The gaming market is growing annually at a frantic pace, and so many games are being produced that customers now have to make difficult decisions with their gaming dollars. At the same time, *lots* of decent quality gaming / media engines are available for free ( id, CrystalSpace, SDL, etc ) or low cost( torque, etc ).
To fill the low cost void from the major producers, many little companies are jumping in to provide simpler but interesting games (mostly 2D), websites offering free older games within browsers, or open source levels for existing games.
The only problem I see with gaming is the lack of open tool solutions for the consoles. The biggest reported reason for this is that the console producers are generally losing money on every console they sell, so providing an open API reduces the revenue they desire to stay profitable. The solution for this would be to release an open API for consoles after a couple of years. That could then spur sales of the consoles at the time when their sales are beginning to drop off (and presumably they have already made money through other game sales). A second solution looks strikingly like what the press reports are alluding to with the PS3 - it's a computer! (gee, ya'think?). If it could profitably be released with a supported OS, games could be produced on that.
It's true that company's like EA are milking franchises for all their worth, but they'd stop doing that if they didn't sell so well! Capitalism is a great thing. If 3 million people stopped buying every version of every Madden title available, EA might actually be willing to invest in alternative titles. Innovative titles that are actually *fun* to play sell remarkably well - just look what happened with RTS, Sims, Creature based games...
I work on a Network Management application where the core is open source and the plugins can be any variation of license. We went through this same process and found GPL and LGPL to be more viral than beneficial for this same reason. We don't care, as you don't, that propriatary plugins (heck even extensions) are created and/or sold with our product, and they can have any license they want. However, we retain rights to our code, and any direct source code modifications to our files must be under our license.
Here's the problem with LGPL: (from opensource.org)
" However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the library". The executable is therefore covered by this License."
If any plugin 'links' to your library, it's derivitive. That's crap in my opinion, and since you are using Java, some could argue that 'run-time linking' is still linking since it's running in the same JVM.
Use the BSD or CPL - you'll be much better off.:-)
As has been posted in other messages on this thread, Google has publicly claimed to be moving toward SIP. There are only 2 standards that are really being used by telephone companies (both ILEC and CLEC) for their VoIP -> SIP and MGCP. By leveraging SIP, Google can plugin to this network if they so choose. Skype is out of the question since it's a closed protocol that's going nowhere but between people already on the net.
However, the money isn't made in SIP connections, it's in the connection between SIP and POTS (plain old telephone service) phones, and phone features. Current phone companies make money in 2 ways: phone connection services, and phone features. Internet phone services remove option 1 since the bandwidth on the net can use a little as 64k for decent quality phone 128k+ for high quality (ala Vonage, et.al.), and it's paid for as a monthly pipe instead of a per minute charge. Phone features come primarily from big class 5 switches that are notoriously hard to upgrade and add new features to. They are being replaced with Open Source IPTel and other SIP servers, and the features become trivial to add / upgrade, besides the cost is 1/100th of a class 5 switch.
The real money maker is in the transitionary connection charges between SIP / MGCP and the POTS network. Since Google has been buying lots of dark fiber (presumeably to light it for massive internal bandwidth increases and -no- connection charges), they will soon have their own internal bandwidth to route free VoIP calls through. The beauty is that they could then begin selling SIP POTS services for far less than Vonage, and this service will make oodles of cash. If they were to purchase Vonage, they could get a jump on the subscriber base and local phone connectivity could then be move to Google's new high speed internal network.
So, Google buying Skype? Not a chance. Google buying Vonage? I've wondered about that for over a year.:-)
Actually, that target age has risen as the younger generation have gotten older. Nearly all of my collegues own an XBox (30-40+ years old), though some of them use the excuse that it's "for the kids" even though their kids are less than 10.:-)
Look at the statistics of 'households' containing an XBox / PS3 by mid to late next year, and you'd probably see that most of them have sufficient income to burn on a movie download subscription. In addition, as soon as the VoIP service is available for XBox, Microsoft will license it to other voice over IP set top box providers that will cater to other demographics.
So you have to wait a few hours for it to start - no big deal. The provider could initially have an option to lower the quality for a smaller TV set to deliver it faster (4 gig->800meg). My 4Meg cable is plenty fast enough for this, and cable providers can crank that up if they wanted to. It's far better than waiting 2-4 days for the DVD to arrive, then you watch it, send it back, and wait for another 2-4 day round trip for the next flick. And that's if you watch it the day you get it. Even with 3 movies (dropped Blockbuster because they were too slow and switched to Intelliflix), I find that my family watches them when it's convenient for us, which generally groups them during weekends. If I could tell the service provider to start the download in the morning and have it ready when I returned from work, I'd be perfectly happy.
As far as infrastructure, Europe is already doing this, and the US is slowly catching up. If you'll look at the published numbers, 30+% of the US population can now get 1+mbps broadband if they want to (mostly metropolitan but so what). If that's not good enough, how about 15mbps? I work for a telco equipment provider that enables rural telcos to provide roughly 15mbps (ADSL2+) to home users. We're shipping this to parts of the US now, and have customers on the line for more. And, we have lots of competitors desiring to do the same, so it's only a matter of time (ie: this year and next) before -lots- more of it is available via DSL, Fiber, Cable, heck include WiMax too.
