Comment Re:Free Hardware (Score 1) 380
Yes. I replaced a home fixed IP address at $75/month for a VSP at $20/month. I didn't even think about the electricity.
Yes. I replaced a home fixed IP address at $75/month for a VSP at $20/month. I didn't even think about the electricity.
They should at least open up the software installation. That would allow legacy programs to be run with just a recompile, or perhaps a port to java/C#. This idea of not being able to install unapproved programs that Apple started is for the birds.
Corporations are people with rights. Why not us?
We got my 89 yr old mother an iPad a few years ago and it was a huge success. I believe she used it for 80% of her computing. Quicken was the big lacking functionality. What she really liked was not having to sit at the desk to play Scrabble with my brothers in California.
Interestingly it appears that Microsoft was quite complementary about the iPad during its presentation.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6385/microsoft-surface-review
A Different Perspective
A week ago, I sat in an auditorium and listened to Steve Sinofsky talk about the tablet market. He talked about how the iPad was a great device, and a logical extension of the iPhone. Give iOS a bigger screen and all of the sudden you could do some things better on this new device. He talked about Android tablets, and Google’s learning process there, going from a phone OS on a tablet to eventually building Holo and creating a tablet-specific experience. He had nothing but good things to say about both competitors. I couldn’t tell just how sincere he was being, I don’t know Mr. Sinofsky all that well, but his thoughts were genuine, his analysis spot-on. Both Apple and Google tablets were good, in their own ways. What Steve said next didn’t really resonate with me until I had spent a few days with Surface. He called Surface and Windows RT Microsoft’s “perspective” on tablets. I don’t know if he even specifically called it a tablet, what stuck out was his emphasis on perspective.
Do the math;
With regard to climate change/CO2 production it matters a great deal where the energy comes from.
Here in central Indiana our electricity comes from coal fired power plants down on the Ohio river. Each kW-h of electricity produces 1.88 libs of CO2 (ref Duke Energy mailings). The EPA rates the Nissan Leaf as using 34 kW-h to go 100 miles (ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_Leaf). So, doing the math going 100 miles through the Indiana countryside in the Nissan Leaf produces about 64 pounds of CO2.
How does that compare to burning gasoline? Burning that gallon of gas produces 20 lbs of CO2 (ref http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/co2.shtml), so the 64 lbs of CO2 for the electricity to drive the LEAF 100 miles is equivalent to 3.2 gallons of gasoline. That figures out to 31 miles per gallon.
Nissan LEAF -> 31 miles per gallon.
YMMV
The cost of gas and the amount consumed are two different issues. If you need gas to travel to and from work, you have no choice but to spend the money.
Actually, you can move closer to work or public transportation and solve this conundrum.
i realize that the law, and so this discussion, needs to use the EPA figures so that we are comparing like to like (apples to apples). I'd just like to say that our new 2012 Prius C substantially beats its EPA city figure of 53 MPG. We've yet to see a tank/substantial trip under 60 MPG. It just points out that a change in the EPA test cycle could make the 2025 goal a lot easier for the automakers to reach.
Of course, we drive prudently so YMMV.
I set up
Actually, one thing they have fixed across the board is rust. Here in the midwest snow and salt on the roads are car killers. I had a 1974 Ford Galaxy what was unsafe with rust by 1980. Compare that with our most recent cars (1986 Subaru and 1987 Jetta - both bought new) that went 12-13 years and 150K miles each without a hint of rust.
The mid-late 90's Jetta TDI's were awesome. Sure hope my 2010 is as good.
Rather like T-mobile, for instance.
The only way ARM will overtake x86 is if smartphones overtake traditional computers. There just isn't a reason strong enough to motivate people to switch to ARM.
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Can you say a 1 lb laptop with 10 hours of plug free operation? (e.g. an iPad2). That is a pretty sweet, mobile package.
Duke out
Or, the GUI tools aren't that bad, but the change the goddam things every couple months. The file managers, window behaviors, drag-and-drop behaviorss, where the links are located, the menu layouts...it all changes, even within the same distro, over a time span of years. Compare that to XP which has been the same for 10+ years. So when I use Linux, I use the command line a lot...at least they don't change that (too much).
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Amen
"The pathology is to want control, not that you ever get it, because of course you never do." -- Gregory Bateson