Survival of FLGS moving into the digital doc age
- Thread starter DFW
- Start date
Nice product - should work awesome for gaming!
I like the iDevices, but mostly from a programming/support perspective - really wish the industry would not copy the crappy parts though! I.e. the darn size and not really supporting handwriting (W7 writing recognition is excellent, though the apps suck at making it equivalent to a dead-tree notepad). Closer to 6x9 is a much more comfortable size (more akin to leisure books) - half the rumors about the iPad 2 centered on it being re-sized. One of the other most looked for features (again lacking) is the >300 ppi screen ('Retina' display) resolution like on the iPhone and iPod 4th gen.
Also wish the manufacturers would use reflective display tech (generally just foils - properly used they could also augment antennas) so we could see the blasted things in sunlight! (Like the industrial touch panels I've used over the last 30 years!)
Not to sound too negative (I love tablets!)... here's some possibly useful tips:
I like the iDevices, but mostly from a programming/support perspective - really wish the industry would not copy the crappy parts though! I.e. the darn size and not really supporting handwriting (W7 writing recognition is excellent, though the apps suck at making it equivalent to a dead-tree notepad). Closer to 6x9 is a much more comfortable size (more akin to leisure books) - half the rumors about the iPad 2 centered on it being re-sized. One of the other most looked for features (again lacking) is the >300 ppi screen ('Retina' display) resolution like on the iPhone and iPod 4th gen.
Also wish the manufacturers would use reflective display tech (generally just foils - properly used they could also augment antennas) so we could see the blasted things in sunlight! (Like the industrial touch panels I've used over the last 30 years!)
Not to sound too negative (I love tablets!)... here's some possibly useful tips:
- I use a cookbook swivel stand (inexpensive, angle adjustable, slides around well and its nice looking wood) to prop the iPad up.
Next session I will add a hood (angled away sides/slanted top) that can slide around the whole thing
- this will allow me to simply spin the screen around for private Ref use.
- it will also make viewing easier in my 'sunroom'.
Yep - I make what I want, so its nice not to have to worry as much about somebody else's crapware breaking what I made! :lol:
[Just ragging you, of course, you've already expressed your opinions! I'm no fanboy (Apple or any brand) - I'm really just glad someone finally pushed the market into taking tablet PCs seriously!]
BTW: recommend trying http://travellermap.com/touch/ - it was made for iDevices, but it should still have functionality on other touch devices (swipe based zoom works in firefox on my Windows and Mac PCs, and pinch in Safari).
[Just ragging you, of course, you've already expressed your opinions! I'm no fanboy (Apple or any brand) - I'm really just glad someone finally pushed the market into taking tablet PCs seriously!]
BTW: recommend trying http://travellermap.com/touch/ - it was made for iDevices, but it should still have functionality on other touch devices (swipe based zoom works in firefox on my Windows and Mac PCs, and pinch in Safari).
:lol: - crapware is a problem on any platform on which it is allowed!
Obviously, the more it is facilitated, the greater the potential for it being a problem - quite elementary logic there.
As with most everything, different wants and priorities dictate what is acceptable to different people at any given time. I'm using Apples now mostly because they beat the others to the gate and they still have distinct advantages for my purposes. With 100+ million iPhone and 15+ million iPads sold, others obviously have their own reasons, valid or not.
Hand me a million bucks (well, high 5 figures might do it actually) and I'd be more than happy to develop on an OS having to deal with vendor customizations for dozens of devices which have greater potential for crapware and instabilities to impact my creations! Its all relative and conditional, of course.
If someone asked me what is best - I'd ask what they intend to use it for, how much they want to spend, etc.
[BTW: At least right now, I can claim ignorance every week when folks ask me about 'fixing' their Android device software issues - though, notably, despite many of these folks also having iDevices as well, no one has asked me to fix their iDevices yet...]
Obviously, the more it is facilitated, the greater the potential for it being a problem - quite elementary logic there.
As with most everything, different wants and priorities dictate what is acceptable to different people at any given time. I'm using Apples now mostly because they beat the others to the gate and they still have distinct advantages for my purposes. With 100+ million iPhone and 15+ million iPads sold, others obviously have their own reasons, valid or not.
Hand me a million bucks (well, high 5 figures might do it actually) and I'd be more than happy to develop on an OS having to deal with vendor customizations for dozens of devices which have greater potential for crapware and instabilities to impact my creations! Its all relative and conditional, of course.
If someone asked me what is best - I'd ask what they intend to use it for, how much they want to spend, etc.
[BTW: At least right now, I can claim ignorance every week when folks ask me about 'fixing' their Android device software issues - though, notably, despite many of these folks also having iDevices as well, no one has asked me to fix their iDevices yet...]
IanBruntlett
Emperor Mongoose
Like many people in the Tyneside Linux User Group, I take the view that OS installation is too important to leave to PC suppliers.BP said:
The following aspects of a PC are too important to be decided by suppliers
* Hard disk(s) partitioning and mount points
* a swap partition that isn't going to become as fragmented as the swap file on Windows XP
* Deciding which distribution of Linux you want to use today
Ah - good to know you customize the OS and browsers to replace the TC/IP stack, datagram socket handling, DCOM, virtual memory management, policy support, image handling, flash and script support, interprocess coms, LDAP, AD, etc., etc.,etc. 
A common aspect of SecIT involves limiting user's options to protect them from themselves. It doesn't take much to be aware of the tremendous support costs of keeping systems operable and secure in the hostile environment that irresponsible market development and consumer perceived demands have created.
