In an ideal world sure. In the world in which I live I can update the firmware in my Mac so that it copes with a flawed router at starbucks or my hotel or a clients office, I can't update the firmware at starbucks, the hotel, or a clients office.
So, just how many different buggy products must Apple provide workarounds for?
Finally, all this assumes Apple actually followed the standard and its all these vendors with horrific buggy systems. Quite bluntly, Apple is not perfect, and it would be absurd to presume they got everything right, and its all these other vendors who keep getting it wrong. Some of the technical blame lies at apples feet.
Apple historically has a pretty damn stellar track record as far as implementing standards as written. Please provide a citation that shows that Apple's firmware has actually not implemented WiFi protocols correctly (not just that it won't work with router X).
And some of the blame that genuinely lies at the feet of other vendors COULD be resolved by Apple if it were so inclined. And it SHOULD take ownership of solving these issues when it can. Customers want laptops that 'just work'; that's what they keep promising.
Sorry. Programming around other people's inability to implement a standard is a no-win situation. It becomes a never-ending cycle of break/fix/break/fix/break... between the various peripheral manufacturers and Apple.
And above all, in my experience, a lot of the problems could be resolved within a subset of the standard. Often a standard specifies behavior X, and a device doesn't implement this properly, and windows isn't affected because it never requests behavior X. If that's the case, Apple could make their software work too with all these devices, by simply avoiding feature X. Note that by doing this Apple would STILL be following the standard to the letter.
I repeat: If the standard specifies that a behavior is allowable, then the onus is not on the person that expected to be able to use that behavior. Oh, and btw, if just one or two (or even 3 or 4) peripheral manufacturers fail to implement the standard, then do you disallow the behavior? So, when does it end?
Now the problem with 802.11n is unique; in that, products were already on the market with various and sundry attempts to implement a "standard" that really wasn't cooked yet. So, Apple implements the draft standard, then updates it to the final standard; but is everyone else as diligent? How about the users? How many of them even know that you can update the firmware in their WiFi router, let alone know how to do it? And speaking of which, there are LEGIONS of devices out there that simply don't PROVIDE a way for a MAC user to update the firmware in their product. The updaters are nearly ALWAYS Windows-only.
Of course, the consumer never knows that until long after they've bought the piece of shit. I've been burnt with that a few times, myself. So again, that's Apple's fault?
Note that people report that, in an environment with Apple (Airport Extreme) WiFi routers, that ALL devices (not just Apple's) work GREAT. So, maybe, just maybe, it IS the third-party routers with their buggy firmware afterall, eh?
It was only until last month I decided to take my Netgear apart, to find there was no third antenna, so I installed a third one. I'm currently on the other side of my house to the router, and enjoying 108Mb/s on my Mac.
Hmmm. So it seems that the problem:
1. Wasn't a "firmware" issue.
2. Was a hardware problem with the router, that the Mac seemed to be less tolerant of (so what?)
3. Was not a problem with the Mac at all.
Re:Other solutions to the wifi problem
on
iPad Progress Report
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· Score: 1, Insightful
I have no idea what the problem actually was either, but lets assume its a defect of the router software. Even if that's the case the fault is still on the macbook, in my opinion. The windows PCs worked. The Mac could have been programmed so that it worked too.
Even if the actual defect was the router software, the Mac should have coped with it.
You do realize, of course, that many peripheral manufacturers not only test against Windows ONLY; but also silently program around bugs in Microsoft's implementations of standards in general.
Apple is absolutely correct to follow the published standard to the letter. Afterall, isn't that why it's called a STANDARD?
(the native Apple developers couldn't code their way out of a cardboard box when it comes to a multi-user multitasking OS- they spent millions proving that in the 90's)
BZZZT! Wrong!
It was more like the scope of the project (Pink, Taligent, Copland, Gershwin, Rhapsody) kept growing and being re-defined. But I'm sure that is a concept that is completely foreign to most devs. that read/. And BTW, did you know about the other big names that failed on the way to OS X?
This remark exemplifies the fucked-up attitude that a large percentage of/.ers have about "The common folk."
Ask your mom to whip out a text editor and write from scratch even the simplest of web pages. Unless she is an HTML coder, I guarantee you will get a "What have you been smoking (again)?" look.
Seriously, I know PLENTY of software engineers, let alone people in the "everyone" category, who couldn't write a single executable HTML command, let ALONE comprehend the incredibly overcomplicated horseshit syntax that is HTML. You are dangerously deluded if you think that you can collar 1 in 100 people on the street that can code HTML.
Now go back to playing your pissant little video games, you ignorant, arrogant, clueless fucktard.
It's still a good idea. With bookmarks you can't "open in new window".
Actually, with "desktop" Safari, you can (everywhere but the Bookmarks Menu).
You can either "Show All Bookmarks" (which has a keyboard shortcut), then select the bookmark and Right Click (yes, Macs have had that since System 8.5) and select "Open In a New Window" (there is a "tab" one, too) from the pop-up contextual menu; or if a bookmark is on the "Bookmarks Bar", you can simply Right Click on it and select "Open In a New Window" (there is a "tab" one there, too) from the pop-up contextual menu.
No expandability, no USB ports, no flash-card reader...these are things that would be very trivial to add from both a cost and engineering perspective, yet are still lacking.
Actually, they aren't exactly "trivial" in either cost or engineering considerations.
The PHY and connector aren't that cheap for USB (in fact, connectors in general are often one of the more expensive things on a BOM), and then there's the additional power supply voltages (remember, the USB spec requires 500mA of +5VDC to be available to external devices, and anyone who has had a power-hungry USB memory stick knows the fun of getting a "Low Power" message). That power has to be developed somehow, so now we have a little DC-DC inverter or some other power supply, since the iPad internals probably don't use +5V intrinsically (it's probably a 1.8V or maybe even a.9V design).
As for the card reader, again, the connector isn't all that cheap (if you want one that will last more than a few weeks), but with the SD card, it's about the 7 to 9 circuit board traces (don't even talk about that slow-ass SPI mode!), and the space they take up as they make their way over to the microcontroller, then the pins on the MCU necessary to use those traces for the SD interface, and the traces to-from the necessary pullup resistors. In case you hadn't noticed, the main board of the iPad is pretty frickin' small. This board would have to get larger, or grow another layer (both of which add cost), to add that feature.
Now, add that to the 30 pins of the Dock connector. Those have to be dealt with, also. And before you say "Well, since the Dock connector already has USB on it, why don't you just pull those traces over?", that ignores the fact that, if someone did that, INSTANTLY a user would try to use "both USB ports" simultaneously. So, either Apple would have to then add a "hub" controller, or, or, or WHAT?
And in both cases, we haven't even addressed the extra hardware and design considerations necessary to address the ESD protection that would have to be added to both interfaces to protect the A4 microcontroller.
So no, it isn't exactly "trivial" in cost or engineering. Don't you think there were versions of the prototype that HAD one or both of these ports? I can guarantee you there were; but somewhere along the way, the decision was made (probably due to running out of MCU pins on the A4) to drop those out of the base product.
Now what will be interesting, is whether Apple allows the iPad "camera connection kit" to be used for general purpose use, instead of just for photo grabbing. If so, then the need is essentially addressed (no flames about the $15/port that the camera connection kit costs). But if not, then I think there is some room to gripe (because then, it's just about the software).
As for "expandability", WTF are you smoking? It's a TABLET.
