The Palm Reader encodes the text using your credit card number. You can install the ebook on any device, it's just a question of how much you want to distribute your credit card number. This is so far the best method I've seen yet.
Popularity of platform is a poor way to judge what platform you should sell to. That makes as much sense as selling a word processor to the Playstation crowd for their large numbers.
While not absolute, I think it's safe to say that Linux users are much more web-savvy than the average Windows user. I believe Liquid Audio would have gained some headway if they catered to the Linux users. They find no problem being connected to the network, an burning CDs is child's play. Not only that, there are a lot of Linux users who would have supported them because they WANT this type of music plan to work!
Instead, Liquid Audio spits in the eyes of Linux users and gets the appropriate reviews in return.
reaper20, you are missing dirk's original point. If the only goal is to have a web-page be viewed properly, then you are correct: writing to standards instead of the browser is far better. Dirk's point is that banks tend to be held responsible for the security of the browsers they claim to support. Let's say they write standard code and claim their services support Opera, but then a version of Opera allows a user to pull passwords and PINs from the cache (this is a just a fictional example, guys. The bank would be sued for claiming security for an unsecure browser. The only way they can protect themselves is to torture-test their site on certain browsers and lock the other browsers out.
Now, I think there is a better solution. The banks should write their site to standard. Then, if your browser is not detected as one of the "trusted" browsers, it should bring up a disclaimer page where you must accept terms that you may not sue the bank if a security hole is found with your browser. This isn't a perfect solution, but it would at least give us some options.
Let's not forget that one of the main reasons Macs "just work" is because Apple has direct access to a limited pool of hardware to program for. The fact that Windows XP runs as well as it does with the dizzying number of 3rd-party assorted processors, motherboards, graphic cards and what-have-you is amazing.
Apple is in a corner. If they try to program for those 10,000 combinations of hardware, there WILL be compatibility glitches, and Apple will lose its reputation. What if Apple switches to a _specific_ Intel/Athlon platform with Apple firmware so that Apple doesn't have to program for 10,000 combinations of hardware? Existing owners of PC and Mac equipment will be pissed that they have to buy something new.
Please, IBM, may this new chip be everything you say it is! Apple equipment is king because of the carefully matched software and hardware.
I work as a controls engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center. Most of the nonlinear aircraft simulations are still written in FORTRAN. FORTRAN provides very robust mathematical libraries while making it very easy to parse text files. In other words, FORTRAN is ver good at taking a text document of flight data, and crunching it into a useful simulation.
The main thing is that so many compilers and languages talk to FORTRAN. I do a lot of work in Matlab and C, and both can link to my FORTRAN code. I can pull up an old simulator from the early 90s, slap on an s-function or C-wrapper, and use the code in my new code.
Of course, the question is: is new FORTRAN code being generated for reasons OTHER than to be compatible with the old code, or because it is the only language the crusty engineer knows? Well, it's a toss-up. Matlab seems to be making a lot of headway, especially since it's code is very C-like and can link to old code. But, the gnu g77 compiler means I can distribute my FORTRAN work to anybody with a Unix box. Not everyone has put out the cash for Matlab.
My recommendation is to learn enough FORTRAN to understand the math and logic loop functions. This will be enough to be able to read old code, and to be able to write math subroutines to be linked to more modern code. I still have to write in FORTRAN, but it's uncommon that I ever write a stand-alone FORTRAN program with an interface or anything. It is mostly text-file and math subroutines for Matlab or C.
Even as a guy, I would like to see his response to this. In my experience, the reason for there being more female nudity than in men is that the woman has a much more elegant shape. No "external plumbing" to deal with. Most writers visualize what they write, and another man's jewels is something I really don't want to visualize. A woman, however, is a pleasant work of art throughout.
I think one thing that fascinates my about Piers Anthony is that his nudity is not always sex-related. Panties are, of course, a different matter.
Now, the whole "woman relying on a man" thing is something he seems to be guilty of. He creates a female character with plenty of independence and ability to spare, yet the story always seems to concentrate on her getting her man through vixen means. However, one could argue that he is making a point that most men are simple-minded lustful dogs, rather than making a statement about women's place in society.
Despite the concentration on his choice of OS and word processor, I hope you get your question.
The only pointing device that should be on hand-held devices is my finger! This is a step backward from touch-screens. Seriously, imagine trying to navigate your Palm or PocketPC with a trackball or mouse. I do not want to be fussing with a trackball while riding a rocking train or bus just so I can click the "dial" button.
Darn skippy. I still have a hard time understanding how Linux became more popular than FreeBSD. BSD is so much easier to maintain, and is a lot less finicky with network protocols. Even Apple recognized this when they picked BSD as the core for Darwin (the kernel for MacOS X).
Your VisorPhone is not going to suddenly stop working. Your Palm apps will work on the Treo. The Treo uses the same network (and makes use of a faster one as well). The Treo is just an upgraded VisorPhone that can't be taken apart. You would have a much better reason to be upset if you had bought a Psion (which is discontinued altogether).
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The Palm Reader encodes the text using your credit card number. You can install the ebook on any device, it's just a question of how much you want to distribute your credit card number. This is so far the best method I've seen yet.
