Take it to pmail please. 

Recommended watching:
101 Gadgets That Changed The World
(History Channel)

BenT
Mod
sent from gadget #1

On May 5, 2012, at 10:30 AM, Rowan Tipton <uther@DRAGONHOME.ORG> wrote:

> Don,
> 
> ------------------------- RANT ON ---------------------------
> 
> It's a bit insulting to say that Ipads and Iphones are only bought because 
> they are "trendy and their main advantage is as the "Latest" thing, an "in"
> brand… not because they are actually better than other "units" that 
> perform similarly."
> 
> I am an IT professional.  I'm been working with computers since punch card days.
> I've been a programmer, designer and, for the last 25 years or so, a system 
> administrator.  Where I work (central computing at the University of Tennessee)
> the majority of folks in IT who have a pad have an iPad and most folks have 
> an Iphone.  Not because they are "trendy" but because they feel that for 
> their jobs they are superior.
> 
> If you mean that for the uses you have for a cell phone and a pad Mac products
> are too expensive and you can get everything you want to do on cheaper 
> products, that's fine and I'm sure it's true.  It's true for me as far the iPhone goes.
> An iPad is a different matter.  60-70 percent of all pads sold are iPads - they 
> expect to sell their 100 millionth this year.  Surely some of those 100 million
> go to knowledgeable people who buy them because an iPad best serves
> their needs.
> 
> ------------------------- RANT OFF ---------------------------
> 
> r
> 
> On May 5, 2012, at 10:43 AM, Don Hanson wrote:
> 
>> It seems to me that Smart cars are sort of like I-pads or I
>> phones....trendy and their main advantage is as the "Latest" thing, an "in"
>> brand....not because they are actually better than other 'units"  that
>> perform similarly.  The Smart cars are expensive like an I-phone, when you
>> can get a similar or superior performing "unit" for very much less money.
>> 
>> One car that has been around for ages, the CRX Honda, those sell for
>> about  a grand u$ed and get 50+ highway mpg. They last ~500,000 miles with
>> ease.  I have a friend who drives these, carries his bicycle inside,
>> carries his tools, even sleeps in there at times when on road trips.
>> My Canadian buddies who used to own a diesel Westie...they replaced that
>> with some kind of newer Honda Civic (?) 4 door generic sedan.  That one,
>> too, gets right at 50mpg, has a trunk and four doors and might even be
>> likely to survive an encounter with a full size vehicle.  It will probably
>> still be running  fine when Smart cars are curious collector vehicles like
>> the Isetta.
>> 
>> Those Smarts....cute little things, but really outrageously overpriced
>> for what you get, as far as I am concerned.  I guess you  might
>> occasionally stick one into a parking spot that wouldn't fit any other
>> vehicle, but you can do that with a cheapo scooter or a touring
>> motorcycle.  Probably carry more, too, on a big BMW or a Goldwing.  Putting
>> a transportation device into an unconventional parking space is often
>> "rewarded" with a citation or an impound, so there's not much advantage in
>> the Smart's short footprint there.
>> 
>> The Funded RV crowd seems to like them, the ones who want to appear
>> "green" by driving an Eco-friendly second vehicle and don't consider cost
>> to be important.  Other RVers seem to often favor the Suzuki small 4X4s or
>> the Chevy Tracker because they can go driving around the "wilderness".  I
>> guess it would be an advantage for the Smart that if you got stuck, you
>> could just lift the thing out of the ditch or hole or sand, but those tiny
>> wheels....
>> 
>> Don Hanson
> 
> Blessed be!
> 
> Rowan )O(