"If every company had one or two people supporting Linux and OpenOffice, say, there'd be a hell of a lot more jobs than are created than the 10,000 or so created by Microsoft."
10,000 more? 20,000 more? And just who is going to pay all those additional people? Businesses have clearly decided that paying for software licenses is cheaper than using "free" software supported by "one or two people".
Just think how many more engineers and mechanics would be employed if we all built our own cars from readily available iron ore, crude oil and bauxite. Hell, just a few cups of sand and we could build our own computers, servers and telephones!
I've been convinced for years that a safe and efficient method for making micro payments (less than a dollar perhaps) would make web publishing viable. However, I've never seen information about the costs, potential revenue, break even analysis etc of electronic publishing.
Taking the printing, artwork, shipping, marketing and bricks/mortar out of the equation would seem to make self-published books viable and possibly a good way to make a living.
I read electronic books now, but because they cost the same as a "real" book, I don't do it often. Has anyone (John Katz, maybe) done such an analysis. Can it be done?
Yes, I know Stephen King tried it and didn't like it. But what he considered a failure would probably make most of us fabulously happy.
Historically, Walt Mossberg has had lots of bad things to say about Microsoft, it's products and business practices. His criticisms are well known but not necessarily appreciated in Redmond. His criticisms are discussed in product meetings and frequently result in product changes. Ignoring him will not make him go away or change his opinion. Responding may eliminate a very influential critic. Responding quickly and positively may win him over.
We are badly in need of facts from someone schooled in heat transfer and/or geology.
The core of the earth is much hotter than the surface which results in a thermal gradient defined by many factors. In the absence of sunlight and a warm atmosphere, the flow of energy would be from the core into space with the speed determined by the thermal characteristics of the earth. The presence of our atmosphere (at some apparently variable temperature) complicates the equation.
I assume (and this is dangerous) that since this research will be published in a peer reviewed journal, the basic science is sound. Can anyone shed any light on this?
You have hit on the perfect analogy, but don't worry about a patented user interface -- Apple lost that battle.
Automobiles all have a similar UI, however some have great things going on under the hood, others a four cylinder oil burner. Moving from a Cavalier to a Mercedes is easy and a great user experience. Moving from a Cavalier to a Mercedes with a UI similar to a Cat D-9 would not be a great user experience.
I get mine at K-mart. String of 100 regular (filament type) lights for about a buck fifty. After the holidays I throw them away. That way I never have to roll them up, store them, untangle them, look for burned out lights or any of the other nonsense that makes Christmas such a fun holiday.
If you look at amateur-built aircraft, many of them are better in one or more feature than the competition from Cessna or Piper: faster, better range, fancy paint, better payload, cheaper (as long as your time is free). However, they lack the things that make them marketable to the masses: certification, support, manuals, volume production, spare parts, trained service personnel, reliability. Commercial success requires that a product perform well in many areas. Having a single outstanding specification is not enough.
I've always seen parallels between people who contribute to open source projects and people who build their own airplanes, boats and cars. They get pleasure from creating something useful or beautiful. The pleasure is enhanced by sharing it with others, receiving positive feedback and belonging to a group.
Some manage to convert their hobby into a business, occasionally a thriving business. Sometimes they make an important contribution to the field. Mostly, they just enjoy creating and sharing.
This is not a topic for economic analysis. This is not a topic for any kind of analysis. It is something that is rewarding to its participants and that's enough for them.
Having a house built is easy and painless. Spend time developing your specs and pay an architect to turn them into drawings. This is your only opportunity to make changes. Hire a contractor to build to the plans for a fixed price with a schedule. Then leave everyone alone. If you forgot to get it into the spec, that's your problem. If the house is built wrong, you don't pay for it and it's the contractor's problem.
I had one house built and have had several additions done. All painless, on budget and on schedule. If you aren't willing to spend time on the specs, go find a house that's already built.
3) Your wife and son are sitting in front of a cafe having lunch. You head to an ATM to get some cash to pay for lunch. A hacker has somehow managed to steal all of the money from your checking account and that of one million other people.
Having your checking account cleaned out by an unknown someone is much more than an inconvenience. Some poeple don't handle those kinds of things well. Similarly, people who have had their identities stolen and credit cards maxed out look a little terrorized after a few weeks of trying to straighten things out.
If one person is an annoyance and a million is something else (terror?), where does the break occur. At 10? 100?
I'm thinking about upgrading to Win XP, but since its just a commodity, there should be several alternatives that differ only in price. How about that new one from Apple, OS-X. Well, I called them up and they said it probably wouldn't work on my Dell computer without some major tweaking. I'll pass on that.
Next, I called a few of those Linux folks. Red Hat said sure, it'll run fine. Of course, they can't guarantee that all my games and other applications will run OK. But, they can point me in the direction of some application providers that may be able to help. I'll pass on that one too.
Maybe the OS isn't a commodity after all.
And about X-box. They're losing money on each X-box they sell, but the game people send Microsoft money every time they sell a game. The gross margin in licensing is about as close to 100% as you can get. I hear that Sony is making out pretty will with theirs.
