Posts by Albert 130 publicly visible posts • joined 12 Apr 2007
For most companies tax on products just flows through and is paid by the final consumer.
The only way the companies would have of paying the governments the tax is if they charged it in the first place to the consumers.
This would mean paying 20%-30% more for shiny devices and lattes.
I'm OK with companies doing nothing illegal to improve their efficiency permitting them to keep their product prices lower so I can buy more shiny things.
If Amazon and the other companies discussed are not breaking the law then more power to them for managing their finances successfully. If I had the ability to pay less tax then I know I would take advantage of it.
If the government believe this should not be possible then it is the tax regime in place in the UK (and other countries) that needs to be changed. If this was done it would be interesting to see how many multi-nationals would pull out causing the loss of local jobs and income/
Business is amoral and always strives to increase revenue and profits. If I shareholder I would expect no less.
I love Open Source discussion about what is right and wrong with Linux because the people who post are as entrenched as Microsoft and Apple fans. It usually comes down to you're wrong because you disagree with my world view.
I thought the whole idea behind Open Source was that you did what worked for you because you have freedom and since there were so many options you could just switch. If this is the case I don't understand why there is all this fighting.
If you don't want Mono, don't install it. If you don't want Gnome, don't install it. If you want to use Vi over Emacs then go for it...
No need to defend your right-ness
What the kids use today will be the standard in 10 years time.
iPhones in most cases are hand me downs from parents.
I see kids with Blackberry's everywhere in the UK.
I see very few Android phones in the hands of kids.
My bet in the kid market will give Blackberry something to pivot on if they can get some fun apps and games in there. Then it's a 4 way race again.
If I buy billboard space and put a poster up saying a certain brand is bad is the owner of the billboard liable for the trademark infringement. Sounds like it could be in Australia.
To me it's the responsibility of the company placing the ad to not do anything illegal and like all trademark holders, it is up to them to monitor and defend their trademark.
To make sure no trademarks are used incorrectly I'd expect Google would have to hold a full, complete and up to date list of trademarks for all companies and individuals worldwide which they would then need to search each time an ad is created and compare the results to the trademarks owned by the company/individual created the ad.
What about trademarks that are stylized versions of words and sentences. Only the whole graphic is trademarked and not the individual words. How would this be figured out.
Strange. I thought oil was at about $120 a barrel, so 2 to 3 times higher than the article lists.
Again, from limited knowledge, so open to correction
$120 a barrel is based on mainly oil taken from already established wells in easy to reach reserves. Once we go into shale and sand the cost to retrieve the oil from the ground goes up. The contaminants in the oil will be higher and so the cost of processing and actually extracting the oil will be higher. Basically, pump all the stuff out of the earth. Process it to get to he oil and then pump the contaminants back into the ground.
The cost of extracting oil is going up as it is being found in harder to reach places.
While the cost of alternative (renewal) energy sources is going down with advancements in technology. I know where I would be betting the future and it wouldn't be on oil.
<smartarse comment>
"Defaults should be sane, useful, usable, and represent the widest use case."
The meaning of sane, useful and usable is open to interpretation. While 'represent the widest use case" means everything should look like Windows.
</smartarse comment>
I've been using Ubuntu since 7.04 and you know what Unity works for me after a few minor changes. I dock the apps l use in the Launcher/Panel (what ever it's called). Reduced the size to 32 pixels and disabled auto-hide.
On the broader topic the great thing about Linux is there is choice, there is flexibility, there is the ability to customise. If you don't like what 1 person provides you can change. Get Lubuntu and forget about Unity.
We might be buying less music but we're buying more movies, games and top up/contracts for phones.
There is only a limited amount of disposable income and it's been a long time since the only thing for teens/20's to spend there money on was music.
I woudl be very interested in seeing the figures for how much money is spend on entertainment as I'd expect this figure has gone up over time, with music having a reduced percentage.
I keep reading about all this IPTV and on-demand services and I just think. I don't have the time or the inclination anymore to care that deeply about a TV series or even a film.
We record what we want on our Freeview+ box and then watch back as and when we want to.
We still go to shops so pick up DVDs (yes those disc things) for films we want to see.
I think we've used iPlayer twice since it's been launched because we forgot to record something.
None of this subscription service. Just pay the UK license and off you go.
Maybe when it is unified, easy and not crazy expensive I might consider it but for now it's all a bit limited with a big dose of lock in.
Yes, Raspberry Pi with XBMC looks very interesting.
II have a feeling though that for ease of use the WD TV Live will work better and at £80 from eBuyer will not be too expensive.
