The inluence of Microsoft in todays computing environment is akin to the AT&T telephone monopoly in the 80's. It's everywhere. Whole corporations and governemnt branches use Windows, along with roughly 90% of the general public user base.
Something that large and important to daily life collapsing would cause havoc. No one can kill Microsoft just like no one could kill AT&T.
Microsoft will either slowly morph over time, or the government will finally stop filling it's coiffers with M$ and split the company up like they should have done.
In either case, eliminating M$ would need to be done over the period of decades, not days. The costs would be too great (especially for companies who entire infrastructure runs off Windows).
Now, would the industry improve? Possibly.
There would be the next OS war. Apple versus Linux. Apple would most likely win at this point mainly because of brand recognition (how many people own iPods vs. how many people run Linux). Apple would begin doing a major marketing and PR stint to fill th gap and take M$ place. They are, after all, a business and businesses need to make money.
Apple would begin to leverage their new found power in ways to best suite them. We'd start seeing some similarites to the old M$ days. Slashmonkeys would be writing about how much Apple sucks... while(i = 1);
In short, we would end up right back where we started.
So where's Linux? That's the wild card. Linux has only recently become more targeted towards the Joe Sixpack user (Mandriva). With some more work, I think it could be a contender. With MS gone, vendors would most likely open up their drivers and with a concerted effort by the community I think Linux could take the place of Windows.
The point is even with MS gone, there are other commercial entities that would need to be dealt with. If it's not MS, it's Apple, if it's not Apple, it someone else.
For Linux to become the dominate operating system, it needs to become the OS that everyone wants, while being the OS that everyone needs. And it's not quite there yet.
The media companies are moving to place themselves in the same position as the Catholic church did during the Inquisition.
Those in power in the governemnt go along with it because they need those corporations to help them stay in power.
A mutually beneficial relationships forms. The media companies want more control so they ask/pay the government. The government agrees so they can have more control as well.
Eventually all information will be controled, and the masses will follow (except for the rare few who go against the "establishment").
It's brave new world, and a majority of Americans are helping it.
"Sure, it might be the best thing for the country to prevent the hijacking of a plane like that - but the country and any victims in question are far away and poorly defined in our minds. The little girl with a razor blade to her throat standing in a pool of her fathers blood is right outside the door."
Pre 9-11:
"Alright...we'll do whatever you ask. Let the girl go and we'll come out slowly..."
Post 9-11:
Co-pilot: "They've got a little girl! They're going to kill her!"
Captain: "If we open that door, we're all dead. And the people in the city they're going to drive this jet into, they're dead. We do not open this door."
I would like you to find me one 747 pilot now who would open that door to a hijacker. Not a single one would do it, because now they know the consequences. In fact, only a complete idiot would open that door, becaus now we know that if you open the door everyone is dead. Not just on the plane, but everyone that they use plane to hit.
The little girl in your situation would die in either case.
I think what movie studios should do is release low-res versions of their movies on the internet. People could download them, and if they liked the movie enough they'd go see it in a theater or buy the DVD.
As it stands right now, you pay money to see a movie based on a trailer, which of course only highlights the best parts. This is a little deceptive; sort of like buying a car after only getting to sit in the seat.
However, if people can "test-drive" movies they would make better purchasing decision. They may even end up buying more movies because they could suddenly become exposed to a wider range of materials.
I think this could also work for the music industry, sort of like an on-demand radio but free.
For some people, the low res versions would be enough (just like some people who only listen to the radio or only watch movies on public stations). But most, if they like the material, would willingly go out and buy it.
I think this would reduce the amount of piracy while at the same time increase diversity and sales. Unleashing these files into the P2P networks would be the most widespread advertising you could possibly hope for, and it's comepletely free. There's zero distribution cost. The internet community would do all the work for you.
The media conglomerates view the internet and p2p networks as an enemy. They don't realize that they're missing one of the largest free sources of advertising and revenue in the world. Instead of fighting your consumers, encourage them. Get them to expand their horizons. Their feedback to the companies would be quite valuable, along with their dollars.
Let people download full low-res movies and songs. Let people experiement with their tastes. Let people find what they like instead of shoving it down their throats. Find out what your consumers want. Then the people will come asking for it and be willing to pay for it.
The risk is lowered. The profits are higher. And both consumers and companies would be happy.
"Stop letting TV control your view, and check things out for yourselves. It might be interesting to see what is going on outside of the living room."
You're missing the point. Americans don't want to know what's going on outside of their living rooms. Most of our populace has become so self-centered, so caught up in their own lives, that they don't know or care to know what's happening in their own country, let alone the world.
We have stories like "The Runaway Bride" and Jacko's trial taking top spots in the news instead of things like the Real ID act, human rights abuses, and the devastation and death caused in name of "fighting terrorism".
As long as something doesn't interfere with their daily lives, most people in the US just won't get riled up.
The founding fathers of this country would have laid down their arms and surrendered if they knew their hard work for our freedoms would have been cast aside so carelessy.
