steadysignal
Apr 29, 05:44 PM
Great news. Now if only they'd kept Rosetta, I'd upgrade happily. As it is... I'm going to have to stay stuck in Snow Leopard.
why?
why?
skunk
Apr 21, 12:10 PM
Can you give your browser details in case that is part of the problem?Safari 5.0.5
Hastings101
May 3, 09:52 PM
And I'll buy one when it comes with dual fold-out screens in a**-kicking neon colors and a choice of animal stripes, lightning bolts or fire emblems, and is sold at Wal-mart in shrink-wrapped packaging for $9.99 and has commercials featuring hot girls in bikinis jumping on a trampoline.
In other words, we're both out of luck.
I would buy that. I would buy two of that.
In other words, we're both out of luck.
I would buy that. I would buy two of that.
kresh
Oct 31, 02:52 PM
What on Earth are you talking about? What are people stealing in the Arn's summary? The modified code isn't capable of running OS X, and until they closed the source, Darwin worked on most generic x86 platforms anyway.
Someone fixes a lack of functionality that existed in previous public versions and you call it "stealing"? WTF?
Because they fixed it with the intent to use it with Aqua. They will be stealing Aqua. I sincerely doubt anyone will go through the trouble just for command line only.
Even the blogger that was mentioned has a screen shot of Aqua running. There's the theft for ya :)
Someone fixes a lack of functionality that existed in previous public versions and you call it "stealing"? WTF?
Because they fixed it with the intent to use it with Aqua. They will be stealing Aqua. I sincerely doubt anyone will go through the trouble just for command line only.
Even the blogger that was mentioned has a screen shot of Aqua running. There's the theft for ya :)
Anuba
Jan 12, 07:52 PM
i don't know i still who they plan to sell it ... sure there are mac enthusiasts (i would take it too when given as a present) but 10 million within a year without any real range of products ...
Did he really say 10 million within a year? Surely he jests. It's not even coming out in Europe until and if he's thinking 10 million in the US alone, um... that's like 15% of Cingular's customer base.
Did he really say 10 million within a year? Surely he jests. It's not even coming out in Europe until and if he's thinking 10 million in the US alone, um... that's like 15% of Cingular's customer base.
Dr Kevorkian94
Apr 22, 10:08 PM
They should change everything if not to just confuse people. Lol
cantthinkofone
Apr 3, 08:35 PM
Can't the police get a warrant for the IP address? I think if they have a warrant above their heads they might "find" a IP address. All the information they get from a xbox or 360 that gets on XBL they HAVE to know the IP.
MattInOz
Apr 6, 08:38 PM
Product is designed to help people realize value.
I mean it's taken them this long to work that out.
I mean it's taken them this long to work that out.
Verto
Sep 7, 09:54 PM
And he sucked.
brepublican
Sep 12, 08:17 AM
why would a female friend postpone?
Yeah, this kinda sounds fishy to me :confused:
Did someone get dumped??
"Honey lets go see the new Steve Carrell movie"
"Yeah, about that, there's a HUGE Apple product announcement tonight... and I'd like to be next to my new MacPro so that I dont miss a thing... can we go some other time?"
*girl storms out of house*
:D :D
Yeah, this kinda sounds fishy to me :confused:
Did someone get dumped??
"Honey lets go see the new Steve Carrell movie"
"Yeah, about that, there's a HUGE Apple product announcement tonight... and I'd like to be next to my new MacPro so that I dont miss a thing... can we go some other time?"
*girl storms out of house*
:D :D
quagmire
Nov 14, 09:30 PM
I beat both MW games on Hardened, and about half of the levels of each on Veteran. While the plot in both was ludicrous, they were at least fun. Lots of clear objectives, teammates who would stay out of the way, and very few of those "monster closet" moments (grrrrr, Favela :mad:) Those games were fun from start to finish. Black Ops is just a mess of crazy flashbacks cutscenes, messy game design, and terrible direction.
MW2's plot wasn't too ludicrous. You infiltrate a Russian terrorist cell, you're commanding officer betrays you, starts a war between the US and Russia. The only ludicrous part that I can remember is a nuke blowing apart the ISS.
How about Fallout 3? I've never been to DC, but I find it really funny how when I see it on TV or in movies now, I recognize so much of it, and where things are, just from my hundreds of hours in that game. :D
Haven't played Fallout 3.
MW2's plot wasn't too ludicrous. You infiltrate a Russian terrorist cell, you're commanding officer betrays you, starts a war between the US and Russia. The only ludicrous part that I can remember is a nuke blowing apart the ISS.