Yes, still probably twice the cost of going the Raspberry Pi route, but none of the fiddling to make it work and has iPplayer nad Netflix built in if you like that sort of thing.
It looks like WD is keeping the same name as the last generation but only this WD TV Live had iPlayer. Also, they have completely changed the case so look for the new styling.
Another option if retailers use it is the WD Model Number: WDBGXT0000NBK-UESN
Finally, can be had in at eBuyer for £80 with free delivery, so £39 cheaper than the article is saying. Makes it even more of a bargain...
I have a 1st generation WD TV HD and it does play almost everything I throw at it. I did the custom firmware thing and had it streaming over Wifi from a CIF share (Windows share)
Great box and definitely interested in upgrading to this new model.
I agree with them all except for "TV becomes just another smart device"
To me this is just a way to increase the churn rate for TVs. CRTs kept for 10+ years, LCD kept for 5+ years. With smart TVs we will have to replace them every 2-3 years as the 'smart' component will be so far behind that it won't be able to support the latest functionality.
This means TV companies make more money and perfectly good TVs get scrapped.
Give me a Roku or Boxee type thing that is (relatively) cheap so I can invest in a great TV that will last while still being able to upgrade the 'smart' component as things get better and better.
And the HDMI/S-Video out.
The Sheevaplug and GumStix are headless so cannot be connected directly to a monitor.
The advantage with the Raspberry Pi is that with just a keyboard/mouse/monitor and SD card you have a standalone computer. If you get the ethernet 1 then it can go on the internet as well.
There are 1080p videos and graphics demos of the Raspberry Pi doing interesting things.
Imagine for teaching each kid having their own Raspberry Pi or at a minimum their own SD card with their OS/Apps and code. They run it on any Raspberry Pi and it boots to their personal configuration. Mess it up and just reformat the SD card.
Raspberry Pi is a great idea and once the OS and Educational resources are released on March/April the true potential will be seen.
Finally, the price being paid for the beta boards is an indication of how much support is already out there for this project/charity.
I bought the S9e 17 months ago and I am very happy with it.
9" screen (1024x600)
But the rest of the netbook is the same as the 10" version (same resolution screen) so the keyboard is a little less cramped.
When I'm out and about I bring it along as it is small and compact.
I use it for Arduino development (Jave IDE), YouTube video editing
Google Docs, Mail.
Skype
Photo Editing
Does exactly what I bought it to do so very happy with my purchase.
I have 10.04 on a notebook and 11.04 on a different notebook.
I can use both and once I'm in an application which is where i do my real work the desktop doesn't matter.
I have to click on something to launch the app, but that's about it.
So, I'm sticking with Unity because I'm not that bothered and actually looking forward to seeing how 11.10 makes it better because that's my main take away from this article is that 11.10 makes Unity better.
If you're going to have an always on storage device connected to the internet then LaCie;s http://www.wuala.com/ service might be a better option.
Get an HP Proliant Microserver for £140 (after cashback) install a 2TB for another £60.
Then sign up for the Wuala service.
Trade storage on your server (eg. 500GB) to the service and you will get free backups in the cloud. It is worth reading the details to make sure it matches your needs.
Go back even 10 years and music was the main entertainment people purchased.
Now there is music, DVDs, games and mobile phone bills.
The amount of disposable income hasn't increased to such an extent that it's possible to still spend as much on music while at the same time buy the latest games and keep that mobile phone topped up.
This article form 2009 shows a great graph and the increase in entertainment spending.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/jun/09/games-dvd-music-downloads-piracy
Yes, music is going down, but games and DVDs are going up. And this doesn't even take into account the cost of keeping a mobile phone.
If the people I know are anything to go by a fair number of the non-smartphone owners will end up with a smartphone when they next change their phone just because it's there and comes with the contract. With smartphones free for many contracts why wouldn't you get one just in case....
Maybe the readers of The Register know Android is Open Source, but outside of tech circles Android is just an alternative to iOS.
It would be interesting to know how many people go to the Android Marketplace. I know a number of people with Android phones who just downloaded Facebook and didn't go back again.
Maybe the users of Android don't know the greatness that is their Marketplace.
I'm not in the market for a hand held, but I tried a friends 3DS at the weekend.
The 3D when it worked was good.
I was playing a driving game, but when I went around a corner in the game it messed up and I lost all 3D and the image was not clear.
So, for still images it worked well.
For moving images it failed.
It might just be me and my eyes, but not something I want to experience again.
Note: your experience and enjoyment may be different.
I use Ubuntu and expect to stick with Gnome, but I do admire Canonical for trying something new.
