As with all things, there are limits beyond which the inequality becomes a negative factor. In this case the CEO:FMW annual salary is 5300:1, give or take a bit.
I'm no champion of socialist programs, but the scales seem to be a bit tipped these days when annual health insurance for the biggest group in the country (FEHB) costs more than a year's salary at FMW (family plan).
It turns out that this would make a perfect digital drafting table. The height is just over that of a D sized architectural print (25.5" tall, Arch D is 36x24), which allows for a title bar and icon row at the top, plus flyouts/menus on the side in the extra 9" on the side. MAke this completely flat with a senstised surface for a mouse or stylus, and it would be a very cool item for an Architect. Bonus points for writing a driver interface to match pixel density to drawing scale for 1:1 scale editing (yes, we still create paper copies in the arch world). Of course, they'll need a bigger size for the E size, but that's just a matter of scale. *drool*
Yeah, it could be better - though officially supporting and easing the search for addons would be fine with me.
providing an extensible bookmarks back-end platform adding more support for web services "to act as content handlers" -- all of which show that Firefox wants to be an independent information broker rather than a simple HTML renderer in its next version.
Whoa, hey, time to get off this train. I understand this whole convergence thing, and sometimes it's good, but I'd rather try and stay a bit more basic. I'm really not interested in a 40MB FF download, and the resource hogging that goes with it. I know that the pressure is to produce a be-all, end-all application, but I'd really just prefer an efficient browser. In fact, if I had my choice (and I don't - I don't/can't do code), I'd have the whole thing installable in a single sub-folder that could just be moved wherever, whenever I wanted. The install program would simply create the folder, copy the files, and put a shortcut in the start menu - and that's just because I'm lazy.
Why not? So the spiffy voicemail doesn't work. You just have to dial in like everyone else. It should be no different than roaming between digital and analog networks a couple of years ago - when you're not on a supported tower you have a reduced function set.
Now, I doubt that they'll let you unlock the phone, so you'd be stuck with a Cingular sim anyway. But in theory...
My experience is with the (small) business people, and the install CD is always free. Of course that would be "free", as in - the cheapest configurations are usually not in the business site, but with that price we provide you better support than the unwashed masses, and that includes getting real CDs.
I usually just hang out 'til the price is right. And the business stuff really is better supported. I've had almost all knowledgeable tech reps for my Precision laptop when I've called.
Yes, my server runs for a month or two without a single keystroke or mouse movement of management. If it weren't for the inherent need to restart the system (which takes all of 5 minutes when I decide I probably ought to install the updates), there's no reason to believe that it would even need to be restarted. We see no loss of use over those couple of months, and no advantage upon restart. For my purposes (file and print services), it has run without a single instance of required intervention on the OS for 4 years. This is not a five or six - nines machine, just as a home server is not. We have traffic 9-12 hours a day. I don't consider pressing "install updates, restart when complete" to be an onerous task to perform eight times a year.
But hey, if you've got a production server that can't handle being down for 0.008% of the time, maybe you're not really looking for a "simplified" server OS.
Personally? I've got more interests than my time allows. I would probably never slow down. Some people do fear retirement, as they would be at loose ends. I once worked for the government, and was there for one of the 3 week shutdowns when Clinton and the Congress has a pissing match over the budget. I spent a day finding out that there was nothing worth watching on TV, a day sizing up the things I hadn't been doing around the house (maintenance and such), and the next two and a half weeks pursuing about half a dozen different things. When they unlocked the door and let us back in, I realized that I would be ready to "retire" as soon as I had the money to do so, and shuffleboard would not be on my list of activities.
I surf/. when I get bored at work (the boss knows - I'm the boss), and when I feel argumentative in the evenings.
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean that it doesn't work. W2003 is not your typical desktop OS. I'm sorry you blew four figures on an OS that you couldn't figure out.
As for stability, I've had an XP Pro machine doing file and print services for four years straight except for occasional sp upgrades and patch restarts - say once every month or two. It has never crashed (BSOD), and runs 24/7 otherwise, though its really only loaded during the workday, "serving" 3 client machines.
