This is called the free market. If the anonymous griper is way smarter than the people who buy the calculator, Darwin is on his/her side. But unless the students (as I was in grad school) are required to buy a certain model by a professor, I don't see what the deal is about someone marketing a device which does fewer calculations than a laptop, but more than an abacus.
"Apparently, we are not going to see a repeat of the Android ambush of the smartphone market where the combined, price, savvy marketing, and modulated supply releases of the iPhone created so much aspirational demand..."
How is that apparent? Apple has 10% of the total market, who tend to be fervent "early adapters". Once the market accepts the product (which I think is early to say with the pad/tablet), Apple has made high profits on low market penetration. Whether or not it's called an "ambush", I wouldn't assume that the exact same thing won't happen every time a similar good product is available cheaper. The post looks a little fanboy to me. As for the stores, running your own retail to boost "purchase experience" didn't work for Levis.
Reading the story... the evidence provided is that demand for exorcists has increased. This, according to the Church, suggests that Satanism is on the increase - the same as an increase in sales of flu medicine may indicate increase in illness. To explain the rise in demand for treatment of Satanic possession, they formulate the theory that the internet could have promoted Satanism, increasing demand for exorcists. An alternative explanation would be that exorcists formerly could only advertise in very large markets - not in the yellow pages of rural areas. With the increase in internet, victims of Satan have wider access to exorcists, who defeat Lucifer in areas where he formerly established safe harbors. Therefore the Internet promotes Exorcism, not Satanism. And flu medicine sales may indicate meth labs are also on the increase in rural areas, which could also increase demand for exorcists. Personally, I find crackheads scarier than Satan.
The Catholic Church has had some bad experiences with this in the past. Think 1450 AD was bad? The internet is like Gutenberg on speed. Satan actually maintains one of the tamer websites, I've discovered things way more evil than Satan on the internet, and things more godly than church. Next thing you know, people won't have to attend choir to enjoy music.
This is just like Boston 1970s politicians protesting the Combat Zone. They'll finally build Park Plaza on top of the red light district, and the money will go to Providence... or.PROV
I think this is how they caught Theodore Kaczynski, who apparently was posting anonymous comments on my blog. But the one-armed-man writing LOL has proved a clever adversary.
Of the 6.5 billion people on earth, approximately 3 billion (3B) live in nations earning 3K per year (USA by comparison earns $46k per person). Those emerging nations, since 2000, have gotten online at 10x the rate of growth of Europe and USA. [http://tinyurl.com/3B3K-next] Full price is not an option, and enforcing privacy laws simply stops their growth as consumer markets. In response to Vance Packard's complaints about "planned obsolescence" (The Waste Makers, 1960), Ford Motor Co. responded that teenagers learn to drive on "good enough" cars and the sooner they learn to drive, the sooner they will buy a car, and the more cars they will buy in a lifetime. The AGMA (Anti Gray Market Alliance) should take a page from Ford's response and see piracy as the baby steps of tomorrows consumer.
Windows 95 killed the P1, Windows 98 killed the P2, the CD killed the tape player, digital broadcasts kill the rabbit ear TVs. I think the main exception is display devices. I guess that doesn't explain the cars and toothpaste economizing, but I'm always amazed how many people attribute most obsolescence to hardware planning. Most hardware "planned obsolescence" occurs in hindsight - lack of support for repairs, parts, ink, etc., most major changes are driven by software.
He will be able to leverage his experience by explaining how the industry kept Henny Youngman from stealing Milton Berle's routines on the olde vaudeville stages, where entertainment piracy was born. MP4? Is that the number of Military Police they used to arrest the pirate?
Wirth's, or Page's law, is not based on engineering but on code writing. At the time Wirth coined it, Microsoft Excel had a flight simulator embedded, and no one but Palm Geos had to write code for hand-held devices. The market for repairable and upgradeable electronics is not "Best Buy" but Nasr City Technology Mall in Cairo, or Dakar Senegal, or Jakarta - the 3B3K markets (the 3 billion people who earn about $3k per year), who have a rate of internet access growth 10x the USA during the past decade. That, by the way, is where the so called "e-waste" goes, to places willing to scavenge and repair as much as possible. The security defect argument is somewhat new, maybe its even relevant, but it certainly does not explain the bloatware during the first ten years of "Wirth's Law".
