For me the biggest reason for broadband is that it doesn't block my phone line.
As far as the speed limit is concerned, there is a speed limit for files that are transferred out of your computer. Since the download speed you get in a P2P system depends on the upload speed of someone else, little Jimmy must be very lucky indeed!!!
Your analogy with the highway system is flawed. Let us say you live in some part of the country where the traffic is very heavy and it takes you a long time to reach anywhere. Then, another private company comes along with its own highway and lures you with the promise of a speed-limitless highway autobahn. Then, it adds speed bumps all over the highway because it doesn't want you going fast. That would be a better analogy.
It still wouldn't be perfect because accessing the Net at high speed doesn't kill anyone else.
Many years ago, I did some work on an alternate lossy image compression technique based on fractals. It had some pros and cons when compared to JPEG and could have developed into one of the viable alternatives.
But, guess what? The most basic and fundamental of concepts in this field was covered by patents. This drove all companies and researchers away from the field. Today, I hardly hear about it.
The whole concept of patenting an algorithm is stupid. I am sure there are thousands of other promising areas where further research could have greatly enhance our lives - except that greedy patents make it impossible to pursue research in that area.
People who argue that patents give incentives to innovators fail to realize that an idea is only a spark. It can realize its full potential only if a lot of further research and development is done on it. However, the very same patents serve as deterrants for people who want to do further research.
Patents halt innovation, not the other way around!
Mr.Coward, you may not realize this, but your viewpoint would coincide very well with the communist viewpoint. Being a proud capitalist, you would never say such a thing about any American innovation, I'm sure.
It is obvious from many posts like yours and the posts for the previous article about the Simputer, that none of you know anything about India. Of course, that doesn't stop you from posting.
India, overall, is a country very similar to USA. It is impossible to generalize anything about such a diverse country. Not everyone there is starving or poor. Please clear such stereotypical cobwebs from your brain. It is a free country. If, as you all point out, there is a person without enough money for his basic needs, he will not buy the Simputer. And guess what? The Simputer is not meant for him.
The middle class in India are more than 300 million strong. Most of them can afford TVs (with cable), a house, stereo equipment and some form of vehicular transportation (all of which cost more than the Simputer). There is definitely a strong market for a simple, reasonably priced computer in India. The Simputer might not be the one, but that is besides the point.
Most of you are, quite frankly, ignorant about the rest of world. Please stick to posting flames about Microsoft and RIAA.
Things will become progressively worse as long as our options are limited to ONLY ONE company for cable and one for DSL.
For all bad things about MicroSoft, it is still an earned monopoly - a company whose products I can always replace with something else if I want to.
I am amazed that people don't scream at these monopolies and the government seems to be unwilling to break these up further. Be it cable internet or tv, I would like a few more choices.
Software patents tend to very specific. Is there no one in the open source graphics community who can discard the MS algorithms and specifically replace them with patent-free algorithms that are atleast nearly as good?
I remember when Amazon came up with its single-click patent and tried to stop BN from doing the same, BN just added a confirmation page and called it a "two-click" checkout!
Is it not possible to circumvent MS patents like that? I am not saying that these algorithms have the same trivial complexity, but the generally speaking, this should be possible.
Maybe this is why dotcoms dies out! Most of them didn't have real business plans. Without business plans, there weren't too many features to add. When there are no features to add, just add easter eggs!!!
An interesting question would be - is it a waste of company time and resources to develop easter eggs? Are there any companies whose management actually encourages this?
"That's OK, Tom. We can sort the data in the next release. Concentrate on the easter eggs for now!"
Oops..My usage of the word "slavery" seems to caused a small backlash. Sorry about that. It was not a personal complaint. I was merely trying to point out a possible lacuna in the system. No offense meant to anyone or any group.
Let me clarify. I love America. Ever since I came here, I have had a fabulous quality of life. My rights have always been well respected. That is certainly not my point.
Any capitalist system requires complete free will to function correctly, both on the part of the employer and the employee. The H1 work visa introduces an aberration. I was merely pointing that out.
