First of all, I don't mean this as a flame, I'm just talking about my experience using Apple stuff and what I prefer. And also, when I talk about things being good if they're easy to use, I mean it's good for people that just use computers and don't actually mess around with them as a hobby (for those people the open source community has plenty of goodies:-).
When I was using a mac with OS X I loved it, but I'd only experienced Windows before that, so I liked it because it didn't crash on me all the time and it was easy to use (I was interested in things other than computers and generally didn't give a damn about them as long as they didn't get in my way). I then started using Linux, and I've used it ever since (I'm using gentoo w/ FVWM now). I don't mean to say Gentoo and FVWM are great and everything else sucks, but I've learned that what actually matters is how your computer performs when you're using it day after day after day, after day, after day. And then some. So, it took me a week to get everything compiled and configured to my liking, and I had to tweak things after that sometimes, but now when I try using OS X (I've kept that old mac:-) I notice just how much more productive I am when I've configured the computer how *I* like it. And I'm spending much less money too.
The trouble is, now I'm kind of interested in computers, but before I couldn't give a damn. It's not that I didn't CARE about things working how I want them to, or things being fast - everybody wants that! - but I'd only known Windows and OS X, and configuring a Linux system at that time would have scared the shit out of me, and since OS X was so easy to use and stable I thought it was great and didn't realise how much faster and cheaper things could be. And for me, at that time, OS X *was* the best decision, really, since I wouldn't be able to get a Linux system up and running, or find my way around the OS.
The trouble is, making things easy to use is a good thing for non-experts, but Apple has become interested more and more in adding more glitz to OS X, and their hardware is still expensive compared to a PC with the equivalent specs (I know this because I built my PC and compared its spec/price to Apple hardware). I don't see any reason why you can't have a company that makes an OS that's easy to use but focuses on *performance*, and on *cheap* hardware. It's possible, it's all out there, but at the moment you kind of have to know what you're doing to take all the best hardware/software scattered around and put it together yourself.
So what does this have to do with customer service? Well, I've talked to Apple users (and I was one, don't forget), and the pretty OS and shiny hardware seems to go in the 'customer service' department. Perhaps you disagree and see this post as kind of off-topic, but I think it's still relevant enough to warrant a post.
The show that does not advocate the cool crime of robbery.
This is great news for all us nerdlingers. For those of you who don't know already, here's a look at the backgrounds of some of the writers on the show:
J. Stewart Burns: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1992. His senior thesis was on "The Structure of Group Algebras." He received his master's degree in mathematics from UC Berkeley in 1993.
David X. Cohen: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1988. He received his master's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1992. He published the following article with Manuel Blum: On the Problem of Sorting Burnt Pancakes. Discrete Appl. Math. 61 (1995), no. 2, 105--120.
Ken Keeler: Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1983. In 1990, he received his Ph.D. in applied math from Harvard University. The title of his doctoral thesis was Map Representations and Optimal Encoding for Image Segmentation. He also published the following article with Jeff Westbrook: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.
Bill Odenkirk: Has a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995.
Jeff Westbrook: Majored in physics and the history of science at Harvard University and he received his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University in 1989. The title of his doctoral thesis was Algorithms and Data Structures for Dynamic Graph Algorithms. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yale University and also worked at AT&T Labs before writing for Futurama. He published the following article with Ken Keeler: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.
And with that the show also has some great voice actors (Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Dave Herman...), a great 3D department (praised for its ability to blend 3D scenes almost seamlessly into 2D backgrounds), and the show even uses a full orchestra to record its music (composed by Christopher Tyng). And with the huge scope of ideas possible in the SF universe the show is set in, I imagine it'll take a long time yet for this show to burn out.
Slashdot Mirror
First of all, I don't mean this as a flame, I'm just talking about my experience using Apple stuff and what I prefer. And also, when I talk about things being good if they're easy to use, I mean it's good for people that just use computers and don't actually mess around with them as a hobby (for those people the open source community has plenty of goodies :-).
