I actual bothered to click the link to the article, and all I see is a comparison of the cost of a few accessories and apps? Where's the comparison of the technical specs? How is this garbage even worth posting?
Tech specs seem less relevant when comparing high-end tablets from different manufacturers running completely different operating systems - I'd rather see end-user impressions.
Does the higher resolution of the iPad make any difference in real-life use? Is the larger screen of the MS tablet better or worse than the slightly smaller iPad screen with higher dpi? How fast is the device? Can it run multiple applications and switch smoothly among them? Can I play a video in the corner of the screen while I'm browsing the web? Does it load webpages quickly? How easy is it to use the UI?
Those are the questions I'd like to see answered, if I really want to know what CPU the tablet is running, I can look that up, but knowing the processor and RAM specs tells me nothing about usability.
Ah, but you see, in first world you automate a lot of such production because it's cheaper. The setup is costlier, but repeatability goes up vs. unpredictableness of tired labor force, and longer term you can actually make it cheaper than in asia. Once your setup is done, adding robot cells to the line only costs you amortization -- capital equipment can be leased and scaled with demand. Sure Foxconn can set up stuff in a couple of weeks because they have next to no programmable machinery outside of various test cells, it's mostly all manual labor with some custom but simple tools. In the U.S., if you get a bunch of dedicated manufacturing people, they could set up automation about just as quick, given proper resources.
Sure, if they have months of leadtime, they can automate nearly anything. But they need that leadtime - no last minute changes, like swapping out a glass screen for a plastic screen. When Apple was looking for a factory to cut the glass, the Chinese built the (government subsidized) glass cutting factory before they even had a signed deal from Apple, and they were able to give 24x7 access to engineers because the engineers lived on-site in the company dormitory. Can any American factory offer that kind of flexibility?
How did this get +5 informative? His statement assumes the transition from Chinese labor to American labor is nothing more than moving the plant. No automation or mechanization bringing it to America. It would take less workers in the US not more.
Well yeah, it's not just moving the plant that does the assembly, it's moving plants for a lot of the suppliers too. Besides the cheap labor costs, one of the big strengths of Chinese manufacturing is the proximity to suppliers.
The reason there would be more automation in an American plan is because automation is cheaper than American workers, but not necessarily cheaper than Chinese workers. So while automation may reduce worker headcount, it wouldn't necessarily result in a proportional decrease in costs. Though it's not clear how much of the assembly can be automated.
Your super inflated number of 100,000 to 250,000 more employees wouldn't make that possible.
As someone that's worked in a union shop, I can guarantee that American workers are not going to put up with the 20 hours of overtime that Foxconn workers are reportedly subject to week after week (and even if they did, it would be cheaper to add on an entire shift of workers than pay one shift of workers 20 hours of overtime), so an American plant is going to need more workers for the same amount of work.
$25B/year in labor costs alone and ignores the billions it would cost to build the factories.
So its down to the question: Does industry exist to serve humanity or does humanity exist to serve industry ?
Stuffing billions into a mattress sounds more like the latter being the mode of operation.
Which humans are you talking about? The Foxconn worker making $400/month is probably as happy to have a paycheck as the guy in the USA sweeping the floors of McDonalds for $2000/month.
Why not build them here? Yes they will cost slightly more but obviously given the rabid demand they haven't crossed the price point that drives away customers. The bigger issue is in spite dividends and buy backs and such Apple still has over 100 billion in their mattress and they don't have a clue what to do with it! Even with the increased production costs it's doubtful it would dent the 100 billion in the bank while it would mean hiring 500,000 new people that might turn into iPhone customers! It worked for Henry Ford. Being a good citizen could result in a windfall instead of reduced profits. Apple can't go broke at this point so why not help their mother country out for once? They get the added benefit of getting rid of two weeks in shipment delays due to having to ship them from China. They could also get them to Europe quicker so it's a win/win!
A Chinese Foxconn worker makes around $400/month, $4800 year. A worker in the USA would cost about 10 times as much once benefits are included.
