Moral considerations only secondary? So, using slave labor, releasing a known dangerous product or murdering competitors are all perfectly acceptable business strategies? I'm for a free market. I'm not for the abdication of all moral principles in order to achieve it. So, yes, I expect more than strictly for-profit motives.
"And anything where the illustrations are critical to full understanding of the text is also useless at this stage."
I just received a Kindle as a graduation gift from my wife and I have to say I instantly loved the thing. The display is just nothing like an lcd and it is pleasing to the eye. I'm not sure what you mean by the illustrations comment, however. I don't yet have any books that have illustrations but I assume that it must handle them very well (unless of course they need to be in color) because the standby mode of the Kindle displays a random, beautiful illustration every time you enter that mode.
Additionally, I love that I can hook the thing up to my computer and throw in plain old text files. That is awesome. Even more so is the fact that you don't need any software to do it. The Kindle simply mounts as a USB drive.
I'm not sure about the veracity of your statements, but I would conjecture that the blueprints would be nothing more than very cool wallpaper as most craft built to date have been ad hoc creations to house specific instruments with specific needs. The new design will no doubt save money but the instruments will now have to be shoe-horned into that architecture. And that may very well work for the most part.
In addition, here is a site that people should be aware of. It is a database of all the NASA tech that has been spun off into private industry. For instance, JPL developed shake testers to test spacecraft and instruments for their ability to withstand launch stress. Now JPL buys their shake testers from a an outside company.
"He trumpets Apple for overhauling their platform and releasing a rapid succession of new OSes in order to advance the platform, which retaining absolutely no backwards compatibility."
This is a false statement. Or at best misleading. Yes, Apple did finally ditch OS 9 after many years of offering backwards compatibility. Their succession of OSes, or OS X as some of us call it, are all backward compatible. Unless I'm mistaking your definition of backward compatible.
Apple's decision to make a break with their old OS was a good one, and I'm sure just about anyone would agree with that. I liken it to when the camera manufacturer Canon abandoned their old twist-lock lens mounts in favor of the electro-mechanical mount. That allowed them to develop the best autofocus lenses on the market and to finally overtake Nikon in a big way, whom they'd been playing second fiddle to since forever.
For business activities it's mostly OS X for everything. I mean really, why bother if all you're going to do is run Bootcamp or Parallels? I have Parallels installed and I use it once every couple of months.
" If companies like Psystar are indeed a harbinger of things to come, I see Apple's market share in the corporate environment only continuing to rise."
As I see it, Apple will die a quick death if companies like Psystar are a harbinger. Apple creates great software at cheap prices in order to sell hardware. In my mind that's a good business model because it's easier to control copying and theft of hardware than it is of software. Plus it allows OS X to be easy and user friendly to install, without a crippling and restrictive licensing/software key scheme.
And before some bozo says that means that Apple hardware is inferior I will point out that I have a house full of Macs that are several years old and still running great. The problem for me is that Apple hardware lasts too long. I want to get something new before the old one is actually worn out.
I think you missed reading the summary of the story as well as perhaps taking a glance at the story itself. Apple is not trying to compete in the corporate market.
You don't generate consumer buzz by talking about the things you're going to be releasing in, oh, five years or so. People forget about it and by the time it comes out it's already old news. Apple is much better off doing what they do now and letting the pressure of their consumer user base continue to help them in the work place.
Apple is growing. A few years ago the place where I work started offering Mac desktops and laptops for people who wanted those instead of a Dell. Judging from the amount of people I see walking into meetings with Macs I'd say that Apple has at least a 25% share at our business.
I kind of doubt that was the reason. Microsoft did up their offer but their stock price had dropped in the meantime leaving the offer about the same as it was before, since their offer was in shares of MS.
Indeed, but that doesn't address the problem of most embedded development being Windows-centric, the Arduino being an exception. I've been goofing around with Basic Stamps, largely because there is a really nice piece of software for programming it from the Mac through USB, made by Murat Konar. The MiniOn system looks like a welcome addition with the ability to program through a web browser and using inexpensive microcontrollers.
Not sure why you were modded as "Informative." He didn't call an embargo imperialist. He said that the USA has longstanding imperialist policies. And your assumption as to his reaction to Cuban Starbucks and McDonalds is pretty offensive.
