for someone like me, who is familiar with vim, but not-so-familiar with emacs, it would help if you would specify which features you are looking for more specifically.
My guess would be that if the features you want are available, they might not be packaged in the same way, so listing some key features might get you more answers.
And if it's the actual hardware, rather than the software/firmware, I guess they'll offer free replacements in the Apple Stores for anyone who has the problem? Sure, it's a hassle for the customer and expensive for Apple, but hardly the impossible problem to solve the author seems to want to make it out to be.
I found the checkout process needlessly confusing. The split between the first and second page once I clicked was not clear to me, and the name of the button beside the price box was "Gift". With the arrow above it specifying a price, I didn't understand if I was entering the price of the book, or an additional sum. Could I have paid less and still received the book?
Finally, once I have paid for the book, it seems I can't get back to the page again, so I guess I'm not supposed to be able to buy another copy?
I would look over the usability of the checkout process, I almost didn't buy it because of the perceived ambiguity. And I would have preferred to use Paypal.
I don't agree that the question changes. I would argue that the fact that Fortran enshrined the convention is a more relevant answer than the answer to why Fortran picked that range. The reason being that the answer to the latter question is most likely from another domain, such as Mathematics.
Although I do find the answer to the latter question interesting as well, just not as interesting as the answer to the first.
Exactly. Getting a working mental model, even if it's not very exact, does wonders for the ability to experiment. The problem is, most people get an explanation of what the different parts of the computer are, but not a working model of how it works.
And here lies the challenge of designing computers that are useful for people without the mental model, and efficient for people with it. Gadgets tend to do one or the other, but accomodating both is a good bit harder.
I don't think the German soldiers speaking English is a research problem, so it seems to be a rather contrived illustration of your point.
Whereas I can see your point, I don't particularly agree with it. When it comes to domains where I do have special knowledge of a subject, I see the errors on my own. When it comes to domains I don't have that special knowledge, I always find it fascinating to learn that Hollywood are just as incompetent across those fields as well. As well as finding out how those domains differ from the Hollywood rendition of them.
Makes me wonder about the role of the brush/pen. Is it just an extension of the finger, or does it bring more than that to the artist using it?
Considering the comments on the page, it seems to me artists have different opinions about this as well. One thing missing is pressure sensitivity, of course, but I wonder if the lack of a stylus touched upon in the comments have more to do with what one is used to than actual advantages. I can imaging that well-working pressure sensitivity in conjunction with a finger gives more precision than using a brush, once one is used to it.
With respect, I think a lot of reasoning individuals who are Apple customers like or are at least indifferent to the walled garden approach. Just as those saying that they get better reception from the iPhone 4, or saying nothing at all like or are at least indifferent to the antenna design.
It seems that many critics of the walled garden approach as well as the antenna design have a hard time realizing (or conveniently forget) that those not complaining loudly aren't necessarily mindless drones who buys anything with an Apple logo on it.
So in my mind, I'd say that there are huge amounts of intelligent, reasoning individuals who are using the iPhone 4 at the moment who like the phone as it is. So while I agree that they should have done more when it comes to telling the world they were on the case, even though I doubt it would have helped much, I think your image of how badly Apple treat their users is vastly exaggerated.
I agree with you, except I don't know that a lot of iPhone 4 users consider this a huge issue. I remember people getting upset about slight color imperfections in the iPods a couple of years back. People tend to consider Apple products more than just a phone/mp3 player/whatever, so even minor problems are considered huge issues.
I think they feel that most of this reception frenzy has been whipped up by people who don't own/use the phone, and whose basis of determining the usability of the device is a series of youtube clips.
I respect the shouting and screaming from those who made the 0.55% of AppleCare calls regarding this issue, and the 1.6% who returned the phone. But I think the majority of the noise is made by others, which feels a whole lot more lika whining to me. And I'm hard pressed to respect whining.
In what way has Apple forgot that their customers are reasoning individuals? I don't see how you come to that conclusion in this case, but you seem to argue that this has happened before?
I'm sorry, but do you honestly compare the Droid X eFuse story, which has been written about in select geek blogs to some extent to the iPhone 4 reception story, which has occupied pretty much every mainstream news reporting media outlet for quite a while now?
I took a course in philosophy during my Cognitive Science studies, and our course book (http://www.amazon.com/Philosophy-Mind-Anthology-John-Heil/dp...) was really useful, since they had an original text and a couple of criticisms of that text, sometimes followed by a retort on that criticism. That was really good to get a grasp of the subject, even though I agree with others here that having an excellent teacher did a lot more to get the subject than any book would have.
My guess would be that if the features you want are available, they might not be packaged in the same way, so listing some key features might get you more answers.