I could have a cutesy "FTFY" moment, but this is far too serious of a problem:
Microsoft has ALWAYS "released incremental improvements and lackluster copies of what the competition is doing." This is their business model, and it has worked for two and a half decades. They won't change until they HAVE to change (which might be what this story is insinuating).
So Win7, which is their best product to date by a mile but has slow adoption, and Xbox 360 (niche product at best) is the best you can come up with?
To the contrary, I think the things that Microsoft are known for are really good right now (Office and Windows) but they try too damned hard tto be the "ooh ooh me too!" company and they have a lot of crap, just so they can say they have that stuff too (even if it is terrible).
Microsoft has always been a commercial brand and not a consumer one. I've never purchased (or used freely) a Microsoft product because I wanted to. (Xbox being an outlier, even though I have a PS3 now).
I think most people feel this way. It's weird to find somebody who actually chooses an MS product willingly.
With that, Windows 7 is really nice. Too bad it's about 15 years too late.
If you buy ANYTHING, you are liable if you use it to do illegal activities. This guy wasn't arrested for jail breaking his xbox. He was arrested for charging people to mod their xboxes to run pirated games.
[car anology]You can modify your engine all you want, but you can't drive it around if it isn't street legal[/car analogy]. Set fire to you car if you like but most likely face a civil penalty (unless you get a permit). Possessing thermite is also probably illegal.
See you can't just do whatever you want because you own something.
Exactly right. This has NOTHING to do with Apple, iPhone, jailbreaking, etc. This is a guy selling mods that exist SOLELY to run illegal copies of software.
Of course nobody around here thinks companies should make any money and information just wants to be free and all that, but still...
That "somebody who actually did something to deserve the wealth" is daddy, and he can do what he pleases with his money, including passing it on to his kid.
And the kid did nothing to deserve it other than be born to the right person.
The kid deserves the money because it's his dad's money and dad can do whatever the fuck he wants with it.
Agreed, he can do whatever he wants with it. Doesn't mean he earned it.
If you think the kid doesn't deserve it and you do, then don't complain about the kid, complain about your daddy.
I never said I deserved the rich kid's inheritance. I said I earned my money and thus deserve the rewards more than a kid who inherits his.
That's the difference between me, and a punk trust-fund baby...if I inherited a bunch of money, I would not feel like I did anything to deserve it and would thus act accordingly.
This is a common and highly exaggerated statement. Starting a modern car uses a negligible amount of fuel, and if anything, far less fuel than leaving an engine at idle.
Those older vehicles were not light. The bodies were made from cold rolled steel, with solid I-beam construction. They were much, much safer than most modern unibody designs, if only due to mass.
Thanks for perpetuating one of the lamest myths in history.
While I can second your sentiment about going fast and improving your commute (accelerating ahead of all the morons going 15 miles under the speed limit in the left lane, for example), I have to admit that I've gotten used to my Mazdaspeed3 acceleration.
This is nice and all, but I think there is one practical diesel model on sale in the US (Jetta), and it has average-below-average reliability.
I watched an episode of Top Gear (season 12) where they drove from Italy to Blackpool on ONE TANK OF GAS. Hamster drove a Polo (no thanks), May a Volvo/Subaru (can't remember) and Clarkson a big twin turbo diesel Jag (of course).
All of them got more gas mileage than the best hybrid in the US market. None of them are available here.
One of the big deals is I've been making fun of Windows since 95 came out. It can do soooo much stuff, after you spend a day and a half downloading all the stuff you need.
Ditching Flash (especially when it shares so much with the OS display architecture), is just really dumb.
The more stuff you can have on the box when it is first turned on, the more you can use the ad phrase "it just works". Take Flash off, and Gramma get's pissed that her computer doesn't "just work" anymore.
Seems that the vendetta is all PR, since Apple is allowing Adobe Air Packager for iOS, hich plays, drum roll......Flash content.
Jobs, for whatever reason, wants the functionality of Flash, but doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that content is Flash. Hence, "Adobe Air Packager for iOS"! Flash without saying Flash.
You are right. I'm no more deserving than anybody else who applies his or her self.
