Well, now I see why it works in the gadgets industry, with so much competition and Chinese replica manufacturers.
I still don't think that in software industry it works the same way. Most people I know would not care about new version of Windows coming out of the blue, unless there has been enough hype for long enough time.
And it is certainly so in the video games industry, where previews, trailers and detailed media reports are released in abundance sometimes years before the game is finished. Especially so for the more popular game franchises.
"Many (most?) other companies have talked a product to death by the time it is actually for sale. There is no excitement at this point, it has all been dissipated away. Consumers don't see much of a need to buy it right away."
Are you saying that expo demos and previews for the media actually hurt sales? I always thought manufacturers do it to build up interest and excitement; this way when the product is released everybody is rushing to buy it. Look at the games industry, for example. It seems to work.
Why Apple thinks it works the other way around, is beyond me.
You mention that the bullies you had to put up with used to carry knives. Did weight lifting really help against bullies pulling a knife on you? I'd say it takes more specialized training to be able to face a knife wielding opponent.
> It would be interesting to see the effect of captcha on signups (and not just comments).
Yes, I think that author fails to take into account that on certain sites a lot of spam would cause potential users to shun from even trying to signup.
My immediate family has migrated thrice in the last 15 years and it is not over yet. As long as I can remember, we always had plans to move somewhere else. I plan to end it when I reach the northern part of the Western Hemisphere (hopefully excluding Western Africa and South/Central Americas :)).
>Pretty sure everyone's feet start hurting after walking a mile, especially if you drive everywhere.
She doesn't drive.
Maybe I should have been more specific. The family member I was talking about had a condition called hallux valgus since her early teens. When she got older it became so severe that she could not walk extended periods of time without seriously hurting.
The surgery does have consequences, like problems with blood circulation and occasional numbing. But she is glad she did it.
It wasn't a question of time and dollars, it was a question of pain and discomfort. What I meant, going through all that pain and discomfort for being a few inches taller - that's what I found hard to understand.
It looks horrible too. A family member has undergone a similar one in Russia, although in her case it was a necessity (she could not walk a mile without her feet starting hurting). They break your bones and install fixtures with metal rods driven through your feet/ankles/shins. Then they use these fixtures to control the way your bone fragments knit back together over a period of several months.
It is hard to imagine that someone would put herself through this for pure cosmetic reasons.
"Besides plain, what other kind of surfing is there?"
Working with online documentation while coding, for example, is much more efficient for me with conkeror. Or looking up some piece of information while I am typing a reply to a HN comment :)
On the other hand, it's an overkill for me to keep both my hands on the keyboard while I am reading a nytimes story or following links at leisure.
I use conkeror--which is a vimperator "clone" based on xulrunner, with emacs-like keybindings and commands.
"Is it problematic when a site has graphics for navigation?"
It depends. Most of the time it's still a link, so the browser has no problem identifying and highlighting it as such. If it's something fancy (image map? JS magic?)--it can be a problem. Fortunately, such sites are not common.
"Do you cycle through links and then choose the one you wanted, or is there a more direct way of accessing them?"
You press 'f' (for "follow") and a number appears next to each link. Then you enter a number to follow a link.
"Is it really faster than using a mouse?"
It depends. For example, there are whole WM environments which are designed to work without mouse (ratpoison, stumpwm, xmonad, etc.). Naturally, a keyboard-driven browser lends itself beautifully to such environments. Other than that, I find it annoying having to move my hand from the keyboard each time I need to look something up with a browser.
Of course, when I just surf the web, the mouse is usually more convenient.
"Do you need two hands to be efficient, and if so, wouldn't you rather be efficient with only one hand, for example using Opera's mouse gestures?"
Since conkeror is modeled after emacs, I'd say yes (unless you happen to be using a custom keyboard layout or something). As for the efficiency--again, it probably depends on the "mode" I am in (mouse is easier for plain surfing).
I still don't think that in software industry it works the same way. Most people I know would not care about new version of Windows coming out of the blue, unless there has been enough hype for long enough time.
And it is certainly so in the video games industry, where previews, trailers and detailed media reports are released in abundance sometimes years before the game is finished. Especially so for the more popular game franchises.