Apps and polish and $$$'s. Apple hardware is too expensive compared to generic X86 boxes, so they'll continue to fill the niche of being the BMW of computers. Microsoft is like Ford, circa 1970 when their cars were falling apart. And Linux/x86 is like Toyota, also around 1970, when most people had barely heard of them, but the few who had knew that they were a high-quality product.
Hmm... Within a week, my copy of Quicken will no longer connect to my bank for on-line transactions. I'd have to buy a new version to do that.
Doesn't matter, though, because my bank now provides free internet banking and bill-pay, so I can do all my transactions from a browser, wherever I happen to be (and on whatever OS).
Since online banking was my only reason for having Quicken, I won't miss it a bit.
Reminds me of the earliest word-processors. They avoided "insert" mode because they wanted to resemble typewriters. One of them even showed an animation of "paper" scrolling to the correct position on the screen.
Say Grandma would like a car, so you get her a Toyota Corolla, which runs nice and reliably. Then she hears that you can rent a camping trailer, and asks you to set it up for her. But you tell her, "Sorry, you need a much bigger engine to tow the trailer, and I didn't think you'd want a car that uses too much gasoline."
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Yes, and now it's time for everyone with a specialized need to proclaim how "Linux will never catch on because the software my company uses to layout dovetails for antique desk reproductions only runs on Windows."
The first time I ever heard the word 'nerd' (or 'gnurd') was at MIT in the early 70's. Then it got used on the TV show 'Happy Days' as if it were 1950's slang, and it seemed to go mainstream from there.
But prior to the show, I'd never encountered it growing up in S. California.
Okay, they make their own veneer, something that's hard to do at home. On the other hand, you can go to almost any hardwood store and buy a variety of hardwood veneers at reasonable prices, then glue them to the case yourself with contact cement.
I'm not so sure, as I'm still running a K6/500 with Windows98. Each year, the tax software (TaxCut) seems to run more slowly. This year's has really nice-looking graphics, but the rendering is definitely sluggish. It's also kind of buggy, and makes me wonder if they're using OpenGL or DirectX.
The software that came with last year's scanner also has fancy shaped windows and buttons, but runs like a dog.
I've never bought a copy of TaxCut that didn't require a download of the updated version, even if I bought it in March. This would be a much better way to distribute time-critical programs like this.
I'd guess that in India, as in the U.S., there's a wide variety of talent. An outsourcer who has strong ties there can probably hire some top developers for quite a bit less than they'd have to pay in the U.S.
But the buzzword followers who contract with EngineersRUs to order up "20 cheap programmers" are not likely to get the best available (and probably won't be able to tell until the project crashes and burns several months down the road).
- Remove the 3-4 icons it put on your desktop (AOL, etc). - Run several of your old programs to make sure they still work. - If the above step fails, go have a couple beers, then reinstall Windows.
How about this scenario: Software engineer purchases stock in his company while working there. When his job is outsourced, he's forced to work at McD's. But the outsourcing causes his company to become so profitable that the stock price shoots up, and our engineer can sell a few shares to buy his Rolls.
There's a big difference between them. I might listen to the same album dozens of times, but there are few movies I'd want to see more than once or twice.
I write software for money, and I write free software. The free work is an engine for a 12-year-old game, and is not something that anyone would ever get paid for. The professional work is technical and fairly picky work, and isn't something I'd do for fun (although I do enjoy it).
From what I see, many open-source projects are either in areas where nobody could get paid (such as emulators for old game consoles), or areas where Microsoft has driven all competitors out of business (such as word-processors). I made a good living through most of the 80's developing word-processors, but my chances of getting paid to do the same nowadays are close to 0.
My guess is that they'll still be diamonds, but that they'll be "designer" gems. So even though a raw 1-carat stone might only cost $100, the ones you'll see at jewelry stores will be designed and/or cut by someone with a French name, and they'll still cost $1000 or more.
You have to look at what's in the bug report. I work on a GPL'd game project, and oftentimes get bugs along the lines of, "I was fighting a group of trolls, and then the game crashed," with no other information. I can imagine similar sorts of things for a word-processor. Now, I'll usually just delete these after a few months have gone by without any updates to the report, but the OO developers might not believe in doing that sort of thing.
That's the main reason I haven't switched from my 56K service to Comcast. My ISP seems to be one of the last surviving independents, has always run BSD, and provides a Unix login shell. If I want tech-support, I can email root@xxxx.com, and get a quick response from the owner of the place.
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Apps and polish and $$$'s. Apple hardware is too expensive compared to generic X86 boxes, so they'll continue to fill the niche of being the BMW of computers. Microsoft is like Ford, circa 1970 when their cars were falling apart. And Linux/x86 is like Toyota, also around 1970, when most people had barely heard of them, but the few who had knew that they were a high-quality product.
Hmm... Within a week, my copy of Quicken will no longer connect to my bank for on-line transactions. I'd have to buy a new version to do that.
