"The company sells the systems, but also sells the maintenance and administration as a service, so that the client companies don't have to even think about it."
ok, that still fails to adress the problem of updating a system without checking what the updates will do. How will a remote admin who has no idea how the box is used or what software gets run on it be able to check if an update will cause problems? System admin' is a full time job, and then some. Most full timmers dont get woken up at 3:00 in the morning because a server crashed.
Given how many times an update has broken an app or caused a conflict I cant say I would welcome an auto updating autonomous Linux system. As with any modern OS an admin must review what an update does and test it out prior to rolling it out to the unwashed masses. This is true of any and all oporating systems, be they MacOS, Linux, Windows or what have you.
"Great. So now this'll just further fuel the movement of the extremely large file-sharers to move to those P2P networks that are completely anonymous, like GNUNet or Freenet."
Or (and this is just a wild idea) you could stop breaking the law. Then the 10% of use that use P2P services for anything legitimate can get on with our lives.
"Except for the f-16 fighter jet. Lots of people have seen it, yet only the US can make it. Also, patents don't mean shit to the chinese air force, so it's not like patents are protecting the design of the F-16."
Give the Chinese a F-16 to study. I'll wager they could figure it out.
"There are a few patents out there that are genuinely innovative and non-obvious. Unfortunatly, they are drowned in the sea of money grabs for the blatantly obvious."
Thats a problem with the patent approval process not with patents themselves.
Balanced Technology eXtended (BTX) Form Factor has a lot going for it over ATX (Advanced Technology eXtended) form factor. However all the refrence boards I've seen have fewer expansion and memory slots then the average ATX board. It seems that BTX is more of a replacement for the now defunt NLX format then it is a replacement for the well entrenched ATX.
However time may prove me wrong on this (hell, I backed Beta vs VHS).
"The grandparent post was referring to the reason for business method patents, not patents for real things."
I know, however the same rules apply. If I spend time and money devloping somthing why shouldn't I have a way to protect what I create? The idea of patents is sound, our current patent system is broken with too many 'duh' patents getting the rubber stamp of approval. It should also be noted that I speak from a position where this realy does effect my day to day life. I write software for ISO certification systems. So I'm writting software for buisness methods. A double whammy. According to a number of people on thee forums I shouldn't be able to make money at what I do, I should just hand my work over to IBM or some other jugernaught so that they can run me into the ground. For some reason I just dont agree with that.
" But isn't Google supposed to be above this sort of crap?"
Dont know what gave you that idea. Its not like they have ever given away their own IP. However they will license it to you for a fee, its almost as if they think that their ideas and work are worth money. How insane is that?
I had a witty well worded rsponse to this article but I forgot to hit 'submit'. Could the admins please recover it for me and place it in the first post position?
"...and this is why I wouldn't even consider buying the game."
So you wont buy a game that needs to be activated online, but you will pay a monthly fee in addition to around 60$ at the register for a game that can ONLY be played online?
"I think the Mac platform would eb even further ahead if they went with Be."
As a licensed BeOS devloper who still has a Rev2 BeBox sitting around I must say you're wrong. BeOS was NEVER as far along as Nextstep was even when taking into acount the hardware transition. BeOS had poor to no network or print servies. We where promissed that they would be released "real soon now" for years. Granted what Be had was better then the same stuff on Next. But Be lacked a lot of very important stuff.
I've got Rhapsody, BeOS and Nextstep x86 all taking up space in my closet of abandoned computers. I'm thinking of selling all this crap off for around 5$ a pound.
Gone it seems are the days of making holograms in a basment with a water bed frame filled with sand and a Helium Neon laser scrounged from an old Safeway UPC code reader.
"Boy, you'd better not put people on hold long with that music. That's what, 20 seconds at most (generous; I sang it at 16 seconds for both verses), so three repetitions per minute?"
Well, there should be about 20min of banjo solos thrown in.
"They are supposedly also taking into account communication costs, travel expenses and inconveniences."
