Left to my own devices.
Is one of them a fucksaw?
it must be possible not to look like a total juicenozzle on an iPad
There's an app for that.
Juicenozzle?
A friend uses "juicebag" in place of "douchebag"; I was extending the usage. (Laydeez?)
I have to say that they look like appealing little things. I'm a late adopter, but became very fond of my iPhone when I got one a couple years after they came out, and will probably buy and enjoy the heck out of an iPad or similar in a year or two.
I have no such associations with iPad usage. Are they a pretty common douchey business accessory? Maybe I don't go to enough coffeeshops?
I really love my iPad a lot. It fit in my purse when we were travelling. I can read books and not turn on a light when other people are sleeping. I think Yglesias declared at some point that it's great for consuming media, but not great for producing content, and that's definitely my experience. If that makes me a nozzle of juice, then so be it.
I am trying to think of what sort of tech thingy immediately makes me think DOUUUUUCHE when I see it used in public. (I've yet to see anyone douche in public, even though I taught at NU for two years.) I guess dudes who walk around with a bluetooth thingy forever in their ears? That's pretty douchey.
In case it wasn't clear from the post, I think my "you're a douchebag" reaction is irrational, or at least hypocritical. I'll probably even own an iPad at some point. But I still have the reaction. It's weird.
I believe I mentioned, and so am repeating, that the first iPad I saw in the wild was being used to play solitaire, which delighted me.
You know what's totally awesome? The other night, this guy next to me at a bar asks if he can borrow the magazine I was reading to test this app he's just loaded on his iPhone. He holds the phone over the page, and the English text is translated into Spanish on the screen (imperfectly, but whatever). The hell with jetpacks, that's the most crazily futuristic thing I think I've ever seen.
dudes who walk around with a bluetooth thingy forever in their ears?
If I ever do this, I hope that someone will kindly punch me in the face.
I think my father is going to get an iPad now. I hate when he adopts modern technologies, like the automobile air travel Blu-Ray the iPhone: he started texting, proceeded to send pictures of the cats, now regularly sends (shudder) videos of the cats. What if he starts Tweeting? What then, man?
I believe I mentioned, and so am repeating, that the first iPad I saw in the wild was being used to play solitaire, which delighted me.
I play an embarrassing amount of Sudoku on mine. It drives Jammies crazy that I haven't bothered to check out Angry Birds yet.
punch me in the face.
But not in the ear, which could make the bluetooth thingy a bit more permanent.
dudes who walk around with a bluetooth thingy forever in their ears? That's pretty douchey.
Said thingy is properly called "a douchenozzle."
9: I'm trying to encourage the use of the word "doucheborg" for those guys.
I'm encouraged by the iPad 2 not because I want to own one but because it will encourage Android hardware developers to make even lighter tablets, with even better functionality. I'm hoping eventually to be able to use a tablet as a lab notebook. The main obstacle that's unlikely to be fixed is making them robust enough for use in places with fluids around and a good chance of getting dropped. As is tablets (and smartphones for that matter) are inevitably designed on the assumption that they'll only be used in carefully controlled environments and will be treated with kid gloves. The fact that cellphones aren't waterproof by default is just silly - people get wet all the time, things get dropped and splashed. If there was something like the Galaxy Tab built to the level of robustness of a Toughbook I'd buy it in an instant and be willing to pay a top dollar.
Also the slick surfaces these devices all have look great in the store but make them hard to hold if you've got water or oil on your fingers. I'd love to use a tablet as a recipe book, but I have yet to figure out how to cook without getting stuff all over my fingers, and having to wash and dry my hands every time I want to turn a virtual page would get old quickly.
I use my phone for recipes all the time, and just clean the gunk off with a cloth afterward. This probably isn't best practice, but the phone's lived for a year and a half now.
I use my phone for recipes all the time, and just clean the gunk off with a cloth afterward.
I can't imagine it adds much flavor.
Has anyone else experienced any guilt over the increasingly horrific revelations about working conditions in factories producing Apple products? I keep telling myself that other companies are probably no better, but I'm not sure that's true. Anyway, as I'm considering getting one of the new MacBook Airs and returning to the iPhone fold, this is all very much on my mind at the moment.
The fact that cellphones aren't waterproof by default is just silly - people get wet all the time, things get dropped and splashed.
This has actually become a dream theme for me. It may be related to having put two phones through the wash and going on a hike with an unexpected stretch through chest-high water with two six-year-olds, an expensive camera and a new iPhone.
Has anyone else experienced any guilt over the increasingly horrific revelations about working conditions in factories producing Apple products?
No, because I hadn't heard them. Link?
19 - it's going to explode like a normal person banging seven gram rocks of Charlie Sheen any moment now, just because you said that. Or not. My point is it should be designed for that, not just capable of tolerating it Lord willin' and the crick don't rise.
