Didn't this take over 10 years? I seem to recall hearing about their decision to switch sometime around the year 2000....

Sometimes, Google just baffles me. The lack of direction in their product lines makes me shake my head.

We have several distinct software platforms:

1) Android. Development in XML with Java used as glue to hold everything together. Unless you don't. You can use standard C libraries and call the Linux kernel directly, bypassing the Dalvik Java VM.

2) Chrome browser. Development largely in javascript, again there are some obvious exceptions. Javascript is, of course, preferred because it's safer, so ChromeOS protects you by having everything done in Javascript. Except that it isn't.

3) ChromeOS. Kinda/Sorta like using the Chrome browser, except that it's not, because you are developing things that run as if they were actual clients. In Javascript. And of course, this too, is just as strictly enforced.

4) But Let's not forget the 4th platform in the trio: Google's Go language is clearly a contender, and it's designed to replace C, except for a few bone-headed decisions like linking everything statically resulting in enormous binaries. Because you really, really need to have the same library installed once for every app installed, because that way you get to recompile everything installed on your system any time a security update comes out for your favorite library. Except that, of course there are exceptions here, too.

And most importantly, you cannot target all these platforms with any single codebase written in any language. It's like they are trying to make their product suite as difficult as just using products from multiple vendors anyway.

There, fixed that for you.

See, at the end of the day, the employees are able to drive home with a fully charged car. Said employees have already decided to invest in the electric cars, it's infrastructure that's already paid for. This deal effectively lets the company use their employee assets in a way that saves said employee money.

It's a win/win, unless said usage causes the batteries to degrade inappropriately.

Corporate Suit
Thinks it's a hoot
$10B in loot
GM still a coot
Burma Shaved

But on 6502 machines one did not have to wait for the vertical sync to update the video memory.

I'm pretty sure you believe that, because the only 6502-based machines you've worked with have very low resolution. (Both the C64 and Apple II were 40x24.) I have a 6502-based machine, at home, whose resolution is 64x32, and it does require you to pay attention to Vsync. It's easy to play tricks like that, when you cut corners.

6502-machines' 40-column displays are probably one of contributing factors to their reputation as gaming machines, since they don't work well for business, and most Z80-based machines at the time were 80x25.

For all its servers and software, Google does not have an Army or a Navy.

This wouldn't -- no counldn't have happenned in the days before computers.

Eventually, I think centralised computer control is going to go the way of semaphore. It's too easy for a centralised computer system to glitch, break, be shutdown, and then screw up the lives and functions of millions.

What we should see is decentralised systems run using independent computer systems.

No need. Orcs mostly speak the common tongue or else their own tribal dialect. The Black Speech -- as devised by the Dark Lord in elvish runes -- was a failed attempt to linguistically distinguish his followers from those of the Alliance. It didn't take among the Orcs, but strangely the East End London accent did.

The journals of course are businesses and quite reasonably want to stay in business and make a profit.

Sadly I don't have a good idea for a solution.

Nationalise the journals.

This point of view is common, even though its odd disparity with reality make it seem almost anachronistic. Software isn't bloating anywhere near as much as expectations are.

Oh, sure, it's true that much software is slower than its predecessor. Windows 7 is considerably slower, given the same hardware, than Windows XP which is a dog compared to Windows 95, on the same hardware. But the truth is that we aren't running on the same hardware, and our expectations have risen dramatically. But in actual fact, most implementations of compilers and algorithms show consistent improvements in speed. More recent compilers are considerably faster than older ones. Newer compression software is faster (often by orders of magnitude!) than earlier versions. Software processes such as voice recognition, facial pattern matching, lossy compression algorithms for video and audio, and far too many other things to name have all improved consistently over time. For a good example of this type of improvement, take a look at the recent work on "faster than fast" Fourier Transforms as an easy reference.

So why does it seem that software gets slower and slower? I remember when my Dell Inspiron 600m was a slick, fast machine. I was amazed at all the power in this little package! And yet, even running the original install of Windows XP, I can't watch Hulu on it - it simply doesn't have the power to run full screen, full motion, compressed video in real time. I was stunned at how long (a full minute?) the old copy of Open Office took to load, even though I remember running it on the same machine! (With my i7 laptop with SSD and 8 GB of RAM, OpenOffice loads in about 2 seconds)

Expectations are what changed more than the software.

This isn't an anti-patent troll bill. It's an anti-small inventor bill.

If so, good then; the sooner the myth of patents being for the small inventor dies the sooner everyone will finally be rid of the impediment of patents forever.

It's another FU to small inventor, just like the last patent reform.

The small inventor, and the little guy in general, has been FU-ed out of the game for a long time now. Patents are now all about legal fights and trolling, not innovation or rewarding it. It's time for them to die.

Wouldn't it be nice if the facts fit your wishes? Too bad that they don't.

Microsoft pretty much does sell it's stuff with little resistance. Windows 8 sales are down, but MS has made it clear that they're willing to take a short term hiccup in order to position themselves for the mobile movement. Win 8 on the Desktop is still a pain, but reviews are that it's in league with Android/iOS as a mobile platform purely on its own technical merits. It may well be that the Desktop/Mobile schizm is resolved over time as desktops pick up mobile features, such as touch screens. As an example, my wife's new Dell laptop has a touch screen, light weight, and decent (8 hours) battery life - three things that mobile devices traditionally had over the lap/desk top.

Since the rule of thumb is "buy the 3rd one" the next update to Windows 8 (which is really a new usability model) will probably be the one that gets traction. They sold XBox at a loss for years before it finally became profitable. If you remember history, it took some time (of significant losses) before MS Word beat out Word Perfect, and for Excel to beat out Lotus 123.

They have a monopoly on Desktop OSs, something they are now using (again) to leverage their way into a new market. (Mobile) And slowly, it's working. Windows 8 phone passed 10% market share in Europe recently. It became #3 in the USA some time ago. And while these milestones seem meager, if they only increase their percentage marginally from year to year, eventually they'll rule the roost as they've done with their Desktop OS. And they have more money than many countries, which buys them a *lot* of a time. That's no guarantee of success, but they are, in no fashion, doomed to fail, regardless of how many "fumbles" you may perceive.

The real question to be answered over the next 2-5 years is whether or not Android can become replace Windows faster than Windows can replace Android.

... a position which is frightfully naive. Of course making things more illegal is a deterrent. It used to be totally legal to drive with your kids in the back of your truck on the open freeway. It's now more illegal (at least in California) and you don't see (very many) people driving on the freeway with kids in the back of their truck.

All officially recognized crimes are punished with the intent of deterring future crime, and you live in a time and place which ranks as among the most peaceful and civilized periods in all of known history. To suggest that this concept does not work betrays a stunning lack of understanding and respect for all the work put in by the millions of people who worked to establish and maintain the system that provides such domestic peace and tranquility.

Did you actually think that spending 10 years in jail actually compensates the parents and loved ones of a murder victim? Sorry, if they're dead, no amount of punishment will ever bring them back, and until you've personally experienced the loss of a close loved one, you cannot really understand just how devastating such a loss can be.
  However, even sociopaths can understand personal injury and suffering even if they lack the ability empathize in any way with their victims.

Or did, until you commented on TFA...

[this is some random stuff so that slashot will take my post.]