Posts by iLurker 56 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Aug 2011
Not so great - its easily defeated because both Siri and the Control Panel are accessible while its locked.
Any thief can ask Siri to activate Airplane mode immediate, after that it can't be deactivated.
Without His Steveness Apple is clearly slipping on the quality of their designs.
Forget about the vertical take-off/landing nonsense - it is not necessary as well as technologically impractical and hideously expensive.
There are small personal flying machines that can take off and land in as little as 6 metres - as small as your average lounge room, have a useful ceiling for commuters and good rate of climb: powered paragliders. And there are even electric-powered paragliders, which are reasonably quiet.
As a paraglider pilot, it is possible to fly these low-speed machines in reasonably tight gaggles and formations which suggest some sort of airborne analogy of "thoroughfares" and "traffic rules" might work. Even better, these things glide reasonably well and are even able to survive (continue flying) and land safely in very small spaces with some pretty serious malfunctions in the "airframe (canopy). Their low flying speed implies a collision with the ground is usually survivable and the pilot is even equipped with a reserve parachute, for emergencies - more than can be said for most light aircraft.
That the use of powered ultra-lights, hang-gliders and paragliders is forbidden over large urban areas should give you landlubbers a clue: large numbers of flying machines over urban areas is a really, really bad idea.
Sorry but I don't agree with the article - from first hand experience sending individual parcels via Australia Post you CANNOT post a parcel for $1 in Australia for delivery to the door. Then there is the little matter of insurance.
It is more likely to cost upwards of $20 for say a 10cm cube, and it could be over $100 depending on its weight.
Posting a DVD to someones home is likely to cost $20 - doubling the cost of the DVD.
Posting a valuable camera lens or a small article of clothing will be $50 or more - assuming you include registered post and insurance.
Even if retailers wise-up and bypass the local wholesalers - and buy stock directly from foreign discounters - they still face a problem of paying for the overheads associated with a shopfront and staff.
One outcome will be that goods that can be easily sold over the Internet and safely delivered should cease to be sold in streetfront retail stores - exactly as iTunes and Amazon have killed CD and DVD stores, with bookshops to follow.
The only retail areas that are somewhat safer are those where the buyer really needs to inspect/try the goods (fresh food) or it must be tailored to suit the customer in some way (men's suits) or service industries like fast food, dentistry etc.
The ugly consequences of Paul Keating's 'level playing field' are finally happening. It was a fantasy and it will slowly lead to the destruction of the incomes and quality of life of ordinary people in many industries - starting with retail - the result being to drive their income and conditions of employment to parity with China and India.
The only real long term solution is a hefty import duty levied on all sales overseas at the point of sale - ie collected via the credit card or bank handling the transaction - where the transaction can be traced offshore - and the level of duty should vary according to the country of origin. This spares customs form the ugly task of opening parcels and the paperwork to collect minuscule amounts of tax on the majority of items - and it will also collect tax on items delivered electronically such as music, video/movies, and software and e-books.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
