent telemarketing calls. Primus TalkBroadband lets me set up UNLIMITED blocked numbers list, so every time I got a telemarketing call, I just blocked that number, but it only happened a couple of times on Primus. As soon as I switch to Vonage and my old number became active, I got 6 DIFFERENT telemarketing calls a day from different numbers. So, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that Vonage is giving or selling away their customer contact information to telemarketing firms!
This conclusion also stems from the fact that Vonage doesn't allow you to block calls by Caller ID. I asked their customer support if they would implement that feature, and they simply said they are looking into it (i.e. no, we are not planning to offer that feature, but we will tell you what you want to here). The bottom line is with VOIP, implementing caller blocking is dirt simple. It doesn't require any additional programming or research or development. The FACT that vonage doesn't offer caller block means that Vonage is getting investment dollars from Telemarketing firms and these firms are using Vonage's customer list to make calls. I am even getting INTERNATIONAL Telemarketing calls from European exchanges.
Secondly, Vonage has the ability to charge by the second, but instead, they round up to the full minute. This is an unscrupulous and unnecessary practice because with a completely digital telephony system, there is no reason why you can't bill by the millisecond. The fact they round up to the nearest minutes simply means that Vonage wants you to go over your 500 free minutes and start getting charged per minute OR they want you to get into their unlimited plan (which costs $10 more then MOST competitors unlimited plans including Primus Canada). To exacerbate this fact, Vonage has called me 6 TIMES leaving long messages saying that I should call them back in order to have them explain all the features ( or really, lack thereof ) Vonage has to offer me. These calls are NOT free, they are NOT made through Vonages system (i.e. Vonage doesn't use their own service to contact customers). I did the math and calls from Vonage are being treated as outside calls, thus running up my usage. I found it amusing that Vonage called their customers asking them if they want to buy into their stock. Of course they would, it would eat up a few minutes of any customer that doesn't have the unlimited plan, inching them closer to pay per use.
Lastely, Vonage sucks, period. They are NOT a competitive VOIP service, they are just a shyster company that formed enough partnerships with big box electroncis stores, Google Ads, and telemarketing to ensure that Vonage becomes a buzz word that sticks in peoples heads. When you think of VOIP, Vonage should come to mind. The fact is, there are
Lets face it ( I have ) Nintendo dominates in hand held gaming. Like the iPod and digital music players, the Gameboy is iconic for this market.
The PSP is an utter failure. Sony tried to make a portable game console that uses the same gaming concepts that makes its PS and PS2 popular, but they ignored that portable gaming is not about sports games, or even complicated RPGs or First person shooters. Portable gaming is about 20 - 60 minutes of diversion while sitting on a bus or riding a plane or putting your feet up at home. What few puzzler and other "quick fix" like games are available on the PSP are generally poorly though out (like Smart Bomb). There isn't even a tetris game out for the PSP. Instead, Sony focuses on sprawling adventure games, RPS, sports franchises, and other non-arcade or puzzle games.
Microsoft will fail too because the most popular gaming titles that are played on Live are Halo/FPS, Sports Games, and MMORPG's. All these genres do not make successful portable gamining titles. Live will fail as a portable product because if your travelling, your never going to have WiFi access long enough to play any of these games. You will have to be a home, or in some dedicated environment to play Live on a portable console, and if you HAVE to be in a specific location, then why not just play it on the Xbox or Xbox360?
Sony has, and Microsoft will, fail to understand what makes the portable gaming franchise successful. Sony still hasn't gotten a clue as to what would have made the PSP a successful product. The fact that Sony tried to make a device that works with both games and multimedia pretty much sealed the PSP fate because even the PSP's multimedia handling is poorly implemented. Music playback could be significantly improved on the device (i.e. get rid of the necessity for a folder structure and use a database file like the iPod) and video playback without TV out support? I mean, Sony failed in every aspect of the PSP, from its multimedia handling, to its games, to the fact that there is a strong community of people that WANT to develop for it, but Sony considers them criminals. Sony failed in ever way.
Microsoft might gain a little more success if they base a portable game system on their Mobile Windows platform. If Microsoft allows for homebrew applications which can be developed easily using Visual Studio with a familiar API like DirectX and Windows SDK then they could make a ubiquitous device that will have more then just gaming potential, but Mirosoft won't allow this. Microsoft will bastardize a version of Windows Mobile to prevent homebrew applications. Microsoft will err the way Sony has, buy trying to release a portable version of Halo with Live support or other non-portable genre's of games that won't work in most mobile cases. Unless something like WiMax is released in 2007 where you can have ubiquitous online access across a city or even country, a portable version of Live will fail.
