But they ARE selling operating systems. Lots of them. I know we're often taught that the "Killer App" is the necessary component, but MS already has that: 1) The IDEA of their brand ("Oh I use Windows") sells software and 2)Office. i's ubiquitous and they know it.
We geeks see computers as tools. I'm sure you know this already but maybe it bears repeating (if not, pardon me): Most people don't. Computers are just consumption channels, an appliance. This is one of the fundamental problems underpinning our complaining/whining/activism on slashdot: We assume other people are like ourselves. We assume others see the usefulness of an open Internet, of Killer Apps (useful tools to us, but if people ALREADY have what they need from day to day why should they care about a new application?), of staying with an old OS like XP or switching to Linux (which I've tried, and, frankly, didn't like or use very much). People just want it to work, as much as we might hate that notion, it's often true. So as it stands? MS already has killer apps (maybe not as good as Apple in some arenas) so why SHOULD they innovate that much? (i know, i know, big can of worms)
This sounds really curmudgeony, now that I'm reading it. Anyway, I'm 32 and GET OFF MY LAWN!:D
He/She isn't blaming MS, I don't think. Merely pointing out that a significant feature set is not present on Win7, so upgrading completely isn't an option.
btw, I agree. The HP thing is a total scam. They've stopped supporting printers that are even just several years old. I've vowed never to buy another HP product again because of this (we got caught pretty badly in this as a small business).
Paraphrasing another slashdotter: Asking the majority of people to change their habits, ways of thinking, and who they are to create change is a bit naive, if well-meaning. We need to work with what's actually here, and what's here are a lot of facebookers, tweeters, and everyday people who DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT OUR GEEK PROBLEMS. Trust me. I know a lot of them. They don't care, they wouldn't understand (fundamentally) why they should, and changing that is a tricky affair. Create waves: take away their comfort. Their facebook, tweets, weatherunderground.com, google homepage, gmail... take away those to create a sudden shock and I think you'll see awareness spike. But... we've already given that power away to large companies. So, unfortunately, it's mostly in the hands of large companies on the internet to shock people into changing.
It's like telling a child the same thing over and over and over and over: They don't listen, they need a lesson to show consequences for their actions, and ordinary people need to be shown why not standing up is a bad idea, because so far they really haven't. They have their bread and circuses so they're comfy and happy with their 2 kids, Mazda Miata, hot tub, motor home, flying lessons, and girlfriend on the side. They're "happy" and have hat they want, why should it bother them if the gov. taps a few phone lines and disappears a few people they don't like? (sarcasm)
SOPA won't happen. It's "look at this hand and pay no attention to what the other is doing". NDAA has passed, potential war with Iran... all while people are panicked over something that could never become law, and while telcos continue to to wire-tap and Homeland Security rolls out MORE VIPR teams!!
I've said it before: Let it pass. Just give them everything and watch their revenue and economy shrivel and die.
The surest way to destroy anyone is to give them everything they want. I say let's do it. Let's stop the protests, let's have the drones and cameras and teams of people searching everyone all the time. Let them have their ego-jizz-filled securo-dream. Watch GDP plummet, watch the stock market crash, watch the riots as people tear their government limb from limb.
Let's stop fighting and accelerate the eventuality: Our democracy as it is can no longer stand. The constitution is great, lots of good ideas, I am all for it and the Bill of RIghts, but the system is so corrupt it cannot continue. Let's let the disease run it's course and let the patient go into a coma, to come out renewed and vibrant in the future. Any medical people here understand that many times the body's defense mechanism is it's own worst enemy. Let the virii kill the host. We'll rebuild and renew, we're Americans:-)
Except that in the ever-moving goal to improve profits, companies will begin to move away for paying for copyright. They will stop using "Happy Birthday". They will innovate. Would it be easier if certain things were in the public domain? yes. However, the idea of taxing (let's be real, that's what this is is) everything we see/hear/use/think means we will just stop engaging those things.
He entire notion of maximizing profit AND locking it in permanently for corporations is a self-destructive situation, it is not tenable. These laws will eat themselves. It will get awful before it gets better, perhaps, but just like centralized planning (communism) doesn't work well for efficient economic models, stranglehold of all ideas is, similarly, a loss no matter what.
