Exactly. This is also why I don't build my own computers, even though I could.
As soon as one's time has non-trivial value (for most people, I suspect this occurs sometime around college), it becomes much easier to simply donate a computer rather than go through the hassle of selling it. The average hourly wage for US workers is about ~$20 per hour. So if one spends five hours messing around with a computer trying to sell it for $300, one only really made between $200 and perhaps $220 (because it takes time to get ride of the computer anyway). One can quickly see why people who make more than $20 an hour might not be inclined to bother with selling.
This is particularly true of a computer with a low value at the beginning -- today's $400 HP desktop with a Celeron processor and built-in graphics card isn't going to be worth much in two years. A top-of-the-line PowerMac, on the other hand, might still be worth selling.
The former situation, meanwhile, is why Apple is highly unlikely to offer any amount of money off for any PC turned in. If they offered $200 off, I'd go find a $50, two-year-old PC (which I could do relatively easily) and turn that it. The logistics would be worth it for me but a nightmare for Apple.
No mature industry has a single company holding 95% of the market.
Correct -- providing that one company does not hold a stranglehold over the marketplace.
But even so, I think the seeds of Microsoft's destruction have long been sown. Their prices are too high and their movement too slow. Today I think the best developers and computer scientists work on open-source software, which is often portable. From there I think the great generalized applications of tomorrow will spring.
Although I hate to sound like a buzzword bullhorn, I think Linux will ultimately prove to be less expensive, more flexible, expandable, and all-encompassing: one can run it on the servers, the clients and the portable devices, and run it seemlessly without regard to lisencing costs. Those seeds I mentioned earlier are still saplings, but unlike commericial competitors Microsoft cannot kill them by purchase or by might alone.
One can see this occuring already in the third and first worlds, and among cost-conscious businesses. This is coming from someone typing on an XP box using Mozilla (Linux does not suit my needs -- yet), but I think the mists of future show a world far more open than the one today.
Let's not forget that those statistics probably aren't as generalized as these statistics. I see a whole lot of IE and not very much else; in operating systems, I see a lot of Windows and not much else.
Granted, some browsers may report themselves as IE for ease-of-use purposes. Still, I think IE is the most dominant, and I see this in my everyday life: virtually any time I mention Firefox or Moz to any of my friends, they cock their eyebrows and go "say what?"
When the iPod first came out, I mentioned that I thought it the best digital music solution, and they would say "iPod?" Now, virtually, everyone I meet knows what an iPod is already.
The point is that, although Firefox may be moving in the mainstream, I think it is still a long ways away.
To further refine your comment, I think it you should note that the Elves aren't necessarily going to Valinor proper: they may be going to Tol Eressa, which is the Isle of the Elves, closer to Middle Earth before the breaking of the seas.
[Gandalf] was born in the West, in Valinor, and so he gets to go back.
Maiar are not "born" per se, but rather embodied from free-floating spirits. They are a lesser being than the Valar, who one might consider "Gods" after a fashion, although there is a creator above them, named Eru or the One. Sauron is of the same class of being. Gandalf and the rest of the Istari were sent to help the free peoples contest the might of Sauron; as such, he himself is barred from matching Sauron power against power. Only if he succeeds does he get to go back.
The curious may also wish to know that the Balrog is also a Maia (the singular of the noun Maiar), but most Balrogs were destroyed at the end of the First Age, while Lord of the Rings takes place at the end of the Third Age. Balrogs are of a mighty power leftover from an earlier time, which may be part of the reason Gandalf is allowed or allows himself to fight the Balrog. Interestingly, this is also the only place in the entire series in which he strives fully against another, putting forth all his might. In other cases -- such as Smaug in the Hobbit, the Captain of the Nazgul in ROTK, or Saruman at virtually any time, Gandalf does not actually wield his full strength.
Moving back on topic, Saruman, who fails, does not return to Valinor, and the fate of Radagast and the other Istari is not discussed in LOTR itself.
For a decent FAQ on the subject, see the rec.arts.books.tolkien FAQ.
Sure, the repeated references were there, but I still think the movie generally bungled the departing into the West. It was unclear that the elves were fading and why they were leaving; the veiled and overt references in the books made the need for the elves to leave, and the passing of the ring, much more necessary.
