I agree. Part of the problem is that AOL "removed" this feature. If locking homepages was there all along, no one would complain. Actually, I'm rather surprised that AOL ever let people *change* their homepage. That's a very valuable piece of commodity - 25 million users logging on once a day, think of the ad revenue.
Indrema would need to establish a relationship with Loki Entertaiment for their Linux game porting. That'll probably give them a bit of a start, rather than go from scratch.
All the previous posts about Cost/Manufacturing are definitely issues. I'm curious to see screenshots too.... trying to combine all of these features (browser, DVD, MP3, Gaming... one wonders if they'll try to incorporate DVR too.) into one simple, seamless UI is EXTREMELY difficult... especially if you can only work on NTSC resolution (640x480). How many of us run on a screen at 640x480? Also buggy... the more that you support, the more buggy the system will likely be. Spring 2001 is extremely aggressive.
...Writing on a 21st century Palm Pilot has similarities to writing Hieroglyphs 4000 years ago.
I can't stand to see trash like this, but even worse is a bunch of people screaming that a work isn't ART. If you don't think that its Art, then keep walking, you only fuel the fire by mouthing off! I do think the article is interesting because someone is MARKETING this as 'Serious Art' though.
Well, firstly, the caption on the picture states that the user can travel up to 150 miles. As for other concerns related to people not being able to 'drive' in 3D, this stuff will be automated. You just need to develop a simple (ok, maybe not so simple) set of rules for navigation and landing.
Ok... now I'll state why this won't work for the mass consumer.:). You know, a motorcycle consumes far less fuel, takes up much less room on a highway than a car. I'm not saying that there wouldn't be traffic jams with motorcycles, but you have to wonder why people don't push it as an alternative to traffic problems. It's because we're vain, we like our cars, and the comfort and convenience it gives us. If we have to arrive at work with Helmet heads, goggle face, and strange looking jumpsuits, it would never catch on. Also, you need extra storage for groceries and shopping, plus, you need to weather proof it. Ride a motorcycle for a year, and then let's talk.
It doesn't sound as if there are any *good* solutions out there (aside from 'don't censor' - which really isn't a solution). How can we expect our candidates to answer this question when we, geeks, don't even have an answer. I think someone was just trying to get Al to say that he invented the Internet again.
A device that causes finger vibration has interesting marketing potential.:).
AT&T - the gas attendants of the 21st century.
on
High-Speed Greed
·
· Score: 1
Business to Consumer sales expected to grow to about $152 billion in 2002 <br>
<br>Its a numbers game... its always a numbers game... Its not like they're going to take 10% of sales... they're going to take 1% or less, and likely we won't even know. Heck, if they took 0.1%, it accounts for $152 million. It's like that.9 of a cent tacked on to gas prices. Unfortunately, this is inevitable. Maybe we won't see it in the same ridiculous fashion as what AT&T is proposing, but we'll see it, if not already.
<br>
<br>Is it possible that your Bank is rounding off your Interest to 0.01%? Imagine how much that will accumulate to over time.
I can see a lot of uses of this in Research - specifically Nanotech, since its very difficult to picture how 3D objects get pieced together. This is especially true when complex geometry (helix, springs ) become the building blocks rather than primitives (cubes, spheres, cylinders,...).
I think that its futile to debate right vs. wrong. Fine, I'm wrong, is RIAA going to continue producing CD's now? RIAA is buying time, what they should buy is Napster, and turn them into the standard for promoting music before other competing standards arise. Subscription fees will only drive people to use other software. Does RIAA realize what chaos will ensue if Gnutella and other open source solutions become critically popular?
Merchandising is the bottom line. A CD is a merchandise... music by itself is not. If you can't make money off of selling CD's, then the industry will have to find other merchandise to package money-making music. NIN and Rob Zombie worked on the Quake computer games, and Countless artists work on Movie soundtracks. While not exactly the same, Backstreet Boys is in cahoots with Burger King, Ray Charles with Pepsi, and NSync have their barbie dolls. There's a LOT of products that use music, and more to come as the Internet matures.
Yes, music will likely change as a result of this. TV fuels Rock-n-Roll (through MTV, short attention spans, etc...). Perhaps the Internet will give birth to a new form of music too... it'd be about time, don't you think?
