My biggest problem with the Prius is that a decade and a half after my '82 Geo Metro was built, the super fuel economy electric hybrid Prius uses more gas per mile than my car did in '82. I realize that the Prius is larger than the Geo Metro, but really, It's been a decade and a half. I expect the height of fuel economy to give me a bigger car AND better gas mileage.
Personally, I look at the Prius and see lip service to fuel economy. It's 'hybrid' design speaks to the idea that it was the least they could get away with while still looking like they were trying. If an auto manufacturer wants to impress me, give me an all electric vehicle that has a small primary battery pack, and a "standard" secondary power source for charging it.
By "standard" secondary power source, I mean a spot in the vehicle that is standardized in size and mounting positions so that if I want to use gas, I can slide in a gas generator. If I want to use ethanol, I reasonably pull out the gas generator and slide in an ethanol generator, and if I want to go plug in, I can pull out the generator and slide in a larger battery pack.
Two major problems that consumers have with vehicles are that 1) The distance that they need to drive can range from 10 miles a day to a 3000 mile road trip. By being able to switch power sources, I can buy a car that is run from the solar panels on my roof for day to day driving, and still be able to use the vehicle for long trips where I will only be able to power it from gas. Then there is 2) Until infrastructure isn't going to be built for alternative fueling until people buy cars that use it, and people are not going to buy cars that use it until the infrastructure is built. By being able to switch fuel sources, I can run off of bio-desiel for those trips to my client site since I know there are two fuel stations that supply it on the way, but I will still be able to run off of gas when I go to visit the in laws. If I have to choose a fuel source at car purchase time, I am going to have to go with gas, as that is available everywhere.
"That just proves you didn't watch the movie, and are just spouting off the top of your head."
"Watch the movie, you'll be surprised."
This sound exactly like what was being said about "30 Days", "An Inconvenient Truth", and "Bowling for Columbine". So, is "Who killed the Electric car" any better? The three previous were total BS. My favorite part being when Al Gore suggested in a very cult leaderish way, that his followers kill themselves to save the planet. "You can even reduce your carbon emissions to 0." -- Al Gore.
The numbers become even more interesting when you start to look at the fact that older workers are more likely to have the political clout in a company to dictate what software will be authorized. It would seem that it may actually be that younger workers are actually BETTER at accepting the software they are given.
To use a non-car analogy... It is a little like sex. Rape is 'unauthorized' sex. If all women decided that they will willingly have sex with anyone under 40, you would find that the rape statistics show people over 40 more likely to commit rape. It isn't the behavior of the user that has changed, it is the behavior of the victim. If IT is more likely to let people over 40 do dirty, dirty things, completely having their way with their network than those under 30, of course you will see fewer "unauthorized" applications installed.
Wow. That is some serious revisionist history. The first and biggest problem with the recounts of "The video game crash" is the redefining of a video game. A game console IS a computer. The C64 was a gaming platform. The revisionists stories always refer to the C64 as being a pull away from video games. It wasn't. It was simply the gaming platform that helped bury the Atari 2600. Saying that price drops on a next gen gaming system that lead to huge sales was what turned a recession into a full-out crash is kind of silly.
As for knock off games on the 2600 compared to today... I don't know if you saw some of the crap that has been released on the NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, XBOX, and GameCube, but crap did not end with the 2600. (I don't own any of the current gen system so I can only speculate that they have games that are crap just like the previous generation.)
"Because of these issues, modern console makers hold absolute control over their consoles. No one creates a game for their console without express approval from the console manufacturer. In addition, the console makers produce high-quality first-party titles and seek out desirable third-party exclusives in an effort to keep consumer confidence high. This careful control of the market ensures that the market conditions of the 1980's are not repeated"
This is simply not true. In fact, prior to Atari 2600, it wasn't even considered that third party games would even exists. It was when developers from Activision left Atari to form the worlds first third party game publisher, that Atari sued, thinking that they could retain control of the platform. It was because sueing did not work in keeping a monopoly that the following systems have included technical lock-out systems. Looking at the crap that was available for virtually every system, shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that "quality" was not the reason for the monopoly practices of the system manufacturers. It also does not make sure that the market conditions of the 80 do not exist. The Pacman and ET problems certainly did not kill video games. At best they help put the 2600 out of its misery. Remember, Pitfall came out the same year as Pacman and ET on the 2600. It was the best selling game the 2600 ever had. Again. It wasn't gaming that went away. It was just a shift to the next gen system, the C64.
I'm not counting on people going back to the PC for gaming. I'm just saying that if the console systems went under, people would likely keep gaming by moving to the PC.
I also don't know what kind of computers you thought existed in 83, but 3D graphics is really a questionable claim. Yes there were things like Bards Tale and Ultima's dungeons, but the same effects had been done on the 2600. The C64 did have much better graphics and sound quality, and certainly had more storage space, but 3D graphics were not the driving force to move people off of the 2600 and on to the C64. There are also benefits to PC gaming beyond it's superior graphics. One is it's dramatically lower cost. Partly due to the fact that you already have a computer for other purposes. PC gaming is far from dead, and is unlikely to ever go away. It just doesn't draw the revenue that the consoles draw. In fact, Solitaire on windows, may be the most played video game ever.
Again, as you even note, there wasn't a crash. There was just a shift to a new platform. Maybe we should just rename "the video game crash" to "the Atari 2600 crash", as that would be far more accurate.
I don't remember the 82/83 crash. All I remember was that everybody was shifting platforms from the Atari to the C64. If there is a game crash, it my be far worse than what you saw in 82/83, as it is unlikely to just be a platform switch for gaming. Maybe people would go back to the PC, but I think that would be recognized as a platform shift this time around.
"Few of us, if anyone, live on land that was not forcibly taken from someone else at some point in history."
Without commenting on China/Tibet, i would like to say that this is a point that really needs to be repeated more often, as most of the population doesn't seem to be aware of it.
You are right that at one, my child could not read. He did not begin reading until he was 2. That in no way prevented him from using the computer in the same ways that many fluent readers do. This just highlights how easy it is to use Linux. He did have the motor skills, but he also had the intelligence to understand that "Hey, if I click the mouse on this button, it pulls down a bunch more buttons, and it does it the same every time." He also had the intelligence to realize that "Hey, if I click on this little picture that showed up when I clicked on the first button, a program runs." While he may not have been doing much word processing or any email due to his inability to read at one, some of the tasks he was doing effortlessly were:
Turning on the computer.
Waiting for it to boot.
Loading the programs he wanted from the Applications menu.
Playing games.
Loading his web browser and going to web pages that he liked.
Closing programs when he was done with them.
Properly shutting down the computer when he was finished using it.
Some of the applications that he liked and would use at the time:
Now, I will not say my kid isn't ahead of the game, but it you don't call that list "anything resembling computer use as we know it", I'm not sure I want to know what you do with your computer.
"They're probably completely unhackable and could never be hijacked in any way to be used against US troops or innocent bystanders."
This is has been the case since the first primate picked up a rock to bash in his neighbors head. It will likely be the case until the last primate is dead and gone. I would guess that it is harder to hijack a radio controlled device than it is to hijack a knife or gun.
"Simple: Linux is not simple it is a complex OS. It is not easy to use. It is not simple. I am not saying XP is simple but at least it has ease of use on its side."
Just after his first birthday, I set up Ubuntu for my son. He needed 2 five minute sets of instruction on how to use it, and within a day of puttering around was using Linux with no problems. Now, I have come to accept that my child is some kind of mutant with superhuman intelligence, but really, we are talking about a super intelligent mutant one year old.
shortly before his second birthday, I formatted his had drive and gave him an Ubuntu CD to reinstall his OS himself. He successfully installed the OS with no help at all.
My rule of thumb is that if an adult cannot match skills with even a super intelligent mutant 1 year old, they are really not bright enough to have valid input on the subject.
