On Tuesday, January 8, 2002, at 05:10 , Rhonda Hyslop
<rhonda_at_paradox.null> wrote:
> On Tue, 8 Jan 2002, BK wrote:
>
>> that could replace it. It couldn't possibly be weight and size and lack
>> of color because within four years those things could have been further
>> developed. Again, the masses are brainwashed that the shitty stuff is
>> hi-tech and good for them.
>
> "Many very powerful things are hard to learn how to use, therefore if
> it's
> hard to learn or hard to use, it must be powerful."
You mean the logic goes like this: "Newton is easier to use then Palm-
therefore Palm must be more complex meaning better" ?
Hmmm. I am not so sure about this. Whenever I have shown my Newton to
Palm users they were always amazed at the ease of use of the Newton and
admitted that they could see that the Newton was superior in any aspect.
I tend to think it is the general brainwashing we constantly receive
from so called hi-tech companies. They all try to convince us that they
have the latest technology - the best ever - while in reality they are
far behind the standards of a decade or two ago. The only thing where
there is really progress is making things smaller but that's about it.
Let me give you an example ...
Cellular telephony has been invented and patented by AT&T in the early
1950s. CDMA has been invented in the early 1940s and used by allied
forces in WWII as a secure means of radio communications. CDMA was
hi-tech in the 1940s. Cellular telephony in the 1950s.
Yet, half a century later we are being told by the cellular industry
that this is the latest breakthrough, and they call it 3G, for third
generation mobile. So, what's the novelty then ? The packaging ! The
advance has been in micro electronics to make it all fit into a tiny
consumer device that can be mass produced.
Well, that is at least something tangible. However, we are also being
told that we will need broadband 384 kpbs data on our mobile phones. Do
we ? What for ?
Of course they also tell us that we need 2GHz clock speed on a desktop
computer. And once we have it they will tell us that we really need
3GHz. Do we ? What for ?
They need to brainwash us so we don't realise that this is all overkill.
Because if we realise how lo-tech all this stuff really is and how
pointless the bells and whistles, we may start to ask for quality
products instead. And that prospect scares most hi-tech companies.
Apple abandonded the Newton as it scared them that they had built
something that was so good it could have eventually threatened their
lucrative PowerBook business. And everyone of us who have used a Newton
refuses to buy into any propaganda designed to make us forget about it.
Not everybody is in a position to see for themselves though.
rgds
bk
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