Small human communities and tribes have survived and prospered in the past; I seriously doubt that's going to be a problem once teenage hormones kick in. However, people may have a better attitude towards sex and procreation than in our anonymous culture.
If the Tabs hadn't been selling, they would have dropped the prices more. They are probably selling as well as they want to to clear inventory. Once there is competition and once they have manufacturered a larger batch, they'll drop the prices further.
The Westermarck effect only occurs if you don't shag. If you start shagging from launch, you can just keep going. As for the opportunities, how is that any different from earth? People have lived for millennia in small, isolated groups and managed. Some people don't want sex. And astronauts are usually going to be in OK physical and mental shape.
I think people worry far too much about this sort of thing Adults can handle it, really.
Space is likely a great place to have sex. Why not?
Now, when it comes to reproduction, that's a little trickier. However, you can freeze and shield both eggs and sperm, so even if you can't shield the people well enough, they can still reproduce with stored and good sperm and eggs at the destination.
Re:As much as I wanted Nokia to adopt Android...
on
Why Nokia Is Toast
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· Score: 1
Those same manufacturers can ship WP7 any time they like, so there's no difference there. Keep in mind that HTC and a lot of the other Android manufacturers tried the Windows strategy and abandoned it for Android precisely because they wanted to be able to build something unique to their companies.
Where Android would have made a difference is that (1) Nokia could have customized it and added value to it, which they can't really with WP7, and (2) Android could have been a low-end offering that seamlessly ties into a Nokia-specific high-end MeeGo offering, but with WP7, there is nowhere to go and they are at Microsoft's mercy.
So, now Nokia is in a brutal race to the bottom, something they could have avoided going with an Android+MeeGo strategy.
Re:Symbian is good enough for lots of people...
on
Why Nokia Is Toast
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· Score: 1
That's a good idea. Let's pay 10x as much as a phone that just makes phone calls, and get significantly lower battery life too.
You can get an Android phone without contract for $150 in the US or EU 100 in Europe. That's about the same as low-end Symbian phones.
Also, some of us aren't allowed to have 'smart phones' at work; finding phones without cameras for secure environments is already getting close to impossible.
Well, then a Symbian phone won't help you either, since it is still a smartphone, despite its bad UI. For the camera, just remove the lens and/or paint it over.
Most of the power in day-to-day use on Android phones goes into the radio and the display. And the radio battery usage is mostly determined by how much data you transfer and how much you talk.
Symbian phones have good battery life because they tend to have smaller screens, run fewer interesting apps, and sync less. If that's the kind of phone you want, you can configure your Android phone the same way.
Java: Sun (aka the patent holder) GPL'd the Java libraries and runtime before the Oracle acquisition.
The GPL on Java protects you from lawsuits by neither Oracle nor anybody else. In practice, you're probably safe as long as you use Java non-commercially and don't modify it. But calling that "open source" is a joke.
Mono is provided by someone other than the patent holder and still has a few patent issues over it's head.
The commitment Microsoft has made to allowing third party implementation of C# and the CLR is much stronger than anything Sun/Oracle have made.
C++: WTF??? Linux kernel: Citation please. And if you cite the SCO lawsuit I'm going to puke.
What rock are you living under? Microsoft is getting royalties from numerous companies for their use of Linux, among them HTC. As for C++, do some of your own patent searches; there are tons of patents on OOP-related language and compiler features that you can construe to apply to C++.
Your problem is that you're totally naive about patents. All major software is patent encumbered. But because you fell for Sun's FUD, you actually rejected software that was actually less patent encumbered (and less bloated for that matter) than Java.
I don't really care that much about C#. But it's know-nothings like you that keep condemning the industry to using bad tools and bad software, like Java and Qt.
Binding Qt to other languages doesn't get rid of the underlying problems; it is putting "lipstick on a pig". And JavaScript isn't exactly great either.
Anything is possible. But right now, Symbian has a crappy UI and crappy tools. And it has no advantages over Linux.
