Re: Tiger Beat (May 3)
You said in your article: “It’s the technical underpinnings of the platform – its security, its ability to store and support more memory, its hooks into mobile
devices – that will really matter, at least to enterprise users.”
This gives the impression to your readers, that don’t know any better, that this is something that may be lacking from Tiger, when in fact Tiger, and Panther for that matter, blows XP out of the water in these areas as well. And please don’t try to compare Tiger to Longhorn (the holy grail of all the microserfs), because this bovine dream doesn’t exist in a way that would allow or deserve any kind of real comparison.
Go see for yourself the “technical underpinnings” of Tiger. You will be amazed. http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs/
Maurice Pelletier
Learning Technologies Branch
Alberta Learning
Edmonton
Re: Where’s the FireWire? (May 1)
Our company has used FireWire with several peripherals.
1. Agfa F40 scanner. The FireWire plug in the scanner was broken within a couple of weeks. Thanks goodness USB was also included.
2. Sony DV Player. FireWire works on the Sony side, but there was a problem. The solution involved picking broken bits of plastic out of the FireWire plug end of the cable that came with the DV player.
Would I recommend a 1394 device for anything if it does not have a USB/SCSI fallback? Not on your life — the 1394 connector is far too delicate.
USB cables less sensitive to everyday handling, more supple, and have a far more robust design, and with USB 2.0 out, are almost as fast. FireWire — the “Beta” of the connector world. Please RIP and just go away!
Dave Burt
Xypex Chemical Corp.
Richmond, B.C.
Re: The Pocket PC, age 5 (April 22)
Love your article on the evolution of the Pocket PC from the days of Windows CE.
I’d like to add that more and more, manufacturers seem to be coming up with one product to replace many but ultimately it’s the consumers that decide what’s relevant. I started out with Windows CE (Philips Velo), then I went to Palm OS for about five years. As my job and lifestyle dictated, I upgraded and made changes. Now I am back with Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition in a Pocket PC that has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.
I am also one of many who still prefers to have a separate cell phone and a PDA. There are places that I would choose to take one over the other: on vacation, I would not take my cell phone; when I go out for a night on the town or to the movies, I don’t take my PDA.
Smart phones are certainly bridging the gap for people like myself but still has a ways to go. Then there are those very popular BlackBerry units.
C. Browne
Sales/Marketing Dept.
REX Power Magnetics
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