Actually, this is not the first instance. The University of Santa Clara changed its name to Santa Clara University so as to avoid the misinterpretation. They are now SCU. USC, Trojans, have always been known as USC, so it sounds about right to me.
I am a very frequent flyer and signed up for the program in the first year. But it was never very useful. I only used it a couple of times. I found that for the most part even in busy airports like Reagan - Clear Path did not offer any real advantages.
Absolutely, the President should be able to have a Blackberry (or even better an iPhone). The technology is readily available by routing that all those messages can be archived to make the lawyers happy - but if we learned anything from the last couple of presidents - they should have opportunities to be outside the bubble . The security folks want the president inside the bubble and that causes problems for our democracy.
For me free WIFI drives me there as a consumer. Period. I agree with a couple of the commenters that between a paid service and a free one, I will choose the free. My phone seeks out those spaces that are unlocked - and they get my business.
Some offer free WIFI but ask you to get their password - that is fine too. But the free is what I seek and use to consume.
There are a lot of good reasons to take a laptop on vacation. (Even if you are tied to the Cloud with a service like MobileMe).
#1 - Does Cooper take a camera with him? If so how does he upload and edit pictures? Part of every vacation for me is photography - I like having my own laptop to help me do quick edits on the hundreds of shots. On one vacation to Europe my wife prevented me from taking a laptop and I lost one set of key pictures because I had not been able to back them up.
#2 - Does he ever want directions or other useful services? On a recent vacation to the East, we stopped and got some directions on the throughway in a rest area (New York supplies wireless!) and it was a great help.
#3 - For SKYPING - When we are out of the country, and we want to call home we use SKYPE - it is a lot cheaper than either trunk lines or cellular.
#4 - Electronic Newspapers - I don't like carrying around all those silly printed newspapers with me. In the morning I download my favorite stories to read them later.
#5 - A great alarm clock - One of my favorite pieces of software is iRooster - their tagline was turn your $3000 laptop into a $6 alarm clock. But the software allows you to be woken to your choice of music - if find that nice.
It does appear that rational discussion is possible. I find the 3G (as I did the earlier iPhone) very useful for what I need a phone for. There are some cool features that I have not found on other phones - for example, when I travel out of the country it inserts the proper calling code to get back to the number I want to call (001 in Mexico versus 011 in the US for example). I am not sure about the 3G features that the phone is missing but based on four days with the iPhone and a year with the other one - I have found it useful. Battery life is likely to be a problem for heavy users of Push. But the other innovations in Version 2 seem to be substantial additions.
The million phones numbers (which come in part from estimates of Piper Jaffrey) are worldwide. The more impressive number is 800,000 in the first three days in the US sales alone. This is going to be a hot product and despite the initial glitches (I was a part of the initial queue in Pasadena - read about it in my posts at my blogspot site) the phone does what Apple said it would.
I am not sure what all the vitriol is in some of these comments. Ultimately, if Apple makes a good phone that fits your needs, buy it. If it does not, one of the strengths of the marketplace is we have other options. I used the first generation and found it better than my RAZR. I have used the 3G since Friday and find it to be a significant improvement. I don't have any hate for any people who don't make the same choice that I do nor do I begrudge Apple making a profit for a useful device. The service plans for my phone to use it all I want is reasonably priced.
Gates is right. Windows is a work in progress that unfortunately is not seeing much progress. Fortunately, there is a more stable and user friendly alternative to Windows in its many incarnations. OSX is wonderful.
Let's be sure to keep things accurate. While there is controversy about what is on Judge Kozinski's website he is not guilty of "accidentally sharing pornographic images from his webserver" The Video in question is on You-Tube afterall.
These are common in Mexico and worth the extra expense. The food is better (and has been getting better in many chains even without this addition) and having a cocktail is nice. I hope it does well.
I am not sure I understand the difference between innovation and invention. Indeed, Apple does a bit of both. But I think the basic point of Anon Coward (notice the name) is fundamentally mistaken.
