iPhone

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 6:33 am

What the fuck is the big deal?

I just read an article about people planning to take a day off work to be sure to get one at the end of the month. (Dude, Star Wars it ain't.) There's all this buzz, and people are willing to drop $500+ on a piece of technology no one really knows anything about.

Let me get this straight: a combination phone/video player/music player/camera/web browser? Oh, how fucking novel. Call me insanely old fashioned, but I'd prefer those to be separate. Okay, it's not actually being old fashioned. It's a desire to have products that work, rather than tossing all the features into one POS that can't possibly do it all well and will inevitably be half-assed at doing at least half of its functions. (I refuse to get a phone with a camera, because I like to have enough resolution in my photos to at least be able to blow the pictures up to wallet size.)

Oh, and it has the wonderful "buttonless" design of the iPod. I fucking hate that feature. That's one of the main reasons I won't buy an iPod. It works about as well as that stupid trackball on an old Centipede machine, after it's been played a few thousand times.

(The other reason is that they keep insisting to incorporate video. What the fuck do I need a portable video player for? And why should I pay extra for that feature?)

I have to commend Apple for pulling themselves completely out of the poorhouse by snowing everyone with all this iShit. But, well, it is iShit. Technology that doesn't do anything really out of the ordinary, but is hip. I guess they didn't learn anything from Macintosh.

(Oddly enough, I'd prefer Apple to crush those SOBs at Microsoft. But it's not going to happen. Ever.)

Post by **vynsane** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:18 am

i gotta say, it's an impressive piece of technology, and i think there was an extended shakedown time on it due to the lawsuit with another company over the name. they've had plenty of time to make sure it works.

the interface seems pretty forward-thinking as well. i'm not as unimpressed as you seem to be. i, too, deem cameras in phones pretty much retarded, but this seems to be more about being the phone/video ipod combo but it's got even more than that, since it's a pda/address book and can do internet. as an internet phone, it's got the biggest screen, so that will make it easier to surf.

Eternal Padawan · Post by **Eternal Padawan** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 7:29 am

Well said. Incorporating multiple technologies into one unit is an accidnet waiting to happen. I used to work Customer Service at Best Buy a long time ago, and people would bring in those DVD/VHS/TV combo things all the time. Either the DVD player or the VHS player or the TV component wasn't working and BLAMMO you're out all three while it's being fixed. Stupid Fucks. This is just more of the same.

People scream about the convenience. Now you don't have to carry around multiple micro-tech objects. WHAT? When was it ever necassary for you to carry around a digital camera before? For emergency photo taking? or heaven forfend a Video Player and/or a Web Browser? You can't wait the ten minutes to drive home before searching for your precious porn on the internet? And while cell phones are certainly a great convenience, people actaully did survive without them for a good many centuries, and the world's economy didn't collapse or anything else drastic.

And iShit. What a scam. You buy the iPod (or whatever) then you pay more money subscribing to the service so you can spend more money "downloading" more songs. Then go through the hassle of backing everything up on portable hard drives and regular hard drives, in case your computer(inevitably) crashes and you have to respend all that money re-downloading everything. And why would you need to spend extra money downloading what was originally shown to you FREE on network TV for the privelege of watching it again on a 2" screen? ( I'm talking to you, fans of "The Office"). I got an iPod Shuffle as a Vendor Christmas Gift and I still haven't taken it out of the clever little plastic case it came in.

Imagine twenty years from now (or probably less) when then introduce iChip with optical wetwire technology and people will rush out and get one installed at the base of their skull and the nano-screen hardwired into their retina and everyone will go on how they couldn't survive until their phone and radio and web browser and TV and weren't wired directly into their fucking skulls. And then piss and moan when the warranty goes out and it's $10,000 surgery to get it replaced. Chumps.

kidhuman · Post by **kidhuman** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:18 am

Fuck this POS.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:40 am

Okay, let's run this down:

Cell phone: A handy thing to have in the modern world, especially since the service usually includes long distance calling. Very useful for people with long commutes (in other words, anyone in California).

Music player: Again, useful. Thing is, for crazies like me, they'll never make one that can hold my entire collection. And I'll never get rid of my CDs. I bought them because they have better sound quality than tapes; why would I step backward and go to MP3's exclusively?

Camera: Nine times out of ten, you don't need one. But one that takes a 2x2 picture at 1.5 kilopixels is pretty fucking useless. It's like texting: a stupid fad that will die out. (Don't get me started on texting.)

Video player: When have you ever really needed to watch video on the go? Seriously. Straight answer. It would be never.

PDA: These things essentially died out because no one needed them, not even the obnoxious businessmen. At such a time as they can actually work as true laptops, only much smaller, maybe. But right now, they're paperweights.

Portable web browser: Decent idea. After all, it beats calling information or stopping at a gas station for directions. Except at home, I pay a monthly fee to use the internet as much as I want. On a portable device, it's some honking ridiculous fee per use. I can wait until I get home to bitch about stuff like iPhones online.

