This is no joke, people everywhere are affected by unknowningly overdosing on DHMO. Please check with your local GP if you're experiencing these symptoms:
Yeah we are here.. I'm a developer here too who rarely posts. The thing is, I come here for the sometimes interesting, informative and well-vetted news article summaries, but it's the informed comments from other devs that I stay for. UnknownSoldier is dead on about the facts and speculation.. it's easier to speculate than to talk truth, and reading nothing but spec gets old, fast.
Or more interesting projects, or a change of scenery, or a different culture, or etc? No one but Guido and probably the people close to him can know exactly why he went to Dropbox from Google. People changes jobs all the time for a variety of reasons. I don't think we can assume it is just because of perks.
"And how are monopolies lost? Think about it. Some very good product people invent some very good products, and the company achieves a monopoly. But after that, the product people aren't the ones that drive the company forward anymore. It's the marketing guys or the ones who expand the business into Latin America or whatever. Because what's the point of focusing on making the product even better when the only company you can take business from is yourself? So a different group of people start to move up. And who usually ends up running the show? The sales guy. John Akers at IBM is the consummate example. Then one day, the monopoly expires for whatever reason. But by then the best product people have left, or they're no longer listened to. And so the company goes through this tumultuous time, and it either survives or it doesn't. Look at Microsoft — who's running Microsoft? (interviewer: Steve Ballmer.) Right, the sales guy. Case closed. And that's what happened at Apple, as well."
You missed a post a few parents up.. Yes, there wouldn't be any non-manufacturer dealerships for the manufacturers to compete with. Instead, they would be competing with other manufacturers.
Very interesting article.. For those that didn't read the article, I really like how Moon emphasizes the difference between what has been done before and what he has done. What was accomplished earlier was the construction of gates, circuits and complex systems from non-living material, silicon... But what he has accomplished is the intellectual breakdown of an already living system, and the use of that knowledge to manipulate and prove that he can control it by reproducing the gates and circuits we use for modern technology. I say it while biting my cheek, but hopefully this will also lead eventually to complex, controlled biological systems. Looks like there are still hurdles to go over, but definitely bravo so far.
Kind of raises a pretty important question, though: if and when complex systems start growing, and if AI and robots are created from them.. Will they still be just robots, or will they be living organisms? Man what I wouldn't give to hear Isaac Asimov talk about that for 5 minutes.
Space is a vast desert? I can see your point of view, but I think it is too easy to point to somewhere we've never been and say, "Yeah, there's nothing we need/want over there".
Think about what world we would be living in if we closed down Bell Labs for practical or promised short term payoffs for the investor. I can't really speak for you, but I like what our technological advancements have done for us.. sure there has been bad, but there has also been a lot of really, really good. Healthcare. Faster, safer airplanes. More reliable, faster cars. The internet. Telephones. I would have had 2 less years with my mom if it weren't for all those advances.
I think we need to look beyond the tools we have at our disposal and keep allowing ourselves to dream and discover. Money is, and hopefully will remain, a tool, not an end in life.
No way.. I think pretty much ANYONE would be more productive working a 35 hour week spread over 5 days than a 25 - 40 hour split up over 2 or 3 days.. maybe a few might be able to squeak some marginal improvement over 4. I think you are underestimating rest and order of operations. I know at the very least I start feeling the hurt after 8 hours of programming, and I REALLY start dragging ass at 12.
Who said I thought the Bill of Rights grants rights? I was pointing out a flaw in what I see as the mindset driving the OPs statement, and now the responses to my post. I think you, and many of the responses here to this article, are just assuming we have these things that don't exist until questioned. I believe the same thing as the person in the post above about the Wright brothers and their right to fly without a permit.. before a permit for flying was even thought up
We don't know if we have a right to something until that right is questioned in court, and then deemed necessary to be controlled by law. If it is determined that it is a right, then that court case and its result is the only thing standing as future testament to it being a right (though it can be challenged.. where as a law has more weight, and is more difficult to challenge). I think it's foolish to assume everything not explicitly stated/limited is a right.. the truth is: it MAY be a right, but won't truly be until it has stood up to the scrutiny of the courts and/or lobbyists.