Your arguement is "As long as its free, I'll use it. If it is not free, I'll not use it."
The other side of that arguement is: "Why should I pay for it if I can get it for free."
You are correct, the first does no monetary harm to the creator of the software and maybe helps by increasing the user base. The second does monetary harm to the creator of the software.
This study was done primarily to provide information to industry participants, not the rest of us. The numbers developed can be used to project future revenues to companies that provide support for various flavors of servers. This is why it was designed to learn what is installed and running on machines, not what was on them when they shipped.
While it is nice to get paid for software each time it is shipped on a machine, the real bucks come from support and service contracts. It may also be useful for people making important career decisions about what software they are going to become expert in.
People said the same about General Motors in the 1950s and IBM in the 1960s. Commerce spent decades trying to force GM to split off Chevrolet. IBM was hounded by the monopolice for years.
Free markets really work. That's how Microsoft got where it is and that's how Microsoft will be defeated if they do something stupid. Meantime, the handwringers get payment and notariety for moaning about the rewards of brilliant strategies and hard work.
Lets hear a few negative comments about General Electric while you're at it. Number one or two in each of the many markets they play in. Incredible finanical resources. Far more diverse than Microsoft. Ruthless competitor.
Another brilliant example of how the game is played -- and won.
... "checking a Red Sox score" is likely the only thing that the wireless web is good for right now. However, there are plenty of times that I would be love to be able to do that.
And if Red Hat and VA Linux fail to turn a profit (and soon) will it be because the product was bad, the business model was flawed or because Microsoft *crushed* them with falsehoods and innuendo?
I'm betting on door number one or door two. Good products well managed tend to be successful.
50s technology included such things as vacuum tubes. Solid state circuits were made of discrete components. My grandmother's garage door opener was a black box, under the hood, eight inches on a side with glowing tubes inside.
Mobile phones were around, but they were HUGE. Does anyone remember those Korean War movies where the "communications specialist" carried the radio in a pack on his back? It WAS the pack on his back.
Just because it is theoretically possible does not mean it is practical.
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I've always thought Chess was a little over the top. All those Bishops and Knights running around killing each other.
Or, you can buy a Honda Interceptor (VFR) motorcycle. 800cc, 0-60 in 3.1 seconds. 150mph top speed (reported). 50mpg (observed).
Have a gas while saving gas.
The products of perfect combustion are CO2 and H2O -- carbon dioxide and water.
"If every company had one or two people supporting Linux and OpenOffice, say, there'd be a hell of a lot more jobs than are created than the 10,000 or so created by Microsoft."
10,000 more? 20,000 more? And just who is going to pay all those additional people? Businesses have clearly decided that paying for software licenses is cheaper than using "free" software supported by "one or two people".
Just think how many more engineers and mechanics would be employed if we all built our own cars from readily available iron ore, crude oil and bauxite. Hell, just a few cups of sand and we could build our own computers, servers and telephones!
I've been convinced for years that a safe and efficient method for making micro payments (less than a dollar perhaps) would make web publishing viable. However, I've never seen information about the costs, potential revenue, break even analysis etc of electronic publishing.
Taking the printing, artwork, shipping, marketing and bricks/mortar out of the equation would seem to make self-published books viable and possibly a good way to make a living.
I read electronic books now, but because they cost the same as a "real" book, I don't do it often. Has anyone (John Katz, maybe) done such an analysis. Can it be done?
Yes, I know Stephen King tried it and didn't like it. But what he considered a failure would probably make most of us fabulously happy.
Historically, Walt Mossberg has had lots of bad things to say about Microsoft, it's products and business practices. His criticisms are well known but not necessarily appreciated in Redmond. His criticisms are discussed in product meetings and frequently result in product changes. Ignoring him will not make him go away or change his opinion. Responding may eliminate a very influential critic. Responding quickly and positively may win him over.
We are badly in need of facts from someone schooled in heat transfer and/or geology.
The core of the earth is much hotter than the surface which results in a thermal gradient defined by many factors. In the absence of sunlight and a warm atmosphere, the flow of energy would be from the core into space with the speed determined by the thermal characteristics of the earth. The presence of our atmosphere (at some apparently variable temperature) complicates the equation.
I assume (and this is dangerous) that since this research will be published in a peer reviewed journal, the basic science is sound. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Or to keep someone else's three-letter agency from establishing a secure means of global communication.
You have hit on the perfect analogy, but don't worry about a patented user interface -- Apple lost that battle.
Automobiles all have a similar UI, however some have great things going on under the hood, others a four cylinder oil burner. Moving from a Cavalier to a Mercedes is easy and a great user experience. Moving from a Cavalier to a Mercedes with a UI similar to a Cat D-9 would not be a great user experience.
I get mine at K-mart. String of 100 regular (filament type) lights for about a buck fifty. After the holidays I throw them away. That way I never have to roll them up, store them, untangle them, look for burned out lights or any of the other nonsense that makes Christmas such a fun holiday.
