New Comic Thread for December 8th, 2008

Daric

jwalk wrote: »

Belruel wrote: »

i have a first gen 2gig ipod nano, and i love it so much

Same here except I'm not fond of the fact that the battery will only hold a charge for about 45 minutes anymore.

Also um techincally the iPod is not a "Mac" product. If you mean "Apple" then ok, but then you turn around and buy a Microsoft product? Really? You prefer Microsoft as a corporate entity over Apple? Really?

yes

Evander

jwalk wrote: »

You prefer Microsoft as a corporate entity over Apple? Really?

Um, HELLS yeah!

The two are essentially the same, as far as corporate entities go, except that Apple charges more and doesn't let you have free access to your own stuff.

If you are all hating on the free-market, go build yourself a Linux box. Apple just wants you money, same as anyone else, and they give you even less for it than MSoft will.

edit: just to be clear, I'm talking about going open-source as a GOOD thing. If you want to break free of corporate overlords, then with all honesty, you have my blessing. Rebelling against one corporation by throwing money at another one is just silly is all that I'm saying.



Also, for good messure, here is an example:

I recently upgraded to an HTC Touch Pro phone. On my phone, if I want a ringotne, I just stick the mp3 file anywhere on the phone and use a built-in mp3 trimmer program to cut out the piece I like, and then save it as a ringtone. Compare that to Apple's phone offering, where you have to pay for a song through their music service, and then pay AGAIN to convert it into a ringtone.

McCly

The Apple brand has been taken over by trendy assholes.

The_Scarab

evander you're really selling me a zune here. tell me more. capacity is not an issue, i always preload custom playlists before going out.

Diarmuid

So when is Microsoft gonna decide us pesky Europeans are worthy of their almighty Zune?

Evander

The_Scarab wrote: »

evander you're really selling me a zune here. tell me more. capacity is not an issue, i always preload custom playlists before going out.

what would you like to know about it?

my Zune 30 has all the latest firmwares, so I can give you first hand insight on anything other than the touch square thing that they have on all of the current models on the market.

Daric

The_Scarab wrote: »

evander you're really selling me a zune here. tell me more. capacity is not an issue, i always preload custom playlists before going out.

I really enjoy the wireless syncing. I don't use the marketplace because I download most of my music but being able to click a button on my device and get all of my brother's music added to it as well as my own without being actually connected to the computer is great.

jwalk

I'm not saying Apple is perfect but it seems dumb to avoid iPods which are generally great products because of some weird aversion to Apple's corporate identity, and then especially bizarre to say you prefer... Micro... soft... of all choices.

You could've said, I dunno... Creative or something.

ascot

I like that he has a Zune. Often I wish it were the Zune that really took off because I wanted a brown one so badly, but they didn't even release it in the UK.

McCly

Zunes are so much more durable than any iPod. You don't have to get a case for them.

Wetsun

The 70 or so year old guy giving out slim jim samples at costco had some shit against bill gates, and wanted to sell me on apple's ever-present superiority. It was really confusing.

Also, I have an older iPod and I mostly like it. Zunes feel funny to me, but are okay.

[edit] He also told me to take my fiancee to florida because she is too pale.

The_Scarab

Evander wrote: »

The_Scarab wrote: »

evander you're really selling me a zune here. tell me more. capacity is not an issue, i always preload custom playlists before going out.

what would you like to know about it?

my Zune 30 has all the latest firmwares, so I can give you first hand insight on anything other than the touch square thing that they have on all of the current models on the market.

well i have an ipod nano at the moment. i hate itunes it is slow as shit on my PC and i dont store my library on my mac. key things are the size and the shape. which is why i dont like the other wider nanos.

mainly what about the zune is attractive. ive never even seen one in person. size, form factor, screen quality, price etc.

As7

The Killers have some good songs and some I don't like.

But I don't think they were knocking the bands, really. If they wanted to do that they would have picked some much much worse bands to mention.

ascot

I meant I wanted a brown zune not a brown president

Daric

I like how the Zune feels in my hand. When I hold an Ipod, I'm always afraid I'm going to scratch the screen or something. It feels fragile to me. The Zune feels very durable (and is, I've dropped mine a few times and there's not a scratch on it) and I like the fact that it doesn't have a scroll wheel.

McCly

Daric wrote: »

I like how the Zune feels in my hand. When I hold an Ipod, I'm always afraid I'm going to scratch the screen or something. It feels fragile to me. The Zune feels very durable (and is, I've dropped mine a few times and there's not a scratch on it) and I like the fact that it doesn't have a scroll wheel.

