Problem is that the you are not (usually) the hardware manufacture's customer. The carrier is and from a hardware manufacture's point of view, why should they spend any money on getting a new version of the OS onto an already sold and accounted for phone?
Because GOOGLE should be creating a licensing agreement that FORCES them to.
But GOOGLE doesn't care about you any more than the OEM or Carrier does.
Think about it. Google could solve this with the stroke of a pen. It's their baby; they control the licensing, period.
But 2.2, 2.3 or 4.1 all return ad hits to Google quite nicely, thank you; so why SHOULD they care?
...enabling users to upgrade the devices themselves? And actually forcing all carriers to open source everything?
I'm not trying to start a flame war, honest!
BUT...
Please tell me how those two things will help; when the real problem needs to be "solved" once and for all by Google "manning up" and telling the device makers AND THE CARRIERS that, as part of the Android Licensing Agreement for OEMs (I assume there IS one of those), they HAVE to agree to provide free updates within days of the release of new versions of Android, for say, three years. That would put them approximately on-par with iOS.
To make things practical, there would unfortunately have to be a "wiggle room" clause that would allow the OEMs (BUT NOT THE CARRIERS) to NOT "bring forward" certain OS features that would be impractical to implement on a PARTICULAR device, with a "push back" mechanism to keep OEMs from simply using that as an excuse not to create upgrades.
I think they are ultimately doing this with powershell, and the windows servers that will have no GUI. As they separate design and function more they will be able to deploy multiple UI on a solid core.
I just GOTTA ask: Why would MS remove (or rather not add) their GUI to their server products? Is it an attempt to get some street cred with the Linux crowd's Computer Priesthood? That's the ONLY reason I can see for not having at least a GUI AVAILABLE (maybe they do, I don't know. The Server 2008 R2 machines I work with seem to have a GUI). But this day and age, with CPUs having a zillion cores and even simple desktop machines (let alone server-class computers) having more RAM than existed in the entire world just a couple of decades ago, there is just no excuse (other than fostering the Computer Priesthood) to make people have to type incantations into some 1950's command-line.
For dell that might be true but traditionally that's far from the truth for HP. HP has made tons of advancement in printing for example. HP employes (or employed) tons of R&D people. Sadly I fear meg whitman is running them into the ground.
Yeah. Pretty sad for a company who's catchphrase is a simple directive: "Invent."
Also very sad for a company founded in 1939, and whose name used to be synonymous with high-level electronic test gear and other very innovative products.
Sure, but none of the manufacturers even tried to pick up on the tablet form factor.
And quite honestly, the app store does more harm than good to software. We have an app for that, it's called the web. Now I'll grant you that users may want stupefied walled gardens rather than the more chaotic open download from anywhere windows world. But that was never MS's business and they are only slowing coming around to that idea, and reluctantly at that, and rightfully so.
People (not slashdot readers) generally have better things to do than to scour the web for software. This why aggregator sites, such as C-Net, VersionTracker and MacUpdate became popular. So, Apple just took that to the next level, and built their own aggregator site.
In the case of iOS, however, they went a step further, and said "We are creating a site where you can rest assured that the software is safe as we can tell; and, since we don't want to get a reputation as a malware-infested platform (cough..Android..cough), for iOS devices, we are going to restrict your software choices to those on the App Store."
Overwhelmingly, PEOPLE (not slashdotters) said "That sounds like a GREAT idea! I HATE running all over the web looking for software, and THEN worrying that I am actually downloading something that will take over my machine, steal my data, etc."
Is it a perfect compromise? No. But I think that the amount of malware on Android vs. iOS clearly shows that it is the BEST compromise for PEOPLE (but not some slashdotters).
As a slashdotizen, you always have to keep in mind that we represent a vanishingly small (and getting smaller) group of people that still want to work ON their computing devices, instead of working WITH them.
As Microsoft said in the surface announcement, the opportunity to design both the hardware and the software together so that they work together the most completely is the ultimate ideal. The silicon can be improved to work around hardware difficulties, and vice versa. HP and Dell can't do that. Apple and Android manufacturers can.
Except Microsoft neatly demonstrated that they can't do it either, when the theoretically nearly-done Surface couldn't even respond to a simple swipe gesture.