The only possible "expandable" thing would be the Flash or RAM, and, IMHO (as an embedded developer) it was a reasonable tradeoff at that price point and form factor to keep the case "sealed", and not pay for some expensive-ass (and HUGE, relative to the chips themselves) SO-DIMM card connector.
I LOVED my 12" Pi 4 Amber monitor! Not "sickly" at all. (R U Color blind?) In fact I still have it stashed away, and it probably still works (although at this point, I'd probably want to bring it up on a VARIAC(TM) first to avoid esploding some power supply caps!). And those 12" Ameteks had the nicest golden amber color...
I know this response will get buried with all the other low-scoring items, but I just had to say: you're absolutely 100% right. I use macs because I have so many things better to do than fiddle with stuff that was poorly designed, implemented, and is incompatible with other similar stuff.
First, thanx for the kudos. I have been taking a lot of flak in this thread. It's nice to have an ally or two...;-)
On your main point, above, there is an internet sig that sums this up nicely:
"Mac users work WITH their computer; Windows users work ON their computer."
The sad part for me is I talk to less-savvy people at work who really feel bad that their computer crashes, gets a virus, or they don't understand how to use a program, like it's their fault or they are ignorant / incapable. I try to shake them (figuratively) and say, it's not your fault that the junk was poorly designed in the first place! don't feel bad! We would all be better off if we held programmers and hardware makers to higher standards of usability, reliability, and interoperability.
You must be new here: The typical reply from most members of the Computer Priesthood is to snort derisively, and call them a "stupid n00b" for not being able to fix the problem in the source code and "simply recompile" the broken app.
Even though it has been over 25 years since Steve Jobs voiced his idea of "The computer as an Appliance" (a key thought behind the original Mac development), nearly zero percent of the/. crowd seems to get that concept.
As I have said in many, many comments on this site: For a site that is visited by some fairly High Priests of Computing, by and large,/.ers are some of the biggest computer luddites around.
Afterall, if enough people in just a couple of weeks (and who knows how many still in the queue!) can understand and appreciate what the iPad is REALLY all about (and it isn't feeding Jobs' ego by making your apps have to be approved!) enough to plunk down $500, $600, or $700 of their hard-earned cash SIGHT UNSEEN to sell 700,000 iPads, then why can't a similar number of the "technorati" understand it, too?
Sorry, but all those people CANNOT be under the spell of St. Jobs. It just doesn't work that way.
1. Aren't we still talking about today? You're looking to use the iPad with a VNC program.
Not for DAW work. That will require cooperation from the DAW publisher (Logic, I'm looking at you!); but WHEN that happens, watch out!
Rotary control? Drag up or down.
Are you fucking KIDDING!?! That has got to be THE worst UI behavior EVAR!
Do I want to obscure my field of view every time I need to adjust a fader or pot?
You do that every single day, with real-world things you interact with. So?
Do I want to remove my fingerprints from the screen every 10 seconds
I looked at the iPad I was messing with at Best Buy yesterday, and after about 30 minutes of poking, pinching, swiping, etc., I was simply amazed that there really weren't any smudges on the screen. Something about an "oleophobic" coating on the screen...
How about number entry? I do a lot of that in Cubase, because it allows me to reflect more accurately on what I'm actually changing... what took half a second to double-click, hit 3 number keys and then enter, now takes 5 seconds because you have to wait for a virtual keyboard with no tactile feedback whatsoever and find the right keys visually. Same thing with text entry... Renaming 12 drum tracks on the iPad is going to be a pain in the ass;)
You do know that you can use any bluetooth keyboard with the iPad, right? So, next?
Oh, and what about keyboard shortcuts? I need about 100 of them to use Cubase quickly and efficiently, and having only my fingers (meaning in order to activate something, it needs to be on the screen) to open stuff is, well, pretty slow. I don't know about you, but I can't come up with enough gestures to replace all those shortcuts:P
The "point" (no pun) is, YOU WON'T HAVE TO! The ONLY reason that DAW and NLE users use SO many keyboard shortcuts is that THE MOUSE SUCKS FOR REAL-TIME CONTROL!!! Think about it: How many times have you wished a "real" piece of gear had a "keyboard shortcut"? Answer is "Not very often". Why? Because, when you can simply and INTUITIVELY and DIRECTLY interact with a control, you JUST DO IT.
Sheesh! Are you REALLY that dense?
3. Factor in the inaccuracy of capacitive touchscreens and the fact that these applications are optimized for the pinpoint accuracy of a mouse, and I'd be willing to put money on that;).
And you'd lose. As for the accuracy of Apple's capacitive touchscreens in general (and relative to the competition), have you seen this little demonstration? As you can see, not all touchscreens are alike, and pin-point accuracy isn't required when the control layout is actually designed for a touch interface. That may not be the case right now, but soon will be.
Don't underestimate the speed of a decent trackpoint (the Thinkpad implementation... not that Toshiba or Dell crap):D
Used it. Hated it. Feel like I've been forced to play a video game everywhere. Some people love their trackpoints. I am not one of them. Different horses...
All in all, I could imagine having a multitouch monitor or tablet like the iPad as a secondary input method, in addition to my keyboard and mouse and big-ass high resolution monitors, but using it alone for any one task associated with recording, mixing or mastering? I honestly just don't see it...
You will (or at least the rest of the world soon will).
Develop? Maybe. Deploy? Not 'till Apple clears 'ya
Which I will gladly take over the risk of malicious apps. Oh, and if you only need to "deploy" over a few machines, or within your organization, you don't need no steekin' approval.
BTW, with something like 170,000 apps (and counting!) in the App Store, obviously "approval" isn't too much of a problem for most apps...
wow, so I'm glad your total reason for having a mac is because...... well, it keeps you sane and does what you "want". I was hoping for something real, tangible, and measurable.
Ok. How about the fact that I have had my OS X machine bare-naked on the internet, in my router's DMZ, serving streaming video (non-pr0n), hosting an ftp site (with anonymous access yet!) with ZERO anti-anything-ware, since 2005, with ZERO infiltrations. Many, many, many people have tried, from every stinkin' point on the planet, sometimes for DAYS at a time, and I have the logs to prove it (and I am not insane enough to tempt all of/.-dom to try and break in!); but, so far (knock plastic!), no one has gotten in.
no, I have trouble with my mac when I have 9 or 10 tabs open in a browser and open office up to write a document. forget playing music in itunes at the same time.
What KIND of "trouble"? And is it tied to that pig, Open Office? Perhaps it's that app suite, eh? Also, it sounds like you have RAM-starved that machine. There is no OS in the world that does well when forced into Virtual Memory ALL the time. For example, Windows has historically done particularly horrible under the conditions of being in "swap file hell".
I know I can simultaneously encode video, browse (including playing videos) AND listen to iTunes on my (relatively ancient) 1.8GHz DP G5 tower, with only 1.25GB of physical RAM, with nary a hiccup. So, methinks you might check the Dock to see if you still have every application you ever launched STILL RUNNING (a common mistake of Windows users who are used to its "close the window and close the app" paradigm). Hint: If the icon in the Dock has a little black triangle (or little white "LED") under it, that means the app is running...
no, I have trouble with my mac when I have 9 or 10 tabs open in a browser and open office up to write a document. forget playing music in itunes at the same time.
Sorry. Not buyin' it.
