Full of Win
Apr 1, 09:18 AM
The channels that do not participate are just inching that much more toward obscurity.
Just recently we cancelled the cable subscription (still have KylinTV IPTV) for lack of use. Only one TV show was watched per week, and that can be purchased on iTunes in a superior format to what we got via cable, for a fraction of the cost of cable.
If my provider had an app like this, we would have stayed subscribed. Its arcane to sit down in front of a screen at a predetermined time to watch programming, it really is.
Just recently we cancelled the cable subscription (still have KylinTV IPTV) for lack of use. Only one TV show was watched per week, and that can be purchased on iTunes in a superior format to what we got via cable, for a fraction of the cost of cable.
If my provider had an app like this, we would have stayed subscribed. Its arcane to sit down in front of a screen at a predetermined time to watch programming, it really is.
mim
May 6, 01:16 AM
Originally posted by markjs
I was drawn to this forum because I am interested in computers generally and macs almost qualify.....but seriously I poked around on a mac for about an hour today, and found that some things are less intuitive (minimizing and closing windows). Also I found that some things easily accessible in windows are not accessible at all in mac OSX. I felt like the computer was "dumbed down" for me. All in all it was a computer and pefectly capable internet machine, but at least in an hour nothing even came close to winning me ove. Oh yeah it also crashed once too.
I think you'll find that using Windows has become a habit - that's why you find it more intuitive. I know from experience that new computer users vastly prefer the mac environment. I used to tutor a couple of classes for CAD where many people hadn't used a computer before. We had both mac and windows machines. Some people prefered the windows machines - because that is what they were used to. I can't remember I new computer user who gravitated towards a pc, rather than a mac. Not only is the interface quite clear, but you're right - it seems dumbed down. Exactly what they wanted.
Now OSX is hardly a dumbed down system. It seems simple if you leave it alone. But you can call up a full unix shell very easily, and control many many things through the comand line interface. You also have Applescript - which is similar to Rexx in old unix environments - it allows you to script functions in the system and most programs very very easily. Very powerful. Nothing like it right out of the box in windows. And for true powerusers the c-prompt in windows is so un-itergrated with the main system that it's a real pain to use.
I can think of various things in Windows that are easily available - but shouldn't be. Like virtual memory setting, video settings, virtual devices, etc. I - now using computers for 20 years - have made the mistake of deleting the scsi device drivers in Windows. I mean, all my drive were IDE! Right? Wrong. The Scsi drivers were required to run the ATAPI layers which allow various software to read from the CD-drive! This kind of cr$p doesn't happen in osX. Everything that needs to be hidden away is. You can get to it, but you should never ever need to.
OSX is more stable. Not by much anymore, but enough that any serious sys admin would run a server using it rather than windows. That says a lot. OSX is more sophisticated in a number of important ways - you should read about Quartz Extreme (the graphics system). It uses some impressive technology (basically old - yes - similar to unix systems, but far more advanced than anything Windows has to offer).
It has saved my job on more than one occasion - things >work< in osX, even when they're on the edge of the capability of the machine...I've had jobs where the same process just crashed faster windows machines (this was mostly when dealing with large graphic files...).
Despite all this - the reason I love macs is the design. Where can you find cases like them in the pc world?! Not just good looks either - you should play with a power mac case...you can open the entire case to expose the motherboard fully without turning the damn thing off! I would have killed to find a PC case like that when I was repairing computers.
And don't forget the iApps either. Beautiful designed hardware, beautiful designed software. There is no equal to iTunes or iPhoto on windows. There is not. I have paid money for and been through literally hundereds of programs. Nothing can compare.
dickrichie is right - we are proud to use beautiful, efficient tools. That's what the mac is.
I was drawn to this forum because I am interested in computers generally and macs almost qualify.....but seriously I poked around on a mac for about an hour today, and found that some things are less intuitive (minimizing and closing windows). Also I found that some things easily accessible in windows are not accessible at all in mac OSX. I felt like the computer was "dumbed down" for me. All in all it was a computer and pefectly capable internet machine, but at least in an hour nothing even came close to winning me ove. Oh yeah it also crashed once too.
