I don't think that Apple can continue to add features to the ipod without diluting the brand. It's why you don't call the music phone an ipod phone - so if it fails, you don't hurt your bread and butter.
Apple needs a completely new line. Product diversification.
i just did freelance consulting work with an influential investment banker here in NY. He's in his 50s, and he had the procedure done 6-7 years ago by Tiger Woods' doctor (for those unaware, Tiger Woods had his vision enhanced to 20/15 or 20/10 in order to give himself a golfing advantage). All of which to say is that he can't see now.
I asked him about it several times and pride prevented him from being truthful about it. But finally he confided in me and said that his vision has degraded significantly in the past year. He also mentioned that some of his older colleagues who have have laser correcting surgery have had similar degradations in vision. I know that this guy has had at least one "correction" done, but he now has his secretary reading his own emails to him.
So it sounds like its a good idea to not get lasik done unless you absolutely have to or are aware of enhancements that improve the long term prognosis for eye health.
Other than that, this is such a FUCK AMAZING TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!
Really good point. There's more and more game developing talent out there. You don't even need to be a studio to have a game firm. Vin Diesel has Tigon Studios; they did the Chronicle of Riddick game to go along with his franchise.
Games are way cheaper than corresponding films to produce. A hundred million dollar film can get a game done for 10 million. The margins are beautiful on games. A platinum game worldwide is still $50-70 million gross. Because there's more talent out there, it comes cheaper, and the studios can do the whole thing in-house rather than deal with the EAs of the world.
this is the most important point. That Europeans could not have physically conquered African tribes. Early slave trading ships had a 40% crew mortality rate. It was a good thing they had a good supply of degenerates to man the ships.
Africans existed in many small empires. they made the crucial mistake of not assuming solidarity and/or maintaining it in the face of european interaction. It's probably would have been as simple as, "beat it, we're not interested, but we can trade goods." And African slavery probably doesn't exist.
There were many issues that contributed to the rise of the trade on the African side: Africans had yet to develop empires or expansive transculture kingdoms (sub-saharan anyway). The reason this is the case is of course organized religion. Ultimately, societies benefited the bigger they got. It was hard to build a society purely through the birth rate - strong kingdoms needed to subsume weaker ones and supplant their cultural and religious mores. The binding force here is religion. It's arbitrary but united people under one cause. It's irrefutable nationalism.
Even when we talk of the formation of the American colonies, we speak of religious persecution, and acknowledge that the settlers here just went overboard. I can imagine some guy in europe going, "dude, its not that serious. I totally made that part up."
Various African tribes had different languages, cultures, religions. The opportunity for important societal things (technology, large sub-saharan empires) could not occur because those societies never reached critical mass before slavery started picking at the edges.
I'm always flummoxed by that: it kind of if sub-saharan africa had zigged right instead of left at a crucial time in history, much of slavery, both to the Americas and to the Muslims, would have never happened, at least not under those terms.
John Brown in Rhode Island was amongst a brood of American slave traders. Brown University was named after his nephew, and he was Brown's first treasurer or something. He also was the largest founding shareholder in Providence Bank, chartered in 1791, which exists in its modern day iteration - BANK OF AMERICA.
He financed and/or managed slave expeditions and used some of the slaves to work on his own plantation in Belize. He produced molasses that was used to trade at African slave posts. He cornered all three aspects of the Triangular trade. His iron works factory in Rhode Island produced shackles and iron works for slave trading ships. He left the slave trade in the late 1790s to focus on China. The Chinese had a jones for ginseng, which grew well here, or something like that.
Apple has an operating system with trusted mindshare for stable and easy computing. Linux does not. Hence uphill climb.
Re: the ass-u-me comment. Trust my provider: like other commodities like power, water, gas, etc? To not go out of business? like the aforementioned utilities? Security? You walk the streets believing in law enforcement without actually seeing a cop, don't you.? Not going out of business - like your cell phone company? I don't understand what you're asking.