I hear you. I would actually be more interested if they made a standard bot that they supplied to contestants, and the only customization the contestants could do is put on logos and load the software. Heck, they could even make them humanoid torsos on caterpillar track bases. Give them arms and head. Then let them clutch midevil weapons. Put "soft spots" on them where a hydrolic line could be cut that would immobilize body parts. And, as you say, make it all autonomous. Maybe have rounds where the bot goes back to the corner, and the "coach" can "give advice" by uploading new tactics.
That would make cool robot battles. It would have plenty of destruction, and still have the proper geek factor.
My biggest problem with finger print locks is that they use only my finger to open them, and I don't want someone using my finger to open a lock when I'm not there. A good rule of thumb is that you should never lock anything with a finger print that is more valuable to a thief than your finger is to you, or that is harder to crack than cutting off your fingers.
This is why I don't ever want a car with fingerprint locks. Pretty much the same for laptops. I am going to put a fingerprint reader on my pool gate though, as it will be easier for someone to just kick the gate open, or jump the gate than it is for them to mug me and take my fingers.
He is right. Piracy, and thus by definition, P2P has STOLEN so much profit that there is no longer any incentive to create new work. NBC should immediately show us that they truly believe this and cease doing business in a money loosing market. In fact if they do not, the shareholders of NBC should immediately initiate a class action lawsuit, as the NBC executives are clearly harming the financial health of NBC by spending millions of dollars on the creation of new content where there is no incentive to do so.
Offline Web based applications are useful in limited cases. Basically, first you get a list of applications that make sense to have in a browser in the first place, then trim that down to the ones that do not need immediate feedback from other people or systems. Email is a good example of this. While I prefer a native client, I have to admit that a web based email client is just fine for many people. The big problem with most web based email clients is that when you are not connected to the server/internet, to cannot read your email, much less write email. Taking this kind of application off line can make sense for some users, as it makes more sense to give them a single interface.
That being said, Off-Line web apps have been available since 2002 with the release of Domino 6.0. I find it hard to believe that software that has been widely available for half a decade can be considered an emerging technology.
"It's somewhat sad, since JRR created a huge amount of content. However, when it's written in a style that's as difficult to read as his 'other' books are, they'll remain, for the most part, obscure."
I have always felt that Tolken, while great at making up interesting people, places and events, was a rather crappy writer. His books were unnecessarily difficult to read, often long winded, and the stories seemed fractured. I understand that he had very detailed ideas about what his stories looked like, but I think he tended to let the details get in the way of the story.
This is why I've always thought that he would have been much better working in modern film than he was at writing books. Of course if he had been born at a time that allowed him to work in modern film, who knows what else would have been different.
One more to add:
* Cost of service over the alternative of putting the $450 into an investment with a modest/safe 6% return for 20 years is $207,918.40
The sad thing is, I'm sure that not only are there people who will thing MacBook Air owners have an educational MBA, but there are probably even a few people who will buy them for that reason.
I would say that a lot of comes from the fact that people who are supposed to be experts are routinely caught lying, and actual, real live conspiracies are regularly exposed with not even an apology. A perfect example is the whole Al Gore Fiasco. He flat out says that you can reduce your carbon output to 0. That would require you to stop breathing, and either complete the decomposition process, or die in a place where you will be permanently frozen. His entire movie was full of errors and contradictions. Yet, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for it, and it is held up as an authority on the subject. People who point out these errors are often called names, ridiculed, and in essence shouted down.
When people are lied to... badly by someone being held up as an 'expert', and then are shouted down for pointing out the obvious lie (error?), they are very quickly going to start questioning everyone that is held up as an 'expert'. I know that I hear 'experts' saying things that are clearly wrong on a regular basis.
You then have to add this tendency for 'experts' to be wrong/lie, with the fact that most people are raised to believe in the supernatural. Whether it is Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Jesus, Allah, or any other supernatural figure. Heck, their are entire countries that are ruled by the belief in the supernatural, and even in questionably secular countries like the US, there are more facilities for the study of the supernatural than their are schools.
