Come on people -- this is old news. The "Java" brand is just that -- a brand-name. It need not have anything to do with Java the language anymore as far as Sun is concerned, but brand recognition will get it to sell.
This has been covered before, move along, netizens...
I'm not saying it will be absolutely free -- but in terms of the power of the servers, the power of the network will not be a limiting factor," Gates said, referring to networked computers and advances in the speed of the Internet.
So you know Scott McNealy is sticking pins in his BG voodoo doll right now.
Of course the irony (for me at least) was that the page was covered in ads for Sun...
Well sure, I can see where Bill is going here. I mean, Detroit is practically giving away cars now that the manufacturing process is so advanced and therefore the cost to make them is so cheap.
Hmm...sounds like the end of the Cold War to me, when Reagan continually up-ed the ante in that great poker game of defense spending, knowing that either the Soviet Union is going All-In, or is going to fold.
And the rationale behind why the US did this? America could match the Soviets' defense spending dollar for dollar (ruble for ruble?) and still have enough budget left for other goverment programs to keep the conutry sustainable, while the Soviets cut everything in order to keep up with American defense spending. So while we had like 30% of the budget going to defense, the Soviets had like 80-90%. Ultimately, the US knew they could "outbid" the Soviet Union and that the outcome would destroy the Soviet Union's ability to govern, and therefore they would defeat themselves and crumble.
Pardon my cynicism, but consumers will do no such things. Consumers are, by and large, sheep. They will blindly follow the lead of others, latching on to popular culture in a desperate attempt to stay in the mainstream, lest their greatest fears of being labelled "an outsider" be realized. Consumers will not seek out or embrace new technologies or other new ways of doing things until peer pressure forces them to react or be cast out.
To be even more cynical than that, consider this: Consumers will do whatever "the man" tells them to do, will eat whatever "the man" tells them to eat, will watch whatever "the man" tells them to watch, will spend their money on whatever "the man" tells them to spend it on. And they will listen to the utter crap that the major record labels call popular music, not because they want to listen to it, but rather because they won't take their collective heads out of the sand long enough to consider anything different because it might make them realize the narrowness of their existence. Doing this would jeopardize their whole ready-made, as seen on TV, new and improved, no installation necessary, perfect world in which their limited brain power is spent pondering the answer to the puzzle on the Wheel of Fortune.
Now as this relates to the RIAA's suing of filesharers, there is a clear link here. The RIAA not only needs to stop the free distribution of their major cash cows, but they also want to stop people from using these P2P services because the people that download this crap just might start listening to their collection only and stop or greatly reduce their listening of the spoon-fed detritus that their favorite Clear Channel stations pump out for them, thereby taking them out of the active listener pool and out of the active CD buying population. Furthermore, they just might possibly take that logical leap and find other stuff out there that isn't on their favorite Clear Channel station's playlist and become interested in it, thereby breaking them of their bondage to the RIAA's master plan. Therefore, the RIAA's goal is not only to recoup their immediate losses, but also to ensure that the sheep stay sheep.
So how much did MS make by violating the law? More then 500 million? Then they ain't gonna stop.
Yes, this is exactly the problem. Where I live, there is a suburb that has repeatedly dumped raw sewage into the river that runs through the city rather than send it to a waste processing facility because the EPA fine is less than the cost of the treatment. There is no incentive for the city to stop doing this as long as it costs less.
The same analogy applies to Microsoft. If they make more by squeezing out the competition unfairly than they lose in fines, it's still a net gain for them overall and the next time around, there's fewer players to have to squeeze out. It's a win-win for them and a lose for everyone else (except the custodians of the fine money, it seems).
The fine amounts to slightly more than one percent of Microsoft's roughly $53 billion cash on hand and did not impress analysts and critics.
"This is a traffic ticket for Microsoft," said Thomas Vinje of Clifford Chance, who represents Microsoft critics.
