Today I was talking to Trevor and something dawned on me… I’m not buying a new Microsoft Zune because I use linux(Ubuntu). Years ago I bought one of the first generation 30gb Zune’s and it has served me well, until 2 years ago when I fully switched over to Linux. I tried to make it work with linux, I really did! I loaded up a VM with my old XP Pro installation and hooked up my media library to it (via shared folders), and this worked for a little while, but as time progressed something started to happen. The months rolled on an soon I realized that I wasn’t booting into this virtual machine I had built to sync my library…podcasts…vodcasts…all the changing media that I used to listen to was being left behind(well atleast as far as the Zune was concerned). Now I wasn’t any less up to date with the information that was contained in the media that I wasn’t syncing with the Zune, I just wasn’t using the Zune. Now I’m not sure if it was the extra step of firing up another operating system or if it was the hassle of trying to get USB to pass through to the VM, but I discovered something…..
Tag Archives: Mac
I’m not getting a Zune because I use linux (a true pointless rant)
On Android’s Market Share
Ever since Android was announced by Google a while back, Linux geeks everywhere have been hoping it would take a chunk out of the iPhone market. Though Android hasn’t really taken off as expected, hopes have been renewed recently with projections that the mobile OS would outpace the iPhone in the next year or two, especially with an armada of new phones intending to run it out of the box.
Personally, I doubt that Android will really dent the iPhone market. That’s not to say I don’t think it won’t be popular, I just think it will cut into a different mobile OS: Windows Mobile. Android and the iPhone do not really compete in the same arenas. The iPhone is a high-performance device with some core (limited) functionality. Android, however, is more of an all-purpose OS, as demonstrated by the diversity of hardware it can run on. To date, the all-purpose mobile OS has been Windows Mobile. In fact, it’s so all-purpose that the mobile checkout devices used by sales reps in Apple Stores run Windows Mobile.
As Android takes off, I’m guessing that Windows Mobile’s days are numbered. I haven’t heard anything about it in some time, and media share sometimes counts for more than market share. After all, if you looked around, would you guess that only 1 in 10 people use a Mac?
OS Critique: Ubuntu
Tech Quote: [Windows] vs. Mac
Though Ted Nelson originally said this about DOS, it still applies to Microsoft’s modern products.
“Using [Windows] is like juggling with straight razors. Using a Mac is like shaving with a bowling pin.”
Agree? Disagree? How should things be different?
OS Critique: Mac
We visited Best Buy last night to check out Macs and netbooks. MacBooks are sleek, though that can be taken multiple ways. For some it means smooth and pretty. For others it means slippery. As more and more people adopt Macs, it makes sense to take a look at the ups and downs of their OS and interface. A lot of people are enamored with the Cupertino Kid, though a friend of mine remarked that a computer whiz he knows has become “measurably dumber” since becoming a Mac user. Let’s take a look at what the virtues and vices of a Mac.
