Posts by James Pickett

Ballmer getting it wrong again isn't really news. I just feel sorry for the furniture.

I still think that clanky mirrors are a bit of an anachronism. And why no SD card - are they too small for professional photographers (who clearly need big hands to lug the camera and lenses about)?

Still, if Santa's reading, I wouldn't complain...

What's sulfur - a sort of animal hair?

Company announces that it's abandoning a particular market and then wonders why the market abandons them? You'd think all their MBA's would have anticipated that...

"Nice Strawbs reference"

I might even dig out the LP now. Great cover, too - I miss those.

The future probably isn't what we expect.

Haunting

He should be careful using words like 'reimagining'. Imagination seems to be the least of his talents.

No word on battery life, then? Trust MS to design something bigger, fatter, heavier and more power-hungry than everyone else...

I'd have more sympathy for Apple if their most famous idea hadn't been pinched from Xerox in the first place. Their litigious attitude is one reason I will never buy their gear.

Optional (it says here)

Not reader-generated threads as well, please! I spend far too much time on here as it is...

Free'm

Land of the free, eh?

Swings and roundabouts

"So what the Yanks get for around £60, we pay over 50% more for..."

'Twas ever thus, but at least you enjoy a lower probability of being shot by mistake - or on purpose, come to that.. :-)

Lookalike

I was trying to decide what it reminded me of, and then realised - it's an oversized Nintendo DS. I bet it's overpriced, too. Will it show two pages of a book when turned through 90 degrees..?

@clean_state

"retarded secretaries"

So how fast can you type?

Digging

"'he can check out' could too easily be misconstrued as a dig at his health."

But this is El Reg! Double entrendres are a way of life here, Shirley?

Not so broad

"It's a pity the fees paid to BT & co weren't based on the quality of service received."

Ain't that the truth! Rather than making fatuous promises, perhaps ministers could ensure that we get billed according to the service provided, rather than allowing blanket charges for services 'up to xxMb/s' that are never achieved in practice. I could live a lot more happily with my crap BB if the charge was based on actual speed...

Thought of

Don't these count as 'prior art'?

http://www.objectlessons.org/index.php?mod=PageMod.showComponent&component_id=109

Note the refinement of the fingerprint-reducing stylus, not yet discovered by Apple...

Accessorize

What amuses me about the iPad is the number of packaging accessories available, not to mention external keyboards. I know several people who have a case/cover with a built-in keyboard, so you can clip the slab into it upright and turn into (ta-da!) a laptop...

Absence makes the heart etc.

“We really are missing Ms Bee aren't we.”

Where is she, anyway? Disporting herself on some tropical shoreline, no doubt. I could bring some suncream...

Cost

Wonderful, isn't it? The first thing a company does after a huge financial crisis is to spend more money on product naming. I expect they've got new stationery, too. It's like women getting a drastic hairdo after a divorce...

Now, where's that parapet?

@Ru

Nintendo don't use cameras. Which is probably whey their system works.

Fnaar

"Nook e-reader"

I want one of those!

Understanding

Or, however bad things are, we think they're going to get worse, and can we have some more money, please?

Eh..?

"occasionally there are hangups (like not being able to access the service)"

Nothing serious, then.. :-)

Saving

"saving of some £85 million over 25 years"

Is that the discount they got for threatening to use Linux?

If they saved that much, what did it actually cost (as I ask my wife when she returns from the Sales)?

Sure?

"If it were to strike Earth - which it won't"

I admire your confidence - I shall expect a very big apology if you're wrong , although I realise that may have to be on another astral plane.

Good old days

There was a time before the Nanny State when oldsters with an iron deficiency in hospital qualified for a glass of stout with their evening meal. Given that it also cheered them up and hastened their recovery, it saved the NHS a fortune...

Runcible

He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon.

What about the fish?

Reminds me of W C Fields's objection to drinking water: "fish fuck in it".

Dirty Digger

Personally, I am deeply offended by the reference to Rupert Murdoch, especially if it shows him in a favourable light.

@cloudgazer

"..never have to own a computer"

A strange ambition for a computer maker! :-)

Am I right that the iCloud arrangement effectively launders your collection of downloads? How nice.

Sensitive

For readers wondering why my comment above is titled 'more spellcheck' , it originally included reference to a typo, now corrected. I do proof-reading for reasonable rates...

iBollocks

The rule in this house is never to buy anything with a name that starts with a lower-case 'i'...

Hmm..

"That and the FIT would pay for the Tesla and the solar panels after only 11 years"

I think you're forgetting the new batteries required for the Tesla after 4-5 years, and I'm not sure the solar panels will charge it up much overnight...

BTW, those who worry about CO2 might give some thought to the amount produced during manufacture. Not to mention the Cadmium involved, which is heavily regulated in the EU. Just as well they're made in China!

The future

"with that hot chip from a couple of years back being bumped off the main price list and into Intel's embedded business"

Does that mean I can look forward to an Itanium in my next washing machine..?

@Stuart

"I still wonder to this day, what Windows would look like if Microsoft had based the OS they developed for IBM on Xenix instead of QDOS."

Or if IBM had given the job to Gary Kildall. Somewhere, in a parallel universe...

Don't mention the war

"the powerful master brand of Nokia"

That sounds a bit Aryan. Do marketing people ever read their own hype?

Age

"many people still connect to the internet via computers that were released in the pre-iPad age"

Some of have computers that were released in the pre-iPod age...