re. Europe, I would scrap the GSM idea - unless you fancy high costs and low speeds.
Most Europaen countries now have so called "free" internet access - you only pay for local phone calls (not free). However the hotel might charge their higher propriety local tariff. I do suggest to compile a list of those free ISPs beforehand.
I would forget about universal adapters too and just get a normal modem cable with some blank connectors and a screwdriver. Some hotels have their telephones connected via some fixed cable. Furthermore you will find plugs in Europe that your adapter manufacturer never thought about - especially in the cheaper hotels.
Apparently the DOJ and the States talk about a vertical break-up while Ballmer talks about a horizontal break-up in the Washington Post today. "To split up the company and allow two or more competitors to go head-to-head selling similar products would drive the price of the software so low that neither company could make a profit"
The current DOJ proposal seems to be to split the network OPERATIONS side, the OS and the applications.
In this scenario the OS people would be best off IMO.
The applications people would be probably the most hurt since they lose their edge vis-a-vis the competition.
MS tries to deliver applications over the internet. MS has gone into numerous alliances with cable/telco operators. I believe that it is most important to split the OS people from the networking OPERATIONS side. They would lose this distribution channel if the OS guys wanted to produce a fresh office package. If the MS OS people would be forbidden to go into fresh alliances with network operators then this would be ideal.
A horizontal break-up would really kill MS and millions of 401ks - I doubt strongly that the judge would like to go down in history for wiping out the savings of millions of Americans. MSFT has nearly halved - post horizontal-split they could be worth a tenth. Furthermore it would be very difficult to split the MSN network.
This is why I can't see that happening.
Microsoft might be already digging their own grave anyway. If internet delivered rentable applications become accepted by users then we can aswell go back to terminal/thin-client based solutions and scrap most parts of the OS for low-end users - it all depends on the bandwidth which is available. If it's internet delivered and the file/interchange formats etc. are identical then users would be happy. BTW: Any chance that these workspace.com ever get their act together ? Last time I logged on I couldn't even create my first desktop.
This is apparently a marketing stunt with low value to mankind otherwise it would have been solved a long time ago. The real economic value of this theorem is only the 50.000$ which the insurance took as a premium for the risk that someone would actually find it.
The large rewards always create a hype. Same effect is in the internet now. Lots of people going in there hoping to get rich quickly.
The ultimate destruction and misallocation of value (brainpower, time, money) is huge. Always happens. Oil-boom, gold-boom etc.
This marketing trick is just intellectually disguised to make it acceptable.
I will hold back on this one - waiting until someone offers a million dollars to prove that blondes are less intelligent than brunettes. I guess such a research project would yield lots of interesting insights too...
Slashdot Mirror
Most Europaen countries now have so called "free" internet access - you only pay for local phone calls (not free). However the hotel might charge their higher propriety local tariff. I do suggest to compile a list of those free ISPs beforehand.
I would forget about universal adapters too and just get a normal modem cable with some blank connectors and a screwdriver. Some hotels have their telephones connected via some fixed cable. Furthermore you will find plugs in Europe that your adapter manufacturer never thought about - especially in the cheaper hotels.
The current DOJ proposal seems to be to split the network OPERATIONS side, the OS and the applications.
In this scenario the OS people would be best off IMO.
The applications people would be probably the most hurt since they lose their edge vis-a-vis the competition.
MS tries to deliver applications over the internet. MS has gone into numerous alliances with cable/telco operators. I believe that it is most important to split the OS people from the networking OPERATIONS side. They would lose this distribution channel if the OS guys wanted to produce a fresh office package. If the MS OS people would be forbidden to go into fresh alliances with network operators then this would be ideal.
A horizontal break-up would really kill MS and millions of 401ks - I doubt strongly that the judge would like to go down in history for wiping out the savings of millions of Americans. MSFT has nearly halved - post horizontal-split they could be worth a tenth. Furthermore it would be very difficult to split the MSN network.
This is why I can't see that happening.
Microsoft might be already digging their own grave anyway. If internet delivered rentable applications become accepted by users then we can aswell go back to terminal /thin-client based solutions and scrap most parts of the OS for low-end users - it all depends on the bandwidth which is available. If it's internet delivered and the file/interchange formats etc. are identical then users would be happy. BTW: Any chance that these workspace.com ever get their act together ? Last time I logged on I couldn't even create my first desktop.
This is all very true. However.
...
This is apparently a marketing stunt with low value to mankind otherwise it would have been solved a long time ago. The real economic value of this theorem is only the 50.000$ which the insurance took as a premium for the risk that someone would actually find it.
The large rewards always create a hype. Same effect is in the internet now. Lots of people going in there hoping to get rich quickly.
The ultimate destruction and misallocation of value (brainpower, time, money) is huge. Always happens. Oil-boom, gold-boom etc.
This marketing trick is just intellectually disguised to make it acceptable.
I will hold back on this one - waiting until someone offers a million dollars to prove that blondes are less intelligent than brunettes. I guess such a research project would yield lots of interesting insights too