What I don't understand is that while Columbus certainly wasn't the first to America, he gets tagged with the disease rap because he brought a native back. Why does everyone assume biological makeup is different for Native North Americans? Viking were there, Africans were there, hell, Native American can be more accurately described as Asian. Maybe the deseases that "Columbus brought with him" were already ravaging the interior of the new world.
Because in Europe (Asia as well) the POTS system is expensive. In the US cell service is still slightly more expensive than POTS. And it has less to do with subsidies than with crazy Euro taxes. If I remember correctly, most places in Europe tax by the kilometer for a land line. So running cable not only is fabulously expensive to begin with, it stays expensive. Along comes wireless and eliminates that expense. Europeans (and Asians) have a large economic incentive to switch. Perhaps some of the Euros can give us an example of pricing of POTS vs. cellular?
Another reason could also be that Europeans live in denser clusters than we do in the US. Takes less towers to cover the majority of the population.
We are talking functionality. Plop some average end user down and let them use Word 6 (Office 4.2? I believe). Now plop them down at a computer running Office XP and fire up Word. Watch that end user be able to accomplish all the same tasks without blinking an eye. So again, what the hell are you talking about? So fucking what if they updated the eye candy. Clippy bothers you? Turn his ass off like everyone else does.
And what I mean by everyone is seriously overestimating how much the user community might hate MS is that the tech community and the Slashdot crowd tend to be dismissive of office-like suites. We might not use them, but you can bet your bottom dollar that everyone else in a company does. And they'll use it with far more sophistication than you give them credit for. Want to piss off the Financial department unilaterally? Swap Excel for some other spreadsheet program. They'll be awfully thankful to you for forcing them to rewrite EVERY macro they use just so you can feel smug about sticking it to MS. You may dispise MS for various reasons, but the actual users of these programs may enjoy the wide range of options these programs give the. But I suppose you'd just believe they're too stupid to want to switch.
Completely on topic for a discussion about how open file formats are supposed to put MS out of business. Fat chance. Then again, everyone that disagrees with you MUST be a paid hack for MS. After all, no one else could ever have a valid opinion on the matter, could they?
Exactly. The real problem is that speach recognition is a niche demand. Speach recognition in and of itself has no mainstream uses. Think of an office full of people using speach recognition. Not pretty. At home? People only want speach recognition if it is tied to computer commands. ("Computer, download my email, filter for spam, then read back the names of the senders.") Who's left? People who find typing difficult because of a physical limitation. While a worthy cause, it may well not be a profitable one.
What makes me laugh about her story (besides her, of course) is the opposite could be true of every student of the University of Michigan in the early to mid nineties. U of M had all of it's non-engineering computer rooms stocked with Macs. The Macs were notorious for crashing. The wail or sobs of some unlucky bastard that just lost a 10 page paper were pretty gruesome and common. That experience made me swear off Macs.
Only if all the company's customers don't use MS Office files. Saving money on Office licensing is all good until you can't read the communication comming from your customers. Now imagine you're an auto parts supplier. What do you think the answer will be from GM, Ford, and DC when you ask them to send files in a certain format just for you? Let me tell you what that answer is: "You will cater to us, not the other way around. If that bothers you we'll take our business elsewhere."
Now pretend you're that IT manager again. Are you really going to even consider moving away from Office? Nope. You'll be planning the next upgrade to Office in anticipation for the day your customers move to the new version of Office.
What the hell are you talking about? The look and feel of the Office suite does not change dramatically. How you accomplish tasks in Office doesn't change much at all. All you really need to do is learn the new functionality of the new version and off you go. Or you could say bugger off to the new functionality and just go on what you know. Either way you'd be off and working faster than if you fired up Open Office for the first time. I think everyone is seriously overestimating how much the user community might hate MS.
The difference between a scientist and an engineer
on
Science Askew
·
· Score: 1
An oldie from my high school physics teacher:
A scientist and an engineer are placed exactly 10 feet away from a beautiful woman. They are told that that every five seconds they can move exactly 1/2 of the distance between them and the woman. The scientist laments, "Ahhh! I'll never reach the woman!" The engineer replied, "Sure, but I'll get close enough for all practical purposes!"
Re:Might as well post a joke -
on
Science Askew
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I think you need to re-read this bit from the article:
2. Microsoft had not been found to have acquired its monopoly unfairly, but merely to have maintained it by illegal means. Therefore, "rather than termination of the monopoly, the proper objective of the remedy in this case is termination of the exclusionary acts and practices related thereto which served to illegally maintain the monopoly."
Because those program installers aren't using the correct Win32 standards. They're too lazy to learn this new fangled 32 bit environment and won't upgrade their shite. They fully anticipate that people will wrongly blame Microsoft rather than the application house. That is why you started seeing the "Microsoft Certified for Windows xx" stickers on software. Microsoft wanted to make sure consumers knew which software houses were making the effort and which were being LAZY.
Horsepucky.
It's a common non-American mindset to think only in terms of America is isolationist or meddling. Castro loves to have his cake and eat it too by portraying America as either, "the uncaring neighbor to the North" or as, "the imperialist interloper." America is damned if we do, damned if we don't. Sooner or later the rest of the world will reap what they sow with America. Either we'll end up isolationist and let the rest of the world pull itself apart or we'll end up with Pax-Americanna. Either scenario sucks.
