It's not selling that well as yet (relative to normal cars) but is at least quite practical.
Well, we had to wait 3 months for ours and our friends waited 5 months. In it's first 6 months in the US it sold 2x more than Honda Insight did over 12 months. They've throttled production but that's about to change. I've heard that Toyota has something like 4 hybrids instore for sale next year. Even with throttled production, they sold 100,000 cars as of last August 02'. Essentially, 2 years of worldwide( US/Canada ) sales.
Don't laugh at this one. I put an inverter and 100' of extension chord in our Prius( gas/electric ) and used it during the energy crisis( Enron and Duke energy sucking out of CA ) of 2000/2001. Worked great but MPG wasn't so good.;)
When will we figure out a way to meld home power generation/use with transportation power generation/use? People complained that thin client computing was very bad because the network could go down but they are more than willing to have broken pipes, spoiled food, no heat/cooling, etc when the electric system fails them.... Interesting.
the new Z isn't a sub notebook. It's really just about 1/2" wider than the SL-5500 or so the picture of the top looks that way. Since the screen rotates and flips, it can be used just like the current model but without the slide-out keyboard. To use the keyboard on this model requires you view in landscape mode.
With 32MB of flash, it looks like Sharp is planning on loading this baby up. Now if only the turds at the retail counters will learn that Linux is not a detriment. Most times I'm at a PDA retail counter, they are telling people the Z is for geeks because it runs Linux and then shows them HP devices.... dumb ass!
Tell that to the Challenger crew. I think the point is that this new communications platform would be brand new and kinks are going to be found. When you combine super light weight with long term( 2+ months ) use, there are going to be problems. Parts will fall from the sky and people are going to get hurt. Especially if these are for supporting high density areas.
what are you talking about? In deposition, or was it in court, they said they used paper and pen to run their business. hint: do you really want a company vith executives who lie in court, running a global network?
I had read that up until the early 1990's, Microsoft used UNIX to develop their software. They use UNIX for CDROM duplication to prevent virus infections too( or they did a few years ago ).
I think everybody here already knows Windows sucks. It's those poor lemmings out there, PHB's and consumers, who keep getting fooled year after year who need to know this. The horror, the horror.:)
Are you people forgetting about the 200 lbs cargo? Do you think this will be spread out over the length of of the air craft. Not likely. THAT'S that part that's gonna hurt when it comes down. A parachuted cargo compartment could help here.
I can see how Bill G would be concerned with getting electricity to these people because they can't run Windows without it. Food, water and all else have nothing to do with spreading the word of Windows.
Personally, I'm glad Teledesic failed because it frightens me to think Bill G could control a large network. It would have only run with Windows. You know this would have been the case. IMHO.
When you see ANY news related to Microsoft, just ask yourself, "How does this protect the Windows monopoly?" and you'll recognize what's up. It helps seeing the bigger picture in the market like who is doing what in game consoles and who's doing what in the PDA sector.
BTW: I just read that Microsoft is lobbying Washington for more broadband for the masses. They don't do squat for anything but to protect Windows so this must be about getting their bloated systems connected in the homes. The pressure is on them to do this quickly before someone else's standard picks up and beats 802.11 into the home market.
They really need broadband or nobody will want their DRM based OS's because there won't be much to protect. Surely not enough to sustain the whole company.....
I'm all for more broadband but if it means Microsoft fails again.... go 56K dialup!;)
LoB
Re:it's wired! So it requires a common HW interfac
on
USB On-the-Go Go Go Go
·
· Score: 2
That's too bad. Sounds like there needed to be a few Bluetooth compatibility labs so people could play with other in a lab and figure what's going on. Kinda like IBM's labs they setup for things like Linux, Java, etc. too often standards bodies leave too many doors open because of commitee member pressure and the standard has to hash it out on the street for a few years. Companies like Palm, Handspring, etc sould have replaced IRDA with Bluetooth years ago since they only needed to work with themselves anyway.....
