As of late Sept, Videogames.com was reporting that no game *released* was based off CE. I had to assume this to be US because I do not follow Japan closely. I did not know Rally2 was out yet. In either event, I wasn't speculating as I believe Gamespot also reported a similar article. (btw, in replying to this, I wanted to show the Gamespot URL, but their search servers appear to be uncooperative.)
Personally, I agree that if (1) Sega makes a module that at least adds either USB or PCMCIA or Ethernet and (2) Guarantees that CE becomes the platform for the majority of games. This will succeed since gamemakers and Sega would not have to worry about drivers...CE would handle that. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I will not give Sega a chance after being burned with the Genesis, SegaCD, 32X and Saturn...
I find it humorous to read the USENET concerning the religious wars between the Dreamcast and the upcoming PSX2. Seems that, along with being a prime supporter of WindowsCE (which, btw, has yet to be used for a DC game) they took the Microsoft approach to things and made their product upgradeable...because it isn't quite good enough from the start! Some of these DC owners bemoan the PSX2 specs saying that Sony dropped the ball in not including a modem with the PSX2...all Sony could figure out was putting PCMCIA slots and USB ports. Man, that thing will never be expandable.
This report actually surprises me, considering my recent experiences with companies choosing a platform. Tradition has the people making the sales pitch and purchases very technically *disinclined* while the people who know better are lucky if they can requisition a Cheapbytes CD. What has happened to the almighty salesmen?
Getting the chance to witness first-hand the European work ethic/culture, I see the point Mr.AC is trying to make. However, I think we are also witnessing evolution in progress...sociological evolution. As the globe becomes smaller, and the continents begin to weaken their nationalistic hold on borders, the traditional cultural differences will begin to blend. The United States, far removed from the pressures of 7+ countries at its doorways, has been a crucible of sociological changes. As large as the country is, it has acted as a Galopagos in the realm of cultural time. The "agressive, go-get-em" attitude has been allowed to grow unchecked with no "natural enemy"...well, maybe one. And unfortunately, that "one" is a loss of respect for others. Total victory in a capitalistic society cannot be achieved without crushing others, both economically and socially. At first it starts with an acceptance of poorer people, then impovershed people, then outcasts. Fear of being last turns into paranoia. Given the tools to eliminate the causes of this fear and paranoia, the individual will respond. We saw this response on Tuesday. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. However, because of this global border relaxing, the U.S. will find itself increasingly opposed to the more humanitarian/solcialist ventures of other countries. There's a long way to go. Case in point: In the UK, there are campaigns geared for the elimination of the 3rd World. That kind of change would be unheard of in the U.S. Too many companies are built upon the backs of the 3rd world. I hope this will change. Finally, I think all of us (meaning the globe, not Americans) should remain keenly aware of an alarming global trend that could thwart the ideals of a globally equal society. As the globe has shrunk, weapons have become more powerful. This means that simply having these weapons puts a lot of power in the hands of "cornered" countries. This has been all too apparent throughout the 90s. Even though life isn't as dark as many futurists of old predicted for the late 20th century, I do believe we all have room to improve and I hope this is as low as we get. As Shakespeare's "King Lear" tells us, there's no bottom. Things can *always* get worse. Jesse
Acutally, if you go to the bother of ordering a cheapbyte CD (clicking order), you'll notice that they ship Internationally. This stumped me for a while, though, since it is not listed as 'United Kingdom'. It is listed as 'Great Britain and Ireland'. Jesse
Would someone kindly explain to me why Moore's law has been taken seriously for so long? For anyone who is going to simply say "because it is right" I will answer right back with "have you ever heard of the concept of self fulfilling prophecy?" I also would like to know why this is a law, rather than just an accurate prediction. Victor Hugo predicted radio proliferation, especially for things besides communications, yet there is only an award in his honor rather than a "scientific" law. If this really is a valid law (which someone might explain to me), then I propose the Microsoft corollary to Moore's law which dictates that it was Microsoft's balooning software business (and their resource hogging applications) that drove the law. I find it hard to believe that without such a push, the law would have been considered "optimistic" throughout the eighties as Intel and Motorola would have sat upon their work without need to improve performance. Jesse
Rob, don't give up your monitor just yet. I think sharing screen information might be a bit tough. On the subject of flat screens, I have yet to work with one, but one feature I could think of that th e flat screen would excel in would be ease of moving the screen for others to view as well as for seat adjustments. Have the mounts improved over the nearly impossible to move CRT mounts? Jesse
Since everyone in the industry is keen on comparing software to the car industry, I think I would like to add a bit of insight to the "ease" versus "stable" issue.
