Silly for Amazon to build its own hardware when they could just relogo Roku, ship it with 3 months worth of free Prime, and pre-set the Amazon Video subscription on it and be done with it.
After all, they are just trying to get Prime customers, that's the name of the game. The hardware is just a means to an end, like Kindle.
I really can't see them dropping Roku support as Roku is sold through Amazon stores and I'm sure the Roku folks will drop Amazon as a distributor like a hot potato if that happens.
Amazon is smart enough to not let competition in other arenas kill their mainline businesses. Their video business is still fledgling and, as yet, does not have sway over other parts of the business. If they did, you wouldn't see Netflix in their App Store.
Even worse is the New York Post which posted the reddit/4chan pictures on their front page and said the pictures were being distributed by "Authorities" and "Law Enforcement". Not sure if reddit is the Authorities and 4chan Law Enforcement or the other way around.
You can say this about any for profit industry that benefits from disaster - media outlets, mobile phone service providers, funeral homes, medical institutions and doctors, nurses, paramedics. Life is life, and we have businesses based around reacting to disasters, pain, and suffering. I don't think anyone in those industries leaps for joy when it happens though. To pick on the tech industry specifically is kind of weak. They're pretty far down the line in terms of the beneficiaries of the death economy.
A lot of people stopped buying PCs when tablets came out, namely those who don't need a big screen nor a full touchtype keyboard. For those who want a keyboard but who can live their life in a browsers, there's Chromebooks. But that's a pretty small audience.
For those that still demand a keyboard and/or big screen, a fair percentage including corporate users will stick with Windows 7 for as long as they can or use Linux (raising my hand). There's some that will doggedly switch to Windows 8, love it and be productive - more power to them. Finally, there's a big chunk that have already switched or are in the process of switching to Mac.
The bottom line is that Windows *used* to have virtually 100% of this market locked up. They clearly don't anymore. They lost it. This is the first release of Windows that isn't driving sales of PCs and software. The game has changed and now Microsoft has to play from behind, as the underdog. They either have to come back as a totally reborn entity, like IBM (who moved from being a hardware company to a software/services company) or eventually be sold off as parts to the highest bidder.
1. We have 7 laptop systems and one desktop system in our house. Plus, we have a couple of tablets and several smartphones. All are internet browser capable and run either Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux Mint. The mobile devices run Android. Since 99% of the screen time in this household goes to the browsers anyway, those systems are perfectly capable and we're in no rush to replace.
2. Even if the XP running systems die, Linux Mint runs pretty darned well and can keep these systems browsing Caturday pictures well into the future. Hell for $250, I can run out and get a Chromebook in a pinch.
3. For the 1% of the time that we venture outside of the browser, we're finding we don't necessarily need a Windows system anymore. TurboTax and Quicken have long since been replaced by web apps, MS Office has been replaced by LibreOffice. My kids have used the latter for the past 2 years, saving their homework as Word doc or Powerpoint format and none of their teachers have noticed any difference. Finally, even for hardcore programming in Eclipse, I've found that the Linux version runs pretty well these days. So....that stretches the lifecycle of even the systems that aren't strictly browsers even longer.
4. Finally, I've used Windows 8 and it felt like roller skating on cobblestones. Really. Maybe Windows 9 will be better. Regardless, I don't want to buy a UEFI system that will preclude installing Linux easily either, so I'd like to wait until someone punches a hole through that as well.
So that's it for us.....and we used to be the family that bought new computer systems virtually every year or two.
Blech.
I'm a programmer too and I hate Win 8. The start screen is the biggest waste of real estate for big screen users that I have ever seen in my life. It should die in a fire.
Seriously, I'm sitting here trying to think of a single success story coming out of Microsoft that originated during the Ballmer era. Is there anything that has come during his reign that has contributed as much to Microsoft's bottom line as Windows (Gates) and Office (Gates, again) does?
Beuller? Beuller? Anyone?
I have no intention of buying this phone, but if Facebook really wants to make a dent, they'd go back to their university roots and give away these phones on college campuses with a sponsor (e.g. Pepsi). College students are poor and love a free anything. The phone itself is pretty capable hardware and probably 90% of the people you give it to will keep the Home launcher around, so Facebook can make up for their subsidy with advertising $.
