Just a side bar comment on standards that is slightly off-topic. What Apple knows and what Apple does has unfortunately cost them many opportunities. For proof, visit this little web site...
<http://aurejac.dyndns.org/> Seventeen years is very nearly half the entire epoch of commercial computing. Jim on 1/3/04 6:11 PM, Richard Gaskin wrote: > Alex Rice wrote: > >> >> On Jan 3, 2004, at 3:56 AM, Richard Gaskin wrote: >> >>> Which raises the obvious question: When will Apple play nice and >>> adopt the predominant standard? >> >> For graphics, print and video production Macs *are* the standard. > > Except, ironiclly, at Pixar, where they have more Linux machines than Macs. > > <http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/10/28/pixarosx/index.php?redirect= > 1073135312000> > >> FWIW SGIs also used a similar gamma- and they were used in graphics >> and video a lot. TV and Video production is just different than PC >> computer graphics I guess. >> >> I'm not sure, but from what I've read, it's not as simple as twiddling >> a decimal number for the gamma somewhere in the system defaults. >> >> <http://www.poynton.com/notes/colour_and_gamma/GammaFAQ.html> >> <http://www.poynton.com/PDFs/Mac_gamma.pdf> > > Good info, thanks. > >> Now AFAIK quickdraw is obsoleted and now the graphics API is >> Quartz+CoreGraphics, which does not use QuickDraw at all. >> Maybe the gamma model is the same? > > We can hope. Interoperability is critical for wide adoption across any > large organization, whether corporate or academic. Everything that helps > move that goal along helps all of us, esp. Apple. > >>> I hear they're finally considering a two-button mouse; is a universal >>> gamma setting so unthinkable? >> >> Hating Macs today, Richard? Actually I use a 3 button scrollwheel mouse >> on all my Macs. But >> >> Control-click == Right click >> >> if you are ever using a 1 button mouse. > > Control-Click = two hands > > "Hating Macs"? On the contrary. In fact, I'm writing this on a Mac, as I > have since 1987. > > The difference between me and a fair number of other Apple loyalists is > recognizing that status quo is deadly in an environment of radical dynamic > change like computing. As with living organisms, the only organizations > that aren't moving are dead. > > So I ask questions, and once in a while some feel these may appear to be > "anti-Apple" sentiments, but that's not the case at all. I'm just trying to > think beyond Steve's last keynote. > > When the iMac shipped with no means of backing up data without a network > server or a third-party device, seeing that most of these were going into > homes and relatively few into the enterprise I called it a mistake. Some of > my friends mistook that for being "anti-Apple", but later Steve Jobs himself > publicly called it a mistake and Apple became the last major manufacturer to > offer CD burners as standard equipment. Same story with the "hockey puck" > mouse. > > No human is perfect, not even Steve Jobs. ;) And an organization is just a > collection of imperfect individuals. > > Individuals improve their effectiveness through a lifelong process of > tempering their internal vision of how the world works by incorporating the > needs and wants of their social context, hopefully moving us day by day > toward Maslow's "self-actualization". > > As a collection of individuals, organizations can learn similarly, refining > their internal understanding of their place in the world through > constructive engagement with others. > > When customers call here for support, the ones who complain are often taken > aback by how excited I am to hear from them. But the fact is that while > flattery feels good, it's not nearly as instructive as criticism; I already > know the decisions I've made, but I need guidance to determine the next > decisions I will make. Everyone has blind spots. The older I get the more > willing I am to throw code and designs away when confronted with a > compelling argument for a new way of doing things. These days I focus less > on the software that I make and more on its evolutionary process. Everything > made by humans can be made even better. > > So while I applauded Apple's decision to maintain the single-button mouse > for years, in the modern context the decision has outlived its usefulness. > Computers are no longer a novelty, with a market penetration rivalling VCRs. > If folks can find their way around the many poorly-designed remote controls > for VCRs they can certainly learn to appreciate the advantages a two-button > mouse. :) > > I've heard rumors that Apple is already leaning that way, and when Steve > gives it the official blessing it will no longer seem a radical suggestion, > but will instead be described as "brilliant", even if half a decade behind > the curve. > > Much of the Apple customer base is like that, so accustomed to defending > their choice against stupid "Apple is doomed" FUD that they've become > defensive toward anything that hasn't already been blessed by Steve. I know > it well, I was one of those for many years until I started working with > multiple operating systems and seeing how the other 98% of the world works. > > My suggestion about gamma settings was in earnest: the two-button mouse is > coming sooner or later (I'd be surprised if Apple closes 2004 without it), > and that's a healthy change for everyone. Perhaps one day we'll see a > standardized gamma across all OSes, and that will be a healthy change too. > > Any difference between platforms not supported by solid usability research > or objective technical advantage just wastes time and resources for > everyone, but is most costly for the ones with the minority marketshare. > > There's the old joke: > > Q: How many Apple employees does it take to change a lightbulb? > > A: Three - one engineeer to design a better but slightly > non-standard lightbulb, another engineer to design a > better but slightly non-standard socket for it, and > a marketing exec to kill the program when it fails > to meet sales projections. > > I'd like to live in a world where you can tell that joke at a developer > conference and everyone in the room just gets a blank look instead of the > knowing grin it gets today. I think it's possible, if we Apple loyalists > think different. > > Worth the read: <http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/78/jobs.html> > > The one-button mouse is (soon) dead! Long live Apple! -- OYF is... Highly resourceful people working together. <http://www.OwnYourFuture-net.com> Own Your Future Consulting Services Limited, 1959 Upper Water Street, Suite 407, Halifax, Nova Scotia. B3J 3N2 Info Line: 902-823-2477, Phone: 902-823-2339. Fax: 902-823-2139 _______________________________________________ use-revolution mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution
