"The 'product' here is aggregated stuff that flows in _after_ it has been placed online elsewhere - and you enjoy paying for dated content?"
That's not the product. The product is the analysis and commentary and opinion posted ABOUT the content. Knowing viewpoints and trends can be as valuable as the content itself, if not more so.
I read recently that the expected increase in battery life and power savings in a typical laptop with average use was on the order of 10-15%. It's that low because HD's are already power-managed to hell-and-gone, continually spinning down and switching off when not in use.
Don't assume your needs hold true for everyone, as I'd take the 1TB drive. My current notebook has a 250GB drive in it, and I'm starting to need to manage the space on it. Hopefully one of those new 320GB 2.5" drives will ship soon.
I might also mention that he played the 9/11 terrorist-on-every-street-corner card every chance he could get. And all of those alert levels, brilliant.
Reminds me of the scene from V where Adam Sutler is ranting at his ministers, "What we need right now is a clear message to the people of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on every television... I want everyone to remember why they need us!"
Right. Based on the "facts" Bush told us. Saddam linked to Al-Qaeda? Check. Saddam a danger to the rest of the world? Check. Chemical and biological programs? Check. Resurgent nuclear program? Check. WMDs? Check.
Only there was no link, no secret roving biolabs, and no nuclear program. Of course, by the time we'd figured that one out he'd bait-and-switched us into buying the saving-the-Iragi-people and the democracy-in-the-middle-east plan.
Saddam WAS a danger to his people, of course, but no more so than any of a half-dozen leaders causing mischief throughout Africa. Then again, none of those countries have major oil reserves to plunder. Needless to say, we're in Iraq, and not in Africa.
"... thus making people think beforehand a bit more carefully."
It doesn't matter if "people" think more carefully, as long as our elected officials can effectively veto any decision we make. Practically no one wanted to be in Iraq in the first place. GWB put us there, regardless, after playing public and world opinion like a Stradivarius.
Now, if he had to lead the first wave into battle, THEN I expect he might consider his options a little more carefully. But as has happened throughout history, the old men make the deals and give the orders, and then sit back and watch as the young die attempting to carry them out.
Better still would be to quash some of the inter-service rivalries and go to a common logistics and support corps. The amount of duplication and wasted effort between the four services is mind-boggling.
Seriously, one could set things up such that skipping service left a permanent social stigmata (hear that George?), or you could go the route Heinlein outlined in one of his books, where the franchise (voting) only passed to those that served, and civil service didn't count. Or to put it another way, the franchise had to be earned.
Perhaps at one time. Now military pilots drop laser-guided smart bombs on hospitals, power plants, rail yards, and other civilian infrastructure targets from their flying Barcoloungers at a standoff distance of ten miles.
After which they fly back to base so they can wander over to the local air-conditioned officer's club for a beer.
NBC reminds me more and more of a spoiled child who, when they don't their way, simply grabs their toys and runs home.
That said, I don't see any reason why Jobs shouldn't allow variable pricing on the iTunes store, as I don't buy the "simplicity" argument any more. I manage, after all, to keep track of how much I'm spending on Amazon all of the time.
If NBC wants to raise prices the let them. People will either pay it or they won't. If enough won't buy then NBC will simply have to adjust prices, or lose sales. Pretty simple equation.
And yes, I understand why Steve want's cheap content. Heck, I want cheap content. But I also want variety and choice, and I don't believe that iTunes is going to get more studios to commit unless they make a few concessions.
".. who then basically took the whole codebase and founded a competing company.... But yeah, beyond term of employment is a bit of a problem."
Look at the two clauses, and you can see the problem. If any ideas are "yours" the moment you quit, then the second you have a great idea you can simply quit.
Most non-competes extend past the end of employment precisely to ward off such an event. They're also used for non-technical types likes salespeople in order to prevent them from wandering off with their entire client base. I've even seen some that extended for up to two years.
