Well at one point in the comics, Spidey underwent a metamorphosis and gained organic web shooters and stingers. However after "A Brand New Day" something changed and he has mechanic ones again; but still remembers having organic ones (as he comments using them a lot required a lot of replenishing fluids + protein).
You may want to consult Scientifically Accurate Spider-Man about "web shooters," "stingers", and "replenishing fluids + protein". (Hint: You might not want to be scientifically-accurate Spider-Man if you're still *ahem* maiden.)
You should take a look at David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which explores similar social-evasion strategies in an age when video becomes a normal part of telecommunication.
I think the cashiers would be very unhappy if you brought loose produce to the checkout, at least for items that can be contaminated this way (ie I don't put a pineapple in a bag).
I cut back my plastic bag use while grocery shopping nearly two decades ago. Most produce I purchase--tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, lemons, oranges, etc.--I leave loose. Never has a cashier admonished me, and I often go to the same grocery for years running.
I do have a stash of plastic bags at home for storing items in the fridge, but I wash and reuse those bags.
It's more work and I'd save money by not investing my time, but I think spending time and money on more sustainable behavior is really important.
No, but they could die (or at least suffer harm) if the mail was something like insulin or heart medication.
Merrly being snarky does not make a convincing argument.
Being dumb doesn't make a convincing argument either. You don't count on the mail for time / mission critical things. It wasn't designed for it and cannot support it.
If you have prescription medications that are filled by mail order you're supposed to have a buffer supply. Shit happens. Even Saturday delivery doesn't change that.
To measure the pollution coming from the Bay Area, planes should take air samples above Fresno because the Central Valley is the Bay Area's meteorological tailpipe.
(Actually, it's probably pointless since the entire Central Valley is also polluted by crop dusting.)
I started out earning $60k in the tech industry. A dozen years later, I work for the same company and my salary is $90k. With fifteen years experience, I'm only making about ten grand more than interns? And I know most of the other people doing my job make about the same I do (I work at one of the few biggest software companies on the planet) Last year, I earned over $150k -- but that included various bonuses and is not my actual base salary.
At this rate, I guess, twenty-something interns are soon going to be earning more than people in their 30s with two decades of professional experience. Meh.
I wonder if these salaries are mostly for the Bay Area. Where, for example, does IBM hire interns? A few of the reports either mention Bay Area cities or mention companies based here.
Also, I'm wondering where you live. I have about two year's experience as a web developer, currently work for an ecommerce company (not tech), and my base salary is above yours.
Maybe it's true people are better compensated here in the Bay Area. I'll also add that the higher cost of living doesn't really show up for me. Since I left Ohio, I'm just plain much better compensated and there is a *shortage* of developers out here.
If you're not in the Bay Area (or a tech hub) you might consider coming out because, from everything I can tell, there's only massive upside for people who live out here and can wrangle code of any kind.
Right to work does not mean you can be fired for no reason. Right to work means unionization cannot be a condition of employment.
In California, "At will" designates employment relationships where an employee may be fired for no reason and an employee may quit for no reason. In any case, firings and abandonment don't appear to be common.
And to further rub salt into the wounds, they knobbled SBS like Apple knobbled OS X Server. For example, there's no in-house email in SBS 2012 or OS X Server 10.7+
I have no idea what you're talking about and suspect you may not have any idea either.
Mac OS X 10.7 and greater have postfix as part of the distribution. Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "in-house email". What do you mean by "in-house email"?
The response was justified, apple took away what most people use as their GPS device, and replaced it with one that doesnt work, and doesnt work in spectacular fashion.
That response was justified but it indicates more than a strategic move/unplanned blunder/whatever by Apple, a corporate entity. It demonstrates that for people who use it, GPS is practically a utility.
I live in a city with good (for USA, ha!) public transportation and some of the most important and enjoyable parts of my life would be severely restricted if I did not have access to GPS: meeting new people, locating businesses, attending meetings, attending special occasions, etc.
Other people rely on GPS for traveling to new cities, when conducting business in unfamiliar environs, etc.
Anyhow, yeah, GPS is really important and once one gets access to it, there really isn't any going back, is there?