In the end, I think that Nintendo has a strong grip hold in the portable gaming market. Devices like the NGage and PSP have failed to captivate an audience, all Nintendo did to counter these releases is come out with a different color of their Gameboy or DS and they still get more sales then the other devices combined. Also consider that by 2007 Nintendo should be on schedule to release a next generation Gameboy or sucessor to the DS. Microsoft won't be able to compete with the anticipation of a new Nintendo portable game system.
Microsoft will offer just another portable system that will have mediocre appeal and will most likely cripple its success by implementing too many poorly implemented features and DRM protection schemes.
Did the elevator show a big unhappy face:(? Someone must have dual booted the elevator to run Windows. The G4 Cube reincarnated as an elevator, if they waited long enough, the sides of the elevator would have cracked and released them. Its typical of Apple to make something look good, but ignore some obvious working defect. Its not that the doors wouldn't open, someone forgot to take the plastic off the elevator!!!!!!
Breath out!
OK, I am done.
- - Don't mod me down because the original article was a waste of time too!
Was waiting for a poker card game to come out for it. Add a camera and it sounds like LOADS of fun! Good thing there exists a powerful high performing next generation game platform to render those cards in unprecedented resolution. I might have to buy an HDTV too!
Honestly, maybe they might use all that extra wasted processing power to implement a bluff detector in the game based on biometric feedback from the camera.
Come on! I mean, a freakin card game is the biggest thing Xbox360 will offer for a camera accessory? Anybody else still not impressed by the Xbox360? I would expect this gimmick to come out for a Nintendo product. Of course, with the Revolution, I can deal the cards by throwing my wiimote around the room. Nitendo would love this as it would be an excuse for a customer to buy 52 extra wiimotes.
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How many people are still running Windows 98 because of this whole "I am too stubborn, lazy, cheap, or stupid to have to upgrade my computer".
Sorry, not intending to be flame bait, but its true. There is NO compelling reason for someone to keep using Windows 98.
Price, sorry, you got your money's worth out of an 8 year old OS. ANY OS that is 8 years old is a dinosaur these days.
If you say "but my computer is rock solid and stable", look, XP may have its issues, but I measure up-time in months without BSOD or system crashes. The entire XP/NT architecture these days can handle a software crash without wiping out the OS or BSOD'ing, something Windows 9X could never attest to. Sure, if you have used Win9X long enough, then most drivers and software has been upgraded and patched to death and finally work, but XP is overall a much better platform for driver/software support.
Can't say that 98 is more secure then XP, NO Windows OS is secure, at least Microsoft is working to make XP secure.
I mean, even the hardware your using 98 on must be slow and nearing its end of life. Just buy a new computer and XP will come installed on it. I know few computer components that last 8 years without burning out or running down, if your still running Windows 98, then you must perpetually wallow in the crap that is old legacy hardware.
Yes, sure, you can upgrade to Linux or buy a Mac, but someone using Windows 98 probably isn't savvy enough for either (and price is a BIG factor in getting a Mac).
I applaud Microsoft for finally ending the life of its 9X product, but it comes 5 years too late. Perhaps if Microsoft didn't have to worry about the skeletons in its closet it could focus on making ONE rock solid and secure OS rather then supporting a dozen crappy ones. I blame Windows 98 users for Windows XP not being secure. Microsoft had to keep you happy by sacrificing some of its developers to cater to 9X users.
Mozilla took great strides to make Firefox start up quickly, Google ended all that with one simple plug in.
I tried out Google Sync for a few hours, and had to uninstall it. The problem is that I don't want Firefox to take 30 seconds to launch like back in the pre 1.0 days. I also don't want to wait MINUTES for FireFox to exit. Honestly, not once did Google Sync actually finish syncing to its servers as I had to cancel the operation due to lack of patience.
Also, the stupid pop up tool tip that is displayed every time I launch FireFox is annoying. Windows has too many stupid popups, I kind of liked FireFox for being less stupid and annoying with popups.
I don't really need Google Sync either because I use Google homepage. I have all my bookmarks on Google's homepage, and FireFox on all my computers at work and home links to this home page, so technically, its all the SYNC that I need.
