wijnands 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (62)

• On the post: Motorola's Handset Business On The Brink?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2009 @ 11:38pm

  doesn't really surprise me

  After the hugely successful razr they came out with a ton of clones using the same software. While others innovated it took them an awful lot of time to put a Razr2 together. I've owned a RAZR and based on that I've replaced that with the V8. It's a decent enough phone. It's not as sturdy as the original was. It has no features whatsoever to distinguish itself from the other phones on the market except perhaps the spelling errors in the dutch translation of the software.
  
  I recently bought another american phone, a sonim xp1. And I do see similarities. A poor feature set, mediocre (motorola) to very poor user interface (sonim) but most importantly, absolutely horrible customer service. Motorola has a website with more eyecandy than content, a website that tries so hard to be young and popular that it's next to impossible to navigate. Sonim doesn't even spend any money on that, they do a tiny bit of advertising and that's it, they just don't care about their customer.
  
  I don't regret choosing these phones, I like the size of the motorola and I like the durability of the sonim. But when these two reach the end of their service life it's unlikely that I will put up with the whims of these two companies again.

• On the post: Will U2 Manager's Next Rant Blame Bono For Leaked U2 Tracks?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2008 @ 04:28am

  funny since there's a product red ipod

  And I do seem to recall that Bono was involved in that whole product red thing.

• On the post: Will U2 Manager's Next Rant Blame Bono For Leaked U2 Tracks?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 18 Aug, 2008 @ 04:26am

  funny since there

• On the post: eBay Picks Buyers Over Small-Time Sellers

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 15 Jul, 2008 @ 07:50am

  european

  Ebay is, unfortunately, just about the only real choice if I as a european want to reach a european or even a global audience. If I want to reach a national audience there's cheaper options.

• On the post: Acacia's Latest Target: NetFlix

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 24 Oct, 2007 @ 06:56am

  great country

  That let's you patent something basic and simple and then sue the crap out of someone who actually does that basic and simple thing.

• On the post: Science Fiction Writers Group Latest To Abuse DMCA

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 04 Sep, 2007 @ 04:59am

  this is too much

  I rarely if ever agree with take down notices but this is just too much. Did a few queries on that site. 2 dozen copyrighted photography books. The complete terry pratchett works in lit to name just a few. I can imagine this annoys writers.

• On the post: Nobody Loves Palm (And Really, Why Should They?)

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 06 Jul, 2007 @ 11:51am

  loved mine

  Started with an original US Robotics Palm. Upgraded to a M100. Lovely devices, a set of AAA batteries lasted me 3-4 weeks. Synced with outlook, wonderful ebook reader.
  Dropped it because I was looking for a device that could run TomTom.

• On the post: 'Oil' Company Boss Understands What Business He's Really In

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 27 Jun, 2007 @ 05:45am

  He is a clever guy

  I've heard him in various interviews. Yes, he is a CEO of an oil company but he also clearly shows that he knows that oil is a finite resource and that his company's survival depends on making a change from an oil company to an energy company.

• On the post: Starbucks Forming Its Own Record Label

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 13 Mar, 2007 @ 05:28am

  this reminds me...

  There's still no Starbucks in the netherlands. I wonder why.

• On the post: European PS3 To Be Less Backwards Compatible Than Elsewhere?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 26 Feb, 2007 @ 06:46am

  and for those of you deciding on the xbox

  Here's a nice analysis of how a stationary xbox 360 can destroy your game disks.
  
  http://www.hardware.info/nl-NL/articles/amdnY2pwZGia/Krassende_XBOX_360/3

• On the post: European Movie Theaters Say They're So Bad That They Can't Compete Without Exclusivity

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2007 @ 08:20am

  Re: US isn't any better

  No, drive in theaters are very rare in Europe. Probably because we build a lot denser and upto the 1970s we had a far lower percentage of car owning citizens.

• On the post: European Movie Theaters Say They're So Bad That They Can't Compete Without Exclusivity

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 06 Feb, 2007 @ 03:58am

  Hey Enrico Suarve, sounds pretty much like you're describing 90% of the dutch cinemas.

• On the post: Feds Vote To Keep Faulty E-Voting Machines Because It's Too Much Work To Fix Them

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 05 Dec, 2006 @ 02:48am

  Over here the row over evoting went a bit differently:
  
  http://www.wijvertrouwenstemcomputersniet.nl/English

• On the post: If Companies Believed In Their Products, Why Would They Need To Sell You An Extended Warranty?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2006 @ 02:56am

  household appliances it sometimes make sense

  I did get an extended warranty on my washing machine. 75 euros to extend from three to five years. And just after three years something broke, repair bill would have been 163 euros.

• On the post: Universal Sends Retroactive Bill To Fans It Encouraged To Do Its Viral Marketing

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 30 Oct, 2006 @ 04:28am

  Re: Marketing rights?

  Since when does a major entertainment company ever "advise" anyone?

• On the post: It's Not Whether You Win Or Lose (Your iPod), It's How You Sue Your Friends

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 01 Sep, 2006 @ 03:21am

  I told you so...

  I got mildly flamed here a few weeks ago for stating that frivolous lawsuits like this could only happen in the US. Now look what we have here...

• On the post: Can You Sue Google Because You Don't Like The Type Of Ads It Puts Up Near Your Listing?

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2006 @ 01:45am

  First post!

  I thought that in the US you can sue anyone for pretty much anything.

• On the post: You Don't Design An iPod Killer By Committee

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 22 Jul, 2006 @ 12:02am

  who cares who designs it?

  I don't give a **** who designs an mp3 player. As long as it:
  - stores at least 2 gigs
  - has a good sound quality
  - comes with an actual ac charger
  - is seen by my computer as an usb storage device
  - is sold for less than a 100 euros.
  it could be designed by George Bush for all I care!

• On the post: Kodak Reminding People Why They Should Go Digital

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 18 Apr, 2006 @ 10:05am

  Not quite Bob!

  PRices for digital SLRs do go down but Nikon has decided to change flash interfacing on their digital series. Meaning that your trusty old flashgun that worked very well with your old nikon now is reduced to being any old standard flash. They changed from ttl to iTTL and only offer $150+ flash guns that speak that.

• On the post: So Many Online Suckers, So Little Time

  

  wijnands ( profile ), 28 Feb, 2006 @ 02:53am

  No Subject Given

  'Common sense'?"
  "Son, that phrase is self-contradictory. 'Sense' is never 'common.
  
  Time enough for love
  
  R.A.H. Heinlein

Next >>