Not only is that NOT the case with every single Windows machine I have EVER used; but every power user I have switched from Windows to Mac has commented on how much more stable OS X is under heavy load than their Windows systems (some of them quite well-endowed) were. By the way, compiling is not a processor-intensive task. It is largely I/O (disk-related) bound. And speaking of which, you do realize that XCode allows for not only "predictive compile-ahead", but also can do distributed building spread over several Macs. I know the plural of anecdote is not data; but you bring no more proof than that, yourself; so...
I'm glad you had nothing you comment on that your mac does a windows machine can't/doesn't/is found wanting. I've heard good points before that come down to preferences in the UI. but I have yet to, and continue to be waiting for, a real performance/capability issue to be brought up that can be measured and weighed.
I have given you several so far; but no matter how many I come up with, you will just say "That's true; but..." But, here's another, just off the top of my head: Try opening a recording studio and equip it with only Windows boxes, and watch your clientele laugh you off the planet.
Here's some more: Exposé, Spaces, XGrid, OpenCL, Rendezvous, Grand Central Dispatch, half-second (and reliable!) wake-from-sleep, booting under 10 seconds, Unix (not fake Unix!) underpinnings, one-click Apache serving, one-click ftp serving, freedom-from-malware (OS X is at TEN YEARS and STILL no actual viruses!!!), that cool "side bar" in Finder windows that lets you effortlessly create "shortcuts" that appear in EVERY "get" and "put" dialog, the ability to effortlessly run an app that is installed on one machine on a network on another machine on that same network, Time Machine, the ability to run more OSes than any other platform, Spotlight, Appletalk (the world's first Zeroconf networking protocol), Automato
I'd prefer a stylus over fingers when dealing with software not designed to be used with a touchscreen... Sequencers and recording programs aren't exactly optimized in this regard.
Today, that is true. But tomorrow?
As for multitouch, what for? More natural interaction with rotary controls? Clicking and dragging works just as well, doesn't it? Okay, for dragging and zooming it might be useful, but those things are irrelevant, or at least much less important, on a decently sized screen.
See? You have already cited three use-cases yourself!
I'd wager I'm faster with my trackpoint than I'd ever be with a capacitive tocuscreen.
What are you smoking?!? There is NO way; especially not with a Trackpoint. I'd win that bet with the very first click. Think about it.
(although resistive/WACOM with a stylus would probably be better for stuff like this, IMO).
Really? You REALLY think that separating the action (pointing) from the target of that action (the onscreen control) by using a tablet (with a STYLUS!!!) is better than just "grabbing" the onscreen control with your FINGERS?!?!?
What isn't finite about 1024x768px of screen resolution?
Nothing. But the DIRECT LINK between GUI and YOUR FINGERS, coupled with the INFINITE flexibility to create the PERFECT on-screen control for each and every thing is what's cool. But I think you are starting to get that.
My counter-argument: Spend $500 on a touchscreen and have the same experience in bigger and better:D (although I must say, touchscreen prices really are exorbitant... 1280x1024 seems to be the ceiling for $500-600).
Name one for anywhere NEAR that price that is multitouch, with anywhere NEAR as large of a gesture repertoire.
You've actually inspired me to try this with my Tablet PC:D...
And when you get really frustrated at that, do yourself a favor and check out the iPad (when it is available in Germany), and try to imagine how cool a DAW would be using one or two of these things.
Should be better, considering it was my first language about 15 years ago:P... living in Germany has been gnawing away at my vocabulary and basic grammar-common-sense
I always heard that German was syntactically similar to English. I can understand the "vocabulary" thing (German is the most bizarre language in that regard, IMHO); but "grammar"?;-)
Apple has created a streamlined computing device; it is more of a portable window to the information age that you control with your hands directly than anything else.
That is the best, most concise, description of "What is the big deal" about the iPad. It's just a shame that so many otherwise intelligent/.ers fail to "get it".
Judging from everyone else I have talked with, and about a gazillion posts on teh intarwebs, you must be nearly the only one. And if it didn't suck hairy, swollen monkey-boy balls, then why did they have to: a) Launch an ad campaign that had to TRICK people into running it (Mojave); and b) RUSH "Windows 7" (a/k/a Vista SP3) out to market in (for Microsoft) RECORD TIME?
Windows is far more open than Apple, always has been, I expect it always will be.
Yeah, cuz there's nothing more OPEN than, for example, NTFS.
Anyway, you entirely missed the gp's point, and spilled your rage for nothing. He just said, " Very intelligent (but less computer-savvy) people buy iPods and iPhones because they don't know anything else exists." Not all; the implication is "some", perhaps "many". This is certainly true.
Really? Perhaps they just have better taste than you, and understand the difference between "price" and "value", which, by and large, Windows (and Linux) users (and apparently, you) do not.
what, might I ask, do you struggle to do on a windows machine that your mac can?
Keep my sanity.
when was the last time you used windows?
About a month or so ago. Not long enough ago, thank you. Next?
if there is anything you do on your mac that you can't do on your windows, you're either an idiot when it comes to windows or not caring to learn how different icons or menus work.
I wasn't talking about "can". It's more like "want".
I feel bad for you. not because you are locked into some reality distortion field, but because you are ignoring 90% of technology in the world for some random feeling of "ease".
For me feel bad you should not. Ignore technology I do not. But know the difference between good and bad design I do.
But if you can come up with something your mac can do that you can't do in windows I'd love to hear it.
Keep me sane.
So far, my mac one 1 purpose: playing dvd's on my TV. why?
Um, because your Windows machine SUCKS at it?
I find it a slow, unresponsive OS, comparable to the last windows 98 computer I had (and this mac is only 3.5 years old).
Then you must only run one app at a time on your Windows machine. EVERY one I have ever used has been a pig when running multiple apps. And these are machines with plenty of horsepower and RAM, too. The ONLY time I have had slowdown problems with OS X was when I ran my boot drive nearly out of space (like 23MB free!!!), and (I assume) the VM system was having serious fits trying to keep the entire OS from crashing. But it didn't. Every other time, I have been extremely happy with the responsiveness of the OS in general, and the UI in particular, PARTICULARLY in the face of multiple CPU-intensive processes running simultaneously. Something about Unix being particularly good at multitasking, and extremely stable under heavy load, eh?
And why the ipad isn't going to be added right now: a screen covered in my fingerprints isn't good for watching movies, especially darker movies which involve a lot of dark colors.
Let me introduce you to the iHankie... Boy, THAT was hard. The iPad even comes with one.
This type of interface has existed since the very first digital mixer..
Sorry, it has not.
Show me one digital mixer under $100,000 that has a multitouch interface (I am hedging my bet that there actually IS one). THAT is the difference. The importance of touch, along with the raw speed of the UI and repertoire of "gestures" cannot be underestimated.
If I had the cash, my mixer alone would be spread across 3 30" monitors (this is, coincidentally, why I'm eyeing ATI's Eyefinity setups with interest), with another 3 stacked vertically for tracking... oh, and another three for effects.
I'd rather have 8 iPads, arrayed in portrait mode, 4 across, and 2 "rows". Seriously.
Or do you guys just want the touch interface instead of point-and-click?
DING! DING! DING!!! YES!!!! It is FAR quicker (and more intuitive) to just DIRECTLY INTERACT with an on-screen control than to MANEUVER a pointer to a control, hope that you click in the right place (a real problem with "rotary" on-screen controls!!!), and THEN do whatever.
You know there are digital controllers with actual faders and pots and stuff, made especially for use with DAWs, right?