There are lots of homeless where I presently live, SF. Mostly when I see/think/consider homeless people and their plight I feel pretty fucking rotten. I pity them, hate them, admire them, etc. I just don't know what practically can be done about them (about homelessness) and it depresses me we humans can't figure out a humane way to deal with poverty and mental illness in the midst of vast material wealth.
Seriously fellow wealthy and politically-connected humans, why is this such a problem? WTF.
But what do I know, they seem popular. Possibly because they're robust and they've got a few different mount options, but I can't believe there isn't more good-looking and capable competition.
I record my bike rides with a Contour Roam (apparently I've been obsoleted!). My camera is sturdy, sleek, and easy-to-operate. (I'm a satisfied user with no corporate affiliation to Contour) GoPro has larger mindshare due to a good product and MASSIVE marketing which even seasoned people mistake for amateur user content.
From where I sit, though, these changes in the market seem secondary to the increasing democratization of video which has benefits for justice, science, history, posterity, and art that outweigh the abuses of video perpetrated by corrupt governments, though I recognize this particular sword has two edges, is exceedingly sharp, and has already cut a number of agonists quite badly.
Yes, I'd also call it the fault of patent law for allowing something so absurd intended solely to block interoperation with 3rd party devices; but Apple chose to use it.
If it makes you happier, I also condemn Intel for the abomination they call "Thunderbolt" - Though unlike iThings, at least Thunderbolt never really caught on.
Some companies innovate by producing proprietary technology, which is not to say all proprietary technologies are innovative. This is also neither to say that Lightning and Thunderbolt technology are or are not innovative.
I do, however, want to take a quick look at the claim (not yours, but related to the idea of "standard" as opposed to "proprietary") that Apple should have used USB instead of implementing the new proprietary Lightning connector.
My coworker stood firm in his opinion that making chump change from wires and cables was Apple's (Apple's!) ultimate motive for introducing a new proprietary cable.
Within the next couple of weeks, my coworker had to order a new Android phone (G3, I believe, I don't recall and don't know all the models. Sorry.) and he was grateful he was being allowed to receive one as a fulfillment of his warranty. Why, you (should) ask, did he need to make a warranty claim?
Good of you to ask.
He had plugged his G3 into one of the (micro/A/B/whatever) USB plugs from his other "standard" USB-charging phone and fried his G3. In other words, the pseudo-standard USB<—>micro/A/B/whathaveyou USB allows (wait for it) incompatible specifications to be interconnected which, in this case, yielded a catastrophic result.
So much for sticking with existing "standard" technology.
I'm not saying standards are impossible or undesirable. I'm only saying that in the case of USB vs. Lightning, USB is not a real standard and Apple's decision to produce a proprietary connector was a choice that Apple deemed best (whether selfishly or also in consideration of their users as well).
That can convert academic jargon to local slang? It's transformative.
That right there is going to be one hell of a translation. Presuming all statements from one language can be translated into statements in a different language assumes (or seems to assume) that languages are isomorphic.
However, there are things that cannot be communicated in the limited vocabulary available to, say, a young adult compared to the expansive vocabulary of, say, a scholar of comparative literature. The same applies for concepts that can only be delivered in medical specialized terminology (disparagingly referred to as "jargon") an that cannot be communicated in layperson language.
None of which is to say that some ideas (even very important ideas) cannot be translated across linguistic groups, but the idea that Google and Kurzweil are somehow going to produce the Internet equivalent of a Babel Fish is nothing more than a wish.
I happen to like anything space related, and submitted this because it's an interesting video, and thought other people here would think it is too.
As an adjective to describe this video the word "Interesting" is a radical understatement. Thanks for linking this amazing video. I was fully expecting to see a small claustrophobic can and instead I got the real life 2012 version of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Apple are doing far worse things for computing than Microsoft ever did.
These two companies and the deleterious effects they may or may not have had on computing cannot even begin to be compared.
I've never had a virus on my iPhone and I have access to very useful apps that help me learn foreign languages, log my exercise, and construct data schema, among a host of other things. These apps, where they were not free of charge, are ones I paid for and for which developers were compensated.
Furthermore, Apple's approach to most competitors is to leave them be or, in the case where Apple sees significant market advantage, to purchase them and promote the use of the acquired assets and technology Apple's technological infrastructure.
