Hi-Tech Tattoo

This is what happens when a company is forced to do a launch in a reactive manner, not based on whether the product is baked and fully conceived. That's not a big deal for Google since they're in this for the long haul. For MMI it's not so great. They're doing the right thing by focusing on the next iteration of the product. The best and perhaps only way the Android tablets will beat Apple is to thoroughly undercut them on price. Until then it's the iPad as the class of the market and everyone else (Honeycomb tablets, RIM, HP) has to divvy up the rest of the pie.

Most credit cards have very good customer assistance departments and will assist you in dealing with uncooperative vendors.
A while back I bought an iBook for my mom directly from Apple, set it up, and just a few days before leaving to deliver it (she lives in Europe) the damn thing died (it would no longer charge). Called AppleCare, went to the Apple store, talked to the "genius" (a real jackass, but that's another story) and essentially they wouldn't give me a refund because it was a "built to order" machine or exchange it for a new computer because I hadn't bought it at the local Apple store (I bought it online though the developer program).

I called Visa, explained the story, they said you have to try to resolve the issue with the vendor first, I described what I had done and how uncooperative Apple had been. They said they'd call Apple themselves; an hour letter I got an apologetic call from Apple and an RMA number. I shipped my computer back to Apple by FedEx at their expense, and got full credit. They even restored my hardware discount :)

So yeah, as another poster said, the squeaky wheel does get the grease...

How is it biting them in the ass? Android is the fastest growing OS with a larger share than IOS. I think it's been a very succesfull strategy.

Only if you do not add products like the iPad and the iPod Touch. In other words, if you throw out 50% of the iOS products.

I remember when I was a kid and I asked my father for a toy and he came with a different one... I was the saddest kid on earth.

I believe that who ever asked for an iPad and got a Motorola would feel the same.

(Dad, I love you)

Funny, and true.

By the same token, if I explicitly told my wife I wanted a Xoom, Playbook, Tab 10.1 and she came home with an iPad, I wouldn't be the saddest kid on earth, but I do know that I'd be returning it for something I want.

Of course, I also hate it when she brings me home a cheeseburger when I wanted a hamburger.

Which takes us back to the behavior that was the default on VAX systems running VMS 20 years ago... Microsoft is implementing something similar in Vista as well. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060730-7383.html

B

Yeah, Apple is definitely copying Microsoft now... it's pretty undeniable. Time Machine is virtually identical to Microsoft's backup system for Vista.

"Previous Docs" from Wikipedia:
"Previous Versions", previously known as Volume Shadow Copy in Windows Server provides read-only snapshots of files on local or network volumes from an earlier point in time. A new tab in the Properties dialog for any file or folder provides users with straightforward access to these previous versions.

System Restore, Shadow Copy, and Backup in Vista now run on the same technology (so they are considerably different than the XP versions).

iChat basically got the remote screen sharing feature that Microsoft shipped with XP in 2001 (included in Windows Messenger) and the presentation/app sharing features from Windows collaboration in Vista.

Mail and iCal got a bunch of features from Outlook 2007 and Windows Live Calendar/Mail.

Dashboard's ability to clip web pages is straight out of Active Desktop.

the Spotlight improvements were things that Indexing Server in XP/2000/2003 already did. Even windows desktop search (enterprise) and Vista include that functionality as well.

Spaces is virtual desktops just like the powertoy MS released years ago
http://www.snapfiles.com/reviews/Virtual_Desktop_Manager_Powertoy/msvdm.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_desktop

Core Animation looks like Apple's response to all the DX and WPF (Avalon) animation tools in Vista.

what i dont get sometimes is how people get so excited over how these intel machines are better the the powerpc. and most of these are from recently converted mac users. screaming about how much better intel is. but i hope some people out there realize of couse these machine will be fast. it's called technology. it advances as time goes by. a newer topend machine SHOULD be better.

now the question is really how much better should new technology be compared to 2 3 year old tech? was it a big enough jump. yeah the case design is friken awesome. but sheesh all this pro intel babble is foolish. it's like saying my 486 is better then my comodore 64.

or maybe i am just sad that my 1.8 g5 single just went to the stone age...........

and if you guys have old powermac g5 dualcore sitting around because you got a new mac pro. i'll help you dispose of it no problem. i'll even do it for free. ;)

A bit pointless given that no software utilises the extra cores yet. But nice to know, I guess.

