Wizards was crap. Fire and Ice is his masterpiece. Entirely rotoscoped, without the moronicness of Wizards. And yes, the chick is mostly-naked through the whole movie, so if you watched Wizards for that you'll still be happy.
Please, if the side of the box says "Requires Windows", how many Linux/OS X users are going to use it? Forget what obscure standard (MSC?) it happens to comply with.
You're either missing, or ignoring, my point. If the console is doing better than it was planned to do, then it's a success and not a failure. That's pretty much all there is to it.
The call dropping and reception isn't a function of the phones, but the number and power of the towers. So no matter how many features the phone has, it'll still drop calls if the tower is over-loaded or the signal is low.
AFAIK, you can use any Motorola phone through Cingular as a modem (they all have USB) at just air-time costs. Maybe it's your carrier that's the problem, and not the technology.
Xbox sales have gone according to Microsoft's plan exactly. If anything, a bit better than Microsoft planned.
If you say "we'll sell 20m Xboxes in the first generation" and actually sell 24m, that can't be considered a failure by any definition of the word. Microsoft isn't stupid; they knew they couldn't beat Sony in a single generation.
I'm betting it'll work like the Xbox 360 dashboard:
* When you put in a game disk, the dashboard will immediately load the game.
* When you turn on the console with a game inserted, the dashboard will immediately load the game, but there is a preference in the menus to turn this behavior off. (Handy if you play a lot of Xbox Live Arcade games.)
* There is a easy-to-find (software) button in the interface that can be used to run whatever media is in the drive.
* There is a (hardware) button on the controller to return to the dashboard at any time, quitting the current game.
All it's missing is the ability to run a game in a window.;)
In response to grandparent, GPLv3 will become very relevant when you see some scum mass produce a $150 computer with GNU/Linux that is cryptographically locked and then sell $10 "extension" cartridges with popular free software, in the same way that Sony locks its gaming consoles.
When that happens (if, in fact, it ever does, but I doubt), just don't buy the damned computer. That's Linus' position. The company will go out of business, and all the foaming mouth OSS zealots will be happy for another week.
On the other hand, if the company making the computer sells a bunch and has lots of happy customers-- great! They're making money, your software is getting exposure, it gives more choice to users, and people are all-around winners. If those people want to modify the software, they're still free to do that, they just have to buy another computer to run it on.
You end up with a product that's identical to Windows XP/Vista with only the underlying kernel (which nobody gives a crap about) different. And since the NT kernel and the Linux kernel are about equally good, nobody would notice any difference. So basically Microsoft would go through tons of effort to produce something identical to their current product.
Even if MS doesn't port Office, just porting Outlook alone would be HUGE for the open source world, and get Linux millions of new workstations no doubt. (And no, none of those alpha version email clients that pretend to be able to talk to Exchange server count.)
I think the prediction is plausible. After all, Microsoft puts a big effort into creating a quality MS Office for Macintosh, and they've never worried about that sniping from their Windows sales.
I would wager the main thing holding them back is Linux's non-standardness. I mean, when you can't even find a decent *installer* that works on all Linux distributions, they're really not ready for large software programs like this.
We just have to educate them. I will pay for software under very limited circumstances. If there is NO Free Software that can do the work I'll pay. If it isn't important (games) I'll pay. If it is going to process content I create it MUST write that in an open format, I won't be locked to a single vendor's whims.
So... that translates to you not paying for software.
Look at your rules...
If there is NO Free Software that can do the work I'll pay.
Well, that right there eliminates 99% of commercial software. Why buy Excel when there's Gnumeric? Why buy Word when there's OpenOffice? Why buy MS Visio when there's probably kVisio out there somewhere? It doesn't matter if Excel, Word and Visio are *better* than the open source alternatives... you don't consider that. But because the open source alternatives exist at all, you'll never buy them. Additionally, since it takes only weeks for some open source project to rip-off the next big commercial software product, you'll *never* buy the commercial product since the open source alternative will always exist.
If it isn't important (games) I'll pay.
You'll pay for toys, but you won't pay for products that make your work easier or life better? That's not going to help Linux adoption... at best, if everyone followed your example, Linux would become a glorified video games console that just happens to be able to run a few crappy productivity applications.
If it is going to process content I create it MUST write that in an open format, I won't be locked to a single vendor's whims.
So you'll never buy a Linux program to burn a CD, or create a Flash movie, either.
Look, if you're not willing to buy commercial software just say so. Don't give commercial vendors impossible rules that they have to somehow follow.
And if a FBI agent wants to find out whether the pattern of victims from the guy he's investigating is the same as a similar string of murders in another part of the country, why, gosh-darn-it, he should have to phone up 20 different departments and have three dozen documents faxed like it was 1982!
Agents being able to look up information like that on some kind of database, that's just crazy-talk.
(with the way we're poluting the environment and declaring war on each other plus the rising threat of nuclear weapons)
Rising theat compared to what?
From the late 50s, to the early 90s, we lived in a world where there were literally thousands of nuclear weapons on stand-by to launch at any moment and completely wipe out the continent they were aimed at.
And Iran getting a 10 kiloton device is "rising threat?" Hah!