The SBE (Small Business Edition) is a streamlined (in terms of set up and interface) version of W2003. It's preconfigured for common uses for small groups, but it can be tinkered with however you like. They've hobbled it to make sure nobody with a large group uses it (in which case you should probably have an IT guy who knows what he's doing, and can set up W2003 properly).
At least, that's what it sounds like. I think SBE is about $1k at retail, I think, with promo/NFR versions down in the $400-500 range.
I'm going to guess $600 for the retail software. We'll see how close I was when it really ships.
That blur you would see would be me leaving the building. There are few jobs worth actually staying at if you have the wealth to pursue your own course.
Hell, I could just sit around all day and post on slashdot. Oh, right.
This is going to sound harsh, so I'm going to preface it by saying I'm not trying to be mean or spiteful.
Not everyone is a great musician, and being able to make a living by being a musician and playing just the stuff you like is not a God-given right. I have a sister who wanted to get into the entertainment biz. She tried for several years to get into it, and had some minor success, but she just couldn't make a living at it. OF course, now she's a loose ends. She's over 30 and has never had an 8-5 job - she doens't understand it and can't imaging actually going to work every day, for 8 hours a day. But you know what - that's what most people do to make a living, and they "play" during their free time. She will, most probably, end up with a job doing community theater, or singing gigs on the weekends, because the stuff she likes to do just isn't popular enough to pay the bills. I think she could have done well in certain other venues, but she wanted to do her thing.
Sometimes doing what you love to do just doesn't make enough money to pay the bills, and you have to be like everyone else and go get a real job.
Ahhh, I see the fanboi mods are out in force this morning.
Seriously, though, I would think Apple or just about any flavor of Linux would fit this description. If the GP meant manufacturers who sell Win machines, look at the Dell Latitude and Precision lines (God, I sound like a Dell fanboi myself). They have significantly scaled back the crap for the business machines.
What kind of second rate vendor isn't giving you a reinstall CD?
People crap all over Dell here, but to their credit I get a (clean) reinstall CD with every business machine I purchase, and many of the consumer models. Even better, their deal with MS allows their OEM CDs to reinstall on any Dell machine (firmware check, iirc). Most/.ers will claim that locks my copies of windows to the Dell machines...but if I were to get a new machine from a different vendor it would probably come with a new OEM windows anyway. For me, that means if I do have to reinstall a Dell machine, I can grab the latest CD from the pile and install the OS with the SPs already rolled in. Then it's just a matter of popping in the driver CD or grabbing the drivers off the server (or net if it's been a while).
Cingular does have PAYG, but they don't offer discounts on any of their smartphone/pdaphone products. That, and their PAYG is pretty damned expensive unless you never use the service ($0.25/minute or $1.00 per day plus $0.10/minute domestically), and it takes at least $9/mo average deposits ($100 each year to get that) to keep the line alive. Good for an emergency phone, but not for one you plan on using much. There are better plans on other providers, though most are still at least $0.10/min and $10/mo deposit.
I still say you'll be able to buy one for $850-$900 cash in hand as soon as the initial mad-rush is over. Then you can try to unlock it and, being successful, use it without the functions that are Cingular network only.
I can see how you're miffed, though, since it will be introduced in US first, and locked to a US provider exclusively at launch. That does suck. (didn't even read your.co.uk url 'til your last post - yeah the pound symbol tipped me off...)
Actually, I am interested in what it would be like 'cause it does sound cool, but it turns out I really don't have a desire to move to the west coast. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.
Back in my day, "blast off" was what they said right after "1" in the countdown. I suppose all you knee biters who only know the politically correct versions think that "lift off" sounds soo much more genteel.
Service is as low as $39/mo. Data plans are not required (though if they add that, it would be $75/mo).
As for zero research, I recently concluded a search for my next phone and wireless carrier, and it happens to be an 8525 on Cingular. If you had done some research, you would know that practically all Cingular phones can be purchased without a contract just by walking into a Cingular store and buying the phone at full retail. You can then add service a la carte. My (future) 8525 goes for about $700 retail, $350 with 2 year commitment, and $300 with 2 year commitment and 6 months of data service minimum. You won't find that option on the website, though. Go take an hour or two an browse the Howard Forums, you can learn a lot.