Neil Macehiter, an analyst with London-based technology research firm Ovum, said even a $3 billion fine would have been "an irritant to Microsoft but certainly wouldn't break the bank."
Step 6: shout DAMNIT when you realize that you have a DVD drive that supports Region 1 only and you'll have to shell out funds to obtain your Region 2 drive.
It may very well be better for their products, but it probably will not be better for the shareholders. Microsoft's stock holders benefit greatly from MS's unfair advantage and if that is stripped away, the stock will suffer, and that can cause a cascade effect.
For example, if revenue dries up but expenses stay the same, something is going to get cut back. This could be as minimal as the stoppage of contributions to MS's $50B piggy bank or it could mean cutbacks in developer jobs, but rest assured, something will get cut. So overall, this probably doesn't bode well for Microsoft, even if they do open up their sources or API's.
I would posit that the time period between 1930-1960 saw the greatest scientific advances in products that were used everyday, and therefore led people to become far more interested in science and therefore science fiction. There were great breakthroughs in communication, transportation, textiles, materials, medicine, and processes, and each of these breakthroughs can typically be found in everyday items that the public is very aware of, such as radar, nylon, jet engines, x-ray machinery, space exploration, and nuclear energy and its by-products.
By contrast, the number of life-altering technological breakthroughs since 1960 has paled by comparison. We have the transistor, LSI and VLSI architecture, further advances in medicine, internetworking (including Ethernet -- thanks Bob Metcalfe!), but no real significant changes that affected people on the same scale like there were during the "golden years" of the 20th century.
Now mind-altering breakthroughs....yeah, we've had LOTS of those, and if you look at the bottoming out in the 1960's and 1970's, perhaps that shows our lack of technological ingenuity? Or maybe we got too lazy and stoned to care?
It depends on what history you consider. Some consider him a giant, some a god, but given his ability to manipulate the greater gods and his role in Ragnarok, I lean more towards those who consider him a god.
By any chance, would you be willing to CC this extremely excellent posting to all of the major ISP's, starting with RoadRunner? I was dealing with them regarding on of their users who most likely had an infected PC that he/she didn't know anything about, but was sending me virus-infected email for six months, and all the while, repeated attempts at communication with RoadRunner were totally useless. Their abuse@rr.com is an auto-responder, there is no telephone number for info-security, and the online techs could offer no assistance either.
I'm sure my cust-serv problems are more related to the whole "No Help Helpdesk" thread of a few weeks back, but at what point do/can we start holding the ISP's liable for their users?
They had no choice. It was either settle for a lesser amount of money and get tagged with the "SCO supporter" label, or go to court in a battle that their lawyers figured that they'd be on the losing side of, and pay a much larger sum to SCO's barratry machine.
So save money or save face? Which would your shareholders appreciate more?
Don't be so naive. The difference between then and now is the level of detail and interactivity that is now capable. I grew up playing D&D with friends because there weren't any computer games available that involved the level of detail, imagery, and interaction that those games provided. Now, games like Neverwinter Nights have this and more. And D&D was never a poster child for being sweet and innocuous.
Besides, books have had this level of detail for far longer than video games have had, and you never hear parents tell their kids to "put that book down and go play GTA" (although there is the whole "Catcher in the Rye" debate, but that's probably past the memory of most readers here).
If anything, we're guilty of relying on these games to provide the experience for us rather than use our own imagination to create it for ourselves.
Slashdot Mirror
Come on people -- this is old news. The "Java" brand is just that -- a brand-name. It need not have anything to do with Java the language anymore as far as Sun is concerned, but brand recognition will get it to sell.
This has been covered before, move along, netizens...
Better than having them as enemies....
I'm not saying it will be absolutely free -- but in terms of the power of the servers, the power of the network will not be a limiting factor," Gates said, referring to networked computers and advances in the speed of the Internet.
So you know Scott McNealy is sticking pins in his BG voodoo doll right now.
Of course the irony (for me at least) was that the page was covered in ads for Sun...
