PC World's Top Ten Overrated Products

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Comment by Mad Max on November 11, 2008 at 6:46am

Also (sorry for double post). How is Photoshop "overrated"? It's the industry standard for a reason. It allows you to do what every other free altnerative allows you to do with rastorised images AND MORE. You'd get laughed into oblivion and lose all credibility as a designer if you said you used Paint.NET, it's just nowhere near as feature rich as Photoshop, nowhere.

Comparing an ONLINE word processor/spreadhseet/presentation service to a local system like Google Docs and OpenOffice.org is rediculous. They're different things for the same purpose. You can't use OpenOffice in an online interface via your browser, it has to be on your computer and installed. That's the whole point of Google Docs, it's accessable anywhere with an internet conenction and a browser.

Oh and Apple's "Nazi-like control over the iTunes/iPod relationship" is NO different from other music player manufacturers only allowing you do use them in conjunction with their products. Microsoft do it, Creative do it, Sony do it, more or less everybody does it. The only time you don't need to interface with their software is when using it as a mass storage device, you can easily access it via your OS's folder system like Explorer or Finder. The iTunes restrictions on the files themselves has nothing to do with Apple either, it's down to the copyright holders. If they want Apple to include DRM in the tracks THEY OWN they HAVE to or they don't get the rights to put it on iTunes. Apple have even tried to get record companies to offer the files to their customers with NO DRM. EMI are the only one of the "Big Four" to have agreed to this, as far as I know the rest of them refuse.

Comment by Mad Max on November 11, 2008 at 6:37am

We cant use Pandora in the UK. Infact looking at what they have on their home page nobody but the US can, so that's not even an option unless you mask your IP to be seen as American.

Music should NOT be free unless the artists want it that way. It takes time, effort, dedication and MONEY to create most music. You have the buy the instruments, the equipment to record it (or at least hire/borrow it, someone has to pay somewhere), then you have to advertise it which also costs money, even if it's web based as you'll need a website, which will cost at the very least electricity and internet charges.

Comment by cliffystones on November 11, 2008 at 6:24am

The "rights" to previously created music should have an expiration and not be held indefinitely. This would be the same as non-generic prescription drugs being forced into the generic realm after a certain number of years.

There is no reason why 100 years from now someone should be able to hold the rights to Elvis or Beatles tunes and still be able to profit from them. These folks can write their own music, or get a real job.

Comment by Jim McBride on November 11, 2008 at 6:08am

Would someone please post a convincing argument about why music should be free??? That is the silliest statement that I have ever heard, that music should be free. I cannot wrap my mind around any scenario that would convince me that music should be free, no matter how hard I try.

Comment by Bryan Rovetti on November 11, 2008 at 12:10am

Music should not be free, I don't like Apples Nazi-like control over the iTunes/iPod relationship, and, call me paranoid, but applications over the web signals the end of computer privacy to me. As for touchscreens and keyboards, it is a system admin issue with me. If the keyboard does not respond, it narrows down the possibilities significantly. If your touch screen does not respond, it could be an OS screen driver issue, USB/serial driver issue, physical port broken, dirty screen, mis-aligned screen, broken screen, in addition to the same issues with a non-responsive keyboard. Fancy gadgets and displays are nice when things go right, but when they don't, all I want is a keyboard and command prompt.

Comment by Outsanity on November 10, 2008 at 11:10pm

You saying Geeks is overrated?
As for the iPhone, you have to make sure you press the button or it may not register as the button you're pressing where an actual keyboard, you're pressing a button. Too much work to type on the iPhone

Comment by Petricia Daemon on November 10, 2008 at 11:05pm

1. OVERRATED: Touch interface (iPhone 3G) - UNDERRATED: A good keyboard (Sidekick 2008)
"Why is a keyboard needed when one is built into the touch interface?"
Those of us who've been typing since we were weee-young'uns need the feel of a keyboard, hence why I haven't sunk any more money into the handheld/palmtop community.

2. OVERRATED: The Wii - UNDERRATED: The PSP
how are these even comparable?

3. OVERRATED: Mini-notebooks - UNDERRATED: Ultraportable laptops
Again, niche markets.

4. OVERRATED: iTunes downloads - UNDERRATED: Pandora and Slacker
TyphoidKitten:"Music should be free anyway. So i think that limewire is underrated fuck iTunes and Pandora/slacker"
Music should most certainly not be free, otherwise the persons creating music would quit putting it out. Personally, I think it should be released for free, then if you like it, keep it and purchase a license for it, I don't purhcase anything without knowing if I like it first or not. BubbleGum Crisis 2040 taught me that.

5. OVERRATED: Facebook - UNDERRATED: Multiply
Live Journal? Geeks? Community's Community, depends on who is using it.

6. OVERRATED: iPod Touch - UNDERRATED: Zune
Zune has a better screen, iPod has a better interface, get a Toshiba GigaBeat

7. OVERRATED: Google Apps - UNDERRATED: OpenOffice 3.0
I use both, they each have their market, Google's is a niche-market though

8. OVERRATED: Photoshop CS3 - UNDERRATED: Paint.NET
GIMP?

9. OVERRATED: XP - UNDERRATED: Vista
Ubuntu FTW!

10. OVERRATED: Streaming video - UNDERRATED: Blu-ray DVD
Streaming Video is awesome, Blu-Ray will be, once it comes down in price.

Comment by TyphoidKitten on November 10, 2008 at 10:54pm

1. OVERRATED: Touch interface (iPhone 3G) - UNDERRATED: A good keyboard (Sidekick 2008)
Why is a keyboard needed when one is built into the touch interface?

2. OVERRATED: The Wii - UNDERRATED: The PSP
PSP FTL, thats all i gotta say.

3. OVERRATED: Mini-notebooks - UNDERRATED: Ultraportable laptops
They're the same thing...Useless.

4. OVERRATED: iTunes downloads - UNDERRATED: Pandora and Slacker
Music should be free anyway. So i think that limewire is underrated fuck iTunes and Pandora/slacker

5. OVERRATED: Facebook - UNDERRATED: Multiply
Online social communities in general. Get a life.

6. OVERRATED: iPod Touch - UNDERRATED: Zune
Ipods in general are overrated. I've never seen a zune or looked one up so i've nothing to say.

7. OVERRATED: Google Apps - UNDERRATED: OpenOffice 3.0
OpenOffice FTW
8. OVERRATED: Photoshop CS3 - UNDERRATED: Paint.NET
Theres a reason that PS is a 500+ dollar software.

9. OVERRATED: XP - UNDERRATED: Vista
Finally someone who agrees. Not saying XP at all.

10. OVERRATED: Streaming video - UNDERRATED: Blu-ray DVD
Fuck Blu-ray DVD.