Oracle/SAP won't be competing with Microsoft any time soon.
Oracle/SAP/Baan/Peoplesoft/JDE are ERP systems, which Microsoft hasn't even come close to entering in a competitive manner.
Why? It's not about software when it comes to these monolithic systems, but processes and process mapping.
The attraction of a system like this is its integration points - your costing system interfaces directly with your shipping execution/order management/inventory/MRP/MPS/etc.
Microsoft simply does not have a product offering allowing that sort of integration, nor do I see them successfully creating one and competing against the big guys.
And it's not an easy market to enter, even for a Microsoft. In order to enter a market like this you need to:
Sell the product to a customer
Engage in a lengthy process mapping, data conversion from legacy, To-Be process flows, and gap analysis
Successfully implement above product and prove it a success in the marketplace.
The largest aspect of this market isn't the software package, but the brains involved with implementing it at a customer. It's a techno-functional role that requires either tight integration between the two business groups (functional SMEs and Tech SMEs) or a hybrid group that is capable of both functions.
Finally, ERP is somewhat of a "capped" market. The cost of switching from one ERP to another is enormous. The only companies that would really be in a market niche for Microsoft are companies that currently don't have an ERP offering from one of the big guys (SAP/Oracle).
This small niche has some opportunity for Microsoft Business Solutions (with a standard cost accounting/GL package with hooks into other systems as needed) but is not nor will ever be a direct competitor for Oracle or SAP except in these niche markets.
And if you look at the R&D Oracle is doing right now, they're moving so far ahead that MS will have a lot of difficulty playing catch up. We're talking about universal best practice business flows modelled by the ERP system, and defining these best practices within industry verticals for direct implementation into the product offerings Oracle offers. These steps aren't done in an R&D ivory tower; they're done by collecting data from a multitude of implementations (both by Oracle consultants and the Big Four consulting firms) and gap analyses performed on the current products.
Nobody's going to invest $450 million in an ERP system from a vendor who has no significant case history of successful implementations.
The knowledge base simply isn't there, and Microsoft doesn't have a track record in scalable ERP solutions to give them the edge to compete in this marketplace.
Pretty much everyone missed the point of the/. April Fool's IMO. . . it wasn't designed to "fool" everyone but to give everyone a look at the various jokes being perpetrated across the internet by sites related (in some way or another) to/.
kids will attempt to thwart their parents' will just to do so. An expression of their independence.
That said, I don't know what I'd prevent a kid at that age (15-16) from playing. Him playing video games beats the hell out of throwing pumpkins at mailboxes or sucking cock at rest stops. (ok those were really unrealistic examples but I'm stoned)
Because that's what we want, punishment for openly stating views and dissent.
I'm sure we'll have all sorts of interesting dialogue on the social security problem (*snicker*) or stem cell research (*chortle*) or reasoning for going to war with a sovereign nation on sketchy evidence (later proven wrong or fraudulent). I'm crying because I'm so happy I guess.
Payback. Fucking boggling. "sure you have freedom to say whatever you want, but jackbooted thugs employed by the government might kick your skull in."
That's next, bub. And don't count on your guy being in power forever.
His campaign tactics (e.g. push polling vs McCain in S Carolina) are reprehensible.
re: Bush's re-election - it depends on how much tinfoil you have, I guess.
You could go as far as claiming the vote was defrauded (which is plausible but a very very long shot).
Or you could step back and look at the moves the conservatives started making about 20 years ago. For the life of me, I wish I could remember the name of the paper I read about this. It was conspiracy theory lite, but well documented and completely plausible.
And even without the conspiracy undertones, the Republican party (and the neocons who control it) is very well organized, very well funded, and "on message" at all times. They're talking heads for Bush for the most part (with the refreshing exception of Voinovich-OH voting against Bolton) and the media organization they control is very, very impressive.
