Right, we are all familiar with the model - much like AT&T's previous bait and switch with the data plans.
1. We offer unlimited data! 2. We are introducing limited data plans as an option, unlimited still available! 3. We're phasing out unlimited plans, but users who have an unlimited plan can keep the plan! 4. Users with unlimited plans have to choose a limited plan, but don't worry, very few people exceed it and incurr the pornographic overage fees 5. (over time, content changes requiring users to use more data to get the same content, and fees ratched up 'naturally'
So based on that, the future is....?
1. We offer shared data plans! (if you pay obscene fees that render this a non-money-saver) 2. We're phasing out any other form of data plan. 3. We're doing things to your wallet that you can usually only see in a barnyard, due to your inability to control data usage simultaneously for 5 people.
It means the two most evil entities in their respective industries are separating to focus on being more effective at being evil in their respective industries.
For my part, I am saddened to read this story. I've enjoyed buying things from Amazon because of the money I save. The sales tax portion saves me 7% right off the top on anything, even before you account for the price being lower online than it is in most stores.
I don't mind waiting 2-4 days to receive things. It was nice to use Amazon to in effect give me a pay increase.
It's too bad the no-sales-tax on Amazon is coming, because their selection is so good, but I'll just seek out other online retailers.
It's as simple as adding a freezer compartment to a UPS truck, or delivering all groceries with the same kind of truck that delivers groceries to the store.
True, but I think they also failed because there was nothing to differentiate them from a laptop, really. A stylus to take notes in a slower way than typing them... A fancy way to use PowerPoint... Those don't really change things.
A tablet that has enough power and compatibility to be my personal companion in all phases of life would change things. Those old tablets that were just laptops with harder to read screens were definitely lame
We aren't at the point - yet - where you can carry your BYOD tablet into work, dock to a monitor for the screen real-estate if desired, and use the keyboard integrated into the case if desired. We aren't too far away from those.
Computing power and wifi speeds will continue to increase.
Like I said, we aren't there yet, but we aren't far off.
I've been doing development for and administration of a high end, technical software suite for about 10 years now.
We aren't completely to the point where I can do my entire job on a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard (if needed), but we are getting very close. And, from what I have seen, the remaining issues are not with iOS (etc) or the tablet's capabilities, but with the last several vendors joining the 21st century and supporting it.
I think most everyone will be using tablets for everything a lot sooner than people realize, even things that neckbeards say will never be done on a tablet. (I used to say those things too.)
Well, my name is a patient identifier, I suppose, and when the instructions for what to do prior to visiting are explicit, combined with the doctor's name, that's a pretty good indication of what the medical condition is. Gotta love those acronyms. PHI? The fact I'm visiting a doctor with specific information about what to do prior is a good bit of "patient health information".
No names are read, and neither is the name of any provider. Any instructions provided are generic - nothing more specific than "Bring a photo ID" or "Please do not eat or drink for 8 hours prior to the appointment".
PHI actually means protected health information. Some types of information are in a protected class by law and some are not.
Legal (which is outsourced to a large firm) examined it and declared it not to be in violation of HIPAA so long as no patient identifiers and no PHI is presented.
Additionally, this is being done all over the country by the exact same methodology, by organizations which have similarly reviewed it for compliance.
If you use the device for web surfing it makes an enormous difference.
If you combine the difference in screen size with the very high resolution display in the new ipads, you have a panning and zooming cellphone-like surfing experience on a Kindle Fire or whatever, but the iPad is like using a touch screen PC. The whole page is visible and legible.
The truth of the matter is that right now, people are looking at the wide array of android tablets out there, then looking at the price tags, and thinking "For that price, I could get an iPad." Thus the sale is lost.
I don't think this is true at all. A (basically) 10" tablet is significantly larger than a 7" tablet.
Another justification would be that the new iPad has a significantly better display than anything else out there right now. It's a better experience with anything visual, which is pretty much everything on content delivery devices.
I don't particularly care for Apple as a company, but the benefit of having all my stuff everywhere all the time makes their ecosystem work for me. Interoperability is a real benefit.
I have been cell-phone only for about 10 years, except a brief period after I moved into a new apartment (the apartment required a land line for the security system).
I received a massive, massive amount of telemarketing calls in the first month. About 75% of them were from the local newspaper trying to get me to subscribe. The other 25% or so were politics. So outside of one problem company, political calls are the problem.
I've not had a cold call, a true sales call in years - other than of course the 5,000 or so in a month from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, a publication to which I wish bankruptcy and a good long rot in hades.
I work for a large non-profit health system in the midwest. We implemented "robocalls" to serve as appointment reminders. Our patients seem to like and appreciate them. They are not opt-in, but a person can opt-out. These calls save time and money, because they reduce no-show rates and they also reduce incidences of people showing up unprepared for the service they need. ("You weren't supposed to eat this morning, unfortunately we can't do the procedure now.")
