It doesn't matter how much market leverage MS ever gets in a business sector: they have no clue how to market to consumers. Their only consumer success is XBox, which the brass never cared about and was left to its own whims.
Will low prices contribute to getting devices into the hands of those who don't have them? Certainly.
Do tablets enable anyone to participate in a digital world? Only to an extent. Tablets, as a hardware form factor, are far better at consumption than production. Anything with audio output and a 24-bit display can consume digital content. But typing on a screen is awkward if not tedious, and touch interfaces are primitive and imprecise compared to traditional pointer hardware. It's entirely possible for Photoshop or Autocad to be installed on a tablet, but the hardware doesn't give the user the ability to interact with them properly. Develop software on a tablet? Torture, even if you managed to cobble a toolset and workflow together, which would require breaking out of the walled garden vendors want tablets to be.
The hardware, by its very nature, is why the mobile web sucks, proven every time someone apologizes for posting from their phone or tablet. No one ever did that for their desktop/laptop where there is a comfortably sized screen, real keyboard, and fully capable pointer.
Even minimally spec'd laptops would do a better job of closing the digital divide than tablets, because they're equipped for producing. RIP One Laptop Per Child.
Given that this is Facebook we're talking about, plus their bungled attempts so far to save face over their part in this debacle, this estimate seems egregiously low, by a factor of 5 to 8 or more.
It's fine to make products with an artful eye, but Apple has put the cart before the horse.
I'm eagerly awaiting how the JiffyPop iPhone 8 story will play out. I bet it has the same fatal issue the Galaxy Note 7 had: not enough room for the battery to expand and contract during its charge cycle (the difference being Apple designed their batteries to not explode). Maybe this will get the handset makers off their silly quest for thinness, but I doubt it.
Linux has no exposure in the consumer market. Most people with Android phones don't even realize they have Linux in their pocket.
Consequently, Linux isn't available from PC vendors. They don't think there's a market for it, there's no OS vendor willing/able to make it worth their while, Microsoft aggressively forces OEMs to choose between Windows and anything else, and OEMs know anyone looking for such a machine won't tolerate the bloatware they love to include (which doesn't exist anyway).
Then there's hardware support issues, mainly Video. The Linux desktop needs a breach point into the consumer market, the most likely candidate is a Linux gaming console (looking at you, Steam).
We could get the hordes of faux developers to ditch WordPress (because it's badly architected, terribly written, antiquated, insecure-by-design garbage), the universe would be a better place.
And before anyone tries, "But it's the most popular!" is a defense against none of those truths.
The vast majority of people who deploy WordPress sites don't know a damn thing about development. They charge an unsuspecting rube $1200 or more to spend an afternoon configuring plugins and spending $50 on a theme. They don't know anything about code, server management, or anything actual developers would know.
Has it been 6 weeks since the last WordPress exploit was reported? That shit runs like clockwork.
WordPress is not a CMS, it's a blog script playing dress-up. It was lousy code when it was first vomited forth in 2004, and having not changed much since, is utterly horrendous code now.
I say things like that often, and from experience I know that the only defenses of WordPress that ever get offered are argumentum ad populum canards, "it's so easy" (you chose it for yourself, not based on client needs), and "I make tons of money with it" (WP "developers" are hucksters who never earned a cent of that money).
...specifically since January 8, 2008, working to be as irrelevant, feckless, and misguided as they are now. The only positive and notable thing they've done for the web in that time is Let's Encrypt.
Two versions of Firefox from now, they will jettison what made their browser great: the extensions. Mozilla needs a radical change in direction to save itself.
Agreed. This sudden vendetta against Kaspersky suddenly feels less like they did something and more like they refused to do something the government wants.
The front fascia's lack of anything resembling a grille opening makes the whole thing look like a cheap plastic Chinese R/C car.
That dashboard looks like it was stolen from a 80s-era concept car and Elon velcro'd a giant iPad to it, made more starkly out of place by the complete lack of gauge cluster.
Companies move manufacturing offshore due to labor costs. Less labor cost, more profit. Since the 80s, employees have been considered liabilities or cost sinks rather than assets.
Companies who hype up domestic manufacturing attempts are most likely doing it for the PR. Google did it when they opened the Motorola plant in Texas.
AIs inventing their own language should only be allowed in closed, isolated lab environments, for study of the phenomenon. Otherwise, this is very likely a step toward Skynet.
Second, how are all these engineers building AIs without the ability to examine their thought processes? Surely an AI's thoughts are more interesting than the AI itself.
Slashdot Mirror
It doesn't matter how much market leverage MS ever gets in a business sector: they have no clue how to market to consumers. Their only consumer success is XBox, which the brass never cared about and was left to its own whims.
Walmart has been having the same effect (one of many) since the mid 90s.
Why name this after Amazon?
Will low prices contribute to getting devices into the hands of those who don't have them? Certainly.
