According to this logic, a marketing agency could print ads containing tons of incomphrensible, absolutely stupid gibberish and make a few obvious mentions of their target product...and have it be a great success. The only product that I know who advertises like this manufactures soap, and hardly popular soap at that.
I'm not a marketing expert, but I do know that even though this kind of advertising will bring the product up in conversation or as a passing of thought, it hardly converts to hard sales that mean something. If anything, a negative reaction to these ads could actually produce the completely opposite result!
After installing Windows 7 (started using it at RC level, I think), everything just feels smooth. It actually made me want to use Microsoft's included products for everything. It definitely has more appeal to me than OS X now.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way to Microsoft or its subsidiaries. I just really like Windows 7.
Which goes to show that it's different strokes for different folks. One of my good friends uses Twitter incessantly; it's the cheese to his macaroni (or at least to the way he does business). Personally, I've found little use for it, as I get e-mail updates when breaking news comes out (I knew about Michael Jackson's death before CNN and many people got to it from NYTimes E-Mail Alerts, for instance).
I agree with the notion that Twitter's a fad, but the communication model it introduced is not; instant feeds that are easy to access, and are accessible everywhere really spiced up how people can communicate with each other online. I think the #hashtags are useful for search, but stupid for conversations; if you want instant communication, why not go IRC? (RSS tried doing the former, but it was pretty difficult to get working and I never saw it actually gain traction.) One something like Google Wave hits, Twitter's going to have a hard time keeping up. I'm sure that by that point, the folks that run it will be doing pretty nicely for themselves.:)
If you have friends in marketing or any industry which heavily relies on marketing, then you know people who use Twitter. It's their bread and butter, along with Facebook/MySpace/et.al.
Kind of coincidental that these technologies run in direct contrast to a sizable population of Slashdot readers...
(For the record, YES I have a Twitter, and nobody really cares about it. I blog on my Facebook account and get quite a few reads (but even fewer replies). I had a MySpace, but sank that ship, twice, when I realized in both instances that it's mostly for emo teens that need self-attention.)
A post above outlined that there are three types of communication: synchronous (two-way), asynchronous (one-way) and broadcasted. Google Wave is a combination of the three, in that you can utilize all of them at the same time within one system (except for email, which can interact with other systems as usual).
Because it is restricted to one system, namely Google's, it won't reach critical mass until either other current systems can work with it somehow or Wavelets become an open standard and can be added onto current systems as-is. I hope that Google's pushing for the latter direction, as it's quite an interesting technology...
I agree, but a minor nitpick here: in closed, corporate settings, instant messaging systems can play vital roles in catalyzing daily processes and getting stuff done. For instance, traders use it to pass quotes along quickly if it's something that needs immediate attention. Furthermore, it's appropriate in a business setting to know another person's presence, as it's expected that while they're working, they're needed.
You won't believe the commotion people can rile up if internal IM systems freak out...
Email was, from its inception, designed to be a tool used for professional communications in academia, government, military and business. Facebook/social networking, on the other hand, was designed to be a social web connecting everyone to everyone on a personal level. Messaging was an important facet in establishing this, so it was included.
It's like showing up to an important business meeting (corporate environment) in a tee shirt, jeans and sneakers. Yeah, it's in and respectable as fashion attire, but it's just not appropriate for that kind of setting. Social norms are powerful like that.
What exactly is the difference between today's "cloud computing" and yesterday's "internet-based services?"
I'm sure this question is often asked, considering that every single web site is a file stored on a remote computer which by way of internet services is displayed on computer screens everywhere. Additionally, people have been uploading data to remote storage services since the late 90's with XDrive and its precedessors, but these were never known as "cloud computing" then...
As I'm sure somebody pointed out here, the Sidekick data loss fiasco occurred largely because nobody had off-site tape backups on hand and nobody wanted to do a backup BEFORE performing their big upgrades.
I also agree. Windows Vista was pretty good, and definitely a stepping stone from Windows XP. However, it was the usual hardware requirements that probably set people off, since:
A) Lots of people either upgraded their underpowered PCs to Vista (mine included) or
B) Other bunches of people bought PCs that were a bit underpowered for Vista to begin wtih.
The parent also makes a really good point, since he/she mentions that problems were inevitable because of driver rewrites. My sound card, which was designed for XP, was unsupported by Vista for at least four or five months post-release and was disappointing for a few months after the first drivers came out. This was also the case for my video card.
Overall, Vista was definitely a move in the right direction. The fact that Windows 7 completely blows XP out of the water in almost every possible way clearly demonstrates this.