Yes. And those controls are NOT LABELED; and are of FINITE number and type. Are you REALLY trying to argue AGAINST a more "informative" and flexible interface?
I like grabbing a handful of faders as much as the next guy; but you just can't beat FLEXIBLE. The on-screen "virtual front-panel" concept as expressed in every modern DAW and Plugin is halfway there. But a decently fast TOUCH interface (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!) takes that concept and actually makes it USEFUL. That's what the actual advantages would be in a studio, or live, situation.
BTW, your English is quite good. FYI, In the USA, it is generally "studio" (recording space) and "control room" (mixing room).
Umm. What is so great about a very large smart phone that can not make a phone call?
Um, because it isn't a very large smart phone? For example, can you run something as sophisticated as Keynote, Pages, or Numbers on any phone, large or small?
I believe that I covered that fact that the Lady looks good and dresses well. That I believe is what all the fanboys are paying for. Right?
So, every single person who purchases an iPad is a "fanboy"? I think you need to up your meds.
You already know Apple is all about the looks and the UI. They do not innovate. They build what has been built before, dumb it down so the stupid can be as useful as the capable then put forth the greatest marketing machine ever built to sell it.
Really? I guess there was no innovation in this, or this, or this, or this, or this. Why are there no examples of those hardware and software products PRIOR to Apple releasing them?. And why oh why do they keepwinningindustryawardsyearafter year?
Are all those people fanboys, too?
Have fun fuming over this post and try not to spit out your "Half-Caf, No Foam, Soy Latte".
Sorry to disappoint you; but I'm strictly a Folgers/Walmart Half&Half/Splenda (I'm diabetic) sorta guy. Only been in a Starbucks once in my entire life. Don't even get the fake cappuccino at the fast food joints.
But we shouldn't overlook the fact that Apple has been successful because they market locked-in solutions to largely technology-ignorant consumers. Very intelligent (but less computer-savvy) people buy iPods and iPhones because they don't know anything else exists.
ORLY?
I have been a professional (that is, paid to do it) embedded systems developer (hardware & software) for thirty years. I don't think most people would classify me as "technology-ignorant", or "less computer-savvy", or that I "don't know anything else exists" (the fact that I am posting on/. should belie that).
BUT, when not absolutely forced to use other platforms (which I sometimes am, for my development work), I choose Apple products. In all cases, they represent the epitome of good design (which is a LOT different from just putting every conceivable connector on a device).
After a hot day slogging over a coding/debugging session, the absolute LAST thing I want is to come home and mess with MORE shit, just to make my computer do the things that my Macs do without fuss and muss. It's not that I don't know how to do it; I just have much better things to do with my time than the shit that Windows and Linux people put up with from devices that should, by this time, be at the "appliance reliability" stage.
It has been THIRTY SIX YEARS since the Altair 8800 appeared on the cover of Popular Electronics, and yet, there are people who STILL think it is acceptable to have to mess with their home/work computers (for non-"development" tasks) on an hourly/daily/weekly basis.
All I can say to those people is: You will never get those hours back. Why waste them on what is, at this point, about as exciting as having to rebuild your TV set, just to watch Caprica (no flames, I just picked a random show)?
Grow up. The personal computer "revolution" was a lot of fun, THIRTY YEARS AGO. Sorry you missed it; but now, what passes for "computer geekery", case mods, overclocking, buying the biggest, baddest nitrogen-cooled video card (that someone ELSE designed) is a far, far cry from wire-wrapping your own A/D card and writing drivers for it from scratch (assuming you are not developing a "product"). That stuff, for the most part, is simply impractical for nearly everyone, and has been for about the past 15-20 years. At this point, it is FAR more INTELLIGENT to spend 4 hours researching and purchasing that A/D card than it is to spend 120 hours building same.
Or is your time REALLY worth nothing to you?
So, to bring this around to the original point, you have completely neglected (in that oh-so-predictable myopic, Linux-fanboi way) the fact that their just MIGHT be people who CHOOSE Apple products, not because they can't, but because they can appreciate when someone DOES do it right. Which Apple seems to do much more consistently than ANY other company developing and selling successful, reliable, hassle-resistant "computing devices". To deny that is to deny reality.
Which is, unfortuately, another all-too-predictable trait seen in the species Linus Fanboiius (don't flame my fake Latin. It's been too many years).
BTW, everything has some amount of "lock-in". Windows has lock-in (I think everyone would agree). LINUX has lock-in. Afterall, you can't run OS X apps or Windows apps under Linux (directly, and WINE runs about 10% of Windows apps), so Linus and RMS must be in an evil conspiracy to keep Linux from running that gigantic (much larger than Linux's) software base. I can't stick a ISA card into a PCI slot; so it must be an evil conspiracy by the motherboard manfacturers to LOCK-IN the peripheral card market, JUST to make people buy all their peripherals again!
Of course, if I DO want to "do something" development-wise with my Macs or iPhone or iPad, there are ample tools and opportunities available to do so. XCode for Mac development is FREE (as in beer). And there are other alternatives, too. Yes, iPhone/iPod Touch/iP
1024x768... that's what... 5 channel strips with EQs on a standard Cubase/Logic mixer? What're you recording, bongos and a banjo?:P
Um, have you seen that thing SCROLL? Just how long do you think it will take to "swipe" across, say, 48 "channel strips"?
You might only get 5 channels in portrait (and about 8 in landscape) on the display simultaneously; but there are not that many instances in a studio setting (as opposed to "live" recording) where you SIMULTANEOUSLY record more than about 8 tracks.
And even when doing a live mixdown (as opposed to a mixdown built up of pass after pass of "automated" actions), it is hard for me to remember a time when I needed to grab more than about 4 faders simultaneously. In a typical mix (whether "live" or "studio"), once the initial mix is created, most of the tracks don't really get messed with.
So, a quick "select" pass to pick the few channels you need to adjust, and voila, grab them faders!
I have been waiting for the world to create this type of interface (by that, I mean one that is actually USEABLE!) for about thirty years. Too bad there aren't more people who truly embrace change...
But. She is always late to the party, driving a slow ass car 10 years out of date
Just exactly WHAT in this video looks "10 years out of date", or reminds one of a "slow ass car"?
Note that that is NOT some cleverly-edited commercial footage. Obviously, the UI really IS that cool. And that fast. Yes, there is obviously a UI bug or two in the iBooks app, and I think they need to make the "inadvertent tap" delay a little shorter (but this may be somewhat unavoidable, to allow for distinguishing between tap and double-tap), but this was still two months before product release. Everything else looks quite nice. And FAST!
Boy, the level of discourse on/. has certainly deteriorated in the past couple of years.
Apple was clearly investigating just exactly the tech that TFA is talking about. But when the GP mentions that they have a patent application (I don't think it has been granted yet) on that, the best TWO posters can do is to make childish snipes at "The Cult of Apple".
By the way, YOU develop and sell the iPad for less than $500. I believe that the fact that they have SOLD OUT of the initial shipment of 240,000 units in a little over a WEEK should be enough to tell you that you need to re-evaluate your snotty attitude.
Slashdot Mirror
In an ideal world sure. In the world in which I live I can update the firmware in my Mac so that it copes with a flawed router at starbucks or my hotel or a clients office, I can't update the firmware at starbucks, the hotel, or a clients office.
So, just how many different buggy products must Apple provide workarounds for?