This is a far cry from the "embrace, extend, and extinguish" philosophy adopted by Microsoft. The decade-upon-decade of vulnerability to viruses and malware as a result of poor OS architecture from Windows 95 through Windows XP looks nothing like the well-considered architectural choices Apple made for OS X security. (I'm not claiming of invulnerability, just reasonable separation of userland and system-level executables.)
This list could go on and on before I even got to the point where Microsoft became a convicted monopolist whose systematic refusal to adopt Internet standards stifled innovation for over a decade.
Microsoft's Windows is a derivative product that used to be incredibly unsecure. For nearly two decades, Microsoft bludgeoned innovative companies to death and manipulated hardware manufacturers in order to maintain market dominance and, as far as I'm concerned, I still don't trust Microsoft very much despite their considerably weakened position.
tl;dr: Even considering Apple's restrictive developer licenses, unfavorable marketplace terms, and their ongoing patent litigation, Apple's negative effects on computing are trivial compared to Microsoft's lamentable corporate history.
The article tells the story of McAffee's education, flight from school, and nearly accidental entrepreneurship and helped me to understand what there is to admire about him, especially given all that I knew about him was that the software bearing his name seems to be reviled by anyone with a technological clue and that he seems to be involved in some kind of chicanery that led to the execution of his neighbor.
On of my favorite parts of the article is its last paragraph, which seems to reveal McAffee has a sense of (ironic) perspective somewhere in among the fantasies occupying his mind:
We took some pictures, shook hands and said our farewells. There was just one more question, though: “Do you have McAfee antivirus on your computer?” He looked at me and put down his cigarette. “I take it off,” he said. “It’s too annoying.”
As for Apple printing money...absolutely, but as the tablet; phone market continue to mature its pursuit of profit over marketshare. Is looking increasingly shaky, but hey they learnt last time they did this right....
I don't understand all the people who measure and forecast success according to marketshare. Minority platforms not only can be healthy, they also can outperform majority platforms.
For one obvious example, Apple has about 10% marketshare for computers and low single-digit percentage in the installed base. Yet, Apple has fully dominated the consumer computer industry in terms of profit and growth. Apple does better than every single one of its competitors in consumer computing (selling new computers) because marketshare is not a factor now that the Internet and open standards exist.
This is even more true with mobile computing.
Who cares how many Android devices exist in relation to iOS devices? Consumers don't because what they mostly do is connect to the Internet with their smartphones, where they watch video, comb Facebook, check email, send texts, and post Tweets.
Why does anyone even talk about smartphone OS marketshare as if it matters?
The math of Obamacare for most businesses means less money will be lost if employees don't work more than 28 hours. What decision should a business make?
This is an idea that is getting traction now that the Affordable Health Care Act will carry as a result of Obama's reelection, and it is an idea that needs to be challenged.
Employees who are secure in terms of healthcare are a huge benefit to a company and to the society that supports the conditions for universal healthcare. Reducing the possibility of bankruptcy due to medical eventuality (not just crisis) means reduced money spent to train new employees and combat turnover.
Employees with access to affordable preventive care need less time off and are more productive than overworked and ailing workers.
In time, when the financial reality of universal healthcare normalizes, services and premiums will (with the proper administrative and legislative conditioning) hit a virtuous cycle where resources are commensurate to demand. People will not avoid seeing a doctor because it might be unaffordable and so will get proper treatment that may obviate the need for heroic but less-effective medical services at a later time.
A populace with access to universal healthcare will mean more financial resources available for discretionary purchases, investment, and education.
Employers and capitalists who think taking care of employees is too expensive are poor capitalists, indeed. While there certainly is more to life than money, in the case of universal healthcare there's economic sense to be had as well.
One of my kids, visiting their grandparents, managed to conjure up some pretty sordid images of bestiality in no time by just googling one of her hobbies, horse riding.
I have safe search turned off in Google and I searched on "horse riding" and I see what you mean.
Enough with the marketing crap. Android phones at the at an average price of 1293 yuan are about $236 you get an Android Phone that has measurably better hardware than an iPhone for that money and subjectively better software [I would say years ahead].
