I can't agree enough about the Logictech Trackman Marble FX. I've got two and I hope they never die because it looks like Logitech will never comeout with a new trackball.
The only newer trackball out there is the Cordless Optical TrackMan, but I don't see why I need to consume mass batteries for a device I will never move.
I want a new trackball from Logitech with finger movement (bulge on right), lots of buttons, a cord, and USB. Basically, a corded Optical Trackman.
But three years and no new Trackballs? I feel like I'm the only trackball using dinosaur in the valley, except I evolved from a mouse, and now I have to de-evolve [devolve?] back.
If all formats of music did worse in 2000 than 1999, except for those traded on Napster, then I think the RIAA owes Napster some advertising dollars for propping up their CD sales and saving them from crashing also.
But it's done the Microsoft way. Look at it from Microsoft's perspective to see the differences.
Before, MS controlled the source layer. (C, C++, VB) Source was compiled to an object layer that was defined by the CPU (not MS).
Now, Microsoft inserts MSIL, a meta-object layer. MSIL is owned and controlled by Microsoft. They create momentum by providing 27 languages that all compile to MSIL. (How many of those 27 MSIL shells will be updated a year from now to support.NET 2.0?) Trying to integrate non-MSIL code with MSIL code will be a new hurdle developers will have to face, and in most cases, won't be cost justified. To succeed, third party tools will need to directly support MSIL,
Sun did the same thing by creating a meta-layer of Java.class files, but today there is a Java engine for most platforms. Do you expect the same level of support from Microsoft?
The key for me will be to see how third party vendors are allowed to link with MSIL projects. Watch Microsoft and see what methods they use to lock developers to their platform.
I predict Microsoft will protect their Windows investment by the usual methods. First they will only support their own operating systems. Then they will provide broken support for other platforms where it is easier to migrate to Windows than stay on non-Microsoft platform.
I hope I'm wrong, but just in case I've just finished pulling the last com.ms package out of my J++ project and am ready to migrate back to an open JVM. I'd rather not take advantage of Micorosoft's tools that allow me to easily port my Java code to C#.
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I can't agree enough about the Logictech Trackman Marble FX. I've got two and I hope they never die because it looks like Logitech will never comeout with a new trackball.
The only newer trackball out there is the Cordless Optical TrackMan, but I don't see why I need to consume mass batteries for a device I will never move.
I want a new trackball from Logitech with finger movement (bulge on right), lots of buttons, a cord, and USB. Basically, a corded Optical Trackman.
But three years and no new Trackballs? I feel like I'm the only trackball using dinosaur in the valley, except I evolved from a mouse, and now I have to de-evolve [devolve?] back.
If all formats of music did worse in 2000 than 1999, except for those traded on Napster, then I think the RIAA owes Napster some advertising dollars for propping up their CD sales and saving them from crashing also.
But it's done the Microsoft way. Look at it from Microsoft's perspective to see the differences.
Before, MS controlled the source layer. (C, C++, VB) Source was compiled to an object layer that was defined by the CPU (not MS).
Now, Microsoft inserts MSIL, a meta-object layer. MSIL is owned and controlled by Microsoft. They create momentum by providing 27 languages that all compile to MSIL. (How many of those 27 MSIL shells will be updated a year from now to support .NET 2.0?) Trying to integrate non-MSIL code with MSIL code will be a new hurdle developers will have to face, and in most cases, won't be cost justified. To succeed, third party tools will need to directly support MSIL,
Sun did the same thing by creating a meta-layer of Java .class files, but today there is a Java engine for most platforms. Do you expect the same level of support from Microsoft?
The key for me will be to see how third party vendors are allowed to link with MSIL projects. Watch Microsoft and see what methods they use to lock developers to their platform.
I predict Microsoft will protect their Windows investment by the usual methods. First they will only support their own operating systems. Then they will provide broken support for other platforms where it is easier to migrate to Windows than stay on non-Microsoft platform.
I hope I'm wrong, but just in case I've just finished pulling the last com.ms package out of my J++ project and am ready to migrate back to an open JVM. I'd rather not take advantage of Micorosoft's tools that allow me to easily port my Java code to C#.