Jason Moran
Friday, March 28, 2008
PS3 Or Laptop
Question: Should I get a PS3 or a laptop?
The obvious answer is both, but which one should I get first?
PS3:
I've got this 50 inch 1080p HDTV at home that is wasting its 1080p abilities because even HD channels via cable are only 720p or 1080i (less than 1080p for those that don't know). I can watch DVDs and they look "pretty good", but I've seen a movie or two with HD quality and it's pretty nice. So, if I had a Blu-ray player I could watch 1080p movies. Blu-ray's spec has not been finalized, which means if you buy a player now the movies you buy in a few years might not play. Tech savvy folks like me can fix this buy downloading and installing firmware updates for the "old" Blu-ray player, but the average Joe's only safe Blu-ray bet is to get a PS3 since it will automatically download and install firmware updates if you plug it into the internet.
Anyway, it is probably obvious that I'm mostly considering a PS3 because I want a Blu-ray player. However, fringe benefits are the ability to play Guitar Hero / Rock Band and maybe a few other games now and then.
Laptop:
I don't need to tell everybody that a laptop can do pretty much anything I want it to do. I won't play games on it. I will sit in front of the TV and search on wikipedia when I have a question. I will sit in coffee shops with free wifi and drink trendy drinks. I will watch a movie on my laptop while riding an airplane - because I can. You see, these are all things that I can't do right now because I do not have a laptop.
The most important part of having a laptop is that I can do side work on it. I am a software developer and being able to take my work on the road will help me with possibly starting up my own business or at least doing a little bit of supplemental contracting side work.
The only other argument I might consider is getting an Xbox 360 first, since I like more of the games it has and most HD content will be downloadable within a year anyway. But, you know what? I don't want to download a movie for 3 days before I can watch it.
The obvious answer is both, but which one should I get first?
PS3:
I've got this 50 inch 1080p HDTV at home that is wasting its 1080p abilities because even HD channels via cable are only 720p or 1080i (less than 1080p for those that don't know). I can watch DVDs and they look "pretty good", but I've seen a movie or two with HD quality and it's pretty nice. So, if I had a Blu-ray player I could watch 1080p movies. Blu-ray's spec has not been finalized, which means if you buy a player now the movies you buy in a few years might not play. Tech savvy folks like me can fix this buy downloading and installing firmware updates for the "old" Blu-ray player, but the average Joe's only safe Blu-ray bet is to get a PS3 since it will automatically download and install firmware updates if you plug it into the internet.
Anyway, it is probably obvious that I'm mostly considering a PS3 because I want a Blu-ray player. However, fringe benefits are the ability to play Guitar Hero / Rock Band and maybe a few other games now and then.
Laptop:
I don't need to tell everybody that a laptop can do pretty much anything I want it to do. I won't play games on it. I will sit in front of the TV and search on wikipedia when I have a question. I will sit in coffee shops with free wifi and drink trendy drinks. I will watch a movie on my laptop while riding an airplane - because I can. You see, these are all things that I can't do right now because I do not have a laptop.
The most important part of having a laptop is that I can do side work on it. I am a software developer and being able to take my work on the road will help me with possibly starting up my own business or at least doing a little bit of supplemental contracting side work.
The only other argument I might consider is getting an Xbox 360 first, since I like more of the games it has and most HD content will be downloadable within a year anyway. But, you know what? I don't want to download a movie for 3 days before I can watch it.
Labels: gadgets, HD, laptop, PS3, xbox
¶ 1:30 PM 7 Comments
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Somebody Should Invent This
Somebody just has to invent this stuff.
Flying car
The main annoyance with personal flying vehicles is that you need to go use airports or similar areas. If landing areas were as common as gas stations and they cost less than a house then this might start gaining acceptance.
Cure for the hangover
If this absolutely HAS to be injected, so be it. Worst case it should take 10 minutes to go into full effect. How have we made it this long - suffering through nausea - without a quick cure?
