"Microsoft has managed to dominate market segments with complete shit products before; now that they actually have something decent, it's going to be difficult to stop them."
It was going to be difficult to stop them regardless of how bad their product is. It's just nice that the default product isn't so bad for a change.
Either/or, I still prefer the sound quality of CDs. There is a noticable loss of sound quality with any compression technique and IMHO there is no comparison to the original.
"and forcing people to live lifestyles they haven't voluntarily chosen. "
Let's see, 90% of the wealth. 90% of people on this planet suffer famines, poverty, wars, and genocides and are forced to live livestyles they have not voluntarily chosen.
Kind of makes *your* problems seem rather unimportant when you look at the situation with a bit of perspective.
"My god, think of how much those metrics alone are worth... A snapshot on DVD adoption, SCSI cards, % of laptops out there? Almost seems like the anti-copy stuff is just a smokescreen."
Amen brother.
One of my CS professors at UWO told me that data mining is going to be a big trend in the near future. All the credit card companies spend tons of CPU cycles analyzing our purchases in search of trends, and the results can be sold for some major coin.
I am sure M$ would be interested in getting a slice of that pie if it were available...
"(MAC address just changed - do token ring cards use MAC addresses?)"
Of _course_ token ring cards use MAC addresses. The system still runs TCP/IP networking, just with a different networking protocol.
OK, M$ is right, insofar as the the schools are violating the terms of the license. But M$ is wrong for such a heavy-handed response.
I think the analogy to the situation of big pharma vs. poor AIDS stricken nations is fairly appropriate.
In both cases, profits are more important than people. Sure, when he needs some good publicity Gates opens the vaults and donates (by his standards) a paltry sum for some cash-strapped group. But I have to wonder how many of the recipients install Linux with their grant?
It is rather self-serving. Bill makes a donation and gets a tax receipt, and the donation is used to purchase more M$ product...
I am having flashbacks to that episode of the Simpsons:
Bill Gates: "I didn't get rich by writing a bunch of cheques"
"(Maybe we'll get a SeaLand-like spam haven with its own domain? Is.sh, "SpamHaven", already taken?)"
If we did that, would all my shell scripts be considered SPAM?
"Gov't won't let me be self sufficient because that takes their control over me away."
Nice troll...
I guess that a "self-sufficient" person would not use public infrastructure like streets, schools, libraries, parks and so on?
Sounds like a pretty crappy quality of life to me.
"Much of the buying is touch and feel - people like to see the meat, fruit, and vegetables and pick what they like"
Absolutely! When I go to the grocery store, some of the produce they have is simply unacceptable. None of it is exactly cheap, and I am not interested in bruised or over-ripe fruits and vegetables. Same for meat. I want to be certain that I pick out a good cut.
That is probably the main reason I have never ordered groceries on-line. If there was a "premium" grocer who would only stock top-grade stuff, I might consider it.
Sure, I have no problem purchasing books, cds, and dvds on-line, but *I* want to pick out the perishable goods myself.
"Browser-based solutions are a good idea. I would love to block images that match certain dimensions (1x1)"
Try WebWasher. It (in part) by blocking images images that match certain dimensions including web-bugs. The program is free to home users, and there is a Linux version. They used to be located at http://www.webwasher.com, but the site seems to be down...
It's not like Bill was dishonest or evasive when questioned during the anti-trust trial. Or that they submitted (badly) doctored videotaped evidence, or staged rigged comparisons between their product and a rivals...
"They could probably simply say on it that the software and camera don't work with Windows XP."
Briliant! Not having their software working on the OS that lots of people are going to rush out and purchase because it is the latest and greatest from micro$oft is definitely the best way to get market share.
Or not.
You almost have to admire micro$oft. How many other companies out there can treat customers, partners, governments, and competitors with such contempt, and still become one of the most significant and powerful monopolies on the planet?
"If such a client generates a hit on a search and
sends it result back all clients on the path
between that client and the originator of the
search keep routing information for the 10.x or
192.x address."
Perhaps not...
The key point is that the 10.x.x.x and 192.168.x.x networks are non-routable. If I plugged into a backbone network and used a non-routable source IP, I could transmit packets, but I would not get any back, because the intermediate routers would not know where to direct packets with a destination address that does not route.
A routing table does not contain a list of all the intermediate hops between the address of the router and the destination. There is a default route and possibly some static routes.