Re assuming that most can afford it and or lives in a place where it's available: urban centers in the US alone gives me 50 million users. In China, urban centers alone gives me 300 million potential users. the mobile connection is ALWAYS on, buddy. Maybe you ass-u-me no change in the marketplace so you see it as it is now.
the difference is that xbox games are a formidable revenue stream - and thus, while losing money (mostly because microsoft brute forced their way into the market instead of catching it on the upswing) they can justify their investment because the Xbox has steadily gained marketshare - coming into the gaming market and quickly holding down the no. 2 position and displacing Nintendo. further, the XBOX live service is the only one of its kind and thus has a lot of upside - especially for other kinds of content delivery and management. So there is significant and undeniable upside to the Xbox investment. Admittedly, its the kind of gamble only an obscenely rich company can make... and a ballsy one at that.
Now, a google OS. What does it solve? What does it get them? especially if they're giving it away for free? If they give it away for free - corporations won't use it. Corporations are all about accountability - and having Microsoft around as an expensive and pervasive fall guy is a proven business model. Google can't afford to give away that kind of support - so no way corporations use it.
Please point to the kind of OS inertia in the markplace that indicates the opportunity for a dynamic paradigm shift in OS installments. I don't think one exists. The OS marketplace is mature.
"The origin of the word 'Goobuntu' is not clear, though it does not appear in online Zulu dictionaries."
Obligatory Stewie Quote: "that's funny to me."
Anyway, the idea that Windows desktop installations will be wholly or mostly eliminated isn't likely. So this means that Google is going after a minority stake in the marketplace. Apple stands a greater chance of offering resistance to Microsoft than any Linux distribution does.
Google could develop its suite of internet aps and make available seamlessly from anyone's desktop - this seems more intuitive to me because you avoid a litany of issues that come with the old school download - install method.
Frankly, isn't the download - install method really old school right now? Isn't that the whole point? Ubiquitous computing - permanent connection - no one has your source code - when patching you only have to apply once to your servers, etc?
I can't understand wanting to fight a war over the desktop when that war's been won already. Not only has the war been won, but the OS empire has grown stale and decadent - and will destroy itself.
I can't help but think that Microsoft is doing some smoke and mirrors play with google and has them spooked. First, they goad google into giving a billion to AOL so they could keep what they already have. Now they have Google developing a OS solution. Isn't that kind of like developing a [insert obsolete technology here] alternative?
A cohesive, easy to implement, networked suite of applications that run both on full-sized browsers and and on mobile browsers for those progressively mobile asian kids. Once Google can reliably get geographically useful ads pushed to a mobile, then they start eating the local advertising lunch. And once they become that pervasive an advertising tool, the game is over. Google wins. But they can't get distracted; Microsoft is fucking with them.
isn't this game rated mature? if so, the issue here isn't that mature content was on the disc. IT was about disclosure.
I've made a point of this before. Coders are a select subclass. They communicate in a language that most cannot comprehend. Further, they can communicate with machines and make them do things. It's an awesome power - really the penultimate modern day power.
The issue here is that the non-technical non-coding governmental and institutional bodies are impotent in the face of this power. Not only is this code completely opaque to them, they've no inclination to learn of it or to gain knowledge of it. So they want full disclosure. Hot Coffee is like pulling off the fig-leaf. Suddenly it dawns on most luddites that there's a whole world out there they know nothing about - an empire being constructed right under their noses. They are now aware that to a segment of the population, they are naked and defenseless.
Someone above posted that they should just print out the code and have the pols pick out the offending portions. That's exactly it. They can - and you can. And no one in power or invested in the status quo wants that at all.
I've said it before. Coders devalue themselves - coders have ALL the power in this world. They then turn around and give it away for a paycheck.
you're missing the point. google does not produce an ipod. so they'd be producing a consisten and simple interface to WHAT?
part of the reason interfaces can be simple and consistent is because the number of variables are controlled and greatly reduced. Not so if you're dealing with a multitude of hardware and software specifications. They need an IPOD-type device as good as the IPOD or better - and an interface as good as ITUNES or better, and a catalog as good as ITUNES or better. And they need those things yesterday, as time is of the essence. Otherwise, they're one of the million other guys selling music on the web, which is to say, no competition to Apple.
this is more about a stock run-up. Google is a stock run-up, and the media is regularly seeded with google talk to keep that stock price moving.
dude, wasn't the american revolution about taxes? it was less about liberty - and more about a few "greasy dollars" as you put it. lol...
