Just as easy to have a bug in commercial software as in FOSS.... Look at the Windows vs Linux OS debate.
There are some very bright FOSS programmers out there that code for fun - while some commercial hacks are forced to do it for rent. Who might have more pride in the code that is released?
Good foresight - just watch for the reentry point (end of October) to get back into stocks. Then watch the markets through March, if you're into timing. Long haul yet to this thing, bumpy for another three years.
Best you can do at 24 - Crank your savings rate up to 20% of take home. It's hard. Do that for 10 years and let compounding get you to a million for retirement.
That's what I look at too. And I completely agree with the comment. But then I'm an engineer.
I did a survey 5 years or so back & asked current SUV & Truck owners (who did casual driving... never put anything in the bed other than a TV or new lawnmower from the store) at what $/gal price would make them to want to switch to something more fuel economical. $/gal (and because of the math in conversion between that and mpg, which they may or may not have know about their vehicle) went up to $4 or $5 easily and some thought maybe more. They liked their SUV/Truck a lot.
When re-asked if they are putting $50 in a tank or $100 in a tank would they switch - and yes they would! $100 for "most" trucks works out about $3/gal where everyone started switching and stopped buying new SUV's and Trucks.
Ah, but the rub is most people just look at their fill-up cost...mpg and $/gal is all fine and nice to know but most don't care. A full tank at $50 vs $100 is a problem.
The other route, that will help if you don't want to keep a second machine around to clutter all that desk real estate, is to install VirtualBox under Ubuntu (easy under 8.04) and then put Windows inside that with FD or MM etc on it.
Then they would get everyone to switch..
"I'd switch to Linux if I could play my favorite game (insert here)".
HP did buy VooDooPC to get into the gaming market - which is about building really fast machines. Linux is lighter weight than Vista so a high end gaming rig running Linux would blaze.
Apple isn't noted for strong gaming - so HP launching a tweaked version of Linux (probably Ubuntu as it's closest to offering mainstream user OS needs) or Wine so "all popular games" will run on it, turn on default eye-candy in the standard Ubuntu Desktop and HP will be there!
This should be an interesting next couple of years.
Then they would get everyone to switch..
"I'd switch if I could play my favorite game (insert here)". HP did buy VooDooPC to get into the gaming market so this would be a great step toward that end.
However, HP is most likely just looking at Linux because it is slim enough to offer reasonable computing on the netbook market - tiny cpu's and ram but made for portability and the non-performance requirements of wifi and internet browsing... to better compete with EeePC and the other similar offerings launching this year.
Walking through the PC section at Best Buy this morning on my way to pick up an extra HDD
There was a salesperson talking intently with a person asking about "Vista and MSOffice" and "what do those packages cost, Can my current computer run Vista or do I have to buy a new one?..."
So I asked while passing, "any pre-installed Linux machines yet?", "No...(worried glance at me)". I thought about teasing a bit more by asking if any machines came with Open Office - but moved along - no sense tormenting them too much. Must have been a Windows Guru (or maybe a Geek Squad person - had a black shirt not the standard blue one on - or a "Windows Guru").
I did see the eeePC on display! So maybe things are looking up.
Because a "real car" is a bad shape to push through the air - think "aggressive grill" designs on most pickups and trucks done for "style".
Most efficient aerodynamic shape is a tear drop - bulb at the front and a narrow tail in the rear. If you look at a lot of cars they are reversed, with small pointy noses and bulbous rear ends.
Many car shoppers are looking for something "big", for "safety" or storage space or to impress friends. Car designers then just build what might sell.
A general indicator of costs are to look at the actual dollar costs(!)..
-cost of buying an old high mileage car (1993-5 Saturn "SL" MANUAL trans = 40mpg, same age Honda CRX=45mpg-55mpg, GM Metro from mid 1990's=50+mpg), maybe $500-$1000?
-cost of buying new Prius/other hybrid maybe $20,000+?
Amount of energy, mining raw materials, smelting recycled scrap into "new steel" to make the new hybrid, transportation, etc are about 20x the cost and environmental impact of extending the use of that old car.
