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Comment Re:Because that is how the rest of the world works (Score 1) 465

but say the job requires you know a certain Watchguard Firewall. When the license for that box is up, it may be better to replace it with a Cisco or Fortinet device. If you have a smart generalist, they'll be able to move from brand and model to brand and model. The way HR & IT mgrs are handling it, is they'd rather hire a person who knows a specific device/interface, and only that device/interface, rather than someone who can handle the technology as it changes - which it surely will.

Comment Re: Wagging the dog. (Score 1) 292

it's as if Outlook stabbed Yahoo Mail to death and left a bloody glove at the scene of the crime. I especially like the typos and the fact that the CIO admits there's still things that Outlook does better, so you can use it for 30 seconds. Who has time to keep swapping between programs just because the CIO is butthurt? deliver a better product that employees Want to use.

Comment bigger losses ahead (Score 1) 39

It's difficult to build up a large selection of publications ready for the higher education market, where one can't push out CRAP instead of high-quality education materials. Texas has little control over higher education publishing, and far too much nonsensical control over K-12, where revisionism and unadorned religious swaggery holds sway over intellectual honesty and these troubling things called "facts". Still, the bloodletting to come in the educational industry will be from the traditional publishers who fail to adapt to the new reality of digital gadgets used for reading and studying.

As much as I enjoy my Apple iPad, the popularity of 16gb devices which cannot hold many reading resources is troubling. Apple traditionally packs in the least amount of storage possible in consumer devices, with incredibly ridiculous markups to reach 64gb or 128gb of storage. If Intel pushes their own tablets with more storage at a reasonable cost, then Kno has a real future.

Back in my past, I was furious at how much college textbooks cost, and how little trade-in value I'd get -- if any, since from semester to semester the reading materials for a given course might change. The market changes of the past 20 years have had little influence on the current trajectory: digital data and high-speed distribution changes everything. While I recognize the need of publishers to employ DRM control in order to generate profits, maybe expensive university systems should change their models to remunerate professors who research and publish -- while the learning materials decrease in price. There's little use for the existing publishing and distribution system if higher education can publish and distribute at will.

I don't believe that MOOC will make much sense until there are big changes to how multibillion dollar universities position themselves at the forefront of sharing knowledge with those who need it the most.

Comment Re:Send a clear message... (Score 1) 100

it's more likely that shitty employers will punish employees for reporting safety concerns; in a crappy job economy, it's more likely that workers would take more risks than they would prefer because they're so afraid of losing their job and knowing how difficult it is to find another one, especially if you are unemployed.

Comment HP Laser Quality better than Samsung (Score 1) 381

I've owned 4 different HP color lasers, and last year replaced one that had died after just 2 years' worth to a cheap $350 Samsung ($200 cheaper than the HP with ethernet and OSX + Windows drivers). Print quality is terrible, 3rd party remanufactured / refilled cartridges from ebay are quite cheap but produce washed out colors and sometimes toner that doesn't stick to the page. My next printer will likely be another HP, if I have the money for it.

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