but at least they don't have a profit motive driving them to cut (potentially deadly) corners
I have to disagree. Look at any school district - the buildings are all falling apart, recently renovated, or brand spanking new. It is a rare school that is well maintained. This is because there is a lot of pressure on government to keep taxes low, and so they only get occasional capital budgets when the facilities are so bad that they can't limp along anymore without breaking laws.
Your water company sounds like it suffers from monopolitis:) A heavy dose of additional regulation is probably necessary. Or perhaps put the whole thing up for bid. Or turn the franchise over to an authority, and require the authority to capitalize projected maintenance so that their budget stays stable (they have to service the debt!). We have a private company (Aqua) that does our water, and I can't really complain too much. The rates are high-ish IMHO, but they are constantly doing capital improvements and the lines were all pushing 100 years old, so it is understandable. They inherited a neglected mess from 150 years of uncoordinated real estate development.
Utilities tend to be so monopolistic and regulated that they resemble government. The upside is that when and if they go belly-up, the investors are screwed instead of the taxpayer.
It's true you could buy a Mac. It's also true you could run Linux. But realistically, you could not do without MS's products. I've had Macs since the early 90s, and it has always been necessary to either own a cheap x86 machine or run a DOS/Windows emulator. I'm sure someone on Slashdot can claim to swear off MS's stuff 100%, but I've always had to interact with other people using MS Office. Even today, I haven't been able to shed Office or Windows (though Windows is less important now, thanks to smartphones and tablets).
Anyway, MS didn't really care if you bought a Mac, because Mac people were just as likely to spend money on MS software. I even saw studies back in the day showing that MS made more profit on Mac users than on Windows users.
Except for gas, everyone using anything to pay is putting up money for credit card fraud. The cash customers (mostly) pay just as much as the credit customers. Our local co-op basically begs you to use cash, but cannot charge a different price without violating their contract with the processor.
The rental car companies follow service schedules far more reliably than the average Joe. Negotiate the warranty extension for about $500 or so and you are golden.
In the US, this would not be true. They cannot collude with other device makers to fix prices, but they most certainly can set the price of their own product.
Taiwan is free, of course, to steer their own course.
Sure, that's my opinion. It's the old-school dealer model. You can make whatever contractual obligations you can negotiate with the dealer.
On the other hand, I recognize that corporations are just a convenient economic tool, and rules and regulation are pretty much arbitrary, or at least are open to a lot of debate. If the Taiwanese want that kind of marketplace, it is certainly within their rights to implement it.
Then you happen not to be among the people who have bought at least $500 worth of books, movies, and apps from Apple.
That is certainly true. I make sure any content than I purchase is platform-agnostic (or just a streaming service like Netflix). If it isn't platform agnostic, I make sure I can crack the encryption (ebooks, I'm looking at you...). If I can't crack the encryption, I pirate it. I do have a number of App purchases on both i-Things and Android tablets/phones... but I also have a bunch of Windows and Mac apps. Maybe I'm just of a certain age, but I expect to pay for software every few years anyway on the upgrade treadmill. I've been conditioned and am now part of the collective.
An Apple is a brand of phone or a brand of computer. In no way does Apple have anything close to a monopoly in either of those markets. At one time, they almost cornered the MP3 player market, but history made that market irrelevant.
The iPhone doesn't have anything even approaching a monopoly. Just buy an Android unit. Or a Windows unit. I like Apple's stuff, but it's not $500 better, for my needs, than my cheap Android phone. I'm all for banning monopolistic practices, but pricing agreements for a popular but non-monopoly product in a very competitive market are not a problem.
It's only "solved" in comparison to CFLs. Try dimming an LED and then dim an incandescent.... totally different experience. A dimmed LED is like lighting a room with a TV.
I wonder if it really reduces electricity usage, though. I know I use more lights because I am cognizant that each light is costing me essentially nothing. I have 8 bulbs lighting the front yard and entry - my reasoning being that I'd have been more than happy to light it with two in the old days. Inside, I often use more lights than I would have in the old days - simply because the cost is so little. Since lighting is such a small part of my electricity bill, it is hard to judge whether or not I am actually saving anything by switching to CFLs (and now a few LEDs as they drop in price).
I don't think you could have sourced a more expensive place for 60-watt replacements. I just bought a 4-pack of CFLs at Home Depot for under $4. And that's the good Phillips brand. The fancy GE enclosed CFLs with the starter halogen inside go for about $5. The Phillips 60W-equivalent LED is $10, with the Cree going for slightly more.
I'm not arguing that the phase out is a good thing, but let's be realistic about the price drops.
We have a serious problem with critical thinking in this country. If there is a good way to test for it, they should add it to these standardized tests that they teach to.
There may very well be "more" Applications, but I've yet to see the big money launch "Android First". I've seen numerous analysis papers which conclude that most money in the Android ecosystem is made on free apps through advertising.
My bias is as an Android user but Apple stockholder.
I have to assume you are trolling. Otherwise you seem to have had your imagination amputated.
The most common uses are a kick-ass multi-tuner DVR and a media library player. The little Roku boxes are cool, but you really have to jump through hoops to play local content, and they don't do YouTube at all - nor do they have DVR capability. Similar tradeoffs exist for Apple and Android boxes.
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Your installation seems to have omitted the spell checker.
Joking aside, the install itself is quite easy. The re-installation of all the applications and the setup is the PITA.
but at least they don't have a profit motive driving them to cut (potentially deadly) corners
I have to disagree. Look at any school district - the buildings are all falling apart, recently renovated, or brand spanking new. It is a rare school that is well maintained. This is because there is a lot of pressure on government to keep taxes low, and so they only get occasional capital budgets when the facilities are so bad that they can't limp along anymore without breaking laws.
