Or you can just tell the MPEG-LA group to screw themselves and use VP8.
That's... productive. Obviously we don't want the MPEG involved, they're just a standards body that's brought us MPEG-1 (VCDs), MP3s, MPEG-2 (DVDs, HDTV, ALL broadcast back-ends, etc), DivX, and H.264. Clearly they are useless...
Honestly, if they were to basically adopt VP8, maybe enhance it a bit, and standardize it, it might actually make some headway, instead of being the in-thing among the 1% of people who follow/. regularly. If nothing else, their stamp of approval would be likely to get manufacturers out there ramping up production of VP8 encoder and decoder chips, and would grab the interest of lots of big companies out there. Maybe Google would stop dragging their feet on converting Youtube, and forcing Android device manufacturers to have WebM as an option everywhere, on equal footing with H.264.
Instead, here we are. Are the libavcodec guys going crazy optimizing their VP8 encoder? Is anyone really putting any effort into it, or is it just an also-ran after H.264 already had the market locked-in?
Theora really can't even compete with MPEG-1 on either video quality at a given bitrate, or performance. It was very specifically designeed for extremely low quality, extremely low resolution, extremely low bitrate streaming video, over a decade ago...
Theora is the perfect example of how NOT to run a project. They dicked around with alpha and beta versions of Theora for a decade, and in all the time we've got basically nothing to show for it. If they had their asses in gear, we could have easily had Theora as the video codec behind HDTV in the US... It could have been the first and only video codec for open source operating systems back when it was released, in the dark days of XAnim and then avifile, before libavcodec. Instead, VP3 was Windows/Mac only, and it took an enternity to get it stable. If they had just stuck with the VP3 bitstream they would have had a good sized installed base, been an obvious upgrade path for everyone that had already licensed and used VP3, and would have been THE codec to use on Linux/BSD and other platforms, and could even have been the big internet video codec at the turn of the millenia, instead of DivX.
But, of course, none of that happened. These days, it's ancient and useless. You might as well say "Why buy a new car, why not just use that Model-T over there?" To illustrate just how badly fucked up the situation is, consider a couple examples. I already mentioned that VP3 was up for consideration as the HDTV codec, and LOST. Winamp's FLV streaming video format they were pushing started off with support for VP3, NOT Theora... they'd rather use a decade old DLL. And while Theora was forking the VP3 format, presumably making quality improvements and such, On2, the company that gave it to them (when VP4 came out) went on to develop VP5, VP6, VP7, and finally VP8 in that time. Compare the progress made... VP8 very seriously competes with H.264, Theora does not.
Now that VP8 is open source in the form of WebM, this is obviously the way to go if you control the ecosystem. Theora is not the way to go, and the complete failure that is Theora is probably why Google chose to maintain control of WebM, rather than depend on another half-assed open source project to develop it further, and push companies to adopt it.
While I'm a big Android supporter, having Android in your car sounds (mostly) like a downgrade. The in-car systems now are VASTLY more reliable than and smartphone/tablet I've come across, and running very reliable real-time OSes like QNX. Unlike phones, they have to meet the regulatory requirements of all other new car parts... being fully functional for 10 years, and working on the last day of the 10th year exactly like they did on day 1. It's a very different model.
The desire to have better in-car navigation systems is completely understandable, but car companies are well aware of this need as well, and will soon be addressing these concerns without throwing away their entire systems. (No, I can't provide any details)
The fragmentation of smartphone platforms is much more significant of an issue than in-car systems. Apps need to be cheap or free to entice end users. But when it's bundled with your vehicle, even a couple hundred bucks for an app is lost in the noise of the car's sticker price. With that kind of money available, in-car systems can be as fragmented as the manufacturers want, and they'll still attract developers because the smaller market and specialized skills are more than made up for by the larger sale price.
XFce is a good choice, but blackbox has to be, by far, the most efficient desktop environment ever. Right click ANYWHERE and you get a menu with your programs, work spaces, and iconified windows. Scroll wheel anywhere to switch workspace, or on the window title to roll it up. Free reign to layout your menu in the most efficient way possible, extremely easy to configure, etc.
You know what else tablets don't have? DVD-Burners, TV-Tuner cards, FM Radios, 7.1 surround sound, gigE ports, rs232 ports, etc.
The whole idea of a tablet is to get rid of all that legacy. If you want it, you get a computer or a laptop instead. The fact that tablets sell so well indicates most people are just fine without any of it. That doesn't make it a toy, far from it, it makes it a cutting-edge design.