Alert: new jargon entry --> "visually design == code"
Thank you netizens, you may return to your regular visual designing jobs...
Well sure, I can see where Bill is going here. I mean, Detroit is practically giving away cars now that the manufacturing process is so advanced and therefore the cost to make them is so cheap.
Hmm...sounds like the end of the Cold War to me, when Reagan continually up-ed the ante in that great poker game of defense spending, knowing that either the Soviet Union is going All-In, or is going to fold.
And the rationale behind why the US did this? America could match the Soviets' defense spending dollar for dollar (ruble for ruble?) and still have enough budget left for other goverment programs to keep the conutry sustainable, while the Soviets cut everything in order to keep up with American defense spending. So while we had like 30% of the budget going to defense, the Soviets had like 80-90%. Ultimately, the US knew they could "outbid" the Soviet Union and that the outcome would destroy the Soviet Union's ability to govern, and therefore they would defeat themselves and crumble.
Sounds like history repeating itself again.
This may seem like a dumb question...but what would happen if Microsoft just "didn't pay" the fine? That is, they ignore the EU's decision altogether.
Then what happens?
Pardon my cynicism, but consumers will do no such things. Consumers are, by and large, sheep. They will blindly follow the lead of others, latching on to popular culture in a desperate attempt to stay in the mainstream, lest their greatest fears of being labelled "an outsider" be realized. Consumers will not seek out or embrace new technologies or other new ways of doing things until peer pressure forces them to react or be cast out.
To be even more cynical than that, consider this: Consumers will do whatever "the man" tells them to do, will eat whatever "the man" tells them to eat, will watch whatever "the man" tells them to watch, will spend their money on whatever "the man" tells them to spend it on. And they will listen to the utter crap that the major record labels call popular music, not because they want to listen to it, but rather because they won't take their collective heads out of the sand long enough to consider anything different because it might make them realize the narrowness of their existence. Doing this would jeopardize their whole ready-made, as seen on TV, new and improved, no installation necessary, perfect world in which their limited brain power is spent pondering the answer to the puzzle on the Wheel of Fortune.
Now as this relates to the RIAA's suing of filesharers, there is a clear link here. The RIAA not only needs to stop the free distribution of their major cash cows, but they also want to stop people from using these P2P services because the people that download this crap just might start listening to their collection only and stop or greatly reduce their listening of the spoon-fed detritus that their favorite Clear Channel stations pump out for them, thereby taking them out of the active listener pool and out of the active CD buying population. Furthermore, they just might possibly take that logical leap and find other stuff out there that isn't on their favorite Clear Channel station's playlist and become interested in it, thereby breaking them of their bondage to the RIAA's master plan. Therefore, the RIAA's goal is not only to recoup their immediate losses, but also to ensure that the sheep stay sheep.
I see that they're not picking on MIT or Boston College again....
So how much did MS make by violating the law? More then 500 million? Then they ain't gonna stop.
Yes, this is exactly the problem. Where I live, there is a suburb that has repeatedly dumped raw sewage into the river that runs through the city rather than send it to a waste processing facility because the EPA fine is less than the cost of the treatment. There is no incentive for the city to stop doing this as long as it costs less.
The same analogy applies to Microsoft. If they make more by squeezing out the competition unfairly than they lose in fines, it's still a net gain for them overall and the next time around, there's fewer players to have to squeeze out. It's a win-win for them and a lose for everyone else (except the custodians of the fine money, it seems).
From the article:
The fine amounts to slightly more than one percent of Microsoft's roughly $53 billion cash on hand and did not impress analysts and critics.
"This is a traffic ticket for Microsoft," said Thomas Vinje of Clifford Chance, who represents Microsoft critics.
Neil Macehiter, an analyst with London-based technology research firm Ovum, said even a $3 billion fine would have been "an irritant to Microsoft but certainly wouldn't break the bank."