I think you'll find that using Windows has become a habit - that's why you find it more intuitive. I know from experience that new computer users vastly prefer the mac environment. I used to tutor a couple of classes for CAD where many people hadn't used a computer before. We had both mac and windows machines. Some people prefered the windows machines - because that is what they were used to. I can't remember I new computer user who gravitated towards a pc, rather than a mac. Not only is the interface quite clear, but you're right - it seems dumbed down. Exactly what they wanted.
Now OSX is hardly a dumbed down system. It seems simple if you leave it alone. But you can call up a full unix shell very easily, and control many many things through the comand line interface. You also have Applescript - which is similar to Rexx in old unix environments - it allows you to script functions in the system and most programs very very easily. Very powerful. Nothing like it right out of the box in windows. And for true powerusers the c-prompt in windows is so un-itergrated with the main system that it's a real pain to use.
I can think of various things in Windows that are easily available - but shouldn't be. Like virtual memory setting, video settings, virtual devices, etc. I - now using computers for 20 years - have made the mistake of deleting the scsi device drivers in Windows. I mean, all my drive were IDE! Right? Wrong. The Scsi drivers were required to run the ATAPI layers which allow various software to read from the CD-drive! This kind of cr$p doesn't happen in osX. Everything that needs to be hidden away is. You can get to it, but you should never ever need to.
OSX is more stable. Not by much anymore, but enough that any serious sys admin would run a server using it rather than windows. That says a lot. OSX is more sophisticated in a number of important ways - you should read about Quartz Extreme (the graphics system). It uses some impressive technology (basically old - yes - similar to unix systems, but far more advanced than anything Windows has to offer).
It has saved my job on more than one occasion - things >work< in osX, even when they're on the edge of the capability of the machine...I've had jobs where the same process just crashed faster windows machines (this was mostly when dealing with large graphic files...).
Despite all this - the reason I love macs is the design. Where can you find cases like them in the pc world?! Not just good looks either - you should play with a power mac case...you can open the entire case to expose the motherboard fully without turning the damn thing off! I would have killed to find a PC case like that when I was repairing computers.
And don't forget the iApps either. Beautiful designed hardware, beautiful designed software. There is no equal to iTunes or iPhoto on windows. There is not. I have paid money for and been through literally hundereds of programs. Nothing can compare.
dickrichie is right - we are proud to use beautiful, efficient tools. That's what the mac is.
asphalt-proof
Oct 17, 06:10 PM
I have a Treo and I love the keyboard but I have a hard time believing that a keyboard on an Apple branded phone would look good. I have yet to see any PDA phone that looked good with a keyboard. It just looks clunky. Maybe Apple can do it right. But all those chicklet sized buttons just look like a crazed Bedazzler-wielding mom attacted an innocent cell phone. :eek:
RoboCop001
Oct 6, 10:22 AM
Ok... do people actually make money sitting around going "I think company X is going to release product Y soon." or is there more to it than that?
Because if that's all they do....................... then I predict MURDEROUS RAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGEEEEEE
Because if that's all they do....................... then I predict MURDEROUS RAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGEEEEEE
more...
amols
Sep 1, 02:15 AM
Who wants to take bets on when the update will be released on torrent sites and FTP servers just like the dev beta? :D
It says 'through Software Update', so if you have Leopard installed, you should be able to download it just like normal updates. No need to go BACK to torrents ;) .
It says 'through Software Update', so if you have Leopard installed, you should be able to download it just like normal updates. No need to go BACK to torrents ;) .
sartinsauce
Oct 17, 09:39 AM
You know, I would love an Apple phone as much (or even more) than the next guy, but something occured to me this morning...
All this talk, all this hype. If/When the iPhone comes out, most of you are gonna flame Apple for releasing such a POS. I'm already vommiting at the thought of how many posts will use the overused phrase "underwhelmed."