I wonder if they'll do something like this. To me, I can't see any other way for this to succeed.
Feedly is my choice and I'm very happy that they announced a seamless transition from Google Reader to their own backend services. They were right on top of this.
http://blog.feedly.com/
There are some who don't like the UI but I've never really had a problem with it. Works nicely on Chrome/ChromeOS through its plugin, on Android, iOS, even Kindle Fire.
If ever there was a country where they could do this and run solely off of Google-like substitutes for everything from search to social to calendaring to instant messaging, it's China. The China intranet is amazing in that they've completely replicated Google and they have a population that can sustain it all in one nation. Check out the Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrcaHGqTqHk
Pick up a couple of cheap Android phones and start learning how to code for it. You can do the same for iPhone, but Android cost of entry is cheaper. Sift through one of the many good tutorials on the internet and pick up most of the basics. Pick one of your hobbies and write a small app for it. Pass it along to friends and learn what they like/don't like. Finally when you think it is ready for Prime Time, release it onto the Play store. Now you're a business owner with an application. Congratulations.
If you travel a lot, tablets and e-readers make a lot of sense. Unlike laptops, they don't need to be dragged out for the TSA to inspect at the airport, are lightweight, and the battery in a tablet will last an entire cross-USA flight. An e-reader's battery could make it through a weeklong trip. For myself, it is a lot easier to put a bunch of books on my Kindle than to drag the physical ones around in luggage.
Slashdot Mirror
Thank you HR Lamar Smith.
Does anyone else have any comments?
Silly for Amazon to build its own hardware when they could just relogo Roku, ship it with 3 months worth of free Prime, and pre-set the Amazon Video subscription on it and be done with it.
After all, they are just trying to get Prime customers, that's the name of the game. The hardware is just a means to an end, like Kindle.
I really can't see them dropping Roku support as Roku is sold through Amazon stores and I'm sure the Roku folks will drop Amazon as a distributor like a hot potato if that happens.
Amazon is smart enough to not let competition in other arenas kill their mainline businesses. Their video business is still fledgling and, as yet, does not have sway over other parts of the business. If they did, you wouldn't see Netflix in their App Store.
Even worse is the New York Post which posted the reddit/4chan pictures on their front page and said the pictures were being distributed by "Authorities" and "Law Enforcement". Not sure if reddit is the Authorities and 4chan Law Enforcement or the other way around.
....for OpenStack. C'mon, can you be a little less obvious next time?
You can say this about any for profit industry that benefits from disaster - media outlets, mobile phone service providers, funeral homes, medical institutions and doctors, nurses, paramedics. Life is life, and we have businesses based around reacting to disasters, pain, and suffering. I don't think anyone in those industries leaps for joy when it happens though. To pick on the tech industry specifically is kind of weak. They're pretty far down the line in terms of the beneficiaries of the death economy.
A lot of people stopped buying PCs when tablets came out, namely those who don't need a big screen nor a full touchtype keyboard. For those who want a keyboard but who can live their life in a browsers, there's Chromebooks. But that's a pretty small audience.
For those that still demand a keyboard and/or big screen, a fair percentage including corporate users will stick with Windows 7 for as long as they can or use Linux (raising my hand). There's some that will doggedly switch to Windows 8, love it and be productive - more power to them. Finally, there's a big chunk that have already switched or are in the process of switching to Mac.
The bottom line is that Windows *used* to have virtually 100% of this market locked up. They clearly don't anymore. They lost it. This is the first release of Windows that isn't driving sales of PCs and software. The game has changed and now Microsoft has to play from behind, as the underdog. They either have to come back as a totally reborn entity, like IBM (who moved from being a hardware company to a software/services company) or eventually be sold off as parts to the highest bidder.
....except that his mom won't be paying for the annual licensing fee for Windows Office, so they're not all that happy.
1. We have 7 laptop systems and one desktop system in our house. Plus, we have a couple of tablets and several smartphones. All are internet browser capable and run either Windows XP, Windows 7 or Linux Mint. The mobile devices run Android. Since 99% of the screen time in this household goes to the browsers anyway, those systems are perfectly capable and we're in no rush to replace.