A) The Sidekick apparently doesn't store anything, so customers can't make backups that easily, even if they wanted to, and
B) Danger designed this phone to store everything server-side. It is incomprehensibly foolish to not include a SUPER SOLID backup strategy as well. This problem has been ongoing for several days now; I don't know if the data was fine on the onset of this problem, but the infuriated customers have all the right to demand everything AND the kitchen sink for losing practically everything they had.
Forgot to mention that a supporting reason for why T-Mobile will deal with cancellations left and right for a little while is because tons of people hate the Sidekick anyway, and this EPIC FAIL is an EPIC excuse to jump ship right now.
HOW THE HELL DO THEY NOT HAVE OFF-SITE TAPE BACKUPS????
So essentially, everybody's Sidekick backup data, which is apparently critical should they ever lose power, was all concentrated on A SINGLE SERVER? I hope they at least say their tape backups caught fire and their replicated server died on the same day too...
Their retentions lines are going to be hot this Columbus Day weekend! The iPhone is getting cheaper...
On this note, I hope that AT&T is aware that most of their customers were from Verizon, and would probably switch back in no-time when Verizon gets the iPhone (wich they will)
I have seen 15 page reports that were an eyesore to read through. On the other hand, some of the most touching and enjoyable writing I've had the pleasure of coming across were only a few words.
With that said, this change could be looked at from two angles. The first is more acute, in that essays will now be judged on a much higher level than previous ones. MIT was always known as the creative school, and its students are largely responsible for that title. Therefore, they should be able to meet this challenge, which really isn't any more challenging than a longer essay would be.
Conversely, it can be argued that MIT is lowering their standards to appeal to a more "fleeting" generation. "The kids" now have Twitter, and AIM is pretty well-saturated in their environment. 500 words in a world where txtspk (that's textspeak to you old farts:-p) rules the roost? Are you mad? Think of the children!!!
Either way, if a prospective student really wants to get into MIT (or any other prestigious institution, for that matter), they will find the way. This is hardly the deterrant to that.
By the way, 500 words is HARDLY lengthy. For some essays, that's a warmup. For some research reports, that's the introductory statement. Talk to me when we're at six page minimums, mmkay?
I agree with your points, but keep in mind that a lot of things were changed in Vista from XP, and those same people as a whole tend to complain about change. Microsoft releases desktop window composition, only for the public to assinuate that they ripped from Aqua. Microsoft releases the ribbon for Office, and all hell breaks loose.
I'm by no means a total fan of everything that Microsoft does, but a sizable number of complaints from people are just growing pains.
So, no, Vista isn't slow because I don't know how to use my computer--it's just slow sometimes.
Yeah, and so is every other operating system! If the OS needs resources to do something, it'll slow other things down. More often than not, the main sticking points that made Vista slow for me were its desktop search (which I turned off -- has been improved in Win7) and Aero (which would crash Explorer sometimes; happens in Win7, but with much less frequency).
When I used it, it really wasn't that bad. I'll grant that UAC was most definitely annoying and in its infancy, but other than that, it was pretty stable for the time I used it. The only services which affected stability were the Desktop Search and DWM, which is often impacted directly by the quality of the video drivers driving it.
Lots of people gave Vista a bad rep because -- get this -- they didn't know how to use their damned computers! Projector not working? No, it can't possibly be that you forgot to hit Fn+F8; IT MUST BE VISTA! Stuff running slow? It's certainly not that a GAZILLION processes are running at the same time, along with the spyware you've accumulated from using IE to surf for porn and free stuff; IT MUST BE VISTA! While a lot of the Mac vs PC commercials that Apple ran dealt a lot with the usability differences, in reality, a prime reason FOR those issues in usability is because lots of users don't know how to actually use them properly.
I've been running Windows 7 for quite some time now, and it has definitely eliminated the need for Windows Server 2008 or Windows XP running on any of my systems (except the legacy servers that I have, which both run Server 2003...but will be upgrading!) The killer features for me are the new tricks in Aero (the maximize and minimize features are solid) and the refinements done in wireless networking (which finally feel as integrated as wired has been since forever). Despite these, Vista was the pillar which helped set this up. Without it, we'd still be stuck in Longhorn-land (I'm talking about the Longhorn BEFORE the big codebase swap, which was more or less XP with some bells and whistles).
I thought about that, but it didn't make much sense to keep servicing a machine that is somewhat obsolete and might run into a bigger, more unserviceable problem later. I was better off buying a new machine.
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According to this logic, a marketing agency could print ads containing tons of incomphrensible, absolutely stupid gibberish and make a few obvious mentions of their target product...and have it be a great success. The only product that I know who advertises like this manufactures soap, and hardly popular soap at that.