Well, it's actually 55 m.p.h. freeway traffic on the left. I've done those entrances many times, most of which were done in my old Mazda B2200 way-underpowered truck. The real trick is not feeling like you have to pull out when there clearly isn't enough room for you to accelerate your under-powered vehicle to fit into the traffic stream.:-)
" If they win their suit, it will be a new era for the Macintosh"
If I understand your point it would be more like the end of an era for Macintosh. As most everyone understands, or should understand by now, Apple is a hardware company. The terrific software they develop is in order to sell hardware. If Apple allows any piece of junk to run OS X then they've lost their business model. I hope Psystar goes down in flames, actually.
"I don't know any of the little catch phrases from the sitcoms..."
So, get people to explain them to you. People love talking about their favorite shows. This is exactly what I do. I've been without TV since 1991 and I've never really felt out of the loop. If all your conversations must revolve around TV then that's a little limiting in itself. Reading a few blogs and news web sites is more than enough to keep you in the running with pop culture.
Many will defend various programs on TV and they may very well be right about certain shows, but in general I think TV is a black hole in your life, stealing your precious time.
"There are ways to combine C++ and Objective C but it requires a person who actually knows that they are doing."
Not sure exactly what you mean by this, but if you're referring to using C++ and Objective-C code in the same project using Xcode all you need to do is set "Compile Source As" to Objective-C++ and you can mix the two to your heart's content. I'm doing exactly that on my current project.
Not to belittle US assistance, but as a percentage of gross national income the US is way low on the scale. It's true that the absolute numbers that the US gives are very high (about twice as high as the next highest country), but it also helps to keep in mind that we aren't really sacrificing all that much in order to do it. About 0.17% of our GNI.
Here's a page with some nice charts and numbers.
Is that some sort of canned response? Just unimaginative trolling? Because research into how the brain works is fascinating and has countless implications as far as self-understanding and self-improvement go. In no way could this be construed as pointing out something as obvious as "the sky is blue."
There's also a difference between something that is given away for free being called a work in progress and something that is a pricey commercial product being called a work in progress. Of course, you're right about feedback and improvement. This seems more about a poor choice of words by Ballmer.
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Moral considerations only secondary? So, using slave labor, releasing a known dangerous product or murdering competitors are all perfectly acceptable business strategies? I'm for a free market. I'm not for the abdication of all moral principles in order to achieve it. So, yes, I expect more than strictly for-profit motives.
"And anything where the illustrations are critical to full understanding of the text is also useless at this stage."
I just received a Kindle as a graduation gift from my wife and I have to say I instantly loved the thing. The display is just nothing like an lcd and it is pleasing to the eye. I'm not sure what you mean by the illustrations comment, however. I don't yet have any books that have illustrations but I assume that it must handle them very well (unless of course they need to be in color) because the standby mode of the Kindle displays a random, beautiful illustration every time you enter that mode.
Additionally, I love that I can hook the thing up to my computer and throw in plain old text files. That is awesome. Even more so is the fact that you don't need any software to do it. The Kindle simply mounts as a USB drive.
I'm not sure about the veracity of your statements, but I would conjecture that the blueprints would be nothing more than very cool wallpaper as most craft built to date have been ad hoc creations to house specific instruments with specific needs. The new design will no doubt save money but the instruments will now have to be shoe-horned into that architecture. And that may very well work for the most part.
In addition, here is a site that people should be aware of. It is a database of all the NASA tech that has been spun off into private industry. For instance, JPL developed shake testers to test spacecraft and instruments for their ability to withstand launch stress. Now JPL buys their shake testers from a an outside company.
"He trumpets Apple for overhauling their platform and releasing a rapid succession of new OSes in order to advance the platform, which retaining absolutely no backwards compatibility."
This is a false statement. Or at best misleading. Yes, Apple did finally ditch OS 9 after many years of offering backwards compatibility. Their succession of OSes, or OS X as some of us call it, are all backward compatible. Unless I'm mistaking your definition of backward compatible.
Apple's decision to make a break with their old OS was a good one, and I'm sure just about anyone would agree with that. I liken it to when the camera manufacturer Canon abandoned their old twist-lock lens mounts in favor of the electro-mechanical mount. That allowed them to develop the best autofocus lenses on the market and to finally overtake Nikon in a big way, whom they'd been playing second fiddle to since forever.
Oh, I always thought that was Godwin slaw. No wonder they looked at me funny at the deli.
For business activities it's mostly OS X for everything. I mean really, why bother if all you're going to do is run Bootcamp or Parallels? I have Parallels installed and I use it once every couple of months.
" If companies like Psystar are indeed a harbinger of things to come, I see Apple's market share in the corporate environment only continuing to rise."