So, to sum up... The reason you see what you are complaining about is because we are a nation of people who have been trained to believe in magic, and are regularly shown that being an 'expert' in no way indicates that what you are saying is true. What else could you expect?
I would have to say that it is that you don't get it. No one is so arrogant as to think that they can sit down and design the perfect web. As with virtually all of human achievement, we expect that there will be continual advancement, and hopefully we will never hit a wall. The Acid tests are road marks on the advancement of web browsers. The Acid tests are for the purpose of seeing just how compatible the browsers are. Scores of 0% and 100% are both useless. So, you make a test that is not so hard that no one can get even 1%, and that are not so easy that everyone gets 100%.
Well, the browsers are getting to that 100% point. Acid2 was not built to check 100% compliance, at that would have been useless. Not that the main browsers are reaching 100%, Acid2 is becoming useless, and Acid3 is necessary to see who has the best compliance. To use your school analogy, consider Acid2 to be the second grade. It is important to achieve that level, but when you do, you can expect the 3rd grade to follow it.
(And if your opinion of public schools is as low as mine, you are welcome to substitute "second grade" with level of knowledge that a 7 year old should have.
An item is only a 'counterfeit' if it tries to pass itself off as the original. So, if the MiniOne does not have the iPhone name or logo on it, it is not counterfeit. So, I have to ask anyone who has seen this product... Does it say iPhone, or have an Apple logo on it?
"Guns. Now what are they for? They have one purpose, and one purpose only. To kill people."
You are either a liar or an idiot. It is well established that guns have more the single purpose of killing people. Of course, your not interested in what guns are or are not for. You think they are evil, and are willing to lie to get others to believe the same way.
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My biggest problem with the Prius is that a decade and a half after my '82 Geo Metro was built, the super fuel economy electric hybrid Prius uses more gas per mile than my car did in '82. I realize that the Prius is larger than the Geo Metro, but really, It's been a decade and a half. I expect the height of fuel economy to give me a bigger car AND better gas mileage.
Personally, I look at the Prius and see lip service to fuel economy. It's 'hybrid' design speaks to the idea that it was the least they could get away with while still looking like they were trying. If an auto manufacturer wants to impress me, give me an all electric vehicle that has a small primary battery pack, and a "standard" secondary power source for charging it.
By "standard" secondary power source, I mean a spot in the vehicle that is standardized in size and mounting positions so that if I want to use gas, I can slide in a gas generator. If I want to use ethanol, I reasonably pull out the gas generator and slide in an ethanol generator, and if I want to go plug in, I can pull out the generator and slide in a larger battery pack.
Two major problems that consumers have with vehicles are that 1) The distance that they need to drive can range from 10 miles a day to a 3000 mile road trip. By being able to switch power sources, I can buy a car that is run from the solar panels on my roof for day to day driving, and still be able to use the vehicle for long trips where I will only be able to power it from gas. Then there is 2) Until infrastructure isn't going to be built for alternative fueling until people buy cars that use it, and people are not going to buy cars that use it until the infrastructure is built. By being able to switch fuel sources, I can run off of bio-desiel for those trips to my client site since I know there are two fuel stations that supply it on the way, but I will still be able to run off of gas when I go to visit the in laws. If I have to choose a fuel source at car purchase time, I am going to have to go with gas, as that is available everywhere.
"That just proves you didn't watch the movie, and are just spouting off the top of your head."
"Watch the movie, you'll be surprised."
This sound exactly like what was being said about "30 Days", "An Inconvenient Truth", and "Bowling for Columbine". So, is "Who killed the Electric car" any better? The three previous were total BS. My favorite part being when Al Gore suggested in a very cult leaderish way, that his followers kill themselves to save the planet. "You can even reduce your carbon emissions to 0." -- Al Gore.
The numbers become even more interesting when you start to look at the fact that older workers are more likely to have the political clout in a company to dictate what software will be authorized. It would seem that it may actually be that younger workers are actually BETTER at accepting the software they are given.