If it takes 500,000 chinese workers to make the phone, it would probably take 600,000 - 750,000 USA workers because USA workers aren't going to put in the same amount of overtime. But it if takes 500,000....500,000 times $50,000/year is $25B/year in labor costs alone and ignores the billions it would cost to build the factories.
But a well run country employs as many of its citizens as possible.
[CITATION NEEDED]
While your statement is colloquially accepted as true, there are lots of cases where increased employment is a bad sign.
Why did you cut off the post I was responding to? A well run business employs as few people as possible. I was responding to a one-liner with another one-liner. Both have a kernel of truth, but it turns out the reality of the situation is much too complicated to explain in one sentence, or one Slashdot post, or a presidential debate.
Think of the super-long-term vision as well. Do we really want a future society where 100% of the population has to work? Why can't we aim for a post-scarcity society as envisioned in Star Trek and the like? Wouldn't you want to live in a world where automation produces all material goods, and people work only because they want to?
I really don't see how such a society could survive - even on Star Trek, people have jobs. Someone still has to clear the sewage pipes (or endlessly monitor the dilithium crystal mixture on the warp engines). You can't count on a highly skilled job being done by someone who only works if he feels like it. If the dilithium crystal polishing guy is in the bar and drunk on synthehol (or he decides that he no longer loves that work and instead wants to clean windows) when the warp engines go offline, who's going to take care of the problem? Even if the captain is willing to take care of it because he loves his job, he may not be trained for it and he'll h quickly get tired of having to do every menial task that no one else feels like doing.
But even if we really could have robots take care of our every possible need - what will the humans do? What possible sense of purpose will there be in a world where you are not needed... for anything.
A well run business employs as few people as possible
But a well run country employs as many of its citizens as possible.
Errr....gov't jobs for all??? Hell no.
A well-run country maximizes incentive to provide sustained employment for as many of its citizens as is possible.
I never said the government needs to provide government jobs to citizens, but running a country is fundamentally different than running a company. When you need to cut costs in a company you can shed employees and trust that some other company or the government will take care of them. When you need to cut costs in a country, you can't simply shed citizens to save money - you're going to end up taking care of them one way or another. And sometimes cutting costs in obvious ways doesn't save any money at all. You can slash military spending by cutting expensive weapons programs and reducing troop levels, but then you have to find jobs for all of the ex-soldiers and ex-military contractors that are suddenly out of work.
$1k per month for health insurance? Jeezus, what kind of policy is that? I'm in my 40's and BCBS quoted me about $250 per month (actually slightly less) for a moderate ($2,500 deductible) policy with prescription coverage. I could cover that with unemployment insurance, and not even have to touch the $30k plus in my savings. Do you have an artificial heart or something?
$288/mo = $3500/year $6000/year deductible $3500 out of pocket maximum (after deductible)
As long as you don't need healthcare services, it's "only" $3500/year. But if you need to use your insurance, then you could be paying $9500 just to get to the deductible where insurance starts paying... then you could be paying up to $12,500 for the year.
New Yorkers just don't have the balls to say or do anything anymore.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
You sit in your heated house with your computer and your internet and you think that IT ALL APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE
My heat doesn't come from NYC, I'm not aware of any natural gas wells in NYC. Much of the development of computers internet sites that people use daily occurred on the West Coast of the USA, with most of the physical components coming from Asia.
These things were FINANCED and PAID FOR by those VERY PEOPLE that you accuse of "not having any balls"
Oh, you mean the banking executives in San Francisco? (not to mention the Asian banks that funded much of the industry that creates our computers and powers our internet.
Shit the reason you even WANT THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE is because of MADISON AVENUE MARKETERS
They don't have any balls and yet THEY CONTROL YOUR LIFE
I won't deny that much of the best (meaning worst) marketing comes from NYC.
Geek points dropped if you can't separate a filesystem from the actions of it's original author. Hell if the article hadn't shouted it out, again it wouldn't have been the first thing that popped into my mind. (thanks for that).
This far on the only people who should give a shit are the people directly affected by the crime.
Bad things happen, move on.
Humanity points dropped if you can completely separate a software product from the actions of its original author - why help spread ReiserFS and give him the satisfaction of seeing his filesystem grow into one of the most popular Linux filesystems? I'd rather let him watch his brainchild die.