Since you can't transfer it, and you have to watch it within 48 hours of downloading, those times and places where you're "not likely to have internet access" are a bit limited. But hey, have an up-to-date Windows XP or Vista notebook with the right version of IE and the latest.NET framework and the latest security packages and NBC's proprietary software and you're good to go and watch the show on the train or plane you mentioned. With ads, of course.
So? What if you drove to the highway/airway on-ramp and then took off? Since we're talking about automated control systems anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to have dedicated airways and no-fly zones. Seems like you could reduce a lot of congestion by simply stacking aircars 6 or 10 high over existing highways, with the higher lanes dedicated to "thru" traffic running at higher speeds.
Heck, as far as that goes, you could in all likelyhood take off from your driveway, but traffic would still be slow and confined to low altitudes above the "streets" until you got to a thoroughfare. Just think of E-W and N-S traffic each confined to their own specific lanes and altitudes. Bingo. No more stop lights. Still be safer and easier to limit flights to main streets and highways though. (Watch the town scene from Back To The Future II again, paying attention to the on/off ramps where cars make the transition from driving to flying.)
And just for one saftey measure, I take it you've never seen the parachutes made for ultralight aircraft?
Finally, I wish there where more people out there ready to figure out ways to make things work, as opposed to presenting all of the "logical" reasons why they can not. I'm paraphrasing, but there's a quote that says if a scientist says something is possible, then he's probably right. But if a scientist flatly says something is impossible, then he's an idiot. (Clarke, I believe.)
Most licenses simply attempt to ensure that the holders are able to meeting some MINIMUM standard of training and practice. (Though I agree that some licenses exist simply as revenue enhancers.)
That said, I'm pretty sure that you're more likely to trust, say, your doctor who's licensed after years of training than to me, even though my rates are really cheap. I assure you, however, that I'm very interested in medicine and I've spend literally hours looking at all of the pictures in my "Inside The Human Body" book!
Sorry, but I don't agree with the "rightly so". Public tax dollars help fund research which when proven out is then spun off to private companies, and it's "right" because those companies throw a bone or two back to the univerisity?
If they really "want to see their research become useful outside the ivory tower" then place it in the public domain and let EVERYONE have access to it. I assure you the patents will find more uses than if they're harbored inside a single company.
Maybe that's what it will take to get the US in gear when it comes to space, after we once again fall behind the Russians... and the Chinese... and the Indians... and the Japenese... and...
Worse, it looks like they formed the spinoff company AFTER doing most of the developmental work while at the University. To quote, "Nemean was developed and tested on the Wisconsin Advanced Internet Laboratory (WAIL), a unique test bed for examining complex behavior on the Internet."
"Like obtaining a decent download rate for your legal torrents, which you can't do without encryption because your ISP has decided that bittorrent is bad."
Boy, is THAT a bad example. And why, pray tell, have ISPs decided that torrent traffic is bad? Is it because of all of those legally downloaded Linux distros that are just flooding the pipes, or is it because people are sharing... something else? Come on... tell me. You can do it...
Nope. Looks like you can't. Here, I'll do it for you. You're forced to encrypt torrents because ISPs are blocking unencrypted torrents because at times it makes up half the traffic and because 90% of it (and I'm being generous here) is in commercial material that's being "shared" illegally.
The parasites have screwed up unencrypted torrents and now are fleeing to encrypted torrents. And in doing so, will now screw things up for the actual LEGITIMATE uses of THAT technology.
Slashdot Mirror
"The 'product' here is aggregated stuff that flows in _after_ it has been placed online elsewhere - and you enjoy paying for dated content?"
That's not the product. The product is the analysis and commentary and opinion posted ABOUT the content. Knowing viewpoints and trends can be as valuable as the content itself, if not more so.
I read recently that the expected increase in battery life and power savings in a typical laptop with average use was on the order of 10-15%. It's that low because HD's are already power-managed to hell-and-gone, continually spinning down and switching off when not in use.
