I agree with the workers. In the last decade I spent most of my time working away from home in the week, I was paid hourly and was more than happy to work overtime. The alternative was having to find ways to fill time in a hotel or a strange town. This invariably lead to spending more money.
Its a way of working that doesn't fit the traditional model that people are trying to judge it by. People work for a short, few years, at a max away from home with the aim of maximising their earnings and return on the time spent. As long as the people have made the decision to work in this way without coercsion and in full acceptance of the facts what is the problem?
Apple don't care about world domination. They care about protecting their investment and selling their kit to people that can afford them.
Google don't care about what devices Android is available on, or how poor the experience is, as long as they are able to extend their advertising reach through them.
The Android handset manfacturers don't care about Android other than its given then a low cost way to add smart phone features to cheap phones.
Android phones were always going to outsell iOS phones.
So all hacking attempts are the same in the same way that all other offences are the same?
Whilst I feel a little sorry for McKinnon, hacking into military computers is always going to get you into hot water. Its not so much what he was looking for as to what access to the systems he hacked would give you the ability to see.
I've run Powerbooks, Powerbook Pros, Macbook Pros for the past 12 years. They are only expensive if you only look a raw specs. If you look at the whole package they aren't.
I recently challenged our IT department to find me a laptop with the same specification for less money. I wanted the same battery life, the same screen resolution and quality, the same graphics chipset. They couldn't. The killer was battery life and screen quality.
Its all about horses for courses. I run a Macbook Pro because I can and I like what they offer. I could buy a cheaper PC laptop but I would be compromising in some form or other. Of course the rabid anti-Apple zealots will just call me a fanboi or worse. Shame that.
Why would a dock that stops you using the MBP screen be of any use to anyone? The advantage of plugging in an external screen is to get more screen real estate, this immediately gets rid of some of that advantage.
Only to be bought by people with truly more money than sense.
For goodness sake wake up people. I know that the yoof of today don't think anything of sharing their intimate thoughts with thousands of Facebook friends but I had hoped that the denzies of El Reg were above that.
There is no mention as to how big his friends list was in the original article. I know people that have hundreds of people on theirs, most of which they have a tenuous real life contact with at best. How many/few people would have to be on the friends list for it to be considered public?
Search on Google for people being sacked for emails to a select number of friends/colleages. You'll find a whole bunch of them. It doesn't matter that the intention wasn't to publish to the whole world, the fact is that once published the comments are beyond his control, and are instead in the control of others. That places them in the public domain.
It's not difficult people. Try and get away from the 'its Apple so they must be in the wrong' and look at it from all angles.
Emailing comments to friends could get you sacked too. It doesn't matter if your intention is only publish to a small number of friends you don't have control over them so the comments are in the public domain. In this sense the tribunal is following legal precedent.
It might not have been the intention, but a lot of people these days don't understand the reach of electronic media or the concept that once something is out there they have no ability to get it back.
Interestingly you finish with a mindless rant about people supporting Apple being mindless. Shouldn't all people and comments be judged on their merits? This isn't something that you appear to adhere to yourself inspite of condemming others for not doing so.
As far as I can see Apple hasn't sued RIM regarding their smart phones, they haven't sued MS regarding Windows Phone 7. They have applied for injunctions against Samsung because they believe that Samsung has copied their devices to such a degree as to cause confusion to the average person in the street. Why is this bullying?
If there was no case to answer then Samsung should just fight that battle in court and everyone would see the folly of Apple's case. The judiciary would smack Apple and levy a large fine for the misleading litigation and their repuation would be sullied.
Instead Samsung are trying every angle they can to throw FUD on the issue by trying to leverage FRAND patents. They really must be very unsure about their ability to defend the Apple charges.
I know its impossible for some people to comprehend here due to prejudice that used to be reserved for '70s sitcoms but consider that Apple might just be in the right.
I had T68i, including the camera add on I picked up cheap on eBay, followed by a P800 which outlasted the contract, finally succumbing when it hit a car park floor. In the end I went back to Nokia following its demise until the iPhone 3G came out. No intention of moving to anything else now.
They are facts. The question is whether they are important?
Twenty years ago I'd have argued yes. Ten years ago I would probably have argued yes. Now I'm not so sure. The majority of users now are consumers of web content. To them the important thing is does it work reliably? Can I access the content I want? Is it easy to use?
I understand Stallman. I even understand the people on here that support his view. I put it to you that you aren't the target audience of these devices. That you are so wrapped up in technology that you are unable to see what ordinary people want.
Looking at a more traditional industry look at cars. Thirty years ago everything was mechanical. The flow of fuel into the engine was controlled by a carb, or maybe twin carbs. The mechanics were reasonably simple. Maintenance was something that the average person could do if they wanted to. These days everything is computer controlled. Ignition systems and fuel injection aren't something that the average person can service. Does this matter? Only the true pistonheads think so. The rest of us just want to use it to get from A to B. Like it or not computing is going the same way.
This is the problem with single interest groups ala Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. They have a political agenda established on feelings rather than facts. The facts are that Nuclear is a much greener producer of power than any of the green alternatives. It does have a downside. We are familiar with that downside to such an extent that its managed.
