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Which is more important: the gadget, or the software and apps that runs it?
Stoic Joker:
Wouldn't you love to see all the devices on the table and be able to say:
I want THAT tablet,
with THIS OS,
without a cellphone contract,
with THESE apps.-superboyac (May 26, 2011, 05:21 PM)
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If only I could say it with such brevity. Thanks! And as you say, we have to ability and for the most part, the [open] formats to make it so. But as you note, companies are after excessive profit, and to get that, they run a continuous series of lawsuits against everyone else under the guise of patent infringements. Patents were around for centuries before the US adopted its own Patent Act in 1790. In the following century a certified Steve Jobs-like jerk named Tom Edison patented everything he looked at, and then spent the rest of his life suing everyone on the planet (sound familiar to today tech landscape?). Until this line of thinking is changed by governments, then my Holodeck ain't never gonna come true.
Patents are not the sole evil of the modern world, but they are a big one. Capitalism has always been far too wasteful with resources:
-- Kill the environment, to hell with the future;
-- Distribute all the wealth to few at the top, creating a plutocracy;
-- Enact laws like DMCA, ACTA, et al., then sue everyone from former employees to competitors to even your own customers;
-- Find ways to charge people for every little move they make --
* Want to own and drive a car? Let me see how many ways I can tax it and fine you over it.
* Want to start a business? Let's see if you have the guts to withstand the crushing regulations and taxes you'll pay every three months.
* Want to listen to a song? Let me see how many ways I can make that act illegal.
* Want to read a book? Let me make sure you pay for every time you try to read it for the rest of your life.
* Want a college education? Let's saddle you with crushing debt that will last a lifetime and hinder your future with each decade that passes. Oy.
-zridling (May 28, 2011, 01:51 AM)
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+1
You said what I could never say without resorting to massive amounts of obscenity and profanity.
-Renegade (May 28, 2011, 02:02 AM)
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+2 (one for each)
wraith808:
Two snips from the post:
companies are after excessive profit
-zridling (May 28, 2011, 01:51 AM)
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Capitalism has always been far too wasteful with resources
-zridling (May 28, 2011, 01:51 AM)
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Sounds like advocacy for socialism? Just curious...
Shades:
Why socialism?
A lot of profit lies in the mismanagement of waste. Profit is one of the main ingredients of capitalism, last time I heard.
<rant>
Many US citizens are immediately up in arms when their sacred short-term profit mantra is being questioned.
The current crisis is in my point of view a good reason for adapting the thinking style to long term profit and resource management.
If I may be so bold, the lack of this simple wisdom brought the US economy (almost) to its knees. And it negatively affected the position of the almighty dollar as global currency. That is also why the powers at Wall Street are busy to hurt the IMF with baiting Strauss-Kahn , which will hurt Greece (in getting/paying their loans), which will cause a lot of trouble for the stability of the Euro as a whole. A currency that grew to a very important important position on the global market in a very short time. Very much to the chagrin of Wall Street.
Businesses in China think about 25 to 50 years ahead. A trait similar to good chess players. And something future generations will appreciate. That the US should learn (again). The US is a lot like Bobby Fischer...(in his day a genius, to become insane destroying everything in his wake.
Fortunately though, the DC crowd has their heart and mind in the right place.
Sorry, I saw yesterday the documentary 'Inside Job'. That doesn't help my view on the world.</rant>
Renegade:
The TDF page:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/inside-job/
Looks very interesting. I don't think I've seen it though.
Still, the American allergy to "socialism" can be pretty disturbing. In the same way that American capitalism is... Time for me to shut up... Not going political here.
superboyac:
Why socialism?
A lot of profit lies in the mismanagement of waste. Profit is one of the main ingredients of capitalism, last time I heard.
<rant>
Many US citizens are immediately up in arms when their sacred short-term profit mantra is being questioned.
The current crisis is in my point of view a good reason for adapting the thinking style to long term profit and resource management.
If I may be so bold, the lack of this simple wisdom brought the US economy (almost) to its knees. And it negatively affected the position of the almighty dollar as global currency. That is also why the powers at Wall Street are busy to hurt the IMF with baiting Strauss-Kahn , which will hurt Greece (in getting/paying their loans), which will cause a lot of trouble for the stability of the Euro as a whole. A currency that grew to a very important important position on the global market in a very short time. Very much to the chagrin of Wall Street.
Businesses in China think about 25 to 50 years ahead. A trait similar to good chess players. And something future generations will appreciate. That the US should learn (again). The US is a lot like Bobby Fischer...(in his day a genius, to become insane destroying everything in his wake.
Fortunately though, the DC crowd has their heart and mind in the right place.
Sorry, I saw yesterday the documentary 'Inside Job'. That doesn't help my view on the world.</rant>
-Shades (May 28, 2011, 12:49 PM)
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I saw it, too. Very powerful movie. At the end, i couldn't tell if I was affected because I was manipulated...OR...if I was affected because it was true. I found it difficult to argue against the main points made in the movie.
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