jaclaz Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 As often happens I may well be wrong, but I see the Apple watch as a (nice looking ) solution to a non-problem , I am not at all surprised that once the WOW! and Cool! exclamations for the new gadget are over people is puzzled by the lack of any "real" practical use of the features of the thingy. jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dencorso Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 I thought it'd become a must for every die-hard Dick Tracy fan... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelC Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) I guess that Apple is starting to run out of people with cash to burn who are willing to buy mildly interesting devices at wildly inflated prices... Wildly inflated is the key... I have a couple of nearly indestructible watches that have solar cells in the face and sync themselves to the atomic time signals of WWVB every night. There are many features such as interval timers and counters and multiple time zones and ... available via the 5 buttons arranged around the sides. They do virtually everything you could want a watch to do, and they keep on doing it. I think they each cost something like $40. The Dick Tracy cover made me LOL because it seems so very apropo... Perpetrator right in front of him, committing a crime, and he's distracted by his wearable tech instead of taking interest in the reality of the moment. The world breaks down if no one is actually doing anything useful. -Noel Edited July 8, 2015 by NoelC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 Well, to be fair to Chester Gould's (right) concept the thingy was actually a phone (or radio): a self-contained communicator, not an extension for another device (the iPhone), that nags you.Speaking of distractions, all it can do - more or less - is to nag you about every tweet, every news, tells you (possibly when you are already speeding 15 miles down the highway) that you forgot the lights on, etc., I would define it "a glorified remote control for your iPhone with astounding nagging capabilities", and no, I don't want to know what my heart beat rate is every ten minutes, I already know that I should most probably exercise more, and firmly believe that words like "photoplethysmography" should be banned outside spelling contests[1]:https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204666and yes, I don't see much point in sharing a "haptic" feeling with a friend (or loved one) let alone with a stranger:http://www.imore.com/how-send-someone-your-heartbeat-apple-watchhttp://www.wired.com/2015/05/lonelyheartbeats-subreddit-for-apple-watch-owners/ jaclaz [1] the word "haptic" is not even good for that and could be banned completely with very few people protesting about it missing from the dictionary, with the exception maybe of the Urban Dictionary :http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=haptic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripredacus Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 "Internet of Things" fans, take note! On a side note (and apparently now the branding is public) Microsoft has officially grabbed onto the Internet of Things and will be using it as part of a new Embedded product line. You can see their use of the term here: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/community-blog.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 "Internet of Things" fans, take note!On a side note (and apparently now the branding is public) Microsoft has officially grabbed onto the Internet of Things and will be using it as part of a new Embedded product line. You can see their use of the term here:https://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/community-blog.aspx Well, they seem like designers dreaming of the future, nice, wishful thinking, but come on:http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2015/06/17/room-service-how-iot-creates-a-custom-hotel-experience/On average, a typical hotel guest will spend about 12 minutes figuring out the thermostat, light switches, TV controls and how to find hotel amenities,” write Greg Jones, Microsoft’s managing director of Worldwide Hospitality and Travel. “The Connected Room is designed to streamline that process.” I have built hotels with "smart technology" starting some 20 (twenty) years ago, and though admittedly people (average customer) were at the time less "technologically advanced" the end result has always been to have the customer pass much more than 12 minutes on the "smart" control panel, and all in all what was running was a dedicated RTOS embedded (historically proven to be slightly less prone then common Windows OSes to BSOD's ) and everything was cabled (and shielded and - within limits - tamper proof) and OBVIOUSLY completely detached from any external connections. Now, what could happen when you depend on IoT for utilities (given that the "system admin" is your average little hotel manager and there is no end of exploits