They are especially good at marketing to business. They are also good at knowing what businesses want
This is just a minor nitpick, but knowing what your customers want is part of the marketing. Marketing is not just advertising, though many seem to forget that.
According the article on ZDnet, background services and basic windows apps don't count, so you can basically can open Firefox, Thunderbird and say Winamp at once.
It depends on how much it will cost. If Windows 7 Starter will be priced at $1 - $5, it will be well worth it.
Watching the Low quality youtube on my 42" is a painful experience
Blame Youtube for overcompressing. Because of Youtube, many think 'flash video = crappy quality', but Flash does support HD video with H.264 and even the codec in Flash7 was licensed from Sorenson; the same codec was being used in those nice Quicktime movie trailers.
The problem as I see it is the radicalization process of everyone's stance.
On one hand we have absurdly long copyright lengths, DRM and a total disregard of fair use. On the other hand, so many people expect to get anything and everything for free.
Ideally, content producers (big and small) should realize that restrictions upon restrictions alienate their users, while users would understand that it's unrealistic to expect all things to be free.
I'm willing to bet you haven't actually created any piece of software that required more than a few days of work.
I have.
I have a blog where I give code away (mostly Actionscript, Javascript and PHP, sometimes C#), as well as tutorials. Sometimes I work 2-3 days just to write the tutorials. I do this for fun.
I also have some apps that I sell and photos that I license to iStock. I don't believe in perpetual copyright; I do believe that someone putting torrents of my apps on The Pirate Bay is just wrong.
Before copyright, each artwork was unique (print wasn't invented) and essentially works were contracted. So yeah, the Catholic Church would give Michelangelo the money to sculpt "David". It's not like anyone could duplicate the statue and take it home. Same with music, plays and paintings.
Now, if I write a book or take a picture or create and play a song, it's not just for one person who pays for it; it's for anyone who finds it interesting. I may choose to give it away or I can choose to sell it and nothing gives you the moral right to copy it without my permission.
It's only on places like Slashdot or Digg where people actually try to justify downloading movies and music from TPB as a universal human right.
That was the argument for a thousands companies and services in the "dot com" era. We all know how well it ended.
Bandwidth will be cheaper but more people will watch and will also demand HD. Storage will be cheaper but more and more videos are uploaded.
Google acquired YouTube three years ago. I don't have the financial data to know how much money it was losing then, if the situation is improving or not, but right now Youtube is just a mean to promote the Google brand.
I find it hilariously annoying (if such thing is possible) that people who haven't actually touched Windows 7 know so much about it. Sigh.
I am testing Windows 7 and I find it surprisingly nice. No incompatibilities, no annoying things (not even the UAC). I am no MS fan, but for a beta, it's pretty good and I am actually looking foward to installing the RC when it's released.
First, what Adobe products use is not DRM. We devalue the word if we tag every software restriction as "DRM".
What Photoshop and other CS products have is license management (think WGA if you will). It will let you activate the products two computers, which I actually find decent. On the other hand, transferring a license from a dead computer can be a hassle (almost happened to me once, the drive was failing but I managed to boot and deactivate the license on it). I wish they had an online tool for managing licenses.
Yeah, but you can't really build a decent Flex app with just Eclipse, it would be just marginally better than building in Notepad. It can be done (since the compiler is free) but pretty painful.
from the way you speak, and the protests your speaking about I assume you are a member of "Noua Dreapta", an ultra-nationalist organization...
Bullshit!
Most of what the AC said is true. For any westerner, Moldavia's history is convoluted and here it's not the time or place for history lesson, however, any person in their right mind would agree that the Moldavian is the same as the Romanian language (despite Moldavian-Romanian dictionaries nonsense).
Also, I have not come across any Romanian who would not support a unification with Moldova; not to mention how Moldova got free electricity from Romania and all sorts of help since their economy is weak.
On the other hand, I do agree that those with Romanian heritage in Moldavia do not amount to more than 50-60%, so I can understand than many would prefer stronger ties with Russia instead.
I manage a rather small team of users; among other tasks, I keep the workstations working.
The problem is that even though I try to clearly explain what should be done and WHY, some users seem to take active pleasure in not following some common-sense guidelines.
"Don't install software off the net without at least asking". Obviously, someone installed a pirated copy of Nero instead of using the CD Burning software included, claiming he's more productive - as if his business is burning DVD's all day long.
Reading the summary I had the impression it was another kdawson post.
What's the Slashdot obsession with bashing Flash I will never know.
First, the survey was not about 'net devices' but personal computers. Big difference.
Second, a sample size of 4600 is more than adequate to represent the whole internet population, provided it's random enough.
Third, even if the number is a bit inflated -- ok, it's not 99%, let's say it's 96.8% Are you happy now? Does it make you feel better?
So far, I have not encountered one computer without flash. Not one out of hundreds. If you use Firefox with Noscript on a Gentoo system, good for you - you're special.