So unless gnutella creates LOTS of static routes in each client, I am not sure how this could work.
"I am on a 192.168.*.* address behind my firewall and I am uploading and downloading files to/from people when using LimeWire."
Since 192.168.x.x does _not_ route, I can only assume that your firewall translates the addresses on the internal network to a routable address. I suspect that from the non-secure side of your firewall, outbound requests do not show the source address as being from the 192.168 network otherwise you would never get any packets back in response...
"A lithograph by M.C. Escher will exist as part of a limited run, each print numbered uniquely with the collector knowing that lower numbers equal higher quality. "
Maybe this was true a few years ago, but it does not apply today.
I would defy anyone to compare two prints that were run on the same high-quality offset press and determine which was run first. The technology is such that the quality of the output does not degrade on small runs (small = a few thousand).
The lower sequence number is just snob appeal anymore.
"3. If company X produced a product for Windows 95, six years later, it probably runs on Windows Me and probably ran on every version in-between (Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition). There's a very good chance that it runs on Windows NT and Windows 2000, too."
It depends on the software. A lot of games were written for 95/98; some don't work so well on ME and lots don't run on NT/2000. In fact, there are disclaimers that say the game will not run on NT/2000.
Other than that, I would agree with your other points, especially about standardization on one GUI.
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"Microsoft has managed to dominate market segments with complete shit products before; now that they actually have something decent, it's going to be difficult to stop them."
It was going to be difficult to stop them regardless of how bad their product is. It's just nice that the default product isn't so bad for a change.
Either/or, I still prefer the sound quality of CDs. There is a noticable loss of sound quality with any compression technique and IMHO there is no comparison to the original.
"Do I have to phone up Lars and ask his permission if I want to lend my mum his latest CD?"
Probably, but he will probably demand another $10 in compensation for re-distributing his "art".
"This does not bode well for earlier adopters of Windows XP."
Probably not. But perhaps they will get used to all the instability, crashes, and GPFs.
Oh wait, they have all that now. So where is all this innovation that I keep hearing about?
Did anyone PLAY Asheron's Call when it was released? Heck, has anyone played it SINCE it was released?
"Take that 'something awful' site with a grain of salt; IIRC, they only give bad reviews."
/.'d
I'll have to take your word on that for now. Their site has been
"One last side note: Take that "something awful" site with a grain of salt; IIRC, they only give bad reviews."
/.'d
I guess I will have to take your word at that for the time being, they have been
"and forcing people to live lifestyles they haven't voluntarily chosen. "
Let's see, 90% of the wealth. 90% of people on this planet suffer famines, poverty, wars, and genocides and are forced to live livestyles they have not voluntarily chosen.
Kind of makes *your* problems seem rather unimportant when you look at the situation with a bit of perspective.
Let us know when you grow up...
"I was so looking forward to saying,
You have failed me for the last time!
to Internet Explorer..."
I can just picture it. Some lackey in Redmond comes up to Bill Gates to warn him about these new developments in Konqueror. Bill responds:
"I find your lack of faith disturbing."
"My god, think of how much those metrics alone are worth... A snapshot on DVD adoption, SCSI cards, % of laptops out there? Almost seems like the anti-copy stuff is just a smokescreen."
Amen brother.
One of my CS professors at UWO told me that data mining is going to be a big trend in the near future. All the credit card companies spend tons of CPU cycles analyzing our purchases in search of trends, and the results can be sold for some major coin.
I am sure M$ would be interested in getting a slice of that pie if it were available...
"(MAC address just changed - do token ring cards use MAC addresses?)" Of _course_ token ring cards use MAC addresses. The system still runs TCP/IP networking, just with a different networking protocol.
OK, M$ is right, insofar as the the schools are violating the terms of the license. But M$ is wrong for such a heavy-handed response.
I think the analogy to the situation of big pharma vs. poor AIDS stricken nations is fairly appropriate.
In both cases, profits are more important than people. Sure, when he needs some good publicity Gates opens the vaults and donates (by his standards) a paltry sum for some cash-strapped group. But I have to wonder how many of the recipients install Linux with their grant?
It is rather self-serving. Bill makes a donation and gets a tax receipt, and the donation is used to purchase more M$ product...
I am having flashbacks to that episode of the Simpsons:
Bill Gates: "I didn't get rich by writing a bunch of cheques"
What? You mean people posted on /. without reading the article?
There is a first time for everything, I suppose.
