takao
Mar 7, 06:17 PM
It's entirely possible to turn a brand around of course, as VW demonstrated with �koda, it's only 15 years ago that �koda was still the punchline to almost every joke.
if any car company has shown to have any knowledge about badge engineering/branding it's VW AG
skoda is the obvious recent example of the last 15 years
but compare it to what they did to Audi since 1980 ?
the best way to describe pre 80ties audi ? the famous morris marina quote from Top Gear:
"I'll guarantee that nothing exciting, vibrant, dynamic, new, creative, hopeful or beneficial in any way to humanity has ever been done, thought of or driven to in that drab, dreary, entirely beige, wilfully awful pile of misery."
believe it or not back in the 70ties Opel actually had a trendy, sporty and young reputation/image not unlike Audi has today
in fact i have some old magazines around from the early 70ties and its hilarious to read if you compare the raving reviews Opel got in the past with todays "not as bad as other cars but still cheaper than a VW" reviews
Doesn't say much really does it. ;)
I think you highlight the real issue in the rest of your post. But it doesn't just affect Opel. And that is perhaps GM's biggest problem of all.
it's not exactly GM alone:
yes VW are really bland looking too, but opposed to many GM vehicles if you take the badge away you would be still able recognize that the vehicle is a VW ... with some of the new Opels i'm not so sure (Chevrolet at least got that hideous split grill),
Ford actually isn't any better. their latest fiesta very much looks like a 8 year old peugeot from the front. hardly surprising their sales havent quite lived up to the last models sales afaik
It's not really streamlining when you have something like 6 suv/off-roaders in your range a'la Nissan is it? ;)
true but looking at nissan i would say they are streamlining themselves out of the european market ;)
yes they are selling the GT-R in europe and launching their own luxury brand Infiniti... for what ? to follow the "success story of 20 years Lexus europe"
so they will be selling luxury cars , fake offroaders, a single halo car without any interesting cheaper car to buy ? seriously the new micra is bringing the bland back to the brand .. at least the old micra was a hit with young women
i really like nissan and some of their last decade stuff but i feel they are going back to their 90ties role in europe. and remembering my grandfathers old nissan ... please don't go there
(it could be worse: like mitsubishi dropping the EVO)
Not if the Spark is anything to go by. Fortunately as the i10 proves, being Korean isn't the problem. ;)
at least hyundai finally realised that those names they were putting on their models weren't the brightest idea in 95% of all cases
regarding testing/timing the cars on the N�rburgring: knowing that Audi, BMW and Mercedes have an gentlements agreement not to publish their timed laps i think it's quite a hollow victory for some brands to publish theirs
the argument for that silent agreement ? they don't want "a horsepower arms race"... look how well that has turned out
if any car company has shown to have any knowledge about badge engineering/branding it's VW AG
skoda is the obvious recent example of the last 15 years
but compare it to what they did to Audi since 1980 ?
the best way to describe pre 80ties audi ? the famous morris marina quote from Top Gear:
"I'll guarantee that nothing exciting, vibrant, dynamic, new, creative, hopeful or beneficial in any way to humanity has ever been done, thought of or driven to in that drab, dreary, entirely beige, wilfully awful pile of misery."
believe it or not back in the 70ties Opel actually had a trendy, sporty and young reputation/image not unlike Audi has today
in fact i have some old magazines around from the early 70ties and its hilarious to read if you compare the raving reviews Opel got in the past with todays "not as bad as other cars but still cheaper than a VW" reviews
Doesn't say much really does it. ;)
I think you highlight the real issue in the rest of your post. But it doesn't just affect Opel. And that is perhaps GM's biggest problem of all.