if i'd have been the majority in 1776, there would have been a revolution becasue i wouldn't have wanted unfair taxation either. So not only is your sense of history flawed, but your logic as well. the American Revolution was fought over greed - and the right of the colonies to keep the boatloads of cash they were making. dummy.
what else:
repulsive: dude, chicks think I'm hot. *shrugs* immoral: i'm moral enough not to judge. *shrugs* greedy: i definitely want to maximize my returns relative to time spent, i.e. get paid. cretin: my mom would disagree with you.
the slave trade was a gold rush. google going into China is not a fair comparison as they will not trade in slaves. In fact, they'll be doing nothing else but continuing what they've been doing, only adhering to local rules and customs. There's a cliche that reflects this: "When in Rome...". Maybe you've heard of it. It's a cliche for a reason. you're a propagandist. get into politics and at least get paid for it. by lobbyists, no doubt.
fascist shit hole? lol... did you have to reach for that one or was it like spontaneous?
Re: goat sex... lol. lol. You're too irrational and emotional for words. I'll wait until your period is over.
It's the same way in the states. I live in NY, which has a relatively high percentage of HIV cases (HIV is very prevalent amongst poor African American and Hispanic communities - with additional stressors of a dense population). A friend teaches teens and told me that one of her students commented that it "wasn't a big deal" and that he'd just take "the pills" if he contracted it. He concluded by saying he wore no protection for sex.
There is a perception that it is a rare, chronic, and treatable disease.
so you admit that an ethical corporation is a contradiction in terms. If you admit this, then you surely realize that "Don't Be Evil" is a marketing ploy designed to prey on your emotion. You also admit that they've succeeded, as you were "excited" by this, even though you accede that it isn't really possible. So they've succeeded in using PR speak on you by circumventing your logical faculties, but yet you speak of logic in the next paragraph in response to their latest PR speak. So you continue to ignore your own logical faculties AGAIN, focusing on what is clearly illusory and faulty PR speak (as opposed to your own analysis of the situation), and you mention logic?
there are 1.2 billion people in China, dude. they'd be setting a precedent in stupidity, one that their peers would not follow.
dude, the way you speak of Google is absurd.
Microsoft is already considered evil and only stand to gain by diving headfirst into the moneypot. China is moving by leaps and bounds toward an open society. IT can't happen any faster without war.
I'd be there right now if I could. Your post is not interesting. Nor is the mod who thought thus.
dude, there is a gun pointed at Google's head. Shareholders, dude. There'e no way Google isn't all over the yuan. And they will go away if Google isn't in China. Selfsame shareholders are bankrolling Google's expanding operations. They HAVE to be in China and nail it down from the ground floor. First mover's advantage and all.
I'd trip over myself to do business in China. Are you kidding me? Also, you lamers don't realize that Google in China would do more to erode the government's power than not? It's better for the young Chinese that Google be there, censorship or no. In fact, I'd be surprised if Google didn't code in easy hacks around the censorship criteria, and play dumb when the Chinese object. It'll take months/years for the old guard to catch on, and it'll endear Google amongst the young revolution-minded Chinese... university students, et al. Mindshare, cultural affinity, etc...
This holier than thou stance smacks of arrogance, frankly. There's something smart. A group doesn't do what you want it to, so you stop speaking to them until they do, right? lol. It's worked with Cuba, right?
I'm trying to teach myself Mandarin now. Are you kidding me? China is like the gold rush all over again. But then again, you'd know that, Wyatt.
google video is content dependent. the apple/pixar deal all but cements ITUNES lead in that department. Plus Apple can leverage their IPOD installation to full advantage. Prognosis: uphill climb, high risk.
ebooks: are you serious? microsoft already has an ebook store. they make no money because most people hate reading ebooks, children included. it requires a culture shift that is two generations away at least. Not to mention that piracy of ebooks is and will continue to be rampant due to such small file sizes.
music store: join the club. that's not being the second rat to the mousetrap, it's like being the 20th.
google paypal is interesting. where is it?
you essentially reiterated the obvious, which is that Google has one product that makes money. None of what you've put forth justifies market valuation for Google, nor do they force me to reconsider their rather precarious prospects going forward. The market thinks different because that's what the market does. they hype up companies to get an infusion of cash into the market from the average investor. The price is hyped up - companies like Legg Mason cash out on top, and the individual investor takes the fall. It's a stock run-up... a ponzi scheme.