If you look at amateur-built aircraft, many of them are better in one or more feature than the competition from Cessna or Piper: faster, better range, fancy paint, better payload, cheaper (as long as your time is free). However, they lack the things that make them marketable to the masses: certification, support, manuals, volume production, spare parts, trained service personnel, reliability. Commercial success requires that a product perform well in many areas. Having a single outstanding specification is not enough.
I've always seen parallels between people who contribute to open source projects and people who build their own airplanes, boats and cars. They get pleasure from creating something useful or beautiful. The pleasure is enhanced by sharing it with others, receiving positive feedback and belonging to a group.
Some manage to convert their hobby into a business, occasionally a thriving business. Sometimes they make an important contribution to the field. Mostly, they just enjoy creating and sharing.
This is not a topic for economic analysis. This is not a topic for any kind of analysis. It is something that is rewarding to its participants and that's enough for them.
Having a house built is easy and painless. Spend time developing your specs and pay an architect to turn them into drawings. This is your only opportunity to make changes. Hire a contractor to build to the plans for a fixed price with a schedule. Then leave everyone alone. If you forgot to get it into the spec, that's your problem. If the house is built wrong, you don't pay for it and it's the contractor's problem.
I had one house built and have had several additions done. All painless, on budget and on schedule. If you aren't willing to spend time on the specs, go find a house that's already built.
I'll bet Wordstar would really fly on today's hardware.
3) Your wife and son are sitting in front of a cafe having lunch. You head to an ATM to get some cash to pay for lunch. A hacker has somehow managed to steal all of the money from your checking account and that of one million other people.
Having your checking account cleaned out by an unknown someone is much more than an inconvenience. Some poeple don't handle those kinds of things well. Similarly, people who have had their identities stolen and credit cards maxed out look a little terrorized after a few weeks of trying to straighten things out.
If one person is an annoyance and a million is something else (terror?), where does the break occur. At 10? 100?
"Moglen didn't get to be general counsel of the FSF for nothing."
He certainly didn't get to be General Counsel of the FSF for his objective, fact filled, well researched and well reasoned commentary.
I'm thinking about upgrading to Win XP, but since its just a commodity, there should be several alternatives that differ only in price. How about that new one from Apple, OS-X. Well, I called them up and they said it probably wouldn't work on my Dell computer without some major tweaking. I'll pass on that.
Next, I called a few of those Linux folks. Red Hat said sure, it'll run fine. Of course, they can't guarantee that all my games and other applications will run OK. But, they can point me in the direction of some application providers that may be able to help. I'll pass on that one too.
Maybe the OS isn't a commodity after all.
And about X-box. They're losing money on each X-box they sell, but the game people send Microsoft money every time they sell a game. The gross margin in licensing is about as close to 100% as you can get. I hear that Sony is making out pretty will with theirs.
Your arguement is "As long as its free, I'll use it. If it is not free, I'll not use it."
The other side of that arguement is: "Why should I pay for it if I can get it for free."
You are correct, the first does no monetary harm to the creator of the software and maybe helps by increasing the user base. The second does monetary harm to the creator of the software.
The education you get will allow you to converse easily with accountants, marketeers and HR people. This is sometimes a surprisingly useful skill.
And exactly 12% of the posters will have actually read the article referenced.
This study was done primarily to provide information to industry participants, not the rest of us. The numbers developed can be used to project future revenues to companies that provide support for various flavors of servers. This is why it was designed to learn what is installed and running on machines, not what was on them when they shipped.
While it is nice to get paid for software each time it is shipped on a machine, the real bucks come from support and service contracts. It may also be useful for people making important career decisions about what software they are going to become expert in.
People said the same about General Motors in the 1950s and IBM in the 1960s. Commerce spent decades trying to force GM to split off Chevrolet. IBM was hounded by the monopolice for years.
Free markets really work. That's how Microsoft got where it is and that's how Microsoft will be defeated if they do something stupid. Meantime, the handwringers get payment and notariety for moaning about the rewards of brilliant strategies and hard work.
Lets hear a few negative comments about General Electric while you're at it. Number one or two in each of the many markets they play in. Incredible finanical resources. Far more diverse than Microsoft. Ruthless competitor.
Another brilliant example of how the game is played -- and won.
... "checking a Red Sox score" is likely the only thing that the wireless web is good for right now. However, there are plenty of times that I would be love to be able to do that.
Walk first. Then run.
And if Red Hat and VA Linux fail to turn a profit (and soon) will it be because the product was bad, the business model was flawed or because Microsoft *crushed* them with falsehoods and innuendo?
I'm betting on door number one or door two. Good products well managed tend to be successful.
50s technology included such things as vacuum tubes. Solid state circuits were made of discrete components. My grandmother's garage door opener was a black box, under the hood, eight inches on a side with glowing tubes inside.
Mobile phones were around, but they were HUGE. Does anyone remember those Korean War movies where the "communications specialist" carried the radio in a pack on his back? It WAS the pack on his back.
Just because it is theoretically possible does not mean it is practical.