I found a source. Too bad for the GP it completely debunks his "theory".
In short, Microsoft beat out Johnson & Johnson this year to take the top spot in the annual "reputation poll". From the article:
Microsoft toppled Johnson & Johnson and its baby-products business from its seven-year position as the company with the best corporate reputation, according to an annual poll by Harris Interactive and The Wall Street Journal.
...
Gates' reputation as a corporate leader contributed to an improvement in the company's emotional appeal, the Journal reported. While some respondents faulted Microsoft for bullying its competitors and unfairly monopolizing the software business, the Journal said, that criticism is less "biting and pervasive" than it used to be.
Harris surveyed 7,886 Americans online or by telephone last summer and asked them to name two companies they think have the best reputations, and two that have the worst, the paper said.
It collected the 60 companies mentioned most, and had them rated online by 22,480 Americans, giving them a score and ranking. They were rated on 20 attributes in six categories, including financial performance, social responsibility, emotional appeal and workplace environment, the paper said.
No. The whole "Zune adds DRM to everything" is a myth. If I put songs without DRM on my Zune, they exist on the Zune without DRM. If I reverse sync them, they come off without DRM.
The only time it adds DRM is when you receive a file from someone over wifi. Period.
It lacks the camera, and I went a bit over on price, so I "lose", but I was bored. Here's what I got from Dell Inspiron E1505 (first thing I clicked on, didn't try other options):
I am in college, do have a box running Vista, another running Ubuntu 6.10, and I do also have a Zune. Congratulations. I could also name a dozen things about each that I dislike. Hell, I could name a dozen things about my toaster that I dislike. The difference here that you're missing is that I have *never* claimed to "love" critiquing UIs.
As I said in my post, and perhaps I should have emphasized, is that I'm *not* claiming MacOS10 is a terrible system. It isn't. And if you enjoy using it, that's wonderful for you. I just can't stand people claiming they've tried as hard as possible, and have nothing negative to report on it. Try harder, or don't claim to have tried at all.
Many of your responses regarding my UI issues are work arounds, if that. With regard to viewing instances of applications, I shouldn't have to interact with keystrokes or have applications minimized to get this information. In terms of application launching, I hadn't heard of Quicksilver, but I'm not really impressed if a (non-free) system can become more usable with add-ons. The dual-head issue remains at large.
OS X generally does nothing but make my life easier.
You seriously have to try to not be able to name one thing that pisses you off. I'm not saying it's a terrible UI (although I don't particularly like it), but you lose credibility when you come across as blissfully ignorant. Off the top of the head of someone who rarely even uses MacOS10:
1) How much information do you get on each instance of each application you have open by glancing at your screen? Open 15 Word documents, 27 instances of Safari, 32 PDFs, and you'll get three tiny, black triangles. That's it.
2) What happens if you don't have a shortcut on the dock for an application you need to open? Count the clicks you need to make for this, and don't forget your large back of counting beans.
3) While on the topic, how much space do you waste by having the dock display *every* application you regularly need at all times? Yes, you can make the dock miserably small. Yes, you can have the dock auto-hide. But yes, there are many better implementations of this functionality in other interfaces (Gnome/KDE/Windows, for example).
4) If you have a dual-head system setup (as I think many of us on/. do), and you have an application open on the secondary screen, where is the menu bar? It's still on the top of the primary display. To click "file" (or whatever menu you'd like), you get to sling your mouse across displays. I do hope the second monitor came with some wrist guards to protect against carpel tunnel.
As I said, I rarely use Macs, and even I can spout off a few major UI irritants when prompted. No UI is perfect, but you can't claim to "love studying the various aspects of UI's that make [your] life easier or harder" and have nothing negative to report without coming off like a complete fanboy.
Have you run Vista at all? You don't get UAC for any of your examples. Literally. Zero.
I'm typing this on Vista Ultimate RTM. I get UAC when I install an application, install drivers, or change an important setting (e.g. firewall). In general, this happens about once a week, and all of these are events I'd like to know about.