Do tablets enable anyone to participate in a digital world? Only to an extent. Tablets, as a hardware form factor, are far better at consumption than production. Anything with audio output and a 24-bit display can consume digital content. But typing on a screen is awkward if not tedious, and touch interfaces are primitive and imprecise compared to traditional pointer hardware. It's entirely possible for Photoshop or Autocad to be installed on a tablet, but the hardware doesn't give the user the ability to interact with them properly. Develop software on a tablet? Torture, even if you managed to cobble a toolset and workflow together, which would require breaking out of the walled garden vendors want tablets to be.
The hardware, by its very nature, is why the mobile web sucks, proven every time someone apologizes for posting from their phone or tablet. No one ever did that for their desktop/laptop where there is a comfortably sized screen, real keyboard, and fully capable pointer.
Even minimally spec'd laptops would do a better job of closing the digital divide than tablets, because they're equipped for producing. RIP One Laptop Per Child.
That was a Kardashian station so it had whatever was ass at the time.
FTFY.
Lose Them In Breaches 2, Electric Boogaloo
Given that this is Facebook we're talking about, plus their bungled attempts so far to save face over their part in this debacle, this estimate seems egregiously low, by a factor of 5 to 8 or more.
It's fine to make products with an artful eye, but Apple has put the cart before the horse.
I'm eagerly awaiting how the JiffyPop iPhone 8 story will play out. I bet it has the same fatal issue the Galaxy Note 7 had: not enough room for the battery to expand and contract during its charge cycle (the difference being Apple designed their batteries to not explode). Maybe this will get the handset makers off their silly quest for thinness, but I doubt it.
First, that form follows function. They've been putting form first, and it shows.
Next, that they're not making post-modern art: they're supposed to be making devices that serve a practical purpose.
Linux has no exposure in the consumer market. Most people with Android phones don't even realize they have Linux in their pocket.
Consequently, Linux isn't available from PC vendors. They don't think there's a market for it, there's no OS vendor willing/able to make it worth their while, Microsoft aggressively forces OEMs to choose between Windows and anything else, and OEMs know anyone looking for such a machine won't tolerate the bloatware they love to include (which doesn't exist anyway).
Then there's hardware support issues, mainly Video. The Linux desktop needs a breach point into the consumer market, the most likely candidate is a Linux gaming console (looking at you, Steam).
... by which mankind has swindled itself are religion and bottled water.
We could get the hordes of faux developers to ditch WordPress (because it's badly architected, terribly written, antiquated, insecure-by-design garbage), the universe would be a better place.
And before anyone tries, "But it's the most popular!" is a defense against none of those truths.
The vast majority of people who deploy WordPress sites don't know a damn thing about development. They charge an unsuspecting rube $1200 or more to spend an afternoon configuring plugins and spending $50 on a theme. They don't know anything about code, server management, or anything actual developers would know.
Has it been 6 weeks since the last WordPress exploit was reported? That shit runs like clockwork.
WordPress is not a CMS, it's a blog script playing dress-up. It was lousy code when it was first vomited forth in 2004, and having not changed much since, is utterly horrendous code now.
I say things like that often, and from experience I know that the only defenses of WordPress that ever get offered are argumentum ad populum canards, "it's so easy" (you chose it for yourself, not based on client needs), and "I make tons of money with it" (WP "developers" are hucksters who never earned a cent of that money).
After the Election Integrity Commission debacle, it wouldn't surprise me if this was plan C to obtain shittons of voter information.
Equifax is going to crash hard, BearStearns/Lehman Brothers style hard.
He's a conniving asshole, and corporate culture is established at the top levels. Remember, he's referred to Facebook users as "dumb fucks".
Until they start adhering to the salary cap, they deserve whatever underhanded tactics any other team may use.
Is killed in a Tesla AutoPilot malfunction.
...specifically since January 8, 2008, working to be as irrelevant, feckless, and misguided as they are now. The only positive and notable thing they've done for the web in that time is Let's Encrypt.
Two versions of Firefox from now, they will jettison what made their browser great: the extensions. Mozilla needs a radical change in direction to save itself.
And WordPress. $deity, that shit is awful.
Agreed. This sudden vendetta against Kaspersky suddenly feels less like they did something and more like they refused to do something the government wants.
The status page reports "Everything operating normally."
The front fascia's lack of anything resembling a grille opening makes the whole thing look like a cheap plastic Chinese R/C car.
That dashboard looks like it was stolen from a 80s-era concept car and Elon velcro'd a giant iPad to it, made more starkly out of place by the complete lack of gauge cluster.
Companies move manufacturing offshore due to labor costs. Less labor cost, more profit. Since the 80s, employees have been considered liabilities or cost sinks rather than assets.
Companies who hype up domestic manufacturing attempts are most likely doing it for the PR. Google did it when they opened the Motorola plant in Texas.
Exactly. This decision was made high up and rammed through with no user testing.
AIs inventing their own language should only be allowed in closed, isolated lab environments, for study of the phenomenon. Otherwise, this is very likely a step toward Skynet.
Second, how are all these engineers building AIs without the ability to examine their thought processes? Surely an AI's thoughts are more interesting than the AI itself.