it's not exactly GM alone:
yes VW are really bland looking too, but opposed to many GM vehicles if you take the badge away you would be still able recognize that the vehicle is a VW ... with some of the new Opels i'm not so sure (Chevrolet at least got that hideous split grill),
Ford actually isn't any better. their latest fiesta very much looks like a 8 year old peugeot from the front. hardly surprising their sales havent quite lived up to the last models sales afaik
It's not really streamlining when you have something like 6 suv/off-roaders in your range a'la Nissan is it? ;)
true but looking at nissan i would say they are streamlining themselves out of the european market ;)
yes they are selling the GT-R in europe and launching their own luxury brand Infiniti... for what ? to follow the "success story of 20 years Lexus europe"
so they will be selling luxury cars , fake offroaders, a single halo car without any interesting cheaper car to buy ? seriously the new micra is bringing the bland back to the brand .. at least the old micra was a hit with young women
i really like nissan and some of their last decade stuff but i feel they are going back to their 90ties role in europe. and remembering my grandfathers old nissan ... please don't go there
(it could be worse: like mitsubishi dropping the EVO)
Not if the Spark is anything to go by. Fortunately as the i10 proves, being Korean isn't the problem. ;)
at least hyundai finally realised that those names they were putting on their models weren't the brightest idea in 95% of all cases
regarding testing/timing the cars on the N�rburgring: knowing that Audi, BMW and Mercedes have an gentlements agreement not to publish their timed laps i think it's quite a hollow victory for some brands to publish theirs
the argument for that silent agreement ? they don't want "a horsepower arms race"... look how well that has turned out
corywoolf
Nov 27, 01:30 PM
This may pave the way to larger wide-screens.
I would love to see a 40" widescreen.
I know you originally said 30" and then edited it before I could post. I doubt there will be a 40" any time soon. It is more likely that Apple introduces a 32" LCD TV and probably a 42" Plasma.
I would love to see a 40" widescreen.
I know you originally said 30" and then edited it before I could post. I doubt there will be a 40" any time soon. It is more likely that Apple introduces a 32" LCD TV and probably a 42" Plasma.
Leoff
Nov 28, 06:59 AM
I have both the Dell and the Apple cinema display 20".
Congratulations, you just lost any arguments you wish to make. If Apple monitors are vastly overpriced for what you get, if you don't have any need for something that is superior to a regular consumer model, then why in the hell did you buy one?
Congratulations, you just lost any arguments you wish to make. If Apple monitors are vastly overpriced for what you get, if you don't have any need for something that is superior to a regular consumer model, then why in the hell did you buy one?
lordonuthin
Nov 8, 07:00 PM
Originally Posted by SciFrog
Got #7 spot on the team!
Now it gets much harder, a month and a half at least.
The team is doing great with 230k PPD
we should maintain our rank at least, but I have a feeling many windows teams have not discovered the bigadv units yet. Rumor is if GPU3 is stable, it might make it to Linux.
The higher you get the lonelier you are :p I'll be there soon enough...
I was thinking bigadv units weren't available on windows, just Mac and linux, maybe I misread that.
congrats. i sure hope GPU3 makes it linux. that would really get us some more points
If gpu3 runs well on linux a lot of people will start getting more points I suspect - like me - I just haven't had time to mess with gpu2 for a while so I hope they get it out soon!!
Got #7 spot on the team!
Now it gets much harder, a month and a half at least.
The team is doing great with 230k PPD
we should maintain our rank at least, but I have a feeling many windows teams have not discovered the bigadv units yet. Rumor is if GPU3 is stable, it might make it to Linux.
The higher you get the lonelier you are :p I'll be there soon enough...
I was thinking bigadv units weren't available on windows, just Mac and linux, maybe I misread that.
congrats. i sure hope GPU3 makes it linux. that would really get us some more points
If gpu3 runs well on linux a lot of people will start getting more points I suspect - like me - I just haven't had time to mess with gpu2 for a while so I hope they get it out soon!!
sochrisash
Jan 6, 05:40 AM
Woot I'm not the only one!
Here is mine. 72 Super beetle.
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/7638/img0174ix.jpg (http://img600.imageshack.us/i/img0174ix.jpg/)
Love the colour! nice
Here is mine. 72 Super beetle.
http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/7638/img0174ix.jpg (http://img600.imageshack.us/i/img0174ix.jpg/)
Love the colour! nice
vand0576
Sep 1, 01:46 PM
One more thing... they'll change the name from iMac to Mac, bringing a perfect symmetry to their product line-up:
Mac
Mac Pro
MacBook
MacBook Pro
symmetry, shmimmetry.
I liked things better when the names were all over the board and unique.
Mac
Mac Pro
MacBook
MacBook Pro
symmetry, shmimmetry.
I liked things better when the names were all over the board and unique.