A quick read on a Prius board shows most real-world drivers are getting 48-55mpg - still fancy technology that barely beats 15 year old technology from real-world driving.
Biggest gains will be made in trading your 10-20mpg SUV for a sedan getting 25-30mpg or going small sedan into the 30-35mpg range. Cost/benefit ratios beyond that get hard to justify.
It'll be closing manufacturing (not selling it off), so a net subtraction from earnings.
Instead of pure cost reductions they need to figure out how to design products better.
Buyers will pay more for performance, productivity enhancements, and beauty; otherwise known as "value added".
*Performance... old VooDoo, Alienware, etc gaming rigs
*Productivity... desktop and laptop cases that open/shut easily for fast part swaps - so IT doesn't need to spend hours upgrading ram chips.
*Beauty... See the pricing that Apple is able to achieve now.
It's the people, not the MBA, that cause the problems.
The MBA, or Engineering, or Art, or Medicine degree just gives someone a toolbox of concepts to build upon and condensing what would otherwise be a lifetime of practical experience into a couple of years of classes (from whence the additional practical experience can then be added to).
It usually begins with a room full of opinions on what the company should do next... and the CEO has to figure out who is backing the right one... the mild-mannered genius, the fiery marketing guy, the grumbling manufacturing head, the three lackeys that worship his presence, or the now animated maverick? It's tough to figure out.
Many large corporations hare plagued with indecision. No one wants to be the one that makes a mistake, so they don't do anything until backed into a corner. By then of course it's too late.
Meanwhile, the small quick company that started in a dorm room is now growing by crazy leaps and bounds and moving from one factory to the next larger one like revolving doors. Ok, that small quick company was Dell running around IBM.
There are about a dozen computer companies starting up this week in college dorms that will take on the slower indecisive market leaders. They will cause change and advancement.
Apple provides a better customer experience when there is a problem.
Apple users tend to be more careful with their $2000 wonder box than the buyer of a Dell $200 cheap box (even though the motherboard could be the same manufacturer!).
And more Apple users are "forgiving" of problems, because they tend to feel barely worthy to even type on "such a work of art" - and must have somehow been at fault for the issue.
Or they are a little embarrassed that they spent $2000 on a wonder box that broke as fast as their neighbor's and they have already spent months raving about their new purchase.
Like herding cats, how much work could you consistently get out of child laborers anyway? Would you want to risk your business on the productivity of kids? Not I.
It's not child labor. It's done with comparable wages and backing out the cost of government...
taxes set rents that set wages. A $1/hr wage with $30/month rent is the same as a $10/hr wage with $300/month rent. Each has to work 30 hours to live in their apartment for the month. Which worker is better/worse off? But the product that was manufactured by the second worker is considerably more expensive than the first when those "dvd players" arrive in a third sales market.
Their quality may actually go up when they outsource! It's easier to strong-arm a supplier plant than it is an internal manufacturing plant. because it's harder to convince the other functional silo executive to clean up their stuff than to drag the supplier's owners in and tell them six other suppliers are honing quality axes as they gab.
Remember, there is little that any of the computer manufacturers do other than marketing and sculpting the boxes - and even then I've seen the same "box" with a different badge sold as something else.
Foxconn or Intel motherboards, Intel or AMD CPU's, etc. I once had four different OEM towers that all had the exact same motherboard and cpu.
You need to look at market share when quoting percentages of "defects" - Dell has been a majority player in the computer market - and so you'd see 10x the number of problem machines as Apple just due to their respective shipment volume. You need to look at "defects per million units shipped" to get a better idea of quality rankings.
Actual figures for shipping product from China to the US work out to about:
$1.80 per laptop
$6.00 per desktop
That's assuming you're bulk packing the machines for the first leg of the journey and then repacking with foam/cardboard boxes "locally" for end-consumer shipment.
Then the end-consumer shipment cost is really about $20 for a desktop model, for which you'll likely get charged $50 to $100 (on that $1000 pc). So the bulk shipment is well covered.
You generally want to assemble products close to the market you are selling in, to avoid shipping "air". Dell used this close to sales staging to create custom computers.
What I see here is Dell is just phasing out the "custom build" option and will be selling a few standard versions.
