It's not like cartridges anymore. The production costs for stamping out more copies of a game are minuscule. Bluray discs are a little more expensive since the production lines haven't all been rolled out, but PS3 games can use ordinary DVDs till then.
Diamonds aren't particularly scarce on Earth and have dramatically less value beyond the jeweler's counter. They're already being synthesized fairly inexpensively and once gem-quality synthesis production ramps up, bye bye DeBeers. Asteroids are rich in useful metals and we don't have to tear up our landscape to get at them.
Warning: The Crank Prank Time Phone(tm) should only be used for prank calls to the past. Any other use is prohibited by law and may result in wiping you from existence.
Saying that Peak Oil implies we'll "run out of oil in $now + 25" in some certain time frame is like saying Evolution says we descended from Chimpanzees. Peak oil is an economic theory. Over time, cheap oil will take longer to find while older wells will taper off at an ever-increasing rate. When we reach the "Peak Oil" point, supply is still increasing, only demand is increasing and accelerating. This will cause prices to increase rapidly, as oil demand is largely inelastic (we MUST have it, no matter the cost, in many circumstances there are no viable alternatives . . . yet).
Would it not be possible to create a compatibility layer? After all, "the GPL workaround" has taken different-platform drivers and run them atop a GPL'ed shim to run them on Linux. If Solaris was GPL then there'd be no (legal) compatibility issues to introduce a "pretend I'm linux driver-mode" and share code.
Why is Slashdot so damn US-centric? Are does anyone else outside the USA really care for the political propaganda crap on Slashdot?
Because the Internet is pretty US-centric. That's more a matter of audience makeup, which is changing. However, regulation and asshattery by US lawmakers can affect people connecting to and from other countries as well. Not to mention other nations enacting their own laws similar to the way things are being done in the US w/ regards to technology.
This reminds me of my old pa. Whenevers we'd get to misbehavin and all that, he'd take us out back and whip us real good for what we'd done wrong and gotten caught fer. Then he'd whip us again for the stuff we'd done wrong he didn't catch us fer. And then he'd whip us again for the stuff we wuz gonna do wrong later.
I'm glad old Billy Gates and Stevie Ballmer lerned themselves sim'lar lessons from their daddys too.
There's no reason they can't release a souped-up Wii for HDTV down the road, keeping it all compatible. (PC games have supported multiple resolutions for ages.)
[sarcasm]Are you suggesting that an organization like the NSA would surreptitiously and illegally monitor such information or try to pressure the providers to handing it over without warrants? Pffft. Why do you hate America?[/sarcasm]
There are shareholders? I think Lego is privately held.
Private corporations can still sell stock directly to investors. A private company is simply one that does not offer its stock to the general public via one of the big stock exchanges.
This is incorrect. Mars *can* hold a thick enough Earthlike atmosphere, just not indefinitely. It will slowly bleed off into space, but it would take many thousands of years to cause any problems. If a civilization is capable of terraforming Mars in the first place, topping off the atmosphere every few thousand years shouldn't be much hassle.
The cold temps can be overcome with greenhouse effect, solar mirrors, etc. Heck, the cold weather might even be a selling point. A far-future civilization is likely to face challenges to keep themselves from roasting in their own waste heat--moving to a cold planet could then be desirable.
Microsoft is actually in a bit of a bind if you think about it. They've been raking in money for decades, but they're totally dependent on the Windows tax and MS Office. They already have monopolies with Windows and Office so they can't grow without introducing something new or squeezing the installed base (Activation, WGA, upgrade restrictions, 31 flavors, etc). The only other products they make with significant market share operate at a loss (i.e. Xbox).
Vista has taken so long because MS has to spend money to develop it, but it's not going to bring in more money than XP. It won't do much in retail. Joe Sixpack doesn't install patches, much less spend $$$ to upgrade his OS. It has to come with the new computer.
This is why Microsoft is frantically trying to get into new markets. Unfortunately for them, history has not been kind to these efforts and they almost always fail miserably (it's hard to sell crap when it isn't bundled). Zune (sold at a loss) vs iPod; OneCare vs Norton, Symantec, Trend, AVG, etc; MSN & Windows Live vs Google. Will any of these grow Microsoft? Probably not.
As for the breadwinners, desktop Windows is safe for the time being--it's bundled & the average user isn't going to bother to install anything else. Office is at risk--corporate inertia will keep it in the workplace for a while yet, but OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, and soon Windows ports of KOffice are great reasons for home users not to spend $300 (and getting better). Windows servers look pretty bleak. Outlook/Exchange and Active Directory are the only pieces I can think of that *nix doesn't have a vastly superior alternative for. The Windows port of Evolution, Mozilla Sunbird, Google Domains, SugarCRM, Salesforce.com, etc. will probably kill Outlook eventually. Hell, maybe IBM will get a wild hair and open-source Lotus Notes & Domino. The next version or two of Samba will tackle AD. This could all be mature enough before Longhorn server RTM. There was little reason to upgrade Win2k to Win2k3, I see less reason for Win2k to Longhorn short of EOL at which point it'll be cheaper (and probably easier & user transparent) to migrate to *nix.
Uhm... That's NOT quite true... Cut the power off, the disc eventually stops spinning because of friction, etc.
Parent said: "Once the disk is spinning, there's no additional power used to rotate a heavy vs. a light flywheel."
Mass is irrelevant when maintaining a constant angular momentum, all else (like coefficient of friction) equal. Once spinning, aerodynamics and friction are running the show.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not like cartridges anymore. The production costs for stamping out more copies of a game are minuscule. Bluray discs are a little more expensive since the production lines haven't all been rolled out, but PS3 games can use ordinary DVDs till then.
