A ridiculous amount of processors, monitors, laptops, computers, consoles, TV-s, DVD players, CD players and mp3 players that we buy in Australia/Europe/America are produced by Chinese factories (frequently under a western brand).
Right, they are exporting it, not importing. With all that manufacturing power, they could easily just start making slightly different and incompatable equipment for themselves.
If China cuts the rest of the world, and the rest of the world cuts China & starts producing their own electronics, China would have a huge revenue source cut off,
Why would htey have to cut the rest of the world off to make their own electronics?
so that counts as economic dependence in my book moreso than having your own standards for a few multimedia formats.
Perhaps independance was the wrong word. Perhaps "self sufficiency."
Yea, they try to save on DVD licenses by making their own DVD for home use. That's like a drop in the river.
Perhaps, but the point is they seem to be interested in defining their own standards rather than just accepting whatever the West (and Japan) has to offer. Also, keep in mind that software is not like tangible goods. The chinese as a whole may not be too keen on paying another country for licenses which have no inherent value. They're nothing more than legal constructs.
Only good for an X11 envrionment ? Try to explain this to the darwine [opendarwin.org] team of opendarwin [opendarwin.org]
From the Dawine FAQ: "The first phase is the port of Wine to Darwin/PowerPC with X11"
Sorry, not goign to cut it for Apple. Maybe, just maybe, if wine was actually GOOD at runnign Windows programs, it might be of use to Apple. But in my experience, you are lucky if the Windows program you want to run is supported by Wine. And even when it does run, the fonts and drawing are pretty bad. Apple would be much better off starting from scratch and make something that is highly integrated with OS X. Something that Mac users might actually want to use.
Thing is I don't know of the Chinese government showing signs of wanting Windows out of their country.
They have, however, shown signs that they are interested in defining their own standards and remain as economically independent as possible. I doubt they're too keen on seeing billions of dollars a year go to Redmond, WA with no tangible product in return. Just phantom "licenses." I'd be interested in learning just how the Chinese people and the government feel about intellectual property. I get the impression that they don't "get it." Hell, I barely "get it."
On the other hand, China is unique because they are so huge. China has the power to collectively say "Screw you. We're making our own Windows-like OS." (or maybe they'll adopt linux). Microsoft could be in for a rude awakening.
I see your point. I totally agree that, normally, piracy works in favor of Microsoft, but I think China may be an exception. It will be intersting to see what happens.
The only thing that isn't going to work is reading/writing the WIndows volume from LInux. And just how often does one do that anyway? There are any number of ways around it. Just create an unencrypted "transfer" volume... or just access the LInux partition from Windows. Sheesh.
Just what kind of peripherals do you have? That isn't rhetorical either. I'd be interesting in hearing. I've got a mouse, keyboard, and speakers. Maybe you have a webcam? Aren't those like $30 or something? Scanner? How much could you possibly have investing in peripherals?
Wine wouldn't do you much good. It translates to X11 calls. You'd want things translated directly to Cocoa. The Wine codebase is pretty much useless to Apple. And IMO, it isn't all that great anyway.
I imagine the system would have enough juice in it at any given time to buffer against a brownout. Although I don't know if it is programmed to act as a UPS. I would think that kind of functionality would be trivial.
So it is basically a big UPS which simulates a power outage every day. Hmm, I dunno. I can barely get a UPS setup for a couple racks of servers for under a few thousand dollars. And that only runs for like 30 minutes, forget about a whole business for a day.
Seems to me that just having that kind of power backup would be a boon in and of itself. If it can really save money, all the better. But I'm skeptical.
In my opinion, press relesaes are worthless. They are put together by marketing and PR people. They can not be trusted (both the people and the press releases). I don't care how great a company is or how otherwise respectable they are. Marketing, PR, and advertising people are dishonest by default (with exceptions, I'm sure). What is sad is that press releases have become news in and of themselves. Far too many supposed news sources just pass the releases on as news rather than critically examining them.
The only exceptions I can think of to the "don't trust press releases" rule are cases where there is nobody stands to profit from the news or there are no specific claims made beyond mundane facts such as a product launch.
Depends on where the problems stemmed from. It could have been poor management, rushed release, unrealistic goals, etc. It would not be wise to simply fire the programmers. You could lose some really talented people and keep the people who screwed things up.
