Instead of thinking in terms of "convergence of devices", consider it in terms of "divergence of location of application use".
As applications (music, phone, e-mail, datebook, camera, games, chat, etc.) break out of the boxes we currently associate them with, many will converge in other boxes.
Applications which share a high degree of 'common location use' are likely to find versions of themselves in the same box. For example, digital camera with the ability to send e-mail.
As we are mobile creatures, and in a normal day find ourselves in many different places, applications are also likely to be available in different ways. Of course some will be more usable than others, but providing they provide enough utility in relation to the importance of the use, they should survive.
Is this a Internet war? My initial inclination says a big no. After all, its bombs and guns doing the damage.
However it undoubtedly is playing a part, even if it is for just spooning spin. 14 days or so ago, the public was totally against sending in Ground troops. Now the public opinion is going the other way.
This does strike me as an 'Internet speed' turn around in public opinion.
How big a part has the Internet facilitated in this change?
Yes the Internet can enable farms and businesses in remore places to function as part of a global economy.
However it also makes it less likely that these businesses will remain in the hands of the 'poor'. Technology makes it easier and easier for global companies to conduct business in 'remote places'.
Instead of creating a more eqitable distribution of wealth, the sun (electricity) the genome (genetic plastacine) and the Internet, are going to be used to build an even bigger customer base and create millions, no, BILLION of new consumers.
As far as 'ending cultural isolation' goes. Read 'limiting cultural diversity'.
The Internet is not going to spread the wealth, it is going to expand the customer base, create more consumer societies and to an ever decreasing degree push the Anglosaxist/western culture into everyone elses picture.
Many of the 'no-namers' ARE real artists, they just don't get the attention that what we commonly think of as REAL artists get.
In the entertainment world a huge part of getting attention is through getting promotion. That takes money. Radio stations for example have to make money off sponsers and thus play music that they KNOW their demographic will like. They give ATTENTION to the artists they know give will bring ATTENTION to the radio station.
To compete with CDs (or whatever other formats are pushed by the 'industy') as a legit and legal format MP3s need their own 'attention' system that is in competition with the existing one.
Firstly, I think the moderation addition and changes have all been great so far, definitely in the right direction.
I don't normally read that many comments, haven't got the time, but now I read those that spill over the 4 and this is rewarding. Previously I would scroll down searching the subject headings. So overall I am reading far more comments now than I used to.
It is also encouraging me to come into a story 'late' so that there is a decent chance of having some good comments. How about having an indicator on the front page showing where abouts the comments lie, just showing the number of comments that 'spill over' with your own settings would be enough, but there are a thousand variations along this theme that would also be useful.
Doing this would tell me when a story had 'ripe' threads.
In New Zealand, my homeland, I felt as though I had a high level of privacy. On reflection, I now believe this was because life was never disrupted in any obvious way by people or organisations using information about me not directly given by me. Individual organisations were collecting it of course, the supermarket, the bank, the tax department, but they was OK.
Now I am in Denmark, where the absolute opposite is true.
Denmark uses what is called a CPR-number, roughly translated to Citizen Personal Number, and everywhere you go, this number is asked for. The number is written on a little card called the Health Insurance card, and everyone carries one to prove what their CPR-number is.
The number has been asked off me so many times it is amazing: hospitals, doctors, dentists, banks, insurance, phone companies, renting our apartment, libraries, buying on hire purchase, video rental, schools and universities, driving school, police, immigration, unemployment bureau, and absolutely EVERYTHING that is directly government run.
Throughout my daily life I am constantly reminded that there is NO privacy. It may have been the same in New Zealand, but if so, it was done in the background, leading to a much more pleasant life.
(It is highly likely that my expereinces are not that of the average Dane, as I am a foreigner in their country and an enitre suite of different laws apply to foreigners.)
Denmark's latest iniative, which is not in place yet, is making a DNA register of all people that come in contact with the police. As a foreigner living in a small Danish town I am required yearly to seek residence permission for the next year, through the local police station. I am not sure if this would mean that I would give a DNA sample for their register, but from the wording of the proposal, I am expecting to.