Regarding Intel, you are probably right. Intel killed the chipset competition with the SLOT-A CPU and took the MoBo market to themselves for a number of years. Many had to license their chips just to stay in business because of the proprietary slot interface. Probably why USB came out then since Intel is used to planning 5+ years out. IMHO
LoB
Re:it's wired! So it requires a common HW interfac
on
USB On-the-Go Go Go Go
·
· Score: 2
So YOUR Bluetooth project never worked? I've not designed anything with Bluetooth but it was pretty obvious Microsoft didn't want it to work. Because there aren't many products out today isn't always an indication of it's abilities. I'll be Intel paid out a pretty penny to get USB on all those system boards out there and to keep Firewire off those boards. Not to unlike how Microsoft paid ISPs to not use Netscapes browser and gave them theirs for free at a time when Netscape had the better product.
So, can you tell us more about YOUR Bluetooth project?
That's right but remember how Java worked on Windows? Microsoft didn't want REAL Java to work so they hacked there own to keep Java from spreading. Microsoft does of 90% of the desktop market after all. Well, they don't like Bluetooth either and most of the FUD about Bluetooth over the last 2 years was most likely funded by that company in Redmond. Devices are popping up with WinCE on it and that's bad but when you add the fact that these devices could get more useful with a lightweight wireless system that spells trouble for WinCE and that means trouble for spreading/controlling the application APIs owned and wielded by Microsoft.
Why do you think they are now doing 802.11 hardware? Very soon they will release Win-Fi and pay hardware manufacturers to include it in the MoBo over Bluetooth....
Wires are silly alright but innovation is constantly throttled by very large companies with an agenda for protecting their monopolies. Be it Microsoft or Intel. USB will die soon but not as fast as we like.... Vote with your wallet and purchase Bluetooth product ASAP. IMHO.
Remember that there are companies which HATE Bluetooth with a passion. A light-weight wireless protocol is a boon to device manufacturers but one particularly large software company finds that enabling the world is a very bad thing.
Jumping on a new wired standard now and with a savings of POSSIBLY only a couple of bucks is silly. This could be Intel realizing that USB is going away and Bluetooth taking over it's role( with FireWire for the high end ) but that's life. That's progress. I would still look to see if Microosft isn't mixed up in this somehow since this seems to be a shot at Bluetooth and they don't want to see Bluetooth do things like enable Palms and or enable other non-bloated non-WinCE based handhelds. Enabling these non-WinCE devices pushs Windows aside and that's not what innovation at Microsoft is about. IMHO.
LoB
it's wired! So it requires a common HW interface..
on
USB On-the-Go Go Go Go
·
· Score: 2
Sorry but wireless is the way to go for what is projected as the use for the USB-to-go. Think about it, how many PDAs and handheld devices have a common connector? That's one very large pile to have to move all in one direction and I don't think it's going to happen.
This is a pretty obvious problem and so I would think that this bit of PR is more of another way to stall Bluetooth. Find out who is behind this and not just the front-man and you'll probably find a hidden agenda.
Seriously, this is a stupid idea given the realities of how devices are connected today. IMHO.
now there's a frivilous(sp?) project. I don't think we'd need a special CD burner to do this since most all cd's today have 1 bit color resolution. We just need the software to put the text down on the cd so it looks like text....or whatever( a clock ).
I can see it now, the Gugenheim doing an art show called: "A Bit of CD Art". tm-LoB;)
There goes the blank cd supply out the window. Just like when AOL blankeded the earth with floppy disk in the mid 90's. It would be fun though.
Steve and company and stomp all they want but it isn't going to help. They can't preload, they can't make their products secure( ok in 10 years MAYBE ), and they can't give their OS away( they could but it would kill about 40% of their revenue ).
So go ahead and stomp MonkeyBoy, it's going to be as fun to watch as your MonkeyBoy Dance(see link below).
Microsoft is a company in a dire search for an air supply. Like a fish out of water flopping around. It's obvious from the fact that they said the "L" word in public yet again.
that's pretty much what Microsoft is attempting. It seems silly when you think about it related to printers. But, they want to have full control of what runs across the I/O subsystem. The music and film industry like this but with Sony and AOL/TimeWarner in the mix, they don't want Microsoft implementing it. It's not going to be like the phone business where everybody said NO to Microsoft but there are enough big players on the other side of the fence to fight this. Thank gawd.
The funny thing is that no matter how much money Microsoft threw at DEC to move everything over to NT, DEC crashed and burned. HP started a similar migration around the same time but pulled back when customers resisted the pressure from HP to give up UNIX for Windows. Lucky for HP. Is HP still smart? It doesn't look like it....
