Time to leave that cave...on Mars. I've got one. Updates for last year's phones are going to start rolling out this quarter. The next wave of tablets will be ICS.
If "IT" is just now starting to look at this, it'll be 6-12 months before anything happens, by which time, ICS will be mature. You have to keep that lead time in mind when trying to shift a major segment of your user base to a new platform. It'll never happen overnight and it often has to be synced to contract dates and such. If you build your solution around tech that's mature now, you'll be way behind the curve by the time your new solution is implemented.
Except a warranty was given at the time of sale. And changing the OS on a laptop doesn't void the warranty. Nor does flashing the BIOS. And many of the hardware components are designed to be user-serviceable.
I think claiming that changing the software/firmware/BIOS on a computing device is a legitimate cause to void the warranty is a big stretch. I can see charging a nominal fee to re-flash the device if it gets bricked but not abandoning the device entirely without first proving that the non-OEM software caused a hardware failure.
The fact that this is even an issue befuddles me. They're selling these devices, not licensing them or leasing them.
Actually, back in the day, it was the opposite of stupid. I bumped my old K6-III by 25%. I used it for video transcoding and a 25% increase in performance was huge. It could take a full day to do a high quality multi-pass of an hour of video. Shaving 5 or 6 hours off that was kind of a big deal. Sorry you couldn't figure out how to do it right.
All it takes is one hacker working in his mom's basement to defeat a DRM scheme that cost millions of dollars to develop and the crack will be circulated around the world in an hour. How can game publishers not understand this after all these years? Want more people to buy your product? Reduce the price.
I was a Windows guy for portable stuff for many years because they were usually the first to market with the "killer apps" that I needed. (Apps not necessarily meaning applications but also features.) Honestly, M$-based PDAs had some killer features back in the day. But what they've got on the phone market now is a joke. They're a distant third these days. One or two phones per carrier, some still on 6.5 which is 2 years old now. Verizon doesn't even have a 4G WinMo smartphone. It's pretty pathetic. Apple's nice but they've always been behind the curve in connectivity. Last OS to get tethering, still don't have 4G, etc. Android's been at the cutting edge for a while now and, unless they totally drop the ball, it will be hard to pull existing customers away from the platform.
I made the switch a couple weeks ago and haven't looked back. It doesn't really matter to me what Microsoft puts out in the next few years because I don't think they'll be able to catch up, let alone regain the lead. The only hope they have is to go after business clients with cloud computing, workstation docks, etc. Of course, they'd still be playing catchup to Android. Already got laptop and desktop docks for Android phones along with google docs to work on your documents from any device.
Then it's not very revolutionary because I can already run down to Big Lots and get a low quality $80 Android 2.2 tablet. I guess the revolutionary part is getting the government to heavily subsidize your product.
Yet despite all the drama, Christoforo said he hasn't lost any of his other accounts, aside from Avenger. "It hasn't affected my business yet," he said. "Clients have brought it up, but they've mainly laughed about it. I haven't lost any clients."
That's because most of the people who have the authority to sever ties with you are on vacation. Next week's gonna be a pile of suck.
Free market. If people will pay a high price, why charge less?
My old mag's iOS and Android content is free for now but I suspect that will change when they can get a favorable subscription model in place. Last time I checked, Apple was making some onerous demands in this area.
Advertising is the main source of revenue for most publications. Magazines are a collection of ads with some filler called "articles". Check out what it costs to get a full page ad in a magazine and you'll probably be shocked. I just checked my old mag's suggested retail price on their website and you're looking at over 80 grand for a single-run 4-color ad. That same page sold in 1/3 chunks pulls in a hundred grand at list price. More if you want placement in a prime area. Moderate discounts for a commitment to purchase multiple months/pages.
Sorry but tech mags are going to be the first to drop paper distribution. I used to work for a large magazine and their printing and postage costs are insane. Like "buy a private island with a year's printing and mailing costs" insane. Each postage increase adds a nice 3-4 bedroom house to the year's overhead.
Since geeks are the most likely target market to accept a shift to electronic distribution, it's logical that they would be the first to make the move.
With the In one corner are the publishers, who claim that unlimited lending of e-books 'without friction is not a sustainable business model for us.'