Its kind of a neat tool, but unless Google can dramatically improve performance (instant syncing and minimize in browser annoyances), this will be one of those tools from Google I will avoid like the plague (like Google Desktop).
I also have to question the "privacy" of having your history saved on Google Servers and passed around on the Internet between computers. I know its technically encrypted and you can turn it off, but really.
Honestly, when you get your new state of the art motherboard with quad-SLI and all the latest bells and whistles along with Dual Quad-core CPUs and 4 Dual-GPU video cards all in a lovely brushed aluminum case with see thru side panels and neon lights, it kind of breaks your heart when you see those big ugly Tin Can capacitors sprinkled over your system like warts. Transistors and resistors have shrunken in size, now its time for capacitors to become almost invisible as well.
I can Google and order food off the internet with my laptop, but I can't afford it because I have NO MONEY.
As I have said before, improve the infrastructure of most third world countries so that every citizen has access to food, clothing, shelter, clean water and medicine, then I will support the idea that children in these countries need a computer.
Children need to eat before they need to learn! MIT doesn't seem to think this is necessary, they even developed a computer that will kill off a child starving of faminie more quickly by forcing them to have to use up what little energy they have to wind their computer up. I think this will be used as a form of genocide. Don't worry about sending in the Red Cross, just air drop cheap laptops, that will take care of all those poor starving children!
Sorry, this will be a gimmick product that will sell well in developed countries but I don't believe for a second they will improve the life of third world children.
This assumes that people will still be interested in online gaming 5 years from now.
5 years ago:
I bet Hollywood would have thought box office receipts would have trippled by now
I bet the RIAA would have thought the fad of online music would be over by now
I bet Hummer drivers would have thought it would be cheap to drive a big ass cars now
I bet nobody figured George Bush would still be in office today.
I bet the makers of Duke Nukem Forever would have thought they would have released a game by now
The bottom line is, never get your hopes up.
What part of Beta did you not understand?
Apple doesn't want people to perceive their products as toys??????
WTF?
Apple's turnaround began when Steve Jobs came back and release colourful bubble computers called iMac's. These cheesy plastic CRT monitors with embedded Mac's kept Apple from bankruptcy and enabled Apple to develop another entertianment device, the iPod.
Apple followed up with release those clam shell iBook's.
Apple has always had both a Pro line and consumer line of computers. Their G4 PowerMacs were aimed to be clearly professional products ( complete with a professional look and feel along with a professional price tag), but those makes aimed at the average home user were typically colorful and aimed at entertainment.
I don't believe for an instant that Apple perceives themselves as professional level consumer goods and want a reputation for being serious computers. This is the kind of arrogance that Apple fanatics seem to impose on the company.
Currently, Apple has been heavily focused on sleek style, putting computers into the smallest or thinnest possible cases and their color scheme has been metal, white or black. But, simply put, Apple's current focus it to try and market the FUN side of Apple, as those "I am a PC, I am a Mac" commercials are clearly showing. Apple wants you to use your Mac for entertainment value, such as music, movies, video, etc, etc, etc.
The reason why Apple doesn't get into gaming is the kind of dichotomy that has kept this company from reaching TRUE success. Its my fundamental believe that aside from Wanting to be a successful computer company, I think Apple is afraid to be too successful.
Apple has shown time and time again that they have the ability to release a product that everybody wants. But, how is it that Apple only hat 5% of the desktop market? With a superior OS and formerly superior hardware (sorry, Apple's Intel based computers are just fancy PC's, they are not better, just better looking), Apple never was able to capture more then 5% of the market from Wintel. I think for all the marketing hype and grandstanding and Steve Job's whipping Apple fanatics into a frenzy of lust every MacWorld event, Apple doesn't want to be #1 in the computer market. It will mean they will have to move from being a relatively small, personal and committed computer company to some large, aimless and impersonal monstrosity like Microsoft or Dell.
In the end, all Apple has to do to succeed is to simply listen to their consumers. A product developer at Apple need only to launch MacRumors.com or ThinkSecret and find out what people WANT out of Apple. But this is where Apple allows too much of Steve Job's arrogance to affect the company. Steve Jobs doesn't like PDA's, so Apple doesn't have a PDA, yet consumers are screaming for an Apple PDA/Cellphone. Steve Jobs doesn't like Home Theater PC's, yet consumers are screaming for a set-top all-in-wonder box to be the center of their multimedia universe. Steve Jobs apparently thinks gaming is a fad because Apple hasn't focused on gaming, period.