When I said everyone, I certainly included myself. It is not really a revelation when you point that out.
As I said in my original post, I am an Indian who came to USA three years ago. I am so glad to see replies that have stuck with objective views.
So let me tell you something - there are many, many Chinese and Indians who feel like you and I do. They tend to be silent because they are in a worse position than you. If you don't like a job, all you have to do is walk off to another company.
Take me, for example. I am working on a H1 visa. If I am laid off, the INS immediately treats as being out of status and my countdown clock starts ticking. Even if I get interviews (past the citizens and GC only companies) and a job, I still have to wait a few more months for my new H1 to be approved. Under these circumstances, would I risk telling people at work how I really feel? No. I work as late as anyone else and make sure I am always around when people are looking for me, whatever be the time
The H1 visa is a brilliant form of modern slavery that has the consent of everyone involved!
Individual brilliance is not bad in itself - we all think we are brilliant individuals.
But, in a work environment, individual brilliance often becomes the single point of failure. Think about it. Have you ever been in a company where only ONE person knows what goes on in a particular module? Since he is the sole owner of module X, it is never improved. Such modules tend to be poorly documented to retain that edge. All future development around that module just because he doesn't want to change it.
Consider this analogy: we all like superman, but what would you prefer - a law enforcement system that is efficient or one that relies on Superman to come their rescue every time?
What I say here might be controversial, but cultural background plays a big role in the office environment.
Ancient cultures (like China and India) tend to emphasize on hierarchy and obedience rather than questioning and innovation. When immigrant bachelor developers stay till midnight everyday and come to work on weekends, they set the same expectations on everyone else. Anyone who leaves at six because he has a life is viewed as being less of a team player. Also, important technical decisions might end up being taken outside the normal working hours.
Things only get worse when, after a few years, these same people become managers.
Some other symptoms are (i) dependence on individual brilliance rather than a good system and (ii) concentration of knowledge within a few individuals.
I am not blaming anyone and certainly not all immigrant developers fit the above pattern, but there is a cultural aspect to work and I am merely pointing it out.
The main reason why there is more email spam than fax spam is that it is cheaper (almost free) to send email spam.
If I had a thousand email addresses to spam, I can easily signup for a yahoo! mail account and send my spam for free.
Sending 1000 faxes involves 1000 (possibly) long-distance phone calls.
I complete agree with this article and admire this person for writing it. I have had similar experiences with Linux.
I have used various flavors of unix extensively for years in school. Yet, when I tried to install Redhat Linux on my home PC a few years, I got so frustrated. To start with, the installation asked me for the vertical and horizontal refresh rates of the monitor. Do you actually expect a home user to know this? Of course, I couldn't find this info for my three year old monitor and it took me weeks to figure this out over the internet. And then, the mouse refused to work under X. After a few days of searching, I read somewhere that the mouse might not work if another daemon is running. And so on and so forth.
Long story short, I have a windows desktop and a Linux desktop at home and everytime I look at the latter, I feel proud (I installed Linux, I am a genuine geek!). But, I don't use it much. Windows is just easier to use. There is not much use for a desktop system that never crashes, when I don't use it much.
As far as the flippant replies from Mac users are concerned, I am sorry but I have never had to use a Mac in decade of involvement with the computer industry. I like the looks of the iMac, but it costs about $1400. I can get an emachines PC with monitor and printer for $500. Is it worth paying three times as much? I know Steve Jobs doesn't like the idea, but allowing Mac clones seems to be the solution. I would seriously consider buying a cute iMac (clone) if it cost me around $600. Till then, it will remain a cult.
I completely agree with you and that's the whole point. I personally don't think the Simputer will make it either.
My post was not for people like you who understood what this article was about. My post was in response to the dozens of posts that, instead of discussing Simputer's merits/demerits, were merely making condescending generalizations about a billion people. You don't have to look far, just look at the other reply my post got! According to that ignoramus all Indians work in Cisco.