The iPod is a great example. Apple produces something which by any count could not play its full complement of resources on one charge. But as someone who travels a lot it is great to have 40 gigs of entertainment from which I can choose on long flights. I also have capacity to grow, as mentioned above at a pretty good price. I have flown back from Asia a couple of times and used my 80 and my 30 and gotten through the flight. Apple pays attention not to what some techie wants but what a consumer wants. They then add in some features into their products which turn out to be very useful. For example in their laptops they were the first to install a video camera and a very simple program to allow video conferencing. When I bought my first laptop with that I did not think I would use it - now I use it a lot - it is simple and intuitive like a lot of Apple products. I am not sure whether that is innovation or invention.
iTunes is another example of something that is part innovation and part invention. Apple forced the labels to change their distribution model. They still would like a different pricing scheme but they are not going to get it. I've quit buying CDs because I can sample music before I buy it and then often not have to get the klunker songs on some albums.
If invention is coming up with new ideas then Apple does a lot of that. iTunes was a new way to sell music - which a lot of analysts suggested would not work and some are still pulling for the subscription model - which has a tiny share of the total market. iChat is a new way to think about communicating. Were there other ways to do that before? Sure, but the combination of using good technology and then actually listening to the consumer is critical. In my work Powerpoint is clunky and not especially useful - Keynote (which works off the original presentation software idea) has a bunch of great bells and whistles. Sure there were photo programs before iPhoto and Aperture but none are as useful to me.
So in my mind the distinction between innovation and invention is not important - every idea has some forbearer. I am not sure why AC is so animated about this maybe he has to use the clunky techie solutions that ignore what consumers want.
I am not sure why you would expect CNN to dislodge their pretty consistent ignorance on economics. Why would you expect that the network which has Lou Dobbs babble on would have any willingness to consider the issues of the changes that technology offer to the economy?
I guess Brian thinks that intellectual property is not a limited right. The entire debate in this country when the copyright standard was adopted was whether there needed to be any incentive for the creation of ideas. With all due respect, Mickey is a derivative character whose first movie, Steamboat Willie, was taken in large measure from a Buster Keaton movie called Steamboat Bill. Why should Disney get to keep that little gem in perpetuity?
Re: USC in my mind will always be...
Must be a Bruin
The use of USC
Actually, this is not the first instance. The University of Santa Clara changed its name to Santa Clara University so as to avoid the misinterpretation. They are now SCU. USC, Trojans, have always been known as USC, so it sounds about right to me.
Clear Path
I am a very frequent flyer and signed up for the program in the first year. But it was never very useful. I only used it a couple of times. I found that for the most part even in busy airports like Reagan - Clear Path did not offer any real advantages.
Re: Recipe For Terrorism
That is nonsense. The Clear program required a number of biometrics to be offered.
The Presidential Blackberry
Absolutely, the President should be able to have a Blackberry (or even better an iPhone). The technology is readily available by routing that all those messages can be archived to make the lawyers happy - but if we learned anything from the last couple of presidents - they should have opportunities to be outside the bubble . The security folks want the president inside the bubble and that causes problems for our democracy.
Free WIFI as a consumer choice
For me free WIFI drives me there as a consumer. Period. I agree with a couple of the commenters that between a paid service and a free one, I will choose the free. My phone seeks out those spaces that are unlocked - and they get my business.
Some offer free WIFI but ask you to get their password - that is fine too. But the free is what I seek and use to consume.
Taking your Laptop on Vacation
There are a lot of good reasons to take a laptop on vacation. (Even if you are tied to the Cloud with a service like MobileMe).
#1 - Does Cooper take a camera with him? If so how does he upload and edit pictures? Part of every vacation for me is photography - I like having my own laptop to help me do quick edits on the hundreds of shots. On one vacation to Europe my wife prevented me from taking a laptop and I lost one set of key pictures because I had not been able to back them up.
#2 - Does he ever want directions or other useful services? On a recent vacation to the East, we stopped and got some directions on the throughway in a rest area (New York supplies wireless!) and it was a great help.
#3 - For SKYPING - When we are out of the country, and we want to call home we use SKYPE - it is a lot cheaper than either trunk lines or cellular.
#4 - Electronic Newspapers - I don't like carrying around all those silly printed newspapers with me. In the morning I download my favorite stories to read them later.
#5 - A great alarm clock - One of my favorite pieces of software is iRooster - their tagline was turn your $3000 laptop into a $6 alarm clock. But the software allows you to be woken to your choice of music - if find that nice.
I could go on but you get the point.
