I find this very interesting from a marketing perspective. They are promoting this as if it was a product, and yet it isn't on sale - and even the implementations they are talking about (T-Mobile, Sheraton Hotels) are really trials with partners that won't be happening until the end of next year.
So what is this all about? The Vista and Office '07 launches haven't gone well from a marketing perspective - there has been a lot of press basically saying that Microsoft is losing its competitive edge. Couple that with the iPhone, and the fact that Apple is almost certainly going to be launching new products with multi-touch capabilities over the next year or so, and I think it is clear what is going on. Microsoft really want to improve their image in relation to Apple - they don't want Apple to be seen as the innovator and them as the company that's lost it.
Notice on the website that they have a section called "origins" giving the history of the technology within Microsoft - I think they are trying to reverse the image that they copy Apple. Now when the touch-screen iMac is launched (or whatever) Microsoft will have done a fairly good job at taking some of the shine off the launch, even though they don't have a consumer product in the area, nor will they have for some years.
Note, I am not saying that Microsoft are not serious about this as a product -- just that this news launch (about a product that doesn't exist) is all about addressing people's perceptions of the company, and trying to piss on Apple's fire a bit.
I take it you haven't tried Ubuntu in the past few years?
I am referring to an open, cross-platform solution that all OSS projects by buy into. Basically each application would provide a feed (like RSS) containing the information pertaining to upgrades.
I have lots of applications, both OSS and commercial, that have some kind of update system built in - the application checks for an update when you start it, for instance, or when you select the option from the help menu. In fact it is getting to the stage where practically every app. has this.
What I would like to see is a single open method of doing this which could work for all applications (so even commercial software providers could opt into it if they wanted), which would be simple and secure. It would be great to have a single application open that ran at start-up that said: "The following applications have updates available:" and then lists the applications, and two buttons "Update all" and "Advanced" which would allow you to see details about the updates and select just the ones you want.
For instance on my Mac I have:
1) The Official Apple "Software update" that updates OSX and Apple Apps. 2) The Adobe updater for Photoshop, Dreamweaver etc. 3) The Firefox/Thunderbird updater 4) Dozens of updaters for individual apps like TextMate and OSS software 5) Updaters for OSS packages (Fink/darwinports) (Yes, I know about the App Update widget but that only addresses part of the problem, and it does not provide a technical solution that can be used across platforms and projects).
And on Windows, I have the same kind of mess of updaters.
I'm sure there could be a simple, elegant technical solution for this, a kind of RSS-type standard for application updates - you could then choose your prefered updater just as you can now choose your preferred RSS reader.
Will such massive databases make us all act like politicians?
No, it will be worse. Because politicians will be the only ones that will have the influence to be able to "clean up" their records.
Consider Bush. We know he was the black sheep of the Bush family. We know he used to drink a lot. It's likely he did drugs. And yet there is little evidence of this at all, and I bet any journalist that tries to dig up that kind of dirt on Bush will hit a brick wall. Perhaps literally.
I can't believe the number of posts I am seeing that say that they might have a point, or legally they might be correct. The USA has gone nuts. Where did everyone's common sense go?
The Snopes article is rubbish - it does nothing to disprove it. Saltpetre certainly has been used in food in the past, and I doubt the fact that it is bad for you would stop the army using it. There is almost certainly some urban legend to it, but there may be some truth in it as well. I have never seen it disproven, and it is known that it was used in the past by doctors for this type of reason. Whether it was used in the British army or not in the first world war -- we just don't know for sure.
I think they involve Apple and BBC deciding there's an audience that's worth serving.
I don't think that's true - I believe anyone can publish a video RSS feed that could be accessed by the Apple TV - no agreement with Apple necessary. (Of course, if you want it in the Apple iTunes, store, you would need agreement from Apple but it's not necessary to publish a compatible feed).
If anyone from the BBC is reading this, as a non-UK resident I would be happy to pay the annual licence fee if I could get access to the UK BBC channels.
If you could make it work with my Apple TV, even better!
I think one of Microsoft's big problems has they have overpriced the boxed versions of Vista. It is a crazy state of affairs when my local computer shop is selling complete PCs cheaper than the boxed versions of Vista.