By late next year, enough -people-, not regions, will be -able-(infrastructure) to download movies to a 'supported' platform that it will result in a high enough ROI for serious business investment. Thus, by mid to late next year, these VoIP (video over IP) solutions (that are shipping now by the way to early adopters) will finally become mainstream.
With the deployment of the XBox 360 in mass quantities in '06, content producers will have the ability to content lock their movies. Microsoft will finally be able to promise that security to media execs, which will then loosen them up enough to allow the streaming to occur. When that desire is coupled with the increased availability of broadband, the on-demand downloading will finally go mainstream with Microsoft attempting to lead the way. Others in this market will be Apple with iVideo, potentially Sony on the PS3, and potentially juggernaut Google to the PC.
Unless Amazon can couple the download with the the DVD rental (both will be necessary), they will be too late to be of consequence. My guess is that Netflix, Intelliflix, and Blockbuster will all begin on demand downloads by the end of next year.
Full Disclosure:
I work for a company writing both open source (OS) and proprietary software.
Many of the posts on this thread have mentioned OSS and Proprietary solutions that are running side-by-side but yet independant of each other. Where OSS could really shine is in the combination approach that is only possible with an improvement in licensing.
My company wants to make money selling hardware and services (software and support), and we want to use OSS software as much as possible to speed our products to market using proven technology. Our core products that leverage OS are also (by necessity and desire) OS. However, and this is critical, we want to extend that common OS code with proprietary extensions in order to keep smart business logic protected from competitors. The problem is that the 2 most popular licenses (Apache and GNU) have flaws when it comes to this combination. (Topic for different discussion)
As a developer, I want to develop the OS core with protections that ensure any changes to that core remain OS. As a paid developer, I want to develop proprietary extensions to said core without competitors being able to examine the contents. On the one hand, I'm aiding the community with some great tool improvements full time (well 50+ hours anyhow). On the other, I'm on a team of paid developers writing custom sellable business applications containing some billable secret sauce.
I think that OS community must understand that this is one of the 3 most likely software solutions in the future, and the most likely to provide paid development opportunities for OS developers in large volumes.
OSS - all open, all modifiable
OSS + proprietary - combo code - not really handled as well as it could be
Proprietary - all closed
Can the two coexist - ABSOLUTELY - even within the same application. It's just that the developers have to pick a license that will allow such a solution. We chose the Common Public License. In order to stay on topic, I won't go into the license pros/cons, but suffice it to say that we battled that demon for over a week before coming up with one that will fit the bill. I hope more companies can see the benefits of using this combination approach. It truely speeds market time and product quality while allowing businesses to have sellable products that can bill for more than support (more profitable). Plus, the common core can be used by everybody (think Eclipse as a great example).
The Rhetoric on this subject is amazing. It appears that most of the posters on this subject haven't bothered to listen or dig up the truth - just spew prior spun propaganda.
She hadn't worked undercover for over 9 years; simply stating that someone works for the CIA does not blow their cover unless they are on 'assignment' - which again, she was not; an interview on the radio yesterday (Boston, MA) with 2 of the individuals that wrote the law Rove is accused of violating (one man, one woman) stated clearly that the facts simply don't add up to what is being claimed by the press or the Dems, further evidence now points out that Rove was told that information by another reporter, etc, etc.
This is purely a witch hunt by the minority party to attempt some mud slinging.
Wake up and smell what you're shoveling. Sheesh. One would think that the 'geeks' of all people would search for the facts before joining the slinging.
My wife only likes obvious pattern games like Shanghai, Majong, and various solitaire type games. She likes to change the backgrounds and tile layouts, watch the simple animations when she matches the right tiles, and try to beat her fastest time. The nice thing is that she can be as addicted to one of those as I am to something requiring a little more horsepower (Half-Life, etc).
What most game providers have not yet capitalized on is that couples will play together if they can face a common opponent. She may not really like a particular game, but she'll play with me if we can be on the same team (even if it's just a shooter). She'll get board in 15 mins with a shooter, but be more interested if it's a pattern matching game that she likes.
For those in New England, it will actually be airing in Saturday at 8pm instead of Friday since it's been replaced by baseball. What iritates me the most is that no mention of this is made on the UPN site - I simply stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago.
While I'll agree that the writing could have been better for most episodes, the shifting program times of this and other shows without mention is what drives me to stop watching the shows I like. The fastest way to kill viewership (besides bad content) is unannounced show shedule changes. And, "we told TV Guide" excuses don't cut it.
I'm looking forward to these final episodes. While Enterprise has been a far cry from the quality of Battlestar Galactica, this last season has been better.
Instead of wondering what new features should be added, how about fixing the html / css / object plugin support? During some recent development I was frankly surprised and very dissappointed that the java applet support (via the plugin) -sucked- in Firefox and Mozilla (ok in IE). The meta tags don't work like they should, etc, etc.
Too often open source developers run after the next wizbang thing without finishing their work. Thus, only a few great projects with outstanding developer leads actually complete the rigorousness required to make them globally acceptable applications.
