burger porn, part II

Some things refuse to die: scroll down to the second paragraph. Enjoy.

mini woes

After giving it some thought and reading my usual round of newspapers, magazines and whatnot I now fully regret writing about the mac mini, simply due to the sheer volume of praise for Apple currently saturating the media in light of its newest pint-size creation. I've never been fond of macs, though I acknowledge some their specialized uses, but I hoped that the mini would succeed if only to perhaps drive Microsoft to a higher plane that doesn't suck quite as much. Call it some twisted sense of sour grapes or something of the sort, but after seeing the damn thing plastered nearly everywhere and everything on read, with journalists and commentators making the same tired observations (though a few I've seen have been insightful) I now hope the mini sinks to the bottom of the ocean, though this is perhaps unlikely given its light weight.

Addendum: I have to take apart this nearly masturbatory Salon article about Apple.

First, the author initially denies the utility of a comparison between computers and cars, and then proceeds to compare the computer market now to the car market in the 70's. More importantly is the contention that: "What happened was that Japan started exporting huge numbers of Hondas and Toyotas, and people saw that for a reasonable price they could buy a car that didn't fall apart in two weeks" (emphasis mine). This comparison neglects that, until the mini, Macs were not reasonably priced. Nor do computers "fall apart" in two weeks.

"Windows users don't expect much in the way of quality, beauty or elegance from their machines; if they did, they'd be Mac people." Do I even need to take that apart?

The author's main contention seems to be that people will start switching thanks to spyware. I don't buy it. Most people, while they've heard of spyware on the news, simply aren't truly aware as to what it is or that it's on their machine. Moreover, many of them don't care. They shrug, go oh well, and then go back to doing the same thing they were earlier. I think that people actually do see PCs as a consumer electronic, though the author seems to think otherwise, and that the ease of use of Macs would allow people to see Macs in a unique light. Macs are just another type of PC to your average person.

Granted, the Windows code is a mess, with thousands of lines of extraneous code that is sloppily executed. But if the popularity of Macs increased so would the amount of software targeting them; Windows comps are targeted because it has the most users, so attacks are more economically efficient when they are aimed at Windows.

The major concession I'll make to the author is that the future incarnations of PCs down the road could very much owe themselves to Apple. Apple tends to innovate, and historically someone else will take it and sell it a million times better than Apple - Windows is just such a bastard child in a sense. I have no doubt that future PCs will somehow resemble the Apple paradigm; even Microsoft's upcoming operating system, Longhorn has definite Apple inspired features. While Apple might make the new world, I don't expect it to rule it.

One more contention: "The iPod is a consumer electronics device; it does one thing, plays music, and it does that one thing extremely well. The device is also intensely personal: People buy the iPod as much for form, for the way you look when you carry it around town, as for function. Your Windows PC, by contrast, is all function, no personality."

My computer is actually dead sexy.

Shaun McElhenny's column this week

Crime, Punishment and Spitzer

Food for Thought

honestly, I'm just procrastinating while I write my thesis right now...but this is interesting in and of itself...

It seems Hardee's has created the ultimate in horribly fattening fast food burgers...I mean "kill you in a greasy bite" horrible...and you know what? Americans love it.

As always, Big Brother hates it.

"Food porn," cried the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Washington advocacy group.

A) This implies there's something wrong with porn to begin with. There isn't.

B) Can't we even let Americans choose what they want to eat? Is that really too much to ask? Hey, if they want to tell me what to eat, they should at least come cook it for me too.

If anyone wants a preview of what I'm writing about this week, check out this Penny Arcade comic.

House Editorials

Wednesday 1/19: Fire Sparks Concern

Monday 1/24: Protest for Democracy

Tuesday 1/25: Boost Latino graduation rate

Wednesday 1/26: Add vans to safe ride

Thusday 1/27: Beer, not bobbleheads

Jill's column this week

Abstinence-only ed leaves students ignorant.

House editorials will be posted soon, I promise!

Beware Steve Jobs bearing gifts

It could be my purely functional tech knowledge or perhaps it is my abhorrence of all things Mac, but I don't know if I can envision Matt's argument of the Mac Mini as a Trojan horse bringing Macs into the homes of Joe and Jane Microsoft. Logically, it is plausible for someone to buy a Mac mini to use in concert with a PC, but, as Matt argues, this would mostly appeal to people with iPods or those who want to pursue multimedia editing.

So, in a word: students. My question is: while $500 is a cheap computer, who in that cohort has 500 bucks to throw around on a second computer? If they had $500 to spend on a computer, wouldn't their brand loyalties kick in and cause them to spend it on a new PC, rather than what amounts, for their purposes, to little more than an iPod accessory?

I can see the Mac Mini as a start, since the prohibitive cost of Macs must be what keeps at least some people from getting them. However, the benefits of owning a PC in a PC world, such as the interchangeability of software and documents plus an informal support network, give it an appeal that goes beyond the quality or price of the product. This gives PC's a circular appeal: people buy PC's because more people buy PC's. No matter how many e-mail worms you get, that chain is hard to break.

matt's column this week

Mac mini Key to Apple's Future

firefox

NYU needs to put Firefox on every Windows-based computer in its possession. Now.
That is all.

Shaun McElhenny's column this week

NYU Protesters Off the Mark

WSN Open House

The Washington Square News will hold two open house sessions this semester. Come meet the paper staff and learn how to be part of NYU's daily student newspaper!

Wednesday 5-7pm
Thursday 12-2pm

Both open houses will be held in the WSN offices at 7 E 12th st, 8th floor. Hope to see you there!