A bunch of people have mentioned IBM, which is good, because I wanted to mention it myself. But one question to ponder: is it really a good idea to go against $1 Billion of marketing, even if it's for the same OS? If you've seen Times Square, you'll know what HP-Compaq would be up against (think apartment building-sized Linux ad).
"The story makes an interesting point about how the XBox's true purpose is to pave the way for Microsoft as a home entertainment brand."
What about WebTV? DTV? Ultimate TV? The hundred or so children's titles? The Microsoft-published games? (Like Age of Empires?)
I'm not keen on Microsoft creating a server for my living room (I'd rather have a Linux or FreeBSD server in the basement, Windows and Mac clients throughout the home wirelessly, like I have now). But the idea of having a server in every home, regardless of maker, is a good idea.
"First reason: suppose I have a problem with a computer, which needs code written to solve it. Once I've written the code and solved my problem, it seems a little unfair to make everybody else have to write their own solution when there's already one here."
There have been many, *many* times where the solution is more viable through recreation than using existing code. One of the problem of "not reinventing the wheel" is using the same existing technology that, often, no one wants to touch. It may be a new wheel on the outside, but the spokes are the same on the inside, and they eventually fall apart.
Further, what if your code falls into hands you don't want it to. Surely, you don't want to give your code away to *everyone*. Terrorists? Government agents? The same tools which can be used to create "freedom" (as some people mistakenly use the word) can also cause oppression.
My take on it: release code if you like, but it's not "the best way". There is no "best way". Programmers who think the open source "revolution" is going to take over Microsoft's closed source scheme in the long run are in for some major disappointments. The two can coexist, but I doubt one will override.
I'm surprised noone here has mentioned Sega. They had a great online service where you could download classic Genesis games to your system (I forget the storage medium, but the size of the games were never that large). I remember people saying they could rent Sonic the Hedgehog and Outrun.
Not to mention the fact that a good majority of console makers are planning game downloads (if only demos) for next generation machines. Sony and Microsoft can all but ensure this capability, with ethernet and hard drive support (XBox has this out of box). Of course, there were also plans to have a CD-ROM for the SNES, so who knows what will materialize?:)
Re:Pardon my excitement, but
on
HP Buys Compaq
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· Score: 2
Watch Dell and Gateway get together, perhaps with Dell buying Gateway out. You'll see. It's actually quite feasible, and would complement each other nicely.
Re:Ravages of the new economy
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HP Buys Compaq
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· Score: 2
You would think there would be a far larger number of first posts by then. 5 per article times a dozen articles a day, multiplied by 365...
Re:Hate to say, sounds like a dot-bomb strategy...
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HP Buys Compaq
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"Compaq ate Digital, sold the StrongARM to Intel who buried it b/c it was an order of magnitude faster than Intel's low-power chips."
Uh, why would Intel, the leader in microprocessors (at least from the business end) make a decision to "bury" proportedly better technology, instead of *incorporating* it into future designs while wiping out the competition, as nVidia did with 3DFX? Doesn't seem like a very wise decision to me.
Unfortunately, the last time the site was updated was over a year ago. As any Machead will be quick to tell you, the QT interface has since been "fixed".
My favorite UI of all time was FIFA 99 soccer for Windows. The UI was just a mismash of unlabelled icons, many of them not even resembling their action (To start a game, click an international flag. Huh?)
Part of the challenge of the game was figuring out the UI.:)
"God bless the U.S., where moving a book from your home to your office is a federal offence."
That's funny, I recall taking home an industry mag from my IT desk just yesterday. Oh wait, you want me to copy each page in a professional photo-copier, with pictures, rebind it, and include the copyright notice the original publisher placed at the bottom, so I can have an additional copy at home. That seems perfectly legit.
Actually, isn't 64Kbs the default for Media Player when you're recording? I left it on there one time, my brothers recorded a few CD's, and it sounded surprisingly good.
I'm not trying to be too "flamebait" here, but what performance improvements does 64-bit provide, in actuality? Not just in Windows, but in any operating system? From a speed standpoint, 32-bit wasn't much of an improvement over 16 (stability, of course, got better with more protected memory). But since 32-bit can handle such a large protected memory space already...
