Eventually, we will switch to a higher definition format, whether it is these or something else. HVD might come out, but if the studios don't back it, it won't become a "content" format.
The reason I say "whether it is these or something else" is that HD-DVD/Blu-Ray may be too soon. In my case, I am fully aware that HD-DVD is higher quality, but my TV won't give me much improvement over DVD.
People switched to DVDs at various points, as the price went down, but also, it gave an improvement on your existing TV. If you don't upgrade your TV, HD gives you almost nothing.
I'm not sure that enough people will want a new TV to have this format. A lot of families have much higher priorities than replacing a functional TV to get better resolution. I lot of people I knew weren't willing to spend £100 (about $150) to get the extra resolution of DVD over VHS.
It appears that Sellafield's higher rate of leukemia is more related to the "new town" nature than having nuclear power plants, with a rural area suddenly growing and bringing in a town population. Towns like Corby also had higher rate of leukemia.
I still meet people who just describe it as ultraviolent rubbish, completely missing all the depth going on in the film. There's a load of politics in Robocop.
What makes him a part of the school? If I go and pay for a training course in a private institution, I'm a customer.
I can post my opinions on their course during the course. If they tried to kick me off during the course or "punish" me for this, I'd have a lawyer sending them a letter.
The most immature and insecure people are those who can't take a bit of name calling.
People who can say little better than calling someone a "cockmaster" don't need to be censored. Leave them alone to dig their own hole as being childish idiots. Seriously, that's not a statement that deserves your time and attention.
And while I'm on the "name calling" thing, to all the people out there who use terms like "M$", "Shrub" and "Bliar": When you use such terms, you make no valid argument. No floating voter or undecided user is going to be swayed by such language.
From what I understand, students going to this university can apply for Federal Student Aid. That means that the government is paying for some students.
In my book, at that point, you can no longer count yourselves completely as a "private institution".
I also wonder whether people will avoid it, and instead wait for things like higher resolution.
VHS to DVD was a big leap in terms of clarity, resolution, sound and usability. HD-DVD/Blu-Ray will give better resolution, although for most people, they will need a new TV set, and I know lots of friends who just won't bother. They'll get HDTV when their set breaks down.
Personally, I want to see something like 2000+ line resolution. Putting down a ton of money for new kit to see movies at barely better than DVD resolution isn't going to win me over.
I think it will go beyond niche, but it's going to take a very long time.
This could be an interesting situation. A lot of early adopters have bought into HD-Ready, and will be seriously annoyed if they can't watch HD movies. Maybe enough to create a black market in all sorts of equipment/devices to bypass it (or companies in foreign countries doing a good trade to Americans buying them).
I guess there are some people out there who can afford to go and buy a whole new HD TV, but most guys will be really cheesed off.
DVD offered a performance benefit to everyone. HD-DVD/Blu-Ray don't.
Right now, the TV equipment is similar to the broadcast/media quality. To enjoy HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, you'll need a new TV.
Some gadget freaks will pay up, but most people won't want to put down a grand just to watch films in higher quality. They'll wait until their TV dies and then get a new one.
I don't think the takeup is going to be like DVD was.
Right now, large organisations using open source software are making a contribution.
It may not be a financial contribution, but it's creating credibility. That's why Microsoft worked hard over Munich. Not because they cared in particular about losing Munich to Linux, but because they feared that a successful Linux implementation would create even more switchers.
I doubt that anyone will have much of a problem. And they've always got the PDF option and can print from Word to a PDF print driver.
Converting a Word document to ODF is no big deal. Open in OpenOffice.org, convert to.odf, print and proofread.
It may even be good for small business. A lot of small businesses don't even know about OpenOffice.org and this could act as a way to get the name out. I've switched a few who are using it now.
I use OOo Writer all the time because it does everything I need. I write things like system specifications with tables and embedded images. It's got numbering, it's got styles. In terms of switching, I had a little trouble with numbering, but that was a one-off investment of an hour of so learning how to do it, which is now done. Anyone who says that OOo is a massive switch cost for the average user is a shill or an idiot. I've given non-techies OOo and they get on fine with it.
I know it misses certain features, but I'm either not using them, or so rarely that I can live without.
A lot of large companies I know are still using Office 2000. It's good enough for them. Microsoft should be worried. Unless they can think up something radical to do with Office, they could lose the dominance of the document standard.
I used to work on mainframes, and remember when the first NT4 servers arrived. I was quite shocked at the downtime and flakiness of them.
I also remember soon after my dumb terminal was replaced by a PC, being told that the solution was the three-fingered-salute and then asking the tech support technician why I should do it, which of course had no explanation. I was surprised because on the mainframe, we just didn't have it "hang", it stayed up. If something went wrong, it was almost never down to the OS, but down to user error.
Businesses didn't used to accept this. A Windows PC crashing is just one of those things now.
I've just started using it after I found out that Nokia have written an emulator for Series 60 Symbian phones. I had a little play with it, and so far, I'm very impressed.
Slashdot Mirror
I've had servers set up for me, only to find that someone decided to do some maintenance and screw up the demo.
Eventually, we will switch to a higher definition format, whether it is these or something else. HVD might come out, but if the studios don't back it, it won't become a "content" format.
The reason I say "whether it is these or something else" is that HD-DVD/Blu-Ray may be too soon. In my case, I am fully aware that HD-DVD is higher quality, but my TV won't give me much improvement over DVD.
People switched to DVDs at various points, as the price went down, but also, it gave an improvement on your existing TV. If you don't upgrade your TV, HD gives you almost nothing.
I'm not sure that enough people will want a new TV to have this format. A lot of families have much higher priorities than replacing a functional TV to get better resolution. I lot of people I knew weren't willing to spend £100 (about $150) to get the extra resolution of DVD over VHS.
There's a Leukemia Research paper on this subjust at http://www.lrf.org.uk/images/leukclus_1090.pdf
I still meet people who just describe it as ultraviolent rubbish, completely missing all the depth going on in the film. There's a load of politics in Robocop.
I can post my opinions on their course during the course. If they tried to kick me off during the course or "punish" me for this, I'd have a lawyer sending them a letter.
probably worth a lot of letters creating a lot of stink. Bury the school boards in paper.
If people feel strongly, how about getting a link on your site to an article above this. Get the word out.
Dunno. It's a mystery, to be honest.
It was popular after I was born. Still boring, though.
People who can say little better than calling someone a "cockmaster" don't need to be censored. Leave them alone to dig their own hole as being childish idiots. Seriously, that's not a statement that deserves your time and attention.
And while I'm on the "name calling" thing, to all the people out there who use terms like "M$", "Shrub" and "Bliar": When you use such terms, you make no valid argument. No floating voter or undecided user is going to be swayed by such language.
In my book, at that point, you can no longer count yourselves completely as a "private institution".
You could. I had a few tapes with outtakes or documentaries. But it meant that if you wanted to see them, you had to run the tape to the right point.
VHS to DVD was a big leap in terms of clarity, resolution, sound and usability. HD-DVD/Blu-Ray will give better resolution, although for most people, they will need a new TV set, and I know lots of friends who just won't bother. They'll get HDTV when their set breaks down.
Personally, I want to see something like 2000+ line resolution. Putting down a ton of money for new kit to see movies at barely better than DVD resolution isn't going to win me over.
I think it will go beyond niche, but it's going to take a very long time.
I guess there are some people out there who can afford to go and buy a whole new HD TV, but most guys will be really cheesed off.
Right now, the TV equipment is similar to the broadcast/media quality. To enjoy HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, you'll need a new TV.
Some gadget freaks will pay up, but most people won't want to put down a grand just to watch films in higher quality. They'll wait until their TV dies and then get a new one.
I don't think the takeup is going to be like DVD was.
It may not be a financial contribution, but it's creating credibility. That's why Microsoft worked hard over Munich. Not because they cared in particular about losing Munich to Linux, but because they feared that a successful Linux implementation would create even more switchers.
Converting a Word document to ODF is no big deal. Open in OpenOffice.org, convert to .odf, print and proofread.
It may even be good for small business. A lot of small businesses don't even know about OpenOffice.org and this could act as a way to get the name out. I've switched a few who are using it now.
It's a fair point to raise, though.
Microsoft advertising on slashdot is like a pension company advertising on MTV.
In some cases, you may be right, but I have met a few small businessmen who want Word simply because they want 100% compatibility.
I know it misses certain features, but I'm either not using them, or so rarely that I can live without.
A lot of large companies I know are still using Office 2000. It's good enough for them. Microsoft should be worried. Unless they can think up something radical to do with Office, they could lose the dominance of the document standard.
I also remember soon after my dumb terminal was replaced by a PC, being told that the solution was the three-fingered-salute and then asking the tech support technician why I should do it, which of course had no explanation. I was surprised because on the mainframe, we just didn't have it "hang", it stayed up. If something went wrong, it was almost never down to the OS, but down to user error.
Businesses didn't used to accept this. A Windows PC crashing is just one of those things now.
Now I've just switched off Word completely.
I've just started using it after I found out that Nokia have written an emulator for Series 60 Symbian phones. I had a little play with it, and so far, I'm very impressed.