Unless your content is so Unique that no one else can provide it, people will just go elsewhere. News is HIGHLY redundant, I see the same stories from 6 or seven different sources. As for opinions, their a dime a dozen, people WANT to get their opinions out. If/. started charging I would just rely more heavily on other sources which are often redundant.
Even paper media charges merely the distribution charges, $0.35/ day for newspaper, is the cost of printing it and getting it to you. They make their money in ad revenue.
Sources that can charge a premium for information, do. For example, the Wall Street Journal, The Kiplinger Letter, Netcraft (charges for,more detailed reports), IDC, and many others.
The trick is, providing that sort of information takes much time and research and expertise. Regular Journalism is generally just rehashing bits you've heard from elsewhere, and I can find that info myself.
How long have you been using Windows? Most people have been using DOS/ Windows for years and get into the rut of thinking that they are computer pros because they are Windows pros. Your Windows Expertise is based on years of training (conditioning), you have had years to get used to the Windows way. Linux is quite a bit different than Windows and many of you Computer Skills are really Windows skills.
You ARE a "Newbie", as green and raw as a recruit in basic. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can change you backwards slashes to forward slashes and dive in. Swallow you pride and read the newbie stuff, most likely you will learn a thing or two. Linux != Windows, and Windows experts are not automatically Linux Experts.
That said, here's a big tip: Don't just try to learn Linux. The sheer amount of Linux related stuff out there will overwhelm and confuse you. Find a goal, and try to do that one specific task. You will find that with focus and a specific goal you will learn much quicker. Research your goal and ask around the community about how to accomplish it. You will pick up the other stuff along the way.
Here's some resources you might consider, a while ago I used a book called Unix for Dos Users. I searched B&N. com and they had several titles that were similar. I don't know which one it was, but here are the results of that search. Also, from a systems administrators perspective, Essential Systems Administration is probably the best general Unix systems administration books around I've seen it on many administrators bookshelves and it never leaves mine. One other book I recommend is O'Reiliey's Unix in a Nutshell, it's a little more concise an Howto-ish than the Essential book above.
Also consider, GNU/ Linux is a HUGE phenomenon, despite the fact that the media claims Linux is a new thing; GNU has been building the tools that make up the core of the OS for over 20 years, and right now thousands of coders around the world are creating new stuff on a continual basis. After 5 years using Linux I still learn new (GNU?) tools and techniques on a regular basis.
-- Dennis (Still learning)
Most users are overwhelmed by the choices they are forced to make on setup, and Windows and Linux both install too much stuff for the average user. In most companies end users don't install computers, IT professionals do. Smart IT people use preconfigured setups which limit the choices the end users see, standardizes the look and feel throughout the company, and make system installation and support much simpler.
When building a configuration under Linux I can be VERY specific about what I install and how confusing the desktop is. This means the user sees exactally what I want her to see, nothing more, nothing less. This is very powerful and allows us to set things up so that new (Don't know how to use a mouse) users have the absolute minimum learning curve.
With Windows, you are limited to ONE desktop environment, which (IMHO) is more confusing than the custom environment I can create under Linux. Additionally, the amount of configurability under windows is very limited, certain things (My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Command Prompt, Control Panel, etc..) are hard to make go away, and once gone make administrating the box a nightmare.
The point ZDNet missed is that it is possible to make Linux MUCH simpler than Windows ever can be (Think TIVO), the average home user doesn't install their own apps anyways, they buy a computer preconfigured. Computer Makers do it because Windows installation isn't a cake walk either.
-- Dennis
It's been a long time since the computer industry made a significant move into the mainstream home market. The last time was back in the C=64/ Vic 20 days. Recently the home PC market has been slowly growing but no big jumps. This iToaster and other low priced PCs are an indication that we may have another massive market thrust into the home/ home entertainment industry with Linux at the forefront.
The C=64 was a low end PC running a non-standard OS (the norm was CP/M or MS-DOS for the PC industry). The iToaster - a low end machine running a "non-standard OS". The $199 price sticker really rings a bell too, That was the price of the C=64 at it's height in popularity.
Why $199? That is the price that everyone finds acceptable for home electronics. Stereo Equipment, Bread Makers, Televisions, Nintendos, all sell for around $199. For some reason the American Consumer feels comfortable paying this much for home entertainment/ conveinience devices. I think that is one of the Reasons Comodore was so successful back in the 80's.
Everyone talks about Linux usability, Customer Support, and third party applications being the key to Linux's success. BULLSHIT. We all know that Linux has these things to one extent or another. IBM and Macitosh both had all of those and Microsoft ground them into the dirt. Look at the places where Linux has grown in Marketshare over Microsoft, The Server arena.
Internet servers and Smal LAN servers cost around $2000-3000. Add NT, MS Exchange & SQL Server and other net goodies : $1500-2000. The premium for the OS & tools is over 50%. Linux has massive penetration in these markets. Lesson - When the cost of the OS reaches a 50% of the hardware people start to shop for a new OS.
Now back to the iToaster, Cost of hardware = $199 Cost of OS = $0. If they used Win 95 they would increase their cost of goods by 50%.
Businesses have significant investment in Microsoft Products and are slower to respond to Market changes. Home users don't have this constraint. Individual households have little or no investment in current (Microsoft based) technologies and only need to interact with other systems through well defined STANDARDS based portals (HTTP, SMTP, POP, etc.).
Death knoll for Microsoft? I think not. But they are not going to have much trouble selling their initial 10,000 units of these iToasters (iToaster, eMac hmmmm... ). Dennis
Slashdot Mirror
A pair of Nikes cost less than $500 (but only just). That's about as close as you're gonna get.