I'll give you another bit of info: most people outside Slashdot like flash. I haven't heard anyone complaining.
Finally, if tomorrow flash would disappear, do you honestly believe the internet would be a better place? I hope you're not that naive. Silverlight, Java, Quicktime, Html canvas, svg will take its place in a web 2.0 mashup orgy and you'll be as annoyed as ever.
Your post is modded 'Funny' and I just can't figure out if you're joking or not, so I'll bite:
One thing I still miss are picture controls on all those video sites including Youtube. You sometimes need to put a little light, hue and contrast into those pictures.
It's possible to add hue/contrast/saturation controls now in any player, just like it's possible to add real-time custom video filters; the usefulness is debatable, but it's possible.
Because the summary is incorrect. The software does not do any file sharing on its own, it just facilitates other software to do so:
From the article:
Through the online provider, the Sign-in Assistant helps a Windows 7 application running on one computer identify and communicate with other computers that are associated with the same Windows Live ID. Just by linking your Windows Live ID to the user account on each Windows 7 computer you own, you enable those computers to identify each other and work together more easily than has been possible in the past. Applications can take advantage of this capability [emphasis mine] to support scenarios [...]
I'm quite happy with this idea, myself, for I find bashing Microsoft regularly to be a healthy practice. Everyone should do it and most people probably do in their own privacy.
I know you're joking, but for a brief moment I was reminded of the Two Minutes Hate from 1984.
Does this mean that Steve Balmer is Emmanuel Goldstein si Microsoft is Eurasia?
Actually, I suspect Windows 7 is heavily based on Windows Server 2008.
I use Windows Server 2008 at work and it seems much much better than Vista (it's not an apples-to-apples comparison obviously since I run it over remote desktop, but it just seem way better).
So I think Windows 7 = Windows Server 2008 - server-related services (you can enable the 'desktop experience' on the server to make it feel like a desktop anyway).
Slashdot Mirror
This is just a minor nitpick, but knowing what your customers want is part of the marketing. Marketing is not just advertising, though many seem to forget that.
Or maybe, just MAYBE, the article itself is a troll. It's not like it hasn't happened before.
10 years ago I expected my machine to simulaneously...
Rip/transcode CDs.
Play mp3s
Browse the web with bloated browser.
Manipulate documents with bloaded office suite.
Maybe you forgot how things really were.
In 1998 I had a Pentium MMX 233 MHz; I can't remember how much RAM...
I definitely remember how making MP3s meant that nothing else could be done at the same time.
I remember that playing Mp3s on Winamp was pretty CPU intensive, as I could not work comfortably in Photoshop and listen to MP3s at the same time.
I seriously doubt you could do all things you listed at once.
According the article on ZDnet, background services and basic windows apps don't count, so you can basically can open Firefox, Thunderbird and say Winamp at once.
It depends on how much it will cost.
If Windows 7 Starter will be priced at $1 - $5, it will be well worth it.
Blame Youtube for overcompressing.
Because of Youtube, many think 'flash video = crappy quality', but Flash does support HD video with H.264 and even the codec in Flash7 was licensed from Sorenson; the same codec was being used in those nice Quicktime movie trailers.
The problem as I see it is the radicalization process of everyone's stance.
On one hand we have absurdly long copyright lengths, DRM and a total disregard of fair use. On the other hand, so many people expect to get anything and everything for free.
Ideally, content producers (big and small) should realize that restrictions upon restrictions alienate their users, while users would understand that it's unrealistic to expect all things to be free.
I'm not holding by breath for this to happen.
I'm willing to bet you haven't actually created any piece of software that required more than a few days of work.
I have.
I have a blog where I give code away (mostly Actionscript, Javascript and PHP, sometimes C#), as well as tutorials. Sometimes I work 2-3 days just to write the tutorials. I do this for fun.
I also have some apps that I sell and photos that I license to iStock. I don't believe in perpetual copyright; I do believe that someone putting torrents of my apps on The Pirate Bay is just wrong.
Before copyright, each artwork was unique (print wasn't invented) and essentially works were contracted. So yeah, the Catholic Church would give Michelangelo the money to sculpt "David". It's not like anyone could duplicate the statue and take it home. Same with music, plays and paintings.
Now, if I write a book or take a picture or create and play a song, it's not just for one person who pays for it; it's for anyone who finds it interesting. I may choose to give it away or I can choose to sell it and nothing gives you the moral right to copy it without my permission.
It's only on places like Slashdot or Digg where people actually try to justify downloading movies and music from TPB as a universal human right.
That was the argument for a thousands companies and services in the "dot com" era. We all know how well it ended.
Bandwidth will be cheaper but more people will watch and will also demand HD.
Storage will be cheaper but more and more videos are uploaded.
