The cost of a PDF is intangible. Writing, typesetting, marketing, webhosting. It already happened. It happened once; it’s paid for.
No, it's not paid for: It's borrowed and owed.
Millions of copies can be sold with very negligible overhead. It’s nothing but a giant number. Ones and zeros. Costly to produce, but easy to replicate.
£9 for an e-book is borderline ridiculous in my opinion. I guess some people will buy that, though.
Millions of copies of a technical book on an (lets face it) obscure product? In magical-thinking land, sure, but in reality there's but a niche market for this item and if he's going to recoup the cost of rent, food and utilities he had to pay during the time it took to research, write and polish the book he has to price it where the numbers will add up to black ink at the bottom line.
That being said, the line about how nine pounds is a fantastic price is just born out of a habit of seeing computer books go for ridiculously high prices.
Why is the "BP manager" currently out on a yacht at some annual event instead of sat in court, desperately defending himself
Same reason the Union Carbide guy, who killed tens of thousands of people in Bohpal, is living off his life in luxury in the U.S: The system is made by the rich. for the rich.
Rather than paying a nurse to stick a thermometer in the patients mouth (or, where ever) and wait for a result and record it, the phone might bug the patient to test himself and log his own result.
I'm sorry to say that you're grossly overestimating the reliability of the general public. Ask something simple like temperature measurements and people will rinse their thermometer in hot water to clean it, or ice water, or spray rubbing alcohol on it after taking it out but before logging the results, etc. Ant that's not even the creative ones; you'll get stories involving goats and pressure cookers within weeks of launch.
make it more of a tricorder eventually including some testing equipment
I see a great potential for cheap, on-the-shelf testing kits made to create visuals clear to the machine. They could become as ubiquitous as band-aids.
Al Physician is the healthplan of Al Queda. "Just blow yourself up with this fertilizer and diesel and call me in the morning if the rash is still there."
Because having medical advice available on the internet hasn't led to people flooding GP surgeries because they're convinced their cough is actually Ebola.
Right, the internet created hypochondriacs, just like videogames created murderers and the Austrian waltz created coveting of ankles.
Still, if you believe the best place to gain insight about consumer products is from someone who died before Windows XP and the iPod even came out, then well, so be it, there's really no debating with that level of ignorance I suppose.
Nope, your willful ignorance is not to be debated with. Go away.
Natal, or 'Kinect' is different though, unfortunately not many people seem to have the imagination capable of seeing why
I've been playing "controller less" video games at various science&tech exhibits since the 80s, and they all had one thing in common: Suckage.
This over-hyped gadget WILL disappoint once it's out of marketing-controlled settings, and you only have to read the works of Douglas Noel Adams to have a very eloquent explanation of why (in brief: the system is too dumb to correctly interpret movements).
the other one says it's bad that people are spending more time with a screen and less with printed words
As a side issue, I don't understand how 'screen' leads to 'not words'. What are we doing here, for example, but parsing and constructing English sentences, in words, in 'print'? I read a lot of text online - is there some virtue to dead wood pulp which makes the act of reading text just better there?
(I understand the argument about skimming vs deep engagement, but I got taught to speed-read dead trees in primary school.)
I'm guessing that it's the same old-people derangement that makes advertisers try very very hard to turn the web into television. I'm telling you: They confuse the medium with the content.
Don't argue with a fool because people around you won't know who is which.
It's safer to cede the situation with some platitude like "we should agree to disagree" or simply walk away. Anyone who actually degrades your social status for that action should really not be part of your measuring group.
I have just now been freed from the classes where That Guy was also there all day, every day. Boy, am I glad that's over. I didn't choose to be stuck in the same room as that foul creature, you see; sometimes society does that to you, and you have to suffer through while resisting the urge to de-ashi-barai him with his head towards a solid table instead of a soft tatami.
He was also a confirmed Furry. It was hard holding back the urge to euthanize him. Very hard.
I actually like ads to be catered to my tastes, it seems like a more useful use of screen real estate.
Years ago, I worked doing p-shop for advertising, and my boss taught me something important about marketing: The people paying for the ads want those ads to go to peope who aren't already interested. They want to reach people who have no interest in the product, and to alter their minds.
It's a waste of money to pitch to someone who's already sold. In other words, advertisers want to advertise to you the opposite of what you want.
One says "new thing good; makes us smarter", the other says "new thing bad; makes us dumb".
