So you're going to accept the Ballard press release as the gospel of truth? I hope treat me the same when I have land to sell in the Florida area.
There was only one injury, bu the impact on the neighbours (primarily Future Shop's corporate headquarters) was enormous; had it been during business hours, it would have been much worse.
The excellent Burnaby fire department did a great job of containing this.
Ballard's CEO was on the 6:00 news calling it a collission; I can't find a quote, mostly because the Vancouver Sun doesn't allow free access to anything. Ugh.
So I linked to the PR spin. It's all I could find at the time.
The point is not that not enough people got injured: the point is this was a very serious event that had local media out like you wouldn't believe. It didn't portray hydrogen as safe, and the firefighters who were there didn't either.
Earlier this week, a fuel truck backed up to far at Ballard Power's main office in Burnaby, BC. http://www.ballard.com/be_informed/about_ball ard/n ews/2004/08/09/mcormack-27_0408091634-676
The resulting explosion and fire closed buildings and evacuated businesses for a 1km radius for almost a full 24 hours.
Is this ready to be on every street corner? In every garage?
I have no doubt that the safety issues will be solved, I'm simply pointing out that we've got a long way to go and the consequences may be severe.
Diesel, for one, only solves one problem: the consumption of fossil fuels. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that we'd reduce consumption more simply by eliminating that scourge of the earth: the SUV.
I used to own one. I'm repenting.
Diesel emssions are far more evil than those from unleaded, so you solve one problem but create another one (or exacerbate an existing one, as the case may be.) This may not be the solution you're looking for. Hybrids would be better, as you reduce both problems.
As for why people don't move back into the city? This is an economic and lifestyle issue, and the two must meet. FWIW, a study was done around Vancouver that pointed out that one of the problems with urban planning around high density in the downtown core is that families don't always work in the same place: if one spouse works downtown, and the other works in the burbs the family will often move half way between both work locations.
Sucks, doesn't it, but the best laid plans often don't work out as expected.
no money = cheap company to buy = new money = new lawsuits
i doubt the validity, but if legal counsel for some insane organization convinces a CEO that there's merit to the lawsuits, we could see a purchase and resumption.
This is, of course, the very thing the comment points out can be a problem.
Who's really going to remember this schedule?/. maybe; my mother - not.
This is my beef with digital photography: I found a negative for a photo that was taken sometime between 1891 & 1934 - prints were beautiful. This negative was not stored properly at all. No special effort to preserve.
With digital photography & CD-R disks I'm not so sure that we're not just creating a set of transient memories which will disappear into the ephemera in 10 years time.
The death of Bluetooth view is being advocated from a perspective that says Intel is in the driver's seat - a very PC centric view.
Take a look from another perspective - device centred - and the picture looks much much different. There are millions of bluetooth enabled cell phones (mine included) in consumers hands around the world; Palm is using the standard in their exorbitantly expensive models.
So I'd have to suggest that consumers are going to demand compatiblity there - the Bluetooth market is far from dead, even if there are outstanding issues (pairing - although I've never had a problem with this.)
Never ever forget the good old 80/20 rule: the numbers are probably much higher here, but it's fair to say that in the mass computer market 80% of the people don't really care and will use whatever they learn how to use.
20% will care, and the product for the other 80% may not do what they need. If this 20% can sustain one, or two, or three hundred alternatives then so be it. Leave them in peace.
If this 20% needs to pay a little more to make themselves happy, call them Mac users.
>> Really, this should be a value adding benifit for the >> people who frequent StarBucks
yeah well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from a retailer's perspective. I mean come on - a 'value add' is not me letting you pay $2 for a coffee and then squat on one of my tables for the next three hours while you nurse that thing for every last drop.
Really, if a store is already busy this isn't a value add: there's more value in keeping customers churning through.
But one of my local independent coffee shops offers Wi-Fi access free; for them, it means people go there instead of the slightly-more-convenient, vastly more heavily marketed Starbucks - that's a good value add.