The fact that Gnome and KDE are so similar to Windows means new users have an expectation that it will be the same, so the small differences are highlighted even more.
By going to Unity this expectation of it being like Windows is removed which may be a good thing to bring new people onboard.
Also, with widescreen displays I'm seeing a lot of notebooks with 1280x800 displays so the vertical real estate has been reduced compared to 4:3 1024x768. Effectively, moving the apps bar to the left gives back some vertical space which means less scrolling.
From reading (most of the posts) and the original article the crux of the situation as far as I see it is that there isn't a culture of innovation and experimentation.
We stopped teaching computers and started teaching MS Office in schools.
When I was in school we were allowed to play games if we wrote them ourselves.
Those of us with an interest in tinkering thought ourselves programming, graphics, animation, sound and game design so we could play games.
This is what's missing.
Whether it is Visual Studio Express, or Python it doesn't matter as long as it's going on.
Now to pin my colours - I believe Open Source makes this easier not because the tools or code is better, but because of the culture of sharing means it is easier to get help when your stuck. Closed means this isn't as easy.
Rather than talking about the O/S, or the office applications I would love to see a show, touring group that showed what's possible for those interested in tinkering.
Maybe looking at:
Gimp/ Inkscape - Bitmap / Vector Graphics
Blender - 3D Modeling
Scribus - DTP
Python/PyGame - Game Porgramming
Audacity/Ardour/Hydrogen - Audio Production
Pitivi/Openshop - Video Production
Arduino - hardware hacking and programming.
All of these (except maybe Blender) have a low cost of entry and a relatively low learning curve which means things can be achieved quickly.
Showcase this and forget the O/S and the chances are you would get a new generation of Tinkers interested.
Then put it on a Linux box and it will be faster and more reliable. - ;-)
@David Pollard
Maybe start with an Arduino which is about £25 and you can add the extra sensors as you wish.
Easy to program and massively adaptable.
I have played with 1 and it's possible with very little effort to build the sensors you mentioned Giving the opportunity to have inexpensive measuring devices while at the same time having some techie fun along the way.
As an aside it is an Open Source design.
I believe climate change is happening and that the human race is accelerating it.
We’re chopping down trees, polluting the oceans and generating green houses gases. All of which if unchecked will raise the Earths temperature and cause the weather systems to change. What I don’t know is what the long term affects will be. Is the earth capable of absorbing the change we are causing and still providing an environment that we can comfortably survive in?
Planet Earth is not going to disappear, but the climate may mean that life for some animals (like us) could be harder. The human race because of its adaptability will survive, but at what cost to the rest of the plants and animals we share this planet with.
Beer just because it's 5:00pm somewhere...
I bought an HD TV 18 months ago, so not in the market for a new TV for at least another 2 years.
I enjoy 3D in the cinema but not bothered about it at home.
I also expect by the time I get around to 3D at home that it will just be built in rather than a premium offering so prices should be more acceptable.
Sony in the 80's was the brand to own. If you wanted to be associated with the best there is it had to be Sony. Then they thought they could rule the world and started to do their own thing with standards and now Sony still make good products but they have to fight it out with the other brands.
Apple are in the same position right now. They can try to force their agenda and potentially get caught our or take into account the change in the market and respond accordingly.
Let's all get back together in a few years and see what happens.
Paris, because it's all vacuous anyway.
"How stupid do you have to be......to put up more than you'd write on your blog, or say to a stranger on a train? You can't complain about information being compromised if you only post stuff you don't mind people knowing."
Facebook gave you the ability to only share your information with friends and not the whole world, so the expectation was set that this was a communications method you controlled.
Then without warning they flipped all the privacty setting so all your details are public.
Do this once careless, do this 2,3,4... times and there is a clear pattern of behaviour.
misperceptions - Facebooks repeated actions created this perception. Nothing mis- about it.
Paris just because it's Thursday and Asus haven;t sent in any nice press shots in a while.
Remember when Sony made the must have devices. Then slowly but surely they started to think this allowed them to go it alone and define markets and standards (Minidisk, Memorystick, rootkit activity). Well, the industry and the buying public for the most part didn't follow. Sony still make some great products but the Sony badge doesn't automatically mean a hit. They have to compete just like everybody else.
Apple are at the same tipping point. If they keep pushing their agenda they will survive but the sheen will be gone from their products and their loyal customers will at a minimum consider other options.
From their policy 'We have a dedicated team that conducts spot reviews of top applications and of many other applications, including looking at the data they need to run the application versus the data they gather.'
This means applications can access more data then they need and they can access data through a friends accout about you.