Eight years ago, a government client asked what she could do to avoid the high IT support cost of keeping her data systems secure. I said simple - prevent removable media access and don't connect to anything! Of course, being a public entity, this was not an absolutely viable option - but it was relatively inexpensive for internet access to have a physically separated network and PCs (and public viewable PCs for most staff at that - to avoid abuse). Their half million in software investment performs as good as the day they were (re)setup eight years ago with <$1,000 in direct support costs due to one failed P/S and a few failed HDs (easily replaced by users - ~3.5 minutes to resetup...) - and no real lost man hours!
Apple chose a similar tradeoff - reduced flexibility and user choice. With an ROI in excess of $50 billion it would be silly to argue that wasn't a good choice for them. Not saying they couldn't have done better - nor that I wouldn't have preferred other choices (like USB support and direct file access upfront, beside the previously mentioned options). But, like millions of consumers, the tradeoffs were accepted.
I've programmed massively parallel super computers down to ASIC SoCs - regardless, the fewer external performance related issues I have to worry about, the better. For the mass market consumer, this can hold true as well.
A common aspect of SecIT involves limiting user's options to protect them from themselves. It doesn't take much to be aware of the tremendous support costs of keeping systems operable and secure in the hostile environment that irresponsible market development and consumer perceived demands have created.
Eight years ago, a government client asked what she could do to avoid the high IT support cost of keeping her data systems secure. I said simple - prevent removable media access and don't connect to anything! Of course, being a public entity, this was not an absolutely viable option - but it was relatively inexpensive for internet access to have a physically separated network and PCs (and public viewable PCs for most staff at that - to avoid abuse). Their half million in software investment performs as good as the day they were (re)setup eight years ago with <$1,000 in direct support costs due to one failed P/S and a few failed HDs (easily replaced by users - ~3.5 minutes to resetup...) - and no real lost man hours!
Apple chose a similar tradeoff - reduced flexibility and user choice. With an ROI in excess of $50 billion it would be silly to argue that wasn't a good choice for them. Not saying they couldn't have done better - nor that I wouldn't have preferred other choices (like USB support and direct file access upfront, beside the previously mentioned options). But, like millions of consumers, the tradeoffs were accepted.
I've programmed massively parallel super computers down to ASIC SoCs - regardless, the fewer external performance related issues I have to worry about, the better. For the mass market consumer, this can hold true as well.
I've actually considered replacing my field laptops with these, but hoping someone comes out with a smaller screen with more resolution and sunlight visible. Ironic, given I use several hi-res (two of which are in portrait) monitors and even a wall sized projection for home based work!Somebody said:
At any rate, these machines are really perfect for most gamers - and will accelerate the adoption of ebooks in the RPG market as they become more common. Not good news for the FLGS segment to be sure.
BP said:Ah - good to know you customize the OS and browsers to replace the TC/IP stack, datagram socket handling, DCOM, virtual memory management, policy support, image handling, flash and script support, interprocess coms, LDAP, AD, etc., etc.,etc.
No need. I guess if one is only trained enough for a scorched Earth approach you might need to.
GamerDude
Cosmic Mongoose
While it weighs a bit more than what's listed, I have and love my HP Win7 Tablet. 12" full touchscreen display full standard keyboard 500GB HDD 6gb of ram (wife didn't want to go to 8) USB, HDMI out etc. built in webcam/mic, Audio out jack (no in)
And the screen lifts rotates 180 degrees and closes to be a full touchscreen tablet (comes with stylus, you can buy an extra).
Oh, and by touching a button you can rotate the screen to any of the four orientations (2 page, 2 landscape).
I was thinking about the iPad but to add storage to it's mere 64GB you need to buy the camera kit then the external drives were like $300 on top of that.
And the screen lifts rotates 180 degrees and closes to be a full touchscreen tablet (comes with stylus, you can buy an extra).
Oh, and by touching a button you can rotate the screen to any of the four orientations (2 page, 2 landscape).
I was thinking about the iPad but to add storage to it's mere 64GB you need to buy the camera kit then the external drives were like $300 on top of that.
You don't need to use their overpriced drives, BTW.
But if your needs exceed the 64GB (its actually less, but who's quibbling) and if you are happy with your Win7 Tablet (other than weight/battery life) you'd probably be better off waiting a bit for the iPad competition to move into high gear.
Obviously, I like the iDevices - but I don't think they are for everyone or fit everyone's needs. I may be being optimistic, but I'm hoping competition leads to even better hardware... Apple's and otherwise.
As a Ref, I am liking my iPod touch even better than the iPad - it fits in my hand (and pocket!) better and the screen is very much crisper (but I'm picky that way). Which I was surprised at - I bought it just for development, now I use it and the iPad sits ignored most of the time.
If you use a laptop or desktop with it (Apple's actual intention being the iDevices don't replace such - which I disagree with, but I don't sell hardware LOL) - you can simply WiFi the less commonly used data instead of storing it on the device. (Besides, keeping that much stored on a portable device means a lot of time reloading if I drop it in the 'throne' one day!)
But if your needs exceed the 64GB (its actually less, but who's quibbling) and if you are happy with your Win7 Tablet (other than weight/battery life) you'd probably be better off waiting a bit for the iPad competition to move into high gear.
Obviously, I like the iDevices - but I don't think they are for everyone or fit everyone's needs. I may be being optimistic, but I'm hoping competition leads to even better hardware... Apple's and otherwise.
As a Ref, I am liking my iPod touch even better than the iPad - it fits in my hand (and pocket!) better and the screen is very much crisper (but I'm picky that way). Which I was surprised at - I bought it just for development, now I use it and the iPad sits ignored most of the time.
If you use a laptop or desktop with it (Apple's actual intention being the iDevices don't replace such - which I disagree with, but I don't sell hardware LOL) - you can simply WiFi the less commonly used data instead of storing it on the device. (Besides, keeping that much stored on a portable device means a lot of time reloading if I drop it in the 'throne' one day!)
