I was surprised to see the relative complexity of the ballots used in parts of Florida. Where I voted, inside the booth was a big laminated board, with the names/parties in columns for each particular race. Press a box next to a candidate's name and a red LED lights up next to that name. Change your mind? Press another button and the light changes. When finished, press the big green "VOTE" button and the lights go off and you're done. Simple, and I can't imagine such a system is terribly expensive. The light of day is finally reaching some parts of our voting process that clearly need to be re-thought and re-implemented.
An aside: Part of the 'problem' of media's probable influence on voting in western time zones could be dealt with by having the polls open and close at the same time, nationwide. (e.g. 10am - 10pm EST, 7am - 7pm PST) Then make National Election Day a federal/national holiday, which gives everyone all day to vote, and might further increase voter turnout. If only the media won't report until the polls have closed...
Computing's Sgt Pepper already exists, and like it or not, it is Windows.
Windows has been the dominant OS and GUI during the last 5 years...
The author's point wasn't that this OS will dominate the world. Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys dominate the "Top 40" music scene, but I doubt many/.ers would consider them to be the 'touchstone' of their musical preference. The author seems to be saying that this OS is (to some extent) unlike anything that came before it, and will (to some extent) influence what comes after it.
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I was surprised to see the relative complexity of the ballots used in parts of Florida. Where I voted, inside the booth was a big laminated board, with the names/parties in columns for each particular race. Press a box next to a candidate's name and a red LED lights up next to that name. Change your mind? Press another button and the light changes. When finished, press the big green "VOTE" button and the lights go off and you're done. Simple, and I can't imagine such a system is terribly expensive. The light of day is finally reaching some parts of our voting process that clearly need to be re-thought and re-implemented.
An aside: Part of the 'problem' of media's probable influence on voting in western time zones could be dealt with by having the polls open and close at the same time, nationwide. (e.g. 10am - 10pm EST, 7am - 7pm PST) Then make National Election Day a federal/national holiday, which gives everyone all day to vote, and might further increase voter turnout. If only the media won't report until the polls have closed...
The author's point wasn't that this OS will dominate the world. Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys dominate the "Top 40" music scene, but I doubt many /.ers would consider them to be the 'touchstone' of their musical preference. The author seems to be saying that this OS is (to some extent) unlike anything that came before it, and will (to some extent) influence what comes after it.