I'm sure this will be modded down as a troll, but as a lead on an open source project that requires true enterprise quality, I'm begging you guys to keep at your great project until the kinks are worked out a little more.
As far as the 'next big thing for browser functionality' goes, I'd like to see browsers replaced with a single video/voice/IM/Whiteboard/edit-in-place-HTML application. The web is all about communication. That communication can finally change from simple downloadable text (ala BBSs and Mosaic) to a bi-directional P2P multimedia communication platform. Do that, get rid of the bugs, and the Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird teams will own the web.
They're liars. It's not too hard if you design it properly. It's all about marketing a 'new' game for more revenue - even though it's most likely the same game / code as the first one with new levels and updated graphics.
I actually bought Halo for the PC, discovered that they don't allow Co-OP -at all- for the PC, and took it back. I won't be buying this one for the same reason. I'd rather play Unreal Tournament.
It's about time somebody made sense on this thread. For crying out loud, are you geeks or devo?:-)
Higher resolution is always better up to over 600 dpi, especially when it comes to reading text. Personally, I think the EBooks are failing because of their low resolution displays. Until that 5" display is using 300+ dpi, most people won't touch them - inlcuding me.
The problem is that there are too many things that I want it for, and too many other people that want something entirely different. That causes the market to put out a glut of tiny pieces of junk that don't do everything I want. We ought to be looking at what we want to -do- with it, and then determining the specs to fit the desires.
read/write books/docs/email/IM on it: 800x480 min, 1024x640 preferred - widescreen layout with H/V mode switch. Also, put software on it that allows me to bookmark / highlight / note sections of the text. Touchscreen required, integrated mouse/keyboard optional, and it better have good Anti-Aliased fonts!!
listen to music: mp3, ogg, wav players with the screen closed (small char screen ontop), useful buttons on side: Play, FF, RW, Stop; stereo headphone jack
record sound / voice: stereo input jack
file storage: 256m flash min, plus microdrive (preferred) or micro harddisk
connect to other stuff: 6x USB2 ports (keyboard, mouse, network connection, camera, harddrive, DVD, maybe even power); RCA/SVideo out, 802.11(some version); drop bluetooth in favor of ultra wideband. For best results, make all wireless functions built on extention cards (ala Handspring).
talk on the phone: SIP based VoIP software preinstalled that works with the optional wireless cards or built in USB2. Also, a small speaker to play a tune when I get a VoIP call or IM.
watch movies: mpeg4, avi, maybe others
standard organization software: calendar, notes, contacts, etc
simple games: J2ME and native software
Please don't break if I drop you from 2 feet: clamshell design preferred
Size: It must be able to fit in my shirt breast pocket or suit jacket pocket (it can hang out the top, but width and thickness must allow it to fit).
Speed: Whatever it takes to do all the above. Personally, I like the new CPU from Transmeta.
OS: Real-time OS - no skimpy, hacked, monolithic beast please, give me QNX, VxWorks, or Palm.
Docking Station: contains 10/100 ethernet port, standard video outputs, standard keyboard / mouse outputs
Great extra: GPS extention card
price: less than $800 with no cards, 1k+ with extra stuff (USB DVD/harddrive/wireless/etc).
I'll give you an extra $1000 if it comes with sweet shades-looking eye displays that bump the resolution to 1920x1080+, and you can even drop the regular screen - as long as it doesn't give me a headache.
There are a couple of items that would make me want to use open source Microsoft code - and perhaps even target their platform as a primary with Linux / Solaris secondary.
These would be:.net - Languages want to be sheparded, but based on community standards and open. What that means is that any vendor can publish a compiler / runtime according to a published spec, and they won't be sued by the sheparding company if they truely conform to the spec. Heck, I don't even mind paying some bucks for the spec certification (ala Java). There's still plenty of money to be made on advanced IDEs, tools, support, training, etc. The language itself is not a profit center.
Avalon - Honestly, I want an open slick UI to program with. Flash and Shockwave do some pretty slick things in an efficient manner (compared to other mechanisms), and I'd truely like to have an open codebase to do the same things on every platform - in any language I happen to be using. I've seen the transition effects it can handle, and it's pretty decent. Let others help update it, and it will shine far faster, and with less bugs, than you doing it yourself.
These next 2 aren't open source, but just open documentation items.
Document formats - All document formats should be immediately opened so that anyone can read / update them. I know this is one of your bread and butter pieces, but face it, either do that, or Open Office is going to cut your office revenue in half.
Protocols - Open up them all so that true interoperability can exist between Windows / Linux / Unix. Show the strengths of your platform, but atleast allow efficient communication with others.
Doing these four things would go a long way to reducing the "evilness" persona that surrounds Microsoft. Honestly, their UI engineers do a fantastic job of pushing the envelope - even if they get their ideas from sundry locations occassionally.:-)
I was frankly surprised by a few events during the mini series, and I'm looking forward to the new season. However, now that they've shown us the 6 (ahem)chassis models, we know who the bad guys are. How many episodes can they go using that suspicion as a fundamental backdrop in the story line... 3-5? Hopefully it won't turn into a lame attempt at a series ala Voyager, Deep Space 9, Enterprise.