Problem is, though, I'm selfish. I want stuff to change NOW so I and my kids can have a better life!
I think you're right, for one. Its the way change happens when other means are gone. We have to get together and show that we're pissed off (and unemployed, and sick, and god knows what else).
And for the above posters: Try being involved in politics AND have a family AND have a job AND hold onto any semblance of personal sanity or get any sleep these days.
Most people are worked into the ground, it does not allow them to have a government that is all that just, it only allows for animalism.
Wow.
Um.... I can only assume you're astroturfing.
Have you heard what Mitt says? oh well, you got a paycheck so it's ok right?
I'm gonna lose karma, but: You're not helping the situation. Get your head out of your ass, AC.
Puerto Rico!? Listen, buddy, I do sympathize but have you BEEN to the states lately, because that's what about half the roads here are looking like too.
I do my best to be nice on the road, but I'm amazed that in Chicago people are fairly likely to let you in if you signal (hey, we gatta' getta' sasij ta duh frunchroom fer da Bears game!) whereas people in less urban areas seem genuinely oblivious or aggressively mean when it comes to traffic.
I've come to the conclusion that the best way to handle this is to simply act like I might be dangerous: drift a little, change speeds if necessary. Probably not good for the populace in general, but if that's what it takes to wake them up...
How about when they determine that you might be connected to suspected terrorist activity, and they make you "disappear"? Or kill you without a trial? That little court system you got there is meaningless when the government decides to simply ignore it.
So keep voting in people who congress will do nothing with.
Trust me, eventually the shit will hit the fan, the world will lose all faith in us as a country and our financial system crashes or people vote them/riot.
A bunch of old white guys can't live forever, and there are a lot more of us than there are of them.
Wow, talk about replying to the wrong thread first....
Actually, the French have a deeply-rooted cultural sense of NEVER opening the windows in the summer. EVER. Turns out they're horrified if you keep them open in the summer. God knows why...
Actually, the French have a deeply-rooted cultural sense of NEVER opening the windows in the summer. EVER.
Turns out they're horrified if you keep them open in the summer. God knows why...
The above poster is right, however I'd venture to say that developing a healthy sense of logic and willpower isn't necessarily bad either. Some of us are business to help people as well as make a living, so getting shut out because so many are shady makes it awfully tough, especially when the worst offenders are often the most charming and convincing.
I worked in a sales office where they taught ALL of this stuff, hammered it into us. If you didn't learn and excel you were pushed out, and they presented the stuff in such a way as to seem justifiable.
I couldn't sleep at night thinking about doing this to people, whatever excuses I heard. It was demoralizing, and it got me pretty depressed over a short period of time. The scary part is that this was in finance, getting people to handover hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars with sub-par advice backing up the recommendations.
WATCH OUT: Most financial people I've met start in a sales office, and most learn the same techniques. They only float if they can perform these tasks without batting an eye. Having dealt with assigned clients after they got essentially swindled by a coworker, and talking to people who are fanatical about defending clearly erroneous financial advice... it's no wonder our financial system is in such disarray.
I know it's the internet, but why persecute the guy anymore than is already happening? If thinks you have to know people in order for people to be nice to you, there isn't a lot of self-respect/self-worth going on there. On the other hand, I know a few very "interesting" people who sleep in any one of their five houses, very soundly, and they most certainly don't give a shit about anyone that doesn't have connections, so maybe this is just the norm and we're fooling ourselves that you're worth anything unless you know someone or can produce something useful to someone. The internet certainly works that way. Don't contribute? Not visible? Not worth anything.
Creepy... in the bible, didn't the seas turn red for the apocalypse? Sorry, I know this is a science site, but it just sort of gave me a little shiver.
Slashdot Mirror
But they ARE selling operating systems. Lots of them.
I know we're often taught that the "Killer App" is the necessary component, but MS already has that: 1) The IDEA of their brand ("Oh I use Windows") sells software and 2)Office. i's ubiquitous and they know it.