Being in college means I don't work for Microsoft. I have never received any payment, "scripts" to read, or freebies. And yet, I still like the product.
Push it all you like, but I'm a person without allegiances who uses products he enjoys. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm also perfectly fine with others not liking Vista. People can have different preferences without one side being the result of some evil scheme (e.g. astroturfing).
Turning product choices into religious wars is pathetic. Given that you post as AC when doing it, I'd guess you already know that.
I entirely agree. I'd like to cast my vote as someone who has Vista running on a home desktop and laptop and is extremely pleased with the product. My girlfriend just got a laptop with it pre-installed, and is in love with it.
Vista is attractive (IMO), I have had zero issues with hardware (my girlfriend plugged in her old printer and Vista installed the correct drivers in a flash - it "just worked"), zero issues with stability, and zero issues with my software (my girlfriend even uses iTunes without a hitch). You can look at features and say it offers little that is overly revolutionary, but it really just feels better to use than XP.
Like my girlfriend, once average users get a taste of it, they ignore the media FUD. It's really rather pleasant to use.
Oh, and after installing my applications, I get UAC perhaps twice a week. One of those is because Acrobat is obnoxiously trying to silently update itself.
When do we start clamoring for laws against Oxygen-Hydrogen combining...
Seriously. Especially after what it did to Fire, I'd expect people to recognize Oxygen-Hydrogen's intentions as what they really are: "embrace, extend, extenguish."
Should Wallmart be forced to allow K-Mart to sell goods via the Wallmart checkout systems?
Okay, that's it. I'm calling for a "Shitty analogy" score to be created on Slashdot.
And moderators, I'm not joking. If you mod me as Funny, that would be as inappropriate as someone hating all black people at the supermarket because they might buy a Ford with exploding tires. Which, btw, is the same as the latest XP patch.
... every Vista Ready PC we've tested with Vista [RC1] hasn't failed to even launch Media Player to play a DVD with out crashing... I'll be sticking with my PowerBook.
Are you sure you didn't not mean to un-say you'll not be leaving your un-low-Power-not-not-Book?
Apart from the eye candy, i don't see how this is anything revolutionary.
I agree. I recently purchased a Samsung BlackJack, and I'm a bit disappointed by the iPhone. I was hoping to be blown away (as I can still return the BlackJack). Here's how they stack up in the areas I care most about:
Dimensions:
Blackjack (inches): 4.45 x 2.32 x 0.46
iPhone (inches): 4.50 x 2.40 x 0.46
Camera (I don't really care, but the iPhone leads, so I'll give it):
BlackJack: 1.3 megapixel
iPhone: 2.0 megapixel
Both have push email. The iPhone isn't 3G, but it has 802.11b/g. The reverse is true for the BlackJack. I prefer having the 3G service, but that's specific to my lifestyle (if I'm in a hotspot, I usually have my laptop).
Now, of course, the BlackJack doesn't come with any storage for music, but with such a big price difference ($199 BlackJack, $499 iPhone), I'll pick up a Micro SD card and deal.
Oh, and I prefer physical buttons. I can use my phone without looking at it (useful while driving, for instance).
To Apple's credit, the iPhone does look nifty. I like the BlackJack's look, too, though. That's just me.
Not everyone is solely interested in running benchmarks.
Not everyone minds having an (upgradable) box under their desk, either. A FSB hit affects me, because I do many memory intensive operations. Furthermore, most claim Macs are great for media editing, which would absolutely take a hit from this decision. Don't trivialize it by claiming differences only arise from useless benchmarking tests.
What constitutes form and function is very relative. For anyone with a reasonable amount of room under/on their desk, however, this is a functional hit for the sake of a cute form.
Again, this isn't necessarily bad - form over function has its place. Maybe that place is your desk. Nothing wrong with it.
The built-in handle and kid-proof shell of the teardrop iMacs is another example.
Great example. Except that the iMac line now uses the laptop version of the Core 2 Duo (with such features as a 667MHz FSB instead of the usual 1066MHz) because they can't disipate enough heat in the pretty shell. Despite this, it's still a "Faster, Bigger, Brighter Mac."