A lot of 3d programs will use as many cores as are available when rendering.

And I would say that the next versions of many programs will be better suited for multiple core processors.* They are way too common for software developers to ignore them any longer.

Man if they put the power supply on the top that would just be insanely stupid. 2 Optical drives is fine by me, although I am good with just one. But the post above about a Blu-Ray drive would make having 2 logical, one is Blue-ray, other is DVD/CD +/- RW.

-mark

I'd rather buy like a tablet running a modified version of Windows 7 or something similar. Not an Android tablet. Unfortunately I don't think I've seen anything like that released :(

What you are talking about are these "tablet netbooks" running on the Intel Atom. You can swing the display so it closes to hide the keyboard while still showing the screen. Models like ASUS Eee PC T101MT-EU17-B and Lenovo Ideapad Tablet are what you are talking about.

IMO these "tablet netbooks" are the biggest sleeper product out there. Cheaper than you typical iPad, runs Windows apps and are quite compatible. I have one myself alongside with my iPad for development and IT issues since this is what most whom I work with use. I'm impressed by both.

Does Arn write every single article on this forum?

No, my guess is Eric Slivka is on vacation or something. He writes the majority of MR articles unless arn specifically wanted to take that over.

That's actually more than I expected.

Yep, not bad considering it's $800 without contract.

I hate to link to IGN, but here goes:


GT5 damage explained (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/113/1137446p1.html)

Confusion seems to have stemmed from its differing implementation across the game's extensive garage, a point that Sony further clarified. "Standard models have minor deformation and scratches," said Sony, "Premium cars have greater visible level of damage, and Premium racing models have the highest level of damage."
----------
Also from this (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/113/1136979p1.html) article:

"The first update, Yamauchi said, is coming this Saturday and will include restrictions for weight and power in online races.

Yamauchi went on to say that his team would be "upgrading every week, every month." "

I remember when I was a kid and I asked my father for a toy and he came with a different one... I was the saddest kid on earth.

I believe that who ever asked for an iPad and got a Motorola would feel the same.

(Dad, I love you)

Anyone interested in creating an Universal blacklist of albums then?

YES AND YES... oh, wait, I don't listen to any of their artists. But YES anyways. Has anyone bought a domain name yet?

What's with all these tablets being advertised in landscape??

I've had the first ipad since it came out last year and I'd say my Portrait to landscape usage ratio is like 70% portrait / 30% landscape.

I view webpages, read the WSJ, NYPost, books, ipod etc.. all in portrait.

Landscape is for tv shows / movies and some games.


Why are these tablets all designed as if the user is going to hold them landscape 90% of the time? Are magazines designed to be held landscape? I don't get these horizontal tablets.

I think the majority of the people use landscape (but don't quote me on that).

Most activities (websites, emails, documents, etc) require scrolling top to bottom, not side to side, so landscape will usually give you a greater view usually.

Of course, had the case been deemed totally unfounded by Apple Legal and their bunch of advisors, it wouldn't have been brought to court at all.
At the same time, if there is any chance that the case has some merit, a company will sue for sure, if points 1 and 2 above are not considered to do more damage than good.

There is probably some merit to some of the claims, so are probably more ambitious and some are probably completely sure to get thrown out. The thing is, the more claims they throw in there the better they have a footing for eventual settlement negotiations.

Just like you never open with your lowest price, you never open with only the claims you are 100% sure are going to win. ;)

Umm. What happened in here?

