Reply to: RIP Steve Jobs

[Zoiderman]

That is innovation. The UI on iPod and their touch devices were innovations in user experience, Air is an innovation in portability.

Given that the other guys are chasing Apple for all they're worth, it seems pretty clear cut they have innovated and redefined the industry...

Are you a software techy kind of person Zoiderman? As one myself, I recognise that techies often fail to realise how important the "polish" is in overall product success. This is most evident in open-source apps which have wonderful functionality but are a nightmare to learn. Putting an old concept in a wonderful new presentation cannot be underestimated.

Funny enough, I don't get involved in the polish, more designing processes and processing, so feel the polish part is a weakness maybe. I just don't find it innovative, I don't doubt it is slick, as it is, and I am impressed with the iPad. But some out there, look better, imo. I had a Gen I iPod, and liked it a lot, but there was stuff out there the match of it, but not as 'cool'. Marketing is a very, very important tool in any products market position, obviously. In Apple I guess I have railed against that part of the machine.

[d000hg]

Don't disagree with any of that, but baulk at the innovator tags, etc. Just making existing stuff look nice.

That is innovation. The UI on iPod and their touch devices were innovations in user experience, Air is an innovation in portability.

Given that the other guys are chasing Apple for all they're worth, it seems pretty clear cut they have innovated and redefined the industry...

Are you a software techy kind of person Zoiderman? As one myself, I recognise that techies often fail to realise how important the "polish" is in overall product success. This is most evident in open-source apps which have wonderful functionality but are a nightmare to learn. Putting an old concept in a wonderful new presentation cannot be underestimated.

[TimCaprica]

iOS5

Sorry if someone has already mentioned this but you seem to be able to download iOS5 from here: Install The Release Build Of iOS 5 Right Now [News]

I installed it over the weekend and nothing bad has happened yet. Though nothing good has happened either.

@TimCaprica

[Zoiderman]

Apple re(invented) the tablet, certainly they created the modern imagining of it... others may have caught up as with the iPhone but they got there first and created a new market.

Don't disagree with any of that, but baulk at the innovator tags, etc. Just making existing stuff look nice.

I hated my 3Gs after a while, but just bought an iPad which I am, currently, fairly impressed with.

[DodgyAgent]

What was that for you fat parasite?

Conforming to stereotype Churchy

[d000hg]

Apple re(invented) the tablet, certainly they created the modern imagining of it... others may have caught up as with the iPhone but they got there first and created a new market.

[Zoiderman]

I don't even particularly like Apple products, but you're an ignoramus. These days, people buy iPhones/iPods because it's a huge brand. But the first iPod got to be the new word for Walkman based on being a bloody good product. Similar the first iPhone... and the MacBook Air... and the iPad.

The biggest electronics companies have spent $billions playing catch-up. Modern smartphones, music players, laptops and tablets are all influenced by Apple for the better.

I bought a 3GS, mate had a HTC. HTC much better. Agree with the Ipod to a degree; there were better players about, but the look of the iPod was good. Kinda proves my point, however. iPad is not even the best tablet around. Mac Air, 'hewn from one piece of aluminum', etc. Sorry, don't buy it. They really aren't that good, just good. I don't agree with most of what you've said, I am not going down the route of calling you names because we don't agree, don't see the point really mate.

[PAH]

Really?

Wouldn't the index hole be in the wrong place?

<Zeity wanders off to look at a 5.25" diskette>

I'm guessing index holes were not needed by the newer generation of floppy floppies, or were already punched into both sides.

[PAH]

Ah yes. The famous 3 inch diskettes that you could turn over to use the other side*.

*Snow joke, you really could turn the diskette over to use the other surface, unless the drive was double sided.

You could do the same with the older 5.25" floppies by punching a notch in the other side. I may still have one of the punching devices somewhere, seems they're now collectible items.


Floppy disks for Commodore and other vintage computers | The Silicon Underground

Could also double the capacity of the 3.5" not-so-floppy disks by adding a second hole.

[Churchill]

What was that for you fat parasite?

[DodgyAgent]

Bought myself a Dual Sparc Sun workstation at the weekend.

[Churchill]

Bought myself a Dual Sparc Sun workstation at the weekend.

[NickFitz]

That was caused by the vertical retrace IIRC.

There was some bit or other you could check for that.

Bit 3 of I/O register 03dah. Unlike real computers such as the BBC Micro, it didn't generate a VBI interrupt, so you had to poll it, then get all your display memory updates done as quickly as possible.

This wasn't helped by the fact that the CGA card lived on the 8-bit bus, so every display memory access incurred a shedload of wait states

And of course the display memory was interleaved: rows 0, 2, 4... came first, then 1, 3, 5... The easiest way to deal with that was to toggle the ES register between two values I can't now remember, and also toggle the row offset between 0 and 80, each row.

Sorting your sprites (or otherwise arranging them) by Y position so you drew the top of the screen first could also gain you some time, assuming the constraint that not all sprites are allowed to be close to the top of the screen.

Happy days...

[Sysman]

There was the option of CGA or mono (the amstrad version of mono of course which would naturally be slightly different to any other version of the mono adaptor) IIRC.

We bought the CGA version.

The 1640 had a version of the EGA (again slightly different to anything else with EGA on it).

And the PCW floppy disks were unlike any other.

They were also hard to come by if you wanted them the same day.

[Sysman]

I still remember the joy of 8086 assembler after years of 8085 programming.

And it wasn't altogether easy getting books about it in those days, the company I worked for seemed to think that £30 was too much to spend on such things.

I recall ordering K&R's C book from a bookselling neighbour. He was astounded that it was thirty quid, and rather embarrassed about charging me so much "for a paperback".