I have seen thousands of such posts in various forums, but Et tu, Slashdotter?
I am saddened to see so many racist comments about developments in a country that is half the way across the globe from people who have never been there. If you don't know anything about a topic, please shut up - and I say this with all respect.
In all the urban and sub-urban parts of India, here is how computers are used - the rich have PCs at home, just like in USA. (BTW, there are rich people in India, Tarzan!)
There are thousands of Internet cafes all over the major cities and towns, where people time-share computers. At about a dollar an hour, it is very affordable for people to visit hotmail or yahoo. Atleast, a lot more affordable than making international or long distance phone calls.
The poor in rural areas do not know much about computers. The only thing they get from the wealthy white people is a bunch of missionaries trying to convert them. The simputer is an indigenous effort to reach them and for that, it should be applauded.
I was surprised to see such arrogant and rampant racism in slashdot, as this forum is supposed to be for technical guys. And I somehow assumed that/.ers would have visited Silicon Valley atleast one or know what percentage of NASA engineers are from India. Apparently not.
Apparently, you don't need to know anything to post here - all you need is a computer (a powerful one, not a simputer) and an internet connection!
I agree completely. The "boom" led to people with little or no knowledge developing core components. As I said in my post, there IS a lot of room for improvement.
My point is something else - software, as a whole, is often compared unfairly with other simpler, non-configurable appliances. I can think of a dozen "features" that I would love to have in my refrigerator. But I don't any company is in a hurry to add them. Pretty much all you can do with a fridge is set the cooling level, open and shut. Compare that with most of the software around.
I bought a $40K car last year - brand new and fully loaded. It has a lot of cool stuff, but I still have change the clock's time twice a year to adjust for daylight savings! Nobody considers the car to be dumb because of that. I haven't heard anyone talk about the clock as a 'bug' in the car's quality. Why is that?
I work in software and I agree that software quality needs to improve a lot, but people tend to ignore the complexity of software. Most software have complex (and yet configurable) interfaces and that plays a major role.
If you look at two 1998 Honda Civics owned by two different people today, you will find that they are essentially the same (except for the hood ornaments, perhaps.) But, sell a PC with the same configuration to two different people and look at it six months later - they will have almost nothing in common!
Users can do almost limitless things with their software as opposed the standard five things that you do with any other appliance or machinery. I agree that software quality today is worrisome, but please give software a break. It is not that bad.
Slashdot Mirror
As far as the speed limit is concerned, there is a speed limit for files that are transferred out of your computer. Since the download speed you get in a P2P system depends on the upload speed of someone else, little Jimmy must be very lucky indeed!!!
Your analogy with the highway system is flawed. Let us say you live in some part of the country where the traffic is very heavy and it takes you a long time to reach anywhere. Then, another private company comes along with its own highway and lures you with the promise of a speed-limitless highway autobahn. Then, it adds speed bumps all over the highway because it doesn't want you going fast. That would be a better analogy.
It still wouldn't be perfect because accessing the Net at high speed doesn't kill anyone else.
If you are new to the language make sure you visit the tutorials page and the api javadoc documentation.
What use is such a post to /.ers?
But, guess what? The most basic and fundamental of concepts in this field was covered by patents. This drove all companies and researchers away from the field. Today, I hardly hear about it.
The whole concept of patenting an algorithm is stupid. I am sure there are thousands of other promising areas where further research could have greatly enhance our lives - except that greedy patents make it impossible to pursue research in that area.
People who argue that patents give incentives to innovators fail to realize that an idea is only a spark. It can realize its full potential only if a lot of further research and development is done on it. However, the very same patents serve as deterrants for people who want to do further research.
Patents halt innovation, not the other way around!
Is someone already working on something like this?
It is obvious from many posts like yours and the posts for the previous article about the Simputer, that none of you know anything about India. Of course, that doesn't stop you from posting.