Since this phone won't even exist in the market for 5 months, we can reasonably assume that much will change in the offerings between now and then, and we'll learn more. We already know that it won't support all of its features on a non-Cingular GSM system (voice mail stuff), and there is no way to use a GSM phone on Sprint's network or CDMA. So why are you worried about it? In its current incarnation it's an expensive Ipod Video with a touchscreen. It's not even HD format (1.78:1) ratio.
Oh, and by the way - if you buy a phone with the discount at Cingular (aka a phone with a 2-year committment), there is a stock termination fee of $175. So I guess if you really wanted it but didn't want the phone service you could buy the phone at $599, cancel the next day, pay $599 + $36 activation + $39 first month's service, and cancel with a $175 termination fee for (wait for it) $849. You might get the $39 service fee back, but I wouldn't count on it - this Cingular, after all.
Hate to break it to you, but you're a troll, or you're stupid. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the former.
C'mon - when I was in college we used to joke that there was a senior aero course called "Advanced Unemployment Line Mechanics." It's not often a company likely to do cool things happens to fit my background. Let me crow a little. Ignore me if you like. Eveybody else does.
Thats no big deal, Apple customers have been doing that for years!
(Sorry, I just had to do it. Be easy on me, mods, I'm going on 80 hours in the office in the last week - at least three or four of them I wasn't even surfing slashdot.)
It can't make 1080p obsolete fast enough. Why? 'Cause then I can get a 1080p for peanuts. And I'll be happy with it, since I happen to know I can't see much more than that in anything I can fit into my house. Kind of like finding an audio codec that sounds ABX like the original at 48kbps. Who cares how lossy it is if I can fit my entire library on last year's flash device, as long as _I_ can't tell the difference!
Yeah, but I'm ditching my PDA and Phone (or, in Jobs case, iPod and Phone) as separate pieces so I only have to carry around one device. Why would I want to lug around even a foldable or IR keyboard. I thought I got the convergence device to be rid of extra stuff.
That looks like fun. Too bad I'm on the wrong coast and don't want to move. 9 years with NASA designing and building flight hardware, 6 in industry, MS in structures plus courses in Space Veh Prop, Guidance and Nav, and have owned my own 4 person SE firm for 4 years. GD&T and Pro/E is probably a hair on the rusty side, but it's like riding a bike. Built my own small-scale solid fuel rocket engines.
I must admit, I'm getting the 8525 for the PDA, and it just happens to be a phone, too. Cingular's coverage in my area is spotty outside the towns and interstate corridors, but I've decided I'm willing to live with it for the device convergence. See, I broke my own rule even before I posted;-)
Man...I hate the post limits on/. If I can respond to three or four articles in the five minutes I have to surf, I should be able to./. should consider a 3post/5minute rule or something for those of us that have to work.
IMO, service is service. They all suck, and they all cherry pick the high-desity spots and give the finger to rural areas. They all fuck you with their contracts. They all use low-paid, impossible to deal with CS reps.
Point taken on the multi-use downloads, though I would expect that they might (I say might) try to make you by a portable version separately from the HD version. Besides, the HD version is going to be about 4-5GB an hour if it's going to be worth anything at all in a HT environment - even a consumer level one.
The voice mail thing does sound cool, and I'm hoping that Cingular will offer a similar service to either all or smartphone/pdaphone users when it's available. From the Cingular point of view, that kind of feature is a real bonus in selling their service - they would do their best to roll it out network wide unless they're contractually limited to apple.
Not a troll, this is the new hip gadget for yuppies. It won't cut it, imho, for business use because no matter how many times Jobs says it, you really do need a keyboard. It's also mac-centric, and thereby incompatible with most MS-house stuff (i.e. outlook).
I'd say it's potential downfall is the size - it's got a larger footprint than most full-size PDA phones. The HTC TyTN is 4mm smaller in both height and width, though it is thicker.
I'd have preferred the iPhone nano - something I can swap my SIM into when I leave the PDA/phone on my dresser for the weekend.
Slashdot Mirror
As with all things, there are limits beyond which the inequality becomes a negative factor. In this case the CEO:FMW annual salary is 5300:1, give or take a bit.