Its Steve Jobs' arrogance the prevents the company from becoming the success that consumers want Apple to become. I mean, it would take nothing for Apple to dominate in gaming. Because Mac's only come with a few video cards and hand picked hardware, game makers for Mac's could focus on bringing game console like performance to the Mac platform. When you consider that the Xbox is an Intel CPU with an nVidia video card, what the heck is the iMac? A PC with a considerably more powerful Intel CPU and nVidia video card then the Xbox. The iMac would kick the Xbox's ass if Apple focused some of its time in making the Mac an excellent gaming platform.
Combine kick ass gaming on a semi-dedicated gaming platform along with all the rest of the bell's and whistles that a Mac can offer, and you would start to see the tide turn in Apple's direction.
The fact that Apple doesn't focus on gaming despite wanting to be an entertainment-centric platform just boasts
Actually, I am surprised it has taken this long for people to realize that the P4 generation of products suck. I mean, for the last 3 years it has been reported that Intel hit a brick wall with the Netburst architecture and they needed to revamp their architecture before they could become competitive again. Each new revision of the P4 architecture simply prove that point, where even the P4EE CPU's with their $1000+ price tags fail to outperform $300 CPU's from AMD. New chips based on the Pentium 3/M architecture proved only to be able to offer decent performance per watt, but still failed to outperform AMD in most benchmarks.
I am also surprised that it has taken Intel so long to realize this. Even today, they are still flogging the P4 architecture. With the Duo Core CPU's out, you can't even buy this as a desktop system yet, and they are set to release the Duo Core 2 CPU's later this year. Intel should have scrubbed ALL products with the P4 architecture and simply moved forward to their Core architecture.
Anyways, I will once again be an interesting time in the CPU market as Intel releases their next generation products. Initial reviews seem positive that Intel has something that can compete against AMD, and this will only motivate AMD to produce new technology (AMD has been stuck in a rut as of late). A price war is necessary as CPU prices are staying far to high these days as neither company has really been in competitive form. AMD has locked the gaming market and Intel has the business market locked, these are two non-competing markets, and both companies have pretty much set their price lists accordingly.
I don't care who makes the next best CPU, I am neither an Intel nor AMD fanboy, I want a system that performs well for the money. Its been AMD for the last 5 years and if Intel finally puts their money where their mouth is and actually delivers a product that offers good price/performance/power features, I will switch back to the Intel platform. Just, its about time Intel started focusing on RELEASING their next generation architecture to the masses and stop talking about it.
Look, if anything, PC's have the effect of standards blending. When the DVD+, DVD- format war began, PC makers simply blended the two standards and came out with universal drives that could read and write both formats. I am sure, give it a year or two, that you will see hybrid HD-DVD and Blu-Ray drives (that is if Blu-Ray actually succeeds).
The bottom line is, I am putting my money on HD-DVD simply because Sony has not yet developed a winning format. Sony will pretty much release Sony movies on their technology. HD-DVD has the backing of many more movie studios as well as Microsoft. Microsoft is the key to the next-generation DVD format war because they will most likely integrate HD-DVD support into a Windows Media player or OS. PC makers will offer HD-DVD drives simply because Windows will native support it (only Sony's Vaio line will including Blu-Ray drives, and who owns a Vaio?).
Sony can't even get the PS3 release with their own Blu-Ray format because they are still at odds with themselves about how Blu-Ray should be implemented. While I know there are other people in the Blu-Ray group, this is like saying you can't drive to work because you refuse to put gas in your car. Its your own damn fault, and its Sony's own damn fault they can't release Blu-Ray today. Blue light laser technology was feasible when DVD's first started coming out, the 5 years since then has been to figure out a way of protecting digital content, NOT in research and development of the technology.
Blu-Ray will enter Wikipedia along size Minidisk, SuperAudio, UMD, and BetaMax as failed Sony technologies that Sony alone was responsible for causing the failure. There is no format war, people are delusional to think that Blu-Ray will succeed. Those that do must enjoy self flagellation as the working at Sony must practice every day.
ALL next generation DVD players will feature dual pickup's, that is, having 2 sets of lasers to support backwards compatibility. This is true for both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, both next gen DVD players use different wavelength lasers which cannot read current generation DVD's.
