Has an actual breakdown of manufacturing costs been made public yet or are we all just assuming the numbers the Media Lab is coming up with are realistic? As an engineering student I can easily see the situation where they're costing the parts out and say "this keyboard costs a total of $20 in parts to produce now, I guess it'll cost $10 when production really ramps up and forget about labor since it'll be robotic." If they do actually make their price point what will the quality of the units be? They don't have any budget at all to throw into good materials or quality assurance, both enormous costs.
If I could ask Mr. Negroponte one question it would be: How long do you expect one of these laptops to function? I've seen some amazingly cheap things come out of Chinese factories but few of them have been worth the price paid.
As a fellow resident of this dorm (East Campus, home of the disco dance floor, time traveler's convention, and numberous other widgets features here at some time) I feel qualified to call you both uniformed and a bit of an ass.:P
This degree of customization is quite common and encouraged here. The building was built in the 20s and its condition very much reflects that. For that reason students are allowed to do pretty much whatever they can get around the fire code. Many rooms feature lofted beds, weird paint schemes and odd lighting. The hallways are covered completely with student painted murals.
If they tear it down tomorrow (or Saturday since that was check-out for the summer) and leave big holes in the walls nobody would know the difference. If they leave it in the next residents will take it over since they'll be the same type of person. Also, most people live on the same floor for all four of their years, many staying in the same room.
My floor, 2E, features a lounge with a lofted couch, hacked together projection system, a water cooled media center, and a 16 processor Alpha (4x ES40) cluster in our kitchen.
You probably think he's joking but I know the server he's talking about. For those concerned, yes, it's used for more than Firefox. They also use the GIMP and XScreenSaver.
I work in a machine shop (I know actual manufacturing in the USA). So I am required to wear safety glasses anyways. I have also had enough projectiles bounce off my glasses during recreational activities that I will stick with glasses long term.
When working in machine shops and the like I prefer to wear my contacts because it allows me to to both wear a larger selections of protective wear more easily (hefty safety glasses, welding helmets, face shields etc) but also not worry about damaging expensive prescription safety glasses that are supposed to get ruined anyway. I can't imaginge having to baby a pair of prescription glasses in a shop environment.
Since you all killed our webserver I put the pics up on our personal server: http://donkeykong.mit.edu/cannon/.
It's only an old AlphaServer DS20 so play nice.
I was just playing around your search results and noticed something a little bit odd. First thing, why would you search Chinese Google with english search terms? I ran it through Systran and tried the search again but with Chinese search terms. The results were different but not better. The odd thing is that if you use the same Chinese search terms with the uncensored Google you get nearly the same set of images as the Chinese Google. I expected results similar to when using the English search terms.
So...why exactly does comparing this new Intel processor with a fictional AMD processor that they can't even mass produce until at least next year matter in the least? The process is just as much a part of the processor as the architecture and Intel has the better process tech. Asking for an AMD with Intel's 65nm process is equivalent to asking for an Intel processor with AMD's superior dual-core architecture.
I think the thing that makes this concerning to many of us is that those of us who would be severely hurt by charging extra for things standard today like NNTP or VOIP do not seem to be enough of a force to be of any consequence.
Suppose a provider like Time Warner decided that they want to increase profits a bit so they make the privilege of using specific ports a five dollar premium fee. Essentially they've created profit where it didn't exist before. Some people will simply have to pay (it's a good deal otherwise, only game in town, and so on) the 'power user' tax.
What fraction of people care? One in fifty? What fraction will just deal with the extra expense? How will this alternative provider get their data to me, on the network we agreed is owned by the original provider?
It's hard for me at least to see a purely free market solution arise that doesn't hurt the power user when the service can be sliced up any way the provider wants inconsequentially. That's why I'm worried. The situation may currently favor us who 'abuse' the system by using ports that the average Joe doesn't for things like FTP, NNTP, and remote administration and I'm not saying that it isn't fair for the ISPs to take what they can, but it certianly would hurt us.
Plastic cases get scratched, it's unavoidable but easily fixable. Go to the auto parts store and get sandpaper of various grits starting at 600 and finishing at 1500 and get a bottle of rubbing compound like 3M Perfect-It 3000. Wet sand the screen with the lowest grit until the largest scratches come out, then work up to the highest grit paper and finish off with the rubbing compound to make it shine like new again. There's plenty of thickness to work with so the procedure can be done many times.
If you have some systems running Windows I highly reccomend hooking up a few displays with Samurize. It's what all the case modders use to display system data on auxilary screens and does some absolutely beautiful things with your data.
