Heh. Well that's a bit optimistic. I mean there are no guarantees that there's enough matter out there to make someone like him. The best you can do is get them on a play-date!
I spent $250 for a used generic laptop for my mom a few years ago. It does everything she needs it to do. It hasn't had any problems. If it does, I'll buy her another one. I can buy 4 laptops for every one of yours
No, you can't. First, it's a used laptop, meaning you had to research what was available and make a good choice. What's available for $250 then and the quality of it is random. Second, your time is money. That time you're spending finding that new used laptop and transferring her over to it is time I'm not having to spend, at worst that's the Apple Store's problem. Third, your mother won't have the patience for it. After the second failure, she's going to get on your case and tell you to just get a new laptop because she doesn't want to deal with the outage.
Just to reiterate: I've done virtually no tech support over two years. In 26 months I've logged in to her machine twice to give her a quick tutorial on how to do something or to fix a problem. She knows how to get to the Apple Store and they take care of her. There's one more year of warranty left.
Only true if there is no competition. When the competition exists the prices start dropping towards the cost of manufacturing. I doubt there is a monopoly on RC Cars.
A couple of years ago I got my mom a Macbook with an AppleCare warranty. (Total cost about $1,000) She is extremely computer illiterate, i.e. copying and pasting links via IM is an advanced topic for her. The machine has behaved well, it hasn't 'rotted' like Windows likes to. The DVD rom failed at some point. She took it to the Apple store and they fixed it right up.
I paid more than I would have for a Windows laptop and I really do not regret it. I've had to do very little tech support for her and Apple has taken care of the rest.
When you type a query into a search engine, it's fairly unlikely that somebody else's unrelated typed conversation will also be recorded and transmitted along with it. That's quite possible when using an audio-based search on a device with a sensitive microphone. Likewise as you note, it's unlikely that you'll accidentally type a conversation with your phone in your pocket, but pretty feasible that you'll accidentally record your own conversation.
It's also worth mentioning that what you tell your phone is not something you're likely to tell Google, just because you are under the illusion that it's staying on your phone. Here's an example of something Siri is used for:
"Mental Note: The Astro Project's release date has been changed from Q3 to Q4"
That command will leave a note in the notes field of your phone, but that message had to go all the way out to the internet to get processed then sent back to your phone. I doubt most people that use Siri are even aware of that. It's certainly made me cautious about using it with NDA projects.
Has it been stated or proven that Siri's servers know who all is on your contact list, or is the phone just getting a message back like: "If you have a guy named Dan, that's prolly him."...?
Defending an OS at all costs? You mean like spending a Saturday night defending your decision to recommend somebody install Linux to correct a vendor-created Windows problem?
Ah... I see what you're saying. He comes back in a week, asks why his game doesn't work, you get WINE going, then charge him. A week or two later, he comes back cos he cannot figure out how to edit a CONF file, so you charge him again. Rinse, repeat.
Fiscally what you're suggesting is muuuch wiser. Very smooth!
Would my life be less sad if I patted myself on the back for chirping "UBUNTU!!!" every time somebody has a Windows problem? Isn't this why we hate Mac users?
Well then obviously Linux isn't for you, very wise of you to point out. Your reasonable argument can be applied because recommending any distro of Linux to fix this problem is extreme and not useful to many people.
Actually, no, that wasn't me. I know you probably won't believe me, and I totally understand that, but I do have a history of arguing with the moderators instead of trying to bump up my ambient rightness.
Re-installing Windows 7 without the crapware is still crapware in my opinion, since your DRM'd computer is still going to ask you to prove that your copy of Windows is genuine every couple of weeks (with yet another newer version of its genuine validation tool every time).
You're showing symptoms of Sensationalist Slashdot Headline poisoning. You should head out into the big blue room and see someone about that.
I have no problem with that. I just don't see how you can take OSX, put iOS's restrictions on it, and not have it fall apart. I also don't see how suck a restictive OS would be used for creating the Apps that fuel iOS.
Slashdot Mirror
Heh. Well that's a bit optimistic. I mean there are no guarantees that there's enough matter out there to make someone like him. The best you can do is get them on a play-date!
This is why I don't like Star Wars anymore.
Oh yeah? How are you getting the cars in behind to drive themselves?
That 'signal' would have to be a substantial bribe. The lead truck is driven by a human.
Is Facebook Working On a Smartphone?
I seriously doubt I'm the only person in here that read this headline and thought it was another complaint about how shitty their iOS app is. Heh.
