kimberly

linuxplatform said:

This isn't as bad as Daniel Eran Dilger's demonstrably false yet never recanted "Android will fail and Google is going to go broke and Chromecast is a blatant inferior ripoff of AirPlay that will fail" columns from not long ago but still, don't put out nonsense like this that clearly lack a modicum of research.

1. No love lost for Microsoft, as they - along with Apple and Oracle - were among the cabal that tried to push Linux, open source databases and Android out of the marketplace during the last decade using a variety of legal and marketplace pressure tactics. But Microsoft makes it clear that this device is not a phone, is not a tablet and is not meant to compete with the iPhone, iPad or even any Android device. Instead, it is a companion device for their somewhat successful line of Surface 2-in-1s. Basically, if you already like and use their Surface devices at work or in your home/office, you will want this device because it will have the same sort of "ecosystem" benefits that iPads have with MacBooks. But if you are not a Surface user, you will have no need or want for this device. Yes, this device is expensive - but similar to Apple fans - Surface device owners are used to paying a premium instead of just getting Lenovo or Dell devices that offer the same form factor and superior performance/specs for hundreds less.

2. Instead of comparing this device with the Samsung Galaxy Fold - which is an entirely different one - someone who actually knows something about Android would compare them to LG phones. LG has been releasing dual screen devices for over a year ... the LG Thinq G7, the LG Thinq G8 and the LG Velvet. All of them have detachable 6.8' screens, much bigger than the Duo's 5.6' screens. All of them have the latest - meaning much faster - CPUs. They also have more RAM, and lack of RAM is a killer in Android devices with big screens (Google tried lower RAM devices with "software optimizations" for no reasons other than sheer arrogance for years before finally giving up and putting 6 GB of RAM in their Pixel 4A and the Pixel 5 will have 8 GB). Oh yes, and they all have 5G and NFC. A couple of mobile bloggers who are actually knowledgeable about Android - yes such creatures are rare outside Android enthusiast blogs themselves - flat out recommended buying the Thinq or Velvet (especially the Velvet) instead of this device.

3. Claiming the Z Fold has "bad software" is ignorant. Compared to what? Because here's the deal: Apple doesn't have a product in this category yet. As usual. It would have been dumb to call the Samsung Galaxy Note Pro back in 2012 "a device with bad software" because Apple didn't come out with their own "Pro" tablet device with true multitasking support, stylus support and keyboard/trackpad support until later. (Actually MUCH LATER as the iPad Pros were in name only initially with the multitasking and trackpad features not added to OS, turning iOS into iPadOS, for several years.) Similarly, Apple currently has no software to drive a true folding device. The only true folding devices in existence are the 2019 and 2020 Galaxy Fold devices as well as a competing Huawei device that Huawei was only able to manufacture a few thousand units of (but the few who have actually seen and used them say that they are outstanding). Here's the thing: people who have actually used the Galaxy Fold and Flip devices say that they are great, especially the second generation versions of each that were just released and didn't have the "first generation iPhone/first ever MacBook Air" roughness. Which means that - by default - the software on these devices are GREAT until something comes along that's BETTER. We will see a Pixel folding phone (that will probably be similar to the Surface Duo) and allegedly a folding iPhone (which will be more like the Galaxy Z Fold) next year. At that point you will be able to SUBJECTIVELY claim that the Z Fold has bad software. Till then there is no way to even SUBJECTIVELY make that claim because A) the Z Fold's software works great in that it does what it is supposed to do in operating the device and delivers a good experience in the process - a consensus opinion held by nearly everyone who has bought or reviewed the device and no product with "better" software exists.

Beats said:

bulk001 said:

pscooter63 said:

Wonko, the first thing I thought of, and you beat me to the punch.

”It looks like you’re trying to use me like Siri, can I help?”

If you are going to imitate a voice assistant, at least imitate one that actually works! Siri is getting better but still has a long way to go to compete with Google Assistant. 

The myth has been disproven for years. They all excel at different tasks.

dewme said:

hentaiboy said:

StrangeDays said:

tht said:

We are doing a telework from home exercise today for my work. It just practice for the real deal. Like, making sure the VPN can handle the load.

Smart company.

In almost 5 years I've never met or even seen my boss

So that’s how you get to spend so much time on Internet forums 😉

If your work productivity is based on delivery of time-bounded project deliverables I really don't care if you're surfing internet forums or watching soap operas on TV. As long as you're meeting your project commitments and quality requirements - whatever it takes is fine by me. 

I think the burden on companies that support widespread working-from-home (WFH) is greater than it is for the employees. Companies sacrifice many economies of scale and informal collaboration benefits when they invest gobs of money into building facilities to bring people together and nobody shows up to reap the benefits. In my experience the human and technical communication costs go up significantly and you have to revisit a lot of basic infrastructure decisions that were made before WFH was an option. For example, centralized source code control systems like Clearcase become more difficult and costly to manage when you have many remote users and limited WAN bandwidth. If you'd planned ahead for WFH maybe Git would have been a wiser choice.

WFH is neither inherently good nor bad. The only issue is when there's a big mismatch between the executional model that you designed your organization to use and the one that you are forced to use. If you've been deeply immersed in highly distributed development, WFH is not a big deal at all because you've already paid for and implemented most of the infrastructure changes needed to make it work well.  But as I mentioned earlier, individual productivity should not be affected by where you do your work as lomg as you have everything that you need available to you to do your job. For many organizations, including ones that I've been heavily invlved with, WFH is only one variation of several non-incidental working environments that many technical people have to deal with. There's also working remotely at a customer site, working onboard ships at sea, working inside factories during start-up, working in plants during production operations, working offsite as part of a working group, etc. In none of these cases is there a "supervisor" looking over your shoulder to make sure you're doing your job. It's up to you to deliver regardless of your physical work location.

frank777 said:

I'd honestly forgotten MYOB existed. That can't be good for the company.

Accounting has largely moved to SAAS models allowing for multiple OS environments and distributed offices. Intuit Canada has long ignored making Quicken Home and Business available to Mac users. The leaders here are Quickbooks Online, Xero and FreshBooks. Wave Accounting is free. The Mac App Store has a whole page of Accounting software options.

In this environment, the developer's probably right. Does it make any sense to spend time recoding this 30-year-old software? No.