And unless Starbucks expects their staff to all be able to install and maintain the connection (what happens if it dies when you're sitting there) there is a cost to offer the service; setting up the infrastructure, securing it in way that allows customers to use it and keeps grazers out.) Plus there's the cost of electricity to run the equipment, plus your laptop when you plug it in there.
(Yeah yeah, you're laughing 'cause I'm harping about the cost of electricity; not the point - I'm just pointing out that there are a wide range of costs involved in providing the thing.)
So - you started with a good point, and then forgot that Starbucks isn't in the business of selling internet access.
But WiFi is definitely not worth $10/hr; I'm paying $5 and I would use it way more often if it was 1/2 that price; at that price, I'm parceling out my time very carefully.
Basic math: my estimate is my local provider is paying $100/month (it's probably slightly less, actually); equipment costs are fairly modest and are - in any case - amortized over a long period of time.
So, at $5/hour 20 hours basically covers the montly operating costs. That's pretty insane. I mean that's like 20 people using the service once a month. If the volume is that low, there's no way they should even be offering the service.
Plus they're selling "unlimited" access for a month for $34.95, which is the same as I pay at home; being able to use my connection at 10 coffee shops in town doesn't eliminate my need to do so at home; I'll never pay as much for a connection outside of home as I will for one inside.
Pricing needs adapting here; I think the critical mass exists, but it needs to be encouraged. I think for Starbucks running the service on cost recovery basis would be good, but since they've chosen to contract out the network rights this isn't really terribly realistic.
Thankfully, I just installed a wireless network at a client's office that reaches a coffee shop I like: woo hoo! Free hot spot for scooter!)
And don't worry - competition is great. If Starbucks is too expensive just buy your own equipment and drop it next door: the signal will reach.
Willow products are OK: I can tell you that the padding/protection is - in many cases - corrugated plastic board of the kind that is used to make outdoor signs. I donated about 200 old election signs to them for this purpose.
I do think they're expensive for what you get: a custom, fitted bag that - in most cases - has to be replaced when you buy a new machine. I know the cost of a bag is minimal compared to the cost of a machine, but you know - there's an environmental principal, plus what if you like your bag?
So herewith my newest recommendation: Arcteryx Blade 21 Backpack An awesome backpack, and an awesome laptop bag. Could carry it for hours.
I used to use Kensington Saddlebag, but shoulder bags are really only well suited for those that drive (which I don't do much anymore.) It was great though: just got rid of it today.
Blockbuster's weight is significant regardless of Viacom ownership; they're the only North American wide rental chain.
Remember Divx players? The ones that would essentially force you to buy a disc at a modest cost and then purchase codes to unlock the disc for single viewing, multiple days, or forever? This was the competing format against standard DVDs for about 5 minutes.
Blockbuster/Paramount/Viacom was a MAJOR advocate of them; I considered (and may still consider) it to be the most regressive form of copy protection this side of a Microsoft product.
And now Blockbuster is essentially saying "Copy protection doesn't work; get rid of it."
Good on 'em. It's about time major industry started focusing on what matters - last time I checked the movie business was supposed to make movies, not walls.
People will pay for good content: maybe the economics of the industry are skewed by the Hollywood cartel and need adjustment, but people will pay.
>> Syncing would result in duplicate (triplicate, etc.) copies of everything
Wouldn't this be a function of your sync software? (Obviously a problem for me though: I've been looking at this phone, and would be using the same software.)
>> home and business address in Address Book, only one of them shows up in the phone
Ugh: I *hated* every Palm device I ever bought/used/set eyes on because of this. Have they addressed it?
>> Secondly, and even more importantly, with Open Source or Free Software, if a project is abandoned, you still have the source code. If you still need the project's functionality, you can maintain the code.
Those are exactly the consequences that I'm talking about; if my business plan calls for the *use* of open source software but not the resources to develop it (i.e. using it as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange) this could have consequences. Maybe I don't want to do full-scale software development.