Finally, all this assumes Apple actually followed the standard and its all these vendors with horrific buggy systems. Quite bluntly, Apple is not perfect, and it would be absurd to presume they got everything right, and its all these other vendors who keep getting it wrong. Some of the technical blame lies at apples feet.
Apple historically has a pretty damn stellar track record as far as implementing standards as written. Please provide a citation that shows that Apple's firmware has actually not implemented WiFi protocols correctly (not just that it won't work with router X).
And some of the blame that genuinely lies at the feet of other vendors COULD be resolved by Apple if it were so inclined. And it SHOULD take ownership of solving these issues when it can. Customers want laptops that 'just work'; that's what they keep promising.
Sorry. Programming around other people's inability to implement a standard is a no-win situation. It becomes a never-ending cycle of break/fix/break/fix/break... between the various peripheral manufacturers and Apple.
And above all, in my experience, a lot of the problems could be resolved within a subset of the standard. Often a standard specifies behavior X, and a device doesn't implement this properly, and windows isn't affected because it never requests behavior X. If that's the case, Apple could make their software work too with all these devices, by simply avoiding feature X. Note that by doing this Apple would STILL be following the standard to the letter.
I repeat: If the standard specifies that a behavior is allowable, then the onus is not on the person that expected to be able to use that behavior. Oh, and btw, if just one or two (or even 3 or 4) peripheral manufacturers fail to implement the standard, then do you disallow the behavior? So, when does it end?
Now the problem with 802.11n is unique; in that, products were already on the market with various and sundry attempts to implement a "standard" that really wasn't cooked yet. So, Apple implements the draft standard, then updates it to the final standard; but is everyone else as diligent? How about the users? How many of them even know that you can update the firmware in their WiFi router, let alone know how to do it? And speaking of which, there are LEGIONS of devices out there that simply don't PROVIDE a way for a MAC user to update the firmware in their product. The updaters are nearly ALWAYS Windows-only.
Of course, the consumer never knows that until long after they've bought the piece of shit. I've been burnt with that a few times, myself. So again, that's Apple's fault?
Note that people report that, in an environment with Apple (Airport Extreme) WiFi routers, that ALL devices (not just Apple's) work GREAT. So, maybe, just maybe, it IS the third-party routers with their buggy firmware afterall, eh?
Think about it.
It was only until last month I decided to take my Netgear apart, to find there was no third antenna, so I installed a third one. I'm currently on the other side of my house to the router, and enjoying 108Mb/s on my Mac.
Hmmm. So it seems that the problem:
1. Wasn't a "firmware" issue.
2. Was a hardware problem with the router, that the Mac seemed to be less tolerant of (so what?)
3. Was not a problem with the Mac at all.
I have no idea what the problem actually was either, but lets assume its a defect of the router software. Even if that's the case the fault is still on the macbook, in my opinion. The windows PCs worked. The Mac could have been programmed so that it worked too.
Even if the actual defect was the router software, the Mac should have coped with it.
You do realize, of course, that many peripheral manufacturers not only test against Windows ONLY; but also silently program around bugs in Microsoft's implementations of standards in general.
Apple is absolutely correct to follow the published standard to the letter. Afterall, isn't that why it's called a STANDARD?
(the native Apple developers couldn't code their way out of a cardboard box when it comes to a multi-user multitasking OS- they spent millions proving that in the 90's)
BZZZT! Wrong!
/. And BTW, did you know about the other big names that failed on the way to OS X?
It was more like the scope of the project (Pink, Taligent, Copland, Gershwin, Rhapsody) kept growing and being re-defined. But I'm sure that is a concept that is completely foreign to most devs. that read
Here's some info on that.
So, I guess Apple, IBM, Sun, HP and Microsoft ALL suck at multi-user programming, right?
about everyone knows HTML by now.
This remark exemplifies the fucked-up attitude that a large percentage of /.ers have about "The common folk."
Ask your mom to whip out a text editor and write from scratch even the simplest of web pages. Unless she is an HTML coder, I guarantee you will get a "What have you been smoking (again)?" look.
Seriously, I know PLENTY of software engineers, let alone people in the "everyone" category, who couldn't write a single executable HTML command, let ALONE comprehend the incredibly overcomplicated horseshit syntax that is HTML. You are dangerously deluded if you think that you can collar 1 in 100 people on the street that can code HTML.
Now go back to playing your pissant little video games, you ignorant, arrogant, clueless fucktard.
It's still a good idea. With bookmarks you can't "open in new window".
Actually, with "desktop" Safari, you can (everywhere but the Bookmarks Menu).
You can either "Show All Bookmarks" (which has a keyboard shortcut), then select the bookmark and Right Click (yes, Macs have had that since System 8.5) and select "Open In a New Window" (there is a "tab" one, too) from the pop-up contextual menu; or if a bookmark is on the "Bookmarks Bar", you can simply Right Click on it and select "Open In a New Window" (there is a "tab" one there, too) from the pop-up contextual menu.
So yes, you CAN do that, at least with Safari 4.
No expandability, no USB ports, no flash-card reader...these are things that would be very trivial to add from both a cost and engineering perspective, yet are still lacking.
Actually, they aren't exactly "trivial" in either cost or engineering considerations.
.9V design).
The PHY and connector aren't that cheap for USB (in fact, connectors in general are often one of the more expensive things on a BOM), and then there's the additional power supply voltages (remember, the USB spec requires 500mA of +5VDC to be available to external devices, and anyone who has had a power-hungry USB memory stick knows the fun of getting a "Low Power" message). That power has to be developed somehow, so now we have a little DC-DC inverter or some other power supply, since the iPad internals probably don't use +5V intrinsically (it's probably a 1.8V or maybe even a
As for the card reader, again, the connector isn't all that cheap (if you want one that will last more than a few weeks), but with the SD card, it's about the 7 to 9 circuit board traces (don't even talk about that slow-ass SPI mode!), and the space they take up as they make their way over to the microcontroller, then the pins on the MCU necessary to use those traces for the SD interface, and the traces to-from the necessary pullup resistors. In case you hadn't noticed, the main board of the iPad is pretty frickin' small. This board would have to get larger, or grow another layer (both of which add cost), to add that feature.
Now, add that to the 30 pins of the Dock connector. Those have to be dealt with, also. And before you say "Well, since the Dock connector already has USB on it, why don't you just pull those traces over?", that ignores the fact that, if someone did that, INSTANTLY a user would try to use "both USB ports" simultaneously. So, either Apple would have to then add a "hub" controller, or, or, or WHAT?
And in both cases, we haven't even addressed the extra hardware and design considerations necessary to address the ESD protection that would have to be added to both interfaces to protect the A4 microcontroller.
So no, it isn't exactly "trivial" in cost or engineering. Don't you think there were versions of the prototype that HAD one or both of these ports? I can guarantee you there were; but somewhere along the way, the decision was made (probably due to running out of MCU pins on the A4) to drop those out of the base product.
Now what will be interesting, is whether Apple allows the iPad "camera connection kit" to be used for general purpose use, instead of just for photo grabbing. If so, then the need is essentially addressed (no flames about the $15/port that the camera connection kit costs). But if not, then I think there is some room to gripe (because then, it's just about the software).
As for "expandability", WTF are you smoking? It's a TABLET.
The only possible "expandable" thing would be the Flash or RAM, and, IMHO (as an embedded developer) it was a reasonable tradeoff at that price point and form factor to keep the case "sealed", and not pay for some expensive-ass (and HUGE, relative to the chips themselves) SO-DIMM card connector.
