The cost aspect that I don't usually see is the support issue. I have recommended a free/OSS option, and been told to use a commercial app because if they need support, they want to be able to call someone. Look at how people are making money off of Linux. Not in selling Linux, but in selling the support. Until there are a lot more people out there who know how to support and are selling this support, closed source will still win.
Another aspect is finger pointing. I, as a business owner, don't want to spend a lot of money. Less money I spend, more money I get to take home, right? But if I buy this M$ OS, browser, office suite, and CRM application, and they don't work right, I am not going to be told 'oh, we don't support that, you need to talk to their vendor'
And since I am usually calling support when I am down/losing money, it makes more sense to spend the money up front. Same reason we buy insurance.
Now, this doesn't apply to everyone, but the general business owner it certainly does. A buddy of mine does support for the small business market, and he is still supporting a lot of Win9x/NT PCs. They will upgrade when they need to. Office 97? Still works fine for me. Why do I need to use those new features? And they will do so until they can no longer use the PC. So, they are not going out and replacing PCs every couple years just to get the latest thing. In fact, the company I am working for now still has some old Compaq Deskpro 2000 (P200 CPU) machines running Win98 and Office 97. Granted, I get rid of them as soon as I can, but they don't see a reason to remove them unless they break.
This has to be the funniest/craziest part of the whole thing. Boy, being 5 feet off the ground is sure going to stop my kids (9 & 14) from getting the game. Hello, maybe this schmuck should take a look around and see that some of the 'kids' he wants to stop are taller than 5 feet?
My 9 year old son is 5' tall, and my 13 year old if 5' 10". Granted, they are a little taller than most, but their mother and grandmother are only 5'3". So, this would stop them mostly because Mom couldn't reach up to buy it.
If we are going to pass a law, lets at least do it for the right reasons, and make it effective. This law fits neither.
This comment is really amazing. By that theory, the USA better pack it in. After all, this land was claimed by the various native tribes long before some english settlers landed here. The Jewish tribes took Israel from the previous owners. Where again is the historical proof of right to the land?
Well, I was in the good ol US Navy as a Sonar Operator on a sub, and I can say that we never trained using video games. I would love to see where that information came from. I was in from 1985 to 1997, so maybe it is a recent thing. But I don't see how a video game can help you read that waterfall display. But, maybe that is how they trained the officers, you know, brought it down to something they could understand?
We had the same problem. After some digging, we found a solution: Oracle Collaboration Suite
It will do all of what Exchange can do, including calendaring. We are deploying it next month, and I can't wait based on what I have seen from the demos. Check it out at http://www.oracle.com/features/ocs/index.html?t1cs _email.html
I always laugh at the people who argue that we will not 'kill the earth.' I think the chances of that, short of a total nuclear war, are pretty slim. This does not mean, however, that we can not mess it up so much that we can't survive. The cockroaches have been here for a long time, and will be here after we are gone. Do I want to speed this up? No. United Nations committees are forecasting the next 50 years, and saying that conflicts will be over water. Yes, water. Why fight over oil and politics when we can fight over basic survival? How's that for a reason to fight?? As the article, and other posters here, states, only a few degrees change can have significant impacts on climate. What happens if the main breadbox areas of the world are no longer prime growing areas? Where will the food come from? Already, here in the US, there are legal fights over water. Cities want it to support the growing masses, but farmers want it to water their crops, which then feeds the masses. Where does it end?
Wait, lets not forget about the 3D gaming. Isn't it 3D gaming that pushed the Video card market? It is doing the same for processors. After all, who needs a P4 2.5 GHz PC to check their email on AOL? Now, to run that latest game, give me a great Falcon Northwest or Alienware PC anyday. ('course, you would have to give it to me, since I sure as h*** can't afford to buy one)
I think the hunt for more GHz will continue as long as people are not willing to start over again with their software. Backward compatibility introduces some severe design and use limitations. It would be great to have a new chip that takes full advantage of design to produce the same processing speed at a lower GHz rating (as well as heat output probably.) But if we build that chip, who will buy it? Not many (ie, no more than 1 or 2) companies can afford to toss all of their PCs, and their OSs just to have the latest stuff. My company is still running Windows 95 on a Pentium 100 because they do not want to spend the money for an upgrade. And since the PC is little more than a glorified terminal, they don't need to upgrade it. If there is no market for the chip, what will justify the enormous cost of design and production?