There are numerous references, particularly in The Fellowship and ROTK concerning what happens to the elven rings after the destruction of the One. In addition, consider the final pages of ROTK: the ship bearing Galadriel, Gandalf and many others sails until the mist and darkness lifts, and they hear singing in the seas. The melancholy tone, of beautiful things fading and passing so that new things can take their place, is missing in the movie, in part due to the absense of the Scouring of the Shire.
Maybe the BSA counts all this supposed lost money on account of this, as opposed to other sources.
I know that five years ago, when I wanted software to do something, the first place I looked was a CompUSA or such. Today, the first place I look involves the link above.
When I wanted software to back up my DVDs, I spent a bare minimum of time searching around before I found free, open-source solutions on-line, where once I might have paid $100 for shrink-wrapped software.
It is also suggested that Gimli goes, too, though I don't remember what allows him to go.
Actually, it's not suggested that Gimli departs, it's stated in the Appendices to The Return of the King.
"1541: In this year on March 1st came at last the Passing of King Elessar. It is said that the beds of Meriadoc and Peregrin were set besides the bed of the great king. Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down the Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth to the Fellowship of the Ring."
I don't feel like looking it up, but I recall that Gimli was allowed into the West because of his great friendship with Legolas and Galadriel.
Also, this post addresses a question elsewhere in this thread: there is no hard time limit on when Elves can depart from the Havens; in fact, Galadriel, Elrond and others tarry for a few years in Middle Earth, after the destruction of the One Ring. Those that stay longer, however, were subject to a sort of fading. That is what the Three, the Elven rings, were forged to protect against. Thus those Elves who wielded the rings held the the memory of the Elder days.
What ultimately happens to Elves who remained in Middle Earth is never explicitly stated so far as I know.
Since the student is graduating, how about How Would You Move Mount Fuji?, by William Poundstone. It's subtitled "Microsoft's Cult of the Puzzle - How the World's Smartest Company Selects the Most Creative Thinkers" and describes the roots of logic questions in interviews (specifically Microsoft's notoriously difficult interviews).
I read this, and glad I was that I checked it out of the library instead of buying it. The book, while mildly interesting in its entirity, is encapsulated by its dust-jacket and review. Between a third and half of the pages are simply solutions to the puzzle, many of which simply give reasoned answers to questions that are impossible to answer.
I think the original questioner asked for books that will speak to graduates forever, and How Would You Move Mount Fuji doesn't apply.
As for the rest of your choices, I have one word: bravo!
Clients being a PITA -- I hear you. What kind of work do you do?
I think the MD was a great idea at one point, but it never took off, at least in America and probably Europe, for reasons that I'm not sure of; nonetheless, these days I think hard drive-based players are the way to go, and the iPod continues to be the best.
As I mentioned in my original post, if someone would just release an iPod-killer for $100 less, I'd be a happier man, even if I do admire Apple's computer hardware from a distance.
As an aside, I added you to my friends list; I tried unsuccessfully to find an e-mail address on your website, stereogeometry.com. BTW, how was the Ginza Apple store?
Actually, I think posts like the grandparent's are useful because that way people who don't read Slashdot everyday or missed the other articles can read them and get up to speed on the discussion/topic. I hope that will lead to fewer redundant comments.
Although it's somewhat off-topic, I saw that your sig says "helping people with MS lead a better life." I figured the MS meant Microsoft, and I was surprised when I followed the link.
I've never even heard of a worm or virus that exploits OS X. That doesn't mean a theoretical attack or security vulnerability; that means an actual break. Care to name one, and provide a link?
At the university I attend, I've never heard of any OS X user with a virus or worm, but only perhaps a quarter of Windows users make the same claim.
Regardless, there are dozens of players on the mark with more features than Apple's. It's subjective, but I think many of them look better and are easier to use.
Ease-of-use is subjective, but as another poster pointed out, someone who has never seen an iPod before can figure out all its functions within five minutes. Ease-of-use goes beyond the device itself, and to the methods of interacting with the device, and that's where the iPod shines brighter than any other portable music solution. The integration with iTunes and the use of a fast firewire connection makes the iPod really plug and play: one can organize the tunes on a Dell desktop or Powerbook, plug in the iPod and have it work.