You must be talking about American cars, since you can still buy well made German cars and well made Asian cars.
You're quite wrong about new cars being worse than the old stuff. It was not so long ago that a car ran for 100,000 miles before it was at the end of its usable life. Well built modern cars are expected to go well over 200,000 miles before needing major repairs. Even Ford Exploders last longer than the old stuff. Not only that but modern cars use much less gas due to better engine design and electronic fuel injection and are many times safer. Perhaps you've heard of airbags and ABS?
Just because you don't know how to use simple modern diagnostic equipment doesn't mean it's useless or made the job any harder either. It's invaluable to be able to plug in and find out that the problem is the oxygen sensor in bank 2, or that there's an overheating condition in the transmission. I'd like to know when your carb lets you know that the power valve is stuck open and has been spewing gas all over for the last few weeks or that your 13.8 AFR isn't optimal for cruising.
You know the sticker about harmful interference on nearly every piece of electronic equipment you own? I doubt that the problems of interference, either purposeful not, are going to go away any time soon.
What happens when someone starts manufacturing some great device that belches out RFI all over your precious WiFi? How about the neighbor with a high power amplifier that screws up all your phones? When Verizon decides that Nextel's phones should be jammed? The new one mile range AP that just happens to cause burns if you stand near it?
There's a reason that the American auto industry in such a bad situation now and it doesn't have anything to do with low margin vehicles.
The big American car companies can't engineer themselves out of a paper bag.
That's all. There's no excusable reason why a Ford should be expected to need serious repairs at half the milage of a Toyota of the same price. That, and the Toyota will have a better fit and finish. The only reason the citadel has been breached is because the domestic manufacturers tore down the walls and make it into a crackhouse.
Damn, I was just going to post that before I saw you already did.
The Leatherman Wave outclasses any swiss army knife and does a great job keeping up with specialized tools too. It's impossible to explain what someone that doesn't carry one is missing.
If we could make a space shuttle like a leatherman as opposed to a creappy swiss army knife it would do everything, never break down, and fit comfortably in a normal pocket.
I wish I had some mod points to give you for putting it so succinctly. Whatever anyone says, this is what it really comes down to. One hundred dollars or one dollar, the effects of piracy are either too small or too far away for most people to care. Free and easy will always beat all when the effects on a person's conscience are nil.
I do not know why people insist the brain is any different just because we "think" with it. There is no reason to expect that the brain has some special property about it whereby it is incapable of a fundamental structural physiological problem that can manifest itself in negative ways such as depression.
The problem with that assumption is exactly what you stated, it is completely different because we "think" with it. Our though processes ARE in large part the chemical messengers, which makes it impossible to make a distinction whether thought influences the physical part or whether the physical part influences thought.
This does not mean that there can't be strictly physiological problems with the brain because there definitely are, but to look at the brain like any other organ is foolish. Let me know when your foot changes its chemistry because its happy about getting a new sock.
I can pull up 100s of articles from SBC's Project Lightspeed, or Verizon's FIOS. Some of them talk about deploying this stuff nationwide in 2003-2004.
I believe Verizon FIOS is fully installed and available in one town and a section of another next to mine. I also drive past at least two Verizon trucks stringing up or splicing fiber every time I go out to town.
Verizon IS going full bore with fiber deployment, it's their main weapon against the cable companies that are quickly pulling away many of their customers. It's going to take a long time to get a sizeable population hooked up but they only have so many techs and trucks.
It's pretty funny actually, with all the problems we have with telecom businesses and monopolies competition with the cable companies has become a huge driver in my area at least and is yielding some great results.
The original point still stands though, a modern car's expected lifetime is around 250,000 miles, especially for a Toyota. What happens to the car when the warranty done since the battery oviously fails quite reliably unlike other modern car parts. A modern car can often chug along for 250,000 miles (or much more if cared for) before it needs an engine or transmission.
It seems that Verizon is doing its FTTP rollout first in less dense area to work all the kinks out of the system before they move into the big cities. The two towns next to me (northern NJ) just got hooked up and mine is being done right now.
So if you want FTTP right now, move to a suburb that's already been finished.
Slashdot Mirror
Has an actual breakdown of manufacturing costs been made public yet or are we all just assuming the numbers the Media Lab is coming up with are realistic? As an engineering student I can easily see the situation where they're costing the parts out and say "this keyboard costs a total of $20 in parts to produce now, I guess it'll cost $10 when production really ramps up and forget about labor since it'll be robotic." If they do actually make their price point what will the quality of the units be? They don't have any budget at all to throw into good materials or quality assurance, both enormous costs.