How about Fallout 3? I've never been to DC, but I find it really funny how when I see it on TV or in movies now, I recognize so much of it, and where things are, just from my hundreds of hours in that game. :D
Haven't played Fallout 3.
TheBobcat
Mar 29, 11:12 AM
This is really exciting!
Too bad we don't have caning here like they do in Singapore. I'll bet if we did little punks like this wouldn't pull this crap.
Too bad we don't have caning here like they do in Singapore. I'll bet if we did little punks like this wouldn't pull this crap.
twoodcc
Apr 30, 05:30 PM
well i'm back at my place and got my latest rig back up and going. i took out the 2 x 9800GTs b/c of heat, and they don't produce all that much anyways. i'm trying it at 3.8 ghz running bigadv and 2 x gpus. we'll see how long it lasts this time
Mattie Num Nums
Apr 8, 02:49 PM
I'm a current employee at Best Buy and thought I'd offer my two cents on a few issues.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
As a former BBY employee I can tell you a few things that are flawed.
#1 no former or current Best Buy employee would call themselves BBemployee, BBYEmployee would seem more likely. I know its stupid but it is the culture of Best Buy to shorten it to BBY.
#2 You would have no clue if Best Buy was in trouble. As a simple Blue Shirt or even a Black Shirt you would not have this information passed down to you.
#3 Your rant show that you either hate Best Buy for personal reasons or possibly a former employee who has a huge vendetta against the company.
#4 Your rant does nothing to support this discussion.
First, I don't really like Best Buy. I got a job there to work for around 4 hours a week to get the generous discount. It's particularly generous when dealing with open-box items. Even so, I am miserable leading up to heading in and I do not enjoy the time that I spend there. Thankfully, I have a good full-time job plus a lot of side work and I'm planning on quitting in the next month or so as the thrill of the discount has long worn off.
That said, I have no problem being very open and honest about Best Buy and my experiences there.
In regards to the iPad situation, I haven't been in since this issue came up and won't be in for awhile, so I don't really know what the buzz is on this matter exactly. I do know that they wouldn't put a freeze on selling new iPad 2 stock if they regularly had it for a random promotion, if only for the very reason that many think caused the initial problem: quota.
I'm betting 1 of 2 things happened:
1) They did indeed get in trouble with Apple for something. Sure, it's possible, and it's the easiest reasonable conclusion. I don't know why this would be though, and I'm skeptical about the whole hording thing. And again, this is coming from someone who has access to the inventory systems and all the places that would hide "horded" iPads. Plus, I have a good enough relationship with multiple managers (ones who know the score about Best Buy in an objective world...) who would be honest about this with me.
Generally speaking, when they say there are no iPads for sale, there are no iPads for sale. It's really that simple. Demand is real, and supply is lacking. When we have them for sale, they're in the cages, and this would occur after passing through the pre-order system. White Verizon iPads tend to be the ones most often available, usually just a couple, and they're gone almost immediately all the same.
Another factor in the equation though is processing shipments. I saw someone noted that after an open-box controversy between two customers, the manager was able to procure a new iPad 2 for a disappointed customer when apparently there were none for sale. Well, there probably weren't. He either bumped someone back on the pre-order list to be nice to the pissed off customer in the store or perhaps a shipment came in on the truck that had yet to be processed and he worked it out with the ops team to get them to process one so he could get it out. Oftentimes the managers do actually try to make the customer happy, even if it's somewhat unreasonable. The ops guys have their procedures, and it's rarely slimy in intent so much as rooted in overall efficiency, so sometimes a shipment won't go to the floor for sales until the next day because the processing takes time. If the manager pushes to work something out in that situation, the manager is doing you a favor and pissing off some ops guys to do so.
Anyways, on to the 2nd scenario...
2) This is what I'd really venture to bet is the problem: the pre-order system is a huge mess. It was a rush job authorized by corporate at the last minute and handled by less-than-informed employees who were also in a rush. From day 1 it was clear that problems were going to creep up, and they absolutely have. Nobody in store is happy about it. The employees don't like telling customers that they have to wait on a pre-order list, they don't like the 48 hour pickup window, they don't like having to deal with customers pissing and moaning and crying about conspiracy theories when only a 64 GB white Verizon iPad 2 is available once in a blue moon when a pre-order turns it down. It's not fun, for anyone, and unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it.