Although a agree to some extent with what you are saying when applying it to general photography, I think perhaps you may be being a bit misleading saying you "worked as a commercial still photographer for 15 years". From what you say I doubt that is true.
It is not a case of being a "camera snob". Professional people who buy expensive Nikons are not idiots. If you don't understand the difference between the lens in a compact camera like an Olympus XA and a professional Nikon SLR one, and you don't understand why a professional photographer might buy one, then I'm afraid I can understand why you had to give up professional photography! None of the professional photographers I know have been put out of business by istockphoto.
I think your facts are wrong. Where in Europe are you talking about? This certainly doesn't apply to Spain. Indeed, here there is a company called "fon" which actually encourages it.
Btw, don't feel left out if you're not from the US. That's pretty much true for most of Europe, too. When I look around myself, all I see is fat, lazy and very frightened people.
Speaking as a European, you may be right about fat and lazy, but the fear is just in the USA.
Absolutely - in France, for instance, some schools serve wine with school lunch to kids as young as 14. This helps foster a mature attitude to alchol, and kids quickly get the idea that being drunk is just immature.
What would you say if your own government tried to impose something like this?
Well, I can tell you one thing - if the governments here tried to raise the drinking age to 21 there would be far bigger protests than if they tried to impose this...
Before all you USAians start going on about how repressive the Chinese government is, many of us over here in Europe find it pretty strange that in the USA you can't drink until you're 21. That's much worse than only being able to play three hours of video games a day if you're under 18!
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I find this very interesting from a marketing perspective. They are promoting this as if it was a product, and yet it isn't on sale - and even the implementations they are talking about (T-Mobile, Sheraton Hotels) are really trials with partners that won't be happening until the end of next year.
So what is this all about? The Vista and Office '07 launches haven't gone well from a marketing perspective - there has been a lot of press basically saying that Microsoft is losing its competitive edge. Couple that with the iPhone, and the fact that Apple is almost certainly going to be launching new products with multi-touch capabilities over the next year or so, and I think it is clear what is going on. Microsoft really want to improve their image in relation to Apple - they don't want Apple to be seen as the innovator and them as the company that's lost it.
Notice on the website that they have a section called "origins" giving the history of the technology within Microsoft - I think they are trying to reverse the image that they copy Apple. Now when the touch-screen iMac is launched (or whatever) Microsoft will have done a fairly good job at taking some of the shine off the launch, even though they don't have a consumer product in the area, nor will they have for some years.
Note, I am not saying that Microsoft are not serious about this as a product -- just that this news launch (about a product that doesn't exist) is all about addressing people's perceptions of the company, and trying to piss on Apple's fire a bit.
I take it you haven't tried Ubuntu in the past few years?
I am referring to an open, cross-platform solution that all OSS projects by buy into. Basically each application would provide a feed (like RSS) containing the information pertaining to upgrades.
Great, so it looks like someone has started to seriously look at a solution to this problem.
Perhaps the biggest issue will be getting all major OSS systems to agree on, and use, a single format for update info.
Neither of them has caught on
I find them to be more hassle than they are worth
There's the problem! It's not the idea that is bad, it is the implementation.
I have been thinking about this recently.
I have lots of applications, both OSS and commercial, that have some kind of update system built in - the application checks for an update when you start it, for instance, or when you select the option from the help menu. In fact it is getting to the stage where practically every app. has this.
What I would like to see is a single open method of doing this which could work for all applications (so even commercial software providers could opt into it if they wanted), which would be simple and secure. It would be great to have a single application open that ran at start-up that said: "The following applications have updates available:" and then lists the applications, and two buttons "Update all" and "Advanced" which would allow you to see details about the updates and select just the ones you want.
For instance on my Mac I have:
1) The Official Apple "Software update" that updates OSX and Apple Apps.
2) The Adobe updater for Photoshop, Dreamweaver etc.
3) The Firefox/Thunderbird updater
4) Dozens of updaters for individual apps like TextMate and OSS software
5) Updaters for OSS packages (Fink/darwinports)
(Yes, I know about the App Update widget but that only addresses part of the problem, and it does not provide a technical solution that can be used across platforms and projects).
And on Windows, I have the same kind of mess of updaters.
I'm sure there could be a simple, elegant technical solution for this, a kind of RSS-type standard for application updates - you could then choose your prefered updater just as you can now choose your preferred RSS reader.