In the US, car purchasing (up until recently) has been a chore second only to buying a home. The dealers, the research, the test drives, etc. all take a long time and drain a person. However, someone who goes through all the steps gets exactly what they wanted to begin with: a new car that will be reliable and long lasting, while a person who walks in a pays "sticker" gets it in the end, if you know what I mean. (Now, someone might bring up the point that the web has made car purchasing easy. But that is after *how* many years since the car was made a commercial product?!)
I think the same holds true with enterprise computing decisions and roll-out. Furthermore, there is a tendency for people to remark about Windows' ease-of-installation. Let's do some logic here:
Windows is developed based on customer needs Windows crashes Customers *need* to reinstall/reconfigure Windows Microsoft fulfills customer needs by making installation easier. Time spent making the installation easier is time *not* spent making other parts of the system more stable.
Linux was developed with "do it right first" in mind Linux is tough to install (I personally disagree, but I can't place my opinions on others' statements) Once installed, however,Linux rarely requires reinstall Linux was developed right in the first place More time is spent on Linux reliability
Jonas, I'm right there with you, finger on the buy button the second the page is done. It's my wife's Easter present to me. She's been a good sport since I've exercised Microsoft from our home. She loves Linux now (especially since I put that "Hobbit" them on her WindowMaker desktop) Jesse
Amen. That little nugget of knowledge (use the lowest common denominator for development) is dangerous when people forget about the higher factions. In their defense, however, at least they didn't just develop it in UXGA and say "need at least 1280x1024 to view this page". That would have been worse. Jesse
Actually, Linuxstart has been around since early March. What's really cool about it is that searches are multilingual (i.e. if it's a french page, you get the french page). Thus it makes it a bit more global (in my opinion, that is).
The problem now, is, what to do when searching for linux news?! I've got slashdot, linuxtoday, lwn, metalab, freshmeat, and now all these portals (well, Linuxstart carries Linuxtoday and Slashdot news...and Linuxtoday carries Freshmeat and Slashdot...and, well you get the idea). If any of them could reach the customization of Yahoo!, I'd be all over that...or better yet if Linuxtoday, Freshmeat, and Slashdot could become content providers to MyYahoo...oh the options the options.
Tom, I for one would encourage any company that lost measurable time due to this virus to sue Microsoft. It's will serve one multiple-faceted purpose. The first and formost in my mind is "Is Microsoft *really* liable for their products?". Proponents of Microsoft use this as an argument for commercial software. A backstop, a single point for all eventual complaints to return. The precident will make software companies the real thing: a producer of content that is liable for its product. This is different than the current image of "tool producers" who, like Craftsman and Snap-On, cannot be held liable for someone using a hammer in a murder, but can be held liable for injury should the hammer break (when they claimed it would not). Either way, the definition of software companies will change forever and bring to light the problems RMS, ESR and Linus have been trying to point out all along. It will wake up software vendors to the problems of market flooding unproven proprietary products to unsuspecting consumers who think they are being served to their best purposes. Bill Gates likes to compare his innovations to the auto industry. If so, maybe he should talk with them about government restrictions such as ABS and air bags, something the industry refused to add for years. Today, they are considered the major selling points for cars, yet 20 years ago, their proposed regulation raised cries of "innovation hinderance" and "cost inflation" by car companies. Of course, the US auto industry was suffering from something a certain US software company is suffering from: percieved quality of its product when placed next to a better competing product. Most americans know what took place over the next decade. First it was denial, "it's the Japanese underselling us", then it was FUD "buy American, it's the patriotic thing to do", then they wised up and started to produce quality cars. Had GM or Ford had the grip on transportation that Microsoft has on the software business, I think the end result would be different.