I'm no champion of socialist programs, but the scales seem to be a bit tipped these days when annual health insurance for the biggest group in the country (FEHB) costs more than a year's salary at FMW (family plan).
It turns out that this would make a perfect digital drafting table. The height is just over that of a D sized architectural print (25.5" tall, Arch D is 36x24), which allows for a title bar and icon row at the top, plus flyouts/menus on the side in the extra 9" on the side. MAke this completely flat with a senstised surface for a mouse or stylus, and it would be a very cool item for an Architect. Bonus points for writing a driver interface to match pixel density to drawing scale for 1:1 scale editing (yes, we still create paper copies in the arch world). Of course, they'll need a bigger size for the E size, but that's just a matter of scale. *drool*
improving the add-on experience
Yeah, it could be better - though officially supporting and easing the search for addons would be fine with me.
providing an extensible bookmarks back-end platform adding more support for web services "to act as content handlers" -- all of which show that Firefox wants to be an independent information broker rather than a simple HTML renderer in its next version.
Whoa, hey, time to get off this train. I understand this whole convergence thing, and sometimes it's good, but I'd rather try and stay a bit more basic. I'm really not interested in a 40MB FF download, and the resource hogging that goes with it. I know that the pressure is to produce a be-all, end-all application, but I'd really just prefer an efficient browser. In fact, if I had my choice (and I don't - I don't/can't do code), I'd have the whole thing installable in a single sub-folder that could just be moved wherever, whenever I wanted. The install program would simply create the folder, copy the files, and put a shortcut in the start menu - and that's just because I'm lazy.
Why not? So the spiffy voicemail doesn't work. You just have to dial in like everyone else. It should be no different than roaming between digital and analog networks a couple of years ago - when you're not on a supported tower you have a reduced function set.
Now, I doubt that they'll let you unlock the phone, so you'd be stuck with a Cingular sim anyway. But in theory...
My experience is with the (small) business people, and the install CD is always free. Of course that would be "free", as in - the cheapest configurations are usually not in the business site, but with that price we provide you better support than the unwashed masses, and that includes getting real CDs.
I usually just hang out 'til the price is right. And the business stuff really is better supported. I've had almost all knowledgeable tech reps for my Precision laptop when I've called.
Yes, my server runs for a month or two without a single keystroke or mouse movement of management. If it weren't for the inherent need to restart the system (which takes all of 5 minutes when I decide I probably ought to install the updates), there's no reason to believe that it would even need to be restarted. We see no loss of use over those couple of months, and no advantage upon restart. For my purposes (file and print services), it has run without a single instance of required intervention on the OS for 4 years. This is not a five or six - nines machine, just as a home server is not. We have traffic 9-12 hours a day. I don't consider pressing "install updates, restart when complete" to be an onerous task to perform eight times a year.
But hey, if you've got a production server that can't handle being down for 0.008% of the time, maybe you're not really looking for a "simplified" server OS.
Personally? I've got more interests than my time allows. I would probably never slow down. Some people do fear retirement, as they would be at loose ends. I once worked for the government, and was there for one of the 3 week shutdowns when Clinton and the Congress has a pissing match over the budget. I spent a day finding out that there was nothing worth watching on TV, a day sizing up the things I hadn't been doing around the house (maintenance and such), and the next two and a half weeks pursuing about half a dozen different things. When they unlocked the door and let us back in, I realized that I would be ready to "retire" as soon as I had the money to do so, and shuffleboard would not be on my list of activities.
/. when I get bored at work (the boss knows - I'm the boss), and when I feel argumentative in the evenings.
I surf
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean that it doesn't work. W2003 is not your typical desktop OS. I'm sorry you blew four figures on an OS that you couldn't figure out.
As for stability, I've had an XP Pro machine doing file and print services for four years straight except for occasional sp upgrades and patch restarts - say once every month or two. It has never crashed (BSOD), and runs 24/7 otherwise, though its really only loaded during the workday, "serving" 3 client machines.