And Android MANUFACTURERS don't (at least not usually), since the OS, at least in the case of Android Phones, is bastardized beyond recognition by nearly ALL phone carriers.
And Apple will make your screen like those 80s mirror glasses and call it a feature.
ORLY?
Then explain THIS Press Release, which says, in part "The Retina display uses IPS technology for a 178-degree wide viewing angle, and has 75 percent less reflection and 29 percent higher contrast than the previous generation." (which verbage was pretty much duplicated in Phil Schiller's demo of the MBPwRD at WWDC last week.
But you just go on spewin' that Apple Hate. Afterall, you came to the right place (Slashdot).
Also, Moth-Eye AG coatings existed before Sony's Patent. Here's one that has been a PRODUCT since at least 2008. And that took exactly 5 seconds of Google search. There may be even earlier examples. So, what's all this about a PATENT again?
True... and Apple is becoming famous for making us pay for what we already have, and as a consequence, stifling any growth that would come from existing technology. They are an embarrasment to tech, even if they do put out a shiny well crafted piece.
WTF are you talking about? Are you really serious?
Let's break your unsubstantiated remarks one phrase at a time:
Apple is becoming famous for making us pay for what we already have
What are you talking about? iTunes? Seriously? And how is Apple different in that regard from, say Amazon? You don't have to repurchase your 30 year old copy of Sgt. Peppers, you could have sucked it right up into iTunes (or whatever player you wanted) from your barely-playable vinyl copy (if your turntable still worked...).
Rip. Mix. Burn. Remember who's ad campaign that was?
stifling any growth that would come from existing technology.
You're serious, right? You do realize, of course, that you're talking about the same company who won a Grammy Award in 2002 for "outstanding technical contributions to the music industry and recording field. This is the first Technical GRAMMY ever awarded to a PC company."
How is that stifling growth that would come from existing technology? The technology existed; Apple just made it accessible to many, many more people. How is that "stifling" anything?
They are an embarrasment to tech
Again; you simply cannot be serious!
Not only is this yet another wholly unsubstantiated statement; but, it is belied by even your own very next statement, and I quote: "even if they do put out a shiny well crafted piece." (emphasis mine).
Do I really have to say anything more? The first and second clauses of your sentence cannot both be true. And consideringtheseveraltechindustryawards they have received, I would venture that your statement about them being an "embarrassment" to anything is quite laughable, and in fact is an embarrassment... To you!
iTunes Genius is exactly that service. It suggests music you may like based on profiling your listening habits.
So? That's from you, to you. No privacy violation.
It gathers data about what you listen to, and uses your habits to suggest songs to other service users.
Anonymized habits. Again, So?
Ever hear of the "Hot 100" or "Top 40" on popular Radio Stations like, since forever? How do you think they figure out what songs to put on that list? Have you never been influenced in the slightest by movie, music or game reviews? Have you never bought anything because you liked the "customer feedback" comments?
And it's built in to every iPhone, iPod, and iPad they ship.
Um, Genius has a SWITCH on it, ya know, and in fact, it comes set to OFF by default, as denoted by this line from page 40 of the iOS 5.1 manual for iPod Touch: "To use Genius on iPod touch, first turn on Genius in iTunes"... I personally keep mine set to OFF; but you may be too stupid for that, and instead prefer to whine NEEDLESSLY...
Its an old game.
The NSA can shape crypto that has mass usage i.e. it was on your computer for free, or you downloaded the most popular/easy to use gui software.
They can create their own front company.
They can be in on the creation of a company with a good brand...
As people have noted, use a one time pad or a set of face to face terms that can be seen around the world in a passive way.
Its their telco system, the world wide wiretap - why anything has changed or any software is now 'safe' is not really the right question.
You are absolutely correct. One-time pads are really the only secure crypto. Pretty much always will be.
AES 128 (not 192 or 256!!!) is a pretty close second, if all you need is encryption that only matters for a short period of time. For example, Battlefield radios could be encrypted with AES 128, because it really doesn't matter if you can decrypt the messages in a few weeks, or even in a few hours. Messages are secure for the timespan they are needed.
I "like" the term "World Wide Wiretap". Very apropos, Aldous...
