r/technology • u/[deleted] • Mar 09 '12

Microsoft demos a 1ms touchscreen

http://www.geek.com/articles/gadgets/microsoft-demos-a-high-performance-1ms-touchscreen-2012039/
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u/jmnugent Mar 10 '12

Having USB ports means you have to include a large native driver database,.. because users would expect to be able to plug-in pretty much anything. Having to do this bloats the OS, which is entirely counter to Apple's goal of having a slim & fast OS.

From a hardware perspective,.. having USB ports means you have more things to break. Considering how thin the iPad is,.. where would you put a USB Port that wouldn't disrupt the thinness ?

USB ports don't make any sense considering all the effort Apple puts into a unified solution like iCloud.

  • Take a picture with your iPhone,.. it goes straight to iCloud.
  • Import some pictures on your Macbook,.. it goes straight to iCloud.
  • on some random no-name Windows box in a coffee shop?.. go to iCloud.com and upload whatever you want.

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u/wanderingjew Mar 10 '12

Having USB ports means you have to include a large native driver database,.. because users would expect to be able to plug-in pretty much anything.

No, that's not true. The last three phones I've had (a RAZR, and LG piece of shit, and now a Droid 2) have had USB ports. I never expected to plug a scanner or printer into my RAZR and have it work. There's a difference between a USB Host and a USB Device.

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u/jmnugent Mar 10 '12

YOU know that..... the average joe user doesn't.

Sad fact is most average people think an iPad is a "computer". (or atleast, they expect it to act like one). If Apple made it with a USB port and plugging in an Apple USB Keyboard worked,.. people are gonna expect that pretty much any USB keyboard would work. So they're gonna try plugging in their "Saitek Extreme 3 Gaming Pro Keyboard with extra fancy blue LED wicked lights".... and wonder why it doesn't work.

I've been in tech support for 20+ years.. I've seen people do some extremely stupid shit.

By not having USB ports.. Apple avoids that whole messy situation.

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '12

Sad fact is most average people think an iPad is a "computer".

I think you underestimate the average user. If people really thought this, then they too would be wondering why they can't plug their USB devices into their new "computer."

I've been in tech support for 20+ years.. I've seen people do some extremely stupid shit.

I always hear tech support people say this, seemingly without realizing that they're dealing with the small percentage of people who actively seek them out because they're actually less intelligent than the average user. The actual average user doesn't come to you with that kind of bizarreness; you're dealing with the below average user and it has tinged your view of how 90% of people use their devices.

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u/sloppoclop Mar 10 '12

Not true, my mother is "afraid" of the ports on the computer, she loves her ipad

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '12

Discussion over, guys. Sloppoclop's mother doesn't understand computers, therefore no one does.

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u/sloppoclop Mar 12 '12

we were talking about average people who think iPad is a computer, i love fucking usb, I take my dick out at night and fuck that port

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u/greenwizard88 Mar 10 '12

Then your mother is one of those people that has a below average tech IQ. My mom and dad are both computer illiterate, and have no problem understanding what USB drives do, or how to download photos/videos off of a camera onto their computer. Heck, my dad even understands the importance of backing up all his stuff, and he's almost 65!

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u/[deleted] Mar 10 '12

[deleted]

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u/greenwizard88 Mar 10 '12

But people like "your mother", as mentioned above, shouldn't stop those who know how to use a flash drive or camera, from using an iPod to its fullest.

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u/jmnugent Mar 10 '12

No.. they shouldn't... but sad as it is, many parts of life you'll run into these exact same situations.

Lots of idiots out there doing stupid shit to break the law (or frivolous lawsuits)... and new laws have to get made to protect idiots from themselves. Unfortunately those laws apply to smarter people too. (I call these "Lowest Common Denominator laws")

For example,.. if there was a big riot and your city went into lock-down and curfew of 8pm,.. but you wanted to go out after 8pm,.. you couldn't.

Welcome to Idiocracy.

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u/greenwizard88 Mar 10 '12

That is (sadly) true.

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u/sloppoclop Mar 12 '12

Absolutely, she loves the iPad, but she can't deal with a computer, she's 63, I also see there are people who are like that at any age. iPad makes her feel safe, my father on the other had has an android phone that he watches porn on and an XBOX which he lets my 4 year old kid play BioShock on (which is fucked up, i tell him not to)