Dell is a clever guy. In this article, I think he is just giving his best response to keep the Linux guys happy. Does anyone really believe him when he says ""Microsoft has not talked to us about Linux. If they did, I wouldn't care. It's none of their business."? Sorry, I don't believe that for a second. Companies have to go through rounds of negociation with Microsoft, re who much they are going to pay, joint marketing etc. He's saying Linux never comes up in these negociations?
The fact is, Dell is the one company that could make Linux on the desktop happen, if they wanted to.
You post just convinces me further of belief that we don't really understand economics...
Debt is debt. Saying that a debt is actually wealth, because the thing you have brought might be worth more in the future, is just gambling. It might be worth less. Running an economy on the premise that "the more we spend, the wealthier we are" just sounds foolish to me. One day, the bubble bursts, and I'm afraid that day is coming fast...
What I don't understand is why there isn't more alarm in the USA about this situation. From my studies of economics I have come to understand that we don't really understand economics - for every economist that says the debt in the USA is a big problem, you can find another that will say it's not a problem at all. Conclusion - we don't know. However, as a biologist I do understand that graphs like this one generally indicate that a big change is about to happen:
At least here in the UK, you can now buy XBoxes on ebay for less that the highstreet price. A core system with two controllers just went for 170 pounds about five minutes ago, they're over 200 pounds in the shops.
Don't you know you can get a machine from Dell with similar specs for about $100 less! A machine exactly the same in all respects! Well, I guess except a bit bigger. Well, quite a lot bigger actually. And heavier. But otherwise the same! Oh except it will be grey and kind of crappy looking. But the specs will be the same! Oh apart from running Windows XP rather than OSX. And without the iLife software. But otherwise exactly the same. You Apple fanboys are nuts!
Being a non name brand company doesn't help with the cost of manufacturing electronics.
True. But you realise that there is often a mark-up just because of brand name? There are even manufacturers that have two lines of products, one with the luxury brand and one the "cheapo" brand, whilst the products are essentially the same - the luxury brand just having different finishing and packaging.
This gives them the opportunity to not have to pay for a graphical interface they can't or don't want to use.
Do you work for Microsoft by any chance? You seemed to have swallowed their line on this... You must relise that there is no actual cost difference to Microsoft, it's just about value perception.
This is called "market segmentation" - anyone who's studied marketing will be familiar with it.
What I find difficult to believe is this:
Vista Home Premium includes everything in the Basic version and adds the new graphical interface called Aero.
So they're going to be selling a version which has a deliberately crappier interface (Home Basic)? Is that sensible from a business perspective?
One useful mental exercise I often apply to my own work is "What would Steve Jobs say about this?" I think Microsoft should try it with this particular decision...
There are different laws in different countries, just because they set a precedent in the US doesn't mean that other countries can harvest the information.
I didn't mean legal precedent, I meant it in the ordinary sense of the word "An act or instance that may be used as an example in dealing with subsequent similar instances."
You've only just realised that the government is hypocritical? You must be one of those people that thinks the war in Iraq is about bringing freedom to the Iraqi people...
They have to realise they're setting a precident here.
Google works in many countries around the world. How is the US government going to react if, say, the EU requests the same data from Google? How about China? Or Iran?
Are they restricting the data they gather to searches only made by US citizens? Because here in the EU there are pretty strong laws about how companies can use personal data they gather. If the US government forces them to hand over data that pertains to EU citizens, I believe Google will be breaking EU data laws and could be opening themselves up for legal action in the EU.
Actually, there maybe something that EU citizens can do about this. Perhaps EFF Europe should start a campaign...
This whole book sounds like an article in Wired from about seven or eight years ago. There didn't used to be an issue of Wired without a proclamation that something was "far vaster in its scope and effects than the Great Wars, and the Industrial Revolution" or words to that effect.
I hadn't used my PS2 for a few years until just recently. If you're in a similar position, my advice is if you want great "next generation" games, try some of the ones that have come out recently for your "old" console. The graphics and gameplay on Resident Evil 4, for instance, blew me away, and "Shadow of the Colossus" looks even more impressive. And we've got "Starcraft:Ghost" to look forward to later in the year.
So I'm not bothered if the PS3 doesn't come out for a while, PS2 games are at their peak and are probably be better than first gen PS3/XBox360 games.
A lost sale here and there is nothing compared to this.