As I see it, Apple will die a quick death if companies like Psystar are a harbinger. Apple creates great software at cheap prices in order to sell hardware. In my mind that's a good business model because it's easier to control copying and theft of hardware than it is of software. Plus it allows OS X to be easy and user friendly to install, without a crippling and restrictive licensing/software key scheme.
And before some bozo says that means that Apple hardware is inferior I will point out that I have a house full of Macs that are several years old and still running great. The problem for me is that Apple hardware lasts too long. I want to get something new before the old one is actually worn out.
I think you missed reading the summary of the story as well as perhaps taking a glance at the story itself. Apple is not trying to compete in the corporate market.
You don't generate consumer buzz by talking about the things you're going to be releasing in, oh, five years or so. People forget about it and by the time it comes out it's already old news. Apple is much better off doing what they do now and letting the pressure of their consumer user base continue to help them in the work place.
Apple is growing. A few years ago the place where I work started offering Mac desktops and laptops for people who wanted those instead of a Dell. Judging from the amount of people I see walking into meetings with Macs I'd say that Apple has at least a 25% share at our business.
I kind of doubt that was the reason. Microsoft did up their offer but their stock price had dropped in the meantime leaving the offer about the same as it was before, since their offer was in shares of MS.
Indeed, but that doesn't address the problem of most embedded development being Windows-centric, the Arduino being an exception. I've been goofing around with Basic Stamps, largely because there is a really nice piece of software for programming it from the Mac through USB, made by Murat Konar. The MiniOn system looks like a welcome addition with the ability to program through a web browser and using inexpensive microcontrollers.
Not sure why you were modded as "Informative." He didn't call an embargo imperialist. He said that the USA has longstanding imperialist policies. And your assumption as to his reaction to Cuban Starbucks and McDonalds is pretty offensive.
He may have been, but only the stupidest of the stupid go 65 in that particular lane. That lane regularly sees speeds under 55.
Well, it's actually 55 m.p.h. freeway traffic on the left. I've done those entrances many times, most of which were done in my old Mazda B2200 way-underpowered truck. The real trick is not feeling like you have to pull out when there clearly isn't enough room for you to accelerate your under-powered vehicle to fit into the traffic stream. :-)
" If they win their suit, it will be a new era for the Macintosh"
If I understand your point it would be more like the end of an era for Macintosh. As most everyone understands, or should understand by now, Apple is a hardware company. The terrific software they develop is in order to sell hardware. If Apple allows any piece of junk to run OS X then they've lost their business model. I hope Psystar goes down in flames, actually.
"Being a sociopath does not inherently make someone a bad person"
Yes it does. Look up the definition of the word and see if you don't agree with me.
"I don't know any of the little catch phrases from the sitcoms..."
So, get people to explain them to you. People love talking about their favorite shows. This is exactly what I do. I've been without TV since 1991 and I've never really felt out of the loop. If all your conversations must revolve around TV then that's a little limiting in itself. Reading a few blogs and news web sites is more than enough to keep you in the running with pop culture.
Many will defend various programs on TV and they may very well be right about certain shows, but in general I think TV is a black hole in your life, stealing your precious time.
"There are ways to combine C++ and Objective C but it requires a person who actually knows that they are doing."
Not sure exactly what you mean by this, but if you're referring to using C++ and Objective-C code in the same project using Xcode all you need to do is set "Compile Source As" to Objective-C++ and you can mix the two to your heart's content. I'm doing exactly that on my current project.
I think they had troubles with that system. It kept repairing itself to run Unix.
Not to belittle US assistance, but as a percentage of gross national income the US is way low on the scale. It's true that the absolute numbers that the US gives are very high (about twice as high as the next highest country), but it also helps to keep in mind that we aren't really sacrificing all that much in order to do it. About 0.17% of our GNI. Here's a page with some nice charts and numbers.
Yes, but that wouldn't have made for such a good joke. Apparently this one didn't either.
A little. I would have thought it would have been Greece.
Is that some sort of canned response? Just unimaginative trolling? Because research into how the brain works is fascinating and has countless implications as far as self-understanding and self-improvement go. In no way could this be construed as pointing out something as obvious as "the sky is blue."
Yes, that's very interesting. But will it tell me whether or not I'll be in Griffendor?
There's also a difference between something that is given away for free being called a work in progress and something that is a pricey commercial product being called a work in progress. Of course, you're right about feedback and improvement. This seems more about a poor choice of words by Ballmer.
I see your point. I mean, who really wants to pay a monthly fee for a phone? I think what you're looking for is the iPod Touch.