08-03-2004, 01:56 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,468
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Geek heresies...
Some things I want to get off my chest... a few mini rants about those gadgets, technologies, pieces of software etc. tht we are all supposed to thing are terribly geek cool - and yet, quite frankly, are really rather naff...
iPODS - why Mr Ives, we're just not worthy.... So let's think about this...- Nice shiny white case? Just asking to look worn and grubby in next to no time. There is a reason why white was not often used as a casing colour pre-iPOD...
- Battery life. Crap. What is the point of a music player that can store a lifetime's music but only play it back for three hours? HD music players are great, but mine actually lasts for an entire day...
- WMA's - abilty to play them, not... This isn't hard. It has a hard drive, it has an OS, why on earth can't it play the music I have stored on my PC without havng to rip it into a file format I have no other use for?
- Simple user replaceable battery. This Ives is such a geniius that he couldn't figure out how to fit a battery compartment into his design?
The iPOD is rubbish. It fails to do its job on several levels and looking nice and shiny is neither useful nor something that will last...
Sony PDAs - innovative design? Bollocks!- Memory Sticks. The rest of the universe uses a nice shiny standard SD card, Sony uses a Memory Stick. VERY innovative!
- Swivel screens. In portrait form awkward to twist, a pain to hold. When they finally got round to trying it landsape - they chose an absurdly small screen and forgot to take into account that the ability to switch to portrait might be a good idea.
- Bluetooth and WiFi. Bluetooth that is so full of proprietary stuff that it only tends to want to work with other Sony stuff. Then they stick a CF slot in for WiFi - but cripple it so you can only use their own.
- 2.1 MP camera. They really were kidding themselves with that. Did they seriously think that such high pixel count had a purpose in a PDA?
- Worst user interface ever. That silly scrolling screen...
- Price. So they package a load of gimmicks into a barely adequate PDA - and then want to charge the earth fot it? They really saw Clie owners coming...!
Really Small Mobile Phones
All of them.
OK. My mobile phone has a simple primary purpose. To make phone calls away from home. For this I need to be able to dial. Really small buttons may look cool, but when I'm needing to find a toothpick just to press them... Why would I want a phone so small that I can't dial on it as easily as on my home phone, where the battery has to be so small that I'm robbed of the extra time I could have if the phone were bigger, where I have to strain at the highly detailed but tiny screen, where when I hold it to my face I'm not sure where to place it (stick it near my ear and it is so far from my mouth that it has to lip read...
... and don't get me started on the idiots who design keypads that go in circles, up the side of the screen, come in different sizes, lock so close together that you have to look to see where you are pressing...
The iMac
Both generations. Underpowered, overpriced. The first one looks like a Fisher Price 'My First Computer'. The later one was just a hi-tech anglepoise lamp. Design classics? Design doo-doo...
Macs in general
So they don't crash. Neither has any PC I've owned in the past four years.
So they don't get viruses. Hardly surpising as a Mac virus would hardly cause the world any major problems...
So they are quite powerful. Of course you can spec a PC for the same price as a Mac and have something rather more powerful...
So they look nice. Hmmm... White again.
Poor software selections, incompatibilities with this that and the other hardware that the PC can handle well, inability to repair or upgrade yourself - no way Apple are going to trust mere users with Mac components...
Linux
I've used it. Big powerful versions. Nicely packaged consumer versions. No. It is not something I would inflict on the general consumer. The irritating smugness of the Linux message boards. The Command line much closer to the UI than it has a right to be in the 21st century.
Linux remains a geeks only OS and, no matter how much the Linux geek tries to convince himself otherwise, it isn't changing for the better any time soon...
Yes - iPODS, Sony Clies, Macs, uber small mobile phones, Linux - rubbish the lot of them. No - I'm not kidding and yes, I do have real experience of every single one of them...
I can't be alone... there must be others who want to point at a gadget and go - 'bit rubbish that isn't it...!'...???
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08-03-2004, 02:25 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,639
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Now just wait one minute young man........
Actually I agree with most of what you said, but having am iMac that runs Linux just across the room, I can't let you get away with this without some comment.