My biggest complaint about them both is that they are too simple and have been dumbed down too much. Sometimes I have problems doing very simple functions on both because I assume incorrectly that sure you have do more than step X to make it work because that's how most other software works, but I have always been able to figure out how to do what I wanted even if it took a few tries because I wasn't looking for the simplest way possible. That is part of what has made Apple so successful - any idiot can figure out how to do what he wants with their software and hardware.
Ok, how exactly is this a complaint? The software is easy to use. I find it hard to believe that you would rather it be complicated and difficult to figure out. Are there some missing essential functions because of them being "dumbed down?"
At the risk of being redundant, I should recomment abiword. Nice little word processor. Used to be a little unstable, but they've probably fixed all that by now.
Au contraire! I make a fine living in systems administration and custom programming. The thing is that my products are unique and not easily replicated. I take (mostly) free software and make it work. I find it much more satisfying than applying shrink wrapped solutions from vendors with arbitrary pricing and licensing models.
My problem is with the arbitrariness of it. If there is no essential difference to Microsoft whether a product includes all or just some of the features, why not just sell them all to everyone and just make it an install option? "Do you want a media center?" "Do you want a gamer's system that you can tweak?" I guess it is nice to be able to pay less if you don't have the cash, but it is rather difficult for me to rationalize it beyond that.
I've been using Linux and OSS for too long. It really has slanted me against capitalism in general, and Microsoft in particular. There once was a day when I thought i deserved $10 per copy for some piece of crap software that I wrote in my spare time (was using DOS/WIndows where that was the norm). But now I just couldn't justify charging anyting for something like that. If I was producing something tangible that couldn't just be copied, then I can justify charging, but not for generic software. The whole system of intellectual property is a joke.
No, actually, the point is that you don't know the first thing about pricing, and, to quote a famous thinker "since when did ignorance become a point of view?"
I don't? Hmm. Actually, I am quite aware of a reasons why there are different price points for essentially the same product. I was expressing my dislike for such disingenous pricing practices (whoever does it). Call me old fashioned, but I think that something should cost what it is worth and close to what it costs to make. Things become particularly messed up when it comes to software, which can be copied indefinitly at little or no extra cost.
The classic example of pricing schemse such as this is in pocket calculators where an entire line of calculators use the same chip and the only difference is the number of buttons (i.e. functions) actually implemented by wiring.
But I assume you know that the Japanses companies were morons as well...
Morons? No, just soulless capitalists.
It's sort of funny to see so many people here simultaneously pour hate on MS (and Google and other successfull companies as well) for making so much money and for supposedly bad business practices that makes them less money than they shoud get...
What, pray tell, "should" they get? There is no more basis for what they "should" get than there is for what they "should" charge. The whole system is completely arbitrary.
But I have to ask, what is the point of Microsoft splitting Vista into however many different versions if not to have a granular response to problems like this?
The point is to confuse customers and to unnecessarily inflate the price of the more "advanced" version... as if leaving out features actually saves Microsoft money in producing it.
Many of XPs problems are related to its homogeneity...
Exactly what I've been saying for years. We need to get more Windows distributions. Maybe a "Debian" version. A "RedHat" version. A "SuSe" version. Etc. Mind you, I'm pulling these names out of thin air...
Those tools don't do you a whole lot of good if the system you're working on isn't designed to be manipulated that way. I tried Cygwin for a short while and found it rather awkward (but still better than cmd.exe).
The key is to not have a net debt. Sure, use the credit card to make some money off the banks if you can get such a deal, but also keep a nice buffer of liquid assets.
I only use credit cards to build up my credit score. I put just a few small things here and there on the card and pay it off just to ahve something to show, but all the real spending comes out of a checking account. And my car is paid off months ahead. So if something bad happens, such as unemployment, I don't have to worry about credit card debt OR a car payment. I actually have enough cash to pay off my car if I really wanted to, but I keep the "debt" around, again, for the credit score.
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A ridiculous amount of processors, monitors, laptops, computers, consoles, TV-s, DVD players, CD players and mp3 players that we buy in Australia/Europe/America are produced by Chinese factories (frequently under a western brand).
Right, they are exporting it, not importing. With all that manufacturing power, they could easily just start making slightly different and incompatable equipment for themselves.
