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Comment Re:Inevitability (Score 1) 331

Like it or hate it, it doesn't change it. (I may be wrong, but either way, your or my opinion doesn't change the facts ;-) )

Plus, did you notice where I made clear that I don't believe for a second that the PC is going away?

Dan Aris

I did, and I agree. The problem is, I've come to think of my smartphone as a little handheld pc, not an appliance (let alone a phone,) and I'm sure I'll feel the same about a tablet once I buy one (preferably running webOS.)

Of course, I also agree that my opinion won't change much.

Comment Re:What about Myst (Score 1) 325

I have to disagree. I loved Myst way back when, precisely because all those pretty pre-rendered scenes and the slightly eerie background sounds made it so easy to lose myself in the game. And I absolutely adored the way it started by just plonking you right into the middle of a game with no clue what was going on, where you were or what you were supposed to do. Maybe I'm just highly suggestible, but something about playing Myst alone late into the night, staring into the screen where I (almost) never saw another human being represented, felt genuinely other-worldly.

It may not have been a good adventure game strictly speaking, but I can't agree it was overrated.

Of course, the other game I remember playing obsessively late into the night was Quake (somehow I missed Doom, pretty much jumping from Wolfenstein directly to Quake.) How I loved the sound of that nail gun...
Operating Systems

Submission + - How do we teach users about filesystem locations?

thc69 writes: The most common education problem I find in users is that they don't know where their files are. They don't understand the file system. They save a file and then wonder how to find it. If I ask them where a file is, they either say "It's in Word" or "I don't know."

"Introduction To Computers" courses apparently don't teach the concept, because users who aced such courses still have no clue. Even people who know lots of advanced stuff sometimes don't understand that their files are in a folder on their C: drive or whatever — I have a friend who knows SQL, C++, and Linux, but doesn't know the locations of her files.

Could it be a gender thing? It seems that the people who I've observed having this problem are all female. I remember reading about studies that show men and women navigate roads very differently; perhaps file system navigation is incompatible with the intuitive navigation method that women use?

It's a very important concept. Once you understand how files and folders (which I still like to call "directories", but I digress) work, everything on the computer becomes much easier. You become less dependent on your applications to keep track of everything for you. Backing up and restoring files becomes much easier.

How can I teach people this concept in a way that will stick? It's so intuitive to me that I don't know how to make it into lessons, it's just second-nature.
The Internet

Submission + - Study: Only 1-in-5 will download video again

thefickler writes: It appears that the days of the local video store may not be numbered after all, with few consumers in the US satisfied with the videos they download from the Internet, according to a new study by Parks Associates. The study reveals that consumers are not impressed with the selection of videos available nor the price; just 16% said the selection of videos available online is good, and only 13% said video downloads are sold at a reasonable price. And what must really worry online movie distributors is that only one in five consumers plan to download videos again in the future.
AMD

Submission + - Why Apple Should Acquire AMD

Ice Wewe writes: This CoolTech article explains why Apple may be looking at AMD as a possible acquisition in the future. From the article:

"...Apple could drop Intel altogether and adopt AMD for its Macintosh PCs. Sure, the transition is going to take sometime, and it would probably make Apple announce a brand new line of PCs. However, it will be well worth it. We know Steve Jobs is ruthless when it comes to making interesting deals with powerful companies. This makes AMD a perfect match."


"...Another benefit that Apple will reap out of this (other than adding another revenue stream) is to have complete control over its hardware from a cost standpoint. If it can convert Macs to AMD and ATI chips, all the key components are being developed in-house."
OS X

Submission + - Steve Jobs personally resolves customer complaint

An anonymous reader writes: The Consumerist recently published a story about an Apple customer who went through support hell with a broken Macbook. After escalating the issue up the support chain, and a month wait for his Macbook, the guy gave up and simply wrote Steve Jobs a blistering flame-mail. So, was he surprised when Jobs' executive assistant responded back the next day! And he got both a brand new Macbook, as well as his old one to copy the hard drive. The guy also responded in a comment, and he turns out to be a slashdotter! He even wrote a journal entry here about the story.

I guess 'Think Different' really does work!

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