I wish it were not so, but unfortunately, economic reality slaps us upside the head every now and then.
Unfortunately it does not go the other way though. I can not buy any new lenses for my Nikon F camera. The original Nikon F used a small tab on the top of the lens for passing information between camera body and lens. I have tried and can not get any new lenses for this camera, which is a real shame:(
It would be wonderfull.... Until the game producer is sued for inciting violence or some other cr*p after someone tries something they did in the game. Or, worse yet, a terrorist uses it to plan an attack, and then Ashcroft & Co. throw them in jail for aiding and abetting terrorists.
Re:Time to wake up... (Score:5)
by telbij on Tuesday September 11, @04:16PM (#2281397)
(User #465356 Info)
>I'm afraid many of you anonymous cowards (log in please) need to step outside of your privileged American lives and learn about the reality of life in impoverished countries.
>Sure nothing can justify this type of terrorism, but your GI-Joe-inspired concepts of American military superiority winning any battle and surpressing any enemy are so childish I can't help but chuckle.
>Time and time again throughout history oppressive empires have been toppled by the downtrodden masses. You spoiled brats think that the threat of unrelenting military armageddon would be enough to scare anyone into submission. You also think that our role as the major world power is unsurmountable because we have such enormous resources at are disposal.
I must agree, unfortunately, with at least part of these comments. Do not forget where many of the Islamic terrorists, including Bin Laden, received their training. It was in Afghanistan, fighting the Soviets. The Soviet army, with all of its conventional and (suspected biological/chemical weapons) was unable to win against an army of people who were willing to give their lives to defend their country. We learned the same lesson in Vietnam. We never lost a major battle against the NVA, but the political war was lost due to the actions of the VC, and the terrorism that occured.
I served for 12 years in the Navy, and very likely lost some friends and/or shipmates on Tuesday. I am wholeheartedly for an attack to wipe out those responsible. But, I do not fool myself into thinking that we will wipe out terrorism. At the most, we make it a little harder. To 'wipe out terrorism' we would have to give up too many freedoms, and accept to many indignities. And even those will not work. It is very hard, if not impossible, to stop someone who is willing to die to accomplish their goals. If it was easier, Israel would have won some time ago, since they have shown they are not above the targeted killing/mass killing of suspected terror groups.
Right...
Hack away with a bladed weapon, or a crushing weapon like a mace. You might live for a while, wishing all the time you HAD died from the injury, instead of the infection. People will fight whether they have weapons or not. Rocks, stones, rifles, laptops. These are all weapons being used in combat today in many areas around the world, with Gaza being just one.
Kill a soldier, remove one enemy. Wound a soldier, remove him, and the two guys it takes to care for him. These non-lethal weapons are similar in many ways, just hopefully with less long term effects. Don't forget, the alternative to non-lethal weapons are lethal weapons, not NO weapons.
Skeeve
I agree. I have been using Windows, and connected to the world at large through the Internet or before that, FidoNet, since 1991. In that time, I've gotten ONE trojan, and it was my own stupidity. No viruses, ever.
You will not fix the problems with airport security until you have one of two things. A foolproof electronic/technological solution, or a staff that is professional and well trained at their job. News reports that I have seen show that the average airport security guard makes just a little over minimum wage. Hello? Does this make sense to anyone? I am surprised that they detect 50% of the test packages. I shipped some frozen lasagne back with my mom when she came out for the holidays. Tin foil pan, with tin foil completely surrounding the package. Does their scan system have the capability to read through the metal? I don't know, but they let the package through the scan, while the eyelets in my boots set off the metal detector...