I'm with the "yay progress" guy, the other one says it's bad that people are spending more time with a screen and less with printed words, and like all worshipers of the printed words, he doesn't say why that medium is better than all others. I read books, but I don't think I'm doing something more worthwhile with my time reading a book than watching a movie by the nature of the medium, only by the quality of the content. A harlequin novel is not intrinsically better than a BBC documentary. A New York Post article is not by its very nature better than a wikipedia article.
those who are impatient and not very deep will not bother to look for information through other, slower means.
You can't fix "willfully ignorant" by providing convenient information. I've had arguments with people who were next to a running computer and they would NOT look up the info that proved I was right. Because they weren't arguing to get to the truth, they were arguing to get social status, to "win" an argument.
BWAHAHAHahahaHHAHAhahahaha! The...bhahaha... the PENTAGON, telling...pfffrt... the TRUTH!?! HAhahahahAHAHAH! Oh, lawd!
Yeah, hey, remember them telling the truth about Pat Tillman? Or when they were telling the truth about Abu Grahib? Or that lil' blonde soldier they violently extracted from an Iraqi hospital? Oh yeah, they just can't help themselves at the pentagon: Everything they say is truthful!
Isn't it funny that it was only a heinous thing suddenly when BUSH was president?
Dear fucktard, I didn't say anything that would lead an honest and intelligent person to think I like Clinton, but you're so busy virtually sucking Bush cock you just can't help but assume I would be the same kind of lowlife as you but with a different cock. Please DIAF and never ever again spew your bullshit at anyone else.
Slashdot Mirror
They actually make and handle the same chemical as the Bhopal spill terrifying close to where I live
Lets hope they're not relying on an Invisible Hand to keep it in the pipes!
The cost of a PDF is intangible. Writing, typesetting, marketing, webhosting. It already happened. It happened once; it’s paid for.
No, it's not paid for: It's borrowed and owed.
Millions of copies can be sold with very negligible overhead. It’s nothing but a giant number. Ones and zeros. Costly to produce, but easy to replicate.
£9 for an e-book is borderline ridiculous in my opinion. I guess some people will buy that, though.
Millions of copies of a technical book on an (lets face it) obscure product? In magical-thinking land, sure, but in reality there's but a niche market for this item and if he's going to recoup the cost of rent, food and utilities he had to pay during the time it took to research, write and polish the book he has to price it where the numbers will add up to black ink at the bottom line.
That being said, the line about how nine pounds is a fantastic price is just born out of a habit of seeing computer books go for ridiculously high prices.
And the alternative to such a system is... ?
Socialism (except that the rich pay people to kill/kidnap the good socialists, so it's a theoretical solution).
Why is the "BP manager" currently out on a yacht at some annual event instead of sat in court, desperately defending himself
Same reason the Union Carbide guy, who killed tens of thousands of people in Bohpal, is living off his life in luxury in the U.S: The system is made by the rich. for the rich.
the anti-software patent people will have a perfect analogy for their arguments
But they won't be allowed to use it in print, because it will be copyrighted.
They have whorehouses and gambling in Arabia now?
Awesome.
Rather than paying a nurse to stick a thermometer in the patients mouth (or, where ever) and wait for a result and record it, the phone might bug the patient to test himself and log his own result.
I'm sorry to say that you're grossly overestimating the reliability of the general public. Ask something simple like temperature measurements and people will rinse their thermometer in hot water to clean it, or ice water, or spray rubbing alcohol on it after taking it out but before logging the results, etc. Ant that's not even the creative ones; you'll get stories involving goats and pressure cookers within weeks of launch.
make it more of a tricorder eventually including some testing equipment
I see a great potential for cheap, on-the-shelf testing kits made to create visuals clear to the machine. They could become as ubiquitous as band-aids.
I now have to cut through all the remixes and crap as well.
Yes. Now, this crap of remixes is starting now. I haven't suffered through that for years, it's a new thing from now on ;|
Al Physician is the healthplan of Al Queda.
"Just blow yourself up with this fertilizer and diesel and call me in the morning if the rash is still there."
Because having medical advice available on the internet hasn't led to people flooding GP surgeries because they're convinced their cough is actually Ebola.
Right, the internet created hypochondriacs, just like videogames created murderers and the Austrian waltz created coveting of ankles.
I don't think I've ever met someone cry quite so hard as you [...] Your life must really suck [...] sucks to be you I guess.
You know how I know you're a troll?
