Donnie and Marie Osman
The Oxyclean Guy
Febreeze
Kindergarten Cop
Kodak EasyShare
Animations in commercials that over-simplify something: i.e. Scrubbing Bubbles.
...
Friday, April 11, 2008
The New War
this guy says it pretty well:
by Gary Morgenthaler
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc20080410_206881.htm
"The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press "Control" and with the other you press "right arrow." Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac's iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.
"It all started with Mac OS X, the multi-core, multi-processor platform officially released in 2001. Based on "Mach," a university UNIX research prototype, Mac OS X represented a clean break with the computer industry's uniprocessor past. The modular new OS allowed Apple to condense its core task management function into a tiny computing kernel.
This bloating has saddled Vista users with increased costs and poor performance on average computers. Bloating has also led Microsoft to fragment its OS product line: one OS for the server, desktop, and laptop; one for cell phones and Zune music players; and a separate OS for its Xbox gaming console. Finally, through sheer complexity, bloating makes every subsequent "enhancement" of Windows buggier than the last."
Whenever a program stops working, which is distressingly often, Vista announces that it's searching for a solution to your problem, then informs you that it couldn't find one.
[...] the endlessly annoying windows that pop up and request permission to execute whatever function you have just told the computer to do. This feature, called User Account Control (UAC), should have been a godsend—it's designed to stop malicious software from installing things or making system changes without your permission. Instead, it's an out-of-control nag. For instance, Vista has a built-in anti-spyware program called Windows Defender that routinely checks for updates. But instead of just performing the check on schedule, Vista comes back and asks permission to give Defender access to the network. Many users get so fed up they disable UAC, which defeats the purpose."
Everyone, welcome Linux to the war. Its not fighting, though. Rather, its playing the innocent bystander with free candy (read: crack).
by Gary Morgenthaler
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2008/tc20080410_206881.htm
"The 20-year death grip that Microsoft has held on the core of computing is finally weakening—pried loose with just two fingers. With one finger you press "Control" and with the other you press "right arrow." Instantly you switch from a Macintosh operating system (OS) to a Microsoft Windows OS. Then, with another two-finger press, you switch back again. So as you edit family pictures, you might use Mac's iPhoto. And when you want to access your corporate e-mail, you can switch back instantly to Microsoft Exchange.
"It all started with Mac OS X, the multi-core, multi-processor platform officially released in 2001. Based on "Mach," a university UNIX research prototype, Mac OS X represented a clean break with the computer industry's uniprocessor past. The modular new OS allowed Apple to condense its core task management function into a tiny computing kernel.
That kernel has proved easily adaptable across the entire Apple product line, from highly complex servers all the way down to the relatively simple iPod Touch. Such modularity allows Apple to add whatever functions are necessary for each product environment—all while maintaining cross-product compatibility.
By contrast, Microsoft has held on to an OS tethered to the 1980s, piling additions upon additions with each upgrade to Windows. With last year's arrival of Vista, Windows has swollen to 1 billion bytes (a gigabyte) or more of software code. The "Mach" kernel of the Mac OS X, however, requires less than 1 million bytes (a megabyte) of data in its smallest configuration, expanding modestly with the sophistication of the application.This bloating has saddled Vista users with increased costs and poor performance on average computers. Bloating has also led Microsoft to fragment its OS product line: one OS for the server, desktop, and laptop; one for cell phones and Zune music players; and a separate OS for its Xbox gaming console. Finally, through sheer complexity, bloating makes every subsequent "enhancement" of Windows buggier than the last."
and this from Stephen H. Wildstrom
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_05/b4069000450184.htm
Whenever a program stops working, which is distressingly often, Vista announces that it's searching for a solution to your problem, then informs you that it couldn't find one.
[...] the endlessly annoying windows that pop up and request permission to execute whatever function you have just told the computer to do. This feature, called User Account Control (UAC), should have been a godsend—it's designed to stop malicious software from installing things or making system changes without your permission. Instead, it's an out-of-control nag. For instance, Vista has a built-in anti-spyware program called Windows Defender that routinely checks for updates. But instead of just performing the check on schedule, Vista comes back and asks permission to give Defender access to the network. Many users get so fed up they disable UAC, which defeats the purpose."
Everyone, welcome Linux to the war. Its not fighting, though. Rather, its playing the innocent bystander with free candy (read: crack).
Thursday, April 10, 2008
this is a rant.
"Big and Dumb"
Goddamnit!
I am working on a dated HP desktop that has been sitting in my house, broken for about a year. I have never really studied the design much, I always thought of it as a pretty shyte computer in general... mostly, because it's an HP... and my impression it left me with was that it was: big and dumb.
But I took a second look today, and read a little more into it. It does look big and dumb, with its bulbous... plastic... uh... design face plate thing. But, it does look stylish! Stylish, yet still so large and puffy that it is comforting enough to make me think computers aren't scary machines that I don't understand. The monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers all reflect these same qualities which come together to form something I hate.