Saying Token Ring is slow seems to me like you're comparing the line speeds between, most likely, Ethernet. Don't forget that TR holds it's line speed even under heavy conditions and does not have the sever restrictions on number of hosts/distance to repeater that Ethernet has.
With 100Mbit and GigaBit Ethernet, ENet takes the speed lead (for years 16Mbit TR was still faster, by the numbers not just tech, than 10Mbit ENet...which I would pit against 4Mbit TR in a 5000+ workstation environment).
Unfortunately, I have not followed the progression of the new Ethernet technologies. Can anyone tell me if the repeater and number of host limitations have been reduced or eliminated? Also, has packet-loss for high volume ENet networks been brought to the same reliability that TR has (something I failed to mention above)?
As much as I agree with the enjoyment of emulating game machines (thus giving the author a fun goal), there are other things to emulate: older systems, video or telephony chipsets like MWave (which would really help in creating a driver) and Sound Blaster, non-console/computer devices such as telephone networks or power grid. Thus providing the technical joy of emulation programming. Don't get me wrong, the best emulation is still in gaming (cause it's easier to test and infinitely more fun) but roadblocks in that area shouldn't be showstoppers for those who enjoy the technology. Heck, just mentioning trying to emulate the MWave is making me want to get into the "scene". Jesse
Does anyone else find it odd that the "operating system" upgrade that is Internet Explorer 5.0 is being sold separately on the M$ website? Everything article on the site referring to IE almost never mention the added-value the OS gets, just talks about IE as a browser.
Are investors that stupid to keep pouring money into a company that cannot organise a coherent defense? Or worse, one that sends a relative rookie (the M$ lawyer is what, 35-37?) to the highest court in the US to defend its business. Talk about thumbing your nose! And mind you, I'm not age discriminating here. I'm sure the lawyer is smart...however, when it comes to law, there is ALWAYS something to be said about age since both wisdom and presentation are factors.
Slashdot Mirror
As of late Sept, Videogames.com was reporting that no game *released* was based off CE. I had to assume this to be US because I do not follow Japan closely. I did not know Rally2 was out yet. In either event, I wasn't speculating as I believe Gamespot also reported a similar article. (btw, in replying to this, I wanted to show the Gamespot URL, but their search servers appear to be uncooperative.)
Personally, I agree that if (1) Sega makes a module that at least adds either USB or PCMCIA or Ethernet and (2) Guarantees that CE becomes the platform for the majority of games. This will succeed since gamemakers and Sega would not have to worry about drivers...CE would handle that. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), I will not give Sega a chance after being burned with the Genesis, SegaCD, 32X and Saturn...
Jesse
I find it humorous to read the USENET concerning the religious wars between the Dreamcast and the upcoming PSX2. Seems that, along with being a prime supporter of WindowsCE (which, btw, has yet to be used for a DC game) they took the Microsoft approach to things and made their product upgradeable...because it isn't quite good enough from the start! Some of these DC owners bemoan the PSX2 specs saying that Sony dropped the ball in not including a modem with the PSX2...all Sony could figure out was putting PCMCIA slots and USB ports. Man, that thing will never be expandable.
This report actually surprises me, considering my recent experiences with companies choosing a platform. Tradition has the people making the sales pitch and purchases very technically *disinclined* while the people who know better are lucky if they can requisition a Cheapbytes CD.
What has happened to the almighty salesmen?