If China cuts the rest of the world, and the rest of the world cuts China & starts producing their own electronics, China would have a huge revenue source cut off,
Why would htey have to cut the rest of the world off to make their own electronics?
so that counts as economic dependence in my book moreso than having your own standards for a few multimedia formats.
Perhaps independance was the wrong word. Perhaps "self sufficiency."
Yea, they try to save on DVD licenses by making their own DVD for home use. That's like a drop in the river.
Perhaps, but the point is they seem to be interested in defining their own standards rather than just accepting whatever the West (and Japan) has to offer. Also, keep in mind that software is not like tangible goods. The chinese as a whole may not be too keen on paying another country for licenses which have no inherent value. They're nothing more than legal constructs.
-matthew
Only good for an X11 envrionment ? Try to explain this to the darwine [opendarwin.org] team of opendarwin [opendarwin.org]
From the Dawine FAQ: "The first phase is the port of Wine to Darwin/PowerPC with X11"
Sorry, not goign to cut it for Apple. Maybe, just maybe, if wine was actually GOOD at runnign Windows programs, it might be of use to Apple. But in my experience, you are lucky if the Windows program you want to run is supported by Wine. And even when it does run, the fonts and drawing are pretty bad. Apple would be much better off starting from scratch and make something that is highly integrated with OS X. Something that Mac users might actually want to use.
-matthew
Thing is I don't know of the Chinese government showing signs of wanting Windows out of their country.
They have, however, shown signs that they are interested in defining their own standards and remain as economically independent as possible. I doubt they're too keen on seeing billions of dollars a year go to Redmond, WA with no tangible product in return. Just phantom "licenses." I'd be interested in learning just how the Chinese people and the government feel about intellectual property. I get the impression that they don't "get it." Hell, I barely "get it."
-matthew
Linux needs salesmen like a cheetah needs an SUV.
-matthew
On the other hand, China is unique because they are so huge. China has the power to collectively say "Screw you. We're making our own Windows-like OS." (or maybe they'll adopt linux). Microsoft could be in for a rude awakening.
I see your point. I totally agree that, normally, piracy works in favor of Microsoft, but I think China may be an exception. It will be intersting to see what happens.
-matthew
The only thing that isn't going to work is reading/writing the WIndows volume from LInux. And just how often does one do that anyway? There are any number of ways around it. Just create an unencrypted "transfer" volume... or just access the LInux partition from Windows. Sheesh.
-matthew
Just what kind of peripherals do you have? That isn't rhetorical either. I'd be interesting in hearing. I've got a mouse, keyboard, and speakers. Maybe you have a webcam? Aren't those like $30 or something? Scanner? How much could you possibly have investing in peripherals?
-matthew
Wine wouldn't do you much good. It translates to X11 calls. You'd want things translated directly to Cocoa. The Wine codebase is pretty much useless to Apple. And IMO, it isn't all that great anyway.
-matthew
I imagine the system would have enough juice in it at any given time to buffer against a brownout. Although I don't know if it is programmed to act as a UPS. I would think that kind of functionality would be trivial.
-matthew
So it is basically a big UPS which simulates a power outage every day. Hmm, I dunno. I can barely get a UPS setup for a couple racks of servers for under a few thousand dollars. And that only runs for like 30 minutes, forget about a whole business for a day.
Seems to me that just having that kind of power backup would be a boon in and of itself. If it can really save money, all the better. But I'm skeptical.
-matthew
In my opinion, press relesaes are worthless. They are put together by marketing and PR people. They can not be trusted (both the people and the press releases). I don't care how great a company is or how otherwise respectable they are. Marketing, PR, and advertising people are dishonest by default (with exceptions, I'm sure). What is sad is that press releases have become news in and of themselves. Far too many supposed news sources just pass the releases on as news rather than critically examining them.
The only exceptions I can think of to the "don't trust press releases" rule are cases where there is nobody stands to profit from the news or there are no specific claims made beyond mundane facts such as a product launch.
-matthew
At least I listed a deficiency of sorts in my post, unlike the parent.
;-)
Yeah, I know what yoiu mean. I often complain that my friends are too nice and easy to get along with. Bastards.
-matthew
I've always found that particular phrasing ("asked to leave") sorta funny - what if they said no?
"It would be a shame if anything happened to that nice new MacBook Pro of yours. But accidents will happen..."
-matthew
Depends on where the problems stemmed from. It could have been poor management, rushed release, unrealistic goals, etc. It would not be wise to simply fire the programmers. You could lose some really talented people and keep the people who screwed things up.