And you're right, forking !== abandonment
But abandonment is a very serious potential impact of forking - presumably, if a project forks one of those forks may wind up little used, likely resulting in a reduction in development efforts. I should have drawn that line more clearly.
>> This stands in large contrast to closed source software. If Microsoft decides to kill a project, you are SOL...In fact, MS can even revoke your right to use code
well sure, and that's exactly the point I was making with my reference to Windows 98, which was just killed (although it's the only Windows in my house, as I prefer to run FreeBSD)
>> 98% of Apple owners shop Apple because for them it's a better product.
So apparently I'm the one that's nuts?
Ask yourself this: is the Hardware driving the purchase, or the Software?
I'd argue that for those who make the distinction, it's the Software they're interested in; they buy the hardware because it runs it - specifically, Mac OS X
Apple hardware good, let's go through recent history: - white spots on screens on 15 inch Aluminum PB - Windtunnel G4 - iBook hinges causing backlight cables to fray & break - Hinges on the 15" tiBook that routinely break on the early generations - li-ion batteries on PB that have been losing their ability to hold a charge in less than a year
and, of course, the legendary battery, control, and other misc. problems that iPod's have been plagued with.
Still - my Pismo is cranking away.
But my point - and it was not nuts - wasn NOT THAT APPLE HARDWARE WAS BAD - read again: it's that I have no choice but to buy my hardware from Apple if I want the OS. I want a 15" AlBook, but you think I'm going to buy one with the volument of complaints they've had?
Well, no. I used to work in the retail channel, and I still deal with "low-end computer customers" but I wouldn't call them ignorant: some of them pay my bills!
Computer users haven't changed much in the past 15 years; come to think of it, neither have computers!
Well, so they finally increased the warranty. Sorry. Amazing that this didn't get as commented on as the problems.
I, too, have largely been supportive of Apple's warranties in the past; my iBook was 4 days out of warranty when the screen back light crapped out - a well documented problem.
They fixed it. Acted like they were doing me a favour, but they fixed it. I guess they kind of were, but it was a well documented flaw in the product.
The problem isn't warranty or warranty policies; it's products that are so bad they NEED warranty. Reports of problems with iPods have been far too rampant. If I were to buy one, I would EXPECT to have a warranty problem, not hope not too.
Apple still suffers from the same problem that Apple has always had: they face no competition on building good hardware, and I have no choice but to get my hardware from them (assuming, of course, that I want their OS!)
Well, yeah - maybe we have. On the other hand, haven't we had enough of this "open source is salvation" thing that seems to come up.
I mean, Vancouver's recently municipal elections had a guy running on a platform of Open Source. That was it - his entire platform was that Open Source would solve our budget crisis. I personally thought he, plus the guy who's platform was Naked Vancouver, would have made a great team.
So anyway, the Professor here makes a fair point: if a compnay makes a substantial commitment to a piece of open source software that then gets abandoned, there could be real consequences.
Of course, the same person probably made a big commitment to Windows 98, which Microsoft is now abandoning to the wolves.
I still say: put your money into people whenever you can, not software. It will always pay off in the end.
Slashdot Mirror
So you're going to accept the Ballard press release as the gospel of truth? I hope treat me the same when I have land to sell in the Florida area.
There was only one injury, bu the impact on the neighbours (primarily Future Shop's corporate headquarters) was enormous; had it been during business hours, it would have been much worse.
The excellent Burnaby fire department did a great job of containing this. Ballard's CEO was on the 6:00 news calling it a collission; I can't find a quote, mostly because the Vancouver Sun doesn't allow free access to anything. Ugh. So I linked to the PR spin. It's all I could find at the time. The point is not that not enough people got injured: the point is this was a very serious event that had local media out like you wouldn't believe. It didn't portray hydrogen as safe, and the firefighters who were there didn't either.