Their real problem is they have too many base models (too much complexity) in their full operation - before even getting to the customization question. Pushing back manufacturing to suppliers won't solve their underlying cost problems.
Compare the number of laptop+desktop+server models you can order from Apple vs Dell, and it's something like 6 vs 96 different models to choose from. Again, without getting into custom options.
If Dell is serious about cutting their structural costs, they need to crop their lineup down to a very few models - and be as aggressive as shutting down plants. Use the same machines for business or home consumer markets. Offer three laptops netbook/general/gaming, two desktops basic/gaming, and two blade or server machines for low and high performance jobs. Split is heavier on laptops since laptops are 80% of shipments now. Then ensure all of these machines are "certified" to install either Windows or Ubuntu. Computer technology changes rapidly enough that year to year this mix will change in product specifications but the general offerings will stay consistent. That "gaming rig" from three years ago is the budget pc offered today.
Insects and disease could have contributed to the speed of resolution, but it was not the cause.
Below the K-T layer...Lots of Dinosaurs.
Above the K-T layer...No Dinosaurs.
Singular infectious disease event that eliminated that many species, with that many different DNA adaptations to different diseases does not indicate root cause.
The K-T disaster was still caused by a big rock impact.
...OR...Maybe it was an alien ship that crash landed, releasing destruction and a strange disease. And their feral dogs escaped and populated the world... Now that might be more fun to debate.
Slashdot Mirror
Just as easy to have a bug in commercial software as in FOSS.... Look at the Windows vs Linux OS debate.
There are some very bright FOSS programmers out there that code for fun - while some commercial hacks are forced to do it for rent. Who might have more pride in the code that is released?
Good foresight - just watch for the reentry point (end of October) to get back into stocks. Then watch the markets through March, if you're into timing. Long haul yet to this thing, bumpy for another three years.
Best you can do at 24 - Crank your savings rate up to 20% of take home. It's hard. Do that for 10 years and let compounding get you to a million for retirement.
That's what I look at too. And I completely agree with the comment. But then I'm an engineer.
I did a survey 5 years or so back & asked current SUV & Truck owners (who did casual driving... never put anything in the bed other than a TV or new lawnmower from the store) at what $/gal price would make them to want to switch to something more fuel economical. $/gal (and because of the math in conversion between that and mpg, which they may or may not have know about their vehicle) went up to $4 or $5 easily and some thought maybe more. They liked their SUV/Truck a lot.
When re-asked if they are putting $50 in a tank or $100 in a tank would they switch - and yes they would! $100 for "most" trucks works out about $3/gal where everyone started switching and stopped buying new SUV's and Trucks.
Ah, but the rub is most people just look at their fill-up cost...mpg and $/gal is all fine and nice to know but most don't care. A full tank at $50 vs $100 is a problem.
I used to get 40-45mpg with a standard gas Saturn (mid 1990's). No high tech there and great mileage. Honda CRX & Geo Metro's were even higher.
I like this idea.
That would be too easy for Microsoft... and too hard ("so how do we sell this other stuff now?"). It *might* save them though.
The backlash has been pretty grim for them for a while now so a creative solutions could work.
Ok, I dabble with some writing, so your question prompted me to do a quick survey.. maybe there is some interesting stuff out there now?...
Here are a couple of options I found:
http://www.celtx.com/features.html
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/scr2
http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/node/909
http://www.write-brain.com/power_structure_main.htm (notes that it works under Wine)
http://www.writerscafe.co.uk/
http://www.spacejock.com/yWriter4.html (under Wine)
http://openoffice.blogs.com/openoffice/2008/03/an-equivalent-o.html (How to get "outline mode" in Open Office)
The other route, that will help if you don't want to keep a second machine around to clutter all that desk real estate, is to install VirtualBox under Ubuntu (easy under 8.04) and then put Windows inside that with FD or MM etc on it.
Then they would get everyone to switch.. "I'd switch to Linux if I could play my favorite game (insert here)".
HP did buy VooDooPC to get into the gaming market - which is about building really fast machines. Linux is lighter weight than Vista so a high end gaming rig running Linux would blaze.