No one knows the impact of large scale solar panels installations. We can speculate, and whilst running they don't generate any nasty waste products that we are aware of yet. However the environmental cost to build, transport, and install, isn't zero. There is also the question of disposal once they have outlived their useful life. The environmental cost of covering land formerly covered in vegetation with solar panels is also not zero. That doesn't matter though. Greenpeace have deemed solar as green and the public listen to them.
The fall from grace of Digital Equipment (DEC to you newcomers) was because the VAX was so successful. The higher management at DEC wouldn't entertain work on a VAX replacement until too late, partly because it might have cannibalized VAX sales.
At the time Unix was for workstations, VMS was the driving force in the SMB datacentres, we all know how that ended.
You can improve on, what you believe is, perfection. It just takes the right attitude.
Its so easy to mock. Far too many technologists have no idea how to make technology that is usable ordinary people. Its possible to have too much choice.
Don't worry. The fanbois will be along in a moment to say that Samsung will announce a new phone shortly, at the delayed presentation, that will be twice as quick as the 4S and at half the price.
Who are these people anyway doing benchmarks? You can't introduce facts to the anti-Apple zealots. There is only one true way !Apple.
10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)
- - - Most have this, and they are easy to use. Sadly, most don't come with a fluffy kitten or a couscous icon. And I have YET to see an Average Joe with an iPhone. Most people I see with iPhones are the pretentious, privileged type
Now who's being pretentious?
On technical sites the pretentious ones are those that won't buy anything from Apple styling those that do as being mere fanbois who have no ability to make rational decisions and are instead under the sway of the legendary RDF.
There is no doubt that you can buy cheaper Android phones with a similar feature set. If that's what you want to do go for it. You've made a rational decision based on your criteria. However accept that other people have different criteria and may make a different decision.
No ability to use the internal screen and and external one means its a non-starter for me. What's the point of docking it and losing screen real-estate?
The delayed bubble is one feature that has yet to be nerfed. I bet it won't be long before all those cloaky warpies petition for this to change though. Afterall it means they might get caught.
Of course the deficit generating budget approved by the numpties in the House of Westminster was proposed and passed by a government in power by virtue of its Scottish MPs. To cap it all the chief architect of this was a Scot that preached fiscal responsibility in public whilst stitching the rest of the UK up in the process.
You can keep your money, and your MPs. We can look after ourselves thank you.
Erm ... Apple's original iPhone had no support for native apps. The intention was for users to access apps via the browser rather than carry them around on their device. When this was announced there was much rage and gnashing of teeth. Apple relented and allowed native apps, building an app store to deliver them.
Does this mean that things are going full circle and that Apple was right all along?
Is this some strange commentary on the whole patent/copyright system that they are using a work of fiction to attempt to prove prior art?
The bottom line is that an Android phone or tablet doesn't have to look like an iPhone/iPad but Samsung have made theirs as close as they can without actually sticking an Apple logo on it. This is no Apple v Microsoft where Apple was trying to go for general look-and-feel but a real copycat attempt at passing off.
This takes me back to my final year at University. My final year project involved writing a compiler for Occam. Being short of actual Transputers I wrote a virtual machine consisting of a number of Transputer cores with associated channels.
Its interesting that the weight of scientific knowledge behind current thinking is used as an argument to support it. This is a self-sustaining model, if enough people believe it's true then it must be so.
In the sixties we had infinite oil, there was no global warming, well maybe a few cranks with their quackery disagreed. Scientific opinion tends to collect around the edges of current thinking. Its just how things work, it takes a deal of confidence to question that and then evidence to backup the questions. If the new thinking can be proven then scientific thinking changes to the new model, with the exception of a few on the outside that try and prove it wrong.
We shouldn't be dismissive of people just because they have a different view. Instead we should say, "Ok, prove it."
"There's been a lot of debate on the thread about why Android's doing so well, but no-one seems willing to point out what might just be the reason, so let me be the one:
Android is, quite simply, better than iOS."
Do you really believe that enough people think this for it to make a difference? I have another reason. One that's a bit more compelling. Android phones are cheaper. Not all of them, but you can buy a SIM free Android phone to use on a pay as you go type deal for less than half the price of an iPhone on anything but an extortionate contract.
The Register rarely gives Apple credit for anything. All of their Apple coverage is laden with spite and vitriol. Its little wonder that they don't get invited to the parties anymore.
I updated my iPhone 3G to iOS 4.2 overnight. Not any discernable new features, but its now as responsive as it was with whatever version of iOS was on it when I bought it. It looks as though Apple have stopped trying to sell me a new phone by slowing down my existing one ;)
Interesting the people that followed the crowd to get an iPhone are now following the crowd to get Android phones.
This will be popular with people that want to show Apple what's for. They will buy it, find that the interface doesn't really work with fingers. No problem they'll get a stylus, because everyone wants to use a stylus don't they. Its so natural. Then they'll find that it doesn't quite hack it for writing emails and suchlike. That's not a problem though, its got bluetooth, so they'll get a keyboard. Hey look at this Apple. Damn, typing and doing other stuff on the interface doesn't quite work. I'll get a mouse. Now look I've got a screen with bluetooth mouse and keyboard running the same old Windows 7 on an underpowered and limited device. It's ok though, its not Apple.
Please save us from technologists with a lack of imagination. Sadly that includes most of the staff at El Reg.
A computer that doesn't require its users to spend an age learning about how to make it work.