But what I'm asking is, are these assumptions true? Is it really just a "lost sale here and there"? Airports, for instance, do amazing amounts of trade - I believe retail space in Heathrow airport for instance is some of the most profitable in the UK - I can't believe that zoning doesn't hurt sales there significantly. And if it is the case, why doesn't the same thing happen with music? I never see "grey" music imports for instance. Why isn't music "zoned"?
Is it all just about cinema attendance, i.e. not wanting Europeans to get their hands on USA DVDs before a US film is released at cinemas in Europe. If that is the case I cannot believe that zoning generates more revenue than it costs in lost sales.
Is there any evidence that the encryption actually reduces piracy, in other words, increases sales? Is there any evidence that zoning on DVDs increases sales?
To what extent does zoning reduce sales? For instance, holidaymakers and businessmen not being able to purchase DVDs in the countries they visit due to zoning? Have the film studios researched this? Anyone know of any relevant market research?
There have been cameras pointing at you at customs when flying between the UK and Ireland for years, and I've noticed them at more and more customs posts recently in Europe.
It wouldn't surprise me if the same thing is true in the USA.
These copyright holders will have lost more money from me because of copyright restrictions than they gain.
My local DVD rental store is great and has interesting films from all over the world. But very often I can't rent the DVDs because of zoning issues. And I can't be the only one that's been at an airport and thought, hey I'll buy a DVD to watch on my laptop on the flight, ony to remember that I'm in the wrong zone. The stupid thing is people who want to copy the films can do so quite easily, and yet me, someone who is actually happy to purchase them, is provented from doing so.
Personally I don't understand why universities and schools all over the world aren't switching all their desktops to Linux. How many billions of taxpayers money is being spent on Microsoft software that could be better spent elsewhere?
Slashdot Mirror
It hasn't worked once for me. I guess it must be dependant on where you are.
I searched for "linux" and it didn't return any results!
If they want to challenge Google they aren't going about it very well...
Dell is a clever guy. In this article, I think he is just giving his best response to keep the Linux guys happy. Does anyone really believe him when he says ""Microsoft has not talked to us about Linux. If they did, I wouldn't care. It's none of their business."? Sorry, I don't believe that for a second. Companies have to go through rounds of negociation with Microsoft, re who much they are going to pay, joint marketing etc. He's saying Linux never comes up in these negociations?
The fact is, Dell is the one company that could make Linux on the desktop happen, if they wanted to.
check out this report comparing the US to the EU
And you criticise the graph I link to for being misleading? That is the most misleading document I've ever seen!
In many cases debt is actually wealth.
You post just convinces me further of belief that we don't really understand economics...
Debt is debt. Saying that a debt is actually wealth, because the thing you have brought might be worth more in the future, is just gambling. It might be worth less. Running an economy on the premise that "the more we spend, the wealthier we are" just sounds foolish to me. One day, the bubble bursts, and I'm afraid that day is coming fast...
Wow.
What I don't understand is why there isn't more alarm in the USA about this situation. From my studies of economics I have come to understand that we don't really understand economics - for every economist that says the debt in the USA is a big problem, you can find another that will say it's not a problem at all. Conclusion - we don't know. However, as a biologist I do understand that graphs like this one generally indicate that a big change is about to happen:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/history.gif
Perhaps the answer is not to pre-order?
At least here in the UK, you can now buy XBoxes on ebay for less that the highstreet price. A core system with two controllers just went for 170 pounds about five minutes ago, they're over 200 pounds in the shops.
You Apple fanboy!
Don't you know you can get a machine from Dell with similar specs for about $100 less! A machine exactly the same in all respects! Well, I guess except a bit bigger. Well, quite a lot bigger actually. And heavier. But otherwise the same! Oh except it will be grey and kind of crappy looking. But the specs will be the same! Oh apart from running Windows XP rather than OSX. And without the iLife software. But otherwise exactly the same. You Apple fanboys are nuts!
I was just about to say the same thing...
I find it almost embarrassing reading what people are posting here.
Being a non name brand company doesn't help with the cost of manufacturing electronics.
True. But you realise that there is often a mark-up just because of brand name? There are even manufacturers that have two lines of products, one with the luxury brand and one the "cheapo" brand, whilst the products are essentially the same - the luxury brand just having different finishing and packaging.
This gives them the opportunity to not have to pay for a graphical interface they can't or don't want to use.
