Last thing Linux needs is yet another implementation of a desktop.
Maybe. Maybe not. I, for one, am awaiting Chrome OS and Google's take on what a Linux desktop should be like. Though I am aware it's gonna target Netbooks, Tablet's, etc., I do think Gnome/KDE need some competition.
At the same time, Apple has stated at least twice that they have no intention of 'locking down' the Mac OS X software like they have with the iPhone - once when the iPhone store debuted and people started with the "ZOMG THE SKY R FALLING" nonsense, and once in this past keynote, where Steve Jobs specifically said "this is one way to get software", not "this is the only way to get software."
Logically, the conclusion is that they consider the two devices separate categories, with separate operating systems, and are simply borrowing useful ideas from one OS to the other.
After what they "learned from iOS", if Apple could get away with locking down OS X, they would. Pure and simple. The only reason they aren't is that they don't think they can get away with doing that, yet. They want to monetize their devices as much as possible, and tax developers on their platforms. They are not chasing developers. They want developers to chase them, the way they do on iOS. That is a big part of their business model going forward. And yes, developers do chase Apple to get on the iOS. Whether this is all bad or good is up to you. Whether you want to invest in Mac for your enterprise or at your home is up to you.
Astroturfing? maybe. But I think the explanation is much more simple.
As someone who enjoys Apple products (both hardware and software), but has used, and at times appreciated, Windows, Linux and other OSs, I'd have to say that recent decisions and moves by Apple are becoming more and more difficult to justify or support. Unless of course, one were to have some vested interest in it, such as to work for Apple or one of its close partners. Otherwise, as a user, I'd say there's a lot of slashdot users who still love and use Apple products, but are no longer willing to put their neck out for Apple the way you might see say a Bush, Republican or Tea Party supporter do these days (for those causes).
I would say that "all" three operating systems have their merits (having used and abused all three:)
Windows (right now still the most practical to deploy in the enterprise. Just ask most any IT departments)
Mac (the best desktop experience, but backed by the one-company-to-rule-them-all)
Linux - let's say Ubuntu (who can argue with a great desktop that is free, but Ubuntu needs to hire a desktop designer to smooth the rough edges, and there still are many)
From the release notes, it appears that we can expect further Java runtime updates for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 to the end of supported life of these OS X versions. What we should not expect is that the Apple-supported and -maintained Java runtime will be present in Lion.
For anyone too lazy to click the link;) Read carefully below:
Java Deprecation
As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the Java runtime ported by Apple and that ships with Mac OS X is deprecated. Developers should not rely on the Apple-supplied Java runtime being present in future versions of Mac OS X.
The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products.
Although it was a while ago (~1993) I had dinner with both Steve and Larry at Larry's house in Ateherton. At that time they were on very good terms with each other and I see no reason for that to have changed since then.
Yes. Mark my words. You will never see Larry speak out against Steve on this one. I guarantee that they discussed this off-the-record before Steve started mouthing off (as he seems to be doing quite often these days, but as I'm sure, no less calculatedly;) *They* have a plan, and in this case the plan is probably that Oracle will take over releasing and supporting Java for OS X. If anything else happens or this turns into a public falling out between the two of them, I will be very surprised.
Wow, and people talk about the "Microsoft tax". How long until the only way to get software on your Mac desktop is via Apple's store and all Mac developers are required to pay a 30% tribute to Apple? And, since taxes are passed on to consumers, every time you as a customer buys an "app" from the store it's really you who's paying that insane 30%.
Let me preface this by saying that I am against the one-company-to-rule-them-all model that Apple seems to adore. And one of the reasons is exactly the point you bring up above. However, I think there is something to be said about the user experience brought about by having one company (in this case, the platform and hardware developer, Apple) whose feet are ultimately held to fire for the quality of the applications that are available to end-users on their platform (yes this does and WILL apply to Apple).
To illustrate, let me reference the well-known fall of the great Atari, which began the Atari 2600 games market fiasco. This was a great piece of hardware destroyed by reams of shitty games on store shelves (see for yourself, look up ET for the 2600). The Nintendo NES that followed about 2 or 3 years later in 1985 (after most of the North American gaming industry had imploded) was well-known for its third-party licensing agreements which helped (while obviously not perfect) to ensure some quality games on store shelves. As a result, the NES was super successful and the gaming industry was reborn.
