Anyway, since iPhones came up, I have to rant. Sure, it's neat. But I get the feeling it's supposed to be an all-in-one device (at least that's what their advertising throws at me), and in that regard, it's trash. Apple (and don't think for a moment that Windows, Sony, etc. aren't well aware of this business strategy also) has a tendency to gradually release friendlier, more efficient technologies at a rate lower than their development curve. They have great engineers, so either they're horrible at managing production, or they enjoy milking every single penny from their devoted following. For some reason, I suspect it's the latter. The iPhone comes in a maximum of 16 GB, correct? Some all-in-one device (it'll only cost you $300, too!). I have no pity for those that gobbled up iPhones with only 4 GB of storage. My point is that it seems like Apple is always trying to play the part of the revolutionary, but only ever takes a half-step forward.

Well... yeah. But that's smart business. If you go into the technology business and want to make money, that's how it works. Do you think you'd make more dough if you just immediately released the best product you had, or do you think you'd make more dough if you released a prototype-ish version, then released a better version a year and a half later and charged more for it?

I mean, as a consumer, ideally we'd want the best product at the lowest price, but in the sense of business, they're going the right way. Obviously there's more to it though, like staying ahead of their competition, ect.

Alright alright alright!! Many of you seem not to like Macs, so don't use one! Sorry I even brought it up. None of you don't use iPods, fine.
(this wasn't directed at you, islandsinthesky)

Random thought:
learning Anesthetize on the ol' bass - it's going pretty well. I play it an octave higher since I'm not about to de-tune to C. It's a fun song though. Once you get into part 3, it's like *whew* I'm outta the woods - I got through it.

Changing the string gauge is usually enough. At least for me, I've changed tunings of my bass and guitar from standard to A without fiddling with neck tension (only obligatory screwing with floyd rose in guitar - sadly inevitable), just replacing stock 9-42 strings in guitar with 14-58 and 45-105 in bass with 4 lower strings from 5-stringer set (I think thickest one is .135, barely fitting in the bridge). I know, it's lazy, but I don't have any cases of banana necks so far

Pretty much everything I play can work with standard tuning or drop-D Except A Perfect Circle is usually in C-sharp I believe. Anesthetize can be dealt with using the POG, it's a really good investment actually.
But if I were to be playing a lot of super low-end grooves, your advice is good advice.

Anyway, since iPhones came up, I have to rant. Sure, it's neat. But I get the feeling it's supposed to be an all-in-one device (at least that's what their advertising throws at me), and in that regard, it's trash. Apple (and don't think for a moment that Windows, Sony, etc. aren't well aware of this business strategy also) has a tendency to gradually release friendlier, more efficient technologies at a rate lower than their development curve. They have great engineers, so either they're horrible at managing production, or they enjoy milking every single penny from their devoted following. For some reason, I suspect it's the latter. The iPhone comes in a maximum of 16 GB, correct? Some all-in-one device (it'll only cost you $300, too!). I have no pity for those that gobbled up iPhones with only 4 GB of storage. My point is that it seems like Apple is always trying to play the part of the revolutionary, but only ever takes a half-step forward.

Well... yeah. But that's smart business. If you go into the technology business and want to make money, that's how it works. Do you think you'd make more dough if you just immediately released the best product you had, or do you think you'd make more dough if you released a prototype-ish version, then released a better version a year and a half later and charged more for it?

I mean, as a consumer, ideally we'd want the best product at the lowest price, but in the sense of business, they're going the right way. Obviously there's more to it though, like staying ahead of their competition, ect.

Very true, you can hardly blame Apple for such practices (believe me I've tried ), many other companies do exactly the same thing.

Anyway, since iPhones came up, I have to rant. Sure, it's neat. But I get the feeling it's supposed to be an all-in-one device (at least that's what their advertising throws at me), and in that regard, it's trash. Apple (and don't think for a moment that Windows, Sony, etc. aren't well aware of this business strategy also) has a tendency to gradually release friendlier, more efficient technologies at a rate lower than their development curve. They have great engineers, so either they're horrible at managing production, or they enjoy milking every single penny from their devoted following. For some reason, I suspect it's the latter. The iPhone comes in a maximum of 16 GB, correct? Some all-in-one device (it'll only cost you $300, too!). I have no pity for those that gobbled up iPhones with only 4 GB of storage. My point is that it seems like Apple is always trying to play the part of the revolutionary, but only ever takes a half-step forward.

Well... yeah. But that's smart business. If you go into the technology business and want to make money, that's how it works. Do you think you'd make more dough if you just immediately released the best product you had, or do you think you'd make more dough if you released a prototype-ish version, then released a better version a year and a half later and charged more for it?

I mean, as a consumer, ideally we'd want the best product at the lowest price, but in the sense of business, they're going the right way. Obviously there's more to it though, like staying ahead of their competition, ect.

Very true, you can hardly blame Apple for such practices (believe me I've tried ), many other companies do exactly the same thing.

Video game systems do it too. It brings in a whole new market of add-on accessories, add-on software, add-on conveniences, ect. Think about the Nintendo DS. It's annoying that we get a device and then the updated device comes out immediately after, yeah, but it's great for business. So you can't blame them, because if you were in the business, you'd do the same thing. In fact, to do anything else would be almost... communist...