If I could ask Mr. Negroponte one question it would be: How long do you expect one of these laptops to function? I've seen some amazingly cheap things come out of Chinese factories but few of them have been worth the price paid.
As a fellow resident of this dorm (East Campus, home of the disco dance floor, time traveler's convention, and numberous other widgets features here at some time) I feel qualified to call you both uniformed and a bit of an ass. :P
This degree of customization is quite common and encouraged here. The building was built in the 20s and its condition very much reflects that. For that reason students are allowed to do pretty much whatever they can get around the fire code. Many rooms feature lofted beds, weird paint schemes and odd lighting. The hallways are covered completely with student painted murals.
If they tear it down tomorrow (or Saturday since that was check-out for the summer) and leave big holes in the walls nobody would know the difference. If they leave it in the next residents will take it over since they'll be the same type of person. Also, most people live on the same floor for all four of their years, many staying in the same room.
My floor, 2E, features a lounge with a lofted couch, hacked together projection system, a water cooled media center, and a 16 processor Alpha (4x ES40) cluster in our kitchen.
That's not an evil laugh, that's the Katamari Damacy theme song!
You probably think he's joking but I know the server he's talking about. For those concerned, yes, it's used for more than Firefox. They also use the GIMP and XScreenSaver.
When working in machine shops and the like I prefer to wear my contacts because it allows me to to both wear a larger selections of protective wear more easily (hefty safety glasses, welding helmets, face shields etc) but also not worry about damaging expensive prescription safety glasses that are supposed to get ruined anyway. I can't imaginge having to baby a pair of prescription glasses in a shop environment.
Since you all killed our webserver I put the pics up on our personal server: http://donkeykong.mit.edu/cannon/. It's only an old AlphaServer DS20 so play nice.
I was just playing around your search results and noticed something a little bit odd. First thing, why would you search Chinese Google with english search terms? I ran it through Systran and tried the search again but with Chinese search terms. The results were different but not better. The odd thing is that if you use the same Chinese search terms with the uncensored Google you get nearly the same set of images as the Chinese Google. I expected results similar to when using the English search terms.
So...why exactly does comparing this new Intel processor with a fictional AMD processor that they can't even mass produce until at least next year matter in the least? The process is just as much a part of the processor as the architecture and Intel has the better process tech. Asking for an AMD with Intel's 65nm process is equivalent to asking for an Intel processor with AMD's superior dual-core architecture.
I think the thing that makes this concerning to many of us is that those of us who would be severely hurt by charging extra for things standard today like NNTP or VOIP do not seem to be enough of a force to be of any consequence.
Suppose a provider like Time Warner decided that they want to increase profits a bit so they make the privilege of using specific ports a five dollar premium fee. Essentially they've created profit where it didn't exist before. Some people will simply have to pay (it's a good deal otherwise, only game in town, and so on) the 'power user' tax.
What fraction of people care? One in fifty? What fraction will just deal with the extra expense? How will this alternative provider get their data to me, on the network we agreed is owned by the original provider?
It's hard for me at least to see a purely free market solution arise that doesn't hurt the power user when the service can be sliced up any way the provider wants inconsequentially. That's why I'm worried. The situation may currently favor us who 'abuse' the system by using ports that the average Joe doesn't for things like FTP, NNTP, and remote administration and I'm not saying that it isn't fair for the ISPs to take what they can, but it certianly would hurt us.
Plastic cases get scratched, it's unavoidable but easily fixable. Go to the auto parts store and get sandpaper of various grits starting at 600 and finishing at 1500 and get a bottle of rubbing compound like 3M Perfect-It 3000. Wet sand the screen with the lowest grit until the largest scratches come out, then work up to the highest grit paper and finish off with the rubbing compound to make it shine like new again. There's plenty of thickness to work with so the procedure can be done many times.
If you have some systems running Windows I highly reccomend hooking up a few displays with Samurize. It's what all the case modders use to display system data on auxilary screens and does some absolutely beautiful things with your data.
http://www.samurize.com/
You must be talking about American cars, since you can still buy well made German cars and well made Asian cars.
You're quite wrong about new cars being worse than the old stuff. It was not so long ago that a car ran for 100,000 miles before it was at the end of its usable life. Well built modern cars are expected to go well over 200,000 miles before needing major repairs. Even Ford Exploders last longer than the old stuff. Not only that but modern cars use much less gas due to better engine design and electronic fuel injection and are many times safer. Perhaps you've heard of airbags and ABS?
