Is this the same country that sued scientists over not predicting natural disasters last year? Who gets sued if / when the Volcano erupts (regardless of the cause- natural or drilling)?
If (according to TFA) R&D and Chinese manufacturing is spared, and sales is increased, I suspect that most of the cuts will be in IT and other infrastructure. Two thoughts occur:
1) It'll be *really* interesting to see what happens to HP after this. They may be able to run along on inertia for awhile, but inevitably something bad will happen and nobody still there will have the competency to fix it.
2) If you're in IT and you're planning to change jobs, you probably want to do it *before* HP dumps a bunch of skilled IT personnel on the market.
> But, obviously, clearly, cutting 10% of your overhead must immediately increase your profitability by 10%. This is truth.
I think you meant that facetiously, but it is the truth. If your goal is to increase profits in the short term, or pull the trigger on a large tax writeoff, a big RIF is a good strategy. Over the medium to long term, not so much.
They are cutting jobs but concentrating efforts on sales. Yeah.. What I hear is please by from us but don't expect cutting edge, anything innovative, or decent support after the sale.
That pretty much puts the final nails in the coffin for what once was an inovative tech company.
It's a common downward spiral. TFA *does* say that R&D will be spared, as well as HP's entire China component. So they appear to be making a good faith effort to provide new products.
...so with R&D spared, manufacturing spared, and sales increased, where the cuts? I suspect they'll lose most in IT infrastructure.
1) Company A investors and execs seek to take advantage of a government loan program to fund the company
2) Investors and execs contribute heavily to the election campaign of a presidential hopeful
3) Thusly elected president rushes through approval of the loan over the objections of the beancounters who say it's a bad bet
4) Profit! as the investors rape the company for all its worth and execs give themselves fat bonuses as the company slides into bankruptcy
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Right, and then -- bonus! -- the company doesn't exist anymore, so there's nothing to revile. And if, as I suspect, the same people end up owning these "cutting edge" facilities, they get to go back into business with no baggage.
When something like this happens, I have to wonder if it isn't a shell game, to wit:
1) Company A builds a big expensive ultra modern plant, using investor and/or tax monies.
2) Company A is run into the ground, files for bankrupcy
3) Assets are sold at fire-sale prices to company B, which is ultimately, through very complicated and difficult-to-trace machinations, owned by the same people who originally owned company A.
4) The owners essentially get to keep what they've managed to squirrel away while the company was crashing, and then buy back their facilities for a song, just coincidentally free from any loan or investor obligations.
...I'm wondering, does Windows count as an "other platform"? I've been able to do some of that stuff, like run ISOs natively, for some time on XP and 7. The news is not that the feature is available, even on Windows, but merely that the feature is now built in, which means it'll have some degree of lameness, I'll get frustrated with it, and go back to the products I was using. (Similar to firewall, malware remover, CD burner, video editing, a dozen more.)
It changed to a cute icon (that does the same thing) in Windows 7, and will supposedly disappear with Windows 8, substituted by a tile display like Windows 7 Mobile, until you actually have to get work done, and are forced to drop into classic mode, which looks like 7. Most power users will then remain in that mode, making 8 the most expensive service pack since... Windows 7, I guess.
Did anyone else notice that the text reads like a Nigerian scam? (minuteness? "their gigabits"?) Geeze what do they teach in those missionary schools, anyway?
Seriously, the profits the carriers were getting from text messaging were artificial anyway. Surely they realized that. Text messaging uses otherwise unused bandwidth at the cell site and is *way* overpriced for the value received. It was a glitch in the wireless revenue stream that any savvy provider would realize will go away at some point.
Facebook on a wireless device does use up data plan, which can also be expensive, but is orders of magnitude cheaper than texting. It's evolution in action.
I wait with bated breath for the carriers to lobby for protectionist legislation. Perhaps a surcharge on data plans to cover the lost revenue from people abandoning texting.
There might be something to that. It's definitely easier and more gratifying to buy imagined goods than real ones -- one click and you receive your "purchase" immediately -- but I'm not sure that's the full story. Buying a kit online, and receiving tech and forum support online, for a reasonable price and for interesting projects, should be a reasonably profitable business if managed correctly. With no brick/mortar necessary, and as inexpensive as it is these days to create and manage a web-based business, someone ought to be able to make a go of it.
