Yeah, but with Microsoft, they are doing this by making a deliberately crappy product. Everyone seems to defend MS by saying, "isn't that what every company wants/does?", but it's not the motives that piss people off so much, it's the actions.
If it moves through the air, controllably, it's flying. If it just moves up and down (like a magnet), it's just levitating. Sounds like this thing flies.
Before you come back with some engineering case against it being called flying, remember aerodynamic powered flying is a *subset* of flying.
The 'pincers' are likely just bimetal springs or that glob in the center expands with heat to spread the pincers.
Who forced you to buy a laptop with windows on it?
The PC maker does. And MS forces the PC maker to make that decision through licensing deals.
If you want a PC, your choices for computers with Windows far outstrip the choices for those without Windows.
Is it the same way that Apple forces you to buy OS-X[sic]?
This is a silly argument. The dynamics between MS and the PC makers is different from the dynamics of Apple and the Mac makers (i.e., Apple and itself).
It's high time people on this site grow up and stop repeating this shit ad ifinitum. Freaking victim complex, I tell ya..
Worse is those that would blame the victim. MS shouldn't be forcing Windows on the PC makers, but the PC makers have no choice other than to develop their own OS. It's gotten so bad for them that many are doing just that, based on Linux, but in the mean time, the PC buying Slashdot crowd is subject to having to pay for an OS they may not want.
The guilty part here is MS. The PC makers are accomplices. The consumer is the victim.
Nowhere did I say participation from the losing side didn't have an effect.
You're splitting hairs, which is absurd when the topic is "are the 50%+1 side the pimps" as they aren't pimps and the 50%-1 side isn't hoes. In context, you essentially stated that participating in Democracy is only prudent if you are in the majority. If not, then the pimp/ho dichotomy is nonsense in the first place (not just literally, but in the sense of one side being in control of the other side similar to the pimp/ho power relationship).
In regard to you being modded down, the vicious tone of your responses following your first post probably contributed to your continuing downmodding.
I was already downmodded before I followed up. My "vicious tone" evinces my absolute disgust and contempt for those who are so thoroughly against democracy. I really don't care about being downmodded by such fools, as I have absolutely zero respect for their opinion. I just wanted to point out the absurdity of modding down democracy (which, ironically, is also a form of voting against democracy).
Democracy certainly has it's problems., but there's no other system that works as well. Any argument against democracy is an argument for some form of totalitarianism, or for anarchy (which invariably breaks down into a fractured totalitarianism of thugs, gangsters, warlords, etc.).
Absolutely false. Just participating, even being on the losing side has an effect. Just by being someone that the politicians have to compete with each other for your vote, you are taking part in Democracy.
Or your could just be a fucking moron, like those with mod points today, and just tune out when you're on the losing side. I'm glad the voters of America weren't sympathetic with your philosophy last November.
To the moron who modded me down (and who most likely will never read this, oh well...):
Do you realize you modded down the sentiment "take part in your Democracy"? I really don't care much about being modded down in general--there's always going to be some idiot somewhere with mod points (or I may have been the idiot myself, it does happen).
But some things go beyond the pale. Really? Modding down Democracy? Unbelievable...
You anti-taxers are amazing. You're all about "hey, this great country, what it really needs is less money, then it would be even greater!"
What's so troubling about paying your fair share? And yes, your fair share goes up as your income goes up, as those with greater incomes are taking greater advantage of the public infrastructure.
Actually, in the US, your fair share doesn't actually track your income. The middle-class carries the greatest tax burden. That's why the economy is so screwed--the middle class has been decimated.
First they destroyed the unions and free college education. Then they raised our taxes. Then they lowered our wages. Then they had us working more hours. Then they shipped our jobs overseas. The final straw was when they had us go into debt so we could maintain our middle class lifestyle for just a little longer so they (the upper class) could take just a little bit more of our money.
Once the credit ran out, this whole house of cards collapsed. Fuck the rich, it's their avarice that brought this whole thing to pass, and it was the Conservative fiscal ideology (primarily Republicans, but far too many Democrats as well) that placed the Dollar over The People.
