As for disk access, processor, and other improving technology, it's completely besides the point here
I beg to differ here. The faster a HD has to spin, the more power it eats up, the brighter an LCD screen is the more power it eats up and the newer screens are definitely much brighter than the older ones.
And since battery technology hasn't really improved much, its all about how much power can be stored in the battery. Notebooks are also getting smaller which means sometimes the battery packed into it is smaller which means less space to store the chemicals required to hold the stored energy or some shit like that. (not an expert on battery, electricity storage, and chemical based energy generation)
I'm not sure why every single notebook manufacturer is going for almost the exact same battery life, but I'd really like to know why that is.
Maybe because there are only about 10 factories/companies in the world that are capable of manufacturing these machines. Many of the big names like IBM, Apple, Dell outsource the production of these machines to companies like Flextronics, Quanta, Acer.
The components used in the production for all the different companies are mainly the same and made by pretty much the same bunch of people.
You know the scene in Armageddon where they were trying to escape and the shuttle wouldn't power up and the comsonaut said.
American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan.
And I do agree with you, would be nice if vendors would put a bigger battery at the expense of some other component to significantly increase the battery life and hopefully not increase the weight significantly
You are also doing more stuff with your new notebook which can mean more disk access, bigger LCD screens, etc.
Bet you weren't watching dvd movies or divx off your 486 notebook.
Also I don't think battery technology has improved much over the years, at least not at the rate that other components have improved.
We're still at lithium-ion based, far as I know and i could be way off on this, which began seeing mass usage in the early 90s and I've still seen some nickel-hydride ones in new electronic gadgets.
Why is everyone so concerned about this, and China is always used as an example.. There's a gazillion people in China, and there aren't a gazillion ip addresses for them. yada yada yada
Let's see if my reasoning holds up.
1. Anyone ever bothered to find out the ratio of # of people to computer/net-capable device ratio? I wouldn't be surprised if it was like 10000 people to 1 computer/net-capable device.
2. I highly doubt a country like China or heck even India is going to get a significant amount of people in their country surfing or using the net from their own system at home. Why do you think net cafes are so popular in asia? People either can't afford to have their own puter and isp service or they don't even bother.
3. US and possibly Europe isn't as gadget oriented as Asia. Asians love gadgets, I would bet good money that in the next 5-10 years, most asians will be online using their mobile phones or a terminal at a net cafe rather than on a PC at home.
4. Even in countries considered industrailized in Asia (Japan is the only real country that can be in this class), try doing a poll in the streets of tokyo, pretty sure you get something like 1 out of every 1000 who can explain to you or even heard of what is an IP address. Asians just don't care.
5. Within my limited scope of interaction, I have not seen a company, tech or otherwise owning a Class "*" address other than telcos, and ISP in asia. Most companies that I have interacted with all co-loc their servers at data-centers, and their office connections are almost always entirely NAT-based setup.
Cheers
GSM is far from dead. Maybe in the US, its dead, but then in most parts of the world its quite alive.
Its all a matter of numbers. Asia and Europe have a much higher subscriber based and churn rate for cell phones than the US. Some numbers as of 2002. GSM subscribers in China: 160 million accounts CDMA subscribers in China: 500,000 accounts GSM subscribers in Indonesia: 9 million accounts CDMA subscribers in Indonesia: 50,000 accounts
Given that with the exception of Japan and Korea the other countries in Asia are all using GSM, I really highly doubt GSM is gonna bite the dust. Pretty sure the user ratios situation is similar in Europe
BTW the rate at which people buy new cell phones in Asia is quite close to Moore's Law. Most white-collared types in Asia get a new phone every 6-8 months.
When i lived in NYC and Boston, I never saw the kind of cell phone churn rates nor ever saw evidence that cell phone usage is as pervalent as in Europe or Asia. Highly doubt any country comes close to China's 160 million GSM subscriber accounts.
Far as I understand UTMS is a descendant or an evolution of GSM. When it comes to business, it all comes down to numbers, not which technology is better, how many units you can sell. Windows, VHS are just 2 examples of sub-par tech winning over due to sheer volume of sales alone.
Pretty sure the US will be dominated by CDMA as for the rest of the world I'm hedging my bets on UTMS
Slashdot Mirror
I beg to differ here. The faster a HD has to spin, the more power it eats up, the brighter an LCD screen is the more power it eats up and the newer screens are definitely much brighter than the older ones.