It's form over function, with qualitative descriptors. Apple does this a lot with their products (Side note: I wandered into the Apple store just the other day and I was told I'd love the MacBook because it has "super fast" wireless).
That doesn't mean they're inherently bad products - some people like that. I don't.
No. Being offtopic doesn't make you a moron. Continuing to argue a point without mentioning that you aren't speaking in the established context does. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe you as someone who doesn't value his time; to me, they're the same.
I guess your highschool education is really holding up well.
I made a random guess about you, so that was a fair shot. I have a graduate degree, though, so I guess we both missed.
I apologize for assuming you were remotely on topic. Next time I'll assume you're a moron from the start, instead of waiting several replies. Enjoy your crappy IT job.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm sure someone else is wondering, too, so I'll ask...
What comment did you hear three hours ago?
I found a source. Too bad for the GP it completely debunks his "theory".
...
...
In short, Microsoft beat out Johnson & Johnson this year to take the top spot in the annual "reputation poll". From the article:
Microsoft toppled Johnson & Johnson and its baby-products business from its seven-year position as the company with the best corporate reputation, according to an annual poll by Harris Interactive and The Wall Street Journal.
Gates' reputation as a corporate leader contributed to an improvement in the company's emotional appeal, the Journal reported. While some respondents faulted Microsoft for bullying its competitors and unfairly monopolizing the software business, the Journal said, that criticism is less "biting and pervasive" than it used to be.
Harris surveyed 7,886 Americans online or by telephone last summer and asked them to name two companies they think have the best reputations, and two that have the worst, the paper said.
It collected the 60 companies mentioned most, and had them rated online by 22,480 Americans, giving them a score and ranking. They were rated on 20 attributes in six categories, including financial performance, social responsibility, emotional appeal and workplace environment, the paper said.
No. The whole "Zune adds DRM to everything" is a myth. If I put songs without DRM on my Zune, they exist on the Zune without DRM. If I reverse sync them, they come off without DRM.
The only time it adds DRM is when you receive a file from someone over wifi. Period.
There's no time for jokes. I'm rushing for a trademark on the name "TinderBook" before Sony snags it.
There have been issues.
Some are recent.
Both are declared "fixed," but it's a bit unsettling. Contact lists and email are one thing, highly sensitive documents are another.
It lacks the camera, and I went a bit over on price, so I "lose", but I was bored. Here's what I got from Dell Inspiron E1505 (first thing I clicked on, didn't try other options):
:)
- 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo w/ 4MB shared L2 cache
- 15.4" Wide Screen XGA
- 2GB RAM*
- 120GB HD*
- 8X double-layer*
- 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400*
- 85WHr 9-cell battery (should exceed 5 hours)
- Bluetooth
- ExpressCard Blutooth remote
Ports are:
- IEEE 1394
- 4-USB 2.0
- 5-in-1 combo card reader
- VGA out
- S-Video out
- Basic audio in/output
Total: $1357
Really just depends on what you value, I suppose. Screen size? Having a camera? Graphics card? The option of a 7200 RPM HD?
Seriously, I'm not arguing. I was just bored and felt like checking it out. Nobody yell at me. It's been a long day
*Exceeds the $1300 MacBook.
I am in college, do have a box running Vista, another running Ubuntu 6.10, and I do also have a Zune. Congratulations. I could also name a dozen things about each that I dislike. Hell, I could name a dozen things about my toaster that I dislike. The difference here that you're missing is that I have *never* claimed to "love" critiquing UIs.
As I said in my post, and perhaps I should have emphasized, is that I'm *not* claiming MacOS10 is a terrible system. It isn't. And if you enjoy using it, that's wonderful for you. I just can't stand people claiming they've tried as hard as possible, and have nothing negative to report on it. Try harder, or don't claim to have tried at all.
