I still think it was the marketing that made the difference.
I was also an ST user, but I had to do the leg work myself. I had to be a 'fan'. One store in town.. No ads.. Hell, lots of people here didn't even know there was such a beast as a 'Atari Computer'... Apple was marginally better, they had 2 stores.. and did market to schools and ad agencies ( the niche markets, that get you nowhere in the long run )
In my area the 'business world' was still running all sorts of things, but yes DOS was high on the list.. which helped get the funds needed to do proper marketing ( and subsequent control of the competition )
When 'windows' appeared, it came at me via the news and was forced down my throat.. It was hard to avoid the marketing machine.
Being in the right place at the right time is meaningless if you don't act on it..
But to be honest, its al theory, no one really knows what would have happened 'just if'.. This is just my opinion from having grown up in the middle of the entire thing....
As bad as Microsoft has become over the years, they were needed at the time ( some odd 15 years ago or so ).
We needed their marketing power to jumpstart the PC market, as the more talented companies like Apple just weren't going to do it.
Forcing a pseudo standard via their monopolistic practices is what brought us to this point, and I don't think we would have advanced as far as we have if we still had 20 companies running around catering to hobbyists or niche markets..
However, the need for this has passed. Its time for the giant to step aside and let the rest of us get back to work. They if course will not go down with to a long and expensive fight. But their time has come and gone, its just a matter of how long will they keep flapping around like a beached whale before they concede to reality.
( A similar thing is just now starting to happen in the 'entertainment industry' as well )
Why not just force them to get security updates when ever Microsoft puts out a patch. Even if its not tested or causes other troubles.
Hell, why not just force them to upgrade when the new version comes out. And have them monitor what you are running ' for your protection '. User are lusers right? They shouldnt be allowed to make their own decisions, and perhaps not be a future serf-customer.
How about the ISPs just do their damened job, and if someone is apparently infected with something, they cut them off, with a nice friendly phone call explaining why. Then only allow access to a local copy of patches. How hard would that be?
Didnt they get burnt by something similar to this with their ECM's and told by the Fed's they cant restrict 3rd party access with dirty tricks like this?
True airplanes engines are not quite the same thing, or as large a market but the principle is the same.
Why not just get it over with and make them 'active' and link all the readers across the country to actively track everyone's movements, purchases, etc.. Then do data mining on it to make sure everyone is being a good citizen
Its bound to happen eventually anyway...
This whole idea of the federal government imposing onto the states is wrong in so many ways.. What ever happened to the rule of the land? you know.. that constitution thing?
Regardless of that, they were declared a monopoly and using its advantages improperly, by a federal judge. As of that point the definition doesn't matter, no does your opinion.
2 wrongs? No, its not a wrong. Due to the fact they are a monopoly they are penalized in various ways. that is the rules.
Don't like the rules here? Then you can choose another place to live.
Though, personally I think they should have been forbidden to do business and all assets liquidated, including all people on its board. Allowing them to continue business at all was really the '2nd wrong'.
1 - Enterprise editions don't have that activation garbage. ( it would be impossible to support in a large organization if it wasn't removed )
2 - Microsoft has been declared to be a monopoly. The rules are different. They should be treated differently then an honest small business, and held to different standards.
Geesh, of course they have more broadband users, they have more people then the rest of the world combined..
And now that they have decided to go high tech, we can expect to be suprassed on several levels. When the government TELLS you what to do under threat of death and you have nearly unlimited resources to do it with, you can do things you didnt think you could.
Our entire civilization will have collapsed and I don't see anything that future archeologists unearthing being readable due to our current 'throwaway society'.
At least in the past we used rocks to write on.. Even they don't last forever...
Slashdot Mirror
Unless you have been trained for accurate observation, as some of us have been.
Who would have ever thought..
Its all a sham.. There is no trustworthy news service, other then your own 2 eyes.
I still think it was the marketing that made the difference.
I was also an ST user, but I had to do the leg work myself. I had to be a 'fan'. One store in town.. No ads.. Hell, lots of people here didn't even know there was such a beast as a 'Atari Computer'... Apple was marginally better, they had 2 stores.. and did market to schools and ad agencies ( the niche markets, that get you nowhere in the long run )
In my area the 'business world' was still running all sorts of things, but yes DOS was high on the list.. which helped get the funds needed to do proper marketing ( and subsequent control of the competition )
When 'windows' appeared, it came at me via the news and was forced down my throat.. It was hard to avoid the marketing machine.