It would pretty much drive a format to quick obsoletion if the players didn't support both DVD and CD formats. It is easy and cheap enough to use both lasers in the same player as the technology to implement old DVD's is dirt cheap (consider that you can buy a DVD player for $30 these days, the cost of implementing a laser is probably well under $5 in parts).
Not that Sony is aware of what it takes to kill a format as they are the format killing champions. I am sure they will come out with a Blu-Ray player that isn't backwards compatible anyways.
I got bored of HL2 like a year ago, so I have little interest in buying/playing another chapter. If Valve can't release episodic content fast enough, then their consumer base will dry up as more interesting and exciting titles come along. I can only focus so much time on a game, I am not 12 years old anymore and don't have 8 hours of downtime after school or work every day to have 10 games on the go at a time. Once I have finished a game, I uninstall it and move on, and I am sure many HL2 players have moved on.
pole.
I mean, honestly, Apple is going to partner up with a company that has been in litigation for most of its history about its product? I don't think Apple would want to expose itself to the kind of lawsuits that RIM has been struggling with. I am sure the moment an AppleBerry makes its way to the public, both RIM and Apple will be hit with patent infringement lawsuits and litigation.
The only reason I would see Apple needing to "partner" up with RIM is that Apple wants to use some of the patents RIM has in their product. Instead of paying licencing fees and having little control over it, partner up and then work with RIM to innovate.
But, this is all assuming that Apple is in the process of developing a PDA/Cellphone, which I think is still some Apple Fanboy's pipe dream. Steve Jobs has been very vocal against PDA's, and I think that an Apple PDA/Cellphone would be a small drop in a huge market, and Apple has never competed well in a market they didn't create (i.e. like the Desktop computer market, or the server market).
This is one of those Apple rumors I will believe when I have dropped $600 on the device and have buyers remorse for it.
Like the original dual Voodoo cards, multiple video cards is just one of those things that keeps going out of style (but like old fads, makes its appearance every decade or two).
The cost to implement and manufacture multiple video cards is ridiculous. Who honestly would spend $1400 just to have two video cards, and then only get at most 20% performance improvement.
With the current trend of multiple cores, I figured it would be just a matter of time for the SLI and Crossfire solutions to switch back to a single video card. Either they would dual core the GPU, or simply put two GPU on the same card.
I just makes sense to keep a video card as a single card. You dont have to duplicate the production costs and all the other components that are wasted in a dual card configuration, you also dont have to duplicate the bus technology on the motherboard in order to implement dual video cards. Overall, this will be a much cheaper configuration that will actually bring high performance video technology into the realm of being practical.
Eventually, 4 way GPU cards will be released, and eventually nVidia and/or ATI will start to dual core their GPUs, those spending money on their expensive dual or even quad based SLI configurations just wasted a bunch of money.
Honestly? top 100 technology? When did a crappy cluttered website become a technology product? Why do people care about this website? Its just one of these buzz sites that everybody talks about, but a limited few really uses. Sorry, if I was writting an article about how NOT to write a website, craigslist.org would be at the top. For online classifieds, even newcomer Kijiji.com is infinitly more well designed then this crap site. For a blog site, myspace ranks far higher then craigslist.org.
No self respecting gamer will run a game at 640 x 480 resolution, especially with minimum detail, so posting benchmarks at that resolution is moot.
There are many sites that do good benchmarking, and I wish other sites would follow the lead of anandtech and tom's hardware. Rather then a bunch of numbers for unrealistic senarios, put together tests that cover all the bases. Where is video encoding benchmarks, where is compiling benchmarks? Where are REAL benchmarks for senarios we all use. Showing us how well the CPU can run at some obscure resolution with no graphics details just proves that CPU's today are more then capable of running a game at 100+ fps in VGA mode.
Also, why not post results running same the benchmarks at least on AMD's flagship. I don't care if the Conroe performs faster for gaming then the PEE 965, I want to know if Intel finaly can outperform AMD with their next generation architeture for gaming, of if I should stick with AMD for another generation.
The BBC finally figured out this Internet thing and found it to be a wonderful resource for news. information and education.
Duh!, I could have told you the Arctic was once a tropical region. I live in Canada and in school we discussed and saw videos of how there are petrified remains of entire large tropical trees in the artic, proof that there once was a tropical environment up there. Continental drift IS the exlpanation for it being a tropical region, along with changes of the tilt of the Earth's axis over time. This is hardly a mystery or news.
