So let's say I offered you two options:
A) A free plane ticket for an 10-hour flight from point A to point B
or
B) A paid plane ticket for an 8-hour flight from point A to point B
You're saying you'd rather pay and get there 20% faster? My point here is that if you're really that pressed for time where you can't afford to stop every 3 hours to stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat, or whatever, then you're probably in a big hurry and money would be no object anyway. But for a cross-country (or in this case cross-3-states) vacation, I think most people would be quite happy getting there for free but spending 25% more time travelling.
Your university teaches MS Office because that's what the businesses that hire their students want them to teach. What you're suggesting would be like a company coming to the school and saying "We want graduates that can program fluent Java" and the school gives them graduates who only write C#. Sure, they're very similar languages and they do the same thing, have the same general set of features, but the implementation is different and when those graduates get to their new job, surprise surprise, they need to learn a different syntax and discover the little differences between both languages that they weren't taught in class.
Be grateful that you're smart enough to go out there and experience the alternatives. Some people will do the bare minimum to get by - learn Office, pass the test, and forget it all. They'll have trouble when they get out into the job world and are faced with some new feature in Office they didn't learn, or get sat down in front of a whole new office suite and not know where to start.
However, it seems that you may also mean "change the course to not just be about office suites". In that case, by all means, propose that they rename the course and/or restructure it to focus more on the concepts surrounding general computing. Either they'll accept your suggestion or they won't. It doesn't hurt to try.
Stop dragging logic into this. A New York Times op-ed writer read something that said servers use a lot of energy and realized that he could save the world as we know it by convincing others to turn off all those whiz-bang servers, computermotrons, and internet kajiggers to save lots of energy. This man has my eternal gratitude! We demand federally mandated computer blackouts at night because that's when nobody uses them!
I would feign outrage and harshly criticize the submitter and/. editors, but it would be futile because this isn't the first same-24hr-period dupe I've seen here.
What I would like to see is some editors that actually read the site they edit for. You know, one of those "eat your own dog food" approaches. That way, maybe they might actually notice that it's the same damn thing we already read 24 hours ago.
Actually, knowing this site, even that's a bit much to ask for.
A valid point, but paper also doesn't double-check your work and detect errors and inconsistencies. Working with EHR systems, I can tell you that a paper system has a lot more entry errors than an electronic system has failures.
All hospitals have downtime procedures if the electronic system were to fail. This includes everything from chart printouts to comprehensive failover systems. No amount of engineering and technology can prevent you from losing paper charts, yet you're still stuck in a very similar conundrum. Most system failures are a result of human error.
Clearly the benefits of electronic systems outweigh the risk, just like owning a car. Sometimes your car might not start when you need it to if you fail to properly maintain it, and you'll have to walk to wherever you need to go, but does that mean you shouldn't own a car at all, and that you should ALWAYS walk?
So Android manufacturers can put out devices of all different shapes, sizes, feature sets, APIs, and OS versions, but it's not fragmentation - it's enhanced consumer choice.
Apple releases one device with the same API, same OS version, and a new screen ratio (and a rather obvious and seamless method of adapting to it) and it's ERMAHGERD, FRERGMENTERSHERN! Think of the poor developers!
So whose shitty blog are we going to submit next in this Android circlejerk?
...because convincing people to pay $200 to upgrade from Windows NT 6.0 to Windows NT 6.1 is not as easy as telling them it's a whole new version of Windows.
Also, Apple uses the big cat theme for the same reason. Tell somebody you want $30 to upgrade them from 10.7 to 10.8 and you wouldn't have much success. On the flip side, there's not enough of a difference between each version of Mac OS X to warrant each getting its own major number. They're all based on the same underlying kernel and subsystems but have new features and UI improvements as the big selling point.
There are plenty of kids out there whose parents won't justify spending $100 on anything educational, so just keep those calculators on hand in your classroom and loan them out to students who need them. In doing so, you're giving underprivileged kids the same resources that more well-off children always have at their disposal, and hopefully by having the same tools as their peers, you can keep them engaged, interested, and learning.