Microsoft threw $5 BILLION over to AT&T so they would use WinCE and what did that get them? It most likely did more harm to the other OS vendors who had working product and it probably delayed the release of the intended technology in set-top boxes.
IMHO, no company should take Microsoft "investment" capital unless they fully intend to disolve the business very soon. This news that HP is helping finance and back MS.NET just means HP is more likely to not be around for the long run.
In 5 years, HP will split itself up with maybe only the printer division keeping it's name. Or maybe they'll smarten up again and let customers solutions drive the market. Not the latest idea to protect the Windows monopoly, MS.NET.
How about a Palm/phone without the phone. What I can't wait to see is a phone with bluetooth and almost no UI so it's really tiny AND a PDA with Bluetooth and apps fully integrated with communicating with the phone. Bolting these two devices together is not a good idea IMHO. The size gets too large for use as either a PDA or a phone and you don't have the option of changing phone services or going without one or the other.
I have a feeling Microsoft's push into 802.11 has everything to do with Palm and Bluetooth. It's gonna be a very tough fight for WinCE from here on out if Bluetooth hit's the market this fall.
I've not heard of any Sharp Zaurus problems with the keyboard so far. If you look at how they did it, there are 4 gold plated contact pads on each end under the keyboard. 4 mating contacts slide along the underside of the keyboard and make contact when the keyboard reaches it's end of travel. Pretty solid design from how it feels, looks, and works.
1) Moving parts (sliding parts). Face it... if something moves, it's a weak point. Part of what makes handhelds worth spending money on is their longevity, and adding a weak point to a relatively fragile device is a mistake.
Longevity? Those built in batteries lose a bunch of power if their first year and are history in 2-3 years without much hope of replacing them when the time comes. Palm will tell you to purchase another PDA from what someone's told me.
When you apply this to the low/mid range PDAs like the Palm III, m10x, m125, and visors(except Pro) you're right, but not the high end ones. And the Tungsten IS a high end PDA. Love the Bluetooth though.:)
and you will usually see the light, ie why Microsoft does project X or Y. In this case, IGnatius T Foobar has the same thoghts as I. Smaller, cheaper, faster, and more secure systems are turning up all over the place and they are not running Windows. By getting into the communications stream they are attempting to isolate those devices and isolated devices will give way to connected devices.
Why do you think Microsoft is dragging their feet with Bluetooth? It's not all about it being not ready, that's never stopped them before. It's because Bluetooth works best with low power devices and Windows does not "do" low power devices. When was the last time you saw a Windows device running off 2 AAA batteries?
The original Halloween document stated that they needed to control the protocols and this is not too far from it. It's what transmits/receives the protocols....
This is dangerous folks, IMHO. Win-Fi costs can be quite low to the user because Microsoft is going to absorb the development costs using monopoly money. If every machine ships with Win-Fi onboard, with MS security protocols, our full fledged WiFi cards will be left out unless we pay the extra $$ for another access point too.
It's been a while but I believe Standard Oil purchased the patent from Ovonics and then British Petroleom ( BP ) purchased it from Standard Oil.
I forget who started the legal proceedings against Toyota and Panasonic but it was mentioned last year in the Toyota eGroups ( now Yahoo Groups ).
The thing about Ovonics was that they only could make a very few NiMH batteries work enough to show to investors and customers. When customers attempted to make the licensed batteries, they didn't work and only when the Japanese fixed the problems did the market for NiMH take off.....
wow, 10 years ago and still nothing. I guess my main piont is that hybrid gasoline/electric systems exist today and can reduce our fuel consumption considerable while also using technologies needed for next generation propulsion. At the same time, fuelcell based home generation( and others ) should be addressed before they try to put these things in moving vehicles. At a point were we have distributed and clean power generation, we can work on both shrinking the system for vehicle use AND/OR use it for a more electric use in vehicles.
Shooting for the moon all at once is dangerous and will most likely fail. Then again, I still feel that failure is what they want because anything less than failure would mean less oil use.
yup, I remember reading that the auto industry was granted over 1 billion dollars to develop bettery batteries. How stupid was that? Give an industry which doesn't want to develop new/distruptive technologies billions to work on it.... How dumb.