Taxes are not our problem, except when it comes to the rich, where the tax laws are set up to reward fucking over the economy and decimating the middle class.
It has been removed because it caused confusion. People were for some reason redirected to ubuntu.com and clicking on their donate now button. Once that was discovered it's been removed. I'm sure they will come up with a replacement soon.
The proper link should be the Ubuntu "Download Now" button...
I'm not so sure about this. If you don't click "I Agree" (or simply just don't even boot it into Windows at all, and just go straight for the Linux CD), then your license hasn't been tied to the unit yet.
But even so, I don't think most people are going to care about such a distinction. My point is just that, if you want to put Windows on your PC, such a scenario could come up.
Apple sell hardware, they happen to sell software to go with it, but they really sell hardware
What a strange thing to say. They really sell both.
But you're even wronger than that. Apple sees themselves as a software company first, and a hardware company second (even if the consumer tends to see it the other way around). Steve Jobs even quoted Alan Kay during the iPhone introduction saying, "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."
They are not in the same market as Microsoft and Linux at all....
That's an equally strange to say, as when I go to buy a new computer, the choice of OS falls between Apple, MS and Linux as the top three.
Don't forget the people who already have a Windows license - I bought a Linux netbook because I have more than enough MSDNAA XP licenses laying around anyway...
Your average consumer does not have spare Windows licenses. Why am I talking about the average consumer? Because:
I don't think that a lot of the people in the Netbook target audience (Youtube, E-Mail and Web browsers) are technically-minded enough to spend time getting a Linux setup up and running when they're coming from Windows...
Don't change the goalposts. The thing is, on Linux netbooks, Linux is already set up. This is not the same as downloading an ISO and going though the hassle of getting it running.
Hell, I'm relatively technically minded and I can't stand using Linux on a day-to-day basiss.
I'm relatively technically minded, and I can't stand using Windows on a day-to-day basis. The plural of anecdote is not data.
My point is that even less than $100 (v.s. $150) Windows would outsell Linux at least by 20-to-1.
Which is still less than Windows outsells Linux in the general PC market which proves my point that at lower prices, a $50 Windows license becomes harder to sell.
I suspect that even at $25 for the hardware, Windows would sell at $50 a pop, but it would be less than 20-to-1.
So, what you're saying is that even at $250, the numbers back my statement.
Windows outsells Linux far greater than 20-to-1 in the overall scheme of things. But at the $250, Linux is gaining ground. So even here, at $250, it's harder to sell Windows as it becomes a greater fraction of the cost of the computer, just as I stated.
When your post confirms mine so perfectly, why did you word it in such as way as to sound like it contradicts mine? Strange...
The Ubuntu Netbook Remix looks very promising. As does the shell HP uses for Linux netbooks. $50 isn't much when it's part of a $500-$1,500 computer, but when the computer only costs $150 (where netbooks are headed), I think a $50 Windows license is going to be a harder sell.
1. Apple has always focused on the higher-end market. This market will always be there, even when $150 netbooks are a reality. 2. Apple makes the OS, and can afford to make essentially zero on it if needed on a netbook. 3. Apple has done very well in consumer electronics this century.
1 and 3 really don't matter much to MS in this regard. Number 2, though, will be the tough one. They could possibly sell a $5 version of Windows for netbooks, although it won't be easy.
Just imagine, it could be cheaper to buy a netbook with Windows, and then use the Windows license on your full-powered PC (leaving you with a perfectly Linux-ready netbook), than it is to buy Windows retail (or even OEM).
Really, I think MS is much more vulnerable here. If you think about it, MS doesn't sell you anything tangible, just bits. At least Apple sells hardware. Once people stop seeing value in the bits (*if* that ever happens), MS has nothing to sell, and Apple does.
Agreed. I wish that they would have kept the suspended disbelief unexplained, much like the force was before metacloriates (blame firefox for not having a star-wars enabled spell checker). The god thing was a major cop-out for those of us that don't believe in magic.
Wait, you're pissed that they scientifically explained away the 'magic' in Star Wars, but didn't scientifically explain away the 'magic' in BSG?