India, overall, is a country very similar to USA. It is impossible to generalize anything about such a diverse country. Not everyone there is starving or poor. Please clear such stereotypical cobwebs from your brain. It is a free country. If, as you all point out, there is a person without enough money for his basic needs, he will not buy the Simputer. And guess what? The Simputer is not meant for him.
The middle class in India are more than 300 million strong. Most of them can afford TVs (with cable), a house, stereo equipment and some form of vehicular transportation (all of which cost more than the Simputer). There is definitely a strong market for a simple, reasonably priced computer in India. The Simputer might not be the one, but that is besides the point.
Most of you are, quite frankly, ignorant about the rest of world. Please stick to posting flames about Microsoft and RIAA.
For all bad things about MicroSoft, it is still an earned monopoly - a company whose products I can always replace with something else if I want to.
I am amazed that people don't scream at these monopolies and the government seems to be unwilling to break these up further. Be it cable internet or tv, I would like a few more choices.
I remember when Amazon came up with its single-click patent and tried to stop BN from doing the same, BN just added a confirmation page and called it a "two-click" checkout!
Is it not possible to circumvent MS patents like that? I am not saying that these algorithms have the same trivial complexity, but the generally speaking, this should be possible.
An interesting question would be - is it a waste of company time and resources to develop easter eggs? Are there any companies whose management actually encourages this?
Oh, well. What else can I say? There have been a million other posts about piracy.
The title is misleading. This is not an MP3 player. The songs are stored in Sony's own format.
Also, this device can copy from any audio source, digital or analog. That means CDs, tapes, radio and even your PC (when it is playing music).
Sony has not attempted to build CD to MP3 ripper/player. This is a digital jukebox very similar in concept to TiVo.
Let me clarify. I love America. Ever since I came here, I have had a fabulous quality of life. My rights have always been well respected. That is certainly not my point.
Any capitalist system requires complete free will to function correctly, both on the part of the employer and the employee. The H1 work visa introduces an aberration. I was merely pointing that out.
When I said everyone, I certainly included myself. It is not really a revelation when you point that out.
So let me tell you something - there are many, many Chinese and Indians who feel like you and I do. They tend to be silent because they are in a worse position than you. If you don't like a job, all you have to do is walk off to another company.
Take me, for example. I am working on a H1 visa. If I am laid off, the INS immediately treats as being out of status and my countdown clock starts ticking. Even if I get interviews (past the citizens and GC only companies) and a job, I still have to wait a few more months for my new H1 to be approved. Under these circumstances, would I risk telling people at work how I really feel? No. I work as late as anyone else and make sure I am always around when people are looking for me, whatever be the time
The H1 visa is a brilliant form of modern slavery that has the consent of everyone involved!
But, in a work environment, individual brilliance often becomes the single point of failure. Think about it. Have you ever been in a company where only ONE person knows what goes on in a particular module? Since he is the sole owner of module X, it is never improved. Such modules tend to be poorly documented to retain that edge. All future development around that module just because he doesn't want to change it.
Consider this analogy: we all like superman, but what would you prefer - a law enforcement system that is efficient or one that relies on Superman to come their rescue every time?
Ancient cultures (like China and India) tend to emphasize on hierarchy and obedience rather than questioning and innovation. When immigrant bachelor developers stay till midnight everyday and come to work on weekends, they set the same expectations on everyone else. Anyone who leaves at six because he has a life is viewed as being less of a team player. Also, important technical decisions might end up being taken outside the normal working hours.
Things only get worse when, after a few years, these same people become managers.
Some other symptoms are (i) dependence on individual brilliance rather than a good system and (ii) concentration of knowledge within a few individuals.
I am not blaming anyone and certainly not all immigrant developers fit the above pattern, but there is a cultural aspect to work and I am merely pointing it out.
BTW, I came from India three years ago.
The main reason why there is more email spam than fax spam is that it is cheaper (almost free) to send email spam. If I had a thousand email addresses to spam, I can easily signup for a yahoo! mail account and send my spam for free. Sending 1000 faxes involves 1000 (possibly) long-distance phone calls.