Fortunately, the left made great strides in matching the conservative powerhouse this year. Moveon.org, commondreams.org, and a core of very committed liberals (some read as: fanatical) have had great political effect. Sure, they didn't get Kerry elected, but it was f-ing Kerry against a MONSTER of dirty tricks, LaRove. Kerry had no chance. Clark would have been a better choice, or Lieberman. (I would have rejoiced for Kucinich, but he never would have won)
I don't like either of the two extremes, frankly. Give me reasonable centrists who can play the saxophone and fuck interns.
"Part of the problem is the two parties collect money on a scale that nobody else can match. "
The problem is the current system of voting (winner take all) is untenable. It always degenerates to two parties.
Campaign Finance reform is part of the equation, but having a system allowing you to vote for a third party and not "waste" the vote would lead to significant reforms as well.
However, never before in history have we combined organisms from two entirely different kingdoms. It's a new field of study, the long term effects are largely unknown, and we need to be careful.
Perhaps I'm ignorant, but are such strains as described above commercially available, and used right now? I'm unaware of any of the "riskier" GM derivatives being used in commercial ventures at this moment.
My point in the parent is simply: we've been doing GM for centuries at varying levels, and demonizing the whole process with a Luddite viewpoint of "GM is bad, mmmmmmkay?" is bogus.
P.S. it's normally bad form to add an ad hominem attack such as "fuckwit" as it tends to water down the idea that you're a thinking individual actually interested in debate.
You are aware that we've been genetically modifying plants for years through a variety of processes, including (but not limited to) selective breeding?
Changing it at the genetic level through fancy techniques is not incredibly different than isolating a strain for its characteristics and cross pollinating it.
Corn isn't anywhere near what its original form is, being modified for years and years to be the tall vegetable we're accustomed to.
I knew I'd get called on it, but it's really 6 of one, half a dozen of the other in this case.
Justification of an illegal action because of the MPAA's actions with the police.
I read it as a young adult so it's probably a little young for you, but it was an interesting vision of the world for the future.
The essence of it was that the upper caste of society wore these devices that accessed a mega-computer that did most anything for them. Any knowledge needed they would access from the computer, as well as any rudimentary math functions, etc.
One of the side effects was a complete lack of short term memory, for the computer did all of it for the upper caste.
"well, they are fully responsible for the piracy themselves!"
No they're not. Candy costs about 55 cents a bar now, when it used to be about 33 cents when I was a kid. Does this mean if I were to shoplift a candy bar, it's the store's fault? Or the candy manufacturer?
While I'm certainly not defending the MPAA's actions or saying that things are hunky dory, their shitty actions are not a reasonable justification to steal.
Stupid people, more often than not, don't know they're stupid. Normally there's a group of people (either peer group or parents or some amalgam) that aren't going to drop expectations because "they're stupid". More likely is that they'll be disappointed by the failures regardless of the perceived intelligence.
WRT your feelings of inadequacy and failure - you get to determine those feelings. You're allowed to reject someone's expectations of your life. In fact, you must reject other people's expectations at times simply to remain sane and happy. Those who attempt to please everyone, please no one.
That said, you do need to look inward for the reasons of your feelings of fear and inadequacy. Is it because you are lazy and are failing at those things which are important to you? That's a damn good reason for your brain to hate you, and you're going to be miserable as long as you allow that situation to continue.
But that's not the fault of you being smart. That's the fault of you not being complacent, which is ultimately a good thing.
Finally - if you're doing what you want to do, and your life is happy because of it, then why the fuck should you let parents or those you've passed by in life bring you down because of your decisions? Fuck them with a big rubber dick. They don't live with the decisions, you do. If you're unhappy about your decisions, then change those decisions and do something about it. If it's just a concern to please others, then tell them to fuck off and live their own failed lives.
Finally, regarding your friends you have little in common with - that's not a function of stupidity or intelligence or laziness either. That's just the simple fact that not all roads lead to the same place in this grand experiment of the mice. You're not going to be close to the same people forever.
As an anecdote, a very close friend of mine from Jr High and High School died about a year ago. When I attended the funeral, there was a part of me that was crushed with guilt. I'd talked to the guy once in the last 5 years (6 months before he died). I'd failed to attend his wedding or even attempt to keep up.