You will be underwhelmed my friends, I promise.
Also, to stay competitive in the mobile phone hardware market, you've got to release new hardware, with new features, at least every year, if not twice a year. Apple seems to be so slow getting out of the gate on this one that I wonder if they could do that. I mean, look at quickly they updated their notebooks to Core 2 Duo. Oh, that's right, they haven't.
Can Apple produce and continue to innovate a product every 9 months?
All this talk, all this hype. If/When the iPhone comes out, most of you are gonna flame Apple for releasing such a POS. I'm already vommiting at the thought of how many posts will use the overused phrase "underwhelmed."
You will be underwhelmed my friends, I promise.
Also, to stay competitive in the mobile phone hardware market, you've got to release new hardware, with new features, at least every year, if not twice a year. Apple seems to be so slow getting out of the gate on this one that I wonder if they could do that. I mean, look at quickly they updated their notebooks to Core 2 Duo. Oh, that's right, they haven't.
Can Apple produce and continue to innovate a product every 9 months?
more...
MattSepeta
Apr 12, 01:45 PM
Again, those are majorities singling out a minority. You don't expect a group of hispanic men to jump a korean man if there's more korean's than hispanic's on the street corner. Likewise, blacks are the majority in a black ghetto. It's just that, when you look at the country as a whole, they are the minority.
Ok. What about a white woman walking through a white neighbor hood. Passes a hispanic man who beats her because she is white.
Not racist?
:confused:
Ok. What about a white woman walking through a white neighbor hood. Passes a hispanic man who beats her because she is white.
Not racist?
:confused:
davidjearly
Dec 18, 10:10 AM
Not half as sad as the machine of mediocrity that is Simon Bloody Cowell's monopoly on our christmas number ones.
So the frig what if a bunch of people want to feel like they've accomplished a small victory by bumping that rubbish off the top spot? It's harmless fun.
Frig? Really? Ok then.
It's not about the small victory and believe me, I have no particular tendency for Joe or the xfactor in general.
The bottom line is that the Christmas number one is a popularity contest. It is meant to be what record is the most popular at that time of year. In recent times, that just happens to be the xfactor winner. Big deal. The sad part is a bunch of people rallying round another (pretty poor) song just to make a point. What is the point exactly? The irony lies in the lyric to the RATM track: '...I don't do what you tell me', all the while trying to tell as many people as possible to buy the RATM track.
So the frig what if a bunch of people want to feel like they've accomplished a small victory by bumping that rubbish off the top spot? It's harmless fun.
Frig? Really? Ok then.
It's not about the small victory and believe me, I have no particular tendency for Joe or the xfactor in general.
The bottom line is that the Christmas number one is a popularity contest. It is meant to be what record is the most popular at that time of year. In recent times, that just happens to be the xfactor winner. Big deal. The sad part is a bunch of people rallying round another (pretty poor) song just to make a point. What is the point exactly? The irony lies in the lyric to the RATM track: '...I don't do what you tell me', all the while trying to tell as many people as possible to buy the RATM track.
more...
henrikrox
May 6, 05:35 PM
very nice, what model do you have?
rstansby
Feb 23, 06:34 PM
Smurf Village is certainly an easy trap. You have to enter your password to download the "free" game, then your kids have 15 minutes to spend real money on in-app purchases. This has never happened to me, but my son did buy an album on the iTunes store once. Parents should obviously disable one click purchasing on any computer that their kids use. And maybe they should wait 15 minutes before handing the phone over to their kids. In my experience Apple is very good about refunding money in situations like this, so I think most parents will be able to get a refund if their kid buys $99 worth of smurfberries. After this experience those parents should disable in-app purchases. In Capcom's defense, they have placed obvious warnings in the app store and in the app.
It would be nice if apple added "always require password for purchases" to the parental controls. Or a checkbox that says "keep me logged in for 15 mins" on the purchase window.
