Charles Capps
We appreciate your concern. It is noted and stupid.
Member # 9
posted
quote:Originally posted by Saltah'na: I think that Charles should add something to the TOS permabanning anyone who talks about a Mac.
Actually, I'd be using Macs if they ran the software I desire (mainly games and some dev apps) and they weren't quite so expensive.
While there is a great deal of software being slowly developed for the Mac (mainly via Linux), there are just a few things missing...
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Sol System: Joke as intended, ingredients of: Apple all into music these days, with the iPod, and iTunes, and Apple: The Record Company.
Humor. It is a difficult concept. It is not logical. No, but we can dig it.
-------------------- "Nah. The 9th chevron is for changing the ringtone from "grindy-grindy chonk-chonk" to the theme tune to dallas." -Reverend42
Registered: Sep 2000
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
"when was the last time anyone ever got excited (or even truly interested) in a new product from Microsoft?"
One word: .NET
Apple's iPod & iBook & iMac & iTunes & iWhatever are all fine and dandy, but they won't have a lasting effect on the industry. Nor will the G5, for that matter. Yeah, it's a solid CPU (which couldn't have arrived at a better time, because its predecessor is a deplorably underpowered & overpriced POS), but it won't sway the OTHER ninety-four percent of computer users to Apple's side on media attention alone.
[best Dexter voice] Now for UUU, Mastar Compuuutar! [/best Dexter voice]
"because diversity is good"
Everywhere but in a business environment.
"At any point ever in history/evolution ever has it been a good idea for a single entity whose only motivation is (essentially) greed to hold all of the power? Should we lie down for that? I like my mac, a lot. I kick ass with it every day. Other people kick ass with their PCs."
Unfounded speculation ahead: if the roles were reversed, and Intel & MS were the bugs in IBM & Apple's iRug, we wouldn't be any better off than we are now (because Apple is far from the philanthropic organisation you make it out to be), and we would still have fundies preaching their undiluted bullshit about how their processors are faster and their operating systems are stabler and their interfaces are cuter and their computer casings are more innovative when in actual fact they're impractical as hell and butt-ugly and and and...
Look, I'd like to see a thirty-thirty-thirty split just as much as you do. But these cards were shuffled and dealt long before MS morphed into the usurping tentacled behemoth it is today, so play the hand you've been given and don't bitch 'n moan about it a decade later, oookaaay?
"The point is that there should be a choice and just because one is far more popular (ahem, unscrupulousmarketmanipulation) doesn't necessarily make it the best way to go for everyone. Some people (simple-minded folk, surely) like it when things are easy and evidently some of us are even willing to pay for that"
Choice? Choice is the one thing we have no shortage of, man.
-Windows ME (included for the sake of completeness ONLY) -Windows 95/98 (for simple-minded folk [like Liam]) -Windows XP (for even simpler-minded folk) -Windows 2000 (for common people [like $me]) -Windows 2003 (for less common people [like Charles]) -MacOS X (for you-know-who) -Linux (for nerdy folk [like Tim]) -BeOS (for even nerdier folk) -NetBSD (for l33tb0iz) -FreeBSD (for l33tb0iz) -OpenBSD (for l33tb0iz) -Solaris (for true h4x0rz [like Frank])
YMMV, of course.
That said, I like OS X precisely because it combines fluidity w/ speed w/ accessibility, but it's simply not MY first choice (which, for the record, has nothing to do w/ group mentality crap or MS worship). If 'X tickles YOUR fancy, then more power to you. IDIC. Now be quiet.
"And so yeah AMD's Hammer is coming, and yeah, I'm sure Intel has got some (virility-evokingly named) x86 monstrosity coming down the pipe, but this is our moment in the sun. We made it first and our computers are much much prettier than yours. Say what you like, but the G5 is one bitchin' machine. I will use it for graphics and music and video and 3D and it will be good."
Hmm-hmm. I'll grant that x86 is a prehistoric ragtag architecture and [best Dexter voice again] nooothink [/best Dexter voice again] would please me more than to help it die a quick death (yeah, so, I confess, I'm jealous), but there's something to be said for backward compatibility too. It would, like, SUCK if we couldn't execute legacy code (Win32 and everything else that came before it) natively and had to pump it through slow-as-molasses emulators and/or rewrite our entire software library (THAT'd be easier to do on the Mac platform). I need my Total Annihilation fix, dammit.
"I don't really see why our PC comrades insist on urinating on our dreams. The company who builds the computers we happen to love has made an incredible and progressive technical leap. We're understandably excited that Photoshop will slay, and Final Cut will dice, and iTunes will rip, and Carrara will... render, really really fast. Surely that's cause for celebration not defecation..."