You know, I only read the first book over a decade ago when I was a kid, but I connected with his character and the depressing isolation he felt so strongly... that book really hit me hard, and I still look through my room whenever I go home to find it in hopes of re-reading it. Funny how such a strong emotion connection, even a depressing one, can make you long for it.
You have it backwards.. they are making it seem more worthwhile to steal a product than to pay for it. The advancements in technology make it easier to steal. Big big difference.
It's like when I used to ask my brother to get me the cereal from the top of the fridge when I was too little. He'd say $5, and I'd go find a chair.
Oh for the love of god, and all that is holy, PLEASE don't let that be the reasoning for forcing this kid to get into CMSs. I work on a CMS every day of my life, even though it is only supposed to take up 20% of my work time, and let me be frank: it freaking hurts. Yes, It serves its amazing purpose of helping speed up content change and distribution, but every minute I manage it and make modifications to it is another minute of experience I could have doing something that actually interested me and progressed my skills. Let him deep his toe in it, sure, let him realize how much of a clusterfuck it is trying to get anything done in one that doesn't come out of the box, most definitely, but don't let CMSs take over his life. Web development and CMSs are just one facet among an billion in the world of programming, and the other ones are just as interesting if not more to pursue. And no, I'm not just talking about game programming, which is fun as well.
-- Web Developer forced to do adhoc CMS related work on the side (which often times ends up taking the majority of my week)
Wow, you took the words out of my mouth man. I have been using computers all my life, and the gigahertz race made sense back then.. Now? Lol... I realized I might as well give up trying to stay with it because you only need so much power to run Wordpad, Excel, watch DVDs/movies and surf the web. I just don't feel like it is worth the time commitment to know what's what. I spent 400 bucks on my laptop, and it does everything I need (HD video, compiling code, photoshop, opening 40+ tabs), is ridiculously fast and stable, has all the space I could ask for, and is now turning a year old. I think it has 2 cores? Maybe?
I should probably admit I feel really ashamed whenever I think about upgrading.. Mostly because I end up on NewEgg, then find myself spending 4+ hours googling every piece of hardware with the terms "TomsHardware" and "Guru3D" before it. Please tell me I'm not alone...
Also.. I do not know why it posted as anonymous coward, that original post was me, and for some reason I do not see it normally. I thought it got lost in the void.
Maybe the promotional video didn't show everything it was capable of, but that machine moved really, REALLY slowly.
It's the first model. The important point is that it works AT ALL. Look at how far automobiles came from the first prototypes to even the model T. Or compare the computers at Dreamworks, on your desk, in your phone, or even in your microwave oven to the ENIAC.
Speed will improve. Capabilities will improve, too. Now that the proof of concept is in place and paraplegics are moving around it's largely a matter of tuning and incremental design improvement.
Cost will come down, too. Right now we're seeing the early-adopter penalty, when the cost of design and business startup has to be covered.
Yeah, most definitely. This is definitely a huge leap in the right direction, and I am pretty excited about the future implications of such a device being developed. I would mod you up if I could; those are all definitely great examples of early devices that were all developed from infancy and became huge benefits and relatively inexpensive. Good post:)
"A large enough population for this scam"? Those are your words, not mine:P
Going by your guys' logic, since this is before it hits the "mass-market" (1 year away), all logic of what is practical gets tossed out the window? Is that what you guys honestly believe? The thing weighs 84 pounds, it was slow as molasses in the video, and it takes 5 minutes to get into and out of which I can definitely foresee turning into a huge headache for a few of the tasks it is really useful for. I will give it props that it has 2 hours of solid battery use.. but only because I realize its limitations and the real-world applications of it include operating stationary equipment, going up and down flights of stairs, and reaching things that one could not normally reach in a wheelchair.. all within the confines of ones own home OR with the help of someone else if used outside (defeating part of the independent, feel-goodiness it is trying to provide).
