We've seen in the last 3 years a shift from 10% of the US population buying smartphones to 60% buying smartphones. Availability was the same now as then, cost was considerably higher.
You think MS is going to alientate 99% of the population whose desktop or laptop doesn't have a touch screen.
I do because it isn't 99% of the population. If not by 2013 then by 2014 capacitive touchscreens devices will be outselling traditional devices. They are already about 40% of the market. Once Windows 8 is so clearly optimized for capacitive touchscreen the vast majority of consumer laptops sold will have them. They'll also start having other features you want with a touchscreen like a high quality screen hinge. Those laptops will then migrate to business in the latter part of the decade and be the overwhelming majority around 2025.
Which was one of Microsoft's biggest mistakes. They backed down from the original requirements for Longhorn (which 2g BTW). They cut them again because the OEM's were concerned about a falloff in sales. So they had "Certified for Windows Vista" and "Works with Windows Vista" which was a disaster. Hopefully they don't make the same mistake with 8, though it seems like they are going to.
If Microsoft just announced that capacitive touchscreen or high end trackpad (min) was required for Windows 8 a lot of the complaints about hardware would go away. By pretending that Windows-8 is going to work well on traditional hardware Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot.
That leaves them with statistics from a large number of home users that are more or less computer illiterate.
Which is the group they are bleeding right now. That's who Windows 8 is aimed at, not losing that group.
Conversely the "computer literate" are (by numbers) the ones that have the strongest ties to Windows and Windows software. They are the ones who just stay put on Windows 7 for another 5 years or so while Microsoft works through the transition. They are the ones that once Metro apps and Metro hardware become widely available and heavily used switch. They are also the ones who while the most upset about UI changes, are the most able to adapt if they have to.
There are systems like the Wacom tablet are in use today for touch screen users who want to be far from a screen. Basically you have a mini screen emulating the large screen down where your hands are.
Switching paradigms to mostly touch requires new hardware.
I predict this will be their fall back position when they see sales tanking on everything except tablets.
I predict they want sales on a new generation of laptops and are fine with Windows 7 for old style hardware. That Windows 8 is designed more for hardware developers and software developers to have a target platform than to be a major selling OS. And mostly the sales are going to be in the consumer space on new systems designed for Windows 8. That Microsoft doesn't have much interest in enterprise upgrading beyond Windows 7.
And finally I predict that they absolutely will not revert to a desktop UI and lose the entire consumer space to Google and Apple.
Except that they had that opportunity, and it wasn't. Tim Geithner, the Obama nominee, had full control of the program as of February 2009 and actually directed where all the remaining funds would go.
No there was congressional oversight and Obama wanted to keep it bipartisan.
On top of that, the massive stimulus expenses could have done the same thing if the money was repurposed smartly instead of just handing out useless tax rebates.
That's not a great use of stimulus funds. With stimulus you want lots of money going as far down the socio economic ladder as Republicans will let you. The poorer the better. Homeowners, by definition are not your best choice. The tax rebates were wage taxes and thus a better use of the funds.
. Frankly, I'm glad the "mortgage assistance" didn't happen regardless, because we'd be far worse off now if it did. You can't prop up a bubble -- attempting to do so would have only made it worse in the end -- prices had to correct. .
They wouldn't have had to correct if the interest rate were low. A person borrowing $200k at 6% pays the same as another guy buying $400k at 3%. By the same token if a person can only make 50% of the payments on their 8% mortgage on $400k of property can pay 6% on $330k. An equity injection of $70k + refinance would solve the problem. And BTW at that point that mortgage is semi safe even if the house were $350k. So even if the original house had fallen from $500k (i.e. the $400k loan were 80% of real price) to $350k (1/3 decline) while borderline it is still acceptable risk.
Everyone does fine. As long as the government is OK with giving Mr. and Ms "undeserving" a $70k equity injection.
Physical coercion is only one type of coercion with Psychological, Legal, and Social being the other types.
You are copying from wikipedia. The type of coercion we are looking for is the kind that falls under the extortion statute. Things like "social coercion" aren't sufficient for extortion anywhere.
Despite their intentions, Gizmodo tried to coerce Apple enter into negotiation
Gizmodo didn't ask for negotiations. They asked for an official request.
for return of the prototype by using their possession of said prototype as leverage. Apple had a legitimate fear that Gizmodo would do financial harm by publishing more details about their prototype or worse sell it to one of Apple's competitor.