But you guys & gals are like:
"WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!" "WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!" "WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!" "WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!" "WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!" "WE HAVE A DREAM! AND WE'RE GONNA REMIND YOU POOR PC SUCKERS OF IT EVERY CHANCE WE GET!"
And, in response, we not-so fruity boys & girls are like:
WE GET THE FUCKING POINT! NOW STOP HARASSING US WITH YOUR GOSPEL AND SHUT THE FUCK UP! THANK YOU, HAVE A NICE DAY!
[ July 01, 2003, 12:32 PM: Message edited by: Cartmaniac ]
Registered: Nov 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Fleet-Admiral Michael T. Colorge: I am not going to bag on Apple since I do own a Windows iPod myself.
Lucky you! I desperately want one, but can't afford it just now... too many other expenses.
quote:Whoever says that PC's are sexy need to remember that vendors like Alienware and Voodoo and Sony do make non-beige computers. True Alienware and Voodoo are more expensive while Sony loves purple, you don't have to by a boring computer if you can afford it.
Yes, but the point is that no one (as far as I'm aware) EVER made notable variations to the generic beige boxes of whatever shape until Apple came out with the iMac in 1998. Then everyone else started copying.
quote:Apple may have made sexy computers over the last few years and threw in attractive accessories with them but there is one thing that they need to get through first... the PR that makes people say WHY BUY APPLE?
In my theory, Apple has developed a PR among the public that prevents higher sales in the computer market.
Well, when Microsoft has 90%+ market share, almost nothing will seem to have a major impact. But Apple's "Switch" campaign definitely *has* been working -- it's not an incredibly fast and amazing success, but it's still working. After all, you can easily find parodies of their commercials online in various forms -- people are noticing. And that's what PR is about, right? You've got to make people more aware of the product before you can get them to buy.
Then there's the fact that Microsoft was apparently scared shitless about the "Switch" campaign, as indicated by their amateurish (and aborted) counter-campaign featuring a Mac user who had switched to Windows XP, who turned out to be a fake...
quote:First, the software availability to Apple versus Windows. This is something I've heard time and time again with friends. Apple doesn't have the software titles that Windows has or the games take a few months to go into Mac format.
That may have been true before (as in five years ago), but is now completely false concerning most software. Practically all the major applications are made for both Windows and Mac. Or at the very least, there's a high(er)-quality equivalent for the Mac side. For a trivial example, there's no such thing as WinAmp for Mac, but who care's? We've got iTunes! A better example would be Microsoft Access, their database application. There's no Mac version of it, but FileMaker Pro is so much better. (And is cross-platform anyway.)
Yes, games are the one sore spot in many circumstances. But really... are you THAT addicted to new products that you've got to decide what kind of computer you get based on whether the Mac version of the game is released a month or two later than the Windows version? Get a life! (j/k... mostly! )
quote:Second, office environment compatibility. This is basically still around even though OSX can be part of a Windows network and thanks to Bill Gates, Microsoft Office is available to OSX. And now Apple plans to release software that works with either the MS Office apps while not labeling them as Microsoft.
Again, false. You can easily hook in to any network with OS X (as you say). And the Office documents are now completely cross-platform, with the most intricate styles being preserved on either side of the barrier?
quote:Third, Windows domination. Why go with Apple if everyone runs Windows in one form or another? It's kinda like how people in large groups behave, they just go with the flow even if it's viewed as destructive by some. If you have 21 Windows PC's and laptops to choose from, why bother with an iMac or even with a Powerbook?
Ahhh, herd mentality. Peer pressure. Whatever you call it. I don't wish to be rude, but if that's the best reason you've got, that's pretty weak.
Heck, that's the entire logic behind the classic "Think Different" campaign from a few years back. I've even got a t-shirt with the poem on the back, "Here's to the Crazy Ones"...
Anyway, what's really funny is that using a Mac user is only destructive in other people's minds. When I moved into the dorm last year (my first year living at UD), I had to go down to get my computer registered. The person at the desk was concerned because I had a Mac, and they needed a different procedure. Or they didn't know how to do it, or something. Anyway, I hung around to help them out with it -- and I got it all done in five minutes, by myself, with the tech who was theoretically supposed to be helping ME standing, looking over my shoulder. And that's not just because I was more familiar with the computer -- I hardly had to change any preferences at all, just had to go to a specific UD site to register my computer and IP address for the dorm ethernet hookup. (I could've done it from my dorm room, but didn't have the instructions so went down for help to know where to look.)
To top that off, the networking is fantastically easy, even with Windows systems. OS X has full SAMBA compatibility that's getting better as time goes on... it's pretty useful, all in all.