And take the Kyoto accords and stuff it. The Kyoto accords would have done little to curb global pollution. Kyoto boils down to the conclusions that America is responsible for ALL pollution and should pay to fix it. We will never have a global plan to curb pollution until Europe gets realizes they have to get off their duff and contribute something to the fight.
Slashdot Mirror
What I don't understand is that while Columbus certainly wasn't the first to America, he gets tagged with the disease rap because he brought a native back. Why does everyone assume biological makeup is different for Native North Americans? Viking were there, Africans were there, hell, Native American can be more accurately described as Asian. Maybe the deseases that "Columbus brought with him" were already ravaging the interior of the new world.
Excuses. All you offer are excuses.
Start your own business and answer your own question.
Another reason could also be that Europeans live in denser clusters than we do in the US. Takes less towers to cover the majority of the population.
Ever setup Citrix?
That's the price you pay for being alternative. He can't go into Best Buy and buy Quicken either.
News flash: Nietzsche was neither moral nor right.
And what I mean by everyone is seriously overestimating how much the user community might hate MS is that the tech community and the Slashdot crowd tend to be dismissive of office-like suites. We might not use them, but you can bet your bottom dollar that everyone else in a company does. And they'll use it with far more sophistication than you give them credit for. Want to piss off the Financial department unilaterally? Swap Excel for some other spreadsheet program. They'll be awfully thankful to you for forcing them to rewrite EVERY macro they use just so you can feel smug about sticking it to MS. You may dispise MS for various reasons, but the actual users of these programs may enjoy the wide range of options these programs give the. But I suppose you'd just believe they're too stupid to want to switch.
Completely on topic for a discussion about how open file formats are supposed to put MS out of business. Fat chance. Then again, everyone that disagrees with you MUST be a paid hack for MS. After all, no one else could ever have a valid opinion on the matter, could they?
Exactly. The real problem is that speach recognition is a niche demand. Speach recognition in and of itself has no mainstream uses. Think of an office full of people using speach recognition. Not pretty. At home? People only want speach recognition if it is tied to computer commands. ("Computer, download my email, filter for spam, then read back the names of the senders.") Who's left? People who find typing difficult because of a physical limitation. While a worthy cause, it may well not be a profitable one.
"IBM: Where software goes to die."
What makes me laugh about her story (besides her, of course) is the opposite could be true of every student of the University of Michigan in the early to mid nineties. U of M had all of it's non-engineering computer rooms stocked with Macs. The Macs were notorious for crashing. The wail or sobs of some unlucky bastard that just lost a 10 page paper were pretty gruesome and common. That experience made me swear off Macs.
Now pretend you're that IT manager again. Are you really going to even consider moving away from Office? Nope. You'll be planning the next upgrade to Office in anticipation for the day your customers move to the new version of Office.
What the hell are you talking about? The look and feel of the Office suite does not change dramatically. How you accomplish tasks in Office doesn't change much at all. All you really need to do is learn the new functionality of the new version and off you go. Or you could say bugger off to the new functionality and just go on what you know. Either way you'd be off and working faster than if you fired up Open Office for the first time. I think everyone is seriously overestimating how much the user community might hate MS.
An oldie from my high school physics teacher:
A scientist and an engineer are placed exactly 10 feet away from a beautiful woman. They are told that that every five seconds they can move exactly 1/2 of the distance between them and the woman. The scientist laments, "Ahhh! I'll never reach the woman!" The engineer replied, "Sure, but I'll get close enough for all practical purposes!"
Ok, a dyslexic walks into a bra...
Wasn't that Napoleon Bonaparte?
Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.
I think you need to re-read this bit from the article:
2. Microsoft had not been found to have acquired its monopoly unfairly, but merely to have maintained it by illegal means. Therefore, "rather than termination of the monopoly, the proper objective of the remedy in this case is termination of the exclusionary acts and practices related thereto which served to illegally maintain the monopoly."
African or European swallows?
Buying a Mac is now electronic masterbation.
Because those program installers aren't using the correct Win32 standards. They're too lazy to learn this new fangled 32 bit environment and won't upgrade their shite. They fully anticipate that people will wrongly blame Microsoft rather than the application house. That is why you started seeing the "Microsoft Certified for Windows xx" stickers on software. Microsoft wanted to make sure consumers knew which software houses were making the effort and which were being LAZY.
Horsepucky.
It's a common non-American mindset to think only in terms of America is isolationist or meddling. Castro loves to have his cake and eat it too by portraying America as either, "the uncaring neighbor to the North" or as, "the imperialist interloper." America is damned if we do, damned if we don't. Sooner or later the rest of the world will reap what they sow with America. Either we'll end up isolationist and let the rest of the world pull itself apart or we'll end up with Pax-Americanna. Either scenario sucks.
And take the Kyoto accords and stuff it. The Kyoto accords would have done little to curb global pollution. Kyoto boils down to the conclusions that America is responsible for ALL pollution and should pay to fix it. We will never have a global plan to curb pollution until Europe gets realizes they have to get off their duff and contribute something to the fight.
People trying to influence my decision is fine. It is still my decision. It beats the govt making the decision for me.
Spaceballs!?!
Oh, shit. There goes the neighborhood.
That's right. And Quicken won out. A better product can and does win.
Except that a smaller government is more easily bought out and/or overwhelmed by much bigger businesses.