Re:I'll get hammered, but Internet Explorer 6 is o
on
KOffice 1.1 Rolls Out
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· Score: 2
"If that is your choice, fine, but you're on a shaky moral ground if you want the rest of the community to think the same way ("report IE releases!")."
Use the words "rest of the community" carefully. True, there are a large number of open source mavens on Slashdot, but they are an equal number (if not far greater) that simply like good technology and don't care where it comes from or its possible underlying "grassroots" crusades. I'm not an inherent fan of Microsoft, but I certainly like Windows 2000 for example, the same as I like Linux. For me, a member of the "community", it's not whether it's "free" or not that's important, but whether it is functional, usable and stable. Windows 2000 is the first OS from MS that really fits these bills.
Same way, I think IE 4.0 revolutionized a lot of what we consider the "operating system" and "applications", whether "the community" likes it or not. It brought a lot of this to the masses, and I was impressed with it.
Plus, you make a few mistakes in your arguments:
- Every IE user is not an inherent Passport user. I'm not, and I've been using Windows XP since the first beta release. In addition, Smart Tags are almost officially gone from the XP roster. These are truly optional features, and Windows/IE runs just fine without them. - Digital Rights Management, like Smart Tags, is a feature that is not enabled by default and is very easy to change. In Windows Media Player, for example, one can easily turn off the copyright protection on WMA files with a checkbox. I'm assuming you have never used Windows Media Player 7.0 and above? - PICS is hardly used on the internet, and the use is dictated by web developers. If you don't have it on a web page, IE assumes the content is "clean", not dirty, as your argument seems to make. The PICS standard is also fairly robust, and allows a large number of flags and modifications. - I agree with your fourth point, except for the term "security specialists". To be honest, a lot of the community simply doesn't look for bugs, it just makes the fixes when they're published. Some don't have the time, while others simply don't have the technical ability. To liken the open source community to a security team is a real misnomer. - I agree partly with your fifth statement, but I'll bring up a point that earned me an "interesting" before: MS has spent a great deal of time in the past year renovating IE for the Mac, making it a solid broswer with little connection to the Windows operating system. In fact, there have been a good number of improvements in IE for the Mac that simply haven't been made to IE in Windows. If they were working towards OS monoculture, wouldn't they be trying to remove functionality from Mac IE?
Can we have a new section specifically for LCD topics, instead of Science, so I can remove these boring little stories from my Slashdot homepage? Please?
If you're suspected to have committed a crime, you often will be arrested with provocation or even a search warrant. Is the law supposed to wait until you appear before a judge if you're holding an automatic weapon? What if you're a rapist?
You don't need judicial review to be deemed a threat to society. And just because *your* definition of a threat may not be equal to *somebody else's* definition of a threat, or society's, doesn't mean you're free and innocent.
"In this type of situation, first to market by a few days means very little."
I don't know. You'd think after the PlayStation/N64 debacle Nintendo would be scared shitless to release even a day late. They were very overconfident that their system could overcome any previous launches, and Sony got a good head of steam in the process.
If I was Nintendo, I'd be trying to get this thing out on time, early if possible (which, of course, would never happen).
"Ideas are not property, nor are inventions inherently something to be possessed"
I totally and wholeheartedly disagree. On the basis that most ideas are thoughts, are you saying that my thoughts are not mine, or cannot belong to me specifically? So all of my thoughts should be instantly available, even to people who I'd rather know them? Another misconception and logical fallacy of the "free".
Unfortunately, this ends up being a lot more philosophical a statement than it initially seems. These patents, and the money they make, may not affect the bigwigs all too much at the pharmaceutical companies, but they do affect the lower workers who need the patent money to put bread on the table.
There are a variety of reasons why drugs are as expensive as they are, not the least of which is greed. But also insurance premiums, lawsuits, and salaried employees all play a part in raising prices, so making an all-inclusive statement that this move provides "life before dollars" really isn't exactly true. Money is a system that affects everyone, and some people's lives *will* be screwed by the breaking of the patent law.
Actually, I'm still being bombarded by packets (I'm on a cable modem) from recent worms and I've considered dropping my provider/changing it.
It isn't "five bucks" for a loss of downtime. Most connections alone run between $30-50 in the DSL/Cable range a month, so 10 days, or 1/3 of that, is a loss of at least $10. Add to that work that cannot be completed over the internet, and the downtime can become severe.