Why is it ok for those who were directly affected by the crime to give a shit, but those of us who were appalled at the crime but not directly affected should just pretend it never happened?
It was my understanding that for traditional drives in a RAID you don't want to get all the same type of drive all made around the same time since they will fail around the same time too. Same would apply to SSDs.
I've heard the same, but judging from the serial numbers on disks in our major-vendor storage array, they seem to use same-lot disks, here's a few serial numbers from one disk shelf (partially obscured):
They look close enough to be from the same manufacturing lot. Unless the disk manufacturer randomizes disks before applying serial numbers when selling to this storage vendor. We do lose disks occasionally, but they seem to be spread out across different shelves (purchased at different times).
Wow, it's just like the teacher taking attendance! Except that it uses technology to automate the task, saving valuable lesson time. Clearly this is another example of government oppression.
Except that it tracks where they are in the school. So it's only the same as a teacher taking attendance as putting a license plate on your car is the same as having an RFID tag network that lets the government track your car everywhere you go.
The close tracking may not necessarily be a bad thing (car tracking makes stolen car retrieval easier), but I know I spent more than one class period tucked away in the band room with a girlfriend furthering our education in ways the school would not have approved of. Though her parents probably would have preferred it if we had RFID tags giving away our locations.
I love how your posts are pretty much instantly modded to 2. Every one of them. I mean, you might try making it less obvious.
Do you look for conspiracies everywhere you go? You should read up on Slashdot's Karma Bonus to see why my posts start out at 2.
Slashdot has become infested with Google schills but I find it funny more than anything else since it hasn't actually moved the needle on anything but 1st level help desk computer janitors.
As for "Starting with Gingerbread the Android platform stopped causing support headaches", you can't be serious. Android is still an unmanageable clusterfuck in a corporate, even at JB. I hope you're being paid well enough to post that.
I don't know where JB is, but Android really hasn't been any harder to manage than IOS at our organization. Blackberry is a little harder since we have to run a BES, but in looking at our past helpdesk tickets, our Android and iPhone ticket counts are about the same. Amusingly, sometimes people submit Android tickets as iPhone tickets, apparently they can't tell the difference. (but we get almost no iPhone tickets classified as Android tickets)
The only thing we support in our corporate environment is email - we don't even support calendaring, we let users sync their calendars, but we tell them that they may have problems accepting meeting appointments (on both Android and iPhone). For anyone that wants full calendaring support, we recommend Blackberry.
I'm not recommending Android over IOS (or vice-versa) for the typical user, for most people, a relatively recent Android device or iPhone is going to be a good choice for a smartphone.
That seems like a good price for an average brand new car. Oh, wait the average price of a new car is 2.5 times that much.
The Beetle was not an "average car", it was a low-end affordable car. If you want such a car today, buy a $11,000 Nissan Versa, $13000 Ford Fiesta or $12000 Hyundai Accent. And you'll have a car that's far superior to the original Beetle in comfort, fuel economy and reliability.
I don't know how the average price of a new car hit the $30,000 range - there are lots of very nice cars in the low $20's and even the upper 'teens can get you a Corolla or Civic.
Ah yes, the Android user refrain. If your ecosystem is fucked and distributing malware and you expect your appliance (which is what people expect a phone, even a smartphone, to be) screws you, well you must be a dumbass. Not helpful and frankly a weak excuse.
Those that expect their phone to act like an appliance shouldn't sideload apps, if I try to turn on sideloading on my phone, it pops up a warning saying that I'm putting myself at risk. If the user accepts that risk, how is it Androids fault by giving them the option?
If someone buys a toaster then tries to rewire it and turn it into a space heater, they are a dumbass if it burns their house down - if you buy something to use as an appliance, then use it as that appliance. Don't open it up and start poking around, and then complain that something bad happened.