I'm a little late to the party but I think this is an important point to rebut and emphasize the quality of Apple products.
Back in August I was riding my bicycle in the Presidio, coming down McDowell Avenue between 15 and 20 mph. If you know anything about the Presidio, you know the roads are very steep.
My iPhone was in an armband case on my left arm and when I rode over some oil on the road and I went down. Hard. On my left side. My iPhone glass was cracked and the right edge which led the impact into the road looked like it had been abraded with an industrial machine.
I had hematomas on my left elbow and left hip and my left shoulder was so bad I could not fully lift my arm for six weeks. Two and a half months later my shoulder is does not have full range of motion and the hematoma on my left hip is about the size of a small wallet.
When people see my iPhone (still using the same armband case) or when they use it, they often ask what happened. I tell them I had a bike accident. It wasn't until last night that I realized my phone STILL WORKS.
I've seen Android phones hit the ground from chest height and shatter to pieces, battery covers and phone chassis flying in different directions. Had I been wearing one of these phones when I had my accident, I would have had to purchase a new phone because it probably would have been pulverized.
The obsessive build quality of the iPhone 4 makes it extremely durable. I had a major accident and the phone took the brunt of the impact. It got badly damaged. But it fucking held together and even though I do have a new iPhone 5 (I'm holding off activating it until the same armband case is available for it), I'm still using it.
Say what you will about marketshare, but I seriously doubt there is another phone on the market that can survive an impact like the one I had and continue working.
Slashdot Mirror
Well at one point in the comics, Spidey underwent a metamorphosis and gained organic web shooters and stingers. However after "A Brand New Day" something changed and he has mechanic ones again; but still remembers having organic ones (as he comments using them a lot required a lot of replenishing fluids + protein).
You may want to consult Scientifically Accurate Spider-Man about "web shooters," "stingers", and "replenishing fluids + protein". (Hint: You might not want to be scientifically-accurate Spider-Man if you're still *ahem* maiden.)
+1 Interesting
You should take a look at David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest, which explores similar social-evasion strategies in an age when video becomes a normal part of telecommunication.
I think the cashiers would be very unhappy if you brought loose produce to the checkout, at least for items that can be contaminated this way (ie I don't put a pineapple in a bag).
I cut back my plastic bag use while grocery shopping nearly two decades ago. Most produce I purchase--tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, lemons, oranges, etc.--I leave loose. Never has a cashier admonished me, and I often go to the same grocery for years running.
I do have a stash of plastic bags at home for storing items in the fridge, but I wash and reuse those bags.
It's more work and I'd save money by not investing my time, but I think spending time and money on more sustainable behavior is really important.
No, but they could die (or at least suffer harm) if the mail was something like insulin or heart medication.
Merrly being snarky does not make a convincing argument.
Being dumb doesn't make a convincing argument either. You don't count on the mail for time / mission critical things. It wasn't designed for it and cannot support it.
If you have prescription medications that are filled by mail order you're supposed to have a buffer supply. Shit happens. Even Saturday delivery doesn't change that.
And yet
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.
You are such a fucking tool it's really hard to know where to begin. Fucking asshole.
To measure the pollution coming from the Bay Area, planes should take air samples above Fresno because the Central Valley is the Bay Area's meteorological tailpipe.
(Actually, it's probably pointless since the entire Central Valley is also polluted by crop dusting.)
I'm not sure how I should feel about all this.
I started out earning $60k in the tech industry. A dozen years later, I work for the same company and my salary is $90k. With fifteen years experience, I'm only making about ten grand more than interns? And I know most of the other people doing my job make about the same I do (I work at one of the few biggest software companies on the planet) Last year, I earned over $150k -- but that included various bonuses and is not my actual base salary.
At this rate, I guess, twenty-something interns are soon going to be earning more than people in their 30s with two decades of professional experience. Meh.
I wonder if these salaries are mostly for the Bay Area. Where, for example, does IBM hire interns? A few of the reports either mention Bay Area cities or mention companies based here.
Also, I'm wondering where you live. I have about two year's experience as a web developer, currently work for an ecommerce company (not tech), and my base salary is above yours.
