Modern Buddy

Suddenly all liveblog updates stopped. Not just from one source, but all of them. Hope they didn't demo a Mayan Calendar app or something. "Here is where we set the b'ak'tun count to thirteen." Poof!

Meh. That's about all I have for the iPad, especially with the predictableness of the debut. Yeah, faster processor (but still on a tablet, not exactly the best use of quad core chips) and a "better" display. But, still just an iPad.

If we're supposed to rush to every retailer to sell our possession to have this new bit of hipster jewelry, I'm not feeling it. Something tells me Apple's advertisers are a bit out of fuel for the hype machine. This just isn't innovative.

The question is: Who's next to actually think out of the box? Could be time for Microsoft or Google to take advantage of Apple's hype failure with the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3

Always with the positive!

I'm not an apple fanboy but they can make great products. here's what I've learned:

1) the first gen or two is neat but trash.

2) after that they get better, but still too pricey.

3) after THAT they get better and the price is usually OK.

4) 2 gens after that. (4-5) it is usually good, and I wait for a million moron fanboys to buy them then sell them for the next sought after product for half price. ding.

I didn't mean to start an Apple-bashing thread. I actually drank the Kool-Aid late last year and am migrating the whole family that way. But don't take my word for it, read about OnLive Desktop Plus first before you bash. This really is the coolest thing ever. Ever. I mean it.

EDITed because I fouled up the URL syntax beyond recognition

I'm not bashing, they make immortal machines. When we're all nothing but ash the Apple IIe will still boot up I'm sure!

The Engadget and Macworld liveblogs were working fine.

There was a lot of fluff in the presentation, but the iPad3 is awesome (despite few surprises). I'm a huge fan of the Sketchpad apps and working with the new processor and that gorgeous high-res screen would be dreamy. iPhoto looks great, too.

In other news, the Apple TV is starting to make sense. Sort of.

neotrotsky wrote:The question is: Who's next to actually think out of the box? Could be time for Microsoft or Google to take advantage of Apple's hype failure with the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3

LOL Microsoft. Zune tablet!

The only Microsoft thinking outside the box—ever—has been in the XBox. Who would have guessed that the one place where they'd make a great product would be in gaming consoles? Huh.

jrsjr wrote:I actually drank the Kool-Aid late last year

Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

ericalm wrote:The Engadget and Macworld liveblogs were working fine.

...right until the moment when they weren't. There was a pretty long pause in the blogging for everybody. They must have known it at the event because Cook apologized at the end for what he called "the hiccup."

Syd wrote:

jrsjr wrote:I actually drank the Kool-Aid late last year

Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

jrsjr wrote:

ericalm wrote:The Engadget and Macworld liveblogs were working fine.

...right until the moment when they weren't. There was a pretty long pause in the blogging for everybody. They must have known it at the event because Cook apologized at the end for what he called "the hiccup."

Must have missed that (damn job!). When they used to stream the events, I would actually announce that I was not to be bothered or stay home to watch them. Then I worked jobs for a while that allowed me to sit and follow. Those were the "open 4 blogs and refresh constantly" days. Sigh…!

My iPad 1—which technically isn't even "mine," though I'm the one who uses it all the time—now feels a bit like an underachiever. I've no money for an iPad 3 (probably get an iPhone 5 first!) but I sure do like it.

jrsjr wrote:

Syd wrote:

jrsjr wrote:I actually drank the Kool-Aid late last year

Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

Holy mackerel. I and Love and That!

Syd wrote:

jrsjr wrote:

Syd wrote: Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

Holy mackerel. I and Love and That!

I don't really think you can revolutionize a product so shortly after it has come out. All you really do is make it better and refine it, which is what they did. I have the iPad 1 and use it every day for everything. I'm not upgrading to the new one because I don't think I need the features (I don't have any money).

As for the price, true most apple products are more expensive due to the higher margins and high build quality. But the iPad is very comparatively priced since apple made great hardware deals before it launched. When the iPad 1 came out no one could match that price with the same specs.