A computer that doesn't require its users to have to manage virus checkers and where they need to go to patch all of the bits of software they have installed.
A computer that isn't as flexible as the Unix system that I'm using now, or any general purpose laptop or desktop, but a computer nonetheless.
If you don't understand why this will be attractive to people and work in IT please either:
a) find a clue stick and repeatedly apply it to your head until you do
or
b) find a different industry to work in.
I have had to help relatives with their PCs. Starting them up and launching a browser to download patches more often than not I'm greeted with a browser with toolbars from MS Live, Google, Yahoo, AOL, etc. Often all installed at once. They don't know how they got there, they don't know if they are important, and wouldn't know how to get rid of them anyway. That is the sorry state of general purpose computing today.
There are many people that just want to access the web, manage their email, and maybe do something with the photos they took at Christmas. To these people a simplified computer interface with centralised patching and updates isn't something to be pooh poohed, its what they are looking for. The massive lack of realization of this around the IT industry is the most worrying thing about the reaction to the iPad.
The scanners are at the security barrier right? If so just get a friendly child to go through with you. They can be going on a different flight, just be wearing your explosives in their clothes. Once you are through, take them to the toilet, extract the explosives and say goodbye. They go off safe and sound, you blow up an airliner.
Of course no terrorist would think of doing this so we are all safe. How long is it going to be before the general public gets their head around the idea that all you get if you build a better mouse trap is smarter mice. Its up to us, the public, to stop them infringing our liberties and wasting our money like this.
Its really funny reading some of the comments on here. If Microsoft pulled the same trick there would be howls of protest about it being typical Microsoft behavior. It's Google though, they 'do no evil', so they can be excused.
The bottom line is that Android isn't turning out to be what all of the Linux using OSS advocates imagined. Instead its turning into what anyone that looks in from outside that mind set expected. Its the Linux ideal on a phone. This is going to lead to branches, to incompatibilities, to end user problems. None of the OSS fanatics will accept this. They'll counter every argument with the fact that 'you can download an app to fix it', or its Google and 'they do no evil'.
The more that is seen of Android, and Google's approach, the less compelling it becomes.
Google only cares about revenue. They don't really care about the end-user. They realise that having a better end-user experience than the other guy will get them more users and therefore more revenue. To imply from that they care about them is going a bit far.
As an example. Google kept Googlemail in beta for such a long time purely to allow them to be free of any sort of responsibility. "Meh, its a beta service, if you treated it any differently then more fool you".
Why did Google enter the phone business in the first place? It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts. It was because they could see people accessing the internet free from their advertising. As people's access becomes more mobile, as it undoubtedly will, they could see their position disappearing. So they needed so fix a hook in to get their advertising onto this new, mobile internet.
None of the previous Android phones have delivered, and some were already starting to generate bad press (the lack of an upgrade path for Samsung phones for example). So Google has been forced into making this move. This isn't something that Google wanted to do. They know the dangers. Don't think they did it because of the end-user though, it was entirely out of self-interest.
Title says it all really. The only people to get Justice out of the system are the crims. After all to have committed all those crimes they must have been mad, and it must have been societies fault for not understanding them, or not helping them.
Ask the vast majority of people if they wanted a computer that didn't have viruses and on which applications just did what they said they'd do and I bet they'd say yes.
Tell them that they could only buy software from a single place that ensured that the software would run and provided them with a single place to go and find things and I don't think they'd have a problem with that.
Say that it worked in the same way as the iTunes store or the iPhone App Store and, again, I don't think you'd have many dissenters.
Ask the same thing of the luddites that inhabit El Reg and you'll get a different answer. Isn't this the problem with computing? At some point we are going to have to listen to the users instead of trying to tell them that we know best.
This seems like a dig at Apple but if so its so wide of the mark its difficult to follow. The differences:
1. The original iPhone can still run the latest software, updated for free. The only things that don't work are those things that require the additional hardware included in later phones. Not an unreasonable stand point.
2. Its different hardware, as is the difference between 3g and 3gs. This is nothing like the Samsung phone here.
I know that some people are irrational Apple haters, but as far as the iPhone goes they are showing the other phone manufacturers how it should be done. So much so that its now a story if a smart phone can't be updated.
To be honest I'm not surprised about Symbian. I'd have replaced by 9200 with an E90 if Nokia had kept the same OS. Instead they dumbed it down and made it just another business phone losing the great messaging client. Nokia went for mass market, and that will be its downfall.
For a brief period within Apple's history it dabbled with licensing MacOS to run on clone systems. The idea was to grow the market. Instead of doing that, which was difficult, the clone makers went after Apple's market directly. This reduced Apple's profitability and threatened to take the company under. Killing the clones saved Apple.
The problem is that this level of protest wasn't raised when the CRB enhanced check was introduced. Its therefore possible to bluster that its not really any different and its just a streamlining of the system.
The real problem is hit on by Pullman. This legislation turns the entire basis of British law on it's head; the principle that a person is innocent until proved guilty. In the case of this sort of 'positive vetting' the opposite holds true. People are guilty unless proved innocent, add to this the fact that rumor alone (the no smoke without fire principle) can get you on the list and huge swathes of the population can be eliminated from potential employment without ever having committed an offence.
