I underclock my Athlon CPU because even at 1GHz, it runs fast enough for web browsing, etc. To me, this reduction in heat generation is the next logical step in CPU evolution. And it comes at a good time. If they really want to impress me, get it below 15 Watts.
But I'm glad to see this trend. Along with the LCD displays, we're started to make a difference in power consumption. Good for VIA.
Perkins quit when he heard about the spying and lying. He held his fire, then he outed Dunn and the board. The company was supposed to disclose why Hackborn quit when he did. And the board should have disclosed the investigation started by Dunn as well as the results of the investigation.
I agree that the rest of the board, including Hackborn, has some responsibility. But how to get rid of them? I usually withhold my votes, but the big institutions usually vote for the boards.
As usual, Microsoft waits for someone else to develop some new technology and a new market, then it tries to use its dominant position and money to take the market over. Microsoft claims that it innovates. That claim is crap. And this time I think they will fail to take over a product/technology. I expect Apple will cut its prices and make it unprofitable for Microsoft. Apple has probably already made enough money on the ipod and itunes.
This is one way for Microsoft to 'compete' in the marketplace; they take the profit out of a business. It's a way of reducing a competitor's profit margin. But they can't continue to lose money and hope to stay in business. They're seeing the erosion of their business in several fronts; servers are going with Linux, desktop apps are using open data formats, etc.
One benefit is that itunes and ipod will come down in price.
Education was my first thought, too. But I'd make the internet more widely available. I'd also get the government more involved with culture, a coercive effort to ostrasize anti-social thought and encourage community effort.
It's strange and wonderful how unexpected things like the 'net arise when most needed.
At the other end of the spectrum, how many smaller clusters aren't on the list simply because the administrator doesn't have time to shut the entire thing down to run a LINPACK benchmark?
Good point. And what about grid computing? Grids blow away supercomputers for processing power.
I can remember when processors had that many transistors!
And I can remember when computers had far fewer vacuum-tubes in them.
And I wonder why they call them fastest supercomputers. Today's calculator has more processing power than last decade's mainframes. Why not just call them today's fastest computers? In 5 years, today's 'supercomputers' will look like jokes.
Hewlett-Packard Company developed a product that did this automagically. It was an external RAID system that connected via one or two SCSI busses to a host. All incoming data was stored in RAID 0/1; striped and mirrored. (aka RAID 6 and RAID 10). As the storage filled up, unused data was automagically migrated to more space-efficient RAID 5. Data that had been accessed recently remained in RAID 0/1. You could add disk drives and it would automagically include the drives (but you would have to use LVM or other utilities in the OS to increase its file system.) You could mix two drive sizes, say, 18GB and 36GB, without trouble. If a drive failed, the array would rebuild reduncancy. If another drive failed, ditto. It was fast, it was fully redundant.
But it was a lot smarter than the admins who had to use it so it wasn't very popular.
The original Dilbert came from a large telco-related business, but I think the Dilbert experience is bitterly experienced throughout the business community. An honest engineer is a philosophical engineer, one who accepts the reality of politics and bureaucracy as part of the landscape. It's not enough to just be good at your work, you need to be able to tolerate the environment you work in.
Smaller companies are likely to have more transparent politics and bureaucracy. If you're sensitive to that issue, look for a smaller organization.
John has been around for a long time. He's been watching the computer industry and he knows the history. There was a time when John was predicting the passing of IBM as the computer industry heavyweight. You know what? He was right then, and I think he's right now. Although I have to say that by now, he's got a gift for the obvious.
Microsoft has replaced IBM as the hated, arrogant, monopolistic goliath. There was a time when the saying went "nobody gets fired for specifying IBM (services and equipment)". Five years ago, you could replace 'IBM' with 'Microsoft'. Of course, things are changing. The 'net, Linux, Java, and Apple have changed the landscape.
But it's still fun to talk smack about Microsoft.:)
"Man oh man...such lack of knowledge...I couldn't even guess where to begin to elucidate on the shortcomings of your description.
But when China's domination becomes all too apparent - it won't be without the collusion of American, Euro and Japanese multinationals."
Since you didn't bother to...elucidate..., I can't respond to that. But I can tell you what is plain to everybody else; China has a population problem and they're dealing with it as best they can. They have restricted families to having one child, and too often, that child is male.