With a little programming, you can change fonts to Arial Chicken Scratch, which is a sight upgrade.
However,if you let the processor idle too long or it gets caught up in another task, the system has a tendency to revert to the Wingdings in obnoxiously large point sizes.
Listen dude,you can drain a little milliwat LED laser diode in under a half hour of use. Unless you have a portable nuclear power plant, you're not going to do anything with that laser.
Not to mention the fact it's the size of a football stadium.
But this is only part of the problem. Atmosphere is another. Our atmosphere is notorious for absorbing massive amounts of energy. Even really strong lasers (such as the one they're trying to use to vaporize missles) don't have much of a range. And they're still big and require a lot of power.
This laser would be impractical for demolition or making super alloys. The laser is only on for a brief fraction of a second and requires the precision focus of 192 beams.
This laser is limited in what it can be used for. But it can do the things we can't right now.
Slashdot Mirror
You forgot:
Inidiana Jones and The Cure for Incontinence
Indiana Jones and The Curse of the Broken Hip
Indiana Jones: Raiders of The Lost...zzzzzzzz
Indiana Jones: What? Oh yeah...Raiders of The Lost...Lost...what were talking about?
Indiana Jones and the Last Nap
Indiana Jones in Korea
Indiana Jones: The Search for his Illegitimate Grandchildren
Indiana Jones and the Race of Golden Wheelchair
Indiana Jones: Revenge of the Phisher
~X~
Microsoft won't die. However it will change.
... while(i = 1);
The inluence of Microsoft in todays computing environment is akin to the AT&T telephone monopoly in the 80's. It's everywhere. Whole corporations and governemnt branches use Windows, along with roughly 90% of the general public user base.
Something that large and important to daily life collapsing would cause havoc. No one can kill Microsoft just like no one could kill AT&T.
Microsoft will either slowly morph over time, or the government will finally stop filling it's coiffers with M$ and split the company up like they should have done.
In either case, eliminating M$ would need to be done over the period of decades, not days. The costs would be too great (especially for companies who entire infrastructure runs off Windows).
Now, would the industry improve? Possibly.
There would be the next OS war. Apple versus Linux. Apple would most likely win at this point mainly because of brand recognition (how many people own iPods vs. how many people run Linux). Apple would begin doing a major marketing and PR stint to fill th gap and take M$ place. They are, after all, a business and businesses need to make money.
Apple would begin to leverage their new found power in ways to best suite them. We'd start seeing some similarites to the old M$ days. Slashmonkeys would be writing about how much Apple sucks
In short, we would end up right back where we started.
So where's Linux? That's the wild card. Linux has only recently become more targeted towards the Joe Sixpack user (Mandriva). With some more work, I think it could be a contender. With MS gone, vendors would most likely open up their drivers and with a concerted effort by the community I think Linux could take the place of Windows.
The point is even with MS gone, there are other commercial entities that would need to be dealt with. If it's not MS, it's Apple, if it's not Apple, it someone else.
For Linux to become the dominate operating system, it needs to become the OS that everyone wants, while being the OS that everyone needs. And it's not quite there yet.
~X~
"It could be ten years before they're ground down enough to be in financial trouble."
It'll be much longer than that. Despite all the anti-MS sentiment on here, they didn't get to where they are today by employing idiots.
~X~
The British Empire took centuries to fall. It didn't collapse in 20 years.
~X~
The excited scientists set up a new experiment to show this, but were perplexed when they started getting photons flying out of the test chamber.
Curiously they formed a pattern:
ALL U BASES ARE BELONG TO US! W00T!
Do you honestly think that the megacorps will make that distinction?
~X~
I've felt like this for most of my life. :(
~X~
"...how can the general public be made aware of this?"
Blogs.
Lots of Blogs.
~X~
The media companies are moving to place themselves in the same position as the Catholic church did during the Inquisition.
Those in power in the governemnt go along with it because they need those corporations to help them stay in power.
A mutually beneficial relationships forms. The media companies want more control so they ask/pay the government. The government agrees so they can have more control as well.
Eventually all information will be controled, and the masses will follow (except for the rare few who go against the "establishment").
It's brave new world, and a majority of Americans are helping it.
~X~
What about some others that I occasionally use?
Engorgeous: Adj. Someone so hot that you get instantly aroused.
Orafucked: Verb. When someone screws you over so bad that it feels like they raped your every orifice.
~X~
Pushing for Real ID? They passed it already. Attached to a war spending bill no less.
~X~
Acceptable security?
It's interesting to watch a great free nation spiral down the toilet of oblivion.
Apathy and self-centeredness will destroy this country.
~X~
What makes you think all this additional screening is to protect "the people" from terrorists?
They don't want hijackers ramming another financial district or D.C. or some bigwig CEO's penthouse office.
Not killing the rest of us serfs is just a fringe benefit.
It also allows them to pass such lovely fascist legislation as the PATRIOT act, Real ID, and other crap because "it's good for us".