It might be a much smaller scale than the Heathkit of old, but kits would continue to be sold.
What annoys me is that a Zuckerberg or a Simonyi or a Cameron could bankroll Heathkit, one of the root enablers of geekdom and a true part of technical history in the US, for less than they spend on tropical fish, and for less of their attention than merely uttering the phrase "make it happen".
Yes, I know, Heathkit chose bad timing to reenter the kit business. They should have laid low, held onto their IP, and waited until the economy was on an upswing. And no company is too big, or too small, or too geeky, to fail. But surely Heathkit deserves more.
I *hate* it when a new Apple gadget comes out. Any place I want to get to that happens to be next to an Apple store or an AT&T store (like, most of the Starbucks in this area) is just swarming with mindless fanbois blocking traffic.
But ok, you have a point, and it's behavior I could never understand. We saw The Avengers last sunday, but the way we work it is to go to the theater with the intention of seeing a film that's been out three or four weeks, but flexible enough to change our minds if it looks like the line isn't too long to get into the movie just released. As my wife will not go to 3d movies, and the 2d version tends to be less, this also works in our favor.
I could never understand queueing up with some gigantic crowd to sit in the far front in a hot stuffy theater just to say I had seen a film on opening night. I've done that exactly once, for the original release of Empire Strikes Back, and that was only because all my friends were going at that time. Haven't done it since.
I *did* find a new one, just recently, and so far the new one only wants to see me every 3 months, and she says it'll taper off.
Since I've been taking the drug for about a decade with no side effects, I still maintain I should get a pass on these regular visits unless I'm actually ill.
It so happens I *do* take part in international discussions about things like movies, and I often need to avoid discussions for movies I haven't seen yet. I suspect that foreign participants often have to do this for American made movies, so we can hardly complain when we have to wait.
In any case, it's no reason to watch a crappy handheld camera version in mono sound. I'm not talking what's legal here, but what makes a reasonable viewing experience.
Ok, this is just one data point, but I have severe allergies, and have been on many different prescription allergy medicines since the sixties. I've observed that in each and every case, when the medicine has become available over the counter, the price has fallen from a major investment to pocket change. Moreover, I have high blood pressure, and even *with* a prescription, Lisinopril out-of-pocket is $20 for a 3 month supply without insurance I pay more than that for a week's worth of pepsi for wife and daughter. So I suspect you don't have a lot to worry about, especially if the affliction is common.
some patients end up with hyperkalemia with lisinopril (this can be fatal is severe enough), if you are on lisinopril you should be having a lab draw once a year (probably a bmp or at least a K and Cr. ) http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/lisinopril.html well just read it for yourself
I have no problem with a lab drawing once a year. I do have a problem with paying a benjamin a month for a completely unnecessary office visit just so the doctor will push the button allowing my next refill. It's a little too similar to the business model used by crack dealers.
If those were the only things available, sure. It opened internationally before it opened in the US, so if you wanted to see it, it was the only way short of hopping on a plane.
...or waiting until it was released in the US. Unless you are in the last stages of terminal cancer and for some reason seeing The Avengers is on your bucket list, it's not a big deal to wait a few days.
If I just want to see a movie, I'll watch it at home.
Piracy shouldn't affect new-releases at all. People go to the cinema for the whole experience which is really something that can't be pirated, can it? Unless you install full projection equipment and a three story screen in your own home.
The rude interruptions from phone callers will come regardless.
And the sticky floors. And $5 for a small box of Whoppers. And asking for two tickets for the 8:30 showing and getting two tickets for the 7:30 showing (which was already in progress) and having to argue with the manager about it.
All that said, I broke a personal rule and saw The Avengers in theater rather than waiting for the video, and despite everything was glad I did.
BTW, have you ever *seen* a camcorder capture? I think the only reason anyone would waste their time watching that was out of the delight of doing something forbidden. It's a crappy experience, not worthwhile even for free.