The brutal, simple truth of all of it was that he and I had walked completely different paths in life and had little in common to keep us together or in touch. And that, sadly, is a part of life. It's not my favorite part, but the bare fact is that people grow in different ways and those things you took for granted as a child (BFF!) sometimes don't apply in the adult world we make for ourselves. Being stupid or smart doesn't change that.
On the bright side, we could round up all our phone sanitizers and send them off to a new planet with this technology. . . we just have to do it before the third HHG2TG movie comes out and spills the beans on our nefarious plan.
The bomb is set only in one building, and it fails to explode. (Back story to this is Durden experimented with all sorts of bombs, and paraffin fuses he always had trouble with)
He's then committed to an asylum where every once in a while an orderly whispers to him "it's all going according to plan Mr Durden."
Let's face it - fans of the books are going to be brutally critical of the film and will probably consider it a bad film no matter what.
That's just the way it is . . . fans of the books tend to be superfans and take it very seriously.
So the movie's going to piss off a lot of them. Not too big a deal, as there are tons of people who haven't read the books or aren't massive fans. . . but wait! They're not going to be able to follow the plot of the movie very well without any knowledge of the book!
Seems like a lose/lose situation to me. Frankly, I don't know how they could have pulled this book off as there are two distinct voices in the book (without including dialogue) - the narrator and the Guide entries. That's a helluva lot of exposition for a flick, and (as has been mentioned in other posts on this article) some of the juiciest bits and jokes come from the exposition.
One you fail to mention is that Project Mayhem actually DID collect testes of politicians in the fridge.
So I suppose I should respectfully retract my comments above and say "you're right" but that wouldn't be very sporting or/. of me.
I hereby challenge you to a game of CounterStrike: Source.
The loser will agree to mod all posts up +1 Insightful whenever he has mod points, and communicate via email to the winning party at such a happy circumstance.
oh who am I kidding, I'm almost 30 and haven't been good at a FPS in 8 years. You win.
I wish I'd read the book ahead of seeing the movie.
I really like the directorial choices of the movie, and because of the nature of the plot (what with its twisty little passages, all alike) the oomph of surprise is gone when you crack the book.
I really want to talk to someone who read the book first, to see if the "revelation" from the movie is as profound in the book if you're reading it with untarnished with knowledge.
Slashdot Mirror
Then your suffering will be eternal, thrown into the pit where there will be "wailing and gnashing of teeth".
Which is certainly the sign of a benevolent creator, no?
Oracle/SAP/Baan/Peoplesoft/JDE are ERP systems, which Microsoft hasn't even come close to entering in a competitive manner.
Why? It's not about software when it comes to these monolithic systems, but processes and process mapping.
The attraction of a system like this is its integration points - your costing system interfaces directly with your shipping execution/order management/inventory/MRP/MPS/etc.
Microsoft simply does not have a product offering allowing that sort of integration, nor do I see them successfully creating one and competing against the big guys.
And it's not an easy market to enter, even for a Microsoft. In order to enter a market like this you need to:
The largest aspect of this market isn't the software package, but the brains involved with implementing it at a customer. It's a techno-functional role that requires either tight integration between the two business groups (functional SMEs and Tech SMEs) or a hybrid group that is capable of both functions.
Finally, ERP is somewhat of a "capped" market. The cost of switching from one ERP to another is enormous. The only companies that would really be in a market niche for Microsoft are companies that currently don't have an ERP offering from one of the big guys (SAP/Oracle).
This small niche has some opportunity for Microsoft Business Solutions (with a standard cost accounting/GL package with hooks into other systems as needed) but is not nor will ever be a direct competitor for Oracle or SAP except in these niche markets.
