Quick news release: April 25, Washington DC Quick action from the U.S. Judicial department breaks Microsoft into multiple companies, in hopes of defending and benefiting the consumer.
Three days later: Quick News Release: April 28, Seattle Washington Bill Gates spends 40 billion and buys out all three parts of the recently split Microsoft, and combines them into one company now called "Microsauft.' Consumers expect better products will arrive shortly.
I would rather have a searchable document any day, but I would also like to have the option of purchasing a paper manual. Guarenteed, my office is littered with unused manuals and stacks of unread instructions, but if I need them, then they are always around. One thing I hate, is I have so many old useless manuals (such as these books on Word Perfect v5.1 and Windows 3.1 user guides) cluttering my office. If I could have all these older documentation on CD-roms, I would be much happier. Perhaps someone should start a company to drop this older documentation onto Cds or into HTML. I would purchase it. Whats good about printed format? I can quickly go and look something up right away. If I am looking for the use or context of a command, and I cannot remember the exact command, (dont laugh..) then I can flip open a book and there it is. Ever tried searching for "That command that lets me..." Both definately have their good parts, and definately both have bad qualities. Dell.com systems gives me the choice of how I want my documentation- I chose both.
This sounds like a job for Microsoft Windows NT! After all, it did say it supports up to 200 users... Now if you can only forget about the "without costly hardware part," I think Microsoft could use this as a new ad campaign.
For a person whose job is to allow as many people as possible to access as much information as possible, Mr. Billington is not doing a very good job of it.
The Internet may have been popularized by chat rooms and pornography, but not everyone uses chat and porn. I think the Library of Congress, which is nearly synonomous with the magnificient Library of Alexandria, should be available to all people. The millions of minds captured in its works should be accessible to anyone, anytime. Now, if you want to browse through the archives, you have to go to Washington DC, and wait until the library opens. Many people cannot afford a trip to Washington DC. He mentions that "Previously, only kings and an elite few had access to libraries" but I do not see how this is much different than today. Now, only those with wealth can go to the largest library in the world.
I can easily see a digitized version of the Library of Congress becoming the most important information site on the web. As Billington said, the Reformation was powered by the printing press, but the Internet is a fundemental part of the next revolution. The Internet will either make democracy accessible to all the world, or will turn America into the next Stalinist Russia, or Nazi Germany. Why should all of us students and persuers of knowledge be restricted by Billington's hatred of computers? Just because he does not like reading things off the web, does not mean that I should be denied that right. I would rather read something on my monitor than never have the chance to read it at all.
I am surprised because I have not yet read any comments from students who have a laptop. I am lucky enough to work for a corporation who made the mistake of ordering one too many Sharp Actius 280s. Being a high school senior and a techno-weenie, I grabbed the extra laptop and headed to school. After I got permission from all my teachers to use it (none of them minded a bit) I brought it to school. I am the only one in school with a laptop, but most students have a home computer, or have access to one. I use my laptop 4 periods a day, and during my two technology classes, I plug it in to charge up again. Some people here on Slashdot have asked why a student would need a laptop. I use mine for a variety of things: I download all my English novels off the web, so I do not have to carry them around. I can make notes as I am reading, and if I find a certain line I like, I can copy and paste it directly into Word (or editor of choice) I take copius notes. In fact, many people ask me for disk copies of my notes, either to help them study, or when they are absent. My teachers love the laptop because it is often the only computer in the classroom. If the class wants to find something on the Internet, I can plug directly into the network and go find it. The Sharp Actuis makes the perfect computer for the classroom. It is small, and weighs only about 3 pounds. It is durable, especially if carried in a bag. It comes with a built in 56K modem, and a 10/100 NIC. It is quiet, because it does not have an internal fan (Can you imagine 35 laptops in a quiet classroom? That would be loud! Sidenote: I have never had a heating problem. In fact, this thing almost never even gets warm) It has a long battery life. I can easily go through several periods of constant use. I usually have the system go into standby mode, simply because I sometimes forget to recharge it. There is a connector for an external battery. A school could have an extra three or four batteries in each classroom for students who forget to recharge their machines. The monitor is small, but provides a great view. Most importantly, everything on the Sharp Actuis is external. There is no Cd-ROM drive, and no floppy drive built into the machine. In a classroom environment, this could prevent a large amount of cheating. Just disable to infrared port, which is easy enough. (The system does come with a floppy drive, and a CD-ROM is purchasable. It connects though the single PCMCIA slot) There is also a sound card, and two USB ports, but I cannot think of what they would be used for. Most schools have a technology program in place, with students who are above the rest of the class. Get a ton of laptops, load NT ( in order to provide a common interface to everyone, and lock students out of some of the functions they do not need) and when there is a problem, send the machine down to the lab, and issue another temporary machine. It would work great! It certainly has for me. My GPA has already gone up nearly.5. I now have a 3.86, and I definately think this laptop has helped.
I love how so many people bash Microsoft one day, and then the next time they post, they demand the release of Windows X - open source! I find it hard to believe even the army of programmers found on/. would be able to make significant improvements to the code. If the code is so bad, as many claim, why do so many of those same people fight for its release? Not that I approve the M$ monopoly or anything..
About time someone did something about those annoying.com ads. I live in `Frisco, and have still not seen these, but I think I will go try and find whomever is sending these out! I love it!
Slashdot Mirror
Quick action from the U.S. Judicial department breaks Microsoft into multiple companies, in hopes of defending and benefiting the consumer.
