I'm not saying it should be ODF that governments release their documents in, but it should be something that's open to all citizens, not just users of MS Windows who like to spend $200 on an OS and $300 on a word processor.
Is this not already the case or have the OpenOffice.org people been lying about its capabilities. As you mention Adobe is already well entrenched for read only documents. MS also provide free viewers for most of their formats so access to these documents is available and there is currently no compelling technical reason for a format change and as the Reps in the article noted, the main driver for this leglislation from both sides is commercial interest. It would be nice to have a standard format but the current situation works and I think many Reps can only see difficult to justify expense when they can blow the money on more eyecatching populist stuff.
If you bothered to RTFA you would have noticed that the Reps admit to being technically clueless and correctly point out that they should not be choosing technical formats. Secondly both sides were outputting unhealthy amounts of FUD with IBM FUD in particular identified as being very negative after IBM were apparently deliberately disingenuous about the situation with ODF in Massachusetts. Then there will always be the cost issue with matters like this which decision makers will generally tend to shun away from because they want to spend the budget on programs more likely to get them elected next time round.
Remember how they built their atomic bomb? Where did a lot of their semi conductor and avionic technology originate from? What was that exactly? Or does stealing Western IP not count as piracy under new Russian laws?
The goals were very feasible, unfortunately the CEO took delivery of his new flying car shortly after announcing these targets. The car came with a 3D windscreen tied into the incar entertainment and a copy of duke nukem forever, which apparently is a hugely addictive game. This led to the CEO becoming somewhat distracted by gaming while flying and the company lost focus which ultimately meant goals were missed.
I'll pay a couple thou to get MY pet legislation passed.
Please don't. I tried this before but in hindsight I realise that letting my goldfish determine how the country was run was really just putting them under too much stress and pressure for their tiny brains and hearts to deal with.
I take your point about the White House only hearing what they want to hear and making it up when thats not the case. However political interference aside there was also a large failure on the part of the intelligence services to gather accurate information mainly due to few in place assets, regional antipathy to the US and the willingness of the intelligence services to pay for information which led to a glut of 'informants' spouting whatever made up crap they thought US agents would pay to hear.
Wouldn't this cut into Apple's hardware sales, the true Cash Cow for the company?
Cash cow for how much longer though? iPod/itunes/iPhone/iTV are expected to bring in the cash now. Maybe you missed them dropping the 'Computer' recently. But its a valid point, can they make more charging for OSX on an iPod than possible drops in hardware sales.
What would be the incentive to distribute its OS on the iPod so that any schmuck can use OS X without Apple hardware.
Because every schmuck has an iPod and it already has credibility as a quality product. If Apple can make a decent implementation people will buy Macs for the full experience. Obviously this is not totally straightforward and as I said, there are risks. Apple has little experience with most manufacturers so there is a lot of work to be done.
And if it could only be used with Apple hardware, isn't OSX already on it? I just don't see the benefit...
The benefit is to reach a much broader market who would pay a little extra for their iPod with OSX that ran on generic hardware which they then replace with a Mac. Its an attractive proposition for users and they shift so many units the potential rewards from software sales alone are huge, particularly now with people reluctant to upgrade to Vista. God knows the market is gagging for a convenient alternative and Apple have a large existing customer base and a delivery system. Get it to work and stick it on iTunes as an update or option and watch all the downloads.
Of course it could backfire on them and damage the brand name. Maybe Apple feel small market share and high margins should continue to be their strategy, but really they were only ticking over until the iPod sales kicked in. They currently have no financial need to do this but I would be surprised if it's something they have not at least considered.
With the market share iPods enjoy it has to be a massive temptation to stick OSX on them and let users boot off them to help drive Mac hardware sales. It's not a strategy without risk but it potentially offers them a much greater share of the market very rapidly if they decide volume sales are the way to go.
Having read your comment I still think it's more like this:
Video portrays latest hotshot loser in the classic gaming scene as a hero who's being put down by the old losers. In the process, it portrays the older losers as being petty in an attempt to suppress the rightful crowning of the new loser. The old loser replies that they did nothing to suppress the young loser, and that his problems stem from a failure to adhere to the rules of gaming championships. (e.g. His Donkey Kong machine was a later twin-board system for playing both DK and DKjr rather than an original DK machine that the rules call for because this somehow changes the game itself. They cited the new International Athletics rules which state that all athletic events can only be considered valid if they are held on the site of the original olympics in Greece, using 1000-750BC era equipment.) Young loser thinks that the real case is that the judges and other losers want to protect the scores of the older loser. No one gives a toss.
Loser claims documentary makes him look like a loser and infers he may not be the best Donkey Kong player in the world. Several people are believed to have been injured by toys thrown from prams.
I never draw firearms on people cos I think body decoration is gross and demeaning. I believe just shooting them with whatever gun I have to hand is a more appropriate response when they annoy me.
This is one of the more polished Linux apps I have found in terms of UI and it works quite well but the resource requirements are brutal. It eats memory, is painfully slow to startup and regularly spikes the processor at 100% even when it's doing nothing.