If Apple is to the Nintendo and the NES, what Microsoft is to that shit that was allowed to happen with 2600 (note, that I do think Atari was an innovator for having introducing home gaming to NA in the first place!), then I think we have an idea of what Apple's future might be if they decide to lock down their platforms. That is, there will enjoy probably another 10 or 15 years of success and astounding revenue, but they can definitely expect some tremendous and very unlikely competitors down the road.
keep in mind microsoft also owns facebook stock. apple would also have to by microsofts stake in facebook.
To take it private, yes. But even then, they might be able to do a sort of hostile takeover if enough of the other investors agree the purchase would be in the company's best interest. I'm pretty sure that one of the conditions that was made on stock issuance was that no one other than zuck could veto a move to take the company public, or sell it as a whole to another company to be privitized.
I'd love to see a story just about the drill itself and how in the heck they manufacture and transport it.
One of the other heroes of the story is good, old-fashioned dynamite, at least for certain sections of the tunnel. Of course, I'm sure there's nothing old-fashioned about the way they deploy and detonate it, these days.
They used their "wins" to go after bigger companies. Basically their letter said "These people have licensed from us. You should too, or we'll bankrupt you in court".
And this is why patent laws, if not completely thrown out one day, should be amended to make it no easier nor harder to defend a suit by a "troll" / IP owner that has previously licensed or won suits against other companies. Each case should be equally costly for the plaintiff (as it will be costly for the defendant). Then, let's see what happens to patent suits over the next 10, 20, 50 years.
As a potential customer for an Android smartphone, I have to admit that the one thing that is holding me off buy an expensive (and thus likely more profitable for its manufacturer) phone is the fragmentation issue with Android. This is a very real problem that is the source of many if not most of the problems with Windows. A fragmented platform is one that is more costly to test on. Pure and simple. I don't want to buy a $400 phone today and discover a year from now that I can't run an app that my phone should support hardware-wise, but simply doesn't work because that phone no longer supported by its developer. This is a problem that Google has to address very soon. And, no they haven't adequately addressed it yet, even though Android is selling so well.
While I don't like the "uniformity" of iPhone, testing is going to be cheaper and thus more likely to occur on that platform as opposed to Android.
I think the NYT is going to work doubly hard, even triply hard to gain some sort of competitive advantage in their quality of journalism. Yes, they have some great stories. But to be totally honest, most of what they write about or offer opinions on is stuff that can be found somewhere else on the Net nowadays. I'd say they are not much worse, but also not much better than a lot of other news sites out there. Good luck to them if they create a stupid pay wall.
Can someone explain why Oracle cares about the success/failure of Android?
Here's my two cents. What's happening in the tech industry right now is akin to geopolitics pre-WWI. By that, I mean there is a alignment and re-alignment of companies with overlapping or even mutually-exclusive interests. To illustrate, you could put Google, HTC, Adobe and Motorola in one camp. In another, you might find Apple and Oracle. Apple and Oracle don't have many if any overlapping markets but I would say they are quite clearly aligned against Google. Ellison is a former Apple director and a fan of Mr. Jobs. He recently said that the firing of HP's Hurd by that company's board was 'the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs..." I would not be surprised there is some unwritten, non-binding alliance between Apple and Oracle and that this was one of the major objectives in the Sun acquisition.
In the age of public awareness of anti-trust laws, monopolized markets, and patent trolling and lawsuits, the best way to wage war on your competitor is to not. Get your buddies to do it for you. Dare I say, perhaps this is a kind of Cold War of sorts in the tech sector. Facebook's allegiance is still a prize to be one by either Google or Apple. What effect will Microsoft have on all of this is still yet to be seen... but I'd say they appear to be on Apple's side so far to the benefit perhaps of Office on the iPhone (one day??), but at the expense of their mobile division (good luck to Win Phone 7).
If a search warrant is issued, you have to provide access, and you can potentially get in legal hot water if you don't cooperate with the warrant. It isn't considered self incrimination.
IANAL, but you'd probably end up with getting charged with obstruction of justice or its equivalent in your jurisdiction. That may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you were being charged with in the first place.
Citation, please? I think he worked there and was probably their most famous programmer. But besides that I don't think he held an executive position at that lab.