I think consumers, and Apple, should solve this "problem" without the aid of the government.
It would be nice if apple added "always require password for purchases" to the parental controls. Or a checkbox that says "keep me logged in for 15 mins" on the purchase window.
I think consumers, and Apple, should solve this "problem" without the aid of the government.
more...
Eidorian
Jul 24, 08:32 AM
It turns out that my friends sold their Xbox 360 consoles after all these years. If I do get one it will be fore media extension from Windows 7.
chrfr
Mar 28, 02:10 PM
So, you WILL get different focal lengths from 2 identically marked lenses where one is an EF-S lens and the other is an EF lens.
No you will not.
Edit: to clarify, if you take an EF 17-40mm and put it on a 60D, you will get the exact same field of view as an EF-S 17-55mm if both are set to 17mm.
No you will not.
Edit: to clarify, if you take an EF 17-40mm and put it on a 60D, you will get the exact same field of view as an EF-S 17-55mm if both are set to 17mm.
more...
baryon
Jun 20, 08:00 AM
It's an arbitrary limit imposed by the choice of FAT32 as the file system (which is arbitrarily limited to 32 GB by Microsoft).
I'm pretty sure FAT32 is limited to 4GB files, which is why I had to reformat my external to HFS+ for video editing, since 10GB or larger files are now commonplace. On FAT32, any file larger than 4GB has to be broken up into two files or cannot be written to the file system. I don't know about such limitations on HFS+.
Most professionals use CF cards so they will still need a card reader, especially now that newer cameras don't support Mass Storage anymore for some idiotic reason. You can't connect your camera to your computer via USB anymore, unless you have some retarded application that has a lame interface to download your photos. No more drag and drop, and one more device to carry around, stupid card readers.
Apple supporting SD cards is great but CF cards are still industry standard unfortunately. This will change but not soon.
I would love it if the optical disk became obsolete and something else took over, but there's nothing "permanent" at the moment, so archiving old photos onto an SD card is a waste since the card could be reused. There should be a cheap, read-only version of the SD card, I have no idea how that would be possible, but it would be great.
I'm pretty sure FAT32 is limited to 4GB files, which is why I had to reformat my external to HFS+ for video editing, since 10GB or larger files are now commonplace. On FAT32, any file larger than 4GB has to be broken up into two files or cannot be written to the file system. I don't know about such limitations on HFS+.
Most professionals use CF cards so they will still need a card reader, especially now that newer cameras don't support Mass Storage anymore for some idiotic reason. You can't connect your camera to your computer via USB anymore, unless you have some retarded application that has a lame interface to download your photos. No more drag and drop, and one more device to carry around, stupid card readers.
Apple supporting SD cards is great but CF cards are still industry standard unfortunately. This will change but not soon.
I would love it if the optical disk became obsolete and something else took over, but there's nothing "permanent" at the moment, so archiving old photos onto an SD card is a waste since the card could be reused. There should be a cheap, read-only version of the SD card, I have no idea how that would be possible, but it would be great.
miniroll32
May 2, 12:50 PM
OK - supposing the White iPhone was slightly thicker.... So *********g what?
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centauratlas
Aug 14, 12:43 PM
I find it amazing he's never used a computer before doing the Mac ads. But he uses a Mac now, and that's all that counts. :)
The funny thing is that on Leno last week (week of Aug 7) he said he didn't care what he used - I don't recall his exact quotation. He was somewhat amusing on there with stories about people coming up to him.
The funny thing is that on Leno last week (week of Aug 7) he said he didn't care what he used - I don't recall his exact quotation. He was somewhat amusing on there with stories about people coming up to him.
surf2snow1
Mar 24, 04:40 PM
Just picked one up in Norwalk CT - they had plenty in stock and the sales person didn't realize the markdown until I mentioned it. Great deal. They tried to sell me a ton of services, but you don't have to... $317 out the door.:)
I think I was asked 3 times if I wanted MiFi, oh well, $329 OTD here in AZ.