Yes, I was blaming how we *use* technology, and not the technology itself. The examples that I cited - Cell phone interruptions, Surfing the Web at work, Media propaganda, of course they're all controlled by people. I used these as examples because probably 99% of the people can relate to them being a negative use of technology.... personally... I don't even like shoes, but I'll keep that to myself.
I believe you touched on the point. In Luddite ideology, we make value judgments. We compare the benefits of a virtual community vs. a 'real' community. We compare ruled society vs. an unruled society (as it relates to technology).
Reading the previous posts - Luddites disliked the use of technology because it stole their livelihood. It's stealing something from us too... though likely not our livelihood.
I think this is more of a forward thinking article than anything else.. they're talking about technology to come, not as it exists in its current state. Polymer goop - ever read the 'Diamond Age'? it talks about the feed into peoples homes and Matter compilers, blah blah. This isn't nanotechnology, but the thinking is the same. Glass and Metal - Actually, SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) can rapid prototype using metal. Glass - you're right, you can't do glass, but for many applications, clear plastic will do. There are cleaner techniques than stereolithography, or SLS too. Some techniques layer paper to build up the thickness of a part. The part comes out looking like a solid piece of wood.
It's pretty interesting technology... Current stage is pretty far from what the article indicates. Most of the processes take a lot post-processing work. Stereolithography, for example, requires a 24 hour curing period after the part gets constructed with resin. Then to get the part looking like a real product, you have to sand, and sand, and sand, and buff, and paint. (it doesn't come out looking like an iMac). The grandma glasses that was mentioned in the article... heheh. No comment, maybe someday.
I hear that one good application is on closed environments such as ships. If a part breaks while on a mission, you can use such a device to fabricate the part (that you'd grab from an already modeled 3d database) rather than having to carry a room full of spare parts.
Another plus not mentioned in the article is that conventional manufacturing techniques limit the shape of the part - the mold has to eventually break away from the part. Rapid Prototyping techniques can create very unconventional shapes.
I think that on paper, your argument reads well, but in reality, technology can be rather intrusive too. Cell phones interrupting meetings, Surfing the Web as a distraction from work, even vegging out in front of a TV show that you *NEVER* thought that you'd ever see. Hell, some TV shows even creep into our lives whether we want it to or not - OJ, Clinton/Lewinsky, Survivor... These are the types of things that you never read about in the marketing brochures. I challenge anyone to stand before us and say that technology is 100% good. It's not - maybe its only 51% good.
It's strange how technology affects us. You never know that you need it until you use it. TIVO, Instant Messenger, Cell Phones, Email, 21" monitors, Palm Pilots, VAIOs... all of these things are a double edged sword. I always thought that the cases against big tobacco is ridiculous. They get sued because people become addicts of their product... when, in fact, 'turning addicts' is just another way to rephrase Tech companies' mission statements. When it boils down, I just get the stuff because I like the gadgetry.
Oh, one other thing. I seriously doubt that the IOC will ban online journals forever. Likely, they will find an Official sponsor for the journals come the next Olympics... sort of like the NBA.com website.
I don't support the IOC, but I think that I can sort of understand where they're coming from. In 1996, Fuji Film sponsored the Olympic Track and Field trials. They put up giant billboards all over Atlanta with a picture of Dan Jansen. The billboards stayed up through the Olympics. Kodak, on the other hand, sponsored the Olympics not trials) , and spent millions upon millions more than Fuji Film.
The web really opens up these types of tactics. Think of what happens if one Linux distributor (say, VA Linux) sponsors the Olympics for millions, then Microsoft jumps in and signs all the athletes for their web journals at pennies to the dollar. I agree, it's a shame this has to happen.
I'm a photo hobbyist. I like to skip around town taking pictures... basically of everything. I just picked up a Ricoh 5300 Digital Camera. It's 2.3 Megapixel, lens is F3.2-3.8, film speed equivalent to ISO 100.
To the layman, this means that I can take pretty nice, sharp pictures when outdoors, holding the camera still, and taking pictures of still subjects. Once I step indoors, basically I must use the flash, which results in very strong shadows... something that I always try to avoid. I rarely need any pictures larger than a 5x7 print.
A 2.3 Megapixel camera will result in reasonably sharp 5x7's. A 16 Megapixel will result in sharp 17x24 inch prints... I simply don't *need* that kind of size... I'd have to get a $5000 plotter that can print that at the cost of $50/print.