-matthew
My biggest complaint about them both is that they are too simple and have been dumbed down too much. Sometimes I have problems doing very simple functions on both because I assume incorrectly that sure you have do more than step X to make it work because that's how most other software works, but I have always been able to figure out how to do what I wanted even if it took a few tries because I wasn't looking for the simplest way possible. That is part of what has made Apple so successful - any idiot can figure out how to do what he wants with their software and hardware.
Ok, how exactly is this a complaint? The software is easy to use. I find it hard to believe that you would rather it be complicated and difficult to figure out. Are there some missing essential functions because of them being "dumbed down?"
-matthew
At the risk of being redundant, I should recomment abiword. Nice little word processor. Used to be a little unstable, but they've probably fixed all that by now.
-matthew
Au contraire! I make a fine living in systems administration and custom programming. The thing is that my products are unique and not easily replicated. I take (mostly) free software and make it work. I find it much more satisfying than applying shrink wrapped solutions from vendors with arbitrary pricing and licensing models.
-matthew
My problem is with the arbitrariness of it. If there is no essential difference to Microsoft whether a product includes all or just some of the features, why not just sell them all to everyone and just make it an install option? "Do you want a media center?" "Do you want a gamer's system that you can tweak?" I guess it is nice to be able to pay less if you don't have the cash, but it is rather difficult for me to rationalize it beyond that.
I've been using Linux and OSS for too long. It really has slanted me against capitalism in general, and Microsoft in particular. There once was a day when I thought i deserved $10 per copy for some piece of crap software that I wrote in my spare time (was using DOS/WIndows where that was the norm). But now I just couldn't justify charging anyting for something like that. If I was producing something tangible that couldn't just be copied, then I can justify charging, but not for generic software. The whole system of intellectual property is a joke.
-matthew
No, actually, the point is that you don't know the first thing about pricing, and, to quote a famous thinker "since when did ignorance become a point of view?"
I don't? Hmm. Actually, I am quite aware of a reasons why there are different price points for essentially the same product. I was expressing my dislike for such disingenous pricing practices (whoever does it). Call me old fashioned, but I think that something should cost what it is worth and close to what it costs to make. Things become particularly messed up when it comes to software, which can be copied indefinitly at little or no extra cost.
The classic example of pricing schemse such as this is in pocket calculators where an entire line of calculators use the same chip and the only difference is the number of buttons (i.e. functions) actually implemented by wiring.
But I assume you know that the Japanses companies were morons as well...
Morons? No, just soulless capitalists.
It's sort of funny to see so many people here simultaneously pour hate on MS (and Google and other successfull companies as well) for making so much money and for supposedly bad business practices that makes them less money than they shoud get...
What, pray tell, "should" they get? There is no more basis for what they "should" get than there is for what they "should" charge. The whole system is completely arbitrary.
-matthew
Please don't encourage MS to include any more "confirmations" in their products. For chrissake, YES, I WANT TO VIEW C:\!!!
-matthew
But I have to ask, what is the point of Microsoft splitting Vista into however many different versions if not to have a granular response to problems like this?
The point is to confuse customers and to unnecessarily inflate the price of the more "advanced" version... as if leaving out features actually saves Microsoft money in producing it.
Many of XPs problems are related to its homogeneity...
Exactly what I've been saying for years. We need to get more Windows distributions. Maybe a "Debian" version. A "RedHat" version. A "SuSe" version. Etc. Mind you, I'm pulling these names out of thin air...
-matthew
Too much gas huffing as a kid?
Those tools don't do you a whole lot of good if the system you're working on isn't designed to be manipulated that way. I tried Cygwin for a short while and found it rather awkward (but still better than cmd.exe).
-matthew
YOu think they are doing it to "create jobs?" Are you joking?
The key is to not have a net debt. Sure, use the credit card to make some money off the banks if you can get such a deal, but also keep a nice buffer of liquid assets.
I only use credit cards to build up my credit score. I put just a few small things here and there on the card and pay it off just to ahve something to show, but all the real spending comes out of a checking account. And my car is paid off months ahead. So if something bad happens, such as unemployment, I don't have to worry about credit card debt OR a car payment. I actually have enough cash to pay off my car if I really wanted to, but I keep the "debt" around, again, for the credit score.
-matthew