My used electronics company tears down and recycles most (77%) of the computers etc. turned in to us. But of the 23% we refurb or resell for repair and reuse, and by far the lions share during the past decade went to Egypt, either directly or indirectly (after being re-manufactured to new-in-box in Asia, resold in boxes in Egypt with arabic lettering). In 2008, three of our sea containers of working Pentium 4s and display devices were seized by Egyptian customs and declared "e-waste". Having visited in person with our partners in Egypt on many occasions, I knew this was not an environmental concern, and they told me that it was part of the government's effort to put the internet genie back in the bottle. The NYTimes also reported that these "geeks of color", and not the Muslim Brotherhood, have emerged as the leaders. I have been documenting the Geek vs. Goliath battle for 2 years, e.g. http://tinyurl.com/4b4yw9j and http://tinyurl.com/24ypbf4, if anyone is interested. Kenya and Pakistan also tried using environmental laws to clamp down on affordable PCs (CRT displays for $5 last 20 years and still sell like hotcakes).
Thinking that people pay attention to what I'm writing might give me enormous stress. I try to stay at 1:, never above 2: Anyone who reads below 2: doesn't matter anyway.
I cover my tracks by using my username everywhere, registering for places I don't go, subscribing to magazines I don't read, and I buy everything, from ladies slacks to chain mail. I join groups I disagree with, donate money randomly, buy clothing that won't fit me, bid on items I don't really want, all to confuse the heck out of these people who want to know about me. A person who comes from everywhere comes from nowhere at all. If everyone got cookies from every website, we'd ALL be Spartacus. That's my plan anyway, if I wasn't so lazy.
jo_ham (604554), you make a very good point about Jayme's song mysteriously concluding that an Apple laptop would make his life easier. (A Thinkpad would make more sense). But doesn't the HP Pavilion have over-heating issues? Maintaining the fan on that laptop is not simply optional.
Right, like Mormon law took over Utah, and Amish Law took over Pennsylvania... Oklahomans need to stand guard. While there are plenty of non-secular law encroachments to worry about, I don't think Sharia is in the top ten.
Slashdot Mirror
And we thought we had the edge, with our own military industrial complex producing TV sitcoms.
This is called the free market. If the anonymous griper is way smarter than the people who buy the calculator, Darwin is on his/her side. But unless the students (as I was in grad school) are required to buy a certain model by a professor, I don't see what the deal is about someone marketing a device which does fewer calculations than a laptop, but more than an abacus.
ditto.
Nine months from now, will these seem large and cumbersome?
How is that apparent? Apple has 10% of the total market, who tend to be fervent "early adapters". Once the market accepts the product (which I think is early to say with the pad/tablet), Apple has made high profits on low market penetration. Whether or not it's called an "ambush", I wouldn't assume that the exact same thing won't happen every time a similar good product is available cheaper. The post looks a little fanboy to me. As for the stores, running your own retail to boost "purchase experience" didn't work for Levis.
Reading the story... the evidence provided is that demand for exorcists has increased. This, according to the Church, suggests that Satanism is on the increase - the same as an increase in sales of flu medicine may indicate increase in illness. To explain the rise in demand for treatment of Satanic possession, they formulate the theory that the internet could have promoted Satanism, increasing demand for exorcists. An alternative explanation would be that exorcists formerly could only advertise in very large markets - not in the yellow pages of rural areas. With the increase in internet, victims of Satan have wider access to exorcists, who defeat Lucifer in areas where he formerly established safe harbors. Therefore the Internet promotes Exorcism, not Satanism. And flu medicine sales may indicate meth labs are also on the increase in rural areas, which could also increase demand for exorcists. Personally, I find crackheads scarier than Satan.
Workers assembling Blackberries at Foxconn in Shenzhen will be replaced by workers making Androids at Foxconn in Shenzhen.
Darn you're fast.
The Catholic Church has had some bad experiences with this in the past. Think 1450 AD was bad? The internet is like Gutenberg on speed. Satan actually maintains one of the tamer websites, I've discovered things way more evil than Satan on the internet, and things more godly than church. Next thing you know, people won't have to attend choir to enjoy music.
This is just like Boston 1970s politicians protesting the Combat Zone. They'll finally build Park Plaza on top of the red light district, and the money will go to Providence... or .PROV
I think this is how they caught Theodore Kaczynski, who apparently was posting anonymous comments on my blog. But the one-armed-man writing LOL has proved a clever adversary.