Slashdot Mirror
Is this the same country that sued scientists over not predicting natural disasters last year? Who gets sued if / when the Volcano erupts (regardless of the cause- natural or drilling)?
At that point, does it matter?
Not that this has stopped anyone, but I think it's been done.
If you're currently using Exchange, perhaps now is the time to think about using a cloud service for email.
If (according to TFA) R&D and Chinese manufacturing is spared, and sales is increased, I suspect that most of the cuts will be in IT and other infrastructure. Two thoughts occur:
1) It'll be *really* interesting to see what happens to HP after this. They may be able to run along on inertia for awhile, but inevitably something bad will happen and nobody still there will have the competency to fix it.
2) If you're in IT and you're planning to change jobs, you probably want to do it *before* HP dumps a bunch of skilled IT personnel on the market.
> But, obviously, clearly, cutting 10% of your overhead must immediately increase your profitability by 10%. This is truth.
I think you meant that facetiously, but it is the truth. If your goal is to increase profits in the short term, or pull the trigger on a large tax writeoff, a big RIF is a good strategy. Over the medium to long term, not so much.
1/10th is a little high, isn't it?
They are cutting jobs but concentrating efforts on sales. Yeah.. What I hear is please by from us but don't expect cutting edge, anything innovative, or decent support after the sale.
That pretty much puts the final nails in the coffin for what once was an inovative tech company.
It's a common downward spiral. TFA *does* say that R&D will be spared, as well as HP's entire China component. So they appear to be making a good faith effort to provide new products.
1) Company A investors and execs seek to take advantage of a government loan program to fund the company
2) Investors and execs contribute heavily to the election campaign of a presidential hopeful
3) Thusly elected president rushes through approval of the loan over the objections of the beancounters who say it's a bad bet
4) Profit! as the investors rape the company for all its worth and execs give themselves fat bonuses as the company slides into bankruptcy
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Right, and then -- bonus! -- the company doesn't exist anymore, so there's nothing to revile. And if, as I suspect, the same people end up owning these "cutting edge" facilities, they get to go back into business with no baggage.
When something like this happens, I have to wonder if it isn't a shell game, to wit:
1) Company A builds a big expensive ultra modern plant, using investor and/or tax monies.
2) Company A is run into the ground, files for bankrupcy
3) Assets are sold at fire-sale prices to company B, which is ultimately, through very complicated and difficult-to-trace machinations, owned by the same people who originally owned company A.
4) The owners essentially get to keep what they've managed to squirrel away while the company was crashing, and then buy back their facilities for a song, just coincidentally free from any loan or investor obligations.
5) Profit!
It changed to a cute icon (that does the same thing) in Windows 7, and will supposedly disappear with Windows 8, substituted by a tile display like Windows 7 Mobile, until you actually have to get work done, and are forced to drop into classic mode, which looks like 7. Most power users will then remain in that mode, making 8 the most expensive service pack since... Windows 7, I guess.
Did anyone else notice that the text reads like a Nigerian scam? (minuteness? "their gigabits"?) Geeze what do they teach in those missionary schools, anyway?
Seriously, the profits the carriers were getting from text messaging were artificial anyway. Surely they realized that. Text messaging uses otherwise unused bandwidth at the cell site and is *way* overpriced for the value received. It was a glitch in the wireless revenue stream that any savvy provider would realize will go away at some point.
Facebook on a wireless device does use up data plan, which can also be expensive, but is orders of magnitude cheaper than texting. It's evolution in action.
I wait with bated breath for the carriers to lobby for protectionist legislation. Perhaps a surcharge on data plans to cover the lost revenue from people abandoning texting.
Oh, c'mon, there's got to be more than five. I've seen Surface on several TV shows.
But now that I think about it, the same box could have been used for multiple shows.
There might be something to that. It's definitely easier and more gratifying to buy imagined goods than real ones -- one click and you receive your "purchase" immediately -- but I'm not sure that's the full story. Buying a kit online, and receiving tech and forum support online, for a reasonable price and for interesting projects, should be a reasonably profitable business if managed correctly. With no brick/mortar necessary, and as inexpensive as it is these days to create and manage a web-based business, someone ought to be able to make a go of it.
