Every new size and speed comes with a higher price. When we upgraded from 5 1/4 full height to 3 2/1 half height, we were able to get four drives in the space of two big drives, reduce the current and have almost four times the data. WE also paid a lot more at the time though.
Like solar and wind, this is also intermittent. However, if we use it when it's there, we do not have to burn as much coal during that time. At this magnitude, even 0.1 percent is still very significant.
Along the same type of thought, there are hundreds or thousands of volts difference between continents and long distances. Finding a way to efficiently harness this energy would also be another source of "free" power.
I worked for a year in the purchasing department as a quality/corrective-action engineer (very large industrial electronics supplier). We continually expected our suppliers to give us higher quality products and better prices. We helped them solve their own quality/reliability/manufacturing problems and that in turn allowed them to have more profit. We expected them to share that increase with us as a better price.
About 40 years ago, it was common practice in the "Five and Dime" stores to set their sell prices at 2X the purchase price. That was necessary to make a profit. It has not changed much, but stores like Walmart can afford to sell for barely more than the purchase price if they sell a huge volume.
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I'd have to add that Christopher Columbus used a globe that was 2/3rds the size of what the earth really was, which is why he thought he could get to the Indies with the technology of the time.
Now that is one big globe! No wonder he needed more than one ship!
A few hundred years earlier, it would have been much easier. One only had to board a ship and sail to the edge of the earth. Since it was flat, they would have been able to sail to the edge and merely jump off into space. Unfortunately, space travelers at the time had no way to return, so it was very difficult to sell tickets to rich kings.
I mounted my two antennas back to back about 4 feet apart, thus transmitting some 25,000 miles around the world and still got a faint signal. Next I'm going to mount them back to back but spaced side to side more so the signal can go around the world twice before it gets to the receiving antenna. If I get a signal this time, I'll know I'm onto something.
Sure, it's off topic, and has nothing to do with the article, and its probably not even funny! In fact it's so far off, that I would use my 5 points to mod it down, but I can't use them here now.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's Texas Instruments started hiring lots of new college graduates to help them stay abreast of the latest technology. The object was to put them on a project with lots of unpaid overtime, work them at new-hire salary for four years and then, if they didn't leave on their own, gently "boot" them out the door and hire fresh, new replacements. After four years and lots of unpaid overtime, a lot of well trained engineers were ready for better jobs at other companies, taking TI's technology with them. TI trained a lot of engineers. By the mid 70's they realized what was happening and the policy was reversed.
"The process has been further complicated by recent revelations that South Korea has enriched a small amount of uranium and separated plutonium in secret experiments during the past 22 years."
Am I the only one who saw that little part of the article? Should that not be cause for more alarm than a few hundred computer crackers? It has not made the TV news or political agenda!
"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction"
It's her way of saying you can approach freedom, but you will never quite get there. - not as long as I'm around.
What if a sign is down or missing or obscured by some tree limb? What if the cameras fail to decode properly? Drivers will start to depend on the system and tend to miss things like the dog or child entering the roadway. If a driver is depending on some external device to "see" anything for himself, he or she will become dangerous.
We have much better technology than depending on cameras. For instance, a vehicle sensor embedded in the roadway could turn on a strobe visible to the driver and at the same time send both RF and light (IR-data) to the auto's onboard sensors to tell whether the upcoming event is stop sign, speed limit sign or traffic light.
I use a GPS with relatively new maps. My GPS still has me driving in "uncharted territory" often as I go down a changed road that has not been updated on the map. Sometimes the map data is 4-5 years outdated, so using a GPS may not be a good idea except on very major roads that have not changed in years.
"They refuse to use new technology because it might not work properly"
You did not emphasize that enough. Sometimes you are stuck with something like Windows that has such potential for financial disaster that changing to it could be a company's downfall. I worked in a large company with a large supply of programmers. Just changing a database over from COBOL to UNIX and integrating it into the rest of the data entry system was such an effort that no manager could justify the time and effort to take the chance. I think it took about 8 years of technology change before it became painfully aware that something had to be done.
You have a good point! When should the government no longer control marriage. If it is OK for two gay people to become a union, why not three or more? It's not the problem, but if we cannot define marriage as we now know it, where do we set the boundaries.
I have often wondered if people are more concerned with the word "marriage" or with the union of two same sex people? Since the word marriage has been used for centuries to describe a man-woman union, why not give a different name to gay marriage, but still the exact same benefits and characteristics, including divorce laws? Do same sex people want their union to get the present benefits awarded to marriage, or do they just want to use the word?
"Partner, would you like to join me in arriagemay?"
That is your assumption. Continuous operation is not better than interrupted operation. Even the inclined plane has friction and will wear out with continuous operation.