Re:Symbian is good enough for lots of people...
on
Why Nokia Is Toast
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· Score: 1
Nobody is forcing you to do more than a few simple things with iPhone or Android. Any of the modern smart phones can be used as very simple, easy to use "dumb phones" if you like.
The problem with Symbian is that it's buggy and that its user interface is impenetrable for new users.
(And the only reason you're getting Nokia Maps the way you do is because other phones pushed the envelope.)
Re:As much as I wanted Nokia to adopt Android...
on
Why Nokia Is Toast
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· Score: 3, Interesting
Ten times better than no chance is still no chance.
Nokia could have saved itself by going with an Android + MeeGo strategy.
Microsoft's phone efforts are DOA. It doesn't even matter anymore whether they are technically any good; WP has the stink of failure attached to it. And that stink won't disappear by hooking up with a failing phone company.
Yes, I'd like to see an alternative to Gtk+, but I'd like to see an alternative that's actually innovative and modern. C++ and Qt are cumbersome and obsolete technology. Maybe if they fail, people will start innovating in this space again.
Irrational? Definitely not. I shall not infect any of my Linux boxes with patent-encumbered bloatware waiting to explode any time Microsoft decides to go for it.
You run Java? You run C++? You run the Linux kernel? They all are "patent-encumbered bloatware". In fact, unlike Mono, people actually already pay patent licensing fees for some of those.
The patent situation for Mono is actually a lot simpler and clearer than for other systems.
Google Voice still isn't on iPhone. Apple's criteria aren't logic and analogy, they are ideology.
Opera and Skype make proprietary, closed-source products with iffy cross-platform support, so they are in. Google and Mozilla make open source apps that work well across many platforms, so Apple hates them and they don't get approved.
1. Nokia owns one of the major Linux desktop components, qt. This potentially endangers that component, by removing some of Nokia's incentive to continue qt development.
Fortunately, Qt isn't needed for a modern Linux desktop. In fact, I'd say the majority of Linux desktop users don't ever even install it. If Nokia's downfall were the catalyst for unifying Linux under a single UI, all the better. However, frankly, I don't see anything happening to Qt: it's open source and it will survive with or without Nokia.
2. Nokia owns one of the major open-source phone OSs, Symbian. This potentially endangers that OS.
Just because Nokia took their failing OS and open sourced it doesn't mean anybody gives a damn. The sooner Symbian goes away, the better, open source or not.
3. Nokia is involved in another open-source, Linux-based phone OS, MeeGo. This potentially endangers that OS, too.
I'd like to see MeeGo succeed, but so far, it's little more than vaporware. MeeGo only had/has potential value: if it catches on, then it helps Linux. If MeeGo never materializes, nothing of value will be lost.
Wow, you really are out of it. Most apps on Linux are written in C++ or Python.
I actually like Mono, but almost nothing on Linux uses it. In part, that's because the Linux community doesn't trust it (an irrational fear), and in part because the few Mono apps that actually had any use on Linux at all (Tomboy, F-Spot, Beagle, Banshee) were resource hogs and flaky so they got replaced.
KDE-like interfaces on a mobile device have effectively been tried and they don't work (and were a dismal failure in the market): mobile devices are not desktops, and you really need to rewrite most apps from scratch. I doubt KDE (or Gnome for that matter) would even be good on a tablet.
Mobile versions of Qt may finally have reached the point where they are usable on mobile devices; KDE will never be without a fundamental rewrite.
The retention of Nokia’s 200 million Symbian-users is vital
Yeah, it is. Good luck with that. You effectively just canceled their platform (Symbian) and the only platform with any viable migration strategy (MeeGo). You also just removed the incentive for developers to create new apps for the Symbian platform.
You could have done something special by turning MeeGo into a platform that allows users to run Symbian, Qt, and Android, giving people a viable migration path. But none of that is going to happen with Windows Phone 7. And nobody is going to believe you are going to keep spending money on MeeGo now that you are in Microsoft's pocket and have your company run by an ex-Microsoft exec.
