The people who actualy NEED a PDA (professionals and whatnot) don't WANT to carry seperate devices. They want it all in one place, simply because (get this clue) they aren't geeks who want to carry fifty toys around. They want one simple device.
Even more importantly: the right "converged" device saves them time and money. If I want to make a phone call, what sense does it make to have to get the number out of the PDA and beam it to my phone? With my Treo, I simply start typing the person's name, and there's the number. I push the Green Button, and off the call goes. If I have a scheduled call with a client, my address book record is linked to the phone number. One push of the Big Green Button and *woosh*, off it goes. I can push another button on my device to record the call, attach it to a DayNotez entry, and it'll all show up on my PC the next time I sync. I can download a new MP3, save it directly into my device's mp3 player, and it's all there. And Sudoku works great.
Lastly: my PDA, phone, digital camera, and MP3 player are now effectively covered by one $2.50/month insurance policy from my provider. If I drop/break/lose it, guess what? $50 replaces the whole deal.
Okay, now there's a lot of things you could have said about the Jaguar, but to dis the controller just seems.. petty.
First off, the Jaguar controller was the first controller I ever used that was comfortable for me (who has larger hands) to hold. I could grab the controller firmly, and actually play Tempest 2000 for a few hours without having hand cramps.
And, what the hell is wrong with them just automatically saying "it has a phone keypad, therefore it sucks?" I thought the phone keypad with overlays thing was at least a good idea on paper, and the Jaguar controller was a good effort. Bad Atari for not giving you a place to store the overlays..
Anyway, they dis this controller, and there's no "hate" for the original Commodore VIC joystick?
Funny - we don't have any laws requiring that the hoods on cars not be welded shut, yet no commercially available vehicle comes with its hood welded shut.
Actually, yes we do. You can interpret the Moss-Magnusson Warranty Act that way.
Because, when it comes right down to it, nobody's network works as well as Verizon.
In the last three years, I've had cell phones from AT&T's GSM network (now part of Cingular), Nextel, T-Mobile, and now Verizon. AT&T's GSM service was awesome when it was new, but when they started loading GoPhone subscribers on the network quality went to hell in a handbasket. Additionally, customer support sucked ass.. and only got worse during the Cingular transition (which is why I left.. I wanted a 503 phone number, and was told that I would have to disconnect my AT&T service and purchase a NEW PHONE from Cingular to get a new phone number: they couldn't just issue me a new number on my six-month-old phone. "Oh, but we'll waive the early termination fee." "Yeah, but you're asking me to spend $99 on a new phone." When my contract was up, I left).
Nextel's service is pretty good when you have coverage, but coverage often lacks in rural areas, and since there's no "fallback" or roaming (for the most part), once you leave Nextel's network your phone is crap. Add to that fact that Nextel's equipment sucks, and is usually about two years behind (feature-wise) what you can get from anybody else. The UI on the phones is.. icky. Push-to-talk is a neat feature for business, but unless you got lots of friends there (or on Boost), it's not very useful.
T-Mobile I was perfectly happy with, up until about mid-last year when they unceremoniously just dropped support for Treos. I think they were afraid that the Treo was cannabalizing the Sidekick's business, personally. Additionally, while T-Mobile's service was awesome, I kept having this persistent problem of my phone dropping its "registration" off the network.. and incoming calls would go directly to voicemail even though I had full coverage. I would have to reset my phone to get back on the network. I'd have to do this every four or five days. Oh, and I had this problem not only on Treo, but on a "normal" Nokia phone as well. T-Mobile could never solve this problem.
When my T-Mobile contract expired, I wanted to upgrade to a Treo 650, and had a choice between basically Cingular and Verizon. For whatever reason, I chose Verizon.. even though the price was higher.
The results? So far, I've never had a dropped call, I always have coverage (even in the middle of nowhere, and in the basement of my house). My Treo stays registered on the network. Call quality is generally excellent.. rarely are there dropouts and audio problems. Customer service is pretty good: they actually have a person at the local Verizon store who knows Treo well enough to provide real support for the product.
Strangely enough, I have a cell phone to communicate with people. Verizon's cell phones work. Maybe that's the reason they're in business: the fact of the matter is, everything else about my cell phone is just butter. I have a cell phone to make phone calls.. and in my case, I have a Treo because I'd be carrying a PalmOS machine anyway. If it doesn't work as a phone.. if it's unreliable, or spotty, or difficult to use, it isn't worth a cent.
