Maybe it's not about economics? AMD isn't doing this to turn a profit. They're not going to be making these PCs forever, or even participating in this project forever. That means there is a finite amount of PCs. For every one of those PCs that is in the hands of a rich person, a poor person goes without internet access.
I don't need to google for economics of scale, as this isn't about economics but altruism. I guess that's just white noise to you.
Why is it useful knowledge to have? No-one here should be getting their hands on one.
Shouldn't people who NEED them get them before those who WANT one?
And, what do you think happens when AMD sells the last batch of PCs, and there are still poor people left who want them? AMD isn't going to keep on making them until all the poor people have them - they're going to make a quota, and sell them all. If rich people get them, that means poor people don't.
Though, if a toy is more important to you than a way out of poverty for poor people, then fine.
Exactly. Economics principles. I'm looking at it from a humanitarian side.
I can go eat some food destined for hungry people, and according to your logic, it's cool, as more food can be grown and sold. However, for a really hungry person who wanted that food, that's hardly a consolation.
I know financially it's not going to hurt anyone - of course that's the case. I do know, however, that people NEED these machines, and they should get them before those who WANT the machines.
You're looking at it from a business point of view. These boxes are made for people who need them. If someone buys one who doesn't need one, someone who DOES need one can't buy it - they have to get another one, which could take time.
They're trying to help people who NEED these PCs, not stroke the egos of those who WANT them.
The computer is restricted to ensure people don't screw it up. If they install something weird on the first day and break it, they won't get a new one. It will be useful BECAUSE it's an internet appliance. A working internet appliance is infinitely more useful than a broken UberPC.
We're not talking about PCs for people who can very nearly afford them, but for people who have no hope in hell of buying one. If they break, the owner is screwed.
These PCs are part of the 50x15 initiative. They're intended for poor countries. Any of these machines that get eaten up by rich people looking to play is as ridiculous as me washing my car in blood plasma.
Either way, these machines aren't targetted at you, but at people who's only route to buying a PC is this one.
It doesn't matter who's gaining from what, if someone buys one of these PCs and takes it home as a toy, they've deprived that PC from going to someone who actually NEEDS it, not WANTS it.
Yes, they're chastised because it's not for this purpose. It's supposed to be for charity, a heavily subsidised box sold to poor people who otherwise couldn't afford one. Trivialising it by suggesting it's some sort of geek toy is just pathetic. It's like eating emergency red cross rations when you're high with the munchies. Sure, it can do the job, but it was intended for a much more righteous purpose.
It is an internet appliance, not a study tool for a CS degree. That's the whole idea of these guys - hardened PCs for using the internet.
Installing a C++ compiler is a really silly idea. Would you recommend someone trying out their engineering ideas on their own kidney dialysis machine? No - it's too important for that.
Of course I understand the difference between the two. I also read the article, and can see that this is an internet appliance, not a general-purpose family PC.
I don't think anyone will be upgrading these with geforce cards, or thinking about SCSI.
Oh dear. I see YOU've not read the article either.
The boxes are for use by poor people. These boxes are supposed to be a trouble-free way of getting on the net. Microsoft have supplied a cut-down, hardened, very stable operating system for use on it. Yes, it might cost more per copy, but if it runs much longer than the comparable linux solution, it's cheaper, as no-one has to drive hundreds of miles out to the PC to fix it.
They don't want "to give MS a bone" - they want to do what they set out to do - provide cheap reliable PCs to poor people who can't afford otherwise.
Anyway, if a linux option was chosen, who's going to make the special hardened version? Who has the financial clout to guarantee the project goes through? To assure the buyers that the OS isn't flakey? Exactly.
How the fuck is this off-topic? I'm discussing the machine itself. I'm noting how this guy clearly missed 100% the intended use for this PC. I'm relating the information to them in a form hopefully they can understand. Offtopic? genius.
These machines aren't for you. Just like you don't eat someone else's subsidised soup, you shouldn't buy this PC. Yes, it's cheap, but you can afford to buy a proper one. The people these boxes are intended for can't. If you take one, it means someone who needs one can't.
The fewer the features, the less can go wrong. These boxes are supposed to be zero-maintainance. As in, someone buys one, they never EVER need to get fixed.
These computers aren't for you. They're not for anyone you know. They're probably not for anyone in your country.