I'm not a marketing expert, but I do know that even though this kind of advertising will bring the product up in conversation or as a passing of thought, it hardly converts to hard sales that mean something. If anything, a negative reaction to these ads could actually produce the completely opposite result!
IE8 is actually pretty good. It's actually safer than Firefox with Protected Mode in Vista/7. Maybe you should try it...
The exterior was really nice, but I wish it came with a motor...
After installing Windows 7 (started using it at RC level, I think), everything just feels smooth. It actually made me want to use Microsoft's included products for everything. It definitely has more appeal to me than OS X now.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way to Microsoft or its subsidiaries. I just really like Windows 7.
Which goes to show that it's different strokes for different folks. One of my good friends uses Twitter incessantly; it's the cheese to his macaroni (or at least to the way he does business). Personally, I've found little use for it, as I get e-mail updates when breaking news comes out (I knew about Michael Jackson's death before CNN and many people got to it from NYTimes E-Mail Alerts, for instance).
I agree with the notion that Twitter's a fad, but the communication model it introduced is not; instant feeds that are easy to access, and are accessible everywhere really spiced up how people can communicate with each other online. I think the #hashtags are useful for search, but stupid for conversations; if you want instant communication, why not go IRC? (RSS tried doing the former, but it was pretty difficult to get working and I never saw it actually gain traction.) One something like Google Wave hits, Twitter's going to have a hard time keeping up. I'm sure that by that point, the folks that run it will be doing pretty nicely for themselves. :)
You forgot to check Outlook.
If you have friends in marketing or any industry which heavily relies on marketing, then you know people who use Twitter. It's their bread and butter, along with Facebook/MySpace/et.al.
Kind of coincidental that these technologies run in direct contrast to a sizable population of Slashdot readers...
(For the record, YES I have a Twitter, and nobody really cares about it. I blog on my Facebook account and get quite a few reads (but even fewer replies). I had a MySpace, but sank that ship, twice, when I realized in both instances that it's mostly for emo teens that need self-attention.)
A post above outlined that there are three types of communication: synchronous (two-way), asynchronous (one-way) and broadcasted. Google Wave is a combination of the three, in that you can utilize all of them at the same time within one system (except for email, which can interact with other systems as usual).
Because it is restricted to one system, namely Google's, it won't reach critical mass until either other current systems can work with it somehow or Wavelets become an open standard and can be added onto current systems as-is. I hope that Google's pushing for the latter direction, as it's quite an interesting technology...
I agree, but a minor nitpick here: in closed, corporate settings, instant messaging systems can play vital roles in catalyzing daily processes and getting stuff done. For instance, traders use it to pass quotes along quickly if it's something that needs immediate attention. Furthermore, it's appropriate in a business setting to know another person's presence, as it's expected that while they're working, they're needed.
You won't believe the commotion people can rile up if internal IM systems freak out...
Email was, from its inception, designed to be a tool used for professional communications in academia, government, military and business. Facebook/social networking, on the other hand, was designed to be a social web connecting everyone to everyone on a personal level. Messaging was an important facet in establishing this, so it was included.
It's like showing up to an important business meeting (corporate environment) in a tee shirt, jeans and sneakers. Yeah, it's in and respectable as fashion attire, but it's just not appropriate for that kind of setting. Social norms are powerful like that.
What exactly is the difference between today's "cloud computing" and yesterday's "internet-based services?"
I'm sure this question is often asked, considering that every single web site is a file stored on a remote computer which by way of internet services is displayed on computer screens everywhere. Additionally, people have been uploading data to remote storage services since the late 90's with XDrive and its precedessors, but these were never known as "cloud computing" then...
As I'm sure somebody pointed out here, the Sidekick data loss fiasco occurred largely because nobody had off-site tape backups on hand and nobody wanted to do a backup BEFORE performing their big upgrades.
It's that simple.
I also agree. Windows Vista was pretty good, and definitely a stepping stone from Windows XP. However, it was the usual hardware requirements that probably set people off, since:
The parent also makes a really good point, since he/she mentions that problems were inevitable because of driver rewrites. My sound card, which was designed for XP, was unsupported by Vista for at least four or five months post-release and was disappointing for a few months after the first drivers came out. This was also the case for my video card.
Overall, Vista was definitely a move in the right direction. The fact that Windows 7 completely blows XP out of the water in almost every possible way clearly demonstrates this.
