Microsoft already tried that and got stomped by iPhone, MOST average consumers want it to be the other way around. I don't particularly care for the new start menu, but Microsoft can easily solve this issue if they just allow you to push the Metro apps to the regular desktop on the non-rt versions, and act as traditional windows. Not complicated.
It's funny that people are questioning the legitimacy of this...when in reality if you've ever worked retail or had friends work retail you know that things like this happen ALL the time; especially in big box stores like Wal-Mart & Target. Anyone in retail will tell you that the #1 source of thefts in stores are the employees. It happens in computer repair facilities too, replace parts that aren't bad, then scrub the inventory and take it home, steal the customer's 3rd party hardware...it's relatively common. The more profitable the company, the more hidden the losses are the from the books, the easier it is to steal. If you stole from a small business they'd notice it in a heartbeat, when you're a huge corporation it's harder to control or even notice until there is nothing you can do about it. If Apple continues as the world's largest corporation, they will continue to be plagued by this, it doesn't mean they will lose much profitability, just that it's not even a scrape to their behemoth profits.
Pretty sure that State Department knows that Microsoft is releasing a Surface tablet soon with more power than the Kindle and that Apple is rumored to be launching a 7" tablet by years end. Both of those would be competitive to the Kindle FIRE price points, and let's not forget about Nexus...but my guess is that either Microsoft or Apple will land the contract (betting on Microsoft more than Apple.)
You realize that Amazon has information that allows you to see if that person actually purchased the item on Amazon (meaning the review has a very very high probability of being real) and they also allow you to see the user's past reviews, so you can see if they are just company hacks posting positive reviews or of they have a history of actual reviews. Ignoring 5 star reviews is silly when you have so much information at hand.
Microsoft gets money that way? Bing isn't profitable, it's just Microsoft's foray to insure Google doesn't become too powerful. If this screws Google they can pull some of their research out of Bing and into something else. Google's biggest problem is that they aren't diversified. Android is their diversification, but they basically serve it up for free and get people to use their search engine more. Everything Google is built around search just like everything Microsoft is built around Windows....for Microsoft that mindset backfired in the past decade...and I am sure it will for Google too. The good news is that while Google, Microsoft & Apple battle, generally speaking we win.
It is the complete opposite in the US. It is illegal for the government to snoop
Let me introduce you to the PATRIOT Act (capitalized because it's an acronym) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act
It's your patriotic duty to have no privacy.
I'm starting to get this sinking feeling that Tim Cook is going to become the Steve Ballmer of Apple. Capable, probably hitting numbers...but also not being very good. Sure, they did market research with Steve...but if Steve were alive, do you think he would have just taken the loss and dropped this patent nonsense and remained secretive? Isn't one of Apple's trademark achievements being a secretive company and now they are spilling their guts in court while also making everyone in the industry absolutely hate their stances on patent disputes. Meanwhile Google and Microsoft both are nipping at their heels. If Microsoft ever gets traction with Windows Phone 8 as Google has with Android...it could hit Apple hard. I think this is trying times for all 3 companies, but it seems like Microsoft and Google are moving in the right direction in the mobile space (desktop space is questionable) while Apple is stuck fighting over tedious things and divulging their secrets. This is so un-Apple esque. If there was ever one thing I respected about Apple it was their genius marketing and ability to build culture...seems Cook is cutting against that tradition.
Do you seriously think, that if IF Linux had a chance at PC gaming...that PC gaming is more relevant than the console? Microsoft has the console market locked down. They can easily push publishers into deals that would effectively make then never publish on Linux. "Oh, the Xbox has a bigger market, but if you want in that market you can only develop PC games on Windows and Mac." Boom, project killed.
In what universe is this? Publishers are interested in any marketplace they can sell things on, as long as it's successful...Windows will have the marketplace built in. What do you think people's default is going to be?
Yes, uh, it's called WIndows 8 with a Microsoft marketplace where you can download games and they can probably get even better deals than Steam can since they are...Microsoft and issue the software licenses. Steam has no control over this. They will fade out quickly, but for those thinking Valve is embracing Linux because they love open source...FALSE. They are embracing Linux because their very business depends upon Steam.
I am fairly certain that a touchscreen and keyboard combo existed way before the iPad was even in prototype stages. The first -modern- tablets were (terrible) Microsoft tablets running full fledged Windows XP. You can actually see them all over hospitals, still. They had keyboards, and styluses. That's 8 or so years before the iPad.
Clearly they are just studying new shaft designs for missiles. We are always turning to nature to inspire us. Maybe we need to lube the rockets before we penetrate mother earth's atmosphere. You would never get such an idea without porn. Science.
Apple's main battle is this: They are a fashion symbol.