Project, if you will, fifteen years out to the future when the current parents age and the only child is the primary workforce - a huge drop in the working age population and a huge burden of aging parents. And extrapolate what the effect is of the combined result of too many men vs. women, and a rising middle-class (who have fewer children, and have them later in life) - a continuing collapse of the population.
They have their hands full and our smartest move is to help them however we can.
The remarks in the teaser that points to the article have a certain zenophobic tone to them. It has been a long standing tradition of nations to protect certain markets from competition. For examples, America, Inc. has been protecting the auto industry (tarrifs on trucks), farmers and ranchers, and other politically connected businesses from foreign competition. Why should we care if China protects some little segment?
And the worry about being dominated by China or India is unfounded. China has some extremely serious problems facing them. And they know it, and they're taking steps to prepare. And India? Please. I wish them the best, but their culture handicaps them in a competitive market. We'll recover from the outsourcing, including the middle class, and we'll find them a congenial partner in the world economy.
We have more problems dealing with Mexico than with China or India.
Would it be safe to say that you're a Microsoft apologist?
First of all, there is a history of Microsoft strong-arming its customers. Denials by you or by Microsoft notwithstanding, once you've seen your competitors suffer by not submitting to Microsoft's demands, you quickly learn to do what's best for your business.
Second, you make a misstatement. You say that Microsoft did not state that they would visit customer's sites. Microsoft themselves clearly admit to saying that. They claim that they will stop saying that at sometime the future, but they said it and they admit it.
But there's an underlying issue here. The PC business has a pretty short product lifecycle. Once a PC is obsoleted and excessed for hardware obsolence reasons, why should the OS on that PC be excessed? If XP was installed on the old PC, why not move it to the new PC? And the old PC can be used as a Linux server.
This is the heart of the problem for Microsoft; they want vendors to sell a new copy of Windows with a new PC. They don't want to see XP be reused. Microsoft finally issued an OS that works halfway decent, and now they're afraid that it will be reused on new hardware. And they're right to think this will happen.
I'd agree that the 'best' solution is to set up two file servers and use their on-board disk controllers and mirror them to each other. But I'd also recommend using DVD as storage. Less heat issues.
Two servers; Have one be a primary file server, and allow the other system to spin its data storage disks down until they're needed to back up the primary server. The secondary server can be available for other network server needs. Maybe your desktop system would be the 'Primary' server, and a system in a ventilated closet would be the backup server, but with three or four drives, noise becomes an issue in desktop/deskside systems.
I've worked in a disk storage solutions division for 15 years and have seen a wide variety of 'solutions'. I think mirrored file servers is likely the best idea. Pay attention to power supply quality, and to case ventilation. Mount the drives flat, not on edge. I prefer Seagate disk drives. My newer IBM drive crapped out recently and I lost data. The rather old Seagate drive is still doing fine.
I don't buy from NYC area sellers. I include New Jersey, Rockland County, and Long Island in that zone. In fact, if I can't get it from somewhere on the left coast, I generally won't buy. FYI, I was raised in Queens.
...if you're going to resell internet access using unlicensed frequency bands you're going to have real trouble giving any sort of guaranteed bandwidth or quality of service. There's just no (practical) way to prevent or limit interference in these bands so you can't guarantee someone won't trample all over your customers. It'll be hard for meshes to compete commercially with DSL/Cable - they're better suited to regions without DSL/Cable.
The issue of bandwidth and QOS already exists with the current WiFi equipment. We manage to make it work. Also, if Cisco, a company that got big by doing smart things, is getting into this business, don't you think they'll have considered the issue?
DSL/Cable need to make a big investment in wiring to make their technologies work. They have to run wires to every customer's premise. That's the basis of their monopoly; they'll take a franchise as long as it's a monopoly.
The per-customer barrier to entry in a wireless solution is far lower, and the customer can be charged for most of the up-front cost - they buy their WiFi box.
The local access WiFi provider can contract with any number of providers of trunk communications access, much like how cell phone access works. Truth is, you'll probably see cell phone providers be the first ones into this market. They know how to connect to the communications network. With this WiFi mesh network, they'll be able to provide cell phone, local internet access , and local phone service (such as Vonage). And the local phone service will be a partial overlap with cell phone service.
This is really cool. Now it becomes almost trivally easy for people to resell internet access and break the backs of the monopolies of cable and DSL internet access providers.
