It's still almost everywhere. At work we still have VGA monitors and docks. The monitor also has a digital connector of some kind, but never more than two other flavors. My TVs have VGA.
You know what's great about VGA sticking around? Older equipment that was often expensive and built like a tank still works. Projectors, CRTs, and KVMs. I've seen retrocomputer enthusiasts build VGA adapters for all kinds of old systems. It's nice to have something that you can rely on when you're traveling; if you have a VGA dongle you know you can work.
I hope VGA has a couple more decades in it, and with the slow adoption of 4K TVs, it just might.
I wish we could move toward pre-80's tactile controls. There certainly would be a lot more work creating limited interfaces that could work with them. It seems to me that it's less distracting when a function is a distinct control with some good feedback, like a switch or knob, than the controls that seem to line my dash these days.
It's probably not so much worth worrying about anymore. Automatic cruise control and braking are soon going to be the standard, and ease us into nearly automated driving. Computers don't get distracted.
Some applications, like desktop publishing, graphics, and CAD are still moving fast enough that new hardware and software every few years actually makes enough of an improvement in productivity that it can pay itself back. Someone waiting on a drawing to render on 4 year old hardware is wasting time!
The old London sewer system had a system of gas lamps atop flues that drew the air out of the sewers, and the flame helped reduce the odor of the sewer gases. Most of these sewer problems have been looked at for a couple thousand years now. Electric wires are a new addition, but I'm sure that other ignition sources were problems before.
I'm actually surprised that several hundred gas explosions that rocket 300 pound discs of steel into populated areas is considered so minor, but perhaps the chances of death are much less then I would expect.
One important thing to remember is Joe Consumer doesn't know or care about 1.0, 1.1, etc.
Unless they're changing the name, ol' Joe is going to get upset when it doesn't work like it says on the box. Joe is used to auto recalls and static products, and I think BluRay forgot that in their little war to win the format.
I find most discussion only focuses on search. Certainly this is part of Microsoft's strategy. What is more important for Yahoo! is it's other services. Yahoo! groups, mail, TV, calendars, widgets, and lots of other properties.
Is it possible Microsoft is after these? Like Palm wasn't after BeOS?
What would the acquisition of these other properties do for Microsoft? For Google? Google could sell the search and advertising off and get a lot of mileage off of the other parts
I think it's all this other IP that puts Yahoo! in a much better position then the narrow "Search Merger" view provides.
Good for Blockbuster and other companies for trying to end the format war. They understand that without a clear victor, people will shy away from it and wait to buy a player.
Forget Playstations and XBoxes, the real market, the mass market is when Joe Consumer wants to replace his DVD player or VCR. If he thinks it will become obsolete (Betamax), is too expensive, or just doesn't have any noticeable improvement, he won't do it.
The last point is the most interesting. Most new "HD-Capable" tvs aren't much better resolution then a progressive-scan DVD can produce. What Joe Consumer probably has it connected to his tv with is old composite video or (ghasp!) even cable. He may still have a TV without AV input.
Why waste money? He just wants the content. DVD is fine. It's cheap. He has one or several players already.
I had a IIgs back in the day, and one of the things that had always impressed me about it was how it held up to much "faster" computers running Win3.1.
The Finder was faster and more responsive. The applications more polished and less buggy. The whole thing was both more reliable and more configurable. The only downside was the lack of true multi-tasking and the need to reboot when you changed from GS/OS to ProDOS or DOS 3.3. There were, however, some great DeskAccessories that pretty much filled the gap considering what 3.1 was able to do.
This was, of course, before Windows 95. I would contend there wasn't any serious usability comparison to be made between Windows and anything else until then, and Windows didn't seriously multi-task until then either.
Afterward is a whole other ball of wax, and one I don't feel like arguing.
But I would still rather fire up AppleWorksGS or BeagleWrite then try to do any work on a Windows 3.1 machine. There's just light-years of difference.
Intel, being more focused on the consumer chip market will be much more responsive to Apple in implimenting changes that Apple wants. Intel pushes their research in the same direction Apple wants it to go, faster, cheaper, lower power.
Apple will respond to Intel's technology. Hey, they were the first to push Intel's USB bus. Intel has had a difficult time getting Windows PC makers to do that. USB would have failed were it not for Apple.
IBM could hardly care less about a customer as large as Apple. IBM sells support for mainframes and servers, not silicon to customers. That silicon is incidental to their "Big Iron" business.
Motorola/Freescale has also shifted its focus. Apple was once their pride and joy, with the 68000 and PPC processors showing off their technology and using a signifigant portion of their silicon. Now, they're into embeded systems and cellphones.
For both Apple, and Intel, this is the partnership they desire, a symbiotic relationship if you will.
While I've been a proponent of SCSI for a long time -- Apple really was thinking ahead when it had it in Macs all those years -- it has been getting thread-worn. Ultra-wide-tall-double-hex-SCSI is just getting to be too much!