I spent $250 for a used generic laptop for my mom a few years ago. It does everything she needs it to do. It hasn't had any problems. If it does, I'll buy her another one. I can buy 4 laptops for every one of yours
No, you can't. First, it's a used laptop, meaning you had to research what was available and make a good choice. What's available for $250 then and the quality of it is random. Second, your time is money. That time you're spending finding that new used laptop and transferring her over to it is time I'm not having to spend, at worst that's the Apple Store's problem. Third, your mother won't have the patience for it. After the second failure, she's going to get on your case and tell you to just get a new laptop because she doesn't want to deal with the outage.
Just to reiterate: I've done virtually no tech support over two years. In 26 months I've logged in to her machine twice to give her a quick tutorial on how to do something or to fix a problem. She knows how to get to the Apple Store and they take care of her. There's one more year of warranty left.
Only true if there is no competition. When the competition exists the prices start dropping towards the cost of manufacturing. I doubt there is a monopoly on RC Cars.
That's a funny thing to say given your comment. :)
So Palmela and Her Five Sisters then?
You do realize you made that post on a Saturday night on a Slashdot story about Dungeons and Dragons, right?
All in all, I'm satisfied, my mother is too.
*Sigh* I really should hit preview before I post.
A couple of years ago I got my mom a Macbook with an AppleCare warranty. (Total cost about $1,000) She is extremely computer illiterate, i.e. copying and pasting links via IM is an advanced topic for her. The machine has behaved well, it hasn't 'rotted' like Windows likes to. The DVD rom failed at some point. She took it to the Apple store and they fixed it right up.
I paid more than I would have for a Windows laptop and I really do not regret it. I've had to do very little tech support for her and Apple has taken care of the rest.
All in all, I'm satisfied, my mother is too.
When you type a query into a search engine, it's fairly unlikely that somebody else's unrelated typed conversation will also be recorded and transmitted along with it. That's quite possible when using an audio-based search on a device with a sensitive microphone. Likewise as you note, it's unlikely that you'll accidentally type a conversation with your phone in your pocket, but pretty feasible that you'll accidentally record your own conversation.
It's also worth mentioning that what you tell your phone is not something you're likely to tell Google, just because you are under the illusion that it's staying on your phone. Here's an example of something Siri is used for:
"Mental Note: The Astro Project's release date has been changed from Q3 to Q4"
That command will leave a note in the notes field of your phone, but that message had to go all the way out to the internet to get processed then sent back to your phone. I doubt most people that use Siri are even aware of that. It's certainly made me cautious about using it with NDA projects.
Has it been stated or proven that Siri's servers know who all is on your contact list, or is the phone just getting a message back like: "If you have a guy named Dan, that's prolly him."...?
Defending an OS at all costs? You mean like spending a Saturday night defending your decision to recommend somebody install Linux to correct a vendor-created Windows problem?
Ah... I see what you're saying. He comes back in a week, asks why his game doesn't work, you get WINE going, then charge him. A week or two later, he comes back cos he cannot figure out how to edit a CONF file, so you charge him again. Rinse, repeat.
Fiscally what you're suggesting is muuuch wiser. Very smooth!
Would my life be less sad if I patted myself on the back for chirping "UBUNTU!!!" every time somebody has a Windows problem? Isn't this why we hate Mac users?
Well then obviously Linux isn't for you, very wise of you to point out. Your reasonable argument can be applied because recommending any distro of Linux to fix this problem is extreme and not useful to many people.
FTFY.
Actually, no, that wasn't me. I know you probably won't believe me, and I totally understand that, but I do have a history of arguing with the moderators instead of trying to bump up my ambient rightness.
Quick patent every silly software idea you have so the big corps cant!
How's that supposed to happen when most OSS is clone of software that already exists?
I tell everyone to simply install Ubuntu...
Is that how you freed up your Saturday nights to catch various sci-fi marathons?
Re-installing Windows 7 without the crapware is still crapware in my opinion, since your DRM'd computer is still going to ask you to prove that your copy of Windows is genuine every couple of weeks (with yet another newer version of its genuine validation tool every time).
You're showing symptoms of Sensationalist Slashdot Headline poisoning. You should head out into the big blue room and see someone about that.
What would you charge if any ol' Joe Schmoe cam in with some random machine and said: "De-crapify this, please."...?
I tried that, but it broke all my games.
So, does Amazon's spin on As Seen on TV advertising deserve a patent?"
Yes. If you read the patent, you'll see why.
I have no problem with that. I just don't see how you can take OSX, put iOS's restrictions on it, and not have it fall apart. I also don't see how suck a restictive OS would be used for creating the Apps that fuel iOS.