I don't understand where the BBC is coming from, they keep posting stories about the Arctic like it is going to melt and destroy the world (to be fair, England won't fair that well in that scenario, but the world WILL live on without the Queen) and now new and mysterious evidence that the Arctic was once tropical. Someone over at the BBC must have some facination boner for the Arctic.
I think that BBC reporters should be forced to look at Wikipedia before they start posting stories like "This just in: The Arctic was once a tropical paradise! It could happen again!".
Vista is to Windows XP as Windows 95 was to Windows 3.11 as OSX was to OS9.
A new playground for new ideas and technologies.
MICROSOFT SHOULD FOCUS on security, and leave such bells and whistles as usability aside. This is the NUMBER 1 thing that people have been complaining about Windows XP for the last 4 years, its glaring security problems. Now they are complaining that ALL Vista is is a focus on security. What do ya want people?
Vista is also introducing a high level UI presentation layer. Vista Aero is just an example of what is possible, but from a GUI perspective its an infant looking to mature.
People are getting hung up on how long it is taking Vista to get released ( the same people probably complained when Microsoft was rolling out a new version of Windows every 18 months), but you have to remember that Microsoft is making big technology leaps, this isn't just polishing off XP and offering an incremental upgrade, this is a new infrastructure.
In all honestly, I would expect that within 3 years of Vista being released, Microsoft will release the TRUE next generation OS, just like they did with Windows 98. You could wait that long if you really wanted, or you could get Vista and find out where Microsoft is going (and give some teeth to your complaints about Vista, which many of you have not used yet).
I don't have high hopes for Vista as being Microsoft's best OS to date, but I do see it as an important leap for Microsoft to move forward with a new more secure operating system that offers 21st century concepts. Vista will have rough edges for sure, but they will get filed down over time.
Microsoft has made how many crappy operating systems and they are still the number one software maker in the world.
How many good quality Linux distros are there, and they still can't make a dent in the PC market.
Obviously, people don't want quality when it comes to operating systems. Microsoft has made a business empire out of this fact, there is no point in arguing it. People want something easy to use and functional, period. Even with all the security holes, its just an excuse for Symantec or McAfee to stay in business.
I design software for Windows, and will retire making a healthly living in that endeavour.
The sad part is to spend your life waiting for Linux to take over, or even OSX for that matter.
If Microsoft's days are numbered, then ALL operating systems days are numbered because that is the day that the world blows up to make way for an intergalactic highway. I for one will bow down to our new poetic overlords.
Just because Apple is a smaller company doesn't mean you should expect better quality assurance out of the same Asian factories that output HP or Dell products. I mean, overseas, its all the same. Apple's stuff is made in China, just like Dell or HP. Apple only designs their stuff and once it is in production, they have little control over quality assurance. If an Asian manufacture is screwing up, then Apple will find another manufacture or take steps to improve the process, but I think the opposite is true.
Dell make 10x the amount of computers that Apple does in a quarter. Dell NEEDS better quality assurance because they make more products. By the same logic, Dell has a lot more potential to find problems and fix them then Apple. If Apple sells 1 million iMac's in a quarter, they may not see glaring quality problems until months later, where as Dell will see glaring problems if 10 million units are shipped.
It may be growing pains for Apple as they have never had the kind of successful product as the iPod. They sell 5+ million iPods in a quarter, more product then they ever used to ship. For Apple, this is new, and finding the right manufacturer to assemble the units while balancing finding the right design that will work for mass quantities is key.
I still think that people over exaggerate Apple's "Quality Assurance" problems, but I do feel that Apple's biggest flaw is style over substance. They want the thinnest and lightest notebooks, but forget that putting a hot processor in a metal box is going to make the box get hot. Plastic wrapping aside, you can't get enough airflow in a thin notebook in order to exhaust the heat without the case getting hot, and I find the Power/Macbooks biggest flaw is the fact the case becomes uncomfortable during heavy processor loads.
Apple needs to learn that there is no point being the smallest, or thinnest or lightest if you can't be the coolest!
Apple will create a wall socket Mac and say they reinvented the PC. It will be the finest looking wall socket you have every seen.