It might be a much smaller scale than the Heathkit of old, but kits would continue to be sold.
What annoys me is that a Zuckerberg or a Simonyi or a Cameron could bankroll Heathkit, one of the root enablers of geekdom and a true part of technical history in the US, for less than they spend on tropical fish, and for less of their attention than merely uttering the phrase "make it happen".
Yes, I know, Heathkit chose bad timing to reenter the kit business. They should have laid low, held onto their IP, and waited until the economy was on an upswing. And no company is too big, or too small, or too geeky, to fail. But surely Heathkit deserves more.
I suspect that the money is more accurately going from taxpayer's pockets into certain individual's pockets, not blindly wasted.
In this particular case, I think I'd wait until he stops, um, doing his business before trying to handle him.
KKKZZZZZZZZZ hang on he's almost done ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZKZKKK ok grab him
I *hate* it when a new Apple gadget comes out. Any place I want to get to that happens to be next to an Apple store or an AT&T store (like, most of the Starbucks in this area) is just swarming with mindless fanbois blocking traffic.
But ok, you have a point, and it's behavior I could never understand. We saw The Avengers last sunday, but the way we work it is to go to the theater with the intention of seeing a film that's been out three or four weeks, but flexible enough to change our minds if it looks like the line isn't too long to get into the movie just released. As my wife will not go to 3d movies, and the 2d version tends to be less, this also works in our favor.
I could never understand queueing up with some gigantic crowd to sit in the far front in a hot stuffy theater just to say I had seen a film on opening night. I've done that exactly once, for the original release of Empire Strikes Back, and that was only because all my friends were going at that time. Haven't done it since.
I *did* find a new one, just recently, and so far the new one only wants to see me every 3 months, and she says it'll taper off.
Since I've been taking the drug for about a decade with no side effects, I still maintain I should get a pass on these regular visits unless I'm actually ill.
It so happens I *do* take part in international discussions about things like movies, and I often need to avoid discussions for movies I haven't seen yet. I suspect that foreign participants often have to do this for American made movies, so we can hardly complain when we have to wait.
In any case, it's no reason to watch a crappy handheld camera version in mono sound. I'm not talking what's legal here, but what makes a reasonable viewing experience.
Ok, this is just one data point, but I have severe allergies, and have been on many different prescription allergy medicines since the sixties. I've observed that in each and every case, when the medicine has become available over the counter, the price has fallen from a major investment to pocket change. Moreover, I have high blood pressure, and even *with* a prescription, Lisinopril out-of-pocket is $20 for a 3 month supply without insurance I pay more than that for a week's worth of pepsi for wife and daughter. So I suspect you don't have a lot to worry about, especially if the affliction is common.
some patients end up with hyperkalemia with lisinopril (this can be fatal is severe enough), if you are on lisinopril you should be having a lab draw once a year (probably a bmp or at least a K and Cr. )
http://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/lisinopril.html
well just read it for yourself
I have no problem with a lab drawing once a year. I do have a problem with paying a benjamin a month for a completely unnecessary office visit just so the doctor will push the button allowing my next refill. It's a little too similar to the business model used by crack dealers.
If those were the only things available, sure. It opened internationally before it opened in the US, so if you wanted to see it, it was the only way short of hopping on a plane.
If I just want to see a movie, I'll watch it at home.
Piracy shouldn't affect new-releases at all. People go to the cinema for the whole experience which is really something that can't be pirated, can it? Unless you install full projection equipment and a three story screen in your own home.
The rude interruptions from phone callers will come regardless.
And the sticky floors. And $5 for a small box of Whoppers. And asking for two tickets for the 8:30 showing and getting two tickets for the 7:30 showing (which was already in progress) and having to argue with the manager about it.
All that said, I broke a personal rule and saw The Avengers in theater rather than waiting for the video, and despite everything was glad I did.
BTW, have you ever *seen* a camcorder capture? I think the only reason anyone would waste their time watching that was out of the delight of doing something forbidden. It's a crappy experience, not worthwhile even for free.