Well, as someone that runs an electronics factory, I mostly agree with you.
The first part is: what do you mean by "electronics"? Are you talking about PCBA (i.e, assembled/populated circuit boards), or do you mean "consumer electronics" - i.e., cell phones, AV receivers, computers, etc. etc.?
For me, "electronics" means assembled circuit boards. And sadly, there is a surprising amount of labor involved. Kitting - getting components ready to be placed. Receiving materials, Shipping. Paperwork. Regulation compliance.
That being said, most of this can be automated away. But today, largely, it is not that way. So the truth is that America _could_ be cost competitive, but today, is not.
Hint: the entire American market for assembled circuit boards is for small-to-medium delivered quantities - almost always under 5000 units, typically under 500. Offshore is not competitive with smaller quantities, and that's why my industry is still a $60BN industry:)
Most bizarre about LG is that they update their hardware faster than their software. The V series has had three releases in 18 months. OS upgrades? None for at least the last two.
Having strangers sleeping near you isn't the problem. I'm guessing that folks that aren't sympathetic to this legislation don't live in urban apartments.
My personal experience: the person upstairs starting using AirBNB aggressively. So, former peace and quiet went away:
+ Euros arriving at 2am, proceeding to open slam shut every cabinet, jump on beds, play loud music,
+ A freaky dude knocking on my door at 8pm, complaining that my TV was on, he wanted to go to bed,
+ High school kids having a massive party, live band, PA,
+ Early morning cleaning crews, not being gentle.
Yeah, my neighbor was clearly an inconsiderate piece of shit. But who to complain to? The landlord is absentee. AirBNB doesn't regard me as having any standing. In fact, I'm bearing part of the cost in order for AirBNB to profit, and I'm not OK with that.
So yeah, this legislation is required. I'm legally guaranteed the ability to enjoy the property that I'm leasing; AirBNB and other service like that subvert that. When they can police themselves, I'll be OK with them. Not until then.
Seriously - exact same situation - link below of legal parking spot.
I submitted evidence for an online hearing that included the blog post from TFA (plus a screen grab of that street view, plus the appropriate legal stuffs).
I'd love to know when Mr. Quant NYC submitted his findings. I got my ticket three weeks ago (and this Slashdot post was a reminder for me to fight it).
I'd love to see this reasonable, succinct take on the 2nd Amendment enacted. Continued participation required to maintain gun ownership; instructors able to weed out bad actors, too. Solves many problems.
Innovation 2: Hidden cost reductions - getting Gateway boxes with "missing" SIMM slots, expansion card slots, etc.. I think that they were the first to quietly remove features that people took for granted - until they weren't there when you went to upgrade.
The PJB-100, the first disk-based MP3 player, was in my hands in 1999 - a full two years before the iPod. HP owned fundamental patents that could have taxed each unit that Apple sold - but seemed to be entirely unaware of that ownership.
Instead, they paid Apple to resell their own inventions. Brilliant!
If I had to guess, some mega business threatened to leave the state unless they started producing a workforce with some semblance of education. But that's just a guess - some monied interest was twisting arms, almost certainly.
US GDP is heavily skewed by high-ticket military equipment
This skew actually makes manufacturing a lot less sustainable in the US.
See, the real reason why China is so dominant at this point is that the supply chains have migrated there. Labor costs, adjusted for productivity, tariffs, shipping, etc. have about reached parity.
So, without a good supply chain, you have a hard time being a manufacturer.
The military pays silly prices for stuff. So that means that a company that sells to the military has a silly price sheet. Which means that they're not an option for a non-military manufacturer to use them as a supplier.
The problem is that too many suppliers are getting a taste of that sweet, sweet military money, and there are no available options for "normal" manufacturers. And then, lights out for an entire line of products that could be manufactured here, but won't be.
If the military budget ever gets slashed, expect a manufacturing comeback.
How do I know this? I'm a manufacturer here in the US, and this happens to us constantly.
I mean, Rockchip offers a competing range of SoCs in LQFP176, up to quad core, and they're huge sellers. Too bad that the Chinese companies typically won't talk to anyone.
Freescale would be smart to follow suit. If they did, they'd become a standard, quickly. I'd be happy to trade having gobs of GPIOs for cheaper and easier assembly.
It's great that Freescale is making a version of the ultralite that's easier to manufacture - but it'd be even better if they had a non-BGA version. BGA means "ball grid array", and it's one of the more difficult component in terms of electronics assembly.
Some companies charge a 3x premium if there are any BGAs at all. Having version that has the pins on the side (QFP), even if it was huge, or had less functionality, would allow for easier prototyping and assembly.
