that it bears out everything Slashdot, the Million Book Project, Kahle and so on have been saying about the benefits of freeing IP, how this does *not* hurt large companies, and how it lets everybody do more.
The Auto-ID Centre, who developed the standard and technology are 'a not-for-profit group established by MIT to develop a system for using the Internet to identify goods anywhere in the world...It is funded by large companies who want to use RFID to track goods and who believe an open standard is critical..just as the world uses one network to share information -- the Internet -- it may be possible to use that same network to share information stored initially on an RFID tag...Strictly speaking, the intellectual property belongs to the universities where the research is being conducted. However, the intellectual property will be freely available to any company that wants to use it...the Auto-ID Center may be the first time in history that companies from different industries and different regions of the world have come together to develop technology they feel would benefit their businesses - and their competitors' businesses.' (quotes from http://www.rfidjournal.com/FAQ2.html)
These guys get it, and as they've convinced companies of the size of Gillette, Cocoa-Cola, Pepsi, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Wal-Mart and others to sponsor this, maybe that's a sign that these companies are, or will, getting it too. There's hope yet.
I said Nokia/Symbian, not Symbian. Nokia's Series 60 platform(which happens to be based on Symbian) is the platform that's likely to win out in the mobile phones market. Have a look at http://press.nokia.com/PR/200211/880712_5.html This is Nokia's press release regarding Sendo's decision to kick Phone Edition into touch. 'The Series 60 is a software platform for feature- and application rich smart phones that Nokia licenses to mobile handset manufacturers...Nokia licenses Series 60 Platform as a source code. The model enables licensees to contribute to the development of the platform...' The source is open to licensees - and the licence is on the OSI's approved list at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/nokia.php
Microsoft has virtually no real penetration in the mobile phone/PDA market; Nokia/Symbian are currently destroying it. Hell, even Sendo (in which MS has a substantial stake) just withdrew their MS based phone after a couple of weeks in favour of the open source Nokia solution. It isn't even *likely* to fly.
It's far more likely that Monti (EU Competition Commissioner) is worried that the current *real* antitrust investigation into Microsoft will either not find anything or that the remedies will be knocked over in court (like most of his cases) - and he wants to have his distraction tactics ready. This way at least he can say "Forget about *that* one, we've got a whole new case against Microsoft to spend years and millions on!" and Slashdot can happily argue about that one till it looks like falling; when he can start a new investigation, probably into Microsoft failing efforts to dominate the games console market. And then there's the effort (with Media Centre) to take over the TV and stereo market.....
Face it, some people are better than others. Some people are more intelligent; some are prettier; some can run faster.
Those that are more intelligent should have a better right to decide on aspects of how the world goes than other people. This doesn't mean they're plotting world domination - indeed, this would seem to be a fairly good indication that they're not particularly intelligent. All it means is that their decision, because they know more, are more likely to turn out for the better. Not definite - but more likely.
I'd rather be ruled by intelligent people than stupid people. This is, in your terms, elitist, but personally, I'd rather strive to be a member of an elite than settle to be a member of the common mass. And if there is no elite, people will never improve.
Remember, aristocracy meant rule by the best. If the best could be reliably defined, wouldn't you rather this than rule by the mob.
Elitism is good. Try and remember this.
Re:posponing the inevitable....
on
Golden Rice
·
· Score: 1
Postponing the inevitable is what being alive's about.
Why on earth is everybody worrying about trying to support CSS on the current generation of mobile phones? The screen's too small and the lack of a halfway usable input device too restrictive.
There is at least one way of getting decent mobile Internet access already. I've been running Opera for EPOC (the 4.0 beta) on my Psion netBook for a while. Through a Dacom PCMCIA modem it works at about 150% the speed of IE on my laptop. Through the wireless card I've just got I can wander anywhere in my house, or down to the river below, and access the Net through my LAN at up to 2MBPS.
Opera supports all the relevant standards, including CSS, and sticks to them. See http://www.opera.com/epoc/whitepaper.html for details. It's small, and it's - relatively - stable. Hell, I'm actually beginning to appreciate the Symbian hype.