If Gizmodo had made a credible threat to sell the prototype like they had a buyer lined up then maybe you could make a case for extortion. When it comes to financial harm you have to show a credible threat of great harm, and while a competitor harm a prototype early might. Honestly I don't think that's even extortion. Change it a bit and have Gizmodo make a credible threat and Gizmodo ask for $50m which gets paid. Now we are talking a realistic extortion. The fact that Apple paid $50m means that both they and Apple understood this as a substantial threat but given how little $50m is to Apple they still might lose.
Its like anything else. Degree of harm matters. There is a difference between getting a finger flick and getting hit with a baseball bat in terms of battery.
Except for the fact, that is wasn't a simple request for something in writing...../b.
Chen never asked Apple for that stuff. He just talked about it. There is no concept of thought crime in American law. Chen is free to think about committing crimes all he wants. If you want to argue that this was a conspiracy to commit extortion you are still missing at least one criminal act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
However, if in this imaginary time line once Chen starts asking for more stuff then this starts being Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. Because then it meets the two criteria.
a) They know its stolen b) They use it for benefit.
but I won't give it back unless you do what I say. How is that not coercion?
That's still not coercion. Coercion generally requires threats of violence or threats to reputation so damaging that they would be life destroying (i.e. blackmail). Had Gizmodo credibly threatened to murder Steve Job's children unless he wrote the letter that's coercion. Had they had a gun at his at the time, that's coercion. In NY State to qualify as obtaining property through extortion you can't already in possession of it because then the coercion didn't rise to a high enough level.
In particular Gizmodo asked for an on the record official request. That's all they asked for. Many things in life, require you fill out documentation and do things "on the record". No court would ever consider a request to go on the record to even be a tort, much less a felony.
What are the most trusted sources? State run media? Sources that repackage press releases? In real life journalists frequently break laws. Richard Engel (NBC) did some terrific coverage of the Syrian insurgency, he broke a ton of Syrian laws to get the information.
Extortion requires coercion. Asking for an official on the record request doesn't come remotely close to extortion. Apple may not like the idea that Gizmodo is going to make money from the return but that isn't extortion.
Nearby store? I just go to any reseller for the carrier of the phone.
Generally they don't repairs / service? I actually like the way Verizon's insurance handles this with other phones by mailing me a new phone, but no I can't go in and get a replacement at a Verizon store even if it is prearranged. They don't have service stock and sales stock.
Over the phone support, I call google directly. They have an 800 number.
I don't think they support customers on Android. Do you have a link?
Battery life under use it about the same
No its not. The Samsung Galaxy III has about 7.5 hours of talk time, the iPhone 4S 14.5 hours. Web browsing iPhone 4S comes in around 7 hrs, Galaxy around 5 hrs.
Generally the possession requires the goods were part of commerce to qualify for the crime. Using the goods for purposes of notifying the public may not be considered commerce. Otherwise lots of journalists who get information could be charged under the stolen goods clauses.
Cigarette companies used to make a similar argument about executives who violated their contracts and spoke about chemical additives to cigarettes to journalists. Since they were under an NDA the journalists was engaging in tortious interference....
The courts said that those sort of bans would undermine journalism.
This is exactly the kind of story that a blog about Apple should be covering. You may be questioning whether journalists should be covering Apple but given the high level of public interest I don't see any reason they shouldn't be covered.
As for intimidation. Every small town newspaper publishes stuff that the mayor or the police chief doesn't like. Everyday journalists covering the national story go up against big corporations and government officials with tremendous power and budget. Go abroad and their are journalists in China reporting on abuses who get sent to forced labor. There were journalists in Egypt that got taken in by government forces and shot.
No Gizmodo shouldn't back down because Apple is unhappy.
Slashdot Mirror
We've seen in the last 3 years a shift from 10% of the US population buying smartphones to 60% buying smartphones. Availability was the same now as then, cost was considerably higher.
Outlook on OSX is nowhere near as feature rich at Outlook on Windows. They aren't the same and he listed Outlook first.
We have a doc like app that takes up the whole screen that's used as a launcher called launchpad: http://www.businessinsider.com/mac-os-x-lion-launchpad-2011-8?op=1
I never use it but my father does and my daughter sometimes as well. Some people like it some don't, some use it some don't.
Why allow plugins to update themselves at all. Why not just push the updates down?
Then you'll like Windows-8 a lot better. It has a semi CLI interface for the launcher. You can operate it (though not the applications) mouse-less.
