Posts by James Butler

@AC

And what *you* failed to notice, AC, is that Apple has completely abandoned that initial proposal. Hmmm ... someone who believes that pre-release hype is just as good as post-release performance ... Let me guess ... you voted Republican (or the UK equivalent), didn't you?

Stupendous!

What a monumentally ignorant statement!! You are to be commended, sir. I don't think I shall see the like, again.

Your comment is akin to saying "The guy who first put an ashtray into a car: accidental genius; Henry Ford; accidentally developed modern industrialized society."

Again, my hearty congratulations on exceeding the bounds of expected idiocy with your comment. Absolutely brilliant!

Illegal?

Maybe for you. But not where I live. For me, it's legal activity. Sorry you don't like it, but you not liking it, and your government not liking it, sure aren't going to stop people and marketing corporations from using the tools they have at their disposal.

Let's remember, too, that this article is about Apple's privacy protections, or lack thereof. You commenting on the policies of Microsoft or Oracle or Wal-Mart or Uncle Jim's Jams and Jellies is clearly irrelevant.

@Ian Michael Gumby

Hey there, Tea Party ... having fun during this Administration? It was almost like you had a point, for a second. Mind numb, yet? Oh, and FYI, the executive branch has nothing to do with the ridiculous antics of the USPTO.

Have a happy mid-term!

Venture Capital Ring A Bell?

Where would Facebook be if Zuckerberg had not gotten that seed money? You really think the venture capitalist that fronted Zuck the cash deserves nothing for the success of the venture he funded? Maybe not in China, but in America there's a direct correlation between shelling out cash as an investment in a company and getting something in return.

Tests

They tried to do environmental tests, but their drones kept losing the test devices.

Engage Brain

Yeah ... all of those smartphones running Flash must be imaginary, I guess. You should really look at brands other than those provided by Apple, once in a while. Many of them run web browsers that have no problem at all including a Flash plugin.

Unclear on the concept

For those of you who are new to this planet, there is a HUGE difference between selling that old vinyl record album to one individual who could then sell it to one other individual and providing a nice, clean digital copy for download by thousands of individuals who could then provide their digital copy to thousands of other individuals.

In the first instance, there is a physical unit that was the basis for the distribution of the material and its accounting. In the second instance you have a perfect digital reproduction made from the original material that has in no way been accounted for. There is no physical unit to base the accounting on, and the digital copies are additional product that have been illegally included in the distribution stream.

A vinyl record album cannot be copied perfectly ... it's physically impossible to do so, and there will ALWAYS be loss of fidelity. This means that the ONLY "clean" version of a vinyl record is the original copy. A digital copy can ALWAYS be recorded perfectly with no loss of audio fidelity, which means that every copy is just as perfect as the original.

A vinyl record album gets damaged each time it is played, resulting in deteriorating audio quality as time goes on. This means that the original disc becomes less and less useful as a copy source as time goes on. A digital copy never deteriorates, and remains perfect for generating new perfect copies for its entire lifespan. (Yeah yeah ... I have some awesome stereo equipment, too, and the damage done from playing a record on my system is not so much, but every record is ALWAYS damaged a bit from the simple act of dragging the metal stylus through the softer vinyl groove.)

Digital downloads provide an exact copy of the material, which keeps that much money out of the pockets of those who created the material because there is zero incentive to purchase another exact digital copy.

Vinyl record re-sales do nothing to harm the revenue stream, because the sale of that physical property already happened, and any buyer who wanted a "pristine" version would need to purchase a fresh vinyl edition to obtain it, resulting in more revenue for the creators.

Comparing vinyl to digital is a fools errand, and an argument that is supported by claiming the two are in any way similar is an argument made by a fool.

Short Note

"HTML5 compliant" does not apply to video renderers. HTML5 is a markup language. How any application wants to support that language is up to them, including that application's choice of video rendering software.

Saying that H.264 is "safer, faster and less buggy" implies that you have some benchmark results that prove your claim. Don't you? Please link to them. Otherwise, your claim means only that you enjoy making claims without proof.

Worse, you assume that the performance characteristics of this format are isolated from their operating environment, which is simply, demonstrably false. If the operating environment is friendly (provides a mature means of integration) with Brand A and not friendly with Brand B, then claiming that Brand A is a "safer, faster and less buggy" than Brand B while running on that platform just points out the weakness of the claim.

As with the MSIE/Netscape battle of old, when the OS is optimized for use with one and no effort has been made to support the other, then obviously one will have better performance characteristics than the other on that platform. It says nothing at all about a comparison between the two, because the deck is stacked. It's like making a door 24" wide, then saying that the thin guy was smarter than the fat guy because the thin guy could get into the room for the interview and the fat guy couldn't. The width of the door has nothing to do with the smartness of the person trying to get through it ...

If Microsoft and Apple refuse to support Ogg, then Ogg will always perform worse under Microsoft and Apple operating systems. H.264 will *always* be the chosen format, and *all* arguments from those companies will push toward its adoption because of their vested interests, not because Ogg is better or worse than H.264, but because supporting Ogg does nothing for either company's bottom line. It's just that simple.

Remarkably Uninformed

"If you don't want to pay the toll, build your own damned bridge (without copying from anyone else, mind!) Or use another, cheaper, rival, bridge and play the two against each other."