Nothing resulted but a wealthier auto industry. ie, they pissed the money away.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not selling that well as yet (relative to normal cars) but is at least quite practical.
Well, we had to wait 3 months for ours and our friends waited 5 months. In it's first 6 months in the US it sold 2x more than Honda Insight did over 12 months. They've throttled production but that's about to change. I've heard that Toyota has something like 4 hybrids instore for sale next year. Even with throttled production, they sold 100,000 cars as of last August 02'. Essentially, 2 years of worldwide( US/Canada ) sales.
About Toyota Prius
LoB
# Emergency Power Backup
;)
Don't laugh at this one. I put an inverter and 100' of extension chord in our Prius( gas/electric ) and used it during the energy crisis( Enron and Duke energy sucking out of CA ) of 2000/2001. Worked great but MPG wasn't so good.
When will we figure out a way to meld home power generation/use with transportation power generation/use? People complained that thin client computing was very bad because the network could go down but they are more than willing to have broken pipes, spoiled food, no heat/cooling, etc when the electric system fails them.... Interesting.
LoB
the new Z isn't a sub notebook. It's really just about 1/2" wider than the SL-5500 or so the picture of the top looks that way. Since the screen rotates and flips, it can be used just like the current model but without the slide-out keyboard. To use the keyboard on this model requires you view in landscape mode.
With 32MB of flash, it looks like Sharp is planning on loading this baby up. Now if only the turds at the retail counters will learn that Linux is not a detriment. Most times I'm at a PDA retail counter, they are telling people the Z is for geeks because it runs Linux and then shows them HP devices.... dumb ass!
This new Z is gonna rock. IMHO.
LoB
Tell that to the Challenger crew. I think the point is that this new communications platform would be brand new and kinks are going to be found. When you combine super light weight with long term( 2+ months ) use, there are going to be problems. Parts will fall from the sky and people are going to get hurt. Especially if these are for supporting high density areas.
LoB
what are you talking about? In deposition, or was it in court, they said they used paper and pen to run their business. hint: do you really want a company vith executives who lie in court, running a global network?
:)
I had read that up until the early 1990's, Microsoft used UNIX to develop their software. They use UNIX for CDROM duplication to prevent virus infections too( or they did a few years ago ).
I think everybody here already knows Windows sucks. It's those poor lemmings out there, PHB's and consumers, who keep getting fooled year after year who need to know this. The horror, the horror.
LoB
somebody mod this guy up to "Funny".
Are you people forgetting about the 200 lbs cargo? Do you think this will be spread out over the length of of the air craft. Not likely. THAT'S that part that's gonna hurt when it comes down. A parachuted cargo compartment could help here.
LoB
I can see how Bill G would be concerned with getting electricity to these people because they can't run Windows without it. Food, water and all else have nothing to do with spreading the word of Windows.
Personally, I'm glad Teledesic failed because it frightens me to think Bill G could control a large network. It would have only run with Windows. You know this would have been the case. IMHO.
LoB
When you see ANY news related to Microsoft, just ask yourself, "How does this protect the Windows monopoly?" and you'll recognize what's up. It helps seeing the bigger picture in the market like who is doing what in game consoles and who's doing what in the PDA sector.
;)
BTW:
I just read that Microsoft is lobbying Washington for more broadband for the masses. They don't do squat for anything but to protect Windows so this must be about getting their bloated systems connected in the homes. The pressure is on them to do this quickly before someone else's standard picks up and beats 802.11 into the home market.
They really need broadband or nobody will want their DRM based OS's because there won't be much to protect. Surely not enough to sustain the whole company.....
I'm all for more broadband but if it means Microsoft fails again.... go 56K dialup!
LoB
That's too bad. Sounds like there needed to be a few Bluetooth compatibility labs so people could play with other in a lab and figure what's going on. Kinda like IBM's labs they setup for things like Linux, Java, etc. too often standards bodies leave too many doors open because of commitee member pressure and the standard has to hash it out on the street for a few years. Companies like Palm, Handspring, etc sould have replaced IRDA with Bluetooth years ago since they only needed to work with themselves anyway.....