Whilst the case that the legislation in on the back of was terrible, Huntley et al, this is a massive overreaction in terms of cost and human rights. If murderers like Huntley were routinely taking jobs near children and killing them for sport it would be different. There are always people that will slip through the net, however tight you draw it, measures like this trample too far over our freedoms for too little benefit.
"Are there really still people out there who think of the PC as a games platform? Get real."
Erm. EA certainly do, witness the recent Sims 3 release. Given that the Sims is a juggernaut of a franchise that hoovers up cash I'd guess that all of the people buying it think that too. There have been predictions of the death of the general purpose PC for many years, its not going to happen anytime soon.
This is an interesting move by Google in a limited market. Whether it gains any traction will be interesting to see. I have never understood why people gush over the latest announcements from a search engine/advertising company. Maybe its because they use Linux internally and fall into 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' territory.
When the UK cable industry went digital the software it was on the Liberate DTV platform. Liberate was originally called Network Computer Inc and was the product of Larry's foray into the thin-client business. So far from falling completely flat the technology did make a lasting impact in the world of TV.
Duh. If Jobs hadn't killed the clone market, which was taking away Apple's revenue, nothing would have been able to the cash strapped because Apple would have gone the way of Be etc.
I've still to find something that matches using my old Palm III and Palm Desktop connecting to Mac OS 9. I could install apps and have them sync data back to applications on my laptop. Then Palm stopped updating Palm Desktop so I moved away to other things. Unless Palm are going to provide a nice new, plugin friendly, Palm Desktop application for OS X this is no good to me. If they are, and a 3G version comes out, I'll look at it when I need to change my phone.
Sadly I suspect that by the time Palm deliver Apple will have and their chance will have gone.
Its cheaper than an iPhone for a reason. Its not as good as an iPhone. You can get a 3G iPhone for this price on contract, yes you need to sign up to £30/month but if you were to use the Cookie for data on a pay as you go basis you'd soon rack up similar costs.
There seems to be a bit of inverse snobbery were the iPhone is concerned. People are casting around to get something that they can say is an iPhone beater. They'll do anything, and accept any limitation, to convince themselves that they are better than iPhone owners. Why is that?
You used to get the same on BBC Radio 4 too. The presenters were happy not to know about URLs and the Internet. Somehow if you can stay ignorant it makes you a better person. Whatever, the fact that everything is compared with the iPhone shows what an impact it has had. Don't put it all down to advertising either, they wouldn't sell as many as they do based on that alone.
Why all of the vitriol towards iPhone owners? I have an iPhone 3G, I bought it because it fits in with my needs and, unlike countless S60 phones, it works.
It seems to me that there is a great deal of loathing towards those people that can afford to buy things. Somehow if you buy software, music, movies, Apple kit, you are some sort of pariah. You should be content with home brew kit and OSS offerings. Well forget that. I've worked hard to earn enough money to be able to buy what works best for me. If you can't afford it, stop bleating about it. Jealousy is the worst of the seven sins.
It seems the lady at Tesla hadn't heard of Top Gear before lending them cars. The push back to the garage was obviously to stress the fact that the car ran out of juice and they weren't able to test in the same way they would a petrol car.
The bit about the brake failure being due to a blown fuse is even more scary when you hear it that way. A blown fuse called the brakes to fail?
The recharging would be an extreme case, but even if you have a dedicated fast charging rig at home you might be travelling somewhere over half the range away and then you are going to need to charge from a standard socket. The charging time is an issue, even if its 4-6 hours, when compared with petrol/diesel powered cars.
Clarkson did say that he liked it, there is no doubt that the car is quick, but its a technology demonstration rather than a practical proposition. The Tesla addresses the performance issues of electric car but recharging time is still the real problem.
There's no point commenting on this sort of diatribe. If you object against it then you are obviously a fan boy and taken in by the Cult of Jobs.
I have Macs and would recommend them because as a tool they do what they say they do with minimal headaches for the user. Now I'm sure that The Register can come up with an heap of anecdotal quotes that try to disprove that but I really don't care.
That's the point though isn't it. The Apple experience is about the combination of hardware and software. If you are running OS X on partially supported hardware its not going to be the same.
I've got a pretty repeatable bug in the friends mode. If I've got a few friends online and I'm in a group then go in to look at a friend, or the popup box, then return to the gallery of friends the xbox hangs for 30 seconds or so before sorting itself out and continuing as normal. Its not 100% of the time but fairly often.
Other than that its fine. I like the copy to HDD option for things like Fable2 and my Xbox seems to run quieter. I do have an Elite though.
To those with RROD. Its coincidence, not the cause. Its similar to the '<new game here> killed my xbox' threads that appear on in the Forums of the xbox site when new games come out.
Register
91 posts • joined Monday 25th February 2008 09:20 GMT
Page:
More time to spend
I agree with the workers. In the last decade I spent most of my time working away from home in the week, I was paid hourly and was more than happy to work overtime. The alternative was having to find ways to fill time in a hotel or a strange town. This invariably lead to spending more money.
Its a way of working that doesn't fit the traditional model that people are trying to judge it by. People work for a short, few years, at a max away from home with the aim of maximising their earnings and return on the time spent. As long as the people have made the decision to work in this way without coercsion and in full acceptance of the facts what is the problem?
You sir are a Troll
... and I claim my finders fee.
Point .. missed
Apple don't care about world domination. They care about protecting their investment and selling their kit to people that can afford them.
