Yes that's totally normal, the screen will end up completely dead at one point. All LCDs, to this date, will do that. The cold cathode will not last for ever. But if your of the DIY type it is fixable (see LCD Backlight Quick Fix as featured on hackaday.com). Although this is a large LCD, dunno if part would be available for the much thinner laptop screens, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are.
I have to agree that the pismo is probably the best PowerBook of all the PBs (couldn't talk about x86 machines). It was plenty rugged, design was fairly stylish (ok maybe not as much as newer PBs) and theses machines were beasts! Even my Lombard (model that preceded the Pismo and resembles it's hardware) isn't dying. After nearly 6 years of use I still decently runs X on it. I'm kinda sad Apple went the Titanium way. I find the new design less "laptop" like. It looks great on a desk, but the laptop is something you carry around and you expect it to take a few bumps and shocks... but eh image sales doesn't it?
Actually, since the guilty party is a corporation and not an individual, the penalty has to be directed at the corporation. Since corporations are by definition non-corporeal (prick me I do not bleed), and have no internal moral code also by definition, some fate as loathsome to a corporation as death is to a typical person should be executed. Perhaps sentence Sony to be run by goverment beaurucrats.
IIRC, the pure essence of a corporation is that it has the same legal rights and duties as a civilian. I can be sued it can borrow money, it can get maried (fusion), etc you get the point. I really don't understand why we, as a society, are unable to apply non peculiar penalties to corporations. Say we "jail" sony for a year, a total prohibition of their products and rights to deal with anybody... as we're there, why aren't we strong enough as a society to be able to say "This company does not want to serve public interest" and simply force it to close/sale. This is not hard to concieve, after all we do it to ourselves! Heck we kill agressive dogs for fear they'll destroy our favorite sofa! Is the corporation some sort of god we cannot touch? No way! We created them, we decided that we'd group to better serve the interest of the goal (ie: create a product). If it does not serve the best interest of the rest of the population it should not be tolerated, do non-smokers tolerate smokers when they go in a restaurant? No, smokers are autarkize in glassed rooms.
I wouldn't dare saying I act like this, but if society wanted to do it I'd be the first in the row to come give a push. I really don't understand why we are so weak.
On another point really I fine this DMR practice of utherly bad taste. Wouldn't you return your bran new car right away if the company decided to seal the hood to that any maintenance, changes, tweaks have to be made by this company? This would be totally un acceptable. Sony is doing exactly the same and I think the general public should be made aware. Same goes for the possible threat posed by the rootkit. Ok maybe it's not deadly (remember the firestone scandal anyone?), but is poses a thread to millions, see billions of man hours. Thus resulting in a lost of money for the indivuals (corporations included). I wouldn't call it stealing because harm wasn't necesserily already done, but it does fit the definition of a fraud: "Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain". Even if Sony "didn't know" of the potential issues, justice has proven that fraud can also be unintentional (Sponsorship scandals ? - Only for a few of them obviously). We need the whole thing in front pages everywhere, we need to fight back! What will it be next? Intel's gonna take my idle cpus for massive online clusters with out my concent first?
Slashdot Mirror
Yes that's totally normal, the screen will end up completely dead at one point. All LCDs, to this date, will do that. The cold cathode will not last for ever. But if your of the DIY type it is fixable (see LCD Backlight Quick Fix as featured on hackaday.com). Although this is a large LCD, dunno if part would be available for the much thinner laptop screens, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are.
I have to agree that the pismo is probably the best PowerBook of all the PBs (couldn't talk about x86 machines). It was plenty rugged, design was fairly stylish (ok maybe not as much as newer PBs) and theses machines were beasts! Even my Lombard (model that preceded the Pismo and resembles it's hardware) isn't dying. After nearly 6 years of use I still decently runs X on it. I'm kinda sad Apple went the Titanium way. I find the new design less "laptop" like. It looks great on a desk, but the laptop is something you carry around and you expect it to take a few bumps and shocks... but eh image sales doesn't it?