Reliability is design related. Reliable products are also cost related. When cost is too high, the reliability is no longer the prime factor and product lifetime is sacrificed. If the inclined plane is designed based on how it will be used, it can be surfaced and lubricated to have much longer life.
PC's, since the early 90's have not been designed for long term reliability. With technology advancing at a rate that makes them obsolete in 5 years, why do you need a 25 year computer? Don't save your data? That is your problem, not the manufacturer of the computer's problem. (or is it?)
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Nope! My computer keeps crashing!
Every new size and speed comes with a higher price. When we upgraded from 5 1/4 full height to 3 2/1 half height, we were able to get four drives in the space of two big drives, reduce the current and have almost four times the data. WE also paid a lot more at the time though.
Along the same type of thought, there are hundreds or thousands of volts difference between continents and long distances. Finding a way to efficiently harness this energy would also be another source of "free" power.
About 40 years ago, it was common practice in the "Five and Dime" stores to set their sell prices at 2X the purchase price. That was necessary to make a profit. It has not changed much, but stores like Walmart can afford to sell for barely more than the purchase price if they sell a huge volume. \
I went to one of those 1/2 stores once. Compared to other stores, their prices were ---you guessed it---- half off!
Yes Judge, They beat me up and took my right arm!
You moderators just did not get that one did you? Think about it!
Now that is one big globe! No wonder he needed more than one ship!
A few hundred years earlier, it would have been much easier. One only had to board a ship and sail to the edge of the earth. Since it was flat, they would have been able to sail to the edge and merely jump off into space. Unfortunately, space travelers at the time had no way to return, so it was very difficult to sell tickets to rich kings.
I mounted my two antennas back to back about 4 feet apart, thus transmitting some 25,000 miles around the world and still got a faint signal. Next I'm going to mount them back to back but spaced side to side more so the signal can go around the world twice before it gets to the receiving antenna. If I get a signal this time, I'll know I'm onto something.
Been there, done that!
Sure, it's off topic, and has nothing to do with the article, and its probably not even funny! In fact it's so far off, that I would use my 5 points to mod it down, but I can't use them here now.
Back in the late 60's and early 70's Texas Instruments started hiring lots of new college graduates to help them stay abreast of the latest technology. The object was to put them on a project with lots of unpaid overtime, work them at new-hire salary for four years and then, if they didn't leave on their own, gently "boot" them out the door and hire fresh, new replacements. After four years and lots of unpaid overtime, a lot of well trained engineers were ready for better jobs at other companies, taking TI's technology with them. TI trained a lot of engineers. By the mid 70's they realized what was happening and the policy was reversed.
Where have we heard that before?
Am I the only one who saw that little part of the article? Should that not be cause for more alarm than a few hundred computer crackers? It has not made the TV news or political agenda!
"for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong interaction" It's her way of saying you can approach freedom, but you will never quite get there. - not as long as I'm around.
We have much better technology than depending on cameras. For instance, a vehicle sensor embedded in the roadway could turn on a strobe visible to the driver and at the same time send both RF and light (IR-data) to the auto's onboard sensors to tell whether the upcoming event is stop sign, speed limit sign or traffic light.
I'm not sure if what you think you said is not really what you did not mean to say. Would you say it again, and this time use the preview?
I use a GPS with relatively new maps. My GPS still has me driving in "uncharted territory" often as I go down a changed road that has not been updated on the map. Sometimes the map data is 4-5 years outdated, so using a GPS may not be a good idea except on very major roads that have not changed in years.
You did not emphasize that enough. Sometimes you are stuck with something like Windows that has such potential for financial disaster that changing to it could be a company's downfall. I worked in a large company with a large supply of programmers. Just changing a database over from COBOL to UNIX and integrating it into the rest of the data entry system was such an effort that no manager could justify the time and effort to take the chance. I think it took about 8 years of technology change before it became painfully aware that something had to be done.
And you can't get rid of it either without destroying someone's copyrighted program. You are in deep, man!
I've seen ever one!
I have often wondered if people are more concerned with the word "marriage" or with the union of two same sex people? Since the word marriage has been used for centuries to describe a man-woman union, why not give a different name to gay marriage, but still the exact same benefits and characteristics, including divorce laws? Do same sex people want their union to get the present benefits awarded to marriage, or do they just want to use the word?
"Partner, would you like to join me in arriagemay?"
Now that's funny! Where's my mod points when I needum?
Reliability is design related. Reliable products are also cost related. When cost is too high, the reliability is no longer the prime factor and product lifetime is sacrificed. If the inclined plane is designed based on how it will be used, it can be surfaced and lubricated to have much longer life.
PC's, since the early 90's have not been designed for long term reliability. With technology advancing at a rate that makes them obsolete in 5 years, why do you need a 25 year computer? Don't save your data? That is your problem, not the manufacturer of the computer's problem. (or is it?)