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Daynotes
Journal
Week of 5 April 2010
Latest
Update: Thursday, 8 April 2010 07:56 -0500 |
11:15
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As of today, I go into crash priority mode working on the book. Unless
something really interesting happens, don't expect much here for the
duration.
08:10
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Wow. It appears that Apple's launch of the iPad was not just bad but
disastrous. Even pro-Apple sites and bloggers are posting articles that
compare the iPad to the ill-fated Newton, and mainstream news sites are
pointing out that Apple inflated first-day sales figures by counting
pre-orders and unsold units left in stock at Best Buy. I called Best
Buy yesterday and was told that they had lots of units in stock.
So,
how many iPads did Apple actually sell the first day? Who knows? The
300,000 figure is probably grossly exaggerated, but even if it were
true it'd be pathetic. As recently as a week before launch, I'd read
speculation that the iPad would sell a million units its first day, and
most pundits were predicting at least half a million. Only Apple knows
how many units it expected to sell, but I'd bet it was a lot more than
actually sold.
Pournelle calls the iPad a "game changer", but I
don't see it. From looking at the specs, "useless gadget" would be my
description. No USB, no multi-tasking, and, worst of all, no Flash.
Now, I'm no fan of Flash. Flash sucks, particularly on Linux. I can't
wait for Flash to be replaced by a better technology. But to sell the
iPad today with no Flash support is simply moronic.
And the
price of the iPad is simply beyond belief. For $500 you can get not
just a full netbook, but a very competent notebook system that blows
away the iPad in every respect. Why would anyone pay $500 for what
amounts to a toy?
09:29
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Fulton, Mississippi must be the most benighted town in these United
States. You may remember that the town canceled the high school prom
rather than allow Constance McMillan to attend it wearing a tuxedo and
with a female companion.
But then decency appeared to prevail.
The town announced that there would be a prom after all, and that
Constance could attend it and bring her date. Ah, but that was merely
the illusion of decency. The were actually two proms, you see. One,
organized by the parents, was held at a secret location. Well, secret
to Constance, her date, and a few other undesirables. The fake,
city-sponsored prom was announced publicly. What they didn't announce
was that that public prom was just for Constance and the other rejects.
So she and her date showed up at that prom, along with five other kids,
two of whom were disabled. The school principal even showed up to
chaperon the fake prom. Meanwhile, the other students attended the
real, private prom.
Everyone involved in this travesty, which is
to say pretty much the entire town, is beneath contempt. The school
employees involved, which is to say probably all of them, should be
censored if not fired. As to the parents who organized the private
prom, I think that's wonderful. The public school prom was canceled and
they took matters into their own hands to make sure the kids weren't
disappointed. But by concealing the existence of this private prom
from Constance and the other six kids, they showed their true
colors. They're simply nasty, bigoted, stupid excuses for human beings.
And the other students? Well, obviously, they're children of their
parents.
I find it incredible that they were able to keep this
nasty little secret. All it would have taken was one decent human being
to speak out. Apparently, with the exception of Constance and her few
friends, there isn't even one decent human being in Fulton, Mississippi.
07:56
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Writing is hard work at the best of times, but it's even harder when
I'm not feeling well. Barbara has had some sort of respiratory
infection for a week or more now, and I started coming down with it a
couple of days ago. So far, it's a lot less severe for me than it has
been for her. Still, it makes it difficult to concentrate on writing.
00:00
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by
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