So, not all robocalls are bad. There just needs to be a law that you can only use automated calls with people who have initiated a business relationship with you.
Politicians always exempt their own calls, of course. And the "previous business relationship" thing is being interpreted very broadly right now. If you donated to the DNC or a candidate in 2008, they interpret that as you wanting junk mail and phone calls for every candidate they have this time around and continue robo-calling.
We need to get politicians to play by the same rules as everyone else. (fat chance)
Not unlike what they did with MSN in the olden days (The Microsoft Network). They developed a copycat product to what AOL, Prodigy, Genie, Compuserve etc. had brought to market ages ago. They tried making the internet look like Windows, and then later had to backtrack and try to make Windows look more like the internet.
It's Microsoft's attempt to build a new desktop OS that works well and that people like, but to improve usability in the face of their massive market losses to Apple which are mostly predicated on usability.
It's also an attempt to shortcut their way into the mobile space by adding a mobile UI to their existing product. Their mobile OS is failed on phones, but there's no big competitor to Apple in the tablet space right now, and MSFT hopes they can be that.
Basically, MSFT is years behind in just about every product line they have, but are still following their tried-and-true, packaging up other peoples' ideas with Windows logos, and selling them as innovation.
I think Firefox OS could succeed if it's truly open. Not like what unfortunately happened with Android, where handset manufacturers abandon the phone after one release upgrade, or where they lock the OS down completely, or build their own crapware interface on top of it that you can't remove. (I had an android phone that forced you to use Yahoo for the default search. Seriously?)
In short, Android was a step in the right direction but it's not truly open. Open is more than "I can see the source". Open should mean, "It's my device to do whatever I want with." I should be able to do a clean load. I should be able to sideload. I should be able to load non-AM apps without hassle. I should be able to easily upgrade the OS myself. etc.
NOT a locked-down platform for AT&T/VZW/Sprint/whoever to push bloatware and payware
The model they are moving to is one where iCloud contains all your stuff, so local storage needs are negligible. Everything is accessible from everywhere.
Slashdot Mirror
Right, we are all familiar with the model - much like AT&T's previous bait and switch with the data plans.
1. We offer unlimited data!
2. We are introducing limited data plans as an option, unlimited still available!
3. We're phasing out unlimited plans, but users who have an unlimited plan can keep the plan!
4. Users with unlimited plans have to choose a limited plan, but don't worry, very few people exceed it and incurr the pornographic overage fees
5. (over time, content changes requiring users to use more data to get the same content, and fees ratched up 'naturally'
So based on that, the future is....?
1. We offer shared data plans! (if you pay obscene fees that render this a non-money-saver)
2. We're phasing out any other form of data plan.
3. We're doing things to your wallet that you can usually only see in a barnyard, due to your inability to control data usage simultaneously for 5 people.
Mine too.
The closed or "open" (with sarcastic quotes) mobile OS vendors now have probably gobbled up all the obvious stuff that is patentable.
Sadly the more open an OS is, the less likely it is to be backed by an organization capable of defending it legally.
Thank you for making the Captain Obvious post that appears in every discussion about mobile phones.
It means the two most evil entities in their respective industries are separating to focus on being more effective at being evil in their respective industries.
I wasn't aware it was so cheap.
For my part, I am saddened to read this story. I've enjoyed buying things from Amazon because of the money I save. The sales tax portion saves me 7% right off the top on anything, even before you account for the price being lower online than it is in most stores.
I don't mind waiting 2-4 days to receive things. It was nice to use Amazon to in effect give me a pay increase.
It's too bad the no-sales-tax on Amazon is coming, because their selection is so good, but I'll just seek out other online retailers.
It's as simple as adding a freezer compartment to a UPS truck, or delivering all groceries with the same kind of truck that delivers groceries to the store.
Not exactly a huge innovation.
True, but I think they also failed because there was nothing to differentiate them from a laptop, really. A stylus to take notes in a slower way than typing them... A fancy way to use PowerPoint... Those don't really change things.
A tablet that has enough power and compatibility to be my personal companion in all phases of life would change things. Those old tablets that were just laptops with harder to read screens were definitely lame
We aren't at the point - yet - where you can carry your BYOD tablet into work, dock to a monitor for the screen real-estate if desired, and use the keyboard integrated into the case if desired. We aren't too far away from those.
Computing power and wifi speeds will continue to increase.
Like I said, we aren't there yet, but we aren't far off.
I've been doing development for and administration of a high end, technical software suite for about 10 years now.
We aren't completely to the point where I can do my entire job on a tablet with a bluetooth keyboard (if needed), but we are getting very close. And, from what I have seen, the remaining issues are not with iOS (etc) or the tablet's capabilities, but with the last several vendors joining the 21st century and supporting it.
I think most everyone will be using tablets for everything a lot sooner than people realize, even things that neckbeards say will never be done on a tablet. (I used to say those things too.)