MacVixen
Apr 11, 10:46 AM
Learned to drive using a manual transmission and for about 15 years afterwards all of my cars were manuals. Been driving automatics for the past several years - it's fine, but I do miss the "fun" of driving a manual and would love to have one again. As some have noted, it's getting more difficult to find manual transmissions in the US, especially with the suburban "mom" cars I drive these days :D
I recall going over with a friend to the UK and renting a car to drive from London to Edinburgh to Wales and back to London again. It was a manual transmission and at first I was :eek: at the idea of driving a stick with my left hand, but it actually worked out quite fine.
I recall going over with a friend to the UK and renting a car to drive from London to Edinburgh to Wales and back to London again. It was a manual transmission and at first I was :eek: at the idea of driving a stick with my left hand, but it actually worked out quite fine.
DeSnousa
Aug 6, 08:47 PM
I'm sorry I'm really slow, I don't get the slogan :(
"Mac OS X Leopard, Introducing Vista 2.0"
Do they mean that Leopard is years ahead of Vista, like if it were to be like Windows next version OS :confused:
:o
"Mac OS X Leopard, Introducing Vista 2.0"
Do they mean that Leopard is years ahead of Vista, like if it were to be like Windows next version OS :confused:
:o
iJohnHenry
Mar 19, 04:48 PM
It's totally 'legal', so if you don't like it, don't buy it, but don't stop others from doing so.
rdrr
Nov 27, 01:47 PM
Don't they already make one? Its called a 17" MacBook Pro... :)
SciFrog
Nov 19, 06:16 AM
5 here at home, although the mac pro must use as much power as the four other combined...
lkjoseph
Apr 2, 10:53 PM
I think what you don't realize is that for people who love the iPad either:
a) They don't need something more powerful, or
b) They have other devices (laptops, pcs) that do what other things they want to do.
I fit in camp B. I use my iPad for web surfing, reading, sharing pictures, while listening to Pandora. Could I use my laptop for this? Sure I could - Yes. But I enjoy using my iPad for these types of tasks. It's more comfortable using for these tasks, and more enjoyable.
Think about this for a second. Why do you have a toaster? Can't you toast bread in your oven by putting it on broil? A toaster has so few features compared to an oven. What's the use of a toaster? This points out the reasons for an iPad. My 'toaster' isn't my only cooking device in my house, but it complements my stove, just like my iPad complements my laptop.
I signed up to post to MacRumors just now so I could post and let you know your analogy is perfect. Excellent post.
a) They don't need something more powerful, or
b) They have other devices (laptops, pcs) that do what other things they want to do.
I fit in camp B. I use my iPad for web surfing, reading, sharing pictures, while listening to Pandora. Could I use my laptop for this? Sure I could - Yes. But I enjoy using my iPad for these types of tasks. It's more comfortable using for these tasks, and more enjoyable.
Think about this for a second. Why do you have a toaster? Can't you toast bread in your oven by putting it on broil? A toaster has so few features compared to an oven. What's the use of a toaster? This points out the reasons for an iPad. My 'toaster' isn't my only cooking device in my house, but it complements my stove, just like my iPad complements my laptop.
I signed up to post to MacRumors just now so I could post and let you know your analogy is perfect. Excellent post.
Gatesbasher
Mar 24, 02:42 PM
All of what you said! Especially the part quoted -and the true nut of it that I took the liberty of bolding. The "dumbing down" of our ears continues apace.
And I forgot to mention things like what (even "HD") radio stations are doing to the signal - e.g., compressing nearly all popular music to a 20 db maximum dynamic range, and in some cases even speeding up the play (while "correcting" for frequency), allowing a better fit with their commercial breaks.
I wasn't aware of that. I suppose in a car, for example, where there's a high noise floor, reducing the dynamic range might be a good idea—but that should be a knob on your unit, not theirs!
Edit: The frequency thing kind of reminds me of the old days, when the electric utilities used to bitch and moan that: "We're not selling a timekeeping service!" Even so, while there might not be exactly 60 cycles in every second all day, they'd speed up or slow down a little bit towards midnight to make sure there was exactly 5,184,000 cycles in a day. If your TV picture started rolling late at night, that was probably why!
And I forgot to mention things like what (even "HD") radio stations are doing to the signal - e.g., compressing nearly all popular music to a 20 db maximum dynamic range, and in some cases even speeding up the play (while "correcting" for frequency), allowing a better fit with their commercial breaks.
I wasn't aware of that. I suppose in a car, for example, where there's a high noise floor, reducing the dynamic range might be a good idea—but that should be a knob on your unit, not theirs!