Yes, Apple absolutely makes solid products (though you can already see some quality being degraded on newer models [Everyone I know with a MBP built in the past 2 years has had serious problems with it.])...but they are a fashion symbol. What happens to fashion? It goes out of style. iOS is currently pretty intuitive, but when you compare it to Windows 8 (oh dear, the loath of Slashdot) or ICS or Jellybean, it's clear that the age of the interface is becoming sort of a problem with innovation surrounding it. iOS has added new features, but nothing feels new, in some cases it just feels plain clumsy and dated. So Apple is now the Windows XP of phone OSes in the sense that it's familiar with no big leaps....but it's also a fashion symbol. To me the results could be catastrophic for Apple if just a -few- individuals migrate to Windows 8 or Android (which is ever improving) because it has a cascading effect that you don't see with PC operating systems. It's fashion, the moment Apple ceases to be "cool" it will hit a big speed bump. With Jobs no longer at the wheel, and us seeing awful ads like the new Mac ads, patent trolling (essentially) from the company. I can already see that tone toward Apple devices has started to turn by regular users, maybe not the journalists that review the products, but a shift is coming. I don't know who will fill the void, but Apple's top-tier standing could fall much much faster than Windows has. You can get almost any app that's at Apple on Android now, and when Windows 8 hits with 4 platform integration...they too will be on equal footing. So why should I stay with Apple? I can get the same stuff elsewhere, I don't have to pay up to get those features anymore...and it's just not -as- cool as it once was. Pop culture can turn quickly.
Verizon could just as easily put in a switch that detects ICS software on the phone and upon it being activated (or seeing it's packages across the network) switches the phone to 3G, despite there being 4G coverage in that area. I don't know if this will apply to 3G, but I am betting these issues will arise and the FCC will get involved or rewrite the contract upon FCC license renewals.
Quickbooks maybe the industry standard, but it's also a giant jumbled up mess. Our company's quickbooks were down all day due to corrupted files leading to unsequenced invoices. I've never meet someone really happy with Quickbooks...it's just accounting software is really hard to develop, so it doesn't have many strong competitors.
Yet Samsung sales were through the roof...maybe the reality is that iPhones are in decline with some of their market? You don't want to spook investors.
The only "awful" thing about Windows 8 is that it's awful with a keyboard and mouse and has no place outside of the touch environment (at least Metro tiles don't, not necessarily the Metro language itself.) Aside from that Windows 8 is actually incredibly fast, much faster than Windows 7. They actually had to slow the boot time on Windows 8 because it was booting before the fans could spin up in some SSD machines. It's hardly awful...the Metro tile on the desktop is pretty bad, but on touch? It's rather intuitive.
...doesn't exist. The Kochs donate to a lot of things beneficial to society...actually more than they donate to politicians. I can boldly say this, because, yes...I worked for a Koch funded organization. Hardly anything "conspiratorial" about it. I don't agree with some of their political donations, (though their political views are actually quite different that the GOP candidates they donate to; since they are very Libertarian, pro-gay marriage, legalization of drugs, etc.) but they do a lot of good things...that you will NEVER hear in the press.
I'll even say this without being anonymous, because why should I? They've done a lot more good than they've done bad. Soros probably has too.
I have no intention of upgrading my desktops to Windows 8. From everything I've used and read on and about Windows 8, the start menu is a desktop PC disaster...but for touch, holy cow is it beautiful. I will keep my desktops/laptop running Windows 7 and grab a Windows 8 RT Surface. I think Microsoft wants this to be the reaction of most users. The start menu is just to grab developers attention of "hey this is going to be on every PC shipped out until Windows 9 hits, you have huge app exposure now." Those apps run on Windows Phone & Windows RT and the New Xbox...Microsoft then almost overnight has a platform that will be expansive and cross platform putting a fight up against Apple's appstore. Then in Windows 9 they can dial back the Metro start menu, make it more intuitive for the desktop and they suffer no loss. They might even GAIN share thanks to the tablet market. Windows 8 sells as bad as Vista did, big deal, Vista sold millions upon millions of licenses & the PC market is flat...and Windows 7 is the best desktop environment (in my opinion.) This is all about Microsoft flanking Apple in the tablet & phone markets. Nothing more, nothing less. I'll buy a Windows Phone 8, a Surface RT, and keep my desktops on 7. Yet Microsoft still wins.
I find the Google+ GUI to be way too intrusive and annoying to use. Others will disagree, but I absolutely hate their GUI. Neither of the two giants have great privacy policies...so why should I switch to Google+ from Facebook, if it has less people, annoying to use and has the same or worse privacy policies.
I think -at least when GE owned them (and they are still partial owners)- that a GE product would be significantly more profit for that company than advertisements, that's just icing.