due to any number of mis-configurations and/or bugs in the actual protocols (let alone the actual software), and additionally all this under the risk of a "forced" update that can, even if "planned" bring down the whole stuff for - say - 4 hours (due to loss of connection to the internet, intervention time of the IT specialist (if any knowledgeable enough actually can intervene and he/she is within 1 hour driving distance) or *whatever* else? Heck, even SCADA systems (usually devised and maintained by someone on average more educated than the average hotel manager) have been hacked, and you are telling me that I should rely for vital things like security (door latches), temperature of hot water, lighting, conditioning system etc. on something that can be jammed by - say - a modified garage door remote and a bunch of AV trasmitters? jaclaz 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelC Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 But wouldn't it be cool to be able to talk things over with the tech all around you instead of just controlling it? For example, arguing with a thermostellar bomb... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29pPZQ77cmI -Noel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Disturbing hints and intimations: Free Windows 10 is not an upgrade … it's marketing.Microsoft goes vague on Windows 10 support .Microsoft to provide free upgrades to Windows 10 for 2 to 4 years The upshot of this sequence of reports is that, conceivably, a Windows 7 or 8.1 user who "upgrades" to Windows 10 in 2015 could see their OS support cut off sooner than if they'd stayed on 7 or 8.1. When that happens, expect MSFT apologists to coldly point out that, "you agreed to Windows 10's terms and conditions, so you have nothing to complain about." You have been warned. --JorgeA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 But wouldn't it be cool to be able to talk things over with the tech all around you instead of just controlling it? For example, arguing with a thermostellar bomb... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29pPZQ77cmI -Noel That was funny! Sadly, though, a more likely scenario is that instead of talking with the tech, let alone controlling it, our lives will increasingly be controlled by the tech around us, with the user having little say in how it operates. We may consider the forced automatic updates in Win10 as a preview of this. --JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Well, they seem like designers dreaming of the future, nice, wishful thinking, but come on:http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2015/06/17/room-service-how-iot-creates-a-custom-hotel-experience/On average, a typical hotel guest will spend about 12 minutes figuring out the thermostat, light switches, TV controls and how to find hotel amenities,” write Greg Jones, Microsoft’s managing director of Worldwide Hospitality and Travel. “The Connected Room is designed to streamline that process.” I have built hotels with "smart technology" starting some 20 (twenty) years ago, and though admittedly people (average customer) were at the time less "technologically advanced" the end result has always been to have the customer pass much more than 12 minutes on the "smart" control panel, and all in all what was running was a dedicated RTOS embedded (historically proven to be slightly less prone then common Windows OSes to BSOD's ) and everything was cabled (and shielded and - within limits - tamper proof) and OBVIOUSLY completely detached from any external connections. Now, what could happen when you depend on IoT for utilities (given that the "system admin" is your average little hotel manager and there is no end of exploits due to any number of mis-configurations and/or bugs in the actual protocols (let alone the actual software), and additionally all this under the risk of a "forced" update that can, even if "planned" bring down the whole stuff for - say - 4 hours (due to loss of connection to the internet, intervention time of the IT specialist (if any knowledgeable enough actually can intervene and he/she is within 1 hour driving distance) or *whatever* else? Heck, even SCADA systems (usually devised and maintained by someone on average more educated than the average hotel manager) have been hacked, and you are telling me that I should rely for vital things like security (door latches), temperature of hot water, lighting, conditioning system etc. on something that can be jammed by - say - a modified garage door remote and a bunch of AV trasmitters? jaclaz Yup. Very well said. I expect that it will take a number of increasingly damaging hacking incidents to convince the public that this IoT thing isn't such a hot idea, but that eventually they will decide that it's not worth the risk. The reason, in my estimation, is the increasingly marginal value of adding Internet connectivity to common devices and items that have never been so connected. Sure, it makes a huge difference to have a desktop PC that can go on the