We are ALL more deserving than people who inherit a fortune from a family member without doing anything.
I don't even know you, but I can tell by your communication skills that you deserve whatever money you have more than people like Snooki or Paris Hilton.
I'm 40. I was the first in my family to go to college and get a degree, going deeply in debt to do so. I served in the military to pay back some of that debt (and the job market in 93 was pretty bad). I stayed in long enough to add a real life skill to my degree, got out, went to grad school (going back into debt).
All the while raising a family and having two mortgages.
I do fine now, but only due to MY actions. In other words, I deserve what I have now more than any trust-fund baby.
Hell, you don't even have to have my story to be more deserving. You just need to have applied yourself at something.
Slashdot Mirror
Or tablet computing could be the web bubble burst of the 1990s all over again. I for one will make sure I get out earlier this time.
I could have a cutesy "FTFY" moment, but this is far too serious of a problem:
Microsoft has ALWAYS "released incremental improvements and lackluster copies of what the competition is doing." This is their business model, and it has worked for two and a half decades. They won't change until they HAVE to change (which might be what this story is insinuating).
Perhaps they should achieve market success with the Zune before moving into the tablet arena?
CNN has lost market share because they don't run news stories about missing blondes for 20 hours a day, 20 months in a row.
I applaud CNN for not dumbing down to the Fox News crowd (oh wait, that's their HNL division, I guess).
So Win7, which is their best product to date by a mile but has slow adoption, and Xbox 360 (niche product at best) is the best you can come up with?
To the contrary, I think the things that Microsoft are known for are really good right now (Office and Windows) but they try too damned hard tto be the "ooh ooh me too!" company and they have a lot of crap, just so they can say they have that stuff too (even if it is terrible).
They are simply too big to be good at everything.
Microsoft has always been a commercial brand and not a consumer one. I've never purchased (or used freely) a Microsoft product because I wanted to. (Xbox being an outlier, even though I have a PS3 now).
I think most people feel this way. It's weird to find somebody who actually chooses an MS product willingly.
With that, Windows 7 is really nice. Too bad it's about 15 years too late.
... when you can be charged with the possibility of jail time for simply soldering computer components together for hire.
I offer services where I simply modify assault rifles so they can fire in fully automatic mode. Bastard feds won't leave me alone.
This guy isn't responsible for what people do AFTER he performs a hardware modification.
While not hardware, I think Napster has set the precedent on this.
If you buy ANYTHING, you are liable if you use it to do illegal activities. This guy wasn't arrested for jail breaking his xbox. He was arrested for charging people to mod their xboxes to run pirated games.
[car anology]You can modify your engine all you want, but you can't drive it around if it isn't street legal[/car analogy]. Set fire to you car if you like but most likely face a civil penalty (unless you get a permit). Possessing thermite is also probably illegal.
See you can't just do whatever you want because you own something.
Exactly right. This has NOTHING to do with Apple, iPhone, jailbreaking, etc. This is a guy selling mods that exist SOLELY to run illegal copies of software.
Of course nobody around here thinks companies should make any money and information just wants to be free and all that, but still...
If you people would just read the first paragraph, you'd see this bit:
[arrested] on accusations of running a home business of jailbreaking videogame consoles so they can play pirated games.
He wasn't arrested for jail-breaking his xbox. But then again, this is slashdot. Summaries need not be accurate as long as the ends justify the means.
You forgot the Apple PS3.
That "somebody who actually did something to deserve the wealth" is daddy, and he can do what he pleases with his money, including passing it on to his kid.
And the kid did nothing to deserve it other than be born to the right person.
The kid deserves the money because it's his dad's money and dad can do whatever the fuck he wants with it.
Agreed, he can do whatever he wants with it. Doesn't mean he earned it.
If you think the kid doesn't deserve it and you do, then don't complain about the kid, complain about your daddy.
I never said I deserved the rich kid's inheritance. I said I earned my money and thus deserve the rewards more than a kid who inherits his.
That's the difference between me, and a punk trust-fund baby...if I inherited a bunch of money, I would not feel like I did anything to deserve it and would thus act accordingly.