And if this were combined with satelite downlink, everybody could have some seriously fast access for a minimal cost. Bring it on!
Movie makers are trying for blockbuster movies to support the high prices of tickets. How about more lower budget movies at better ticket prices. I love going to the video rental store and finding gems that I can rent for cheap and watch at my convenience.
And there's more trouble for the movie industry; high definition television will make the movie theater experience moot. We'll be able to see video in wide screen format, with excellent picture quality, from the comfort of our recliners.
I think this portends changes in how video is made, watched, distributed, etc. I'm loving being able to watch Firefly on DVD. I'll go to see Serenity at the theater just because I want to demonstrate support for Joss and the whole Brownshirt thing, but I'll be buying the DVD so that I can watch it at home, too.
Joss will be able to make and sell his work and completely bypass the PHB's at Fox. Go, Joss!! Less theater visits by me, more control and profit for Joss and company.
Holy cow, this is a hot button for me.
Re-orgs are a way of life where I work. The directive of an effective manager to his/her developers is "Speed and course." Don't allow the developers to be distracted by upper management churn.
Don't think you can take the high road and have your career survive. If someone's playing dirty, don't try to overlook it, deal with it.
When dealing with a boss with a case of NIH, try to make your ideas sound like they were your boss's ideas. Until you replace your boss.
Perceptions count for a lot. Manage perceptions.
When dealing with management, be insincere. Tell them what they want to hear. If you have to 'fudge' numbers or gloss over messy details, do it. Don't get sentimental about facts and truth and honesty. If your project is virtually done, don't say it's virtually done, tell them it's done. If a sudden problem arises, don't lose your cool. Gather the facts until you know what the true nature of the problem is before reporting about it. Your job is to deliver results, make sure you don't bring bad news unless you really, really have to.
If another group is reducing your effectiveness for reasons of overlapping turf, jealousy, history, whatever, try make an accomodation with them, even if it's temporary. (Keep your friends close, your enemies closer).
Watch out for the agendas of underlings. If you have a politically motivated person working for you, get them gone.
Maintain the avenues of communications. Don't allow someone to bypass you in either direction. If someone bypassed you with their idea, either take charge of the project, or end the project.
Use dog psychology when dealing with people; reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, be consistent.
Dog psychology; there is an Alpha, be the alpha or chaos will follow.
Maintain perspective. You may love the work and the project, but to the CEO and his direct reports, you're a liability. Be prepared to move on and leave the work and project behind.
From my experience, reinvigoration of the company will require a pretty gut-wrenching shake-up. I've lived through some half measures where I work and so far they have not produced anything like previous performance.
I hate Microsoft and what they've done to the PC world, but they are one of the biggest software companies around with a large reserve of cash to fund future development. If they ever learn to truly innovate instead of acting to stifle competition, they have the resources to do great things.
Although it might have gone without saying "in my experience", I'll concede the point because from 1988 to 2001 I worked in a fortune 50 company making hard disk drives and disk storage solutions. I have seen plenty to make me believe that HDD's are unreliable, hence the reason why RAID was invented. Yes, I worked on RAID from ~1993 to 2001.
I've read through many of these posts, and posters have come up with many reasons why.
Preserve important data.
Improve 'up time'.
Improve performance.
Ease maintenance.
One poster mentions the use of this technology in blade servers along with low heat processor technology. I think that's a good observation; RAID on 'laptop' technology will allow for better imbedded computers, especially with low cost drives.
As for the argument that there are lots of single-point-of-failure in a laptop, the disk drive is the most unreliable point and it affects the most critical, hard to replace part of a computing system - data.
The negativity on this board is a little depressing. I, for one, am tired of getting gouged by; baby bells, cable companies, cell phone companies, etc., etc. The hope that Google, of all companies, will come in and save us from the ongoing rape of consumers of communications, is something that makes me hopeful. I know without a doubt that all these services can be provided by one vendor instead of three, using one communications technology instead of four or more.
Europe, Japan, and other countries have better services for less money. If Google can shake up the status quo in the United States of Greed, I'm right there with them. Hooray for Google.
Slashdot Mirror
I underclock my Athlon CPU because even at 1GHz, it runs fast enough for web browsing, etc. To me, this reduction in heat generation is the next logical step in CPU evolution. And it comes at a good time. If they really want to impress me, get it below 15 Watts.
