Re: Reasonable deal for pre-ordering Ubuntu tablets

Chris Burgess <[email protected]> Sat, 2 Apr 2016 16:04:54 +1300
Newsgroups gmane.org.user-groups.linux.dunedin.general
Message-ID <CA+4hDccrr5_mecqXgsxSEZ4YrTzzvX9pvKrFD63Ermbq9in0Xg@mail.gmail.com>
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I joined this list because I've enjoyed using Linux for many years, and I
believe in the community & ideals of free software.

Being hostile about the choices of others, including their decisions to
contribute to projects we aren't part of, or to use software we don't use,
is unlikely to contribute to helping others discover free software. Shall
we choose to not make that a part of DunLUG culture?

One of the great things about free software is that if you don't like it,
the cost of not using or contributing is also free. There's no need to be
rude about, or swear at, projects that you don't favour or entire groups of
people (flesh or straw).

On 2 April 2016 at 09:46, Kathinka <[email protected]> wrote:

> By golly Reece, it's a much wider issue than mere preference!  Thank you
> for pointing that out
>
> Where there has been a choice of how to display I have always chosen text,
> or icon + text.
>
> It was IMO a mistake to go one size fits all.  Sure enough a phone can't
> be made for touch-typing, and one wouldn't want to carry a mouse around to
> use with the smart phone.  Not however a good reason for downgrading
> tablets and PCs to match.  Having one multipurpose "button" (e.g. touchpad)
> looks clean, streamlined therefore efficient. But to me it's like having
> only one sharp knife in a kitchen, the right size for some tasks, awkward
> and inefficient for others.
>
> Kathinka.
>
> On 2 April 2016 at 09:26, Reece Arnott <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Short answer: yes.
>> Slightly longer answer: (my impression is) Canonical started moving in
>> this direction as they saw touch interfaces were going to be a thing but
>> they still wanted to users to have a similar experience even if they didn't
>> have a touch device. These tablets (and to a more limited extent the
>> smart-phone I linked to) are really the first test of whether this sort of
>> approach will actually work out.
>>
>> Similar sorts of experiments happened as the mouse became popular to
>> transition from pure keyboard driven interfaces.
>>
>> What I think is really going to be interesting though is how the
>> minorities are accounted for, eg. I have a friend who had his fingers
>> burnt/melted in a fire and doesn't have a single whole one left. How is
>> that going to be accommodated? Not to mention the obvious problem how the
>> blind are to use such an interface.
>>
>> On 01/04/16 17:03, Kathinka wrote:
>>
>> Is that Ubuntu the new (well, not really new now but I've avoided it) GUI
>> all pictures and scratch'n'sniff?
>> I'm  very non-visual and find icons a pita, have to mentally translate
>> them into words every time, much prefer menus etc in words so as to save
>> time for getting on with whatever I want to use the tool for.  Tough shit
>> if this upsets designer types who want to impose their post-verbal
>> art-ahead-of-communication passion on us without providing an easy switch
>> on/off to accommodate language people as well as pix-ies.
>>
>> On 30 March 2016 at 18:56, Reece Arnott <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>> Pre-notice notice: I just realised an hour ago that all the DunLUG
>>> messages for at least the last month have ended up in Gmail's spam filter.
>>> If you get this then you won't be affected but feel free to pass the
>>> message on.
>>>
>>> Two 10.1 inch tablets that come with the mobile version of Ubuntu are
>>> available for pre-order.
>>> https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition/
>>> See http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet/features for some details.
>>>
>>> There is also a 5 inch smartphone at the same store that has a
>>> significantly higher resolution camera for 200 euros:
>>> <https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition-e5/>
>>> https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition-e5/
>>>
>>> All say they come with Ubuntu 15.04.
>>>
>>
>> --
>> "Believing men would act in their own interest was not cynicism, it turned out, but sheerest optimism; in reality men do not meet so high a standard."
>> -- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (Chapter 84)http://hpmor.com/
>>
>> Reece Arnott
>> Dunedin
>> New Zealand
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> DunLUG mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug
>> DunLUG Wiki - http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> DunLUG mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug
> DunLUG Wiki - http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr"><div>I joined this list because I&#39;ve enjoyed using Lin=
ux for many years, and I believe in the community &amp; ideals of free soft=
ware.</div><div><br></div><div>Being hostile about the choices of others, i=
ncluding their decisions to contribute to projects we aren&#39;t part of, o=
r to use software we don&#39;t use, is unlikely to contribute to helping ot=
hers discover free software. Shall we choose to not make that a part of Dun=
LUG culture?</div><div><br></div><div>One of the great things about free so=
ftware is that if you don&#39;t like it, the cost of not using or contribut=
ing is also free. There&#39;s no need to be rude about, or swear at, projec=
ts that you don&#39;t favour or entire groups of people (flesh or straw).</=
div></div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On 2 Ap=
ril 2016 at 09:46, Kathinka <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:kathink=
[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</=
a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br><blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0=
 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr"><di=
v class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">By golly Reec=
e, it&#39;s a much wider issue than mere preference!=C2=A0 Thank you for po=
inting that out</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:geor=
gia,serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:geor=
gia,serif">Where there has been a choice of how to display I have always ch=