What?
I LOVED my 12" Pi 4 Amber monitor! Not "sickly" at all. (R U Color blind?) In fact I still have it stashed away, and it probably still works (although at this point, I'd probably want to bring it up on a VARIAC(TM) first to avoid esploding some power supply caps!). And those 12" Ameteks had the nicest golden amber color...
Good times, good times...
I know this response will get buried with all the other low-scoring items, but I just had to say: you're absolutely 100% right. I use macs because I have so many things better to do than fiddle with stuff that was poorly designed, implemented, and is incompatible with other similar stuff.
First, thanx for the kudos. I have been taking a lot of flak in this thread. It's nice to have an ally or two... ;-)
On your main point, above, there is an internet sig that sums this up nicely:
"Mac users work WITH their computer; Windows users work ON their computer."
The sad part for me is I talk to less-savvy people at work who really feel bad that their computer crashes, gets a virus, or they don't understand how to use a program, like it's their fault or they are ignorant / incapable. I try to shake them (figuratively) and say, it's not your fault that the junk was poorly designed in the first place! don't feel bad! We would all be better off if we held programmers and hardware makers to higher standards of usability, reliability, and interoperability.
You must be new here: The typical reply from most members of the Computer Priesthood is to snort derisively, and call them a "stupid n00b" for not being able to fix the problem in the source code and "simply recompile" the broken app.
/. crowd seems to get that concept.
/.ers are some of the biggest computer luddites around.
Even though it has been over 25 years since Steve Jobs voiced his idea of "The computer as an Appliance" (a key thought behind the original Mac development), nearly zero percent of the
As I have said in many, many comments on this site: For a site that is visited by some fairly High Priests of Computing, by and large,
Afterall, if enough people in just a couple of weeks (and who knows how many still in the queue!) can understand and appreciate what the iPad is REALLY all about (and it isn't feeding Jobs' ego by making your apps have to be approved!) enough to plunk down $500, $600, or $700 of their hard-earned cash SIGHT UNSEEN to sell 700,000 iPads, then why can't a similar number of the "technorati" understand it, too?
Sorry, but all those people CANNOT be under the spell of St. Jobs. It just doesn't work that way.
I didn't say it whether it was "trivial" (which is a subjective term); your statement implied that it was impossible. It obviously is not.
1. Aren't we still talking about today? You're looking to use the iPad with a VNC program.
Not for DAW work. That will require cooperation from the DAW publisher (Logic, I'm looking at you!); but WHEN that happens, watch out!
Rotary control? Drag up or down.
Are you fucking KIDDING!?! That has got to be THE worst UI behavior EVAR!
Do I want to obscure my field of view every time I need to adjust a fader or pot?
You do that every single day, with real-world things you interact with. So?
Do I want to remove my fingerprints from the screen every 10 seconds
I looked at the iPad I was messing with at Best Buy yesterday, and after about 30 minutes of poking, pinching, swiping, etc., I was simply amazed that there really weren't any smudges on the screen. Something about an "oleophobic" coating on the screen...
How about number entry? I do a lot of that in Cubase, because it allows me to reflect more accurately on what I'm actually changing... what took half a second to double-click, hit 3 number keys and then enter, now takes 5 seconds because you have to wait for a virtual keyboard with no tactile feedback whatsoever and find the right keys visually. Same thing with text entry... Renaming 12 drum tracks on the iPad is going to be a pain in the ass ;)
You do know that you can use any bluetooth keyboard with the iPad, right? So, next?
Oh, and what about keyboard shortcuts? I need about 100 of them to use Cubase quickly and efficiently, and having only my fingers (meaning in order to activate something, it needs to be on the screen) to open stuff is, well, pretty slow. I don't know about you, but I can't come up with enough gestures to replace all those shortcuts :P
The "point" (no pun) is, YOU WON'T HAVE TO! The ONLY reason that DAW and NLE users use SO many keyboard shortcuts is that THE MOUSE SUCKS FOR REAL-TIME CONTROL!!! Think about it: How many times have you wished a "real" piece of gear had a "keyboard shortcut"? Answer is "Not very often". Why? Because, when you can simply and INTUITIVELY and DIRECTLY interact with a control, you JUST DO IT.
Sheesh! Are you REALLY that dense?
3. Factor in the inaccuracy of capacitive touchscreens and the fact that these applications are optimized for the pinpoint accuracy of a mouse, and I'd be willing to put money on that ;).
And you'd lose. As for the accuracy of Apple's capacitive touchscreens in general (and relative to the competition), have you seen this little demonstration? As you can see, not all touchscreens are alike, and pin-point accuracy isn't required when the control layout is actually designed for a touch interface. That may not be the case right now, but soon will be.
Don't underestimate the speed of a decent trackpoint (the Thinkpad implementation... not that Toshiba or Dell crap) :D
Used it. Hated it. Feel like I've been forced to play a video game everywhere. Some people love their trackpoints. I am not one of them. Different horses...
All in all, I could imagine having a multitouch monitor or tablet like the iPad as a secondary input method, in addition to my keyboard and mouse and big-ass high resolution monitors, but using it alone for any one task associated with recording, mixing or mastering? I honestly just don't see it...
You will (or at least the rest of the world soon will).
Develop? Maybe. Deploy? Not 'till Apple clears 'ya
Which I will gladly take over the risk of malicious apps. Oh, and if you only need to "deploy" over a few machines, or within your organization, you don't need no steekin' approval.
BTW, with something like 170,000 apps (and counting!) in the App Store, obviously "approval" isn't too much of a problem for most apps...
wow, so I'm glad your total reason for having a mac is because...... well, it keeps you sane and does what you "want". I was hoping for something real, tangible, and measurable.
Ok. How about the fact that I have had my OS X machine bare-naked on the internet, in my router's DMZ, serving streaming video (non-pr0n), hosting an ftp site (with anonymous access yet!) with ZERO anti-anything-ware, since 2005, with ZERO infiltrations. Many, many, many people have tried, from every stinkin' point on the planet, sometimes for DAYS at a time, and I have the logs to prove it (and I am not insane enough to tempt all of /.-dom to try and break in!); but, so far (knock plastic!), no one has gotten in.
no, I have trouble with my mac when I have 9 or 10 tabs open in a browser and open office up to write a document. forget playing music in itunes at the same time.
What KIND of "trouble"? And is it tied to that pig, Open Office? Perhaps it's that app suite, eh? Also, it sounds like you have RAM-starved that machine. There is no OS in the world that does well when forced into Virtual Memory ALL the time. For example, Windows has historically done particularly horrible under the conditions of being in "swap file hell".
I know I can simultaneously encode video, browse (including playing videos) AND listen to iTunes on my (relatively ancient) 1.8GHz DP G5 tower, with only 1.25GB of physical RAM, with nary a hiccup. So, methinks you might check the Dock to see if you still have every application you ever launched STILL RUNNING (a common mistake of Windows users who are used to its "close the window and close the app" paradigm). Hint: If the icon in the Dock has a little black triangle (or little white "LED") under it, that means the app is running...
no, I have trouble with my mac when I have 9 or 10 tabs open in a browser and open office up to write a document. forget playing music in itunes at the same time.
Sorry. Not buyin' it.
