Although I would love to see Apple get their smug ass handed to them, in this case I don't see how Psystar has a leg to stand on. Because trying to force Apple to share its OS with other manufactures would be like telling GM they must share the source code for the ECU's in their cars with Ford so they can use it in their ECU's. And furthermore, monopolies are when consumers don't have a choice. But in this case, consumers do have a choice; if you don't like how Apple sells their products then don't buy them... Buy a PC instead... If you don't like Windows, install Linux on your new PC. The choices are out there and Apple certainly doesn't have a monopoly on anything.
Curiously, I just happened to be looking at my company's analytics when I came across this story. Here's what our analytics say...
Out of 7330 unique visitors...
48.7% use IE7
19.0% use IE6
18.6% use Firefox 2
6.64% use Firefox 3
4.78% use Safari 3
0.96% use Firefox 1
0.66% use Safari
0.33% use Mozilla
0.12% use Opera
0.06% use IE5
I certainly liked it... However, it was very frustrating to constantly have to switch between your weapon and flash light... especially considering how dark the game was.
This talk of the death of PC gaming worries me because I have a deformed left hand and "console" machines are just not an option for me (with their big, bulky and awkward controllers). I can handle a keyboard and if PC gaming starts declining, I'll have to find a new hobby... I wonder how I could handle knitting?
1) Windows Vista sold more copies in it's first 3 months on the market than the entire install base of Apple Mac's. If you consider that a "flop", then anyone invested in Apple better start selling now. Sure, most of those "sales" were pre-installs, but "all" Mac's come pre-installed with OSX too.
2) I'm the IT person for a small office (around 15 users depending on who the boss has hired or fired this month) and so far I've upgraded 4 desktop workstations to Vista Business and haven't had a problem yet. In fact, the employees who I've upgraded say they like Vista and have no complaints and I have more copies of Vista Business, ready to upgrade other workstations as soon as I get around to it. Personally, the only compatibility issues I have with Vista has to do with iTunes and nvidia's nvraid drivers. Every time I play a video (podcast) in iTunes, I get and nvraid error (although it doesn't seem to be causing any real issues) and I don't know how to fix it (suggestions would be helpful if anyone has heard of this).
3) I also agree with the other guy... I remember all these arguments when Windows XP was released... all the nay sayers came crawling out of the wood work and told everyone Windows XP will cause your sky to come crashing down if you upgrade to it! Keep in mind, most problems ended up being profoundly over exaggerated. I also remember most businesses taking over a year (sometimes two or three years) before they upgraded to Windows XP. My friend is the IT manager at a local high school and they didn't upgrade to Windows XP until mid-2004 and that was only because they bought new Dells to replace all their old PII, Windows 98 machines.
1. You have to remember on thing about that "foam" that his Columbia's wing...
a. It was saturated with ice from condensation. That made it a lot heavier and denser.
b. It hit the wing at several hundred miles per hour. Anything traveling at several hundred miles per hour has enough force to do damage to just about anything it hits. To prove my point, not only did that piece of foam damage the ceramic tiles when it hit but it also punched a hole right through the aluminum skin underneath too!
2. The whole purpose of the shuttle was to make space flight cheaper. If you can keep the operating and launch costs down, a reusable spacecraft can be a lot cheaper than a disposable one. Think about how expensive it would be if the airlines had to replace their 747's after every flight!
The ceramic tiles aren't failure prone by them selves. They are only failure prone when something hits them. But then again, I guess you could say the windshield on your car is failure prone too.
A heat shield isn't "tried and true", it's the "brute force" method of getting through re-entry. You make a shield thick enough that it doesn't burn completely through before the spacecraft slows down enough. A heat shield is a very heavy and expensive way to protect a spacecraft. If they made a heat shield large enough to use on something like a space shuttle it would be so heavy it wouldn't get off the ground. And it would be very expensive because they would have to make a new one every time they wanted to launch because a heat shield can only be used once.
Ceramic tiles are defiantly the way to go. They just need to stop things from hitting them.
