This bullshit "metrics" and "targets" mentality which has it's roots in game theory doesn't just apply to sales. Healthcare (at least in Canada) is often measured based on metrics like wait times. This results in hospitals trying various schemes to make sure a doctor "sees someone" very soon after they arrive in the ER. Thus they can say the patient experienced a very short wait time. Instead, they should make decisions based on patient satisfaction and outcomes. Education also suffers. Standardized tests, GPAs and other nonsense metrics replace the desire to provide a useful education to students. Instead, it's about getting them to fill in the right bubbles on the test. Policing. While most police departments will swear up and down that they have no quotas, the fact is that they still exist. There are no other "metrics" that they can go by to measure policing effectiveness. Even when they try to use numbers like YoY violent crime numbers -- the police still manipulate that by reclassifying violent crimes as misdemeanors. Sadly, as a programmer -- I have to say that we really need to find a way to stop measuring these things with numbers. The numbers may seem to get better, but that which they measure just continue to suffer.

He makes a good point. If all you can manage is a form-filling/text-scrolling app, then this isn't even a topic worth discussing. If you can write *any* application using a strictly web platform -- then there is common ground for a discussion.

That would make perfect sense to me. They don't care about the Mac, and haven't since the iPhone. Originally, products like the iPod were designed to sell more Macs -- but with the decoupling of iTunes from their "operating system" and the insane pace of iPhone sales, they realized that the real money wasn't in Macs. It never was, but it took them a long time to realize it.

I think the signs are already there. They get rid of Aperture thus shunning the "I got a DSLR a year ago, now I'm a photographer" crowd, and not long ago, the whole FCPX debacle showed the video editing world how much Apple gave a crap about them and their industry. Recently, DJs were taken aback by the lack of ports on the new MB -- because they knew that those stupid dongles would break very quickly and need to be replaced constantly as all Apple cables must be.

Nope, Apple would rather continue selling to mass market nubs who won't complain about features on their iPhone. Corporates are too much work, they have requirements and those requirements can't be dictated to them by some egotistic nutjob working at an art gallery that thinks it's a computer company.

Amen to that. That BSD thing is the worst OS ever, with the worst file system ever created (as per Linus and other hyper-intelligent luminaries).

This was my first thought, too. I can't stand reading ebooks on an iPad, it's too bright even on the lowest setting and eye fatigue sets in. It might help if people would learn that generally speaking, black text on a white background is wrong. This was understood in the 80s, but when GUIs came along, and didn't look as nice with white on black -- logic went out the window.

I liken it to skeuomorphism -- trying to make the screen look like paper. Why? Makes no sense to be blinded by a monitor turned spotlight. The only place this scheme makes sense is on e-ink readers which won't cause eye strain because they aren't backlit.

Wasn't this one of the hyped features of DVDs back in the day? Didn't make a splash then...

Edison was born in the US and Tesla was from Croatia. It isn't surprising to me that Edison would be put forth as an example of someone living the American delusion (nee dream), whereas Tesla would've been seen as an 'evil' foreigner. Back in those days, your grandparents were young -- did you think they became prejudiced in their old age? Unlikely.

The software you are using is garbage. Applications don't HAVE to store ANYTHING in the registry -- that's the vendor of your crappy games doing that. Also, each vendor supplies an uninstaller -- obviously yours aren't doing the job. I suggest you have a talk with the thick-headed developers who write your games. Or, just join the rest of us in 2014, get an SSD and don't worry about it.

“Windows 95 called and they want their mail app back.” Hilarious. 1995 called, they want their search engine back! Where's Jerry when you need him?

Windows RT tablets don't run 'native Windows programs' -- but the Surface Pro line most certainly does. You're not obviously not paying attention. Licensing fees can most certainly be an issue, especially if that tablet is an iPad in a corporate environment. Since Windows apps won't run natively on it, you'll need to set up a Remote Desktop/Terminal Server so that people on iPad can use the apps. That means Windows Server license + normal CALs + TS CALs.. it suddenly got a lot more expensive than a rolling it out to a true Windows tablet via SMS/SCCM.

Exactly. The monolithic organizations who've put their weight behind NFC aren't going to give up because a) somebody hacked together a blinky lights app in their basement or b) Apple can't be bothered to keep up with technology.

The placement of that bit of entertainment industry propaganda in *A* dictionary does not mean that it is considered valid by anyone. What about other dictionaries? Dictionary.com looks even more shill-like;

If I were to subscribe to a definition of this word that includes copyright, I'd probably go with the Cambridge dictionary -- mostly because it adds an important caveat which makes it valid;

I doubt any of the pirates to whom the original definition applied would've considered an act piratical if it didn't involve profit.

You sir... make me wish I had moderator points.

No. The second the users realize they aren't using Microsoft Office they'll either have an aneurysm or cause IT staff to do so.