I'm hoping for something more like Babylon 5 but moving through space...
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this yet. Essentially, this 'service' could simply be provided by a Google type web entity. The primary functions general people use their computers for could be handled by a myriad of independant devices supported by a common infrastructure (and Google could provide these within a year). With a single Google user account, all the following services could be provided:
1) Email - gmail 2) Documents - Google could add OpenOffice download with an encrypted user storage directory service. Allowing users to simply download just the parts required (just word, spreadsheet, etc). The client specific hardware being used by the user at the time could retrieve any needed client piece and cache all but the user data. Since the files could be stored in the global directory, they would be accessable from anywhere. Please note that this could also include document searching, photo albums, etc... 3) IM/VoIP/etc - Google could leverage its massive scalability to provide the backbone for a global IM and VoIP infrastructure; again, allowing the client to download the open source client pieces as necessary, most of which are already currently available. 4) Web browsing - Again, all browser updates could come from the plugins / patches / components cached on Google servers. 5) Games - Components Downloaded and run from installation on user's 'My Games' distributed storage. (This is a topic all unto itself) 6) Media storage? How about being able to have Google store a media stream, and the local account could store the stream offset. You could watch anything you had paid for at any time, from any client (depending on its connection speed). I paid for my cable tv, but I'm always at work. How about letting me receive the MPEG stream from work via the media cache service on Google or a partner's distributed hardware? It could easily be done.
Essentially, any client computing device with an internet connection could install the Google auto-update microkernel based application service and easily perform all the tasks mentioned. Once the sync happens, clients could even go offline and be sync'd up later. This would essentially make OS's irrelevant to the user. Heck, this is essentially the goal of the Java WebStart infrastructure - download what you need, cache the components, and don't mess with the host OS.
The phrase "The network is the computer" comes to mind.:-)
So, how about it Google? I'm available for consultation if you need some help.(ha):-)
The market is changing fairly dramatically with respect to the last mile connectivity and services.
I work for a company building triple play (phone/tv/internet aka voice/video/data) hardware/software for rural ILECs and CLECs using ethernet over ADSL2+ and VoIP. One of the things we're finding is that the takeup rate for more advanced services is surprisingly low. Many people are sticking with their POTS phones until the phone company they've used for 2 decades forces them to switch. While you will lose more modern customers to a DSL solution, you may be surprised at how many would be willing to keep your service for the right price (less than $10/mo).
While I can't give information related to becoming a CLEC, I can tell you that DSL is an interum solution on the train to fiber. The decision has been made - fiber to the home is coming, with wireless challenging it for remote areas. While I work on DSL equipment, we know that fiber will be the preferred solution within the next 3 years for cities (if they don't already have it), 7-10 for more rural locations. It's cheaper to run wireless in the short term, but the bandwidth advantages of fiber and subscription services that it brings outweigh the costs. With that said, investing lots of money without getting the fiber or wireless benefit may end up costing you more than you'll get (bad ROI).
Personally, I would consider diversifying your offerings. Talk to Vonage about being a local PSTN call termination center for them; get a SIP Server and softswitch of your own and begin handing VoIP PSTN traffic (you have a data head end), etc. If you were somewhat enterprising, you could actually sell VoIP numbers to local businesses, handle their PSTN/VoIP calls, provide ENUM services, etc. IE: use your equipment for other things in addition to simple dialup internet access.
I know that the enlightenment window manager had translucent windows in the late 90's. Anyone have a time stamped picture from way back then? Perhaps in the internet way back archives...
Actually, I'm working at a company making hardware and software to provide 10-20 Mbps access to rural individuals (depending on distance). Soon, there will not be any disparity between rural and metropolitan locations as far as broadband is concerned.
Ah my padawan learner - you haven't yet become the master.
I work from home a few days each week, and questions, when they occur, are only an IM, email, or phone call away. It's the same thing as being there. Once you cross a certain level of understanding, the need to have problems and questions answered drops considerably.
The office has become more about socializing with peers, giving hands on help to QA / marketing / etc, and having good design discussions. After that, it's all negative for the company. The constant interruptions (phone calls, drop in visits, etc) for things better answered by email are the big productivity loss.
Being forced to take the time to write an email forces a better explanation of the issue than the most typical drop in visiter has actually formulated. It actually makes work more productive in many (but not all) circumstances).
As I write this, I'm working from home for the second day this week. As a software engineer, this is becoming easier all the time. It's a great thing.
The great part is that rural communities with substantially lower living costs could end up the biggest beneficiaries. Workers able to take advantage of the trend could finally move out of higher cost areas into these communities. The workers expenses drop, so they could lower their salaries as an incentive for their company to allow it. With new cash from taxes, these communities could dramatically improve their infrastructure (schools, roads, etc) without necessarily having the problems of a metropolis.
The downside is that if I can do my job from home with only occassional face to face work meetings, as soon as the software is available to truely make those f2f visits virtual (and no, none of the current software is truely good enough yet), the competition for my type of work will increase dramatically.
I won't be buying this game because of this exclusive feature lockout. For that matter, I bought Halo for the PC, found out that it didn't allow co-op, and took it back.