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The cost aspect that I don't usually see is the support issue. I have recommended a free/OSS option, and been told to use a commercial app because if they need support, they want to be able to call someone. Look at how people are making money off of Linux. Not in selling Linux, but in selling the support. Until there are a lot more people out there who know how to support and are selling this support, closed source will still win.
Another aspect is finger pointing. I, as a business owner, don't want to spend a lot of money. Less money I spend, more money I get to take home, right? But if I buy this M$ OS, browser, office suite, and CRM application, and they don't work right, I am not going to be told 'oh, we don't support that, you need to talk to their vendor'
And since I am usually calling support when I am down/losing money, it makes more sense to spend the money up front. Same reason we buy insurance.
Now, this doesn't apply to everyone, but the general business owner it certainly does. A buddy of mine does support for the small business market, and he is still supporting a lot of Win9x/NT PCs. They will upgrade when they need to. Office 97? Still works fine for me. Why do I need to use those new features? And they will do so until they can no longer use the PC. So, they are not going out and replacing PCs every couple years just to get the latest thing. In fact, the company I am working for now still has some old Compaq Deskpro 2000 (P200 CPU) machines running Win98 and Office 97. Granted, I get rid of them as soon as I can, but they don't see a reason to remove them unless they break.
This has to be the funniest/craziest part of the whole thing. Boy, being 5 feet off the ground is sure going to stop my kids (9 & 14) from getting the game. Hello, maybe this schmuck should take a look around and see that some of the 'kids' he wants to stop are taller than 5 feet?
My 9 year old son is 5' tall, and my 13 year old if 5' 10". Granted, they are a little taller than most, but their mother and grandmother are only 5'3". So, this would stop them mostly because Mom couldn't reach up to buy it.
If we are going to pass a law, lets at least do it for the right reasons, and make it effective. This law fits neither.
This comment is really amazing. By that theory, the USA better pack it in. After all, this land was claimed by the various native tribes long before some english settlers landed here. The Jewish tribes took Israel from the previous owners. Where again is the historical proof of right to the land?
Well, I was in the good ol US Navy as a Sonar Operator on a sub, and I can say that we never trained using video games. I would love to see where that information came from. I was in from 1985 to 1997, so maybe it is a recent thing. But I don't see how a video game can help you read that waterfall display. But, maybe that is how they trained the officers, you know, brought it down to something they could understand?
We had the same problem. After some digging, we found a solution: Oracle Collaboration Suite It will do all of what Exchange can do, including calendaring. We are deploying it next month, and I can't wait based on what I have seen from the demos. Check it out at http://www.oracle.com/features/ocs/index.html?t1cs _email.html
I always laugh at the people who argue that we will not 'kill the earth.' I think the chances of that, short of a total nuclear war, are pretty slim. This does not mean, however, that we can not mess it up so much that we can't survive. The cockroaches have been here for a long time, and will be here after we are gone. Do I want to speed this up? No. United Nations committees are forecasting the next 50 years, and saying that conflicts will be over water. Yes, water. Why fight over oil and politics when we can fight over basic survival? How's that for a reason to fight??
As the article, and other posters here, states, only a few degrees change can have significant impacts on climate. What happens if the main breadbox areas of the world are no longer prime growing areas? Where will the food come from? Already, here in the US, there are legal fights over water. Cities want it to support the growing masses, but farmers want it to water their crops, which then feeds the masses. Where does it end?
Wait, lets not forget about the 3D gaming. Isn't it 3D gaming that pushed the Video card market? It is doing the same for processors. After all, who needs a P4 2.5 GHz PC to check their email on AOL?
Now, to run that latest game, give me a great Falcon Northwest or Alienware PC anyday.
('course, you would have to give it to me, since I sure as h*** can't afford to buy one)
I think the hunt for more GHz will continue as long as people are not willing to start over again with their software. Backward compatibility introduces some severe design and use limitations. It would be great to have a new chip that takes full advantage of design to produce the same processing speed at a lower GHz rating (as well as heat output probably.)