Even if they don't, let's be honest, the people spending money on Android "superphones" are exactly the people who're rooting, installing ROMS and sideloading. The rest, the much vaunted millions activations per are the people having slow Gingerbread shitboxes rammed down their neck by the retailers and networks that might have a passing interest in something that's "just like an iPhone" but that interest dies as soon as they try to use it and it's slow, jerky and has shit battery life. This is precisely why the web impression figures are so dramatically different between iOS and Android.
The Galaxy S III sold around 20 million units worldwide, I'm having a hard time believing that all of those users are rooting their devices. I have a Galaxy Nexus that isn't rooted (nor have I sideloaded any apps).
Android phones are definitely good for someone that wants to tinker and root and sideload, but they are also solid smartphones out of the box.
I support around 250 devices - split relatively evenly between Blackberry, Android and iPhone. These users are mostly non-technical, and all seem fairly satisfied with their phones, including the Blackberry users (battery life and tight Exchange Integration are the big reasons the BB users are happy with their phones).
Starting with Gingerbread the Android platform stopped causing support headaches (mostly in Exchange syncing), ICS and Jellybean seem to put Android on par with IOS for the most part.
My HTC will check with me and double check before it installs any apk. As long as there are people who can be suckered into installing unknown software
So, basically, you acknowledge you can't sideload safely? How's that walled garden suiting you?
Just like with all software, you need to trust your source. If I don't like Google Market's policies, prices, or selection, I can move to Amazon's App store (or one of the other alternative app stores). Or I can download direct from the software maker.
What alternative does an IOS have if he wants to install an app that's been rejected from Apple's store because of the content or features?
Well, if they're happy with second-best, probably third-best before too long with the money Microsoft will throw at developers (developers, developers) then, well, good luck with that.
Yes, I know, Microsoft's dominance is right around the corner, just as soon as they get serious about it. Like how they killed the iPod with Zune.
A link within these advertisements leads to a website that is designed to push Loozfon on the user's device.
FinFisher can be easily transmitted to a Smartphone when the user visits a specific web link or opens a text message masquerading as a system update.
Based on that, it'd be simple websites telling people to download some installer/apk.
I don't think they gave enough details to know for sure that is what's going on - most users won't have configured their phone to install apk's that didn't come from the Android phone, does this attack work against them?
If they are going to go through the trouble to issue an advisory, they should explain how the attack works so we can educate our users.
Which version(s) of Android are vulnerable and which browsers? How does the attack work? Do I need to download and run a file? Just click on the file? Just visit the web page?
Is this even a real threat? It sounds like a vague alert that anti-virus companies send out to get you to buy their product.
It's a good operating assumption. If you assume that is true, you won't get burned as often. However, it's not actually true.
And not a reasonable option for most of us. My employer has an internet portal with HR and payroll information. My credit cards all have online portals with my purchase information. The same with banks, utility companies, etc. Public records (property taxes, etc) are increasingly available online. Few people abstain from all personal discussions in email.
There's a vast amount of personal information online, much of it put there by 3rd parties we don't have control over, and we all rely on loose privacy regulations to keep it private. Your bank, utilities, etc may already be selling your account information to data aggregators.
OK, I guess that you can't help it. Go ahead and put all of your personal stuff online.
Once all of my banking, public records, and emails are online, what is left? I'm sure my credit card company already knows if I'm straight or gay, how often I brush my teeth, and when and where I go for vacation.
When the 60Ghz transceiver (which doesn't exist yet commercially) drops to $90 each, won't 10Gig ethernet drop down to $9/port, skewing their cost justifiication results? They mention using 4 - 15gbit transceivers... what's the aggregate bandwidth of a 60Ghz network? If the aggregate bandwidth is 15gbit, that's not going to handle a rack full of servers.
Slashdot Mirror
I actual bothered to click the link to the article, and all I see is a comparison of the cost of a few accessories and apps? Where's the comparison of the technical specs? How is this garbage even worth posting?
Tech specs seem less relevant when comparing high-end tablets from different manufacturers running completely different operating systems - I'd rather see end-user impressions.
Does the higher resolution of the iPad make any difference in real-life use? Is the larger screen of the MS tablet better or worse than the slightly smaller iPad screen with higher dpi? How fast is the device? Can it run multiple applications and switch smoothly among them? Can I play a video in the corner of the screen while I'm browsing the web? Does it load webpages quickly? How easy is it to use the UI?