There is a version of Linux that works great, never crashes and is as easy to use as the Microsoft alternative. No, it's not the Yellow Dog Linux living in the iMac, that's a project, not a finished system and probably will never be finished. I must say, it is better than the old OS 9.something MAC OS that was on there before.
The super version of Linux is Cacko, Qtopia Linux that runs in my Zaurus. If desktop Linux was as refined, Microsoft really would have some competition. In the meantime, well I guess that's why I'm using my Win 2000 based ThinkPad, albeit with an Open Source browser. 
PS I would have bought a Clie ages ago if not for the stupid memory stick.
__________________
Cheers!
David
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08-03-2004, 02:33 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,468
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by dh
Open Source browser. |
I can see Firefox featuring in my second round...! :wink:
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08-03-2004, 03:57 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Re: Geek heresies...
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Originally Posted by Duncan
Some things I want to get off my chest...
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What, so that we can chastise you for whining?  In defense of my iPod:
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iPODS - why Mr Ives, we're just not worthy.... So let's think about this...[*]Nice shiny white case? Just asking to look worn and grubby in next to no time. There is a reason why white was not often used as a casing colour pre-iPOD...
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I have a white iPod. I've had it for about a year now. Still looks great. Slightly scuffed because I don't use a case, but not anywhere near "grubby".
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[*]Battery life. Crap. What is the point of a music player that can store a lifetime's music but only play it back for three hours? HD music players are great, but mine actually lasts for an entire day...
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Actually... I get about 6 hours off my iPod. I almost never drain it down, because 2-3 hours is all I want. You misunderstand the motivation of hard drive players just like other whiners: I have the flexibility to choose what I want to hear from my entire collection. I'm not going to carry a few hundred MDs, which is what I would need if I had an MD player.
Oh, and if 8 hours isn't enough, get a new iPod (which is getting more than 12 hours), a battery extender, and/or a third-party hard-drive based player with even more life.
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[*]WMA's - abilty to play them, not... This isn't hard. It has a hard drive, it has an OS, why on earth can't it play the music I have stored on my PC without havng to rip it into a file format I have no other use for?
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Conscious Apple decision to avoid Microsoft's foray into the music space. Get another brand if WMA is critical. On the flipside, all my music is AAC. Why are other players refusing to support AAC? (Not FairPlay, that's one thing, I mean the ISO standard AAC format.) Various desktop programs (like WinAmp) handle them fine.
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[*]Simple user replaceable battery. This Ives is such a geniius that he couldn't figure out how to fit a battery compartment into his design?
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You'll find that many PDAs and music players seal the battery. It lets them reduce the formfactor, as they can "sandwich" it effectively with the other components. Making it removable will almost invariably make it thicker.
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The iPOD is rubbish. It fails to do its job on several levels and looking nice and shiny is neither useful nor something that will last...
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I utterly disagree. My iPod does exactly what it was intended to, lasts as long as I need it, and is a joy to use. My one complaint is that I want a equalizer. Oh, and Ogg support.
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Really Small Mobile Phones
All of them.
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Then buy a bigger one! I have flexible fingers, and I haven't found a phone that I have trouble with. The T68 was great, for example, for my thumb.
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... and don't get me started on the idiots who design keypads that go in circles, up the side of the screen, come in different sizes, lock so close together that you have to look to see where you are pressing...
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I agree with you here, although Nokia has apparently done UI research. The 3650, though, was a disaster, and they've replaced it.
OK, I don't have enough energy to address your other points. That's enough for now.
--janak
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08-03-2004, 03:58 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Originally Posted by Duncan
I can see Firefox featuring in my second round...! :wink:
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Ooooh, man. You're trying to start a fight.
Doncha be dissin' my Firefox! :P
I don't mind ipods (and they have 8hour battery life, don't they?) or iMacs, but I agree the white thing makes for elevated dirt potential. I *don't* like the bouncy-bouncy dock thing on macs. Drives me nuts.
