There isn't enough information on Sony's page to go by, but it sure sounds like they are going to require the use of some proprietary ISP. I am at least happy to see it has ethernet, but what about wireless support? I'm sure most of the people connecting to the internet still use modems, but the early adopters, the people who are going to make or break devices like this are already using high speed internet and probably toying with in-house wireless networks. The Audrey from 3com is laughable, a web pad that has to be plugged in to the phone jack! If you are going to make a web tablet type device it had better be completely wireless except when charging. And these manufacturers need to stop tying us to whatever ISP they made a deal with. And then there is always the concern about support for new technology. Are these devices upgradable? What is BeIAs web browser like? It had better be 10 times better than the browser built into BeOS, because that sucked! Are there going to be SVG plugins? Flash plugins? Shockwave plugins? You may view that as fluff, but its still used on a lot of web sites. I'm all for the concept of web pads and IAs of other forms, but until companies start releasing products without so many limitations, they are not going to take off.
I would love to see an implementation of Sundog from the Atari ST (and prior to that Apple II). It was an excellent game of space exploration and trading. I think it could even be pulled off as a web based game. Of course its still playable with an ST emulator like Pacifist, but I think a wider audience would appreciate it.
I recently had a discussion of similar content with some friends of mine, but it was more concerned with starting in the gaming arena. The idea was that you would have a unique signature that would identify you and that could not be spoofed. Therefore if you did something in a game that people didn't like, the admin could permanently block you from playing, rather than just blocking your IP which many people can get around by just reconnecting. This led to other stuff such as something which recorded everything you did so you could prove yourself innocent should you be accussed of doing something bad. This bothered me and the more ideas he presented the less I liked it. I do believe people should be responsible for their actions, but I don't really think an elaborate mechanism for enforcing it is the way to go.
As for the anonymous coward thing, I think I can see why people might be tempted to use it, the extra time to sign up for a/. account is more likely to cause you not to post at all, at least anon gives you a quicker way to post. But, assuming that everyone who wanted to post had an ID already, if you are going to say something you should be willing to identify yourself. Not that most of the discussions are anything more than flame wars with people bickering about the topic rather than discussing it. I guess what I'm saying is, if you don't like anonymous coward, then skip the posts by them. As people are ignored and their flame posts are not responded to, they may find that when they really have something to say they will stop being cowards and post it with their name on it.
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There isn't enough information on Sony's page to go by, but it sure sounds like they are going to require the use of some proprietary ISP. I am at least happy to see it has ethernet, but what about wireless support? I'm sure most of the people connecting to the internet still use modems, but the early adopters, the people who are going to make or break devices like this are already using high speed internet and probably toying with in-house wireless networks. The Audrey from 3com is laughable, a web pad that has to be plugged in to the phone jack! If you are going to make a web tablet type device it had better be completely wireless except when charging. And these manufacturers need to stop tying us to whatever ISP they made a deal with. And then there is always the concern about support for new technology. Are these devices upgradable? What is BeIAs web browser like? It had better be 10 times better than the browser built into BeOS, because that sucked! Are there going to be SVG plugins? Flash plugins? Shockwave plugins? You may view that as fluff, but its still used on a lot of web sites. I'm all for the concept of web pads and IAs of other forms, but until companies start releasing products without so many limitations, they are not going to take off.
I would love to see an implementation of Sundog from the Atari ST (and prior to that Apple II). It was an excellent game of space exploration and trading. I think it could even be pulled off as a web based game. Of course its still playable with an ST emulator like Pacifist, but I think a wider audience would appreciate it.
I recently had a discussion of similar content with some friends of mine, but it was more concerned with starting in the gaming arena. The idea was that you would have a unique signature that would identify you and that could not be spoofed. Therefore if you did something in a game that people didn't like, the admin could permanently block you from playing, rather than just blocking your IP which many people can get around by just reconnecting. This led to other stuff such as something which recorded everything you did so you could prove yourself innocent should you be accussed of doing something bad. This bothered me and the more ideas he presented the less I liked it. I do believe people should be responsible for their actions, but I don't really think an elaborate mechanism for enforcing it is the way to go.
/. account is more likely to cause you not to post at all, at least anon gives you a quicker way to post. But, assuming that everyone who wanted to post had an ID already, if you are going to say something you should be willing to identify yourself. Not that most of the discussions are anything more than flame wars with people bickering about the topic rather than discussing it. I guess what I'm saying is, if you don't like anonymous coward, then skip the posts by them. As people are ignored and their flame posts are not responded to, they may find that when they really have something to say they will stop being cowards and post it with their name on it.
As for the anonymous coward thing, I think I can see why people might be tempted to use it, the extra time to sign up for a