Pardon me for questioning a sacred cow here, but SO WHAT if we had never put a man on the moon? Certainly, we've reaped real benefits from the early space program (communications satellites, GPS, etc.). But what would we REALLY have suffered if the Apollo program had never happened? The only thing we would have missed (as far as I can tell) was a chance to show up the Russkies (the one and only time NASA ever did something the Russians didn't do first, whoopty doo!). And, with the Cold War in retrospect now, who really gives a shit about that?
I saw the video on Youtube. Woz does indeed come off as bitter at the beginning of the panel (apparently because Commodore was one of the companies that turned Apple down in the early days).
Later on, he comes off as clueless more than anything. It's clear that he doesn't appreciate Commodore's "for the masses rather than classes" approach at all. Woz lives in his own little world and can't seem to understand that the VAST majority of people in the early 80's couldn't afford to throw down $1500 for a computer (over $3500 in today's dollars) that mostly played games and had a few apps. But we could certainly afford one for $200 that did most of the same stuff.
As someone who was a kid from a working class family at the time, I can certainly attest to the appeal of the Commodore line. The only kid I knew who had a Apple was the local rich kid (who everyone resented). But everyone had a Vic-20 or C64.
Again, I think Woz just built something he thought was cool--without really thinking that it was way out of the price range of the vast majority of Americans.
Correction. Americans don't hate Cuba. Only bitter old Republicans and bitter old Kennedy Democrats hate Cuba. They hate it because Castro dared overthrow their corrupt puppet Batista, then refused to play ball with them and let their big businesses keep exploiting the Cuban people for cheap labor. They hate it because Castro had the audacity to refuse to die when they tried multiple times to kill him or overthrow him. They hate it because the Republican Party chose to get into bed with a bunch of Cuban exile trash down in Miami just to win some elections. And, most of all, they hate Cuba because Castro DARED to stand up to the money and might of the great U.S. empire and the Cuban people DARED to support him in that stand.
Most Americans have absolutely nothing against Cuba at all. If the embargo were ended tomorrow, the island would almost certainly enjoy a brisk tourist trade from U.S. citizens.
Raul Castro has been moving surprisingly quickly to open up Cuba since he took full power. He removed the ban on cell phones, computers, electronics, etc. and now he's cut this deal to bring the internet into the country. Pretty gutsy moves for a man who has every right to fear that increased freedoms could make it easier for the anti-Castro forces in Miami to assassinate him (this was why Fidel kept the screws on for as long as he did).
Trying to shine the light? You mean like this guy?
Considering the behavior of Cuban dissidents in the past (multiple attempts to overthrow the government or assassinate Castro, terrorist attacks targetting civilians, etc.) I would throw their asses in jail too. Do you think if a group from outside the U.S. kept coming in and trying to overthrow the government, bomb markets, and kill the President that we'd just let them run around free?
Fuck that trash down in Miami. Just contrast their behavior with that of actual Cubans during the Elian Gonzalez scandal for a good look at who the real scumbags are in THAT fight.
Raoul Castro only recently started opening the country up to new technology. It's hard to believe, but until he came to power computers, DVD players, and cell phones were banned.
Of course it's all about the companies. Is it realistic to think that the average person is going to live for *95 years* after they wrote a song? Unless they wrote said song at a very young age and live for a VERY long time, this is laughable. The only entities who will benefit from this are the big media companies (which ARE very long-lived). It's the same sort of philosophy that keeps getting U.S. copyright extended just to protect Disney's IP.
Ventura's term as Minnesota governor was extremely successful (certainly more so than Bush's terms in Texas or Clinton's in Arkansas were). I'd say he's more than proven himself capable of choosing credible advisors.
And as I acknowledged in my previous post, I concede that the entrenched party system makes his situation difficult. But, again, he proved in Minnesota that it is not insurmountable.
IIRC, Windows 2000 got "discovered" because people were so frustrated with ME. I believe 2000 was never actually intended for consumers (it was supposed to be a successor to NT) but was so popular over the clunky Windows ME that people began to turn to it instead (leading to it being the basis for XP).
I will concede your second point, but contest the first. A lack of education (or even a lack of intelligence) doesn't by itself make someone a bad leader. The trick is to be smart enough to delegate the headier stuff to smart and well-qualified ADVISORS (and to listen to their advice).