2. Even if the XP running systems die, Linux Mint runs pretty darned well and can keep these systems browsing Caturday pictures well into the future. Hell for $250, I can run out and get a Chromebook in a pinch.
3. For the 1% of the time that we venture outside of the browser, we're finding we don't necessarily need a Windows system anymore. TurboTax and Quicken have long since been replaced by web apps, MS Office has been replaced by LibreOffice. My kids have used the latter for the past 2 years, saving their homework as Word doc or Powerpoint format and none of their teachers have noticed any difference. Finally, even for hardcore programming in Eclipse, I've found that the Linux version runs pretty well these days. So....that stretches the lifecycle of even the systems that aren't strictly browsers even longer.
4. Finally, I've used Windows 8 and it felt like roller skating on cobblestones. Really. Maybe Windows 9 will be better. Regardless, I don't want to buy a UEFI system that will preclude installing Linux easily either, so I'd like to wait until someone punches a hole through that as well.
So that's it for us.....and we used to be the family that bought new computer systems virtually every year or two.
There's already an offline feature for Google Apps, it's called Offline Docs. But yeah, it's still not quite there yet.
Blech. I'm a programmer too and I hate Win 8. The start screen is the biggest waste of real estate for big screen users that I have ever seen in my life. It should die in a fire.
Seriously, I'm sitting here trying to think of a single success story coming out of Microsoft that originated during the Ballmer era. Is there anything that has come during his reign that has contributed as much to Microsoft's bottom line as Windows (Gates) and Office (Gates, again) does? Beuller? Beuller? Anyone?
I have no intention of buying this phone, but if Facebook really wants to make a dent, they'd go back to their university roots and give away these phones on college campuses with a sponsor (e.g. Pepsi). College students are poor and love a free anything. The phone itself is pretty capable hardware and probably 90% of the people you give it to will keep the Home launcher around, so Facebook can make up for their subsidy with advertising $. I wonder if they'll do something like this. To me, I can't see any other way for this to succeed.
There are still people in this world who think Siri is magic. That is who is phone is geared toward.
Could Microsoft possibly be any more butthurt over this?
Um, Android is Linux too. So is my Linksys Router, and my cable box, my TV and probably parts of my car... really, whats the point of this article?
Feedly is my choice and I'm very happy that they announced a seamless transition from Google Reader to their own backend services. They were right on top of this. http://blog.feedly.com/ There are some who don't like the UI but I've never really had a problem with it. Works nicely on Chrome/ChromeOS through its plugin, on Android, iOS, even Kindle Fire.
The PC world is a lot like the Android/iOS world....as illustrated by the following. http://cdn.androidpolice.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/image77.png
If ever there was a country where they could do this and run solely off of Google-like substitutes for everything from search to social to calendaring to instant messaging, it's China. The China intranet is amazing in that they've completely replicated Google and they have a population that can sustain it all in one nation. Check out the Ted Talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrcaHGqTqHk
Pick up a couple of cheap Android phones and start learning how to code for it. You can do the same for iPhone, but Android cost of entry is cheaper. Sift through one of the many good tutorials on the internet and pick up most of the basics. Pick one of your hobbies and write a small app for it. Pass it along to friends and learn what they like/don't like. Finally when you think it is ready for Prime Time, release it onto the Play store. Now you're a business owner with an application. Congratulations.
This seems more like HP's fault rather than Google's.
Right. Because nothing says Republican idea of small government more than taxing video games does. Thanks, dude.
For what it's worth, I haven't had any buggy / crashy problems with the magazine copies I've gotten from Google.
If you travel though, it's one less charger to bring.
If you travel a lot, tablets and e-readers make a lot of sense. Unlike laptops, they don't need to be dragged out for the TSA to inspect at the airport, are lightweight, and the battery in a tablet will last an entire cross-USA flight. An e-reader's battery could make it through a weeklong trip. For myself, it is a lot easier to put a bunch of books on my Kindle than to drag the physical ones around in luggage.