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Comment Conceptually, the iWatch might crack the challenge (Score 1) 427

If reports of Apple's upcoming smartwatch are true: a device crammed with non invasive health related sensors, (with more sensors being added to later models), then I could see it succeeding at creating a new market. If it is not clunky. I can see this approach as a gamechanger. I also wouldn't be surprised if it could be used to control home automation via their homekit api. While you are sitting in the sofa, a quick swipe to adjust the light. Finally i can see it exchanging maps information with an iphone which is in your pocket. A quick glance for directions as tou walk. Curious what the real featureset will be. We live in interesting times.

Comment If it is true, is it defamation? (Score 3, Insightful) 268

In principle, I can imagine that wilfully wrong wikipedia information can ruin someone's business and career opportunities, and in that case a defamation suit seems appropriate, very similar to spreading defamation through other publication channels. Wikipedia, as much as I love it, should not be above the standards by which books or magazines are judged.
However, in this case, if the negative information checks out true (and there are plenty of references), such as the convictions he received, then there is no good reason for him to sue. If he weren't convicted, it would not be in the article. As others have mentioned he should rather look up "Streisand Effect" before sueing.

Comment Re:The actual appeal (Score 3, Informative) 240

Not everyone is crazy like that. Many want simply to get a realistic sound reproduction, something you can quite plainly not get from all the little plastic multimedia boxes or bose all in one system.
It must be said that a good quality vinyl record played on good equipment can sound nicely musical. Sometimes better than the cd, but this is often because there is usually less "loudness war" (overcompression) on vinyl compared to many popular music cd masterings.
This was the case with one of the last 5 Bob Dylan albums (I can't remember which one), everyone could hear on the same system that the rare vinyl edition did sound noticeably more musical, and the fault was purely in the compression used in the CD mastering process.

Comment Slowness can be a quality... (Score 1) 240

What can be seen as a weak point can be one of the biggest advantages of analog photography with basic manual exposure cameras: it costs money and it takes time. Meaning, you learn to think more about the shot before taking it.
I noticed this in my own photography:
- I often photographed with a Rolleiflex up to the year 2000 or so; I had approx 3 pictures on a roll of 12 that I found really worth enlarging
. - With an AF 35mm SLR back then I made 3 really good pictures on a roll of 36.
- In digital I have 3 really good pictures on 300 or so.

Currently I am using film again next to digital. The Horizon 202 panoramic camera is a superb tool for fascinating pictures, I bring it on every holiday. I also found a very cheap good condition Nikon F3, which was one of the very best manual focus SLRs ever made. It is a joy to put simply a fixed 35mm lens on it, load a black and white film and walk around.
bR Regarding printing, it is lovely to see the image appear in a tray but largely I replaced that with scanning and Photoshop. However, it is truly fascinating and worthwhile to learn ancient print techniques such as gum bichromate. Once mastered the results can be incredible, much more poetic than any Photoshop filter you throw at a picture. Unfortunately I don't get around doing that kind of art form these days, it is a slow process, I simply don't have enough personal hobby time anymore. But for those that can spare the time it is a fantastic investment of effort.

Comment One thing (Score 2) 209

>Steve Jobs was not creative. At all. Name one thing he ever invented.

I thought that he came up himself with the idea of the nifty magnetic power cable connector. A very good innovation that must have saved many a Mac laptop when users would step on the cable.
In any case he could see potential and kept on pushing his people further and further until he would say himself "ok, now we have something really cool.". It is that attitude that caused Apple to come with great products. Regarding Cook, he seems a perfectionist as well in a different way. Let's see what they will come up with their watch product before we really judge him. Apple was rarrely about being first to market for example with smartphones or music players, but they tend to do things truly well. Currently there is no smartwatch I would bother wearing. Considering Apple's history, there is a good chance that their approach will be a lot more attractive.

Comment Time for innovation - Re:Run a completely new OS? (Score 1) 257

>>What's the point in running a brand new OS on it? Is HP-UX not good enough? Or the many other *NIX's? I'll put money on Linux being ported to it before it even ships to Joe Public

Much as I like unixes (way back using early slackware distributions, now since 10 years on OSX), I do think that it is time for some real innovation. Unix dates from, what, 1970 or so. More than 40 years ago. We were all playing vinyl records for music back then. I think it would be good if a mainstream company (outside pure academia) would build from the ground up something usable yet radically fresh and truly future oriented. I remember that some 15 years ago Apple and IBM worked together on a radical object-oriented OS, but nothing came from it.

Comment Is it like most OSX software? (Score 1) 88

From the summary this seems like most OSX software: simply an icon with everything inside that you only need to drag to your Applications folder (or in the case of the OSX app store, the iconthat is downloaded). I've always liked this ultra-intuitive installation process.

Comment It is more subtle than thatRe:Books aren't special (Score 2) 211

There was a good article in The New Yorker a few months ago about the Amazon business practices.
Their very tough negotiation position typically forces the publisher to give big discounts, and even extra money to be listed high enough in the sales results.
Amazon books are usually cheaper than in many other stores so from a consumer level, this seems like a win for the capitalist philosophy.
However, it turns out that these huge discounts have a snowball effect towards the authors: they now typically get lower royalties per book, sometimes much lower. I had this confirmed by a few authors I know.
The danger for the general culture is that authors would write far less as they (except the most popular ones) will have to do more other work to have a normal standard of living. Most of the midlist authors, and those are in my opinion often the most interesting ones, already had to combine writing with other professional activities. In essence there is nothing wrong with that, but when at one point they have little time left to write, books will come much slower.
In some European countries there are fixed price laws regarding books, these are exactly there to ensure that writers can focus enough on their craft, it is seen as a matter of national culture that should be stimulated, not necessarily mercantilised.
I do agree that a purely capitalist attitude in this matter can be detrimental to culture over the longer term.
Discuss.

Comment Re:Why copyright for porn? (Score 1) 136

Well, you could be right. I am not an American. But I thought that let us say the artform was illegal in some American states. I read an article a few years ago about a particularly nasty actor/director in the genre (sorry, I forgot the name, others may chime in) who was jailed because of his extreme videos, while it was all consensual adults. If it were legal in that state, then why was he locked up?
Again, I am not American but because of this my perception is that it is not everywhere legal in the USA.
If it would happen, then the stars would need to find another job. I have no strong views pro or con myself, except perhaps that there is already enough of it to satisfy multiple lifetimes of self pleasure.

Comment Re:no thank you apple (Score 1) 174

I can see it becoming successful, like Airplay which is adopted widely, and Carplay also gets lots of interest.
For me, I am imagine that i wear the iwatch while sitting in the sofa and with a touch on its display I can quickly dim the lights. Or, when I am about to drive home in wintertime I use an iphone app to start heating the house.
Yes, other systems exist but I like the convergence.
Despite all the hate here, what Apple usually does very well is make technology accessible and userfriendly.

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