Now I am a former hater, current fanboy, so I am a bit biased.

jrsjr wrote:I didn't mean to start an Apple-bashing thread.

You posted a message mentioning Apple in front of Steve Ballmer's sponge boy. Apple bashing was inevitable.

The display on the iPad 3 (or "the new iPad" as they're trying to call it) is going to raise the bar for the tablet and laptop (maybe even desktop) industry. With this, LCDs are reaching the resolution of printers, and that is going to be a sea change for book publishers (and publishers of other things): digital is a fully capable substitute for print. The folks I know in the comics industry have been whispering for weeks about the rumored 2048x1536 display on this thing, and what it means for the future of printed booklets.

skully93 wrote:I'm not bashing, they make immortal machines.

No, they do not.
There was a very large batch of 15" MacBook pros in 2007 that ate themselves after two years (or less) of use. I happen to be one of the lucky ones that had one of them. This was also before Apple started offering 2 year extended warranties. When I am in college, and I buy a computer that cost more than my car, I expect it to last me more than two years before it needs a $900 repair, especially if I treat it extra extra nice, because I know my grandmother would kill me if I wasted the $500 she gave me for my high school graduation.
Anyway, the first day I brought it home it had problems with overheating, which quickly made the battery useless. "Oh, there was a batch of these that went out without a 'magnet type thing' in the lid. That little part is what triggers the computer to go into sleep mode when you close it, so your computer never goes into sleep mode without it, it just keeps running." <-- and we didn't think that would cause any problems down the road?! NOPE.
A few months later the disc drive died, I maybe used it two or three times to install all of my Adobe CS3 stuff, Microsoft Word, etc etc, so it wasn't a huge ordeal to me. When I took it in they told me it's a wear item and isn't covered in the warranty. It's maybe 7 months old at this point.
A little more than a year after that, in the middle of a 15 page Psychology report, BOOM. DONE. Screen went black, fans stopped running, the only things that kept working were the keyboard lights. The laptop was still under warranty at this point, with 3 weeks left.... wellllll the only apple store within 400 miles (this was in 2009) was closed for renovations "for two weeks." They re-open a month later, I bring in my computer and told the guy, the mother board and the graphic card are toast, this is a very well taken care of, very gently used laptop, WTF MAN (I didn't actually say that, but I was definitely thinking it). He wastes an hour and a half of my time fiddling with the damn thing, because some dumb girl couldn't possibly actually know what's wrong with her own computer, and comes to this conclusion: "Well, I've seen a few of these lately, it seems your motherboard is fried and since your graphic card is right on the motherboard that's probably gone too. With this scratch on the case... hmm... that would probably be about a $850 to $900 fix." I told him how my warranty had ended while the store was closed and that should still be honored and all I got was "No ma'am, (MA'AM, SERIOUSLY?) when it expires, it expires. Do you want me to set this up to be sent out and fixed?" UH, NO. I took it back, went home, bought a $1300 HP "dv-something something Artist Edition" for $900 (with coupons and UPS company discounts blah blah blah), and a 2 year extended warranty, and have not had a single problem with it. It's going to be 3 years old this October.

Also, my 2nd gen iPod touch is a piece of garbage. Good thing it has this great touch screen and everything, too bad the battery only lasts 15-30 minutes when you're actually using the touch screen or the internet... too bad you can't replace the battery without demolishing the stupid thing! Duh. It's good for about an hour of music, that's about it. I'm glad I only paid $80 for it.

I will be nice and give it to them with their last generation of the tall skinny Nanos though. I got one for free when I bought my laptop in 2007 (of course, right before the little short, fat nanos with video/internet capabilities came out), and the thing is a champ. The battery lasts hours and hours; the batteries on my little iPod radio jobby died before the actual iPod did during our power outage from Irene, and it holds enough music for me to not hear the same song 5 bajillion times at work and in the car.