Still, if you believe the best place to gain insight about consumer products is from someone who died before Windows XP and the iPod even came out, then well, so be it, there's really no debating with that level of ignorance I suppose.
Nope, your willful ignorance is not to be debated with. Go away.
why would I want to refer to a sci-fi author whose been deceased for over 9 years for information on modern AI research and development?
You wouldn't, 'cause you're a twat, but anyone who isn't would have much to gain from his insight about consumer products.
I have to say my first reaction to this name change was
You're talking about it, generating priceless word-of-mouth advertising: Mission accomplished.
Natal, or 'Kinect' is different though, unfortunately not many people seem to have the imagination capable of seeing why
I've been playing "controller less" video games at various science&tech exhibits since the 80s, and they all had one thing in common: Suckage.
This over-hyped gadget WILL disappoint once it's out of marketing-controlled settings, and you only have to read the works of Douglas Noel Adams to have a very eloquent explanation of why (in brief: the system is too dumb to correctly interpret movements).
Also--doesn't this reverse 40 years of feminism
Pah! I wish.
the other one says it's bad that people are spending more time with a screen and less with printed words
As a side issue, I don't understand how 'screen' leads to 'not words'. What are we doing here, for example, but parsing and constructing English sentences, in words, in 'print'? I read a lot of text online - is there some virtue to dead wood pulp which makes the act of reading text just better there?
(I understand the argument about skimming vs deep engagement, but I got taught to speed-read dead trees in primary school.)
I'm guessing that it's the same old-people derangement that makes advertisers try very very hard to turn the web into television. I'm telling you: They confuse the medium with the content.
Don't argue with a fool because people around you won't know who is which.
It's safer to cede the situation with some platitude like "we should agree to disagree" or simply walk away. Anyone who actually degrades your social status for that action should really not be part of your measuring group.
I have just now been freed from the classes where That Guy was also there all day, every day. Boy, am I glad that's over. I didn't choose to be stuck in the same room as that foul creature, you see; sometimes society does that to you, and you have to suffer through while resisting the urge to de-ashi-barai him with his head towards a solid table instead of a soft tatami.
He was also a confirmed Furry. It was hard holding back the urge to euthanize him. Very hard.
I actually like ads to be catered to my tastes, it seems like a more useful use of screen real estate.
Years ago, I worked doing p-shop for advertising, and my boss taught me something important about marketing: The people paying for the ads want those ads to go to peope who aren't already interested. They want to reach people who have no interest in the product, and to alter their minds.
It's a waste of money to pitch to someone who's already sold. In other words, advertisers want to advertise to you the opposite of what you want.
One says "new thing good; makes us smarter", the other says "new thing bad; makes us dumb".
I'm with the "yay progress" guy, the other one says it's bad that people are spending more time with a screen and less with printed words, and like all worshipers of the printed words, he doesn't say why that medium is better than all others. I read books, but I don't think I'm doing something more worthwhile with my time reading a book than watching a movie by the nature of the medium, only by the quality of the content.
A harlequin novel is not intrinsically better than a BBC documentary. A New York Post article is not by its very nature better than a wikipedia article.
I increasingly find myself not even noticing spelling errors
Neat trick, how do you pull it off?
I never find myself not noticing things, since I'm so busy NOT noticing them at the time.
those who are impatient and not very deep will not bother to look for information through other, slower means.
You can't fix "willfully ignorant" by providing convenient information. I've had arguments with people who were next to a running computer and they would NOT look up the info that proved I was right. Because they weren't arguing to get to the truth, they were arguing to get social status, to "win" an argument.
What if the Pentagon is telling the truth
BWAHAHAHahahaHHAHAhahahaha! The...bhahaha... the PENTAGON, telling...pfffrt... the TRUTH!?! HAhahahahAHAHAH! Oh, lawd!
Yeah, hey, remember them telling the truth about Pat Tillman? Or when they were telling the truth about Abu Grahib? Or that lil' blonde soldier they violently extracted from an Iraqi hospital? Oh yeah, they just can't help themselves at the pentagon: Everything they say is truthful!
Isn't it funny that it was only a heinous thing suddenly when BUSH was president?
Dear fucktard, I didn't say anything that would lead an honest and intelligent person to think I like Clinton, but you're so busy virtually sucking Bush cock you just can't help but assume I would be the same kind of lowlife as you but with a different cock. Please DIAF and never ever again spew your bullshit at anyone else.