Earlier this week, a fuel truck backed up to far at Ballard Power's main office in Burnaby, BC.l ard/n ews/2004/08/09/mcormack-27_0408091634-676
http://www.ballard.com/be_informed/about_bal
The resulting explosion and fire closed buildings and evacuated businesses for a 1km radius for almost a full 24 hours.
Is this ready to be on every street corner? In every garage?
I have no doubt that the safety issues will be solved, I'm simply pointing out that we've got a long way to go and the consequences may be severe.
Diesel, for one, only solves one problem: the consumption of fossil fuels. Off the top of my head, I'd guess that we'd reduce consumption more simply by eliminating that scourge of the earth: the SUV.
I used to own one. I'm repenting.
Diesel emssions are far more evil than those from unleaded, so you solve one problem but create another one (or exacerbate an existing one, as the case may be.) This may not be the solution you're looking for. Hybrids would be better, as you reduce both problems.
As for why people don't move back into the city? This is an economic and lifestyle issue, and the two must meet. FWIW, a study was done around Vancouver that pointed out that one of the problems with urban planning around high density in the downtown core is that families don't always work in the same place: if one spouse works downtown, and the other works in the burbs the family will often move half way between both work locations.
Sucks, doesn't it, but the best laid plans often don't work out as expected.
it's not that easy
no money = cheap company to buy = new money = new lawsuits
i doubt the validity, but if legal counsel for some insane organization convinces a CEO that there's merit to the lawsuits, we could see a purchase and resumption.
This is, of course, the very thing the comment points out can be a problem.
/. maybe; my mother - not.
Who's really going to remember this schedule?
This is my beef with digital photography: I found a negative for a photo that was taken sometime between 1891 & 1934 - prints were beautiful. This negative was not stored properly at all. No special effort to preserve.
With digital photography & CD-R disks I'm not so sure that we're not just creating a set of transient memories which will disappear into the ephemera in 10 years time.
it can't be worse than the existing "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins".
That's simply not possible.
they do it every year at the Bayreuth festival, don't they.
Oh wait - that's Wagner's Ring cycle.
read Pattern Recognition; i was a bit disappointed by Idoru & All Tomorrow's Party's but Pattern Recognition was very good.
Virtual Light wasn't a major disappointment, but you could definitely see the start of the slippery slope. I still call my Trek a paper mache bike.
I lived across the road from him in the month prior to its release; never saw him once, although I bump into him occassionally around town these days.
The death of Bluetooth view is being advocated from a perspective that says Intel is in the driver's seat - a very PC centric view.
Take a look from another perspective - device centred - and the picture looks much much different. There are millions of bluetooth enabled cell phones (mine included) in consumers hands around the world; Palm is using the standard in their exorbitantly expensive models.
So I'd have to suggest that consumers are going to demand compatiblity there - the Bluetooth market is far from dead, even if there are outstanding issues (pairing - although I've never had a problem with this.)
Perhaps there should also be a check box that says:
"Contact me if I buy too many products with trans-fatty acids",
"Contact my doctor if I buy too many Tylenol pills", or
"Contact my mother if I don't buy enough vegetables."
1) Hundreds people die every day
2) It's legal for private citizens to carry a loaded weapon
the United States chose one side of this a long time ago; same argument, it's just the line that's in a different place.
(I personally choose the 49th parallel, north of which both my privacy and my life is protected.)
It would seem to me that if you go to a school which has a focus on Tech or Engineering, you're not likely to get screwed at all.
The day Tammy died; April 1998.
AltaVista'd the file and then had to find software to play it on my Windows machine at work.
Gotta love those sweeping generalizations.
Never ever forget the good old 80/20 rule: the numbers are probably much higher here, but it's fair to say that in the mass computer market 80% of the people don't really care and will use whatever they learn how to use.
20% will care, and the product for the other 80% may not do what they need. If this 20% can sustain one, or two, or three hundred alternatives then so be it. Leave them in peace.
If this 20% needs to pay a little more to make themselves happy, call them Mac users.