Edit: The frequency thing kind of reminds me of the old days, when the electric utilities used to bitch and moan that: "We're not selling a timekeeping service!" Even so, while there might not be exactly 60 cycles in every second all day, they'd speed up or slow down a little bit towards midnight to make sure there was exactly 5,184,000 cycles in a day. If your TV picture started rolling late at night, that was probably why!
Icaras
Apr 19, 11:58 AM
desktops are slowly but surely dying out. Notebooks are becoming more and more powerful and even moreso portable so what will an iMac offer that MacBooks won't have? Larger screen
Which is why desktops won't die out.
Which is why desktops won't die out.
Zadillo
Oct 24, 12:49 AM
Here it is! 8 hours early!
60499
7200rpm 160GB drive? Cute...:)
60499
7200rpm 160GB drive? Cute...:)
imac_japan
Apr 5, 01:40 PM
and guess which company has been more profitable recently? which company is debt free? (hint: it's not gateway) and which company had to expand beyond just selling cheap PCs to continue its operation? (another hint: it's not apple.)
Now that has to be the most double standard quote that I have ever read !!!
Apple had to expand beyond its computers to be profitable....If not for the Ipod - Apple wouldnt be making money.
Steve get Apple into gear man ! Drop prices - Take on the market...With good marketing , Apple will not cheapen..
Now that has to be the most double standard quote that I have ever read !!!
Apple had to expand beyond its computers to be profitable....If not for the Ipod - Apple wouldnt be making money.
Steve get Apple into gear man ! Drop prices - Take on the market...With good marketing , Apple will not cheapen..
BJMRamage
Mar 25, 03:54 PM
what I thought would/could happen with iPhone/iPads/iPodTouches. With Airplay this would be even better. pretty much how i had envisioned it with teh iDevice as teh Gyro-scopic motion joystick
wheezy
Nov 15, 06:37 PM
That really depends on the program, on how "parallelizable" the application is.
The simplest way to think of it is like this: Let's say you have a program that first has to calculate A. Then, when it's done that, it uses the result of A to calculate B. Then, when it's done that, uses the result of B to calculate C, then C to D, and so on. That's a *serial* problem there. The calculation of B can't begin until A is done, so it doesn't matter how many processors you have running, all computation is held up on one spot.
On the other hand, let's say you have an application that needs to calculate A, B, C and D, but those four values are not dependent on each other at all. In that case, you can use four processors at the same time, to calculate all four values at the same time.
Think of it like baking a cake. You can't start putting on the icing until the cake is done baking. And you can't start baking the cake until the ingredients are all mixed together. But you can have people simultaneously getting out and measuring the ingredients.
So that problem is partially parallelizable, but the majority of its workload is a serial process.
Some software applications, just by their very nature, will never be able to do anything useful with multiple processors.
What a very lovely analogy. Thank you.
For me... 8 cores for the bragging rights only... so I guess I won't get one anytime soon. I'm sure 4 would suit me fine though, I need to upgrade my 1Ghz G4!!!
The simplest way to think of it is like this: Let's say you have a program that first has to calculate A. Then, when it's done that, it uses the result of A to calculate B. Then, when it's done that, uses the result of B to calculate C, then C to D, and so on. That's a *serial* problem there. The calculation of B can't begin until A is done, so it doesn't matter how many processors you have running, all computation is held up on one spot.
On the other hand, let's say you have an application that needs to calculate A, B, C and D, but those four values are not dependent on each other at all. In that case, you can use four processors at the same time, to calculate all four values at the same time.
Think of it like baking a cake. You can't start putting on the icing until the cake is done baking. And you can't start baking the cake until the ingredients are all mixed together. But you can have people simultaneously getting out and measuring the ingredients.
So that problem is partially parallelizable, but the majority of its workload is a serial process.
Some software applications, just by their very nature, will never be able to do anything useful with multiple processors.
What a very lovely analogy. Thank you.
For me... 8 cores for the bragging rights only... so I guess I won't get one anytime soon. I'm sure 4 would suit me fine though, I need to upgrade my 1Ghz G4!!!
Santa Rosa
Jan 12, 12:08 PM
Interesting name, corroborates with the poster that came out earlier.