I believe that if you are going to create a product, especially one that has been a long-time coming for people, you should NOT overhype it like this one so evidently does. Give truth, show what it is capable of, and be honest in its limitations. Does 84 pounds seem lightweight to you guy? What about to someone in a wheelchair who might be convinced they need this to become an independent person again?
Don't get me wrong, I am really impressed with what they accomplished. There is a HUGE amount of potential there for future devices, and I am really looking forward to the innovations and products that fork off from this. But we should be at least a LITTLE realistic about the product.
You know what, pump the potential for all the information is EXACTLY what you want, because if you are interviewing workers for a job, then you probably have the experience that you are hoping they have a little of, and maybe they have experience in parts that you do not have. That is a good question.
Uhm, after watching the video at the bottom of the article, did anyone else get the idea that the thing is an impractical gimmick used to siphon money from the rich & wheelchair bound? The thing moved so slow in the promotional video.. he said it took him 3 days to get used to it, which is really quick, but for a promotional video, wouldn't you want to show how useful it was? I mean.. it took me 10 seconds to realize the bit where he was walking up the stairs was not in slow motion. Am I just expecting too much..?
Kind of makes me wonder, I mean, was 2010+ hyped too much? I have already given up on the hovercraft replacing the car, don't let me give up on exo-skeletons too (at least James Cameron is trying to keep the hope alive).
Slashdot Mirror
This is no joke, people everywhere are affected by unknowningly overdosing on DHMO. Please check with your local GP if you're experiencing these symptoms:
http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html#SYMPTOMS
Obligatory MTV awards video where Jim Carrey says the same thing (towards the end.. but the entire thing is hilarious): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7c4PDvBVoY
Yeah we are here.. I'm a developer here too who rarely posts. The thing is, I come here for the sometimes interesting, informative and well-vetted news article summaries, but it's the informed comments from other devs that I stay for. UnknownSoldier is dead on about the facts and speculation.. it's easier to speculate than to talk truth, and reading nothing but spec gets old, fast.
LO
Thanks a lot for submitting this, it was awesome to see!
I can't believe there were only 721 games for SNES. I would have guessed that it was... OVER 9000
Or more interesting projects, or a change of scenery, or a different culture, or etc? No one but Guido and probably the people close to him can know exactly why he went to Dropbox from Google. People changes jobs all the time for a variety of reasons. I don't think we can assume it is just because of perks.
Just curious, are you talking about this quote?:
"And how are monopolies lost? Think about it. Some very good product people invent some very good products, and the company achieves a monopoly. But after that, the product people aren't the ones that drive the company forward anymore. It's the marketing guys or the ones who expand the business into Latin America or whatever. Because what's the point of focusing on making the product even better when the only company you can take business from is yourself? So a different group of people start to move up. And who usually ends up running the show? The sales guy. John Akers at IBM is the consummate example. Then one day, the monopoly expires for whatever reason. But by then the best product people have left, or they're no longer listened to. And so the company goes through this tumultuous time, and it either survives or it doesn't. Look at Microsoft — who's running Microsoft? (interviewer: Steve Ballmer.) Right, the sales guy. Case closed. And that's what happened at Apple, as well."
Citation: http://allaboutstevejobs.com/sayings/stevejobsquotes.php
You missed a post a few parents up.. Yes, there wouldn't be any non-manufacturer dealerships for the manufacturers to compete with. Instead, they would be competing with other manufacturers.