Do you work for Microsoft by any chance? You seemed to have swallowed their line on this... You must relise that there is no actual cost difference to Microsoft, it's just about value perception.
This is called "market segmentation" - anyone who's studied marketing will be familiar with it.
What I find difficult to believe is this:
Vista Home Premium includes everything in the Basic version and adds the new graphical interface called Aero.
So they're going to be selling a version which has a deliberately crappier interface (Home Basic)? Is that sensible from a business perspective?
One useful mental exercise I often apply to my own work is "What would Steve Jobs say about this?" I think Microsoft should try it with this particular decision...
There are different laws in different countries, just because they set a precedent in the US doesn't mean that other countries can harvest the information.
I didn't mean legal precedent, I meant it in the ordinary sense of the word "An act or instance that may be used as an example in dealing with subsequent similar instances."
You've only just realised that the government is hypocritical? You must be one of those people that thinks the war in Iraq is about bringing freedom to the Iraqi people...
Has the government really thought this through?
They have to realise they're setting a precident here.
Google works in many countries around the world. How is the US government going to react if, say, the EU requests the same data from Google? How about China? Or Iran?
Are they restricting the data they gather to searches only made by US citizens? Because here in the EU there are pretty strong laws about how companies can use personal data they gather. If the US government forces them to hand over data that pertains to EU citizens, I believe Google will be breaking EU data laws and could be opening themselves up for legal action in the EU.
Actually, there maybe something that EU citizens can do about this. Perhaps EFF Europe should start a campaign...
This whole book sounds like an article in Wired from about seven or eight years ago. There didn't used to be an issue of Wired without a proclamation that something was "far vaster in its scope and effects than the Great Wars, and the Industrial Revolution" or words to that effect.
I hadn't used my PS2 for a few years until just recently. If you're in a similar position, my advice is if you want great "next generation" games, try some of the ones that have come out recently for your "old" console. The graphics and gameplay on Resident Evil 4, for instance, blew me away, and "Shadow of the Colossus" looks even more impressive. And we've got "Starcraft:Ghost" to look forward to later in the year.
So I'm not bothered if the PS3 doesn't come out for a while, PS2 games are at their peak and are probably be better than first gen PS3/XBox360 games.
A lost sale here and there is nothing compared to this.
But what I'm asking is, are these assumptions true? Is it really just a "lost sale here and there"? Airports, for instance, do amazing amounts of trade - I believe retail space in Heathrow airport for instance is some of the most profitable in the UK - I can't believe that zoning doesn't hurt sales there significantly. And if it is the case, why doesn't the same thing happen with music? I never see "grey" music imports for instance. Why isn't music "zoned"?
Is it all just about cinema attendance, i.e. not wanting Europeans to get their hands on USA DVDs before a US film is released at cinemas in Europe. If that is the case I cannot believe that zoning generates more revenue than it costs in lost sales.
Is there any evidence that the encryption actually reduces piracy, in other words, increases sales? Is there any evidence that zoning on DVDs increases sales?
To what extent does zoning reduce sales? For instance, holidaymakers and businessmen not being able to purchase DVDs in the countries they visit due to zoning? Have the film studios researched this? Anyone know of any relevant market research?
There have been cameras pointing at you at customs when flying between the UK and Ireland for years, and I've noticed them at more and more customs posts recently in Europe.
It wouldn't surprise me if the same thing is true in the USA.
Well said.
These copyright holders will have lost more money from me because of copyright restrictions than they gain.
My local DVD rental store is great and has interesting films from all over the world. But very often I can't rent the DVDs because of zoning issues. And I can't be the only one that's been at an airport and thought, hey I'll buy a DVD to watch on my laptop on the flight, ony to remember that I'm in the wrong zone. The stupid thing is people who want to copy the films can do so quite easily, and yet me, someone who is actually happy to purchase them, is provented from doing so.
Personally I don't understand why universities and schools all over the world aren't switching all their desktops to Linux. How many billions of taxpayers money is being spent on Microsoft software that could be better spent elsewhere?
I switched. 3 other people in my office switched. Whats he talking about?
Me too. I think the best response with Dvorak is just to ignore him, but unfortunately Slashdot keeps printing his rubbish.
AbiWord is the closest thing to what I'd like to see. I wish it would get more promotion.
Why has this been modded as a troll? I'm serious.