The SBE (Small Business Edition) is a streamlined (in terms of set up and interface) version of W2003. It's preconfigured for common uses for small groups, but it can be tinkered with however you like. They've hobbled it to make sure nobody with a large group uses it (in which case you should probably have an IT guy who knows what he's doing, and can set up W2003 properly).
At least, that's what it sounds like. I think SBE is about $1k at retail, I think, with promo/NFR versions down in the $400-500 range.
I'm going to guess $600 for the retail software. We'll see how close I was when it really ships.
That blur you would see would be me leaving the building. There are few jobs worth actually staying at if you have the wealth to pursue your own course.
Hell, I could just sit around all day and post on slashdot. Oh, right.
This is going to sound harsh, so I'm going to preface it by saying I'm not trying to be mean or spiteful.
Not everyone is a great musician, and being able to make a living by being a musician and playing just the stuff you like is not a God-given right. I have a sister who wanted to get into the entertainment biz. She tried for several years to get into it, and had some minor success, but she just couldn't make a living at it. OF course, now she's a loose ends. She's over 30 and has never had an 8-5 job - she doens't understand it and can't imaging actually going to work every day, for 8 hours a day. But you know what - that's what most people do to make a living, and they "play" during their free time. She will, most probably, end up with a job doing community theater, or singing gigs on the weekends, because the stuff she likes to do just isn't popular enough to pay the bills. I think she could have done well in certain other venues, but she wanted to do her thing.
Sometimes doing what you love to do just doesn't make enough money to pay the bills, and you have to be like everyone else and go get a real job.
Ahhh, I see the fanboi mods are out in force this morning.
Seriously, though, I would think Apple or just about any flavor of Linux would fit this description. If the GP meant manufacturers who sell Win machines, look at the Dell Latitude and Precision lines (God, I sound like a Dell fanboi myself). They have significantly scaled back the crap for the business machines.
What kind of second rate vendor isn't giving you a reinstall CD?
/.ers will claim that locks my copies of windows to the Dell machines...but if I were to get a new machine from a different vendor it would probably come with a new OEM windows anyway. For me, that means if I do have to reinstall a Dell machine, I can grab the latest CD from the pile and install the OS with the SPs already rolled in. Then it's just a matter of popping in the driver CD or grabbing the drivers off the server (or net if it's been a while).
People crap all over Dell here, but to their credit I get a (clean) reinstall CD with every business machine I purchase, and many of the consumer models. Even better, their deal with MS allows their OEM CDs to reinstall on any Dell machine (firmware check, iirc). Most
Cingular does have PAYG, but they don't offer discounts on any of their smartphone/pdaphone products. That, and their PAYG is pretty damned expensive unless you never use the service ($0.25/minute or $1.00 per day plus $0.10/minute domestically), and it takes at least $9/mo average deposits ($100 each year to get that) to keep the line alive. Good for an emergency phone, but not for one you plan on using much. There are better plans on other providers, though most are still at least $0.10/min and $10/mo deposit.
.co.uk url 'til your last post - yeah the pound symbol tipped me off...)
I still say you'll be able to buy one for $850-$900 cash in hand as soon as the initial mad-rush is over. Then you can try to unlock it and, being successful, use it without the functions that are Cingular network only.
I can see how you're miffed, though, since it will be introduced in US first, and locked to a US provider exclusively at launch. That does suck. (didn't even read your
Actually, I am interested in what it would be like 'cause it does sound cool, but it turns out I really don't have a desire to move to the west coast. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.
We all have our moments...yesterday I had mine.
Back in my day, "blast off" was what they said right after "1" in the countdown. I suppose all you knee biters who only know the politically correct versions think that "lift off" sounds soo much more genteel.
Get the hell of my lawn.
Service is as low as $39/mo. Data plans are not required (though if they add that, it would be $75/mo).
As for zero research, I recently concluded a search for my next phone and wireless carrier, and it happens to be an 8525 on Cingular. If you had done some research, you would know that practically all Cingular phones can be purchased without a contract just by walking into a Cingular store and buying the phone at full retail. You can then add service a la carte. My (future) 8525 goes for about $700 retail, $350 with 2 year commitment, and $300 with 2 year commitment and 6 months of data service minimum. You won't find that option on the website, though. Go take an hour or two an browse the Howard Forums, you can learn a lot.