Also, I don't think this situation is helping my provider, @Home, stay in the business any longer. If they can't start blocking these packets they're going to lose subscribers, which is the very last thing they should be doing right now.
56K users are venting their plight? Give me a break!:) I remember using a 110 baud (300 baud if you got lucky) modem with my TI-99/4A. It was one of those ones where you had to dial in the phone number on a regular phone, then quickly jam it into a rubber handle for the sound to be heard.
I recall dialing up to the Sierra BBS in California and watching each individual character write itself onto the screen. Then there was CompuServe, which I never tried but was offered as an add-on to the modem.
56,000? Don't cry to me, Argentina. The truth is I never left 110.:)
Slashdot Mirror
A bunch of people have mentioned IBM, which is good, because I wanted to mention it myself. But one question to ponder: is it really a good idea to go against $1 Billion of marketing, even if it's for the same OS? If you've seen Times Square, you'll know what HP-Compaq would be up against (think apartment building-sized Linux ad).
What about WebTV? DTV? Ultimate TV? The hundred or so children's titles? The Microsoft-published games? (Like Age of Empires?)
I'm not keen on Microsoft creating a server for my living room (I'd rather have a Linux or FreeBSD server in the basement, Windows and Mac clients throughout the home wirelessly, like I have now). But the idea of having a server in every home, regardless of maker, is a good idea.
There have been many, *many* times where the solution is more viable through recreation than using existing code. One of the problem of "not reinventing the wheel" is using the same existing technology that, often, no one wants to touch. It may be a new wheel on the outside, but the spokes are the same on the inside, and they eventually fall apart.
Further, what if your code falls into hands you don't want it to. Surely, you don't want to give your code away to *everyone*. Terrorists? Government agents? The same tools which can be used to create "freedom" (as some people mistakenly use the word) can also cause oppression.
My take on it: release code if you like, but it's not "the best way". There is no "best way". Programmers who think the open source "revolution" is going to take over Microsoft's closed source scheme in the long run are in for some major disappointments. The two can coexist, but I doubt one will override.
Not to mention the fact that a good majority of console makers are planning game downloads (if only demos) for next generation machines. Sony and Microsoft can all but ensure this capability, with ethernet and hard drive support (XBox has this out of box). Of course, there were also plans to have a CD-ROM for the SNES, so who knows what will materialize? :)
Watch Dell and Gateway get together, perhaps with Dell buying Gateway out. You'll see. It's actually quite feasible, and would complement each other nicely.
You would think there would be a far larger number of first posts by then. 5 per article times a dozen articles a day, multiplied by 365...
Uh, why would Intel, the leader in microprocessors (at least from the business end) make a decision to "bury" proportedly better technology, instead of *incorporating* it into future designs while wiping out the competition, as nVidia did with 3DFX? Doesn't seem like a very wise decision to me.
Unfortunately, the last time the site was updated was over a year ago. As any Machead will be quick to tell you, the QT interface has since been "fixed".
Part of the challenge of the game was figuring out the UI. :)
I seem to remember a friend doing this in Chem II class in high school, and getting detention for a week in the process.
"God bless the U.S., where moving a book from your home to your office is a federal offence."
That's funny, I recall taking home an industry mag from my IT desk just yesterday. Oh wait, you want me to copy each page in a professional photo-copier, with pictures, rebind it, and include the copyright notice the original publisher placed at the bottom, so I can have an additional copy at home. That seems perfectly legit.
Please...
Like the snowman?
Actually, isn't 64Kbs the default for Media Player when you're recording? I left it on there one time, my brothers recorded a few CD's, and it sounded surprisingly good.
I'm not trying to be too "flamebait" here, but what performance improvements does 64-bit provide, in actuality? Not just in Windows, but in any operating system? From a speed standpoint, 32-bit wasn't much of an improvement over 16 (stability, of course, got better with more protected memory). But since 32-bit can handle such a large protected memory space already...