Those are the questions I'd like to see answered, if I really want to know what CPU the tablet is running, I can look that up, but knowing the processor and RAM specs tells me nothing about usability.
Ah, but you see, in first world you automate a lot of such production because it's cheaper. The setup is costlier, but repeatability goes up vs. unpredictableness of tired labor force, and longer term you can actually make it cheaper than in asia. Once your setup is done, adding robot cells to the line only costs you amortization -- capital equipment can be leased and scaled with demand. Sure Foxconn can set up stuff in a couple of weeks because they have next to no programmable machinery outside of various test cells, it's mostly all manual labor with some custom but simple tools. In the U.S., if you get a bunch of dedicated manufacturing people, they could set up automation about just as quick, given proper resources.
Sure, if they have months of leadtime, they can automate nearly anything. But they need that leadtime - no last minute changes, like swapping out a glass screen for a plastic screen. When Apple was looking for a factory to cut the glass, the Chinese built the (government subsidized) glass cutting factory before they even had a signed deal from Apple, and they were able to give 24x7 access to engineers because the engineers lived on-site in the company dormitory. Can any American factory offer that kind of flexibility?
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-22/tech/30652107_1_foxconn-iphones-apple-executives
How did this get +5 informative? His statement assumes the transition from Chinese labor to American labor is nothing more than moving the plant. No automation or mechanization bringing it to America. It would take less workers in the US not more.
Well yeah, it's not just moving the plant that does the assembly, it's moving plants for a lot of the suppliers too. Besides the cheap labor costs, one of the big strengths of Chinese manufacturing is the proximity to suppliers.
The reason there would be more automation in an American plan is because automation is cheaper than American workers, but not necessarily cheaper than Chinese workers. So while automation may reduce worker headcount, it wouldn't necessarily result in a proportional decrease in costs. Though it's not clear how much of the assembly can be automated.
Your super inflated number of 100,000 to 250,000 more employees wouldn't make that possible.
As someone that's worked in a union shop, I can guarantee that American workers are not going to put up with the 20 hours of overtime that Foxconn workers are reportedly subject to week after week (and even if they did, it would be cheaper to add on an entire shift of workers than pay one shift of workers 20 hours of overtime), so an American plant is going to need more workers for the same amount of work.
$25B/year in labor costs alone and ignores the billions it would cost to build the factories.
So its down to the question: Does industry exist to serve humanity or does humanity exist to serve industry ?
Stuffing billions into a mattress sounds more like the latter being the mode of operation.
Which humans are you talking about? The Foxconn worker making $400/month is probably as happy to have a paycheck as the guy in the USA sweeping the floors of McDonalds for $2000/month.
Why not build them here? Yes they will cost slightly more but obviously given the rabid demand they haven't crossed the price point that drives away customers. The bigger issue is in spite dividends and buy backs and such Apple still has over 100 billion in their mattress and they don't have a clue what to do with it! Even with the increased production costs it's doubtful it would dent the 100 billion in the bank while it would mean hiring 500,000 new people that might turn into iPhone customers! It worked for Henry Ford. Being a good citizen could result in a windfall instead of reduced profits. Apple can't go broke at this point so why not help their mother country out for once? They get the added benefit of getting rid of two weeks in shipment delays due to having to ship them from China. They could also get them to Europe quicker so it's a win/win!
A Chinese Foxconn worker makes around $400/month, $4800 year. A worker in the USA would cost about 10 times as much once benefits are included.
If it takes 500,000 chinese workers to make the phone, it would probably take 600,000 - 750,000 USA workers because USA workers aren't going to put in the same amount of overtime. But it if takes 500,000....500,000 times $50,000/year is $25B/year in labor costs alone and ignores the billions it would cost to build the factories.
But a well run country employs as many of its citizens as possible.
[CITATION NEEDED]
While your statement is colloquially accepted as true, there are lots of cases where increased employment is a bad sign.