Being in the right place at the right time is meaningless if you don't act on it..
But to be honest, its al theory, no one really knows what would have happened 'just if'.. This is just my opinion from having grown up in the middle of the entire thing....
As bad as Microsoft has become over the years, they were needed at the time ( some odd 15 years ago or so ).
We needed their marketing power to jumpstart the PC market, as the more talented companies like Apple just weren't going to do it.
Forcing a pseudo standard via their monopolistic practices is what brought us to this point, and I don't think we would have advanced as far as we have if we still had 20 companies running around catering to hobbyists or niche markets..
However, the need for this has passed. Its time for the giant to step aside and let the rest of us get back to work. They if course will not go down with to a long and expensive fight. But their time has come and gone, its just a matter of how long will they keep flapping around like a beached whale before they concede to reality.
( A similar thing is just now starting to happen in the 'entertainment industry' as well )
Why not just force them to get security updates when ever Microsoft puts out a patch. Even if its not tested or causes other troubles.
Hell, why not just force them to upgrade when the new version comes out. And have them monitor what you are running ' for your protection '. User are lusers right? They shouldnt be allowed to make their own decisions, and perhaps not be a future serf-customer.
How about the ISPs just do their damened job, and if someone is apparently infected with something, they cut them off, with a nice friendly phone call explaining why. Then only allow access to a local copy of patches. How hard would that be?
Why cant these people just get a life.
"conceivably lead to an Orwellian society?"
Just because you stick your head in the sand doesnt mean the rest of us want too.
its not really a 'version' of java, its aiming to be java compliant.
Topic makes one think SUN is making an *offical* version with the new license.
Still, if they get blessed as compliant, this is a good thing for the free world..
Didnt they get burnt by something similar to this with their ECM's and told by the Fed's they cant restrict 3rd party access with dirty tricks like this?
True airplanes engines are not quite the same thing, or as large a market but the principle is the same.
Too bad it wont go anywhere, even for a proof of concept.
If its HP, they can control the content as they feel, and welcome to the real world.
If its not HP, then bring it up to the owners.
Why not just get it over with and make them 'active' and link all the readers across the country to actively track everyone's movements, purchases, etc.. Then do data mining on it to make sure everyone is being a good citizen
Its bound to happen eventually anyway...
This whole idea of the federal government imposing onto the states is wrong in so many ways.. What ever happened to the rule of the land? you know.. that constitution thing?
I must be dreaming.. A win FOR consumers.. Something is amiss here.
Nice idea, ill have to suggest that next time.
By definition they are a monopoly.
Regardless of that, they were declared a monopoly and using its advantages improperly, by a federal judge. As of that point the definition doesn't matter, no does your opinion.
2 wrongs? No, its not a wrong. Due to the fact they are a monopoly they are penalized in various ways. that is the rules.
Don't like the rules here? Then you can choose another place to live.
Though, personally I think they should have been forbidden to do business and all assets liquidated, including all people on its board. Allowing them to continue business at all was really the '2nd wrong'.
1 - Enterprise editions don't have that activation garbage. ( it would be impossible to support in a large organization if it wasn't removed )
2 - Microsoft has been declared to be a monopoly. The rules are different. They should be treated differently then an honest small business, and held to different standards.
Geesh, of course they have more broadband users, they have more people then the rest of the world combined..
And now that they have decided to go high tech, we can expect to be suprassed on several levels. When the government TELLS you what to do under threat of death and you have nearly unlimited resources to do it with, you can do things you didnt think you could.
Its not 'linux', but it meets your other requirments: "I need something that's stable, easy to install/maintain"
http://www.lyrasoftware.com/disclib/
Its for windows, but free. Have not tried it under wine.
Works great when you have easily over a thousand CD's to deal with.
Why not call it what it really is.
All this stuff is nice, but until i can actually get one and mess with it on my bench its still just 'ooh, thats cool'.
Lets see some silicon!
Our entire civilization will have collapsed and I don't see anything that future archeologists unearthing being readable due to our current 'throwaway society'.
At least in the past we used rocks to write on.. Even they don't last forever...
I don't know if it was technically 'invited', but that moron did violate several UN resolutions that required intervention by force when violated.
Not only did the US go, but several other countries.
He was also a threat to this country.
Will it take a while to stabilize the region now? Sure..
I do? Didnt know i read minds.. Heh
WTO rears its ugly head again i see.
Its going to continue to get ugly. 'my rules overpower yours'.