No, but there's a difference between being able to file a lawsuit and winning one.
Ask any of the people sued by the RIAA what their chances of winning were.
Increasingly, the mere threat of a lawsuit is enough to get one side to pay up, even if they have a reasonable chance of winning should it come to trial. Lawyers ain't cheap, and the mere act of walking into a civil courtroom will cost you $15,000. Even if you get the trial thrown out at the first hearing.
AT&T also have the right to inspect any package (in this case conversation) passing through it's network that it suspects of breaking the law?
No. The Telecommunications Privacy Act (TCPA) specifically prevents common carriers and local exchange carriers from this activity.
And, technically, the rank-and-file employees of the USPS don't have that ability either. Only Postal Inspectors, who are fully deputized federal law enforcement officers, have that ability.
To look at it the other way -- is there a Linux powered phone that you can VNC into and write applications for (including programably accessing the phone, bluetooth and cell-based network connection)?
While not Linux-powered, I seem to have no trouble writing software for my Palm Treo 650. Even with the one I bought from Verizon, who's pathetic attempts to disable the Bluetooth profiles for things like dial-up networking and OBEX file transfer are easily defeated. Otherpeople seem to have little trouble writing networked, converged apps for the Treo that work flawlessly on the CDMA or GSM versions of the phone.
I don't want anybody to be able to VNC into my cell phone. That sounds like a security nightmare waiting to happen. I do want my cell phone to be able to SSH and do VNC out, which there are third-party programs for PalmOS that do nicely.
Fundamentally, at an OS level, I still have full access to the networking and Bluetooth functions. All Verizon did on the Treo was disable one of the built-in apps for Bluetooth: the hooks are all still there.. and with five minutes of work and a good Google search, you can undo anyway.
Guy invents the technology, can't really do much with it because it seems that there are other bits of technology that need to be invented before his idea can work. (NTP)
RIM, who basically invented the same technology much later when there is a much more robust wireless platform and CPU to deal with this sort of thing, invents the technology and then starts suing competitors because "we invented it first."
NTP digs a few dusty patents out of a drawer and says, "no, dipshit, we did."
Meanwhile, at this moment in time, there does not appear to be anything "unique" about RIM's technology, and it appears to be "obvious" from the perspective of 2006. Heck, VeriChat, a AIM/Yahoo/MSN chat client for the Palm appears to work essentially the same way.
Sounds like RIM is getting a karma job. They would have been in the right up until the point they started suing other companies. That made RIM a "patent troll" in my book.
But, yeah. Only the lawyers are gonna win on this one.
It is also worth pointing out that even back then a few independent TV stations had co-marketing agreements with CNN, and were carrying CNN's feed live.
As I recall, in Los Angeles KHJ-TV (Channel 9, now KCAL) was carrying the feed live.
So a transformer is not 100% efficient {although it's about the closest anyone's ever built}.
The problem is, most "wall warts" are not just simple transformers. Most devices that use wall warts use DC, therefore, there has to be rectification of the AC current in there to make the devices work. On a wall wart, that is typically done through some form of diode bridge with a capacitor in there to level off the power.
Most wall warts are incredibly inefficient (Popular Electronics once did an article on this subject some years ago, and found that they were somewhere in the 50-70% range), and they are consuming power even when the device they power is off or even disconnected. The diode bridge/capacitor combination creates a lot of inefficiency.
I built a complete 12VDC plant in my house, with special 12V outlets in every room and a central switching power supply. I was able to save about 10% on my power bill just from doing the simple act of eliminating all the wall transformers around my house. For devices that need 5V or some other arbitrary low voltage: semiconductor DC-to-DC power converters work quite well (like devices based around the 7805), and are nearly 100% efficient.
Actually, the Commodore VIC-20 was the first computer (if you don't count the Atari 2600) to sell 1 million units, at least according to Mike Tomczyk's book.
During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and 1993), total sales exceeded 22 million units. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Commodore 64 still remains the best selling computer model of all time.
If that wasn't enough, the combined sales of the Atari 400/800/XL series also outdid the Apple ]['s combined sales during the 8-bit era.
Actually, the Google price _IS_ wrong for some trips.