10 years ago, printing was a huge issue, and I thought PDAs that didn't directly support it were jokes. These days, I see us FINALLY getting close to the "paperless office" thanks to the increasing ubiquity of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and projectors... We're getting very close to everyonee walking around with a nice big screen in their pocket, kept synced to their inbox, eliminating 99% of printouts. And I, for one, would like to work towards that, rather than backwards away from it. Ditto for sneakernets...
If its really super urgent, they have remote hands
Yes, remote hands with about the same capabilities as a 9 year-old... They're okay at going into the right cage, finding the correct label, and pushing the blue button, but that's about it... and they still occasionally screw that up.
I wouldn't even try to have them move some fiber optic cables around for me, no matter how urgent.
One would also assume that if "power outage exceeding CoLo's generator capacity" is an issue, that you would have a fail-over location.
Ignore power outage, and consider any other kind of outage.
It's fine to say: There's an unknown outage at out primary datacenter, requiring fail-over to our backup. We'll have a tech on-site in one hour to determine the cause.
Replace an "hour" with a "day" and you have some real explaining to do, to whoever depends on your services.
Does this explain the gravitational lensing in the Bullet Cluster?
No, and it doesn't have to...
It's purely an asumption that dark matter is the cause of the bullet galaxy phenomenon, because it's something that happens to fit. But there have been many times in the past that scientific theories have been way off primarily because they encompassed either too much or too little various observed phenomenon.
For example, imaging how difficult it would be to come up with a theory about Gravity if everyone believed gravity was also responsible for magnetism...
So, maybe dark matter theory (such as it is) happens to be correct... Maybe this theory happens to be correct, and the bullet galaxy phenomenon is caused by something entirely different...
who thinks that 20 year old TVs (with the analog knobs and all that) were a LOT easier to use compared to the TVs we have today? Have you ever had to do "TV tech support" for someone in your family?
That sounds rather Jobsian... Back when there was only one input connection, no output connections, no remote control, things were SIMPLER. Lots of useless devices are simple, too, it's not the technological triumph you think it is.
Obviously a TV without a remote control to MUTE those ear-busting commercials is a non-starter... Sure, it's simple, you KNOW that there's nothing you can do about it. Hoory for simplicity.
And dials for channel changing? That's not easier, that requires ME to memorize a bunch of trivial minutia that I shouldn't need to know. And turning a dial around is somehow better than the electronic program guide that instantly tells me what's on each and every channel, right now and up to 3 hours from now? To hell with that.
Yes, TVs would be simpler without all these horrible "input" and "output" options. Got a DVD player? Can't use it... See how simple that was? Surroud-sound system? Can't use it. Simple, isn't it?
And complaining that your TV has options you don't know much about is like listening to people who complain that those widescreeen/letterboxed movies are cut off and hiding part of the picture from them.
SLA penalties for an extra couple hours, and high-end employee's hourly rates are probably higher than the property price savings, no matter how cheap the taxi service...
The companies making cheapo tablets are in it to make cheapo tablets. I don't think they're so worried about end user experience.
Having a tolerable end-user experience is the only way to SELL these "cheapo tablets". As I said, some devices are getting close to a 100% return rate in retail stores because they're so crappy. That's not a workable model for these companies selling cheapo tablets, either.
Also, as other posters have pointed out, some of what you might be interpreting as a poor touch screen might actually be poor UI performance due to a slow processor.
I responded to that one, too... I've seen less responsive touch-screens on FASTER devices, and vice-versa, so that doesn't hold a bit of water, and certainly doesn't explain glitchy crap like the Samsung Transform Ultra.
Alright, but doesn't that response just transform my question about transistor count in the whole processor into exactly the same question about transistor count in the SRAM?
NO! The transistor count is directly tied to SRAM size. IF YOU HAVE HALF AS MANY TRANSISTORS, YOU HAVE HALF AS MUCH SRAM. There's no possible way to reduce the number of transistors needed for a given quantity of SRAM.
You're basically saying, "Who cares if the bucket is half as large, if it can still carry just as much water?" No amount of ignorance or handwaving will get you from here to there...
Because of the new policy of very frequent updates to Firefox, add-ons have to be updated regularly, and for add-ons on the Mozilla site, this happens automatically and remotely. So your add-on is now tied to Mozilla's "cloud".
If you aren't doing low-level stuff with the browser in your add-on, all you have to do is set the browser compatibility version to something ridiculous... eg. 1.0-77.9 If it breaks, you can still provide an update. If it doesn't, users can continue to use it up to version 77.9...
