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Which is more important: the gadget, or the software and apps that runs it?
Stoic Joker:
Then, when a guy like Madoff gets caught with a Ponzi scheme in the economic crisis, he is vilified and sent to prison. Good, right? (I'm not defending him, I'm using this as an academic example). However, when AIG or the government does the EXACT SAME THING, what happens? We print more money and dump it into the top of the pyramid. And that's the "right thing to do".-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 05:39 PM)
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I hear ya man. I was in favor of lining up the leaders of AIG and ass raping them with a chainsaw. But...Justice only prevails in the movies. *Shrug*
But I still think that software is the make or break point for the topic. Does it do what I want, and does it do it well? That is the primary question IMO.
For most of the (heard) typical end users (sheeple) that don't have a clue what any of those cryptic letters and numbers actually mean. The sales (drone) person can tell (spin) them any version of the "truth" that will close the sale. Only thing the user has to gauge with is the UI, and how easy it is to navigate when they start poking at it with a finger.
Hell, I've done it a few times. Stroll up to a counter, pickup a new unfamiliar device, and try to open a web page. It should be simple as bloody hell... But it ain't. Not consistently. Next test is to close the browser & open a text file. If I gotta hunt for an off button, Fail!. The UI is either completely obvious ... Or it's completely garbage ... There is no middle ground.
Numbers is nice, but the UI decides if money changes hands.
superboyac:
(2) The problem I'm having -- as an open source guy -- is that each of these devices limit my choices. If I go with Google, then Amazon locks me out. If I go with Amazon, then they've shown they have no problem deleting your purchase if they need to. If I go with Apple, then I've gone to a dark, dark place where no one ever comes back, where Steve Jobs chokes any choice right out of your soul.
_____________________________
Given this state of affairs, I think I'd have to go for the hardware and hope everyone eventually supports ePUB files. I can't let a corporation control the format of my files -- especially ones I'm purchasing! -- ever again.
-zridling (May 26, 2011, 04:43 PM)
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If I were in your shoes, I'd go out of my way to break all the "ties" that bind. For example, if you go with Apple, like I have for the ipad, then I would recommend jailbreaking it. once you do that, you can sort of access the files and folders and do things with it that you prefer. however, it's not very elegant, and it does affect the performance of the device. As for the ebooks thing, forget it. I don't even bother with that stuff. I'm not really involved with it because I still very strongly prefer reading paper over these devices. BUT...if I did, and I've said this before...I'd buy the book, and find a pdf somewhere and use that. yes, it's illegal, but I feel that's a good compromise. In the end, my objective is to support the people who are giving me what I desire. All these laws and regulations are out there to protect the people who are trying to make as much money as possible WITHOUT offering the consumers anything that they want.
If you buy music from Amazon, make sure it's the mp3 format so you can keep it forever. It's so hard to just buy something now without worrying about what it's going to cost you in the future. You know, I truly miss the days when you'd go into the store, buy a cd, and that was it. You held it and it felt special. You waited for it, thought about it, but when you were ready to buy it, it felt really good. Now, I never feel all that good. I'm always suspicious and scared I missed something in the small print. It has sucked a lot of enjoyment out of the whole process.
Renegade:
...It has sucked a lot of enjoyment out of the whole process.
-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 09:59 PM)
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Nothing personal... It's just business... :o
I know what you mean. It would be nice if companies would view customers as people that they can make happy and be profitable while making people happy, rather than viewing people as cash cows that they can milk and abuse.
zridling:
Wouldn't you love to see all the devices on the table and be able to say:
I want THAT tablet,
with THIS OS,
without a cellphone contract,
with THESE apps.-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 05:21 PM)
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If only I could say it with such brevity. Thanks! And as you say, we have to ability and for the most part, the [open] formats to make it so. But as you note, companies are after excessive profit, and to get that, they run a continuous series of lawsuits against everyone else under the guise of patent infringements. Patents were around for centuries before the US adopted its own Patent Act in 1790. In the following century a certified Steve Jobs-like jerk named Tom Edison patented everything he looked at, and then spent the rest of his life suing everyone on the planet (sound familiar to today tech landscape?). Until this line of thinking is changed by governments, then my Holodeck ain't never gonna come true.
Patents are not the sole evil of the modern world, but they are a big one. Capitalism has always been far too wasteful with resources:
-- Kill the environment, to hell with the future;
-- Distribute all the wealth to few at the top, creating a plutocracy;
-- Enact laws like DMCA, ACTA, et al., then sue everyone from former employees to competitors to even your own customers;
-- Find ways to charge people for every little move they make --
* Want to own and drive a car? Let me see how many ways I can tax it and fine you over it.
* Want to start a business? Let's see if you have the guts to withstand the crushing regulations and taxes you'll pay every three months.
* Want to listen to a song? Let me see how many ways I can make that act illegal.
* Want to read a book? Let me make sure you pay for every time you try to read it for the rest of your life.
* Want a college education? Let's saddle you with crushing debt that will last a lifetime and hinder your future with each decade that passes. Oy.
Renegade:
Wouldn't you love to see all the devices on the table and be able to say:
I want THAT tablet,
with THIS OS,
without a cellphone contract,
with THESE apps.-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 05:21 PM)
--- End quote ---
If only I could say it with such brevity. Thanks! And as you say, we have to ability and for the most part, the [open] formats to make it so. But as you note, companies are after excessive profit, and to get that, they run a continuous series of lawsuits against everyone else under the guise of patent infringements. Patents were around for centuries before the US adopted its own Patent Act in 1790. In the following century a certified Steve Jobs-like jerk named Tom Edison patented everything he looked at, and then spent the rest of his life suing everyone on the planet (sound familiar to today tech landscape?). Until this line of thinking is changed by governments, then my Holodeck ain't never gonna come true.
Patents are not the sole evil of the modern world, but they are a big one. Capitalism has always been far too wasteful with resources:
-- Kill the environment, to hell with the future;
-- Distribute all the wealth to few at the top, creating a plutocracy;
-- Enact laws like DMCA, ACTA, et al., then sue everyone from former employees to competitors to even your own customers;
-- Find ways to charge people for every little move they make --
* Want to own and drive a car? Let me see how many ways I can tax it and fine you over it.
* Want to start a business? Let's see if you have the guts to withstand the crushing regulations and taxes you'll pay every three months.
* Want to listen to a song? Let me see how many ways I can make that act illegal.
* Want to read a book? Let me make sure you pay for every time you try to read it for the rest of your life.
* Want a college education? Let's saddle you with crushing debt that will last a lifetime and hinder your future with each decade that passes. Oy.
-zridling (May 28, 2011, 01:51 AM)
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+1
You said what I could never say without resorting to massive amounts of obscenity and profanity.
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