At the same time, the chief feature, to me anyway, is portablility, and the iPod (and now the mini) have the best combination of small size and large capacity.
When you say the iPod is only a fasion statement, I think you're wrong. It's a beautiful device, sure, and that's a plus, but it's also simply the best.
The iPod will be forgotten at some point, just as I threw out my last poncho the other day.
Agreed. The day is coming when small, hard-drive based players become commoditized. But then again, I thought it would already be here, and yet years after its introduction the iPod continues to dominate. At least until after Christmas, I see no serious competitors, which brings me to the last point.
The way Sony will prove me wrong again will probably be in its marketing. I'm sure they can throw together a better campaign than Apple with their greater resources.
Maybe. But Sony's device comes late to the market and offers no real technical advantages over the iPod. In fact, it offers technical disadvantages because it only accepts Sony's Atrac (I'm not sure about the capitalization) format. That means anyone who wants to use it must wait for their music to be converted to an inferior format that will further reduce sound quality. Anyone who asks me whether they should buy a Sony portable music device will get a resounding "NO!" I suspect Sony's player will get drowned out by other competitors like Dell and Creative. Sony's efforts don't always pan out: consider the Mini-Disk. I think this will merely be another one.
Still, I agree with your header, because I don't think Sony stands a chance either.
Disclaimer: I don't own an iPod and will not until/unless Apple offers Ogg Vorbis support. That being said, I recognize that I'm in the minority, and I understand why other people buy them, which is why I posted the above.
I actually signed up for a free subscription for Stuff on the advice of a friend. Even the actual articles, however, read like ad copy, and its Photoshop-enhanced "hot girls" do less for me than the girls in real life. I tried to read the first issue I received, gave up, and tried again on the second issue. After that, I tossed the rest in the recylcing bin.
It was tough to decide to reply instead of +1, Informative.
The Atlantic features in-depth stories on topics that are relevant, yet one seldom finds the same kind of information that any story in the Atlantic features. For example, as the Iraq situation heated but before the rest of media seriously used the word "invasion," the May issue featured Tales of the Tyrant, a piece about Saddam.
Earlier than that, the April 2001 issue gave us culture closer to home in The Organization Kid, which anyone who has been involved in the education process as a student, parent or teacher should be forced to read. The article adopts a skeptical tone of today's do-it-all culture without being didactic or heavy handed.
The former NYT Editor who left after the Jayson Blair scandal aired his opinions concerning the Times, the importance of the Times and the direction of news in America in a piece so long and thoughtful that I planned to read the lead before a run, and instead spent 1.5 hours reading and digesting the article before running even crossed my mind again.
And then there's the "Primary Sources" sections, which I'll leave for another rave. Fact is that The Atlantic is a consistantly great read.
However, I'm sure many students view your policy as a stick. As I noted in a previous post, I attend Clark University, where last semester the IT people required that students using Windows install McAfee and worm protection before connecting to the network. I didn't work for IT, but I heard endless bitching about the policy, and after a while I gave up trying to defend it to those who don't wish to know anything about computers.
It's hard talking about computers with those who support their platform with the vehemence of a holy warrior -- and that can apply to Windows, Apple and Linux users, although the latter two make a lot of noise -- and it's just as hard trying to explain why an IT policy like the one you describe is just.
I'd find it easier not to use a Windows machine either -- but then, I read Slashdot and pay attention to my surroundings. I'm somewhat unusual, because most of my classmates don't know what an OS is and don't care. The fact is that the majority of them use Windows, and as long as they can check e-mail and look at porn they're happy. As long as the IT Dept. doesn't lock out other systems, I could care less that they port scan Windows machines, or whatever it is they wish to do.
I see a lot of people on this thread who suggest education, user-awareness and other social engineering, and I applaud those posters for their beautiful ideals.
I attend a small liberals arts college that will remove net access for abuses like Kazaa and worm-spewing computers. Last year, they banned any Windows machine from coming on the network until the user installed McAfee and removed Blaster and other worms on their system. I spent numerous hours trying to explain to people why their "IE" wouldn't work. (The Apple and Linux users could log on without having to go through the hoopla.)