Step 6: shout DAMNIT when you realize that you have a DVD drive that supports Region 1 only and you'll have to shell out funds to obtain your Region 2 drive.
Getting the cost approved during your presidential administration: Priceless....
Keith Richards doesn't even need money. His brain has been dead for years but the drugs are keeping his corpse animated enough to fool most people...
It may very well be better for their products, but it probably will not be better for the shareholders. Microsoft's stock holders benefit greatly from MS's unfair advantage and if that is stripped away, the stock will suffer, and that can cause a cascade effect.
For example, if revenue dries up but expenses stay the same, something is going to get cut back. This could be as minimal as the stoppage of contributions to MS's $50B piggy bank or it could mean cutbacks in developer jobs, but rest assured, something will get cut. So overall, this probably doesn't bode well for Microsoft, even if they do open up their sources or API's.
I would posit that the time period between 1930-1960 saw the greatest scientific advances in products that were used everyday, and therefore led people to become far more interested in science and therefore science fiction. There were great breakthroughs in communication, transportation, textiles, materials, medicine, and processes, and each of these breakthroughs can typically be found in everyday items that the public is very aware of, such as radar, nylon, jet engines, x-ray machinery, space exploration, and nuclear energy and its by-products.
By contrast, the number of life-altering technological breakthroughs since 1960 has paled by comparison. We have the transistor, LSI and VLSI architecture, further advances in medicine, internetworking (including Ethernet -- thanks Bob Metcalfe!), but no real significant changes that affected people on the same scale like there were during the "golden years" of the 20th century.
Now mind-altering breakthroughs....yeah, we've had LOTS of those, and if you look at the bottoming out in the 1960's and 1970's, perhaps that shows our lack of technological ingenuity? Or maybe we got too lazy and stoned to care?
It depends on what history you consider. Some consider him a giant, some a god, but given his ability to manipulate the greater gods and his role in Ragnarok, I lean more towards those who consider him a god.
Loki is the Norse "Trickster" god. Full fledged greater deity.
By any chance, would you be willing to CC this extremely excellent posting to all of the major ISP's, starting with RoadRunner? I was dealing with them regarding on of their users who most likely had an infected PC that he/she didn't know anything about, but was sending me virus-infected email for six months, and all the while, repeated attempts at communication with RoadRunner were totally useless. Their abuse@rr.com is an auto-responder, there is no telephone number for info-security, and the online techs could offer no assistance either.
I'm sure my cust-serv problems are more related to the whole "No Help Helpdesk" thread of a few weeks back, but at what point do/can we start holding the ISP's liable for their users?
Have you seen Tiger Woods PGA 2004 recently? Chock full of golfing equipment and apparel advertisements.
I've nearly completely switched from TV as an entertainment mechanism to video games on my PS2 and my PC. And I'm 33.
Besides, wasn't there just something published that said the average gamer is around 29-30 years old?
They had no choice. It was either settle for a lesser amount of money and get tagged with the "SCO supporter" label, or go to court in a battle that their lawyers figured that they'd be on the losing side of, and pay a much larger sum to SCO's barratry machine.
So save money or save face? Which would your shareholders appreciate more?
And 1700 miles away in Lindon, UT, Darl McBride has a big cheshire cat grin spreading across his face...
Sounds like Webster's is in for a big payday. Every word is now owned by them.
Don't be so naive. The difference between then and now is the level of detail and interactivity that is now capable. I grew up playing D&D with friends because there weren't any computer games available that involved the level of detail, imagery, and interaction that those games provided. Now, games like Neverwinter Nights have this and more. And D&D was never a poster child for being sweet and innocuous.
Besides, books have had this level of detail for far longer than video games have had, and you never hear parents tell their kids to "put that book down and go play GTA" (although there is the whole "Catcher in the Rye" debate, but that's probably past the memory of most readers here).
If anything, we're guilty of relying on these games to provide the experience for us rather than use our own imagination to create it for ourselves.