Several of us in my office enjoy playing games together, and co-op is our most favorite mode. Unfortunately, games makers, now including Id, are missing a great market. Working together through a great storyline is tons of fun - more so than the standard DM / CTF / etc modes.
The reality is that Id was probably paid a boatload of cash for that exclusive mode, and they figured they would make more money that way than the number of users willing to shell out for co-op on the PC. They were probably right, even though I don't like it.;-)
The best part of these is their multipurpose use. Consider this: Build large solar collectors in orbit, and beam the energy to a series of very high altitude floaters. That powers any electronics on board, fans, etc, as well as being a nice relay for the power to the ground. Next, use the electonics equipment as a big floating telecom / gps / weather / etc (all in one cheap satellite) rack, and things begin to look a little more rosy. Cheaper than satellites by far, and they can hopefully keep themselves aloft for >6mo. Without the need for batteries or solar collectors on board the floater (besides the power receiver (microwave or laser)), there's lots more payload room for productive use. The only drawback is that they might spoil the view somewhat.
You could always coat the surface with e-paper to use as sign realestate!:-)
Slashdot Mirror
I call shenanigans.
The gaming market is growing annually at a frantic pace, and so many games are being produced that customers now have to make difficult decisions with their gaming dollars. At the same time, *lots* of decent quality gaming / media engines are available for free ( id, CrystalSpace, SDL, etc ) or low cost( torque, etc ).
To fill the low cost void from the major producers, many little companies are jumping in to provide simpler but interesting games (mostly 2D), websites offering free older games within browsers, or open source levels for existing games.
The only problem I see with gaming is the lack of open tool solutions for the consoles. The biggest reported reason for this is that the console producers are generally losing money on every console they sell, so providing an open API reduces the revenue they desire to stay profitable. The solution for this would be to release an open API for consoles after a couple of years. That could then spur sales of the consoles at the time when their sales are beginning to drop off (and presumably they have already made money through other game sales). A second solution looks strikingly like what the press reports are alluding to with the PS3 - it's a computer! (gee, ya'think?). If it could profitably be released with a supported OS, games could be produced on that.
It's true that company's like EA are milking franchises for all their worth, but they'd stop doing that if they didn't sell so well! Capitalism is a great thing. If 3 million people stopped buying every version of every Madden title available, EA might actually be willing to invest in alternative titles. Innovative titles that are actually *fun* to play sell remarkably well - just look what happened with RTS, Sims, Creature based games...
I work on a Network Management application where the core is open source and the plugins can be any variation of license. We went through this same process and found GPL and LGPL to be more viral than beneficial for this same reason. We don't care, as you don't, that propriatary plugins (heck even extensions) are created and/or sold with our product, and they can have any license they want. However, we retain rights to our code, and any direct source code modifications to our files must be under our license.
Here's the problem with LGPL: (from opensource.org) " However, linking a "work that uses the Library" with the Library creates an executable that is a derivative of the Library (because it contains portions of the Library), rather than a "work that uses the library". The executable is therefore covered by this License."
If any plugin 'links' to your library, it's derivitive. That's crap in my opinion, and since you are using Java, some could argue that 'run-time linking' is still linking since it's running in the same JVM.
Use the BSD or CPL - you'll be much better off.As has been posted in other messages on this thread, Google has publicly claimed to be moving toward SIP. There are only 2 standards that are really being used by telephone companies (both ILEC and CLEC) for their VoIP -> SIP and MGCP. By leveraging SIP, Google can plugin to this network if they so choose. Skype is out of the question since it's a closed protocol that's going nowhere but between people already on the net.
However, the money isn't made in SIP connections, it's in the connection between SIP and POTS (plain old telephone service) phones, and phone features. Current phone companies make money in 2 ways: phone connection services, and phone features. Internet phone services remove option 1 since the bandwidth on the net can use a little as 64k for decent quality phone 128k+ for high quality (ala Vonage, et.al.), and it's paid for as a monthly pipe instead of a per minute charge. Phone features come primarily from big class 5 switches that are notoriously hard to upgrade and add new features to. They are being replaced with Open Source IPTel and other SIP servers, and the features become trivial to add / upgrade, besides the cost is 1/100th of a class 5 switch.
The real money maker is in the transitionary connection charges between SIP / MGCP and the POTS network. Since Google has been buying lots of dark fiber (presumeably to light it for massive internal bandwidth increases and -no- connection charges), they will soon have their own internal bandwidth to route free VoIP calls through. The beauty is that they could then begin selling SIP POTS services for far less than Vonage, and this service will make oodles of cash. If they were to purchase Vonage, they could get a jump on the subscriber base and local phone connectivity could then be move to Google's new high speed internal network.
So, Google buying Skype? Not a chance. Google buying Vonage? I've wondered about that for over a year.Actually, that target age has risen as the younger generation have gotten older. Nearly all of my collegues own an XBox (30-40+ years old), though some of them use the excuse that it's "for the kids" even though their kids are less than 10. :-)
Look at the statistics of 'households' containing an XBox / PS3 by mid to late next year, and you'd probably see that most of them have sufficient income to burn on a movie download subscription. In addition, as soon as the VoIP service is available for XBox, Microsoft will license it to other voice over IP set top box providers that will cater to other demographics.