Some things that I'd like to see developed for digital cameras and sensors are:
1. Faster lenses (F 1.4 or 1.7),
2. Faster film speed equivalency (ASA 800 or higher)
Basically, this would help when trying to take pictures indoors, at nighttime/dusk, and of moving objects.
George Lucas (yes, you know the one) was once asked to comment about reporters and the media. Among other things, he was asked if the media have been fair to him....and whether or not he watches daily News shows.
His answer, crudely paraphrased, was that the 6 o'clock daily news shows have become a slave to their own propaganda. CBS may run the movie 'Top Gun', then immediately following the movie is the Daily news where there's a feature on pilots....or they would run part of a human interest story, "Blind Man saves puppy" then "... For the complete story, watch 20/20 which airs tonight at 8:00."
Essentially, commercial News has prostituted itself "for the good of the team." It no longer has integrity... and that's part of the reason that we don't watch.
As it turns out, someone was actually ringing his doorbell from a network.:).
Overall, nice comments. Dedicated appliances IMO have their place though. I really just consider TIVO to be a dedicated web browser for TV shows. (.. well maybe its a little more than that. ) To me, the concept behind dedicated appliances is for usability.
Perhaps you *can* make a PC that works as a MP3 player, alarm clock, intercom, email, Video recorder AND have it easy to use. But then what happens as more functions come in? Immediately usability is affected. It's impossible to have a universal device that's always easy to use. Or... what happens if your HD crashes? You lose everything.
Katz's issue here is one of checks and balances. One can't dismiss the need for corporate sponsorship but its easy to look back 20 years and see the path we've gone is growing more and more diluted. When you start to wonder if University research findings is heavily influenced by money, and that the whole story isn't told, then our system is flawed.
I agree with this point. Additionally, you must also consider possiblity of 'bogus research' as a result of corporate sponsorship.
I'm not saying that I don't understand the need for capitalistic practices... I'm just saying that this is a double-edged sword. If we turn a blind eye to it, we sell-out our identity and culture.
If Microsoft continues to take an inside track on University research, perhaps we should call it Microsoft Institute of Technology.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree. Part of the problem is that AOL "removed" this feature. If locking homepages was there all along, no one would complain. Actually, I'm rather surprised that AOL ever let people *change* their homepage. That's a very valuable piece of commodity - 25 million users logging on once a day, think of the ad revenue.
it's open sourced - meaning that you can port Napster (or gnutella) to it by yourself.
Indrema would need to establish a relationship with Loki Entertaiment for their Linux game porting. That'll probably give them a bit of a start, rather than go from scratch.
All the previous posts about Cost/Manufacturing are definitely issues. I'm curious to see screenshots too.... trying to combine all of these features (browser, DVD, MP3, Gaming... one wonders if they'll try to incorporate DVR too.) into one simple, seamless UI is EXTREMELY difficult... especially if you can only work on NTSC resolution (640x480). How many of us run on a screen at 640x480? Also buggy... the more that you support, the more buggy the system will likely be. Spring 2001 is extremely aggressive.
...Writing on a 21st century Palm Pilot has similarities to writing Hieroglyphs 4000 years ago.
I can't stand to see trash like this, but even worse is a bunch of people screaming that a work isn't ART. If you don't think that its Art, then keep walking, you only fuel the fire by mouthing off! I do think the article is interesting because someone is MARKETING this as 'Serious Art' though.
Well, firstly, the caption on the picture states that the user can travel up to 150 miles. As for other concerns related to people not being able to 'drive' in 3D, this stuff will be automated. You just need to develop a simple (ok, maybe not so simple) set of rules for navigation and landing.
Ok... now I'll state why this won't work for the mass consumer.:). You know, a motorcycle consumes far less fuel, takes up much less room on a highway than a car. I'm not saying that there wouldn't be traffic jams with motorcycles, but you have to wonder why people don't push it as an alternative to traffic problems. It's because we're vain, we like our cars, and the comfort and convenience it gives us. If we have to arrive at work with Helmet heads, goggle face, and strange looking jumpsuits, it would never catch on. Also, you need extra storage for groceries and shopping, plus, you need to weather proof it. Ride a motorcycle for a year, and then let's talk.
It doesn't sound as if there are any *good* solutions out there (aside from 'don't censor' - which really isn't a solution). How can we expect our candidates to answer this question when we, geeks, don't even have an answer. I think someone was just trying to get Al to say that he invented the Internet again.