The thing that annoys me more is when they are not self-consistent. That's the problem with Star Wars. The Force is a mystical thing, then it's suddenly just some funky magic germs. BSG always had this gods/one true god thing going, which at the very end isn't really 'God' god, but more of an Arthur C. Clarke sufficiently advanced technology god.
To quote the first paragraph of the post you replied to:
First: if you actually paid attention, they weren't discarding "every scrap" of technology by any means. Adama kept a Raptor, for Gods' sakes! Most people brought "supplies". They were just discarding the large scale stuff.
... unless you believe all the hyperbole that comes out of Apple's marketing department.
The iPhone isn't primarily a gaming platform, like the DS, Wii, PS3, etc, are. It's primarily half-phone, half-portable computer, and half-iPod (yes, I know).
Focussing on the computer 'half', it plays games very, very well. Just because it's not primarily a gaming platform, doesn't mean it's not a gaming platform. Even a cursory glance at the games section of the App store will demonstrate that it has a very viable gaming ecosystem.
Now that there's a dock connection API and a bluetooth API, expect to see d-pad controllers which takes away, really, the only gaming element the DS and PSP have over the iPhone and iPod touch.
Not at all. The Nintendo DS has sold over a hundred million units; that's 2-3 times more than Apple has sold iPhones.
And the DS has been out 2-3 times as long. It's not just the iPhone, but also the iPod touch, as well as any future iPhone OS devices that the DS will compete with.
How are Microsoft's nationally broadcast advertisements only "attempts" to respond Apple's "clever" strategy of "make the other guys look lame and nerdy"?
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, but with Microsoft, they are doing this by making a deliberately crappy product. Everyone seems to defend MS by saying, "isn't that what every company wants/does?", but it's not the motives that piss people off so much, it's the actions.
The ends aren't the problem, it's the means.
It is levitating, not flying.
If it moves through the air, controllably, it's flying. If it just moves up and down (like a magnet), it's just levitating. Sounds like this thing flies.
Before you come back with some engineering case against it being called flying, remember aerodynamic powered flying is a *subset* of flying.
The 'pincers' are likely just bimetal springs or that glob in the center expands with heat to spread the pincers.
In other words, the pincers are just pincers?
Who forced you to buy a laptop with windows on it?
The PC maker does. And MS forces the PC maker to make that decision through licensing deals.
If you want a PC, your choices for computers with Windows far outstrip the choices for those without Windows.
Is it the same way that Apple forces you to buy OS-X[sic]?
This is a silly argument. The dynamics between MS and the PC makers is different from the dynamics of Apple and the Mac makers (i.e., Apple and itself).
It's high time people on this site grow up and stop repeating this shit ad ifinitum. Freaking victim complex, I tell ya..
Worse is those that would blame the victim. MS shouldn't be forcing Windows on the PC makers, but the PC makers have no choice other than to develop their own OS. It's gotten so bad for them that many are doing just that, based on Linux, but in the mean time, the PC buying Slashdot crowd is subject to having to pay for an OS they may not want.
The guilty part here is MS. The PC makers are accomplices. The consumer is the victim.
Nowhere did I say participation from the losing side didn't have an effect.
You're splitting hairs, which is absurd when the topic is "are the 50%+1 side the pimps" as they aren't pimps and the 50%-1 side isn't hoes. In context, you essentially stated that participating in Democracy is only prudent if you are in the majority. If not, then the pimp/ho dichotomy is nonsense in the first place (not just literally, but in the sense of one side being in control of the other side similar to the pimp/ho power relationship).
In regard to you being modded down, the vicious tone of your responses following your first post probably contributed to your continuing downmodding.
I was already downmodded before I followed up. My "vicious tone" evinces my absolute disgust and contempt for those who are so thoroughly against democracy. I really don't care about being downmodded by such fools, as I have absolutely zero respect for their opinion. I just wanted to point out the absurdity of modding down democracy (which, ironically, is also a form of voting against democracy).