Slashdot Mirror
that it bears out everything Slashdot, the Million Book Project, Kahle and so on have been saying about the benefits of freeing IP, how this does *not* hurt large companies, and how it lets everybody do more.
The Auto-ID Centre, who developed the standard and technology are 'a not-for-profit group established by MIT to develop a system for using the Internet to identify goods anywhere in the world...It is funded by large companies who want to use RFID to track goods and who believe an open standard is critical..just as the world uses one network to share information -- the Internet -- it may be possible to use that same network to share information stored initially on an RFID tag...Strictly speaking, the intellectual property belongs to the universities where the research is being conducted. However, the intellectual property will be freely available to any company that wants to use it...the Auto-ID Center may be the first time in history that companies from different industries and different regions of the world have come together to develop technology they feel would benefit their businesses - and their competitors' businesses.' (quotes from http://www.rfidjournal.com/FAQ2.html)
These guys get it, and as they've convinced companies of the size of Gillette, Cocoa-Cola, Pepsi, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, Wal-Mart and others to sponsor this, maybe that's a sign that these companies are, or will, getting it too. There's hope yet.
I said Nokia/Symbian, not Symbian. Nokia's Series 60 platform(which happens to be based on Symbian) is the platform that's likely to win out in the mobile phones market. Have a look at http://press.nokia.com/PR/200211/880712_5.html This is Nokia's press release regarding Sendo's decision to kick Phone Edition into touch. 'The Series 60 is a software platform for feature- and application rich smart phones that Nokia licenses to mobile handset manufacturers...Nokia licenses Series 60 Platform as a source code. The model enables licensees to contribute to the development of the platform...' The source is open to licensees - and the licence is on the OSI's approved list at http://www.opensource.org/licenses/nokia.php
Microsoft has virtually no real penetration in the mobile phone/PDA market; Nokia/Symbian are currently destroying it. Hell, even Sendo (in which MS has a substantial stake) just withdrew their MS based phone after a couple of weeks in favour of the open source Nokia solution. It isn't even *likely* to fly.
It's far more likely that Monti (EU Competition Commissioner) is worried that the current *real* antitrust investigation into Microsoft will either not find anything or that the remedies will be knocked over in court (like most of his cases) - and he wants to have his distraction tactics ready. This way at least he can say "Forget about *that* one, we've got a whole new case against Microsoft to spend years and millions on!" and Slashdot can happily argue about that one till it looks like falling; when he can start a new investigation, probably into Microsoft failing efforts to dominate the games console market. And then there's the effort (with Media Centre) to take over the TV and stereo market.....
'Web sites in the domain would be prohibited from linking to sites outside it....' (from the article)
Say goodbye to Encarta, BBC News, Britannica, most school sites...
Face it, some people are better than others. Some people are more intelligent; some are prettier; some can run faster.
Those that are more intelligent should have a better right to decide on aspects of how the world goes than other people. This doesn't mean they're plotting world domination - indeed, this would seem to be a fairly good indication that they're not particularly intelligent. All it means is that their decision, because they know more, are more likely to turn out for the better. Not definite - but more likely.
I'd rather be ruled by intelligent people than stupid people. This is, in your terms, elitist, but personally, I'd rather strive to be a member of an elite than settle to be a member of the common mass. And if there is no elite, people will never improve.
Remember, aristocracy meant rule by the best. If the best could be reliably defined, wouldn't you rather this than rule by the mob.
Elitism is good. Try and remember this.
Postponing the inevitable is what being alive's about.
Why on earth is everybody worrying about trying to support CSS on the current generation of mobile phones? The screen's too small and the lack of a halfway usable input device too restrictive. There is at least one way of getting decent mobile Internet access already. I've been running Opera for EPOC (the 4.0 beta) on my Psion netBook for a while. Through a Dacom PCMCIA modem it works at about 150% the speed of IE on my laptop. Through the wireless card I've just got I can wander anywhere in my house, or down to the river below, and access the Net through my LAN at up to 2MBPS. Opera supports all the relevant standards, including CSS, and sticks to them. See http://www.opera.com/epoc/whitepaper.html for details. It's small, and it's - relatively - stable. Hell, I'm actually beginning to appreciate the Symbian hype.