Plug-in memory expansions
Neo in the Matrix learned kung fu this way, and that used a huge and painful looking plug directly into the spinal cord. I'm sure we can do the same thing in a much less invasive manner.
Skinny Beer
Beer that either has 0 calories and no cancer-causing agents or even makes you lose weight? We can all dream, right?
Dog-cat hybrid
These genetic engineers need to be challenged, so I think this is an obvious benchmark of just how good they are.
Teleporter
This probably has the least feasibility of all of these inventions, but, it would probably be the most awesome. Even if it took a huge power source and it cost double what a plane ticket cost for each use, it would be the best way to get from New York to Japan and back for a business meeting.
Eye contact computer displays
Some basic work toward this has already actually happened. Glasses that project a laser display directly into the iris have been prototyped. Supposedly they can generate a nearly infinite resolution. The problem is you have to wear these clunky glasses to shoot the laser into your eye. Now, if that display was on a pair of contacts, most people would barely be able to tell the difference between you and a non-cyborg.
The idea I have is that it would work in conjunction with a nearby device, maybe a cell phone or PDA type of thing. It could probably have configurable opaqueness and how "far" away it appears to be. However, thinks about the possibilities! If your car has GPS and you forgot where you parked it, you can enable the "Find Car" program which would display the distance to your car and actually LIGHT UP arrows on the sidewalk telling you where to walk to get to your BLINKING and GLOWING car!
A military squadron, FBI, etc can all wear locators and when you walk into a crowded bar or a terrorist base all of your comrades will glow bright green so you don't totally kill them by accident.
- Flying car.
- Cure for the hangover.
- Plug-in memory expansions so you can learn useful skills, equations, etc. without sitting through boring lectures and tests.
- Beer that makes you skinnier instead of fatter.
- Dog-cat hybrid. Like a cat, it doesn't need your attention constantly, but it pays attention when you want it to, like a dog. It's comes when you call it like a dog, but it's clean like a cat. Plus, it barks AND purrs.
- Teleporter. I'm sick of commuting.
- Eye contact computer displays
Flying car
The main annoyance with personal flying vehicles is that you need to go use airports or similar areas. If landing areas were as common as gas stations and they cost less than a house then this might start gaining acceptance.
Cure for the hangover
If this absolutely HAS to be injected, so be it. Worst case it should take 10 minutes to go into full effect. How have we made it this long - suffering through nausea - without a quick cure?
Plug-in memory expansions
Neo in the Matrix learned kung fu this way, and that used a huge and painful looking plug directly into the spinal cord. I'm sure we can do the same thing in a much less invasive manner.
Skinny Beer
Beer that either has 0 calories and no cancer-causing agents or even makes you lose weight? We can all dream, right?
Dog-cat hybrid
These genetic engineers need to be challenged, so I think this is an obvious benchmark of just how good they are.
Teleporter
This probably has the least feasibility of all of these inventions, but, it would probably be the most awesome. Even if it took a huge power source and it cost double what a plane ticket cost for each use, it would be the best way to get from New York to Japan and back for a business meeting.
Eye contact computer displays
Some basic work toward this has already actually happened. Glasses that project a laser display directly into the iris have been prototyped. Supposedly they can generate a nearly infinite resolution. The problem is you have to wear these clunky glasses to shoot the laser into your eye. Now, if that display was on a pair of contacts, most people would barely be able to tell the difference between you and a non-cyborg.
The idea I have is that it would work in conjunction with a nearby device, maybe a cell phone or PDA type of thing. It could probably have configurable opaqueness and how "far" away it appears to be. However, thinks about the possibilities! If your car has GPS and you forgot where you parked it, you can enable the "Find Car" program which would display the distance to your car and actually LIGHT UP arrows on the sidewalk telling you where to walk to get to your BLINKING and GLOWING car!
A military squadron, FBI, etc can all wear locators and when you walk into a crowded bar or a terrorist base all of your comrades will glow bright green so you don't totally kill them by accident.
Labels: beer, future, inventions
¶ 12:16 PM 3 Comments