Google don't care about what devices Android is available on, or how poor the experience is, as long as they are able to extend their advertising reach through them.
The Android handset manfacturers don't care about Android other than its given then a low cost way to add smart phone features to cheap phones.
Android phones were always going to outsell iOS phones.
So all hacking attempts are the same in the same way that all other offences are the same?
Whilst I feel a little sorry for McKinnon, hacking into military computers is always going to get you into hot water. Its not so much what he was looking for as to what access to the systems he hacked would give you the ability to see.
Expensive?
I've run Powerbooks, Powerbook Pros, Macbook Pros for the past 12 years. They are only expensive if you only look a raw specs. If you look at the whole package they aren't.
I recently challenged our IT department to find me a laptop with the same specification for less money. I wanted the same battery life, the same screen resolution and quality, the same graphics chipset. They couldn't. The killer was battery life and screen quality.
Its all about horses for courses. I run a Macbook Pro because I can and I like what they offer. I could buy a cheaper PC laptop but I would be compromising in some form or other. Of course the rabid anti-Apple zealots will just call me a fanboi or worse. Shame that.
Erm .. why?
Why would a dock that stops you using the MBP screen be of any use to anyone? The advantage of plugging in an external screen is to get more screen real estate, this immediately gets rid of some of that advantage.
Only to be bought by people with truly more money than sense.
Take off the Apple blinkers people
For goodness sake wake up people. I know that the yoof of today don't think anything of sharing their intimate thoughts with thousands of Facebook friends but I had hoped that the denzies of El Reg were above that.
There is no mention as to how big his friends list was in the original article. I know people that have hundreds of people on theirs, most of which they have a tenuous real life contact with at best. How many/few people would have to be on the friends list for it to be considered public?
Search on Google for people being sacked for emails to a select number of friends/colleages. You'll find a whole bunch of them. It doesn't matter that the intention wasn't to publish to the whole world, the fact is that once published the comments are beyond his control, and are instead in the control of others. That places them in the public domain.
It's not difficult people. Try and get away from the 'its Apple so they must be in the wrong' and look at it from all angles.
Pot meet Kettle
Emailing comments to friends could get you sacked too. It doesn't matter if your intention is only publish to a small number of friends you don't have control over them so the comments are in the public domain. In this sense the tribunal is following legal precedent.
It might not have been the intention, but a lot of people these days don't understand the reach of electronic media or the concept that once something is out there they have no ability to get it back.
Interestingly you finish with a mindless rant about people supporting Apple being mindless. Shouldn't all people and comments be judged on their merits? This isn't something that you appear to adhere to yourself inspite of condemming others for not doing so.
As far as I can see Apple hasn't sued RIM regarding their smart phones, they haven't sued MS regarding Windows Phone 7. They have applied for injunctions against Samsung because they believe that Samsung has copied their devices to such a degree as to cause confusion to the average person in the street. Why is this bullying?
If there was no case to answer then Samsung should just fight that battle in court and everyone would see the folly of Apple's case. The judiciary would smack Apple and levy a large fine for the misleading litigation and their repuation would be sullied.
Instead Samsung are trying every angle they can to throw FUD on the issue by trying to leverage FRAND patents. They really must be very unsure about their ability to defend the Apple charges.
I know its impossible for some people to comprehend here due to prejudice that used to be reserved for '70s sitcoms but consider that Apple might just be in the right.
P800
I had T68i, including the camera add on I picked up cheap on eBay, followed by a P800 which outlasted the contract, finally succumbing when it hit a car park floor. In the end I went back to Nokia following its demise until the iPhone 3G came out. No intention of moving to anything else now.
They are facts. The question is whether they are important?
Twenty years ago I'd have argued yes. Ten years ago I would probably have argued yes. Now I'm not so sure. The majority of users now are consumers of web content. To them the important thing is does it work reliably? Can I access the content I want? Is it easy to use?
I understand Stallman. I even understand the people on here that support his view. I put it to you that you aren't the target audience of these devices. That you are so wrapped up in technology that you are unable to see what ordinary people want.
Looking at a more traditional industry look at cars. Thirty years ago everything was mechanical. The flow of fuel into the engine was controlled by a carb, or maybe twin carbs. The mechanics were reasonably simple. Maintenance was something that the average person could do if they wanted to. These days everything is computer controlled. Ignition systems and fuel injection aren't something that the average person can service. Does this matter? Only the true pistonheads think so. The rest of us just want to use it to get from A to B. Like it or not computing is going the same way.
This is the problem with single interest groups ala Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. They have a political agenda established on feelings rather than facts. The facts are that Nuclear is a much greener producer of power than any of the green alternatives. It does have a downside. We are familiar with that downside to such an extent that its managed.
No one knows the impact of large scale solar panels installations. We can speculate, and whilst running they don't generate any nasty waste products that we are aware of yet. However the environmental cost to build, transport, and install, isn't zero. There is also the question of disposal once they have outlived their useful life. The environmental cost of covering land formerly covered in vegetation with solar panels is also not zero. That doesn't matter though. Greenpeace have deemed solar as green and the public listen to them.
So true
The fall from grace of Digital Equipment (DEC to you newcomers) was because the VAX was so successful. The higher management at DEC wouldn't entertain work on a VAX replacement until too late, partly because it might have cannibalized VAX sales.