My point remains: Amazon is around because they've diversified successfully. Google has not. They do not have a significant monetized business other than advertising.
dude, do no evil is diametrically opposed to any publicly held company. they can and will do more evil.
when amazon started up, everyone thought that they'd get smashed by the brick and mortar retailers - B&N, Borders, et al. The only way they were able to thrive was through diversification. I caught my business partner buying sex toys on Amazon. If only she were hot.
The contention was that the brick and mortars could discount the internet guys into oblivion since they didn't rely on the web as a sole source of revenue. It's a valid contention to a certain degree, but Amazon exists and isn't doing badly.
So if I were a google shareholder - I'd be very afraid that they aren't making money off anything else. I don't think Microsoft is actually a serious competitor here - rather Yahoo - with its all encompassing portal services. It's an interesting and well integrated one stop solution. Google honestly seems slapdash in comparison. And lets not forget, Live.com is coming along nicely.
The web Gods shine down on Google as its taken Yahoo and Microsoft eons to mount serious competition. But to date - Google only sells one product that seriously and significantly affects the bottom line. shareholders won't stand for that. Google's leadership will be forced to diversify or be deposed. Thus the erosion of the culture begins.
when microsoft says it's better for them to be there as opposed to not, they are thinking of Microsoft's benefit, not China's. and it is indeed better for them to be there - 300 million+ in their urban centers alone. So much money to be made.
you guys are inconsistent. Microsoft in China is evil. Google owning part of Baidu is smart.
news flash: every day you wake up and go to work perpetuates some "evil" - a very funny word that gets bandied about on Slashdot even though most of you scoff at religion. the nature of our codependencies necessitates evil. Like that latte from Starbucks or those running shoes from Nike? Evil. That Hummer you drive with spinners? Evil. Leave your computer on for weeks at a time? Evil. Spend three hours on Slashdot during your workday when you're being paid and are thus contractually-bound to be working? Probably evil. Magnify the average slashdot evil by the $40 billion in cash that Microsoft has in the bank, and you might have Microsoft sized evil. And don't use that lame "convicted-monopolist" argument. lol... cause it's lame. You don't blame a monopolist when they succeed - lol - you blame insufficient and incompetent competition. I wouldn't blame a football team for winning by imposing suffocating defense on its opponent thereby reducing and impeding scoring opportunities. I cheer these things. When Shaq gets fouled and sent to the free-throw line, I don't respond with something like (that's not sporting) - that's a good move. Lol.
All in short: selfishness is the way of nature. evil is the way of nature. It is impossible to succeed excessively and be good. This is not possible. Find out what happened to that really nice guy who dropped out of school because your 4.0 killed the curve? Or the guy who needed his heart medication that you didn't hold the elevator for this morning because you were late to work (or because you didn't like the cut of his britches? lol)? So this talk of good and evil when it comes to success... even life... is beyond absurd.
The US economy is artificially propped up and saturated. There are three major markets left to develop. India will be hard because of entrenched religion so progress will be slower a more gradual process. Africa is in disarray - not timely yet. China is a must, be it "evil" or no.
I suck at driving. I don't like doing it, and living in NY, am frustrated by the waste of time when I'm forced to do it.
I welcome a point to point autonomous vehicle.
I was freelancing for a company recently and was issued a company car, a 2005 Saab 9-3. The power steering was freaky because I swear it completed my turns for me.
I've been involved in two car accidents (both times I was a passenger, both times a rollover, both times we were cut off by an aggressive driver, both times saved from being tossed out of the car by my obsessive use of seat belts) and I'm not interested in getting into any more.
I hear the enthusiasts, but I can help butthink of Charles Lud or whatever his name was whenever some innovation threatens to eliminate something once done by humans. I hear that fighter pilots are already suspicious of UAVs.
Agreed. Even more, in New York, marchers need permits from the city. How's that for non-violent protest. The bureaucracy has to pre-approve your protest before you can gather en masse. lol.
Marches might have worked for somebody way back when, but not today.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think that Apple can continue to add features to the ipod without diluting the brand. It's why you don't call the music phone an ipod phone - so if it fails, you don't hurt your bread and butter.