And if you look at the R&D Oracle is doing right now, they're moving so far ahead that MS will have a lot of difficulty playing catch up. We're talking about universal best practice business flows modelled by the ERP system, and defining these best practices within industry verticals for direct implementation into the product offerings Oracle offers. These steps aren't done in an R&D ivory tower; they're done by collecting data from a multitude of implementations (both by Oracle consultants and the Big Four consulting firms) and gap analyses performed on the current products.
Nobody's going to invest $450 million in an ERP system from a vendor who has no significant case history of successful implementations.
The knowledge base simply isn't there, and Microsoft doesn't have a track record in scalable ERP solutions to give them the edge to compete in this marketplace.
The right is not allowed to talk about spin unless it's "we're sorry about all the spin".
re: Media manipulation - I'd check out the book What Liberal Media?. Solid book, solid research.
You know something about GTA:4 the rest of us don't?? Spill it!
kids will attempt to thwart their parents' will just to do so. An expression of their independence.
That said, I don't know what I'd prevent a kid at that age (15-16) from playing. Him playing video games beats the hell out of throwing pumpkins at mailboxes or sucking cock at rest stops. (ok those were really unrealistic examples but I'm stoned)
I'm sure we'll have all sorts of interesting dialogue on the social security problem (*snicker*) or stem cell research (*chortle*) or reasoning for going to war with a sovereign nation on sketchy evidence (later proven wrong or fraudulent). I'm crying because I'm so happy I guess.
Payback. Fucking boggling. "sure you have freedom to say whatever you want, but jackbooted thugs employed by the government might kick your skull in."
That's next, bub. And don't count on your guy being in power forever.
re: Bush's re-election - it depends on how much tinfoil you have, I guess.
You could go as far as claiming the vote was defrauded (which is plausible but a very very long shot).
Or you could step back and look at the moves the conservatives started making about 20 years ago. For the life of me, I wish I could remember the name of the paper I read about this. It was conspiracy theory lite, but well documented and completely plausible.
And even without the conspiracy undertones, the Republican party (and the neocons who control it) is very well organized, very well funded, and "on message" at all times. They're talking heads for Bush for the most part (with the refreshing exception of Voinovich-OH voting against Bolton) and the media organization they control is very, very impressive.
Fortunately, the left made great strides in matching the conservative powerhouse this year. Moveon.org, commondreams.org, and a core of very committed liberals (some read as: fanatical) have had great political effect. Sure, they didn't get Kerry elected, but it was f-ing Kerry against a MONSTER of dirty tricks, LaRove. Kerry had no chance. Clark would have been a better choice, or Lieberman. (I would have rejoiced for Kucinich, but he never would have won)
I don't like either of the two extremes, frankly. Give me reasonable centrists who can play the saxophone and fuck interns.
The problem is the current system of voting (winner take all) is untenable. It always degenerates to two parties.
Campaign Finance reform is part of the equation, but having a system allowing you to vote for a third party and not "waste" the vote would lead to significant reforms as well.
You meant the Mexican-American war right?
Perhaps I'm ignorant, but are such strains as described above commercially available, and used right now? I'm unaware of any of the "riskier" GM derivatives being used in commercial ventures at this moment.
My point in the parent is simply: we've been doing GM for centuries at varying levels, and demonizing the whole process with a Luddite viewpoint of "GM is bad, mmmmmmkay?" is bogus.
P.S. it's normally bad form to add an ad hominem attack such as "fuckwit" as it tends to water down the idea that you're a thinking individual actually interested in debate.
What color is the sky in your world?
Changing it at the genetic level through fancy techniques is not incredibly different than isolating a strain for its characteristics and cross pollinating it.
Corn isn't anywhere near what its original form is, being modified for years and years to be the tall vegetable we're accustomed to.
I'm against the MPAA for the reasons you enumerated in your analogy, but I'm not allowed to set them on fire.
I knew I'd get called on it, but it's really 6 of one, half a dozen of the other in this case.
Justification of an illegal action because of the MPAA's actions with the police.
I read it as a young adult so it's probably a little young for you, but it was an interesting vision of the world for the future.