Fair enough, however when you take all those things into acount and add managability and quality control outsourceing NEVER looked good. The reason that outsourcing is "hot" right now is because the higher ups in a company can use it for a short term drop in costs yielding a quick boost in stock price. The long term benifits of it are nonexistant. So even if everything else is factored in, you just cant beat 10$ a day per programmer (a price I saw quoted for outsourced work to some third world hell hole).
Slashdot Mirror
ok, that still fails to adress the problem of updating a system without checking what the updates will do. How will a remote admin who has no idea how the box is used or what software gets run on it be able to check if an update will cause problems? System admin' is a full time job, and then some. Most full timmers dont get woken up at 3:00 in the morning because a server crashed.
Given how many times an update has broken an app or caused a conflict I cant say I would welcome an auto updating autonomous Linux system. As with any modern OS an admin must review what an update does and test it out prior to rolling it out to the unwashed masses. This is true of any and all oporating systems, be they MacOS, Linux, Windows or what have you.
Or (and this is just a wild idea) you could stop breaking the law. Then the 10% of use that use P2P services for anything legitimate can get on with our lives.
I dont know where you think you are, but around here quality isn't as important as not being from Microsoft.
Give the Chinese a F-16 to study. I'll wager they could figure it out.
Everything is reproducable once you've seen it. Thats the whole idea behind patents.
Thats a problem with the patent approval process not with patents themselves.
Please forgive my misspelling of the words reference and defunct. Coffee me no good function without.
However time may prove me wrong on this (hell, I backed Beta vs VHS).
I know, however the same rules apply. If I spend time and money devloping somthing why shouldn't I have a way to protect what I create? The idea of patents is sound, our current patent system is broken with too many 'duh' patents getting the rubber stamp of approval. It should also be noted that I speak from a position where this realy does effect my day to day life. I write software for ISO certification systems. So I'm writting software for buisness methods. A double whammy. According to a number of people on thee forums I shouldn't be able to make money at what I do, I should just hand my work over to IBM or some other jugernaught so that they can run me into the ground. For some reason I just dont agree with that.
So when a lone inventer/devloper wants to rpotect what they've created from large corporaations their just being greedy?
Dont know what gave you that idea. Its not like they have ever given away their own IP. However they will license it to you for a fee, its almost as if they think that their ideas and work are worth money. How insane is that?
I had a witty well worded rsponse to this article but I forgot to hit 'submit'. Could the admins please recover it for me and place it in the first post position?
So you wont buy a game that needs to be activated online, but you will pay a monthly fee in addition to around 60$ at the register for a game that can ONLY be played online?
If you want Symbian get a Nokia phone.
And they burn like nobody's business. Seriously, whos idea was it to make the things out of several pounds of magnesium?
As a licensed BeOS devloper who still has a Rev2 BeBox sitting around I must say you're wrong. BeOS was NEVER as far along as Nextstep was even when taking into acount the hardware transition. BeOS had poor to no network or print servies. We where promissed that they would be released "real soon now" for years. Granted what Be had was better then the same stuff on Next. But Be lacked a lot of very important stuff.
I've got Rhapsody, BeOS and Nextstep x86 all taking up space in my closet of abandoned computers. I'm thinking of selling all this crap off for around 5$ a pound.
Ah well.
Well, there should be about 20min of banjo solos thrown in.
The later, thats why I wont buy a house thats not in a costal state. My brain needs culture and my mouth needs sea food.
Fair enough, however when you take all those things into acount and add managability and quality control outsourceing NEVER looked good. The reason that outsourcing is "hot" right now is because the higher ups in a company can use it for a short term drop in costs yielding a quick boost in stock price. The long term benifits of it are nonexistant. So even if everything else is factored in, you just cant beat 10$ a day per programmer (a price I saw quoted for outsourced work to some third world hell hole).
But then you'd own a house in rural America. There is a reason they cost less, fewer people want them. Simple economics.
But then again, some folks'll
Like Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel
Most folks'll never lose a toe
But then again, some folks'll
Like Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel
From the prices I've seen listed, it would be illigal to employ Americans (or even Amerucuns) for anything even close to the same amount.