Like I said, I actually wish Apple would defeat Microsoft. I hate Bill Gates, and no amount of fake charity or photo ops with Bono will change that. But the Mac died fifteen years ago. They haven't recognized that yet. And with the iShit, they're prolonging the inevitable.

BTW, I have and use iTunes at home. I got it because it's the only free Windows-based software where you can burn audio CDs without the 2-second gap between tracks. And it's hella easy. I plan on making some purchases eventually--they have all of Izzy Stradlin's import albums there, and a few old soundtracks that were never released on CD--but all I've done with the store so far is download their freebies. Every time I get about 75 minutes worth, I burn a new CD.

If I had to pay a penny for the software or service, no way in hell would I use it.

Post by **vynsane** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 9:14 pm

anarky wrote:But the Mac died fifteen years ago. They haven't recognized that yet.

not sure what supposedly happened 15 years ago, but it really didn't. i've got a dell and an iMac on my desk at work, and a dell laptop, a macbook pro, and two custom-built windows boxes at home, and i'm in love with the macbook. it's freakin' awesome. i haven't even turned my windows box on since we moved upstate(NY). i've been doing all my personal computing and most of my working from home as well as all my work on wallcrawlersweb on the macbook.

Senor JabbaJohnL · Post by **Senor JabbaJohnL** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:17 pm

We used Macs in my newspaper class for the past few years. They were iMacs or whatever the newish ones are but they really sucked. Is it too much to ask for a fuckin' right-click button? They're just really damn slow (maybe just those ones) but it was ridiculous. Thankfully we're switching to PCs in the fall.

I have a video iPod, but I rarely use it for video-watching. If I get video podcasts or whatever then sure, but I just watch them on the couch. I don't understand the fascination with spending $10 to get a movie you can ONLY watch either on the computer or on your iPod. But they also have the retarded box thing so you can watch it on a TV - wow, what a fucking innovation! Now I can watch movies on TV! Hot fuck, this is awesome.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:07 pm

Nothing happened specifically fifteen years ago, vyn. But sometime around there is the point where Windows-based computers got to the point where the graphics, sound, and video capabilities were actually equal to (or superior to) Macs. Ever since Windows 3.0, that was the only real advantage they had--sure, they're much easier to use, but there's a bit of a learning curve when going from PC, which is what practically everyone learns first nowadays.

The Mac only really has a foothold among power users who really know the ins and outs of their computer(s) (like you), or among those folks in visual fields who can't let go of the Mac.

I really wish it weren't this way, because I think the Mac itself is a superior system, and Microsoft is just a bunch of evil, conniving thieves. But the best the Mac can hope for, without some amazing breakthrough that doesn't seem likely, is to survive.

Ran · Post by **Ran** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:08 pm

I think my brother uses a Mac at work. He does the graphics for the National Geographic channel. Isn't the Mac only about 15-20% of the computer market?

I don't really see the point of having an i-phone. Who really needs that much crap with them at all times? Hell, I don't see the point in text messaging or having a camera on a phone.

Post by **vynsane** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:54 pm

anarky wrote:The Mac only really has a foothold among power users who really know the ins and outs of their computer(s) (like you), or among those folks in visual fields who can't let go of the Mac.

that's an interesting sentiment, considering i feel the exact opposite... PC's are good for people who know what to do when it needs to be fixed. i'm alright with PC's because i can take it apart and fix/replace a component, or i know how to restore the operating system when it just up and decides not to work (had to do that on my mom's PC. if it didn't come back i was just going to get a new hard drive and install linux!)

meanwhile, if you want a computer that can do a whole bunch of stuff out-the-box, get a mac. you really don't need to know anything other than the "on" button. and it will just keep working.

my second PC ever was a comaq that had a DVD drive in it. SWEET! i can watch DVD's! well, no, no you can't, little man. you see, that would require a new expansion card, a video card that can decode the video compression algorithm on the disc. that expansion card uses a new slot that you don't even have in your computer. you could just run off a software decoder and make the processor do all the work, but you'd need a lot more ram. unfortunately for you, this system's ram capacity is WELL under that amount.

long story short... i got a DVD drive in a computer that could NEVER play DVD's. that just never happened with a Mac.

I really wish it weren't this way, because I think the Mac itself is a superior system, and Microsoft is just a bunch of evil, conniving thieves. But the best the Mac can hope for, without some amazing breakthrough that doesn't seem likely, is to survive.

i'm not certain that the people at apple are any less conniving evil thieves, but at least they build a superior product. it may cost an arm and a leg and a half more than the distinguished competition, but you do get more for your money (not saying you get what you pay for, but you might...)

meanwhile, with three apple stores within an hour of each other here (two in manhattan, one on long island) each making a shit-ton of money, i'm not too worried that M$ will be the last man standing. they had one store in the village for a long time, and opened one next-door to (or more accurately, underneath) FAO schwartz and it never even cut into the profit margin of the original downtown store. that's some crazy shit.