This sounds nifty, especially for long airplane trips, which is where my exisiting MP3 player still sucks. Unfortunately, the player with the hard drive, at almost 10 oz. is a pretty bad solution for excercising.
How about someone come up with a "combo" type player. Eg.) a traditional small player with flash memory, with an "expansion port" to attach a hard drive module.
Kudos to everyone for teaching me a lot with these threads. It's been my impression that many people (including myself all to often), don't have much of an idea of what "enterprise computing" actually means.
I have yet to figure out how to explain to my new girlfriend how I don't bother to read the newspaper anymore. I'm trying something along the lines of: 1. I control and customize the flow of info when I get it online 2. I get a much greater depth and diversity of news and opinions online 2a. It's easier for me to assess the validity and quality of online info
IMHO, one of the more interesting thing about Linux, Transmeta, AMD, etc. is how they are competing against the the Wintel duopoly when so many others have failed.
Linux--open source development=better infrastructure software=alternative to Win32. Turns out everyone who tried to SELL something to compete against MS took the wrong approach.
Transmeta/AMD--use the IA-32 instruction set, but change the rules of the game slightly so that Intel (for the first time in a long time) finds itself responding to the initiatives of its competitors.
I make no predictions as to who is going to win, but I certainly enjoy watching it all.
That's one of the few things I don't like about my Pilot Professional. I'd love to upgrade to a Palm V or a Visor, but there's no real technical reason for me to do so.
Per their website, they did not use Flash ROMs because they feel that the springboard gives all the upgradability that people need, and that any meaningful OS upgrade requires new hardware pieces anyway.
The difference between these companies is simple: Transmeda and AMD are good at making great chips. Intel is great at making *MONEY*
No, Intel was great at defining a standard and defending it against all comers. When fighting a battle at which they couldn't define the standard (3d graphics chipsets), Intel lost.
Last time I checked, Intel had absolutely no debt and over 10 billion dollars sitting in cash. How much do you really think they are going to suffer?
This business is probably one of the more capital intensive modern industries on the planet. US$10 billion buys you around 5-8 fabs these days. It's also not a simple matter to change the technical direction of a company like Intel. To do so takes time; a weakness which AMD and Transmeta can easily exploit.
...online businesses have to guard against people that do them harm. For example:
-Wal-mart has to guard against shoplifting. -McDonald's has to guard against employees taking Big Macs. -Microsoft has to guard against software pirates.
For any business, the risk of bad guys disrupting profits and assets exists. The technology and means of disruption may change, but the principle remains the same.
"Technologists often forget the general user," Torvalds said. "Technology is only as good as the user experience. That is something that technology groups very often forget."
Wow! This guy is pretty smart. Any chance I can woo him to come work for the company I work for?;-)
He's not doing anything really important now, right?:-)
For all this talk of what sort of test is the best predictor of success in higher education, I have never seen any sort of real analysis of what exactly should be done in college/what the point of higher education is. It's hard to design a test if we don't know what results we're trying to accomplish
I have my own opinions about what college was good for, and they don't involve massive amounts of class time and book learning.
Perhaps one of these days certain people in this country will realize that what makes the US of A a great country is that people from all over the world come here to lead better lives; and in that process, make this country the strongest in the world.
I shudder to think what might have happened if my great-grandparents were turned away 90 years ago.
The funny thing is, in 50 years it will probably be those of asian, indian, etc. descent trying to pass immigration limits against whatever group wants to emigrate to our country.
...will meet the same end they do in the real world: intelligent people will ignore most of them. The way people deal with other people don't change because the communications medium changes.
Although the rules of the online "society" are still in their infancy; I have no doubt that people who learn to get along with others in a constructive way will do better online than those who don't. Just like real life.
I know that they've had more than their share of troubles with terrorism, but it seems like that they enjoy devising new and thoughtful ways to invade people's privacy and make Orwell's "1984" predictions become real.
Supposedly people that lose one or more of their senses develop their other senses/talents to compensate.
Would Stevie Wonder been as successful in his musical career if he had use of his eyes?
Speaking as an extremely amateur musician (acoustic guitar), I frequently catch myself watching what my hands are doing, rather than trying to just play the guitar.
The story of IBMs comback has been pretty fun to watch. I believe that the antitrust suit did have a lot to do with IBM's decline in the 80's, but so did IBM's own corporate stupidity.
Pick up Robert X. Cringely's "Accidental Empires" for some fun stories about how IBM squandered it's early lead in the PC business. Most of the stories are pretty true.
Having said all of that, let me also defend IBM by saying that big companies faced with radical changes in technology almost always get killed, and IBM did what most other companies couldn't have done: somehow ride out the problems and rise from the ashes to play a new role in the techonology world. That's something to be respected, along with all of their recent initiatives mentioned above.
People sometimes seem to forget that IBM still has a lot of smart people working for it.
It's a pity that they are so big and therefore a bit less focused than other tech companies. Allocating resources and capital for a $180 billion must be a real pain. Maybe I'll get the chance to try that some day:-)
Slashdot Mirror
This sounds nifty, especially for long airplane trips, which is where my exisiting MP3 player still sucks. Unfortunately, the player with the hard drive, at almost 10 oz. is a pretty bad solution for excercising.
How about someone come up with a "combo" type player. Eg.) a traditional small player with flash memory, with an "expansion port" to attach a hard drive module.
Kudos to everyone for teaching me a lot with these threads. It's been my impression that many people (including myself all to often), don't have much of an idea of what "enterprise computing" actually means.