I did also have a Gen2 30gig iPod classic (back when they were $250!), but it bricked from a virus my stepsister downloaded on her computer then uploaded to my iPod "thinking it was hers". She didn't offer me her iPod after she toasted mine, the lovely darling that she is. Once I finally got one of my Mac savvy friends at RIT to fix it, I had it for two weeks, then it was stolen.

SO. I will not waste any money on any more Mac products, except for a new mondo-gig iPod Classic MAYBE.
If you're some lucky person that has managed to not get one of their half-assed products, and your works and doesn't end up needing anything done to it under warranty, that's great, please continue loving your over-priced stuff. There are people out there like that, my dad is one of them, lucky him!

My Droid 2 was a fantastic phone, especially for free, the X is great (with a custom rom), and my Android powered Cruz e-reader is good for what it is, a little slow with anything other than e-books, but it's not meant to be a full on tablet. The Transformer is a great tablet that can be docked on a keyboard if you so choose to purchase said keyboard (which I have). Very handy. These are all much less expensive, and generally more impressive than most of the new products Apple has released in the last few years.

I'm not an android "fanboy" either. I will accept that there are some really crappy Android phones and tablets out there (the HTC Thuderbolt, just terrible)... and some of the new Transformer Primes were indeed bricked from the latest os release yesterday (oopsies!). I don't know how they plan to handle that, but hopefully they'll either fix or replace all of the ones that kicked the bucket or ended up in a boot loop.

Oh, has anyone seen the "Siri vs. Android voice commands" videos put out by, I think, Samsung(?). I lost the link, but the voice command system knocks Siri's cyber-socks off with speed and accuracy for all but one or two commands. Imagine that.

/essay.
Even on an old piece of crap windows computer from 1996 I can write a post that long without anything going wrong, for rizzeals.

Start the countdown to this thread erupting into opinionated argument and getting locked...

Was this thread created by a bot?? jrsjr please confirm to me your identity! I have a very strange déjà vu feeling about many of the replies!

jmazza wrote:Was this thread created by a bot?? 8) jrsjr please confirm to me your identity!

Hey. I resemble that remark! [:|] <-the original robot emoticon. Had to disable smilies to get it to not render.

jrsjr wrote:

jmazza wrote:Was this thread created by a bot?? jrsjr please confirm to me your identity!

Hey. I resemble that remark! [:|] <-the original robot emoticon. Had to disable smilies to get it to not render.

I love my Apple products. Perhaps if I had ever been burned by one that was a dog I'd feel differently, but even my first Mac still works. It has no space left but it still goes. My 2004 G4 laptop is still going as well. I have an iPod iPhone iPad and a 27" iMac. And no, I don't have a ton of money. But my computers have lasted at least twice as long as those of my pc friends, and on top of that I have never had a virus. On the other hand I had a Toshiba Satelite that went on and on forever and it is from 1998 and it still goes. It's sloooooowww but it boots up. But I like the intuitiveness of the apple products. Pcs have become better, to be sure, but I knew nothing about computer when I used my first Mac and I could teach myself. I use both, but I prefer Mac. Curious about the iPad 3 but since my 2 is under a year i am not rushing out to buy a new one.

ericalm wrote:LOL Microsoft. Zune tablet! .

Hey, it's simple. To paraphrase the Magliazzi brothers: Once you own a Zune, nothing worse in life can happen to you.

Brown Zune 30. Still going strong!!!!!

(Sent from my iPad.)

Intel supposedly shipped a new NetBook chip and I'm waiting for that to start getting into machines and HOPEFULLY you'll be able to split the hard drive so that you can run Android and Windblows on it. I don't like virtual keyboards, and I want at least a 10" screen, at least................give me netbooooooooooooooooooooooooook!!!!

I have an iPod Nano- a later gen one. Hasn't given me any problems. I've treated it pretty well, aside from leaving it in the car for extreme temps that I probably shouldn't have I bought it in... 05 or 06 and it's still going so I think that qualifies as impressive.