"a strongly free-market think tank"
I would have thought an organisation that was strongly free-market would be against stronger copyright laws.
I expect they are really "pro-big-business" rather that "free-market".
Will such massive databases make us all act like politicians?
No, it will be worse. Because politicians will be the only ones that will have the influence to be able to "clean up" their records.
Consider Bush. We know he was the black sheep of the Bush family. We know he used to drink a lot. It's likely he did drugs. And yet there is little evidence of this at all, and I bet any journalist that tries to dig up that kind of dirt on Bush will hit a brick wall. Perhaps literally.
Wow! Aren't you naive!
No wonder the USA is going to the dogs with people like you around.
It is not "naive" to expect common sense in the justice system.
What makes you think that what's legal and common sense have anything to do with one another?
Because reason is the basis of Anglo Saxon law, that's why.
I can't believe the number of posts I am seeing that say that they might have a point, or legally they might be correct. The USA has gone nuts. Where did everyone's common sense go?
The Snopes article is rubbish - it does nothing to disprove it. Saltpetre certainly has been used in food in the past, and I doubt the fact that it is bad for you would stop the army using it. There is almost certainly some urban legend to it, but there may be some truth in it as well. I have never seen it disproven, and it is known that it was used in the past by doctors for this type of reason. Whether it was used in the British army or not in the first world war -- we just don't know for sure.
Why not just send married couples?
Do you think any marriage could survive the couple being together 24 hours a day in an enclosed space for several years?
How do you cope with sexual desire among healthy young men and women during a mission years long?
Put something in their tea. I believe they used bromide to suppress the sexual urges of soldiers during the first world war.
But really, is this that big a problem? I believe it's not difficult to chemically suppress sexual urges.
I think they involve Apple and BBC deciding there's an audience that's worth serving.
I don't think that's true - I believe anyone can publish a video RSS feed that could be accessed by the Apple TV - no agreement with Apple necessary. (Of course, if you want it in the Apple iTunes, store, you would need agreement from Apple but it's not necessary to publish a compatible feed).
If anyone from the BBC is reading this, as a non-UK resident I would be happy to pay the annual licence fee if I could get access to the UK BBC channels.
If you could make it work with my Apple TV, even better!
I think one of Microsoft's big problems has they have overpriced the boxed versions of Vista. It is a crazy state of affairs when my local computer shop is selling complete PCs cheaper than the boxed versions of Vista.
Me too! There is nothing sucky about Firefox. If anything, I wish that Apple would drop Safari and just use Firefox, and use their energies elsewhere.
Although a agree to some extent with what you are saying when applying it to general photography, I think perhaps you may be being a bit misleading saying you "worked as a commercial still photographer for 15 years". From what you say I doubt that is true.
It is not a case of being a "camera snob". Professional people who buy expensive Nikons are not idiots. If you don't understand the difference between the lens in a compact camera like an Olympus XA and a professional Nikon SLR one, and you don't understand why a professional photographer might buy one, then I'm afraid I can understand why you had to give up professional photography! None of the professional photographers I know have been put out of business by istockphoto.
But that applies to ISPs, not individuals. As far as I am aware, there is no law that says you cannot have an open WiFi anywhere in Europe.
I think your facts are wrong. Where in Europe are you talking about? This certainly doesn't apply to Spain. Indeed, here there is a company called "fon" which actually encourages it.
When the EU members actually start get things done
What, as opposed to trivial things like converting to a single currency, you mean?
Btw, don't feel left out if you're not from the US. That's pretty much true for most of Europe, too. When I look around myself, all I see is fat, lazy and very frightened people.
Speaking as a European, you may be right about fat and lazy, but the fear is just in the USA.
Absolutely - in France, for instance, some schools serve wine with school lunch to kids as young as 14. This helps foster a mature attitude to alchol, and kids quickly get the idea that being drunk is just immature.
What would you say if your own government tried to impose something like this?
Well, I can tell you one thing - if the governments here tried to raise the drinking age to 21 there would be far bigger protests than if they tried to impose this...
Before all you USAians start going on about how repressive the Chinese government is, many of us over here in Europe find it pretty strange that in the USA you can't drink until you're 21. That's much worse than only being able to play three hours of video games a day if you're under 18!