Probably the biggest reason Norway is in front is that their per-capita incomes are so high
Yeah, but they have high tax rates to match (personal income taxes are over 50%). That's another big reason why Norway can afford this kind of largesse.
LOL, you realize the vast majority of the audio-buying public is satisfied with listening to lossy MP3s through mono speakers with a 150Hz-15KHz range, right? As long as they can connect to their phone via BT they're happy. Compared to the mass-market crap that sells the most, these things might as well be B&Ws or Vandersteens.
So basically there is a proprietary protocol that must be licensed from the manufacturer and built into devices in order to use it. Unless this company gets bought by Apple or Samsung, I don't see this product lasting very long.
It's not about the cost. It's about the fact that they don't solve any problems for most of the people that might consider buying them.
I think cost is definitely a big part of it. I have a Pebble watch, it did everything I wanted a smart watch to do (showed me the time and displayed texts when I got them). I bought it because it was only ($50?). The display's gone flakey on it, so I don't wear it any more, despite the fact that I really liked it. I haven't replaced it because I can't see spending $100+ for an unattractive watch that displays texts. To get an attractive watch, you have to spend north of $200, and that's far outside the cost/benefit ratio for me. As for the rest of it, I agree: the solutions provided by most smartwatches don't address any problems I currently have. I'm intrigued by some of the new ones that allow you to make and receive calls without your phone, but that's because they're phones in their own right and require their own phone line and associated charges. Again, the cost/benefit ratio is too lopsided for me.
Honestly, the ideal "smart watch" for me would be some kind of sleeve I could wear to keep my phone on my forearm. Unfortunately, there's the whole OMG-that-looks-so-incredibly-stupid factor to deal with.
What it really means is "We won't pay you what you're worth." Companies that treat their employees like assets and not like consumable, interchangeable components tend to have much less turnover.
True, but it still doesn't do you any good to apply to a job where they'll look at your resume and discard it because you have too much experience. Or if you trim the resume they'll figure it out in the interview.
Meh, hasn't been my experience. I've got close to 40 years of software development experience, but I only list the last ten on my resume, because that's all that's relevant (nobody's hiring VMS C developers around here). Nobody cares if you've got experience with VB4 or Borland Paradox, they just want to see that you've got 2+ years with AngularJS or Java 7. Having 10+ years of experience in development AND staying current with relevant technology is probably the best position to be in.
If I recall correctly, the language PLATO was programmed in was called 'Tutor' and the individual programs were called 'lessons'.
Yup. And when DEC came out with their "Dimension Author Language" (quickly "Courseware Author Language" after a copyright complaint from AT&T), it was a pretty obvious copy of Tutor, right down to the dotted-indent scheme. I don't know if DEC had licensed Tutor from CDC and just tarted it up or if they just blatantly ripped it off, but it was nearly identical. We have to use special GiGi terminals (with faux-vector graphics) to work with it, Kind of fun, but it never got any traction and I think DEC dropped it within a couple of years. I think I still have my DAL manual somewhere, a second-generation photocopy with "COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL" stamped on every page.
If they're long high-tension lines, copper isn't strong enough. Almost all high-tension lines are aluminium. The low-power lines coming to your house are (probably) copper, but most lines that stretch any appreciable distance are aluminium. They also aren't covered in insulation, which is why you see those occasional clips of mylar balloons hitting power lines and causing arcing.
One can only hope the damage is big enough to make the manufacturer start paying attention to security.
Right....because consumers are just going to pass those costs right back to the manufacturers...
Or do you have some juvenile fantasy that "word will get around" that $MANUFACTURER's devices are falling over, and refuse to buy any more, thereby forcing $MANUFACTURER to upgrade their security?
I remember my local ISP having a disk crash and wiping out my (first!) web site. Then they admitted that they didn't keep backups, and "we should be able to re-create the [web sites] from the original source data we should still have on file". IOW, "we don't keep backups, and if you don't either that's your fault".
On the plus (?) side, I went to recover some data from an old hard drive, and when I opened Thunderbird it automatically tried to retrieve my e-mail from that ISP and got over 10K messages five years after I closed my account.
A lot of people have a stupid mindset that "company X is huge and successful, if we copy them we will be successful too". Copying a company 100x your size is not a good business plan, if you're a small company you should act like one and play to your strengths. You don't have the economies of scale or huge budget enjoyed by large companies, but you have agility that large companies lack.
Now try telling that to the legion of devs who blindly use products like Cassandra, Hadoop or Storm "because we need to be able to scale". Then they jump through hoops trying to get it to do what they need (and not always successfully).
Yeah, this has been going on for awhile, I think the inmates (i.e., the "creatives") are running the asylum. Lots of app updates for the sake of changing things that aren't broken, and a lack of fixes for things that clearly don't work (I'm looking at you, iTunes).
The higher-end camera had a built-in timer. You pulled the picture out, then twisted the dial on the side of the camera and it went ticky-ticky-ticky and when that stopped you could peel the paper off. Some of the film (early color maybe?) required that you wiped the picture with a special solution to prevent it from fading/bleeding/doing something bad.
Slashdot Mirror
This is the most polluted site in the US
Child, please. It's not even in the top twenty.
Probably the biggest reason Norway is in front is that their per-capita incomes are so high
Yeah, but they have high tax rates to match (personal income taxes are over 50%). That's another big reason why Norway can afford this kind of largesse.
LOL, you realize the vast majority of the audio-buying public is satisfied with listening to lossy MP3s through mono speakers with a 150Hz-15KHz range, right? As long as they can connect to their phone via BT they're happy. Compared to the mass-market crap that sells the most, these things might as well be B&Ws or Vandersteens.