When I was a kid, my five dollar casio wristwatch claimed it was waterproof up to some large number of meters. Has this technology been lost, or is its lack a fiendish plot to sell more replacements?
25: Your wristwatch didn't plug into anything or have a touch screen.
Because if the crick do rise you end up like Jesus in 22.
Just a quick survey produces these links: 1, 2, and 3.
5: I would think a good corrolary to "juicebag" would be "douchebox."
And then, you know, ipads being slightly box-like and all.
Also, there was a much more damning and detailed story that I heard on a regional NPR program around this time last year while driving from Portland back home. It was about the way that several of these factories forced workers to use a solvent to clean the glass on iPad screens, because the solvent would evaporate x number of seconds more quickly than alcohol, thus saving time in the production process. Regrettably, the solvent also caused permanent nerve damage.
26: But my touchscreen is glass (and can, in any case, be protected by a layer of plastic), and a plug can be made so that it doesn't allow any water to seep into the innards.
while driving from Portland
And you didn't call for a meetup? :(
33: I'm just explaining why it might be more complicated than your watch. I'm sure it is possible.
Has anyone else experienced any guilt over the increasingly horrific revelations about working conditions in factories producing Apple products?
Molly and I have adopted a policy of only buying refurbished computers and such as a way of getting around the host of problems with the production of consumer electronics (not just the labor condition stuff, but the environmental impact.)
We haven't actually done any research to confirm that the business of refurbishing computers is any easier on the environment or workers than the business of producing them. But it seems likely. If for instance you are only replacing single parts or deleting and reinstalling an OS, you aren't digging more polonium out of the ground or asking anyone to stick circuit boards in acid baths using their bare hands.
There might be an issue with how this scales up, though. Consumer ethics always has to be about trying to create or reinforce a trend. Your actions on their own are insignificant. But the market for used and refurbished goods can never simply replace the market for new goods, so there is only so much we could expect out of a trend like this.
I think people using them to play games and read books look pretty hip and enviable. But clumsily tapping out notes on one during a meeting is juiceworthy. Makes me want to show off with my adept pen; laydeez. Of course I can't email my notes to everyone as easily, but that's also a plus?
I can't speak to computers specifically, but my general pattern in such instances is to buy the product (assuming it's something I've decided meets a real need or desire), and then make a donation to a workers' rights or similar organization. It doesn't solve every problem, of course, but I have to think that even $20 or $25 on the side of the angels is meaningful, especially since the marginal cost to the manufacturer + market-signaling value of not buying the device is, like, .05 or something.
In other news: Buy Organic: It Protects Other People's Kids Too.
what sort of tech thingy immediately makes me think DOUUUUUCHE when I see it used in public
A dirty fucksaw?
I threw my Kindle across the room onto the bed the way I might toss a paperback book I meant to read in bed, and then I thought, hmm, that might not be such a good idea. I've had to stop myself from hurling my laptop about in the same way. So far nothing's broken.
Also, this iPad case is simultaneously both really neat, and really SWPL.
I can't speak to computers specifically
Dragon Dictation is supposed to work.
and then make a donation
Vaguely related: when I left the coffeeshop, I noticed there was some Greenpeace people trying to collect emails or donations or something. One of them gestured for me to come over and was totally good-natured when I gave him a hard time for assuming the dude with a bike and a beard was going to be Greenpeace-friendly.
It drives Jammies crazy that I haven't bothered to check out Angry Birds yet.
Angry Birds is probably the best consumer purchase of my life. It's certainly the best dollar I've ever spent. But even compared against other, pricier items, if you measure in terms of utility/dollar, I don't think anything else comes close.
(Of course, it's also a short-sighted, self-hating sort of utility. It's caused more than one "Oh shit--it's already 11:30 and I haven't done a damn thing? Again? Damn you, Angry Birds!")
43: We have those guys here. Based on how long they stand there, either the collectors are being exploited or that is one inefficient charitable contribution. I'm guessing the later and that Greenpeace hopes to make good by getting continuing contributions from the street-solicited donors.
Angry Birds is a fine game (although I'm not sure that I'm actually clearing some of the levels by anything other than dumb luck and brute persistence).
The Angry Birds I got was free. Is there some deluxe version out there with angrier birds or something?
I think I paid for it. I'm usually late buying things -- was it released free, and they started charging later?
46: I've never played, but I hadn't before considered that it might be a game of skill.
(although I'm not sure that I'm actually clearing some of the levels by anything other than dumb luck and brute persistence)
See, it even teaches valuable life lessons.
It's not a game of great skill, maybe, but there's certainly aiming involved.
You can generally clear levels with dumb luck and brute persistence, but scoring well takes a fair amount of skill, I think. Although no one is claiming that it's rocket science.