I have no problem with Linux or Open Source - I think it's great. I've found it very helpful many times. What I *don't* like is the attitude that a few Open Source people have - "If you can't figure it out by reading the code, we're not going to tell you. Docs are for losers." If they don't want to support it, fine - just say "unsupported". But really, it's nice when there's a little README file that explains how to use the program.
With cell phones - I agree that the buttons have been moving towards the unusably miniscule. But I'm not sure if my definition of "too small" meshes with yours.
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08-03-2004, 04:03 AM
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5000+ Posts? I Should OWN This Site!
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,133
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Re: Geek heresies...
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Originally Posted by Janak Parekh
On the flipside, all my music is AAC. Why are other players refusing to support AAC? (Not FairPlay, that's one thing, I mean the ISO standard AAC format.) Various desktop programs (like WinAmp) handle them fine.
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No, I want to know why more players don't support OGG! There's no license fees, it's not associated with a competitor (WMA vs AAC Cagematch!), and a TON of players have been offered with "MP3 and WMA support, plus upgradeable to new formats!" Or even sometimes "future OGG support" that never materializes. It's completely 14m3... er... lame.
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08-03-2004, 04:04 AM
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Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 15,171
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Re: Geek heresies...
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Originally Posted by Kati Compton
No, I want to know why more players don't support OGG!
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Well, you'll notice I mentioned that. The answer, sadly, is that only a minority of users use Ogg. Nowhere near the top on manufacturers' feature lists. 
--janak
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08-03-2004, 06:50 AM
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Mystic
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,911
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Duncan
So they look nice. Hmmm... White again.
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Hey man my PowerBook G4 is one of the few computers I can call sexy.
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08-03-2004, 11:57 AM
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Pupil
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 17
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I have to agree with you on all your points in the rant and look forward to your next. You have an amusing way of saying things that bother people but generally gets shot down as whining.
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08-03-2004, 01:27 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 1,468
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Quote:
Actually... I get about 6 hours off my iPod. I almost never drain it down, because 2-3 hours is all I want. You misunderstand the motivation of hard drive players just like other whiners: I have the flexibility to choose what I want to hear from my entire collection. I'm not going to carry a few hundred MDs, which is what I would need if I had an MD player.
Oh, and if 8 hours isn't enough, get a new iPod (which is getting more than 12 hours), a battery extender, and/or a third-party hard-drive based player with even more life.
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I don't misunderstand the motivation of HD players. I am, after all, on my second (BTW - who mentioned MD? Ive never owned or wanted to own an MD player) - and mine lasts an easy 14 hours AND has a user replaceable battery AND plays MP3 and WMA. My rant is aimed solely at the iPOD for being a third rate player in terms of format support, battery life etc.
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I have a white iPod. I've had it for about a year now. Still looks great. Slightly scuffed because I don't use a case, but not anywhere near "grubby".
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I carry my player in my pocket with my keys. I treat it rough and use it as if it were a walkman. It looks great even now. I contrast with my friends now 'off-white' scruffy iPOD - and note that he is paranoid about getting it more dirty or scratched. I think I've grasped the point of an HD player more than my friend...
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Conscious Apple decision to avoid Microsoft's foray into the music space. Get another brand if WMA is critical. On the flipside, all my music is AAC. Why are other players refusing to support AAC? (Not FairPlay, that's one thing, I mean the ISO standard AAC format.) Various desktop programs (like WinAmp) handle them fine
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WMA is the standard being adopted by the majority of online music stores, it is what WMP understands best. Like Kati I can see value in more Ogg support - but AAC - no point!
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You'll find that many PDAs and music players seal the battery. It lets them reduce the formfactor, as they can "sandwich" it effectively with the other components. Making it removable will almost invariably make it thicker.
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Mine managed it!
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I utterly disagree. My iPod does exactly what it was intended to, lasts as long as I need it, and is a joy to use.
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But - it doesn't do as much as it could, doesn't last as long as it could. When buying an HD player I think - how long will the battery last, can I carry a spare, will it play the major formats, how much will it store, how does it sound. When I had the 'mine is better than yours' discussion with my mate his response was - 'yeah, but it looks cool'...! :roll:
C'mon Janak - is that all you've got? 
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