Can we reurn to some common respect please? This spat isn't constructive.

True enough.

I ... well, I won't go there, too likely to throw more fuel on the fire.

I'll drop it if she does, fair enough?

Does anyone think the recent "problems" at Apple are going to have any effect on what happens Monday.

Story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/08/05/BUGAHKBK3H1.DTL

If there are products that are they "maybe" list, this might put them on the "go" list. Big news pushes stock prices up and pushes the "problem" stories on page 2.

This is steering off-topic, but Rob Enderle is a part-time anti-Apple/pro-Microsoft zealot and a full-time ignoramus who's past record of "analysis" boasts getting it wrong - really wrong - about 99.9% of the time regarding what he has to say about Apple.

So it's no surprise at all that he is virtually a lone voice on this issue pertaining to Jobs, virtually everyone else doesn't see him being implicated in a wrongful way about this.

In any event, it's pure speculation. It's not going to effect the WWDC and the WWDC isn't going to affect SEC matters pertaining to Apple.

Most people run more than one app at once.

Most are multi-threaded though and if I am not incorrect it doesn't matter for Photoshop if there are two or 72 cores...;)

Macs have ALREADY had two optical bays (including twin CD drives). And none of these configs include two drives, you'd only have a second one if you wanted it.
*bold added
Where have you been shopping recently? Only one model PowerMac has ever had two optical drive bay.

The MDD G4 PowerMac towers (August 2002-June 2004) have two optical drive bays. The G4 PowerMacs that came before only have one (the lower bay is only big enough for floppy-size devices, like zip drives.) The G5 PowerMacs only have one externally-accessible bay of any size.

I would love the ability to install two optical drives, but your claim that Apple is currently shipping this somewhere is simply not true.

I think a brush-up lesson on the present perfect tense is in order. :D


Case designers aren't perfect, but they aren't idiots either. Some PCs have power supplies on top, despite the top heaviness and the extra path for the power cable. What's the reason? There must be some tradeoff involved or they'd never build them that way.

Good point. I just realized that my PC case has its power supply on the top. It's just a cheap-o case and it has never fallen over. I've never noticed any top-heaviness, as a matter of fact. In addition, the positioning of the cord hasn't caused any problems. In fact, it might actually be a better position for me-- while there is clutter on both sides of the box, there's nothing on top, making it easy to unplug.

-Squire

P.S. greenstork, where did your 'tar go? It's always been one of my favorites.

A bit pointless given that no software utilises the extra cores yet. But nice to know, I guess.

I'm still getting used to having two cores in my laptop!

Why do people think the computing world always revolves around them? Extra cores WILL be recognized by most 3d applications and will speed up rendering. There are many other applications for multiple core use that don't include web browseing or writing email to your grandma.

peace

But App Store is like Coke, right? Of course it's ok if Apple does it. They've becoming one of the most hypocritical companies on the planet. Maybe Steve suffers from extreme paranoia?

No. "App Store" wouldn't qualify as a famous mark, I should think.

Here's a website that lists some factors:

http://www.quizlaw.com/trademarks/what_is_a_famous_trademark.php

I tested Lion, and removed it after a month. Not buying it. I'll use Snow Leopard, it's the best OS so far. I'll see the one after Lion, maybe there will be something interesting.

This is the problem of non-developers getting access to software that is not intended for the public. People install it, expecting it to have all the stability and features of the final version and get disappointed when it doesn't. And people wonder why Apple is all about secrecy and NDAs.

You shouldn't have installed it in the first place. Look at it when it is released and make your decision.

Lol if apple was a religion it would have more extremists than Islam, Judaism, and Christianity combined! :eek:

honestly i don't understand Company Obsession.

Its fine to love gadgets, regardless of company, but to be blindly following a multinational corporation whose only motivation is $$$ for its shareholders, its kinda retarded.

EVERYONE. BE A GADGET FAN. DON'T OBSESS OVER A COMPANY.