Tag Archives: Computers
iPadding
This thing is a true test to consumer stupidity.
When Steve Jobs comes out and says something akin to this being the notebook killer, he is insinuating that this thing is a computer. Technically, a calculator is a computer, so let’s be clear here.
This is tech-bling, plain and simple. This is that device you pull out of your backpack at the Bistro in downtown Manhattan while you sip your gourmet coffee and tap away on your sheet of glass you call a tablet. Yes, you are sure to attract the attention of passersby as you feign interest in some NY Times article you’re reading on your iPad while you passively adjust your turtleneck ever so slightly for maximum neck coverage.
It’s a toy. That’s all. An over-priced toy. I think people just have a fascination with moving colorful icons around on a piece of dark reflective glass.
I’m sorry Mr. Jobs, while I thought the iPhone was a cool idea, this time you’re just insulting my intelligence. I never did like Apple, and while my opinion of them might have started to change slightly, once I saw the iPad and Macbook Air, my opinion was locked down. I’ll stick to using real computers, Mr. Jobs.
Why Windows is Better Than Mac
Windows is an enormously vast and dangerous beast existing in many incarnations and clones of itself each with their own flavor, behavior, and quirks. In fact, just about any two computers running any version of Windows are vastly different in hardware, software, and performance. In one office building, you could have two identical machines running the same version of Windows and one will always seem to run better than the other.
Now, some people would use this as a mark against Windows, but I disagree. Mac’s are known by the slogan “it just works”. But, that in and of itself, is the one major flaw of Macs. That sort of mindset spawns laziness. Always expecting it to “just work” when you press a button prepares you for nothing when the day comes that the button does nothing at all when pressed.
Windows users, on the other hand, those who have been on this little journey since MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 will tell you that there is a certain amount of pride in knowing what they know. They have seen it all from BSoD on bootup to entire boot sectors getting rewritten. They’ve tackled head first the onslaught of viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, malware, or any other little nuisance that was developed to make their Windows machine turn against them.
Windows users are battle-scarred, leathery, cynical, and bitter. They’ve been through the shit and saw hell, and they’re stronger because of it. They’ve become smarter, more aware, and can debug their way out of just about any problem a computer can throw at them. Mac users, on the other hand… well, their view of the computing world is so limited and narrow that they don’t see any difference between Macs and Windows thinking foolishly that they are identical except one works and the other doesn’t. This is, of course, nonsense.
Windows machines are a labrinth of possibilities and customizable options. When you turn on a Windows machine, you never know what you’re going to see.
There is a reason why Windows has so many problems. It’s because it can do a whole lot more. The more complex the machine, the more abundant the problems. I’ll even use an example to explain this.
Of all simple machines, we’ll use the lever. Push down on one side, the other side goes up. Simple right? You can’t really mess that up; action and result. Simple, effective, but limited. Sure, it’s hard to break it, but it can only really do so much. Now, compare a simple lever to a forklift. Same principle; it lifts things. But it can also move, has lights, beeps when backing up, and turns. Far more things can go wrong here.
For first time computer users, I suggest Macs to them. The less they have to break, the less likely it is to break. Leave Windows to the people who know what they’re doing.
Windows, with all of its flaws and bugs, its security holes and hassles, is a far superior operating system to Mac for the very reasons why people hate it.
Stop Asking Why!
I am getting really sick and tired of people trying to impose their elitist mindset on people who simply ask a question.
That being said, these forums are littered with moronic mouth-breathers who cannot just answer the damn question. Instead, answer someone’s question with a question of their own. They ask, “Why”. Who care’s Why? They don’t even bother to answer it and then ask why that person needs to know. They just ask why as if they have some profound insight into the situation and know that the person asking the original question is wasting everyone’s time.
If you don’t know the answer, or don’t want to help, shut up and get off the forums you simple-minded plebeian. It is not your place to ask why, only to give the answer the person is looking for or keep your mouth shut.
Innocent Poster: “How do you move a file from one folder to another?”
Elitist Prick: “Why would you want to do that?”
Me: “It doesn’t matter why you fucking idiot. Just answer the man or go die in a hole. By the way, just drag and drop it.”
Innocent Poster: “Thanks.”
Search Crazy
I think we’ve officially lost our minds in this country. Am I talking about the craptastic economy or the surge of debates over global warming? No… I’m talking about search engine websites.
Do we really need more of them? Honestly? Now Microsoft has entered the fray with bing.com. Is there any reason to switch from Google to Bing or from Yahoo to Google? No. They all return the same damn results! Now, some of you might be asking why this is such a big deal. Well, it isn’t. It just seems kind of senseless to create a whole brand new search engine when the one’s that existed already were doing the job. What, was Google sending innocent people links to Meatspin when they searched for local church groups?
Search for anything you want in all of the search engines and I will guarantee you’ll get the same results for all of them.
Illegal Downloads Made a Safer Internet
The RIAA and MPAA have spent the last 10 years making every attempt at curbing the downloading of music and movies to the point of issuing hefty multi million dollar fines towards “offenders”. These racketeering actions have convinced even congress that the RIAA and MPAA have a case worth siding with and laws have been put in place to help protect these two organizations from evil fifteen year olds downloading their favorite songs. In fact, I think congress initally opted for the death penalty, but the RIAA and MPAA in all their mercy convinced congress to rethink that. After all a dead customer can’t buy anything. By the way, great move guys. CD sales are still at an all time low.
However, since the Musicrusade™ of the twenty-first century music has become the new scam product of scamming sites. There are thousands of sites that offer “legal” downloads of songs for a small start up fee of $30 to $60 and songs at 10¢ a piece. The problem though is that these sites are no more legal than downloading songs from torrents and in some cases these sites disappear shortly after taking your money with no access to any of the songs they advertised.
The Musicrusade™ solved nothing except helping the RIAA offset their profit percentages. None of the money won in these lawsuits goes to any off the artists they claim to protect and the notion that downloading music illegally steals from the artists is completely false. Since this copyright crackdown CD sales have continued to plummet and the downloading of music has, and will, continue… and untrackable.
I for one fully endorse the downloading of music. There has never been any evidence whatsoever to prove that music downloading hurts any artist or performer. CD sales were dropping long before the surge of internet downloading, and the drop has continued long after the mainstream downloading services have been blacklisted.
To go on a small tangent here, if you would like to know how ridiculous these laws are, according to the laws the RIAA pushed for, playing a CD in your car that you paid for rightfully with friends in the car who did not buy the CD is considered illegal since they are hearing their intellectual property without paying. Sounds ridiculous right? Well, that’s because it is.
Copyright law has become a new means of extortion from companies who do not know how to adapt to the changing times. Maybe CD sales have been dropping because they have been releasing a crappy product. There’s food for thought.