They are built like tanks. The screen is actually a special scratch-resistant material (unlike the soft plastic of iPods) And I love that you have the option to use the touch-pad or "click" through menus. So much easier to pick songs.

Wetsun

Also my car has an iPod connection standard so that is nice.

ascot

Well with both a Daric and a McCly endorsement, I can't believe the Zune didn't take off!

The Geek

You have a Zune?

Olivaw

Nice, Geek

Nice

McCly

Stupid Chuck and his fancy-shmancy iPhone. Did anyone catch the 3G plug last week?

The Geek

It's topical!

Evander

jwalk wrote: »

I'm not saying Apple is perfect but it seems dumb to avoid iPods which are generally great products because of some weird aversion to Apple's corporate identity, and then especially bizarre to say you prefer... Micro... soft... of all choices.

You could've said, I dunno... Creative or something.

how exactly is an iPod a great product?

the iPod is a mediocre product with a great marketing campaign.

much of its sucess is owed to being in the right place at the right time, when people were just starting to notice the mp3 player market.



but the ipod is historically less fully featured than competitors, and the interface is not inherently intuitive.

Other than fashion, the most important thing that iPod has goign for it is the myth of ease of use, perpetrated by word of mouth and retail clerks too lazy/uninclined to try out all of the various offerings.



There is nothing wrong about owning an iPod, but there is nothing special about an iPod (save for the variety of accesories avbailable for it) to make it the one that you MUST buy.



Also, aversion to MSoft (and only MSoft) is silly. If you wanna be anti-corporate, go for it, but as I said before, Apple is just as bad as MSoft, so choosing one over the other for "moral" reasons is non-sensicle.

The Geek

Big surprise, Jewey Hewbrewman stands up for multi-national corporations that control the world.

lol jk love ya 'Vander

Evander

I said before, folks who want to live in the woods and program a Linux box out of twine have my monotheistic blessing.

I just say it is crazy to pretend that one multi-nat is the good guys and another multi-nat is the bad guys.

Kuribo's Shoe

I'm just pissed at apple because they made me pay for things that already came standard on an iphone and then they expected me to pay again for the privilege to use apps, while also making sure that that particular update included all the iphone apps from the previous update, just so me paying them would be extra redundant

oh and they also put both of those free on all new ipod touches

hey I got an idea, apple, go fuck yourself

ascot

I understood the initial not-doing-the-update-for-the-touch-for-free thing, but then when they were like "but it's gonna be on the new touches from the start!" I was like :?

Evander

The_Scarab wrote: »

Evander wrote: »

The_Scarab wrote: »

evander you're really selling me a zune here. tell me more. capacity is not an issue, i always preload custom playlists before going out.

what would you like to know about it?

my Zune 30 has all the latest firmwares, so I can give you first hand insight on anything other than the touch square thing that they have on all of the current models on the market.

well i have an ipod nano at the moment. i hate itunes it is slow as shit on my PC and i dont store my library on my mac. key things are the size and the shape. which is why i dont like the other wider nanos.

mainly what about the zune is attractive. ive never even seen one in person. size, form factor, screen quality, price etc.

wireless sync is wonderful, because I can leave my zune charging wherever, and it'll still download new podcast updates.

The Zune Software (also called Zune) is not the best software in the world, but it has a leg up on itunes if only because it knows its place, and it happy to exist just to facilitate your zune experience, and doesn't think that it should always have to be your main program for everything. Also, until ITunes, updates are rare, and significant.



as for the size and shape of the flash Zunes, I don't have one personally to comment on, but my understanding is that they are similar to the long and thin and nanos. They have a 1.8 inch screen, and they play videos (like other zunes, they are intended to be held horizontally for video playback, to optimize the screen space.)

I'd recommend checking out zuneoriginals.net to see the different models and colors and all that are available.

The Geek

Kuribo's Stocking wrote: »

I'm just pissed at apple because they made me pay for things that already came standard on an iphone and then they expected me to pay again for the privilege to use apps, while also making sure that that particular update included all the iphone apps from the previous update, just so me paying them would be extra redundant

oh and they also put both of those free on all new ipod touches

hey I got an idea, apple, go fuck yourself

I'm not pissed at Apple becauase I didn't buy an iPhone because I'm not a dumb yuppie.