Since this phone won't even exist in the market for 5 months, we can reasonably assume that much will change in the offerings between now and then, and we'll learn more. We already know that it won't support all of its features on a non-Cingular GSM system (voice mail stuff), and there is no way to use a GSM phone on Sprint's network or CDMA. So why are you worried about it? In its current incarnation it's an expensive Ipod Video with a touchscreen. It's not even HD format (1.78:1) ratio.
Oh, and by the way - if you buy a phone with the discount at Cingular (aka a phone with a 2-year committment), there is a stock termination fee of $175. So I guess if you really wanted it but didn't want the phone service you could buy the phone at $599, cancel the next day, pay $599 + $36 activation + $39 first month's service, and cancel with a $175 termination fee for (wait for it) $849. You might get the $39 service fee back, but I wouldn't count on it - this Cingular, after all.
Hate to break it to you, but you're a troll, or you're stupid. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume the former.
Yeah, I'm in that kind of mood today.
C'mon - when I was in college we used to joke that there was a senior aero course called "Advanced Unemployment Line Mechanics." It's not often a company likely to do cool things happens to fit my background. Let me crow a little. Ignore me if you like. Eveybody else does.
Wait for it...
Wait for it...
Thats no big deal, Apple customers have been doing that for years!
(Sorry, I just had to do it. Be easy on me, mods, I'm going on 80 hours in the office in the last week - at least three or four of them I wasn't even surfing slashdot.)
It can't make 1080p obsolete fast enough. Why? 'Cause then I can get a 1080p for peanuts. And I'll be happy with it, since I happen to know I can't see much more than that in anything I can fit into my house. Kind of like finding an audio codec that sounds ABX like the original at 48kbps. Who cares how lossy it is if I can fit my entire library on last year's flash device, as long as _I_ can't tell the difference!
Yeah, but I'm ditching my PDA and Phone (or, in Jobs case, iPod and Phone) as separate pieces so I only have to carry around one device. Why would I want to lug around even a foldable or IR keyboard. I thought I got the convergence device to be rid of extra stuff.
That looks like fun. Too bad I'm on the wrong coast and don't want to move. 9 years with NASA designing and building flight hardware, 6 in industry, MS in structures plus courses in Space Veh Prop, Guidance and Nav, and have owned my own 4 person SE firm for 4 years. GD&T and Pro/E is probably a hair on the rusty side, but it's like riding a bike. Built my own small-scale solid fuel rocket engines.
I wonder what they pay?
I must admit, I'm getting the 8525 for the PDA, and it just happens to be a phone, too. Cingular's coverage in my area is spotty outside the towns and interstate corridors, but I've decided I'm willing to live with it for the device convergence. See, I broke my own rule even before I posted ;-)
/. If I can respond to three or four articles in the five minutes I have to surf, I should be able to. /. should consider a 3post/5minute rule or something for those of us that have to work.
Man...I hate the post limits on
IMO, service is service. They all suck, and they all cherry pick the high-desity spots and give the finger to rural areas. They all fuck you with their contracts. They all use low-paid, impossible to deal with CS reps.
Point taken on the multi-use downloads, though I would expect that they might (I say might) try to make you by a portable version separately from the HD version. Besides, the HD version is going to be about 4-5GB an hour if it's going to be worth anything at all in a HT environment - even a consumer level one.
The voice mail thing does sound cool, and I'm hoping that Cingular will offer a similar service to either all or smartphone/pdaphone users when it's available. From the Cingular point of view, that kind of feature is a real bonus in selling their service - they would do their best to roll it out network wide unless they're contractually limited to apple.
Not a troll, this is the new hip gadget for yuppies. It won't cut it, imho, for business use because no matter how many times Jobs says it, you really do need a keyboard. It's also mac-centric, and thereby incompatible with most MS-house stuff (i.e. outlook).
I'd say it's potential downfall is the size - it's got a larger footprint than most full-size PDA phones. The HTC TyTN is 4mm smaller in both height and width, though it is thicker.
I'd have preferred the iPhone nano - something I can swap my SIM into when I leave the PDA/phone on my dresser for the weekend.