Why did you cut off the post I was responding to? A well run business employs as few people as possible. I was responding to a one-liner with another one-liner. Both have a kernel of truth, but it turns out the reality of the situation is much too complicated to explain in one sentence, or one Slashdot post, or a presidential debate.
Think of the super-long-term vision as well. Do we really want a future society where 100% of the population has to work? Why can't we aim for a post-scarcity society as envisioned in Star Trek and the like? Wouldn't you want to live in a world where automation produces all material goods, and people work only because they want to?
I really don't see how such a society could survive - even on Star Trek, people have jobs. Someone still has to clear the sewage pipes (or endlessly monitor the dilithium crystal mixture on the warp engines). You can't count on a highly skilled job being done by someone who only works if he feels like it. If the dilithium crystal polishing guy is in the bar and drunk on synthehol (or he decides that he no longer loves that work and instead wants to clean windows) when the warp engines go offline, who's going to take care of the problem? Even if the captain is willing to take care of it because he loves his job, he may not be trained for it and he'll h quickly get tired of having to do every menial task that no one else feels like doing.
But even if we really could have robots take care of our every possible need - what will the humans do? What possible sense of purpose will there be in a world where you are not needed... for anything.
A well run business employs as few people as possible
But a well run country employs as many of its citizens as possible.
Errr....gov't jobs for all??? Hell no.
A well-run country maximizes incentive to provide sustained employment for as many of its citizens as is possible.
I never said the government needs to provide government jobs to citizens, but running a country is fundamentally different than running a company. When you need to cut costs in a company you can shed employees and trust that some other company or the government will take care of them. When you need to cut costs in a country, you can't simply shed citizens to save money - you're going to end up taking care of them one way or another. And sometimes cutting costs in obvious ways doesn't save any money at all. You can slash military spending by cutting expensive weapons programs and reducing troop levels, but then you have to find jobs for all of the ex-soldiers and ex-military contractors that are suddenly out of work.
$1k per month for health insurance? Jeezus, what kind of policy is that? I'm in my 40's and BCBS quoted me about $250 per month (actually slightly less) for a moderate ($2,500 deductible) policy with prescription coverage. I could cover that with unemployment insurance, and not even have to touch the $30k plus in my savings. Do you have an artificial heart or something?
Anthem Blue Cross health insurance for a 50 year old male:
$288/mo = $3500/year
$6000/year deductible
$3500 out of pocket maximum (after deductible)
As long as you don't need healthcare services, it's "only" $3500/year. But if you need to use your insurance, then you could be paying $9500 just to get to the deductible where insurance starts paying... then you could be paying up to $12,500 for the year.
A well run business employs as few people as possible
But a well run country employs as many of its citizens as possible.
New Yorkers just don't have the balls to say or do anything anymore.
JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
You sit in your heated house with your computer and your internet and you think that IT ALL APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE
My heat doesn't come from NYC, I'm not aware of any natural gas wells in NYC. Much of the development of computers internet sites that people use daily occurred on the West Coast of the USA, with most of the physical components coming from Asia.
These things were FINANCED and PAID FOR by those VERY PEOPLE that you accuse of "not having any balls"
Oh, you mean the banking executives in San Francisco? (not to mention the Asian banks that funded much of the industry that creates our computers and powers our internet.
Shit the reason you even WANT THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE is because of MADISON AVENUE MARKETERS
They don't have any balls and yet THEY CONTROL YOUR LIFE
I won't deny that much of the best (meaning worst) marketing comes from NYC.
Geek points dropped if you can't separate a filesystem from the actions of it's original author. Hell if the article hadn't shouted it out, again it wouldn't have been the first thing that popped into my mind. (thanks for that).
This far on the only people who should give a shit are the people directly affected by the crime.
Bad things happen, move on.
Humanity points dropped if you can completely separate a software product from the actions of its original author - why help spread ReiserFS and give him the satisfaction of seeing his filesystem grow into one of the most popular Linux filesystems? I'd rather let him watch his brainchild die.
Why is it ok for those who were directly affected by the crime to give a shit, but those of us who were appalled at the crime but not directly affected should just pretend it never happened?