At the time Unix was for workstations, VMS was the driving force in the SMB datacentres, we all know how that ended.
You can improve on, what you believe is, perfection. It just takes the right attitude.
Its so easy to mock. Far too many technologists have no idea how to make technology that is usable ordinary people. Its possible to have too much choice.
Don't worry. The fanbois will be along in a moment to say that Samsung will announce a new phone shortly, at the delayed presentation, that will be twice as quick as the 4S and at half the price.
Who are these people anyway doing benchmarks? You can't introduce facts to the anti-Apple zealots. There is only one true way !Apple.
10. Great, truly great, media sharing capabilities, useable by The Average Joe(TM)
- - - Most have this, and they are easy to use. Sadly, most don't come with a fluffy kitten or a couscous icon. And I have YET to see an Average Joe with an iPhone. Most people I see with iPhones are the pretentious, privileged type
Now who's being pretentious?
On technical sites the pretentious ones are those that won't buy anything from Apple styling those that do as being mere fanbois who have no ability to make rational decisions and are instead under the sway of the legendary RDF.
There is no doubt that you can buy cheaper Android phones with a similar feature set. If that's what you want to do go for it. You've made a rational decision based on your criteria. However accept that other people have different criteria and may make a different decision.
Uhuh
Apples != Oranges, or HTC for that matter
Beta forever
I guess the change will be that at Google the software will be released just be in perpetual beta
Monitor spanning
No ability to use the internal screen and and external one means its a non-starter for me. What's the point of docking it and losing screen real-estate?
Delayed bubble ftw
The delayed bubble is one feature that has yet to be nerfed. I bet it won't be long before all those cloaky warpies petition for this to change though. Afterall it means they might get caught.
The Caledonian Question
Of course the deficit generating budget approved by the numpties in the House of Westminster was proposed and passed by a government in power by virtue of its Scottish MPs. To cap it all the chief architect of this was a Scot that preached fiscal responsibility in public whilst stitching the rest of the UK up in the process.
You can keep your money, and your MPs. We can look after ourselves thank you.
Native Apps?
Erm ... Apple's original iPhone had no support for native apps. The intention was for users to access apps via the browser rather than carry them around on their device. When this was announced there was much rage and gnashing of teeth. Apple relented and allowed native apps, building an app store to deliver them.
Does this mean that things are going full circle and that Apple was right all along?
Uh Fiction?
Is this some strange commentary on the whole patent/copyright system that they are using a work of fiction to attempt to prove prior art?
The bottom line is that an Android phone or tablet doesn't have to look like an iPhone/iPad but Samsung have made theirs as close as they can without actually sticking an Apple logo on it. This is no Apple v Microsoft where Apple was trying to go for general look-and-feel but a real copycat attempt at passing off.
Takes me back...
This takes me back to my final year at University. My final year project involved writing a compiler for Occam. Being short of actual Transputers I wrote a virtual machine consisting of a number of Transputer cores with associated channels.
One mans quackery is another mans certainty
Its interesting that the weight of scientific knowledge behind current thinking is used as an argument to support it. This is a self-sustaining model, if enough people believe it's true then it must be so.
In the sixties we had infinite oil, there was no global warming, well maybe a few cranks with their quackery disagreed. Scientific opinion tends to collect around the edges of current thinking. Its just how things work, it takes a deal of confidence to question that and then evidence to backup the questions. If the new thinking can be proven then scientific thinking changes to the new model, with the exception of a few on the outside that try and prove it wrong.
We shouldn't be dismissive of people just because they have a different view. Instead we should say, "Ok, prove it."
RE: Why is Android outselling iOS?
Quote:
"There's been a lot of debate on the thread about why Android's doing so well, but no-one seems willing to point out what might just be the reason, so let me be the one:
Android is, quite simply, better than iOS."
Do you really believe that enough people think this for it to make a difference? I have another reason. One that's a bit more compelling. Android phones are cheaper. Not all of them, but you can buy a SIM free Android phone to use on a pay as you go type deal for less than half the price of an iPhone on anything but an extortionate contract.
Are you new here?
The Register rarely gives Apple credit for anything. All of their Apple coverage is laden with spite and vitriol. Its little wonder that they don't get invited to the parties anymore.
Fine here
I updated my iPhone 3G to iOS 4.2 overnight. Not any discernable new features, but its now as responsive as it was with whatever version of iOS was on it when I bought it. It looks as though Apple have stopped trying to sell me a new phone by slowing down my existing one ;)
Interesting the people that followed the crowd to get an iPhone are now following the crowd to get Android phones.
Ha ha ha
This will be popular with people that want to show Apple what's for. They will buy it, find that the interface doesn't really work with fingers. No problem they'll get a stylus, because everyone wants to use a stylus don't they. Its so natural. Then they'll find that it doesn't quite hack it for writing emails and suchlike. That's not a problem though, its got bluetooth, so they'll get a keyboard. Hey look at this Apple. Damn, typing and doing other stuff on the interface doesn't quite work. I'll get a mouse. Now look I've got a screen with bluetooth mouse and keyboard running the same old Windows 7 on an underpowered and limited device. It's ok though, its not Apple.
Please save us from technologists with a lack of imagination. Sadly that includes most of the staff at El Reg.
No, you don't get it
Its a computer for non-technical people.