:-) I notice just how much more productive I am when I've configured the computer how *I* like it. And I'm spending much less money too.
When I was using a mac with OS X I loved it, but I'd only experienced Windows before that, so I liked it because it didn't crash on me all the time and it was easy to use (I was interested in things other than computers and generally didn't give a damn about them as long as they didn't get in my way). I then started using Linux, and I've used it ever since (I'm using gentoo w/ FVWM now). I don't mean to say Gentoo and FVWM are great and everything else sucks, but I've learned that what actually matters is how your computer performs when you're using it day after day after day, after day, after day. And then some. So, it took me a week to get everything compiled and configured to my liking, and I had to tweak things after that sometimes, but now when I try using OS X (I've kept that old mac
The trouble is, now I'm kind of interested in computers, but before I couldn't give a damn. It's not that I didn't CARE about things working how I want them to, or things being fast - everybody wants that! - but I'd only known Windows and OS X, and configuring a Linux system at that time would have scared the shit out of me, and since OS X was so easy to use and stable I thought it was great and didn't realise how much faster and cheaper things could be. And for me, at that time, OS X *was* the best decision, really, since I wouldn't be able to get a Linux system up and running, or find my way around the OS.
The trouble is, making things easy to use is a good thing for non-experts, but Apple has become interested more and more in adding more glitz to OS X, and their hardware is still expensive compared to a PC with the equivalent specs (I know this because I built my PC and compared its spec/price to Apple hardware). I don't see any reason why you can't have a company that makes an OS that's easy to use but focuses on *performance*, and on *cheap* hardware. It's possible, it's all out there, but at the moment you kind of have to know what you're doing to take all the best hardware/software scattered around and put it together yourself.
So what does this have to do with customer service? Well, I've talked to Apple users (and I was one, don't forget), and the pretty OS and shiny hardware seems to go in the 'customer service' department. Perhaps you disagree and see this post as kind of off-topic, but I think it's still relevant enough to warrant a post.
Any of the three would require mountain of paperwork and I would hate to think how bad it would to combine all three.
Then I'll... I mean, if... ah, screw the whole thing.
I'll go set up my own ISP. With blackjack. And hookers. In fact, forget the ISP and the blackjack.
The show that does not advocate the cool crime of robbery.
This is great news for all us nerdlingers. For those of you who don't know already, here's a look at the backgrounds of some of the writers on the show:
J. Stewart Burns: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1992. His senior thesis was on "The Structure of Group Algebras." He received his master's degree in mathematics from UC Berkeley in 1993.
David X. Cohen: Graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in physics from Harvard University in 1988. He received his master's degree in computer science from UC Berkeley in 1992. He published the following article with Manuel Blum: On the Problem of Sorting Burnt Pancakes. Discrete Appl. Math. 61 (1995), no. 2, 105--120.
Ken Keeler: Graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics from Harvard University in 1983. In 1990, he received his Ph.D. in applied math from Harvard University. The title of his doctoral thesis was Map Representations and Optimal Encoding for Image Segmentation. He also published the following article with Jeff Westbrook: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.
Bill Odenkirk: Has a PhD in inorganic chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995.
Jeff Westbrook: Majored in physics and the history of science at Harvard University and he received his Ph.D. in computer science from Princeton University in 1989. The title of his doctoral thesis was Algorithms and Data Structures for Dynamic Graph Algorithms. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Yale University and also worked at AT&T Labs before writing for Futurama. He published the following article with Ken Keeler: Short Encodings of Planar Graphs and Maps. Discrete Appl. Math. 58 (1995), no. 3, 239--252.
And with that the show also has some great voice actors (Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Dave Herman...), a great 3D department (praised for its ability to blend 3D scenes almost seamlessly into 2D backgrounds), and the show even uses a full orchestra to record its music (composed by Christopher Tyng). And with the huge scope of ideas possible in the SF universe the show is set in, I imagine it'll take a long time yet for this show to burn out.