So basically there is a proprietary protocol that must be licensed from the manufacturer and built into devices in order to use it. Unless this company gets bought by Apple or Samsung, I don't see this product lasting very long.
It's not about the cost. It's about the fact that they don't solve any problems for most of the people that might consider buying them.
I think cost is definitely a big part of it. I have a Pebble watch, it did everything I wanted a smart watch to do (showed me the time and displayed texts when I got them). I bought it because it was only ($50?). The display's gone flakey on it, so I don't wear it any more, despite the fact that I really liked it. I haven't replaced it because I can't see spending $100+ for an unattractive watch that displays texts. To get an attractive watch, you have to spend north of $200, and that's far outside the cost/benefit ratio for me. As for the rest of it, I agree: the solutions provided by most smartwatches don't address any problems I currently have. I'm intrigued by some of the new ones that allow you to make and receive calls without your phone, but that's because they're phones in their own right and require their own phone line and associated charges. Again, the cost/benefit ratio is too lopsided for me.
Honestly, the ideal "smart watch" for me would be some kind of sleeve I could wear to keep my phone on my forearm. Unfortunately, there's the whole OMG-that-looks-so-incredibly-stupid factor to deal with.
Right, the thing to do is to route bioweapons researchers through airports every couple of weeks when they rotate home..
What it really means is "We won't pay you what you're worth." Companies that treat their employees like assets and not like consumable, interchangeable components tend to have much less turnover.
True, but it still doesn't do you any good to apply to a job where they'll look at your resume and discard it because you have too much experience. Or if you trim the resume they'll figure it out in the interview.
Meh, hasn't been my experience. I've got close to 40 years of software development experience, but I only list the last ten on my resume, because that's all that's relevant (nobody's hiring VMS C developers around here). Nobody cares if you've got experience with VB4 or Borland Paradox, they just want to see that you've got 2+ years with AngularJS or Java 7. Having 10+ years of experience in development AND staying current with relevant technology is probably the best position to be in.
And she replies "Are you a software update? Because not right now, and probably never."
I once wrote a program that, when it had an unrecoverable error, would display the message:
"Program error. Press any key to continue, any other key to exit."
WTF? When did Slashdot become Tumblr Lite?
A woman asked her programmer husband to run to the store for her.
"Run to the store and get a gallon of milk. If they have eggs, get a dozen."
The husband comes back with 12 gallons of milk. "They had eggs."
If I recall correctly, the language PLATO was programmed in was called 'Tutor' and the individual programs were called 'lessons'.
Yup. And when DEC came out with their "Dimension Author Language" (quickly "Courseware Author Language" after a copyright complaint from AT&T), it was a pretty obvious copy of Tutor, right down to the dotted-indent scheme. I don't know if DEC had licensed Tutor from CDC and just tarted it up or if they just blatantly ripped it off, but it was nearly identical. We have to use special GiGi terminals (with faux-vector graphics) to work with it, Kind of fun, but it never got any traction and I think DEC dropped it within a couple of years. I think I still have my DAL manual somewhere, a second-generation photocopy with "COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL" stamped on every page.
Powerlines are long strings of copper
If they're long high-tension lines, copper isn't strong enough. Almost all high-tension lines are aluminium. The low-power lines coming to your house are (probably) copper, but most lines that stretch any appreciable distance are aluminium. They also aren't covered in insulation, which is why you see those occasional clips of mylar balloons hitting power lines and causing arcing.
One can only hope the damage is big enough to make the manufacturer start paying attention to security.
Right....because consumers are just going to pass those costs right back to the manufacturers...
Or do you have some juvenile fantasy that "word will get around" that $MANUFACTURER's devices are falling over, and refuse to buy any more, thereby forcing $MANUFACTURER to upgrade their security?
Make sure you steal his ECU or otherwise "brick" his car. He shouldn't drive it until it's secured properly.
I remember my local ISP having a disk crash and wiping out my (first!) web site. Then they admitted that they didn't keep backups, and "we should be able to re-create the [web sites] from the original source data we should still have on file". IOW, "we don't keep backups, and if you don't either that's your fault".
On the plus (?) side, I went to recover some data from an old hard drive, and when I opened Thunderbird it automatically tried to retrieve my e-mail from that ISP and got over 10K messages five years after I closed my account.
So, yeah, I have no use for small ISPs.
Ketchup is a Vegetable
A lot of people have a stupid mindset that "company X is huge and successful, if we copy them we will be successful too".
Copying a company 100x your size is not a good business plan, if you're a small company you should act like one and play to your strengths. You don't have the economies of scale or huge budget enjoyed by large companies, but you have agility that large companies lack.
Now try telling that to the legion of devs who blindly use products like Cassandra, Hadoop or Storm "because we need to be able to scale". Then they jump through hoops trying to get it to do what they need (and not always successfully).
Yeah, this has been going on for awhile, I think the inmates (i.e., the "creatives") are running the asylum. Lots of app updates for the sake of changing things that aren't broken, and a lack of fixes for things that clearly don't work (I'm looking at you, iTunes).
Back from the shadows again!
I think that note has already gone out.
You can already get one built into a power adapter, so it's probably just a matter of time.
The higher-end camera had a built-in timer. You pulled the picture out, then twisted the dial on the side of the camera and it went ticky-ticky-ticky and when that stopped you could peel the paper off. Some of the film (early color maybe?) required that you wiped the picture with a special solution to prevent it from fading/bleeding/doing something bad.
Can confirm. The only power window I've ever had fail was in an Audi A4.