It erroneously puts my commute from North Portland to Beaverton as a 2-zone trip, because I start in Zone 2, and end in Zone 3. Technically, I'm crossing 3 zones, and need an "all zone" ticket.
I miss freedom to create new products and services without having to worry about a federal government agency coming along and saying that I have to implement a whole slew of 'standards', while providing no funding or direction on how I'm supposed to do all this, and requiring that I deal with uncooperative vendors who have not only no fiancial or legal incentive to provide me this same service, but an actual DISincentive, because I'm their competitors.
Except, as it has been pointed out elsewhere, it's not obvious he actually broke the law.
He went to a couple of trade shows on his own dime, and maybe didn't file every little slip of paperwork required. It happens. Was it a major ethics violation? No, it doesn't appear to be.
Far from the two felony convictions Microsoft has recieved. If you, personally, recieved two felony convictions, you'd be disbarred from even bidding on projects with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Why is Microsoft seemingly the sole exception to just about every state's "felons cannot provide services to the state" statutes?
Next time you go 5 MPH over the speed limit, I expect you to duly walk into the nearest police station and demand they write you a citation. After all, the law is the law.
And, that's not considering the screwup SETI did by handing out the same packet for everybody to work on for.. what was it, like a month or two? What a waste.
We've got real problems down here on Earth that need computing resources, like many of the other BOINC projects. Even distributed.net's cryptographic research and OGR calculations have more real-world problem solving elements than SETI.
SETI is a solution looking for a problem. FightAIDS@Home on WorldCommunityGrid.org is doing research that matters to every human being alive on this planet right now.
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Asterisk is a PBX. Ekiga is a user agent.
Apples to oranges.
I'd be happy if I had a gazillion bucks and a hot babe like that in my bedroom.
Money might not be able to buy happiness, but it can make a lot of sadness disappear...
Yep. And it all started when RIM very loudly and publically stated that they would sue others based on their patent claims.
RIM got exactly what they deserved.
That's just it.
The people who actualy NEED a PDA (professionals and whatnot) don't WANT to carry seperate devices. They want it all in one place, simply because (get this clue) they aren't geeks who want to carry fifty toys around. They want one simple device.
Even more importantly: the right "converged" device saves them time and money. If I want to make a phone call, what sense does it make to have to get the number out of the PDA and beam it to my phone? With my Treo, I simply start typing the person's name, and there's the number. I push the Green Button, and off the call goes. If I have a scheduled call with a client, my address book record is linked to the phone number. One push of the Big Green Button and *woosh*, off it goes. I can push another button on my device to record the call, attach it to a DayNotez entry, and it'll all show up on my PC the next time I sync. I can download a new MP3, save it directly into my device's mp3 player, and it's all there. And Sudoku works great.
Lastly: my PDA, phone, digital camera, and MP3 player are now effectively covered by one $2.50/month insurance policy from my provider. If I drop/break/lose it, guess what? $50 replaces the whole deal.
PDAs are dead. All Hail the Great PDA.
Okay, now there's a lot of things you could have said about the Jaguar, but to dis the controller just seems.. petty.
First off, the Jaguar controller was the first controller I ever used that was comfortable for me (who has larger hands) to hold. I could grab the controller firmly, and actually play Tempest 2000 for a few hours without having hand cramps.
And, what the hell is wrong with them just automatically saying "it has a phone keypad, therefore it sucks?" I thought the phone keypad with overlays thing was at least a good idea on paper, and the Jaguar controller was a good effort. Bad Atari for not giving you a place to store the overlays..
Anyway, they dis this controller, and there's no "hate" for the original Commodore VIC joystick?
Funny - we don't have any laws requiring that the hoods on cars not be welded shut, yet no commercially available vehicle comes with its hood welded shut.
Actually, yes we do. You can interpret the Moss-Magnusson Warranty Act that way.
Because, when it comes right down to it, nobody's network works as well as Verizon.
In the last three years, I've had cell phones from AT&T's GSM network (now part of Cingular), Nextel, T-Mobile, and now Verizon. AT&T's GSM service was awesome when it was new, but when they started loading GoPhone subscribers on the network quality went to hell in a handbasket. Additionally, customer support sucked ass.. and only got worse during the Cingular transition (which is why I left.. I wanted a 503 phone number, and was told that I would have to disconnect my AT&T service and purchase a NEW PHONE from Cingular to get a new phone number: they couldn't just issue me a new number on my six-month-old phone. "Oh, but we'll waive the early termination fee." "Yeah, but you're asking me to spend $99 on a new phone." When my contract was up, I left).
