Comment Re: Cui bono? (Score 1) 71
Apple is obviously eating companies and barfing up cash like a corporate NoFace at this point
As opposed to? Google bought 7 companies this years alone. And let's not forget:they also bought "Google" Maps.
Comment Re:Cui bono? (Score 1) 71
Apple maps was (and still is) so bad they had to break their own rules and approve a stand alone Google maps application.
Bullshit. There have been many map/navigation apps long before Apple brought out their "own" Maps (as opposed to their own Maps app that used Google's limited data). So much for braking your made up rules.
Comment Re:Perplexing (Score 1) 74
The leech always finds the innocent creature, not the other way round.
BTW, not only was The Woz a super cool computer nerd, he was and is a heck of a nice guy -- to have put up with what he put up with from Jobs, and still like and promote Apple products to this day? Saintly.
Yeah, can't have anything to do with the fact that, unlike you, he actually knew Jobs.
Comment Re:Apple ][ was a great product (Score 2) 74
The ATARI 800 was far superior. It had dedicated chips for graphics, sound and I/O. Much like computers today. The Apple ][ relied on the 6502 for most everything.
The 800 also came out over 3 years later.
Comment Re:Apple ][ was a great product (Score 1) 74
Not enough that programs didn't crash all the time though.
Hey maybe using cheaper "identical" hardware sometimes doesn't work.
Comment Re:Apple ][ was a great product (Score 1) 74
It must have been the first Mac then. Hey, it's been a few years.
Yeah. They had to re-seat a RAM chip on an original Mac - which had soldered RAM. I fully believe your little story.
Comment Re:Apple ][ was a great product (Score 1) 74
But as we know, as a "home computer", the Apple II line was not quite as successful (or good) as the Atari 8 bits and Commodore's Vic 20/C64. Both of which were derived from designs for video game consoles.
Not to mention that they came out years later.
Comment Re:It's simple really... (Score 1) 244
Probably just as fast as gummi bears outsell Rolex watches. It's just as relevant a comparison. Except gummi bears go stale, but don't become obsolete in a year or two.
Rolex watches? Obsolete?? They're not crappy consumer electronics gadgets.
If Rolex watches don't become obsolete, why do they bring out new models all the time?
Comment Re:Make it more expensive ? (Score 1) 244
Porsche belongs to VW
If it hadn't been for the recession, VW would now belong to Porsche.
Comment Re:Compelling? (Score 1) 244
If it's that easy, Apple should support it officially. Especially given the level of investment that those systems represent.
Because if Apple says they support it, and it doesn't work for even one person, that person will demand that Apple fix his problem with a 7 year old computer.
And lets face it - even if you can install Windows on a PC, and there is any problem with it, both Microsoft and the manufacturer will put the blame on the other one even if the PC is brand new, let alone a few years old.
Comment Re:Bird killers (Score 1) 164
That's a long post, but I'm not sure if you've got the point, which is, you can't lump all birds together. If a few thousand sparrows die to cats (or windmills), no big deal. But if a few hundred California condors die to windmills, then we have serious problems.
So we shouldn't build wind-turbines in Ohio, because of Californian condors? Anyway, collisions with power-lines, electrocutions (not the same) and poisoning (esp. lead) are at least equal a problem for condors as wind-turbines.
California Condor recovery team stated that lead poisoning was the primary cause of the condor population decline over the last 50 years. This lead in the form of bullets and shot and fishing sinkers is ingested by the birds, ground up in the gizzard and absorbed by the body.
http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/
Comment Re:If it works (Score 1) 164
PS:
First, it should be stated that the single most significant threat to bird populations is habitat destruction, in all of its forms and with all of its causes. The various causes of mortality outlined below kill individual birds directly, and can certainly have an adverse effect on population size, but can actually have a beneficial effect in some cases. Studies of hunting have documented that in certain cases killing small numbers of birds can improve the health and survival of the remaining birds. As long as the habitat is intact, the population has the potential to replace the lost birds.
Comment Re:If it works (Score 1) 164
Cats kill at least an order of magnitude more birds than windmills do.
And windows kill even more: http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/
Oregon Testing Pay-Per-Mile Driving Fee To Replace Gas Tax 837
schwit1 tips news that Oregon will become the first U.S. state to test a program to replace their gas tax with a fee for each mile citizens drive on public roads. The 5,000 people voluntarily participating in the test will be charged 1.5 cents per mile. Revenue from gas tax has been on the decline as vehicles get more fuel efficient and as hybrids and electric cars become more popular. This measure is an attempt to raise the amount of money the state takes in to pay for infrastructure projects. Many owners of those hybrid and electric vehicles are upset, saying it specifically targets them and discourages environmentally-friendly transportation. Others point out that those who drive electric vehicles need the roads maintained just as much as people still driving gas-powered cars.
Stock Market Valuation Exceeds Its Components' Actual Value 335
An anonymous reader writes: James Tobin, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, developed a concept called "Q-value" — it's the ratio between two numbers: 1) the sum of all publicly-traded companies' stock valuations and 2) the value of all these companies' actual assets, if they were sold. Bloomberg reports that the continued strength of the stock market has now caused that ratio to go over 1 — in other words, the market values companies about 10% higher than the sum of their actual assets. The Q value is now at its highest point since the Dot-com bubble. Similar peaks in the past hundred years have all been quickly followed by crashes.
Now, that's not to say a crash is imminent — experts disagree on the Q-value's reliability. One said, "the ratio's doubling since 2009 to 1.10 is a symptom of companies diverting money from their businesses to the stock market, choosing buybacks over capital spending. Six years of zero-percent interest rates have similarly driven investors into riskier things like equities, elevating the paper value of assets over their tangible worth." Others point out that as the digital economy grows, a greater portion of publicly traded companies lack the tangible assets that were the hallmark of the manufacturing boom.
Now, that's not to say a crash is imminent — experts disagree on the Q-value's reliability. One said, "the ratio's doubling since 2009 to 1.10 is a symptom of companies diverting money from their businesses to the stock market, choosing buybacks over capital spending. Six years of zero-percent interest rates have similarly driven investors into riskier things like equities, elevating the paper value of assets over their tangible worth." Others point out that as the digital economy grows, a greater portion of publicly traded companies lack the tangible assets that were the hallmark of the manufacturing boom.