Three days later:
Quick News Release: April 28, Seattle Washington
Bill Gates spends 40 billion and buys out all three parts of the recently split Microsoft, and combines them into one company now called "Microsauft.' Consumers expect better products will arrive shortly.
I would rather have a searchable document any day, but I would also like to have the option of purchasing a paper manual. Guarenteed, my office is littered with unused manuals and stacks of unread instructions, but if I need them, then they are always around. One thing I hate, is I have so many old useless manuals (such as these books on Word Perfect v5.1 and Windows 3.1 user guides) cluttering my office. If I could have all these older documentation on CD-roms, I would be much happier. Perhaps someone should start a company to drop this older documentation onto Cds or into HTML. I would purchase it. Whats good about printed format? I can quickly go and look something up right away. If I am looking for the use or context of a command, and I cannot remember the exact command, (dont laugh..) then I can flip open a book and there it is. Ever tried searching for "That command that lets me ..." Both definately have their good parts, and definately both have bad qualities. Dell.com systems gives me the choice of how I want my documentation- I chose both.
It's free. I use it when at home (read: never). Ah well.
This sounds like a job for Microsoft Windows NT! After all, it did say it supports up to 200 users... Now if you can only forget about the "without costly hardware part," I think Microsoft could use this as a new ad campaign.
The Internet may have been popularized by chat rooms and pornography, but not everyone uses chat and porn. I think the Library of Congress, which is nearly synonomous with the magnificient Library of Alexandria, should be available to all people. The millions of minds captured in its works should be accessible to anyone, anytime. Now, if you want to browse through the archives, you have to go to Washington DC, and wait until the library opens. Many people cannot afford a trip to Washington DC. He mentions that "Previously, only kings and an elite few had access to libraries" but I do not see how this is much different than today. Now, only those with wealth can go to the largest library in the world.
I can easily see a digitized version of the Library of Congress becoming the most important information site on the web. As Billington said, the Reformation was powered by the printing press, but the Internet is a fundemental part of the next revolution. The Internet will either make democracy accessible to all the world, or will turn America into the next Stalinist Russia, or Nazi Germany. Why should all of us students and persuers of knowledge be restricted by Billington's hatred of computers? Just because he does not like reading things off the web, does not mean that I should be denied that right. I would rather read something on my monitor than never have the chance to read it at all.
I am surprised because I have not yet read any comments from students who have a laptop. I am lucky enough to work for a corporation who made the mistake of ordering one too many Sharp Actius 280s. Being a high school senior and a techno-weenie, I grabbed the extra laptop and headed to school. After I got permission from all my teachers to use it (none of them minded a bit) I brought it to school. I am the only one in school with a laptop, but most students have a home computer, or have access to one. I use my laptop 4 periods a day, and during my two technology classes, I plug it in to charge up again. Some people here on Slashdot have asked why a student would need a laptop. I use mine for a variety of things: I download all my English novels off the web, so I do not have to carry them around. I can make notes as I am reading, and if I find a certain line I like, I can copy and paste it directly into Word (or editor of choice) I take copius notes. In fact, many people ask me for disk copies of my notes, either to help them study, or when they are absent. My teachers love the laptop because it is often the only computer in the classroom. If the class wants to find something on the Internet, I can plug directly into the network and go find it. The Sharp Actuis makes the perfect computer for the classroom. It is small, and weighs only about 3 pounds. It is durable, especially if carried in a bag. It comes with a built in 56K modem, and a 10/100 NIC. It is quiet, because it does not have an internal fan (Can you imagine 35 laptops in a quiet classroom? That would be loud! Sidenote: I have never had a heating problem. In fact, this thing almost never even gets warm) It has a long battery life. I can easily go through several periods of constant use. I usually have the system go into standby mode, simply because I sometimes forget to recharge it. There is a connector for an external battery. A school could have an extra three or four batteries in each classroom for students who forget to recharge their machines. The monitor is small, but provides a great view. Most importantly, everything on the Sharp Actuis is external. There is no Cd-ROM drive, and no floppy drive built into the machine. In a classroom environment, this could prevent a large amount of cheating. Just disable to infrared port, which is easy enough. (The system does come with a floppy drive, and a CD-ROM is purchasable. It connects though the single PCMCIA slot) There is also a sound card, and two USB ports, but I cannot think of what they would be used for. Most schools have a technology program in place, with students who are above the rest of the class. Get a ton of laptops, load NT ( in order to provide a common interface to everyone, and lock students out of some of the functions they do not need) and when there is a problem, send the machine down to the lab, and issue another temporary machine. It would work great! It certainly has for me. My GPA has already gone up nearly .5. I now have a 3.86, and I definately think this laptop has helped.
It wont be long now until we see a new line of organic products - Maybe our children's children will have computer chips in their heads. Scary, huh?
Did anyone else try using AskJesus to bring up bad evil web sites such as www.porn.com and Microsoft.com? Hilarious!
America does not pay its United Nations bills either!
I love how so many people bash Microsoft one day, and then the next time they post, they demand the release of Windows X - open source! I find it hard to believe even the army of programmers found on /. would be able to make significant improvements to the code. If the code is so bad, as many claim, why do so many of those same people fight for its release? Not that I approve the M$ monopoly or anything..
Rocket powered Lego car? That sounds cool! Do you have the plans, or perhaps a web site? Let us all know!
About time someone did something about those annoying .com ads. I live in `Frisco, and have still not seen these, but I think I will go try and find whomever is sending these out! I love it!