Unless your content is so Unique that no one else can provide it, people will just go elsewhere. News is HIGHLY redundant, I see the same stories from 6 or seven different sources. As for opinions, their a dime a dozen, people WANT to get their opinions out. If /. started charging I would just rely more heavily on other sources which are often redundant.
Even paper media charges merely the distribution charges, $0.35/ day for newspaper, is the cost of printing it and getting it to you. They make their money in ad revenue.
Sources that can charge a premium for information, do. For example, the Wall Street Journal, The Kiplinger Letter, Netcraft (charges for ,more detailed reports), IDC, and many others.
The trick is, providing that sort of information takes much time and research and expertise. Regular Journalism is generally just rehashing bits you've heard from elsewhere, and I can find that info myself.
How long have you been using Windows? Most people have been using DOS/ Windows for years and get into the rut of thinking that they are computer pros because they are Windows pros. Your Windows Expertise is based on years of training (conditioning), you have had years to get used to the Windows way. Linux is quite a bit different than Windows and many of you Computer Skills are really Windows skills.
You ARE a "Newbie", as green and raw as a recruit in basic. Don't make the mistake of thinking you can change you backwards slashes to forward slashes and dive in. Swallow you pride and read the newbie stuff, most likely you will learn a thing or two. Linux != Windows, and Windows experts are not automatically Linux Experts.
That said, here's a big tip: Don't just try to learn Linux. The sheer amount of Linux related stuff out there will overwhelm and confuse you. Find a goal, and try to do that one specific task. You will find that with focus and a specific goal you will learn much quicker. Research your goal and ask around the community about how to accomplish it. You will pick up the other stuff along the way.
Here's some resources you might consider, a while ago I used a book called Unix for Dos Users. I searched B&N. com and they had several titles that were similar. I don't know which one it was, but here are the results of that search. Also, from a systems administrators perspective, Essential Systems Administration is probably the best general Unix systems administration books around I've seen it on many administrators bookshelves and it never leaves mine. One other book I recommend is O'Reiliey's Unix in a Nutshell, it's a little more concise an Howto-ish than the Essential book above.
Also consider, GNU/ Linux is a HUGE phenomenon, despite the fact that the media claims Linux is a new thing; GNU has been building the tools that make up the core of the OS for over 20 years, and right now thousands of coders around the world are creating new stuff on a continual basis. After 5 years using Linux I still learn new (GNU?) tools and techniques on a regular basis. -- Dennis (Still learning)
Most users are overwhelmed by the choices they are forced to make on setup, and Windows and Linux both install too much stuff for the average user. In most companies end users don't install computers, IT professionals do. Smart IT people use preconfigured setups which limit the choices the end users see, standardizes the look and feel throughout the company, and make system installation and support much simpler.
When building a configuration under Linux I can be VERY specific about what I install and how confusing the desktop is. This means the user sees exactally what I want her to see, nothing more, nothing less. This is very powerful and allows us to set things up so that new (Don't know how to use a mouse) users have the absolute minimum learning curve. With Windows, you are limited to ONE desktop environment, which (IMHO) is more confusing than the custom environment I can create under Linux. Additionally, the amount of configurability under windows is very limited, certain things (My Computer, Network Neighborhood, Command Prompt, Control Panel, etc..) are hard to make go away, and once gone make administrating the box a nightmare.
The point ZDNet missed is that it is possible to make Linux MUCH simpler than Windows ever can be (Think TIVO), the average home user doesn't install their own apps anyways, they buy a computer preconfigured. Computer Makers do it because Windows installation isn't a cake walk either. -- Dennis
It's been a long time since the computer industry made a significant move into the mainstream home market. The last time was back in the C=64/ Vic 20 days. Recently the home PC market has been slowly growing but no big jumps. This iToaster and other low priced PCs are an indication that we may have another massive market thrust into the home/ home entertainment industry with Linux at the forefront.
The C=64 was a low end PC running a non-standard OS (the norm was CP/M or MS-DOS for the PC industry). The iToaster - a low end machine running a "non-standard OS". The $199 price sticker really rings a bell too, That was the price of the C=64 at it's height in popularity.
Why $199? That is the price that everyone finds acceptable for home electronics. Stereo Equipment, Bread Makers, Televisions, Nintendos, all sell for around $199. For some reason the American Consumer feels comfortable paying this much for home entertainment/ conveinience devices. I think that is one of the Reasons Comodore was so successful back in the 80's.
Everyone talks about Linux usability, Customer Support, and third party applications being the key to Linux's success. BULLSHIT. We all know that Linux has these things to one extent or another. IBM and Macitosh both had all of those and Microsoft ground them into the dirt. Look at the places where Linux has grown in Marketshare over Microsoft, The Server arena.
Internet servers and Smal LAN servers cost around $2000-3000. Add NT, MS Exchange & SQL Server and other net goodies : $1500-2000. The premium for the OS & tools is over 50%. Linux has massive penetration in these markets. Lesson - When the cost of the OS reaches a 50% of the hardware people start to shop for a new OS.
Now back to the iToaster, Cost of hardware = $199 Cost of OS = $0. If they used Win 95 they would increase their cost of goods by 50%.
Businesses have significant investment in Microsoft Products and are slower to respond to Market changes. Home users don't have this constraint. Individual households have little or no investment in current (Microsoft based) technologies and only need to interact with other systems through well defined STANDARDS based portals (HTTP, SMTP, POP, etc.).
Death knoll for Microsoft? I think not. But they are not going to have much trouble selling their initial 10,000 units of these iToasters (iToaster, eMac hmmmm... ). Dennis