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Although I would love to see Apple get their smug ass handed to them, in this case I don't see how Psystar has a leg to stand on. Because trying to force Apple to share its OS with other manufactures would be like telling GM they must share the source code for the ECU's in their cars with Ford so they can use it in their ECU's. And furthermore, monopolies are when consumers don't have a choice. But in this case, consumers do have a choice; if you don't like how Apple sells their products then don't buy them... Buy a PC instead... If you don't like Windows, install Linux on your new PC. The choices are out there and Apple certainly doesn't have a monopoly on anything.
Curiously, I just happened to be looking at my company's analytics when I came across this story. Here's what our analytics say...
;-p
Out of 7330 unique visitors...
48.7% use IE7
19.0% use IE6
18.6% use Firefox 2
6.64% use Firefox 3
4.78% use Safari 3
0.96% use Firefox 1
0.66% use Safari
0.33% use Mozilla
0.12% use Opera
0.06% use IE5
At least that's what our analytics say...
I certainly liked it... However, it was very frustrating to constantly have to switch between your weapon and flash light... especially considering how dark the game was.
This talk of the death of PC gaming worries me because I have a deformed left hand and "console" machines are just not an option for me (with their big, bulky and awkward controllers). I can handle a keyboard and if PC gaming starts declining, I'll have to find a new hobby... I wonder how I could handle knitting?
1) Windows Vista sold more copies in it's first 3 months on the market than the entire install base of Apple Mac's. If you consider that a "flop", then anyone invested in Apple better start selling now. Sure, most of those "sales" were pre-installs, but "all" Mac's come pre-installed with OSX too.
2) I'm the IT person for a small office (around 15 users depending on who the boss has hired or fired this month) and so far I've upgraded 4 desktop workstations to Vista Business and haven't had a problem yet. In fact, the employees who I've upgraded say they like Vista and have no complaints and I have more copies of Vista Business, ready to upgrade other workstations as soon as I get around to it. Personally, the only compatibility issues I have with Vista has to do with iTunes and nvidia's nvraid drivers. Every time I play a video (podcast) in iTunes, I get and nvraid error (although it doesn't seem to be causing any real issues) and I don't know how to fix it (suggestions would be helpful if anyone has heard of this).
3) I also agree with the other guy... I remember all these arguments when Windows XP was released... all the nay sayers came crawling out of the wood work and told everyone Windows XP will cause your sky to come crashing down if you upgrade to it! Keep in mind, most problems ended up being profoundly over exaggerated. I also remember most businesses taking over a year (sometimes two or three years) before they upgraded to Windows XP. My friend is the IT manager at a local high school and they didn't upgrade to Windows XP until mid-2004 and that was only because they bought new Dells to replace all their old PII, Windows 98 machines.
1. You have to remember on thing about that "foam" that his Columbia's wing...
a. It was saturated with ice from condensation. That made it a lot heavier and denser.
b. It hit the wing at several hundred miles per hour. Anything traveling at several hundred miles per hour has enough force to do damage to just about anything it hits. To prove my point, not only did that piece of foam damage the ceramic tiles when it hit but it also punched a hole right through the aluminum skin underneath too!
2. The whole purpose of the shuttle was to make space flight cheaper. If you can keep the operating and launch costs down, a reusable spacecraft can be a lot cheaper than a disposable one. Think about how expensive it would be if the airlines had to replace their 747's after every flight!
The ceramic tiles aren't failure prone by them selves. They are only failure prone when something hits them. But then again, I guess you could say the windshield on your car is failure prone too.
A heat shield isn't "tried and true", it's the "brute force" method of getting through re-entry. You make a shield thick enough that it doesn't burn completely through before the spacecraft slows down enough. A heat shield is a very heavy and expensive way to protect a spacecraft. If they made a heat shield large enough to use on something like a space shuttle it would be so heavy it wouldn't get off the ground. And it would be very expensive because they would have to make a new one every time they wanted to launch because a heat shield can only be used once.
Ceramic tiles are defiantly the way to go. They just need to stop things from hitting them.