They're for people who make just over $1,000 A YEAR (not week).
If they put linux on there, it would need a larger storage device and technical support. That's why it's not on there.
Why don't you just make a bong out of a kidney dialysis machine? Or play baseball with donor kidneys? These are boxes for poor people. They're not made for students in their expensive colleges to do "cool" projects. You are all concerned about your "Windows CE vs. Linux" choice, whereas the intended customers for this machine are more worried about feeding themselves and not getting shot at.
Because no-one will support a linux install on the box, most likely.
They use Windows because Microsoft will support the installations. They will custom-write a version of their own OS, and ensure it's as hardened as possible. Who's going to do that for a linux port? Which company is going to write the "encrypted handshake" software for Linux? Exactly. With no central "linux" organisation, no-one can do this work.
Don't be disappointed with AMD - these boxes aren't for you. You're already on the internet, so that's obvious. These boxes are for remote areas where there is no tech support. If someone's linux box goes tits up because the 14-year-old Finnish kid who wrote the distro they picked made some mistake, no-one will be able to get to it, and the owners will have no idea what to do.
So, basically, they chose MS because they could get closer to what they needed.
It's for poor people who can't afford to get online. People who make $1,000-$6,000 PER YEAR. They are people who don't care about linux, who don't want to install p2p, who don't want 17 different media players for their downloaded simpsons.
This PC is not for you, so the fact you don't like it means absolutely zero.
You moaning about it is like if you went to a soup kitchen, moved some starving people out of the way, tried the soup and proclaimed very loudly "This soup tastes like shit! I'm off to a fancy restaurant for a steak!". You don't see the point, as you can afford something better. Not everyone can. Count yourself lucky, don't put down their only option.
The whole idea is to allow poor people to get on the internet. That doesn't involve installing your favourite distro to show to your mates, tweaking the CAS timing of the ram, or installing the latest 3D screensaver.
Just assume it is something from space. We know the exposure time. We can see that whatever it was covered a massive distance in 1/20s. I mean, we can see it covered a distance nearly 1km long. That road is far away, and we can see a great distance into the sky. 20km/s? that's pretty quick. If it was something going through the athmosphere at that speed, you'd hear it, and you'd DEFINITELY see something where it hit, regardless of size.
Of course, I know nothing, so this could all be bollocks.
This is slashdot. We constantly call things the wrong names, attribute the wrong functionality to the wrong things, etc. I think we're in no position to get on our collective high-horse and pretend this actually matters.
Evolutions goals don't change at all - I don't know where you got that idea from. Evolution is a process. The process is continual. It's just the materials which get processed that change...
Evolution strives as much as physics does - that is not at all. Both happen as a result of the physical makeup of the universe. Their "goals" remain the same - as goal of multiplication remains the same, as does that of subtraction:)
Slashdot Mirror
I don't need to google for economics of scale, as this isn't about economics but altruism. I guess that's just white noise to you.
Shouldn't people who NEED them get them before those who WANT one?
And, what do you think happens when AMD sells the last batch of PCs, and there are still poor people left who want them? AMD isn't going to keep on making them until all the poor people have them - they're going to make a quota, and sell them all. If rich people get them, that means poor people don't.
Though, if a toy is more important to you than a way out of poverty for poor people, then fine.
I can go eat some food destined for hungry people, and according to your logic, it's cool, as more food can be grown and sold. However, for a really hungry person who wanted that food, that's hardly a consolation.
I know financially it's not going to hurt anyone - of course that's the case. I do know, however, that people NEED these machines, and they should get them before those who WANT the machines.
They're trying to help people who NEED these PCs, not stroke the egos of those who WANT them.
We're not talking about PCs for people who can very nearly afford them, but for people who have no hope in hell of buying one. If they break, the owner is screwed.
These PCs are part of the 50x15 initiative. They're intended for poor countries. Any of these machines that get eaten up by rich people looking to play is as ridiculous as me washing my car in blood plasma.
It doesn't matter who's gaining from what, if someone buys one of these PCs and takes it home as a toy, they've deprived that PC from going to someone who actually NEEDS it, not WANTS it.
Yes, they're chastised because it's not for this purpose. It's supposed to be for charity, a heavily subsidised box sold to poor people who otherwise couldn't afford one. Trivialising it by suggesting it's some sort of geek toy is just pathetic. It's like eating emergency red cross rations when you're high with the munchies. Sure, it can do the job, but it was intended for a much more righteous purpose.