Just because you don't know how to use simple modern diagnostic equipment doesn't mean it's useless or made the job any harder either. It's invaluable to be able to plug in and find out that the problem is the oxygen sensor in bank 2, or that there's an overheating condition in the transmission. I'd like to know when your carb lets you know that the power valve is stuck open and has been spewing gas all over for the last few weeks or that your 13.8 AFR isn't optimal for cruising.
You know the sticker about harmful interference on nearly every piece of electronic equipment you own? I doubt that the problems of interference, either purposeful not, are going to go away any time soon.
What happens when someone starts manufacturing some great device that belches out RFI all over your precious WiFi? How about the neighbor with a high power amplifier that screws up all your phones? When Verizon decides that Nextel's phones should be jammed? The new one mile range AP that just happens to cause burns if you stand near it?
Thank you sir for this gem of advice in what seems to be a sea of bickering about the usefulness of laptops and parental monitoring.
How hard can this possibly be: You get a laptop when you need a laptop. Stick with a desktop until then.
I'll make sure to get your suggestion to the single scientist working in this obviously neglected field of study.
There's a reason that the American auto industry in such a bad situation now and it doesn't have anything to do with low margin vehicles.
The big American car companies can't engineer themselves out of a paper bag.
That's all. There's no excusable reason why a Ford should be expected to need serious repairs at half the milage of a Toyota of the same price. That, and the Toyota will have a better fit and finish. The only reason the citadel has been breached is because the domestic manufacturers tore down the walls and make it into a crackhouse.
Damn, I was just going to post that before I saw you already did.
The Leatherman Wave outclasses any swiss army knife and does a great job keeping up with specialized tools too. It's impossible to explain what someone that doesn't carry one is missing.
If we could make a space shuttle like a leatherman as opposed to a creappy swiss army knife it would do everything, never break down, and fit comfortably in a normal pocket.
Thank you for that. What a fine example of how the constitution is supposed to work.
I wish I had some mod points to give you for putting it so succinctly. Whatever anyone says, this is what it really comes down to. One hundred dollars or one dollar, the effects of piracy are either too small or too far away for most people to care. Free and easy will always beat all when the effects on a person's conscience are nil.
I do not know why people insist the brain is any different just because we "think" with it. There is no reason to expect that the brain has some special property about it whereby it is incapable of a fundamental structural physiological problem that can manifest itself in negative ways such as depression.
The problem with that assumption is exactly what you stated, it is completely different because we "think" with it. Our though processes ARE in large part the chemical messengers, which makes it impossible to make a distinction whether thought influences the physical part or whether the physical part influences thought.
This does not mean that there can't be strictly physiological problems with the brain because there definitely are, but to look at the brain like any other organ is foolish. Let me know when your foot changes its chemistry because its happy about getting a new sock.
I can pull up 100s of articles from SBC's Project Lightspeed, or Verizon's FIOS. Some of them talk about deploying this stuff nationwide in 2003-2004.
I believe Verizon FIOS is fully installed and available in one town and a section of another next to mine. I also drive past at least two Verizon trucks stringing up or splicing fiber every time I go out to town.
Verizon IS going full bore with fiber deployment, it's their main weapon against the cable companies that are quickly pulling away many of their customers. It's going to take a long time to get a sizeable population hooked up but they only have so many techs and trucks.
It's pretty funny actually, with all the problems we have with telecom businesses and monopolies competition with the cable companies has become a huge driver in my area at least and is yielding some great results.
Nice, that's exactly what I was thinking when I saw it. Slashdot and Rush, the perfect combination.
The original point still stands though, a modern car's expected lifetime is around 250,000 miles, especially for a Toyota. What happens to the car when the warranty done since the battery oviously fails quite reliably unlike other modern car parts. A modern car can often chug along for 250,000 miles (or much more if cared for) before it needs an engine or transmission.
Come on people, this is hardly a dupe.
xperts believe there are scores of incidents occurring undetected, sometimes to frightening effect.
These are X-perts we're talking about here, not to be confused with normal experts, these x-perts take 802.11 security TO THE MAX!
It seems that Verizon is doing its FTTP rollout first in less dense area to work all the kinks out of the system before they move into the big cities. The two towns next to me (northern NJ) just got hooked up and mine is being done right now.
So if you want FTTP right now, move to a suburb that's already been finished.