Getting the chance to witness first-hand the European work ethic/culture, I see the point Mr.AC is trying to make. However, I think we are also witnessing evolution in progress...sociological evolution. As the globe becomes smaller, and the continents begin to weaken their nationalistic hold on borders, the traditional cultural differences will begin to blend. The United States, far removed from the pressures of 7+ countries at its doorways, has been a crucible of sociological changes. As large as the country is, it has acted as a Galopagos in the realm of cultural time. The "agressive, go-get-em" attitude has been allowed to grow unchecked with no "natural enemy"...well, maybe one. And unfortunately, that "one" is a loss of respect for others. Total victory in a capitalistic society cannot be achieved without crushing others, both economically and socially. At first it starts with an acceptance of poorer people, then impovershed people, then outcasts. Fear of being last turns into paranoia. Given the tools to eliminate the causes of this fear and paranoia, the individual will respond. We saw this response on Tuesday. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. However, because of this global border relaxing, the U.S. will find itself increasingly opposed to the more humanitarian/solcialist ventures of other countries. There's a long way to go. Case in point: In the UK, there are campaigns geared for the elimination of the 3rd World. That kind of change would be unheard of in the U.S. Too many companies are built upon the backs of the 3rd world. I hope this will change. Finally, I think all of us (meaning the globe, not Americans) should remain keenly aware of an alarming global trend that could thwart the ideals of a globally equal society. As the globe has shrunk, weapons have become more powerful. This means that simply having these weapons puts a lot of power in the hands of "cornered" countries. This has been all too apparent throughout the 90s. Even though life isn't as dark as many futurists of old predicted for the late 20th century, I do believe we all have room to improve and I hope this is as low as we get. As Shakespeare's "King Lear" tells us, there's no bottom. Things can *always* get worse. Jesse
Acutally, if you go to the bother of ordering a cheapbyte CD (clicking order), you'll notice that they ship Internationally. This stumped me for a while, though, since it is not listed as 'United Kingdom'. It is listed as 'Great Britain and Ireland'. Jesse
Would someone kindly explain to me why Moore's law has been taken seriously for so long? For anyone who is going to simply say "because it is right" I will answer right back with "have you ever heard of the concept of self fulfilling prophecy?" I also would like to know why this is a law, rather than just an accurate prediction. Victor Hugo predicted radio proliferation, especially for things besides communications, yet there is only an award in his honor rather than a "scientific" law. If this really is a valid law (which someone might explain to me), then I propose the Microsoft corollary to Moore's law which dictates that it was Microsoft's balooning software business (and their resource hogging applications) that drove the law. I find it hard to believe that without such a push, the law would have been considered "optimistic" throughout the eighties as Intel and Motorola would have sat upon their work without need to improve performance. Jesse
Rob, don't give up your monitor just yet. I think sharing screen information might be a bit tough. On the subject of flat screens, I have yet to work with one, but one feature I could think of that th e flat screen would excel in would be ease of moving the screen for others to view as well as for seat adjustments. Have the mounts improved over the nearly impossible to move CRT mounts? Jesse
Since everyone in the industry is keen on comparing software to the car industry, I think I would like to add a bit of insight to the "ease" versus "stable" issue.
In the US, car purchasing (up until recently) has been a chore second only to buying a home. The dealers, the research, the test drives, etc. all take a long time and drain a person. However, someone who goes through all the steps gets exactly what they wanted to begin with: a new car that will be reliable and long lasting, while a person who walks in a pays "sticker" gets it in the end, if you know what I mean. (Now, someone might bring up the point that the web has made car purchasing easy. But that is after *how* many years since the car was made a commercial product?!)
I think the same holds true with enterprise computing decisions and roll-out. Furthermore, there is a tendency for people to remark about Windows' ease-of-installation. Let's do some logic here:
Windows is developed based on customer needs
Windows crashes
Customers *need* to reinstall/reconfigure Windows
Microsoft fulfills customer needs by making installation easier.
Time spent making the installation easier is time *not* spent making other parts of the system more stable.
Linux was developed with "do it right first" in mind
Linux is tough to install (I personally disagree, but I can't place my opinions on others' statements)
Once installed, however,Linux rarely requires reinstall
Linux was developed right in the first place
More time is spent on Linux reliability
Jesse
Jonas, I'm right there with you, finger on the buy button the second the page is done. It's my wife's Easter present to me. She's been a good sport since I've exercised Microsoft from our home. She loves Linux now (especially since I put that "Hobbit" them on her WindowMaker desktop) Jesse
Amen. That little nugget of knowledge (use the lowest common denominator for development) is dangerous when people forget about the higher factions. In their defense, however, at least they didn't just develop it in UXGA and say "need at least 1280x1024 to view this page". That would have been worse. Jesse
Actually, Linuxstart has been around since early March. What's really cool about it is that searches are multilingual (i.e. if it's a french page, you get the french page). Thus it makes it a bit more global (in my opinion, that is).