I have used various flavors of unix extensively for years in school. Yet, when I tried to install Redhat Linux on my home PC a few years, I got so frustrated. To start with, the installation asked me for the vertical and horizontal refresh rates of the monitor. Do you actually expect a home user to know this? Of course, I couldn't find this info for my three year old monitor and it took me weeks to figure this out over the internet. And then, the mouse refused to work under X. After a few days of searching, I read somewhere that the mouse might not work if another daemon is running. And so on and so forth.
Long story short, I have a windows desktop and a Linux desktop at home and everytime I look at the latter, I feel proud (I installed Linux, I am a genuine geek!). But, I don't use it much. Windows is just easier to use. There is not much use for a desktop system that never crashes, when I don't use it much.
As far as the flippant replies from Mac users are concerned, I am sorry but I have never had to use a Mac in decade of involvement with the computer industry. I like the looks of the iMac, but it costs about $1400. I can get an emachines PC with monitor and printer for $500. Is it worth paying three times as much? I know Steve Jobs doesn't like the idea, but allowing Mac clones seems to be the solution. I would seriously consider buying a cute iMac (clone) if it cost me around $600. Till then, it will remain a cult.
I guess no one would have anything bad to say about Sealand, if they had used the name of some religion.
My post was not for people like you who understood what this article was about. My post was in response to the dozens of posts that, instead of discussing Simputer's merits/demerits, were merely making condescending generalizations about a billion people. You don't have to look far, just look at the other reply my post got! According to that ignoramus all Indians work in Cisco.
I have seen thousands of such posts in various forums, but Et tu, Slashdotter?
"The opposite of love is not hate, it is apathy."
I am saddened to see so many racist comments about developments in a country that is half the way across the globe from people who have never been there. If you don't know anything about a topic, please shut up - and I say this with all respect. In all the urban and sub-urban parts of India, here is how computers are used - the rich have PCs at home, just like in USA. (BTW, there are rich people in India, Tarzan!) There are thousands of Internet cafes all over the major cities and towns, where people time-share computers. At about a dollar an hour, it is very affordable for people to visit hotmail or yahoo. Atleast, a lot more affordable than making international or long distance phone calls. The poor in rural areas do not know much about computers. The only thing they get from the wealthy white people is a bunch of missionaries trying to convert them. The simputer is an indigenous effort to reach them and for that, it should be applauded. I was surprised to see such arrogant and rampant racism in slashdot, as this forum is supposed to be for technical guys. And I somehow assumed that /.ers would have visited Silicon Valley atleast one or know what percentage of NASA engineers are from India. Apparently not.
Apparently, you don't need to know anything to post here - all you need is a computer (a powerful one, not a simputer) and an internet connection!
I agree completely. The "boom" led to people with little or no knowledge developing core components. As I said in my post, there IS a lot of room for improvement. My point is something else - software, as a whole, is often compared unfairly with other simpler, non-configurable appliances. I can think of a dozen "features" that I would love to have in my refrigerator. But I don't any company is in a hurry to add them. Pretty much all you can do with a fridge is set the cooling level, open and shut. Compare that with most of the software around.
I bought a $40K car last year - brand new and fully loaded. It has a lot of cool stuff, but I still have change the clock's time twice a year to adjust for daylight savings! Nobody considers the car to be dumb because of that. I haven't heard anyone talk about the clock as a 'bug' in the car's quality. Why is that? I work in software and I agree that software quality needs to improve a lot, but people tend to ignore the complexity of software. Most software have complex (and yet configurable) interfaces and that plays a major role. If you look at two 1998 Honda Civics owned by two different people today, you will find that they are essentially the same (except for the hood ornaments, perhaps.) But, sell a PC with the same configuration to two different people and look at it six months later - they will have almost nothing in common! Users can do almost limitless things with their software as opposed the standard five things that you do with any other appliance or machinery. I agree that software quality today is worrisome, but please give software a break. It is not that bad.