Couldn't agree more. Steam Cloud (specifically the gamesave backup/restore in the BG) is the key for me. I have several computers. I reload OSes regularly. I'm tired of paying for local storage. My music will soon be part of Google Music hopefully. My PC games are all stored in Steams' servers. All I have to lug around now is my relatively small movie collection.
I agree with everything, but couldn't disagree more strongly with the notion that they shouldn't be compared to each other. Big picture, it's MS, RIM, Apple, and Google in the smartphone market. It's undeniable that they will be compared in reviews, in consumers' minds, in businesses' when deciding which platform to go with internally.
Why does this get on HN? It's one of three canned Android/iPhone articles. Yes, Android is free and the UI/UX has suffered at the hands of Google's engineers and rapid development. We get it.
I'll just be laughing when this argument sounds silly in 6 months after Gingerbread.
Wait 4 to 5 months and buy a Droid Pro. But really? A "what should I buy on HN?" Go do the research and pick the one that has the specs you want. Do you want HDMI and a nice camera or do you want a keyboard?
These are completely unsubstantiated rumors. The notion that Google is going to drop support for the Droid less than a year after it's release is just silly.
This is possible with the iOS as well. Not really sure why this app was targeted. Any app with permission.INTERNET could do what that application was doing.
Saying it hinges on a kernel exploit is rather silly. If a kernel exploit were found for iOS or Android, the effect and response would be the same. Some developer would try to ship it do to "malicious thing" and Goog/Apple would revoke it to spare their users any pain or harm.
This is a really moot issue when you realize that Android users can always install whatever APK they want, so it's not significant when Google removes apps from the Market for ToS violations (even then, it's incredibly rare), etc.
Oh, how did I miss the tacky but as of the last week, popular new attack...
Google's OS is far more secure and segmented than any other smartphone OS out there and that CNET article is the biggest load of FUD I've ever seen. The application clearly indicates what permissions it needs. The criticism is that apps request permissions for things they shouldn't need.
Please explain to me how that is a problem with the OS? That's like blaming Windows because Sun packages Yahoo toolbar with the JRE installer. The application identifies what it wants permissions to. If you don't want the live wallpaper to have access to your physical location and your google account, don't fucking install it.
I'm tired of these petty attacks on Android, nearly as much as I'm tired of the ridiculous attacks on the iPhone 4 over this past weekend. The iPhone/Android stuff that makes it to the front page of HN is more fanboyish than other places and that makes me sad.
Google's open ecosystem is one of it's largest advantages. The examples of copyright infringement is a continuation of the hands off policy. I'm sure if Usher filed a DMCA, they would be removed instantly.
Additionally, the last example was dumb because it's obvious that it's just an MP3 search engine that is downloading from various http sites.
Finally, there are problems with discoverability in the Android Market which is why a fix is one of the top three features of Android 3/Gingerbread.
tl;dr: much fear mongering for very little to truly be concerned with. If you want Steve to tell you what you can and can't download, go buy an iPhone.
I and three other students designed a dual pass train scheduler with a hand written algorithm complete with a webservice and a webapp interface. In addition to building a processor, in addition to the other 6/7 of my classes.
I'm tired of older generations telling me I don't work as hard as they did. I know it's bs.
I would call people out for excusing leading people on and lying to their faces. In public. In a room full of people that disagree with me. If I am in the wrong and downvotes (or in our analogy looks of disapproval or murmurs of hatred in my direction) are my punishment I will take them proudly. I think excusing the behavior is nearly as shameful as being the person doing the lying and deceiving.
I can't believe I'm explaining this in such deal. I meant the usage quite literally. I'm shocked that an intelligent community such as HN is excusing the behavior because it's supposedly "normal". I think the treatment and thus the excuses are "shitty" which doesn't have a formal definition for me to rattle off, but suffice it to say I think it covers "unacceptable behavior" which is a category that lying and leading people on generally falls into.
Also, to people asking for invites, if you sign up on the list, you will generally receive one within a few days.
Additionally, if you are a student you are guaranteed a free one: https://www.google.com/voice/students (though it took nearly 48 hours for mine to show up rather than the advertised 24 hours)
I got 3 invitations in the first week. I use Google Voice exclusively for all my calls and a decently high volume of my text messages. My invited users use the service heavily and I've been responsible for getting my brother and both my parents using Google Voice, yet I've never been given additional invites.
Uh, Chromium's open source, it could ask for FTP credentials and then upload them there...? There are any number of ways this could be done without giving any information to Google and only giving them to Chromium.
You're welcome to suggest it, but it's really not the case. If someone did that to me I would be upset. I'm sorry that I have the common decency not to lie to people's faces, deceive them, string them on and then expect them to take it with a smile on their face.
I'm working for the man now anyway. Not much to be upset about really.