I'd like to point out, for the record, that this "logo design team" consisted of:
- CEO
- SVP of "Brand Creative"
- VP, Creative Director
- Someone who doesn't seem to exist online, outside of articles about this new logo
- An intern
You'll notice a distinct lack of professional designers in that list. Apparently this 10 billion dollar brand wasn't important enough to put in the hands of, you know, experts. Instead, they spent a weekend (ONE WEEKEND) "geeking out" over it. Which is definitely the best way to design a global brand.
This is micromanagement at its very worst, and is an insult to the craft of design.
Just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's bad.
"this is the worst new keyboard possible."
Is it? Really? The worst?
"first, it's PC standard from. Not ergonomic. And from there on, everything is wrong about it."
...which is fine if you need a PC keyboard and don't care for split keyboards. Also, the Alt and Windows/Command key can be swapped via dip switch, and WASD sells any custom keys you can possibly imagine.
"Non-ergonomic, wrist problems in a day."
I've been using standard keyboards for over a decade, with no wrist problems to speak of. I'm even usually using my MacBook Pro keyboard with chiclet keys - gasp - and I'm doing fine. Again, it's personal preference.
"Slanted arrangement of keys."
I don't know what this means.
"The left Alt key is between x and z, way too left. This means, you can't press it with a thumb curl."
The Alt key on my MBP is entirely under the Z key, and I have no problem hitting it with my thumb.
"Space-hogging space bar. 〔☛ Tiny Space Bar on Japanese Keyboards〕"
I hate tiny space bars. Once again, personal preference.
"No multimedia keys. No other app launch keys."
I don't want either of those on my keyboard. I can use Alfred to launch anything instantly, why bother with needless extra hardware?
This really feels like trolling to me. Poorly written, absurd claims backed up by half-assed points, at best. How did this make it to the HN homepage?
Each time someone attempts to make email more secure, the HN response is "no use! need to start from scratch, do it right!"
So, I guess what I'm saying is:
1) Are you working on an inherently-secure messaging protocol? Awesome! Link to the project?
2) If you're not, shut the fuck up. Any improvement is better than no improvement, and dismissing any attempts to fix some of these problems while you wait for The Perfect Solution™ is why we're in this mess in the first place.
1) Cool! That doesn't have any real bearing on Chromecast, though, and those devices don't have the extensibility that Chromecast does.
2) Anything that reduces the amount of hardware I interact with is a net positive, IMO. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "in Android". Netflix and Pandora are on the web and iOS devices, there is no shortage of ways to find their content. In my experience, browsing YouTube has been a giant PITA on every single device I've tried. I'd much rather browse videos on my computer and send ones I find to my TV as desired.
3) Tab mirroring is in beta, as Google has said, which is not the same as an app streaming directly from the web. (No middleman device required.) It's already pretty good, but does need improvement. In the meantime, Netflix - which has "native" support - is great, with none of those issues. The rest are simply good, and will become great once Google improves their mirroring feature.
4) That's a feature that 95% of users won't ever need. If the other dongles you mention do that, fantastic. I'll concede that Chromecast isn't doing that now, but I think we can agree it's definitely not a major selling point. (Not to mention, there's no reason someone couldn't write a Chromecast app to do something exactly like that. Just because it doesn't exist yet doesn't mean it can't or won't.)
I play my MKVs from a local Plex server to my Roku ($80). Chromecast ($35) will likely replace that soon, either via the Plex Web Client (which organizes all my media in a nice, friendly format, no ugly directory tree browsing required) or a "native" app. Plus, a remote control is extra hardware. I'm never more than 5 feet from my phone, and I regularly lose my TV remotes.
Those dongles you linked to seem to be running Google TV. Chromecast runs a stripped down version of Chrome OS. Two sides of the same coin, but Chromecast is far more integrated and extensible. Seems worthy of some praise to me.
"OK, so it does exactly what the chinese players are doing since 2011?"
Those two links don't offer a lot of detail, so I'll have to make some assumptions. But, for starters:
- Chromecast is tightly integrated with existing devices, so you don't need a second workflow - you can "cast" content right from whatever you're doing, instead of needing to grab a remote, launch an app, and re-find whatver content you want to play.
- The Chromecast SDK means sites will be able to more easily create TV-friendly interfaces.
- As The Verge's review leads with: it’s surprisingly difficult to put a web browser on TV. Even if it's buggy (for now), if I'm going to browse on my TV, I'd rather use my laptop trackpad + keyboard than a TV remote.
"beefy hardware and way more capabilities"
Looks like Chromecast is on par, actually: 512MB RAM, 4GB storage. No dumbed-down processor details that I can understand, but based on all the reviews, it's capable of playing 1080p video no sweat. Not sure what "capabilities" you're referring to, but again, the SDK is open to pretty much anyone.
"They can login into pandora, netflix without extra hardware..."
Chromecast can also do this. And Rdio, Spotify, Flash video and pretty much any website.
"Plus, you can play your own files..."
Chromecast does this. Drag the file in to a new Chrome tab.
"...access your network resources..."
Can those dongles do that? I don't see software details. Regardless, I'd be shocked if there's not a Plex app for Chromecast in a matter of weeks.
The "HYPE" argument only makes sense if the product being offered is in some way worse. Chromecast is the same price, offers nearly all of the same features out of the box - and many additional features - with a workflow that's significantly more convenient for most users. That's not hype. At worst, it's better execution.
When a problem first rears it's head, we usually don't know what the actual cause is. Some problems take 5 minutes to resolve, and others keep me up until 1 in the morning. So, making any kind of specific statement in the middle of a crisis is often impossible, and always imprudent.