Democracy certainly has it's problems., but there's no other system that works as well. Any argument against democracy is an argument for some form of totalitarianism, or for anarchy (which invariably breaks down into a fractured totalitarianism of thugs, gangsters, warlords, etc.).
Absolutely false. Just participating, even being on the losing side has an effect. Just by being someone that the politicians have to compete with each other for your vote, you are taking part in Democracy.
Or your could just be a fucking moron, like those with mod points today, and just tune out when you're on the losing side. I'm glad the voters of America weren't sympathetic with your philosophy last November.
To the moron who modded me down (and who most likely will never read this, oh well...):
Do you realize you modded down the sentiment "take part in your Democracy"? I really don't care much about being modded down in general--there's always going to be some idiot somewhere with mod points (or I may have been the idiot myself, it does happen).
But some things go beyond the pale. Really? Modding down Democracy? Unbelievable...
Did you read the captions of the screen shots? These aren't shots of their own maps.
Their engine is far more advanced than any of the other Open Source engines. What they don't have yet is a complete game.
You anti-taxers are amazing. You're all about "hey, this great country, what it really needs is less money, then it would be even greater!"
What's so troubling about paying your fair share? And yes, your fair share goes up as your income goes up, as those with greater incomes are taking greater advantage of the public infrastructure.
Actually, in the US, your fair share doesn't actually track your income. The middle-class carries the greatest tax burden. That's why the economy is so screwed--the middle class has been decimated.
First they destroyed the unions and free college education. Then they raised our taxes. Then they lowered our wages. Then they had us working more hours. Then they shipped our jobs overseas. The final straw was when they had us go into debt so we could maintain our middle class lifestyle for just a little longer so they (the upper class) could take just a little bit more of our money.
Once the credit ran out, this whole house of cards collapsed. Fuck the rich, it's their avarice that brought this whole thing to pass, and it was the Conservative fiscal ideology (primarily Republicans, but far too many Democrats as well) that placed the Dollar over The People.
Taxes are not our problem, except when it comes to the rich, where the tax laws are set up to reward fucking over the economy and decimating the middle class.
Only if you choose not to participate when you live in a democracy.
It has been removed because it caused confusion. People were for some reason redirected to ubuntu.com and clicking on their donate now button. Once that was discovered it's been removed. I'm sure they will come up with a replacement soon.
The proper link should be the Ubuntu "Download Now" button...
I'm not so sure about this. If you don't click "I Agree" (or simply just don't even boot it into Windows at all, and just go straight for the Linux CD), then your license hasn't been tied to the unit yet.
But even so, I don't think most people are going to care about such a distinction. My point is just that, if you want to put Windows on your PC, such a scenario could come up.
Apple sell hardware, they happen to sell software to go with it, but they really sell hardware
What a strange thing to say. They really sell both.
But you're even wronger than that. Apple sees themselves as a software company first, and a hardware company second (even if the consumer tends to see it the other way around). Steve Jobs even quoted Alan Kay during the iPhone introduction saying, "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware."
They are not in the same market as Microsoft and Linux at all ....
That's an equally strange to say, as when I go to buy a new computer, the choice of OS falls between Apple, MS and Linux as the top three.
Don't forget the people who already have a Windows license - I bought a Linux netbook because I have more than enough MSDNAA XP licenses laying around anyway...
Your average consumer does not have spare Windows licenses. Why am I talking about the average consumer? Because:
I don't think that a lot of the people in the Netbook target audience (Youtube, E-Mail and Web browsers) are technically-minded enough to spend time getting a Linux setup up and running when they're coming from Windows...
Don't change the goalposts. The thing is, on Linux netbooks, Linux is already set up. This is not the same as downloading an ISO and going though the hassle of getting it running.
Hell, I'm relatively technically minded and I can't stand using Linux on a day-to-day basiss.
I'm relatively technically minded, and I can't stand using Windows on a day-to-day basis. The plural of anecdote is not data.
My point is that even less than $100 (v.s. $150) Windows would outsell Linux at least by 20-to-1.
Which is still less than Windows outsells Linux in the general PC market which proves my point that at lower prices, a $50 Windows license becomes harder to sell.