As for me, I'm delighted. The network runs faster without p2p clients, and downloads of important files (like the multiple-MB database files I need for work) goes much faster better. The only way to make people understand that they need to change their behavior is to create consequences for actions, or their negligent inaction. Example: unpatched XP machine. Result: viruses. Consequence: you don't play nice in the sandbox and you get kicked out. Result: student learns to patch Windows box, or gets a CS major to do it for him/her.
The DP Quicksilver 800 I sometimes use with a friend has given him 0 downtime since he bought the box.
As for my Dell Windows machine (which I bought at about the same time), I've had about ~10 hours worth of downtime, which doesn't include the OS wipe I'm going to have to do shortly due to Windows quirks.
So neither computer has been down a whole lot. But then again, both of us know a reasonable amount about how not to fsck up computers.
Slashdot Mirror
As soon as one's time has non-trivial value (for most people, I suspect this occurs sometime around college), it becomes much easier to simply donate a computer rather than go through the hassle of selling it. The average hourly wage for US workers is about ~$20 per hour. So if one spends five hours messing around with a computer trying to sell it for $300, one only really made between $200 and perhaps $220 (because it takes time to get ride of the computer anyway). One can quickly see why people who make more than $20 an hour might not be inclined to bother with selling.
This is particularly true of a computer with a low value at the beginning -- today's $400 HP desktop with a Celeron processor and built-in graphics card isn't going to be worth much in two years. A top-of-the-line PowerMac, on the other hand, might still be worth selling.
The former situation, meanwhile, is why Apple is highly unlikely to offer any amount of money off for any PC turned in. If they offered $200 off, I'd go find a $50, two-year-old PC (which I could do relatively easily) and turn that it. The logistics would be worth it for me but a nightmare for Apple.
Correct -- providing that one company does not hold a stranglehold over the marketplace.
But even so, I think the seeds of Microsoft's destruction have long been sown. Their prices are too high and their movement too slow. Today I think the best developers and computer scientists work on open-source software, which is often portable. From there I think the great generalized applications of tomorrow will spring.
Although I hate to sound like a buzzword bullhorn, I think Linux will ultimately prove to be less expensive, more flexible, expandable, and all-encompassing: one can run it on the servers, the clients and the portable devices, and run it seemlessly without regard to lisencing costs. Those seeds I mentioned earlier are still saplings, but unlike commericial competitors Microsoft cannot kill them by purchase or by might alone.
One can see this occuring already in the third and first worlds, and among cost-conscious businesses. This is coming from someone typing on an XP box using Mozilla (Linux does not suit my needs -- yet), but I think the mists of future show a world far more open than the one today.
Granted, some browsers may report themselves as IE for ease-of-use purposes. Still, I think IE is the most dominant, and I see this in my everyday life: virtually any time I mention Firefox or Moz to any of my friends, they cock their eyebrows and go "say what?"
When the iPod first came out, I mentioned that I thought it the best digital music solution, and they would say "iPod?" Now, virtually, everyone I meet knows what an iPod is already.
The point is that, although Firefox may be moving in the mainstream, I think it is still a long ways away.
[Gandalf] was born in the West, in Valinor, and so he gets to go back.
Maiar are not "born" per se, but rather embodied from free-floating spirits. They are a lesser being than the Valar, who one might consider "Gods" after a fashion, although there is a creator above them, named Eru or the One. Sauron is of the same class of being. Gandalf and the rest of the Istari were sent to help the free peoples contest the might of Sauron; as such, he himself is barred from matching Sauron power against power. Only if he succeeds does he get to go back.
The curious may also wish to know that the Balrog is also a Maia (the singular of the noun Maiar), but most Balrogs were destroyed at the end of the First Age, while Lord of the Rings takes place at the end of the Third Age. Balrogs are of a mighty power leftover from an earlier time, which may be part of the reason Gandalf is allowed or allows himself to fight the Balrog. Interestingly, this is also the only place in the entire series in which he strives fully against another, putting forth all his might. In other cases -- such as Smaug in the Hobbit, the Captain of the Nazgul in ROTK, or Saruman at virtually any time, Gandalf does not actually wield his full strength.
Moving back on topic, Saruman, who fails, does not return to Valinor, and the fate of Radagast and the other Istari is not discussed in LOTR itself.
