Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Oct 12 Event For Power Macs & Powerbooks?

Frobozz said:
Most Brits don't recognize the difference between American English and British English. I'm not saying it's better-- but there's a valid and internationally recognized difference. Online forum and e-mail prose is sacrificed online in the United States as a matter of precedent. It's like a virus. Much like the iPod. Formality is a cornerstone of British society, and the language. It doesn't surprise me that Brits get upset when we hack our language to bits in an online setting. :) That's the American online community/society, not our intelligence, at stake.
Click to expand...

I think the word you're looking for is precedence, rather than precedent.

Language is a tool and, like any other tool, should be applied with precision or it loses its efficiency. I read a lot of stuff online and I have no issues with abbreviation in order to save time typing, but quite often I really can't understand what the poster is trying to say! Obvious examples include the misuse of "there" and "their"; "have" and "of" and, of course, the long-suffering apostrophe but, in many cases, it goes much further than that. The English language is remarkably flexible, but such illiteracy is a reflection on that person's lack of intelligence and education.

Oh, and I realise that there's a difference between the 2 versions of our language, alright. What I, and many of my countrymen, find so annoying is that there is "English" and "British English". This is WRONG! There is "English" and there is "American" (not "American English"). They were the same language 200 years ago but have since diverged enough to be considered separate languages.

I don't actually expect anyone to even try to use language, whether it be "English" or "American", correctly online, but I need to sound off occasionally. If the thoughts of the writer can be understood at a glance, then we should, at least, be grateful for small mercies but your assertion that this is not a reflection on the intelligence and education of these illiterates is an insult to all the people, especially those for whom English is a second language, who take the time and trouble to express themselves lucidly.
 
cal6n said:
I think the word you're looking for is precedence, rather than precedent.

Language is a tool and, like any other tool, should be applied with precision or it loses its efficiency. I read a lot of stuff online and I have no issues with abbreviation in order to save time typing, but quite often I really can't understand what the poster is trying to say! Obvious examples include the misuse of "there" and "their"; "have" and "of" and, of course, the long-suffering apostrophe but, in many cases, it goes much further than that. The English language is remarkably flexible, but such illiteracy is a reflection on that person's lack of intelligence and education.

Oh, and I realise that there's a difference between the 2 versions of our language, alright. What I, and many of my countrymen, find so annoying is that there is "English" and "British English". This is WRONG! There is "English" and there is "American" (not "American English"). They were the same language 200 years ago but have since diverged enough to be considered separate languages.

I don't actually expect anyone to even try to use language, whether it be "English" or "American", correctly online, but I need to sound off occasionally. If the thoughts of the writer can be understood at a glance, then we should, at least, be grateful for small mercies but your assertion that this is not a reflection on the intelligence and education of these illiterates is an insult to all the people, especially those for whom English is a second language, who take the time and trouble to express themselves lucidly.
Click to expand...


I agree with your statement of illiteracy being a reflection of one's lack of intelligence, however I believe you're gravely mistaken when saying that "American" and "English" are two distinct languages. Does that mean the Austrailian is a distinct language as well? I think not. There may be dialectual differences, however America, Australia, Canada (some parts) and the UK all speak English.
 
bumb

Chundles said:
Um, there was no problem and yes I knew exactly what you meant. I was just telling you that Bumb isn't a word.
Click to expand...
i think a 'bumb' is something that peter sellers, playing the pink panther, used to blow things up. (usually himself) :)
 
One more thing...

I'm going to go ahead and speculate that the "One more thing..." title is a clue, just as the 1000 songs in your pocket was a hint as to what the product release was related to. I think that the one more thing will be one more processor in your powerbook. In the form of Dual Core. Yea, a stretch, but would still be nice to see.
 
griz said:
I'm going to go ahead and speculate that the "One more thing..." title is a clue, just as the 1000 songs in your pocket was a hint as to what the product release was related to. I think that the one more thing will be one more processor in your powerbook. In the form of Dual Core. Yea, a stretch, but would still be nice to see.
Click to expand...

that's actually a pretty good analogy..
 
mongoos150 said:
I agree with your statement of illiteracy being a reflection of one's lack of intelligence, however I believe you're gravely mistaken when saying that "American" and "English" are two distinct languages. Does that mean the Austrailian is a distinct language as well? I think not. There may be dialectual differences, however America, Australia, Canada (some parts) and the UK all speak English.
Click to expand...

