I strongly agree with this post. I live in Colorado, USA, we don't have much geothermal activity here. We do have a lot of wind, and some experimental windmills--hopefully that'll develop into windmill farms.
Burning oil to create hydrogen for fuel might be a waste, but if Iceland is using geothermal heat sources to generate power, that seems to me a good thing.
Each region of the world needs to use what they've got. Ocean tides, solar power, methenol from agriculture & city waste, whatever.
So Iceland has loads of geothermal resources? OK, what's the problem if they decide to use that? I call that a world-leading approach.
Coming soon to a planet near you: plug-n-play software, with vast implications for software pricing. But not within ESR's predicted six months.
People will use Windows for a long time, even if they pay for it separately from hardware, and realize the true cost of use. My old man believes that Gates gifted us all with a universal platform, enabling the non-tech user to use computers--and he's right. If the normal consumer shells out $200 for a computer, then has to buy Windows for $99, they'll still do it, at least for a while.
Picture the following: buy a computer, hook it to the net, select what OS you want & give it your universal consumer ID, select what you're going to use the beast for, and go get a cuppa while it loads. After a while you'll select add'nal software to load; pick freeware or openware & it just loads, pick payware & you'll also pay. The current consumer will accept MS products for a while, but will soon look for cheaper or free alternatives.
Eventually the OS will lose relevance & wither on the vine; instead you will choose the "flavor" of interface. Windows will live on in several flavors, so will KDE & Gnome, so will the CLI--and a host of new approaches, including voice-only for users with uncomplicated or unsophisticated needs.
We are approaching a new world order, where the importance of our physical location & even what digital devices we use will fade.
ESR is right that Windows as it is now known will die out, but it won't happen at a specific price level of a PC; it'll evolve into a different animal & the entire model of software pricing will change considerably. The price will drop as customers begin to pay for the right to run certain software wherever they are, instead of buying installation rights tied to specific machines. Commercial users will pay a premium for payware apps, but openware & freeware will impact here too.
This is a several-decade-long scenario. I'll take one more shot at ESR's contention--no, Windows won't die soon, no matter how far the price of a PC drops. The common man & woman doesn't know how to use anything else yet.
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I strongly agree with this post. I live in Colorado, USA, we don't have much geothermal activity here. We do have a lot of wind, and some experimental windmills--hopefully that'll develop into windmill farms.
Burning oil to create hydrogen for fuel might be a waste, but if Iceland is using geothermal heat sources to generate power, that seems to me a good thing.
Each region of the world needs to use what they've got. Ocean tides, solar power, methenol from agriculture & city waste, whatever.
So Iceland has loads of geothermal resources? OK, what's the problem if they decide to use that? I call that a world-leading approach.
More power to them, IMO.
Sigh, another high-paying professional job bites the dust.
Coming soon to a planet near you: plug-n-play software, with vast implications for software pricing. But not within ESR's predicted six months.
People will use Windows for a long time, even if they pay for it separately from hardware, and realize the true cost of use. My old man believes that Gates gifted us all with a universal platform, enabling the non-tech user to use computers--and he's right. If the normal consumer shells out $200 for a computer, then has to buy Windows for $99, they'll still do it, at least for a while.
Picture the following: buy a computer, hook it to the net, select what OS you want & give it your universal consumer ID, select what you're going to use the beast for, and go get a cuppa while it loads. After a while you'll select add'nal software to load; pick freeware or openware & it just loads, pick payware & you'll also pay. The current consumer will accept MS products for a while, but will soon look for cheaper or free alternatives.
Eventually the OS will lose relevance & wither on the vine; instead you will choose the "flavor" of interface. Windows will live on in several flavors, so will KDE & Gnome, so will the CLI--and a host of new approaches, including voice-only for users with uncomplicated or unsophisticated needs.
We are approaching a new world order, where the importance of our physical location & even what digital devices we use will fade.
ESR is right that Windows as it is now known will die out, but it won't happen at a specific price level of a PC; it'll evolve into a different animal & the entire model of software pricing will change considerably. The price will drop as customers begin to pay for the right to run certain software wherever they are, instead of buying installation rights tied to specific machines. Commercial users will pay a premium for payware apps, but openware & freeware will impact here too.
This is a several-decade-long scenario. I'll take one more shot at ESR's contention--no, Windows won't die soon, no matter how far the price of a PC drops. The common man & woman doesn't know how to use anything else yet.