Developers are perceiving that MeeGo is dead, and with it, Qt is dead for your products. You might as well stop investing money in them now.
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Small human communities and tribes have survived and prospered in the past; I seriously doubt that's going to be a problem once teenage hormones kick in. However, people may have a better attitude towards sex and procreation than in our anonymous culture.
If the Tabs hadn't been selling, they would have dropped the prices more. They are probably selling as well as they want to to clear inventory. Once there is competition and once they have manufacturered a larger batch, they'll drop the prices further.
The Westermarck effect only occurs if you don't shag. If you start shagging from launch, you can just keep going. As for the opportunities, how is that any different from earth? People have lived for millennia in small, isolated groups and managed. Some people don't want sex. And astronauts are usually going to be in OK physical and mental shape.
I think people worry far too much about this sort of thing Adults can handle it, really.
Space is likely a great place to have sex. Why not?
Now, when it comes to reproduction, that's a little trickier. However, you can freeze and shield both eggs and sperm, so even if you can't shield the people well enough, they can still reproduce with stored and good sperm and eggs at the destination.
Those same manufacturers can ship WP7 any time they like, so there's no difference there. Keep in mind that HTC and a lot of the other Android manufacturers tried the Windows strategy and abandoned it for Android precisely because they wanted to be able to build something unique to their companies.
Where Android would have made a difference is that (1) Nokia could have customized it and added value to it, which they can't really with WP7, and (2) Android could have been a low-end offering that seamlessly ties into a Nokia-specific high-end MeeGo offering, but with WP7, there is nowhere to go and they are at Microsoft's mercy.
So, now Nokia is in a brutal race to the bottom, something they could have avoided going with an Android+MeeGo strategy.
You can get an Android phone without contract for $150 in the US or EU 100 in Europe. That's about the same as low-end Symbian phones.
Well, then a Symbian phone won't help you either, since it is still a smartphone, despite its bad UI. For the camera, just remove the lens and/or paint it over.
Most of the power in day-to-day use on Android phones goes into the radio and the display. And the radio battery usage is mostly determined by how much data you transfer and how much you talk.
Symbian phones have good battery life because they tend to have smaller screens, run fewer interesting apps, and sync less. If that's the kind of phone you want, you can configure your Android phone the same way.
The GPL on Java protects you from lawsuits by neither Oracle nor anybody else. In practice, you're probably safe as long as you use Java non-commercially and don't modify it. But calling that "open source" is a joke.
The commitment Microsoft has made to allowing third party implementation of C# and the CLR is much stronger than anything Sun/Oracle have made.
What rock are you living under? Microsoft is getting royalties from numerous companies for their use of Linux, among them HTC. As for C++, do some of your own patent searches; there are tons of patents on OOP-related language and compiler features that you can construe to apply to C++.
Your problem is that you're totally naive about patents. All major software is patent encumbered. But because you fell for Sun's FUD, you actually rejected software that was actually less patent encumbered (and less bloated for that matter) than Java.
I don't really care that much about C#. But it's know-nothings like you that keep condemning the industry to using bad tools and bad software, like Java and Qt.
Binding Qt to other languages doesn't get rid of the underlying problems; it is putting "lipstick on a pig". And JavaScript isn't exactly great either.
So? How does that contradict what I suggested, namely that there are more Gnome users than KDE users?
Anything is possible. But right now, Symbian has a crappy UI and crappy tools. And it has no advantages over Linux.
Nobody is forcing you to do more than a few simple things with iPhone or Android. Any of the modern smart phones can be used as very simple, easy to use "dumb phones" if you like.
The problem with Symbian is that it's buggy and that its user interface is impenetrable for new users.
(And the only reason you're getting Nokia Maps the way you do is because other phones pushed the envelope.)