So you have to wait a few hours for it to start - no big deal. The provider could initially have an option to lower the quality for a smaller TV set to deliver it faster (4 gig->800meg). My 4Meg cable is plenty fast enough for this, and cable providers can crank that up if they wanted to. It's far better than waiting 2-4 days for the DVD to arrive, then you watch it, send it back, and wait for another 2-4 day round trip for the next flick. And that's if you watch it the day you get it. Even with 3 movies (dropped Blockbuster because they were too slow and switched to Intelliflix), I find that my family watches them when it's convenient for us, which generally groups them during weekends. If I could tell the service provider to start the download in the morning and have it ready when I returned from work, I'd be perfectly happy.
As far as infrastructure, Europe is already doing this, and the US is slowly catching up. If you'll look at the published numbers, 30+% of the US population can now get 1+mbps broadband if they want to (mostly metropolitan but so what). If that's not good enough, how about 15mbps? I work for a telco equipment provider that enables rural telcos to provide roughly 15mbps (ADSL2+) to home users. We're shipping this to parts of the US now, and have customers on the line for more. And, we have lots of competitors desiring to do the same, so it's only a matter of time (ie: this year and next) before -lots- more of it is available via DSL, Fiber, Cable, heck include WiMax too.
By late next year, enough -people-, not regions, will be -able-(infrastructure) to download movies to a 'supported' platform that it will result in a high enough ROI for serious business investment. Thus, by mid to late next year, these VoIP (video over IP) solutions (that are shipping now by the way to early adopters) will finally become mainstream.
With the deployment of the XBox 360 in mass quantities in '06, content producers will have the ability to content lock their movies. Microsoft will finally be able to promise that security to media execs, which will then loosen them up enough to allow the streaming to occur. When that desire is coupled with the increased availability of broadband, the on-demand downloading will finally go mainstream with Microsoft attempting to lead the way. Others in this market will be Apple with iVideo, potentially Sony on the PS3, and potentially juggernaut Google to the PC.
Unless Amazon can couple the download with the the DVD rental (both will be necessary), they will be too late to be of consequence. My guess is that Netflix, Intelliflix, and Blockbuster will all begin on demand downloads by the end of next year.
I work for a company writing both open source (OS) and proprietary software.
Many of the posts on this thread have mentioned OSS and Proprietary solutions that are running side-by-side but yet independant of each other. Where OSS could really shine is in the combination approach that is only possible with an improvement in licensing.
My company wants to make money selling hardware and services (software and support), and we want to use OSS software as much as possible to speed our products to market using proven technology. Our core products that leverage OS are also (by necessity and desire) OS. However, and this is critical, we want to extend that common OS code with proprietary extensions in order to keep smart business logic protected from competitors. The problem is that the 2 most popular licenses (Apache and GNU) have flaws when it comes to this combination. (Topic for different discussion)
As a developer, I want to develop the OS core with protections that ensure any changes to that core remain OS. As a paid developer, I want to develop proprietary extensions to said core without competitors being able to examine the contents. On the one hand, I'm aiding the community with some great tool improvements full time (well 50+ hours anyhow). On the other, I'm on a team of paid developers writing custom sellable business applications containing some billable secret sauce.
I think that OS community must understand that this is one of the 3 most likely software solutions in the future, and the most likely to provide paid development opportunities for OS developers in large volumes.
- OSS - all open, all modifiable
- OSS + proprietary - combo code - not really handled as well as it could be
- Proprietary - all closed
Can the two coexist - ABSOLUTELY - even within the same application. It's just that the developers have to pick a license that will allow such a solution. We chose the Common Public License. In order to stay on topic, I won't go into the license pros/cons, but suffice it to say that we battled that demon for over a week before coming up with one that will fit the bill. I hope more companies can see the benefits of using this combination approach. It truely speeds market time and product quality while allowing businesses to have sellable products that can bill for more than support (more profitable). Plus, the common core can be used by everybody (think Eclipse as a great example).The Rhetoric on this subject is amazing. It appears that most of the posters on this subject haven't bothered to listen or dig up the truth - just spew prior spun propaganda.
She hadn't worked undercover for over 9 years; simply stating that someone works for the CIA does not blow their cover unless they are on 'assignment' - which again, she was not; an interview on the radio yesterday (Boston, MA) with 2 of the individuals that wrote the law Rove is accused of violating (one man, one woman) stated clearly that the facts simply don't add up to what is being claimed by the press or the Dems, further evidence now points out that Rove was told that information by another reporter, etc, etc.
This is purely a witch hunt by the minority party to attempt some mud slinging.
Wake up and smell what you're shoveling. Sheesh. One would think that the 'geeks' of all people would search for the facts before joining the slinging.
My wife only likes obvious pattern games like Shanghai, Majong, and various solitaire type games. She likes to change the backgrounds and tile layouts, watch the simple animations when she matches the right tiles, and try to beat her fastest time. The nice thing is that she can be as addicted to one of those as I am to something requiring a little more horsepower (Half-Life, etc).
What most game providers have not yet capitalized on is that couples will play together if they can face a common opponent. She may not really like a particular game, but she'll play with me if we can be on the same team (even if it's just a shooter). She'll get board in 15 mins with a shooter, but be more interested if it's a pattern matching game that she likes.