For a decent FAQ on the subject, see the rec.arts.books.tolkien FAQ.
There are numerous references, particularly in The Fellowship and ROTK concerning what happens to the elven rings after the destruction of the One. In addition, consider the final pages of ROTK: the ship bearing Galadriel, Gandalf and many others sails until the mist and darkness lifts, and they hear singing in the seas. The melancholy tone, of beautiful things fading and passing so that new things can take their place, is missing in the movie, in part due to the absense of the Scouring of the Shire.
I know that five years ago, when I wanted software to do something, the first place I looked was a CompUSA or such. Today, the first place I look involves the link above.
When I wanted software to back up my DVDs, I spent a bare minimum of time searching around before I found free, open-source solutions on-line, where once I might have paid $100 for shrink-wrapped software.
And I do not think I am the only one.
Actually, it's not suggested that Gimli departs, it's stated in the Appendices to The Return of the King.
"1541: In this year on March 1st came at last the Passing of King Elessar. It is said that the beds of Meriadoc and Peregrin were set besides the bed of the great king. Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down the Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf. And when that ship passed an end was come in Middle-earth to the Fellowship of the Ring."
I don't feel like looking it up, but I recall that Gimli was allowed into the West because of his great friendship with Legolas and Galadriel.
Also, this post addresses a question elsewhere in this thread: there is no hard time limit on when Elves can depart from the Havens; in fact, Galadriel, Elrond and others tarry for a few years in Middle Earth, after the destruction of the One Ring. Those that stay longer, however, were subject to a sort of fading. That is what the Three, the Elven rings, were forged to protect against. Thus those Elves who wielded the rings held the the memory of the Elder days.
What ultimately happens to Elves who remained in Middle Earth is never explicitly stated so far as I know.
I read this, and glad I was that I checked it out of the library instead of buying it. The book, while mildly interesting in its entirity, is encapsulated by its dust-jacket and review. Between a third and half of the pages are simply solutions to the puzzle, many of which simply give reasoned answers to questions that are impossible to answer.
I think the original questioner asked for books that will speak to graduates forever, and How Would You Move Mount Fuji doesn't apply.
As for the rest of your choices, I have one word: bravo!
I think the MD was a great idea at one point, but it never took off, at least in America and probably Europe, for reasons that I'm not sure of; nonetheless, these days I think hard drive-based players are the way to go, and the iPod continues to be the best.
As I mentioned in my original post, if someone would just release an iPod-killer for $100 less, I'd be a happier man, even if I do admire Apple's computer hardware from a distance.
As an aside, I added you to my friends list; I tried unsuccessfully to find an e-mail address on your website, stereogeometry.com. BTW, how was the Ginza Apple store?
Actually, I think posts like the grandparent's are useful because that way people who don't read Slashdot everyday or missed the other articles can read them and get up to speed on the discussion/topic. I hope that will lead to fewer redundant comments.
Still, do you have any data to back up your assertion? A quick Google search revealed nothing of interest.
Although it's somewhat off-topic, I saw that your sig says "helping people with MS lead a better life." I figured the MS meant Microsoft, and I was surprised when I followed the link.
At the university I attend, I've never heard of any OS X user with a virus or worm, but only perhaps a quarter of Windows users make the same claim.
Ease-of-use is subjective, but as another poster pointed out, someone who has never seen an iPod before can figure out all its functions within five minutes. Ease-of-use goes beyond the device itself, and to the methods of interacting with the device, and that's where the iPod shines brighter than any other portable music solution. The integration with iTunes and the use of a fast firewire connection makes the iPod really plug and play: one can organize the tunes on a Dell desktop or Powerbook, plug in the iPod and have it work.
At the same time, the chief feature, to me anyway, is portablility, and the iPod (and now the mini) have the best combination of small size and large capacity.
When you say the iPod is only a fasion statement, I think you're wrong. It's a beautiful device, sure, and that's a plus, but it's also simply the best.
The iPod will be forgotten at some point, just as I threw out my last poncho the other day.
Agreed. The day is coming when small, hard-drive based players become commoditized. But then again, I thought it would already be here, and yet years after its introduction the iPod continues to dominate. At least until after Christmas, I see no serious competitors, which brings me to the last point.