Maybe it's true people are better compensated here in the Bay Area. I'll also add that the higher cost of living doesn't really show up for me. Since I left Ohio, I'm just plain much better compensated and there is a *shortage* of developers out here.
If you're not in the Bay Area (or a tech hub) you might consider coming out because, from everything I can tell, there's only massive upside for people who live out here and can wrangle code of any kind.
It's a reiteration and reinforcement of the parent, similar to "+1", "Exactly what the parent said", "Me, too!", and "Hear, hear".
Right to work does not mean you can be fired for no reason. Right to work means unionization cannot be a condition of employment.
In California, "At will" designates employment relationships where an employee may be fired for no reason and an employee may quit for no reason. In any case, firings and abandonment don't appear to be common.
Ok, so we've isolated the compound. Why do we need the Pandas now?
To prepare for the next big Pandemy, of course!
Now you've done it. You've gone ahead and opened up a Panda-ora's box.
And to further rub salt into the wounds, they knobbled SBS like Apple knobbled OS X Server. For example, there's no in-house email in SBS 2012 or OS X Server 10.7+
I have no idea what you're talking about and suspect you may not have any idea either.
Mac OS X 10.7 and greater have postfix as part of the distribution. Maybe I don't understand what you mean by "in-house email". What do you mean by "in-house email"?
The response was justified, apple took away what most people use as their GPS device, and replaced it with one that doesnt work, and doesnt work in spectacular fashion.
That response was justified but it indicates more than a strategic move/unplanned blunder/whatever by Apple, a corporate entity. It demonstrates that for people who use it, GPS is practically a utility.
I live in a city with good (for USA, ha!) public transportation and some of the most important and enjoyable parts of my life would be severely restricted if I did not have access to GPS: meeting new people, locating businesses, attending meetings, attending special occasions, etc.
Other people rely on GPS for traveling to new cities, when conducting business in unfamiliar environs, etc.
Anyhow, yeah, GPS is really important and once one gets access to it, there really isn't any going back, is there?
There are lots of homeless where I presently live, SF. Mostly when I see/think/consider homeless people and their plight I feel pretty fucking rotten. I pity them, hate them, admire them, etc. I just don't know what practically can be done about them (about homelessness) and it depresses me we humans can't figure out a humane way to deal with poverty and mental illness in the midst of vast material wealth.
Seriously fellow wealthy and politically-connected humans, why is this such a problem? WTF.
But what do I know, they seem popular. Possibly because they're robust and they've got a few different mount options, but I can't believe there isn't more good-looking and capable competition.
I record my bike rides with a Contour Roam (apparently I've been obsoleted!). My camera is sturdy, sleek, and easy-to-operate. (I'm a satisfied user with no corporate affiliation to Contour) GoPro has larger mindshare due to a good product and MASSIVE marketing which even seasoned people mistake for amateur user content.
From where I sit, though, these changes in the market seem secondary to the increasing democratization of video which has benefits for justice, science, history, posterity, and art that outweigh the abuses of video perpetrated by corrupt governments, though I recognize this particular sword has two edges, is exceedingly sharp, and has already cut a number of agonists quite badly.
Yes, I'd also call it the fault of patent law for allowing something so absurd intended solely to block interoperation with 3rd party devices; but Apple chose to use it.
If it makes you happier, I also condemn Intel for the abomination they call "Thunderbolt" - Though unlike iThings, at least Thunderbolt never really caught on.
Some companies innovate by producing proprietary technology, which is not to say all proprietary technologies are innovative. This is also neither to say that Lightning and Thunderbolt technology are or are not innovative.
I do, however, want to take a quick look at the claim (not yours, but related to the idea of "standard" as opposed to "proprietary") that Apple should have used USB instead of implementing the new proprietary Lightning connector.
One of my coworkers was on the bandwagon of people complaining that iPhone 5 used an unnecessary proprietary connector. I offered that some of the write-ups I'd seen explained that the Lightning port and its required adaptors did things that could not be (easily/presently) achieved using USB. My coworker asked for some examples and, being the only-slightly-more-techie-than-average guy I am, I said I'd heard about audio affordances and that I'd only read and could not fully detail other differences and that there may be business reasons we don't understand for introducing the new connector.