Use the words "rest of the community" carefully. True, there are a large number of open source mavens on Slashdot, but they are an equal number (if not far greater) that simply like good technology and don't care where it comes from or its possible underlying "grassroots" crusades. I'm not an inherent fan of Microsoft, but I certainly like Windows 2000 for example, the same as I like Linux. For me, a member of the "community", it's not whether it's "free" or not that's important, but whether it is functional, usable and stable. Windows 2000 is the first OS from MS that really fits these bills.
Same way, I think IE 4.0 revolutionized a lot of what we consider the "operating system" and "applications", whether "the community" likes it or not. It brought a lot of this to the masses, and I was impressed with it.
Plus, you make a few mistakes in your arguments:
- Every IE user is not an inherent Passport user. I'm not, and I've been using Windows XP since the first beta release. In addition, Smart Tags are almost officially gone from the XP roster. These are truly optional features, and Windows/IE runs just fine without them.
- Digital Rights Management, like Smart Tags, is a feature that is not enabled by default and is very easy to change. In Windows Media Player, for example, one can easily turn off the copyright protection on WMA files with a checkbox. I'm assuming you have never used Windows Media Player 7.0 and above?
- PICS is hardly used on the internet, and the use is dictated by web developers. If you don't have it on a web page, IE assumes the content is "clean", not dirty, as your argument seems to make. The PICS standard is also fairly robust, and allows a large number of flags and modifications.
- I agree with your fourth point, except for the term "security specialists". To be honest, a lot of the community simply doesn't look for bugs, it just makes the fixes when they're published. Some don't have the time, while others simply don't have the technical ability. To liken the open source community to a security team is a real misnomer.
- I agree partly with your fifth statement, but I'll bring up a point that earned me an "interesting" before: MS has spent a great deal of time in the past year renovating IE for the Mac, making it a solid broswer with little connection to the Windows operating system. In fact, there have been a good number of improvements in IE for the Mac that simply haven't been made to IE in Windows. If they were working towards OS monoculture, wouldn't they be trying to remove functionality from Mac IE?
Unless, of course, you came here just to complain, which is what I'm expecting.
Can we have a new section specifically for LCD topics, instead of Science, so I can remove these boring little stories from my Slashdot homepage? Please?
Chris
You don't need judicial review to be deemed a threat to society. And just because *your* definition of a threat may not be equal to *somebody else's* definition of a threat, or society's, doesn't mean you're free and innocent.
I don't know. You'd think after the PlayStation/N64 debacle Nintendo would be scared shitless to release even a day late. They were very overconfident that their system could overcome any previous launches, and Sony got a good head of steam in the process.
If I was Nintendo, I'd be trying to get this thing out on time, early if possible (which, of course, would never happen).
I totally and wholeheartedly disagree. On the basis that most ideas are thoughts, are you saying that my thoughts are not mine, or cannot belong to me specifically? So all of my thoughts should be instantly available, even to people who I'd rather know them? Another misconception and logical fallacy of the "free".
"We then changed my life support machine to Linux, and the words "Kernel Panic" had entirely new meaning..."
Unfortunately, this ends up being a lot more philosophical a statement than it initially seems. These patents, and the money they make, may not affect the bigwigs all too much at the pharmaceutical companies, but they do affect the lower workers who need the patent money to put bread on the table.
There are a variety of reasons why drugs are as expensive as they are, not the least of which is greed. But also insurance premiums, lawsuits, and salaried employees all play a part in raising prices, so making an all-inclusive statement that this move provides "life before dollars" really isn't exactly true. Money is a system that affects everyone, and some people's lives *will* be screwed by the breaking of the patent law.
No, it's more like $10 plus any lost revenues I can't receive from failing to complete my work over the Internet. There's opportunity costs involved.
It isn't "five bucks" for a loss of downtime. Most connections alone run between $30-50 in the DSL/Cable range a month, so 10 days, or 1/3 of that, is a loss of at least $10. Add to that work that cannot be completed over the internet, and the downtime can become severe.
Also, I don't think this situation is helping my provider, @Home, stay in the business any longer. If they can't start blocking these packets they're going to lose subscribers, which is the very last thing they should be doing right now.
I recall dialing up to the Sierra BBS in California and watching each individual character write itself onto the screen. Then there was CompuServe, which I never tried but was offered as an add-on to the modem.
56,000? Don't cry to me, Argentina. The truth is I never left 110. :)