Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sat 3rd Nov 2012 01:11 UTC, submitted by Panajev
"Earlier this week Apple fired Scott Forstall, the architect of its iOS platform, and handed his duties over to the company's chief industrial designer, Jonathan Ive. Ive and Forstall had an infamously chilly working relationship, and one of their biggest disagreements was over the role of so-called 'skeuomorphic' design in Apple's products. Forstall, like his mentor Steve Jobs, favored it; Ive disliked it. To many observers, Forstall's forced exit looks like a vindication of Ive's stance. But if he wants to continue Apple's enviable trend of innovation, he'd be a fool to throw the baby of skeuomorphism out with Forstall's bathwater." Hoped for a thorough article on the benefits of skeuomorphism - got the age-old and intrinsically invalid excuse 'because it sells'. Windows isn't he best desktop operating system because it sells so well. Lady Gaga isn't the best artist because she sells a lot of records. This argument is never valid, has zero value, and adds nothing to what should be an interesting discussion.
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RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by ilovebeer on Sun 4th Nov 2012 02:23
in reply to "RE[3]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2011-08-08
Purchasing itself is not a measurement of how good a product is for you.
Wrong. Purchasing decisions are certainly a metric by which you can measure value to consumers. Is it the end-all, painting the full picture? Of course not. That's just as ridiculous as the opposite, ...saying it's useless.
RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by telns on Sun 4th Nov 2012 03:32
in reply to "RE[3]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2009-06-18
Purchasing itself is not a measurement of how good a product is for you.
People that go to McDonald's do so because they /think/ (rightly or wrongly) it is the best means of fulfilling all their relevant needs. Those needs include convenience, price, kid-friendliness, taste/enjoyment, time preference/hyperbolic discounting, risk tolerance, medical history, lifestyle, &c. All those factors weighed individually and subjectively lead some people to, and others away, from McDonald's.
So, good for you in what sense? Most the time that comes off (and in any public mention of McDonald's is always lurking) as good for your *health*. But health is not the only relevant factor, and is not valued as an end with identical weight by all people.
Of course sometimes people make mistakes or have poor information, whether choosing OS's or burgers. But the fact they chose otherwise than we would is not proof it was a bad decision for *them*.
Edited 2012-11-04 03:35 UTC
RE[5]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by Alfman on Sun 4th Nov 2012 05:04
in reply to "RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2011-01-28
telns,
As long as people have a wide range of choices to choose from, then sure...but it's not always so strait forward.
For starters, there are monopolies:
- If you want to fly from point A to B, your local airport may not give you a choice of airlines.
-If you want internet, your local options may not give you a choice of services.
Second of all, there's coercion:
- Your employer/clients may require you to use a specific platform that is not of your choosing to connect remotely.
Thirdly, there's lack of meaningful choice:
- If you go to vote, your election many not have candidates who give you meaningful choices in your eyes.
- Your hardware store lacks quality faucets, so you buy a bad plastic one instead (happened to me).
It's wonderful to have as many choices as we sometimes do, but sometimes people forget that there aren't always *ideal* choices. Unless we're filthy rich, we usually cannot get exactly what we want. I'm not whining about it, it's just life.
If you really want to know what someone believes is best, why not just ask them instead of assuming their purchases speak for them?
Edited 2012-11-04 05:06 UTC
RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by modmans2ndcoming on Sun 4th Nov 2012 16:36
in reply to "RE[3]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2005-11-09
RE[5]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by Soulbender on Mon 5th Nov 2012 01:34
in reply to "RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2005-08-18
RE[4]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason.
by BluenoseJake on Sun 4th Nov 2012 20:57
in reply to "RE[3]: "Because it sells" is the only one valid reason."
Member since:2005-08-11
Features
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!
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.More Features »
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Member since:
2005-08-18
No, I compared the way he came to the conclusion that it must be the best for them.
Windows may, or may not, be the best for them but it does not follow as a logical conclusion from the fact that they purchased it. Purchasing itself is not a measurement of how good a product is for you.