Thread: NITs - what are they good for... ???
View Single Post
ddalex is offline ddalex
2008-06-10 , 20:19
Posts: 90 | Thanked: 32 times | Joined on Sep 2006 @ Bucuresti, Romania
#79
Originally Posted by qole View Post
And you shouldn't sit in front of your computer too much, it isn't good for your health
I'd rather lazy on a Barcelona beach,
With Margueritas in hand,
But life being what it is - a *****,
I'll never make it to wonderland.

Originally Posted by qole View Post
And I can read in bed with the lights out without disturbing my wife! I feel I've got some authority here; I'm a lifelong book reader. I've been tearing through stacks of novels for at least 30 years.
This is what I want too. Even if I actually prefer real paper for the books . I'll give it another try.

Originally Posted by qole View Post
No Exchange support is a dealbreaker? That's like saying no MS Office document support is a dealbreaker. Perhaps Exchange support would be nice if you work in an office that has been lured away from standards-compliance by Microsoft, but there are workarounds even for those sad situations (eg. Texrat's web-based solution).
It's quite surprising how inflexible big companies are, even if they are declared enemies of M$. So Exchange support is a must have to make it in the corporate world. iPhone 2.0 does it, no ?

Originally Posted by qole View Post
As for GMail access, I'd say Modest, while still beta, is close enough for most geeky types to live with. It does a fine job of GMail IMAP.
Never tried modesto, looks like I missed something.

Originally Posted by qole View Post
Not sure what add-ins you're looking for, and what coffin you're talking about, but some of the most popular ones have been ported over here. This being an open software platform, I'm sure others would appreciate it if you ported the ones you need and made them available for us.
Well, I'm asking for a consumer-level device.... Make the ports yourself and share, that's a great philosophy for OSS-tinkerers, but since most addins are anyhow platform-agnostic, why should I have to tweak them instead of having the mozilla-based browser accept them as they are, .xpi packets ? This is what I understand by consumer-level device .


Originally Posted by qole View Post
Dude. What consumer level? There's no such thing as a consumer level for these things. This is cutting edge technology. I'm glad Nokia released the tablets before achieving this mythical consumer level. Why? Because getting to consumer level always involves a lot of paid developer time that drives the price up (for the iConsumer) and a lot of closed, secret beta testing that I can't be a part of. This way, I get to geek out on the coolest device that I've ever owned, and I paid half of what an iConsumer would have paid.
Cutting edge ? Maybe 2 years ago. It's not anymore cutting edge. iPhone has better hardware, with really working software. It's time to open the eyes, and see that while we love our tablets, in short term, if the platform will not evolve into something usable, and economically succesfull, it will be probably killed off by Nokia, or kept as an interesting side experiment.

Originally Posted by qole View Post
If you're bringing Windows vs Linux into the conversation (are you the same guy who said MS Exchange support was essential?), then NITs are exactly like desktop Linux. If you roll up your sleeves, pop open the hood and do some tinkering, you can get your tablet purring beautifully.
But even desktop-centered Linux distributions like Ubuntu don't have the polish and ease-of-use that Mac or Windows has.
While I can do, and actually do the tinkering, not everyone is ready to make this invesment in learning the inner workings. I have Linux with Evolution on desktop precisely because this is what works for me. Better yet, I can drop a 8.04 Ubuntu on any computer and have any neofite browse the web and edit documents in no time (it's that polished, yes).

But I can't drop a tablet in the same way on someone and ask them to see what's on tonite on the tele, because in 5 minutes they will scream in frustration. Still, I have yet to see someone unhappy with the way their iPhone works. eeePc is a NIT-like story, nobody that isn't a geek is using it.

Originally Posted by qole View Post
The tablets are the same way, you sacrifice some polish for a whole lot more control and flexibility. Sure, no multitouch. But no jailbreaking required, either.

I love these threads; it always gets me worked up when people tell me my baby is ugly.
Why do they have to be separate ? I want both the polish and the openness.

And what do you prefer ? Somebody telling you that your baby is desfigured by a disease, hurt your feelings, but actually having time and work on a solution before it's too late, or you'd rather be told by everybody how nice and beautiful your baby is, feel all nice, cozy and warm inside, and end up with a prematurely dead baby? Maybe a harsh comparation, but I think we're moving to a turning point here, and NITs must not miss the consumer boat.