Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Between consumers and developers (Score 1) 375

Desktops are better suited for developers and smart phones are better suited to consumers.

Then what's better for people in the middle? They're not "developers" because they are not directly involved in the production of computer programs, but they're not "consumers" because they do not exclusively view works created by others. Besides, schoolchildren are "developers" in training now that "introduction to computer science" has been added to high school curricula.

Comment Cost; exclusive applications (Score 1) 307

Why pay $500 for an iPad that can only do a small number of things if you could get a Surfrace Pro that can do so much more

Because the Surface Pro 3 costs even more than an iPad Air, though a Transformer Book or Nextbook is cheaper. And there are plenty of applications that are on iOS but not Windows, such as games and messaging applications. If the game you want to play is exclusive to iOS, or the family member with whom you wish to communicate uses a proprietary instant messaging application that is available only for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, then a Surface Pro isn't going to be the best choice.

Comment Kindle != Kindle (Score 2) 307

Of course, my Nook (and I'm pretty sure Kindle these days) is basically an Android Tablet when all is said and done....

True, Kindle Fire is a tablet running the Fire OS distribution of Android. But I think tlhIngan was contrasting tablets with the e-ink Kindle readers, which are more like the Nook Simple Touch.

Comment Rent a truck, rent a PC (Score 1) 307

You have a smartphone, you have a tablet, and you have the PC.

Except some people don't have the PC. Instead of engaging in productive activities that work better on a PC, they do without. One user predicted that this would happen in five years, but it's happening now.

the laptop too big and heavy and uncomfortable

Even a 10" laptop like the "netbooks" that were in fashion from 2008 to 2012?

Jobs even did the mandatory car analogy - the PC is a truck - a very versatile vehicle that can do tons of things, but to be honest, there are times when a car is far better.

To complete this analogy, someone who can use a car most of the time and only occasionally needs to do these "tons of things" can rent a truck, such as a moving truck from U-Haul or a pickup truck from The Home Depot. Is there a comparable PC rental ecosystem?

Comment Mobile game control on flat glass (Score 2) 225

without bloating them by a factor of 10 by rendering them to WebM?

Many of the non-interactive videos can be found on Youtube now

That's what I was trying to avoid.

Similarly, most of the game concepts have been replicated in one way or another to various mobile devices.

Many of the mouse-based ones have. But the keyboard-based ones, like the falling object parkour game Tetris'd , wouldn't port very well to an input device that's a flat sheet of glass. I haven't seen a smartphone with a built-in gamepad other than perhaps the outdated, overpriced Xperia Play.

Comment Describe the goal, not the step (Score 2) 225

Don't just pretend that your question was always "What authoring tools do I have?" when your question WAS "What do I use instead?".

I was trying to avoid causing the XY problem by asking for tools to perform a step toward the wrong goal. Asking "What are usable authoring tools for animated SVG?" isn't helpful when animated SVG itself isn't a viable technology. So instead, I first asked for the right goal (what tech) and followed up by asking for the right step (what authoring tools). My question in full could have been phrased more formally as follows: "What is the most viable technology to replace SWF, and what are usable authoring tools for said technology whatever it might be?" What is the correct etiquette for asking a question contingent on another question?

Comment Don't use WebGL. Use what instead? (Score 1) 225

You appear to claim that both WebGL and Flash are "a giant security hole [that] should be avoided like the plague". If this is true, then which technology should be used instead for two- and three-dimensional vector animation?

Yay exposed and buggy interpreters.

I have the feeling you're about to say "native code". The problem is that native code all too often ends up being made for a platform other than the ones you have available to you.

Slashdot Top Deals

"Aww, if you make me cry anymore, you'll fog up my helmet." -- "Visionaries" cartoon

Working...