WTF is "friction"? And what is this "unlimited" thing? I don't know how the Amazon deal works but the Overdrive model allows libraries to loan a specific number of copies of each title. There's nothing "unlimited" about that. I'm patron 19 of 22 waiting for one of 3 copies of a title on my list. And what's "friction"? Do they mean I no longer have to haul my fat ass to the library to get the book? I don't have to do that buy purchase their book in ebook form, either. Seems like a pretty level playing field to me. And the artificial scarcity created by the licensing model might push me towards purchasing since I can get it right now instead of a few months from now. Is that what they call "friction"? If so, again...covered.
Publishers, stop acting like you sell paper. You don't. You sell content. Act like it.
Bingo. This and the first post are the ones to pay attention to. Either nip this shit in the bud or get out of there. You're not going to be able to come up with meaningful "metrics" for a 3 person team. If I help ten people attach documents to emails before lunch and you spend all day helping a team optimize their new production process, who did more meaningful work? With crappy metrics, I did. I've got ten closed tickets and you've got one.
You shouldn't need some complicated process to track and evaluate the work of three people. If there are three people and one of them isn't pulling their weight, all three know it.
A tracking/ticketing system is one thing (and a good thing) because it lets everyone see what need to be done and make sure tasks don't fall through the cracks. But, if that data is going to be used to evaluate performance, someone's going to have to develop a "difficulty rating" system and sit there assigning difficulty ratings to every item that goes through the system. Otherwise, I'm going to look like the king of turd mountain because I'm closing dozens of simple tickets every week while you two do all the work.
T-Mobile used to do that a long time ago but stopped shortly before I switched to them (no longer with them). "I have to sign up for 2 years even if I bring my own phone?" "Yes." "Is there any discount on the monthly service?" "No." So I picked what looked like the most expensive free phone and threw it in a drawer.
Slashdot Mirror
Time to leave that cave...on Mars. I've got one. Updates for last year's phones are going to start rolling out this quarter. The next wave of tablets will be ICS.
If "IT" is just now starting to look at this, it'll be 6-12 months before anything happens, by which time, ICS will be mature. You have to keep that lead time in mind when trying to shift a major segment of your user base to a new platform. It'll never happen overnight and it often has to be synced to contract dates and such. If you build your solution around tech that's mature now, you'll be way behind the curve by the time your new solution is implemented.
Except for "proving that the non-OEM software caused a hardware failure", dumbass coward.
Except a warranty was given at the time of sale. And changing the OS on a laptop doesn't void the warranty. Nor does flashing the BIOS. And many of the hardware components are designed to be user-serviceable.
I think claiming that changing the software/firmware/BIOS on a computing device is a legitimate cause to void the warranty is a big stretch. I can see charging a nominal fee to re-flash the device if it gets bricked but not abandoning the device entirely without first proving that the non-OEM software caused a hardware failure.
The fact that this is even an issue befuddles me. They're selling these devices, not licensing them or leasing them.
8585.05 is is a bigger number than 8320.4. Do you see how that works?
Actually, back in the day, it was the opposite of stupid. I bumped my old K6-III by 25%. I used it for video transcoding and a 25% increase in performance was huge. It could take a full day to do a high quality multi-pass of an hour of video. Shaving 5 or 6 hours off that was kind of a big deal. Sorry you couldn't figure out how to do it right.
A thousand times, "This!"
All it takes is one hacker working in his mom's basement to defeat a DRM scheme that cost millions of dollars to develop and the crack will be circulated around the world in an hour. How can game publishers not understand this after all these years? Want more people to buy your product? Reduce the price.
If it's done right in the first place, 10 years would be a very short life for a road.
I was a Windows guy for portable stuff for many years because they were usually the first to market with the "killer apps" that I needed. (Apps not necessarily meaning applications but also features.) Honestly, M$-based PDAs had some killer features back in the day. But what they've got on the phone market now is a joke. They're a distant third these days. One or two phones per carrier, some still on 6.5 which is 2 years old now. Verizon doesn't even have a 4G WinMo smartphone. It's pretty pathetic. Apple's nice but they've always been behind the curve in connectivity. Last OS to get tethering, still don't have 4G, etc. Android's been at the cutting edge for a while now and, unless they totally drop the ball, it will be hard to pull existing customers away from the platform.