OK, I'll concede to a little exageration there. :)

I suppose that my main point here is that "English" is the language spoken and written (often badly) in the British Isles (and as a second language elsewhere). Other dialects that have diverged, such as the American, Canadian, Australian and New Zealander (and I hope that I've not omitted anyone here) versions are the ones that need to be differentiated from the mother tongue. I wouldn't mind if my mac defaulted to "American English" when I installed an OS. What galls is that "American English" is incorrectly descrbed as "English".
 
Anyway, after exposing my linguistic issues for all to sneer at, back on-topic! :)

I still reckon we'll see fairly healthy PB and PM updates tomorrow, along with 10.4.3 to support them, driver-wise. Then "One More Thing" on Wednesday will introduce the thin end of Apple's Video wedge. Some new hardware, of particular interest to the pod-crew (not necessarily a vPod but they got the invites, after all) along with the next iTunes update to increase support for video downloads.
 
pretty much

cal6n said:
Anyway, after exposing my linguistic issues for all to sneer at, back on-topic! :)

I still reckon we'll see fairly healthy PB and PM updates tomorrow, along with 10.4.3 to support them, driver-wise. Then "One More Thing" on Wednesday will introduce the thin end of Apple's Video wedge. Some new hardware, of particular interest to the pod-crew (not necessarily a vPod but they got the invites, after all) along with the next iTunes update to increase support for video downloads.
Click to expand...
i think you're pretty much spot on. i agree that PB, PM, etc updates will not feature at the event, but just prior, or after.

the event will be about the enlarged itunes video support... porbably to include movies (with appearances of execs from one or more movie studios). a vpod could well be unveiled as well.
:)
 
Not sure if titles such as "American English" and "Mother English" are even warranted, they are simply different dialects. I don't believe one is any better than the other, they have simply evolved to suit their population better.

EDIT: Here's to hoping for a significant PB update tomorow/Wednesday!
 
Circumstantial evidence mounts...

Maybe this is old news, but I just found out that going to http://www.apple.com/movies/ sends you to a 403 Forbidden page rather than a 404 Missing page. Also, there are numerous links (on MacRumors, and several other rumor sites) to icons for "Buy Video" and "Add Video" buried inside of iTunes. Then there are reports of users being able to import MPEG videos into iTunes without any trouble.

Obviously iTunes can handle videos on its own, and possibly the Music Store will soon expand to include videos. Once these two have made the transition, then all that is left is the iPod line.

Now let me speculate for a second: At one time there were three distinct iPod lines (the shuffle with no LCD, the mini with an LCD but no photo display, and the iPod with color LCD and photo display). Now the only difference for the user between the iPod nano and the iPod is that the nano is smaller. By adding in the option to sync videos with the full size iPod, there will be a real distinction as far as marketing between the two lines. Maybe there won't be a real "movie" store yet, but that depends more on the content suppliers than on Apple anyway. If one thinks back, the iPod came before the Music Store.

Back on topic: If the iPod does get video playback, and it is a big hit over Christmas, then Apple would be in a position to dictate terms with the movie studios for an online Movie Store, possibly for a launch in the Spring with the first wave of Intel Macs.
 
pigwin32 said:
Forget about it, Powerbooks with a dual core what exactly?
Click to expand...

That my friend is the $64,000 question. They have been pushing Intel to get their chips sooner than they originally wanted. Could still be a PowerPC but probably not a G5. All I can say there is going to be some kind of significant change to the Powerbook. I seriously doubt it will be a minor update.
 
mongoos150 said:
Not sure if titles such as "American English" and "Mother English" are even warranted, they are simply different dialects. I don't believe one is any better than the other, they have simply evolved to suit their population better.
Click to expand...