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Microsoft already tried that and got stomped by iPhone, MOST average consumers want it to be the other way around. I don't particularly care for the new start menu, but Microsoft can easily solve this issue if they just allow you to push the Metro apps to the regular desktop on the non-rt versions, and act as traditional windows. Not complicated.
It's funny that people are questioning the legitimacy of this...when in reality if you've ever worked retail or had friends work retail you know that things like this happen ALL the time; especially in big box stores like Wal-Mart & Target. Anyone in retail will tell you that the #1 source of thefts in stores are the employees. It happens in computer repair facilities too, replace parts that aren't bad, then scrub the inventory and take it home, steal the customer's 3rd party hardware...it's relatively common. The more profitable the company, the more hidden the losses are the from the books, the easier it is to steal. If you stole from a small business they'd notice it in a heartbeat, when you're a huge corporation it's harder to control or even notice until there is nothing you can do about it. If Apple continues as the world's largest corporation, they will continue to be plagued by this, it doesn't mean they will lose much profitability, just that it's not even a scrape to their behemoth profits.
Pretty sure that State Department knows that Microsoft is releasing a Surface tablet soon with more power than the Kindle and that Apple is rumored to be launching a 7" tablet by years end. Both of those would be competitive to the Kindle FIRE price points, and let's not forget about Nexus...but my guess is that either Microsoft or Apple will land the contract (betting on Microsoft more than Apple.)
You realize that Amazon has information that allows you to see if that person actually purchased the item on Amazon (meaning the review has a very very high probability of being real) and they also allow you to see the user's past reviews, so you can see if they are just company hacks posting positive reviews or of they have a history of actual reviews. Ignoring 5 star reviews is silly when you have so much information at hand.
Microsoft gets money that way? Bing isn't profitable, it's just Microsoft's foray to insure Google doesn't become too powerful. If this screws Google they can pull some of their research out of Bing and into something else. Google's biggest problem is that they aren't diversified. Android is their diversification, but they basically serve it up for free and get people to use their search engine more. Everything Google is built around search just like everything Microsoft is built around Windows....for Microsoft that mindset backfired in the past decade...and I am sure it will for Google too. The good news is that while Google, Microsoft & Apple battle, generally speaking we win.
It is the complete opposite in the US. It is illegal for the government to snoop Let me introduce you to the PATRIOT Act (capitalized because it's an acronym) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriot_Act It's your patriotic duty to have no privacy.
I'm starting to get this sinking feeling that Tim Cook is going to become the Steve Ballmer of Apple. Capable, probably hitting numbers...but also not being very good. Sure, they did market research with Steve...but if Steve were alive, do you think he would have just taken the loss and dropped this patent nonsense and remained secretive? Isn't one of Apple's trademark achievements being a secretive company and now they are spilling their guts in court while also making everyone in the industry absolutely hate their stances on patent disputes. Meanwhile Google and Microsoft both are nipping at their heels. If Microsoft ever gets traction with Windows Phone 8 as Google has with Android...it could hit Apple hard. I think this is trying times for all 3 companies, but it seems like Microsoft and Google are moving in the right direction in the mobile space (desktop space is questionable) while Apple is stuck fighting over tedious things and divulging their secrets. This is so un-Apple esque. If there was ever one thing I respected about Apple it was their genius marketing and ability to build culture...seems Cook is cutting against that tradition.
Do you seriously think, that if IF Linux had a chance at PC gaming...that PC gaming is more relevant than the console? Microsoft has the console market locked down. They can easily push publishers into deals that would effectively make then never publish on Linux. "Oh, the Xbox has a bigger market, but if you want in that market you can only develop PC games on Windows and Mac." Boom, project killed.
Macs have more games now...but most gamers still use a PC. So, not entirely a great assessment.
In what universe is this? Publishers are interested in any marketplace they can sell things on, as long as it's successful...Windows will have the marketplace built in. What do you think people's default is going to be?
Yes, uh, it's called WIndows 8 with a Microsoft marketplace where you can download games and they can probably get even better deals than Steam can since they are...Microsoft and issue the software licenses. Steam has no control over this. They will fade out quickly, but for those thinking Valve is embracing Linux because they love open source...FALSE. They are embracing Linux because their very business depends upon Steam.
I am fairly certain that a touchscreen and keyboard combo existed way before the iPad was even in prototype stages. The first -modern- tablets were (terrible) Microsoft tablets running full fledged Windows XP. You can actually see them all over hospitals, still. They had keyboards, and styluses. That's 8 or so years before the iPad.
You seriously just compared not liking Apple to racism? Well, at least you were an anonymous coward about that.
Clearly they are just studying new shaft designs for missiles. We are always turning to nature to inspire us. Maybe we need to lube the rockets before we penetrate mother earth's atmosphere. You would never get such an idea without porn. Science.