Apple needs a completely new line. Product diversification.
dude, that's good advice.
i just did freelance consulting work with an influential investment banker here in NY. He's in his 50s, and he had the procedure done 6-7 years ago by Tiger Woods' doctor (for those unaware, Tiger Woods had his vision enhanced to 20/15 or 20/10 in order to give himself a golfing advantage). All of which to say is that he can't see now.
I asked him about it several times and pride prevented him from being truthful about it. But finally he confided in me and said that his vision has degraded significantly in the past year. He also mentioned that some of his older colleagues who have have laser correcting surgery have had similar degradations in vision. I know that this guy has had at least one "correction" done, but he now has his secretary reading his own emails to him.
So it sounds like its a good idea to not get lasik done unless you absolutely have to or are aware of enhancements that improve the long term prognosis for eye health.
Other than that, this is such a FUCK AMAZING TIME TO BE ALIVE!!!!!
first small sovereign nation will be called 01.
Really good point. There's more and more game developing talent out there. You don't even need to be a studio to have a game firm. Vin Diesel has Tigon Studios; they did the Chronicle of Riddick game to go along with his franchise.
Games are way cheaper than corresponding films to produce. A hundred million dollar film can get a game done for 10 million. The margins are beautiful on games. A platinum game worldwide is still $50-70 million gross. Because there's more talent out there, it comes cheaper, and the studios can do the whole thing in-house rather than deal with the EAs of the world.
this is the most important point. That Europeans could not have physically conquered African tribes. Early slave trading ships had a 40% crew mortality rate. It was a good thing they had a good supply of degenerates to man the ships.
Africans existed in many small empires. they made the crucial mistake of not assuming solidarity and/or maintaining it in the face of european interaction. It's probably would have been as simple as, "beat it, we're not interested, but we can trade goods." And African slavery probably doesn't exist.
There were many issues that contributed to the rise of the trade on the African side: Africans had yet to develop empires or expansive transculture kingdoms (sub-saharan anyway). The reason this is the case is of course organized religion. Ultimately, societies benefited the bigger they got. It was hard to build a society purely through the birth rate - strong kingdoms needed to subsume weaker ones and supplant their cultural and religious mores. The binding force here is religion. It's arbitrary but united people under one cause. It's irrefutable nationalism.
Even when we talk of the formation of the American colonies, we speak of religious persecution, and acknowledge that the settlers here just went overboard. I can imagine some guy in europe going, "dude, its not that serious. I totally made that part up."
Various African tribes had different languages, cultures, religions. The opportunity for important societal things (technology, large sub-saharan empires) could not occur because those societies never reached critical mass before slavery started picking at the edges.
I'm always flummoxed by that: it kind of if sub-saharan africa had zigged right instead of left at a crucial time in history, much of slavery, both to the Americas and to the Muslims, would have never happened, at least not under those terms.
John Brown in Rhode Island was amongst a brood of American slave traders. Brown University was named after his nephew, and he was Brown's first treasurer or something. He also was the largest founding shareholder in Providence Bank, chartered in 1791, which exists in its modern day iteration - BANK OF AMERICA.
He financed and/or managed slave expeditions and used some of the slaves to work on his own plantation in Belize. He produced molasses that was used to trade at African slave posts. He cornered all three aspects of the Triangular trade. His iron works factory in Rhode Island produced shackles and iron works for slave trading ships. He left the slave trade in the late 1790s to focus on China. The Chinese had a jones for ginseng, which grew well here, or something like that.
that's cause they don't make an ipod, dude.
just curious: how many IPODS do you have. Be honest.
Apple has an operating system with trusted mindshare for stable and easy computing. Linux does not. Hence uphill climb.
Re: the ass-u-me comment. Trust my provider: like other commodities like power, water, gas, etc? To not go out of business? like the aforementioned utilities? Security? You walk the streets believing in law enforcement without actually seeing a cop, don't you.? Not going out of business - like your cell phone company? I don't understand what you're asking.
