Yes, right now ARM + Android is about tablets and other mobile devices. But who said that they will stay there?
What keeps the wintel duopoly going is not the superiority of their technology, but all the software that run on the platform.
When there are sufficient number of quality application available for the ARM+Android platform, the new platform will be able to replace the old one by moving into PCs and laptops as well
But even if we assume that most of the alien race is peaceful and ethical, it is still quite possible that at least a few of them are evil/cruel/sadist (just look at the serial killers in our own society). These evil few probably have access to the advanced technologies in their civilization too and can come to wreck havoc on Earth just for the fun of it (think of children using magnifying glass on ants)
Scalable. Instead of a few huge server controlled by big corporations, there are many server run by anyone who wants to run a server that echanges information between them.
Less vulnerable. There are no single point of failure.
Able to talk with propietary protocols such as AIM and MSN
The analogy with current email system is hard to miss. Think how bad it would be if you are forced to use joe@hotmail.com and joe@aol.com as the only way to exchange emails. Even worse, you have to log into joe@aol.com if you want to send email to bob@aol.com, and then having to log into joe@hotmail.com to send an email to alice@hotmail.com. Not to mention that having to use the name joe2001@icq.com because joe@icq.com is already taken by somebody else.
Shameless plug: please try our jabber client at www.akeni.com. It is runs natively on both Windows and Linux. It has some nice features such as tabbed chat window.
Shameless plug: please try our jabber client at
www.akeni.com. It is runs natively on both Windows and Linux. It has some nice features such as tabbed chat window.
Just establing prior art and thus not allowing anyone to get a patent on their CURRENT IDEA is not enough for Google to protect itself. What happens if someone extends their algorithm and gets a patent on the extended idea?
If google has its patent, it could have a cross licensing agreement. Without it, Google will have to license the new patent.
In short, by getting a patent they have some leverage on future patents.
Note that I am not arguing FOR software patents. I am against it, but given the current situation, even those "good" developers who have no intention of suing anyone have to try to protect themselves.
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Yes, right now ARM + Android is about tablets and other mobile devices. But who said that they will stay there?
What keeps the wintel duopoly going is not the superiority of their technology, but all the software that run on the platform.
When there are sufficient number of quality application available for the ARM+Android platform, the new platform will be able to replace the old one by moving into PCs and laptops as well
This is a classic example of the kind of development discussed in "The Innovator's Dilemma" by By Clayton M. Christensen http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/christensen.htm
But even if we assume that most of the alien race is peaceful and ethical, it is still quite possible that at least a few of them are evil/cruel/sadist (just look at the serial killers in our own society). These evil few probably have access to the advanced technologies in their civilization too and can come to wreck havoc on Earth just for the fun of it (think of children using magnifying glass on ants)
http://scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?chanID=s a006&colID=1&articleID=0002CE79-C967-12DB-88228341 4B7F0000
The article talks about a type of harware based on magnetism that allows the hardware to be reprogrammed.
Another interesting point about this new type of hardware is that it does not need a clock.
Let me list some of its main advantage:
The analogy with current email system is hard to miss. Think how bad it would be if you are forced to use joe@hotmail.com and joe@aol.com as the only way to exchange emails. Even worse, you have to log into joe@aol.com if you want to send email to bob@aol.com, and then having to log into joe@hotmail.com to send an email to alice@hotmail.com. Not to mention that having to use the name joe2001@icq.com because joe@icq.com is already taken by somebody else.
Shameless plug: please try our jabber client at
www.akeni.com. It is runs natively on both Windows and Linux. It has some nice features such as tabbed chat window.
Shameless plug: please try our jabber client at www.akeni.com. It is runs natively on both Windows and Linux. It has some nice features such as tabbed chat window.
Just establing prior art and thus not allowing anyone to get a patent on their CURRENT IDEA is not enough for Google to protect itself. What happens if someone extends their algorithm and gets a patent on the extended idea?
If google has its patent, it could have a cross licensing agreement. Without it, Google will have to license the new patent.
In short, by getting a patent they have some leverage on future patents.
Note that I am not arguing FOR software patents. I am against it, but given the current situation, even those "good" developers who have no intention of suing anyone have to try to protect themselves.
ST