And if your add-on IS doing something closely tied with lowlevel details of the browser, then you just need to follow development, checking out nightlies, and spinning off a new version when something breaks... Mozilla's add-on marketplace doesn't avoid the necessity of doing that piece, either, so the insane version number change is the only difference.
Right, because servers will just rack themselves... Network cabling can just rearrange itself as needed... And you never, ever have a major issue or outage requiring someone to get on-site in a hurry...
Sure you could pair a good touch sensor with a cheap screen, but why?
Why? Because you're selling a phone or tablet, and this is the primary, if not sole INPUT method available to users. This means usable (not perfect) input is the difference between a working device and one that "gets as many returns as sales" (quoting a Besy Buy employee).
As I said in my original post, manufacturers are cutting one-too-many corners if the touch screen isn't usable.
They're very cheap. Adding rigid doors will cost just a bit more. Up to 4-seats, plus a small "trunk". For heat, one of these might do. Street legal on roads up to 35MPH. Top-speed of 25MPH is easily fixed. (no longer street-legal)
It was a concept car that never made it off the ground. [...] Even for major manufacturers, most concept cars never see the light of day.
You have no idea what a "concept car" is. Pretty much none of them ever see the light of day (there are a few rare exceptions). They are mostly just expensive PR for car companies, with the occasional practical benefit of having some compelling elements that get put into other (production) vehicles.
Then again, they had a neat looking prototype with no business model and went bankrupt... Maybe the Aptera was a concept car after all.
It's not the screens that are the problem. It's the OS. Android was historically developed without any GPU acceleration requirements, and the OS up through Honeycomb still does most UI drawing on the CPU instead. The lagginess people recognize as "bad touch input" is actually bad drawing
Problem with this theory is that I've most certainly seen laggy input on devices with much FASTER CPUs than those of devices with perfectly responsive and snappy input. And as I've said, the responsiveness of a touch-screen can sometimes be dramatically adjusted passing a few values to the driver... There's even an app in the marketplace for that, for the Galaxy S, at least.
And personally, the glitchy input drives me much crazier than slow input, and I'm sure it's not that the device is just TOO RESPONSIVE.
Pretty much because the difference between the bad ones and the good ones is all in the display assembly - it makes up the bulk of the cost. A decent screen and touch interface etc is going to set you back - and then it becomes "an expensive tablet".
Hang on. My problem with your analysis is that you're combining two things that are entirely separate... The INPUT and the OUTPUT.
I realize that (eg. AMOLED) displays are expensive. No problem, though... I'm perfectly willing to settle for a lower-res LCD display based on older tech. The Samsung Transform Ultra I mentioned is a perfect example, with a nasty LCD screen-door effect (compared to my Droid) but which I quickly learned to tolerate...
But high-res screen or no, what drives me insane is flaky touch-screen INPUT (not output), and I find it hard to believe that going from a horrible, glitchy capacitive touch screen, to a RELIABLE capacitive touch screen, costs a significant fraction of a phone or tablet's sale price. In many cases, as I said, I'd be willing to bet it might only require a software change.
Furthermore, I'm not sure your statement is actually accurate. All sources I could find point to an iPhone 4's Retina display at about $30:
No, I'm actually talking about capacitative touch-screens exclusively.
I'm aware of the limitations of resistive touch-screens, and avoid them completely. The inability to use gorilla glass seems like a show-stopper just by itself.
Yes, I'm very, very well versed in remote-access and out-of-band management, but it doesn't preclude the need for going on-site for major overhaul, or build-outs, which fast-growing shops will find frequent need of.
Besides, the fact that someone only occasionally needs to go there doesn't negate the benefits of quick and easy access, particularly if you're giving tours to management.
can I find a job? no. not in a year of trying, I can't. its like I'm blacklisted.
Consider that it's just the economy sabotaging you right now. I'm considerably younger than you, and while I've been employed non-stop for the past several years (that may be due to willingness to relocate on short notice) I've repeatedly found it quite difficult when I've decided it was time to find a new position.
It seems the job market is soft enough that employers are either getting incredibly picky about finding the PERFECT match for a job, or are just notably lowering their salary caps. They're also probably working their existing employees harder, hoping they're feeling grateful just to have a job right now (not likely, but still).
No doubt there's still plenty of jobs out there, but those open at any given time may all require quick relocation, or other concessions you might not be interested in.
you will be in this position in 20 or 30 years. karma is a bitch, remember that. be kind now.