This things has always been slow. It looked slow. It played shitty games slowly. It had a lot of shitty pre-loaded crapware, which is nothing more than an advertising and marketing ploy mastermined by Micorosoft! It slowed it down to a shitbox crawl. Needless to say, the shitbox eventually crashed into a shitwall and there was a shit-splosion! It was blue and white and grand.
There is a percentage of the population that would preform the "Recovery Mode" returning it back to the way it was when they bought it, losing all of their data, and regaining all of the crapware. Another percentage would take the computer to a service shop, or call a friend. The consumers I think about when I see this bulbously grand HP package of computer and marketing programs are the ones who would rather just go buy another one, which is certainly better all around since it is a few years newer. Hell, they're disposable anyways, right?
No!
I formatted and installed XP and was amazed how much better it ran. It was still no gaming computer by any means, but surfing, loading photos from a camera, ripping and burning music, it was just fine. If it were less of a marketing package, and more like a personal computer (a la, Apple?) It would have kicked ass!
As I understand it, Microsoft owns half of Apple. Microsoft also dominates the market. Micorsoft's products are generally cheaper with a wider customer base, and Apple's are more expensive with a more focused market. Its a win-win for consumerism, yay!
Why is Microsoft so large, though? Yes, one could say they are mainly business oriented, but their operating systems hold the vast majority of the marketshare. This allows them a very excellent position when a Computer Assembler (Dell, HP, Compaq, EMachines, etc.) is producing their package and wants to integrate the two products. and add additional services. and trialware. and tons of other shit most people will never use and ignore.
Yet, there are those who are sucked into the big and dumb thing. Big. Easy. Simple. Short, BIG WORDS. Primary Colors! Ugh.
The default XP theme is blue and green. All previous versions were grey. They knew what they were doing. XP is an excellent OS... now, what they were thinking with vista is yet to be determined. Maybe its easier to integrate shitware? I donno...
But the whole big and dumb thing comes back to fast food companies, whom everyday produce a shit-ton of pure waste that is not recycled. The idea of a throw-away, disposable society. Glutens.
And then I thought, hey! This machine would run the newest Ubuntu pretty nicely! Probably compiz/beryl and all that too. Vista? ha!
I like this "green" movement. Hopefully we can save ourselves from ourselves.
Goddamnit!
I am working on a dated HP desktop that has been sitting in my house, broken for about a year. I have never really studied the design much, I always thought of it as a pretty shyte computer in general... mostly, because it's an HP... and my impression it left me with was that it was: big and dumb.
But I took a second look today, and read a little more into it. It does look big and dumb, with its bulbous... plastic... uh... design face plate thing. But, it does look stylish! Stylish, yet still so large and puffy that it is comforting enough to make me think computers aren't scary machines that I don't understand. The monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers all reflect these same qualities which come together to form something I hate.
This things has always been slow. It looked slow. It played shitty games slowly. It had a lot of shitty pre-loaded crapware, which is nothing more than an advertising and marketing ploy mastermined by Micorosoft! It slowed it down to a shitbox crawl. Needless to say, the shitbox eventually crashed into a shitwall and there was a shit-splosion! It was blue and white and grand.
There is a percentage of the population that would preform the "Recovery Mode" returning it back to the way it was when they bought it, losing all of their data, and regaining all of the crapware. Another percentage would take the computer to a service shop, or call a friend. The consumers I think about when I see this bulbously grand HP package of computer and marketing programs are the ones who would rather just go buy another one, which is certainly better all around since it is a few years newer. Hell, they're disposable anyways, right?
No!
I formatted and installed XP and was amazed how much better it ran. It was still no gaming computer by any means, but surfing, loading photos from a camera, ripping and burning music, it was just fine. If it were less of a marketing package, and more like a personal computer (a la, Apple?) It would have kicked ass!
As I understand it, Microsoft owns half of Apple. Microsoft also dominates the market. Micorsoft's products are generally cheaper with a wider customer base, and Apple's are more expensive with a more focused market. Its a win-win for consumerism, yay!
Why is Microsoft so large, though? Yes, one could say they are mainly business oriented, but their operating systems hold the vast majority of the marketshare. This allows them a very excellent position when a Computer Assembler (Dell, HP, Compaq, EMachines, etc.) is producing their package and wants to integrate the two products. and add additional services. and trialware. and tons of other shit most people will never use and ignore.
Yet, there are those who are sucked into the big and dumb thing. Big. Easy. Simple. Short, BIG WORDS. Primary Colors! Ugh.
The default XP theme is blue and green. All previous versions were grey. They knew what they were doing. XP is an excellent OS... now, what they were thinking with vista is yet to be determined. Maybe its easier to integrate shitware? I donno...
But the whole big and dumb thing comes back to fast food companies, whom everyday produce a shit-ton of pure waste that is not recycled. The idea of a throw-away, disposable society. Glutens.
And then I thought, hey! This machine would run the newest Ubuntu pretty nicely! Probably compiz/beryl and all that too. Vista? ha!
I like this "green" movement. Hopefully we can save ourselves from ourselves.
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