If an advertiser could know when I was in the market for a product or service, I would welcome their ads, if they were limited to the product or service I was researching
The problem with today's targeted ads is that they are stupid
Example: I fly RC helicopters, serious, high-end RC helicopters. The stupid robots see this, and send me ads for cheap, toy helicopters
I would welcome targeted advertising if it was even close to the things I am interested in
AutoCad, Photoshop, Illustrator, Altium, Visual Studio, AVR Studio and all of the other various specialized device interfaces, like Home Theater Master MX-850
All are Windows only. And PLEASE don't tell me there are open source alternatives..even when they exist, they are pale imitations of the originals
About the only stuff I could do on Linux is, Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office.
When audio recording was first invented, quality was awful, but people loved it, because it was new and exciting, and nothing like it had ever existed before..
Year after year, quality improved.
We expected that someday, recorded music would become indistinguishable from live performance.
Then everything changed.
Convenience became more important than quality.
Storing 5000 mediocre quality recordings on an ipod became the norm.
Combine that with the excessive compression used to fight the loudness war, and it really makes an old-school audiophile sad.
How about, if the system makes a mistake, an innocent person could suffer hours, maybe days of inconvenience.
Worst case, they could die.
An example would be something like this, feel sick, get in the car to go to the hospital, need gas, get refused because the system made a mistake, days later, finally get to the doctor, doctor says "if only we had found this sooner, we could have saved you"
I know it's a crappy example, but I think it still makes the point. The innocent always suffer.
1975: Steven Sasson, then an electrical engineer at Kodak, invented the digital camera.
1976: The Bayer Pattern color filter array (CFA) was invented by Eastman Kodak researcher Bryce Bayer. The order in which dyes are placed on an image sensor photosite is still in use today. The basic technology is still the most commonly used of its kind to date.
They also produced the first digital SLRs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_DCS
And, their sensor division made extremely high quality sensors for scientific, industrial and consumer cameras.
Makes it even more ironic and baffling that they couldn't make it in the digital world.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, it works..kinda poorly
Who actually likes a porta-potty better than a nice toilet at home
A pipe is always better..connected to a box with a big screen, a nice keyboard and a comfortable chair
Portable is ok if you really, really need portable. otherwise, it's second best
Computers were big, cost millions, and lived in climate controlled glass rooms
Sometimes, on field trips to local defense contractors, we were allowed to walk by the glass and look inside
Why was it apparently so easy back then?
As for me, at 59, I am still programming professionally and learning whatever I need to get the job done
The most important skill a programmer has is logical problem solving
The particular details of languages and tools are relatively unimportant
I definitely don't consider myself to be "too old"
Romney is a politician who will say anything to get elected
To people who hate Democrats
He's the guy running against the Democrat..or as my father used to call them "dummy-craps"
BTW, I am a registered Democrat
Only if you drink Bud/Miller/Coors Light
I would argue that West Coast craft brews are the finest in the world
Especially the IPAs
If an advertiser could know when I was in the market for a product or service, I would welcome their ads, if they were limited to the product or service I was researching
The problem with today's targeted ads is that they are stupid
Example: I fly RC helicopters, serious, high-end RC helicopters. The stupid robots see this, and send me ads for cheap, toy helicopters
I would welcome targeted advertising if it was even close to the things I am interested in
As a high profit business
Lots of businesses survive on thin margins
If the new offer was a LOT better, I mean a BIG jump, I would do it.
Otherwise, it's not worth the risk
I don't care about the style, hipness or price
I can sit in that thing all day and be comfortable
I DON'T WANT A TABLET
I DON'T WANT A TABLET
I DON'T WANT ANYTHING LIKE A TABLET
I don't care if the marketoids think it's the future
I DON'T WANT A TABLET
Have I made myself clear?