This is a common and highly exaggerated statement. Starting a modern car uses a negligible amount of fuel, and if anything, far less fuel than leaving an engine at idle.
The Honda Civic today gets about the same mileage as it did 30 years ago
I owned a VI in 1990(?) and it got nearly 60 mpg. No Civics since then have come close.
Those older vehicles were not light. The bodies were made from cold rolled steel, with solid I-beam construction. They were much, much safer than most modern unibody designs, if only due to mass.
Thanks for perpetuating one of the lamest myths in history.
While I can second your sentiment about going fast and improving your commute (accelerating ahead of all the morons going 15 miles under the speed limit in the left lane, for example), I have to admit that I've gotten used to my Mazdaspeed3 acceleration.
Now I need more ;-)
Since the diesel Polo is not available in the US, why bother citing US gallons?
And that also answers your question of "WTF is this news?"
This is nice and all, but I think there is one practical diesel model on sale in the US (Jetta), and it has average-below-average reliability.
I watched an episode of Top Gear (season 12) where they drove from Italy to Blackpool on ONE TANK OF GAS. Hamster drove a Polo (no thanks), May a Volvo/Subaru (can't remember) and Clarkson a big twin turbo diesel Jag (of course).
All of them got more gas mileage than the best hybrid in the US market. None of them are available here.
One of the big deals is I've been making fun of Windows since 95 came out. It can do soooo much stuff, after you spend a day and a half downloading all the stuff you need.
Ditching Flash (especially when it shares so much with the OS display architecture), is just really dumb.
The more stuff you can have on the box when it is first turned on, the more you can use the ad phrase "it just works". Take Flash off, and Gramma get's pissed that her computer doesn't "just work" anymore.
Seems that the vendetta is all PR, since Apple is allowing Adobe Air Packager for iOS, hich plays, drum roll......Flash content.
Jobs, for whatever reason, wants the functionality of Flash, but doesn't want to draw attention to the fact that content is Flash. Hence, "Adobe Air Packager for iOS"! Flash without saying Flash.
(Still no Flash plugin for iPhone browser though)
You had me at "convenient tools", which is far less ominous sounding than "mind share".
You are right. I'm no more deserving than anybody else who applies his or her self.
We are ALL more deserving than people who inherit a fortune from a family member without doing anything.
I don't even know you, but I can tell by your communication skills that you deserve whatever money you have more than people like Snooki or Paris Hilton.
Ok, so let's make it about me.
I'm 40. I was the first in my family to go to college and get a degree, going deeply in debt to do so. I served in the military to pay back some of that debt (and the job market in 93 was pretty bad). I stayed in long enough to add a real life skill to my degree, got out, went to grad school (going back into debt).
All the while raising a family and having two mortgages.
I do fine now, but only due to MY actions. In other words, I deserve what I have now more than any trust-fund baby.
Hell, you don't even have to have my story to be more deserving. You just need to have applied yourself at something.
The poor pay the same 8% that I do. They just have less purchasing power, which isn't the fault of the tax system.
I'd love it if I was only taxed twice.
1) I get paid, they take taxes.
And if they take too much, you get some of it back.
2) I buy something like a house, I pay sales tax.
I have bought a house in four states with a sales tax and none of them charge sales tax for home purchases.
3) Then continuing to own that house, I pay a % of value on that house as a tax every year.
I like schools and electricity and sewer systems and fire departments.
3.5) if I sell the house, and make a net profit over what I paid, I pay a tax on that profit as income"
Because by definition, you selling your house for a profit is "income", which is taxable.
4) if it's a valuable house/property, if I will it to my children on my death, they get hit with a massive estate tax.
Most likely won't affect you. Less than 2% of deaths a year are subject to the Estate Tax.
It's a great system....if you're a government.
Indeed it is. This is a big country with 300+ million people. It doesn't run on Turkish Lyra.
I sell my hammer to my neighbor, according to the government I should be paying taxes on that transaction. Why, again, are they entitled to that?
Because it is enumerated in the Constitution. Article 1, Section 8, Clause 1.
What, you don't like the Constitution?