Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Glass??? (Score 2) 307

By any traditional definition of "workstation" it is not one. It is no more a workstation than the Mini is. Both need additional products to make them functional as such.

I don't think that this change is different, in spirit, from some of the changes that Apple has pushed in the past. Apple tends to jettison things that it thinks are no longer relevant to the future, e.g. SCSI, ADB, Serial ports, etc. When Apple went USB-only on the original iMac, it was a controversial move, because there wasn't much in the way of a USB device market at that point in time. Fast forward a year or so, and there were more USB devices than you could shake a mouse at. I see the Mac Pro "sneak peek" as a warning shot across the bow of the peripheral manufacturers. If manufacturers get on board with Thunderbolt, it's a pretty interesting future, I think.

My workflow already uses a combination of a fast boot/swap drive, FW800 and NAS for storage, so that won't change much with a new Mac Pro, other than needing a TB->FW adaptor somewhere (at a cost of $29 from Apple.) I'm a firm believer in the concept of storage living outside of my "compute core." I've changed computers with barely a hitch because my data lived somewhere else.

Many PCIe cards will already work in an expansion chassis. Many will not. I believe this is mostly a driver issue, other than the rare card that needs more bandwidth than Thunderbolt provides. If you are someone who needs that third (or fifth) high speed graphics card, the new Mac Pro is not for you. But realistically, what percentage of the potential market for this sort of machine is in that segment? I imagine that most PCIe cards will be made to work in an expansion chassis, or a Thunderbolt alternative will appear.

That said, I'm stuck waiting for MOTU to come up with a Thunderbolt solution for their PCI line (e.g. 2408mk3, HD192). Their adaptor card, the PCIe-424, does NOT work in an expansion chassis. If MOTU doesn't come up with a solution for using their PCI line, the ripple effect of me moving to a new Mac Pro would involve replacing audio interfaces, and my digital mixer. The follow-on costs would probably end up being more than the MacPro. I'm optimistic that MOTU, like most manufacturers will get its act together regarding Thunderbolt.

Summing up, if Apple & Intel are successful in their gamble to push the world towards Thunderbolt, in a year or so, we'll think that compute cores like the Mac Pro are the natural order. We'll wonder what all the fuss was about. Isn't this the way computers have always been?

Comment War against Jailbreaking == war on exploits (Score 1) 321

It's important to note that a "war on jailbreaking" is really a "war on exploits."

I don't see how you can be against Apple trying to get rid of every exploit that it knows about. All these jailbreaks are really exploits that could be used to install bad things. You could argue that Apple should provide a way to install alternate firmware, but that's another discussion. (and one that will not get very far, I think)

Comment There's a lot that should be addressed. (Score 1) 262

iTunes as a method to manage things is a joke. App organization is particularly weak.

Buying apps through iTunes is silly: why not use the web? At the very least the browser built into iTunes should be made more robust. You should be able to do browsery things like change the font size, bookmark, etc.

Photo syncing is a mess. In fact the whole backup/sync distinction is too confusing.

The find file function lets you launch an app, but doesn't tell you where the app lives.

USB hubs should be supported so that more than one thing can be connected to an iOS device.

I could go on, but it might seem like I'm ranting.

Comment Re:They have lots of new ideas, some still from Jo (Score 3, Interesting) 282

It depends upon what you mean with the word "created." They certainly changed the face of computing, mobile music players, smart phones, and tablets. All of these categories existed before Apple got into the market, but once Apple decides on an approach, other companies seem to try and do things in a similar way.

Comment Re:Meh (Score 1) 471

"No Shirts, no shoes, no Niggers." was a code from the past as well. It's illegal.

Growing up on the west coast, in something of a beach town, I never knew about that code. I have seen restaurants using it to try to keep hippies, beach bums, and surfers out of their establishment, though. Even though I fit the rough description, I understood that if I wanted to utilize an establishment, I had to play by their rules. I generally chose other establishments.

Comment Re:Meh (Score 1) 471

They do not have unlimited right to impose rules, especially private property open to the public.

There are many examples of a dress code being required in "public" establishments, e.g.: "no shirt, no shoes, no service" or "men must wear coats while dancing." I don't see this as being any different, but maybe if I was a glasshole myself there would be an augmented reality layer that would bolster my sense of entitlement.

Comment Re:Morning sunlight is a waste (Score 1) 646

You may have heard the aphorism: The plural of anecdote is not data. .

You know what they say - "Aphorism is better than none." This is more than just random observation, though, For example this NY Times article says that the percentage of kids who walk to school was 41% in 1969 and is 13% in 2001. The main reason given is fear of child abduction, even though that is rare, and getting more so.

Kids who live far enough north will have to walk to school in the dark no matter what happens to daylight savings time. Kids are not gremlins, they can be fed/bathed after dark or before light.

Slashdot Top Deals

"The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy." -- Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards

Working...