Google acquired YouTube three years ago. I don't have the financial data to know how much money it was losing then, if the situation is improving or not, but right now Youtube is just a mean to promote the Google brand.
Finally a sensible stance.
I find it hilariously annoying (if such thing is possible) that people who haven't actually touched Windows 7 know so much about it. Sigh.
I am testing Windows 7 and I find it surprisingly nice. No incompatibilities, no annoying things (not even the UAC). I am no MS fan, but for a beta, it's pretty good and I am actually looking foward to installing the RC when it's released.
Deus Ex was not made by John Romero of the Daikatana "fame".
Deus Ex was made by Warren Spector.
I remember that at the time Ion Storm had two offices, one in Dallas, one in Austin.
Sadly, Warren Spector was not involved with Deus Ex: Invisible War, and we all know how that turned out.
First, what Adobe products use is not DRM. We devalue the word if we tag every software restriction as "DRM".
What Photoshop and other CS products have is license management (think WGA if you will). It will let you activate the products two computers, which I actually find decent. On the other hand, transferring a license from a dead computer can be a hassle (almost happened to me once, the drive was failing but I managed to boot and deactivate the license on it). I wish they had an online tool for managing licenses.
Yeah, but you can't really build a decent Flex app with just Eclipse, it would be just marginally better than building in Notepad. It can be done (since the compiler is free) but pretty painful.
Bullshit!
Most of what the AC said is true. For any westerner, Moldavia's history is convoluted and here it's not the time or place for history lesson, however, any person in their right mind would agree that the Moldavian is the same as the Romanian language (despite Moldavian-Romanian dictionaries nonsense).
Also, I have not come across any Romanian who would not support a unification with Moldova; not to mention how Moldova got free electricity from Romania and all sorts of help since their economy is weak.
On the other hand, I do agree that those with Romanian heritage in Moldavia do not amount to more than 50-60%, so I can understand than many would prefer stronger ties with Russia instead.
OMGPonies -- Just be glad you weren't here when it happened:)
I nearly had a heart attack that morning.
Actually, I can't compare Windows 7 to Vista, but I can compare it with XP SP3.
My conclusion after two weeks: Windows 7 build 7057 works so well I won't switch back to XP.
I can't think of any commercial software that doesn't come with a non-crippled free trial.
Windows Server 2008 for example has a 240 days trial. If you can't decide if it's worth your money in 8 months, you never will.
I agree.
I manage a rather small team of users; among other tasks, I keep the workstations working.
The problem is that even though I try to clearly explain what should be done and WHY, some users seem to take active pleasure in not following some common-sense guidelines.
"Don't install software off the net without at least asking". Obviously, someone installed a pirated copy of Nero instead of using the CD Burning software included, claiming he's more productive - as if his business is burning DVD's all day long.
I could go on all day.
Reading the summary I had the impression it was another kdawson post.
What's the Slashdot obsession with bashing Flash I will never know.
First, the survey was not about 'net devices' but personal computers. Big difference.
Second, a sample size of 4600 is more than adequate to represent the whole internet population, provided it's random enough.
Third, even if the number is a bit inflated -- ok, it's not 99%, let's say it's 96.8% Are you happy now? Does it make you feel better?
So far, I have not encountered one computer without flash. Not one out of hundreds. If you use Firefox with Noscript on a Gentoo system, good for you - you're special.
I'll give you another bit of info: most people outside Slashdot like flash. I haven't heard anyone complaining.
Finally, if tomorrow flash would disappear, do you honestly believe the internet would be a better place? I hope you're not that naive. Silverlight, Java, Quicktime, Html canvas, svg will take its place in a web 2.0 mashup orgy and you'll be as annoyed as ever.
Your post is modded 'Funny' and I just can't figure out if you're joking or not, so I'll bite:
It's possible to add hue/contrast/saturation controls now in any player, just like it's possible to add real-time custom video filters; the usefulness is debatable, but it's possible.
Because the summary is incorrect. The software does not do any file sharing on its own, it just facilitates other software to do so:
From the article:
Great? How?
If you really want to see a site geared towards artists, have a look at DeviantArt.
I know you're joking, but for a brief moment I was reminded of the Two Minutes Hate from 1984.
Does this mean that Steve Balmer is Emmanuel Goldstein si Microsoft is Eurasia?
Unfortunately you are the misinformed one.
Have you heard of color gamuts?
Do you know the difference between sRGB and - let's say - Adobe RGB?
First learn and then you comment.
Oh, and believe me, Rob Galbraith is no misinformed writer.
Actually, I suspect Windows 7 is heavily based on Windows Server 2008.
I use Windows Server 2008 at work and it seems much much better than Vista (it's not an apples-to-apples comparison obviously since I run it over remote desktop, but it just seem way better).
So I think Windows 7 = Windows Server 2008 - server-related services (you can enable the 'desktop experience' on the server to make it feel like a desktop anyway).