I'm not complaining about the fast updates — exactly the opposite. I wish we had them in the Android open garden. I'm only pointing out that the same level of control that lets Apple push out updates quickly also makes for a certain paternalistic relationship with developers and users.
Well, if you only look at the things that governments do that you don't like (make you pay taxes) and only look at the stuff private business does that you do like (sells you stuff you want), then yeah, government is absolutely evil and businesses are absolutely good.
But in the real world, governments do good things and businesses do bad things. Look at the history of slavery.
Another little point: what do you suppose happens to private entities when there's no government to restrict their power? The become more and powerful until the get the last word in every argument. In other words, they become governments. So you can't avoid having governments. The best you can do is set up governments so that they're not too obnoxious.
The good news about living in a walled garden is that you benefit from Steve Jobs's obsessive need for state of the art. The bad news about living in a walled garden is that you have to live with his obsession for control.
And yes, I know he's dead. But his obsessions live!
My sleep patterns are fine. It's your weird, ignorant thought processes that are dysfunctional. You argue with things I didn't say, and make statements that you have no basis for saying. Ignoring you now.
And through the further magic of logic, it's a little strange for a company that doesn't use GSM to be selling phones that do. Hence my question and your rather stupid answer.
I was referring to their decision to shut down their Chinese search engine two years ago. If they had kept it open (which would have meant complying with government policies on censorship and user privacy) they would certainly be one of the biggest search providers in China, and their other Chinese businesses would have done much better.
When you spin complicated (and in this case, logically inconsistent) theories, you might want to test them against the real world.
You can be profitable without maximizing profit, and that's precisely what Google does. They make so much money from their few businesses that make money, they can have a lot of other business that are unprofitable, and even turn their back on major markets (China! One third of the human race!) and still have a bottom line ($8 billion in profit last year) that boggles the mind.
Why should anyone give a shit if Google can "outgrow their backyard hot tub origins"? Google is already a big company, and globally recognized. Isn't that good enough? This American obsession with growing and growing without end needs to stop.
I was talking about their ability to act like a mature software company, not get bigger. They're certain good at that They've grown at least 20% every year since they were founded, often much more. The software side as at 34,000 employees, and was growing at about 1,000 a year before they bought Motorola and added 20,000 employees in one fell swoop.
If you refuse to collaborate with repressive and corrupt government, refrain from pushing tax loopholes, lax regulations, and permissive laws, and treat your customers and employees fairly and respectfully, it's going to cost you money, at least in the short term. And your stockholders are only interested in money, and are not great at long-term thinking. Executives who don't maximize profits lose their jobs. So "profits over people" is not so much a sign of corporate depravity as a sign of an absence of corporate free will.
Google can get away with being an exception to this because Google is structured so that Brin, Page, and Schmidt between them have 2/3 of the voting power, even though their equity stake is less than 5%. This allows them to ignore the other stockholders and do things like turn their backs on the largest market on the planet for purely ethical reasons.
I guess this kind of corporate dictatorship is cool when it means that ethics can overcome greed. On the other hand, it also means that Google can't seem to outgrow its backyard hot tub origins.
Most people, U.S. or not, spend most of their time not travelling.
The important difference between U.S. and Europe is that all the networks and phones use GSM. That lowers costs and promotes competition — hence the unlocked phones. When you can move your phone to any network, there's a big market for unlocked ones. With less competition here, carriers can get away with bundling and long-term contracts, which means locked-in phones.
Speaking of which Verizon's network is not GSM. So are these iPhones dual-network or what?
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the general problem of predicting climate trends.
The metaphor I like is that of driving near a cliff on a foggy day. You can't prove that you're headed towards the cliff, but that's not a good reason to assume you're not. So you need to slow down, even if makes you late for work.
It may well be that the effects of sea level rise due to global warming have been grossly exaggerated. Alas, I suspect we'll all be too busy dying of starvation to celebrate.
Perfectly true. But so far, predictions that have been tested against facts have been shown to be much too optimistic. So forgive me if I don't take comfort in in uncertainty.
Oh, that's real convincing. In the middle of the usual rant about the "mainstream media" covering up, we have a "fact" that he got from a Denier blog. Where did the blog get this "fact"? From a scientific site that says the blog's interpretation is purest bullshit.
