Has anyone thought of the maintenance cost related to this idea? Troubleshooting? How reliable is your ISP now? And we're talking about putting new technology in a ball floating thousands of feet in the air like it'll float for years without failing. This is just another fancy solution to a simple problem. High on the "cool" effect, low of sensibility. Broadband to the home has already been solved. There are multiple solutions. There just is not enough end-user interest to make it cost beneficial to the providers to roll out. A combination of cable, dsl, and ground-based wireless will provide 95% of broadband access to the home for the next decade. The only other player is satellite broadband, which has not won out over any of the other three in any market.
I think most technical people misunderstand the average computer user. File extensions are totally alien to Joe Average, and even if they were surrounded in blinking lights on the desktop he wouldn't bother with them. Software has the ability to set itself as the default for any given extension, and accessing registered file types in win2000 takes 3 clicks from the desktop (given you have a shortcut to win explorer), which seems fair to me. If someone tried to build an OS which gave quick access to every possible config change anyone could want, it would be a disastor.
The real issue being discussed here is software bundling and whether microsoft has an unfair advantage by loading/forcing others to load their software on systems with a windows OS. Which they do, but hey, that's just my opinion...
Have you tried other drives in the same bay, on the same power, etc? Even a bad drive line wouldn't be expected to fail 3/3 times. That's an incrediably high failure rate, even if the next 7 didn't fail. Maybe you have internal problems (vibrations, heat, power surges, etc...) that are causing you problems?
My company was recently forced to refurb machines we sold to a customer because of a high drive failure rate, and it less than 5%. Something makes me think it's not just bad drives causing your grief...
The only way to truly get the type of experience you are looking for is to take summer or (even better) a part time job in the CS area. I recently graduated and am now working for IBM. The thing the helped me stick out from the crowd was my work experience in IT for 1 and 1/2 years while attending school and a 3 month co-op in Germany. Job experience is the most effective learning tool any school can provide, and most schools do have programs to help interested students find jobs in their area of study. Classroom learning is a totally different type of learning and, while it has its place, is not nor will it ever be as effective at teaching practical skills as is the work place.
Peace is a great thing, but unfortunately, it requires more than one side to make peace. Before WWII, most of Europe attempted peace with Hitler. Not only did it fail, but it almost provided him with the timetable to conquer all of Europe. Pacifism does not work, never has, never will. Why would anyone think that pacifism will work to bring peace any better when dealing with terrorists than with dictators? It just won't work.
Somehow I have trouble seeing the Bells as so naive. Do you really think that they believe they can keep broadband from becoming a reality? I don't think so. Rather, it seems much more likely that the current slow move towards broadband is a strategy to keep competitors away. Would you spend millions, or billions even, on infrastructure if you thought there was a good change the government would then force you to open it to your competitors? Instead, why not allow them to try it on their own (which doesn't seem to be working very well) and do what you can to hinder them?
If one of these startups actually survived to the point of challenging a baby bell, I have no doubt we would see remarkable improvements in service from them. Till then, though, who can blame them for dragging their feet? If they drag long enough, they just might outlast everyone (hey, that's what a monopoly is all about, right?) and then they can make as much as they want on broadband.
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Has anyone thought of the maintenance cost related to this idea? Troubleshooting? How reliable is your ISP now? And we're talking about putting new technology in a ball floating thousands of feet in the air like it'll float for years without failing. This is just another fancy solution to a simple problem. High on the "cool" effect, low of sensibility. Broadband to the home has already been solved. There are multiple solutions. There just is not enough end-user interest to make it cost beneficial to the providers to roll out. A combination of cable, dsl, and ground-based wireless will provide 95% of broadband access to the home for the next decade. The only other player is satellite broadband, which has not won out over any of the other three in any market.
I think most technical people misunderstand the average computer user. File extensions are totally alien to Joe Average, and even if they were surrounded in blinking lights on the desktop he wouldn't bother with them. Software has the ability to set itself as the default for any given extension, and accessing registered file types in win2000 takes 3 clicks from the desktop (given you have a shortcut to win explorer), which seems fair to me. If someone tried to build an OS which gave quick access to every possible config change anyone could want, it would be a disastor.
The real issue being discussed here is software bundling and whether microsoft has an unfair advantage by loading/forcing others to load their software on systems with a windows OS. Which they do, but hey, that's just my opinion...
Have you tried other drives in the same bay, on the same power, etc? Even a bad drive line wouldn't be expected to fail 3/3 times. That's an incrediably high failure rate, even if the next 7 didn't fail. Maybe you have internal problems (vibrations, heat, power surges, etc...) that are causing you problems?
My company was recently forced to refurb machines we sold to a customer because of a high drive failure rate, and it less than 5%. Something makes me think it's not just bad drives causing your grief...
The only way to truly get the type of experience you are looking for is to take summer or (even better) a part time job in the CS area. I recently graduated and am now working for IBM. The thing the helped me stick out from the crowd was my work experience in IT for 1 and 1/2 years while attending school and a 3 month co-op in Germany. Job experience is the most effective learning tool any school can provide, and most schools do have programs to help interested students find jobs in their area of study. Classroom learning is a totally different type of learning and, while it has its place, is not nor will it ever be as effective at teaching practical skills as is the work place.
Peace is a great thing, but unfortunately, it requires more than one side to make peace. Before WWII, most of Europe attempted peace with Hitler. Not only did it fail, but it almost provided him with the timetable to conquer all of Europe. Pacifism does not work, never has, never will. Why would anyone think that pacifism will work to bring peace any better when dealing with terrorists than with dictators? It just won't work.
Somehow I have trouble seeing the Bells as so naive. Do you really think that they believe they can keep broadband from becoming a reality? I don't think so. Rather, it seems much more likely that the current slow move towards broadband is a strategy to keep competitors away. Would you spend millions, or billions even, on infrastructure if you thought there was a good change the government would then force you to open it to your competitors? Instead, why not allow them to try it on their own (which doesn't seem to be working very well) and do what you can to hinder them? If one of these startups actually survived to the point of challenging a baby bell, I have no doubt we would see remarkable improvements in service from them. Till then, though, who can blame them for dragging their feet? If they drag long enough, they just might outlast everyone (hey, that's what a monopoly is all about, right?) and then they can make as much as they want on broadband.