Which is worse, Microsoft or AOL?

[Ctrl Alt Del 123]

I can make a paper clip talk, just get really high, not hard to do.

[Master of Reality]

i can make a paper clip talk too... i will torture him till he talks    chinese water torture works well.  

[TheQuirk]

I was almost correct!
From http://www.vcnet.com/bms/departments/innovation.shtml

"Microsoft BOB. This attempt to produce a "social interface" for the PC met with an unfavorable reception in the marketplace. Users chose an "interactive" cartoon character assistant, and cartoons represented household items such as checkbook, telephone, books, etc. Despite its failure as a commercial product, the key elements of BOB (cartoons, imaginary characters designed to act as helpful guides, and animations) have been inserted into Microsoft Office97 as "user help."

Ah, but does this long-standing (if dubious) innovation still pass muster? Several readers recently cast doubt. According to one, Packard Bell Navigator was a "social interface" included as the default shell with their computers running Windows 3.1 and early versions of Windows 95. Another reader suggests two games as the source of cartoon user feedback: Electronic Arts "Chuck Yeager's Air Combat" from the early 1990s and Chris Crawford's "Patton vs. Rommel" (1986-7), both of which provided cartoon feedback. This nomination once looked solid, but is now teetering on the edge of rejection. [9 Jan 99] [TOP]

The Talking Paper Clip. The cartoon assistant in Office97. See also "Microsoft BOB." Looks like an innovation, but wait -- it seems Microsoft may have obtained the idea for the Paper Clip Assistant in Office 97 from a company called Inner Workings. In September 1996, Inner Workings demonstrated a similar assistant for Windows called "Lemon Dog." For Office 2000, Microsoft actually went further and cloned Lemon Dog, calling it Microsoft's "Rocky the Dog." Inner Workings filed a trademark infringement suit. [21 March 1999]"

[ecsyle_one]

The more that i become involved in computers, the more i look for alternatives to microsoft... But, i have a problem. I use 3D Studio Max, and macromedia, adobe products. I know i could get the Macromedia/ Adobe softwarez if i go with Apple. But what about Max?? My question is, am i stuck with windows?

[psyjax]

quote:Originally posted by ecsyle_one:
The more that i become involved in computers, the more i look for alternatives to microsoft... But, i have a problem. I use 3D Studio Max, and macromedia, adobe products. I know i could get the Macromedia/ Adobe softwarez if i go with Apple. But what about Max?? My question is, am i stuck with windows?

You can get better than Max, you can get Lightwave or Maya!

Both these products are Altivec enhanced and are blowing away reviewers. Max is cool, but Maya and Lightwave are WAY better.

So if you go with Apple, you will go a long way    

But I'm a Mac Zelot.

Not that I don't use other OS's. I use Linux from time to time, and I recently procured a windoze box (150$ AMD 1800    ) to play games on.

NOTE: I didn't pay M$ a cent and I hope they die! I wouldent have even got a PC had it not been so dirt cheep.

But for the majority of my computing, which involves hevy graphics work, I use my Mac and would never think of using anything else for it. That's my pice.

[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: psyjax ]

[ecsyle_one]

thanks. Yeah, max is cool & easy to use. But maya is better. and they droped the price to like $2,000. Im almost willing to buy it at that price. I had planned on getting a mac this summer, so it looks like i am heading in the right direction. I wasnt even aware that maya ran on a mac. Cool. Thanks again.

[psyjax]

quote:Originally posted by ecsyle_one:
thanks. Yeah, max is cool & easy to use. But maya is better. and they droped the price to like $2,000. Im almost willing to buy it at that price. I had planned on getting a mac this summer, so it looks like i am heading in the right direction. I wasnt even aware that maya ran on a mac. Cool. Thanks again.

Maya has an educational discount that sets the price at like 300 or so. Plus they have the free learning edition, which is a fully fetured packadge, it has a special licence tho that says yu can't profit from the work you make with it or something like that.

Something you may want to think about.

Also, I see no problem in bootleging a program like this if you don't have the money. I mean, that way you will be able to learn and use the software till you become compitent enugh in it where actually purchasing it is economicaly fesable.

As long as your ethical enugh to buy it once your ready to produce with it, I don't see piracy as a problem.

Some representatives from AW, Adobe, and even M$ came over to my school a while ago and the question of piracy came up.

The "off the record" answer was that they really didn't care. They rather people had a chance to learn the software, especially if they were students and such. They make most of their profits from big publishing, and animation houses anyway. Keeping trach of licences in that situation is alot more feesable and logical than chasing down every kid who wanted to touch up a picture or two.

[voidmain]

Found On Road Dead
Fix Or Repair Daily
Fucked Over Rebuilt Dodge

(Sorry, nothing against Ford, just like those sayings).

[ May 16, 2002: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

[pkd_lives]

To the topic in hand, AOL may be considered evil - I certainly think so, it seems to be the nature of big business.

But this site is the difference between not liking a company and it's practices, and hating a company. With Arseholes On Laxatives (cos they spout a lot of shite - ha ha...oh dear), I have the choice.