It was my understanding that for traditional drives in a RAID you don't want to get all the same type of drive all made around the same time since they will fail around the same time too. Same would apply to SSDs.
I've heard the same, but judging from the serial numbers on disks in our major-vendor storage array, they seem to use same-lot disks, here's a few serial numbers from one disk shelf (partially obscured):
xx-xxxxxxxx4406
xx-xxxxxxxx4409
xx-xxxxxxxx4419
xx-xxxxxxxx4435
xx-xxxxxxxx4448
xx-xxxxxxxx4460
xx-xxxxxxxx4468
They look close enough to be from the same manufacturing lot. Unless the disk manufacturer randomizes disks before applying serial numbers when selling to this storage vendor. We do lose disks occasionally, but they seem to be spread out across different shelves (purchased at different times).
Wow, it's just like the teacher taking attendance! Except that it uses technology to automate the task, saving valuable lesson time. Clearly this is another example of government oppression.
Except that it tracks where they are in the school. So it's only the same as a teacher taking attendance as putting a license plate on your car is the same as having an RFID tag network that lets the government track your car everywhere you go.
The close tracking may not necessarily be a bad thing (car tracking makes stolen car retrieval easier), but I know I spent more than one class period tucked away in the band room with a girlfriend furthering our education in ways the school would not have approved of. Though her parents probably would have preferred it if we had RFID tags giving away our locations.
I love how your posts are pretty much instantly modded to 2. Every one of them. I mean, you might try making it less obvious.
Do you look for conspiracies everywhere you go? You should read up on Slashdot's Karma Bonus to see why my posts start out at 2.
Slashdot has become infested with Google schills but I find it funny more than anything else since it hasn't actually moved the needle on anything but 1st level help desk computer janitors.
As for "Starting with Gingerbread the Android platform stopped causing support headaches", you can't be serious. Android is still an unmanageable clusterfuck in a corporate, even at JB. I hope you're being paid well enough to post that.
I don't know where JB is, but Android really hasn't been any harder to manage than IOS at our organization. Blackberry is a little harder since we have to run a BES, but in looking at our past helpdesk tickets, our Android and iPhone ticket counts are about the same. Amusingly, sometimes people submit Android tickets as iPhone tickets, apparently they can't tell the difference. (but we get almost no iPhone tickets classified as Android tickets)
The only thing we support in our corporate environment is email - we don't even support calendaring, we let users sync their calendars, but we tell them that they may have problems accepting meeting appointments (on both Android and iPhone). For anyone that wants full calendaring support, we recommend Blackberry.
I'm not recommending Android over IOS (or vice-versa) for the typical user, for most people, a relatively recent Android device or iPhone is going to be a good choice for a smartphone.
but your Android phone's not gonna burn the house down. Unless you've got a Sony battery in it and you're using it while charging.
And your toaster isn't going to send your contacts and email to hacker groups. Each appliance has its own risks.
$1565 in 1960 is worth around $12,400 today.
That seems like a good price for an average brand new car. Oh, wait the average price of a new car is 2.5 times that much.
The Beetle was not an "average car", it was a low-end affordable car. If you want such a car today, buy a $11,000 Nissan Versa, $13000 Ford Fiesta or $12000 Hyundai Accent. And you'll have a car that's far superior to the original Beetle in comfort, fuel economy and reliability.
I don't know how the average price of a new car hit the $30,000 range - there are lots of very nice cars in the low $20's and even the upper 'teens can get you a Corolla or Civic.
Ah yes, the Android user refrain. If your ecosystem is fucked and distributing malware and you expect your appliance (which is what people expect a phone, even a smartphone, to be) screws you, well you must be a dumbass. Not helpful and frankly a weak excuse.
Those that expect their phone to act like an appliance shouldn't sideload apps, if I try to turn on sideloading on my phone, it pops up a warning saying that I'm putting myself at risk. If the user accepts that risk, how is it Androids fault by giving them the option?
If someone buys a toaster then tries to rewire it and turn it into a space heater, they are a dumbass if it burns their house down - if you buy something to use as an appliance, then use it as that appliance. Don't open it up and start poking around, and then complain that something bad happened.