If the apple tree in my front yard, over billions of years, grew to 20,000 miles in diameter and somehow launched itself into orbit around the sun, IT TOO WOULD BECOME A PLANET!... how about we stick to worrying about reality instead of crackpot hypothetical situations?
If you're talking about Geometry Wars, then Microsoft has absolutely nothing to do with it. They didn't develop the game, they don't own the game, and they aren't suing anybody over a game they didn't develop or own.
The only product Microsoft ever made that didn't suck was indeed a piece of hardware -- MS Intellimouse 2.0a and 2.1a.
There are quite a few products Microsoft makes that don't suck:
* Pretty much anything from Microsoft Game Studios, with the exception of the Dungeon Siege series, and some Xbox titles that really blew.
* The Xbox, Xbox 360.
* All their joysticks, mouses and keyboards. Especially the Natural keyboard.
* All their short-lived line of home networking equipment.
* Most Microsoft software for Mac OS doesn't suck, even if the Windows equivalent does. For instance, back when IE and Netscape ruled the browser market, IE for Macintosh was better in every way than IE for Windows.
Oh please. Have you ever done tech support? The majority of computer users out there have no clue where files are stored, or how to move them around. Most people think that files are stored *in* Word or *in* Excel, and to copy or move one they have to open Excel, open the file, then use Save As to get a copy of the file.
Wow, if you think the iPod's interface is awkward... you're in for a very unpleasant surprise when you start trying out other brands. The reason iPods use a DB to track music is that they can load the entire DB in RAM at once and don't have those horrible gaps most MP3 players do while reading and caching new ID3 tags after you add files.
Wii only 15%? Man these people are clueless! Wii will have a 300% market share as every man woman and child in the world realizes that it's the best gaming console ever! It appeals to everyone and the controller is innovative! Also I'm sure only a few months into its lifetime, Nintendo will release a game that not only turns your kids into supergeniuses but also can cure cancer if left on overnight. But leaving it on overnight won't be a problem because the Wii actually *creates* energy and solves the world's oil crisis at the same time! It's obvious that the PS3 and 360 will both die immediately as Wii is released, and both huge coporations that make those consoles will simply pack in and give up since they have no chance of competing.
Slashdot Mirror
Wizards was crap. Fire and Ice is his masterpiece. Entirely rotoscoped, without the moronicness of Wizards. And yes, the chick is mostly-naked through the whole movie, so if you watched Wizards for that you'll still be happy.
Please, if the side of the box says "Requires Windows", how many Linux/OS X users are going to use it? Forget what obscure standard (MSC?) it happens to comply with.
You're either missing, or ignoring, my point. If the console is doing better than it was planned to do, then it's a success and not a failure. That's pretty much all there is to it.
The call dropping and reception isn't a function of the phones, but the number and power of the towers. So no matter how many features the phone has, it'll still drop calls if the tower is over-loaded or the signal is low.
AFAIK, you can use any Motorola phone through Cingular as a modem (they all have USB) at just air-time costs. Maybe it's your carrier that's the problem, and not the technology.
The best early FPS storytelling was in a game series known as Marathon. Guess who developed it? (Hint: It's Bungie.)
Also, un-nerf the Banshee. What did you replace its guns with, spitballs? And removing the bombs in multiplayer, what were you thinking? Ugh.
On the other hand, nerf the energy sword, or at least make it run out of "ammo" in multiplayer.
Xbox sales have gone according to Microsoft's plan exactly. If anything, a bit better than Microsoft planned.
If you say "we'll sell 20m Xboxes in the first generation" and actually sell 24m, that can't be considered a failure by any definition of the word. Microsoft isn't stupid; they knew they couldn't beat Sony in a single generation.
Those chair jokes never get old.
I'm betting it'll work like the Xbox 360 dashboard:
;)
* When you put in a game disk, the dashboard will immediately load the game.
* When you turn on the console with a game inserted, the dashboard will immediately load the game, but there is a preference in the menus to turn this behavior off. (Handy if you play a lot of Xbox Live Arcade games.)
* There is a easy-to-find (software) button in the interface that can be used to run whatever media is in the drive.
* There is a (hardware) button on the controller to return to the dashboard at any time, quitting the current game.
All it's missing is the ability to run a game in a window.
This story has like 340 comments. You do the math.
Wow, you DO sound a lot like the pigs in Animal Farm... or is that not what you were going for?
In response to grandparent, GPLv3 will become very relevant when you see some scum mass produce a $150 computer with GNU/Linux that is cryptographically locked and then sell $10 "extension" cartridges with popular free software, in the same way that Sony locks its gaming consoles.
When that happens (if, in fact, it ever does, but I doubt), just don't buy the damned computer. That's Linus' position. The company will go out of business, and all the foaming mouth OSS zealots will be happy for another week.
On the other hand, if the company making the computer sells a bunch and has lots of happy customers-- great! They're making money, your software is getting exposure, it gives more choice to users, and people are all-around winners. If those people want to modify the software, they're still free to do that, they just have to buy another computer to run it on.
What would be the point?