The essence of it was that the upper caste of society wore these devices that accessed a mega-computer that did most anything for them. Any knowledge needed they would access from the computer, as well as any rudimentary math functions, etc.
One of the side effects was a complete lack of short term memory, for the computer did all of it for the upper caste.
No they're not. Candy costs about 55 cents a bar now, when it used to be about 33 cents when I was a kid. Does this mean if I were to shoplift a candy bar, it's the store's fault? Or the candy manufacturer?
While I'm certainly not defending the MPAA's actions or saying that things are hunky dory, their shitty actions are not a reasonable justification to steal.
WRT your feelings of inadequacy and failure - you get to determine those feelings. You're allowed to reject someone's expectations of your life. In fact, you must reject other people's expectations at times simply to remain sane and happy. Those who attempt to please everyone, please no one.
That said, you do need to look inward for the reasons of your feelings of fear and inadequacy. Is it because you are lazy and are failing at those things which are important to you? That's a damn good reason for your brain to hate you, and you're going to be miserable as long as you allow that situation to continue.
But that's not the fault of you being smart. That's the fault of you not being complacent, which is ultimately a good thing.
Finally - if you're doing what you want to do, and your life is happy because of it, then why the fuck should you let parents or those you've passed by in life bring you down because of your decisions? Fuck them with a big rubber dick. They don't live with the decisions, you do. If you're unhappy about your decisions, then change those decisions and do something about it. If it's just a concern to please others, then tell them to fuck off and live their own failed lives.
Finally, regarding your friends you have little in common with - that's not a function of stupidity or intelligence or laziness either. That's just the simple fact that not all roads lead to the same place in this grand experiment of the mice. You're not going to be close to the same people forever.
As an anecdote, a very close friend of mine from Jr High and High School died about a year ago. When I attended the funeral, there was a part of me that was crushed with guilt. I'd talked to the guy once in the last 5 years (6 months before he died). I'd failed to attend his wedding or even attempt to keep up.
The brutal, simple truth of all of it was that he and I had walked completely different paths in life and had little in common to keep us together or in touch. And that, sadly, is a part of life. It's not my favorite part, but the bare fact is that people grow in different ways and those things you took for granted as a child (BFF!) sometimes don't apply in the adult world we make for ourselves. Being stupid or smart doesn't change that.
On the bright side, we could round up all our phone sanitizers and send them off to a new planet with this technology. . . we just have to do it before the third HHG2TG movie comes out and spills the beans on our nefarious plan.
Increase Sales
Reduce Cost
The MPAA considers piracy to be a "cost" that they wish to control, to assist their bottom line.
He's then committed to an asylum where every once in a while an orderly whispers to him "it's all going according to plan Mr Durden."
That's just the way it is . . . fans of the books tend to be superfans and take it very seriously.
So the movie's going to piss off a lot of them. Not too big a deal, as there are tons of people who haven't read the books or aren't massive fans. . . but wait!
They're not going to be able to follow the plot of the movie very well without any knowledge of the book!
Seems like a lose/lose situation to me. Frankly, I don't know how they could have pulled this book off as there are two distinct voices in the book (without including dialogue) - the narrator and the Guide entries. That's a helluva lot of exposition for a flick, and (as has been mentioned in other posts on this article) some of the juiciest bits and jokes come from the exposition.
One you fail to mention is that Project Mayhem actually DID collect testes of politicians in the fridge.
So I suppose I should respectfully retract my comments above and say "you're right" but that wouldn't be very sporting or /. of me.
I hereby challenge you to a game of CounterStrike: Source. The loser will agree to mod all posts up +1 Insightful whenever he has mod points, and communicate via email to the winning party at such a happy circumstance.
oh who am I kidding, I'm almost 30 and haven't been good at a FPS in 8 years. You win.
I really want to talk to someone who read the book first, to see if the "revelation" from the movie is as profound in the book if you're reading it with untarnished with knowledge.
And Fight Club ends completely different in the book, not a Hollywood ending at all. Simply for the ending I'd recommend it.