The problem now, is, what to do when searching for linux news?! I've got slashdot, linuxtoday, lwn, metalab, freshmeat, and now all these portals (well, Linuxstart carries Linuxtoday and Slashdot news...and Linuxtoday carries Freshmeat and Slashdot...and, well you get the idea). If any of them could reach the customization of Yahoo!, I'd be all over that...or better yet if Linuxtoday, Freshmeat, and Slashdot could become content providers to MyYahoo...oh the options the options.
Jesse
Tom, I for one would encourage any company that lost measurable time due to this virus to sue Microsoft. It's will serve one multiple-faceted purpose. The first and formost in my mind is "Is Microsoft *really* liable for their products?". Proponents of Microsoft use this as an argument for commercial software. A backstop, a single point for all eventual complaints to return. The precident will make software companies the real thing: a producer of content that is liable for its product. This is different than the current image of "tool producers" who, like Craftsman and Snap-On, cannot be held liable for someone using a hammer in a murder, but can be held liable for injury should the hammer break (when they claimed it would not). Either way, the definition of software companies will change forever and bring to light the problems RMS, ESR and Linus have been trying to point out all along. It will wake up software vendors to the problems of market flooding unproven proprietary products to unsuspecting consumers who think they are being served to their best purposes. Bill Gates likes to compare his innovations to the auto industry. If so, maybe he should talk with them about government restrictions such as ABS and air bags, something the industry refused to add for years. Today, they are considered the major selling points for cars, yet 20 years ago, their proposed regulation raised cries of "innovation hinderance" and "cost inflation" by car companies. Of course, the US auto industry was suffering from something a certain US software company is suffering from: percieved quality of its product when placed next to a better competing product. Most americans know what took place over the next decade. First it was denial, "it's the Japanese underselling us", then it was FUD "buy American, it's the patriotic thing to do", then they wised up and started to produce quality cars. Had GM or Ford had the grip on transportation that Microsoft has on the software business, I think the end result would be different.
Saying Token Ring is slow seems to me like you're comparing the line speeds between, most likely, Ethernet. Don't forget that TR holds it's line speed even under heavy conditions and does not have the sever restrictions on number of hosts/distance to repeater that Ethernet has.
With 100Mbit and GigaBit Ethernet, ENet takes the speed lead (for years 16Mbit TR was still faster, by the numbers not just tech, than 10Mbit ENet...which I would pit against 4Mbit TR in a 5000+ workstation environment).
Unfortunately, I have not followed the progression of the new Ethernet technologies. Can anyone tell me if the repeater and number of host limitations have been reduced or eliminated? Also, has packet-loss for high volume ENet networks been brought to the same reliability that TR has (something I failed to mention above)?
Jesse Tilly
As much as I agree with the enjoyment of emulating game machines (thus giving the author a fun goal), there are other things to emulate: older systems, video or telephony chipsets like MWave (which would really help in creating a driver) and Sound Blaster, non-console/computer devices such as telephone networks or power grid. Thus providing the technical joy of emulation programming. Don't get me wrong, the best emulation is still in gaming (cause it's easier to test and infinitely more fun) but roadblocks in that area shouldn't be showstoppers for those who enjoy the technology. Heck, just mentioning trying to emulate the MWave is making me want to get into the "scene". Jesse
Does anyone else find it odd that the "operating system" upgrade that is Internet Explorer 5.0 is being sold separately on the M$ website? Everything article on the site referring to IE almost never mention the added-value the OS gets, just talks about IE as a browser.
Are investors that stupid to keep pouring money into a company that cannot organise a coherent defense? Or worse, one that sends a relative rookie (the M$ lawyer is what, 35-37?) to the highest court in the US to defend its business. Talk about thumbing your nose! And mind you, I'm not age discriminating here. I'm sure the lawyer is smart...however, when it comes to law, there is ALWAYS something to be said about age since both wisdom and presentation are factors.
Jesse
I've heard it pronounced 'squeal'...trust me, hearing Sequel is much better.
Jesse