I've never seen so many people get so excited about something they don't really understand... actually, yes I have - presidential elections!
But seriously, it's actually relieving to see so many people, even those in the "bad" neighborhoods in KC, actually going out of their way to preregister. It gives me new hope that people might actually be capable of some foresight every now and then.
Of course, then there's that annoying nameless voice on the radio here singing the praises of Google Fiber and urging people to preregister now for "speeds of up to a gigabyte"[sic]... That annoys me every time I hear it. I know it's not Google putting those ads out because they'd actually get it right.
I'll say. I've never even heard of this project until now (blame my ignorant remark on Slashdot not leading with even a little bit of backstory, as usual.)
I tried to read the summary, really I did, but my +1 machete of reading comprehension was rendered useless against the overpowering thicket of overused parenthetical asides and link-whoring.
Well Mr. Coward, considering that my comments are addressing the situation referenced in TFA, I assure you that I am sufficiently "on-topic" enough to make such moderation unwarranted. Now, are you finished posting AC to protect your censorship-- er, I mean moderation?
And Slashdot's incredible hatred of all things Apple does not forgive the other manufacturers' workforce transgressions, but yet those are still conveniently overlooked as everyone feigns outrage and loudly declares that they will never buy another Apple product (while failing to mention that they never have and never intended to anyway).
HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Acer et al don't use Chinese laborers, and in some cases the same goddamn factories. And they certainly don't pull from the same pool of workers. No sir. This is all the iPhone's fault and you should feel terrible for wanting one. But go ahead and demand that new Android phone, that's morally clean because it's Google software and they do no evil.
Slashdot Mirror
So let's say I offered you two options:
A) A free plane ticket for an 10-hour flight from point A to point B
or
B) A paid plane ticket for an 8-hour flight from point A to point B
You're saying you'd rather pay and get there 20% faster? My point here is that if you're really that pressed for time where you can't afford to stop every 3 hours to stretch your legs, grab a bite to eat, or whatever, then you're probably in a big hurry and money would be no object anyway. But for a cross-country (or in this case cross-3-states) vacation, I think most people would be quite happy getting there for free but spending 25% more time travelling.
Your university teaches MS Office because that's what the businesses that hire their students want them to teach. What you're suggesting would be like a company coming to the school and saying "We want graduates that can program fluent Java" and the school gives them graduates who only write C#. Sure, they're very similar languages and they do the same thing, have the same general set of features, but the implementation is different and when those graduates get to their new job, surprise surprise, they need to learn a different syntax and discover the little differences between both languages that they weren't taught in class.
Be grateful that you're smart enough to go out there and experience the alternatives. Some people will do the bare minimum to get by - learn Office, pass the test, and forget it all. They'll have trouble when they get out into the job world and are faced with some new feature in Office they didn't learn, or get sat down in front of a whole new office suite and not know where to start.
However, it seems that you may also mean "change the course to not just be about office suites". In that case, by all means, propose that they rename the course and/or restructure it to focus more on the concepts surrounding general computing. Either they'll accept your suggestion or they won't. It doesn't hurt to try.
Then how will I catch up on the latest insightful commentary from my favorite pundit, a Mr. A. Coward?
logic be damned.
Stop dragging logic into this. A New York Times op-ed writer read something that said servers use a lot of energy and realized that he could save the world as we know it by convincing others to turn off all those whiz-bang servers, computermotrons, and internet kajiggers to save lots of energy. This man has my eternal gratitude! We demand federally mandated computer blackouts at night because that's when nobody uses them!
I would feign outrage and harshly criticize the submitter and /. editors, but it would be futile because this isn't the first same-24hr-period dupe I've seen here.
What I would like to see is some editors that actually read the site they edit for. You know, one of those "eat your own dog food" approaches. That way, maybe they might actually notice that it's the same damn thing we already read 24 hours ago.
Actually, knowing this site, even that's a bit much to ask for.
"paper doesn't go down."