We geeks see computers as tools. I'm sure you know this already but maybe it bears repeating (if not, pardon me): Most people don't. Computers are just consumption channels, an appliance. /whining/activism on slashdot: We assume other people are like ourselves. We assume others see the usefulness of an open Internet, of Killer Apps (useful tools to us, but if people ALREADY have what they need from day to day why should they care about a new application?), of staying with an old OS like XP or switching to Linux (which I've tried, and, frankly, didn't like or use very much).
This is one of the fundamental problems underpinning our complaining
People just want it to work, as much as we might hate that notion, it's often true.
So as it stands? MS already has killer apps (maybe not as good as Apple in some arenas) so why SHOULD they innovate that much? (i know, i know, big can of worms)
This sounds really curmudgeony, now that I'm reading it. Anyway, I'm 32 and GET OFF MY LAWN! :D
He/She isn't blaming MS, I don't think. Merely pointing out that a significant feature set is not present on Win7, so upgrading completely isn't an option.
btw, I agree. The HP thing is a total scam. They've stopped supporting printers that are even just several years old. I've vowed never to buy another HP product again because of this (we got caught pretty badly in this as a small business).
Does anyone else think this could be the next big B-Move blunder of the 21st century?
Paraphrasing another slashdotter: Asking the majority of people to change their habits, ways of thinking, and who they are to create change is a bit naive, if well-meaning. We need to work with what's actually here, and what's here are a lot of facebookers, tweeters, and everyday people who DON'T GIVE TWO SHITS ABOUT OUR GEEK PROBLEMS. Trust me. I know a lot of them. They don't care, they wouldn't understand (fundamentally) why they should, and changing that is a tricky affair.
Create waves: take away their comfort. Their facebook, tweets, weatherunderground.com, google homepage, gmail... take away those to create a sudden shock and I think you'll see awareness spike. But... we've already given that power away to large companies. So, unfortunately, it's mostly in the hands of large companies on the internet to shock people into changing.
It's like telling a child the same thing over and over and over and over: They don't listen, they need a lesson to show consequences for their actions, and ordinary people need to be shown why not standing up is a bad idea, because so far they really haven't. They have their bread and circuses so they're comfy and happy with their 2 kids, Mazda Miata, hot tub, motor home, flying lessons, and girlfriend on the side. They're "happy" and have hat they want, why should it bother them if the gov. taps a few phone lines and disappears a few people they don't like? (sarcasm)
Maybe the EFF could moderate/ "own" it?
SOPA won't happen. It's "look at this hand and pay no attention to what the other is doing". NDAA has passed, potential war with Iran... all while people are panicked over something that could never become law, and while telcos continue to to wire-tap and Homeland Security rolls out MORE VIPR teams!!
I've said it before: Let it pass. Just give them everything and watch their revenue and economy shrivel and die.
The surest way to destroy anyone is to give them everything they want. I say let's do it. Let's stop the protests, let's have the drones and cameras and teams of people searching everyone all the time. Let them have their ego-jizz-filled securo-dream. Watch GDP plummet, watch the stock market crash, watch the riots as people tear their government limb from limb.
Let's stop fighting and accelerate the eventuality: Our democracy as it is can no longer stand. The constitution is great, lots of good ideas, I am all for it and the Bill of RIghts, but the system is so corrupt it cannot continue. Let's let the disease run it's course and let the patient go into a coma, to come out renewed and vibrant in the future. Any medical people here understand that many times the body's defense mechanism is it's own worst enemy. Let the virii kill the host. We'll rebuild and renew, we're Americans :-)
Except that in the ever-moving goal to improve profits, companies will begin to move away for paying for copyright. They will stop using "Happy Birthday". They will innovate. Would it be easier if certain things were in the public domain? yes. However, the idea of taxing (let's be real, that's what this is is) everything we see/hear/use/think means we will just stop engaging those things.
He entire notion of maximizing profit AND locking it in permanently for corporations is a self-destructive situation, it is not tenable. These laws will eat themselves. It will get awful before it gets better, perhaps, but just like centralized planning (communism) doesn't work well for efficient economic models, stranglehold of all ideas is, similarly, a loss no matter what.
