The sentence uses parallel structure to imply that iDrive is itself a hack. Thusly:
...between this hack (referring to the Touchstone) and BMW's [hack] (an implied repeated 'hack', referring to iDrive).
And the joke, you see, is that iDrive has been the object of some attention to the disparity between BMW's skill at designing cars and its skill at designing user interfaces and software.
I hope I didn't leave out too many words for my sentences to be comprehensible. If there are any errors in grammar, they are my own, and not the work of the article's skilled author.
The sentence is poorly-constructed, but for larger reasons than what I understand to be your opinion that the comma in your quote was unnecessary. It is actually necessary there, but only because the rest of the sentence is already way out of control by that point.
"The most recent episode involved Apple telling Macworld yesterday that SecureWorks, Maynor's employer, hadn't showed them any specific information, but on its own discovered a problem, and then released security and wireless patches for PowerPC-based and Intel-based Macs."
In this sentence, "Maynor's employer" is being used as an appositive modifying "SecureWorks," and so the comma on each side is appropriate. It's difficult to notice this because you're well into a complex sentence structure, about three phrases removed from the core subject and verb of the sentence.
Another major problem with this sentence is the loss of reference in the pronouns starting in the second major clause. 'It' is being used to refer both to Apple and to SecureWorks, but there's no clear indication when the switch is made.
The ideas in this sentence could have been much more clearly explained in multiple sentences, but a tighter one-sentence construction might go like this:
Yesterday, Apple told MacWorld that SecureWorks, Maynor's employer, had not shown Apple any specific information, but that Apple had discovered problems on its own and released security updates for both PowerPC and Intel Macs.
I hope you are relieved of your discomfort with the comma, knowing that the problems are in fact worse than even you had imagined.
Silicon sounds like an awfully unpleasant surface for keys, being all flat and hard and glassy and stuff. You'd think for over a grand, they could use a nice soft rubber surface made out of something more along the lines of, say, silicone. Something flexible and weather-resistant, rather than something porous and brittle.
Yeah JK why don't U get a real job!! Ur clearly too dumb to do this hack so why bother hating on engadget????? I'm taking college classes at ITT tech and this is so easy to do if u just know how 2 put together electornic components?? Have you ever even been to college!!! LOL
The dude lost his hearing... it hardly matters whether the iPod works. You can see where the melting earbud burned into his flesh ffs. How about "Best wishes..." instead of a lame date joke?
So I guess I'm the only one who just thinks it would *look* badass to be typing on a keyboard with no labels. It'd be like when Mister Miagi catches a fly with chopsticks, or when Aeon Flux catches one in her eyelashes. When all you're doing is rerouting the encryptions, it doesn't matter what you're typing! So long as it LOOKS COOL and people go "OOOOH HOW DOES HE DO THAT" and "CAN I FORNICATE WITH THIS TYPIST?"
"All of these new nettops have me intrigued. I'm looking for a small, quiet and cheap PC to replace my aging tower in my home office, and all it really needs to do is load Microsoft Office, check email and surf the web. Is there a particular nettop that's better (or a better value) than another? I know it's a rather new segment, but hopefully someone has taken a chance on one already. Thanks!"
The most commented posts on Engadget over the past 24 hours.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