To use a non-car analogy... It is a little like sex. Rape is 'unauthorized' sex. If all women decided that they will willingly have sex with anyone under 40, you would find that the rape statistics show people over 40 more likely to commit rape. It isn't the behavior of the user that has changed, it is the behavior of the victim. If IT is more likely to let people over 40 do dirty, dirty things, completely having their way with their network than those under 30, of course you will see fewer "unauthorized" applications installed.
Wow. That is some serious revisionist history. The first and biggest problem with the recounts of "The video game crash" is the redefining of a video game. A game console IS a computer. The C64 was a gaming platform. The revisionists stories always refer to the C64 as being a pull away from video games. It wasn't. It was simply the gaming platform that helped bury the Atari 2600. Saying that price drops on a next gen gaming system that lead to huge sales was what turned a recession into a full-out crash is kind of silly.
As for knock off games on the 2600 compared to today... I don't know if you saw some of the crap that has been released on the NES, SNES, Genesis, PS1, PS2, XBOX, and GameCube, but crap did not end with the 2600. (I don't own any of the current gen system so I can only speculate that they have games that are crap just like the previous generation.)
"Because of these issues, modern console makers hold absolute control over their consoles. No one creates a game for their console without express approval from the console manufacturer. In addition, the console makers produce high-quality first-party titles and seek out desirable third-party exclusives in an effort to keep consumer confidence high. This careful control of the market ensures that the market conditions of the 1980's are not repeated"
This is simply not true. In fact, prior to Atari 2600, it wasn't even considered that third party games would even exists. It was when developers from Activision left Atari to form the worlds first third party game publisher, that Atari sued, thinking that they could retain control of the platform. It was because sueing did not work in keeping a monopoly that the following systems have included technical lock-out systems. Looking at the crap that was available for virtually every system, shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that "quality" was not the reason for the monopoly practices of the system manufacturers. It also does not make sure that the market conditions of the 80 do not exist. The Pacman and ET problems certainly did not kill video games. At best they help put the 2600 out of its misery. Remember, Pitfall came out the same year as Pacman and ET on the 2600. It was the best selling game the 2600 ever had. Again. It wasn't gaming that went away. It was just a shift to the next gen system, the C64.
I'm not counting on people going back to the PC for gaming. I'm just saying that if the console systems went under, people would likely keep gaming by moving to the PC.
I also don't know what kind of computers you thought existed in 83, but 3D graphics is really a questionable claim. Yes there were things like Bards Tale and Ultima's dungeons, but the same effects had been done on the 2600. The C64 did have much better graphics and sound quality, and certainly had more storage space, but 3D graphics were not the driving force to move people off of the 2600 and on to the C64. There are also benefits to PC gaming beyond it's superior graphics. One is it's dramatically lower cost. Partly due to the fact that you already have a computer for other purposes. PC gaming is far from dead, and is unlikely to ever go away. It just doesn't draw the revenue that the consoles draw. In fact, Solitaire on windows, may be the most played video game ever.
Again, as you even note, there wasn't a crash. There was just a shift to a new platform. Maybe we should just rename "the video game crash" to "the Atari 2600 crash", as that would be far more accurate.
I don't remember the 82/83 crash. All I remember was that everybody was shifting platforms from the Atari to the C64. If there is a game crash, it my be far worse than what you saw in 82/83, as it is unlikely to just be a platform switch for gaming. Maybe people would go back to the PC, but I think that would be recognized as a platform shift this time around.
"Few of us, if anyone, live on land that was not forcibly taken from someone else at some point in history."
Without commenting on China/Tibet, i would like to say that this is a point that really needs to be repeated more often, as most of the population doesn't seem to be aware of it.
You are right that at one, my child could not read. He did not begin reading until he was 2. That in no way prevented him from using the computer in the same ways that many fluent readers do. This just highlights how easy it is to use Linux. He did have the motor skills, but he also had the intelligence to understand that "Hey, if I click the mouse on this button, it pulls down a bunch more buttons, and it does it the same every time." He also had the intelligence to realize that "Hey, if I click on this little picture that showed up when I clicked on the first button, a program runs." While he may not have been doing much word processing or any email due to his inability to read at one, some of the tasks he was doing effortlessly were:
Turning on the computer.