Problem is, though, I'm selfish. I want stuff to change NOW so I and my kids can have a better life!
Who pays you to be an unthinking troll like this?
I think you're right, for one. Its the way change happens when other means are gone. We have to get together and show that we're pissed off (and unemployed, and sick, and god knows what else). And for the above posters: Try being involved in politics AND have a family AND have a job AND hold onto any semblance of personal sanity or get any sleep these days. Most people are worked into the ground, it does not allow them to have a government that is all that just, it only allows for animalism.
Wow. Um.... I can only assume you're astroturfing. Have you heard what Mitt says? oh well, you got a paycheck so it's ok right? I'm gonna lose karma, but: You're not helping the situation. Get your head out of your ass, AC.
You, sir, have trolled handsomely. Well done! They actually went for it!
Puerto Rico!? Listen, buddy, I do sympathize but have you BEEN to the states lately, because that's what about half the roads here are looking like too.
Couldn't agree more.
I do my best to be nice on the road, but I'm amazed that in Chicago people are fairly likely to let you in if you signal (hey, we gatta' getta' sasij ta duh frunchroom fer da Bears game!) whereas people in less urban areas seem genuinely oblivious or aggressively mean when it comes to traffic.
I've come to the conclusion that the best way to handle this is to simply act like I might be dangerous: drift a little, change speeds if necessary. Probably not good for the populace in general, but if that's what it takes to wake them up...
You must be fun at parties...
How about when they determine that you might be connected to suspected terrorist activity, and they make you "disappear"? Or kill you without a trial? That little court system you got there is meaningless when the government decides to simply ignore it.
A loophole. We'll keep spending and spending and spending until the world cuts us off, like a teenager with dad's credit card.
Oh gawd, I completely fail. that was hilarious.
$153 million, huh? What is that, about half a million for every citizen of the united states?
So keep voting in people who congress will do nothing with. Trust me, eventually the shit will hit the fan, the world will lose all faith in us as a country and our financial system crashes or people vote them/riot. A bunch of old white guys can't live forever, and there are a lot more of us than there are of them.
ah yes, and look how they got sarkozy :)
Wow, talk about replying to the wrong thread first.... Actually, the French have a deeply-rooted cultural sense of NEVER opening the windows in the summer. EVER. Turns out they're horrified if you keep them open in the summer. God knows why...
Actually, the French have a deeply-rooted cultural sense of NEVER opening the windows in the summer. EVER. Turns out they're horrified if you keep them open in the summer. God knows why...
The above poster is right, however I'd venture to say that developing a healthy sense of logic and willpower isn't necessarily bad either. Some of us are business to help people as well as make a living, so getting shut out because so many are shady makes it awfully tough, especially when the worst offenders are often the most charming and convincing. I worked in a sales office where they taught ALL of this stuff, hammered it into us. If you didn't learn and excel you were pushed out, and they presented the stuff in such a way as to seem justifiable. I couldn't sleep at night thinking about doing this to people, whatever excuses I heard. It was demoralizing, and it got me pretty depressed over a short period of time. The scary part is that this was in finance, getting people to handover hundreds of thousands, even millions, of dollars with sub-par advice backing up the recommendations. WATCH OUT: Most financial people I've met start in a sales office, and most learn the same techniques. They only float if they can perform these tasks without batting an eye. Having dealt with assigned clients after they got essentially swindled by a coworker, and talking to people who are fanatical about defending clearly erroneous financial advice... it's no wonder our financial system is in such disarray.
I know it's the internet, but why persecute the guy anymore than is already happening? If thinks you have to know people in order for people to be nice to you, there isn't a lot of self-respect/self-worth going on there. On the other hand, I know a few very "interesting" people who sleep in any one of their five houses, very soundly, and they most certainly don't give a shit about anyone that doesn't have connections, so maybe this is just the norm and we're fooling ourselves that you're worth anything unless you know someone or can produce something useful to someone. The internet certainly works that way. Don't contribute? Not visible? Not worth anything.
Creepy... in the bible, didn't the seas turn red for the apocalypse? Sorry, I know this is a science site, but it just sort of gave me a little shiver.