The best band I have seen doing this. They actually have written their own custom software and mashup samples of audio and video creating their music and performing. Just two guys, two laptops and a ton of projectors!
http://www.coldcut.net/
This would be like saying I make a better Ford Explorer, So I should be allowed to call it Ford Explorer, and let the original owner of the brand be damned.
Just look at all of the nockoff products coming out of Asia these days. Some of them ARE actually better than the originals with a much lower price.
That still doesn't give them the right to rip-off an established brand name. A trademark takes time and expense to establish. Trademarks also need to be used or they are lost.
The sad part is that negotiations of these types have to wind up in court. The lawyers will get rich off of this one for sure, and in the end, Apple is too arrogant to really care so long as the public buys it. Cisco really doesn't care except for the fact that they want more than just a one shot licensing deal.
The most frustrating thing to me is that Microsoft cannot even get the basics of their OS working right. All the security holes, inefficiencies, bloat etc. keep getting worse, yet instead of working on the real problems, they continue to tack on more proprietary stuff to suck in consumers. The UI problems with Vista are bad enough. If you include the nasty slow network stack (3rd parties are now offering network cards to bypass the mess to improve performance), nag-ware as opposed to proper security, etc. I think Microsoft is going to loose more than the respect of software developers. Looks like just another closed platform.
I agree, BUT 95% of these problems stem from Microsoft having a stranglehold. Think about it. If you were a soft/hardware developer and you are trying to make a profit, you're going to develop your product on the most ubiquitous platform and only consider secondary platforms if market share (potential profit) warrants this. It's simple economics.
Linux/BSD variants have come a LONG way considering most of the functionality/drivers has been either creatively engineered by the community or obtained by lobbying vendors (resulting in drivers that only provide the most basic functionality).
Boost the installed base and provide demand for functionality in your OS, and vendors will respond.
Unfortunately these problems are difficult to solve because they are both a cause and a symptom of themselves. Not to mention the very active efforts of Microsoft to thwart any meaningful attempts at the adoption of alternate systems.
Well, I think that for any piece of software to be popular:
It must provide functionality that is useful/interesting/fun (Productivity/Information/Games)
It must be easy to use, intuitive and of high enough quality that bugs are minimal
Software needs some form of advertising to make it popular. Popularity feeds popularity (Microsoft). Usually if the functionality offered is unique enough and useful enough, word of mouth/search engines take over and help with this.
This whole thing is happening at the boundary of two huge grey areas: Journalistic Freedom and Trade Secrets.
In the past, companies would be happy to have free publicity, especially the positive kind. Viral marketing is just an upgrade to classic 'word of mouth' and is both free and effective. So, in this case, more benefit was probably done than harm.
If this escalates, soon anyone who writes non-official information about a product that discloses some features or product details may be sued for unofficially offering trade secrets to the public.
But I guess the patriarchy of corporations knows what is best for us after all.
I had it done about a year and a half ago. After doing much research on the various options (no-touch vs. in-tacs (inserted contact lens implants) vs. Lasik I chose no-touch. This procedure involves no scalpel cutting of the cornea (unlike Lasik and in-tacs) and was quick and offered the fastest recovery time as well as the possibility of touch-up procedures if your vision goes out of whack (unlike Lasik which would require a cornea transplant if something really bad happens).
The procedure took about 45 seconds total and after 3 days of slight/moderate discomfort (mostly light sensitivity), everything was great. I could drive immediately after the surgery (20/50 vision) and have been 20/20 since (actually 20/15 in one eye which is better than normal).
The only negative thing is the for the first 10-12 months, you will need a lot of eye drops (eyes get dry more easily) but after that, everything will be back to normal sans the bad vision.
winrar is a Much better utility for windows users. It handles multiple archive formats and gets much better compression rates using its native rar archive.
Just my $.02
Hmm. There could be a hidden message here. Perhaps the CEO is trying to say something about himself.
Getting a stupid-looking bobble likeness of anyone would at least give me the message that this person is a dumb twit, regardless of who they are.
Slashdot Mirror
The best band I have seen doing this. They actually have written their own custom software and mashup samples of audio and video creating their music and performing. Just two guys, two laptops and a ton of projectors! http://www.coldcut.net/
Regardless, Cisco owns the trademark.