I can not compare either country with the US, I have never been there. But I can compare them with each other.
In New Zealander organisations collected information and made no big deal about it. It was OK, it was cool, it was in the background, I felt free.
In Denmark, it is upfront, organisations want your details before they want your cash. This aggressive approach gives a feeling of being locked in and having no freedom.
Ironically, apart from the CPR-number, the actual details the two countries collected are about the same. But it feels SOO different.
OK, so a heap of people think that Jon is a complete bunny. Hey even Jon thinks he is a complete bunny with computers.
Nevertheless, he's doing the Linux community a world of good.
As a direct result of his posts I have also taken up the challenge (and yes, for me it is a challenge) to run Linux.
So that's one extra Linux user he's recruited. And a vocal one at that. If I like Linux, and it appears that I will, I will reccomend Linux to others and help them with it.
As to you nazi-geeks that want spend more time flaming than helping, find yourself a new OS to lord over, its' not your domain anymore, Linux is moving mainstream.
I'm a New Zealander that has recently moved to Denmark. So my view is created from personal experience, not an uderstanding of policy.
Yes the EU has 'privacy' laws and does much to regulate and protect the privacy of individauls FROM COMPANIES. However they do not protect the individual from itself.
Hell no, I am constantly shocked at the invasion of privacy by governments themself over here.
Through the multiple government departments and government run institutions, throughout the multiple countries, the multiple governments are able and DO share information on everything from political viewpoints, religious beliefs to doctor's records and bank balances.
Information is regularly shared interdepartmentally in one land, but it is also shared between countries when the forces that be think it is needed.
I don't care if the supermarket knows my spending patterns, hopefully they can use the information to give better service. I already have taken Scott's advice on that one, 'I have gotten over it'
If FireWire uses currenctly utilises so many Apple patents, good health to Apple, in their efforts to liscence it.
If there are only a couple of years before a backcompt version not using Apple tech is in boxes they only have 2 or 3 major years to recuperate many years of work.
Slashdot Mirror
Instead of thinking in terms of "convergence of devices", consider it in terms of "divergence of location of application use".
As applications (music, phone, e-mail, datebook, camera, games, chat, etc.) break out of the boxes we currently associate them with, many will converge in other boxes.
Applications which share a high degree of 'common location use' are likely to find versions of themselves in the same box. For example, digital camera with the ability to send e-mail.
As we are mobile creatures, and in a normal day find ourselves in many different places, applications are also likely to be available in different ways. Of course some will be more usable than others, but providing they provide enough utility in relation to the importance of the use, they should survive.
Is this a Internet war? My initial inclination says a big no. After all, its bombs and guns doing the damage.
However it undoubtedly is playing a part, even if it is for just spooning spin. 14 days or so ago, the public was totally against sending in Ground troops. Now the public opinion is going the other way.
This does strike me as an 'Internet speed' turn around in public opinion.
How big a part has the Internet facilitated in this change?
Yes the Internet can enable farms and businesses in remore places to function as part of a global economy.
However it also makes it less likely that these businesses will remain in the hands of the 'poor'. Technology makes it easier and easier for global companies to conduct business in 'remote places'.
Instead of creating a more eqitable distribution of wealth, the sun (electricity) the genome (genetic plastacine) and the Internet, are going to be used to build an even bigger customer base and create millions, no, BILLION of new consumers.
As far as 'ending cultural isolation' goes. Read 'limiting cultural diversity'.
The Internet is not going to spread the wealth, it is going to expand the customer base, create more consumer societies and to an ever decreasing degree push the Anglosaxist/western culture into everyone elses picture.
Many of the 'no-namers' ARE real artists, they just don't get the attention that what we commonly think of as REAL artists get.
In the entertainment world a huge part of getting attention is through getting promotion. That takes money. Radio stations for example have to make money off sponsers and thus play music that they KNOW their demographic will like. They give ATTENTION to the artists they know give will bring ATTENTION to the radio station.
To compete with CDs (or whatever other formats are pushed by the 'industy') as a legit and legal format MP3s need their own 'attention' system that is in competition with the existing one.