Don't assume your needs hold true for everyone, as I'd take the 1TB drive. My current notebook has a 250GB drive in it, and I'm starting to need to manage the space on it. Hopefully one of those new 320GB 2.5" drives will ship soon.
I might also mention that he played the 9/11 terrorist-on-every-street-corner card every chance he could get. And all of those alert levels, brilliant.
Reminds me of the scene from V where Adam Sutler is ranting at his ministers, "What we need right now is a clear message to the people of this country. This message must be read in every newspaper, heard on every radio, seen on every television... I want everyone to remember why they need us!"
Right. Based on the "facts" Bush told us. Saddam linked to Al-Qaeda? Check. Saddam a danger to the rest of the world? Check. Chemical and biological programs? Check. Resurgent nuclear program? Check. WMDs? Check.
Only there was no link, no secret roving biolabs, and no nuclear program. Of course, by the time we'd figured that one out he'd bait-and-switched us into buying the saving-the-Iragi-people and the democracy-in-the-middle-east plan.
Saddam WAS a danger to his people, of course, but no more so than any of a half-dozen leaders causing mischief throughout Africa. Then again, none of those countries have major oil reserves to plunder. Needless to say, we're in Iraq, and not in Africa.
"... thus making people think beforehand a bit more carefully."
It doesn't matter if "people" think more carefully, as long as our elected officials can effectively veto any decision we make. Practically no one wanted to be in Iraq in the first place. GWB put us there, regardless, after playing public and world opinion like a Stradivarius.
Now, if he had to lead the first wave into battle, THEN I expect he might consider his options a little more carefully. But as has happened throughout history, the old men make the deals and give the orders, and then sit back and watch as the young die attempting to carry them out.
Better still would be to quash some of the inter-service rivalries and go to a common logistics and support corps. The amount of duplication and wasted effort between the four services is mind-boggling.
"We cannot risk high-quality people."
Ah. So they can come then. No problem.
Seriously, one could set things up such that skipping service left a permanent social stigmata (hear that George?), or you could go the route Heinlein outlined in one of his books, where the franchise (voting) only passed to those that served, and civil service didn't count. Or to put it another way, the franchise had to be earned.
"This person might be willing to kill thousands of people simply to pursue a personal power agenda."
Now hold on! I simply will NOT allow you to talk about our president that way!
Perhaps at one time. Now military pilots drop laser-guided smart bombs on hospitals, power plants, rail yards, and other civilian infrastructure targets from their flying Barcoloungers at a standoff distance of ten miles.
After which they fly back to base so they can wander over to the local air-conditioned officer's club for a beer.
"... satellite-based detection systems may be a better direction anyways..."
Who cares? This is the US! We'll just fund both!
Payment? Ah... hold on. (rustling papers)
No problem. Found a couple of literacy and environmental programs we haven't shut down yet.
NBC reminds me more and more of a spoiled child who, when they don't their way, simply grabs their toys and runs home.
That said, I don't see any reason why Jobs shouldn't allow variable pricing on the iTunes store, as I don't buy the "simplicity" argument any more. I manage, after all, to keep track of how much I'm spending on Amazon all of the time.
If NBC wants to raise prices the let them. People will either pay it or they won't. If enough won't buy then NBC will simply have to adjust prices, or lose sales. Pretty simple equation.
And yes, I understand why Steve want's cheap content. Heck, I want cheap content. But I also want variety and choice, and I don't believe that iTunes is going to get more studios to commit unless they make a few concessions.
".. who then basically took the whole codebase and founded a competing company. ... But yeah, beyond term of employment is a bit of a problem."
Look at the two clauses, and you can see the problem. If any ideas are "yours" the moment you quit, then the second you have a great idea you can simply quit.
Most non-competes extend past the end of employment precisely to ward off such an event. They're also used for non-technical types likes salespeople in order to prevent them from wandering off with their entire client base. I've even seen some that extended for up to two years.
And I thought it was ripped off from The Matrix...