Installing a C++ compiler is a really silly idea. Would you recommend someone trying out their engineering ideas on their own kidney dialysis machine? No - it's too important for that.
Of course I understand the difference between the two. I also read the article, and can see that this is an internet appliance, not a general-purpose family PC.
I don't think anyone will be upgrading these with geforce cards, or thinking about SCSI.
The boxes are for use by poor people. These boxes are supposed to be a trouble-free way of getting on the net. Microsoft have supplied a cut-down, hardened, very stable operating system for use on it. Yes, it might cost more per copy, but if it runs much longer than the comparable linux solution, it's cheaper, as no-one has to drive hundreds of miles out to the PC to fix it.
They don't want "to give MS a bone" - they want to do what they set out to do - provide cheap reliable PCs to poor people who can't afford otherwise.
Anyway, if a linux option was chosen, who's going to make the special hardened version? Who has the financial clout to guarantee the project goes through? To assure the buyers that the OS isn't flakey? Exactly.
How the fuck is this off-topic? I'm discussing the machine itself. I'm noting how this guy clearly missed 100% the intended use for this PC. I'm relating the information to them in a form hopefully they can understand. Offtopic? genius.
You're giving "the website" direct control of your hardware as much as you do when you install linux from net-borne ISOs.
FUD. I thought slashdot didn't like anti-linux FUD? I guess any pro-slashdot FUD is cool, though.
If you use a niche OS, expect niche support. :)
that'd be cool with you?
These computers aren't for you. They're not for anyone you know. They're probably not for anyone in your country.
They're for people who make just over $1,000 A YEAR (not week).
If they put linux on there, it would need a larger storage device and technical support. That's why it's not on there.
Why don't you just make a bong out of a kidney dialysis machine? Or play baseball with donor kidneys? These are boxes for poor people. They're not made for students in their expensive colleges to do "cool" projects. You are all concerned about your "Windows CE vs. Linux" choice, whereas the intended customers for this machine are more worried about feeding themselves and not getting shot at.
They use Windows because Microsoft will support the installations. They will custom-write a version of their own OS, and ensure it's as hardened as possible. Who's going to do that for a linux port? Which company is going to write the "encrypted handshake" software for Linux? Exactly. With no central "linux" organisation, no-one can do this work.
Don't be disappointed with AMD - these boxes aren't for you. You're already on the internet, so that's obvious. These boxes are for remote areas where there is no tech support. If someone's linux box goes tits up because the 14-year-old Finnish kid who wrote the distro they picked made some mistake, no-one will be able to get to it, and the owners will have no idea what to do.
So, basically, they chose MS because they could get closer to what they needed.
It's for poor people who can't afford to get online. People who make $1,000-$6,000 PER YEAR. They are people who don't care about linux, who don't want to install p2p, who don't want 17 different media players for their downloaded simpsons.
This PC is not for you, so the fact you don't like it means absolutely zero.
You moaning about it is like if you went to a soup kitchen, moved some starving people out of the way, tried the soup and proclaimed very loudly "This soup tastes like shit! I'm off to a fancy restaurant for a steak!". You don't see the point, as you can afford something better. Not everyone can. Count yourself lucky, don't put down their only option.
The whole idea is to allow poor people to get on the internet. That doesn't involve installing your favourite distro to show to your mates, tweaking the CAS timing of the ram, or installing the latest 3D screensaver.
It's not meant to be the latest uberPC.
Yes, we all want stuff for free, sometimes it just doesn't happen.
For a community that puts so much weight behind a certain license, you sure seem keen on pissing on everyone elses' :)
Of course, I know nothing, so this could all be bollocks.
These statistics are pulled out of peoples' asses to prove whatever point someone wants to make on any given day.
This is slashdot. We constantly call things the wrong names, attribute the wrong functionality to the wrong things, etc. I think we're in no position to get on our collective high-horse and pretend this actually matters.
That's a social phenomenon, not a genetic thing. I thought we were having a scientific discussion, not a sociological one :)
Evolution strives as much as physics does - that is not at all. Both happen as a result of the physical makeup of the universe. Their "goals" remain the same - as goal of multiplication remains the same, as does that of subtraction :)