For those in New England, it will actually be airing in Saturday at 8pm instead of Friday since it's been replaced by baseball. What iritates me the most is that no mention of this is made on the UPN site - I simply stumbled upon it a couple of weeks ago.
While I'll agree that the writing could have been better for most episodes, the shifting program times of this and other shows without mention is what drives me to stop watching the shows I like. The fastest way to kill viewership (besides bad content) is unannounced show shedule changes. And, "we told TV Guide" excuses don't cut it.
I'm looking forward to these final episodes. While Enterprise has been a far cry from the quality of Battlestar Galactica, this last season has been better.
Instead of wondering what new features should be added, how about fixing the html / css / object plugin support? During some recent development I was frankly surprised and very dissappointed that the java applet support (via the plugin) -sucked- in Firefox and Mozilla (ok in IE). The meta tags don't work like they should, etc, etc.
Too often open source developers run after the next wizbang thing without finishing their work. Thus, only a few great projects with outstanding developer leads actually complete the rigorousness required to make them globally acceptable applications.
I'm sure this will be modded down as a troll, but as a lead on an open source project that requires true enterprise quality, I'm begging you guys to keep at your great project until the kinks are worked out a little more.
As far as the 'next big thing for browser functionality' goes, I'd like to see browsers replaced with a single video/voice/IM/Whiteboard/edit-in-place-HTML application. The web is all about communication. That communication can finally change from simple downloadable text (ala BBSs and Mosaic) to a bi-directional P2P multimedia communication platform. Do that, get rid of the bugs, and the Mozilla/Firefox/Thunderbird teams will own the web.
They're liars. It's not too hard if you design it properly. It's all about marketing a 'new' game for more revenue - even though it's most likely the same game / code as the first one with new levels and updated graphics.
I actually bought Halo for the PC, discovered that they don't allow Co-OP -at all- for the PC, and took it back. I won't be buying this one for the same reason. I'd rather play Unreal Tournament.
A M E N !!!
:-)
It's about time somebody made sense on this thread. For crying out loud, are you geeks or devo?
Higher resolution is always better up to over 600 dpi, especially when it comes to reading text. Personally, I think the EBooks are failing because of their low resolution displays. Until that 5" display is using 300+ dpi, most people won't touch them - inlcuding me.
It's about time.
There are a couple of items that would make me want to use open source Microsoft code - and perhaps even target their platform as a primary with Linux / Solaris secondary.
.net - Languages want to be sheparded, but based on community standards and open. What that means is that any vendor can publish a compiler / runtime according to a published spec, and they won't be sued by the sheparding company if they truely conform to the spec. Heck, I don't even mind paying some bucks for the spec certification (ala Java). There's still plenty of money to be made on advanced IDEs, tools, support, training, etc. The language itself is not a profit center.
:-)
These would be:
Avalon - Honestly, I want an open slick UI to program with. Flash and Shockwave do some pretty slick things in an efficient manner (compared to other mechanisms), and I'd truely like to have an open codebase to do the same things on every platform - in any language I happen to be using. I've seen the transition effects it can handle, and it's pretty decent. Let others help update it, and it will shine far faster, and with less bugs, than you doing it yourself.
These next 2 aren't open source, but just open documentation items.
Document formats - All document formats should be immediately opened so that anyone can read / update them. I know this is one of your bread and butter pieces, but face it, either do that, or Open Office is going to cut your office revenue in half.
Protocols - Open up them all so that true interoperability can exist between Windows / Linux / Unix. Show the strengths of your platform, but atleast allow efficient communication with others.
Doing these four things would go a long way to reducing the "evilness" persona that surrounds Microsoft. Honestly, their UI engineers do a fantastic job of pushing the envelope - even if they get their ideas from sundry locations occassionally.
I was frankly surprised by a few events during the mini series, and I'm looking forward to the new season. However, now that they've shown us the 6 (ahem)chassis models, we know who the bad guys are. How many episodes can they go using that suspicion as a fundamental backdrop in the story line ... 3-5? Hopefully it won't turn into a lame attempt at a series ala Voyager, Deep Space 9, Enterprise.
I'm hoping for something more like Babylon 5 but moving through space...
I am surprised that nobody has mentioned this yet.
:-)
:-)
Essentially, this 'service' could simply be provided by a Google type web entity. The primary functions general people use their computers for could be handled by a myriad of independant devices supported by a common infrastructure (and Google could provide these within a year). With a single Google user account, all the following services could be provided:
1) Email - gmail
2) Documents - Google could add OpenOffice download with an encrypted user storage directory service. Allowing users to simply download just the parts required (just word, spreadsheet, etc). The client specific hardware being used by the user at the time could retrieve any needed client piece and cache all but the user data. Since the files could be stored in the global directory, they would be accessable from anywhere.
Please note that this could also include document searching, photo albums, etc...
3) IM/VoIP/etc - Google could leverage its massive scalability to provide the backbone for a global IM and VoIP infrastructure; again, allowing the client to download the open source client pieces as necessary, most of which are already currently available.