Waiting for it to boot.
Loading the programs he wanted from the Applications menu.
Playing games.
Loading his web browser and going to web pages that he liked.
Closing programs when he was done with them.
Properly shutting down the computer when he was finished using it.
Some of the applications that he liked and would use at the time:
FireFox
Gedit
XMMS
gCompris
childsplay
Tetravex
Four-in-a-Row
Same Gnome
Robots
Nibbles
Mines
Now, I will not say my kid isn't ahead of the game, but it you don't call that list "anything resembling computer use as we know it", I'm not sure I want to know what you do with your computer.
"They're probably completely unhackable and could never be hijacked in any way to be used against US troops or innocent bystanders."
This is has been the case since the first primate picked up a rock to bash in his neighbors head. It will likely be the case until the last primate is dead and gone. I would guess that it is harder to hijack a radio controlled device than it is to hijack a knife or gun.
On the plus side, there are no people on Mars to kill off.
"Simple: Linux is not simple it is a complex OS. It is not easy to use. It is not simple. I am not saying XP is simple but at least it has ease of use on its side."
Just after his first birthday, I set up Ubuntu for my son. He needed 2 five minute sets of instruction on how to use it, and within a day of puttering around was using Linux with no problems. Now, I have come to accept that my child is some kind of mutant with superhuman intelligence, but really, we are talking about a super intelligent mutant one year old.
shortly before his second birthday, I formatted his had drive and gave him an Ubuntu CD to reinstall his OS himself. He successfully installed the OS with no help at all.
My rule of thumb is that if an adult cannot match skills with even a super intelligent mutant 1 year old, they are really not bright enough to have valid input on the subject.
Sorry to be insulting about it, but there it is.
I hear you. I would actually be more interested if they made a standard bot that they supplied to contestants, and the only customization the contestants could do is put on logos and load the software. Heck, they could even make them humanoid torsos on caterpillar track bases. Give them arms and head. Then let them clutch midevil weapons. Put "soft spots" on them where a hydrolic line could be cut that would immobilize body parts. And, as you say, make it all autonomous. Maybe have rounds where the bot goes back to the corner, and the "coach" can "give advice" by uploading new tactics.
That would make cool robot battles. It would have plenty of destruction, and still have the proper geek factor.
My biggest problem with finger print locks is that they use only my finger to open them, and I don't want someone using my finger to open a lock when I'm not there. A good rule of thumb is that you should never lock anything with a finger print that is more valuable to a thief than your finger is to you, or that is harder to crack than cutting off your fingers.
This is why I don't ever want a car with fingerprint locks. Pretty much the same for laptops. I am going to put a fingerprint reader on my pool gate though, as it will be easier for someone to just kick the gate open, or jump the gate than it is for them to mug me and take my fingers.
He is right. Piracy, and thus by definition, P2P has STOLEN so much profit that there is no longer any incentive to create new work. NBC should immediately show us that they truly believe this and cease doing business in a money loosing market. In fact if they do not, the shareholders of NBC should immediately initiate a class action lawsuit, as the NBC executives are clearly harming the financial health of NBC by spending millions of dollars on the creation of new content where there is no incentive to do so.
Offline Web based applications are useful in limited cases. Basically, first you get a list of applications that make sense to have in a browser in the first place, then trim that down to the ones that do not need immediate feedback from other people or systems. Email is a good example of this. While I prefer a native client, I have to admit that a web based email client is just fine for many people. The big problem with most web based email clients is that when you are not connected to the server/internet, to cannot read your email, much less write email. Taking this kind of application off line can make sense for some users, as it makes more sense to give them a single interface.
That being said, Off-Line web apps have been available since 2002 with the release of Domino 6.0. I find it hard to believe that software that has been widely available for half a decade can be considered an emerging technology.
Offline web applications have been available via the Domino server since 2002.