I think I was asked 3 times if I wanted MiFi, oh well, $329 OTD here in AZ.
more...
ciTiger
Mar 24, 05:03 PM
Wish I was in the US... lol:D
Iconoclysm
Apr 21, 05:10 PM
There isn't a single added feature listed there to make it worth the extra ~$100 to get a new iPhone instead of the identical iPhone 4 at discount.
Oh, the A5 isn't a reason? Really?
Oh, the A5 isn't a reason? Really?
tonys
Apr 21, 01:17 PM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8H7 Safari/6533.18.5)
So what are your bets on when they'll magically appear in a bar?
So what are your bets on when they'll magically appear in a bar?
jacg
Sep 25, 04:58 PM
?????????
I can display a 10,000 x 8.000 pixel picture on an iPod if I throw away 99% of the data as well. But why would you want to use such a huge file for no reason? Not only would it take up vast amounts of space, but you have to process all that "throwing away" info on the fly.
The new videos take longer for you to download, use more storage space on the iPod, require the iPod to downsample at playback, and cost Apple more bandwidth.
So why would Apple do all this if they weren't in fact planing to USE the new format on an iPod? Soem may say "it's for rregular Macs", but this size is too SMALL for to build a new standard for computers. So the only conclusion I can reach is that it has to be for a new iPod to come...
Front Row? iTV?
I can display a 10,000 x 8.000 pixel picture on an iPod if I throw away 99% of the data as well. But why would you want to use such a huge file for no reason? Not only would it take up vast amounts of space, but you have to process all that "throwing away" info on the fly.
The new videos take longer for you to download, use more storage space on the iPod, require the iPod to downsample at playback, and cost Apple more bandwidth.
So why would Apple do all this if they weren't in fact planing to USE the new format on an iPod? Soem may say "it's for rregular Macs", but this size is too SMALL for to build a new standard for computers. So the only conclusion I can reach is that it has to be for a new iPod to come...
Front Row? iTV?
DrEwe
May 2, 07:32 PM
It is not thicker, don't believe all the junk you see.
I have the white and the black iPhone 4 and the white one is slightly thicker. The front glass plate has a raised perimeter "lip" that prevents the front face from coming in contact with a smooth surface if you place it face down, my black iPhone 4 does not. Incidentally - this makes it almost impossible to put the antiglare screen protecting plastic on, as the edges are always pushed ever-so-slightly up unless it is perfectly centered.
I have the white and the black iPhone 4 and the white one is slightly thicker. The front glass plate has a raised perimeter "lip" that prevents the front face from coming in contact with a smooth surface if you place it face down, my black iPhone 4 does not. Incidentally - this makes it almost impossible to put the antiglare screen protecting plastic on, as the edges are always pushed ever-so-slightly up unless it is perfectly centered.
King Cobra
Sep 13, 08:50 PM
verbose, do you ever give newbies a break with typos these days? :rolleyes: :D
Great posts, guys. Well worth reading. But I think some of you need to take a closer look at WHY MHz/GHz doesn't matter as much.
First of all, the Px does not have the Velocity Engine, and OS 10.1/2 uses it. There is a dramatic performance over the G4 (and especially later G3s) with 10.2, as the operating system is now more effeciant. Also, OS X takes advantage of dual processors to a certain degree (maybe an extra 50 percent or so). Finally, when you take a look at the new PowerMacs, you are looking at 4MB of L3 Cache (w/ dual 1.25GHz). The Px don't seem to have that (if any). So, basically, that would bring a 64-bit system (in terms of the P4) to about 4 or 5GHz right there.
Now, take a look at the PC. Sure, the PC has incredible boot time, is great for playing games, and has a quick OS. However, the P4 lacks the necessity of an effecient L1 Cache. I do not see how 4Kb will provide enough memory for the complex operations tha Macs can handle. So, instead of a 4.7GHz, you're looking at, maybe, 3.x or 4GHz, assuming, with this new chip, the L1 cache has remained unchanged.