I think the GP has a point. QNX was only bought off in April, so it didn't really leave a lot of time for RIM to "make the switch" for their smartphones. But, I'm pretty sure that they plan to bring QNX goods to their smartphones, which need a big boost IMHO.
On a side note, I think RIM has more to worry from Google than Apple (though I'm sure someone here has already said that, right?). Android is going to eat their lunch in the Enterprise... all it takes is one good, focused competitor (Motorola???) to properly service the Enterprise with Android apps. Apple is going to continue to clean everyone out for the indefinite future in the very profitable high-end consumer segment.
Oh, and sorry to bring it up again for all you RIM lovers, but the RIM CEOs were pretty damned stupid to not have shit their pants when the iPhone came out in summer 2007. It was the beginning of the end of the safe lead they had, and hate to say, squandered by not taking the threat seriously way back then.
Yes, I know it's Visa, but PayPal seems to be dominant in the online micropayment world, and until you integrate with that somehow, I can't see the scheme getting the traction it needs there.
No, sorry. Paypal is not dominant in the *micropayment* world. Citation please?
Ford, like the rest of the American is a zombie animated and propped up solely by the American tax payer. I'd hardly call putting your software in their cars any great success or something to crow about.
I'm not big MS fan, but what the fuck are you talking about. Ford was the only one of the Detroit Three that needed little or no government/taxpayer intervention. You might want to read a bit more before shooting your mouth off next time.
Other than that I'd say the XBOX hasn't been a complete failure for Microsoft, but you're right about the Kinect.
The broadcasters won't do this anytime soon. Why? Because FIFA will drag on their feet on this because the choice is likely up to FIFA as they would be making a material change to the performance. And so far the word from FIFA is that the vuvuzelas are here to stay.
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Last thing Linux needs is yet another implementation of a desktop.
Maybe. Maybe not. I, for one, am awaiting Chrome OS and Google's take on what a Linux desktop should be like. Though I am aware it's gonna target Netbooks, Tablet's, etc., I do think Gnome/KDE need some competition.
At the same time, Apple has stated at least twice that they have no intention of 'locking down' the Mac OS X software like they have with the iPhone - once when the iPhone store debuted and people started with the "ZOMG THE SKY R FALLING" nonsense, and once in this past keynote, where Steve Jobs specifically said "this is one way to get software", not "this is the only way to get software."
Logically, the conclusion is that they consider the two devices separate categories, with separate operating systems, and are simply borrowing useful ideas from one OS to the other.
After what they "learned from iOS", if Apple could get away with locking down OS X, they would. Pure and simple. The only reason they aren't is that they don't think they can get away with doing that, yet. They want to monetize their devices as much as possible, and tax developers on their platforms. They are not chasing developers. They want developers to chase them, the way they do on iOS. That is a big part of their business model going forward. And yes, developers do chase Apple to get on the iOS. Whether this is all bad or good is up to you. Whether you want to invest in Mac for your enterprise or at your home is up to you.
Astroturfing? maybe. But I think the explanation is much more simple.
As someone who enjoys Apple products (both hardware and software), but has used, and at times appreciated, Windows, Linux and other OSs, I'd have to say that recent decisions and moves by Apple are becoming more and more difficult to justify or support. Unless of course, one were to have some vested interest in it, such as to work for Apple or one of its close partners. Otherwise, as a user, I'd say there's a lot of slashdot users who still love and use Apple products, but are no longer willing to put their neck out for Apple the way you might see say a Bush, Republican or Tea Party supporter do these days (for those causes).
There is some wisdom in what you write.
I would say that "all" three operating systems have their merits (having used and abused all three :)
Windows (right now still the most practical to deploy in the enterprise. Just ask most any IT departments)
Mac (the best desktop experience, but backed by the one-company-to-rule-them-all)
Linux - let's say Ubuntu (who can argue with a great desktop that is free, but Ubuntu needs to hire a desktop designer to smooth the rough edges, and there still are many)
MacOS database performance (context switching, SMP, etc.) is so abysmal compared to Windows, Linux, or Solaris, it's not even worth it.
Anyone care to comment on this? Or maybe backup this claim with references? Sounds like hyperbole to me.
That's odd. I use Chrome and I've never had that issue. I'm on Windows 7, what's your OS?
I have observed this problem on Chrome for Mac and Chrome for Linux (Ubuntu). Chrome 6 & 7 (the latest).