My coworker stood firm in his opinion that making chump change from wires and cables was Apple's (Apple's!) ultimate motive for introducing a new proprietary cable.
Within the next couple of weeks, my coworker had to order a new Android phone (G3, I believe, I don't recall and don't know all the models. Sorry.) and he was grateful he was being allowed to receive one as a fulfillment of his warranty. Why, you (should) ask, did he need to make a warranty claim?
Good of you to ask.
He had plugged his G3 into one of the (micro/A/B/whatever) USB plugs from his other "standard" USB-charging phone and fried his G3.
In other words, the pseudo-standard USB<—>micro/A/B/whathaveyou USB allows (wait for it) incompatible specifications to be interconnected which, in this case, yielded a catastrophic result.
So much for sticking with existing "standard" technology.
I'm not saying standards are impossible or undesirable. I'm only saying that in the case of USB vs. Lightning, USB is not a real standard and Apple's decision to produce a proprietary connector was a choice that Apple deemed best (whether selfishly or also in consideration of their users as well).
Learn Linux the Hard Way? I thought learning Linux, period, was the hard way!
That can convert academic jargon to local slang? It's transformative.
That right there is going to be one hell of a translation. Presuming all statements from one language can be translated into statements in a different language assumes (or seems to assume) that languages are isomorphic.
However, there are things that cannot be communicated in the limited vocabulary available to, say, a young adult compared to the expansive vocabulary of, say, a scholar of comparative literature. The same applies for concepts that can only be delivered in medical specialized terminology (disparagingly referred to as "jargon") an that cannot be communicated in layperson language.
None of which is to say that some ideas (even very important ideas) cannot be translated across linguistic groups, but the idea that Google and Kurzweil are somehow going to produce the Internet equivalent of a Babel Fish is nothing more than a wish.
I happen to like anything space related, and submitted this because it's an interesting video, and thought other people here would think it is too.
As an adjective to describe this video the word "Interesting" is a radical understatement. Thanks for linking this amazing video. I was fully expecting to see a small claustrophobic can and instead I got the real life 2012 version of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
You don't fool me. You're just another of PieceOfShitAndroid's sockpuppets. Just like I am... er... wait.
Apple are doing far worse things for computing than Microsoft ever did.
These two companies and the deleterious effects they may or may not have had on computing cannot even begin to be compared.
I've never had a virus on my iPhone and I have access to very useful apps that help me learn foreign languages, log my exercise, and construct data schema, among a host of other things. These apps, where they were not free of charge, are ones I paid for and for which developers were compensated.
Furthermore, Apple's approach to most competitors is to leave them be or, in the case where Apple sees significant market advantage, to purchase them and promote the use of the acquired assets and technology Apple's technological infrastructure.
This is a far cry from the "embrace, extend, and extinguish" philosophy adopted by Microsoft. The decade-upon-decade of vulnerability to viruses and malware as a result of poor OS architecture from Windows 95 through Windows XP looks nothing like the well-considered architectural choices Apple made for OS X security. (I'm not claiming of invulnerability, just reasonable separation of userland and system-level executables.)
This list could go on and on before I even got to the point where Microsoft became a convicted monopolist whose systematic refusal to adopt Internet standards stifled innovation for over a decade.
Microsoft's Windows is a derivative product that used to be incredibly unsecure. For nearly two decades, Microsoft bludgeoned innovative companies to death and manipulated hardware manufacturers in order to maintain market dominance and, as far as I'm concerned, I still don't trust Microsoft very much despite their considerably weakened position.
tl;dr: Even considering Apple's restrictive developer licenses, unfavorable marketplace terms, and their ongoing patent litigation, Apple's negative effects on computing are trivial compared to Microsoft's lamentable corporate history.
Following the advice of someone upthread, I googled why McAffee moved to Belize and came up with "Four hours with John McAffee" by Adam Thomson, a lively and entertaining read.
The article tells the story of McAffee's education, flight from school, and nearly accidental entrepreneurship and helped me to understand what there is to admire about him, especially given all that I knew about him was that the software bearing his name seems to be reviled by anyone with a technological clue and that he seems to be involved in some kind of chicanery that led to the execution of his neighbor.