I made the switch a couple weeks ago and haven't looked back. It doesn't really matter to me what Microsoft puts out in the next few years because I don't think they'll be able to catch up, let alone regain the lead. The only hope they have is to go after business clients with cloud computing, workstation docks, etc. Of course, they'd still be playing catchup to Android. Already got laptop and desktop docks for Android phones along with google docs to work on your documents from any device.
Then it's not very revolutionary because I can already run down to Big Lots and get a low quality $80 Android 2.2 tablet. I guess the revolutionary part is getting the government to heavily subsidize your product.
Yet despite all the drama, Christoforo said he hasn't lost any of his other accounts, aside from Avenger. "It hasn't affected my business yet," he said. "Clients have brought it up, but they've mainly laughed about it. I haven't lost any clients."
That's because most of the people who have the authority to sever ties with you are on vacation. Next week's gonna be a pile of suck.
Hey, I have an ebook subscription to that magazine. :D
Free market. If people will pay a high price, why charge less?
My old mag's iOS and Android content is free for now but I suspect that will change when they can get a favorable subscription model in place. Last time I checked, Apple was making some onerous demands in this area.
Advertising is the main source of revenue for most publications. Magazines are a collection of ads with some filler called "articles". Check out what it costs to get a full page ad in a magazine and you'll probably be shocked. I just checked my old mag's suggested retail price on their website and you're looking at over 80 grand for a single-run 4-color ad. That same page sold in 1/3 chunks pulls in a hundred grand at list price. More if you want placement in a prime area. Moderate discounts for a commitment to purchase multiple months/pages.
Buggy Whip Monthly
Sorry but tech mags are going to be the first to drop paper distribution. I used to work for a large magazine and their printing and postage costs are insane . Like "buy a private island with a year's printing and mailing costs" insane. Each postage increase adds a nice 3-4 bedroom house to the year's overhead.
Since geeks are the most likely target market to accept a shift to electronic distribution, it's logical that they would be the first to make the move.
Because the companies that owned the rights to those logos wouldn't pay for product placement.
With the In one corner are the publishers, who claim that unlimited lending of e-books 'without friction is not a sustainable business model for us.'
WTF is "friction"? And what is this "unlimited" thing? I don't know how the Amazon deal works but the Overdrive model allows libraries to loan a specific number of copies of each title. There's nothing "unlimited" about that. I'm patron 19 of 22 waiting for one of 3 copies of a title on my list. And what's "friction"? Do they mean I no longer have to haul my fat ass to the library to get the book? I don't have to do that buy purchase their book in ebook form, either. Seems like a pretty level playing field to me. And the artificial scarcity created by the licensing model might push me towards purchasing since I can get it right now instead of a few months from now. Is that what they call "friction"? If so, again...covered.
Publishers, stop acting like you sell paper. You don't. You sell content. Act like it.
The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!
Oh, every week there's a canal.
Or an inlet.
Or a fjord.
I think my old Dell desktop has a modem in it. And my G3 ibook's around here somewhere. I don't have a phone line, tho.
DRI's been at the top of the list (compiled by Forbes) 9 out of the last 10 years. They do work in the US and around the world.
Bingo. This and the first post are the ones to pay attention to. Either nip this shit in the bud or get out of there. You're not going to be able to come up with meaningful "metrics" for a 3 person team. If I help ten people attach documents to emails before lunch and you spend all day helping a team optimize their new production process, who did more meaningful work? With crappy metrics, I did. I've got ten closed tickets and you've got one.
You shouldn't need some complicated process to track and evaluate the work of three people. If there are three people and one of them isn't pulling their weight, all three know it.
A tracking/ticketing system is one thing (and a good thing) because it lets everyone see what need to be done and make sure tasks don't fall through the cracks. But, if that data is going to be used to evaluate performance, someone's going to have to develop a "difficulty rating" system and sit there assigning difficulty ratings to every item that goes through the system. Otherwise, I'm going to look like the king of turd mountain because I'm closing dozens of simple tickets every week while you two do all the work.
It's from a movie. The greatest time traveling midget gang movie of all time.
Y'all seem a little touchy.
"Lowest standard of living in Europe."
Then they must have brought it back after I left to get 3G service. Figures. :P
T-Mobile used to do that a long time ago but stopped shortly before I switched to them (no longer with them). "I have to sign up for 2 years even if I bring my own phone?" "Yes." "Is there any discount on the monthly service?" "No." So I picked what looked like the most expensive free phone and threw it in a drawer.