Very interesting article.. For those that didn't read the article, I really like how Moon emphasizes the difference between what has been done before and what he has done. What was accomplished earlier was the construction of gates, circuits and complex systems from non-living material, silicon... But what he has accomplished is the intellectual breakdown of an already living system, and the use of that knowledge to manipulate and prove that he can control it by reproducing the gates and circuits we use for modern technology. I say it while biting my cheek, but hopefully this will also lead eventually to complex, controlled biological systems. Looks like there are still hurdles to go over, but definitely bravo so far.
Kind of raises a pretty important question, though: if and when complex systems start growing, and if AI and robots are created from them.. Will they still be just robots, or will they be living organisms? Man what I wouldn't give to hear Isaac Asimov talk about that for 5 minutes.
Space is a vast desert? I can see your point of view, but I think it is too easy to point to somewhere we've never been and say, "Yeah, there's nothing we need/want over there". Think about what world we would be living in if we closed down Bell Labs for practical or promised short term payoffs for the investor. I can't really speak for you, but I like what our technological advancements have done for us.. sure there has been bad, but there has also been a lot of really, really good. Healthcare. Faster, safer airplanes. More reliable, faster cars. The internet. Telephones. I would have had 2 less years with my mom if it weren't for all those advances. I think we need to look beyond the tools we have at our disposal and keep allowing ourselves to dream and discover. Money is, and hopefully will remain, a tool, not an end in life.
You're saying religion isn't? I'd like to hear what the current presidental nominees have to say about that.
No way.. I think pretty much ANYONE would be more productive working a 35 hour week spread over 5 days than a 25 - 40 hour split up over 2 or 3 days.. maybe a few might be able to squeak some marginal improvement over 4. I think you are underestimating rest and order of operations. I know at the very least I start feeling the hurt after 8 hours of programming, and I REALLY start dragging ass at 12.
Who said I thought the Bill of Rights grants rights? I was pointing out a flaw in what I see as the mindset driving the OPs statement, and now the responses to my post. I think you, and many of the responses here to this article, are just assuming we have these things that don't exist until questioned. I believe the same thing as the person in the post above about the Wright brothers and their right to fly without a permit.. before a permit for flying was even thought up We don't know if we have a right to something until that right is questioned in court, and then deemed necessary to be controlled by law. If it is determined that it is a right, then that court case and its result is the only thing standing as future testament to it being a right (though it can be challenged.. where as a law has more weight, and is more difficult to challenge). I think it's foolish to assume everything not explicitly stated/limited is a right.. the truth is: it MAY be a right, but won't truly be until it has stood up to the scrutiny of the courts and/or lobbyists.
We have a right to anonymity?
You know, I only read the first book over a decade ago when I was a kid, but I connected with his character and the depressing isolation he felt so strongly... that book really hit me hard, and I still look through my room whenever I go home to find it in hopes of re-reading it. Funny how such a strong emotion connection, even a depressing one, can make you long for it.
You have it backwards.. they are making it seem more worthwhile to steal a product than to pay for it. The advancements in technology make it easier to steal. Big big difference. It's like when I used to ask my brother to get me the cereal from the top of the fridge when I was too little. He'd say $5, and I'd go find a chair.
Oh for the love of god, and all that is holy, PLEASE don't let that be the reasoning for forcing this kid to get into CMSs. I work on a CMS every day of my life, even though it is only supposed to take up 20% of my work time, and let me be frank: it freaking hurts. Yes, It serves its amazing purpose of helping speed up content change and distribution, but every minute I manage it and make modifications to it is another minute of experience I could have doing something that actually interested me and progressed my skills. Let him deep his toe in it, sure, let him realize how much of a clusterfuck it is trying to get anything done in one that doesn't come out of the box, most definitely, but don't let CMSs take over his life. Web development and CMSs are just one facet among an billion in the world of programming, and the other ones are just as interesting if not more to pursue. And no, I'm not just talking about game programming, which is fun as well. -- Web Developer forced to do adhoc CMS related work on the side (which often times ends up taking the majority of my week)
Haha, hear hear to old wisdom and the billions of articles online about every piece of hardware imaginable! That made me feel a LOT better :)
Wow, you took the words out of my mouth man. I have been using computers all my life, and the gigahertz race made sense back then.. Now? Lol... I realized I might as well give up trying to stay with it because you only need so much power to run Wordpad, Excel, watch DVDs/movies and surf the web. I just don't feel like it is worth the time commitment to know what's what. I spent 400 bucks on my laptop, and it does everything I need (HD video, compiling code, photoshop, opening 40+ tabs), is ridiculously fast and stable, has all the space I could ask for, and is now turning a year old. I think it has 2 cores? Maybe?