Nextel's service is pretty good when you have coverage, but coverage often lacks in rural areas, and since there's no "fallback" or roaming (for the most part), once you leave Nextel's network your phone is crap. Add to that fact that Nextel's equipment sucks, and is usually about two years behind (feature-wise) what you can get from anybody else. The UI on the phones is.. icky. Push-to-talk is a neat feature for business, but unless you got lots of friends there (or on Boost), it's not very useful.
T-Mobile I was perfectly happy with, up until about mid-last year when they unceremoniously just dropped support for Treos. I think they were afraid that the Treo was cannabalizing the Sidekick's business, personally. Additionally, while T-Mobile's service was awesome, I kept having this persistent problem of my phone dropping its "registration" off the network.. and incoming calls would go directly to voicemail even though I had full coverage. I would have to reset my phone to get back on the network. I'd have to do this every four or five days. Oh, and I had this problem not only on Treo, but on a "normal" Nokia phone as well. T-Mobile could never solve this problem.
When my T-Mobile contract expired, I wanted to upgrade to a Treo 650, and had a choice between basically Cingular and Verizon. For whatever reason, I chose Verizon.. even though the price was higher.
The results? So far, I've never had a dropped call, I always have coverage (even in the middle of nowhere, and in the basement of my house). My Treo stays registered on the network. Call quality is generally excellent.. rarely are there dropouts and audio problems. Customer service is pretty good: they actually have a person at the local Verizon store who knows Treo well enough to provide real support for the product.
Strangely enough, I have a cell phone to communicate with people. Verizon's cell phones work. Maybe that's the reason they're in business: the fact of the matter is, everything else about my cell phone is just butter. I have a cell phone to make phone calls.. and in my case, I have a Treo because I'd be carrying a PalmOS machine anyway. If it doesn't work as a phone.. if it's unreliable, or spotty, or difficult to use, it isn't worth a cent.
No, but there's a difference between being able to file a lawsuit and winning one.
Ask any of the people sued by the RIAA what their chances of winning were.
Increasingly, the mere threat of a lawsuit is enough to get one side to pay up, even if they have a reasonable chance of winning should it come to trial. Lawyers ain't cheap, and the mere act of walking into a civil courtroom will cost you $15,000. Even if you get the trial thrown out at the first hearing.
AT&T also have the right to inspect any package (in this case conversation) passing through it's network that it suspects of breaking the law?
No. The Telecommunications Privacy Act (TCPA) specifically prevents common carriers and local exchange carriers from this activity.
And, technically, the rank-and-file employees of the USPS don't have that ability either. Only Postal Inspectors, who are fully deputized federal law enforcement officers, have that ability.
Didn't seem to stop SCO.
To look at it the other way -- is there a Linux powered phone that you can VNC into and write applications for (including programably accessing the phone, bluetooth and cell-based network connection)?
While not Linux-powered, I seem to have no trouble writing software for my Palm Treo 650. Even with the one I bought from Verizon, who's pathetic attempts to disable the Bluetooth profiles for things like dial-up networking and OBEX file transfer are easily defeated. Other people seem to have little trouble writing networked, converged apps for the Treo that work flawlessly on the CDMA or GSM versions of the phone.
I don't want anybody to be able to VNC into my cell phone. That sounds like a security nightmare waiting to happen. I do want my cell phone to be able to SSH and do VNC out, which there are third-party programs for PalmOS that do nicely.
Fundamentally, at an OS level, I still have full access to the networking and Bluetooth functions. All Verizon did on the Treo was disable one of the built-in apps for Bluetooth: the hooks are all still there.. and with five minutes of work and a good Google search, you can undo anyway.
Guy invents the technology, can't really do much with it because it seems that there are other bits of technology that need to be invented before his idea can work. (NTP)
RIM, who basically invented the same technology much later when there is a much more robust wireless platform and CPU to deal with this sort of thing, invents the technology and then starts suing competitors because "we invented it first."
NTP digs a few dusty patents out of a drawer and says, "no, dipshit, we did."