Actually, PowerPoint is so horrendously clunky and limited that even if you want to make a compelling presentation, it works against you. In short, the only thing that you can do easily is to use bullet points.
PowerPoint still cannot do what the long dead Persuasion could do, and do efficiently.
I'd love an decent alternative to PowerPoint, but it really doesn't exist.
If you want to try something that's much easier and, frankly, sane, try Diptrace. Really nice software, totally Wine friendly, and there's a free version.
People forget that there is another side here - the NYC resident. Consider that there's likely several people within 20 feet of me at any given time - this is the reality of big city living.
What AirBnB means to me is a diminished quality of life.
It means "guests" rolling in at 2am, feeling the need to open and close every door and cupboard (and waking up my household). Ringing my bell accidentally at all hours. Using AirBnB to find one-night party space. Smoking everywhere.
This is all from one apartment directly above me. If I complain to NYC, it means that they're sued to death and evicted (which I'm sorely tempted to do, but the punishment is very harsh). If I don't, I have to live in a noisier, less enjoyable circumstance.
And yes, I've taken the time to ask the folks upstairs to be more considerate. Their response? "It's our right", even though it's against the law.
The notion of "haves" and "have nots" are going to be about robots, not about money. There will be two kinds of people in the future - those that own the robots, and those that are either displaced or enslaved by them.
Automation is going to make the future rather bleak, indeed. Universal welfare, anyone?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, as someone that runs an electronics factory, I mostly agree with you.
The first part is: what do you mean by "electronics"? Are you talking about PCBA (i.e, assembled/populated circuit boards), or do you mean "consumer electronics" - i.e., cell phones, AV receivers, computers, etc. etc.?
For me, "electronics" means assembled circuit boards. And sadly, there is a surprising amount of labor involved. Kitting - getting components ready to be placed. Receiving materials, Shipping. Paperwork. Regulation compliance.
That being said, most of this can be automated away. But today, largely, it is not that way. So the truth is that America _could_ be cost competitive, but today, is not.
Hint: the entire American market for assembled circuit boards is for small-to-medium delivered quantities - almost always under 5000 units, typically under 500. Offshore is not competitive with smaller quantities, and that's why my industry is still a $60BN industry :)
Sure would be nice if they could release OS/security updates as quickly as new hardware. LG is the worst.
Most bizarre about LG is that they update their hardware faster than their software. The V series has had three releases in 18 months. OS upgrades? None for at least the last two.
Just for fun, clicked on an old link... and it's on super clearance again.
https://store.steampowered.com...
Beat the rush!
Sorry, it's theater. They have the same donors, and the only difference is the Kabuki choreography.
Don't forget: Obama appointed Pai to the FCC. Obama's FCC chairperson was for "fast lanes" before they reversed position due to public outcry.
Big Telecom knew that they were getting this eventually. The script was written a long time ago.
I have one of the i3 mk2S units, the previous model. Works really, really well. Prusa is a quality outfit that won't screw its users.
Having strangers sleeping near you isn't the problem. I'm guessing that folks that aren't sympathetic to this legislation don't live in urban apartments.
My personal experience: the person upstairs starting using AirBNB aggressively. So, former peace and quiet went away:
+ Euros arriving at 2am, proceeding to open slam shut every cabinet, jump on beds, play loud music,
+ A freaky dude knocking on my door at 8pm, complaining that my TV was on, he wanted to go to bed,
+ High school kids having a massive party, live band, PA,
+ Early morning cleaning crews, not being gentle.
Yeah, my neighbor was clearly an inconsiderate piece of shit. But who to complain to? The landlord is absentee. AirBNB doesn't regard me as having any standing. In fact, I'm bearing part of the cost in order for AirBNB to profit, and I'm not OK with that.
So yeah, this legislation is required. I'm legally guaranteed the ability to enjoy the property that I'm leasing; AirBNB and other service like that subvert that. When they can police themselves, I'll be OK with them. Not until then.
Seriously - exact same situation - link below of legal parking spot.
I submitted evidence for an online hearing that included the blog post from TFA (plus a screen grab of that street view, plus the appropriate legal stuffs).
I'd love to know when Mr. Quant NYC submitted his findings. I got my ticket three weeks ago (and this Slashdot post was a reminder for me to fight it).
https://www.google.com/maps/pl...
I'd love to see this reasonable, succinct take on the 2nd Amendment enacted. Continued participation required to maintain gun ownership; instructors able to weed out bad actors, too. Solves many problems.
Innovation 1: Cow-spotted boxes.