Your water company sounds like it suffers from monopolitis :) A heavy dose of additional regulation is probably necessary. Or perhaps put the whole thing up for bid. Or turn the franchise over to an authority, and require the authority to capitalize projected maintenance so that their budget stays stable (they have to service the debt!). We have a private company (Aqua) that does our water, and I can't really complain too much. The rates are high-ish IMHO, but they are constantly doing capital improvements and the lines were all pushing 100 years old, so it is understandable. They inherited a neglected mess from 150 years of uncoordinated real estate development.
Cheaper, certainly. But a PITA. I hate, hate, hate installing Windows.
Utilities tend to be so monopolistic and regulated that they resemble government. The upside is that when and if they go belly-up, the investors are screwed instead of the taxpayer.
It's true you could buy a Mac. It's also true you could run Linux. But realistically, you could not do without MS's products. I've had Macs since the early 90s, and it has always been necessary to either own a cheap x86 machine or run a DOS/Windows emulator. I'm sure someone on Slashdot can claim to swear off MS's stuff 100%, but I've always had to interact with other people using MS Office. Even today, I haven't been able to shed Office or Windows (though Windows is less important now, thanks to smartphones and tablets).
Anyway, MS didn't really care if you bought a Mac, because Mac people were just as likely to spend money on MS software. I even saw studies back in the day showing that MS made more profit on Mac users than on Windows users.
And another thing... the fleet cars tend to be more bare-bones than the regular models. Less stuff to go wrong.
Except for gas, everyone using anything to pay is putting up money for credit card fraud. The cash customers (mostly) pay just as much as the credit customers. Our local co-op basically begs you to use cash, but cannot charge a different price without violating their contract with the processor.
Just to nit-pick, every LED that I've ever seen is wire bonded. Wire bonding definitely has reliability failure modes, so the LED itself can fail.
The rental car companies follow service schedules far more reliably than the average Joe. Negotiate the warranty extension for about $500 or so and you are golden.
In the US, this would not be true. They cannot collude with other device makers to fix prices, but they most certainly can set the price of their own product.
Taiwan is free, of course, to steer their own course.
Sure, that's my opinion. It's the old-school dealer model. You can make whatever contractual obligations you can negotiate with the dealer.
On the other hand, I recognize that corporations are just a convenient economic tool, and rules and regulation are pretty much arbitrary, or at least are open to a lot of debate. If the Taiwanese want that kind of marketplace, it is certainly within their rights to implement it.
Then you happen not to be among the people who have bought at least $500 worth of books, movies, and apps from Apple.
That is certainly true. I make sure any content than I purchase is platform-agnostic (or just a streaming service like Netflix). If it isn't platform agnostic, I make sure I can crack the encryption (ebooks, I'm looking at you...). If I can't crack the encryption, I pirate it. I do have a number of App purchases on both i-Things and Android tablets/phones... but I also have a bunch of Windows and Mac apps. Maybe I'm just of a certain age, but I expect to pay for software every few years anyway on the upgrade treadmill. I've been conditioned and am now part of the collective.
An Apple is a brand of phone or a brand of computer. In no way does Apple have anything close to a monopoly in either of those markets. At one time, they almost cornered the MP3 player market, but history made that market irrelevant.
The iPhone doesn't have anything even approaching a monopoly. Just buy an Android unit. Or a Windows unit. I like Apple's stuff, but it's not $500 better, for my needs, than my cheap Android phone. I'm all for banning monopolistic practices, but pricing agreements for a popular but non-monopoly product in a very competitive market are not a problem.
It's only "solved" in comparison to CFLs. Try dimming an LED and then dim an incandescent.... totally different experience. A dimmed LED is like lighting a room with a TV.
I wonder if it really reduces electricity usage, though. I know I use more lights because I am cognizant that each light is costing me essentially nothing. I have 8 bulbs lighting the front yard and entry - my reasoning being that I'd have been more than happy to light it with two in the old days. Inside, I often use more lights than I would have in the old days - simply because the cost is so little. Since lighting is such a small part of my electricity bill, it is hard to judge whether or not I am actually saving anything by switching to CFLs (and now a few LEDs as they drop in price).
I don't think you could have sourced a more expensive place for 60-watt replacements. I just bought a 4-pack of CFLs at Home Depot for under $4. And that's the good Phillips brand. The fancy GE enclosed CFLs with the starter halogen inside go for about $5. The Phillips 60W-equivalent LED is $10, with the Cree going for slightly more.
I'm not arguing that the phase out is a good thing, but let's be realistic about the price drops.
12 Angry Men could probably have been shot on smartphones. :)
Now that you mention it, they are two sides of the same coin! :)
It's better than teaching to the government's idea of ignorance.
We have a serious problem with critical thinking in this country. If there is a good way to test for it, they should add it to these standardized tests that they teach to.
They'd have to team up with the RIAA lawyers.
There may very well be "more" Applications, but I've yet to see the big money launch "Android First". I've seen numerous analysis papers which conclude that most money in the Android ecosystem is made on free apps through advertising.
My bias is as an Android user but Apple stockholder.
I was just wondering how using PPI was interfering with his daily life.
I have to assume you are trolling. Otherwise you seem to have had your imagination amputated.
The most common uses are a kick-ass multi-tuner DVR and a media library player. The little Roku boxes are cool, but you really have to jump through hoops to play local content, and they don't do YouTube at all - nor do they have DVR capability. Similar tradeoffs exist for Apple and Android boxes.