So what I'm guessing is really happening is that Best Buy is just digging out of this pre-order mess as fast as possible and skipping anything else until they get past the ramifications of a stupid decision. Considering there's little to skip seeing as supply is so low and we rarely have the most in-demand models available anyways, it's easier for them to just bow out of this for a couple of weeks and in a sense re-launch the normal sales when supplies are less constrained and they don't have a stupid pre-order process hanging over their heads. It's a cut and dry move that will allow them to gear up again in a more normal, focused way. Considering how things have gone there in the last month in dealing with anything iPad related, this might be the best decision for them.
All in all, Best Buy is Best Buy: a brick and mortar retailer lost in an internet-connected world. Best Buy isn't nearly as evil as they are lost and longing for the 20th century. Sure, there's a lot of margin on accessories, but it's because there's more often than not no margin on anything else. They don't make much money at all on TV's and Computers anymore. If they're on sale, and at Best Buy, almost everything is always "On Sale," it's likely at cost or within a few dollars of cost. There's little margin in the shrinking physical media world either. The only departments with major products that have margin still are appliances and for certain stores, musical instruments. This is why Best Buy will likely be dead in 5 years if they don't drastically change their business model. They did a better job at adapting to the new world than other electronics chains, but they haven't done nearly enough. It's not an easy business at this point though as it has as much to do with dealing with suppliers suffering the same pinch and customers who want to have it all but don't want to pay for it.
Also, in regards to stupid employees and sleazy mangers, yeah, they do exist. But more employees know their stuff than you might think. And there are quite a few managers who actually do care about trying to do a good job and help the customer.
As far as the employees, the biggest shock to me after working at Best Buy was realizing that so much of the supposed employee ignorance has more to do with incessantly having to dumb things down to the most absurd of levels with customers. 90% of the people who come in are nice people who just don't know much of anything about what they're buying. You have to learn to communicate on their level and not over-complicate things for them. It's easy to get stuck in that default mode and you have to actively snap yourself out of it on the rare occasion when you get customers who can actually hold their own in a conversation about the technology. And make no mistake, it's a huge relief for most of us when that happens because most of us that work there actually are pretty excited about the technology.
Now on the other hand, sleazy managers and supervisors can screw so much of this up. While most of the employees aren't making a career out of working at Best Buy, the sups and managers typically are on some level at least, and it takes a certain, umm, level of person to get, err, stuck, yes, at that level if you know what I mean. There's a lot of inconsistency in these types of people. If you get good ones though, they tend to hire good employees and foster a good environment for customers. My store has good management. It's the only thing that makes it remotely tolerable to me. The employees actually know their stuff and are honest with the customers. They also work as a team because the management pushes it and thankfully we don't have commission to muck things up. And customers do love us for it. You'd be shocked by how often a selling relationship turns into a friendship practically at our particular store. We get invited out after work all the time. Honesty goes a long ways, and when you're helping people save money by making sure they make a smart decision for their needs, it goes a long ways. And our managers are objective enough (and not locked into Best Buy corporate brainwash mode) to know that the only thing Best Buy has to offer over Amazon is the possibility of a good customer service experience. They do all they reasonably can to ensure that it happens.
But again, this simply isn't the case everywhere at all, and it so often boils down to the luck of the draw on management. Good managers hire good people leading to good teams leading to generally happy customers and good sales. Bad managers hire their dumb friends, play games with customers, lie, cheat, and usually they don't put up good numbers.
At the end of the day though, the good stores and the bad stores are equally screwed because the industry is a mess, the world is changing, and Best Buy corporate utterly and completely lacks the talent and leadership to be innovative in the 21st century. They refuse to reasonably acknowledge change, they're too scared to piss off manufacturers who have lines all across the store that vary dramatically when it comes to success and quality, and they're wildly inconsistent and disorganized with their processes and as they put it, "solutions." As said, if things don't drastically change, and I don't believe they will without a major shift in leadership, they'll be dead in 5 years. It's a sinking ship. I'll be happy to be out of there.
Again, I don't think they're near as evil and corrupt as they are just lost. When you're lost, things can get confusing real fast. Bear in mind that oftentimes when employees appear aloof, they're probably confused because corporate changes things all the time and does little to help keep us informed of these changes. Also, don't mistake conspiracy theories for sheer stupidity. Like we saw in this whole conversation, people will say some wild things. It's easy to think it from the outside. I can assure you from the inside, that oftentimes what looks like scheming and maneuvering is really just disorganization, stupidity and/or confusion due to the muddled processes and the ever-foggy way in which corporate outlines these processes.