4) Web browsing - Again, all browser updates could come from the plugins / patches / components cached on Google servers.
5) Games - Components Downloaded and run from installation on user's 'My Games' distributed storage. (This is a topic all unto itself)
6) Media storage? How about being able to have Google store a media stream, and the local account could store the stream offset. You could watch anything you had paid for at any time, from any client (depending on its connection speed). I paid for my cable tv, but I'm always at work. How about letting me receive the MPEG stream from work via the media cache service on Google or a partner's distributed hardware? It could easily be done.
Essentially, any client computing device with an internet connection could install the Google auto-update microkernel based application service and easily perform all the tasks mentioned. Once the sync happens, clients could even go offline and be sync'd up later. This would essentially make OS's irrelevant to the user. Heck, this is essentially the goal of the Java WebStart infrastructure - download what you need, cache the components, and don't mess with the host OS.
The phrase "The network is the computer" comes to mind.
So, how about it Google? I'm available for consultation if you need some help.(ha)
1: Sling man into space
2: Sling 3 men into space
3: Win X-Prize
4: ??
5: Profit!!
The market is changing fairly dramatically with respect to the last mile connectivity and services.
I work for a company building triple play (phone/tv/internet aka voice/video/data) hardware/software for rural ILECs and CLECs using ethernet over ADSL2+ and VoIP. One of the things we're finding is that the takeup rate for more advanced services is surprisingly low. Many people are sticking with their POTS phones until the phone company they've used for 2 decades forces them to switch. While you will lose more modern customers to a DSL solution, you may be surprised at how many would be willing to keep your service for the right price (less than $10/mo).
While I can't give information related to becoming a CLEC, I can tell you that DSL is an interum solution on the train to fiber. The decision has been made - fiber to the home is coming, with wireless challenging it for remote areas. While I work on DSL equipment, we know that fiber will be the preferred solution within the next 3 years for cities (if they don't already have it), 7-10 for more rural locations. It's cheaper to run wireless in the short term, but the bandwidth advantages of fiber and subscription services that it brings outweigh the costs. With that said, investing lots of money without getting the fiber or wireless benefit may end up costing you more than you'll get (bad ROI).
Personally, I would consider diversifying your offerings. Talk to Vonage about being a local PSTN call termination center for them; get a SIP Server and softswitch of your own and begin handing VoIP PSTN traffic (you have a data head end), etc. If you were somewhat enterprising, you could actually sell VoIP numbers to local businesses, handle their PSTN/VoIP calls, provide ENUM services, etc. IE: use your equipment for other things in addition to simple dialup internet access.
Good luck.
I know that the enlightenment window manager had translucent windows in the late 90's. Anyone have a time stamped picture from way back then? Perhaps in the internet way back archives...
Actually, I'm working at a company making hardware and software to provide 10-20 Mbps access to rural individuals (depending on distance). Soon, there will not be any disparity between rural and metropolitan locations as far as broadband is concerned.
I work from home a few days each week, and questions, when they occur, are only an IM, email, or phone call away. It's the same thing as being there. Once you cross a certain level of understanding, the need to have problems and questions answered drops considerably.
The office has become more about socializing with peers, giving hands on help to QA / marketing / etc, and having good design discussions. After that, it's all negative for the company. The constant interruptions (phone calls, drop in visits, etc) for things better answered by email are the big productivity loss.
Being forced to take the time to write an email forces a better explanation of the issue than the most typical drop in visiter has actually formulated. It actually makes work more productive in many (but not all) circumstances).
The great part is that rural communities with substantially lower living costs could end up the biggest beneficiaries. Workers able to take advantage of the trend could finally move out of higher cost areas into these communities. The workers expenses drop, so they could lower their salaries as an incentive for their company to allow it. With new cash from taxes, these communities could dramatically improve their infrastructure (schools, roads, etc) without necessarily having the problems of a metropolis.
The downside is that if I can do my job from home with only occassional face to face work meetings, as soon as the software is available to truely make those f2f visits virtual (and no, none of the current software is truely good enough yet), the competition for my type of work will increase dramatically.
Bring it on. :-)
Several of us in my office enjoy playing games together, and co-op is our most favorite mode. Unfortunately, games makers, now including Id, are missing a great market. Working together through a great storyline is tons of fun - more so than the standard DM / CTF / etc modes.
The reality is that Id was probably paid a boatload of cash for that exclusive mode, and they figured they would make more money that way than the number of users willing to shell out for co-op on the PC. They were probably right, even though I don't like it. ;-)
The best part of these is their multipurpose use. Consider this: Build large solar collectors in orbit, and beam the energy to a series of very high altitude floaters. That powers any electronics on board, fans, etc, as well as being a nice relay for the power to the ground. Next, use the electonics equipment as a big floating telecom / gps / weather / etc (all in one cheap satellite) rack, and things begin to look a little more rosy. Cheaper than satellites by far, and they can hopefully keep themselves aloft for >6mo.
:-)
Without the need for batteries or solar collectors on board the floater (besides the power receiver (microwave or laser)), there's lots more payload room for productive use. The only drawback is that they might spoil the view somewhat.
You could always coat the surface with e-paper to use as sign realestate!