Against this, we have satellite photos of the entire polar ice cap shrinking. Get your stupid head out of the sand.
Where do you get that the "man made" question is not being asked? It's at the center of every discussion I've heard on the subject. The issues you raise make no sense outside of the Denier echo chamber.
Modern "libertarians" think that everything the government does is unwarranted intrusion. Speeding ticket? Can't smoke in a restaurant? Zoning laws that say you can't run a factory in your back yard? All too intrusive!
Nowadays "libertarianism" is a manifestation of the same self-centered attitude that causes a teenager to call the parental units fascists when they tell him to turn off the TV and go do his homework. It used to mean serious stuff, like the government not telling us who we can have sex with. Ironically, the leading "libertarian" these days is Ron Paul, who thinks the government should be able to tell you who you can have sex with,.
OK, double stupid points for you. First, you need to learn what sarcasm looks like.
Second, you need to understand the science of global warming. Hot days are not evidence of anything. Global warming does not mean the whole planet is turning into Miami — we're looking at an average increase of 6 deg C over the next century. So it's not like the planet is really that much hotter overall. The danger comes not from the heat itself but from environmental changes due to this small increase.. And these are drastic.
Yeah, it's hard to believe that a deity that created the whole universe in 144 hours could have his plans ruined by a little melting ice. If people would just read their Bibles more, they wouldn't find so much to worry about!
The project owners are MIA? I'm seeing regular updates on KS and Twitter.
Consider that these guys certainly have day jobs (having $60K doesn't exempt them from having to have jobs, least of all in an expensive city like San Francisco). When you're doing this sort of thing part time — designing the product, figuring out a manufacturing process, lining up a vendor to do the actual manufacturing — a year is pretty minimal, and two or three is more realistic.
But of course the project owners themselves didn't realize this, so I guess I shouldn't assume a Slashdotter who thinks his $25 went to waste knows any better.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm not complaining about the fast updates — exactly the opposite. I wish we had them in the Android open garden. I'm only pointing out that the same level of control that lets Apple push out updates quickly also makes for a certain paternalistic relationship with developers and users.
Well, if you only look at the things that governments do that you don't like (make you pay taxes) and only look at the stuff private business does that you do like (sells you stuff you want), then yeah, government is absolutely evil and businesses are absolutely good.
But in the real world, governments do good things and businesses do bad things. Look at the history of slavery.
Another little point: what do you suppose happens to private entities when there's no government to restrict their power? The become more and powerful until the get the last word in every argument. In other words, they become governments. So you can't avoid having governments. The best you can do is set up governments so that they're not too obnoxious.
The good news about living in a walled garden is that you benefit from Steve Jobs's obsessive need for state of the art. The bad news about living in a walled garden is that you have to live with his obsession for control.
And yes, I know he's dead. But his obsessions live!
My sleep patterns are fine. It's your weird, ignorant thought processes that are dysfunctional. You argue with things I didn't say, and make statements that you have no basis for saying. Ignoring you now.
Ah, another silly libertarian. All public entities are bad, all private ones are good. By that logic, the ideal society is run by the Mafia.
And through the further magic of logic, it's a little strange for a company that doesn't use GSM to be selling phones that do. Hence my question and your rather stupid answer.
I was referring to their decision to shut down their Chinese search engine two years ago. If they had kept it open (which would have meant complying with government policies on censorship and user privacy) they would certainly be one of the biggest search providers in China, and their other Chinese businesses would have done much better.
I did read that. You didn't read my question.
When you spin complicated (and in this case, logically inconsistent) theories, you might want to test them against the real world.
You can be profitable without maximizing profit, and that's precisely what Google does. They make so much money from their few businesses that make money, they can have a lot of other business that are unprofitable, and even turn their back on major markets (China! One third of the human race!) and still have a bottom line ($8 billion in profit last year) that boggles the mind.
Why should anyone give a shit if Google can "outgrow their backyard hot tub origins"? Google is already a big company, and globally recognized. Isn't that good enough? This American obsession with growing and growing without end needs to stop.
I was talking about their ability to act like a mature software company, not get bigger. They're certain good at that They've grown at least 20% every year since they were founded, often much more. The software side as at 34,000 employees, and was growing at about 1,000 a year before they bought Motorola and added 20,000 employees in one fell swoop.