Firstly, I think the moderation addition and changes have all been great so far, definitely in the right direction.
I don't normally read that many comments, haven't got the time, but now I read those that spill over the 4 and this is rewarding. Previously I would scroll down searching the subject headings. So overall I am reading far more comments now than I used to.
It is also encouraging me to come into a story 'late' so that there is a decent chance of having some good comments. How about having an indicator on the front page showing where abouts the comments lie, just showing the number of comments that 'spill over' with your own settings would be enough, but there are a thousand variations along this theme that would also be useful.
Doing this would tell me when a story had 'ripe' threads.
In New Zealand, my homeland, I felt as though I had a high level of privacy. On reflection, I now believe this was because life was never disrupted in any obvious way by people or organisations using information about me not directly given by me. Individual organisations were collecting it of course, the supermarket, the bank, the tax department, but they was OK.
Now I am in Denmark, where the absolute opposite is true.
Denmark uses what is called a CPR-number, roughly translated to Citizen Personal Number, and everywhere you go, this number is asked for. The number is written on a little card called the Health Insurance card, and everyone carries one to prove what their CPR-number is.
The number has been asked off me so many times it is amazing: hospitals, doctors, dentists, banks, insurance, phone companies, renting our apartment, libraries, buying on hire purchase, video rental, schools and universities, driving school, police, immigration, unemployment bureau, and absolutely EVERYTHING that is directly government run.
Throughout my daily life I am constantly reminded that there is NO privacy. It may have been the same in New Zealand, but if so, it was done in the background, leading to a much more pleasant life.
(It is highly likely that my expereinces are not that of the average Dane, as I am a foreigner in their country and an enitre suite of different laws apply to foreigners.)
Denmark's latest iniative, which is not in place yet, is making a DNA register of all people that come in contact with the police. As a foreigner living in a small Danish town I am required yearly to seek residence permission for the next year, through the local police station. I am not sure if this would mean that I would give a DNA sample for their register, but from the wording of the proposal, I am expecting to.
I can not compare either country with the US, I have never been there. But I can compare them with each other.
In New Zealander organisations collected information and made no big deal about it. It was OK, it was cool, it was in the background, I felt free.
In Denmark, it is upfront, organisations want your details before they want your cash. This aggressive approach gives a feeling of being locked in and having no freedom.
Ironically, apart from the CPR-number, the actual details the two countries collected are about the same. But it feels SOO different.
Just a thought
Its' just a macho thing, protecting their own turf, survival of the fittest, he who hacks best gets the best babes. etc. etc. Darwinism
OK, so a heap of people think that Jon is a complete bunny. Hey even Jon thinks he is a complete bunny with computers.
Nevertheless, he's doing the Linux community a world of good.
As a direct result of his posts I have also taken up the challenge (and yes, for me it is a challenge) to run Linux.
So that's one extra Linux user he's recruited. And a vocal one at that. If I like Linux, and it appears that I will, I will reccomend Linux to others and help them with it.
As to you nazi-geeks that want spend more time flaming than helping, find yourself a new OS to lord over, its' not your domain anymore, Linux is moving mainstream.
I'm a New Zealander that has recently moved to Denmark. So my view is created from personal experience, not an uderstanding of policy.
Yes the EU has 'privacy' laws and does much to regulate and protect the privacy of individauls FROM COMPANIES. However they do not protect the individual from itself.
Hell no, I am constantly shocked at the invasion of privacy by governments themself over here.
Through the multiple government departments and government run institutions, throughout the multiple countries, the multiple governments are able and DO share information on everything from political viewpoints, religious beliefs to doctor's records and bank balances.
Information is regularly shared interdepartmentally in one land, but it is also shared between countries when the forces that be think it is needed.
I don't care if the supermarket knows my spending patterns, hopefully they can use the information to give better service. I already have taken Scott's advice on that one, 'I have gotten over it'
If FireWire uses currenctly utilises so many Apple patents, good health to Apple, in their efforts to liscence it.
If there are only a couple of years before a backcompt version not using Apple tech is in boxes they only have 2 or 3 major years to recuperate many years of work.