As for the price... well, what's wrong with paying a little bit extra for quality, if you know you're getting a great product? Not only will it last longer -- my 2001 iBook is still running the latest software quite happily, and my dad's 1997 G3 is still chugging away on the desktop as a backup machine to his 2000 PowerBook G3 that's probably going to be lasting another year as his primary work computer (not because of financial reasons, though...).
I remember when Gateway made that big deal about trading in your old computer and getting a new one after two years. Was it a lease program or something? Anyway, I was kind of amused, because a computer can easily last for longer than that... the only reason I dumped my desktop iMac after barely 2 years was because I wanted the mobility of a laptop -- that's all.
So essentially, the one real reason I can think of that makes Windows platforms better than Macs is the gaming situation -- it's admittedly not great, although it's slowly getting better. And that's something that's handled by the individual publishing companies and how they manage their code development. For example, "Masters of Orion 3" was released for the Mac barely 1 month after the Windows version -- what they did was work on a single version of the game for as long as possible, working in a coding language that could easily be ported to Macs in much less time. So they didn't have to divide their efforts and essentially build two games that looked the same on the screen, but were nothing alike under the hood.
So yeah, things are getting better!
quote:So feel free to bash this theory to pieces...
Done. Thanks for the permission!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted
Simon's Law: The value of any operating system is inversely proportional to the depth of feeling felt by its fans.
Well, one of his laws, anyway. Frankly, that guy's a bit of a blowhard, and fond of making pronouncements about all sorts of things.
I use Windows 98, and likely will continue to do so until the end of time, because otherwise Microsoft will be able to track me with their secret satellite network. XP lets Steve Ballmer broadcast uptempo klezmer music through my teeth.
Beware the Microsoft sputniks!
Registered: Mar 1999
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quote:Simon's Law: The value of any operating system is inversely proportional to the depth of feeling felt by its fans.
So... that means that it's only valuable if people hate to use it?
At any rate, I've seen plenty of people out there who are incredibly passionate about their cars. Or about cars they want to have. Snay has his Death Jeep, for example.
Me, I couldn't give two hoots about specific types of cars, because that's not my main interest. For me, a car is a tool that gets me places, that's it.
As with most things, it's a matter of taste. But your lack of preference (or a hatred for Microsoft that makes you keep using it, if it's that valuable ) doesn't mean other people can't be passionate about it.
After all, I've never heard people complaining that BMWs cost too much and are bad cars that are only valuable because people rave about them so much...
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Cartman
just made by the Presbyterian Church
Member # 256
posted
Oh, hey, passion is great. But when it reaches that level where YOU MUST INFORM THE WORLD OF YOUR PROPENSITY TOWARDS APPLE AS IF YOU OWN THE COMPANY AND BY GOD ARE YOU GOING TO DO IT AND YOU FEEL THAT URGE TO ENDLESSLY HARANGUE EVERYONE EVEN THOUGH NOBODY GIVES A SHIT MUCH LIKE CERTAIN OBSESSED TELEVANGELISTS, it's time to throttle back. 8)
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted
BMW not reliable? I've heard that when I got mine, but it still works great with only maintenance to do.
Well, my theory was on why the general public isn't switching from Windows to Mac. I personally am a Sony Vaio fan, and my 20gb iPod happens to match my new Sony Vaio TR series laptop. I buy electronics because of four main elements: reliability, looks, upgradability, and of course how Trek-like it is.
Maybe this explains why the Kolbe Index says I'm a technologist.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Does anyone need that much power?
I recently purchased my uncles old computer from him, it's a 1.2 AMD Athlon, with 728 megs of ram, and a geforce 4 card, and I've never been happier
I just don't see the need for dual 2 gig whatchamacallitz or whatever.
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
True, but i don't think it'll be for a while until minimum system requirments need somthin like that,
P.S. BMW cars suck. BMW Motorcycles ROCK!
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
Well a BMW is just fun period... even the BMW bike the guy I dated was fun when we weren't having sex on it.
-------------------- "It speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow, it's not all going to be over with a big splash and a bomb, that the human race is improving, that we have things to be proud of as humans." -Gene Roddenberry about Star Trek
Registered: May 1999
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posted
I think It's been a couple of posts now since anyone mentioned how shiny the G5 is. Also it's been a few hours since I professed my reckless and dangerously-obsessive love for the products of Apple Computer, Inc.
And also that we have a dream. And we're going to remind you poor PC stiffs about it every damned chance we get. (And our dream is shiny!)
:emoticon expressing scary cult-like religious conviction and, simultaneously with (but with equal emphasis) a sort of pity or sadness at the misguided protestations of those who do not (cannot) understand this:
Registered: Sep 2000
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