But I'm glad to see this trend. Along with the LCD displays, we're started to make a difference in power consumption. Good for VIA.
Good point. If the company supplied the SSN's of the board members to the investigators, I'd expect some criminal action against the company.
Perkins quit when he heard about the spying and lying. He held his fire, then he outed Dunn and the board. The company was supposed to disclose why Hackborn quit when he did. And the board should have disclosed the investigation started by Dunn as well as the results of the investigation.
I agree that the rest of the board, including Hackborn, has some responsibility. But how to get rid of them? I usually withhold my votes, but the big institutions usually vote for the boards.
As usual, Microsoft waits for someone else to develop some new technology and a new market, then it tries to use its dominant position and money to take the market over. Microsoft claims that it innovates. That claim is crap. And this time I think they will fail to take over a product/technology. I expect Apple will cut its prices and make it unprofitable for Microsoft. Apple has probably already made enough money on the ipod and itunes.
This is one way for Microsoft to 'compete' in the marketplace; they take the profit out of a business. It's a way of reducing a competitor's profit margin. But they can't continue to lose money and hope to stay in business. They're seeing the erosion of their business in several fronts; servers are going with Linux, desktop apps are using open data formats, etc.
One benefit is that itunes and ipod will come down in price.
Education was my first thought, too. But I'd make the internet more widely available. I'd also get the government more involved with culture, a coercive effort to ostrasize anti-social thought and encourage community effort.
It's strange and wonderful how unexpected things like the 'net arise when most needed.
In a pig's eye, they've caved! They'll corrupt the specification is what will happen.
Don't expect Microsoft to ever, not ever, cooperate. Expect them to corrupt the 'specification'.
At the other end of the spectrum, how many smaller clusters aren't on the list simply because the administrator doesn't have time to shut the entire thing down to run a LINPACK benchmark?
Good point. And what about grid computing? Grids blow away supercomputers for processing power.
I can remember when processors had that many transistors!
And I can remember when computers had far fewer vacuum-tubes in them. And I wonder why they call them fastest supercomputers. Today's calculator has more processing power than last decade's mainframes. Why not just call them today's fastest computers? In 5 years, today's 'supercomputers' will look like jokes.
Hewlett-Packard Company developed a product that did this automagically. It was an external RAID system that connected via one or two SCSI busses to a host. All incoming data was stored in RAID 0/1; striped and mirrored. (aka RAID 6 and RAID 10). As the storage filled up, unused data was automagically migrated to more space-efficient RAID 5. Data that had been accessed recently remained in RAID 0/1. You could add disk drives and it would automagically include the drives (but you would have to use LVM or other utilities in the OS to increase its file system.) You could mix two drive sizes, say, 18GB and 36GB, without trouble. If a drive failed, the array would rebuild reduncancy. If another drive failed, ditto. It was fast, it was fully redundant.
But it was a lot smarter than the admins who had to use it so it wasn't very popular.
The original Dilbert came from a large telco-related business, but I think the Dilbert experience is bitterly experienced throughout the business community. An honest engineer is a philosophical engineer, one who accepts the reality of politics and bureaucracy as part of the landscape. It's not enough to just be good at your work, you need to be able to tolerate the environment you work in.
Smaller companies are likely to have more transparent politics and bureaucracy. If you're sensitive to that issue, look for a smaller organization.
John has been around for a long time. He's been watching the computer industry and he knows the history. There was a time when John was predicting the passing of IBM as the computer industry heavyweight. You know what? He was right then, and I think he's right now. Although I have to say that by now, he's got a gift for the obvious.
:)
Microsoft has replaced IBM as the hated, arrogant, monopolistic goliath. There was a time when the saying went "nobody gets fired for specifying IBM (services and equipment)". Five years ago, you could replace 'IBM' with 'Microsoft'. Of course, things are changing. The 'net, Linux, Java, and Apple have changed the landscape.
But it's still fun to talk smack about Microsoft.
"Man oh man...such lack of knowledge...I couldn't even guess where to begin to elucidate on the shortcomings of your description.
...elucidate..., I can't respond to that. But I can tell you what is plain to everybody else; China has a population problem and they're dealing with it as best they can. They have restricted families to having one child, and too often, that child is male.
But when China's domination becomes all too apparent - it won't be without the collusion of American, Euro and Japanese multinationals."