A) The Sidekick apparently doesn't store anything, so customers can't make backups that easily, even if they wanted to, and
B) Danger designed this phone to store everything server-side. It is incomprehensibly foolish to not include a SUPER SOLID backup strategy as well. This problem has been ongoing for several days now; I don't know if the data was fine on the onset of this problem, but the infuriated customers have all the right to demand everything AND the kitchen sink for losing practically everything they had.
Forgot to mention that a supporting reason for why T-Mobile will deal with cancellations left and right for a little while is because tons of people hate the Sidekick anyway, and this EPIC FAIL is an EPIC excuse to jump ship right now.
HOW THE HELL DO THEY NOT HAVE OFF-SITE TAPE BACKUPS????
So essentially, everybody's Sidekick backup data, which is apparently critical should they ever lose power, was all concentrated on A SINGLE SERVER? I hope they at least say their tape backups caught fire and their replicated server died on the same day too...
Their retentions lines are going to be hot this Columbus Day weekend! The iPhone is getting cheaper...
On this note, I hope that AT&T is aware that most of their customers were from Verizon, and would probably switch back in no-time when Verizon gets the iPhone (wich they will)
On-campus interviews! If one can bullshit those, then I owuld think the peson is savvy enough to get into any decent school.
Word count was NEVER indicative of writing skill.
I have seen 15 page reports that were an eyesore to read through. On the other hand, some of the most touching and enjoyable writing I've had the pleasure of coming across were only a few words.
With that said, this change could be looked at from two angles. The first is more acute, in that essays will now be judged on a much higher level than previous ones. MIT was always known as the creative school, and its students are largely responsible for that title. Therefore, they should be able to meet this challenge, which really isn't any more challenging than a longer essay would be.
Conversely, it can be argued that MIT is lowering their standards to appeal to a more "fleeting" generation. "The kids" now have Twitter, and AIM is pretty well-saturated in their environment. 500 words in a world where txtspk (that's textspeak to you old farts :-p) rules the roost? Are you mad? Think of the children!!!
Either way, if a prospective student really wants to get into MIT (or any other prestigious institution, for that matter), they will find the way. This is hardly the deterrant to that.
By the way, 500 words is HARDLY lengthy. For some essays, that's a warmup. For some research reports, that's the introductory statement. Talk to me when we're at six page minimums, mmkay?
I agree with your points, but keep in mind that a lot of things were changed in Vista from XP, and those same people as a whole tend to complain about change. Microsoft releases desktop window composition, only for the public to assinuate that they ripped from Aqua. Microsoft releases the ribbon for Office, and all hell breaks loose.
I'm by no means a total fan of everything that Microsoft does, but a sizable number of complaints from people are just growing pains.
Yeah, okay...get back to me when you don't need to tweak xorg.conf just to make video work okay...with Compiz no less.
So, no, Vista isn't slow because I don't know how to use my computer--it's just slow sometimes.
Yeah, and so is every other operating system! If the OS needs resources to do something, it'll slow other things down. More often than not, the main sticking points that made Vista slow for me were its desktop search (which I turned off -- has been improved in Win7) and Aero (which would crash Explorer sometimes; happens in Win7, but with much less frequency).
OK
When I used it, it really wasn't that bad. I'll grant that UAC was most definitely annoying and in its infancy, but other than that, it was pretty stable for the time I used it. The only services which affected stability were the Desktop Search and DWM, which is often impacted directly by the quality of the video drivers driving it.
Lots of people gave Vista a bad rep because -- get this -- they didn't know how to use their damned computers! Projector not working? No, it can't possibly be that you forgot to hit Fn+F8; IT MUST BE VISTA! Stuff running slow? It's certainly not that a GAZILLION processes are running at the same time, along with the spyware you've accumulated from using IE to surf for porn and free stuff; IT MUST BE VISTA! While a lot of the Mac vs PC commercials that Apple ran dealt a lot with the usability differences, in reality, a prime reason FOR those issues in usability is because lots of users don't know how to actually use them properly.
I've been running Windows 7 for quite some time now, and it has definitely eliminated the need for Windows Server 2008 or Windows XP running on any of my systems (except the legacy servers that I have, which both run Server 2003...but will be upgrading!) The killer features for me are the new tricks in Aero (the maximize and minimize features are solid) and the refinements done in wireless networking (which finally feel as integrated as wired has been since forever). Despite these, Vista was the pillar which helped set this up. Without it, we'd still be stuck in Longhorn-land (I'm talking about the Longhorn BEFORE the big codebase swap, which was more or less XP with some bells and whistles).
I thought about that, but it didn't make much sense to keep servicing a machine that is somewhat obsolete and might run into a bigger, more unserviceable problem later. I was better off buying a new machine.