Comment Re:Tired of crap "mobile" operating systems (Score 1) 68
Why can't I compile and run whatever software that will run on desktop on my phone?
Because that's not a useful feature for 99.9% of the market.
Comment Re:Funny (Score 1) 693
It's not the comments that have decreased in quality, it's the moderation. Ever since the whole beta thing people seem be less willing to spend time moderating and meta-moderating the site.
I would moderate more if I could, but (1) I browse
If
Comment Re:Stay away from my school please (Score 1) 101
Chrome laptops are consumption devices. They are not creative devices.
This is nonsense. There are a lot of web apps and Chrome apps for creating things.
Comment Re:Because you think Google is any better? (Score 1) 218
It often happens in a conversation about one thing, particularly a complex and nuanced thing, that it will bring up other similar things because they are related in some way. The resistance of some to this natural conversational process never made much sense.
I could speculate that you have a loyalty to Google that you cannot realistically expect them to reciprocate (you do know that, right?), except I've seen lots of people display this tendency who obviously had no such motivation. Some people just like to complain.
Your speculation is incorrect. Pointing out that Google may have issues in no meaningful way adds to the discussion regarding Facebook's well known issues. It's a rhetorical trick to distract from the fact that Facebook has issues.
I'm happy to discuss Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc. But when someone clearly points out people don't trust Facebook, and for good reason, no value is added to the conversation when someone says, "But... Google!"
Comment Re:But they can't build anything (Score 1) 218
Neither Google nor Facebook has ever successfully built a product users will actually pay for.
You mean, other than Google Apps for Business, Google App Engine, Google Drive, etc.?
Comment Re:Because you think Google is any better? (Score 2) 218
Your seething hated of Google is noted. And noted. And noted...
This article is about Facebook. Quit trying to change the subject.
Ask Slashdot: Linux For Grandma? 287
First time accepted submitter BlazeMiskulin writes "With XP approaching end-of-life, I find myself in a situation that I'm guessing is common: What to do with Mom's machine (or 'grandma's machine' for the younger of you). Since a change has to be made, this seems like a good time to move to a Linux distro. My mother (82) uses her computer for e-mail and web-browsing only. I know that any distro will be able to handle her needs. I've been using Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS, and Redhat--usually with KDE interface) for about 10 years now, but I know that my preferences are quite different from hers.
I have my own ideas, but I'm curious what others think: What combination of distro and UI would you recommend for an old, basic-level user who is accustomed to the XP interface and adverse to change?" My Grandmother seems happy running KDE on Debian.
I have my own ideas, but I'm curious what others think: What combination of distro and UI would you recommend for an old, basic-level user who is accustomed to the XP interface and adverse to change?" My Grandmother seems happy running KDE on Debian.
Comment Re:Beta Sucks (Score 1) 116
By now, a professional organization would have at least acknowledged the complaints. Slashdot hasn't yet, and I'm willing to bet they never do. For a site that posts so many stories complaining about what other people do, they're remarkably slow to admit when they make a mistake.
Continue to turn the comments threads into a trash heap to drive people away. And don't forget to turn on your ad blocker. Do what you can to get their attention until they publically acknowledge that this is a mistake -- because they're not going to pay attention otherwise.
I can't even get them to give us an option to turn off fucking autorefresh. It seems rather hopeless.
Comment Re:I'm sorry I'm an idiot (Score 1) 204
Except that in that brave new future, the keypresses are navigating a round trip - see "google instant search" or just about any textbox now having "completion suggestions" which respond to each keypress...
But that's just one potential solution, it's not the fault of the technology itself. In addition, at least your key presses show up instantly, rather than making a round trip before they show up. Low latency is nice.
I stand by my assertion that equating X11 and the web is wrong, not that it stops the haters and/or the ignorant from parroting it (and getting modded up for it).
Comment Re:I'm sorry I'm an idiot (Score 1) 204
In the brave new future, we're now going to run our software on virtual cloud servers while the display goes over the Internet to our web browser, using Javascript instead of X11.
And the difference is enormous. HTML / CSS / JavaScript can do a lot. Even something as seemingly minor as key presses not having to navigate a round trip is a huge win.
It's popular to equate X11 and the web, but it's wrong to do so.
Comment Re:They don't go outside (Score 1) 635
If my son is any gauge, the reason they don't drive is because it would require them to leave the house. Whenever we go anywhere, he is always concerned with how far he will be from his computer. The iPad and 3DS will only hold off the DTs for so long...
Get him a smartphone?
Comment Re:Gas price probably has more to do with it. (Score 5, Interesting) 635
Yes I drive a lot less than I used to 10 years ago, but it less to do with the Internet and more to do with the price of gas....
I'm not sure why your comment and link to an ancient article on gas prices (2004?!) got modded insightful, but when you factor in inflation, gas prices aren't particularly high. They're at a pretty normal level compared to historical prices (again, inflation adjusted).
That being said, the inflation adjusted income of the middle class has been going down for decades. That's more likely to be your culprit.
Comment Re:benchmark (Score 2) 107
It does well for on-screen benchmarks, because of the low resolution of 1280x720.
The submitter got the resolution wrong. It's 1280x800, which is actually a quite nice DPI for a 7" device that's only $200.
Comment Re:only 1280x720? (Score 1) 107
The submitter got the resolution wrong. It's 1280x800, which is actually a quite nice DPI for a 7" device that's only $200.
Comment Re:There are a lot of people eating their hats (Score 3, Insightful) 321
The way netbooks were killed was always sort of fishy.
Microsoft killed netbooks by only licensing Windows 7 Starter on netbooks that were underpowered to run Windows 7 well. Thus, people ended up having a lousy user experience.
Google revived netbooks in the form of Chromebooks by ensuring that Microsoft could not sabotage them.
People never really stopped liking netbooks -- what people didn't like was underpowered netbooks (which was Microsoft's fault) running Windows 7.