A good contrast on this is George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though certainly not the brightest bulb in the pack, Bush is certainly better educated (and likely more intelligent) than Schwarzenegger. But he insists on surrounding himself with advisors who are chosen based on their loyalty, not their qualifications. Schwarzenegger, by contrast, is not at all well-educated and not apparently a particularly smart guy (just listen to one of his commentary tracks if you doubt it). But Schwarzenegger has chosen well qualified advisors to help compensate for that and deferred to their advice on many issues--and it has served him well. And so, by almost all accounts, Schwarzenegger has been a much more effective and respected leader than Bush.
Re:Jobs role in Apple is overrated
on
Inside Steve's Brain
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Jobs had one skill that was VITAL to Apple that Woz didn't: charisma. Much as I admire and love Woz, there is no way that Apple would have went anywhere had Jobs not been there to sell it. It would have been just another cool thing invented by an eccentric guy in his garage that never panned out into anything.
I'm no fan of Jobs, and I do agree that Woz got kind of screwed on the deal. But there is no way Apple would have become Apple without both Steves.
Jimmy Carter believed in UFO's. Clinton believed that Oswald didn't kill Kennedy. And George Bush believed Saddam was about to build a nuclear weapon (or claims he did). Every President gets one thing to be a little flaky on.
The most tragic thing I've seen in a long time was when Jesse Ventura announced the other night that he wouldn't be running for the Senate. He's truly the only third party candidate with reasonable positions that I can support that has ANY serious chance of ever winning the Presidency. Every day that he stays out of politics is another day being ruled by the 2-party system in this country.
Every other potential third-party candidate is either some cause-oriented nutjob (a wacko wanting to abolish taxes, a wacko environmentalist, or just a straight-up wacko) and/or someone who has shown no capacity to actually win a serious public office. Ventura isn't a nutball and has actually won serious public offices (leaving office with the highest approval rating of any governor in Minnesota history).
If they hadn't kept the information they wouldn't be able to do targeted ads and sell information about your surfing/shopping/viewing habits. Don't believe they do this? Install Noscript, and go down and see how often it blocks google-analytics.com on your favorite webpages (even Slashdot has it).
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Pardon me for questioning a sacred cow here, but SO WHAT if we had never put a man on the moon? Certainly, we've reaped real benefits from the early space program (communications satellites, GPS, etc.). But what would we REALLY have suffered if the Apollo program had never happened? The only thing we would have missed (as far as I can tell) was a chance to show up the Russkies (the one and only time NASA ever did something the Russians didn't do first, whoopty doo!). And, with the Cold War in retrospect now, who really gives a shit about that?
I say we nuke the entire internet from orbit. Only way to be sure.
Yeah, but they're so SHINEY!
I saw the video on Youtube. Woz does indeed come off as bitter at the beginning of the panel (apparently because Commodore was one of the companies that turned Apple down in the early days).
Later on, he comes off as clueless more than anything. It's clear that he doesn't appreciate Commodore's "for the masses rather than classes" approach at all. Woz lives in his own little world and can't seem to understand that the VAST majority of people in the early 80's couldn't afford to throw down $1500 for a computer (over $3500 in today's dollars) that mostly played games and had a few apps. But we could certainly afford one for $200 that did most of the same stuff.
As someone who was a kid from a working class family at the time, I can certainly attest to the appeal of the Commodore line. The only kid I knew who had a Apple was the local rich kid (who everyone resented). But everyone had a Vic-20 or C64.
Again, I think Woz just built something he thought was cool--without really thinking that it was way out of the price range of the vast majority of Americans.
Correction. Americans don't hate Cuba. Only bitter old Republicans and bitter old Kennedy Democrats hate Cuba. They hate it because Castro dared overthrow their corrupt puppet Batista, then refused to play ball with them and let their big businesses keep exploiting the Cuban people for cheap labor. They hate it because Castro had the audacity to refuse to die when they tried multiple times to kill him or overthrow him. They hate it because the Republican Party chose to get into bed with a bunch of Cuban exile trash down in Miami just to win some elections. And, most of all, they hate Cuba because Castro DARED to stand up to the money and might of the great U.S. empire and the Cuban people DARED to support him in that stand.
Most Americans have absolutely nothing against Cuba at all. If the embargo were ended tomorrow, the island would almost certainly enjoy a brisk tourist trade from U.S. citizens.
Raul Castro has been moving surprisingly quickly to open up Cuba since he took full power. He removed the ban on cell phones, computers, electronics, etc. and now he's cut this deal to bring the internet into the country. Pretty gutsy moves for a man who has every right to fear that increased freedoms could make it easier for the anti-Castro forces in Miami to assassinate him (this was why Fidel kept the screws on for as long as he did).