Your ignorance of all things patent is screaming. Simply, the patents in question PROHIBIT you from building "your own damned bridge", because they claim complete control over the *idea* of a "bridge". You can't build it because they claim to own the *concept*.

"If you just don't like software patents, guess what? There's a way to get rid of them: It's called an "election"—you may have heard of the concept. Educate your friends, colleagues, relatives. Tell them to educate *their* friends, colleagues, etc., and use your votes to change society to better fit your preferences. (Of course, if you fail to achieve it, it's probably fair to say that the rest of society doesn't agree with you and you'll just have to suck it up.)"

Again with the ignorance. You don't "elect" patents or those who work in the USPTO. And your participation in any election will have zero impact on the USPTO in any event, because it is not a political organization.

In order to change the way the USPTO does business requires millions and millions of dollars in bribes ... um ... "lobbying activities" to convince various political entities that the way you want to do business is better for the country than the way business is being done. Forming a community action group as you suggest will just waste your time and the time of those attending your little meetings, and will accomplish exactly nothing toward modifying patent regulations.

I know it's fun for you to whine about the whiners, but it helps if you demonstrate some intelligence in your whining. Otherwise, you're perceived as being equally stupid to the whiners, and that's not a strong position to be in.

Yeah, but ...

As so few have noted ... these are ROUTER MAC addresses, not client machines, so the odds of seeing one of the MAC addresses in any public hotspot are zero. The MAC addresses being recorded are ONLY valuable when combined with GPS data to locate that particular router ... it in no way compromises any sort of "privacy" of any individual. Besides, any individual whose router has been so cataloged has already demonstrated that they don't care about sharing the identity of their network ... otherwise they would have locked down the router and disabled broadcasting its SSID in the first place.

If someone is wandering around nude, they lose the right to complain when others look at their jumblies.

@AC 12:56

"In that case, all the companies would need to do is to run CS in Windows on existing Mac hardware (for the last few years, all Macs can run Windows) in return for a whopping discount."

Discount? You still have to purchase a Windows license, take the time to install it into BootCamp and then buy the Windows version of the software and install that, too. In terms of both time and money, it's more expensive to run dual boot when two proprietary operating systems are involved. Maybe you are referring to the 50% price difference in the software (as proposed by the OP), but even a 50% "discount" on CS won't make up for the rest of the expense.

Is it bliss?

@bothwell ... that's a serious question. Is it bliss? Your ignorance, I mean. For your sake, I hope it is. Because you look like an idiot when you try to get around it. Your ignorance, that is. Better bone up on your history if you ever hope to appear intelligent when you talk about the MSIE/Netscape lawsuit ... which Netscape won, by the way. Toodles.

Nice, but ...

@Ritchie: Your comment re: Edwards completely misses his point, although it is always nice to read a basic explanation of release iteration policies.

Edwards is asking:

Windows Free Updates are referred to as "Security Patches" regardless of whether "security" issues are being addressed.

Apple Free Updates are referred to as "Free Updates" regardless of whether "security" issues are being addressed.

Edwards wonders: Why don't we call Microsoft patch releases "Free Updates", too?

The answer is that Microsoft calls their patches "Security Patches" because Windows users are concerned about security, seeing as it is a critical issue with Windows systems that has been traditionally damaging to the user simply by them purchasing and using the products. Calling the patches "Security Patches" provides some comfort for the Windows user, as they imagine such an update could make their system more secure once installed.

Apple calls their patches "Free Updates" because Apple users are concerned about money, seeing as it is a critical issue with Apple systems that has been traditionally damaging to the user simply by them purchasing and using the products. Calling the patches "Free Updates" provides some comfort for the Apple user, as they imagine such an update could really be without cost to them ... as in "free beer" ... which is a CRAZY idea in the Apple world, and so is extremely compelling to the Apple user, who can't wait to take advantage of what must surely be an aberrant moment in time when Apple lost its ever-lovin' marbles and gave something away for free.

Simple.

What planet are you from?

One can legally buy a Wii/DS/XBox/PS/PSP game/accessories/whatever at Sears, Target, Fry's, Staples, any major store, online at various places, from friends, from many grocery stores, etc.etc.etc.

The ONLY place one can legally get iProduct apps from is ... the Apple App Store.

NOW can you see the difference? Comprehension is a learned skill, Numbnuts.

Try again.

The "System"

"Apple is only playing by the rules of the system"

No, Apple are not playing by the rules of the "system" ... they are ABUSING the "system".

Their entire company and its products are built from ideas conceived by others and then "protected" by Apple's rushing to abuse the "system" that they are now gaming for their own benefit and to the rest of the world's detriment. They are now betting, probably successfully, that they will STILL be allowed to use their stolen tech, because it is too much trouble to play by the rules of the "system" for any company that actually believes in it.

Apple abuses the "system" by ignoring their own responsibilities to those who have generously allowed them to continue to use their stolen tech, and by their pursuit of these lawsuits despite the obviousness of their untenability. Many posters here have noted some of the prior art that renders these same patents meaningless, yet Apple pushes ahead with their bid to destroy HTC.

That is "abuse", and the "system" was not intended to function that way.