As for tablets... Lokky has a Xoom that runs on Droid. I like my Droid phone and I'm used to it. I think having a laptop and a tablet and a smartphone would be wasting money and highly redundant, but if I were to get one I'd have to get a Android powered tablet, not an iPad. I just like the system and am already familiar with it.

var=Toys (nothing more, nothing less)
/all_arguable_points

PeteH wrote:

ericalm wrote:LOL Microsoft. Zune tablet! .

Hey, it's simple. To paraphrase the Magliazzi brothers: Once you own a Zune, nothing worse in life can happen to you.

Brown Zune 30. Still going strong!!!!!

(Sent from my iPad.)

I much prefer the Zune player on my WP7 phone over any iPod simply because I don't have to suffer with the horrible audio compression of AAC or MP3 only. I'm all for competition, but the problem is that when there is slick advertising and when something is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator and made to seem like luxury, the media get on the advertising spree and think it's the only thing worth having and that everyone else should be ignored.

Google, while a bit all over the place, still has some pretty innovative ideas coming down the pipe. I myself have been all about Windows 8 after using the current release, there's no lie there. But, I think at this point things are just right for a new operating system to finally come out to be the competitive edge. Apple may have the top tablet for now (although Amazon is sneaking up in their own way... they got me to buy one!) but they are still lagging in desktop OS. And, they struggle to find a "livingroom" device. The XBOX is settling nicely into that role and Windows 8 will make that seamless. Google... well, they're still trying to lock down just what they want to focus on, but they're doing their best across EVERY platform! I'm still not sold on Google for *how* they make the bulk of their money, but at least it's competition.

I honestly think it's time for a 4th "brand", and one that somehow can play with all machines easily. Right now the one thing Apple, Google and Microsoft suffer from is the inability to run on each system without a whole bunch of software or strange compatibility issues. Even the "boot camp" option for MacBook Pros makes no sense since it costs too much to be useful once you get all the needed software. If someone can make a universal OS that can easily run on any device AND provide as rich of content as we're used to on our primary OS of choice, they can sneak in on new AND currently owned devices and make the experience the selling point.

And... quad core on a TABLET?!?! C'mon. It's made to be a consumption only device. That's all people the likes of Apple and Amazon want you to do: Buy their stuff only. The "productivity" apps are crippled and meant to be a tool to consume more of their content. I can guarantee 99% of users will never come close to using the chipset's full potential.

Ha, I almost got sucked in.

It's fascinating to watch, in a morbid kind of way.

IBTL - and MIcro$haft and all the rest can suck my pinky

People, use what you love, or what works for you, or what was cheap that day. I've been Apple since 1984, grudgingly working on PCs at work while maintaining an all-Apple network at the house all these years. They are all just tools (some more beautiful than others, admittedly), and arguing about them won't change anyone's mind. There are much bigger things to get mad about... like what passes for politics in this country <ducks> or electric vs. gas-powered scoots <digs foxhole>. It makes anticipating then next shiny new gadget a lot more fun than the reality of internet arguments, I'll tell you that.

I'm still using a D.D. Bean & Sons model MB1.

- Hand-powered, requires no batteries
- Holds up to 5 phone numbers.
- Can't connect to a damned thing.
- Parts fully interchangeable with all earlier models.
- Has 20 apps for lighting cigars, cigarettes, pipes, barbecues, and Molotov cocktails.
- Provides hours of entertainment for the kiddies.

These threads end up being absurd back-and-forth BS.

Raiderfn311 wrote:These threads end up being absurd back-and-forth BS.

Yeah?! Well maybe you're just a scooter fanboy.

jrsjr wrote:

Syd wrote:

jrsjr wrote:I actually drank the Kool-Aid late last year

Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

Wait, huh? What's all this about feeding puppies raspberry pie from a tin can...?

~SM

Swordsman wrote:

jrsjr wrote:

Syd wrote: Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

Wait, huh? What's all this about feeding puppies raspberry pie from a tin can...?

~SM

YUM! YUM!

Swordsman wrote:

jrsjr wrote:

Syd wrote: Spit it out, John! Quickly!