Apple isn't noted for strong gaming - so HP launching a tweaked version of Linux (probably Ubuntu as it's closest to offering mainstream user OS needs) or Wine so "all popular games" will run on it, turn on default eye-candy in the standard Ubuntu Desktop and HP will be there!
This should be an interesting next couple of years.
Then they would get everyone to switch.. "I'd switch if I could play my favorite game (insert here)". HP did buy VooDooPC to get into the gaming market so this would be a great step toward that end.
However, HP is most likely just looking at Linux because it is slim enough to offer reasonable computing on the netbook market - tiny cpu's and ram but made for portability and the non-performance requirements of wifi and internet browsing... to better compete with EeePC and the other similar offerings launching this year.
Walking through the PC section at Best Buy this morning on my way to pick up an extra HDD
There was a salesperson talking intently with a person asking about "Vista and MSOffice" and "what do those packages cost, Can my current computer run Vista or do I have to buy a new one?..."
So I asked while passing, "any pre-installed Linux machines yet?", "No...(worried glance at me)". I thought about teasing a bit more by asking if any machines came with Open Office - but moved along - no sense tormenting them too much. Must have been a Windows Guru (or maybe a Geek Squad person - had a black shirt not the standard blue one on - or a "Windows Guru").
I did see the eeePC on display! So maybe things are looking up.
I think your car has Linux on it. You better take it apart and look.
Because a "real car" is a bad shape to push through the air - think "aggressive grill" designs on most pickups and trucks done for "style".
Most efficient aerodynamic shape is a tear drop - bulb at the front and a narrow tail in the rear. If you look at a lot of cars they are reversed, with small pointy noses and bulbous rear ends.
Many car shoppers are looking for something "big", for "safety" or storage space or to impress friends. Car designers then just build what might sell.
A general indicator of costs are to look at the actual dollar costs(!)..
-cost of buying an old high mileage car (1993-5 Saturn "SL" MANUAL trans = 40mpg, same age Honda CRX=45mpg-55mpg, GM Metro from mid 1990's=50+mpg), maybe $500-$1000?
-cost of buying new Prius/other hybrid maybe $20,000+?
Amount of energy, mining raw materials, smelting recycled scrap into "new steel" to make the new hybrid, transportation, etc are about 20x the cost and environmental impact of extending the use of that old car.
A quick read on a Prius board shows most real-world drivers are getting 48-55mpg - still fancy technology that barely beats 15 year old technology from real-world driving.
Biggest gains will be made in trading your 10-20mpg SUV for a sedan getting 25-30mpg or going small sedan into the 30-35mpg range. Cost/benefit ratios beyond that get hard to justify.
It'll be closing manufacturing (not selling it off), so a net subtraction from earnings. Instead of pure cost reductions they need to figure out how to design products better.
Buyers will pay more for performance, productivity enhancements, and beauty; otherwise known as "value added".
*Performance... old VooDoo, Alienware, etc gaming rigs
*Productivity... desktop and laptop cases that open/shut easily for fast part swaps - so IT doesn't need to spend hours upgrading ram chips.
*Beauty... See the pricing that Apple is able to achieve now.
"You can never save your way to greatness"
And Dell's "made in China" chips and motherboards that got assembled in those US assembly plants didn't have any spying equipment pre-built in them?
Dang! Now I'll have to figure out another way to spread FUD.
It's the people, not the MBA, that cause the problems.
The MBA, or Engineering, or Art, or Medicine degree just gives someone a toolbox of concepts to build upon and condensing what would otherwise be a lifetime of practical experience into a couple of years of classes (from whence the additional practical experience can then be added to).
It usually begins with a room full of opinions on what the company should do next... and the CEO has to figure out who is backing the right one... the mild-mannered genius, the fiery marketing guy, the grumbling manufacturing head, the three lackeys that worship his presence, or the now animated maverick? It's tough to figure out.
Many large corporations hare plagued with indecision. No one wants to be the one that makes a mistake, so they don't do anything until backed into a corner. By then of course it's too late.
Meanwhile, the small quick company that started in a dorm room is now growing by crazy leaps and bounds and moving from one factory to the next larger one like revolving doors. Ok, that small quick company was Dell running around IBM.