Personally, I'm not worried about it, as I've been smart enough to resist the urge to spend most of my paycheck on extravagances like most of my co-workers, and instead saved a significant portion of my paycheck for a number of years. Even now I would do fine for several year without holding a job... Within another 10 years I should be able to retire comfortably if I just move out an area that is less expensive, should I decide (or be forced) to do so.
On the other side of the coin, my current company is the youngest I've seen, but I've had no problem hiring-on older applicants... Time will tell if the age thing is a result of discrimination, or just a byproduct of older hires being less willing to put up with the kind of workload, hours, etc., expected here.
Slashdot Mirror
That's... productive. Obviously we don't want the MPEG involved, they're just a standards body that's brought us MPEG-1 (VCDs), MP3s, MPEG-2 (DVDs, HDTV, ALL broadcast back-ends, etc), DivX, and H.264. Clearly they are useless...
Honestly, if they were to basically adopt VP8, maybe enhance it a bit, and standardize it, it might actually make some headway, instead of being the in-thing among the 1% of people who follow /. regularly. If nothing else, their stamp of approval would be likely to get manufacturers out there ramping up production of VP8 encoder and decoder chips, and would grab the interest of lots of big companies out there. Maybe Google would stop dragging their feet on converting Youtube, and forcing Android device manufacturers to have WebM as an option everywhere, on equal footing with H.264.
Instead, here we are. Are the libavcodec guys going crazy optimizing their VP8 encoder? Is anyone really putting any effort into it, or is it just an also-ran after H.264 already had the market locked-in?
Absolutely everything...
Theora really can't even compete with MPEG-1 on either video quality at a given bitrate, or performance. It was very specifically designeed for extremely low quality, extremely low resolution, extremely low bitrate streaming video, over a decade ago...
Theora is the perfect example of how NOT to run a project. They dicked around with alpha and beta versions of Theora for a decade, and in all the time we've got basically nothing to show for it. If they had their asses in gear, we could have easily had Theora as the video codec behind HDTV in the US... It could have been the first and only video codec for open source operating systems back when it was released, in the dark days of XAnim and then avifile, before libavcodec. Instead, VP3 was Windows/Mac only, and it took an enternity to get it stable. If they had just stuck with the VP3 bitstream they would have had a good sized installed base, been an obvious upgrade path for everyone that had already licensed and used VP3, and would have been THE codec to use on Linux/BSD and other platforms, and could even have been the big internet video codec at the turn of the millenia, instead of DivX.
But, of course, none of that happened. These days, it's ancient and useless. You might as well say "Why buy a new car, why not just use that Model-T over there?" To illustrate just how badly fucked up the situation is, consider a couple examples. I already mentioned that VP3 was up for consideration as the HDTV codec, and LOST. Winamp's FLV streaming video format they were pushing started off with support for VP3, NOT Theora... they'd rather use a decade old DLL. And while Theora was forking the VP3 format, presumably making quality improvements and such, On2, the company that gave it to them (when VP4 came out) went on to develop VP5, VP6, VP7, and finally VP8 in that time. Compare the progress made... VP8 very seriously competes with H.264, Theora does not.
Now that VP8 is open source in the form of WebM, this is obviously the way to go if you control the ecosystem. Theora is not the way to go, and the complete failure that is Theora is probably why Google chose to maintain control of WebM, rather than depend on another half-assed open source project to develop it further, and push companies to adopt it.
While I'm a big Android supporter, having Android in your car sounds (mostly) like a downgrade. The in-car systems now are VASTLY more reliable than and smartphone/tablet I've come across, and running very reliable real-time OSes like QNX. Unlike phones, they have to meet the regulatory requirements of all other new car parts... being fully functional for 10 years, and working on the last day of the 10th year exactly like they did on day 1. It's a very different model.
The desire to have better in-car navigation systems is completely understandable, but car companies are well aware of this need as well, and will soon be addressing these concerns without throwing away their entire systems. (No, I can't provide any details)
The fragmentation of smartphone platforms is much more significant of an issue than in-car systems. Apps need to be cheap or free to entice end users. But when it's bundled with your vehicle, even a couple hundred bucks for an app is lost in the noise of the car's sticker price. With that kind of money available, in-car systems can be as fragmented as the manufacturers want, and they'll still attract developers because the smaller market and specialized skills are more than made up for by the larger sale price.
XFce is a good choice, but blackbox has to be, by far, the most efficient desktop environment ever. Right click ANYWHERE and you get a menu with your programs, work spaces, and iconified windows. Scroll wheel anywhere to switch workspace, or on the window title to roll it up. Free reign to layout your menu in the most efficient way possible, extremely easy to configure, etc.
