I really wouldnt consider myself a Wii or N fanboy, but I do think there will be a sellout. If not on Sunday, then on the friday following (Black Friday).
There is a certain amount of planning with these launches with respect to marketing. You want the console to sell out on launch day, but you want a steady stream of units in the pipeline for adequate disbursements every week between launch and Christmas. Long queues and selling out means news coverage. No lines and adequate supplies doesnt attract as much attention.
What I expect (at least in my area) is the Walmarts to sell out immediately since they're open 24 hrs and start selling at midnight. However, it may be possible to walk into a lesser known seller (Target, K-Mart - not an electronics store) and pick one up that morning. I still plan on going and getting in line at Target at 5AM (opens at 8A), but of course calling WM to see if they have any left in stock.
IIRC, Asus is responsible for the manufacture of all 8800-series boards. The only thing the integrators do is add their cooling solution for the GPU and RAM.
I was hoping for 6M by year end and 10M for spring. So much for that. Wiis might actually fetch a pretty good premium on e-bay. If demand is for 10M and there are only 2M, thats a pretty big price to pay. Unless N manages to pull a few million untis from nowhere.
Indeed, but the whole use of HTML/CSS is what draws a lot of kids (and some adults) to the site is to make it really their space. The numerous myspace profile HTML/CSS generators out there make it point and click for the regular user.
I suppose they could avoid this problem in the future by stripping FORM tags from the editable parts of users profiles. That would keep this from happening again, but might break some really custom (not even recognisable) myspace pages.
This is the most sensible solution - delay. The FAA does this with radar info, its all delayed 15 minutes. 15 minutes might be too soon for this info, but an hour seems reasonable.
Its a shame that the people running the system are too worried about public perception and politics instead of thinking about the problem.
From a software developers perspective, not being able to run Home editions inside a VM seems like a big pain in the ass when it comes to developing software to be used on said platform. Instead of being able to run my software in multiple environments without having to reboot, now I'll need 4 computers on my desk (my computer running a business OS, plus one each for home basic, home premium, ultimate).
You think of all companies MS would see the value in running OSes as guest OSes for development purposes. What the hell were they thinking?
I love XCOM!! I always found it really hard though - I managed to get good enough where the only "hack" I employ is exploiting the worker transfer flaw (transfer scientists and engineers between facilities at the end of the month).
Yea, but I dont think 100% of the 360 buyers are going to be getting HDDVD add-ons right from the start. So its really only on the same level as the PS3 for about 10% of the people out there who have the budget for a several thousand dollar HDTV, $600 console, $60 games and $25 HDDVDs. I happen to be one of them, and even then I'm buying a 360 and a Wii.
For the first 2-3 years, the Xbox 360 will have the lead due to the fact that it was out first and the PS3 is just catching up. Once the price of a PS3 comes down to price parity with the 360, and as games mature and use the hardware better, the PS3 will pass the 360.
However, both units will still be expensive ($300 for the premium units). With the Wii down to probably $179 by this time, it may be everyones second console. So if 50M PS3 ship, 40M 360s, but 50% of each own a Wii, plus nontraditional gamers Nintendo seems to be aiming for, the Wii ranks right up there with both consoles.
Thats the only thing I like about XP vs 2k. XP can boot much faster. I'm using an old 600Mhz celeron laptop (#@!$% Apple fix my MacBook already) running 2k and it takes almost 5 minutes to get to a working desktop.
But booting faster isnt worth $99 or whatever to get a copy of XP.
Yes, we all love the mytical xMac. Apple seems intent on NOT offering one. I'm trying to get over it too - I'm just going to get a conroe and see about runing a "fixed" copy of that OS.
Believe it or not, $500 is the most I'll spend on a console. And the PS3s lack of HDMI outputs on that price model kick it out of contention for me.
Xbox 360 Ultimate at $499 is an HD-DVD player (yea, I own a $4000 HDTV) and a great video game system. The only thing missing is the simple controller to play the XBLA games.
The only good way to beat keyloggers is some sort of per-machine file. One of the best things I've seen is where you have to pick a certain file off your computer and upload it every time you log in (e.g. a picture of your kids) in addition to a password. So even having the PW is useless without this extra file. This does require some setup - during account establishment the user has to go and select this file (and make sure its on read-only so no one can edit it and destroy account access).
Thats the best means I've seen so far to protect against keyloggers.
Our company has Verizon for cell phones and wireless data.
We spent four months fighting with them to enable bluetooth DUN on four of our cellphones (out of the 100s we have). We had some special equipment (survey-grade GPS equipment) that needed a bluetooth DUN connection to receive real time correction data from the internet. Suffice to say it was pulling teeth to get our Verizon rep to understand our situation and why we needed DUN on our cell phones. We didnt spend $100,000 on this equipment to get fucked over by Verizon of all people. I still worry that they'll come back one day and turn it off for no particular reason other than to be jerks.
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This is the article I was referencing..
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=35348
TSMC does chip fabrication. I was talking about the PCB design.
I really wouldnt consider myself a Wii or N fanboy, but I do think there will be a sellout. If not on Sunday, then on the friday following (Black Friday).
There is a certain amount of planning with these launches with respect to marketing. You want the console to sell out on launch day, but you want a steady stream of units in the pipeline for adequate disbursements every week between launch and Christmas. Long queues and selling out means news coverage. No lines and adequate supplies doesnt attract as much attention.
What I expect (at least in my area) is the Walmarts to sell out immediately since they're open 24 hrs and start selling at midnight. However, it may be possible to walk into a lesser known seller (Target, K-Mart - not an electronics store) and pick one up that morning. I still plan on going and getting in line at Target at 5AM (opens at 8A), but of course calling WM to see if they have any left in stock.