Just get an Air, and forget about the "fixing it" part;... And as I said, both are unlikely to be fixed by YOU on the road; but at least with the Air, there is the possibility of having an Apple Store in the area, where it CAN be fixed.
Or even better, get an Ultralight laptop for about half the price (or a netbook for even less). If it breaks, you can buy another one pretty much anywhere in the world and still have not spent more than for a MacBook Air.
Except for that pesky "Now I'm 7,000 miles away from my OS, apps and data" thing...
Well, in Apple's case they just gave all the people with 32-bit chips the finger, and therefore they don't have to keep building two versions of their OS to support both the 32-bit and 64-bit chips.
If you're talking about Mountain Lion, well then, yeah; but how long has it been since Apple shipped a CoreDuo system? 2007, I think. That's five years. Meh. And that was only for those who bought the lowest-end MacBook and 'mini, and only for 1 iteration. That's a pretty small percentage of machines that were just barely Lion-compatible. Everything else has been 64-bit capable. It's time for Apple to make OS X 64-bit "clean".
But even up through Lion (can't say for sure about Mountain Lion), I'm fairly sure Apple DOES support both 32 and 64 bit EVERYTHING, Let me check. BRB...
Yes, it does, and interestingly enough, you can even select which kernel you start with.
But Lion MAY be the end of the line for 32-bit, period. Doesn't mean your existing Mac running even Lion won't work for 32 bit; but the solution gets a little more kludgy if you want to run Mountain Lion...
The rules appear to be that the 64-bit OS X kernel WILL run 32-bit apps; but NOT 32-bit kexts; so, if an app relies upon a 32-bit kext; it's SOL. But most applications don't muck about in the kernel (any app you can Drag-Install, f'rinstance) SHOULD be ok to go...
You're wrong. PGP was never Open Source (in the sense of free to modify) when it was commercial, however all the code was available for anyone to download and test, at least until Symantec bought it a couple years ago. PRZ had next to nothing to do with the product after NetAss bought it and nothing other than advisory when it was in it's second corporate incarnation.
I stand corrected. You're right; it wasn't Open Source. It's source was available for inspection and testing.
But I still don't trust the commercial versions, at the very least. On that, we most certainly agree.
I repaired my old Dell D505 several times whilst on the road - new keyboard, battery, RAM, HDD, and even backlight inverter. Usually when I was somewhere in Asia. Retired that thing 3 years ago, and so far my new HP hasn't had a problem... It's definitely easy to repair things on the road provided you have a few screwdrivers, the will/resourcefulness to engage the local spare-parts community, and nothing proprietary.
However, you realize you are describing something like.01% of the computing public, right? If that.
Just because someone can dream about cobbling together a stupid system running Linux, when a simple MacBook Air running Linux AND OS X (and maybe even Windows) would serve him well, DOESN'T mean he knows which end of the soldering iron to hold, hardware-wise!
My MacBook Pro. Though, I travel with a backpack with an assorted number of interesting and useful cables, including a SATA/IDE -> USB converter, and the iFixit toolkit.
Doesn't the TSA worry that you'll hijack the plane with the iFixit SPUDGER, LOL?!?
I was flying with my sister and her laptop wouldn't boot after all the rough handling. At 10,000 feet I pulled out a screwdriver and opened up her laptop, pressed a few cables to tighten their connection, and her laptop worked again.
I'd say that counts as fixing a computer myself while traveling.
I assume this was BEFORE the TSA?
BTW, that would have been fairly exciting if you'd shorted out the battery while playing Mr. Fixit in a completely inappropriate setting...
Slashdot Mirror
Problem is that the you are not (usually) the hardware manufacture's customer. The carrier is and from a hardware manufacture's point of view, why should they spend any money on getting a new version of the OS onto an already sold and accounted for phone?
Because GOOGLE should be creating a licensing agreement that FORCES them to.
But GOOGLE doesn't care about you any more than the OEM or Carrier does.
Think about it. Google could solve this with the stroke of a pen. It's their baby; they control the licensing, period.
But 2.2, 2.3 or 4.1 all return ad hits to Google quite nicely, thank you; so why SHOULD they care?
...enabling users to upgrade the devices themselves? And actually forcing all carriers to open source everything?
I'm not trying to start a flame war, honest!
BUT...