But if we build that chip, who will buy it? Not many (ie, no more than 1 or 2) companies can afford to toss all of their PCs, and their OSs just to have the latest stuff. My company is still running Windows 95 on a Pentium 100 because they do not want to spend the money for an upgrade. And since the PC is little more than a glorified terminal, they don't need to upgrade it.
If there is no market for the chip, what will justify the enormous cost of design and production?
I wish it were not so, but unfortunately, economic reality slaps us upside the head every now and then.
Unfortunately it does not go the other way though. I can not buy any new lenses for my Nikon F camera. The original Nikon F used a small tab on the top of the lens for passing information between camera body and lens. I have tried and can not get any new lenses for this camera, which is a real shame :(
It would be wonderfull.... Until the game producer is sued for inciting violence or some other cr*p after someone tries something they did in the game. Or, worse yet, a terrorist uses it to plan an attack, and then Ashcroft & Co. throw them in jail for aiding and abetting terrorists.
Re:Time to wake up... (Score:5)
by telbij on Tuesday September 11, @04:16PM (#2281397)
(User #465356 Info)
>I'm afraid many of you anonymous cowards (log in please) need to step outside of your privileged American lives and learn about the reality of life in impoverished countries.
>Sure nothing can justify this type of terrorism, but your GI-Joe-inspired concepts of American military superiority winning any battle and surpressing any enemy are so childish I can't help but chuckle.
>Time and time again throughout history oppressive empires have been toppled by the downtrodden masses. You spoiled brats think that the threat of unrelenting military armageddon would be enough to scare anyone into submission. You also think that our role as the major world power is unsurmountable because we have such enormous resources at are disposal.
I must agree, unfortunately, with at least part of these comments. Do not forget where many of the Islamic terrorists, including Bin Laden, received their training. It was in Afghanistan, fighting the Soviets. The Soviet army, with all of its conventional and (suspected biological/chemical weapons) was unable to win against an army of people who were willing to give their lives to defend their country. We learned the same lesson in Vietnam. We never lost a major battle against the NVA, but the political war was lost due to the actions of the VC, and the terrorism that occured.
I served for 12 years in the Navy, and very likely lost some friends and/or shipmates on Tuesday. I am wholeheartedly for an attack to wipe out those responsible. But, I do not fool myself into thinking that we will wipe out terrorism. At the most, we make it a little harder. To 'wipe out terrorism' we would have to give up too many freedoms, and accept to many indignities. And even those will not work. It is very hard, if not impossible, to stop someone who is willing to die to accomplish their goals. If it was easier, Israel would have won some time ago, since they have shown they are not above the targeted killing/mass killing of suspected terror groups.
Right... Hack away with a bladed weapon, or a crushing weapon like a mace. You might live for a while, wishing all the time you HAD died from the injury, instead of the infection. People will fight whether they have weapons or not. Rocks, stones, rifles, laptops. These are all weapons being used in combat today in many areas around the world, with Gaza being just one. Kill a soldier, remove one enemy. Wound a soldier, remove him, and the two guys it takes to care for him. These non-lethal weapons are similar in many ways, just hopefully with less long term effects. Don't forget, the alternative to non-lethal weapons are lethal weapons, not NO weapons. Skeeve
I agree. I have been using Windows, and connected to the world at large through the Internet or before that, FidoNet, since 1991. In that time, I've gotten ONE trojan, and it was my own stupidity. No viruses, ever.
You will not fix the problems with airport security until you have one of two things. A foolproof electronic/technological solution, or a staff that is professional and well trained at their job. News reports that I have seen show that the average airport security guard makes just a little over minimum wage. Hello? Does this make sense to anyone? I am surprised that they detect 50% of the test packages. I shipped some frozen lasagne back with my mom when she came out for the holidays. Tin foil pan, with tin foil completely surrounding the package. Does their scan system have the capability to read through the metal? I don't know, but they let the package through the scan, while the eyelets in my boots set off the metal detector...