Hopefully if MS re-writes some of the Windows infrastructure to make multi-threading easier for applications we'll see better apps that more properly take advantage of the hardware that's out there.
This is a key point as Raymond Chen has discussed previously.
As for the US's military spending, that annoys me because it gets blown kicking over some dictator in the Middle East or chasing "terrorists" who kill less people than cars, instead of preparing for and dealing with real threats.
Do you not think it better to trade with countries and develop strong relations with them?
No, not while they're attacking.
Well unfortunately for him Saddam was ahead of the game but signed his own death warrant when he wanted to be paid in Euros for Iraqi oil. God forbid the US should lose the control they wield with the petro dollar and be put in a position where unilateral action be made more difficult because their trading partners did not approve and were actually in a position to do something about it.
Slashdot Mirror
If you bothered to RTFA you would have noticed that the Reps admit to being technically clueless and correctly point out that they should not be choosing technical formats. Secondly both sides were outputting unhealthy amounts of FUD with IBM FUD in particular identified as being very negative after IBM were apparently deliberately disingenuous about the situation with ODF in Massachusetts. Then there will always be the cost issue with matters like this which decision makers will generally tend to shun away from because they want to spend the budget on programs more likely to get them elected next time round.
Remember how they built their atomic bomb? Where did a lot of their semi conductor and avionic technology originate from? What was that exactly? Or does stealing Western IP not count as piracy under new Russian laws?
The goals were very feasible, unfortunately the CEO took delivery of his new flying car shortly after announcing these targets. The car came with a 3D windscreen tied into the incar entertainment and a copy of duke nukem forever, which apparently is a hugely addictive game. This led to the CEO becoming somewhat distracted by gaming while flying and the company lost focus which ultimately meant goals were missed.
I think you need to talk to your boss about getting a cubicle in a better location.
The webmaster is checking out his new button.
Your parents must shit themselves every time they hear you coming up the stairs from the basement.
Me: Hello is that the Dell call center?
Tech: Your security clearance is not high for me to divulge that information to you.
Me: What you mean you cant tell if this is the Dell help desk or not?
Tech: Well I could tell you but then I would have to kill you.
Me: FFS is this the Dell help desk or not
Tech: Yes.
Me: OK Good. I am having a probem with my laptop... wait a sec, why has it just started ticking? auto destruct in 5...4... WTF?
I take your point about the White House only hearing what they want to hear and making it up when thats not the case. However political interference aside there was also a large failure on the part of the intelligence services to gather accurate information mainly due to few in place assets, regional antipathy to the US and the willingness of the intelligence services to pay for information which led to a glut of 'informants' spouting whatever made up crap they thought US agents would pay to hear.
pay me to observe the posts of the notoriously secretive and suspected Al Quaida member Anonymous Coward.
Of course it could backfire on them and damage the brand name. Maybe Apple feel small market share and high margins should continue to be their strategy, but really they were only ticking over until the iPod sales kicked in. They currently have no financial need to do this but I would be surprised if it's something they have not at least considered.
With the market share iPods enjoy it has to be a massive temptation to stick OSX on them and let users boot off them to help drive Mac hardware sales. It's not a strategy without risk but it potentially offers them a much greater share of the market very rapidly if they decide volume sales are the way to go.
Having read your comment I still think it's more like this:
Video portrays latest hotshot loser in the classic gaming scene as a hero who's being put down by the old losers. In the process, it portrays the older losers as being petty in an attempt to suppress the rightful crowning of the new loser. The old loser replies that they did nothing to suppress the young loser, and that his problems stem from a failure to adhere to the rules of gaming championships. (e.g. His Donkey Kong machine was a later twin-board system for playing both DK and DKjr rather than an original DK machine that the rules call for because this somehow changes the game itself. They cited the new International Athletics rules which state that all athletic events can only be considered valid if they are held on the site of the original olympics in Greece, using 1000-750BC era equipment.) Young loser thinks that the real case is that the judges and other losers want to protect the scores of the older loser. No one gives a toss.
Let me summarize for you.
Loser claims documentary makes him look like a loser and infers he may not be the best Donkey Kong player in the world. Several people are believed to have been injured by toys thrown from prams.
I never draw firearms on people cos I think body decoration is gross and demeaning. I believe just shooting them with whatever gun I have to hand is a more appropriate response when they annoy me.
I submitted this from my 1985 Amiga to proved that even a 1986 Mac is bloated and slow.
This is one of the more polished Linux apps I have found in terms of UI and it works quite well but the resource requirements are brutal. It eats memory, is painfully slow to startup and regularly spikes the processor at 100% even when it's doing nothing.
Who's this then :-)
Alpha quadrant : Freezio!
Beta quadrant : Freezio!
Gamma quadrant : Freezio!
Delta quadrant : Freezio!
Noooo!
Maybe, but it will look good on the tracking screen when all the little dots indicating tags start blinking out.