Re assuming that most can afford it and or lives in a place where it's available: urban centers in the US alone gives me 50 million users. In China, urban centers alone gives me 300 million potential users. the mobile connection is ALWAYS on, buddy. Maybe you ass-u-me no change in the marketplace so you see it as it is now.
the difference is that xbox games are a formidable revenue stream - and thus, while losing money (mostly because microsoft brute forced their way into the market instead of catching it on the upswing) they can justify their investment because the Xbox has steadily gained marketshare - coming into the gaming market and quickly holding down the no. 2 position and displacing Nintendo. further, the XBOX live service is the only one of its kind and thus has a lot of upside - especially for other kinds of content delivery and management. So there is significant and undeniable upside to the Xbox investment. Admittedly, its the kind of gamble only an obscenely rich company can make... and a ballsy one at that.
Now, a google OS. What does it solve? What does it get them? especially if they're giving it away for free? If they give it away for free - corporations won't use it. Corporations are all about accountability - and having Microsoft around as an expensive and pervasive fall guy is a proven business model. Google can't afford to give away that kind of support - so no way corporations use it.
Please point to the kind of OS inertia in the markplace that indicates the opportunity for a dynamic paradigm shift in OS installments. I don't think one exists. The OS marketplace is mature.
"The origin of the word 'Goobuntu' is not clear, though it does not appear in online Zulu dictionaries."
Obligatory Stewie Quote: "that's funny to me."
Anyway, the idea that Windows desktop installations will be wholly or mostly eliminated isn't likely. So this means that Google is going after a minority stake in the marketplace. Apple stands a greater chance of offering resistance to Microsoft than any Linux distribution does.
Google could develop its suite of internet aps and make available seamlessly from anyone's desktop - this seems more intuitive to me because you avoid a litany of issues that come with the old school download - install method.
Frankly, isn't the download - install method really old school right now? Isn't that the whole point? Ubiquitous computing - permanent connection - no one has your source code - when patching you only have to apply once to your servers, etc?
I can't understand wanting to fight a war over the desktop when that war's been won already. Not only has the war been won, but the OS empire has grown stale and decadent - and will destroy itself.
I can't help but think that Microsoft is doing some smoke and mirrors play with google and has them spooked. First, they goad google into giving a billion to AOL so they could keep what they already have. Now they have Google developing a OS solution. Isn't that kind of like developing a [insert obsolete technology here] alternative?
A cohesive, easy to implement, networked suite of applications that run both on full-sized browsers and and on mobile browsers for those progressively mobile asian kids. Once Google can reliably get geographically useful ads pushed to a mobile, then they start eating the local advertising lunch. And once they become that pervasive an advertising tool, the game is over. Google wins. But they can't get distracted; Microsoft is fucking with them.
I meant ULTIMATE instead of PENULTIMATE. Sorry for the confusion.
isn't this game rated mature? if so, the issue here isn't that mature content was on the disc. IT was about disclosure.
I've made a point of this before. Coders are a select subclass. They communicate in a language that most cannot comprehend. Further, they can communicate with machines and make them do things. It's an awesome power - really the penultimate modern day power.
The issue here is that the non-technical non-coding governmental and institutional bodies are impotent in the face of this power. Not only is this code completely opaque to them, they've no inclination to learn of it or to gain knowledge of it. So they want full disclosure. Hot Coffee is like pulling off the fig-leaf. Suddenly it dawns on most luddites that there's a whole world out there they know nothing about - an empire being constructed right under their noses. They are now aware that to a segment of the population, they are naked and defenseless.
Someone above posted that they should just print out the code and have the pols pick out the offending portions. That's exactly it. They can - and you can. And no one in power or invested in the status quo wants that at all.
I've said it before. Coders devalue themselves - coders have ALL the power in this world. They then turn around and give it away for a paycheck.
get a new computer, wipe the drive and donate the old one or strip it for parts. computers are cheap, dude.
you're missing the point. google does not produce an ipod. so they'd be producing a consisten and simple interface to WHAT?
part of the reason interfaces can be simple and consistent is because the number of variables are controlled and greatly reduced. Not so if you're dealing with a multitude of hardware and software specifications. They need an IPOD-type device as good as the IPOD or better - and an interface as good as ITUNES or better, and a catalog as good as ITUNES or better. And they need those things yesterday, as time is of the essence. Otherwise, they're one of the million other guys selling music on the web, which is to say, no competition to Apple.
this is more about a stock run-up. Google is a stock run-up, and the media is regularly seeded with google talk to keep that stock price moving.
dude, wasn't the american revolution about taxes? it was less about liberty - and more about a few "greasy dollars" as you put it. lol...