It also, obviously, fits with what's sure to be a very light product. Get it? Something in the air? Hah, I bet we can all tell who was the brainchild behind this...
Exactly why I dont think its going to be called the Macbook Air. Sounds like some sort of computer flatulence problem. "Yea got Macbook Air at the moment, hopefully the AppleCare will fix it"
It also, obviously, fits with what's sure to be a very light product. Get it? Something in the air? Hah, I bet we can all tell who was the brainchild behind this...
Exactly why I dont think its going to be called the Macbook Air. Sounds like some sort of computer flatulence problem. "Yea got Macbook Air at the moment, hopefully the AppleCare will fix it"
rockthecasbah
Sep 6, 11:07 AM
Now that the Minis are Core Duo I like it more. Even though it's still $599 ($579 Edu) for the low end, it is at least not a solo. The Mini is still a good computer for a low end price range, even if it isn't the very newest processor available. I would definitely recommend a Mini, but since the iMac is so close in the Edu department, it is a little tough for the 1.83 clockspeed.
Postal
Jan 12, 12:07 PM
are you kidding me?
Macbook Air?
WORST NAME EVER
There's no way Apple would ever call something that.
You've pretty much guaranteed that MacBook air is the name.
Any time someone says "there's no way Apple would ever call it <insert widely rumored name here>," Apple promptly named it as such.
It goes by a variant on the same rule which guarantees anything suggested by MOSR will never come true.
Macbook Air?
WORST NAME EVER
There's no way Apple would ever call something that.
You've pretty much guaranteed that MacBook air is the name.
Any time someone says "there's no way Apple would ever call it <insert widely rumored name here>," Apple promptly named it as such.
It goes by a variant on the same rule which guarantees anything suggested by MOSR will never come true.
ccunning
Jul 14, 11:28 AM
I just saw this and though it was pretty interesting:
Sony also introduced their own small-format 90.0 � 94.0 mm disk, similar to the others but somewhat simpler in construction than the AmDisk. The first computer to use this format was the HP-150 of 1983, and Sony also used them fairly widely on their line of MSX computers. Other than this the format suffered from a similar fate as the other new formats; the 5�-inch format simply had too much market share. Things changed dramatically in 1984 when Apple Computer selected the format for their new Macintosh computers. By 1989 the 3�-inch was outselling the 5�-inch.
Here is the source:
Sony's 3.5" Floppy Disk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_drive#The_3.C2.BD-inch_microfloppy_diskette)
Sony also introduced their own small-format 90.0 � 94.0 mm disk, similar to the others but somewhat simpler in construction than the AmDisk. The first computer to use this format was the HP-150 of 1983, and Sony also used them fairly widely on their line of MSX computers. Other than this the format suffered from a similar fate as the other new formats; the 5�-inch format simply had too much market share. Things changed dramatically in 1984 when Apple Computer selected the format for their new Macintosh computers. By 1989 the 3�-inch was outselling the 5�-inch.
Here is the source:
Sony's 3.5" Floppy Disk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_drive#The_3.C2.BD-inch_microfloppy_diskette)
mefck
Apr 26, 02:56 PM
Apple, Mac, Macintosh are all generic terms and should not be a compant or product name. :rolleyes:
Some for the name Windows for Microsoft.
I hope you are being sarcastic.
If you are not, please stop comment of things you know nothing about, i.e. trademark law.
Some for the name Windows for Microsoft.
I hope you are being sarcastic.
If you are not, please stop comment of things you know nothing about, i.e. trademark law.
Cassie
Jan 23, 11:09 PM
Well, my last post in this thread was just about two weeks ago I suppose. And that truck already died, ha. But, new truck: :)
http://i55.tinypic.com/2lvbd07.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/w86qfd.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/wbe2qe.jpg
1988 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab. 2.0 l4, 5 spd manual. Few small issues with it, but it runs pretty well for its age and high mileage, plus only paid $1700 for it. :D Love it to death. :apple: (I admit it, I have some redneck in me :p)
http://i55.tinypic.com/2lvbd07.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/w86qfd.jpg
http://i56.tinypic.com/wbe2qe.jpg
1988 Ford Ranger XLT Supercab. 2.0 l4, 5 spd manual. Few small issues with it, but it runs pretty well for its age and high mileage, plus only paid $1700 for it. :D Love it to death. :apple: (I admit it, I have some redneck in me :p)
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