You end up with a product that's identical to Windows XP/Vista with only the underlying kernel (which nobody gives a crap about) different. And since the NT kernel and the Linux kernel are about equally good, nobody would notice any difference. So basically Microsoft would go through tons of effort to produce something identical to their current product.
Have you ever worked in an actual corporation?
Even if MS doesn't port Office, just porting Outlook alone would be HUGE for the open source world, and get Linux millions of new workstations no doubt. (And no, none of those alpha version email clients that pretend to be able to talk to Exchange server count.)
I think the prediction is plausible. After all, Microsoft puts a big effort into creating a quality MS Office for Macintosh, and they've never worried about that sniping from their Windows sales.
I would wager the main thing holding them back is Linux's non-standardness. I mean, when you can't even find a decent *installer* that works on all Linux distributions, they're really not ready for large software programs like this.
We just have to educate them. I will pay for software under very limited circumstances. If there is NO Free Software that can do the work I'll pay. If it isn't important (games) I'll pay. If it is going to process content I create it MUST write that in an open format, I won't be locked to a single vendor's whims.
So... that translates to you not paying for software.
Look at your rules...
If there is NO Free Software that can do the work I'll pay.
Well, that right there eliminates 99% of commercial software. Why buy Excel when there's Gnumeric? Why buy Word when there's OpenOffice? Why buy MS Visio when there's probably kVisio out there somewhere? It doesn't matter if Excel, Word and Visio are *better* than the open source alternatives... you don't consider that. But because the open source alternatives exist at all, you'll never buy them. Additionally, since it takes only weeks for some open source project to rip-off the next big commercial software product, you'll *never* buy the commercial product since the open source alternative will always exist.
If it isn't important (games) I'll pay.
You'll pay for toys, but you won't pay for products that make your work easier or life better? That's not going to help Linux adoption... at best, if everyone followed your example, Linux would become a glorified video games console that just happens to be able to run a few crappy productivity applications.
If it is going to process content I create it MUST write that in an open format, I won't be locked to a single vendor's whims.
So you'll never buy a Linux program to burn a CD, or create a Flash movie, either.
Look, if you're not willing to buy commercial software just say so. Don't give commercial vendors impossible rules that they have to somehow follow.
And if a FBI agent wants to find out whether the pattern of victims from the guy he's investigating is the same as a similar string of murders in another part of the country, why, gosh-darn-it, he should have to phone up 20 different departments and have three dozen documents faxed like it was 1982!
Agents being able to look up information like that on some kind of database, that's just crazy-talk.
(with the way we're poluting the environment and declaring war on each other plus the rising threat of nuclear weapons)
Rising theat compared to what?
From the late 50s, to the early 90s, we lived in a world where there were literally thousands of nuclear weapons on stand-by to launch at any moment and completely wipe out the continent they were aimed at.
And Iran getting a 10 kiloton device is "rising threat?" Hah!
If the apple tree in my front yard, over billions of years, grew to 20,000 miles in diameter and somehow launched itself into orbit around the sun, IT TOO WOULD BECOME A PLANET! ... how about we stick to worrying about reality instead of crackpot hypothetical situations?
If you're talking about Geometry Wars, then Microsoft has absolutely nothing to do with it. They didn't develop the game, they don't own the game, and they aren't suing anybody over a game they didn't develop or own.
The only product Microsoft ever made that didn't suck was indeed a piece of hardware -- MS Intellimouse 2.0a and 2.1a.
There are quite a few products Microsoft makes that don't suck:
* Pretty much anything from Microsoft Game Studios, with the exception of the Dungeon Siege series, and some Xbox titles that really blew.
* The Xbox, Xbox 360.
* All their joysticks, mouses and keyboards. Especially the Natural keyboard.
* All their short-lived line of home networking equipment.
* Most Microsoft software for Mac OS doesn't suck, even if the Windows equivalent does. For instance, back when IE and Netscape ruled the browser market, IE for Macintosh was better in every way than IE for Windows.
Oh please. Have you ever done tech support? The majority of computer users out there have no clue where files are stored, or how to move them around. Most people think that files are stored *in* Word or *in* Excel, and to copy or move one they have to open Excel, open the file, then use Save As to get a copy of the file.
Wow, if you think the iPod's interface is awkward... you're in for a very unpleasant surprise when you start trying out other brands. The reason iPods use a DB to track music is that they can load the entire DB in RAM at once and don't have those horrible gaps most MP3 players do while reading and caching new ID3 tags after you add files.
Whooping ass at new-and-innovative native applications
Liiike?
Let's get into full Slashdot Games mode.
Wii only 15%? Man these people are clueless! Wii will have a 300% market share as every man woman and child in the world realizes that it's the best gaming console ever! It appeals to everyone and the controller is innovative! Also I'm sure only a few months into its lifetime, Nintendo will release a game that not only turns your kids into supergeniuses but also can cure cancer if left on overnight. But leaving it on overnight won't be a problem because the Wii actually *creates* energy and solves the world's oil crisis at the same time! It's obvious that the PS3 and 360 will both die immediately as Wii is released, and both huge coporations that make those consoles will simply pack in and give up since they have no chance of competing.