Best advice given so far...
You know what else tablets don't have? DVD-Burners, TV-Tuner cards, FM Radios, 7.1 surround sound, gigE ports, rs232 ports, etc.
The whole idea of a tablet is to get rid of all that legacy. If you want it, you get a computer or a laptop instead. The fact that tablets sell so well indicates most people are just fine without any of it. That doesn't make it a toy, far from it, it makes it a cutting-edge design.
10 years ago, printing was a huge issue, and I thought PDAs that didn't directly support it were jokes. These days, I see us FINALLY getting close to the "paperless office" thanks to the increasing ubiquity of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and projectors... We're getting very close to everyonee walking around with a nice big screen in their pocket, kept synced to their inbox, eliminating 99% of printouts. And I, for one, would like to work towards that, rather than backwards away from it. Ditto for sneakernets...
Yes, the massive head start that the open source android platform has will be entirely erased by open sourcing webos at this late date... Somehow...
Yes, remote hands with about the same capabilities as a 9 year-old... They're okay at going into the right cage, finding the correct label, and pushing the blue button, but that's about it... and they still occasionally screw that up.
I wouldn't even try to have them move some fiber optic cables around for me, no matter how urgent.
Ignore power outage, and consider any other kind of outage.
It's fine to say: There's an unknown outage at out primary datacenter, requiring fail-over to our backup. We'll have a tech on-site in one hour to determine the cause.
Replace an "hour" with a "day" and you have some real explaining to do, to whoever depends on your services.
No, and it doesn't have to...
It's purely an asumption that dark matter is the cause of the bullet galaxy phenomenon, because it's something that happens to fit. But there have been many times in the past that scientific theories have been way off primarily because they encompassed either too much or too little various observed phenomenon.
For example, imaging how difficult it would be to come up with a theory about Gravity if everyone believed gravity was also responsible for magnetism...
So, maybe dark matter theory (such as it is) happens to be correct... Maybe this theory happens to be correct, and the bullet galaxy phenomenon is caused by something entirely different...
That sounds rather Jobsian... Back when there was only one input connection, no output connections, no remote control, things were SIMPLER. Lots of useless devices are simple, too, it's not the technological triumph you think it is.
Obviously a TV without a remote control to MUTE those ear-busting commercials is a non-starter... Sure, it's simple, you KNOW that there's nothing you can do about it. Hoory for simplicity.
And dials for channel changing? That's not easier, that requires ME to memorize a bunch of trivial minutia that I shouldn't need to know. And turning a dial around is somehow better than the electronic program guide that instantly tells me what's on each and every channel, right now and up to 3 hours from now? To hell with that.
Yes, TVs would be simpler without all these horrible "input" and "output" options. Got a DVD player? Can't use it... See how simple that was? Surroud-sound system? Can't use it. Simple, isn't it?
And complaining that your TV has options you don't know much about is like listening to people who complain that those widescreeen/letterboxed movies are cut off and hiding part of the picture from them.
SLA penalties for an extra couple hours, and high-end employee's hourly rates are probably higher than the property price savings, no matter how cheap the taxi service...
Now a bullet-train...
Having a tolerable end-user experience is the only way to SELL these "cheapo tablets". As I said, some devices are getting close to a 100% return rate in retail stores because they're so crappy. That's not a workable model for these companies selling cheapo tablets, either.
I responded to that one, too... I've seen less responsive touch-screens on FASTER devices, and vice-versa, so that doesn't hold a bit of water, and certainly doesn't explain glitchy crap like the Samsung Transform Ultra.
NO! The transistor count is directly tied to SRAM size. IF YOU HAVE HALF AS MANY TRANSISTORS, YOU HAVE HALF AS MUCH SRAM. There's no possible way to reduce the number of transistors needed for a given quantity of SRAM.
You're basically saying, "Who cares if the bucket is half as large, if it can still carry just as much water?" No amount of ignorance or handwaving will get you from here to there...
If you aren't doing low-level stuff with the browser in your add-on, all you have to do is set the browser compatibility version to something ridiculous... eg. 1.0-77.9
If it breaks, you can still provide an update. If it doesn't, users can continue to use it up to version 77.9...
And if your add-on IS doing something closely tied with lowlevel details of the browser, then you just need to follow development, checking out nightlies, and spinning off a new version when something breaks... Mozilla's add-on marketplace doesn't avoid the necessity of doing that piece, either, so the insane version number change is the only difference.