A valid point, but paper also doesn't double-check your work and detect errors and inconsistencies. Working with EHR systems, I can tell you that a paper system has a lot more entry errors than an electronic system has failures.
All hospitals have downtime procedures if the electronic system were to fail. This includes everything from chart printouts to comprehensive failover systems. No amount of engineering and technology can prevent you from losing paper charts, yet you're still stuck in a very similar conundrum. Most system failures are a result of human error.
Clearly the benefits of electronic systems outweigh the risk, just like owning a car. Sometimes your car might not start when you need it to if you fail to properly maintain it, and you'll have to walk to wherever you need to go, but does that mean you shouldn't own a car at all, and that you should ALWAYS walk?
So either way, you're still getting your results from Google.
So Android manufacturers can put out devices of all different shapes, sizes, feature sets, APIs, and OS versions, but it's not fragmentation - it's enhanced consumer choice.
Apple releases one device with the same API, same OS version, and a new screen ratio (and a rather obvious and seamless method of adapting to it) and it's ERMAHGERD, FRERGMENTERSHERN! Think of the poor developers!
So whose shitty blog are we going to submit next in this Android circlejerk?
Well, they can't ride the price-surge wave of the Thailand floods anymore, so they have to keep those prices up somehow.
Maximum pedantry achieved. :)
"All these worlds are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there."
...because convincing people to pay $200 to upgrade from Windows NT 6.0 to Windows NT 6.1 is not as easy as telling them it's a whole new version of Windows.
Also, Apple uses the big cat theme for the same reason. Tell somebody you want $30 to upgrade them from 10.7 to 10.8 and you wouldn't have much success. On the flip side, there's not enough of a difference between each version of Mac OS X to warrant each getting its own major number. They're all based on the same underlying kernel and subsystems but have new features and UI improvements as the big selling point.
There are plenty of kids out there whose parents won't justify spending $100 on anything educational, so just keep those calculators on hand in your classroom and loan them out to students who need them. In doing so, you're giving underprivileged kids the same resources that more well-off children always have at their disposal, and hopefully by having the same tools as their peers, you can keep them engaged, interested, and learning.
That's nerd-worthy to me.
Didn't Google already give you free Wifi?
I've never seen so many people get so excited about something they don't really understand... actually, yes I have - presidential elections!
But seriously, it's actually relieving to see so many people, even those in the "bad" neighborhoods in KC, actually going out of their way to preregister. It gives me new hope that people might actually be capable of some foresight every now and then.
Of course, then there's that annoying nameless voice on the radio here singing the praises of Google Fiber and urging people to preregister now for "speeds of up to a gigabyte"[sic]... That annoys me every time I hear it. I know it's not Google putting those ads out because they'd actually get it right.
The Tata Nano gets 55.5 mpg, and costs around $3000.
Wow, papier-mâché is getting expensive!
I'll say. I've never even heard of this project until now (blame my ignorant remark on Slashdot not leading with even a little bit of backstory, as usual.)
...from how hard these guys are trying to ride them.
I tried to read the summary, really I did, but my +1 machete of reading comprehension was rendered useless against the overpowering thicket of overused parenthetical asides and link-whoring.
Well Mr. Coward, considering that my comments are addressing the situation referenced in TFA, I assure you that I am sufficiently "on-topic" enough to make such moderation unwarranted. Now, are you finished posting AC to protect your censorship-- er, I mean moderation?
And Slashdot's incredible hatred of all things Apple does not forgive the other manufacturers' workforce transgressions, but yet those are still conveniently overlooked as everyone feigns outrage and loudly declares that they will never buy another Apple product (while failing to mention that they never have and never intended to anyway).
Totally loving the -1, Disagree moderating as well. Middle school must be out for the day.
HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Acer et al don't use Chinese laborers, and in some cases the same goddamn factories. And they certainly don't pull from the same pool of workers. No sir. This is all the iPhone's fault and you should feel terrible for wanting one. But go ahead and demand that new Android phone, that's morally clean because it's Google software and they do no evil.
Three people can share one woman just fine, and all at the same time nonetheless. You must be new to the internet.