Of the 6.5 billion people on earth, approximately 3 billion (3B) live in nations earning 3K per year (USA by comparison earns $46k per person). Those emerging nations, since 2000, have gotten online at 10x the rate of growth of Europe and USA. [http://tinyurl.com/3B3K-next] Full price is not an option, and enforcing privacy laws simply stops their growth as consumer markets. In response to Vance Packard's complaints about "planned obsolescence" (The Waste Makers, 1960), Ford Motor Co. responded that teenagers learn to drive on "good enough" cars and the sooner they learn to drive, the sooner they will buy a car, and the more cars they will buy in a lifetime. The AGMA (Anti Gray Market Alliance) should take a page from Ford's response and see piracy as the baby steps of tomorrows consumer.
Windows 95 killed the P1, Windows 98 killed the P2, the CD killed the tape player, digital broadcasts kill the rabbit ear TVs. I think the main exception is display devices. I guess that doesn't explain the cars and toothpaste economizing, but I'm always amazed how many people attribute most obsolescence to hardware planning. Most hardware "planned obsolescence" occurs in hindsight - lack of support for repairs, parts, ink, etc., most major changes are driven by software.
He will be able to leverage his experience by explaining how the industry kept Henny Youngman from stealing Milton Berle's routines on the olde vaudeville stages, where entertainment piracy was born. MP4? Is that the number of Military Police they used to arrest the pirate?
I talk back on my laptop. I read subserviently on my Kindle. One kindle per subservient child.
Looked at the picture. He's dead, Jim.
I scored some killer home heating oil off that BP dude. But it turns out he wasted the sea.
kudos. There is more than 2: in your comment. But I don't have the tools to mod you up, sorry.
Wirth's, or Page's law, is not based on engineering but on code writing. At the time Wirth coined it, Microsoft Excel had a flight simulator embedded, and no one but Palm Geos had to write code for hand-held devices. The market for repairable and upgradeable electronics is not "Best Buy" but Nasr City Technology Mall in Cairo, or Dakar Senegal, or Jakarta - the 3B3K markets (the 3 billion people who earn about $3k per year), who have a rate of internet access growth 10x the USA during the past decade. That, by the way, is where the so called "e-waste" goes, to places willing to scavenge and repair as much as possible. The security defect argument is somewhat new, maybe its even relevant, but it certainly does not explain the bloatware during the first ten years of "Wirth's Law".
Were you the guy interviewed in the "Area Dad Just Wants Computer With The Basics" story I just read? http://www.theonion.com/articles/area-dad-just-wants-computer-with-the-basics,19195/ Same site I read about the Apple laptop sans keyboard http://www.theonion.com/video/apple-introduces-revolutionary-new-laptop-with-no,14299/
My used electronics company tears down and recycles most (77%) of the computers etc. turned in to us. But of the 23% we refurb or resell for repair and reuse, and by far the lions share during the past decade went to Egypt, either directly or indirectly (after being re-manufactured to new-in-box in Asia, resold in boxes in Egypt with arabic lettering). In 2008, three of our sea containers of working Pentium 4s and display devices were seized by Egyptian customs and declared "e-waste". Having visited in person with our partners in Egypt on many occasions, I knew this was not an environmental concern, and they told me that it was part of the government's effort to put the internet genie back in the bottle. The NYTimes also reported that these "geeks of color", and not the Muslim Brotherhood, have emerged as the leaders. I have been documenting the Geek vs. Goliath battle for 2 years, e.g. http://tinyurl.com/4b4yw9j and http://tinyurl.com/24ypbf4, if anyone is interested. Kenya and Pakistan also tried using environmental laws to clamp down on affordable PCs (CRT displays for $5 last 20 years and still sell like hotcakes).
Thinking that people pay attention to what I'm writing might give me enormous stress. I try to stay at 1:, never above 2: Anyone who reads below 2: doesn't matter anyway.
I cover my tracks by using my username everywhere, registering for places I don't go, subscribing to magazines I don't read, and I buy everything, from ladies slacks to chain mail. I join groups I disagree with, donate money randomly, buy clothing that won't fit me, bid on items I don't really want, all to confuse the heck out of these people who want to know about me. A person who comes from everywhere comes from nowhere at all. If everyone got cookies from every website, we'd ALL be Spartacus. That's my plan anyway, if I wasn't so lazy.
jo_ham (604554), you make a very good point about Jayme's song mysteriously concluding that an Apple laptop would make his life easier. (A Thinkpad would make more sense). But doesn't the HP Pavilion have over-heating issues? Maintaining the fan on that laptop is not simply optional.
Right, like Mormon law took over Utah, and Amish Law took over Pennsylvania... Oklahomans need to stand guard. While there are plenty of non-secular law encroachments to worry about, I don't think Sharia is in the top ten.