Please tell me how those two things will help; when the real problem needs to be "solved" once and for all by Google "manning up" and telling the device makers AND THE CARRIERS that, as part of the Android Licensing Agreement for OEMs (I assume there IS one of those), they HAVE to agree to provide free updates within days of the release of new versions of Android, for say, three years. That would put them approximately on-par with iOS.
To make things practical, there would unfortunately have to be a "wiggle room" clause that would allow the OEMs (BUT NOT THE CARRIERS) to NOT "bring forward" certain OS features that would be impractical to implement on a PARTICULAR device, with a "push back" mechanism to keep OEMs from simply using that as an excuse not to create upgrades.
There. Problem solved! Wasn't that easy?
Microsoft is always late to the party. They are just another "me too" company.
i.e.
http://www.dwheeler.com/innovation/microsoft.html [dwheeler.com]
And who can forget this ?
And BTW, Mountain Lion is going to be $20. I think that officially qualifies as "reasonable" to nearly anyone but die-hard neckbeards.
Aha, so this is why they sold more PCs last year than apple has sold IOS devices in it's entire lifetime?
Who's the "They"? Certainly not Microsoft. They don't even make a Personal Computer.
I think they are ultimately doing this with powershell, and the windows servers that will have no GUI. As they separate design and function more they will be able to deploy multiple UI on a solid core.
I just GOTTA ask: Why would MS remove (or rather not add) their GUI to their server products? Is it an attempt to get some street cred with the Linux crowd's Computer Priesthood? That's the ONLY reason I can see for not having at least a GUI AVAILABLE (maybe they do, I don't know. The Server 2008 R2 machines I work with seem to have a GUI). But this day and age, with CPUs having a zillion cores and even simple desktop machines (let alone server-class computers) having more RAM than existed in the entire world just a couple of decades ago, there is just no excuse (other than fostering the Computer Priesthood) to make people have to type incantations into some 1950's command-line.
Seriously. Aren't we kinda past all that?
For dell that might be true but traditionally that's far from the truth for HP. HP has made tons of advancement in printing for example. HP employes (or employed) tons of R&D people. Sadly I fear meg whitman is running them into the ground.
Yeah. Pretty sad for a company who's catchphrase is a simple directive: "Invent."
Also very sad for a company founded in 1939, and whose name used to be synonymous with high-level electronic test gear and other very innovative products.
Sure, but none of the manufacturers even tried to pick up on the tablet form factor.
And quite honestly, the app store does more harm than good to software. We have an app for that, it's called the web. Now I'll grant you that users may want stupefied walled gardens rather than the more chaotic open download from anywhere windows world. But that was never MS's business and they are only slowing coming around to that idea, and reluctantly at that, and rightfully so.
People (not slashdot readers) generally have better things to do than to scour the web for software. This why aggregator sites, such as C-Net, VersionTracker and MacUpdate became popular. So, Apple just took that to the next level, and built their own aggregator site.
In the case of iOS, however, they went a step further, and said "We are creating a site where you can rest assured that the software is safe as we can tell; and, since we don't want to get a reputation as a malware-infested platform (cough..Android..cough), for iOS devices, we are going to restrict your software choices to those on the App Store."
Overwhelmingly, PEOPLE (not slashdotters) said "That sounds like a GREAT idea! I HATE running all over the web looking for software, and THEN worrying that I am actually downloading something that will take over my machine, steal my data, etc."
Is it a perfect compromise? No. But I think that the amount of malware on Android vs. iOS clearly shows that it is the BEST compromise for PEOPLE (but not some slashdotters).
As a slashdotizen, you always have to keep in mind that we represent a vanishingly small (and getting smaller) group of people that still want to work ON their computing devices, instead of working WITH them.
As Microsoft said in the surface announcement, the opportunity to design both the hardware and the software together so that they work together the most completely is the ultimate ideal. The silicon can be improved to work around hardware difficulties, and vice versa. HP and Dell can't do that. Apple and Android manufacturers can.
Except Microsoft neatly demonstrated that they can't do it either, when the theoretically nearly-done Surface couldn't even respond to a simple swipe gesture.
And Android MANUFACTURERS don't (at least not usually), since the OS, at least in the case of Android Phones, is bastardized beyond recognition by nearly ALL phone carriers.