PARAPHRASE (badly):

Choose Hedkandi, choose new authors, choose sitting in the theatre watching strange surreal foreign films like Brotherhood of The Wolf, choose live gigs and clubs, choose classical, jazz, and anything you like as long as it's artist supported, choose creativity, choose independence, choose not to use their internet services, CHOOSE A LIFE MY FRIENDS.

But with M$ we have been forced to comply, because they abused the trust given to a company to operate freely, because they have essentially abused their position to try to force us into a world of NT and .NET, and trying to buy up the worlds art, and piracy, and who knows what else.

IT's simple, hate AOL all you like, you can go elsewhere, but FUCKMICROSOFT.  :mad:

[Lindy]

Which is worse M$ or AOL should be which is worse M$, AOL or hell. The reason why? Who goes to hell?... Sinners. Who gets windows & AOL?...Every poor sap who buys a new computer. Which is worse?
I'd say M$ & AOL, hell is far more disriminating about who it tortures for eternity.  

[Ctrl Alt Del 123]

I still vote AOL is worse. AOL is everywhere, they distribute AOL CDs to my house, my e-mail, and add all kinda crap to my PC with AIM. Atleast with MS, you can go with another OS and they don't bother you as much.

[pkd_lives]

Ever heard of return to sender. Just send it back as undelivered, they pay for it's shipment again, and it has to be dealt with back there.

I did this once with an insurance company, because I was getting tons of crap, and after a few months, the stuff stopped coming.

EVERYONE SHOULD DO THIS WITH ALL PERSONALLY ADDRESSED JUNKMAIL, unless it comes from a company you wish to be dealing with.

A little proactivity can go a long way. Spread the word. The more people who do it, the more companies may stop this practice, however it can also tell them they have received a valid address - it's up to you.

P.S. Don't reply to e-mails, it only gives them verification of another address they can sell. You don't want to be appearing in that CD for sale of 60 million e-mail addesses.

Actually - does anyone get M$ Junkmail? I'm not sure I've ever seen any.

[Seeking000]

I have never been bothered by AOL in my entire internet life.  I have recieved the AOL CD's in the mail, on the cereal box, between the toilet paper ply's, in the candy bar, taped to the back of bottled water containers etc ... just like everyone else; but I toss them.

Microsoft OTOH keeps me bound by the fact that I play a variety of high-end MMORPG's, which only work with that OS.  Microsoft also keeps me bound by the advent of MS (explorer) only veiwable websites.  Microsoft used extremely false practices for intimidating all Quest (formerly USWest) subscribers to switch to them after Quest dropped their residential ISP services.  I was one of the ones who believed that I actually _had_ to switch to MSN.net, like many, many thousands more.  The local newspaper and news stations even had an article on the issue 4 months later, blasting Microsoft!  

One of my favorite parts of my old Quest account was the news reader servers.  Microsoft laughed in my face when I inquired about theirs.  It has been a dismal switch from a robust server based e-mail system to a web based e-mail system without news reader servers.  Don't get me started on cookie hell!  There is something _SO_ illegal about Microsoft's internet practices; it's creepy to think about.  I have the IE6 trojan horse *sigh*.  Is it of absolute necessity that Microsoft take that extra step of immorality and social terrorism on top of making those bucks?  

Although, maybe the point of a major media conglomerate like AOL Time-Warner tops it off in a generalized sense (I get so tired of watching the CIA channels, which constitute about 100%).

We're basically in a situation in the US where big business keeps the 'gubmint' in tact as a public relations firm.  It's a gross network littered with the logical corruption of 'sub-humans'.  How 'dumb' do you have to be to render indentured system axioms in favor of violating the trust of another human being?  You might as well commit suicide or die of dehydration / starvation ... the binary derivations do not prove inherent for the logical structures' potentialities in accordance with the actions taken.

-Seeking000

[Chooco]

i think AOL is MUCH MUCH worse than MS

MS makes a product which is easy to use and for not that bad a cost (the NT series of OSes meaning NT4, 2k and XP)
AOL makes an easy to use product but their internet sucks balls. Windows NT series OSes are fairly good in terms of speed (they don't need to be reset every day i mean) and they are still easy to use. AOL on the other hand calls itself 56lag internet but it's really SLOWER than 26k. a friend of my dad at work got AOL because his daughter insisted that they needed AOL to use AIM. they got AOL which costs 26 dollars per month, that is the same cost as my 1.5mb ADSL connection, and they said it was just brutal how slow it was. after the daughter found out they can still have AIM on a different ISP, they went to Juno which is only 10 dollars per month and they said the speed increase was just HUGE. they also said they got dropped less.

MS = easy to use, sort of reliable, and easy to work with
AOL = easy to use yet slower than crap and costs more than DSL

[iustitia]

quote:Originally posted by Master of Reality:
evil rankings:
 1.The Government
  2.Microsoft
   3.AOL/Time Warner
    4.Record Company scum (all of them are evil)
     5.Brilliant Digital
      6.NBC
       7.The Telephone Company
        8.Cable/Satelite provider
         9.Sony
          10.FORD
           11.Honda

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This Jones Soda is good. Jones Soda Co.

NBC is the child of GE, now I don't perticularly like NBC, but if they were seperated companies, I would say GE is 100x worse.  I noticed they didn't appear on the list