Of course, the fact that both of them have done numerous voice overs in ads (both tv and radio) for ages means they became "sell outs" a while back.
It doesn't detract from the fact that they produce some damned funny work and will no doubt continue to do so for some time to come. Besides, why shouldn't they make some money while they are at the "height" of their careers? If the only way is down as you imply, then they'll need something in the old retirement fund.
Sure you'll be able to convert jpegs in 10 years time.
But that won't do you much good when the CD/hard disk/memory card you backed the images up to has degraded in 10, 20, 50 years time.
And those images you printed out on your inkjet? How long will the pigments last? Will it still be as good when your grandchildren are flicking through the photo album?
They intended to charge £25 for the basic residential service
In one location the pricing is £25 for residential and £40 for business per month. In the other trial location, the price is £15 for residential and business users.
Also the bandwidth is higher than the cable offerings, based on the download comparisions (no actual figures I quoted for bandwidth).
So if this trial proves to be a success, it could be much more popular than the cable and ADSL offerings (which both require you to be within a coverage area).
IF (and that's a big if) this goes nationwide then it could be that people in rural areas have better broadband access than people in urban areas currently enjoy.
Of course if this continues beyond the trial then expect to see the prices increase significantly because the trial is being subsidised by various bodies.
Rabbit was launched in the UK primarily as a solution to the lack of (working) public pay phones.
It was not intended to be used as a mobile phone, rather it was a work around to the restrictions that prevented pay phones being installed in many locations, and the fact that most pay phones were vandalised constantly.
Unfortunately, shortly after Rabbit was launched, the laws were changed to allow more pay phones to be installed (by companies other than BT), so it kind of under cut Rabbit.
This combined with the fact that mobile phones became portable (as opposed to tethered to a car battery) meant the Rabbit didn't really stand a chance. Rabbit was really a case of too little too late.
One point about Rabbit was that you got a base station to use in your home. This base station could also be used by other Rabbit users to make calls if they were in range. This meant that the Rabbit network got larger as more people became customers, just like current community WiFi initiatives such as Consume et al.
As someone who did read the web site, I can say that the product they have produced, is virtually identical to the nescafe coffee cans other posters have mentioned.
According to the Ontro web site, they got the idea from similar products released in the early 1990s. Those ealry products had flaws, such a bulkiness, which Ontro wished to overcome.
Admitedly those early products (at least those released in the UK - there was a spate of self heating and self-cooling products released on a trial basis in the early 90s) did suffer from the flaws the Ontro founders identified. However, the product currently available from Nescafe, is a complete redesign of those early ideas, and has overcome the flaws in a very similar way to the Ontro product.
Ontro state that their product is 16oz in size, holding 10oz of beverage, and that it heats up within 5 minutes after pressing a button on the base, and stays warm for around 20 minutes.
The nescafe self-heating coffees are more or less the same size, stay warm for the same length of time, and heat up in around 3 minutes.
Nescafe and Ontro have produced solutions to the same problem, and ended up with very similar products.
I think that you should consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, some of the people who posted about the Nescafe products in the UK, actually did read the Ontro web site, and were commenting on the fact that the current UK product is virtually identical to the Ontro product and has been available for some time now, but is a different product to those available in the early nineties.
Personally I wish Ontro every success, as I would love to see the technology become more widespread (and cheaper), and I doubt that Nestle will take their product much further.
The one flaw that still remains (IMO), is the weight of the cans. They always feel as though there is some drink left, despite being empty.
This product from handisystems may be of use to you.
http://www.handisystems.com/handilan.htm
Unfortunately their price list (dated Jan 1st 2001), lists the product as N/A so you may need to dro pthem a line to see if it is still being manufactured.
In a similar vein, the series 3 went from 3a to 3c because of the negative connotations with having a b version.
i.e. b is perceived as second best by many people.
Or Mars, Venus or Io? The Lunar Embassy is selling off plots of land on the Moon , Mars, Venus and Io.
Surely these would make a great geek gift in the sub playstation2 category. And who knows, maybe your descendents will even be able to make use of the gift:-)
1. Spam a Exhibitor Attendee monile with special offers from Exhibitors providing they attend the stand within X minutes and display the message (C)Nik Butler
I hate to tell you this but this application has already been developed. I worked on it at my previous company ~7months ago. It has also been expanded into more everyday situations.
2. Inform patients when Glasses or prescriptions can be collected.(C) Nik Butler
3. Send Cat servicing reminders and history to a car owner, giving details of who to contact.(C) Nik Butler
I know of two companies currently developing WAP and SMS based systems similar to these last two suggestions. Perhaps your copyright notice is a little unfounded.
For my Money HTML and possibly XML provide a smarter document structure for delivering content if designers could consider less client
side reliability in their sites and more Server Side information and layout it could be implemented for a wider audience.
As for you last point, I agree to a certain extent with you. However I feel that HTML is far too cumbersome for anything other than PC based web browsing.
XML is the way to go, with server side processing formatting that data in to the most suitable format for the current client, whether that is a PC web browser, a mobile phone, a PDA or your internet enabled washing machine.