So that leaves... Apple.
As apple's history shows, getting the big idea wrong results in bankruptcy.
Did I miss something?
When did Apple declare bankruptcy? Ever?
Stream. Rip. Burn.
(Except nobody bothers with the "Burn" part anymore...)
And Apple will make your screen like those 80s mirror glasses and call it a feature.
ORLY?
Then explain THIS Press Release, which says, in part "The Retina display uses IPS technology for a 178-degree wide viewing angle, and has 75 percent less reflection and 29 percent higher contrast than the previous generation." (which verbage was pretty much duplicated in Phil Schiller's demo of the MBPwRD at WWDC last week.
But you just go on spewin' that Apple Hate. Afterall, you came to the right place (Slashdot).
Also, Moth-Eye AG coatings existed before Sony's Patent. Here's one that has been a PRODUCT since at least 2008. And that took exactly 5 seconds of Google search. There may be even earlier examples. So, what's all this about a PATENT again?
True... and Apple is becoming famous for making us pay for what we already have, and as a consequence, stifling any growth that would come from existing technology. They are an embarrasment to tech, even if they do put out a shiny well crafted piece.
WTF are you talking about? Are you really serious?
Let's break your unsubstantiated remarks one phrase at a time:
Apple is becoming famous for making us pay for what we already have
What are you talking about? iTunes? Seriously? And how is Apple different in that regard from, say Amazon? You don't have to repurchase your 30 year old copy of Sgt. Peppers, you could have sucked it right up into iTunes (or whatever player you wanted) from your barely-playable vinyl copy (if your turntable still worked...).
Rip. Mix. Burn. Remember who's ad campaign that was?
stifling any growth that would come from existing technology.
You're serious, right? You do realize, of course, that you're talking about the same company who won a Grammy Award in 2002 for "outstanding technical contributions to the music industry and recording field. This is the first Technical GRAMMY ever awarded to a PC company."
How is that stifling growth that would come from existing technology? The technology existed; Apple just made it accessible to many, many more people. How is that "stifling" anything?
They are an embarrasment to tech
Again; you simply cannot be serious!
Not only is this yet another wholly unsubstantiated statement; but, it is belied by even your own very next statement, and I quote: "even if they do put out a shiny well crafted piece." (emphasis mine).
Do I really have to say anything more? The first and second clauses of your sentence cannot both be true. And considering the several tech industry awards they have received, I would venture that your statement about them being an "embarrassment" to anything is quite laughable, and in fact is an embarrassment... To you!
iTunes Genius is exactly that service. It suggests music you may like based on profiling your listening habits.
So? That's from you, to you. No privacy violation.
It gathers data about what you listen to, and uses your habits to suggest songs to other service users.
Anonymized habits. Again, So?
Ever hear of the "Hot 100" or "Top 40" on popular Radio Stations like, since forever? How do you think they figure out what songs to put on that list? Have you never been influenced in the slightest by movie, music or game reviews? Have you never bought anything because you liked the "customer feedback" comments?
And it's built in to every iPhone, iPod, and iPad they ship.
Um, Genius has a SWITCH on it, ya know, and in fact, it comes set to OFF by default, as denoted by this line from page 40 of the iOS 5.1 manual for iPod Touch: "To use Genius on iPod touch, first turn on Genius in iTunes"... I personally keep mine set to OFF; but you may be too stupid for that, and instead prefer to whine NEEDLESSLY...
Now fuck off, you waste of bandwidth!
Apple has a patent to fool bots that aggregate people's data.
Interesting how even this can be spun to something negative.
I was wondering how many posts I'd have to read before someone did exactly that.
It was four.
Apple wins by default, defendants didn't turn up to court.
And so who do they collect from?
Its an old game. The NSA can shape crypto that has mass usage i.e. it was on your computer for free, or you downloaded the most popular/easy to use gui software. They can create their own front company. They can be in on the creation of a company with a good brand ...
As people have noted, use a one time pad or a set of face to face terms that can be seen around the world in a passive way.
Its their telco system, the world wide wiretap - why anything has changed or any software is now 'safe' is not really the right question.
You are absolutely correct. One-time pads are really the only secure crypto. Pretty much always will be.