I don't blame people for not liking Best Buy. I don't like them either. Just go easy on the guys on the floor and in the back. Unless they're the total goof-off employees which do exist, what you're pissed about is probably not their fault at all.
As a former BBY employee I can tell you a few things that are flawed.
#1 no former or current Best Buy employee would call themselves BBemployee, BBYEmployee would seem more likely. I know its stupid but it is the culture of Best Buy to shorten it to BBY.
#2 You would have no clue if Best Buy was in trouble. As a simple Blue Shirt or even a Black Shirt you would not have this information passed down to you.
#3 Your rant show that you either hate Best Buy for personal reasons or possibly a former employee who has a huge vendetta against the company.
#4 Your rant does nothing to support this discussion.
QuarterSwede
Oct 13, 08:19 PM
Just noticed something at work (large retailer). The iPod case is unusually empty of iPod videos. We may have 15 total when the case usual has 50-100. The iPod Nanos on the other hand are completely stocked full. Usually this only happens when Apple is going to release a new version and stops sending the store product. I know it sounds weird because they just upgraded the 5G but it was a very insignificant update. Just thought I'd add that to the rumor mill.
Ommid
Apr 25, 01:05 PM
What is the hole above the ear piece?
Secret location tracker.
Secret location tracker.
dalvin200
Sep 12, 06:36 AM
I cant believe how much press Apple is getting. It was never like this before. IE. when the battery recall was on the news, the BBC/ITV were camped outside of Regent street's Apple store talking about the batteries and what went wrong and what not, even though Dell was involved too. Bit harsh I think.
But, it still suprises me about people and their iPods. I was at college the other day and someone had their iPod out. I pulled my first Gen iPod out my pocket and said "Now this is old school. You can only use this with a Mac" and the student said to me "Whats a Mac?"
After explaining that the iPod is made by a company called Apple, which has made PC's since the 70/80s, he then replied... "oooh, those computers are rubbish"
yeah, whatever you say mate...
EDIT: sorry, just a rant really... but on topic!
HAHAHAHA.. i hate that ignorant type!! ok, i've only switched to a mac at home, but used them loads at uni..
i dread to see how tonights news splashes all over the tech pages of bbc/itv/sky news etc.. tomorrow morning and how the ignorant masses react.
But, it still suprises me about people and their iPods. I was at college the other day and someone had their iPod out. I pulled my first Gen iPod out my pocket and said "Now this is old school. You can only use this with a Mac" and the student said to me "Whats a Mac?"
After explaining that the iPod is made by a company called Apple, which has made PC's since the 70/80s, he then replied... "oooh, those computers are rubbish"
yeah, whatever you say mate...
EDIT: sorry, just a rant really... but on topic!
HAHAHAHA.. i hate that ignorant type!! ok, i've only switched to a mac at home, but used them loads at uni..
i dread to see how tonights news splashes all over the tech pages of bbc/itv/sky news etc.. tomorrow morning and how the ignorant masses react.
Bistroengine
Apr 5, 05:06 PM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)
first-chill!, second-chill a little more, third-am i not within my own rights to call something as i see it?or is that reserved solely for you?the choice of words i use are just that my choice so take your opinion about me elsewhere as after some thought iv decided I couldn't care any less what you say.
Yes, you have the right to your own opinion and I am quite chilled, thank you. Also, I never directly made a comment about you or your character as I really don't know you at all and I can safely say I have no opinion of you one way or the other.
first-chill!, second-chill a little more, third-am i not within my own rights to call something as i see it?or is that reserved solely for you?the choice of words i use are just that my choice so take your opinion about me elsewhere as after some thought iv decided I couldn't care any less what you say.
Yes, you have the right to your own opinion and I am quite chilled, thank you. Also, I never directly made a comment about you or your character as I really don't know you at all and I can safely say I have no opinion of you one way or the other.
AppliedVisual
Oct 18, 03:07 PM
I'm curious to see how that plays out. Samsung at first wanted to put out a hybrid player, as well as another company whose identity I forget; but apparently Sony's Blu-Ray licensing explicitly forbids combo players. So I don't understand, is NEC's chip a clean-room solution or did they find some other solution?
Ricoh already has the necessary optical elements for a dual format player -- they announced this two months ago. In addition to NEC, LG also has a chipset for a universal player. All the pieces are in place except the legal/licensing restrictions.
Samsung and LG both announced they would begin work on universal players, but once Sony finalized the Blu-Ray licensing, LG just disappeared and announced two Blu-Ray only players, the higher end model will sell under the Marantz label. Samsung, recanted and said they would not pursue a universal player at this time... You won't see Samnsung challenging Sony on any such thing -- these two now share manufacturing and technology for several products, including LCD panels.