A device that causes finger vibration has interesting marketing potential.:).
Business to Consumer sales expected to grow to about $152 billion in 2002 .. Its not like they're going to take 10% of sales... they're going to take 1% or less, and likely we won't even know. Heck, if they took 0.1%, it accounts for $152 million. It's like that .9 of a cent tacked on to gas prices. Unfortunately, this is inevitable. Maybe we won't see it in the same ridiculous fashion as what AT&T is proposing, but we'll see it, if not already.
<br>
<br>Its a numbers game... its always a numbers game.
<br>
<br>Is it possible that your Bank is rounding off your Interest to 0.01%? Imagine how much that will accumulate to over time.
I can see a lot of uses of this in Research - specifically Nanotech, since its very difficult to picture how 3D objects get pieced together. This is especially true when complex geometry (helix, springs ) become the building blocks rather than primitives (cubes, spheres, cylinders,...).
I think that its futile to debate right vs. wrong. Fine, I'm wrong, is RIAA going to continue producing CD's now? RIAA is buying time, what they should buy is Napster, and turn them into the standard for promoting music before other competing standards arise. Subscription fees will only drive people to use other software. Does RIAA realize what chaos will ensue if Gnutella and other open source solutions become critically popular?
Merchandising is the bottom line. A CD is a merchandise... music by itself is not. If you can't make money off of selling CD's, then the industry will have to find other merchandise to package money-making music. NIN and Rob Zombie worked on the Quake computer games, and Countless artists work on Movie soundtracks. While not exactly the same, Backstreet Boys is in cahoots with Burger King, Ray Charles with Pepsi, and NSync have their barbie dolls. There's a LOT of products that use music, and more to come as the Internet matures.
Yes, music will likely change as a result of this. TV fuels Rock-n-Roll (through MTV, short attention spans, etc...). Perhaps the Internet will give birth to a new form of music too... it'd be about time, don't you think?
Yes, I was blaming how we *use* technology, and not the technology itself. The examples that I cited - Cell phone interruptions, Surfing the Web at work, Media propaganda, of course they're all controlled by people. I used these as examples because probably 99% of the people can relate to them being a negative use of technology. ... personally... I don't even like shoes, but I'll keep that to myself.
I believe you touched on the point. In Luddite ideology, we make value judgments. We compare the benefits of a virtual community vs. a 'real' community. We compare ruled society vs. an unruled society (as it relates to technology).
Reading the previous posts - Luddites disliked the use of technology because it stole their livelihood. It's stealing something from us too... though likely not our livelihood.
Between Hemos and Taco, I think we know who's the faster typist.:).
I think this is more of a forward thinking article than anything else.. they're talking about technology to come, not as it exists in its current state. Polymer goop - ever read the 'Diamond Age'? it talks about the feed into peoples homes and Matter compilers, blah blah. This isn't nanotechnology, but the thinking is the same. Glass and Metal - Actually, SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) can rapid prototype using metal. Glass - you're right, you can't do glass, but for many applications, clear plastic will do. There are cleaner techniques than stereolithography, or SLS too. Some techniques layer paper to build up the thickness of a part. The part comes out looking like a solid piece of wood.
"You are confusing a physical addiction with some ones desire to own tech gadgets."
Very true, undeniably, there are a lot of holes in my analogy. I still think that Marketing is a form of trickery though.
It's pretty interesting technology... Current stage is pretty far from what the article indicates. Most of the processes take a lot post-processing work. Stereolithography, for example, requires a 24 hour curing period after the part gets constructed with resin. Then to get the part looking like a real product, you have to sand, and sand, and sand, and buff, and paint. (it doesn't come out looking like an iMac). The grandma glasses that was mentioned in the article... heheh. No comment, maybe someday.
I hear that one good application is on closed environments such as ships. If a part breaks while on a mission, you can use such a device to fabricate the part (that you'd grab from an already modeled 3d database) rather than having to carry a room full of spare parts.
Another plus not mentioned in the article is that conventional manufacturing techniques limit the shape of the part - the mold has to eventually break away from the part. Rapid Prototyping techniques can create very unconventional shapes.
I think that on paper, your argument reads well, but in reality, technology can be rather intrusive too. Cell phones interrupting meetings, Surfing the Web as a distraction from work, even vegging out in front of a TV show that you *NEVER* thought that you'd ever see. Hell, some TV shows even creep into our lives whether we want it to or not - OJ, Clinton/Lewinsky, Survivor... These are the types of things that you never read about in the marketing brochures. I challenge anyone to stand before us and say that technology is 100% good. It's not - maybe its only 51% good.