>> Really, this should be a value adding benifit for the
>> people who frequent StarBucks
yeah well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from a retailer's perspective. I mean come on - a 'value add' is not me letting you pay $2 for a coffee and then squat on one of my tables for the next three hours while you nurse that thing for every last drop.
Really, if a store is already busy this isn't a value add: there's more value in keeping customers churning through.
But one of my local independent coffee shops offers Wi-Fi access free; for them, it means people go there instead of the slightly-more-convenient, vastly more heavily marketed Starbucks - that's a good value add.
And unless Starbucks expects their staff to all be able to install and maintain the connection (what happens if it dies when you're sitting there) there is a cost to offer the service; setting up the infrastructure, securing it in way that allows customers to use it and keeps grazers out.) Plus there's the cost of electricity to run the equipment, plus your laptop when you plug it in there.
(Yeah yeah, you're laughing 'cause I'm harping about the cost of electricity; not the point - I'm just pointing out that there are a wide range of costs involved in providing the thing.)
So - you started with a good point, and then forgot that Starbucks isn't in the business of selling internet access.
But WiFi is definitely not worth $10/hr; I'm paying $5 and I would use it way more often if it was 1/2 that price; at that price, I'm parceling out my time very carefully.
Basic math: my estimate is my local provider is paying $100/month (it's probably slightly less, actually); equipment costs are fairly modest and are - in any case - amortized over a long period of time.
So, at $5/hour 20 hours basically covers the montly operating costs. That's pretty insane. I mean that's like 20 people using the service once a month. If the volume is that low, there's no way they should even be offering the service.
Plus they're selling "unlimited" access for a month for $34.95, which is the same as I pay at home; being able to use my connection at 10 coffee shops in town doesn't eliminate my need to do so at home; I'll never pay as much for a connection outside of home as I will for one inside.
Pricing needs adapting here; I think the critical mass exists, but it needs to be encouraged. I think for Starbucks running the service on cost recovery basis would be good, but since they've chosen to contract out the network rights this isn't really terribly realistic.
Thankfully, I just installed a wireless network at a client's office that reaches a coffee shop I like: woo hoo! Free hot spot for scooter!)
And don't worry - competition is great. If Starbucks is too expensive just buy your own equipment and drop it next door: the signal will reach.
Great bag for drivers, but as a backpack it is not very conformtable - rides to high for one thing.
Willow products are OK: I can tell you that the padding/protection is - in many cases - corrugated plastic board of the kind that is used to make outdoor signs. I donated about 200 old election signs to them for this purpose.
I do think they're expensive for what you get: a custom, fitted bag that - in most cases - has to be replaced when you buy a new machine. I know the cost of a bag is minimal compared to the cost of a machine, but you know - there's an environmental principal, plus what if you like your bag?
So herewith my newest recommendation:
Arcteryx Blade 21 Backpack
An awesome backpack, and an awesome laptop bag. Could carry it for hours.
I used to use Kensington Saddlebag, but shoulder bags are really only well suited for those that drive (which I don't do much anymore.) It was great though: just got rid of it today.
yeah yeah, sorry: my brain has been addled for the last few days because of personal things
but they have similar goals (controlling distribution) and have done so miserably ineffectively.
Blockbuster's weight is significant regardless of Viacom ownership; they're the only North American wide rental chain.
Remember Divx players? The ones that would essentially force you to buy a disc at a modest cost and then purchase codes to unlock the disc for single viewing, multiple days, or forever? This was the competing format against standard DVDs for about 5 minutes.
Blockbuster/Paramount/Viacom was a MAJOR advocate of them; I considered (and may still consider) it to be the most regressive form of copy protection this side of a Microsoft product.
And now Blockbuster is essentially saying "Copy protection doesn't work; get rid of it."
Good on 'em. It's about time major industry started focusing on what matters - last time I checked the movie business was supposed to make movies, not walls.
People will pay for good content: maybe the economics of the industry are skewed by the Hollywood cartel and need adjustment, but people will pay.
