First, you take a Chef Knife and with one hand, grab the jewels, and the other, slice them right off! Discarde fleshy bag and take two nuts in the hand. With a gient needle threaded with wire, string 'em up. Tie off the end, and nail one end to the roof.
Boy, M$ just can't win here at/. (Surprise?). They refuse to disconnect from WMP, Slashdotters go ballistic. They disconnect from WMP, Slashdotters call it crippled.
More than anything (even though it is a completely different issue), what keeps Linux "down" right now is not really the desk-top issue (we know it's not quite there), the business application issue (OpenOffice has issues, and there are very few Enterprise quality business apps), or software installation issues (not enough space here to talk about that!), what keeps Linux down is the IBM / SCO issue with Microsoft just tossing a bit more gas on the fire. I think we will see a major change in attitude from Enterprise buyers when IBM finally finishes off SCO. At the same time, we will see MS FUD become even sillier than it is right now, and people will just stop listening.
First, while your post may be "interesting", it is in fact "offtopic". But really, how can you possibly have any insight at all into the cell industry from any other position except low-level grunt, when you say you only worked there for no more than 5 months?
You say:
First they shoot themselves in the foot by selling phones for a penny that costs them several hundred dollars. Then, they try to get it back by selling all sorts of "extras."
Is this supposed to be a "secret"? It's not. Not only is it common knowledge that the phone itself is a "loss-leader", the companies themselves will tell you so. And think about it: when new technology in handsets is evolving at the rate it is, why would you want to pay the actual cost of the phone? If you want to, OK, but I sure don't want to pay actual cost for something that will be dated next month.
The billing errors alone probably make up some of the lost profit. I did not see a single billing error on any of my screens that were in favor of a customer.
And...
The pressure to get new "activations" is enormous. You are directed to say almost anything to get a new activation and then they deal with the lies on the backend.
Billing issues not exclusive to the cell phone industry, when you see one on your bill, you call 'em up and get it straightened out. What's your point? But what it actually seems like is that you worked customer non-service sweatshop-department (boiler room), so how does this give you great insight as to how the cell phone industry works as a whole?
I think that there is a fundamental difference in the way Europeans (and for some strange reason, I include Canadians in this) think about work and life vs. American. Europeans take an average of 5 weeks a year, and have very liberal work hours. And, they are at least as productive, if not more, than Americans. Sure, prices are higher there, but that's because they believe you have to pay a price for quality of life. But of course here in the USA, we have the right to own a gun. Woo hoo.
The recent Desktop Integration Bounty (funded by Novell) will surely please people who want Evolution to be part of GNOME. But the Ximian Evolution copyright assignment has stirred up concerns in the community about whether contributors will be able to maintain their Free Software mores.
Not everyone here or in the OSS "movement" is a GPL fanboy. So like the BSD lic.
"It's a numbers game as far as media buying is concerned. And anybody who can manipulate numbers gets the edge. This is unethical, and needs to be curbed."
And the tactics of the blood-sucking pop-up using ad leaches are never unethical? It's all the same game!
For forgetting to file some required paperwork on an otherwise completely legal transaction?
You do not "forget" to file paperwork in a 50 mil stock transaction. It's just Bill playing his game of "I'm so rich I really don't care. Anf FUCK YOU TOO."
For all the griping we do about the duplicitous nature of certain 'fair and balanced' news outlets (and their ilk), it would seem we'd hold Slashdot to some sort of standard.
Yes, well... Um... Yes. HEY! There's a, iPod story in the queue!
As with other violations of anti-trust laws and agreements between MS and the DOJ, Bill and his gang really don't care because the "fine" will always amount to pennies. Billy knows that the reality is he is above the law. What needs to happen here is something more substantial like the threat of jail.
Slashdot Mirror
Well than, go back to your vi and party down.
First, you take a Chef Knife and with one hand, grab the jewels, and the other, slice them right off! Discarde fleshy bag and take two nuts in the hand. With a gient needle threaded with wire, string 'em up. Tie off the end, and nail one end to the roof.
What does Roland Piquepaille think about this??
Boy, M$ just can't win here at /. (Surprise?). They refuse to disconnect from WMP, Slashdotters go ballistic. They disconnect from WMP, Slashdotters call it crippled.
I use strings of random char, and than write it on a sticky, and stick it to my monitor.
These two things are not mutually exclusive.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=200411211 24609671
More than anything (even though it is a completely different issue), what keeps Linux "down" right now is not really the desk-top issue (we know it's not quite there), the business application issue (OpenOffice has issues, and there are very few Enterprise quality business apps), or software installation issues (not enough space here to talk about that!), what keeps Linux down is the IBM / SCO issue with Microsoft just tossing a bit more gas on the fire. I think we will see a major change in attitude from Enterprise buyers when IBM finally finishes off SCO. At the same time, we will see MS FUD become even sillier than it is right now, and people will just stop listening.
The more Linux evolves, the more Windows becomes like Linux. What do you be that the folks at MS are watching this?
You say:
First they shoot themselves in the foot by selling phones for a penny that costs them several hundred dollars. Then, they try to get it back by selling all sorts of "extras."
Is this supposed to be a "secret"? It's not. Not only is it common knowledge that the phone itself is a "loss-leader", the companies themselves will tell you so. And think about it: when new technology in handsets is evolving at the rate it is, why would you want to pay the actual cost of the phone? If you want to, OK, but I sure don't want to pay actual cost for something that will be dated next month.
The billing errors alone probably make up some of the lost profit. I did not see a single billing error on any of my screens that were in favor of a customer.
And...
The pressure to get new "activations" is enormous. You are directed to say almost anything to get a new activation and then they deal with the lies on the backend.
Billing issues not exclusive to the cell phone industry, when you see one on your bill, you call 'em up and get it straightened out. What's your point? But what it actually seems like is that you worked customer non-service sweatshop-department (boiler room), so how does this give you great insight as to how the cell phone industry works as a whole?
I think that there is a fundamental difference in the way Europeans (and for some strange reason, I include Canadians in this) think about work and life vs. American. Europeans take an average of 5 weeks a year, and have very liberal work hours. And, they are at least as productive, if not more, than Americans. Sure, prices are higher there, but that's because they believe you have to pay a price for quality of life. But of course here in the USA, we have the right to own a gun. Woo hoo.
And in other news, editors at Slashdot jack eachother off.
Not everyone here or in the OSS "movement" is a GPL fanboy. So like the BSD lic.
You know it baby. The frosty mods know the flavor of COCK!
Yur some help, what with a four digit UID? Your spew is all over my hand.
God, is this place just a HUGE masturbation blog?
"It's a numbers game as far as media buying is concerned. And anybody who can manipulate numbers gets the edge. This is unethical, and needs to be curbed."
And the tactics of the blood-sucking pop-up using ad leaches are never unethical? It's all the same game!
More power to the click-for-cash moms.
That's why he does it EVERY WEEK OR SO. Clue? Got one?
You do not "forget" to file paperwork in a 50 mil stock transaction. It's just Bill playing his game of "I'm so rich I really don't care. Anf FUCK YOU TOO."
Yes, well... Um... Yes. HEY! There's a, iPod story in the queue!
As with other violations of anti-trust laws and agreements between MS and the DOJ, Bill and his gang really don't care because the "fine" will always amount to pennies. Billy knows that the reality is he is above the law. What needs to happen here is something more substantial like the threat of jail.