SATA is the right technology, especially for controllers since each channel is dedicated. The only alternative is Firewire, and there are no native controller drives.
Almost every wastewater plant you see has a big flame stack in the back where they burn off the excess methane not used for heating the biomass or the building. It seems to work quite well, so why don't we just convert that to electricity or put it in gas mains?
Is this process inherently more efficient in producing hydrogen instead?
My IIGS had some option to open Sparkle animation files in some old application... Do you think Microsoft took the same thing and just made it processor and memory intensive?
I'd like to see some specilized search engines, nothing too complicated. What I've been wanting for some time is a search engine of just.edu.
There are lots of relly informative.edu sites out there, but they don't show up well on search engines, and may are burried levels deep. i.e. college.edu/~professor/fall2000/class/topic/lotsof info.html
(btw, if anyone finds a.edu engine, PLEASE let me know!)
=========
Put my nick in front of the "_".
I love my computer
I know a couple of people with real problems. In my opinion, this degrades their condition. It's just part of the "Blame it on someone/something else" programming.
Woz's comments are very good! I agree, Woz seems to be one of the coolest people, and he is shown well in the movie. It's good to see him get some recognition.
We must form a "WozClub":-) Of course I submitted this last night... no hard feelings. Just want my 2p.:-)
I know Intel based processors are cheap, but wouldn't it pay for a "Media OS" to support something with a more long-term approach? Intel is giving x86 the boot for merced (soon they say). And there's all that PPC code already done. (Of course I've not been able to run Be on any system I own yet, so maybe the x86 has surpassed the PPC?)
Also, Be started making PPC computers, so they have the blueprints, minus some upgrading.
Well, now that Congress has decided to stick their nose in this, it's about time to write to that old congressman and encourage him to take a good look at this.
It's a shame, though, that they had to drop support for one OS to add Linux. But it is good for Linux; and I've thought less of Novell since they dropped their Mac client.
In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up becase I was a Protestant. Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Slashdot Mirror
It's still almost everywhere. At work we still have VGA monitors and docks. The monitor also has a digital connector of some kind, but never more than two other flavors. My TVs have VGA.
You know what's great about VGA sticking around? Older equipment that was often expensive and built like a tank still works. Projectors, CRTs, and KVMs. I've seen retrocomputer enthusiasts build VGA adapters for all kinds of old systems. It's nice to have something that you can rely on when you're traveling; if you have a VGA dongle you know you can work.
I hope VGA has a couple more decades in it, and with the slow adoption of 4K TVs, it just might.
I wish we could move toward pre-80's tactile controls. There certainly would be a lot more work creating limited interfaces that could work with them. It seems to me that it's less distracting when a function is a distinct control with some good feedback, like a switch or knob, than the controls that seem to line my dash these days.
It's probably not so much worth worrying about anymore. Automatic cruise control and braking are soon going to be the standard, and ease us into nearly automated driving. Computers don't get distracted.
Bob also gave us that annoying "Search Dog" in XP. It even mocked you when you tried to turn it off!
Price does have a trade off: user productivity.
Some applications, like desktop publishing, graphics, and CAD are still moving fast enough that new hardware and software every few years actually makes enough of an improvement in productivity that it can pay itself back. Someone waiting on a drawing to render on 4 year old hardware is wasting time!
The old London sewer system had a system of gas lamps atop flues that drew the air out of the sewers, and the flame helped reduce the odor of the sewer gases. Most of these sewer problems have been looked at for a couple thousand years now. Electric wires are a new addition, but I'm sure that other ignition sources were problems before.
I'm actually surprised that several hundred gas explosions that rocket 300 pound discs of steel into populated areas is considered so minor, but perhaps the chances of death are much less then I would expect.
I'd rather get my canceled checks back anyway.
One important thing to remember is Joe Consumer doesn't know or care about 1.0, 1.1, etc.
Unless they're changing the name, ol' Joe is going to get upset when it doesn't work like it says on the box. Joe is used to auto recalls and static products, and I think BluRay forgot that in their little war to win the format.
I find most discussion only focuses on search. Certainly this is part of Microsoft's strategy. What is more important for Yahoo! is it's other services. Yahoo! groups, mail, TV, calendars, widgets, and lots of other properties.
Is it possible Microsoft is after these? Like Palm wasn't after BeOS?
What would the acquisition of these other properties do for Microsoft? For Google? Google could sell the search and advertising off and get a lot of mileage off of the other parts
I think it's all this other IP that puts Yahoo! in a much better position then the narrow "Search Merger" view provides.
Most people won't care.
Good for Blockbuster and other companies for trying to end the format war. They understand that without a clear victor, people will shy away from it and wait to buy a player.
Forget Playstations and XBoxes, the real market, the mass market is when Joe Consumer wants to replace his DVD player or VCR. If he thinks it will become obsolete (Betamax), is too expensive, or just doesn't have any noticeable improvement, he won't do it.