A friend and I just cracked each other up by spitballing ideas for Angry Birds sequels. My favorite was Complacent Birds, where you just watch a bunch of cartoon birds contentedly playing Angry Birds.
19: do you have a case? I wouldn't think oiling up the bare phone would be a good practice, but maybe they're more durable than I think.
I have a case, but it doesn't cover the open plug area, and of course the screen's exposed.
And relatedly, I've been thinking about an ipad as a present for my wife, but I do worry a lot about how well it would survive in a house with two preschoolers, who tend to be very rough on things. Their magnadoodle is of roughly the same dimensions and has endured a lot of abuse, some deliberate and some accidental.
58: I wouldn't worry about the screen. But honestly, I'm not exactly sure which part it is that I'd be worried about.
Any non-waterproofness would have to be around the edge, where the glass meets the back, and the plug. My case covers the edge, but not the plug.
And I bet the iPad would be fine, you'd just want to make a habit of putting it down high enough to be out of reach.
59: You should make a wifi enabled magnadoodle.
you'd just want to make a habit of putting it down high enough to be out of reach.
We don't have any such places.
Who has the oldest dumbphone? Mine is going on 4 years, battery feebling.
The climbing abilities and dogged persistence of preschoolers cannot be overstated.
|| If your name and phone number appear in a class action notice that was mailed or emailed to over a million people, you get a lot of weird calls. Someone just told me in high school irony voice that he was sure my mother is very proud of me. MUST NOT SAY yes, and your mother is very pleased with my work also.
Call to the mineshaft, if you received a class action notice, involving the state of Nevada, entitling you to a $10 discount on something, please call or email the only named east coast attorney and ask him about sexing Mutombo or something. Also, complete the form online. ||
I got my dumbphone in September 2006. Every few months I think it's croaking but then I just dust off the SIM card or something and good as new.
My dumbphone (feature phone they're called) is 3.5 years old. Fading battery replaced via ebay every 18 months or so. Battery life is the main issue, but since I learned that iphones run skype and have a front camera, it's just a matter of weeks for me.
||
Remember this? They want me to do an on-site interview. This is not the outcome I expected.
|>
Who has the oldest dumbphone? Mine is going on 4 years, battery feebling.
Pikers.
Mine's about seven or eight years old. It looks like this and it was free. Complete strangers have started to stop me on the street to squeal with nostalgia over my phone, which is getting a little annoying.
Pikers.
I don't even *own* a cell phone.
70: better get an iPhone then to shut them up!
Based on how long they stand there, either the collectors are being exploited or that is one inefficient charitable contribution.
I'm guessing the former. I spent a day doing that for PIRG. The first day they don't pay you at all. Then you get paid piecemeal, so you could work hours for like $10. I won't give to those people at all, because I don't want to encourage the practice.
74: I didn't have an exact reasons for not giving to them, but I didn't. I haven't seen them in a while.
i don't see how angry birds is any better than the cannon game i was playing on my ti-85 in high school
76: No worries about the tape unspooling?
and while i'd sort of like a xoom or something because they are gadgety, i'd mostly use it to read books. and i don't really like ebooks, they're expensive and will dissappear when the bookseller goes under.
If you read any volume of stuff that's out of copyright, e-readers are great. Being able to see a mention someplace of The Souls of Black Folk, think, "Huh, I've never actually read that," and have it on your phone thirty seconds later is nifty.
Along with old stuff, there are a bunch of good books in pdf or epub on the primary pirate booksite, 1000 times bigger than megapedia. There are many brick-sized books that I don't want in hard copy but have enjoyed a few so far as pdfs.
Academic presses are not digitizing their back catalogs or permitting google to distribute their efforts, unfortunately.
My parents, lifetime Apple devotees, have decided to boycott the company because of its record on charitable giving. Just one data point.
I wish Mr. Nosflow luck.
I have also just been made aware, by the power of suggestion, that there are no delicious, juicy farmer's market apples in the house anymore. This is really unfortunate.
I clicked it expecting something relatively benign, but the link is 81 is totally bizarre. Jobs isn't libertarian, is he?
82 - Almost certainly not, but he's an asshole of legendaryproportion. I'd guess the stance has something to do with Apple's insistence that all payment behavior on the iPhone/iPad go through Apple so they can take their pound of flesh.
NYT:
Ms. Kanter and others acknowledge that allowing donations through apps might present challenges. "One of Apple's major objections has been that if donations were to go through its payment mechanism, it would have to be in the business of managing and distributing funds and verifying charities as well," said Jake Shapiro, executive director of Public Radio Exchange, or PRX, an online nonprofit marketplace for licensing and distributing public radio programming.
[...]
Earlier this year, in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, Apple itself solicited donations for the American Red Cross through iTunes, establishing what some regarded as a precedent for iPhone-assisted donations. That increased speculation that the real issue was money.