IIRC, Asus is responsible for the manufacture of all 8800-series boards. The only thing the integrators do is add their cooling solution for the GPU and RAM.
I was hoping for 6M by year end and 10M for spring. So much for that. Wiis might actually fetch a pretty good premium on e-bay. If demand is for 10M and there are only 2M, thats a pretty big price to pay. Unless N manages to pull a few million untis from nowhere.
Indeed, but the whole use of HTML/CSS is what draws a lot of kids (and some adults) to the site is to make it really their space. The numerous myspace profile HTML/CSS generators out there make it point and click for the regular user.
I suppose they could avoid this problem in the future by stripping FORM tags from the editable parts of users profiles. That would keep this from happening again, but might break some really custom (not even recognisable) myspace pages.
I could be wrong here, but don't think Stanford University is in the business of manufacturing toilet seats or hammers
I dont think you got it....
1. Get awarded contract for 10,000 toilets at $500.
2. Go purchase 10,000 toilets through distributor for $100 each.
3. Profit!
This is the most sensible solution - delay. The FAA does this with radar info, its all delayed 15 minutes. 15 minutes might be too soon for this info, but an hour seems reasonable.
Its a shame that the people running the system are too worried about public perception and politics instead of thinking about the problem.
Section 5.4 of this has a big chart on what to make to sell. This is what I went by.
From a software developers perspective, not being able to run Home editions inside a VM seems like a big pain in the ass when it comes to developing software to be used on said platform. Instead of being able to run my software in multiple environments without having to reboot, now I'll need 4 computers on my desk (my computer running a business OS, plus one each for home basic, home premium, ultimate).
You think of all companies MS would see the value in running OSes as guest OSes for development purposes. What the hell were they thinking?
I love XCOM!! I always found it really hard though - I managed to get good enough where the only "hack" I employ is exploiting the worker transfer flaw (transfer scientists and engineers between facilities at the end of the month).
This seems like we're on the way to tricorders. Handheld PET scanners, SWEET.
Yea, but I dont think 100% of the 360 buyers are going to be getting HDDVD add-ons right from the start. So its really only on the same level as the PS3 for about 10% of the people out there who have the budget for a several thousand dollar HDTV, $600 console, $60 games and $25 HDDVDs. I happen to be one of them, and even then I'm buying a 360 and a Wii.
Here is how I figure it..
For the first 2-3 years, the Xbox 360 will have the lead due to the fact that it was out first and the PS3 is just catching up. Once the price of a PS3 comes down to price parity with the 360, and as games mature and use the hardware better, the PS3 will pass the 360.
However, both units will still be expensive ($300 for the premium units). With the Wii down to probably $179 by this time, it may be everyones second console. So if 50M PS3 ship, 40M 360s, but 50% of each own a Wii, plus nontraditional gamers Nintendo seems to be aiming for, the Wii ranks right up there with both consoles.
Thats the only thing I like about XP vs 2k. XP can boot much faster. I'm using an old 600Mhz celeron laptop (#@!$% Apple fix my MacBook already) running 2k and it takes almost 5 minutes to get to a working desktop.
But booting faster isnt worth $99 or whatever to get a copy of XP.
Dont forget TiVo is supposed to launch their S3 HD TiVo sometime next week as well (rumors speculate it may also launch on 9/12).
Yes, we all love the mytical xMac. Apple seems intent on NOT offering one. I'm trying to get over it too - I'm just going to get a conroe and see about runing a "fixed" copy of that OS.
The S3 HD TiVo is set to be released early this month (Sept 12). Est. Price $799.
Is today April 1? Did I miss a memo?
Believe it or not, $500 is the most I'll spend on a console. And the PS3s lack of HDMI outputs on that price model kick it out of contention for me.
Xbox 360 Ultimate at $499 is an HD-DVD player (yea, I own a $4000 HDTV) and a great video game system. The only thing missing is the simple controller to play the XBLA games.
The only good way to beat keyloggers is some sort of per-machine file. One of the best things I've seen is where you have to pick a certain file off your computer and upload it every time you log in (e.g. a picture of your kids) in addition to a password. So even having the PW is useless without this extra file. This does require some setup - during account establishment the user has to go and select this file (and make sure its on read-only so no one can edit it and destroy account access).
Thats the best means I've seen so far to protect against keyloggers.
C'mon MS! Make a $499 "Ultimate" model that has the premium unit plus the HDDVD drive integrated. I'll buy one now no questions asked.
Our company has Verizon for cell phones and wireless data.
We spent four months fighting with them to enable bluetooth DUN on four of our cellphones (out of the 100s we have). We had some special equipment (survey-grade GPS equipment) that needed a bluetooth DUN connection to receive real time correction data from the internet. Suffice to say it was pulling teeth to get our Verizon rep to understand our situation and why we needed DUN on our cell phones. We didnt spend $100,000 on this equipment to get fucked over by Verizon of all people. I still worry that they'll come back one day and turn it off for no particular reason other than to be jerks.
Since the MacBooks dont have PCMCIA (the Pros have ExpressCard, the regulars have nothing).
Microsoft needs to setup a torrent. Stop being a bunch of pussies and jump on the bandwagon MS!
If I buy a piece of hardware I damn well have the *right* to run any software I want with it.
You also have the right to not buy a piece of hardware that doesn't do what you want (e.g. run unsupported stuff). Don't like it, don't buy it.
You also have the right to start your own damn company that makes the same hardware that does allow users to run unsupported software.