From the release notes, it appears that we can expect further Java runtime updates for Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 to the end of supported life of these OS X versions. What we should not expect is that the Apple-supported and -maintained Java runtime will be present in Lion.
For anyone too lazy to click the link ;) Read carefully below:
Java Deprecation
As of the release of Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, the Java runtime ported by Apple and that ships with Mac OS X is deprecated. Developers should not rely on the Apple-supplied Java runtime being present in future versions of Mac OS X.
The Java runtime shipping in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, and Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, will continue to be supported and maintained through the standard support cycles of those products.
Although it was a while ago (~1993) I had dinner with both Steve and Larry at Larry's house in Ateherton. At that time they were on very good terms with each other and I see no reason for that to have changed since then.
Yes. Mark my words. You will never see Larry speak out against Steve on this one. I guarantee that they discussed this off-the-record before Steve started mouthing off (as he seems to be doing quite often these days, but as I'm sure, no less calculatedly ;) *They* have a plan, and in this case the plan is probably that Oracle will take over releasing and supporting Java for OS X. If anything else happens or this turns into a public falling out between the two of them, I will be very surprised.
If this is true and they do decide to make the Launchpad available only to Mac App Store apps, Redmond shall be very pleased. Very pleased, indeed.
Wow, and people talk about the "Microsoft tax". How long until the only way to get software on your Mac desktop is via Apple's store and all Mac developers are required to pay a 30% tribute to Apple? And, since taxes are passed on to consumers, every time you as a customer buys an "app" from the store it's really you who's paying that insane 30%.
Let me preface this by saying that I am against the one-company-to-rule-them-all model that Apple seems to adore. And one of the reasons is exactly the point you bring up above. However, I think there is something to be said about the user experience brought about by having one company (in this case, the platform and hardware developer, Apple) whose feet are ultimately held to fire for the quality of the applications that are available to end-users on their platform (yes this does and WILL apply to Apple).
To illustrate, let me reference the well-known fall of the great Atari, which began the Atari 2600 games market fiasco. This was a great piece of hardware destroyed by reams of shitty games on store shelves (see for yourself, look up ET for the 2600). The Nintendo NES that followed about 2 or 3 years later in 1985 (after most of the North American gaming industry had imploded) was well-known for its third-party licensing agreements which helped (while obviously not perfect) to ensure some quality games on store shelves. As a result, the NES was super successful and the gaming industry was reborn.
If Apple is to the Nintendo and the NES, what Microsoft is to that shit that was allowed to happen with 2600 (note, that I do think Atari was an innovator for having introducing home gaming to NA in the first place!), then I think we have an idea of what Apple's future might be if they decide to lock down their platforms. That is, there will enjoy probably another 10 or 15 years of success and astounding revenue, but they can definitely expect some tremendous and very unlikely competitors down the road.
keep in mind microsoft also owns facebook stock. apple would also have to by microsofts stake in facebook.
To take it private, yes. But even then, they might be able to do a sort of hostile takeover if enough of the other investors agree the purchase would be in the company's best interest. I'm pretty sure that one of the conditions that was made on stock issuance was that no one other than zuck could veto a move to take the company public, or sell it as a whole to another company to be privitized.
I'd love to see a story just about the drill itself and how in the heck they manufacture and transport it.
One of the other heroes of the story is good, old-fashioned dynamite, at least for certain sections of the tunnel. Of course, I'm sure there's nothing old-fashioned about the way they deploy and detonate it, these days.
They used their "wins" to go after bigger companies. Basically their letter said "These people have licensed from us. You should too, or we'll bankrupt you in court".
And this is why patent laws, if not completely thrown out one day, should be amended to make it no easier nor harder to defend a suit by a "troll" / IP owner that has previously licensed or won suits against other companies. Each case should be equally costly for the plaintiff (as it will be costly for the defendant). Then, let's see what happens to patent suits over the next 10, 20, 50 years.
btw, IANAL.
As a potential customer for an Android smartphone, I have to admit that the one thing that is holding me off buy an expensive (and thus likely more profitable for its manufacturer) phone is the fragmentation issue with Android. This is a very real problem that is the source of many if not most of the problems with Windows. A fragmented platform is one that is more costly to test on. Pure and simple. I don't want to buy a $400 phone today and discover a year from now that I can't run an app that my phone should support hardware-wise, but simply doesn't work because that phone no longer supported by its developer. This is a problem that Google has to address very soon. And, no they haven't adequately addressed it yet, even though Android is selling so well.
