Review: Nexus 7
Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 11th Aug 2012 17:22 UTC
Google Nobody needs a tablet, but many people still want a tablet. This is still the core differentiator between a 'real' computer and a tablet. At least in The Netherlands, you can't function in society without a desktop or laptop connected to the internet, so people need a computer. A tablet, though? Hence, the most common thing people have told me when they played with my iPad 2 is this: I'd love to have a tablet, but not for hundreds of euros. Enter Google's Nexus 7, the first 'cheap' tablet that doesn't just validate Android as a tablet platform, but also gives the iPad a run for its money.
E-mail Print r 10   · Read More · 105 Comment(s) http://osne.ws/k9p
Thread beginning with comment 530997
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
RE[3]: Reward Apple?
by darknexus on Tue 14th Aug 2012 04:37 UTC in reply to "RE[2]: Reward Apple?"
darknexus
Member since:
2008-07-15

And ironically, one of those innovations--EFI--was directly responsible for making typical, generic x86 "PCs" made by Apple incompatible with everything else out there, while also paving the way for the extremely locked down hardware that has been materializing in recent years through the use of "trusted" (yeah right) computing.


Funny that. Last time I checked, I've got my current generation Apple machine tripple booting OS X, Windows, and Linux. Yeah, that's so locked down. If you're pissed off about the direction EFI is going on generic X86 hardware and this secure boot nonsense (I know I am) then why don't you point the finger where it belongs: Microsoft and the OEMs that don't have the balls to stand up to them. Interestingly enough, I don't have to deal with secure boot on my Apple machine, go figure. I can boot whatever the hell I want on this thing so long as it's an X86 os (EFI support preferable but not required), and I didn't even have to unlock anything. iDevices are locked down annoyances, but that hasn't yet extended to Macs. If it does, I'll have to go somewhere else though I don't know where as Linux's audio stack absolutely sucks and high quality audio support is an absolute necessity for what I do.

Reply Parent Score: 1

RE[4]: Reward Apple?
by UltraZelda64 on Tue 14th Aug 2012 06:28 in reply to "RE[3]: Reward Apple?"
UltraZelda64 Member since:
2006-12-05

For one thing, I don't recall Apple's "Boot Camp" hack for Windows being available for a while after the original launch of the x86 Mac. But what I really meant was to associate the replacement of the BIOS with EFI (with its introduction of trusted computing) as *the* path destined to be used for tightly locking down systems from the deepest level. And Microsoft has taken this to the extreme with their announcement, what was it, late last year, about Windows 8.

Still EFI brought us "trusted computing" and that is enough for me to not be a fan. That was really the point I meant to make. For all its strengths, that's one giant weakness in the form of a feature that was just waiting for someone to abuse anti-competitively. Fact is, though, Apple's OSes are locked tight and their tablets are locked from the OS level all the way down to the hardware.

Reading what you quoted, I realized I did a pathetic job conveying my thoughts into words (honestly, I'm not even going to try to figure it out myself). But hopefully this clarifies the above quoted sentences. Honestly, I think I'll just shut up now, because I doubt that really cleared things up either, and I'm running on no caffeine so apparently my mind is f--ked.

Edited 2012-08-14 06:37 UTC

Reply Parent Score: 3

RE[5]: Reward Apple?
by daedalus on Tue 14th Aug 2012 07:54 in reply to "RE[4]: Reward Apple?"
daedalus Member since:
2011-01-14

For one thing, I don't recall Apple's "Boot Camp" hack for Windows being available for a while after the original launch of the x86 Mac.

Funny, I do... The early x86 Macs ran Tiger, which was out on PPC before x86 and so obviously didn't include Bootcamp. However, as soon as the x86 Macs came out, Apple offered Bootcamp to download for Tiger directly from their website. What did happen was that they removed it again when Leopard came out, I guess to entice users to upgrade... But the very first x86 Mac I saw (probably early 2006) already had Windows XP installed by its owner.

Reply Parent Score: 0

RE[5]: Reward Apple?
by darknexus on Tue 14th Aug 2012 13:04 in reply to "RE[4]: Reward Apple?"
darknexus Member since:
2008-07-15

Still EFI brought us "trusted computing" and that is enough for me to not be a fan. That was really the point I meant to make. For all its strengths, that's one giant weakness in the form of a feature that was just waiting for someone to abuse anti-competitively.

I have a feeling Microsoft would've found a way to lock things down even without EFI, most likely via extensions to the BIOS that OEMs must add in order to ship Windows. They've had plans for "trusted computing" for a good long time now, ever since Windows XP was code named Whistler and possibly before that. At that time, they wished to require a module on all machines that would run what eventually became XP and would validate the operating system and drivers that load after it. In concept, it was secure boot without EFI. This flopped because this hardware module was expensive and, at that time, most home users weren't upgrading their five-year-old machines as long as they still worked. EFI made it a little easier, but Microsoft has been quietly cooking up plans like this for well over ten years. I hate what they're doing and what it represents and I can't escape the irony that I'll be able to run alternate operating systems more easily on my Mac than on an off-the-shelf Windows 8 machine.

Reply Parent Score: 2