Meanwhile, at this moment in time, there does not appear to be anything "unique" about RIM's technology, and it appears to be "obvious" from the perspective of 2006. Heck, VeriChat, a AIM/Yahoo/MSN chat client for the Palm appears to work essentially the same way.
Sounds like RIM is getting a karma job. They would have been in the right up until the point they started suing other companies. That made RIM a "patent troll" in my book.
But, yeah. Only the lawyers are gonna win on this one.
It is also worth pointing out that even back then a few independent TV stations had co-marketing agreements with CNN, and were carrying CNN's feed live.
As I recall, in Los Angeles KHJ-TV (Channel 9, now KCAL) was carrying the feed live.
So a transformer is not 100% efficient {although it's about the closest anyone's ever built}.
The problem is, most "wall warts" are not just simple transformers. Most devices that use wall warts use DC, therefore, there has to be rectification of the AC current in there to make the devices work. On a wall wart, that is typically done through some form of diode bridge with a capacitor in there to level off the power.
Most wall warts are incredibly inefficient (Popular Electronics once did an article on this subject some years ago, and found that they were somewhere in the 50-70% range), and they are consuming power even when the device they power is off or even disconnected. The diode bridge/capacitor combination creates a lot of inefficiency.
I built a complete 12VDC plant in my house, with special 12V outlets in every room and a central switching power supply. I was able to save about 10% on my power bill just from doing the simple act of eliminating all the wall transformers around my house. For devices that need 5V or some other arbitrary low voltage: semiconductor DC-to-DC power converters work quite well (like devices based around the 7805), and are nearly 100% efficient.
Actually, the Commodore VIC-20 was the first computer (if you don't count the Atari 2600) to sell 1 million units, at least according to Mike Tomczyk's book.
You must be new around here.
From Wikipedia:
During the Commodore 64's lifetime (between 1982 and 1993), total sales exceeded 22 million units. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Commodore 64 still remains the best selling computer model of all time.
If that wasn't enough, the combined sales of the Atari 400/800/XL series also outdid the Apple ]['s combined sales during the 8-bit era.
most successful microcomputer of its generation, the Apple II
Actually, that honor would go to the Commodore 64.
Wonderful. Since they were next in my queue, you've just guaranteed that I probably won't get them next now.
Funny.
I live in Oregon, and don't pay any sales tax.. yet we have state highways, schools, and police.
"No longer" produces good software?
Was there ever any Microsoft-produced software that was "good"?
MS-DOS don't count. They bought that, and IBM was responsible for a lot of the "goodness" that was MS-DOS 5.0.
Actually, the Google price _IS_ wrong for some trips.
It erroneously puts my commute from North Portland to Beaverton as a 2-zone trip, because I start in Zone 2, and end in Zone 3. Technically, I'm crossing 3 zones, and need an "all zone" ticket.
Ironic sig.
"I miss freedom."
I miss freedom to create new products and services without having to worry about a federal government agency coming along and saying that I have to implement a whole slew of 'standards', while providing no funding or direction on how I'm supposed to do all this, and requiring that I deal with uncooperative vendors who have not only no fiancial or legal incentive to provide me this same service, but an actual DISincentive, because I'm their competitors.
I miss freedom too.
Except, as it has been pointed out elsewhere, it's not obvious he actually broke the law.
He went to a couple of trade shows on his own dime, and maybe didn't file every little slip of paperwork required. It happens. Was it a major ethics violation? No, it doesn't appear to be.
Far from the two felony convictions Microsoft has recieved. If you, personally, recieved two felony convictions, you'd be disbarred from even bidding on projects with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Why is Microsoft seemingly the sole exception to just about every state's "felons cannot provide services to the state" statutes?
Next time you go 5 MPH over the speed limit, I expect you to duly walk into the nearest police station and demand they write you a citation. After all, the law is the law.
And, that's not considering the screwup SETI did by handing out the same packet for everybody to work on for.. what was it, like a month or two? What a waste.
We've got real problems down here on Earth that need computing resources, like many of the other BOINC projects. Even distributed.net's cryptographic research and OGR calculations have more real-world problem solving elements than SETI.
SETI is a solution looking for a problem. FightAIDS@Home on WorldCommunityGrid.org is doing research that matters to every human being alive on this planet right now.
... with SpikeTV's annoying watermarks and live-action "commercials for other shows in the corner."
No, thanks. I'll just rent Star Trek from Netflix.