I suspect that all the factors you mentioned are true, and are the reason that hearing aids don't cost $2
Even with the costs of materials, labor and R&D, it still seems like a racket with extreme markups
If the identical technology was made in the same quantities for the hobby market, prices would be lower
But, because it's "medical" and people confuse hearing aid salesmen with doctors, prices are astrononical
Of course, this is just a guess, I don't really have the numbers available
Marketoids hate simple comparisons.
Why do you think they created all of those nearly identical products??
The answer is...to confuse you.
When you are confused, you are more likely to rely on emotion, rather than logic.
Buy the brand, buy the extras, etc...
I really, really hate shopping for laptops...
Defense contractor's revenue down.
Plan to introduce an exciting new product.
So, I look at what I use frequently
AutoCad, Photoshop, Illustrator, Altium, Visual Studio, AVR Studio and all of the other various specialized device interfaces, like Home Theater Master MX-850
All are Windows only. And PLEASE don't tell me there are open source alternatives..even when they exist, they are pale imitations of the originals
About the only stuff I could do on Linux is, Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office.
Should be intuitively obvious to the most casual observer.
Apple is worse than Microsoft ever was. And I am no fan of Microsoft.
For years, the environmentalists have believed that it was necessary to exaggerate.
If they said "Here is a problem we should try to solve", they believed they would be ignored.
So instead they scream "THIS PROBLEM THREATENS OUR SURVIVAL!!! WE NEED TO SOLVE IT NOW!!!!".
After years of hearing this, the public recalibrates their bullshit sensors.
And yes, I consider myself an environmentalist. I just wish the rest of us were more honest.
Two drives in the computer. Several times a day, copy changed files from one to the other using a .bat file and xcopy.
Mozy online backup, twice a day.
One removable drive. Several times a month, copy changed files to it using a .bat file and xcopy..then take it out and put it on the shelf.
Unless you are on a very limited budget, don't reuse old drives for primary backup.
Drives are cheap. Buy a new 1.5TB drive as your primary backup.
If you really want to be careful, use your old drives for secondary backup
I probably have 30 drives on my shelf after years of backups.
Is the ITER project good science?
Or, is it a politically motivated, pork laden boondoggle?
When audio recording was first invented, quality was awful, but people loved it, because it was new and exciting, and nothing like it had ever existed before..
Year after year, quality improved.
We expected that someday, recorded music would become indistinguishable from live performance.
Then everything changed.
Convenience became more important than quality.
Storing 5000 mediocre quality recordings on an ipod became the norm.
Combine that with the excessive compression used to fight the loudness war, and it really makes an old-school audiophile sad.
How about, if the system makes a mistake, an innocent person could suffer hours, maybe days of inconvenience.
Worst case, they could die.
An example would be something like this, feel sick, get in the car to go to the hospital, need gas, get refused because the system made a mistake, days later, finally get to the doctor, doctor says "if only we had found this sooner, we could have saved you"
I know it's a crappy example, but I think it still makes the point. The innocent always suffer.
As others have said, it depends on the members.
I fly model helicopters.
I frequently read helifreak.com, a members-only discussion forum.
Most of the posts are informative.
Some are very opinionated.
Lots of collaborative problem solving.
Almost none are trolls, angry or insulting.
It's mostly just guys that love model helicopters teaching, learning, joking and ranting.
1975: Steven Sasson, then an electrical engineer at Kodak, invented the digital camera.
1976: The Bayer Pattern color filter array (CFA) was invented by Eastman Kodak researcher Bryce Bayer. The order in which dyes are placed on an image sensor photosite is still in use today. The basic technology is still the most commonly used of its kind to date.
They also produced the first digital SLRs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodak_DCS
And, their sensor division made extremely high quality sensors for scientific, industrial and consumer cameras.
Makes it even more ironic and baffling that they couldn't make it in the digital world.
If you want to study subject X because you are curious about X and want to learn more about X, then it will be valuable to you.
If you want another piece of paper to impress people who care about such things...may or may not be valuable.