The way Sony will prove me wrong again will probably be in its marketing. I'm sure they can throw together a better campaign than Apple with their greater resources.
Maybe. But Sony's device comes late to the market and offers no real technical advantages over the iPod. In fact, it offers technical disadvantages because it only accepts Sony's Atrac (I'm not sure about the capitalization) format. That means anyone who wants to use it must wait for their music to be converted to an inferior format that will further reduce sound quality. Anyone who asks me whether they should buy a Sony portable music device will get a resounding "NO!" I suspect Sony's player will get drowned out by other competitors like Dell and Creative. Sony's efforts don't always pan out: consider the Mini-Disk. I think this will merely be another one.
Still, I agree with your header, because I don't think Sony stands a chance either.
Disclaimer: I don't own an iPod and will not until/unless Apple offers Ogg Vorbis support. That being said, I recognize that I'm in the minority, and I understand why other people buy them, which is why I posted the above.
You can run different OSes on PPC hardware, incluiding the hardware sold by Apple. Such as Yellow Dog.
Hilarity ensued because Apple responded with this ad, which another poster pointed toward.
I actually signed up for a free subscription for Stuff on the advice of a friend. Even the actual articles, however, read like ad copy, and its Photoshop-enhanced "hot girls" do less for me than the girls in real life. I tried to read the first issue I received, gave up, and tried again on the second issue. After that, I tossed the rest in the recylcing bin.
... Why Seventeen?
The Atlantic features in-depth stories on topics that are relevant, yet one seldom finds the same kind of information that any story in the Atlantic features. For example, as the Iraq situation heated but before the rest of media seriously used the word "invasion," the May issue featured Tales of the Tyrant, a piece about Saddam.
Earlier than that, the April 2001 issue gave us culture closer to home in The Organization Kid, which anyone who has been involved in the education process as a student, parent or teacher should be forced to read. The article adopts a skeptical tone of today's do-it-all culture without being didactic or heavy handed.
The former NYT Editor who left after the Jayson Blair scandal aired his opinions concerning the Times, the importance of the Times and the direction of news in America in a piece so long and thoughtful that I planned to read the lead before a run, and instead spent 1.5 hours reading and digesting the article before running even crossed my mind again.
And then there's the "Primary Sources" sections, which I'll leave for another rave. Fact is that The Atlantic is a consistantly great read.
Have you tried to teach an art major to use Linux? I'd almost want to give the art major the $2,000 just to shut it up.
It's hard talking about computers with those who support their platform with the vehemence of a holy warrior -- and that can apply to Windows, Apple and Linux users, although the latter two make a lot of noise -- and it's just as hard trying to explain why an IT policy like the one you describe is just.
But I say: good for your school.
I'd find it easier not to use a Windows machine either -- but then, I read Slashdot and pay attention to my surroundings. I'm somewhat unusual, because most of my classmates don't know what an OS is and don't care. The fact is that the majority of them use Windows, and as long as they can check e-mail and look at porn they're happy. As long as the IT Dept. doesn't lock out other systems, I could care less that they port scan Windows machines, or whatever it is they wish to do.
I attend a small liberals arts college that will remove net access for abuses like Kazaa and worm-spewing computers. Last year, they banned any Windows machine from coming on the network until the user installed McAfee and removed Blaster and other worms on their system. I spent numerous hours trying to explain to people why their "IE" wouldn't work. (The Apple and Linux users could log on without having to go through the hoopla.)
As for me, I'm delighted. The network runs faster without p2p clients, and downloads of important files (like the multiple-MB database files I need for work) goes much faster better. The only way to make people understand that they need to change their behavior is to create consequences for actions, or their negligent inaction. Example: unpatched XP machine. Result: viruses. Consequence: you don't play nice in the sandbox and you get kicked out. Result: student learns to patch Windows box, or gets a CS major to do it for him/her.
As for my Dell Windows machine (which I bought at about the same time), I've had about ~10 hours worth of downtime, which doesn't include the OS wipe I'm going to have to do shortly due to Windows quirks.
So neither computer has been down a whole lot. But then again, both of us know a reasonable amount about how not to fsck up computers.
Redmond, WA?