Innovation 2: Hidden cost reductions - getting Gateway boxes with "missing" SIMM slots, expansion card slots, etc.. I think that they were the first to quietly remove features that people took for granted - until they weren't there when you went to upgrade.
Well, she was outfoxed.
The PJB-100, the first disk-based MP3 player, was in my hands in 1999 - a full two years before the iPod. HP owned fundamental patents that could have taxed each unit that Apple sold - but seemed to be entirely unaware of that ownership.
Instead, they paid Apple to resell their own inventions. Brilliant!
So yeah, she just totally sucked.
If I had to guess, some mega business threatened to leave the state unless they started producing a workforce with some semblance of education. But that's just a guess - some monied interest was twisting arms, almost certainly.
US GDP is heavily skewed by high-ticket military equipment
This skew actually makes manufacturing a lot less sustainable in the US.
See, the real reason why China is so dominant at this point is that the supply chains have migrated there. Labor costs, adjusted for productivity, tariffs, shipping, etc. have about reached parity.
So, without a good supply chain, you have a hard time being a manufacturer.
The military pays silly prices for stuff. So that means that a company that sells to the military has a silly price sheet. Which means that they're not an option for a non-military manufacturer to use them as a supplier.
The problem is that too many suppliers are getting a taste of that sweet, sweet military money, and there are no available options for "normal" manufacturers. And then, lights out for an entire line of products that could be manufactured here, but won't be.
If the military budget ever gets slashed, expect a manufacturing comeback.
How do I know this? I'm a manufacturer here in the US, and this happens to us constantly.
OK, then give us QFP version with less pins.
I mean, Rockchip offers a competing range of SoCs in LQFP176, up to quad core, and they're huge sellers. Too bad that the Chinese companies typically won't talk to anyone.
Freescale would be smart to follow suit. If they did, they'd become a standard, quickly. I'd be happy to trade having gobs of GPIOs for cheaper and easier assembly.
It's great that Freescale is making a version of the ultralite that's easier to manufacture - but it'd be even better if they had a non-BGA version. BGA means "ball grid array", and it's one of the more difficult component in terms of electronics assembly.
Some companies charge a 3x premium if there are any BGAs at all. Having version that has the pins on the side (QFP), even if it was huge, or had less functionality, would allow for easier prototyping and assembly.
There'd be a market for it.
Actually, PowerPoint is so horrendously clunky and limited that even if you want to make a compelling presentation, it works against you. In short, the only thing that you can do easily is to use bullet points.
PowerPoint still cannot do what the long dead Persuasion could do, and do efficiently.
I'd love an decent alternative to PowerPoint, but it really doesn't exist.
Eagle is pretty horrible.
If you want to try something that's much easier and, frankly, sane, try Diptrace. Really nice software, totally Wine friendly, and there's a free version.
Saving out Gerbers is trivially easy, too.
Looks like Lieutenant General Paul K. Van Riper was finally proven correct.
People forget that there is another side here - the NYC resident. Consider that there's likely several people within 20 feet of me at any given time - this is the reality of big city living.
What AirBnB means to me is a diminished quality of life.
It means "guests" rolling in at 2am, feeling the need to open and close every door and cupboard (and waking up my household). Ringing my bell accidentally at all hours. Using AirBnB to find one-night party space. Smoking everywhere.
This is all from one apartment directly above me. If I complain to NYC, it means that they're sued to death and evicted (which I'm sorely tempted to do, but the punishment is very harsh). If I don't, I have to live in a noisier, less enjoyable circumstance.
And yes, I've taken the time to ask the folks upstairs to be more considerate. Their response? "It's our right", even though it's against the law.
AirBnB sucks.
The USB 3.0 Micro B connector is horrendous design:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U...
Seriously, worst connector ever. Did they really think that abomination would be used on cellphones?
The notion of "haves" and "have nots" are going to be about robots, not about money. There will be two kinds of people in the future - those that own the robots, and those that are either displaced or enslaved by them.
Automation is going to make the future rather bleak, indeed. Universal welfare, anyone?
FWIW, Sparkfun's revenues are something like $100mm+, which only makes their crybaby attitude even more silly.
They had to know that this was a risk. They gambled, lost, get back to work.
Sparkfun must have known that those meters look almost exactly like a Fluke (because of the yellow, and a bunch of other reasons).
Sorry, but it is not an example of IP run amok. This is Sparkfun being disingenuous.
The original "but we're worth so much more than they're offering" dot.com story...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PointCast_(dotcom)
How many have their been since?
Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PointCast_(dotcom)