Popularity of platform is a poor way to judge what platform you should sell to. That makes as much sense as selling a word processor to the Playstation crowd for their large numbers.
While not absolute, I think it's safe to say that Linux users are much more web-savvy than the average Windows user. I believe Liquid Audio would have gained some headway if they catered to the Linux users. They find no problem being connected to the network, an burning CDs is child's play. Not only that, there are a lot of Linux users who would have supported them because they WANT this type of music plan to work!
Instead, Liquid Audio spits in the eyes of Linux users and gets the appropriate reviews in return.
reaper20, you are missing dirk's original point. If the only goal is to have a web-page be viewed properly, then you are correct: writing to standards instead of the browser is far better. Dirk's point is that banks tend to be held responsible for the security of the browsers they claim to support. Let's say they write standard code and claim their services support Opera, but then a version of Opera allows a user to pull passwords and PINs from the cache (this is a just a fictional example, guys. The bank would be sued for claiming security for an unsecure browser. The only way they can protect themselves is to torture-test their site on certain browsers and lock the other browsers out. Now, I think there is a better solution. The banks should write their site to standard. Then, if your browser is not detected as one of the "trusted" browsers, it should bring up a disclaimer page where you must accept terms that you may not sue the bank if a security hole is found with your browser. This isn't a perfect solution, but it would at least give us some options.
Let's not forget that one of the main reasons Macs "just work" is because Apple has direct access to a limited pool of hardware to program for. The fact that Windows XP runs as well as it does with the dizzying number of 3rd-party assorted processors, motherboards, graphic cards and what-have-you is amazing.
Apple is in a corner. If they try to program for those 10,000 combinations of hardware, there WILL be compatibility glitches, and Apple will lose its reputation. What if Apple switches to a _specific_ Intel/Athlon platform with Apple firmware so that Apple doesn't have to program for 10,000 combinations of hardware? Existing owners of PC and Mac equipment will be pissed that they have to buy something new.
Please, IBM, may this new chip be everything you say it is! Apple equipment is king because of the carefully matched software and hardware.
I work as a controls engineer at the NASA Ames Research Center. Most of the nonlinear aircraft simulations are still written in FORTRAN. FORTRAN provides very robust mathematical libraries while making it very easy to parse text files. In other words, FORTRAN is ver good at taking a text document of flight data, and crunching it into a useful simulation. The main thing is that so many compilers and languages talk to FORTRAN. I do a lot of work in Matlab and C, and both can link to my FORTRAN code. I can pull up an old simulator from the early 90s, slap on an s-function or C-wrapper, and use the code in my new code. Of course, the question is: is new FORTRAN code being generated for reasons OTHER than to be compatible with the old code, or because it is the only language the crusty engineer knows? Well, it's a toss-up. Matlab seems to be making a lot of headway, especially since it's code is very C-like and can link to old code. But, the gnu g77 compiler means I can distribute my FORTRAN work to anybody with a Unix box. Not everyone has put out the cash for Matlab. My recommendation is to learn enough FORTRAN to understand the math and logic loop functions. This will be enough to be able to read old code, and to be able to write math subroutines to be linked to more modern code. I still have to write in FORTRAN, but it's uncommon that I ever write a stand-alone FORTRAN program with an interface or anything. It is mostly text-file and math subroutines for Matlab or C.
Even as a guy, I would like to see his response to this. In my experience, the reason for there being more female nudity than in men is that the woman has a much more elegant shape. No "external plumbing" to deal with. Most writers visualize what they write, and another man's jewels is something I really don't want to visualize. A woman, however, is a pleasant work of art throughout. I think one thing that fascinates my about Piers Anthony is that his nudity is not always sex-related. Panties are, of course, a different matter. Now, the whole "woman relying on a man" thing is something he seems to be guilty of. He creates a female character with plenty of independence and ability to spare, yet the story always seems to concentrate on her getting her man through vixen means. However, one could argue that he is making a point that most men are simple-minded lustful dogs, rather than making a statement about women's place in society. Despite the concentration on his choice of OS and word processor, I hope you get your question.
The only pointing device that should be on hand-held devices is my finger! This is a step backward from touch-screens. Seriously, imagine trying to navigate your Palm or PocketPC with a trackball or mouse. I do not want to be fussing with a trackball while riding a rocking train or bus just so I can click the "dial" button.
Supposedly, Steve Jobs gets bent out of shape when people refer to OS X as "oh-es ex", rather than "oh-es ten." So, is this called "ten-serv?"
Darn skippy. I still have a hard time understanding how Linux became more popular than FreeBSD. BSD is so much easier to maintain, and is a lot less finicky with network protocols. Even Apple recognized this when they picked BSD as the core for Darwin (the kernel for MacOS X).
Your VisorPhone is not going to suddenly stop working. Your Palm apps will work on the Treo. The Treo uses the same network (and makes use of a faster one as well). The Treo is just an upgraded VisorPhone that can't be taken apart. You would have a much better reason to be upset if you had bought a Psion (which is discontinued altogether).