Video game systems do it too. It brings in a whole new market of add-on accessories, add-on software, add-on conveniences, ect. Think about the Nintendo DS. It's annoying that we get a device and then the updated device comes out immediately after, yeah, but it's great for business. So you can't blame them, because if you were in the business, you'd do the same thing. In fact, to do anything else would be almost... communist...

I don't think that's entirely true. When the Xbox360 was released, I do think it was top notch technology - within the price range and development time they had. Same for PS3 which is a bit more powerful and more recent. The Wii had a bit more moderate specs, but these controls. You're right about the DSi though, that's hardly an improvement (also GBA-> GBA SP-> GBA Micro).

Remember that the development of technology is a process, it takes lots of time. Things are added, things are omitted during the process. That's why the final product is never exactly as it was intended in the first place.

I AM RAGING BECAUSE I WANT PROPER TENSION IN MY LOW G. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUCK [/Nathan_lol]

I don't think that's entirely true. When the Xbox360 was released, I do think it was top notch technology - within the price range and development time they had.

Yeah, but consider they have other marketplaces, like game expansions, the market place where they can distribute things cheaply. The profit margin for those things is fucking huge. If you buy Halo, you can also buy extra levels and stuff. That's another great example. You buy a game, and then you buy more parts of that game later, and continue playing it online, meaning you're subscribing to xbox live more. So Xbox could afford to release a top notch system to get ahead of the competition, because they were making a shitload on other things.

Also if you look at video games as an art form, xbox doesn't like to explore as much as Nintendo or especially Dreamcast (SHENMUE!)

Also, on a different topic, I GOT A MOTHERFUCKING JOB! THIS WAS ME A FEW DAYS AGO:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/chi/942873935.html

AND THIS IS ME NOW:

Congratulations! Now you have money to waste on games and phones

Congratulations! Now you have money to waste on games and phones

I'll need another job before I get to do that.

Im so excited about my "home studio" FINALLY becoming reality!!!


...soon

regarding the apple iphone, i bought one fairly recently (it was a step up from the ipod touch i had which i enjoyed)
its a 3g model with 8gb of memory.

it works like a dream, i must say. i was hugely skeptical at first but the control system is great and its solidly built. it does have its shortcomings which annoy me quite a bit (no ability to send picture messages or send files via blutooth to another phone) but besides that, it works real well. since im a bit of an sms whore, its good cos it organizes all text messages into messenger style chat tabs, so you can keep track of the messages you get from friends.
The web browsing function is really good also. theres a crap load of free games and apps you can get for the sucker also.
the camera on it is only 2 megapixels but the quality of the photos is much better than the photos my old nokia n95 used to take and that lump of shit has a 5mp cam.

it sucks balls that your a slave to itunes though, in order to do anything with the device. im not a fan of it at all, but meh. at least i have a phone that goes for up to 5 days before needing a charge. my n95 wouldnt make it through the day without turning itself off due to flat battery

geez, i sounded like a used car salesman there

Also, on a different topic, I GOT A MOTHERFUCKING JOB! THIS WAS ME A FEW DAYS AGO:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/chi/942873935.html

This is fantastic. I'd employ you instantly if I had a company.

I had the same problem with battery life with a phone of some description. Fairly high quality expensive thing that I got off my dad. Bought a new one that costs thirty pounds, I can nearly a week without charging. It... Is... INVINCIBLE!

I had the same problem with battery life with a phone of some description. Fairly high quality expensive thing that I got off my dad. Bought a new one that costs thirty pounds, I can nearly a week without charging. It... Is... INVINCIBLE!

I think the more you charge a device, the shorter the battery life becomes, but someone correct me if I'm wrong. I believe temperature of storage also effects it.

Also, on a different topic, I GOT A MOTHERFUCKING JOB! THIS WAS ME A FEW DAYS AGO:

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/chi/942873935.html

This is fantastic. I'd employ you instantly if I had a company.

I wish I could say I wrote that. Some guy in my area did. I REALLY hope someone hired him.

Yeah battery life on all those spiffy new phones is appalling. Although that's understandable, since they have to connect to GSM/UMTS/EDGE/GPRS/whatnot, check your email every once in a while, GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi. Add to that a biggass screen with high resolution and brightness, and the fact that the battery is the first thing they make smaller to make the entire phone smaller, and it's very understandable that they only last a few days. Still a shame though.

I spent some time yesterday looking into the HTC Magic, the second Android phone on the Dutch market. It looks really really nice, but has its drawbacks too. Small (touch)screen makes it harder to type, battery lasts only a day or 2, the Android OS needs a bit of maturing, no 3.5mm jack, lousy camera, Android 1.5 not being completely compatible with 1.0.

I think Android is something to keep an eye on though. The openness of the platform is nice, and they seem to be updating the software rather quickly. And it's going to be used on netbooks and multimedia devices. Looking forward to a Sony Ericsson phone using it


There's always those annoying trade-offs. Do you want a small phone or a large screen? Do you want a small phone or longer battery life? I want both!