Many of your responses regarding my UI issues are work arounds, if that. With regard to viewing instances of applications, I shouldn't have to interact with keystrokes or have applications minimized to get this information. In terms of application launching, I hadn't heard of Quicksilver, but I'm not really impressed if a (non-free) system can become more usable with add-ons. The dual-head issue remains at large.
OS X generally does nothing but make my life easier.
/. do), and you have an application open on the secondary screen, where is the menu bar? It's still on the top of the primary display. To click "file" (or whatever menu you'd like), you get to sling your mouse across displays. I do hope the second monitor came with some wrist guards to protect against carpel tunnel.
You seriously have to try to not be able to name one thing that pisses you off. I'm not saying it's a terrible UI (although I don't particularly like it), but you lose credibility when you come across as blissfully ignorant. Off the top of the head of someone who rarely even uses MacOS10:
1) How much information do you get on each instance of each application you have open by glancing at your screen? Open 15 Word documents, 27 instances of Safari, 32 PDFs, and you'll get three tiny, black triangles. That's it.
2) What happens if you don't have a shortcut on the dock for an application you need to open? Count the clicks you need to make for this, and don't forget your large back of counting beans.
3) While on the topic, how much space do you waste by having the dock display *every* application you regularly need at all times? Yes, you can make the dock miserably small. Yes, you can have the dock auto-hide. But yes, there are many better implementations of this functionality in other interfaces (Gnome/KDE/Windows, for example).
4) If you have a dual-head system setup (as I think many of us on
As I said, I rarely use Macs, and even I can spout off a few major UI irritants when prompted. No UI is perfect, but you can't claim to "love studying the various aspects of UI's that make [your] life easier or harder" and have nothing negative to report without coming off like a complete fanboy.
Seriously? That's all it takes to get "insightful"? C'mon... lets at least pretend we're balanced.
Anyone else find it ironic that someone against calling wellfare people lazy doesn't bother to type all *three* letters in the word "you"?
Have you run Vista at all?
Have you run Vista at all? You don't get UAC for any of your examples. Literally. Zero.
I'm typing this on Vista Ultimate RTM. I get UAC when I install an application, install drivers, or change an important setting (e.g. firewall). In general, this happens about once a week, and all of these are events I'd like to know about.
Christ, thank you. That was well put, and you saved me the trouble of a long (probably frustrated) response of my own.
I'm sitting at my Vista box. I enjoy it, as I do my Linux machine.
Different tasks, different tools.
Being in college means I don't work for Microsoft. I have never received any payment, "scripts" to read, or freebies. And yet, I still like the product.
Push it all you like, but I'm a person without allegiances who uses products he enjoys. Nothing more, nothing less.
I'm also perfectly fine with others not liking Vista. People can have different preferences without one side being the result of some evil scheme (e.g. astroturfing).
Turning product choices into religious wars is pathetic. Given that you post as AC when doing it, I'd guess you already know that.
I'm in college, and I like the product. Just because you disagree doesn't change my intentions. Nice try.
I entirely agree. I'd like to cast my vote as someone who has Vista running on a home desktop and laptop and is extremely pleased with the product. My girlfriend just got a laptop with it pre-installed, and is in love with it.
Vista is attractive (IMO), I have had zero issues with hardware (my girlfriend plugged in her old printer and Vista installed the correct drivers in a flash - it "just worked"), zero issues with stability, and zero issues with my software (my girlfriend even uses iTunes without a hitch). You can look at features and say it offers little that is overly revolutionary, but it really just feels better to use than XP.
Like my girlfriend, once average users get a taste of it, they ignore the media FUD. It's really rather pleasant to use.
Oh, and after installing my applications, I get UAC perhaps twice a week. One of those is because Acrobat is obnoxiously trying to silently update itself.
When do we start clamoring for laws against Oxygen-Hydrogen combining...
Seriously. Especially after what it did to Fire, I'd expect people to recognize Oxygen-Hydrogen's intentions as what they really are: "embrace, extend, extenguish."
Should Wallmart be forced to allow K-Mart to sell goods via the Wallmart checkout systems?