While I don't like the "uniformity" of iPhone, testing is going to be cheaper and thus more likely to occur on that platform as opposed to Android.
I think the NYT is going to work doubly hard, even triply hard to gain some sort of competitive advantage in their quality of journalism. Yes, they have some great stories. But to be totally honest, most of what they write about or offer opinions on is stuff that can be found somewhere else on the Net nowadays. I'd say they are not much worse, but also not much better than a lot of other news sites out there. Good luck to them if they create a stupid pay wall.
Can someone explain why Oracle cares about the success/failure of Android?
Here's my two cents. What's happening in the tech industry right now is akin to geopolitics pre-WWI. By that, I mean there is a alignment and re-alignment of companies with overlapping or even mutually-exclusive interests. To illustrate, you could put Google, HTC, Adobe and Motorola in one camp. In another, you might find Apple and Oracle. Apple and Oracle don't have many if any overlapping markets but I would say they are quite clearly aligned against Google. Ellison is a former Apple director and a fan of Mr. Jobs. He recently said that the firing of HP's Hurd by that company's board was 'the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs..." I would not be surprised there is some unwritten, non-binding alliance between Apple and Oracle and that this was one of the major objectives in the Sun acquisition.
In the age of public awareness of anti-trust laws, monopolized markets, and patent trolling and lawsuits, the best way to wage war on your competitor is to not. Get your buddies to do it for you. Dare I say, perhaps this is a kind of Cold War of sorts in the tech sector. Facebook's allegiance is still a prize to be one by either Google or Apple. What effect will Microsoft have on all of this is still yet to be seen... but I'd say they appear to be on Apple's side so far to the benefit perhaps of Office on the iPhone (one day??), but at the expense of their mobile division (good luck to Win Phone 7).
I am become J. Robert Oppenheimer, the destroyer of the English language.
If a search warrant is issued, you have to provide access, and you can potentially get in legal hot water if you don't cooperate with the warrant. It isn't considered self incrimination.
IANAL, but you'd probably end up with getting charged with obstruction of justice or its equivalent in your jurisdiction. That may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you were being charged with in the first place.
Citation, please? I think he worked there and was probably their most famous programmer. But besides that I don't think he held an executive position at that lab.
I think the GP has a point. QNX was only bought off in April, so it didn't really leave a lot of time for RIM to "make the switch" for their smartphones. But, I'm pretty sure that they plan to bring QNX goods to their smartphones, which need a big boost IMHO.
On a side note, I think RIM has more to worry from Google than Apple (though I'm sure someone here has already said that, right?). Android is going to eat their lunch in the Enterprise... all it takes is one good, focused competitor (Motorola???) to properly service the Enterprise with Android apps. Apple is going to continue to clean everyone out for the indefinite future in the very profitable high-end consumer segment.
Oh, and sorry to bring it up again for all you RIM lovers, but the RIM CEOs were pretty damned stupid to not have shit their pants when the iPhone came out in summer 2007. It was the beginning of the end of the safe lead they had, and hate to say, squandered by not taking the threat seriously way back then.
You will not be a master, so remain our slave.
>
Yes, I know it's Visa, but PayPal seems to be dominant in the online micropayment world, and until you integrate with that somehow, I can't see the scheme getting the traction it needs there.
No, sorry. Paypal is not dominant in the *micropayment* world. Citation please?
Sync in Ford's
Ford, like the rest of the American is a zombie animated and propped
up solely by the American tax payer. I'd hardly call putting your
software in their cars any great success or something to crow about.
I'm not big MS fan, but what the fuck are you talking about. Ford was the only one of the Detroit Three that needed little or no government/taxpayer intervention. You might want to read a bit more before shooting your mouth off next time.
Other than that I'd say the XBOX hasn't been a complete failure for Microsoft, but you're right about the Kinect.
But these guys were on the right track way back in 2005:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wreck:_In_the_Pirkinning
For anyone who hasn't seen Star Wreck yet, enjoy :)
The broadcasters won't do this anytime soon. Why? Because FIFA will drag on their feet on this because the choice is likely up to FIFA as they would be making a material change to the performance. And so far the word from FIFA is that the vuvuzelas are here to stay.