Seriously though, what should be a goal for this type of device is to allow for distributed computing through them. If you could connect the processing of all the thin clients together and have them aid the server by contributing free CPU cycles, then I think they could be a real hit. Every new thin client you add to your office boosts performance of your networked apps.
My computer died so I threw it out, but then I found out that power was lost to my neighbourhood.
Look, Apple has a warranty plan, and an extended Apple care plan. Call up Apple, tell them about your iPod problems, and they will fix it. Apple's service is top notch, and I know of a few people that returned an iPod and received an upgraded refurbished model. This is true if you have an older generation model that Apple doesn't sell or have refurb stock.
I know that people love to go after the top guy and start stirring up crap about them, but when it comes to Apple's and iPod's, iPods maintain a level of quality that few other consumer electronics products can offer.
Apple will have the same manufacturing nightmares that any other company can have. Steve Job's doesn't caress every iPod as it leaves the factory (although I am sure he would want to). So, your going to get batches with a bad hard drive connection or some other problem, its simply the nature of the game.
But, to pitch it out the window or to write up slanderous articles about iPod and how Apple singled you out and screwed up your life because your iPod failed, well, that is just childish.
Apple has excellent customer service and technical support. Use it. Write an artcle about how good their service was and how quickly you got back a fixed iPod, don't write a story about you throwing a tantrum.
I switched to Vonage after using Primus Canada's Talk Broadband for nearly a year. The reason, I didn't like the way Primus treats their customers (I got slapped a $25 NSF charge because of ONE failed attempt to authorize a credit card payment, they didn't even bother to try again (which would have worked), they just automatically billed me).
Anyways, I kept hearing about Vonage, Vonage, Vonage. Every big box electronics store promotes Vonage to death, every website has about a dozen Vonage ads on it. Slashdot and other blog sites is always Vonage this and Vonage that, so I decided to switch to Vonage.
I liked the fact that I could walk into a big box store and buy a $65 VOIP router (that wasn't a DLINK router like what Primus uses, I hate DLINK). After 90 days of service, Vonage will rebate your $65 as an account credit. I also liked to option of buying a VOIP integrated phone system if I wanted at a later date.
Installing and registering Vonage was easy and flawless and I was up and running with a new virtual number in no time while my current phone number was being switched from Primus to Vonage.
Then my love affair with Vonage abruptly ended. As soon as my phone number was switched to Vonage, I started getting frequent telemarketing calls. Primus TalkBroadband lets me set up UNLIMITED blocked numbers list, so every time I got a telemarketing call, I just blocked that number, but it only happened a couple of times on Primus. As soon as I switch to Vonage and my old number became active, I got 6 DIFFERENT telemarketing calls a day from different numbers. So, there is NO DOUBT in my mind that Vonage is giving or selling away their customer contact information to telemarketing firms!
This conclusion also stems from the fact that Vonage doesn't allow you to block calls by Caller ID. I asked their customer support if they would implement that feature, and they simply said they are looking into it (i.e. no, we are not planning to offer that feature, but we will tell you what you want to here). The bottom line is with VOIP, implementing caller blocking is dirt simple. It doesn't require any additional programming or research or development. The FACT that vonage doesn't offer caller block means that Vonage is getting investment dollars from Telemarketing firms and these firms are using Vonage's customer list to make calls. I am even getting INTERNATIONAL Telemarketing calls from European exchanges.
Secondly, Vonage has the ability to charge by the second, but instead, they round up to the full minute. This is an unscrupulous and unnecessary practice because with a completely digital telephony system, there is no reason why you can't bill by the millisecond. The fact they round up to the nearest minutes simply means that Vonage wants you to go over your 500 free minutes and start getting charged per minute OR they want you to get into their unlimited plan (which costs $10 more then MOST competitors unlimited plans including Primus Canada). To exacerbate this fact, Vonage has called me 6 TIMES leaving long messages saying that I should call them back in order to have them explain all the features ( or really, lack thereof ) Vonage has to offer me. These calls are NOT free, they are NOT made through Vonages system (i.e. Vonage doesn't use their own service to contact customers). I did the math and calls from Vonage are being treated as outside calls, thus running up my usage. I found it amusing that Vonage called their customers asking them if they want to buy into their stock. Of course they would, it would eat up a few minutes of any customer that doesn't have the unlimited plan, inching them closer to pay per use.