Okay, that's it. I'm calling for a "Shitty analogy" score to be created on Slashdot.
And moderators, I'm not joking. If you mod me as Funny, that would be as inappropriate as someone hating all black people at the supermarket because they might buy a Ford with exploding tires. Which, btw, is the same as the latest XP patch.
Seriously. Think about it.
... every Vista Ready PC we've tested with Vista [RC1] hasn't failed to even launch Media Player to play a DVD with out crashing... I'll be sticking with my PowerBook.
Are you sure you didn't not mean to un-say you'll not be leaving your un-low-Power-not-not-Book?
Apart from the eye candy, i don't see how this is anything revolutionary.
I agree. I recently purchased a Samsung BlackJack, and I'm a bit disappointed by the iPhone. I was hoping to be blown away (as I can still return the BlackJack). Here's how they stack up in the areas I care most about:
Dimensions:
Blackjack (inches): 4.45 x 2.32 x 0.46
iPhone (inches): 4.50 x 2.40 x 0.46
Weight:
BlackJack: 3.5 ounces
iPhone: 4.8 ounces
Advertised battery life (talk time):
BlackJack: 5.5 hours
iPhone: 5.0 hours
Camera (I don't really care, but the iPhone leads, so I'll give it):
BlackJack: 1.3 megapixel
iPhone: 2.0 megapixel
Both have push email. The iPhone isn't 3G, but it has 802.11b/g. The reverse is true for the BlackJack. I prefer having the 3G service, but that's specific to my lifestyle (if I'm in a hotspot, I usually have my laptop).
Now, of course, the BlackJack doesn't come with any storage for music, but with such a big price difference ($199 BlackJack, $499 iPhone), I'll pick up a Micro SD card and deal.
Oh, and I prefer physical buttons. I can use my phone without looking at it (useful while driving, for instance).
To Apple's credit, the iPhone does look nifty. I like the BlackJack's look, too, though. That's just me.
PS - Sources:
BlackJack specs
iPhone specs
Not everyone is solely interested in running benchmarks.
Not everyone minds having an (upgradable) box under their desk, either. A FSB hit affects me, because I do many memory intensive operations. Furthermore, most claim Macs are great for media editing, which would absolutely take a hit from this decision. Don't trivialize it by claiming differences only arise from useless benchmarking tests.
What constitutes form and function is very relative. For anyone with a reasonable amount of room under/on their desk, however, this is a functional hit for the sake of a cute form.
Again, this isn't necessarily bad - form over function has its place. Maybe that place is your desk. Nothing wrong with it.
The built-in handle and kid-proof shell of the teardrop iMacs is another example.
Great example. Except that the iMac line now uses the laptop version of the Core 2 Duo (with such features as a 667MHz FSB instead of the usual 1066MHz) because they can't disipate enough heat in the pretty shell. Despite this, it's still a "Faster, Bigger, Brighter Mac."
It's form over function, with qualitative descriptors. Apple does this a lot with their products (Side note: I wandered into the Apple store just the other day and I was told I'd love the MacBook because it has "super fast" wireless).
That doesn't mean they're inherently bad products - some people like that. I don't.
I guess we both got caught up in arguing for the sake of it.
Well put. I really couldn't agree more, and I'm glad we've risen above it.
Your message makes you the better man
I also abandoned the "constructive path" first, so we'll call it even.
Happy Slashdotting, Sir.
No. Being offtopic doesn't make you a moron. Continuing to argue a point without mentioning that you aren't speaking in the established context does. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe you as someone who doesn't value his time; to me, they're the same.
I guess your highschool education is really holding up well.
I made a random guess about you, so that was a fair shot. I have a graduate degree, though, so I guess we both missed.
Agree to disagree. Have a good one.
I apologize for assuming you were remotely on topic. Next time I'll assume you're a moron from the start, instead of waiting several replies. Enjoy your crappy IT job.
I might be considered a fanboy of one of these companies, and it's not Apple
You're a fanboy of Forrester and Gartner, too?!?