I should probably admit I feel really ashamed whenever I think about upgrading.. Mostly because I end up on NewEgg, then find myself spending 4+ hours googling every piece of hardware with the terms "TomsHardware" and "Guru3D" before it. Please tell me I'm not alone...
Also.. I do not know why it posted as anonymous coward, that original post was me, and for some reason I do not see it normally. I thought it got lost in the void.
Maybe the promotional video didn't show everything it was capable of, but that machine moved really, REALLY slowly.
It's the first model. The important point is that it works AT ALL. Look at how far automobiles came from the first prototypes to even the model T. Or compare the computers at Dreamworks, on your desk, in your phone, or even in your microwave oven to the ENIAC.
Speed will improve. Capabilities will improve, too. Now that the proof of concept is in place and paraplegics are moving around it's largely a matter of tuning and incremental design improvement.
Cost will come down, too. Right now we're seeing the early-adopter penalty, when the cost of design and business startup has to be covered.
Yeah, most definitely. This is definitely a huge leap in the right direction, and I am pretty excited about the future implications of such a device being developed. I would mod you up if I could; those are all definitely great examples of early devices that were all developed from infancy and became huge benefits and relatively inexpensive. Good post :)
"A large enough population for this scam"? Those are your words, not mine :P
Going by your guys' logic, since this is before it hits the "mass-market" (1 year away), all logic of what is practical gets tossed out the window? Is that what you guys honestly believe? The thing weighs 84 pounds, it was slow as molasses in the video, and it takes 5 minutes to get into and out of which I can definitely foresee turning into a huge headache for a few of the tasks it is really useful for. I will give it props that it has 2 hours of solid battery use.. but only because I realize its limitations and the real-world applications of it include operating stationary equipment, going up and down flights of stairs, and reaching things that one could not normally reach in a wheelchair.. all within the confines of ones own home OR with the help of someone else if used outside (defeating part of the independent, feel-goodiness it is trying to provide).
I believe that if you are going to create a product, especially one that has been a long-time coming for people, you should NOT overhype it like this one so evidently does. Give truth, show what it is capable of, and be honest in its limitations. Does 84 pounds seem lightweight to you guy? What about to someone in a wheelchair who might be convinced they need this to become an independent person again?
Don't get me wrong, I am really impressed with what they accomplished. There is a HUGE amount of potential there for future devices, and I am really looking forward to the innovations and products that fork off from this. But we should be at least a LITTLE realistic about the product.
You know what, pump the potential for all the information is EXACTLY what you want, because if you are interviewing workers for a job, then you probably have the experience that you are hoping they have a little of, and maybe they have experience in parts that you do not have. That is a good question.
Uhm, after watching the video at the bottom of the article, did anyone else get the idea that the thing is an impractical gimmick used to siphon money from the rich & wheelchair bound? The thing moved so slow in the promotional video.. he said it took him 3 days to get used to it, which is really quick, but for a promotional video, wouldn't you want to show how useful it was? I mean.. it took me 10 seconds to realize the bit where he was walking up the stairs was not in slow motion. Am I just expecting too much ..?
Kind of makes me wonder, I mean, was 2010+ hyped too much? I have already given up on the hovercraft replacing the car, don't let me give up on exo-skeletons too (at least James Cameron is trying to keep the hope alive).