The last point is the most interesting. Most new "HD-Capable" tvs aren't much better resolution then a progressive-scan DVD can produce. What Joe Consumer probably has it connected to his tv with is old composite video or (ghasp!) even cable. He may still have a TV without AV input.
Why waste money? He just wants the content. DVD is fine. It's cheap. He has one or several players already.
I had a IIgs back in the day, and one of the things that had always impressed me about it was how it held up to much "faster" computers running Win3.1.
The Finder was faster and more responsive. The applications more polished and less buggy. The whole thing was both more reliable and more configurable. The only downside was the lack of true multi-tasking and the need to reboot when you changed from GS/OS to ProDOS or DOS 3.3. There were, however, some great DeskAccessories that pretty much filled the gap considering what 3.1 was able to do.
This was, of course, before Windows 95. I would contend there wasn't any serious usability comparison to be made between Windows and anything else until then, and Windows didn't seriously multi-task until then either.
Afterward is a whole other ball of wax, and one I don't feel like arguing.
But I would still rather fire up AppleWorksGS or BeagleWrite then try to do any work on a Windows 3.1 machine. There's just light-years of difference.
The real reason for the switch is responsiveness!
Intel, being more focused on the consumer chip market will be much more responsive to Apple in implimenting changes that Apple wants. Intel pushes their research in the same direction Apple wants it to go, faster, cheaper, lower power.
Apple will respond to Intel's technology. Hey, they were the first to push Intel's USB bus. Intel has had a difficult time getting Windows PC makers to do that. USB would have failed were it not for Apple.
IBM could hardly care less about a customer as large as Apple. IBM sells support for mainframes and servers, not silicon to customers. That silicon is incidental to their "Big Iron" business.
Motorola/Freescale has also shifted its focus. Apple was once their pride and joy, with the 68000 and PPC processors showing off their technology and using a signifigant portion of their silicon. Now, they're into embeded systems and cellphones.
For both Apple, and Intel, this is the partnership they desire, a symbiotic relationship if you will.
While I've been a proponent of SCSI for a long time -- Apple really was thinking ahead when it had it in Macs all those years -- it has been getting thread-worn. Ultra-wide-tall-double-hex-SCSI is just getting to be too much!
SATA is the right technology, especially for controllers since each channel is dedicated. The only alternative is Firewire, and there are no native controller drives.
Almost every wastewater plant you see has a big flame stack in the back where they burn off the excess methane not used for heating the biomass or the building. It seems to work quite well, so why don't we just convert that to electricity or put it in gas mains?
Is this process inherently more efficient in producing hydrogen instead?
A new replacement built on new technology would likely be better then an old telescope, even if sent into space.
Also, Hubble has the ability to see some forms of radiation that our atmosphere filters out.
My IIGS had some option to open Sparkle animation files in some old application... Do you think Microsoft took the same thing and just made it processor and memory intensive?
I'll buy tickets for both part 1 and part 2 of the Return of the King in advance! Please. PLEASE!
I would hate for RotK to feel rushed. Well, at least make it so long we need an intermission in it. Say a five hour movie?
I'd like to see some specilized search engines, nothing too complicated. What I've been wanting for some time is a search engine of just .edu.
.edu sites out there, but they don't show up well on search engines, and may are burried levels deep. i.e. college.edu/~professor/fall2000/class/topic/lotsof info.html
.edu engine, PLEASE let me know!)
There are lots of relly informative
(btw, if anyone finds a
========= Put my nick in front of the "_". I love my computer
I know a couple of people with real problems. In my opinion, this degrades their condition. It's just part of the "Blame it on someone/something else" programming.
Aren't Firewire and USB both going to be on the Playstation two anyway?
Woz's comments are very good! I agree, Woz seems to be one of the coolest people, and he is shown well in the movie. It's good to see him get some recognition.
:-) Of course I submitted this last night... no hard feelings. Just want my 2p. :-)
We must form a "WozClub"
I know Intel based processors are cheap, but wouldn't it pay for a "Media OS" to support something with a more long-term approach? Intel is giving x86 the boot for merced (soon they say). And there's all that PPC code already done. (Of course I've not been able to run Be on any system I own yet, so maybe the x86 has surpassed the PPC?)
Also, Be started making PPC computers, so they have the blueprints, minus some upgrading.
Anyone hear anything?
And don't open any e-mail titled "Good Times"
;-)
I give it three months for the next Disney bid on Apple.
Well, now that Congress has decided to stick their nose in this, it's about time to write to that old congressman and encourage him to take a good look at this.
-Buddy can I borrow $.33?
It's a shame, though, that they had to drop support for one OS to add Linux. But it is good for Linux; and I've thought less of Novell since they dropped their Mac client.
In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up becase I was a Protestant. Then they came for me--and by that time no one was left to speak up.
--Pastor Martin Niemoller, 1892-1984