Since you didn't bother to
Project, if you will, fifteen years out to the future when the current parents age and the only child is the primary workforce - a huge drop in the working age population and a huge burden of aging parents. And extrapolate what the effect is of the combined result of too many men vs. women, and a rising middle-class (who have fewer children, and have them later in life) - a continuing collapse of the population.
They have their hands full and our smartest move is to help them however we can.
The remarks in the teaser that points to the article have a certain zenophobic tone to them. It has been a long standing tradition of nations to protect certain markets from competition. For examples, America, Inc. has been protecting the auto industry (tarrifs on trucks), farmers and ranchers, and other politically connected businesses from foreign competition. Why should we care if China protects some little segment?
And the worry about being dominated by China or India is unfounded. China has some extremely serious problems facing them. And they know it, and they're taking steps to prepare. And India? Please. I wish them the best, but their culture handicaps them in a competitive market. We'll recover from the outsourcing, including the middle class, and we'll find them a congenial partner in the world economy.
We have more problems dealing with Mexico than with China or India.
Would it be safe to say that you're a Microsoft apologist?
First of all, there is a history of Microsoft strong-arming its customers. Denials by you or by Microsoft notwithstanding, once you've seen your competitors suffer by not submitting to Microsoft's demands, you quickly learn to do what's best for your business.
Second, you make a misstatement. You say that Microsoft did not state that they would visit customer's sites. Microsoft themselves clearly admit to saying that. They claim that they will stop saying that at sometime the future, but they said it and they admit it.
But there's an underlying issue here. The PC business has a pretty short product lifecycle. Once a PC is obsoleted and excessed for hardware obsolence reasons, why should the OS on that PC be excessed? If XP was installed on the old PC, why not move it to the new PC? And the old PC can be used as a Linux server.
This is the heart of the problem for Microsoft; they want vendors to sell a new copy of Windows with a new PC. They don't want to see XP be reused. Microsoft finally issued an OS that works halfway decent, and now they're afraid that it will be reused on new hardware. And they're right to think this will happen.
I'd agree that the 'best' solution is to set up two file servers and use their on-board disk controllers and mirror them to each other. But I'd also recommend using DVD as storage. Less heat issues.
Two servers; Have one be a primary file server, and allow the other system to spin its data storage disks down until they're needed to back up the primary server. The secondary server can be available for other network server needs. Maybe your desktop system would be the 'Primary' server, and a system in a ventilated closet would be the backup server, but with three or four drives, noise becomes an issue in desktop/deskside systems.
I've worked in a disk storage solutions division for 15 years and have seen a wide variety of 'solutions'. I think mirrored file servers is likely the best idea. Pay attention to power supply quality, and to case ventilation. Mount the drives flat, not on edge. I prefer Seagate disk drives. My newer IBM drive crapped out recently and I lost data. The rather old Seagate drive is still doing fine.
I don't buy from NYC area sellers. I include New Jersey, Rockland County, and Long Island in that zone. In fact, if I can't get it from somewhere on the left coast, I generally won't buy. FYI, I was raised in Queens.
...if you're going to resell internet access using unlicensed frequency bands you're going to have real trouble giving any sort of guaranteed bandwidth or quality of service. There's just no (practical) way to prevent or limit interference in these bands so you can't guarantee someone won't trample all over your customers. It'll be hard for meshes to compete commercially with DSL/Cable - they're better suited to regions without DSL/Cable.
The issue of bandwidth and QOS already exists with the current WiFi equipment. We manage to make it work. Also, if Cisco, a company that got big by doing smart things, is getting into this business, don't you think they'll have considered the issue?
DSL/Cable need to make a big investment in wiring to make their technologies work. They have to run wires to every customer's premise. That's the basis of their monopoly; they'll take a franchise as long as it's a monopoly.
The per-customer barrier to entry in a wireless solution is far lower, and the customer can be charged for most of the up-front cost - they buy their WiFi box.
The local access WiFi provider can contract with any number of providers of trunk communications access, much like how cell phone access works. Truth is, you'll probably see cell phone providers be the first ones into this market. They know how to connect to the communications network. With this WiFi mesh network, they'll be able to provide cell phone, local internet access , and local phone service (such as Vonage). And the local phone service will be a partial overlap with cell phone service.
Time to sell cable and bell telephone short.