A computer that doesn't require its users to spend an age learning about how to make it work.
A computer that doesn't require its users to have to manage virus checkers and where they need to go to patch all of the bits of software they have installed.
A computer that isn't as flexible as the Unix system that I'm using now, or any general purpose laptop or desktop, but a computer nonetheless.
If you don't understand why this will be attractive to people and work in IT please either:
a) find a clue stick and repeatedly apply it to your head until you do
or
b) find a different industry to work in.
I have had to help relatives with their PCs. Starting them up and launching a browser to download patches more often than not I'm greeted with a browser with toolbars from MS Live, Google, Yahoo, AOL, etc. Often all installed at once. They don't know how they got there, they don't know if they are important, and wouldn't know how to get rid of them anyway. That is the sorry state of general purpose computing today.
There are many people that just want to access the web, manage their email, and maybe do something with the photos they took at Christmas. To these people a simplified computer interface with centralised patching and updates isn't something to be pooh poohed, its what they are looking for. The massive lack of realization of this around the IT industry is the most worrying thing about the reaction to the iPad.
Child Terrorists?
The scanners are at the security barrier right? If so just get a friendly child to go through with you. They can be going on a different flight, just be wearing your explosives in their clothes. Once you are through, take them to the toilet, extract the explosives and say goodbye. They go off safe and sound, you blow up an airliner.
Of course no terrorist would think of doing this so we are all safe. How long is it going to be before the general public gets their head around the idea that all you get if you build a better mouse trap is smarter mice. Its up to us, the public, to stop them infringing our liberties and wasting our money like this.
Googlegasms galore
Its really funny reading some of the comments on here. If Microsoft pulled the same trick there would be howls of protest about it being typical Microsoft behavior. It's Google though, they 'do no evil', so they can be excused.
The bottom line is that Android isn't turning out to be what all of the Linux using OSS advocates imagined. Instead its turning into what anyone that looks in from outside that mind set expected. Its the Linux ideal on a phone. This is going to lead to branches, to incompatibilities, to end user problems. None of the OSS fanatics will accept this. They'll counter every argument with the fact that 'you can download an app to fix it', or its Google and 'they do no evil'.
The more that is seen of Android, and Google's approach, the less compelling it becomes.
Fixed it for you
Google only cares about revenue. They don't really care about the end-user. They realise that having a better end-user experience than the other guy will get them more users and therefore more revenue. To imply from that they care about them is going a bit far.
As an example. Google kept Googlemail in beta for such a long time purely to allow them to be free of any sort of responsibility. "Meh, its a beta service, if you treated it any differently then more fool you".
Why did Google enter the phone business in the first place? It wasn't out of the goodness of their hearts. It was because they could see people accessing the internet free from their advertising. As people's access becomes more mobile, as it undoubtedly will, they could see their position disappearing. So they needed so fix a hook in to get their advertising onto this new, mobile internet.
None of the previous Android phones have delivered, and some were already starting to generate bad press (the lack of an upgrade path for Samsung phones for example). So Google has been forced into making this move. This isn't something that Google wanted to do. They know the dangers. Don't think they did it because of the end-user though, it was entirely out of self-interest.
Criminal Justice System
Title says it all really. The only people to get Justice out of the system are the crims. After all to have committed all those crimes they must have been mad, and it must have been societies fault for not understanding them, or not helping them.
More rabid El Reg paranoia
Ask the vast majority of people if they wanted a computer that didn't have viruses and on which applications just did what they said they'd do and I bet they'd say yes.
Tell them that they could only buy software from a single place that ensured that the software would run and provided them with a single place to go and find things and I don't think they'd have a problem with that.
Say that it worked in the same way as the iTunes store or the iPhone App Store and, again, I don't think you'd have many dissenters.
Ask the same thing of the luddites that inhabit El Reg and you'll get a different answer. Isn't this the problem with computing? At some point we are going to have to listen to the users instead of trying to tell them that we know best.
Re: Apple minus 3g, then inc 3g
This seems like a dig at Apple but if so its so wide of the mark its difficult to follow. The differences:
1. The original iPhone can still run the latest software, updated for free. The only things that don't work are those things that require the additional hardware included in later phones. Not an unreasonable stand point.
2. Its different hardware, as is the difference between 3g and 3gs. This is nothing like the Samsung phone here.
I know that some people are irrational Apple haters, but as far as the iPhone goes they are showing the other phone manufacturers how it should be done. So much so that its now a story if a smart phone can't be updated.
Not surprised about Symbian
To be honest I'm not surprised about Symbian. I'd have replaced by 9200 with an E90 if Nokia had kept the same OS. Instead they dumbed it down and made it just another business phone losing the great messaging client. Nokia went for mass market, and that will be its downfall.
Olden days?
For a brief period within Apple's history it dabbled with licensing MacOS to run on clone systems. The idea was to grow the market. Instead of doing that, which was difficult, the clone makers went after Apple's market directly. This reduced Apple's profitability and threatened to take the company under. Killing the clones saved Apple.
Too late to protest
The problem is that this level of protest wasn't raised when the CRB enhanced check was introduced. Its therefore possible to bluster that its not really any different and its just a streamlining of the system.