This would be like saying I make a better Ford Explorer, So I should be allowed to call it Ford Explorer, and let the original owner of the brand be damned.
Just look at all of the nockoff products coming out of Asia these days. Some of them ARE actually better than the originals with a much lower price.
That still doesn't give them the right to rip-off an established brand name. A trademark takes time and expense to establish. Trademarks also need to be used or they are lost.
The sad part is that negotiations of these types have to wind up in court. The lawyers will get rich off of this one for sure, and in the end, Apple is too arrogant to really care so long as the public buys it. Cisco really doesn't care except for the fact that they want more than just a one shot licensing deal.
The most frustrating thing to me is that Microsoft cannot even get the basics of their OS working right. All the security holes, inefficiencies, bloat etc. keep getting worse, yet instead of working on the real problems, they continue to tack on more proprietary stuff to suck in consumers. The UI problems with Vista are bad enough. If you include the nasty slow network stack (3rd parties are now offering network cards to bypass the mess to improve performance), nag-ware as opposed to proper security, etc. I think Microsoft is going to loose more than the respect of software developers. Looks like just another closed platform.
I agree, BUT 95% of these problems stem from Microsoft having a stranglehold. Think about it. If you were a soft/hardware developer and you are trying to make a profit, you're going to develop your product on the most ubiquitous platform and only consider secondary platforms if market share (potential profit) warrants this. It's simple economics.
Linux/BSD variants have come a LONG way considering most of the functionality/drivers has been either creatively engineered by the community or obtained by lobbying vendors (resulting in drivers that only provide the most basic functionality).
Boost the installed base and provide demand for functionality in your OS, and vendors will respond.
Unfortunately these problems are difficult to solve because they are both a cause and a symptom of themselves. Not to mention the very active efforts of Microsoft to thwart any meaningful attempts at the adoption of alternate systems.
Just my 0.02$
This looks just like my tin-foil-hat!
...but now I have a headache
Well, I think that for any piece of software to be popular:
It must provide functionality that is useful/interesting/fun (Productivity/Information/Games)
It must be easy to use, intuitive and of high enough quality that bugs are minimal
Software needs some form of advertising to make it popular. Popularity feeds popularity (Microsoft). Usually if the functionality offered is unique enough and useful enough, word of mouth/search engines take over and help with this.
This whole thing is happening at the boundary of two huge grey areas: Journalistic Freedom and Trade Secrets.
In the past, companies would be happy to have free publicity, especially the positive kind. Viral marketing is just an upgrade to classic 'word of mouth' and is both free and effective. So, in this case, more benefit was probably done than harm.
If this escalates, soon anyone who writes non-official information about a product that discloses some features or product details may be sued for unofficially offering trade secrets to the public.
But I guess the patriarchy of corporations knows what is best for us after all.
I just love the last line 'joke' :
"My 12-year-old at home doesn't want to hear that he can't put all the music that he wants in all of the places that he would like it," -Ballmer
If you own it, its no joke, its called FAIR USE.
I had it done about a year and a half ago. After doing much research on the various options (no-touch vs. in-tacs (inserted contact lens implants) vs. Lasik I chose no-touch. This procedure involves no scalpel cutting of the cornea (unlike Lasik and in-tacs) and was quick and offered the fastest recovery time as well as the possibility of touch-up procedures if your vision goes out of whack (unlike Lasik which would require a cornea transplant if something really bad happens). The procedure took about 45 seconds total and after 3 days of slight/moderate discomfort (mostly light sensitivity), everything was great. I could drive immediately after the surgery (20/50 vision) and have been 20/20 since (actually 20/15 in one eye which is better than normal). The only negative thing is the for the first 10-12 months, you will need a lot of eye drops (eyes get dry more easily) but after that, everything will be back to normal sans the bad vision.
winrar is a Much better utility for windows users. It handles multiple archive formats and gets much better compression rates using its native rar archive. Just my $.02
Hmm. There could be a hidden message here. Perhaps the CEO is trying to say something about himself. Getting a stupid-looking bobble likeness of anyone would at least give me the message that this person is a dumb twit, regardless of who they are.