Regarding Intel, you are probably right. Intel killed the chipset competition with the SLOT-A CPU and took the MoBo market to themselves for a number of years. Many had to license their chips just to stay in business because of the proprietary slot interface. Probably why USB came out then since Intel is used to planning 5+ years out.
IMHO
LoB
So YOUR Bluetooth project never worked? I've not designed anything with Bluetooth but it was pretty obvious Microsoft didn't want it to work. Because there aren't many products out today isn't always an indication of it's abilities. I'll be Intel paid out a pretty penny to get USB on all those system boards out there and to keep Firewire off those boards. Not to unlike how Microsoft paid ISPs to not use Netscapes browser and gave them theirs for free at a time when Netscape had the better product.
So, can you tell us more about YOUR Bluetooth project?
That's right but remember how Java worked on Windows? Microsoft didn't want REAL Java to work so they hacked there own to keep Java from spreading. Microsoft does of 90% of the desktop market after all. Well, they don't like Bluetooth either and most of the FUD about Bluetooth over the last 2 years was most likely funded by that company in Redmond. Devices are popping up with WinCE on it and that's bad but when you add the fact that these devices could get more useful with a lightweight wireless system that spells trouble for WinCE and that means trouble for spreading/controlling the application APIs owned and wielded by Microsoft.
Why do you think they are now doing 802.11 hardware? Very soon they will release Win-Fi and pay hardware manufacturers to include it in the MoBo over Bluetooth....
Wires are silly alright but innovation is constantly throttled by very large companies with an agenda for protecting their monopolies. Be it Microsoft or Intel. USB will die soon but not as fast as we like.... Vote with your wallet and purchase Bluetooth product ASAP. IMHO.
LoB
Remember that there are companies which HATE Bluetooth with a passion. A light-weight wireless protocol is a boon to device manufacturers but one particularly large software company finds that enabling the world is a very bad thing.
Jumping on a new wired standard now and with a savings of POSSIBLY only a couple of bucks is silly. This could be Intel realizing that USB is going away and Bluetooth taking over it's role( with FireWire for the high end ) but that's life. That's progress. I would still look to see if Microosft isn't mixed up in this somehow since this seems to be a shot at Bluetooth and they don't want to see Bluetooth do things like enable Palms and or enable other non-bloated non-WinCE based handhelds. Enabling these non-WinCE devices pushs Windows aside and that's not what innovation at Microsoft is about. IMHO.
LoB
Sorry but wireless is the way to go for what is projected as the use for the USB-to-go. Think about it, how many PDAs and handheld devices have a common connector? That's one very large pile to have to move all in one direction and I don't think it's going to happen.
This is a pretty obvious problem and so I would think that this bit of PR is more of another way to stall Bluetooth. Find out who is behind this and not just the front-man and you'll probably find a hidden agenda.
Seriously, this is a stupid idea given the realities of how devices are connected today. IMHO.
LoB
now there's a frivilous(sp?) project. I don't think we'd need a special CD burner to do this since most all cd's today have 1 bit color resolution. We just need the software to put the text down on the cd so it looks like text....or whatever( a clock ).
;)
I can see it now, the Gugenheim doing an art show called: "A Bit of CD Art". tm-LoB
There goes the blank cd supply out the window. Just like when AOL blankeded the earth with floppy disk in the mid 90's. It would be fun though.
LoB
So go ahead and stomp MonkeyBoy, it's going to be as fun to watch as your MonkeyBoy Dance(see link below).
Stomp MonkeyBoy, Stomp
Microsoft is a company in a dire search for an air supply. Like a fish out of water flopping around. It's obvious from the fact that they said the "L" word in public yet again.
Lob
that's pretty much what Microsoft is attempting. It seems silly when you think about it related to printers. But, they want to have full control of what runs across the I/O subsystem. The music and film industry like this but with Sony and AOL/TimeWarner in the mix, they don't want Microsoft implementing it. It's not going to be like the phone business where everybody said NO to Microsoft but there are enough big players on the other side of the fence to fight this. Thank gawd.
LoB
The funny thing is that no matter how much money Microsoft threw at DEC to move everything over to NT, DEC crashed and burned. HP started a similar migration around the same time but pulled back when customers resisted the pressure from HP to give up UNIX for Windows. Lucky for HP. Is HP still smart? It doesn't look like it....