And let's not forget all the good those wars are doing.
I'm sorry...am I being cynical again?
~X~
"Sure, it might be the best thing for the country to prevent the hijacking of a plane like that - but the country and any victims in question are far away and poorly defined in our minds. The little girl with a razor blade to her throat standing in a pool of her fathers blood is right outside the door."
Pre 9-11:
"Alright...we'll do whatever you ask. Let the girl go and we'll come out slowly..."
Post 9-11:
Co-pilot: "They've got a little girl! They're going to kill her!"
Captain: "If we open that door, we're all dead. And the people in the city they're going to drive this jet into, they're dead. We do not open this door."
I would like you to find me one 747 pilot now who would open that door to a hijacker. Not a single one would do it, because now they know the consequences. In fact, only a complete idiot would open that door, becaus now we know that if you open the door everyone is dead. Not just on the plane, but everyone that they use plane to hit.
The little girl in your situation would die in either case.
~X~
UberUberGuber Geeks have an abacus for a screen.
~X~
I imagine if you ever wrote a line of code like in a project, someone would pinata your ass (wrap you in paper mache and beat you with a stick).
~X~
I think what movie studios should do is release low-res versions of their movies on the internet. People could download them, and if they liked the movie enough they'd go see it in a theater or buy the DVD.
As it stands right now, you pay money to see a movie based on a trailer, which of course only highlights the best parts. This is a little deceptive; sort of like buying a car after only getting to sit in the seat.
However, if people can "test-drive" movies they would make better purchasing decision. They may even end up buying more movies because they could suddenly become exposed to a wider range of materials.
I think this could also work for the music industry, sort of like an on-demand radio but free.
For some people, the low res versions would be enough (just like some people who only listen to the radio or only watch movies on public stations). But most, if they like the material, would willingly go out and buy it.
I think this would reduce the amount of piracy while at the same time increase diversity and sales. Unleashing these files into the P2P networks would be the most widespread advertising you could possibly hope for, and it's comepletely free. There's zero distribution cost. The internet community would do all the work for you.
The media conglomerates view the internet and p2p networks as an enemy. They don't realize that they're missing one of the largest free sources of advertising and revenue in the world. Instead of fighting your consumers, encourage them. Get them to expand their horizons. Their feedback to the companies would be quite valuable, along with their dollars.
Let people download full low-res movies and songs. Let people experiement with their tastes. Let people find what they like instead of shoving it down their throats. Find out what your consumers want. Then the people will come asking for it and be willing to pay for it.
The risk is lowered. The profits are higher. And both consumers and companies would be happy.
Could this work?
~X~
"Stop letting TV control your view, and check things out for yourselves. It might be interesting to see what is going on outside of the living room."
You're missing the point. Americans don't want to know what's going on outside of their living rooms. Most of our populace has become so self-centered, so caught up in their own lives, that they don't know or care to know what's happening in their own country, let alone the world.
We have stories like "The Runaway Bride" and Jacko's trial taking top spots in the news instead of things like the Real ID act, human rights abuses, and the devastation and death caused in name of "fighting terrorism".
As long as something doesn't interfere with their daily lives, most people in the US just won't get riled up.
The founding fathers of this country would have laid down their arms and surrendered if they knew their hard work for our freedoms would have been cast aside so carelessy.
~X~
I'm hoping against hope that Joe and Jane Sixpak see RotS and realize that our country is beginning to follow in the footsteps of Palpatine's empire.
But the fact that we re-elected Bush really doesn't leave much room for this kind of hope.
~X~
Just like the moderators fail to understand that your post was sarcastic.
~X~
This proves once again that stupidity is the quickest path to the intensive care unit.
~X~
For disgusting hypocrisy, one need not look any further than our president.
Recently, he stated he would not "support any legislation that would take a life to preserve a life".
I thought that was damn hysterical coming from someone who started two fucking wars in four years.
Guess wars don't count.
~X~
With a little programming, you can change fonts to Arial Chicken Scratch, which is a sight upgrade.
However,if you let the processor idle too long or it gets caught up in another task, the system has a tendency to revert to the Wingdings in obnoxiously large point sizes.
~X~
Listen dude,you can drain a little milliwat LED laser diode in under a half hour of use. Unless you have a portable nuclear power plant, you're not going to do anything with that laser.
Not to mention the fact it's the size of a football stadium.
But this is only part of the problem. Atmosphere is another. Our atmosphere is notorious for absorbing massive amounts of energy. Even really strong lasers (such as the one they're trying to use to vaporize missles) don't have much of a range. And they're still big and require a lot of power.
This laser would be impractical for demolition or making super alloys. The laser is only on for a brief fraction of a second and requires the precision focus of 192 beams.
This laser is limited in what it can be used for. But it can do the things we can't right now.
~X~
After RotJ, I can just imagine Ewoks with Jedi powers trying to mind-trick Wookie females into bed.
The day will be saved by the muppets.
Ugh.
~X~