AES 128 (not 192 or 256!!!) is a pretty close second, if all you need is encryption that only matters for a short period of time. For example, Battlefield radios could be encrypted with AES 128, because it really doesn't matter if you can decrypt the messages in a few weeks, or even in a few hours. Messages are secure for the timespan they are needed.
I "like" the term "World Wide Wiretap". Very apropos, Aldous...
Or even better, get an Ultralight laptop for about half the price (or a netbook for even less). If it breaks, you can buy another one pretty much anywhere in the world and still have not spent more than for a MacBook Air.
Except for that pesky "Now I'm 7,000 miles away from my OS, apps and data" thing...
Fucking moron. THINK ABOUT THE APPLICATION!!!
Well, in Apple's case they just gave all the people with 32-bit chips the finger, and therefore they don't have to keep building two versions of their OS to support both the 32-bit and 64-bit chips.
If you're talking about Mountain Lion, well then, yeah; but how long has it been since Apple shipped a CoreDuo system? 2007, I think. That's five years. Meh. And that was only for those who bought the lowest-end MacBook and 'mini, and only for 1 iteration. That's a pretty small percentage of machines that were just barely Lion-compatible. Everything else has been 64-bit capable. It's time for Apple to make OS X 64-bit "clean".
But even up through Lion (can't say for sure about Mountain Lion), I'm fairly sure Apple DOES support both 32 and 64 bit EVERYTHING, Let me check. BRB...
Yes, it does, and interestingly enough, you can even select which kernel you start with. But Lion MAY be the end of the line for 32-bit, period. Doesn't mean your existing Mac running even Lion won't work for 32 bit; but the solution gets a little more kludgy if you want to run Mountain Lion...
The rules appear to be that the 64-bit OS X kernel WILL run 32-bit apps; but NOT 32-bit kexts; so, if an app relies upon a 32-bit kext; it's SOL. But most applications don't muck about in the kernel (any app you can Drag-Install, f'rinstance) SHOULD be ok to go...
You're wrong. PGP was never Open Source (in the sense of free to modify) when it was commercial, however all the code was available for anyone to download and test, at least until Symantec bought it a couple years ago. PRZ had next to nothing to do with the product after NetAss bought it and nothing other than advisory when it was in it's second corporate incarnation.
I stand corrected. You're right; it wasn't Open Source. It's source was available for inspection and testing.
But I still don't trust the commercial versions, at the very least. On that, we most certainly agree.
Not condescending; just correct. At least for a large range of users, even the ones who read and post on /.
I repaired my old Dell D505 several times whilst on the road - new keyboard, battery, RAM, HDD, and even backlight inverter. Usually when I was somewhere in Asia. Retired that thing 3 years ago, and so far my new HP hasn't had a problem... It's definitely easy to repair things on the road provided you have a few screwdrivers, the will/resourcefulness to engage the local spare-parts community, and nothing proprietary.
However, you realize you are describing something like .01% of the computing public, right? If that.
Just because someone can dream about cobbling together a stupid system running Linux, when a simple MacBook Air running Linux AND OS X (and maybe even Windows) would serve him well, DOESN'T mean he knows which end of the soldering iron to hold, hardware-wise!
Haha, very clever!
My MacBook Pro. Though, I travel with a backpack with an assorted number of interesting and useful cables, including a SATA/IDE -> USB converter, and the iFixit toolkit.
Doesn't the TSA worry that you'll hijack the plane with the iFixit SPUDGER, LOL?!?
Sorry, couldn't resist!
I was flying with my sister and her laptop wouldn't boot after all the rough handling. At 10,000 feet I pulled out a screwdriver and opened up her laptop, pressed a few cables to tighten their connection, and her laptop worked again.
I'd say that counts as fixing a computer myself while traveling.
I assume this was BEFORE the TSA?
BTW, that would have been fairly exciting if you'd shorted out the battery while playing Mr. Fixit in a completely inappropriate setting...
Moron.
I've done HDD replacements and RAM upgrades on the go before.
Or, you can just get an Air, and not have to worry about replacing an HD (and oh, BTW, just how did you RELOAD that HD "on the go")...
I assume you DON'T carry a copy of your entire s/w and OS while on-the-go. But again, with an SSD, those problems vanish.