Web. Ditto for a laptop computer that you can carry around with you, and for a smartphone that you can put in your pocket. These are worth putting up with hackers of various types. We'll carry on and the arms race will continue indefinitely into the future, because we gain so much from worldwide connectivity. But a refrigerator? A toaster? Your lights and home cooling/heating system? Your table, chair, and coffee mug?? The inevitably higher price of covering the cost of connectivity and the decreased level of personal security, added to the increasingly dubious value of the capabilities thus gained, suggest to me that this might be no more than a passing fad as people determine the cost/benefit ratio of the "Internet of Things." --JorgeA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 (edited) @JorgeA (re:Windows Marketing)Well, that's only because the SEC does not use MY (actually MS original) version naming conventions, NT 6.x remains a NT 6.x:http://www.gaijin.at/en/lstwinver.phpVersion 6.0:Vista=NT 6 (non working OS)Vista SP1=NT 6 SP1 (partially working OS)Vista SP2=NT 6 SP2 (finally working)---------------------------------------------------purely commercial division line ---------------------------------------------------Version 6.1:7=NT 6 SP3 (still working fine), changing a number of trivial things in the UI AND the minor version allowed them to charge money for this7 SP1=NT 6 SP4 (still working fine) version is 6.1.7601Several years of 7 KB/Windows Update=NT 6 SP5 (still working fine)-------------------------------------------------this line represent descent into madness -----------------------------------------Version 6.2:8=NT 6 SP6 (suddenly not working anymore in a number of situations) completely revolutionizing the UI (for the worse) AND changing the minor version allowed them to charge money for this, though very few people, exception made for OEM's that were forced to at gunpoint, actually decided to get it and pay for it.-------------------------------------this line represents a failed attempt to regain some sanity --------------------------------Version 6.3:8.1=NT 6 SP7 (still completely failing to work productively) partially reverting the UI to the earlier status AND changing the minor version would have normally allowed them to charge money for this, but NOONE in his/her right mind would have actually payed for it--------------------------------this line represents a further failed attempt to regain some sanity --------------------------------Version 6.4 later changed to 10:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_10#Version_historySo, not only they changed the minor version, but also the major one, making it not anymore a NT 6, but rather a completely alien OS which they have NO OTHER choice than provide for free (as last one before) but they have additionally to force down the throat of all users of previous NT 6 versions. If I was in the SEC I would have fined the good MS guys having twice mis-represented the nature of the changes, sneakily escaping the need to defer some earnings, but this is just "finance", just moving the dates, not real "money", the point is that while they managed to trick a (small) number of Windows 7 users into paying US$ 15 to upgrade to 8 , they would not be able to do the same now for an upgrade to Windows 10.It still remains a mistery how they managed to provide for free Windows 8/8.1 (with Bing) to OEM's for small sized tablets (that is not an upgrade or an update, it is a brand new OS), and (same source of the above) it seems like also the Nokia Windows Phone business isn't going that well :http://www.computerworld.com/article/2945371/smartphones/microsoft-writes-off-76b-admits-failure-of-nokia-acquisition.html jaclaz Edited July 9, 2015 by jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rn10950 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Disturbing hints and intimations: Free Windows 10 is not an upgrade … it's marketing.Microsoft goes vague on Windows 10 support.Microsoft to provide free upgrades to Windows 10 for 2 to 4 years The upshot of this sequence of reports is that, conceivably, a Windows 7 or 8.1 user who "upgrades" to Windows 10 in 2015 could see their OS support cut off sooner than if they'd stayed on 7 or 8.1. When that happens, expect MSFT apologists to coldly point out that, "you agreed to Windows 10's terms and conditions, so you have nothing to complain about." You have been warned. --JorgeA Interesting read. I think the part that stuck out most for me is this: Microsoft's use of "form factor" could mean it will set support and deferral periods based on the type of device: notebooks, 2-in-1s, desktops, tablets or smartphones. A tablet's support lifetime, for instance, could top out a two years, while a notebook's could be pegged at three and a desktop at four....Storms thought Microsoft was hedging. "They needed to say something for competitive purposes, but they don't want to get caught up on anything too specific," he opined. "Microsoft bets that only a few people