Ten times better than no chance is still no chance.
Nokia could have saved itself by going with an Android + MeeGo strategy.
Microsoft's phone efforts are DOA. It doesn't even matter anymore whether they are technically any good; WP has the stink of failure attached to it. And that stink won't disappear by hooking up with a failing phone company.
Hell will freeze over before I buy another Blackberry. Those devices are awful.
You may prefer KDE, but that doesn't make it necessary for a modern Linux desktop. The majority of people get their work done just fine with Gnome.
Because it has bad UIs and is a pain to program, compared to Linux. And it's been dragging down Nokia.
The fact that KDE isn't needed is pretty self-evident: many modern Linux distributions install without it.
As for "the majority", here are distribution statistics:
http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/information/linux-bakers-dozen/
Half of that is Ubuntu, which doesn't install KDE by default.
Now, why don't you stop talking out of your ass and put some numbers on the table, OK?
Yes, I'd like to see an alternative to Gtk+, but I'd like to see an alternative that's actually innovative and modern. C++ and Qt are cumbersome and obsolete technology. Maybe if they fail, people will start innovating in this space again.
Irrational? Definitely not. I shall not infect any of my Linux boxes with patent-encumbered bloatware waiting to explode any time Microsoft decides to go for it.
You run Java? You run C++? You run the Linux kernel? They all are "patent-encumbered bloatware". In fact, unlike Mono, people actually already pay patent licensing fees for some of those.
The patent situation for Mono is actually a lot simpler and clearer than for other systems.
Except, of course, for morons like you.
Which mythical fairy land is that supposed to be? If you choose not to work, you don't get benefits--that's a pretty universal principle.
Google Voice still isn't on iPhone. Apple's criteria aren't logic and analogy, they are ideology.
Opera and Skype make proprietary, closed-source products with iffy cross-platform support, so they are in. Google and Mozilla make open source apps that work well across many platforms, so Apple hates them and they don't get approved.
Fortunately, Qt isn't needed for a modern Linux desktop. In fact, I'd say the majority of Linux desktop users don't ever even install it. If Nokia's downfall were the catalyst for unifying Linux under a single UI, all the better. However, frankly, I don't see anything happening to Qt: it's open source and it will survive with or without Nokia.
Just because Nokia took their failing OS and open sourced it doesn't mean anybody gives a damn. The sooner Symbian goes away, the better, open source or not.
I'd like to see MeeGo succeed, but so far, it's little more than vaporware. MeeGo only had/has potential value: if it catches on, then it helps Linux. If MeeGo never materializes, nothing of value will be lost.
Wow, you really are out of it. Most apps on Linux are written in C++ or Python.
I actually like Mono, but almost nothing on Linux uses it. In part, that's because the Linux community doesn't trust it (an irrational fear), and in part because the few Mono apps that actually had any use on Linux at all (Tomboy, F-Spot, Beagle, Banshee) were resource hogs and flaky so they got replaced.
KDE-like interfaces on a mobile device have effectively been tried and they don't work (and were a dismal failure in the market): mobile devices are not desktops, and you really need to rewrite most apps from scratch. I doubt KDE (or Gnome for that matter) would even be good on a tablet.
Mobile versions of Qt may finally have reached the point where they are usable on mobile devices; KDE will never be without a fundamental rewrite.
Yeah, it is. Good luck with that. You effectively just canceled their platform (Symbian) and the only platform with any viable migration strategy (MeeGo). You also just removed the incentive for developers to create new apps for the Symbian platform.
You could have done something special by turning MeeGo into a platform that allows users to run Symbian, Qt, and Android, giving people a viable migration path. But none of that is going to happen with Windows Phone 7. And nobody is going to believe you are going to keep spending money on MeeGo now that you are in Microsoft's pocket and have your company run by an ex-Microsoft exec.
Developers are perceiving that MeeGo is dead, and with it, Qt is dead for your products. You might as well stop investing money in them now.