@kabdib: firmware engineers do it every day, and... some of them are ex-game developers, as you well know.
Your stuff rocks, I'm both pleased and sorry to see you slashdotted. I'm glad to see a wider audience picking up your musings.
You raise good points, and they make a compelling economic case for solar power as long as those conditions hold.
One concern that cannot be dismissed out of hand: if many people start installing solar as you have, it is possible that the 'buy back' programs may end or drastic limits may be imposed, thus in effect removing or drastically reducing the substantial and compelling subsidy you describe.
Think supply and demand: right now, the programs are intended as an incentive to convince people to install such systems because relatively few people have done so. What happens if every third house is selling power back to the power company as you are? Rates will drop, the programs may be curtailed for economic or political reasons.
It's still compelling, but one needs to keep in mind that things change, especially in the political and economic arena - so one should not make plans over ten or twenty years based solely on today's assumptions - risks must be factored in.
Now, if you had a legally binding contract with the power company that locked them in to paying you known rates for power you produce over a ten or twenty year period, that would be an entirely different matter. If that were the case, you'd know conditions up front.
It's kind of like buying stocks on the assumption that the market will rise over the next 20 years because it has risen over the last 20 years. Yeah, maybe - but we all know it isn't guaranteed - so risks must be factored in to the calculations.
First of they are not teens. 18 and 19 makes them adult in america doesn't it?
The media love to throw "teen" into the story title when it jazzes up the story and ups the emotion quotient. Just like some count 19 year olds as 'children' in statistics when it produces the desired results.
"teen" and "MySpace.com" are 'hot button' words these days.
The more you overwork the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Complexity breeds: bugs. usability issues. frustration. Note that it need not be so; however, we live in the real world of human product managers, human marketing droids, human (well... sort of) software developers, and human users.
The usual result of an endless stream of new features: imperfection upon imperfection upon imperfection. You can't get it right on the first, second, or even the third iteration.
Some of the most highly successful and wildly popular consumer devices are also the most narrowly-focused. Do-it-all products almost always leave a significant chunk of the market pissed off and unimpressed. Note that I'm not equating narrow focus with inelegance or lack of sophistication - narrowing focus allows one to better serve the people who need your service.
If you stop (or slow) the rampant featuritis, you get a chance to 'perfect' what you have now: fix bugs, fix usability, simplify the interactions, learn from your mistakes.
Now, this isn't gonna happen in the real world, because manufacturers have to roll out the new feature du jour in order to grab attention and make last year's models obsolete.
And, I must say, I do like the *idea* of the integration in some respects; it's just that the execution always seems to be lacking.
Twenty years hence, there *will* be highly integrated mobile devices; I doubt they'll be anything like the tinkertoys the uber-geeks are carrying around with them today. The survivor(s) will be the ones that make the features easy enough for mom to use. Or ignore.
All those cool features give you something to do when you can't get a connection.
My daughter (who is living on her own dime, thankfully) seems to want the latest phone - it's a fashion statement for her (and, thankfully, she's decided to grow out of that recently - even ditching her cell phone service altogether!)
It seems that many people have to have the latest, greatest toys and gadgets, creating an endless upgrade cycle.. I can understand the desire, but how many people really want to buy cell phones with built-in dental floss dispensers?
I suppose I'm an old fart, but I just want a small, light, inexpensive phone that has great reception and has awesome battery life. I've got that now in an older Nokia. Needless to say, I'm not in the market for a newer cellphone.
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@kabdib: firmware engineers do it every day, and... some of them are ex-game developers, as you well know. Your stuff rocks, I'm both pleased and sorry to see you slashdotted. I'm glad to see a wider audience picking up your musings.
You raise good points, and they make a compelling economic case for solar power as long as those conditions hold.
One concern that cannot be dismissed out of hand: if many people start installing solar as you have, it is possible that the 'buy back' programs may end or drastic limits may be imposed, thus in effect removing or drastically reducing the substantial and compelling subsidy you describe.
Think supply and demand: right now, the programs are intended as an incentive to convince people to install such systems because relatively few people have done so. What happens if every third house is selling power back to the power company as you are? Rates will drop, the programs may be curtailed for economic or political reasons.
It's still compelling, but one needs to keep in mind that things change, especially in the political and economic arena - so one should not make plans over ten or twenty years based solely on today's assumptions - risks must be factored in.
Now, if you had a legally binding contract with the power company that locked them in to paying you known rates for power you produce over a ten or twenty year period, that would be an entirely different matter. If that were the case, you'd know conditions up front.
It's kind of like buying stocks on the assumption that the market will rise over the next 20 years because it has risen over the last 20 years. Yeah, maybe - but we all know it isn't guaranteed - so risks must be factored in to the calculations.
B of A has sucked as long as I've been banking...
I won't do business with them if I can avoid it. Anyone who does... well, I suppose they must be getting something out of the deal.
The media love to throw "teen" into the story title when it jazzes up the story and ups the emotion quotient. Just like some count 19 year olds as 'children' in statistics when it produces the desired results.
"teen" and "MySpace.com" are 'hot button' words these days.
The more you overwork the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the toilet.
Complexity breeds: bugs. usability issues. frustration. Note that it need not be so; however, we live in the real world of human product managers, human marketing droids, human (well... sort of) software developers, and human users.
The usual result of an endless stream of new features: imperfection upon imperfection upon imperfection. You can't get it right on the first, second, or even the third iteration.
Some of the most highly successful and wildly popular consumer devices are also the most narrowly-focused. Do-it-all products almost always leave a significant chunk of the market pissed off and unimpressed. Note that I'm not equating narrow focus with inelegance or lack of sophistication - narrowing focus allows one to better serve the people who need your service.
If you stop (or slow) the rampant featuritis, you get a chance to 'perfect' what you have now: fix bugs, fix usability, simplify the interactions, learn from your mistakes.
Now, this isn't gonna happen in the real world, because manufacturers have to roll out the new feature du jour in order to grab attention and make last year's models obsolete.
And, I must say, I do like the *idea* of the integration in some respects; it's just that the execution always seems to be lacking.
Twenty years hence, there *will* be highly integrated mobile devices; I doubt they'll be anything like the tinkertoys the uber-geeks are carrying around with them today. The survivor(s) will be the ones that make the features easy enough for mom to use. Or ignore.
All those cool features give you something to do when you can't get a connection.
My daughter (who is living on her own dime, thankfully) seems to want the latest phone - it's a fashion statement for her (and, thankfully, she's decided to grow out of that recently - even ditching her cell phone service altogether!)
It seems that many people have to have the latest, greatest toys and gadgets, creating an endless upgrade cycle.. I can understand the desire, but how many people really want to buy cell phones with built-in dental floss dispensers?
I suppose I'm an old fart, but I just want a small, light, inexpensive phone that has great reception and has awesome battery life. I've got that now in an older Nokia. Needless to say, I'm not in the market for a newer cellphone.