Slashdot Mirror
Of course, the fact that both of them have done numerous voice overs in ads (both tv and radio) for ages means they became "sell outs" a while back.
It doesn't detract from the fact that they produce some damned funny work and will no doubt continue to do so for some time to come. Besides, why shouldn't they make some money while they are at the "height" of their careers? If the only way is down as you imply, then they'll need something in the old retirement fund.
Sure you'll be able to convert jpegs in 10 years time.
But that won't do you much good when the CD/hard disk/memory card you backed the images up to has degraded in 10, 20, 50 years time.
And those images you printed out on your inkjet? How long will the pigments last? Will it still be as good when your grandchildren are flicking through the photo album?
They intended to charge £25 for the basic residential service
In one location the pricing is £25 for residential and £40 for business per month. In the other trial location, the price is £15 for residential and business users.
Also the bandwidth is higher than the cable offerings, based on the download comparisions (no actual figures I quoted for bandwidth).
So if this trial proves to be a success, it could be much more popular than the cable and ADSL offerings (which both require you to be within a coverage area).
IF (and that's a big if) this goes nationwide then it could be that people in rural areas have better broadband access than people in urban areas currently enjoy.
Of course if this continues beyond the trial then expect to see the prices increase significantly because the trial is being subsidised by various bodies.
It was not intended to be used as a mobile phone, rather it was a work around to the restrictions that prevented pay phones being installed in many locations, and the fact that most pay phones were vandalised constantly.
Unfortunately, shortly after Rabbit was launched, the laws were changed to allow more pay phones to be installed (by companies other than BT), so it kind of under cut Rabbit.
This combined with the fact that mobile phones became portable (as opposed to tethered to a car battery) meant the Rabbit didn't really stand a chance. Rabbit was really a case of too little too late.
One point about Rabbit was that you got a base station to use in your home. This base station could also be used by other Rabbit users to make calls if they were in range. This meant that the Rabbit network got larger as more people became customers, just like current community WiFi initiatives such as Consume et al.
As someone who did read the web site, I can say that the product they have produced, is virtually identical to the nescafe coffee cans other posters have mentioned.
According to the Ontro web site, they got the idea from similar products released in the early 1990s. Those ealry products had flaws, such a bulkiness, which Ontro wished to overcome.
Admitedly those early products (at least those released in the UK - there was a spate of self heating and self-cooling products released on a trial basis in the early 90s) did suffer from the flaws the Ontro founders identified. However, the product currently available from Nescafe, is a complete redesign of those early ideas, and has overcome the flaws in a very similar way to the Ontro product.
Ontro state that their product is 16oz in size, holding 10oz of beverage, and that it heats up within 5 minutes after pressing a button on the base, and stays warm for around 20 minutes.
The nescafe self-heating coffees are more or less the same size, stay warm for the same length of time, and heat up in around 3 minutes.
Nescafe and Ontro have produced solutions to the same problem, and ended up with very similar products.
I think that you should consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, some of the people who posted about the Nescafe products in the UK, actually did read the Ontro web site, and were commenting on the fact that the current UK product is virtually identical to the Ontro product and has been available for some time now, but is a different product to those available in the early nineties.
Personally I wish Ontro every success, as I would love to see the technology become more widespread (and cheaper), and I doubt that Nestle will take their product much further.
The one flaw that still remains (IMO), is the weight of the cans. They always feel as though there is some drink left, despite being empty.
This product from handisystems may be of use to you.
http://www.handisystems.com/handilan.htm
Unfortunately their price list (dated Jan 1st 2001), lists the product as N/A so you may need to dro pthem a line to see if it is still being manufactured.
In a similar vein, the series 3 went from 3a to 3c because of the negative connotations with having a b version.
i.e. b is perceived as second best by many people.
you could at least make reference to Red Dwarf when you quote it...
well the .co.uk address is a bit of a give away ;-)
Splash!
The Lunar Embassy is selling off plots of land on the Moon , Mars, Venus and Io.
Surely these would make a great geek gift in the sub playstation2 category. And who knows, maybe your descendents will even be able to make use of the gift :-)
--
I hate to tell you this but this application has already been developed. I worked on it at my previous company ~7months ago. It has also been expanded into more everyday situations.
2. Inform patients when Glasses or prescriptions can be collected.(C) Nik Butler
3. Send Cat servicing reminders and history to a car owner, giving details of who to contact.(C) Nik Butler
I know of two companies currently developing WAP and SMS based systems similar to these last two suggestions. Perhaps your copyright notice is a little unfounded.
For my Money HTML and possibly XML provide a smarter document structure for delivering content if designers could consider less client side reliability in their sites and more Server Side information and layout it could be implemented for a wider audience.
As for you last point, I agree to a certain extent with you. However I feel that HTML is far too cumbersome for anything other than PC based web browsing.
XML is the way to go, with server side processing formatting that data in to the most suitable format for the current client, whether that is a PC web browser, a mobile phone, a PDA or your internet enabled washing machine.