I have yet to figure out how to explain to my new girlfriend how I don't bother to read the newspaper anymore. I'm trying something along the lines of:
1. I control and customize the flow of info when I get it online
2. I get a much greater depth and diversity of news and opinions online
2a. It's easier for me to assess the validity and quality of online info
IMHO, one of the more interesting thing about Linux, Transmeta, AMD, etc. is how they are competing against the the Wintel duopoly when so many others have failed.
Linux--open source development=better infrastructure software=alternative to Win32. Turns out everyone who tried to SELL something to compete against MS took the wrong approach.
Transmeta/AMD--use the IA-32 instruction set, but change the rules of the game slightly so that Intel (for the first time in a long time) finds itself responding to the initiatives of its competitors.
I make no predictions as to who is going to win, but I certainly enjoy watching it all.
That's one of the few things I don't like about my Pilot Professional. I'd love to upgrade to a Palm V or a Visor, but there's no real technical reason for me to do so.
:-)
Damn those clever engineers!
Per their website, they did not use Flash ROMs because they feel that the springboard gives all the upgradability that people need, and that any meaningful OS upgrade requires new hardware pieces anyway.
The difference between these companies is simple: Transmeda and AMD are good at making great chips. Intel is great at making *MONEY*
No, Intel was great at defining a standard and defending it against all comers. When fighting a battle at which they couldn't define the standard (3d graphics chipsets), Intel lost.
Last time I checked, Intel had absolutely no debt and over 10 billion dollars sitting in cash. How much do you really think they are going to suffer?
This business is probably one of the more capital intensive modern industries on the planet. US$10 billion buys you around 5-8 fabs these days. It's also not a simple matter to change the technical direction of a company like Intel. To do so takes time; a weakness which AMD and Transmeta can easily exploit.
...online businesses have to guard against people that do them harm. For example:
-Wal-mart has to guard against shoplifting.
-McDonald's has to guard against employees taking Big Macs.
-Microsoft has to guard against software pirates.
For any business, the risk of bad guys disrupting profits and assets exists. The technology and means of disruption may change, but the principle remains the same.
...Phil and Alex's guide to web publishing
http://www.photo.net/wtr/thebook/
Check out:
8 3/
Devil Take the Hindmost : A History of Financial Speculation
by Edward Chancellor
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/03741385
Discusses the south seas bubble, the 1929 crash, the 1987 crash, the 1986 Japanese crash, among other things.
A book that lives up to the maxim of, "those that forget history are doomed to repeat it."
...of AOL getting the shaft stuck straight up their a** say,
"I!"
Ack! Phttph! Barf!
"Technologists often forget the general user," Torvalds said. "Technology is only as good as the user experience. That is something that technology groups very often forget."
;-)
:-)
Wow! This guy is pretty smart. Any chance I can woo him to come work for the company I work for?
He's not doing anything really important now, right?
For all this talk of what sort of test is the best predictor of success in higher education, I have never seen any sort of real analysis of what exactly should be done in college/what the point of higher education is. It's hard to design a test if we don't know what results we're trying to accomplish
I have my own opinions about what college was good for, and they don't involve massive amounts of class time and book learning.
I think excuses like this were used against the:
Italians
Irish
Germans
Chinese
Japanese
::insert your ethnic group here::
It bothers me when I see history repeating itself like this.
Perhaps one of these days certain people in this country will realize that what makes the US of A a great country is that people from all over the world come here to lead better lives; and in that process, make this country the strongest in the world.
I shudder to think what might have happened if my great-grandparents were turned away 90 years ago.
The funny thing is, in 50 years it will probably be those of asian, indian, etc. descent trying to pass immigration limits against whatever group wants to emigrate to our country.
This is why competition is a good thing :-)
...will meet the same end they do in the real world: intelligent people will ignore most of them. The way people deal with other people don't change because the communications medium changes.
Although the rules of the online "society" are still in their infancy; I have no doubt that people who learn to get along with others in a constructive way will do better online than those who don't. Just like real life.
>>(actually it wasn't so much the fire as the >>SPRINKLER SYSTEM that killed the old one).
A $$gazillion invested in a Cray super computer, and they didn't spring for a Halon system to protect the room? Ouch!
...to deplete MS's cash hoard and deprive them of one of their biggest strengths.
All we need is 50 million people (roughly) to take advantage of this, and MS's $20 billion should be whittled down in no time!
I know that they've had more than their share of troubles with terrorism, but it seems like that they enjoy devising new and thoughtful ways to invade people's privacy and make Orwell's "1984" predictions become real.
Supposedly people that lose one or more of their senses develop their other senses/talents to compensate.
Would Stevie Wonder been as successful in his musical career if he had use of his eyes?
Speaking as an extremely amateur musician (acoustic guitar), I frequently catch myself watching what my hands are doing, rather than trying to just play the guitar.
...what IBM can do: basic research; or large scale research and development?
My list includes:
Intel
AT&T
Lucent
Nortel
Sun Microsystems
any others?
The story of IBMs comback has been pretty fun to watch. I believe that the antitrust suit did have a lot to do with IBM's decline in the 80's, but so did IBM's own corporate stupidity.
Pick up Robert X. Cringely's "Accidental Empires" for some fun stories about how IBM squandered it's early lead in the PC business. Most of the stories are pretty true.
Having said all of that, let me also defend IBM by saying that big companies faced with radical changes in technology almost always get killed, and IBM did what most other companies couldn't have done: somehow ride out the problems and rise from the ashes to play a new role in the techonology world. That's something to be respected, along with all of their recent initiatives mentioned above.
People sometimes seem to forget that IBM still has a lot of smart people working for it.
:-)
It's a pity that they are so big and therefore a bit less focused than other tech companies. Allocating resources and capital for a $180 billion must be a real pain. Maybe I'll get the chance to try that some day