Electronicrap

So I broke the crap out of my Nintendo DS yesterday - dropped it on pavement, and now half of the top screen is dead. I don't use it all that often, and almost never for DS games - but I do like playing those Final Fantasy remakes for the GBA when on the T or watching basketball. So I guess I'm gonna get a new one.

Meanwhile, my Creative Zen Touch has been only half functional for months - the adhesive keeping the headphones contact has come loose (which is evidently a fairly common issue with Creative DAPs), so the right headphone channel fluxuates in and out. I'm going to exploit Jason's electronic genius in the near future to try and do some exploratory surgery to try and solder the part on more firmly, but I think that whether that comes through or not, I can't help myself as far as biting on the new generation of the iriver clix is concerned (the 8 GB version is due out in the next month), which is getting glowing reviews.

Of course, most people reading this will not recognize any of those terms, or if they do, they'll think "if you need an mp3 player, why not get an ipod?" On the one hand, the ipod has almost always been outclassed by a better mp3 player. In terms of features, audio formats, battery life, price, and the hideous beast that is itunes, there has always been a competitor that either met or bested the ipod in almost all of those categories. From the Rio Karma back in 2002/3, to Creative players, to the clix and Trekstor Vibez now...of the millions who are buying mp3 players, a ridiculously tiny percentage of those people realize that a much better option is available for much less money.



Because of the goddamn marketing. Apple has proven to be brilliant at making everyone think there was only one viable option. This really typifies what I dislike about Apple as a company...ever since the imac, they've been so smug about pushing overpriced items that rely mainly on an aesthetic that I think is revolting (making electronics seem cute). They are monolithic (no one really likes Microsoft, but it doesn't matter because the hardware and software is really a gigantic spectrum of options from wide sources and types); for all the shit Microsoft gets for trying to bundle everything into Windows, Apple is way worse about that. And those commercials! They'd be more humorous if they weren't just a bunch of arrogant lies (no, Macs aren't inherently better at dealing with music, movies, images, or any of that shit). There are just a handful of applications that are better at dealing with one thing versus another, and those are mainly confined to higher level editing programs that no average user is ever going to use. The transition to Intel chips has added more complications - for instance, most researchers in social sciences use a software suite called SPSS to do data calculations (I'm a tech consultant in the education department, and basically every single professor and grad student uses this program), and SPSS hasn't been yet made to work on Intel-based Macs (which means all of the new ones). And Apple really has more hardware problems than most PCs...and when those problems crop up, you can't repaire it yourself like you can with PCs, or easily replace the parts!! And while I haven't paid any attention to the iphone, it is markedly clear (or at least stated by those in the know) that it is even more absurdly overpriced than other Apple junk. So I'm rabidly anti-ipods both because they don't make sense practically, but also because I just hate the company in general.

On another note...I just said the other day that I don't like flash games, but here's yet another one I came across that is freaking amazing. Adult Swim's Bible Fight. Eve, Noah, Moses, Jesus, Mary, Satan, and God fighting each other street fighter style. Wonderful, but I got frustrated and quit because I can't seem to beat Satan no matter what I do....