Lastely, Vonage sucks, period. They are NOT a competitive VOIP service, they are just a shyster company that formed enough partnerships with big box electroncis stores, Google Ads, and telemarketing to ensure that Vonage becomes a buzz word that sticks in peoples heads. When you think of VOIP, Vonage should come to mind. The fact is, there are
Lets face it ( I have ) Nintendo dominates in hand held gaming. Like the iPod and digital music players, the Gameboy is iconic for this market.
The PSP is an utter failure. Sony tried to make a portable game console that uses the same gaming concepts that makes its PS and PS2 popular, but they ignored that portable gaming is not about sports games, or even complicated RPGs or First person shooters. Portable gaming is about 20 - 60 minutes of diversion while sitting on a bus or riding a plane or putting your feet up at home. What few puzzler and other "quick fix" like games are available on the PSP are generally poorly though out (like Smart Bomb). There isn't even a tetris game out for the PSP. Instead, Sony focuses on sprawling adventure games, RPS, sports franchises, and other non-arcade or puzzle games.
Microsoft will fail too because the most popular gaming titles that are played on Live are Halo/FPS, Sports Games, and MMORPG's. All these genres do not make successful portable gamining titles. Live will fail as a portable product because if your travelling, your never going to have WiFi access long enough to play any of these games. You will have to be a home, or in some dedicated environment to play Live on a portable console, and if you HAVE to be in a specific location, then why not just play it on the Xbox or Xbox360?
Sony has, and Microsoft will, fail to understand what makes the portable gaming franchise successful. Sony still hasn't gotten a clue as to what would have made the PSP a successful product. The fact that Sony tried to make a device that works with both games and multimedia pretty much sealed the PSP fate because even the PSP's multimedia handling is poorly implemented. Music playback could be significantly improved on the device (i.e. get rid of the necessity for a folder structure and use a database file like the iPod) and video playback without TV out support? I mean, Sony failed in every aspect of the PSP, from its multimedia handling, to its games, to the fact that there is a strong community of people that WANT to develop for it, but Sony considers them criminals. Sony failed in ever way.
Microsoft might gain a little more success if they base a portable game system on their Mobile Windows platform. If Microsoft allows for homebrew applications which can be developed easily using Visual Studio with a familiar API like DirectX and Windows SDK then they could make a ubiquitous device that will have more then just gaming potential, but Mirosoft won't allow this. Microsoft will bastardize a version of Windows Mobile to prevent homebrew applications. Microsoft will err the way Sony has, buy trying to release a portable version of Halo with Live support or other non-portable genre's of games that won't work in most mobile cases. Unless something like WiMax is released in 2007 where you can have ubiquitous online access across a city or even country, a portable version of Live will fail.
In the end, I think that Nintendo has a strong grip hold in the portable gaming market. Devices like the NGage and PSP have failed to captivate an audience, all Nintendo did to counter these releases is come out with a different color of their Gameboy or DS and they still get more sales then the other devices combined. Also consider that by 2007 Nintendo should be on schedule to release a next generation Gameboy or sucessor to the DS. Microsoft won't be able to compete with the anticipation of a new Nintendo portable game system.
Microsoft will offer just another portable system that will have mediocre appeal and will most likely cripple its success by implementing too many poorly implemented features and DRM protection schemes.
Breath in,
:(?
Did the elevator show a big unhappy face
Someone must have dual booted the elevator to run Windows.
The G4 Cube reincarnated as an elevator, if they waited long enough, the sides of the elevator would have cracked and released them.
Its typical of Apple to make something look good, but ignore some obvious working defect.
Its not that the doors wouldn't open, someone forgot to take the plastic off the elevator!!!!!!
Breath out!
OK, I am done.
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- Don't mod me down because the original article was a waste of time too!
Was waiting for a poker card game to come out for it. Add a camera and it sounds like LOADS of fun! Good thing there exists a powerful high performing next generation game platform to render those cards in unprecedented resolution. I might have to buy an HDTV too!
Honestly, maybe they might use all that extra wasted processing power to implement a bluff detector in the game based on biometric feedback from the camera.
Come on! I mean, a freakin card game is the biggest thing Xbox360 will offer for a camera accessory? Anybody else still not impressed by the Xbox360? I would expect this gimmick to come out for a Nintendo product. Of course, with the Revolution, I can deal the cards by throwing my wiimote around the room. Nitendo would love this as it would be an excuse for a customer to buy 52 extra wiimotes.
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- Don't mod me down for speaking the truth!