You think MS is going to alientate 99% of the population whose desktop or laptop doesn't have a touch screen.
I do because it isn't 99% of the population. If not by 2013 then by 2014 capacitive touchscreens devices will be outselling traditional devices. They are already about 40% of the market. Once Windows 8 is so clearly optimized for capacitive touchscreen the vast majority of consumer laptops sold will have them. They'll also start having other features you want with a touchscreen like a high quality screen hinge. Those laptops will then migrate to business in the latter part of the decade and be the overwhelming majority around 2025.
Which was one of Microsoft's biggest mistakes. They backed down from the original requirements for Longhorn (which 2g BTW). They cut them again because the OEM's were concerned about a falloff in sales. So they had "Certified for Windows Vista" and "Works with Windows Vista" which was a disaster. Hopefully they don't make the same mistake with 8, though it seems like they are going to.
If Microsoft just announced that capacitive touchscreen or high end trackpad (min) was required for Windows 8 a lot of the complaints about hardware would go away. By pretending that Windows-8 is going to work well on traditional hardware Microsoft is shooting themselves in the foot.
That leaves them with statistics from a large number of home users that are more or less computer illiterate.
Which is the group they are bleeding right now. That's who Windows 8 is aimed at, not losing that group.
Conversely the "computer literate" are (by numbers) the ones that have the strongest ties to Windows and Windows software. They are the ones who just stay put on Windows 7 for another 5 years or so while Microsoft works through the transition. They are the ones that once Metro apps and Metro hardware become widely available and heavily used switch. They are also the ones who while the most upset about UI changes, are the most able to adapt if they have to.
There are systems like the Wacom tablet are in use today for touch screen users who want to be far from a screen. Basically you have a mini screen emulating the large screen down where your hands are.
Switching paradigms to mostly touch requires new hardware.
I predict this will be their fall back position when they see sales tanking on everything except tablets.
I predict they want sales on a new generation of laptops and are fine with Windows 7 for old style hardware. That Windows 8 is designed more for hardware developers and software developers to have a target platform than to be a major selling OS. And mostly the sales are going to be in the consumer space on new systems designed for Windows 8. That Microsoft doesn't have much interest in enterprise upgrading beyond Windows 7.
And finally I predict that they absolutely will not revert to a desktop UI and lose the entire consumer space to Google and Apple.
Raenex --
I think you meant to reply to Bill. You replied one level up from that. Also you might want to mention you are someone else.
just start releasing everything for iOS.
That doesn't do them much good. Office for OSX doesn't keep people attached to Windows it may be a transition away from Windows.
For people who have the old hardware, they have a good OS, Windows 7. Windows 8 is designed for hardware guys and developers to have a target.
No they are both aiming for the same goal ubiquitous computing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6cNdhOKwi0
You need to consider what it will do for Metro applications. Windows 7 applications are a guest OS. Making the guest OS feel unnatural makes sense.
Except that they had that opportunity, and it wasn't. Tim Geithner, the Obama nominee, had full control of the program as of February 2009 and actually directed where all the remaining funds would go.
No there was congressional oversight and Obama wanted to keep it bipartisan.
On top of that, the massive stimulus expenses could have done the same thing if the money was repurposed smartly instead of just handing out useless tax rebates.
That's not a great use of stimulus funds. With stimulus you want lots of money going as far down the socio economic ladder as Republicans will let you. The poorer the better. Homeowners, by definition are not your best choice. The tax rebates were wage taxes and thus a better use of the funds.
. Frankly, I'm glad the "mortgage assistance" didn't happen regardless, because we'd be far worse off now if it did. You can't prop up a bubble -- attempting to do so would have only made it worse in the end -- prices had to correct. .
They wouldn't have had to correct if the interest rate were low. A person borrowing $200k at 6% pays the same as another guy buying $400k at 3%. By the same token if a person can only make 50% of the payments on their 8% mortgage on $400k of property can pay 6% on $330k. An equity injection of $70k + refinance would solve the problem. And BTW at that point that mortgage is semi safe even if the house were $350k. So even if the original house had fallen from $500k (i.e. the $400k loan were 80% of real price) to $350k (1/3 decline) while borderline it is still acceptable risk.
Everyone does fine. As long as the government is OK with giving Mr. and Ms "undeserving" a $70k equity injection.
Physical coercion is only one type of coercion with Psychological, Legal, and Social being the other types.
You are copying from wikipedia. The type of coercion we are looking for is the kind that falls under the extortion statute. Things like "social coercion" aren't sufficient for extortion anywhere.