So, all those friends of your's that you share with who play Farmville are giving your details to Zynga.
Don't believe me look for the following app on Facebook 'What Do Facebook Quizzes Know About You?' from the American Civil Liberies Union (www.aclu.org). This really opened my eyes to what apps really have access to,
I have an Ideapad S9e - same as S10 but 9" rather than 10" screen.
When I first booted it into XP I was amazed how fast it was at doing everything.
Really impressed.
Then I started to make the system a bit more secure....
Added anti-virus - AVG
There were a few XP security updates that needed to be installed.
Then the different apps started to want to be updated as well and left behind their little updater apps.
Now the machine is usable but nowhere near as quick as when I first got it.
I also get the mystery slow down when an app or XP decided to auo-download an update in the background without letting me know.
I expect the Linux experience is so much better just because there is no anti-virus used and the update system is done in a more controlled way.
I still use the S9e regularly and love the size. If ti wasn't for the need for my wife to use it on the odd occassions I'd dual boot it to Ubuntu or Xubuntu and be done with it. (she would be confused by the boot menu)
Not allowing other devices to connect to the iTues store is like a retailer saying you can only buy our clothes if you are wearing our shoes. Apple wants to lock you into their ecosystem rather giving you the option of using somebody else’s devices.
There is no technical reason why other devices shouldn't be allowed to sync with iTunes and so work directly with the store it is purely that Apple have locked them out.
I think the time is coming when Apple's business practices need to be questioned.
Locking competitors out of the iTunes store when it is the dominant music download store in the market is anti-competitive.
Just to be clear I’m not talking about iTunes the app, just the store. If the store was opened then alternative apps for buying and managing your downloads would be developed and could compete in a fair way
I think Google thought people would flock to Chrome because it is faster and it didn’t happen, so they need to get the IE people to have the Chrome functionality so they can push their online apps.
In an always connected environment who needs desktop apps when you can use the Google ones. Couple the Chrome browser with one of those really light Linux distros that boots is seconds and suddenly the need for Windows disappears. Until that day make sure people can experience this way of working so their next device decision will encourage them to look at the lighter option.
I wonder what ChromeOS will be like…
When I first looked at the pictures I thought it looked ugly, but the more I look the more I like.
If these are cheap enough then for someone like me who uses his car mainly for driving 40 minutes to and from work it would be ideal. Still have the bigger family car for outings and longer trips but for short journeys where the speed limit is usually 40mph max then these are perfect.
I run Ubuntu 8.04 on my home PC and it works great.
I've fairly much decided to stick with the LTS releases unless there is a very specific reason to move.
I play with the Live versions of the other releases to see if they work and if it would be really better than the LTS and so far I've had no reason to upgrade.
I like the 6 month cycle as it gives me a chance to keep up with the changes but for a computer I actually do work on I'm sticking with the LTS releases and like @Rob Beard I wait a month or 2 after release before doing the upgrade.
I still believe a netbook is the most computing power you can get for £200 in a 10" or smaller form factor. So, £350 for a fairly bog standard spec netbook is outrageous.
I bought an ex-display Lenono S9e from Tescos for pennies over £170. (Minor scratches due to display mounting, but other then that perfect – was £189 full price)
Same 1024x600 screen, but 9 inches
Same memory
Same size hard drive
2 x USB, Bluetooth, 802.11b/g
Also has an Expresscard slot for expansion.
I will give this that it has a 6 cell battery - mine is 3 cell, but definitely not worth over £160 more.
Sub £200 is a fair price for this type of spec. Anything more then that and it’s not worth it.
My reading of Linux is that technical people get invovled with it when they are at college as it lets them develop their skills and make things the way they want to.
What I believe is needed is for the same thing to happen in art colleges.
I bet most computer based students students only know Photoshop and Illustrator and only consider doing work for real world or web, not for the desktop.
In this environment I also expect that there would be far fewer advocates for Open Source, so the students are not naturally introduced to the alternative.
If there was a program to introduce GIMP, InkScape, Blender,...(pick your fave) to design/art students with some information on how they can actually get their work seen I expect some will try it and get into it.
Ubunut is trying with their media examples competition for the distribution, but I only see it targetted at the people who already know Open Source. Why not put posters in colleges, promote on art/design websites.
Get the designers and artists excited and it will happen. Expecting coders to do design is a dangerous thing...
I'm with TalkTalk for landline/broadband and international calls and I'm very happy.
Before them I was with Bulldog and the bill was usually about £80 a month including international calls.
Now if it goes above £30 I'm shocked.