Most likely, due to it's ties to LG and NEC, Philips would be the most likely to come out first with a universal player. But until someone finds a way around Sony's licensing restrictions, it isn't going to happen... Many don't think that their licensing is legal and constitutes an antitrust violation, but at this stage in the game the small market doesn't jsutify the effort. Ultimately, we will see universal players, it's a guaranteed thing. But I doubt Sony will budge from their licensing restrictions until they feel HD-DVD has lost the market... At that point they'll lift the restriction and like everyone else they'll release a BluRay player that can also play those "other" discs.
Ricoh already has the necessary optical elements for a dual format player -- they announced this two months ago. In addition to NEC, LG also has a chipset for a universal player. All the pieces are in place except the legal/licensing restrictions.
Samsung and LG both announced they would begin work on universal players, but once Sony finalized the Blu-Ray licensing, LG just disappeared and announced two Blu-Ray only players, the higher end model will sell under the Marantz label. Samsung, recanted and said they would not pursue a universal player at this time... You won't see Samnsung challenging Sony on any such thing -- these two now share manufacturing and technology for several products, including LCD panels.
Most likely, due to it's ties to LG and NEC, Philips would be the most likely to come out first with a universal player. But until someone finds a way around Sony's licensing restrictions, it isn't going to happen... Many don't think that their licensing is legal and constitutes an antitrust violation, but at this stage in the game the small market doesn't jsutify the effort. Ultimately, we will see universal players, it's a guaranteed thing. But I doubt Sony will budge from their licensing restrictions until they feel HD-DVD has lost the market... At that point they'll lift the restriction and like everyone else they'll release a BluRay player that can also play those "other" discs.
aristobrat
Oct 6, 06:32 PM
I think the biggest problem is when Apple had the chance to change the game by not doing subizided cost they instead give in and just make it worse by forcing a much larger than average subsudize on there phone ($400 vs $250).
Unlock phones puts the network and the phone separete.
I'm not sure why you think Apple's original iPhone sales model was changing the game.
The customer paid the full price of the iPhone, the iPhone was still locked to a specific carrier, and the carrier agreed to pay Apple monthly for every iPhone customer they had.
On top of that, AT&T created a special, cheaper data plan to lure customers in, as the full-priced phone was very off-putting to some.
Sounds like the original iPhone ended up costing AT&T more than the subsidy on the iPhone 3G/3GS did.
And why did Apple change its original sales model? Because they weren't selling nearly as fast as Apple had hoped.
I agree with you that being able to buy any phone and have it work on any network would be awesome. Logistically, I just don't ever see it happening.
Unlock phones puts the network and the phone separete.
I'm not sure why you think Apple's original iPhone sales model was changing the game.
The customer paid the full price of the iPhone, the iPhone was still locked to a specific carrier, and the carrier agreed to pay Apple monthly for every iPhone customer they had.
On top of that, AT&T created a special, cheaper data plan to lure customers in, as the full-priced phone was very off-putting to some.
Sounds like the original iPhone ended up costing AT&T more than the subsidy on the iPhone 3G/3GS did.
And why did Apple change its original sales model? Because they weren't selling nearly as fast as Apple had hoped.
I agree with you that being able to buy any phone and have it work on any network would be awesome. Logistically, I just don't ever see it happening.
runninmac
Jan 5, 04:20 PM
Great idea but sadly I don't have enough will power to wait :D
bigbro1096
Apr 25, 06:11 PM
Well, I have kept $200 in my savings account since Christmas and that's pretty much a feat in it's self. Anyways, I really need the iPhone 4S/5 to be released at WWDC and be some nice updates otherwise I'm going to be upset. I've had every iPhone since the 3G and each was released at WWDC so I don't know why they'll start now.
TheSlush
Sep 28, 04:22 PM
If the garage is detached, what does he do when it's raining?
Gem�tlichkeit
Apr 10, 03:29 PM
Fair question - mostly for the flexibility of watching multiple channels and/or playing PS3 while watching multiple channels.
Plus - given the size of the room it would be difficult to achieve an ideal viewing distance for anything bigger than 50".
Wow, I'm the complete opposite of this haha. 5 years ago I donated my TV and never looked back :)
Plus - given the size of the room it would be difficult to achieve an ideal viewing distance for anything bigger than 50".
Wow, I'm the complete opposite of this haha. 5 years ago I donated my TV and never looked back :)