Microsoft threw $5 BILLION over to AT&T so they would use WinCE and what did that get them? It most likely did more harm to the other OS vendors who had working product and it probably delayed the release of the intended technology in set-top boxes.
IMHO, no company should take Microsoft "investment" capital unless they fully intend to disolve the business very soon. This news that HP is helping finance and back MS.NET just means HP is more likely to not be around for the long run.
In 5 years, HP will split itself up with maybe only the printer division keeping it's name. Or maybe they'll smarten up again and let customers solutions drive the market. Not the latest idea to protect the Windows monopoly, MS.NET.
LoB
How about a Palm/phone without the phone. What I can't wait to see is a phone with bluetooth and almost no UI so it's really tiny AND a PDA with Bluetooth and apps fully integrated with communicating with the phone. Bolting these two devices together is not a good idea IMHO. The size gets too large for use as either a PDA or a phone and you don't have the option of changing phone services or going without one or the other.
I have a feeling Microsoft's push into 802.11 has everything to do with Palm and Bluetooth. It's gonna be a very tough fight for WinCE from here on out if Bluetooth hit's the market this fall.
IMHO
LoB
I've not heard of any Sharp Zaurus problems with the keyboard so far. If you look at how they did it, there are 4 gold plated contact pads on each end under the keyboard. 4 mating contacts slide along the underside of the keyboard and make contact when the keyboard reaches it's end of travel. Pretty solid design from how it feels, looks, and works.
LoB
Longevity? Those built in batteries lose a bunch of power if their first year and are history in 2-3 years without much hope of replacing them when the time comes. Palm will tell you to purchase another PDA from what someone's told me.
When you apply this to the low/mid range PDAs like the Palm III, m10x, m125, and visors(except Pro) you're right, but not the high end ones. And the Tungsten IS a high end PDA. Love the Bluetooth though. :)
LoB
and you will usually see the light, ie why Microsoft does project X or Y. In this case, IGnatius T Foobar has the same thoghts as I. Smaller, cheaper, faster, and more secure systems are turning up all over the place and they are not running Windows. By getting into the communications stream they are attempting to isolate those devices and isolated devices will give way to connected devices.
Why do you think Microsoft is dragging their feet with Bluetooth? It's not all about it being not ready, that's never stopped them before. It's because Bluetooth works best with low power devices and Windows does not "do" low power devices. When was the last time you saw a Windows device running off 2 AAA batteries?
The original Halloween document stated that they needed to control the protocols and this is not too far from it. It's what transmits/receives the protocols....
This is dangerous folks, IMHO. Win-Fi costs can be quite low to the user because Microsoft is going to absorb the development costs using monopoly money. If every machine ships with Win-Fi onboard, with MS security protocols, our full fledged WiFi cards will be left out unless we pay the extra $$ for another access point too.
It's dangerous if it works. IMHO.
LoB
It's been a while but I believe Standard Oil purchased the patent from Ovonics and then British Petroleom ( BP ) purchased it from Standard Oil.
I forget who started the legal proceedings against Toyota and Panasonic but it was mentioned last year in the Toyota eGroups ( now Yahoo Groups ).
The thing about Ovonics was that they only could make a very few NiMH batteries work enough to show to investors and customers. When customers attempted to make the licensed batteries, they didn't work and only when the Japanese fixed the problems did the market for NiMH take off.....
IIRC
LoB
wow, 10 years ago and still nothing. I guess my main piont is that hybrid gasoline/electric systems exist today and can reduce our fuel consumption considerable while also using technologies needed for next generation propulsion. At the same time, fuelcell based home generation( and others ) should be addressed before they try to put these things in moving vehicles. At a point were we have distributed and clean power generation, we can work on both shrinking the system for vehicle use AND/OR use it for a more electric use in vehicles.
Shooting for the moon all at once is dangerous and will most likely fail. Then again, I still feel that failure is what they want because anything less than failure would mean less oil use.
LoB
yup, I remember reading that the auto industry was granted over 1 billion dollars to develop bettery batteries. How stupid was that? Give an industry which doesn't want to develop new/distruptive technologies billions to work on it.... How dumb.
Nothing resulted but a wealthier auto industry. ie, they pissed the money away.
LoB