Apple takes a 30 percent slice of purchases made from the App Store, an amount that would be frowned upon if it were to be taken out of a charitable donation.
80.last: unfortunately
Bite your tongue.
Actually, it doesn't matter (for booksellers) anyway; paper copies of out-of-print university press books are unsaleable for the most part at this point.
The climbing abilities and dogged persistence of preschoolers cannot be overstated.
My sister went outside to find her three-year-old trying keys in the padlock of the garage, which must have involved:
Understanding what keys do,
Climbing on the arm of the couch to get keys,
Carrying the keys across the house to the garage,
Another trip back into the house for the stepladder.
The kid is determined. We don't know what he wanted out of the garage. Probably his bike.
Coincidentally, our car CD player just breathed its last gasp, after years of gradual decline.
So should we get an ipod or similar device with a docking port for the car? How do people listen to music in the car in the 21st century? Is there a doodad that will also let us listen to NPR?
I'm prepared to pay $$ to move away from a CD based system, which is becoming increasingly cumbersome. I've been listening to these podcasts in the car, for instance, simply by burning a CD each week when the new podcast is out. This leaves me with too many shiny discs. I'm ready to move into the world of cloud audio.
87: I just Zuckerbook messaged you about the matter.
i plug my phone into the 1/8th in plug, and then stream music off my home computer's server over the data connection. a sansa player is cheap, but the dash 'player' that has the input and aplifier might be a bit, if the one you've got it totally dead or only take cds.
and whenever i unplug my phone, there is a loud static pop, which sort of seems scary. so i usually keep an old mp3 player in the car, but sometimes i forget to put new stuff on it or just want to listen to a certain thing right away.
and whenever i unplug my phone, there is a loud static pop
It's generally good practice, when unplugging something from an amplifier (and all car stereos have an amplifier, among other things), to unplug things only after powering down. Even drummers know this, and we are notoriously dim creatures.
are you referring to powering down the car, or the phone
Further to 93: if you do that and still get the pop, my guess is something's not grounded properly somewhere.
I fail to see the appeal of the iPad. If you want to actually write something you still need your laptop so it's an extra thing to carry when traveling and the screen is backlit meaning it's not good for reading long form text. If it were a hundred bucks or something like that, maybe, but spending a ton of money for a device that rarely comes in useful seems crazy to me. Related, how is it that the iPod interface can be so good, and the iTunes one so annoying?
And I can't beat anybody in the dumbphone category, but that's cause I've only had a cell for a two and a half years. Bought for Obama.
how is it that the iPod interface can be so good, and the iTunes one so annoying?
Oh, wow. This is so right. Off-the-cuff guess: because the former already took your money and was good at it, while the latter wants to take your money and is bad at it. That's not actually a good answer, but it's a thing for sure.
I won't give to those people at all, because I don't want to encourage the practice.
Posh Deep Blue Suburb must be like Big Rock Candy Mountain for the PIRG people, because they come around all the time.
I have a little script I use for my refusal, which goes like this: "I will never make any donation, no matter how small, to any cause, however worthy, that has any connection, however tenuous, to Ralph Nader."
Nowadays the kids are too young to know who Ralph Nader is, much less to remember the events that cause people like me to shun him.
Slightly OT, what Android platform would the hive mind recommend, given that I have a long standing principle that I'd suck even Bill Gates dick on a regular basis before a penny went out of my pocket to that evil douche Jobs? (see above for references.)
for a tablet, or smartphone (and by platform, you mean device, right?)
Either, really. I was thinking tablet, but I might be persuaded. (I'm to clumsy to use smartphones happily, it's to do with only having one and a half functional hands.)
oh. right now the best one out is the motorola xoom. there are a slew of crappy knock offs with the older version of the OS that probably aren't worth getting.
I was going to tell you to wait, but did not realize that the xoom was out yet. If you need to buy now that is the one, but I'd still advise waiting a few months --both for its price to come down and to get some other decent choices. I am a relatively late adopter of gadgets, however, in large part due to personal cheapness.
I also am waiting, but 'wait a few months, prices will drop and more options will be available' is pretty much given in electronics.
Thanks, both.
I'm an almost pathological late adopter; my default belief is that the next version is going to be the one. I think I might see if I can play with a xoom and then not buy it (salespeople hate me), but revisit the market in the summer and maybe get one then if nothing else stands out.
actually i'm not sure if its out in uk yet.
Yeah, it's out. List price £450 (c. $650).
i was thinking, i've read just 2 or 3 out of copywrite books in the last year or two, but i was enjoying the vanity fair movie and that is out of tentacle grip now.
Just so you're aware, it's impossible not to be seen as a douchenozzle when using the ipad. You'll just have to go without (or live with the shame.)