On of my favorite parts of the article is its last paragraph, which seems to reveal McAffee has a sense of (ironic) perspective somewhere in among the fantasies occupying his mind:
We took some pictures, shook hands and said our farewells. There was just one more question, though: “Do you have McAfee antivirus on your computer?” He looked at me and put down his cigarette. “I take it off,” he said. “It’s too annoying.”
As for Apple printing money...absolutely, but as the tablet; phone market continue to mature its pursuit of profit over marketshare. Is looking increasingly shaky, but hey they learnt last time they did this right....
I don't understand all the people who measure and forecast success according to marketshare. Minority platforms not only can be healthy, they also can outperform majority platforms.
For one obvious example, Apple has about 10% marketshare for computers and low single-digit percentage in the installed base. Yet, Apple has fully dominated the consumer computer industry in terms of profit and growth. Apple does better than every single one of its competitors in consumer computing (selling new computers) because marketshare is not a factor now that the Internet and open standards exist.
This is even more true with mobile computing.
Who cares how many Android devices exist in relation to iOS devices? Consumers don't because what they mostly do is connect to the Internet with their smartphones, where they watch video, comb Facebook, check email, send texts, and post Tweets.
Why does anyone even talk about smartphone OS marketshare as if it matters?
The math of Obamacare for most businesses means less money will be lost if employees don't work more than 28 hours. What decision should a business make?
This is an idea that is getting traction now that the Affordable Health Care Act will carry as a result of Obama's reelection, and it is an idea that needs to be challenged.
Employees who are secure in terms of healthcare are a huge benefit to a company and to the society that supports the conditions for universal healthcare. Reducing the possibility of bankruptcy due to medical eventuality (not just crisis) means reduced money spent to train new employees and combat turnover.
Employees with access to affordable preventive care need less time off and are more productive than overworked and ailing workers.
In time, when the financial reality of universal healthcare normalizes, services and premiums will (with the proper administrative and legislative conditioning) hit a virtuous cycle where resources are commensurate to demand. People will not avoid seeing a doctor because it might be unaffordable and so will get proper treatment that may obviate the need for heroic but less-effective medical services at a later time.
A populace with access to universal healthcare will mean more financial resources available for discretionary purchases, investment, and education.
Employers and capitalists who think taking care of employees is too expensive are poor capitalists, indeed. While there certainly is more to life than money, in the case of universal healthcare there's economic sense to be had as well.
One of my kids, visiting their grandparents, managed to conjure up some pretty sordid images of bestiality in no time by just googling one of her hobbies, horse riding.
I have safe search turned off in Google and I searched on "horse riding" and I see what you mean.
Enough with the marketing crap. Android phones at the at an average price of 1293 yuan are about $236 you get an Android Phone that has measurably better hardware than an iPhone for that money and subjectively better software [I would say years ahead].
I'm a little late to the party but I think this is an important point to rebut and emphasize the quality of Apple products.
Back in August I was riding my bicycle in the Presidio, coming down McDowell Avenue between 15 and 20 mph. If you know anything about the Presidio, you know the roads are very steep.
My iPhone was in an armband case on my left arm and when I rode over some oil on the road and I went down. Hard. On my left side. My iPhone glass was cracked and the right edge which led the impact into the road looked like it had been abraded with an industrial machine.
I had hematomas on my left elbow and left hip and my left shoulder was so bad I could not fully lift my arm for six weeks. Two and a half months later my shoulder is does not have full range of motion and the hematoma on my left hip is about the size of a small wallet.
When people see my iPhone (still using the same armband case) or when they use it, they often ask what happened. I tell them I had a bike accident. It wasn't until last night that I realized my phone STILL WORKS.
I've seen Android phones hit the ground from chest height and shatter to pieces, battery covers and phone chassis flying in different directions. Had I been wearing one of these phones when I had my accident, I would have had to purchase a new phone because it probably would have been pulverized.
The obsessive build quality of the iPhone 4 makes it extremely durable. I had a major accident and the phone took the brunt of the impact. It got badly damaged. But it fucking held together and even though I do have a new iPhone 5 (I'm holding off activating it until the same armband case is available for it), I'm still using it.
Say what you will about marketshare, but I seriously doubt there is another phone on the market that can survive an impact like the one I had and continue working.