Charles Moore is the first of the real Tinkers (Vernor Vinge - Peace War)... he's so far ahead of institutionalised computing that nobody actually understands what he's doing.
It is possible to think about the act of computing in different ways. Pointing to a regular task (eg, running Microsoft Word) and saying "your system is crap if it can't do this" is about the same as asking Andre Agassi to swim 10 kilometres to prove he's any good.
My question: "How do you approach and solve problems? How do you get from 'this might work' to having something real in front of you?"
Hurting a company's bottom line is the only language that a company understands. The problem with boycotts is that they're a massive pain in the arse for the consumer.
I don't like what Nestle did, but I didn't join the boycott since it was too hard for me to keep track of everything they sold. Now I realise there was another option.
Instead of a total boycott, try a convenient partial boycott. If it's easy for you, like you're in the middle of buying some systems, change the order a bit. No hassle for you.
It's the same as a group of people paying their phone bill 2 weeks late. It doesn't cause the people any problems, but it causes budgeting and financial hassles for the telephone company.
These guys are budgeting down to the number of pencils in the stationary cupboards. They're re-investing any spare cash they have into stocks and shares to maximise shareholder profits. They want their money and they want it now.
Boycotting a company isn't like helping poor people or giving to the sick. Those problems never go away no matter how much effort you put into it. Nobody can be held responsible.
The same isn't true for CPRM. There is a specific group of pro-CPRM idiots inside the company who are able to lose their status, if not their jobs.
They have power because they earn money for the company. They won't have power if they cost the company money.
They have advised their company to vote in favour of CPRM, presumably to collect on the sweet deals they're being offered by the music industry. By doing this, they have put their reputations on the line.
If it goes well, the company collects on the deals and gets richer and the idiots get promoted to where they can do even more damage. If the company loses millions of dollars as a result of that recommendation, it's not going to be pleasant for them.
Intel voted for CPRM. Change your next few system orders to have AMD CPUs instead.
IBM voted for CPRM. Use Adaptec, Western Digital or Maxtor hard drives instead.
Why these three companies? Because they voted against CPRM. Say "thank you". It doesn't matter what their motives were. Reward the behaviour.
If it causes you a hassle, don't worry about it. Someone else will be in a better position to do something.
Look what we can make companies do, when we pay them. Look how high they jump when they're trying to win a contract. They CARE.
So if you're buying a system right now, you're in a great position. Especially if you're buying for a company. Compaq pissed me off a couple of years ago. They lost an order worth millions.
I'm not in that position now, so I can't send a message. But there's bound to be a couple of hundred people out there right now reading this who are ordering for their companies.
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Charles Moore is the first of the real Tinkers (Vernor Vinge - Peace War)... he's so far ahead of institutionalised computing that nobody actually understands what he's doing.
It is possible to think about the act of computing in different ways. Pointing to a regular task (eg, running Microsoft Word) and saying "your system is crap if it can't do this" is about the same as asking Andre Agassi to swim 10 kilometres to prove he's any good.
My question: "How do you approach and solve problems? How do you get from 'this might work' to having something real in front of you?"
Hurting a company's bottom line is the only language that a company understands. The problem with boycotts is that they're a massive pain in the arse for the consumer.
I don't like what Nestle did, but I didn't join the boycott since it was too hard for me to keep track of everything they sold. Now I realise there was another option.
Instead of a total boycott, try a convenient partial boycott. If it's easy for you, like you're in the middle of buying some systems, change the order a bit. No hassle for you.
It's the same as a group of people paying their phone bill 2 weeks late. It doesn't cause the people any problems, but it causes budgeting and financial hassles for the telephone company.
These guys are budgeting down to the number of pencils in the stationary cupboards. They're re-investing any spare cash they have into stocks and shares to maximise shareholder profits. They want their money and they want it now.
Boycotting a company isn't like helping poor people or giving to the sick. Those problems never go away no matter how much effort you put into it. Nobody can be held responsible.
The same isn't true for CPRM. There is a specific group of pro-CPRM idiots inside the company who are able to lose their status, if not their jobs.
They have power because they earn money for the company. They won't have power if they cost the company money.
They have advised their company to vote in favour of CPRM, presumably to collect on the sweet deals they're being offered by the music industry. By doing this, they have put their reputations on the line.
If it goes well, the company collects on the deals and gets richer and the idiots get promoted to where they can do even more damage. If the company loses millions of dollars as a result of that recommendation, it's not going to be pleasant for them.
Intel voted for CPRM. Change your next few system orders to have AMD CPUs instead.
IBM voted for CPRM. Use Adaptec, Western Digital or Maxtor hard drives instead.
Why these three companies? Because they voted against CPRM. Say "thank you". It doesn't matter what their motives were. Reward the behaviour.
If it causes you a hassle, don't worry about it. Someone else will be in a better position to do something.
Look what we can make companies do, when we pay them. Look how high they jump when they're trying to win a contract. They CARE.
So if you're buying a system right now, you're in a great position. Especially if you're buying for a company. Compaq pissed me off a couple of years ago. They lost an order worth millions.
I'm not in that position now, so I can't send a message. But there's bound to be a couple of hundred people out there right now reading this who are ordering for their companies.
Send the message for us!