This is really cool. Now it becomes almost trivally easy for people to resell internet access and break the backs of the monopolies of cable and DSL internet access providers. And if this were combined with satelite downlink, everybody could have some seriously fast access for a minimal cost. Bring it on!
That link uncovered a better issue; who's on first at OSDL? This developer is rather pissed about getting caught in a misunderstanding.
Does OSDL need a 'Technical Marketing' department to handle this sort of communication?
Good points.
Movie makers are trying for blockbuster movies to support the high prices of tickets. How about more lower budget movies at better ticket prices. I love going to the video rental store and finding gems that I can rent for cheap and watch at my convenience.
And there's more trouble for the movie industry; high definition television will make the movie theater experience moot. We'll be able to see video in wide screen format, with excellent picture quality, from the comfort of our recliners.
I think this portends changes in how video is made, watched, distributed, etc. I'm loving being able to watch Firefly on DVD. I'll go to see Serenity at the theater just because I want to demonstrate support for Joss and the whole Brownshirt thing, but I'll be buying the DVD so that I can watch it at home, too.
Joss will be able to make and sell his work and completely bypass the PHB's at Fox. Go, Joss!! Less theater visits by me, more control and profit for Joss and company.
Holy cow, this is a hot button for me. Re-orgs are a way of life where I work. The directive of an effective manager to his/her developers is "Speed and course." Don't allow the developers to be distracted by upper management churn.
Don't think you can take the high road and have your career survive. If someone's playing dirty, don't try to overlook it, deal with it.
When dealing with a boss with a case of NIH, try to make your ideas sound like they were your boss's ideas. Until you replace your boss.
Perceptions count for a lot. Manage perceptions.
When dealing with management, be insincere. Tell them what they want to hear. If you have to 'fudge' numbers or gloss over messy details, do it. Don't get sentimental about facts and truth and honesty. If your project is virtually done, don't say it's virtually done, tell them it's done. If a sudden problem arises, don't lose your cool. Gather the facts until you know what the true nature of the problem is before reporting about it. Your job is to deliver results, make sure you don't bring bad news unless you really, really have to.
If another group is reducing your effectiveness for reasons of overlapping turf, jealousy, history, whatever, try make an accomodation with them, even if it's temporary. (Keep your friends close, your enemies closer). Watch out for the agendas of underlings. If you have a politically motivated person working for you, get them gone.
Maintain the avenues of communications. Don't allow someone to bypass you in either direction. If someone bypassed you with their idea, either take charge of the project, or end the project.
Use dog psychology when dealing with people; reward good behavior, punish bad behavior, be consistent.
Dog psychology; there is an Alpha, be the alpha or chaos will follow.
Maintain perspective. You may love the work and the project, but to the CEO and his direct reports, you're a liability. Be prepared to move on and leave the work and project behind.
Life is an adventure.
From my experience, reinvigoration of the company will require a pretty gut-wrenching shake-up. I've lived through some half measures where I work and so far they have not produced anything like previous performance.
I hate Microsoft and what they've done to the PC world, but they are one of the biggest software companies around with a large reserve of cash to fund future development. If they ever learn to truly innovate instead of acting to stifle competition, they have the resources to do great things.
Gotta have a dream, right?
Although it might have gone without saying "in my experience", I'll concede the point because from 1988 to 2001 I worked in a fortune 50 company making hard disk drives and disk storage solutions. I have seen plenty to make me believe that HDD's are unreliable, hence the reason why RAID was invented. Yes, I worked on RAID from ~1993 to 2001.
Preserve important data.
Improve 'up time'.
Improve performance.
Ease maintenance.
One poster mentions the use of this technology in blade servers along with low heat processor technology. I think that's a good observation; RAID on 'laptop' technology will allow for better imbedded computers, especially with low cost drives.
As for the argument that there are lots of single-point-of-failure in a laptop, the disk drive is the most unreliable point and it affects the most critical, hard to replace part of a computing system - data.
The negativity on this board is a little depressing. I, for one, am tired of getting gouged by; baby bells, cable companies, cell phone companies, etc., etc. The hope that Google, of all companies, will come in and save us from the ongoing rape of consumers of communications, is something that makes me hopeful. I know without a doubt that all these services can be provided by one vendor instead of three, using one communications technology instead of four or more.
Europe, Japan, and other countries have better services for less money. If Google can shake up the status quo in the United States of Greed, I'm right there with them. Hooray for Google.