Transistor count is closely tied to cache size. This CPU just went from "Extreme Edition" to "Celeron" to use Intel terminology.
Right, because servers will just rack themselves...
Network cabling can just rearrange itself as needed...
And you never, ever have a major issue or outage requiring someone to get on-site in a hurry...
Why? Because you're selling a phone or tablet, and this is the primary, if not sole INPUT method available to users. This means usable (not perfect) input is the difference between a working device and one that "gets as many returns as sales" (quoting a Besy Buy employee).
As I said in my original post, manufacturers are cutting one-too-many corners if the touch screen isn't usable.
Sounds like you want to slightly mod a GEM.
They're very cheap.
Adding rigid doors will cost just a bit more.
Up to 4-seats, plus a small "trunk".
For heat, one of these might do.
Street legal on roads up to 35MPH.
Top-speed of 25MPH is easily fixed. (no longer street-legal)
You have no idea what a "concept car" is. Pretty much none of them ever see the light of day (there are a few rare exceptions). They are mostly just expensive PR for car companies, with the occasional practical benefit of having some compelling elements that get put into other (production) vehicles.
Then again, they had a neat looking prototype with no business model and went bankrupt... Maybe the Aptera was a concept car after all.
...or a small oceanic research organization...
Problem with this theory is that I've most certainly seen laggy input on devices with much FASTER CPUs than those of devices with perfectly responsive and snappy input. And as I've said, the responsiveness of a touch-screen can sometimes be dramatically adjusted passing a few values to the driver... There's even an app in the marketplace for that, for the Galaxy S, at least.
And personally, the glitchy input drives me much crazier than slow input, and I'm sure it's not that the device is just TOO RESPONSIVE.
Hang on. My problem with your analysis is that you're combining two things that are entirely separate... The INPUT and the OUTPUT.
I realize that (eg. AMOLED) displays are expensive. No problem, though... I'm perfectly willing to settle for a lower-res LCD display based on older tech. The Samsung Transform Ultra I mentioned is a perfect example, with a nasty LCD screen-door effect (compared to my Droid) but which I quickly learned to tolerate...
But high-res screen or no, what drives me insane is flaky touch-screen INPUT (not output), and I find it hard to believe that going from a horrible, glitchy capacitive touch screen, to a RELIABLE capacitive touch screen, costs a significant fraction of a phone or tablet's sale price. In many cases, as I said, I'd be willing to bet it might only require a software change.
Furthermore, I'm not sure your statement is actually accurate. All sources I could find point to an iPhone 4's Retina display at about $30:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2010/tc20100627_763714.htm
http://www.bgr.com/2011/10/06/apple-maintains-big-margins-on-iphone-4s-according-to-ubm-analysis/
No, I'm actually talking about capacitative touch-screens exclusively.
I'm aware of the limitations of resistive touch-screens, and avoid them completely. The inability to use gorilla glass seems like a show-stopper just by itself.
Yes, I'm very, very well versed in remote-access and out-of-band management, but it doesn't preclude the need for going on-site for major overhaul, or build-outs, which fast-growing shops will find frequent need of.
Besides, the fact that someone only occasionally needs to go there doesn't negate the benefits of quick and easy access, particularly if you're giving tours to management.
Consider that it's just the economy sabotaging you right now. I'm considerably younger than you, and while I've been employed non-stop for the past several years (that may be due to willingness to relocate on short notice) I've repeatedly found it quite difficult when I've decided it was time to find a new position.
It seems the job market is soft enough that employers are either getting incredibly picky about finding the PERFECT match for a job, or are just notably lowering their salary caps. They're also probably working their existing employees harder, hoping they're feeling grateful just to have a job right now (not likely, but still).
No doubt there's still plenty of jobs out there, but those open at any given time may all require quick relocation, or other concessions you might not be interested in.
Personally, I'm not worried about it, as I've been smart enough to resist the urge to spend most of my paycheck on extravagances like most of my co-workers, and instead saved a significant portion of my paycheck for a number of years. Even now I would do fine for several year without holding a job... Within another 10 years I should be able to retire comfortably if I just move out an area that is less expensive, should I decide (or be forced) to do so.
On the other side of the coin, my current company is the youngest I've seen, but I've had no problem hiring-on older applicants... Time will tell if the age thing is a result of discrimination, or just a byproduct of older hires being less willing to put up with the kind of workload, hours, etc., expected here.
You missed one... Airport. All good datacenters are located rather close to a major commercial passenger airport, for easy access.