Apple's main battle is this: They are a fashion symbol. Yes, Apple absolutely makes solid products (though you can already see some quality being degraded on newer models [Everyone I know with a MBP built in the past 2 years has had serious problems with it.])...but they are a fashion symbol. What happens to fashion? It goes out of style. iOS is currently pretty intuitive, but when you compare it to Windows 8 (oh dear, the loath of Slashdot) or ICS or Jellybean, it's clear that the age of the interface is becoming sort of a problem with innovation surrounding it. iOS has added new features, but nothing feels new, in some cases it just feels plain clumsy and dated. So Apple is now the Windows XP of phone OSes in the sense that it's familiar with no big leaps....but it's also a fashion symbol. To me the results could be catastrophic for Apple if just a -few- individuals migrate to Windows 8 or Android (which is ever improving) because it has a cascading effect that you don't see with PC operating systems. It's fashion, the moment Apple ceases to be "cool" it will hit a big speed bump. With Jobs no longer at the wheel, and us seeing awful ads like the new Mac ads, patent trolling (essentially) from the company. I can already see that tone toward Apple devices has started to turn by regular users, maybe not the journalists that review the products, but a shift is coming. I don't know who will fill the void, but Apple's top-tier standing could fall much much faster than Windows has. You can get almost any app that's at Apple on Android now, and when Windows 8 hits with 4 platform integration...they too will be on equal footing. So why should I stay with Apple? I can get the same stuff elsewhere, I don't have to pay up to get those features anymore...and it's just not -as- cool as it once was. Pop culture can turn quickly.
You clearly haven't had a handjob, I certainly would never pay for one.
Verizon could just as easily put in a switch that detects ICS software on the phone and upon it being activated (or seeing it's packages across the network) switches the phone to 3G, despite there being 4G coverage in that area. I don't know if this will apply to 3G, but I am betting these issues will arise and the FCC will get involved or rewrite the contract upon FCC license renewals.
Quickbooks maybe the industry standard, but it's also a giant jumbled up mess. Our company's quickbooks were down all day due to corrupted files leading to unsequenced invoices. I've never meet someone really happy with Quickbooks...it's just accounting software is really hard to develop, so it doesn't have many strong competitors.
Yet Samsung sales were through the roof...maybe the reality is that iPhones are in decline with some of their market? You don't want to spook investors.
The only "awful" thing about Windows 8 is that it's awful with a keyboard and mouse and has no place outside of the touch environment (at least Metro tiles don't, not necessarily the Metro language itself.) Aside from that Windows 8 is actually incredibly fast, much faster than Windows 7. They actually had to slow the boot time on Windows 8 because it was booting before the fans could spin up in some SSD machines. It's hardly awful...the Metro tile on the desktop is pretty bad, but on touch? It's rather intuitive.
...doesn't exist. The Kochs donate to a lot of things beneficial to society...actually more than they donate to politicians. I can boldly say this, because, yes...I worked for a Koch funded organization. Hardly anything "conspiratorial" about it. I don't agree with some of their political donations, (though their political views are actually quite different that the GOP candidates they donate to; since they are very Libertarian, pro-gay marriage, legalization of drugs, etc.) but they do a lot of good things...that you will NEVER hear in the press. I'll even say this without being anonymous, because why should I? They've done a lot more good than they've done bad. Soros probably has too.
I guess you don't have a job then.
I have no intention of upgrading my desktops to Windows 8. From everything I've used and read on and about Windows 8, the start menu is a desktop PC disaster...but for touch, holy cow is it beautiful. I will keep my desktops/laptop running Windows 7 and grab a Windows 8 RT Surface. I think Microsoft wants this to be the reaction of most users. The start menu is just to grab developers attention of "hey this is going to be on every PC shipped out until Windows 9 hits, you have huge app exposure now." Those apps run on Windows Phone & Windows RT and the New Xbox...Microsoft then almost overnight has a platform that will be expansive and cross platform putting a fight up against Apple's appstore. Then in Windows 9 they can dial back the Metro start menu, make it more intuitive for the desktop and they suffer no loss. They might even GAIN share thanks to the tablet market. Windows 8 sells as bad as Vista did, big deal, Vista sold millions upon millions of licenses & the PC market is flat...and Windows 7 is the best desktop environment (in my opinion.) This is all about Microsoft flanking Apple in the tablet & phone markets. Nothing more, nothing less. I'll buy a Windows Phone 8, a Surface RT, and keep my desktops on 7. Yet Microsoft still wins.
I find the Google+ GUI to be way too intrusive and annoying to use. Others will disagree, but I absolutely hate their GUI. Neither of the two giants have great privacy policies...so why should I switch to Google+ from Facebook, if it has less people, annoying to use and has the same or worse privacy policies.
I think -at least when GE owned them (and they are still partial owners)- that a GE product would be significantly more profit for that company than advertisements, that's just icing.