Apple goes download only for Lion

bealtine

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14221817

This is the future download your OS only and those with 3G and no broadband will be left out of the future, creating a new digital divide.

clohamon

It seems there's a get out. But its going to cost you.

Users who do not have broadband access at home, work or school can download Lion at Apple retail stores and later this August, Lion will be made available on a USB thumb drive through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com) for $69 (US). Mac OS X Lion Server requires Lion and is available from the Mac App Store for $49.99 (US).

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/07/20Mac-OS-X-Lion-Available-Today-From-the-Mac-App-Store.html

ainiseoir

bealtine wrote: »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14221817

This is the future download your OS only and those with 3G and no broadband will be left out of the future, creating a new digital divide.

Certainly, while waiting for the blessed thing to download (95 minutes) I felt I was on the wrong side of the digital divide.
it took some time to become obvious that it WAS downloading, so patience is advised.
It felt like being back in the good old Dial Up Networking days, without the squawking and screeching of course.

thebman

ainiseoir wrote: »

Certainly, while waiting for the blessed thing to download (95 minutes) I felt I was on the wrong side of the digital divide.
it took some time to become obvious that it WAS downloading, so patience is advised.
It felt like being back in the good old Dial Up Networking days, without the squawking and screeching of course.

Now imagine actually doing it on dial up ...

I remember getting Half-Life 2 back when most of Ireland was a black spot for broadband. The update to Steam and the game before I could play took over 2 days to download.

It is hard to believe there are still people stuck on that kind of access. Back then, most websites were trying to be under 100KB due to countries like Ireland and it still took an age for them to load.

Wonder what the average size of a website is now especially if your on dial up without an adblocker.

cgarvey

thebman wrote: »

The update to Steam and the game before I could play took over 2 days to download.

A much bigger cause for concern (in respect of digital divide); those sort of forced software updates.

bealtine

cgarvey wrote: »

A much bigger cause for concern (in respect of digital divide); those sort of forced software updates.

For instance with Windows every week there are new updates now, some small some enormous. I'd hate to see the damage those do to download allowances on satellite or with 3G with their paltry caps...

watty

A full Linux distro is huge. The days of Linux via Magazine Cover disk are long gone.

thebman

More important than the actual distro or service packs is the weekly security updates and even new versions of Internet Explorer (or other browsers) which receive regular security updates now, usually once a month or so to patch vulnerabilities.

Exploited vulnerabilities could leave users being denied service when on their dial up and slowing down their connections or making them unusable with no easy way of resolving situation if they are exploited.

Even anti-virus updates are a pain on dial up and they aren't getting any smaller.

noelcosgrave

watty wrote: »

A full Linux distro is huge. The days of Linux via Magazine Cover disk are long gone.

I seem to recall a recent issue of Linux magazine with several up-to-date distros on DVD. The latest issue of Linux Admin magazine has several security-related spins of Fedora. I don't look at Ubuntu-specific mags, but I'm pretty sure they also do the same.

I agree though, that downloading a Linux distro is a daunting proposition. As I use 64-bit distros, I generally have no choice, as up to now, most magazines have 32-bit distros only. Downloading the latest Fedora on a steam-powered broadband connection that struggles to hold sync at 2Mb/s is not fun.

watty

Technical Magazines are dying weekly because enough people do have "good enough" broadband to make them worthless.

Then again does the local shop stock much more than RTE guide and a few teen or glamour mags.