(Lately, I have become enamored of Puppy Linux, and spend more time than I should with it.)

Will Puppy Linux run on the Raspberry Pi? I want to build one of those into an Altoids tin.

Wait, huh? What's all this about feeding puppies raspberry pie from a tin can...?

~SM

So everyone wants to talk about the pie and the box, and how what the world needs is to think about the pie out of the box, but did anyone but me and John actually look at the pi that's already out of the box?

Tell you what, Raspberry Pi is out of the box, way out of the box, so far out of the box that there is no box. This thing may not ever make a dime, but when stock becomes available again, it'll get 350 of mine.

What with the hipster quantum physics discussion, and the rasberry puppy pie in a box, you guys can consider my mind blown....

do not want. $849 for 4G i could buy a scooter!

never did fancy mac and have no work / project related use for one so meh. i mean i never understood the desire to be tied to the apple "eco system" for everything

i am a freedom loving kind of guy

no but seriously. and also for those who HATE ipods check out the sansa line of products. especially the sansa Clip which pawns the nano in all ways

There's definitely something to be said for straight-up file drag-and-drop to the device rather than messy desktop software like iTunes or Zune.

My kids have Sansas and they are simplicity itself.

^ yup, very simple and they play a bunch of formats. they tend to be durable, too. i have two under heavy use (clips) and one old Fuze. all are still going after 3+ years

and the kids yeah, perfect. gave the adults in my family all clips a few seasons ago. the "kid" of the group has ended up with one and just got a new one with the expansion slot. she is 10 and its easy peasy for her

PeteH wrote:There's definitely something to be said for straight-up file drag-and-drop to the device rather than messy desktop software like iTunes or Zune.

My kids have Sansas and they are simplicity itself.

When the price of the 64GB SD card drops, I'm gonna get me a Slot Music player for just that reason.

skully93 wrote:I'm not an apple fanboy but they can make great products. here's what I've learned:

1) the first gen or two is neat but trash.

2) after that they get better, but still too pricey.

3) after THAT they get better and the price is usually OK.

4) 2 gens after that. (4-5) it is usually good, and I wait for a million moron fanboys to buy them then sell them for the next sought after product for half price. ding.

If you look at sales and profits I don't see how you can say the iPad 1 wasn't an immediate hit. And Android hardware vendors today still cannot compete with its price without losing money while Apple making 50+% margins on a cheaper device. The iPad is both cheaper and immensely more profitable than any other tablet, and it's been that way out of the gate.

Maybe Apple's next great product will be an electric scooter!

We use their products to do almost everything. Why not for transportation? Think about it for a second......there is a huge worldwide market for scooters. Apple has retail stores all over the world. They have name recognition and a huge following. Gas is on the way out, electric on the way in.

I envision a line of scooters in a variety of colors to match the iPods, a quick charging battery and stylish design. They could set up solar powered iCharger stations around towns for iScooters to charge up! Haha Of course, there would be an app to track your scooter in case someone tries to steal it.

I'd buy one to go along with my Performa 575, G4 desktop, iPod, iPod Shuffle, iPhone and iPad!

Apples products definitely are nice--we bought a Mac < 6 months ago and I have a couple of IPods (one ancient and one new--both still work after a new battery in the ancient one), but I still like my HTC Amaze. I didn't think I would (coming from a Blackberry Bold), but I figured it was time to become new age (let's not talk about my Blackberry deciding to take 10-15 seconds to make a call for the past 6-8 months).

However, one thing I still use my Blackberry for, that it excells at: an alarm clock, of all things! I can put it on vibrate, shut it off, put it on the nightstand, and it turns itself on and wakes me up.

So let me see if I have this straight. The puppy is being let out of the box along with the rasberries, but the tin to feed 'em disappered so now the puppy is crapping all over the floor because he ate some bad apples and blackberries. And some guy named Mac will buy the puppy but only if he can be paper trained with used pages from the eReader.
I'm going out to hug my scooter now.

^^Exactly!