"It's somewhat sad, since JRR created a huge amount of content. However, when it's written in a style that's as difficult to read as his 'other' books are, they'll remain, for the most part, obscure."
I have always felt that Tolken, while great at making up interesting people, places and events, was a rather crappy writer. His books were unnecessarily difficult to read, often long winded, and the stories seemed fractured. I understand that he had very detailed ideas about what his stories looked like, but I think he tended to let the details get in the way of the story.
This is why I've always thought that he would have been much better working in modern film than he was at writing books. Of course if he had been born at a time that allowed him to work in modern film, who knows what else would have been different.
I've always like the cannibal quandary. Would your rather go to hell with Gandhi, or heaven with Dahmar?
One more to add: * Cost of service over the alternative of putting the $450 into an investment with a modest/safe 6% return for 20 years is $207,918.40
The sad thing is, I'm sure that not only are there people who will thing MacBook Air owners have an educational MBA, but there are probably even a few people who will buy them for that reason.
"I think there's also the perception that a lot of Linux users don't like to pay for things."
Funny, my perception has been that Linux users have a lower per capita piracy rate than any other platform.
Thank you. That is what I thought, but having not seen the product for myself, I thought I would ask.
I would say that a lot of comes from the fact that people who are supposed to be experts are routinely caught lying, and actual, real live conspiracies are regularly exposed with not even an apology. A perfect example is the whole Al Gore Fiasco. He flat out says that you can reduce your carbon output to 0. That would require you to stop breathing, and either complete the decomposition process, or die in a place where you will be permanently frozen. His entire movie was full of errors and contradictions. Yet, he won a Nobel Peace Prize for it, and it is held up as an authority on the subject. People who point out these errors are often called names, ridiculed, and in essence shouted down.
When people are lied to... badly by someone being held up as an 'expert', and then are shouted down for pointing out the obvious lie (error?), they are very quickly going to start questioning everyone that is held up as an 'expert'. I know that I hear 'experts' saying things that are clearly wrong on a regular basis.
You then have to add this tendency for 'experts' to be wrong/lie, with the fact that most people are raised to believe in the supernatural. Whether it is Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Jesus, Allah, or any other supernatural figure. Heck, their are entire countries that are ruled by the belief in the supernatural, and even in questionably secular countries like the US, there are more facilities for the study of the supernatural than their are schools.
So, to sum up... The reason you see what you are complaining about is because we are a nation of people who have been trained to believe in magic, and are regularly shown that being an 'expert' in no way indicates that what you are saying is true. What else could you expect?
I would have to say that it is that you don't get it. No one is so arrogant as to think that they can sit down and design the perfect web. As with virtually all of human achievement, we expect that there will be continual advancement, and hopefully we will never hit a wall. The Acid tests are road marks on the advancement of web browsers. The Acid tests are for the purpose of seeing just how compatible the browsers are. Scores of 0% and 100% are both useless. So, you make a test that is not so hard that no one can get even 1%, and that are not so easy that everyone gets 100%.
Well, the browsers are getting to that 100% point. Acid2 was not built to check 100% compliance, at that would have been useless. Not that the main browsers are reaching 100%, Acid2 is becoming useless, and Acid3 is necessary to see who has the best compliance. To use your school analogy, consider Acid2 to be the second grade. It is important to achieve that level, but when you do, you can expect the 3rd grade to follow it.
(And if your opinion of public schools is as low as mine, you are welcome to substitute "second grade" with level of knowledge that a 7 year old should have.
An item is only a 'counterfeit' if it tries to pass itself off as the original. So, if the MiniOne does not have the iPhone name or logo on it, it is not counterfeit. So, I have to ask anyone who has seen this product... Does it say iPhone, or have an Apple logo on it?
"Guns. Now what are they for? They have one purpose, and one purpose only. To kill people."
You are either a liar or an idiot. It is well established that guns have more the single purpose of killing people. Of course, your not interested in what guns are or are not for. You think they are evil, and are willing to lie to get others to believe the same way.