The only reasons Macs appear to be bogged down are because of the slower bus speeds (167MHz (Mac) compared to 333MHz or faster (PC) w/BOTH having DDR-RAM) and because not all applications support the Velocity Engine. It may not be THAT big of a difference, but it does bring the overall speed of the G4 down, when compared to a P4. Apple's apps sure work with OS X and the VE, but not a whole lot of other apps. In these cases (varies on how often, depending on what percentage of application usage involves the VE) the overall speed of the G4 (in relative terms to a P4) would decrease significantly, and that's one of the other reasons why were are getting hit badly.
I honestly don't see how a G5 (IF it comes out) would help, unless it was able to *fool* non-VE apps to thinking that data is going in 64-bit pathways, and the G5 could split that to 128-bit or even 256-bit pathways. Otherwise, the G4 will NOT be beneficial in the long run.
Great posts, guys. Well worth reading. But I think some of you need to take a closer look at WHY MHz/GHz doesn't matter as much.
First of all, the Px does not have the Velocity Engine, and OS 10.1/2 uses it. There is a dramatic performance over the G4 (and especially later G3s) with 10.2, as the operating system is now more effeciant. Also, OS X takes advantage of dual processors to a certain degree (maybe an extra 50 percent or so). Finally, when you take a look at the new PowerMacs, you are looking at 4MB of L3 Cache (w/ dual 1.25GHz). The Px don't seem to have that (if any). So, basically, that would bring a 64-bit system (in terms of the P4) to about 4 or 5GHz right there.
Now, take a look at the PC. Sure, the PC has incredible boot time, is great for playing games, and has a quick OS. However, the P4 lacks the necessity of an effecient L1 Cache. I do not see how 4Kb will provide enough memory for the complex operations tha Macs can handle. So, instead of a 4.7GHz, you're looking at, maybe, 3.x or 4GHz, assuming, with this new chip, the L1 cache has remained unchanged.
The only reasons Macs appear to be bogged down are because of the slower bus speeds (167MHz (Mac) compared to 333MHz or faster (PC) w/BOTH having DDR-RAM) and because not all applications support the Velocity Engine. It may not be THAT big of a difference, but it does bring the overall speed of the G4 down, when compared to a P4. Apple's apps sure work with OS X and the VE, but not a whole lot of other apps. In these cases (varies on how often, depending on what percentage of application usage involves the VE) the overall speed of the G4 (in relative terms to a P4) would decrease significantly, and that's one of the other reasons why were are getting hit badly.
I honestly don't see how a G5 (IF it comes out) would help, unless it was able to *fool* non-VE apps to thinking that data is going in 64-bit pathways, and the G5 could split that to 128-bit or even 256-bit pathways. Otherwise, the G4 will NOT be beneficial in the long run.
iJohnHenry
Apr 8, 06:34 PM
Humans should have the full right to decide over their own bodies, that includes planned parenthood and abortions.
Ah, but they believe they own you, from birth, whether they are government or religion.
The only people that should have a say about how you choose to conduct your life, IMO, are your progenitors. And this is with limits.
<aside>
If they have created an abomination to society (a convicted killer), then they, and they alone, should be able to "pull the plug", the better to erase their 'miscue'.
</aside>
Ah, but they believe they own you, from birth, whether they are government or religion.
The only people that should have a say about how you choose to conduct your life, IMO, are your progenitors. And this is with limits.
<aside>
If they have created an abomination to society (a convicted killer), then they, and they alone, should be able to "pull the plug", the better to erase their 'miscue'.
</aside>
alphaod
Apr 16, 03:00 PM
But seriously, if I were him, I'd just say "Screw off Apple, you didn't care about me until I was famous!" Then submit my app for Android.
that's kind of a double-sided blade; you say screw Apple while taking yourself out of a market with a lot of potential sales.
that's kind of a double-sided blade; you say screw Apple while taking yourself out of a market with a lot of potential sales.
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