And since battery technology hasn't really improved much, its all about how much power can be stored in the battery. Notebooks are also getting smaller which means sometimes the battery packed into it is smaller which means less space to store the chemicals required to hold the stored energy or some shit like that. (not an expert on battery, electricity storage, and chemical based energy generation)
Maybe because there are only about 10 factories/companies in the world that are capable of manufacturing these machines. Many of the big names like IBM, Apple, Dell outsource the production of these machines to companies like Flextronics, Quanta, Acer.
The components used in the production for all the different companies are mainly the same and made by pretty much the same bunch of people.
You know the scene in Armageddon where they were trying to escape and the shuttle wouldn't power up and the comsonaut said.
American components, Russian components, all made in Taiwan.
And I do agree with you, would be nice if vendors would put a bigger battery at the expense of some other component to significantly increase the battery life and hopefully not increase the weight significantly
The VPs/Division Heads/CEOs also can't be bothered with learning new clients. Most are familiar with outlook series.
The tech industry is only a small portion of the market. Pretty sure the higher ups in tech companies will actually consider what you suggested.
BUT try convincing the higher ups at an investment bank or traditional manufacturing industries.. Good luck...
You are also doing more stuff with your new notebook which can mean more disk access, bigger LCD screens, etc. Bet you weren't watching dvd movies or divx off your 486 notebook. Also I don't think battery technology has improved much over the years, at least not at the rate that other components have improved. We're still at lithium-ion based, far as I know and i could be way off on this, which began seeing mass usage in the early 90s and I've still seen some nickel-hydride ones in new electronic gadgets.
Why is everyone so concerned about this, and China is always used as an example.. There's a gazillion people in China, and there aren't a gazillion ip addresses for them. yada yada yada Let's see if my reasoning holds up. 1. Anyone ever bothered to find out the ratio of # of people to computer/net-capable device ratio? I wouldn't be surprised if it was like 10000 people to 1 computer/net-capable device. 2. I highly doubt a country like China or heck even India is going to get a significant amount of people in their country surfing or using the net from their own system at home. Why do you think net cafes are so popular in asia? People either can't afford to have their own puter and isp service or they don't even bother. 3. US and possibly Europe isn't as gadget oriented as Asia. Asians love gadgets, I would bet good money that in the next 5-10 years, most asians will be online using their mobile phones or a terminal at a net cafe rather than on a PC at home. 4. Even in countries considered industrailized in Asia (Japan is the only real country that can be in this class), try doing a poll in the streets of tokyo, pretty sure you get something like 1 out of every 1000 who can explain to you or even heard of what is an IP address. Asians just don't care. 5. Within my limited scope of interaction, I have not seen a company, tech or otherwise owning a Class "*" address other than telcos, and ISP in asia. Most companies that I have interacted with all co-loc their servers at data-centers, and their office connections are almost always entirely NAT-based setup. Cheers
GSM is far from dead. Maybe in the US, its dead, but then in most parts of the world its quite alive.
Its all a matter of numbers. Asia and Europe have a much higher subscriber based and churn rate for cell phones than the US. Some numbers as of 2002.
GSM subscribers in China: 160 million accounts
CDMA subscribers in China: 500,000 accounts
GSM subscribers in Indonesia: 9 million accounts
CDMA subscribers in Indonesia: 50,000 accounts
Given that with the exception of Japan and Korea the other countries in Asia are all using GSM, I really highly doubt GSM is gonna bite the dust. Pretty sure the user ratios situation is similar in Europe
BTW the rate at which people buy new cell phones in Asia is quite close to Moore's Law. Most white-collared types in Asia get a new phone every 6-8 months.
When i lived in NYC and Boston, I never saw the kind of cell phone churn rates nor ever saw evidence that cell phone usage is as pervalent as in Europe or Asia. Highly doubt any country comes close to China's 160 million GSM subscriber accounts.
Far as I understand UTMS is a descendant or an evolution of GSM. When it comes to business, it all comes down to numbers, not which technology is better, how many units you can sell. Windows, VHS are just 2 examples of sub-par tech winning over due to sheer volume of sales alone.
Pretty sure the US will be dominated by CDMA as for the rest of the world I'm hedging my bets on UTMS