Even if they don't, let's be honest, the people spending money on Android "superphones" are exactly the people who're rooting, installing ROMS and sideloading. The rest, the much vaunted millions activations per are the people having slow Gingerbread shitboxes rammed down their neck by the retailers and networks that might have a passing interest in something that's "just like an iPhone" but that interest dies as soon as they try to use it and it's slow, jerky and has shit battery life. This is precisely why the web impression figures are so dramatically different between iOS and Android.
The Galaxy S III sold around 20 million units worldwide, I'm having a hard time believing that all of those users are rooting their devices. I have a Galaxy Nexus that isn't rooted (nor have I sideloaded any apps).
Android phones are definitely good for someone that wants to tinker and root and sideload, but they are also solid smartphones out of the box.
I support around 250 devices - split relatively evenly between Blackberry, Android and iPhone. These users are mostly non-technical, and all seem fairly satisfied with their phones, including the Blackberry users (battery life and tight Exchange Integration are the big reasons the BB users are happy with their phones).
Starting with Gingerbread the Android platform stopped causing support headaches (mostly in Exchange syncing), ICS and Jellybean seem to put Android on par with IOS for the most part.
My HTC will check with me and double check before it installs any apk. As long as there are people who can be suckered into installing unknown software
So, basically, you acknowledge you can't sideload safely? How's that walled garden suiting you?
Just like with all software, you need to trust your source. If I don't like Google Market's policies, prices, or selection, I can move to Amazon's App store (or one of the other alternative app stores). Or I can download direct from the software maker.
What alternative does an IOS have if he wants to install an app that's been rejected from Apple's store because of the content or features?
they are happy to stick with the Android store
Well, if they're happy with second-best, probably third-best before too long with the money Microsoft will throw at developers (developers, developers) then, well, good luck with that.
Yes, I know, Microsoft's dominance is right around the corner, just as soon as they get serious about it. Like how they killed the iPod with Zune.
most users won't have configured their phone to install apk's that didn't come from the Android phone
a) What?
b) B..b..but what about their Freedoms?
Few people I know with an Android phone care about the freedom of their phone - they liked the features, formfactor, and price point of the phone.
Few users outside of Slashdot's target audience even know that sideloading is an option - they are happy to stick with the Android store.
A link within these advertisements leads to a website that is designed to push Loozfon on the user's device.
FinFisher can be easily transmitted to a Smartphone when the user visits a specific web link or opens a text message masquerading as a system update.
Based on that, it'd be simple websites telling people to download some installer/apk.
I don't think they gave enough details to know for sure that is what's going on - most users won't have configured their phone to install apk's that didn't come from the Android phone, does this attack work against them?
If they are going to go through the trouble to issue an advisory, they should explain how the attack works so we can educate our users.
Which version(s) of Android are vulnerable and which browsers? How does the attack work? Do I need to download and run a file? Just click on the file? Just visit the web page?
Is this even a real threat? It sounds like a vague alert that anti-virus companies send out to get you to buy their product.
It's a good operating assumption. If you assume that is true, you won't get burned as often. However, it's not actually true.
And not a reasonable option for most of us. My employer has an internet portal with HR and payroll information. My credit cards all have online portals with my purchase information. The same with banks, utility companies, etc. Public records (property taxes, etc) are increasingly available online. Few people abstain from all personal discussions in email.
There's a vast amount of personal information online, much of it put there by 3rd parties we don't have control over, and we all rely on loose privacy regulations to keep it private. Your bank, utilities, etc may already be selling your account information to data aggregators.
OK, I guess that you can't help it. Go ahead and put all of your personal stuff online.
Once all of my banking, public records, and emails are online, what is left? I'm sure my credit card company already knows if I'm straight or gay, how often I brush my teeth, and when and where I go for vacation.
When the 60Ghz transceiver (which doesn't exist yet commercially) drops to $90 each, won't 10Gig ethernet drop down to $9/port, skewing their cost justifiication results? They mention using 4 - 15gbit transceivers... what's the aggregate bandwidth of a 60Ghz network? If the aggregate bandwidth is 15gbit, that's not going to handle a rack full of servers.