Linked by Thom Holwerda on Tue 16th Oct 2012 22:11 UTC
"Rachel Crosby speaks about her BlackBerry phone the way someone might speak of an embarrassing relative. 'I’m ashamed of it,' said Ms. Crosby, a Los Angeles sales representative who said she had stopped pulling out her BlackBerry at cocktail parties and conferences. In meetings, she says she hides her BlackBerry beneath her iPad for fear clients will see it and judge her." Other products many people own but feel ashamed about: sex toys. So essentially, the BlackBerry is now the equivalent of a vibrator. In all seriousness though - why feel ashamed because of a phone? Are people really that shallow? I'm really getting too old for this stuff.
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Member since:2007-03-26
It is getting more common. People used to think being shallow was bad, now they think it is hip, and they line up to all step in line to be 100% rounded hipster squares.
An Apple fanboy once said to me "You should be proud about your phone".
"Proud" is such an odd choice of word. I was proud of my wife when she got her first job in her new career. I was proud of my younger brother when he got engaged. I was even proud of my best mate when he graduated. And, I wont lie, there's times when I'm vein enough to be proud of my own achievements. But I'm never --and I repeat, NEVER-- proud to own a mass-produced consumer electronic. That's not an achievement. It's not even an interesting topic of conversation down the pub, let alone any kind of footnote in ones life that one should be proud of.
I don't mean to single Apple out like this and I know you get idiots like that outside of the Cupertino's RDF as well. But that was just the most recent example that sprung to mind.
Edited 2012-10-16 22:56 UTC
Member since:2012-08-01
It's a social and regional thing. Where I live, whenever I go on the subway, I see people using all kinds of phones, from the latest new and shiny to some 10 year relics. Yes, people still use them.
The phone is just a tool, a few levels above a hammer, but still a tool.
I remember when I was a kid and got my first electronic watch, they were a big thing back then, I would sleep with it, on my pillow, keep it where I could look at it, when I see people, adults (not just Apple users, though they make good targets:)), doing the same with their phones ...
Member since:2008-07-15
Member since:2012-03-14
Yeah it is really sad.
Especially for women, all you get are messages about how your entire self worth should be based on how you look and are seen.
It is one of the worst degradations in society I have seen in the past 30 years.
You can see it even in things like Gundam. First series it was an equal opportunity fest for the oddly shaped and ugly. Now it is just a parade of pretty boys and girls.
Everything is twisting this way. We don't even accept oddly shaped fruit or veg these days. It is so perverse.
Member since:2005-07-06
Yeah it is really sad.
Especially for women, all you get are messages about how your entire self worth should be based on how you look and are seen.
It is one of the worst degradations in society I have seen in the past 30 years.
Especially for women, all you get are messages about how your entire self worth should be based on how you look and are seen.
It is one of the worst degradations in society I have seen in the past 30 years.
Don't look at the past through rose-coloured glasses (what do you think, say, folk dresses were? A lot of effort and/or resources wasted on such by our ancestors, instead some loftier pursuits; past people just had less and/or different means towards vanity)
So maybe Gundam changed, but there's plenty more media tackling the "uncomfortable" stuff.
And modern societies do MUCH better WRT treatment of the "imperfect" people...
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:35 UTC
The third and final WWDC product I want to talk about is - of course - OS X 10.9 Mavericks. While iOS 7 was clearly the focus of this year's WWDC, its venerable desktop counterpart certainly wasn't left behind. Apple announced OS X 10.9 Mavericks, the first OS X release not to carry the name of a big cat.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/11/13 17:07 UTC
We already talked about iOS 7 yesterday (after a night of sleep, it's only looking worse and worse - look at this, for Fiona's sake!), so now it's time to talk about the downright stunning and belly flutters-inducing new Mac Pro. As former owner and huge, huge, huge fan of the PowerMac G4 Cube - I haven't been this excited about an Apple product since, well, I would say the iMac G4. This is the Apple I used to love.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/10/13 23:13 UTC
Apple held its big keynote event thing at WWDC earlier this evening, but since I was away with friends I've had to read up on it later in the evening. The company announced iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, and they gave a preview of the new Mac Pro. Especially the Mac Pro impressed me, and while iOS 7's new Holo/Metro-inspired theme looks messy and garish to me, I do commend Apple for finally breaking the mold. This news item will focus on iOS 7 - I'll dive into the Mac Pro and OS X 10.9 tomorrow (it's late here now).
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/08/13 14:57 UTC
And yes, the PRISM scandal is far, far from over. More and more information keeps leaking out, and the more gets out, the worse it gets. The companies involved have sent out official statements - often by mouth of their CEOs - and what's interesting is that not only are these official statements eerily similar to each other, using the same terms clearly designed by lawyers, they also directly contradict new reports from The New York Times. So, who is lying?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/07/13 11:40 UTC
This story is getting bigger and bigger. Even though most Americans probably already knew, it is now official: the United States government, through its National Security Agency, is collecting the communications and data of all American citizens, and of non-Americans using American services, through a wide collaboration with the large companies in technology, like Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and so on. Interestingly enough, the NSA itself, as well as the US government, have repeatedly and firmly denied this massive spying on Americans and non-Americans took place at all.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/04/13 12:45 UTC
Ah, patents - the never-ending scourge of the technology industry. Whether wielded by companies who don't actually make any products, or large corporations who abuse them because they can't compete in the market place or because they're simply jerks, they do the industry a huge disservice and are simply plain dangerous. According to The Wall Street Journal (circumvention link), president Obama is about to take several executive actions to address patent trolls - which may seem like a good idea, but I am very worried that all this will do is strengthen the positions of notorious patent system abusers such as Apple and Microsoft.
Linked by nfeske on 05/31/13 10:12 UTC
With version 13.05, the developers of the Genode OS Framework take measures to ensure that Genode continues to scale well with a growing number of users and the steadily broadening platform coverage. Further highlights are the improved SoC support for Exynos 5, OMAP4, Raspberry Pi, i.MX, and new components for realizing headless systems.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/29/13 16:59 UTC
At the D11 conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook once again took the stage to be interviewed by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. While most of the interview can be replicated by picking and reading 10 random Apple fanblog stories - there were still a number of very interesting things that warrant some closer scrutiny.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 17:26 UTC
So, the Xbox One disaster continues. Microsoft's policy for dealing with the used games market has reportedly leaked - and it's a clear and direct attack to destroy the used games market. Prices for used games will be set at the retail value of a new game, and retailers have to hook into Microsoft's computer systems and comply with Microsoft's terms and conditions.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/21/13 21:38 UTC
At an event earlier today, Microsoft unveiled the next Xbox - the third model, but confusingly named Xbox One. The big focus was TV, integrated Kinect, and all the other stuff we all expected to be forced down our throats. I think it took them 25 minutes to actually come to what should be the core of the story: gaming. Nothing groundbreaking in the gaming department, except for how Microsoft intends to handle the used games market and borrowing games from friends: pay up, buddy!More Features »
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Member since:
2005-09-08
It is getting more common. People used to think being shallow was bad, now they think it is hip, and they line up to all step in line to be 100% rounded hipster squares.