Doesn't matter, though, because my bank now provides free internet banking and bill-pay, so I can do all my transactions from a browser, wherever I happen to be (and on whatever OS).
Since online banking was my only reason for having Quicken, I won't miss it a bit.
Reminds me of the earliest word-processors. They avoided "insert" mode because they wanted to resemble typewriters. One of them even showed an animation of "paper" scrolling to the correct position on the screen.
Say Grandma would like a car, so you get her a Toyota Corolla, which runs nice and reliably. Then she hears that you can rent a camping trailer, and asks you to set it up for her. But you tell her, "Sorry, you need a much bigger engine to tow the trailer, and I didn't think you'd want a car that uses too much gasoline."
Would that be so terrible?
10 miles through Los Angeles?
Congratulations, sir! Your comment was exactly #1,000,000 in our internet postings contest, and you have won the grand prize of 250,000 (two-hundred-fifty-thousand) U.S. dollars. Please contact our administrator, Ms. Lotta Leggs, to provide us with the information we need to transfer your prize money.
Yes, and now it's time for everyone with a specialized need to proclaim how "Linux will never catch on because the software my company uses to layout dovetails for antique desk reproductions only runs on Windows."
The first time I ever heard the word 'nerd' (or 'gnurd') was at MIT in the early 70's. Then it got used on the TV show 'Happy Days' as if it were 1950's slang, and it seemed to go mainstream from there.
But prior to the show, I'd never encountered it growing up in S. California.
Okay, they make their own veneer, something that's hard to do at home. On the other hand, you can go to almost any hardwood store and buy a variety of hardwood veneers at reasonable prices, then glue them to the case yourself with contact cement.
I'm not so sure, as I'm still running a K6/500 with Windows98. Each year, the tax software (TaxCut) seems to run more slowly. This year's has really nice-looking graphics, but the rendering is definitely sluggish. It's also kind of buggy, and makes me wonder if they're using OpenGL or DirectX.
The software that came with last year's scanner also has fancy shaped windows and buttons, but runs like a dog.
I've never bought a copy of TaxCut that didn't require a download of the updated version, even if I bought it in March. This would be a much better way to distribute time-critical programs like this.
I'd guess that in India, as in the U.S., there's a wide variety of talent. An outsourcer who has strong ties there can probably hire some top developers for quite a bit less than they'd have to pay in the U.S.
But the buzzword followers who contract with EngineersRUs to order up "20 cheap programmers" are not likely to get the best available (and probably won't be able to tell until the project crashes and burns several months down the road).
And don't forget macros, especially for long variable names:
#define h fileRec->headerName
It's best to put these in a header file so they don't confuse the rest of the code. If you have conflicts, you can always use "#undef".
You forgot some steps for Windows:
- Remove the 3-4 icons it put on your desktop (AOL, etc).
- Run several of your old programs to make sure they still work.
- If the above step fails, go have a couple beers, then reinstall Windows.
...perhaps the most fun you can have with your clothes on.
Sounds like the wine cooler we bought several years ago, which is just an unglazed clay container slightly bigger than a wine bottle.
I think what this inventor did is a very clever enhancement to the idea.
How about this scenario: Software engineer purchases stock in his company while working there. When his job is outsourced, he's forced to work at McD's. But the outsourcing causes his company to become so profitable that the stock price shoots up, and our engineer can sell a few shares to buy his Rolls.
There's a big difference between them. I might listen to the same album dozens of times, but there are few movies I'd want to see more than once or twice.
I write software for money, and I write free software. The free work is an engine for a 12-year-old game, and is not something that anyone would ever get paid for. The professional work is technical and fairly picky work, and isn't something I'd do for fun (although I do enjoy it).
From what I see, many open-source projects are either in areas where nobody could get paid (such as emulators for old game consoles), or areas where Microsoft has driven all competitors out of business (such as word-processors). I made a good living through most of the 80's developing word-processors, but my chances of getting paid to do the same nowadays are close to 0.
The above is equivalent to:
do
{ steps 2-6 }
while (moon_is_not_blue or hell_is_not_frozen);
Thanks. I notice that the reviews on Amazon are all very high.
My guess is that they'll still be diamonds, but that they'll be "designer" gems. So even though a raw 1-carat stone might only cost $100, the ones you'll see at jewelry stores will be designed and/or cut by someone with a French name, and they'll still cost $1000 or more.
You have to look at what's in the bug report. I work on a GPL'd game project, and oftentimes get bugs along the lines of, "I was fighting a group of trolls, and then the game crashed," with no other information. I can imagine similar sorts of things for a word-processor. Now, I'll usually just delete these after a few months have gone by without any updates to the report, but the OO developers might not believe in doing that sort of thing.
That's the main reason I haven't switched from my 56K service to Comcast. My ISP seems to be one of the last surviving independents, has always run BSD, and provides a Unix login shell. If I want tech-support, I can email root@xxxx.com, and get a quick response from the owner of the place.
If you want to be amused, just use fake names like "Napoleon Bonaparte"; then you'll get an idea of who's selling their mailing lists.