I just hate monopolies. I mean, I SHOULD be able to buy a Ford from GM. I'd never do such a stupid thing, of course. But I should be able to!
And what's this about not being able to get a Stephen King novel from anyone but Steve? I mean, really.
Translated: I don't think that word means what you think it means.
Since you can't transfer it, and you have to watch it within 48 hours of downloading, those times and places where you're "not likely to have internet access" are a bit limited. But hey, have an up-to-date Windows XP or Vista notebook with the right version of IE and the latest .NET framework and the latest security packages and NBC's proprietary software and you're good to go and watch the show on the train or plane you mentioned. With ads, of course.
What could be better than that?
"there is a minimum speed to qualify for flight"
Tell that to a hovering hummingird.
Guess that's what the State Airway Patrol is for. Hack your iCar, lose your license to fly.
And if two people want to go in different directions at the same time?
So? What if you drove to the highway/airway on-ramp and then took off? Since we're talking about automated control systems anyway, it shouldn't be too hard to have dedicated airways and no-fly zones. Seems like you could reduce a lot of congestion by simply stacking aircars 6 or 10 high over existing highways, with the higher lanes dedicated to "thru" traffic running at higher speeds.
Heck, as far as that goes, you could in all likelyhood take off from your driveway, but traffic would still be slow and confined to low altitudes above the "streets" until you got to a thoroughfare. Just think of E-W and N-S traffic each confined to their own specific lanes and altitudes. Bingo. No more stop lights. Still be safer and easier to limit flights to main streets and highways though. (Watch the town scene from Back To The Future II again, paying attention to the on/off ramps where cars make the transition from driving to flying.)
And just for one saftey measure, I take it you've never seen the parachutes made for ultralight aircraft?
Finally, I wish there where more people out there ready to figure out ways to make things work, as opposed to presenting all of the "logical" reasons why they can not. I'm paraphrasing, but there's a quote that says if a scientist says something is possible, then he's probably right. But if a scientist flatly says something is impossible, then he's an idiot. (Clarke, I believe.)
Most licenses simply attempt to ensure that the holders are able to meeting some MINIMUM standard of training and practice. (Though I agree that some licenses exist simply as revenue enhancers.)
That said, I'm pretty sure that you're more likely to trust, say, your doctor who's licensed after years of training than to me, even though my rates are really cheap. I assure you, however, that I'm very interested in medicine and I've spend literally hours looking at all of the pictures in my "Inside The Human Body" book!
Sorry, but I don't agree with the "rightly so". Public tax dollars help fund research which when proven out is then spun off to private companies, and it's "right" because those companies throw a bone or two back to the univerisity?
If they really "want to see their research become useful outside the ivory tower" then place it in the public domain and let EVERYONE have access to it. I assure you the patents will find more uses than if they're harbored inside a single company.
Maybe that's what it will take to get the US in gear when it comes to space, after we once again fall behind the Russians... and the Chinese... and the Indians... and the Japenese... and...
Worse, it looks like they formed the spinoff company AFTER doing most of the developmental work while at the University. To quote, "Nemean was developed and tested on the Wisconsin Advanced Internet Laboratory (WAIL), a unique test bed for examining complex behavior on the Internet."
Your public tax dollars at work once again.
"Like obtaining a decent download rate for your legal torrents, which you can't do without encryption because your ISP has decided that bittorrent is bad."
Boy, is THAT a bad example. And why, pray tell, have ISPs decided that torrent traffic is bad? Is it because of all of those legally downloaded Linux distros that are just flooding the pipes, or is it because people are sharing... something else? Come on... tell me. You can do it...
Nope. Looks like you can't. Here, I'll do it for you. You're forced to encrypt torrents because ISPs are blocking unencrypted torrents because at times it makes up half the traffic and because 90% of it (and I'm being generous here) is in commercial material that's being "shared" illegally.
The parasites have screwed up unencrypted torrents and now are fleeing to encrypted torrents. And in doing so, will now screw things up for the actual LEGITIMATE uses of THAT technology.