Not only is that NOT the case with every single Windows machine I have EVER used; but every power user I have switched from Windows to Mac has commented on how much more stable OS X is under heavy load than their Windows systems (some of them quite well-endowed) were. By the way, compiling is not a processor-intensive task. It is largely I/O (disk-related) bound. And speaking of which, you do realize that XCode allows for not only "predictive compile-ahead", but also can do distributed building spread over several Macs. I know the plural of anecdote is not data; but you bring no more proof than that, yourself; so...
I'm glad you had nothing you comment on that your mac does a windows machine can't/doesn't/is found wanting. I've heard good points before that come down to preferences in the UI. but I have yet to, and continue to be waiting for, a real performance/capability issue to be brought up that can be measured and weighed.
I have given you several so far; but no matter how many I come up with, you will just say "That's true; but..." But, here's another, just off the top of my head: Try opening a recording studio and equip it with only Windows boxes, and watch your clientele laugh you off the planet.
Here's some more: Exposé, Spaces, XGrid, OpenCL, Rendezvous, Grand Central Dispatch, half-second (and reliable!) wake-from-sleep, booting under 10 seconds, Unix (not fake Unix!) underpinnings, one-click Apache serving, one-click ftp serving, freedom-from-malware (OS X is at TEN YEARS and STILL no actual viruses!!!), that cool "side bar" in Finder windows that lets you effortlessly create "shortcuts" that appear in EVERY "get" and "put" dialog, the ability to effortlessly run an app that is installed on one machine on a network on another machine on that same network, Time Machine, the ability to run more OSes than any other platform, Spotlight, Appletalk (the world's first Zeroconf networking protocol), Automato
I'd prefer a stylus over fingers when dealing with software not designed to be used with a touchscreen... Sequencers and recording programs aren't exactly optimized in this regard.
Today, that is true. But tomorrow?
As for multitouch, what for? More natural interaction with rotary controls? Clicking and dragging works just as well, doesn't it? Okay, for dragging and zooming it might be useful, but those things are irrelevant, or at least much less important, on a decently sized screen.
See? You have already cited three use-cases yourself!
I'd wager I'm faster with my trackpoint than I'd ever be with a capacitive tocuscreen.
What are you smoking?!? There is NO way; especially not with a Trackpoint. I'd win that bet with the very first click. Think about it.
(although resistive/WACOM with a stylus would probably be better for stuff like this, IMO).
Really? You REALLY think that separating the action (pointing) from the target of that action (the onscreen control) by using a tablet (with a STYLUS!!!) is better than just "grabbing" the onscreen control with your FINGERS?!?!?
What isn't finite about 1024x768px of screen resolution?
Nothing. But the DIRECT LINK between GUI and YOUR FINGERS, coupled with the INFINITE flexibility to create the PERFECT on-screen control for each and every thing is what's cool. But I think you are starting to get that.
My counter-argument: Spend $500 on a touchscreen and have the same experience in bigger and better :D (although I must say, touchscreen prices really are exorbitant... 1280x1024 seems to be the ceiling for $500-600).
Name one for anywhere NEAR that price that is multitouch, with anywhere NEAR as large of a gesture repertoire.
You've actually inspired me to try this with my Tablet PC :D...
And when you get really frustrated at that, do yourself a favor and check out the iPad (when it is available in Germany), and try to imagine how cool a DAW would be using one or two of these things.
Should be better, considering it was my first language about 15 years ago :P... living in Germany has been gnawing away at my vocabulary and basic grammar-common-sense
I always heard that German was syntactically similar to English. I can understand the "vocabulary" thing (German is the most bizarre language in that regard, IMHO); but "grammar"? ;-)
Apple has created a streamlined computing device; it is more of a portable window to the information age that you control with your hands directly than anything else.
That is the best, most concise, description of "What is the big deal" about the iPad. It's just a shame that so many otherwise intelligent /.ers fail to "get it".
I spent 0:00:00 messing with Vista
Judging from everyone else I have talked with, and about a gazillion posts on teh intarwebs, you must be nearly the only one. And if it didn't suck hairy, swollen monkey-boy balls, then why did they have to: a) Launch an ad campaign that had to TRICK people into running it (Mojave); and b) RUSH "Windows 7" (a/k/a Vista SP3) out to market in (for Microsoft) RECORD TIME?
Windows is far more open than Apple, always has been, I expect it always will be.
Yeah, cuz there's nothing more OPEN than, for example, NTFS.
Anyway, you entirely missed the gp's point, and spilled your rage for nothing. He just said, " Very intelligent (but less computer-savvy) people buy iPods and iPhones because they don't know anything else exists." Not all; the implication is "some", perhaps "many". This is certainly true.
Really? Perhaps they just have better taste than you, and understand the difference between "price" and "value", which, by and large, Windows (and Linux) users (and apparently, you) do not.
what, might I ask, do you struggle to do on a windows machine that your mac can?
Keep my sanity.
when was the last time you used windows?
About a month or so ago. Not long enough ago, thank you. Next?
if there is anything you do on your mac that you can't do on your windows, you're either an idiot when it comes to windows or not caring to learn how different icons or menus work.
I wasn't talking about "can". It's more like "want".
I feel bad for you. not because you are locked into some reality distortion field, but because you are ignoring 90% of technology in the world for some random feeling of "ease".
For me feel bad you should not. Ignore technology I do not. But know the difference between good and bad design I do.
But if you can come up with something your mac can do that you can't do in windows I'd love to hear it.
Keep me sane.
So far, my mac one 1 purpose: playing dvd's on my TV. why?
Um, because your Windows machine SUCKS at it?
I find it a slow, unresponsive OS, comparable to the last windows 98 computer I had (and this mac is only 3.5 years old).
Then you must only run one app at a time on your Windows machine. EVERY one I have ever used has been a pig when running multiple apps. And these are machines with plenty of horsepower and RAM, too. The ONLY time I have had slowdown problems with OS X was when I ran my boot drive nearly out of space (like 23MB free!!!), and (I assume) the VM system was having serious fits trying to keep the entire OS from crashing. But it didn't. Every other time, I have been extremely happy with the responsiveness of the OS in general, and the UI in particular, PARTICULARLY in the face of multiple CPU-intensive processes running simultaneously. Something about Unix being particularly good at multitasking, and extremely stable under heavy load, eh?
And why the ipad isn't going to be added right now: a screen covered in my fingerprints isn't good for watching movies, especially darker movies which involve a lot of dark colors.
Let me introduce you to the iHankie... Boy, THAT was hard. The iPad even comes with one.
This type of interface has existed since the very first digital mixer..
Sorry, it has not.
Show me one digital mixer under $100,000 that has a multitouch interface (I am hedging my bet that there actually IS one). THAT is the difference. The importance of touch, along with the raw speed of the UI and repertoire of "gestures" cannot be underestimated.
If I had the cash, my mixer alone would be spread across 3 30" monitors (this is, coincidentally, why I'm eyeing ATI's Eyefinity setups with interest), with another 3 stacked vertically for tracking... oh, and another three for effects.
I'd rather have 8 iPads, arrayed in portrait mode, 4 across, and 2 "rows". Seriously.
Or do you guys just want the touch interface instead of point-and-click?
DING! DING! DING!!! YES!!!! It is FAR quicker (and more intuitive) to just DIRECTLY INTERACT with an on-screen control than to MANEUVER a pointer to a control, hope that you click in the right place (a real problem with "rotary" on-screen controls!!!), and THEN do whatever.