will still be wanting support in 10 years. When 10 years comes due, who knows what the landscape will look like?" By the looks of this, we may get less support time with Windows 10 than older versions. The oldest desktop I currently have is from 1998, has 256MB of RAM (upgraded) and still works, I used Win2k on it last night, it also has Win98SE. If Windows 10 were to be "supported for the lifetime of the device", I should be getting updates longer than a decade, as this PC has clearly lasted longer than a decade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaclaz Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 Your table, chair, and coffee mug?? You really don't think your life is a bit empty without a connected coffee mug?http://www.pauligmuki.com/index.php?lang=enPaulig Muki is a coffee cup with an e-paper display that's powered by nothing more than hot coffee. You can download your own pics on the screen, but that's not very revolutionary, right? We have all seen the "I'm the Boss" mugs before. The fun starts when you fill your first cup in the morning and your friend’s messages appear on the screen. It might be hilarious, exciting, romantic or even embarrassing. That depends entirely on your friends. I guess a lot of people miss gross images and pranks very early in the morning....... or maybe the friends and colleagues I ever had are actually (much) worse than average . jaclaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoelC Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) -------------------------------------this line represents a failed attempt to regain some sanity --------------------------------Version 6.3:8.1=NT 6 SP7 (still completely failing to work productively) partially reverting the UI to the earlier status AND changing the minor version would have normally allowed them to charge money for this, but NOONE in his/her right mind would have actually payed for it --------------------------------this line represents a further failed attempt to regain some sanity --------------------------------Version 6.4 later changed to 10: Some parts of that I disagree with: 1. "(still completely failing to work productively)" Win 8.1 aka NT6 SP7 does NOT completely fail to work productively. One cannot measure an OS in a vacuum as in "what's delivered out of the box", but rather how well it can be tweaked and augmented into something that is useful and delivers value. Win 8.1 does deliver value - unprecedented value - IF you do the right things to it. What it does NOT do IMO - and for this part I agree with you entirely - is deliver any new value whatsoever in the Metro/Modern aspect. WITHOUT Metro/Modern and WITH 3rd party software (which also improves older OSs) it is a pretty much the best version of NT that has ever been built. I wonder how many folks use it without any hint of Metro/Modern as I do. I paid for a full license on disc (then paid again when that b**ch Microsoft dropped me through the MCE trap door and charged me another $99). My wife does agree with you that I am not in my right mind. Win 8.1 delivers value. You just need to learn how to get it while avoiding the bad parts (which has been true of every OS Microsoft has ever made). 2. "a further failed attempt to regain some sanity" (speaking of Win 10) Uh, no. Not even close. That's just what Microsoft says. For the things that matter, such as the restoral of a Start Menu to Windows 10 or the resurrection of Aero Glass, the efforts are so pitiful and hollow that it does not classify as an "attempt". It is BS, plain and simple. For example, they restored "Windows 7 Backup". What does that name tell you? They're just going to be eliminating it again down the line after they finally get bunches of people off Windows 7. The massive acts of "throwing good money after bad" that Microsoft have been doing - furthering Metro/Modern and the App Store, trying to herd sheeple, without doing ANYTHING substantive to the OS itself to improve it - cannot be considered in any way to "regain" anything. All it does is lose ground against its predecessors while loudly proclaiming that the emperor has new clothes. I've done the work that few others have at this point. I've tweaked and augmented Windows 10 until it rolled over and said Uncle, and still it is no better in ANY measurable way than Win 8.1 or 7, and in fact is slower (while claiming loudly - you guessed it - to be faster) at doing basic things such as file I/O. -Noel Edited July 10, 2015 by NoelC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JorgeA Posted July 10, 2015 Share Posted July 10, 2015 (edited) Win 8.1 delivers value. You just need to learn how to get it while avoiding the bad parts (which has been true of every OS Microsoft has ever made). The thing is, Win8.1 has more bad parts to avoid than any previous OS by Microsoft. And it seems to need more tweaking than previous OSes in order to get it into good working condition. --JorgeA Edited July 10, 2015 by JorgeA 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts