I do think, though, that there is something wrong. I've read some EV forums, and people who have had them on experiments found them excellent, and didn't want to give them back. There's two explanations - either none of the manufacturers want to do the whole shift in technology, or they are scared that electric cars would kill their spare parts market.
There's obviously a demand (I know quite a few people who would like electric - particularly as the running costs would be much lower at UK electric vs petrol prices), so why no supply?
Charging/range/speed isn't that much of an issue. I know lots of people for whom their second car does maybe 30 miles a day in town traffic. Electric would meet that just fine.
Hybrids are the worst of all worlds to me. A petrol engine and an electric motor? Thanks, I really want additional complication to save a few gallons around town.
The only hope is that an entrepreneur cut from the Steve Jobs/James Dyson cloth decides to create a company that builds one.
This will be a good thing for community relations. Some companies sponsor the local sports clubs or arts groups. This is another way.
It's also on slashdot, NBC, Yahoo and all sorts, giving lots of PR.
It might also yield some results as a social experiment.
All this for what cost? Bandwidth for 70,000 people and setting up a few hundred hotspots. Maybe a million bucks a year? Sounds like a good deal to me.
The CD is going nowhere. They are still the dominant format for music, something that the record companies can do nothing about. It's going to be hard to push a new format, because CDs provide a more-than-adequate format for mass music (the more advanced DVD Audio is the reserve of people with high-end equipment). In terms of audio quality, it's reached the peak.
Of course, the music industry might like to have dial-home media, but I don't seriously expect customers to like that idea - it gives no benefit to the customer and is most likely to disrupt their listening.
The up side is that people are hearing the name Linux. The more drivel that comes out, the more the name Linux is heard.
Right now, it may not be good, but the name is being established further through SCO's actions. If people think things are big, they make a judgement (often incorrectly) that the product isn't going away, that as lots of people are using it, it must be good.
This and all the other anti-Linux FUD is just giving it credibility. It's creating a view in some that Linux is bad, but this then can create dialogue regarding it.
I've heard this opinion a few times before. Seriously, is Halo so good that it's worth buying a $600 console for? I can buy a PC (including monitor) for a lot less than that.
I have a belief that things get better in the long run for good reason. Technology frequently gets beaten by better technologies. However much the defenders try and hold on, by FUD or lobbying, they lose eventually. If an idea is good it will win out in the end. Sure, in the short term it may lose, but eventually will get there.
Open standards are part of this - they do a better job for customers than closed ones do. Remember, people tried this with various services. How big are MSN, AOL, Compuserve and all that now?
I predict that the current cellphone companies are going to be in big trouble in a few years, when the wireless technology catches up and provides a cheaper service.
As the last article on this noted, there are a fair number of blind and deaf state workers who could not get by using OpenOffice.
The article says nothing of the sort. It only makes two assertions, one from Curtis Chong that Word already has certain features with regards to screen readers and braille printers, and also that someone from MA said that such workers would remain on Word.
Neither of these statements say that blind (and there's no reference to deaf whatsoever) workers could not get by using OpenOffice.
Which means you have to buy Windows. It also means that you can't programmatically read the data to process it, or generate documents programmatically.
As for PDF, it's all documented. Which means that you can write an application to convert it, your own reader or a program to generate them. For most people, talking to Word means either OLE to Word or using some reverse engineering code that can't guarantee compatibility.
I'll step up to the plate here and ask any blind computer users what their requirements are with regards to Open Office, braille printers and the interface to them.
I'll gladly contribute some time to help towards filling the gaps in.
OpenOffice is not a 100% Word-compatible document reader. That's the whole point of things like OpenDocument - that we can all read and understand the data (and build new readers and converters).
A Word viewer also ties them into Mac and Windows, and not only that, means that the data contained cannot be mined in any way by a computer program.
I've seen such things happen with Starbucks (and earlier on, McDonalds). Starbucks was quite cool when it first arrived. They were situated in places like university towns, or metropolitan areas.
Now, they are quite uncool, because you can go to almost any town and find one (2 where I live).
(Personally, I like their coffee, but it's too pricey, but I'm glad they came and created the "coffee revolution" in the UK).
I think so. Never mind that the "little shop around the corner" often sucked.
We have this in the UK. Everyone moaning about big bad Tesco. I remember local convenience stores in the 1970s/early 80s, and the quality of service, range, quality and (in real terms) prices were rubbish. Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrison, Asda and Waitrose give people what they want.
No it's not. People can choose you or anyone else. If they've picked you, it's because you are the best price/service they can find. Morally, I'm supplying the best the guy can get.
If people aren't prepared to find the information that I can, then too bad.
The major difference in most European countries is having a Proportional Representation (PR) system of voting, which at least means that if 10% of people vote for someone like Green, Libertarian, whatever, that they then get something close to 10% of the seats.
Slashdot Mirror
I do think, though, that there is something wrong. I've read some EV forums, and people who have had them on experiments found them excellent, and didn't want to give them back. There's two explanations - either none of the manufacturers want to do the whole shift in technology, or they are scared that electric cars would kill their spare parts market.
There's obviously a demand (I know quite a few people who would like electric - particularly as the running costs would be much lower at UK electric vs petrol prices), so why no supply?
Charging/range/speed isn't that much of an issue. I know lots of people for whom their second car does maybe 30 miles a day in town traffic. Electric would meet that just fine.
Hybrids are the worst of all worlds to me. A petrol engine and an electric motor? Thanks, I really want additional complication to save a few gallons around town.
The only hope is that an entrepreneur cut from the Steve Jobs/James Dyson cloth decides to create a company that builds one.
This will be a good thing for community relations. Some companies sponsor the local sports clubs or arts groups. This is another way.
It's also on slashdot, NBC, Yahoo and all sorts, giving lots of PR.
It might also yield some results as a social experiment.
All this for what cost? Bandwidth for 70,000 people and setting up a few hundred hotspots. Maybe a million bucks a year? Sounds like a good deal to me.
90 days is a PR number (about 3 months) and 28 days is a PR number. Neither are based on any process to determine what the correct amount required is.
The UK tried it in Northern Ireland, and most politicians from the time now believe that the resentment it created may have fueled terrorism.
I hope you got a lawyer on this case and pursued it to the limit for wrongful arrest.
Then Sony put it on the CDs.
I heard that Lite-on drives are the same bare drives that Sony sells. You may want to get verification of that.
The CD is going nowhere. They are still the dominant format for music, something that the record companies can do nothing about. It's going to be hard to push a new format, because CDs provide a more-than-adequate format for mass music (the more advanced DVD Audio is the reserve of people with high-end equipment). In terms of audio quality, it's reached the peak.
Of course, the music industry might like to have dial-home media, but I don't seriously expect customers to like that idea - it gives no benefit to the customer and is most likely to disrupt their listening.
Right now, it may not be good, but the name is being established further through SCO's actions. If people think things are big, they make a judgement (often incorrectly) that the product isn't going away, that as lots of people are using it, it must be good.
This and all the other anti-Linux FUD is just giving it credibility. It's creating a view in some that Linux is bad, but this then can create dialogue regarding it.
I've heard this opinion a few times before. Seriously, is Halo so good that it's worth buying a $600 console for? I can buy a PC (including monitor) for a lot less than that.
Open standards are part of this - they do a better job for customers than closed ones do. Remember, people tried this with various services. How big are MSN, AOL, Compuserve and all that now?
I predict that the current cellphone companies are going to be in big trouble in a few years, when the wireless technology catches up and provides a cheaper service.
These operate in the UK, along with people like Terry's, Bendicks, Green and Blacks. There's no monopoly.
Generally, the more free-market a country is, the more prosperous everyone in the country is.
The article says nothing of the sort. It only makes two assertions, one from Curtis Chong that Word already has certain features with regards to screen readers and braille printers, and also that someone from MA said that such workers would remain on Word.
Neither of these statements say that blind (and there's no reference to deaf whatsoever) workers could not get by using OpenOffice.
As for PDF, it's all documented. Which means that you can write an application to convert it, your own reader or a program to generate them. For most people, talking to Word means either OLE to Word or using some reverse engineering code that can't guarantee compatibility.
I'll gladly contribute some time to help towards filling the gaps in.
A Word viewer also ties them into Mac and Windows, and not only that, means that the data contained cannot be mined in any way by a computer program.
Well, there's no deception. I'm just offering something at a price. Take it or leave it.
Now, they are quite uncool, because you can go to almost any town and find one (2 where I live).
(Personally, I like their coffee, but it's too pricey, but I'm glad they came and created the "coffee revolution" in the UK).
We have this in the UK. Everyone moaning about big bad Tesco. I remember local convenience stores in the 1970s/early 80s, and the quality of service, range, quality and (in real terms) prices were rubbish. Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrison, Asda and Waitrose give people what they want.
If people aren't prepared to find the information that I can, then too bad.
The major difference in most European countries is having a Proportional Representation (PR) system of voting, which at least means that if 10% of people vote for someone like Green, Libertarian, whatever, that they then get something close to 10% of the seats.
I used to work with a blind programmer and one of his greatest concerns was the rise of the GUI - that with text based coding, he could do everything.
To me, it's just free market economics.
Frankly, the whole thing stinks of someone playing a PC card, but for other purposes.