The real problem is hit on by Pullman. This legislation turns the entire basis of British law on it's head; the principle that a person is innocent until proved guilty. In the case of this sort of 'positive vetting' the opposite holds true. People are guilty unless proved innocent, add to this the fact that rumor alone (the no smoke without fire principle) can get you on the list and huge swathes of the population can be eliminated from potential employment without ever having committed an offence.
Whilst the case that the legislation in on the back of was terrible, Huntley et al, this is a massive overreaction in terms of cost and human rights. If murderers like Huntley were routinely taking jobs near children and killing them for sport it would be different. There are always people that will slip through the net, however tight you draw it, measures like this trample too far over our freedoms for too little benefit.
Re: Games
"Are there really still people out there who think of the PC as a games platform? Get real."
Erm. EA certainly do, witness the recent Sims 3 release. Given that the Sims is a juggernaut of a franchise that hoovers up cash I'd guess that all of the people buying it think that too. There have been predictions of the death of the general purpose PC for many years, its not going to happen anytime soon.
This is an interesting move by Google in a limited market. Whether it gains any traction will be interesting to see. I have never understood why people gush over the latest announcements from a search engine/advertising company. Maybe its because they use Linux internally and fall into 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' territory.
relivesrevealsnetwork computernetbook dreamSet top boxes
When the UK cable industry went digital the software it was on the Liberate DTV platform. Liberate was originally called Network Computer Inc and was the product of Larry's foray into the thin-client business. So far from falling completely flat the technology did make a lasting impact in the world of TV.
Re: Bring it on!
Duh. If Jobs hadn't killed the clone market, which was taking away Apple's revenue, nothing would have been able to the cash strapped because Apple would have gone the way of Be etc.
Software support?
I've still to find something that matches using my old Palm III and Palm Desktop connecting to Mac OS 9. I could install apps and have them sync data back to applications on my laptop. Then Palm stopped updating Palm Desktop so I moved away to other things. Unless Palm are going to provide a nice new, plugin friendly, Palm Desktop application for OS X this is no good to me. If they are, and a 3G version comes out, I'll look at it when I need to change my phone.
Sadly I suspect that by the time Palm deliver Apple will have and their chance will have gone.
No contest
Its cheaper than an iPhone for a reason. Its not as good as an iPhone. You can get a 3G iPhone for this price on contract, yes you need to sign up to £30/month but if you were to use the Cookie for data on a pay as you go basis you'd soon rack up similar costs.
There seems to be a bit of inverse snobbery were the iPhone is concerned. People are casting around to get something that they can say is an iPhone beater. They'll do anything, and accept any limitation, to convince themselves that they are better than iPhone owners. Why is that?
You used to get the same on BBC Radio 4 too. The presenters were happy not to know about URLs and the Internet. Somehow if you can stay ignorant it makes you a better person. Whatever, the fact that everything is compared with the iPhone shows what an impact it has had. Don't put it all down to advertising either, they wouldn't sell as many as they do based on that alone.
Jealousy?
Why all of the vitriol towards iPhone owners? I have an iPhone 3G, I bought it because it fits in with my needs and, unlike countless S60 phones, it works.
It seems to me that there is a great deal of loathing towards those people that can afford to buy things. Somehow if you buy software, music, movies, Apple kit, you are some sort of pariah. You should be content with home brew kit and OSS offerings. Well forget that. I've worked hard to earn enough money to be able to buy what works best for me. If you can't afford it, stop bleating about it. Jealousy is the worst of the seven sins.
Artistic Licence
It seems the lady at Tesla hadn't heard of Top Gear before lending them cars. The push back to the garage was obviously to stress the fact that the car ran out of juice and they weren't able to test in the same way they would a petrol car.
The bit about the brake failure being due to a blown fuse is even more scary when you hear it that way. A blown fuse called the brakes to fail?
The recharging would be an extreme case, but even if you have a dedicated fast charging rig at home you might be travelling somewhere over half the range away and then you are going to need to charge from a standard socket. The charging time is an issue, even if its 4-6 hours, when compared with petrol/diesel powered cars.
Clarkson did say that he liked it, there is no doubt that the car is quick, but its a technology demonstration rather than a practical proposition. The Tesla addresses the performance issues of electric car but recharging time is still the real problem.
Sanity?
Sanity won't prevail. There is no sanity in the government hive mind when it comes to the internet and children.
No point commenting
There's no point commenting on this sort of diatribe. If you object against it then you are obviously a fan boy and taken in by the Cult of Jobs.
I have Macs and would recommend them because as a tool they do what they say they do with minimal headaches for the user. Now I'm sure that The Register can come up with an heap of anecdotal quotes that try to disprove that but I really don't care.
Re: Why bother??
That's the point though isn't it. The Apple experience is about the combination of hardware and software. If you are running OS X on partially supported hardware its not going to be the same.
Friends hang
I've got a pretty repeatable bug in the friends mode. If I've got a few friends online and I'm in a group then go in to look at a friend, or the popup box, then return to the gallery of friends the xbox hangs for 30 seconds or so before sorting itself out and continuing as normal. Its not 100% of the time but fairly often.
Other than that its fine. I like the copy to HDD option for things like Fable2 and my Xbox seems to run quieter. I do have an Elite though.
To those with RROD. Its coincidence, not the cause. Its similar to the '<new game here> killed my xbox' threads that appear on in the Forums of the xbox site when new games come out.
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