You know there are digital controllers with actual faders and pots and stuff, made especially for use with DAWs, right?
Yes. And those controls are NOT LABELED; and are of FINITE number and type. Are you REALLY trying to argue AGAINST a more "informative" and flexible interface?
I like grabbing a handful of faders as much as the next guy; but you just can't beat FLEXIBLE. The on-screen "virtual front-panel" concept as expressed in every modern DAW and Plugin is halfway there. But a decently fast TOUCH interface (that doesn't cost an arm and a leg!) takes that concept and actually makes it USEFUL. That's what the actual advantages would be in a studio, or live, situation.
BTW, your English is quite good. FYI, In the USA, it is generally "studio" (recording space) and "control room" (mixing room).
Umm. What is so great about a very large smart phone that can not make a phone call?
Um, because it isn't a very large smart phone? For example, can you run something as sophisticated as Keynote, Pages, or Numbers on any phone, large or small?
I believe that I covered that fact that the Lady looks good and dresses well. That I believe is what all the fanboys are paying for. Right?
So, every single person who purchases an iPad is a "fanboy"? I think you need to up your meds.
You already know Apple is all about the looks and the UI. They do not innovate. They build what has been built before, dumb it down so the stupid can be as useful as the capable then put forth the greatest marketing machine ever built to sell it.
Really? I guess there was no innovation in this, or this, or this, or this, or this. Why are there no examples of those hardware and software products PRIOR to Apple releasing them?. And why oh why do they keep winning industry awards year after year?
Are all those people fanboys, too?
Have fun fuming over this post and try not to spit out your "Half-Caf, No Foam, Soy Latte".
Sorry to disappoint you; but I'm strictly a Folgers/Walmart Half&Half/Splenda (I'm diabetic) sorta guy. Only been in a Starbucks once in my entire life. Don't even get the fake cappuccino at the fast food joints.
But we shouldn't overlook the fact that Apple has been successful because they market locked-in solutions to largely technology-ignorant consumers. Very intelligent (but less computer-savvy) people buy iPods and iPhones because they don't know anything else exists.
ORLY?
/. should belie that).
I have been a professional (that is, paid to do it) embedded systems developer (hardware & software) for thirty years. I don't think most people would classify me as "technology-ignorant", or "less computer-savvy", or that I "don't know anything else exists" (the fact that I am posting on
BUT, when not absolutely forced to use other platforms (which I sometimes am, for my development work), I choose Apple products. In all cases, they represent the epitome of good design (which is a LOT different from just putting every conceivable connector on a device).
After a hot day slogging over a coding/debugging session, the absolute LAST thing I want is to come home and mess with MORE shit, just to make my computer do the things that my Macs do without fuss and muss. It's not that I don't know how to do it; I just have much better things to do with my time than the shit that Windows and Linux people put up with from devices that should, by this time, be at the "appliance reliability" stage.
It has been THIRTY SIX YEARS since the Altair 8800 appeared on the cover of Popular Electronics, and yet, there are people who STILL think it is acceptable to have to mess with their home/work computers (for non-"development" tasks) on an hourly/daily/weekly basis.
All I can say to those people is: You will never get those hours back. Why waste them on what is, at this point, about as exciting as having to rebuild your TV set, just to watch Caprica (no flames, I just picked a random show)?
Grow up. The personal computer "revolution" was a lot of fun, THIRTY YEARS AGO. Sorry you missed it; but now, what passes for "computer geekery", case mods, overclocking, buying the biggest, baddest nitrogen-cooled video card (that someone ELSE designed) is a far, far cry from wire-wrapping your own A/D card and writing drivers for it from scratch (assuming you are not developing a "product"). That stuff, for the most part, is simply impractical for nearly everyone, and has been for about the past 15-20 years. At this point, it is FAR more INTELLIGENT to spend 4 hours researching and purchasing that A/D card than it is to spend 120 hours building same.
Or is your time REALLY worth nothing to you?
So, to bring this around to the original point, you have completely neglected (in that oh-so-predictable myopic, Linux-fanboi way) the fact that their just MIGHT be people who CHOOSE Apple products, not because they can't, but because they can appreciate when someone DOES do it right. Which Apple seems to do much more consistently than ANY other company developing and selling successful, reliable, hassle-resistant "computing devices". To deny that is to deny reality.
Which is, unfortuately, another all-too-predictable trait seen in the species Linus Fanboiius (don't flame my fake Latin. It's been too many years).
BTW, everything has some amount of "lock-in". Windows has lock-in (I think everyone would agree). LINUX has lock-in. Afterall, you can't run OS X apps or Windows apps under Linux (directly, and WINE runs about 10% of Windows apps), so Linus and RMS must be in an evil conspiracy to keep Linux from running that gigantic (much larger than Linux's) software base. I can't stick a ISA card into a PCI slot; so it must be an evil conspiracy by the motherboard manfacturers to LOCK-IN the peripheral card market, JUST to make people buy all their peripherals again!
Of course, if I DO want to "do something" development-wise with my Macs or iPhone or iPad, there are ample tools and opportunities available to do so. XCode for Mac development is FREE (as in beer). And there are other alternatives, too. Yes, iPhone/iPod Touch/iP
1024x768... that's what... 5 channel strips with EQs on a standard Cubase/Logic mixer? What're you recording, bongos and a banjo? :P
Um, have you seen that thing SCROLL? Just how long do you think it will take to "swipe" across, say, 48 "channel strips"?
You might only get 5 channels in portrait (and about 8 in landscape) on the display simultaneously; but there are not that many instances in a studio setting (as opposed to "live" recording) where you SIMULTANEOUSLY record more than about 8 tracks.
And even when doing a live mixdown (as opposed to a mixdown built up of pass after pass of "automated" actions), it is hard for me to remember a time when I needed to grab more than about 4 faders simultaneously. In a typical mix (whether "live" or "studio"), once the initial mix is created, most of the tracks don't really get messed with.
So, a quick "select" pass to pick the few channels you need to adjust, and voila, grab them faders!
I have been waiting for the world to create this type of interface (by that, I mean one that is actually USEABLE!) for about thirty years. Too bad there aren't more people who truly embrace change...
But. She is always late to the party, driving a slow ass car 10 years out of date
Just exactly WHAT in this video looks "10 years out of date", or reminds one of a "slow ass car"?
Note that that is NOT some cleverly-edited commercial footage. Obviously, the UI really IS that cool. And that fast. Yes, there is obviously a UI bug or two in the iBooks app, and I think they need to make the "inadvertent tap" delay a little shorter (but this may be somewhat unavoidable, to allow for distinguishing between tap and double-tap), but this was still two months before product release. Everything else looks quite nice. And FAST!
So, fucktard. Get your trolling facts straight.
I thought apple had a patent like this back in around 2005~2006 where there were sensors for every pixel that acted like a camera.
They did.
Boy, the level of discourse on /. has certainly deteriorated in the past couple of years.
Apple was clearly investigating just exactly the tech that TFA is talking about. But when the GP mentions that they have a patent application (I don't think it has been granted yet) on that, the best TWO posters can do is to make childish snipes at "The Cult of Apple".
By the way, YOU develop and sell the iPad for less than $500. I believe that the fact that they have SOLD OUT of the initial shipment of 240,000 units in a little over a WEEK should be enough to tell you that you need to re-evaluate your snotty attitude.
But of course, it won't.
NOW who's experiencing "Reality Distortion", eh?