"(Maybe we'll get a SeaLand-like spam haven with its own domain? Is .sh, "SpamHaven", already taken?)"
If we did that, would all my shell scripts be considered SPAM?
"Gov't won't let me be self sufficient because that takes their control over me away." Nice troll... I guess that a "self-sufficient" person would not use public infrastructure like streets, schools, libraries, parks and so on? Sounds like a pretty crappy quality of life to me.
I fail to see how land ownership and property taxes have anything to do with the arguments you make.
Property taxes are used to pay for common services (trash collection, snow removal, sidewalks, park maintenance, and so on) that benefit all.
Where is the connection to paying for content?
"Much of the buying is touch and feel - people like to see the meat, fruit, and vegetables and pick what they like"
Absolutely! When I go to the grocery store, some of the produce they have is simply unacceptable. None of it is exactly cheap, and I am not interested in bruised or over-ripe fruits and vegetables. Same for meat. I want to be certain that I pick out a good cut.
That is probably the main reason I have never ordered groceries on-line. If there was a "premium" grocer who would only stock top-grade stuff, I might consider it.
Sure, I have no problem purchasing books, cds, and dvds on-line, but *I* want to pick out the perishable goods myself.
"Browser-based solutions are a good idea. I would love to block images that match certain dimensions (1x1)"
Try WebWasher. It (in part) by blocking images images that match certain dimensions including web-bugs. The program is free to home users, and there is a Linux version. They used to be located at http://www.webwasher.com, but the site seems to be down...
"Come on, Saturday Night Live has been doing this type of thing for years. "
I think that the main difference is that these websites that satirize Barney are funny.
Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny for years...
"Gee, I wonder if I believe them?"
Why would you say that?
It's not like Bill was dishonest or evasive when questioned during the anti-trust trial. Or that they submitted (badly) doctored videotaped evidence, or staged rigged comparisons between their product and a rivals...
Oh, wait...
"They could probably simply say on it that the software and camera don't work with Windows XP."
Briliant! Not having their software working on the OS that lots of people are going to rush out and purchase because it is the latest and greatest from micro$oft is definitely the best way to get market share.
Or not.
You almost have to admire micro$oft. How many other companies out there can treat customers, partners, governments, and competitors with such contempt, and still become one of the most significant and powerful monopolies on the planet?
"If such a client generates a hit on a search and
sends it result back all clients on the path
between that client and the originator of the
search keep routing information for the 10.x or
192.x address."
Perhaps not...
The key point is that the 10.x.x.x and 192.168.x.x networks are non-routable. If I plugged into a backbone network and used a non-routable source IP, I could transmit packets, but I would not get any back, because the intermediate routers would not know where to direct packets with a destination address that does not route.
A routing table does not contain a list of all the intermediate hops between the address of the router and the destination. There is a default route and possibly some static routes.
So unless gnutella creates LOTS of static routes in each client, I am not sure how this could work.
"I am on a 192.168.*.* address behind my firewall and I am uploading and downloading files to/from people when using LimeWire."
Since 192.168.x.x does _not_ route, I can only assume that your firewall translates the addresses on the internal network to a routable address. I suspect that from the non-secure side of your firewall, outbound requests do not show the source address as being from the 192.168 network otherwise you would never get any packets back in response...
"A lithograph by M.C. Escher will exist as part of a limited run, each print numbered uniquely with the collector knowing that lower numbers equal higher quality. "
Maybe this was true a few years ago, but it does not apply today.
I would defy anyone to compare two prints that were run on the same high-quality offset press and determine which was run first. The technology is such that the quality of the output does not degrade on small runs (small = a few thousand).
The lower sequence number is just snob appeal anymore.
"erm.. and in what aspect is that different from the stuff Mr Gates is making himself?"
Hmmm. I suspect that what bill meant was that GPLd software makes it impossible for micro$oft to use any of that work.
I mean had TCP been released under the GPL instead of the BSD license, micro$oft would not have a TCP stack...
"3. If company X produced a product for Windows 95, six years later, it probably runs on Windows Me and probably ran on every version in-between (Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition). There's a very good chance that it runs on Windows NT and Windows 2000, too."
It depends on the software. A lot of games were written for 95/98; some don't work so well on ME and lots don't run on NT/2000. In fact, there are disclaimers that say the game will not run on NT/2000.
Other than that, I would agree with your other points, especially about standardization on one GUI.