>> Syncing would result in duplicate (triplicate, etc.) copies of everything Wouldn't this be a function of your sync software? (Obviously a problem for me though: I've been looking at this phone, and would be using the same software.) >> home and business address in Address Book, only one of them shows up in the phone Ugh: I *hated* every Palm device I ever bought/used/set eyes on because of this. Have they addressed it?
>> Secondly, and even more importantly, with Open Source or Free Software, if a project is abandoned, you still have the source code. If you still need the project's functionality, you can maintain the code.
Those are exactly the consequences that I'm talking about; if my business plan calls for the *use* of open source software but not the resources to develop it (i.e. using it as an alternative to Microsoft Exchange) this could have consequences. Maybe I don't want to do full-scale software development.
And you're right, forking !== abandonment
But abandonment is a very serious potential impact of forking - presumably, if a project forks one of those forks may wind up little used, likely resulting in a reduction in development efforts. I should have drawn that line more clearly.
>> This stands in large contrast to closed source software. If Microsoft decides to kill a project, you are SOL...In fact, MS can even revoke your right to use code
well sure, and that's exactly the point I was making with my reference to Windows 98, which was just killed (although it's the only Windows in my house, as I prefer to run FreeBSD)
>> 98% of Apple owners shop Apple because for them it's a better product.
So apparently I'm the one that's nuts?
Ask yourself this: is the Hardware driving the purchase, or the Software?
I'd argue that for those who make the distinction, it's the Software they're interested in; they buy the hardware because it runs it - specifically, Mac OS X
Apple hardware good, let's go through recent history:
- white spots on screens on 15 inch Aluminum PB
- Windtunnel G4
- iBook hinges causing backlight cables to fray & break
- Hinges on the 15" tiBook that routinely break on the early generations
- li-ion batteries on PB that have been losing their ability to hold a charge in less than a year
and, of course, the legendary battery, control, and other misc. problems that iPod's have been plagued with.
Still - my Pismo is cranking away.
But my point - and it was not nuts - wasn NOT THAT APPLE HARDWARE WAS BAD - read again: it's that I have no choice but to buy my hardware from Apple if I want the OS. I want a 15" AlBook, but you think I'm going to buy one with the volument of complaints they've had?
At least if Dell builds crap, I can buy from IBM.
> you "don't work the retail channel"
Well, no. I used to work in the retail channel, and I still deal with "low-end computer customers" but I wouldn't call them ignorant: some of them pay my bills!
Computer users haven't changed much in the past 15 years; come to think of it, neither have computers!
Well, so they finally increased the warranty. Sorry. Amazing that this didn't get as commented on as the problems.
I, too, have largely been supportive of Apple's warranties in the past; my iBook was 4 days out of warranty when the screen back light crapped out - a well documented problem.
They fixed it. Acted like they were doing me a favour, but they fixed it. I guess they kind of were, but it was a well documented flaw in the product.
The problem isn't warranty or warranty policies; it's products that are so bad they NEED warranty. Reports of problems with iPods have been far too rampant. If I were to buy one, I would EXPECT to have a warranty problem, not hope not too.
Apple still suffers from the same problem that Apple has always had: they face no competition on building good hardware, and I have no choice but to get my hardware from them (assuming, of course, that I want their OS!)
Well, yeah - maybe we have. On the other hand, haven't we had enough of this "open source is salvation" thing that seems to come up. I mean, Vancouver's recently municipal elections had a guy running on a platform of Open Source. That was it - his entire platform was that Open Source would solve our budget crisis. I personally thought he, plus the guy who's platform was Naked Vancouver, would have made a great team. So anyway, the Professor here makes a fair point: if a compnay makes a substantial commitment to a piece of open source software that then gets abandoned, there could be real consequences. Of course, the same person probably made a big commitment to Windows 98, which Microsoft is now abandoning to the wolves. I still say: put your money into people whenever you can, not software. It will always pay off in the end.