Diamonds aren't particularly scarce on Earth and have dramatically less value beyond the jeweler's counter. They're already being synthesized fairly inexpensively and once gem-quality synthesis production ramps up, bye bye DeBeers. Asteroids are rich in useful metals and we don't have to tear up our landscape to get at them.
Warning: The Crank Prank Time Phone(tm) should only be used for prank calls to the past. Any other use is prohibited by law and may result in wiping you from existence.
Saying that Peak Oil implies we'll "run out of oil in $now + 25" in some certain time frame is like saying Evolution says we descended from Chimpanzees. Peak oil is an economic theory. Over time, cheap oil will take longer to find while older wells will taper off at an ever-increasing rate. When we reach the "Peak Oil" point, supply is still increasing, only demand is increasing and accelerating. This will cause prices to increase rapidly, as oil demand is largely inelastic (we MUST have it, no matter the cost, in many circumstances there are no viable alternatives . . . yet).
Would it not be possible to create a compatibility layer? After all, "the GPL workaround" has taken different-platform drivers and run them atop a GPL'ed shim to run them on Linux. If Solaris was GPL then there'd be no (legal) compatibility issues to introduce a "pretend I'm linux driver-mode" and share code.
Novell still has an ace up its sleeve with the WordPerfect antitrust suit they can use to keep MS Lawyers at bay.
Because the Internet is pretty US-centric. That's more a matter of audience makeup, which is changing. However, regulation and asshattery by US lawmakers can affect people connecting to and from other countries as well. Not to mention other nations enacting their own laws similar to the way things are being done in the US w/ regards to technology.
This reminds me of my old pa. Whenevers we'd get to misbehavin and all that, he'd take us out back and whip us real good for what we'd done wrong and gotten caught fer. Then he'd whip us again for the stuff we'd done wrong he didn't catch us fer. And then he'd whip us again for the stuff we wuz gonna do wrong later.
I'm glad old Billy Gates and Stevie Ballmer lerned themselves sim'lar lessons from their daddys too.
Is that anything like "truthiness?"
The Phantom is finally shipping!?
How archaic! You'd think we were back in 0x3E8 BC!
Plz, that shud come l8er. U'd think 1st thing 2 do is sue AOL.
But Microsoft is talking about leaving China not Europe, silly!
There's no reason they can't release a souped-up Wii for HDTV down the road, keeping it all compatible. (PC games have supported multiple resolutions for ages.)
[sarcasm]Are you suggesting that an organization like the NSA would surreptitiously and illegally monitor such information or try to pressure the providers to handing it over without warrants? Pffft. Why do you hate America?[/sarcasm]
Private corporations can still sell stock directly to investors. A private company is simply one that does not offer its stock to the general public via one of the big stock exchanges.
Sorry about that, I left off my tags.
This is incorrect. Mars *can* hold a thick enough Earthlike atmosphere, just not indefinitely. It will slowly bleed off into space, but it would take many thousands of years to cause any problems. If a civilization is capable of terraforming Mars in the first place, topping off the atmosphere every few thousand years shouldn't be much hassle.
The cold temps can be overcome with greenhouse effect, solar mirrors, etc. Heck, the cold weather might even be a selling point. A far-future civilization is likely to face challenges to keep themselves from roasting in their own waste heat--moving to a cold planet could then be desirable.
Microsoft is actually in a bit of a bind if you think about it. They've been raking in money for decades, but they're totally dependent on the Windows tax and MS Office. They already have monopolies with Windows and Office so they can't grow without introducing something new or squeezing the installed base (Activation, WGA, upgrade restrictions, 31 flavors, etc). The only other products they make with significant market share operate at a loss (i.e. Xbox).
Vista has taken so long because MS has to spend money to develop it, but it's not going to bring in more money than XP. It won't do much in retail. Joe Sixpack doesn't install patches, much less spend $$$ to upgrade his OS. It has to come with the new computer.
This is why Microsoft is frantically trying to get into new markets. Unfortunately for them, history has not been kind to these efforts and they almost always fail miserably (it's hard to sell crap when it isn't bundled). Zune (sold at a loss) vs iPod; OneCare vs Norton, Symantec, Trend, AVG, etc; MSN & Windows Live vs Google. Will any of these grow Microsoft? Probably not.
As for the breadwinners, desktop Windows is safe for the time being--it's bundled & the average user isn't going to bother to install anything else. Office is at risk--corporate inertia will keep it in the workplace for a while yet, but OpenOffice.org, AbiWord, and soon Windows ports of KOffice are great reasons for home users not to spend $300 (and getting better). Windows servers look pretty bleak. Outlook/Exchange and Active Directory are the only pieces I can think of that *nix doesn't have a vastly superior alternative for. The Windows port of Evolution, Mozilla Sunbird, Google Domains, SugarCRM, Salesforce.com, etc. will probably kill Outlook eventually. Hell, maybe IBM will get a wild hair and open-source Lotus Notes & Domino. The next version or two of Samba will tackle AD. This could all be mature enough before Longhorn server RTM. There was little reason to upgrade Win2k to Win2k3, I see less reason for Win2k to Longhorn short of EOL at which point it'll be cheaper (and probably easier & user transparent) to migrate to *nix.
Which is especially relevant because Google created Firefox . . .
And so did I! Stupid e's. (Well, stupid ME actually)
You misspelled useable.
Parent said: "Once the disk is spinning, there's no additional power used to rotate a heavy vs. a light flywheel."
Mass is irrelevant when maintaining a constant angular momentum, all else (like coefficient of friction) equal. Once spinning, aerodynamics and friction are running the show.
He'll be overseeing the deployment of Microsoft's Genuine Advantage Orbital Death Ray (tm).
And what do these thinner materials and more closely-spaced heads do for the MTBF and error rate in such drives?