I think probably the best solution is to require any provider of software to the government to 'open-source' their document format so that free competition could therefore result. Microsoft is not directly compelled to open their format, but would be induced to do so as noted above, by the loss of government revenue.
It is unconscionable that my tax dollars are used to support a file format that is basically gibberish.
But Microsoft should still be separated into multiple companies, anyway.
This is really interesting, for a number of reasons. Most important is this is the first time I've heard of a Baby Bell offering a product remotely competitive with the cable companies. Here in town, we have two high speed options: cable or DSL. Cable is $40, DSL is $60. Cable has a $50 start up cost, DSL has about $250. Why on earth would I want to go with DSL at those prices? The traditional argument is that with cable you're using shared bandwidth- but having been a customer of BellSouth Frame Relay service, I can guarantee you that your $60 1.5mbit service won't be that, due to astronomical oversubscription at the headend. And the only reason DSL finally made it here is that the cable modems arrived. This is in spite of the fact that we have had an all-fiber POTS backbone for at least 10 years. The only conclusion that can be reached is that BellSouth (and from what I've heard, the other RBOCs) has been reluctant to do any higher speed service in earnest due to reluctance to kill the gravy train of $1000 per month T1 connections.
But this changes things quite a bit. Even taking into account BellSouth's (probable) tremendous bottleneck at the headend, you're still getting cable out of it, for a price about $10 less than cable + cable internet. Could the sleeping dinosaurs finally be waking up?
I would not necessarily get your hopes up completely, though- this was tried down in Florida by BellSouth in 1989, for about 3000 homes. I don't believe anything ever came out of that, though, other than cable and phone service.
Much ado about the wrong thing
on
Why Kids Kill
·
· Score: 1
Unfortunately, the wrong conclusion is drawn here: the problem is not one of homogenization, but one of intolerance. Yes, the media do posit a particular worldview, and the in-crowd would seem to buy in to that- but the fact that there are individuals who actually think different is the root problem. Socialization is exactly what needs to happen: some people apparently are not being taught how to be human. I think school uniforms, to pick an example, would be a good thing. It could force debate from an easily digested level at schools to a higher level. Dressing differently is an easy target for those who would scorn; why not make it more difficult for the jocks? Because of my size, I was never picked on at school, in spite of being a proto-geek. Besides, I didn't really care- the whole party attitude has never appealed to me, and I had good friends. But many I knew were tormented. I would like to see the national debate steered this way, to discussing the high school environment, and what can be done to make it into a more civil environment. A local elementary school has a rigorous anti-teasing policy, with teachers trained at stopping the practice. I think that's more along the lines of what needs to happen.
Slashdot Mirror
I think probably the best solution is to require any provider of software to the government to 'open-source' their document format so that free competition could therefore result. Microsoft is not directly compelled to open their format, but would be induced to do so as noted above, by the loss of government revenue.
It is unconscionable that my tax dollars are used to support a file format that is basically gibberish.
But Microsoft should still be separated into multiple companies, anyway.
This is really interesting, for a number of reasons. Most important is this is the first time I've heard of a Baby Bell offering a product remotely competitive with the cable companies. Here in town, we have two high speed options: cable or DSL. Cable is $40, DSL is $60. Cable has a $50 start up cost, DSL has about $250. Why on earth would I want to go with DSL at those prices?
The traditional argument is that with cable you're using shared bandwidth- but having been a customer of BellSouth Frame Relay service, I can guarantee you that your $60 1.5mbit service won't be that, due to astronomical oversubscription at the headend.
And the only reason DSL finally made it here is that the cable modems arrived. This is in spite of the fact that we have had an all-fiber POTS backbone for at least 10 years. The only conclusion that can be reached is that BellSouth (and from what I've heard, the other RBOCs) has been reluctant to do any higher speed service in earnest due to reluctance to kill the gravy train of $1000 per month T1 connections.
But this changes things quite a bit. Even taking into account BellSouth's (probable) tremendous bottleneck at the headend, you're still getting cable out of it, for a price about $10 less than cable + cable internet. Could the sleeping dinosaurs finally be waking up?
I would not necessarily get your hopes up completely, though- this was tried down in Florida by BellSouth in 1989, for about 3000 homes. I don't believe anything ever came out of that, though, other than cable and phone service.
Unfortunately, the wrong conclusion is drawn here: the problem is not one of homogenization, but one of intolerance. Yes, the media do posit a particular worldview, and the in-crowd would seem to buy in to that- but the fact that there are individuals who actually think different is the root problem. Socialization is exactly what needs to happen: some people apparently are not being taught how to be human.
I think school uniforms, to pick an example, would be a good thing. It could force debate from an easily digested level at schools to a higher level. Dressing differently is an easy target for those who would scorn; why not make it more difficult for the jocks?
Because of my size, I was never picked on at school, in spite of being a proto-geek. Besides, I didn't really care- the whole party attitude has never appealed to me, and I had good friends. But many I knew were tormented. I would like to see the national debate steered this way, to discussing the high school environment, and what can be done to make it into a more civil environment.
A local elementary school has a rigorous anti-teasing policy, with teachers trained at stopping the practice. I think that's more along the lines of what needs to happen.