if i'd have been the majority in 1776, there would have been a revolution becasue i wouldn't have wanted unfair taxation either. So not only is your sense of history flawed, but your logic as well. the American Revolution was fought over greed - and the right of the colonies to keep the boatloads of cash they were making. dummy.
what else:
repulsive: dude, chicks think I'm hot. *shrugs*
immoral: i'm moral enough not to judge. *shrugs*
greedy: i definitely want to maximize my returns relative to time spent, i.e. get paid.
cretin: my mom would disagree with you.
the slave trade was a gold rush. google going into China is not a fair comparison as they will not trade in slaves. In fact, they'll be doing nothing else but continuing what they've been doing, only adhering to local rules and customs. There's a cliche that reflects this: "When in Rome...". Maybe you've heard of it. It's a cliche for a reason. you're a propagandist. get into politics and at least get paid for it. by lobbyists, no doubt.
fascist shit hole? lol... did you have to reach for that one or was it like spontaneous?
Re: goat sex... lol. lol. You're too irrational and emotional for words. I'll wait until your period is over.
It's the same way in the states. I live in NY, which has a relatively high percentage of HIV cases (HIV is very prevalent amongst poor African American and Hispanic communities - with additional stressors of a dense population). A friend teaches teens and told me that one of her students commented that it "wasn't a big deal" and that he'd just take "the pills" if he contracted it. He concluded by saying he wore no protection for sex.
There is a perception that it is a rare, chronic, and treatable disease.
so you admit that an ethical corporation is a contradiction in terms. If you admit this, then you surely realize that "Don't Be Evil" is a marketing ploy designed to prey on your emotion. You also admit that they've succeeded, as you were "excited" by this, even though you accede that it isn't really possible. So they've succeeded in using PR speak on you by circumventing your logical faculties, but yet you speak of logic in the next paragraph in response to their latest PR speak. So you continue to ignore your own logical faculties AGAIN, focusing on what is clearly illusory and faulty PR speak (as opposed to your own analysis of the situation), and you mention logic?
I'm confused.
Not true. not interesting.
there are 1.2 billion people in China, dude. they'd be setting a precedent in stupidity, one that their peers would not follow.
dude, the way you speak of Google is absurd.
Microsoft is already considered evil and only stand to gain by diving headfirst into the moneypot. China is moving by leaps and bounds toward an open society. IT can't happen any faster without war.
I'd be there right now if I could. Your post is not interesting. Nor is the mod who thought thus.
dude, there is a gun pointed at Google's head. Shareholders, dude. There'e no way Google isn't all over the yuan. And they will go away if Google isn't in China. Selfsame shareholders are bankrolling Google's expanding operations. They HAVE to be in China and nail it down from the ground floor. First mover's advantage and all.
I'd trip over myself to do business in China. Are you kidding me? Also, you lamers don't realize that Google in China would do more to erode the government's power than not? It's better for the young Chinese that Google be there, censorship or no. In fact, I'd be surprised if Google didn't code in easy hacks around the censorship criteria, and play dumb when the Chinese object. It'll take months/years for the old guard to catch on, and it'll endear Google amongst the young revolution-minded Chinese... university students, et al. Mindshare, cultural affinity, etc...
This holier than thou stance smacks of arrogance, frankly. There's something smart. A group doesn't do what you want it to, so you stop speaking to them until they do, right? lol. It's worked with Cuba, right?
I'm trying to teach myself Mandarin now. Are you kidding me? China is like the gold rush all over again. But then again, you'd know that, Wyatt.
google video is content dependent. the apple/pixar deal all but cements ITUNES lead in that department. Plus Apple can leverage their IPOD installation to full advantage. Prognosis: uphill climb, high risk.
ebooks: are you serious? microsoft already has an ebook store. they make no money because most people hate reading ebooks, children included. it requires a culture shift that is two generations away at least. Not to mention that piracy of ebooks is and will continue to be rampant due to such small file sizes.
music store: join the club. that's not being the second rat to the mousetrap, it's like being the 20th.
google paypal is interesting. where is it?
you essentially reiterated the obvious, which is that Google has one product that makes money. None of what you've put forth justifies market valuation for Google, nor do they force me to reconsider their rather precarious prospects going forward. The market thinks different because that's what the market does. they hype up companies to get an infusion of cash into the market from the average investor. The price is hyped up - companies like Legg Mason cash out on top, and the individual investor takes the fall. It's a stock run-up... a ponzi scheme.