There are about a dozen computer companies starting up this week in college dorms that will take on the slower indecisive market leaders. They will cause change and advancement.
Apple provides a better customer experience when there is a problem.
Apple users tend to be more careful with their $2000 wonder box than the buyer of a Dell $200 cheap box (even though the motherboard could be the same manufacturer!).
And more Apple users are "forgiving" of problems, because they tend to feel barely worthy to even type on "such a work of art" - and must have somehow been at fault for the issue.
Or they are a little embarrassed that they spent $2000 on a wonder box that broke as fast as their neighbor's and they have already spent months raving about their new purchase.
Like herding cats, how much work could you consistently get out of child laborers anyway? Would you want to risk your business on the productivity of kids? Not I.
It's not child labor. It's done with comparable wages and backing out the cost of government...
taxes set rents that set wages. A $1/hr wage with $30/month rent is the same as a $10/hr wage with $300/month rent. Each has to work 30 hours to live in their apartment for the month. Which worker is better/worse off? But the product that was manufactured by the second worker is considerably more expensive than the first when those "dvd players" arrive in a third sales market.
Their quality may actually go up when they outsource! It's easier to strong-arm a supplier plant than it is an internal manufacturing plant. because it's harder to convince the other functional silo executive to clean up their stuff than to drag the supplier's owners in and tell them six other suppliers are honing quality axes as they gab.
Remember, there is little that any of the computer manufacturers do other than marketing and sculpting the boxes - and even then I've seen the same "box" with a different badge sold as something else.
Foxconn or Intel motherboards, Intel or AMD CPU's, etc. I once had four different OEM towers that all had the exact same motherboard and cpu.
You need to look at market share when quoting percentages of "defects" - Dell has been a majority player in the computer market - and so you'd see 10x the number of problem machines as Apple just due to their respective shipment volume. You need to look at "defects per million units shipped" to get a better idea of quality rankings.
Great analogy!
At least they have have Ubuntu! (they did use RedHat for some server boxes at one time, maybe still do).
Actual figures for shipping product from China to the US work out to about:
$1.80 per laptop $6.00 per desktop
That's assuming you're bulk packing the machines for the first leg of the journey and then repacking with foam/cardboard boxes "locally" for end-consumer shipment.
Then the end-consumer shipment cost is really about $20 for a desktop model, for which you'll likely get charged $50 to $100 (on that $1000 pc). So the bulk shipment is well covered.
You generally want to assemble products close to the market you are selling in, to avoid shipping "air". Dell used this close to sales staging to create custom computers.
What I see here is Dell is just phasing out the "custom build" option and will be selling a few standard versions.
Their real problem is they have too many base models (too much complexity) in their full operation - before even getting to the customization question. Pushing back manufacturing to suppliers won't solve their underlying cost problems.
Compare the number of laptop+desktop+server models you can order from Apple vs Dell, and it's something like 6 vs 96 different models to choose from. Again, without getting into custom options.
If Dell is serious about cutting their structural costs, they need to crop their lineup down to a very few models - and be as aggressive as shutting down plants. Use the same machines for business or home consumer markets. Offer three laptops netbook/general/gaming, two desktops basic/gaming, and two blade or server machines for low and high performance jobs. Split is heavier on laptops since laptops are 80% of shipments now. Then ensure all of these machines are "certified" to install either Windows or Ubuntu. Computer technology changes rapidly enough that year to year this mix will change in product specifications but the general offerings will stay consistent. That "gaming rig" from three years ago is the budget pc offered today.
Discretionary Thoughts
Insects and disease could have contributed to the speed of resolution, but it was not the cause.
...OR...Maybe it was an alien ship that crash landed, releasing destruction and a strange disease. And their feral dogs escaped and populated the world... Now that might be more fun to debate.
Below the K-T layer...Lots of Dinosaurs.
Above the K-T layer...No Dinosaurs.
Singular infectious disease event that eliminated that many species, with that many different DNA adaptations to different diseases does not indicate root cause.
The K-T disaster was still caused by a big rock impact.
Ha ha, Great!