If you refuse to collaborate with repressive and corrupt government, refrain from pushing tax loopholes, lax regulations, and permissive laws, and treat your customers and employees fairly and respectfully, it's going to cost you money, at least in the short term. And your stockholders are only interested in money, and are not great at long-term thinking. Executives who don't maximize profits lose their jobs. So "profits over people" is not so much a sign of corporate depravity as a sign of an absence of corporate free will.
Google can get away with being an exception to this because Google is structured so that Brin, Page, and Schmidt between them have 2/3 of the voting power, even though their equity stake is less than 5%. This allows them to ignore the other stockholders and do things like turn their backs on the largest market on the planet for purely ethical reasons.
I guess this kind of corporate dictatorship is cool when it means that ethics can overcome greed. On the other hand, it also means that Google can't seem to outgrow its backyard hot tub origins.
Oh please. I'm an Android user, and I'm not noticing a dearth of Android articles. In any case, this is newsworthy.
Most people, U.S. or not, spend most of their time not travelling.
The important difference between U.S. and Europe is that all the networks and phones use GSM. That lowers costs and promotes competition — hence the unlocked phones. When you can move your phone to any network, there's a big market for unlocked ones. With less competition here, carriers can get away with bundling and long-term contracts, which means locked-in phones.
Speaking of which Verizon's network is not GSM. So are these iPhones dual-network or what?
Sorry, I thought you were talking about the general problem of predicting climate trends.
The metaphor I like is that of driving near a cliff on a foggy day. You can't prove that you're headed towards the cliff, but that's not a good reason to assume you're not. So you need to slow down, even if makes you late for work.
Sorry, I was too lazy to dream up a proper title, so I riffed on the theme from Joan of Arcadia.
Yes, anonymity is valuable! Especially for spammers.
It may well be that the effects of sea level rise due to global warming have been grossly exaggerated. Alas, I suspect we'll all be too busy dying of starvation to celebrate.
Finally, making any predictions is dicey at best.
Perfectly true. But so far, predictions that have been tested against facts have been shown to be much too optimistic. So forgive me if I don't take comfort in in uncertainty.
Oh, that's real convincing. In the middle of the usual rant about the "mainstream media" covering up, we have a "fact" that he got from a Denier blog. Where did the blog get this "fact"? From a scientific site that says the blog's interpretation is purest bullshit.
Against this, we have satellite photos of the entire polar ice cap shrinking. Get your stupid head out of the sand.
Where do you get that the "man made" question is not being asked? It's at the center of every discussion I've heard on the subject. The issues you raise make no sense outside of the Denier echo chamber.
Not funny in this case, since the planet does have ways of eliminating the source of global warming — us.
Modern "libertarians" think that everything the government does is unwarranted intrusion. Speeding ticket? Can't smoke in a restaurant? Zoning laws that say you can't run a factory in your back yard? All too intrusive!
Nowadays "libertarianism" is a manifestation of the same self-centered attitude that causes a teenager to call the parental units fascists when they tell him to turn off the TV and go do his homework. It used to mean serious stuff, like the government not telling us who we can have sex with. Ironically, the leading "libertarian" these days is Ron Paul, who thinks the government should be able to tell you who you can have sex with,.
OK, double stupid points for you. First, you need to learn what sarcasm looks like.
Second, you need to understand the science of global warming. Hot days are not evidence of anything. Global warming does not mean the whole planet is turning into Miami — we're looking at an average increase of 6 deg C over the next century. So it's not like the planet is really that much hotter overall. The danger comes not from the heat itself but from environmental changes due to this small increase.. And these are drastic.
Yeah, it's hard to believe that a deity that created the whole universe in 144 hours could have his plans ruined by a little melting ice. If people would just read their Bibles more, they wouldn't find so much to worry about!
The project owners are MIA? I'm seeing regular updates on KS and Twitter.
Consider that these guys certainly have day jobs (having $60K doesn't exempt them from having to have jobs, least of all in an expensive city like San Francisco). When you're doing this sort of thing part time — designing the product, figuring out a manufacturing process, lining up a vendor to do the actual manufacturing — a year is pretty minimal, and two or three is more realistic.
But of course the project owners themselves didn't realize this, so I guess I shouldn't assume a Slashdotter who thinks his $25 went to waste knows any better.