It's strange how technology affects us. You never know that you need it until you use it. TIVO, Instant Messenger, Cell Phones, Email, 21" monitors, Palm Pilots, VAIOs... all of these things are a double edged sword. I always thought that the cases against big tobacco is ridiculous. They get sued because people become addicts of their product... when, in fact, 'turning addicts' is just another way to rephrase Tech companies' mission statements. When it boils down, I just get the stuff because I like the gadgetry.
Oh, one other thing. I seriously doubt that the IOC will ban online journals forever. Likely, they will find an Official sponsor for the journals come the next Olympics... sort of like the NBA.com website.
You mean like, having us give money to Pubic Television to air it?
I don't support the IOC, but I think that I can sort of understand where they're coming from. In 1996, Fuji Film sponsored the Olympic Track and Field trials. They put up giant billboards all over Atlanta with a picture of Dan Jansen. The billboards stayed up through the Olympics. Kodak, on the other hand, sponsored the Olympics not trials) , and spent millions upon millions more than Fuji Film.
The web really opens up these types of tactics. Think of what happens if one Linux distributor (say, VA Linux) sponsors the Olympics for millions, then Microsoft jumps in and signs all the athletes for their web journals at pennies to the dollar. I agree, it's a shame this has to happen.
I'm a photo hobbyist. I like to skip around town taking pictures... basically of everything. I just picked up a Ricoh 5300 Digital Camera. It's 2.3 Megapixel, lens is F3.2-3.8, film speed equivalent to ISO 100.
To the layman, this means that I can take pretty nice, sharp pictures when outdoors, holding the camera still, and taking pictures of still subjects. Once I step indoors, basically I must use the flash, which results in very strong shadows... something that I always try to avoid. I rarely need any pictures larger than a 5x7 print.
A 2.3 Megapixel camera will result in reasonably sharp 5x7's. A 16 Megapixel will result in sharp 17x24 inch prints... I simply don't *need* that kind of size... I'd have to get a $5000 plotter that can print that at the cost of $50/print.
Some things that I'd like to see developed for digital cameras and sensors are:
1. Faster lenses (F 1.4 or 1.7),
2. Faster film speed equivalency (ASA 800 or higher)
Basically, this would help when trying to take pictures indoors, at nighttime/dusk, and of moving objects.
George Lucas (yes, you know the one) was once asked to comment about reporters and the media. Among other things, he was asked if the media have been fair to him. ...and whether or not he watches daily News shows.
...or they would run part of a human interest story, "Blind Man saves puppy" then "... For the complete story, watch 20/20 which airs tonight at 8:00."
His answer, crudely paraphrased, was that the 6 o'clock daily news shows have become a slave to their own propaganda. CBS may run the movie 'Top Gun', then immediately following the movie is the Daily news where there's a feature on pilots.
Essentially, commercial News has prostituted itself "for the good of the team." It no longer has integrity... and that's part of the reason that we don't watch.
As it turns out, someone was actually ringing his doorbell from a network.:).
Overall, nice comments. Dedicated appliances IMO have their place though. I really just consider TIVO to be a dedicated web browser for TV shows. (.. well maybe its a little more than that. ) To me, the concept behind dedicated appliances is for usability.
Perhaps you *can* make a PC that works as a MP3 player, alarm clock, intercom, email, Video recorder AND have it easy to use. But then what happens as more functions come in? Immediately usability is affected. It's impossible to have a universal device that's always easy to use. Or... what happens if your HD crashes? You lose everything.
...where will it end?
Katz's issue here is one of checks and balances. One can't dismiss the need for corporate sponsorship but its easy to look back 20 years and see the path we've gone is growing more and more diluted. When you start to wonder if University research findings is heavily influenced by money, and that the whole story isn't told, then our system is flawed.
I agree with this point. Additionally, you must also consider possiblity of 'bogus research' as a result of corporate sponsorship.
I'm not saying that I don't understand the need for capitalistic practices... I'm just saying that this is a double-edged sword. If we turn a blind eye to it, we sell-out our identity and culture.
If Microsoft continues to take an inside track on University research, perhaps we should call it Microsoft Institute of Technology.