Broadband in my area is abotu 3.5Mb which is acceptable (exchange is miles away) and as I don't do a huge a mount of downloading the 40GB per month cap isn't a problem.
I do notice that if I do a bit of torrenting then after a few days of continuous downloading it appears to get trottled.
But over all very happy.
I wish them the best and from what I've heard of Tiscali might be good for their old customers as well.
I don't think netbooks are purely defined by size. Like others have said it's also the price.
To me a netbook is the best tech I can get with a 10" max screen for less than £200.
Anything more than £200 and I will consider a small notebook.
Still waiting to see what ION and ARM do to the netbook market when competitive products role out.
I love when competition really kicks in, especially in a tight market.
Up until now Intel has had the netbook market to themselves, but with AMD doing the processor and potentially graphics to rival ION and the ARM based systems coming on stream it looks like the second half of 2009 will be very exciting again for netbooks.
All I want is the best tech for less than £200, no bigger than 10” screen otherwise I will compare it to a proper notebook.
Fo rme a netbook is the most power I can get in a 10" or smaller form factor for £200.
Anything bigger then that or more expensive then that and I consider it a competitor for a real noteobok
As @Martin said 'If a netbook is £329, you start to wonder whether for another fifty quid you could get a decent sized screen and keyboard.'
Still waiting to see what effect if any the next generation of chips makes on the market.
NVidia ION, new integrated chips fronm Intel and new chipsets from AMD.
I also expect the currency exchange rate is playing a big part in pushing up the prices but I still get paid in GBP, so the £200 mark is my netbook max.
I like it.
There’s no way Sony allowed all the details to be revealed before E3, so I expect the touch screen and expect the touch screen and second stick to be announced then.
If you look at it closed. The only button is the Playstation one on the left. Kind of like the single button on the iPhone, so it needs a touch screen to be useful when closed.
Second stick, just because the masses have been waiting for it. I have a PSP2000 and I haven’t missed the second stick at all.
If it can play standard DIVX files rather than very specifically encoded ones then it becomes a great PMP as well.
Also, will need some way to rip your existing UMDs to it for those upgrading.
I think Sony’s plan is that the PSP Go is for portable media/gaming what the PS3 is for at home media/gaming.
How many people in a corporate environment actually use Photoshop, Illustrator or Quark. Also, the fact that you mention Canvas 7 as an app you use shows that you are not a normal corporate user.
Most people in places I have worked use the following apps.
Word processor, Spreadsheet, Email, Calendar, Web, Internet/Intranet access and Some way to access file on the network
All of this can be done by any desktop OS today. It's just the inertia of Windows and Office and the fact that people don't like change.
If given the choice of keeping things as they are or changing people will keep things as they are. Case in point is the comment from @Hugh_Pym about the typist.
Changing will get resistance.
I expect from a support and management standpoint there are a lot of Windows Admins out there, but far fewer Linux admins, not to mention desktop support staff. People go to your comfort zone. Back to inertia. Windows admins and desktop support teams will recommend sticking with Windows because that’s where they are most comfortable.
The shift in what we use is happening slowly. Firefox is growing, OpenOffice is starting to get its fans, Googledocs and Gmail are popular. The need for it to be a Microsoft centric environment is decreasing and so the potential to use something different is becoming more appropriate.
Finally, I heard a great comment.
How many of us are using the same operating system and applications as we did when we joined the great unwashed workplace.
I used Windows 3.1 with Office 3.0 Looks a bit different to Windows XP with Office 2003. From an admin standpoint it is completely different as well.
So, in my opinion people can change and get use to new apps and ways of working, the problem is the move from Windows to Linux on the desktop is sold as a big thing when for most people I think it really isn’t.
@ charge 12.99 for a CD that cost 20p to make.
So, no costs for the creative ability to create the music, no cost for the actual production of the track, including time for many individuals to actual make the music, no cost for the mastering, distribution, marketing of the music.
@ Here's a suggestion, look to the performance for revenue, (like Madonna), and like people have for the last 2 thousand years, instead of holding onto a limited business model inventing in the 50s.
Performances make money, but not the kind of money that is possible with music sales.
It just doesn't scale. How will an artist get popular enough to fill stadiums world wide to become the million dollar artist without getting their name and music out there.
They need a way to earn money to support and promote themselves.
Personally, if I want to continue to get quality entertainment I know I'm going to have to pay to consume it otherwise it will not happen.
Also, how many artists are actually in it only for the love of the music. It's easy for somebody like Billy Brag to say how it should be because he has already built his empire.
Imagine what it woudl be like without record companies promoting artists. How would you get heard above the myspace noise.
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