Maybe they already named some west coast bottom feeding animal after Pelosi...
Well, my name is a patient identifier, I suppose, and when the instructions for what to do prior to visiting are explicit, combined with the doctor's name, that's a pretty good indication of what the medical condition is. Gotta love those acronyms. PHI? The fact I'm visiting a doctor with specific information about what to do prior is a good bit of "patient health information".
No names are read, and neither is the name of any provider. Any instructions provided are generic - nothing more specific than "Bring a photo ID" or "Please do not eat or drink for 8 hours prior to the appointment".
PHI actually means protected health information. Some types of information are in a protected class by law and some are not.
Legal (which is outsourced to a large firm) examined it and declared it not to be in violation of HIPAA so long as no patient identifiers and no PHI is presented.
Additionally, this is being done all over the country by the exact same methodology, by organizations which have similarly reviewed it for compliance.
You can't just make up a number for a fine.
If you use the device for web surfing it makes an enormous difference.
If you combine the difference in screen size with the very high resolution display in the new ipads, you have a panning and zooming cellphone-like surfing experience on a Kindle Fire or whatever, but the iPad is like using a touch screen PC. The whole page is visible and legible.
The truth of the matter is that right now, people are looking at the wide array of android tablets out there, then looking at the price tags, and thinking "For that price, I could get an iPad." Thus the sale is lost.
I don't think this is true at all. A (basically) 10" tablet is significantly larger than a 7" tablet.
Another justification would be that the new iPad has a significantly better display than anything else out there right now. It's a better experience with anything visual, which is pretty much everything on content delivery devices.
I don't particularly care for Apple as a company, but the benefit of having all my stuff everywhere all the time makes their ecosystem work for me. Interoperability is a real benefit.
I have been cell-phone only for about 10 years, except a brief period after I moved into a new apartment (the apartment required a land line for the security system).
I received a massive, massive amount of telemarketing calls in the first month. About 75% of them were from the local newspaper trying to get me to subscribe. The other 25% or so were politics. So outside of one problem company, political calls are the problem.
I've not had a cold call, a true sales call in years - other than of course the 5,000 or so in a month from the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, a publication to which I wish bankruptcy and a good long rot in hades.
I work for a large non-profit health system in the midwest. We implemented "robocalls" to serve as appointment reminders. Our patients seem to like and appreciate them. They are not opt-in, but a person can opt-out. These calls save time and money, because they reduce no-show rates and they also reduce incidences of people showing up unprepared for the service they need. ("You weren't supposed to eat this morning, unfortunately we can't do the procedure now.")
So, not all robocalls are bad. There just needs to be a law that you can only use automated calls with people who have initiated a business relationship with you.
Politicians always exempt their own calls, of course. And the "previous business relationship" thing is being interpreted very broadly right now. If you donated to the DNC or a candidate in 2008, they interpret that as you wanting junk mail and phone calls for every candidate they have this time around and continue robo-calling.
We need to get politicians to play by the same rules as everyone else. (fat chance)
Not unlike what they did with MSN in the olden days (The Microsoft Network). They developed a copycat product to what AOL, Prodigy, Genie, Compuserve etc. had brought to market ages ago. They tried making the internet look like Windows, and then later had to backtrack and try to make Windows look more like the internet.
Metro is a dumbed-down version of Microsoft Bob.
It's Microsoft's attempt to build a new desktop OS that works well and that people like, but to improve usability in the face of their massive market losses to Apple which are mostly predicated on usability.
It's also an attempt to shortcut their way into the mobile space by adding a mobile UI to their existing product. Their mobile OS is failed on phones, but there's no big competitor to Apple in the tablet space right now, and MSFT hopes they can be that.
Basically, MSFT is years behind in just about every product line they have, but are still following their tried-and-true, packaging up other peoples' ideas with Windows logos, and selling them as innovation.
Correction: most job cut decisions are geographical, either on the earth or on an org chart.
I think Firefox OS could succeed if it's truly open. Not like what unfortunately happened with Android, where handset manufacturers abandon the phone after one release upgrade, or where they lock the OS down completely, or build their own crapware interface on top of it that you can't remove. (I had an android phone that forced you to use Yahoo for the default search. Seriously?)
In short, Android was a step in the right direction but it's not truly open. Open is more than "I can see the source". Open should mean, "It's my device to do whatever I want with." I should be able to do a clean load. I should be able to sideload. I should be able to load non-AM apps without hassle. I should be able to easily upgrade the OS myself. etc.
NOT a locked-down platform for AT&T/VZW/Sprint/whoever to push bloatware and payware
The model they are moving to is one where iCloud contains all your stuff, so local storage needs are negligible. Everything is accessible from everywhere.
Fair enough.
Score is now 1,000,000 serving 2. (unless you count the CarrierID stuff!)