Re: Polarization
Allen-
It does appear that rational discussion is possible. I find the 3G (as I did the earlier iPhone) very useful for what I need a phone for. There are some cool features that I have not found on other phones - for example, when I travel out of the country it inserts the proper calling code to get back to the number I want to call (001 in Mexico versus 011 in the US for example). I am not sure about the 3G features that the phone is missing but based on four days with the iPhone and a year with the other one - I have found it useful. Battery life is likely to be a problem for heavy users of Push. But the other innovations in Version 2 seem to be substantial additions.
Thanks for keeping this on the right plane.
Drtaxsacto
Apples to Apples
The million phones numbers (which come in part from estimates of Piper Jaffrey) are worldwide. The more impressive number is 800,000 in the first three days in the US sales alone. This is going to be a hot product and despite the initial glitches (I was a part of the initial queue in Pasadena - read about it in my posts at my blogspot site) the phone does what Apple said it would.
I am not sure what all the vitriol is in some of these comments. Ultimately, if Apple makes a good phone that fits your needs, buy it. If it does not, one of the strengths of the marketplace is we have other options. I used the first generation and found it better than my RAZR. I have used the 3G since Friday and find it to be a significant improvement. I don't have any hate for any people who don't make the same choice that I do nor do I begrudge Apple making a profit for a useful device. The service plans for my phone to use it all I want is reasonably priced.
Bill Gates is right
Gates is right. Windows is a work in progress that unfortunately is not seeing much progress. Fortunately, there is a more stable and user friendly alternative to Windows in its many incarnations. OSX is wonderful.
Let's not perpetuate falsehoods
Let's be sure to keep things accurate. While there is controversy about what is on Judge Kozinski's website he is not guilty of "accidentally sharing pornographic images from his webserver" The Video in question is on You-Tube afterall.
Luxury Theaters
These are common in Mexico and worth the extra expense. The food is better (and has been getting better in many chains even without this addition) and having a cocktail is nice. I hope it does well.
Apple and Innovation
I am not sure I understand the difference between innovation and invention. Indeed, Apple does a bit of both. But I think the basic point of Anon Coward (notice the name) is fundamentally mistaken.
The iPod is a great example. Apple produces something which by any count could not play its full complement of resources on one charge. But as someone who travels a lot it is great to have 40 gigs of entertainment from which I can choose on long flights. I also have capacity to grow, as mentioned above at a pretty good price. I have flown back from Asia a couple of times and used my 80 and my 30 and gotten through the flight. Apple pays attention not to what some techie wants but what a consumer wants. They then add in some features into their products which turn out to be very useful. For example in their laptops they were the first to install a video camera and a very simple program to allow video conferencing. When I bought my first laptop with that I did not think I would use it - now I use it a lot - it is simple and intuitive like a lot of Apple products. I am not sure whether that is innovation or invention.
iTunes is another example of something that is part innovation and part invention. Apple forced the labels to change their distribution model. They still would like a different pricing scheme but they are not going to get it. I've quit buying CDs because I can sample music before I buy it and then often not have to get the klunker songs on some albums.
If invention is coming up with new ideas then Apple does a lot of that. iTunes was a new way to sell music - which a lot of analysts suggested would not work and some are still pulling for the subscription model - which has a tiny share of the total market. iChat is a new way to think about communicating. Were there other ways to do that before? Sure, but the combination of using good technology and then actually listening to the consumer is critical. In my work Powerpoint is clunky and not especially useful - Keynote (which works off the original presentation software idea) has a bunch of great bells and whistles. Sure there were photo programs before iPhoto and Aperture but none are as useful to me.
So in my mind the distinction between innovation and invention is not important - every idea has some forbearer. I am not sure why AC is so animated about this maybe he has to use the clunky techie solutions that ignore what consumers want.
CNN
I am not sure why you would expect CNN to dislodge their pretty consistent ignorance on economics. Why would you expect that the network which has Lou Dobbs babble on would have any willingness to consider the issues of the changes that technology offer to the economy?
Re: Protecting characters?!?! *gasp*
I guess Brian thinks that intellectual property is not a limited right. The entire debate in this country when the copyright standard was adopted was whether there needed to be any incentive for the creation of ideas. With all due respect, Mickey is a derivative character whose first movie, Steamboat Willie, was taken in large measure from a Buster Keaton movie called Steamboat Bill. Why should Disney get to keep that little gem in perpetuity?
Eisner's comments
Is any of this a surprise? Eisner is part of the problem. But then he also was when he worked for Disney.