osen text, or icon + text. =C2=A0</div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=
=3D"font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_default" style=
=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">It was IMO a mistake to go one size fits all=
.=C2=A0 Sure enough a phone can&#39;t be made for touch-typing, and one wou=
ldn&#39;t want to carry a mouse around to use with the smart phone.=C2=A0 N=
ot however a good reason for downgrading tablets and PCs to match.=C2=A0 Ha=
ving one multipurpose &quot;button&quot; (e.g. touchpad) looks clean, strea=
mlined therefore efficient. But to me it&#39;s like having only one sharp k=
nife in a kitchen, the right size for some tasks, awkward and inefficient f=
or others.</div><span class=3D"HOEnZb"><font color=3D"#888888"><div class=
=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif"><br></div><div class=
=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">Kathinka. =C2=A0</di=
v></font></span></div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><div class=3D"gmail_qu=
ote"><div><div class=3D"h5">On 2 April 2016 at 09:26, Reece Arnott <span di=
r=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_blank">r=
[email protected]</a>&gt;</span> wrote:<br></div></div><blockquote clas=
s=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;pad=
ding-left:1ex"><div><div class=3D"h5">
 =20
   =20
 =20
  <div bgcolor=3D"#FFFFFF" text=3D"#000000">
    <div>Short answer: yes.<br>
      Slightly longer answer: (my impression is) Canonical started
      moving in this direction as they saw touch interfaces were going
      to be a thing but they still wanted to users to have a similar
      experience even if they didn&#39;t have a touch device. These tablets
      (and to a more limited extent the smart-phone I linked to) are
      really the first test of whether this sort of approach will
      actually work out.<br>
      <br>
      Similar sorts of experiments happened as the mouse became popular
      to transition from pure keyboard driven interfaces.<br>
      <br>
      What I think is really going to be interesting though is how the
      minorities are accounted for, eg. I have a friend who had his
      fingers burnt/melted in a fire and doesn&#39;t have a single whole on=
e
      left. How is that going to be accommodated? Not to mention the
      obvious problem how the blind are to use such an interface.<span><br>
      <br>
      On 01/04/16 17:03, Kathinka wrote:<br>
    </span></div><span>
    <blockquote type=3D"cite">
      <div dir=3D"ltr">
        <div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">Is
          that Ubuntu the new (well, not really new now but I&#39;ve avoide=
d
          it) GUI all pictures and scratch&#39;n&#39;sniff?</div>
        <div class=3D"gmail_default" style=3D"font-family:georgia,serif">I&=
#39;m
          =C2=A0very non-visual and find icons a pita, have to mentally
          translate them into words every time, much prefer menus etc in
          words so as to save time for getting on with whatever I want
          to use the tool for.=C2=A0 Tough shit if this upsets designer typ=
es
          who want to impose their post-verbal
          art-ahead-of-communication passion on us without providing an
          easy switch on/off to accommodate language people as well as
          pix-ies.</div>
      </div>
      <div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br>
        <div class=3D"gmail_quote">On 30 March 2016 at 18:56, Reece Arnott
          <span dir=3D"ltr">&lt;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" t=
arget=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt;</span>
          wrote:<br>
          <blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;bord=
er-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Pre-notice
            notice: I just realised an hour ago that all the DunLUG
            messages for at least the last month have ended up in
            Gmail&#39;s spam filter. If you get this then you won&#39;t be
            affected but feel free to pass the message on.<br>
            <br>
            Two 10.1 inch tablets that come with the mobile version of
            Ubuntu are available for pre-order.<br>
            <a href=3D"https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition/" rel=3D"nore=
ferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition/</a><br>
            See <a href=3D"http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet/features" rel=3D"no=
referrer" target=3D"_blank">http://www.ubuntu.com/tablet/features</a>
            for some details.<br>
            <br>
            There is also a 5 inch smartphone at the same store that has
            a significantly higher resolution camera for 200 euros: <a href=
=3D"https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition-e5/" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=
=3D"_blank"></a><a href=3D"https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition-e5/" targ=
et=3D"_blank">https://store.bq.com/gl/ubuntu-edition-e5/</a><br>
            <br>
            All say they come with Ubuntu 15.04.<br>
          </blockquote>
        </div>
      </div>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
    </span><span><pre cols=3D"72">--=20
&quot;Believing men would act in their own interest was not cynicism, it tu=
rned out, but sheerest optimism; in reality men do not meet so high a stand=
ard.&quot;
-- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (Chapter 84)
<a href=3D"http://hpmor.com/" target=3D"_blank">http://hpmor.com/</a>

Reece Arnott
Dunedin
New Zealand
</pre>
  </span></div>

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rget=3D"_blank">http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug</a><br>
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e></div><br></div>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
DunLUG mailing list<br>
<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><=
br>
<a href=3D"http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug" rel=3D"noreferrer" ta=
rget=3D"_blank">http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug</a><br>
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 target=3D"_blank">http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/</a><br></blockquote></div=
><br></div>

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