Trying to shine the light? You mean like this guy?
Considering the behavior of Cuban dissidents in the past (multiple attempts to overthrow the government or assassinate Castro, terrorist attacks targetting civilians, etc.) I would throw their asses in jail too. Do you think if a group from outside the U.S. kept coming in and trying to overthrow the government, bomb markets, and kill the President that we'd just let them run around free?
Fuck that trash down in Miami. Just contrast their behavior with that of actual Cubans during the Elian Gonzalez scandal for a good look at who the real scumbags are in THAT fight.
Raoul Castro only recently started opening the country up to new technology. It's hard to believe, but until he came to power computers, DVD players, and cell phones were banned.
Of course it's all about the companies. Is it realistic to think that the average person is going to live for *95 years* after they wrote a song? Unless they wrote said song at a very young age and live for a VERY long time, this is laughable. The only entities who will benefit from this are the big media companies (which ARE very long-lived). It's the same sort of philosophy that keeps getting U.S. copyright extended just to protect Disney's IP.
Ventura's term as Minnesota governor was extremely successful (certainly more so than Bush's terms in Texas or Clinton's in Arkansas were). I'd say he's more than proven himself capable of choosing credible advisors.
And as I acknowledged in my previous post, I concede that the entrenched party system makes his situation difficult. But, again, he proved in Minnesota that it is not insurmountable.
IIRC, Windows 2000 got "discovered" because people were so frustrated with ME. I believe 2000 was never actually intended for consumers (it was supposed to be a successor to NT) but was so popular over the clunky Windows ME that people began to turn to it instead (leading to it being the basis for XP).
If Jobs sends his cult members after me to get mine back, I'll just distract them by walking past a coffee house with an open mike poetry night.
..and during the War, we didn't even have the PAPER!
I will concede your second point, but contest the first. A lack of education (or even a lack of intelligence) doesn't by itself make someone a bad leader. The trick is to be smart enough to delegate the headier stuff to smart and well-qualified ADVISORS (and to listen to their advice).
A good contrast on this is George W. Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though certainly not the brightest bulb in the pack, Bush is certainly better educated (and likely more intelligent) than Schwarzenegger. But he insists on surrounding himself with advisors who are chosen based on their loyalty, not their qualifications. Schwarzenegger, by contrast, is not at all well-educated and not apparently a particularly smart guy (just listen to one of his commentary tracks if you doubt it). But Schwarzenegger has chosen well qualified advisors to help compensate for that and deferred to their advice on many issues--and it has served him well. And so, by almost all accounts, Schwarzenegger has been a much more effective and respected leader than Bush.
Jobs had one skill that was VITAL to Apple that Woz didn't: charisma. Much as I admire and love Woz, there is no way that Apple would have went anywhere had Jobs not been there to sell it. It would have been just another cool thing invented by an eccentric guy in his garage that never panned out into anything.
I'm no fan of Jobs, and I do agree that Woz got kind of screwed on the deal. But there is no way Apple would have become Apple without both Steves.
Great, now all I have to do is found a multi-billion $ company in my garage with a handful of other guys. No pressure there.
Jimmy Carter believed in UFO's. Clinton believed that Oswald didn't kill Kennedy. And George Bush believed Saddam was about to build a nuclear weapon (or claims he did). Every President gets one thing to be a little flaky on.
The most tragic thing I've seen in a long time was when Jesse Ventura announced the other night that he wouldn't be running for the Senate. He's truly the only third party candidate with reasonable positions that I can support that has ANY serious chance of ever winning the Presidency. Every day that he stays out of politics is another day being ruled by the 2-party system in this country.
Every other potential third-party candidate is either some cause-oriented nutjob (a wacko wanting to abolish taxes, a wacko environmentalist, or just a straight-up wacko) and/or someone who has shown no capacity to actually win a serious public office. Ventura isn't a nutball and has actually won serious public offices (leaving office with the highest approval rating of any governor in Minnesota history).
...probably was raised in a barn...with all the other primitives.
And you don't even get cherry flavoring.
You've obviously never worked for Dick Cheney.
At least they're learning valuable trades that they can use when they escape.
Screw that. I want some of the fat Plato cash!
If they hadn't kept the information they wouldn't be able to do targeted ads and sell information about your surfing/shopping/viewing habits. Don't believe they do this? Install Noscript, and go down and see how often it blocks google-analytics.com on your favorite webpages (even Slashdot has it).
They had better be careful. Anyone remember what happened to the poor exec that pushed the Robocop program over the ED-209 program at OCP?