I would agree that the patent system may well need reform but surely you'd have to agree that all the most techonologically advanced countries have a patent system of some sort. Either having a patent system boosts your rate of progress or it's a side effect of having a high rate of progress.
It just seems common sense that if a society rewards people for producing good ideas then it will get a boost from people who have to work for a living having idea hamster as a career option.
"Extraordinary interventions in the free market, that even entail curtailment of natural rights and liberties, demand extraordinary justification."
I think you have to take into account that countries that have a formal way of rewarding people who have good ideas seem to have the upper hand over the course of history, all other things being equal. A patent system or something like it seems to be one of the factors that boost technological progress over time.
Tell me about it. The comments have changed from "You never talk to me, all you do is sit on the computer all day." to "You never talk to me, all you do is use the phone all day.":) Plus the credit card's taken a bit of a battering with the memory stick duo, bluetooth gear,...
I was in the same as camp as you only more so. Right since the days of analog phones it was always latest phone / latest organiser. Except that my organiser bag was Psions, not Palms. Every where I went my phone & Psion came with me. Then it came to the point where I bought a wap phone. Played with it a couple of times then never used it again. What's more I liked the phone I'd just replaced more than my shiny new wap phone. So I just kept on with my old phone for ages with my fashionable friends looking aghast at this monolithic old Ericsson I was carrying...
Same story with the organisers. Always lusting after the latest Psion. Surfing the web (via the IR port on the telephone), emailing, keeping my diary & contacts with me all time. Then one day about two and a half years ago I suddenly noticed I'd stopped carrying my Psion around. The damn thing was too big. Wouldn't fit in some of my trouser pockets etc.
So there I was. Ancient cell phone, no organiser thinking that was the way it was always going to be. Then news started to filter through about a new phone organiser called the p800. It seemed to be everything I wanted. Phone sized, integrated email, web browser. You name it the p800 did it. So here l am lying in bed slashdotting on my phone. I can't fault it. The handwriting recognition is superb (none of those funny Palm squiggles). The opera web browser is great, good pop3 client, nice phone functions. It does so many cool things that the palm hedz at work like it too.
For me the Treo 600 is good but too big. Somebody's got there before handspring and done it better.
Slashdot Mirror
I would agree that the patent system may well need reform but surely you'd have to agree that all the most techonologically advanced countries have a patent system of some sort. Either having a patent system boosts your rate of progress or it's a side effect of having a high rate of progress.
It just seems common sense that if a society rewards people for producing good ideas then it will get a boost from people who have to work for a living having idea hamster as a career option.
"Extraordinary interventions in the free market, that even entail curtailment of natural rights and liberties, demand extraordinary justification."
I think you have to take into account that countries that have a formal way of rewarding people who have good ideas seem to have the upper hand over the course of history, all other things being equal. A patent system or something like it seems to be one of the factors that boost technological progress over time.
IP enabled telephone a contrived example? Except that I'm currently posting to slashdot on my telephone. Which is IPv6 compatible.
Tell me about it. The comments have changed from "You never talk to me, all you do is sit on the computer all day." to "You never talk to me, all you do is use the phone all day." :) Plus the credit card's taken a bit of a battering with the memory stick duo, bluetooth gear, ...
Don't give up yet.
I was in the same as camp as you only more so. Right since the days of analog phones it was always latest phone / latest organiser. Except that my organiser bag was Psions, not Palms. Every where I went my phone & Psion came with me. Then it came to the point where I bought a wap phone. Played with it a couple of times then never used it again. What's more I liked the phone I'd just replaced more than my shiny new wap phone. So I just kept on with my old phone for ages with my fashionable friends looking aghast at this monolithic old Ericsson I was carrying...
Same story with the organisers. Always lusting after the latest Psion. Surfing the web (via the IR port on the telephone), emailing, keeping my diary & contacts with me all time. Then one day about two and a half years ago I suddenly noticed I'd stopped carrying my Psion around. The damn thing was too big. Wouldn't fit in some of my trouser pockets etc.
So there I was. Ancient cell phone, no organiser thinking that was the way it was always going to be. Then news started to filter through about a new phone organiser called the p800. It seemed to be everything I wanted. Phone sized, integrated email, web browser. You name it the p800 did it. So here l am lying in bed slashdotting on my phone. I can't fault it. The handwriting recognition is superb (none of those funny Palm squiggles). The opera web browser is great, good pop3 client, nice phone functions. It does so many cool things that the palm hedz at work like it too.
For me the Treo 600 is good but too big. Somebody's got there before handspring and done it better.
These Niueans are obviously more cunning than we give them credit for. How on earth did they manage to get e-mail before dial up access?