I'm not talking about value judgements and I made no mention of "Mother English". It's just historically correct to refer to the language of Britain as "English".

EDIT: Here's to hoping for a significant PB update tomorow/Wednesday!
Click to expand...

At least we can agree on that! :D
 
applemacstud said:
That my friend is the $64,000 question. They have been pushing Intel to get their chips sooner than they originally wanted. Could still be a PowerPC but probably not a G5. All I can say there is going to be some kind of significant change to the Powerbook. I seriously doubt it will be a minor update.
Click to expand...
Read my lips, there is no way Apple is going to release an Intel notebook this week, dual-core or otherwise. Are you still watching? There is no way Apple is going to release a new PB based on the FreeScale dual-core chip or the G5 this week or in the current millenium.

The most likely scenario is a refresh based around minor speed bumps using the 7448 single-core pin-compatible replacement for the 7445 (which to my uneducated eye is a reasonable chip but is still hobbled by a 200MHz FSB). The interesting bit is whether the refresh will include a new GPU/display.

Of course I've been known to be incorrect previously, a lot actually but who's keeping track :)
 
cal6n said:
I think the word you're looking for is precedence, rather than precedent.
Click to expand...

Depending on the original author's intent, precedent would be the better word.

cal6n said:
The English language is remarkably flexible, but such illiteracy is a reflection on that person's lack of intelligence and education.
Click to expand...

Possibly. It also could be simply due to laziness. I know several people whose e-mail messages are barely understandable yet are very smart with post-graduate degrees. They are simply lazy and see no need to do any better. I get pretty frustrated with them and normally just talk to them face to face or on the phone. I rarely find shouting at the rain accomplishes anything but pissing me off. :D
 
Still no word on whether any Apple Store employees have any "mysterious" packages sitting in the stock room...?
 
Ya know,. this is off the *main* topic, but whatever. This whole "spelling" crap annoys me.

A) If you can correct the misspelled word, you knew what was meant in the first place......so who's really the idiot.

B) Being able to correctly spell is a sign of intelligence, but, the lack doesn't mean you're not intelligent. The word is subjective. Birds are intelligent. Humans are intelligent.

C) A smart man is a fly in the eye of a genius. Smart men often correct because they feel "correct" is "correct" (think on that one). A genius knows perfections are flawed, flaws are perfections. To insult one is to insult the other. To correct incorrect is to make it obsolete. It's a balance.
 
Actually, I think it has been proven that the ability to spell is not a sign of intelligence. There are many lower-IQ individuals with great spelling ability, and some mensa members who are miserable spellers.
 
powerbook911 said:
Actually, I think it has been proven that the ability to spell is not a sign of intelligence. There are many lower-IQ individuals with great spelling ability, and some mensa members who are miserable spellers.
Click to expand...

um

mod_edit said:
The word is subjective. Birds are intelligent. Humans are intelligent.
Click to expand...
 
other things we should be watching...

Since Wednesdays are now the new Tuesdays...

I guess in terms of reading things into tea leaves, we ought to be on the look out for a lack of content updates to the music stores today....

Also, since Jobs is doing this thing in front of invited journalists, not a crazy Expo crowd, it can't be too showman, and must have decent substance, otherwise he will look a little foolish, and he knows that's happened before, surely he won't want to go there again.

As a small adjunct to the febrile debate on language, I wondered if, as we wait for tonight and tomorrow, it would be worth throwing the semi-colon into the pot. Apparently these are not used much in American writing or prose as US writing is much more conversational and people never speak with punctuation; unless they are holding up fingers for quotation marks.
 
Febrile!!!

My goodness:

I nearly fell off my chair;

[waggly fingers] ROFL [waggly fingers] ... as it were ...

Edit: Perhaps some Americans lost their appetite for speaking with punctuation after listening to Victor Borge's Phonetic version
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back