NotASenator

There's one big reason to choose the Zune over iPod, and this speaks to the way that Apple doesn't really allow you access to your stuff: To make apps or games for the iphone or ipod touch, you have to apply, get accepted and then pay a fee. With the Zune, you can download XNA and just make games for the Zune and deploy them. They are still working out a deployment plan for making it more widespread, but it's open and is going to stay open.

Kuribo's Shoe

The Geek wrote: »

Kuribo's Stocking wrote: »

I'm just pissed at apple because they made me pay for things that already came standard on an iphone and then they expected me to pay again for the privilege to use apps, while also making sure that that particular update included all the iphone apps from the previous update, just so me paying them would be extra redundant

oh and they also put both of those free on all new ipod touches

hey I got an idea, apple, go fuck yourself

I'm not pissed at Apple becauase I didn't buy an iPhone because I'm not a dumb yuppie.

gabe and tycho are dumb yuppies? that's pretty harsh.

I didn't buy an iphone, my wife bought me an ipod touch last christmas, which was very nice of her!

pity apple treats the touch like the red-headed stepchild of the ipod family

Evander

NotACrook wrote: »

There's one big reason to choose the Zune over iPod, and this speaks to the way that Apple doesn't really allow you access to your stuff: To make apps or games for the iphone or ipod touch, you have to apply, get accepted and then pay a fee. With the Zune, you can download XNA and just make games for the Zune and deploy them. They are still working out a deployment plan for making it more widespread, but it's open and is going to stay open.

great point.

add to this the fact that there are currently five or six games (including hexic, texas holdem, and sudoku) that are automatically installed on to all Zunes with the most current freeware. All of them free of charge.



Also, while talking about games, it's worth mentioning that an Xbox 360 gamertag and a zunetag are the same thing. this allows you to do stuff like check up on what songs your 360 buddies have been listening to, and also sync up your 360 message inbox with your zune tso that you can read messages on the road.

Evander

Kuribo's Stocking wrote: »

pity apple treats their customers like the red-headed stepchild of the ipod family

Kuribo's Shoe

that too

The Geek

Kuribo's Stocking wrote: »

The Geek wrote: »

Kuribo's Stocking wrote: »

I'm just pissed at apple because they made me pay for things that already came standard on an iphone and then they expected me to pay again for the privilege to use apps, while also making sure that that particular update included all the iphone apps from the previous update, just so me paying them would be extra redundant

oh and they also put both of those free on all new ipod touches

hey I got an idea, apple, go fuck yourself

I'm not pissed at Apple becauase I didn't buy an iPhone because I'm not a dumb yuppie.

gabe and tycho are dumb yuppies? that's pretty harsh.

they totally are

and sellouts too

Legacy

One of the best things that I don't see mentioned here is about the Zune Pass. $15 a month and you can download however much music that you'd like from their service. You can buy it as well if you want and get MP3 downloads for them if you want. And they just made it better. Now you can keep 10 songs a month if you have the pass. So...basically, if you buy at least 10 songs a month, you're paying $5 more for unlimited music to try. It's awesome.

Also, you can redownload the stuff you by no problem. That's one of the things I HATE about iTunes. Hard drive dead? Too bad. Buy your music again.

The Geek

I have some old MP3 player that has very limited space that I got as a present for Christmas some years ago. I think it was from Costco or something.

Evander

I haven't talked much about ZunePass because I don't do it.

Mostly because my 30 gigs are already full.



If I upgrade to this 120 (still taking name suggestions) I will most likely be getting myself a ZunePass, though. If I can pay ten dollars a month to NPR, I can 15 a month to listening to lots of music.

Evander

The Geek wrote: »

I have some old MP3 player that has very limited space that I got as a present for Christmas some years ago. I think it was from Costco or something.

I have an 8 meg rio diamond that I got either for my 12th or 14th birthday.

I have a 40 gig black and white ipod (broken) that I got for my 19th birthday.

I have a 30 gig zune that MSoft sent me for free.

I think an upgrade is justifiable.

jwalk

Evander wrote: »

Also, aversion to MSoft (and only MSoft) is silly. If you wanna be anti-corporate, go for it, but as I said before, Apple is just as bad as MSoft, so choosing one over the other for "moral" reasons is non-sensicle.

That was really my point, choosing either based on your idea of what the parent company is or isn't instead of judging the product based on it's own merits (or lack thereof) is silly and dumbtarded.

Also, say what you want about iPod but it's the industry standard, everything works with it (car kits and such) and it has the best interface.

I'm not talking about iPhones mind you, just the basic music-player iPods.