My point remains: Amazon is around because they've diversified successfully. Google has not. They do not have a significant monetized business other than advertising.
dude, do no evil is diametrically opposed to any publicly held company. they can and will do more evil.
when amazon started up, everyone thought that they'd get smashed by the brick and mortar retailers - B&N, Borders, et al. The only way they were able to thrive was through diversification. I caught my business partner buying sex toys on Amazon. If only she were hot.
The contention was that the brick and mortars could discount the internet guys into oblivion since they didn't rely on the web as a sole source of revenue. It's a valid contention to a certain degree, but Amazon exists and isn't doing badly.
So if I were a google shareholder - I'd be very afraid that they aren't making money off anything else. I don't think Microsoft is actually a serious competitor here - rather Yahoo - with its all encompassing portal services. It's an interesting and well integrated one stop solution. Google honestly seems slapdash in comparison. And lets not forget, Live.com is coming along nicely.
The web Gods shine down on Google as its taken Yahoo and Microsoft eons to mount serious competition. But to date - Google only sells one product that seriously and significantly affects the bottom line. shareholders won't stand for that. Google's leadership will be forced to diversify or be deposed. Thus the erosion of the culture begins.
when microsoft says it's better for them to be there as opposed to not, they are thinking of Microsoft's benefit, not China's. and it is indeed better for them to be there - 300 million+ in their urban centers alone. So much money to be made.
you guys are inconsistent. Microsoft in China is evil. Google owning part of Baidu is smart.
news flash: every day you wake up and go to work perpetuates some "evil" - a very funny word that gets bandied about on Slashdot even though most of you scoff at religion. the nature of our codependencies necessitates evil. Like that latte from Starbucks or those running shoes from Nike? Evil. That Hummer you drive with spinners? Evil. Leave your computer on for weeks at a time? Evil. Spend three hours on Slashdot during your workday when you're being paid and are thus contractually-bound to be working? Probably evil. Magnify the average slashdot evil by the $40 billion in cash that Microsoft has in the bank, and you might have Microsoft sized evil. And don't use that lame "convicted-monopolist" argument. lol... cause it's lame. You don't blame a monopolist when they succeed - lol - you blame insufficient and incompetent competition. I wouldn't blame a football team for winning by imposing suffocating defense on its opponent thereby reducing and impeding scoring opportunities. I cheer these things. When Shaq gets fouled and sent to the free-throw line, I don't respond with something like (that's not sporting) - that's a good move. Lol.
All in short: selfishness is the way of nature. evil is the way of nature. It is impossible to succeed excessively and be good. This is not possible. Find out what happened to that really nice guy who dropped out of school because your 4.0 killed the curve? Or the guy who needed his heart medication that you didn't hold the elevator for this morning because you were late to work (or because you didn't like the cut of his britches? lol)? So this talk of good and evil when it comes to success... even life... is beyond absurd.
The US economy is artificially propped up and saturated. There are three major markets left to develop. India will be hard because of entrenched religion so progress will be slower a more gradual process. Africa is in disarray - not timely yet. China is a must, be it "evil" or no.
I suck at driving. I don't like doing it, and living in NY, am frustrated by the waste of time when I'm forced to do it.
I welcome a point to point autonomous vehicle.
I was freelancing for a company recently and was issued a company car, a 2005 Saab 9-3. The power steering was freaky because I swear it completed my turns for me.
I've been involved in two car accidents (both times I was a passenger, both times a rollover, both times we were cut off by an aggressive driver, both times saved from being tossed out of the car by my obsessive use of seat belts) and I'm not interested in getting into any more.
I hear the enthusiasts, but I can help butthink of Charles Lud or whatever his name was whenever some innovation threatens to eliminate something once done by humans. I hear that fighter pilots are already suspicious of UAVs.
verve and panache. lol. well said.
If I had mod points...
Agreed. Even more, in New York, marchers need permits from the city. How's that for non-violent protest. The bureaucracy has to pre-approve your protest before you can gather en masse. lol.
Marches might have worked for somebody way back when, but not today.