Despite their intentions, Gizmodo tried to coerce Apple enter into negotiation
Gizmodo didn't ask for negotiations. They asked for an official request.
for return of the prototype by using their possession of said prototype as leverage. Apple had a legitimate fear that Gizmodo would do financial harm by publishing more details about their prototype or worse sell it to one of Apple's competitor.
If Gizmodo had made a credible threat to sell the prototype like they had a buyer lined up then maybe you could make a case for extortion. When it comes to financial harm you have to show a credible threat of great harm, and while a competitor harm a prototype early might. Honestly I don't think that's even extortion. Change it a bit and have Gizmodo make a credible threat and Gizmodo ask for $50m which gets paid. Now we are talking a realistic extortion. The fact that Apple paid $50m means that both they and Apple understood this as a substantial threat but given how little $50m is to Apple they still might lose.
Its like anything else. Degree of harm matters. There is a difference between getting a finger flick and getting hit with a baseball bat in terms of battery.
Except for the fact, that is wasn't a simple request for something in writing..... /b.
Chen never asked Apple for that stuff. He just talked about it. There is no concept of thought crime in American law. Chen is free to think about committing crimes all he wants. If you want to argue that this was a conspiracy to commit extortion you are still missing at least one criminal act in furtherance of the conspiracy.
However, if in this imaginary time line once Chen starts asking for more stuff then this starts being Criminal Possession of Stolen Property. Because then it meets the two criteria.
a) They know its stolen
b) They use it for benefit.
That is still far far short of extortion.
but I won't give it back unless you do what I say. How is that not coercion?
That's still not coercion. Coercion generally requires threats of violence or threats to reputation so damaging that they would be life destroying (i.e. blackmail). Had Gizmodo credibly threatened to murder Steve Job's children unless he wrote the letter that's coercion. Had they had a gun at his at the time, that's coercion. In NY State to qualify as obtaining property through extortion you can't already in possession of it because then the coercion didn't rise to a high enough level.
In particular Gizmodo asked for an on the record official request. That's all they asked for. Many things in life, require you fill out documentation and do things "on the record". No court would ever consider a request to go on the record to even be a tort, much less a felony.
Based on what? Cite some law, any case where something that minor was found to constitute coercion.
What are the most trusted sources? State run media? Sources that repackage press releases? In real life journalists frequently break laws. Richard Engel (NBC) did some terrific coverage of the Syrian insurgency, he broke a ton of Syrian laws to get the information.
I don't see the correlation you claim exists.
Extortion requires coercion. Asking for an official on the record request doesn't come remotely close to extortion. Apple may not like the idea that Gizmodo is going to make money from the return but that isn't extortion.
Nearby store? I just go to any reseller for the carrier of the phone.
Generally they don't repairs / service? I actually like the way Verizon's insurance handles this with other phones by mailing me a new phone, but no I can't go in and get a replacement at a Verizon store even if it is prearranged. They don't have service stock and sales stock.
Over the phone support, I call google directly. They have an 800 number.
I don't think they support customers on Android. Do you have a link?
Battery life under use it about the same
No its not. The Samsung Galaxy III has about 7.5 hours of talk time, the iPhone 4S 14.5 hours. Web browsing iPhone 4S comes in around 7 hrs, Galaxy around 5 hrs.
Generally the possession requires the goods were part of commerce to qualify for the crime. Using the goods for purposes of notifying the public may not be considered commerce. Otherwise lots of journalists who get information could be charged under the stolen goods clauses.
Cigarette companies used to make a similar argument about executives who violated their contracts and spoke about chemical additives to cigarettes to journalists. Since they were under an NDA the journalists was engaging in tortious interference....
The courts said that those sort of bans would undermine journalism.
No one involved in wikileaks as a journalist has been jailed for wikileaks. Both the NYTimes and the Guardian have offices in the USA.
This is exactly the kind of story that a blog about Apple should be covering. You may be questioning whether journalists should be covering Apple but given the high level of public interest I don't see any reason they shouldn't be covered.
As for intimidation. Every small town newspaper publishes stuff that the mayor or the police chief doesn't like. Everyday journalists covering the national story go up against big corporations and government officials with tremendous power and budget. Go abroad and their are journalists in China reporting on abuses who get sent to forced labor. There were journalists in Egypt that got taken in by government forces and shot.
No Gizmodo shouldn't back down because Apple is unhappy.