I suspect that even at $25 for the hardware, Windows would sell at $50 a pop, but it would be less than 20-to-1.
So, what you're saying is that even at $250, the numbers back my statement.
Windows outsells Linux far greater than 20-to-1 in the overall scheme of things. But at the $250, Linux is gaining ground. So even here, at $250, it's harder to sell Windows as it becomes a greater fraction of the cost of the computer, just as I stated.
When your post confirms mine so perfectly, why did you word it in such as way as to sound like it contradicts mine? Strange...
The Ubuntu Netbook Remix looks very promising. As does the shell HP uses for Linux netbooks. $50 isn't much when it's part of a $500-$1,500 computer, but when the computer only costs $150 (where netbooks are headed), I think a $50 Windows license is going to be a harder sell.
And Apple is just as boned.
Three things come to mind:
1. Apple has always focused on the higher-end market. This market will always be there, even when $150 netbooks are a reality.
2. Apple makes the OS, and can afford to make essentially zero on it if needed on a netbook.
3. Apple has done very well in consumer electronics this century.
1 and 3 really don't matter much to MS in this regard. Number 2, though, will be the tough one. They could possibly sell a $5 version of Windows for netbooks, although it won't be easy.
Just imagine, it could be cheaper to buy a netbook with Windows, and then use the Windows license on your full-powered PC (leaving you with a perfectly Linux-ready netbook), than it is to buy Windows retail (or even OEM).
Really, I think MS is much more vulnerable here. If you think about it, MS doesn't sell you anything tangible, just bits. At least Apple sells hardware. Once people stop seeing value in the bits (*if* that ever happens), MS has nothing to sell, and Apple does.
Agreed. I wish that they would have kept the suspended disbelief unexplained, much like the force was before metacloriates (blame firefox for not having a star-wars enabled spell checker). The god thing was a major cop-out for those of us that don't believe in magic.
Wait, you're pissed that they scientifically explained away the 'magic' in Star Wars, but didn't scientifically explain away the 'magic' in BSG?
The thing that annoys me more is when they are not self-consistent. That's the problem with Star Wars. The Force is a mystical thing, then it's suddenly just some funky magic germs. BSG always had this gods/one true god thing going, which at the very end isn't really 'God' god, but more of an Arthur C. Clarke sufficiently advanced technology god.
To quote the first paragraph of the post you replied to:
First: if you actually paid attention, they weren't discarding "every scrap" of technology by any means. Adama kept a Raptor, for Gods' sakes! Most people brought "supplies". They were just discarding the large scale stuff.
Even the most minimal exertion of imagination would show this to not be true.
... unless you believe all the hyperbole that comes out of Apple's marketing department.
The iPhone isn't primarily a gaming platform, like the DS, Wii, PS3, etc, are. It's primarily half-phone, half-portable computer, and half-iPod (yes, I know).
Focussing on the computer 'half', it plays games very, very well. Just because it's not primarily a gaming platform, doesn't mean it's not a gaming platform. Even a cursory glance at the games section of the App store will demonstrate that it has a very viable gaming ecosystem.
Now that there's a dock connection API and a bluetooth API, expect to see d-pad controllers which takes away, really, the only gaming element the DS and PSP have over the iPhone and iPod touch.
The DS has a touch screen, like the iPod Touch
It may have a touch screen, but the touch screen is nothing like the iPod touch.
How about Dual Screens, Dual Cameras, expandable memory, clamshell design. Not to mention the thing plays DS GAMES!
How about multi-touch, iPhone OS, GPS, accelerometer. Not to mention full iPod functionality!
Not at all. The Nintendo DS has sold over a hundred million units; that's 2-3 times more than Apple has sold iPhones.
And the DS has been out 2-3 times as long. It's not just the iPhone, but also the iPod touch, as well as any future iPhone OS devices that the DS will compete with.
How are Microsoft's nationally broadcast advertisements only "attempts" to respond Apple's "clever" strategy of "make the other guys look lame and nerdy"?
Because they didn't work.