Oh Yeah !
hehehehehehehehehehe
1445 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Feb 2008
Oh the power of effective marketing. It's not a matter of which is better, Windows or Linux, it's a matter of which is "marketed" properly to the target population. And MS is very, very good at this.
On the "home turf" of corporate marketing, Linux is at best a distant second and always will be until all the fanboys and hacks get truly organized and learn how to properly "sell" their product.
Mr. Author. why did you leave out the single most telling line of the entire series?
"So the Number Six adds: "That, too, is in God's plan." "
After that, the Baltar "Angel" says, "You know he doesn't like that name".
A little mind bending of your own there to suit your purposes? Or are you the "he" and of course you're in control and know best.
As a recent retiree of 32 years in the commercial power industry (USofA), I can assure you it's not that simple. Power plants age rapidly, require enormous amounts of money for maintenance and repair, and environmental legislation is making running them less and less profitable. Yes, the companies are there to generate a profit. If you want only government run plants, not-for-ptofit plants well, then you still have the funding problem and other problems brought about by them being run by the govern-ment.
A power plant is not like a car. They run 24/7 and the idea of just keep running them is foolish, ill conceived, and points to a position of nothing short of gross ignorance.
The problem you blokes have is the same the rest of the world has: everybody wants the power but nobody wants to pay the price and God forbid they be built near me!
The solution is to have had more plants in the pipeline starting 20 years ago. That didn't happen so here we are. But if you believe you have the solution I encourage you to call the power company of your choice and offer your services. I'm sure they'll be very open to you solving all their supply problems.
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Most people (read that as ill informed, rampant consumers) are sheep who are easily led to the desired purchasing point by slick marketing techniques. True needs and truth be damned, if it's "new and improved" chances are it gets bought. Witness the enormous amount of money spent on marketing alone. You can get numerous college degrees in the subject ... it's pretty much, now, a branch of behavioral science! What gets bought is not always the best product, it's what the marketing boys can convince people what they need to buy. Do you remember the 1984 Apple ad with the pretty young girl throwing the hammer? If not, here it is:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126158
This is modern marketing at its very best and it made an awesome impression on untold thousands of consumers. And, it was all about an "also ran" computer company striking out at the big boy. This approach was a stroke of pure business genius.
Here's the point: the Linux world has no appropriate marketing scheme designed (and executed) to reach the masses which whatever truth needs to be told to sell the product. What "marketing" that is done is plain and truthful but that doesn't grab you ... marketing today has to be eye-catching. And therein sits the problem: Linux may be God's gift to the desktop computer world, but its the story is not getting out in any form that appeals to the everyday consumer. Linux will never be sold on it's technical merits out of the mouths of the nerdy techy boys who create and improve it.
Apple knew that and they got an attractive running woman in a tight top and short shorts to strike the blow. And look where Apple is today? Maybe not as big as Microsoft, but look at the fans and the loyalty. And all that was achieved with prices much higher than you might think would sell products. Until such time as the Linux world "gets it" and understands the true nature of the sales challenge they face, Linux will always be a distant follower to those that do "get it".
"To use the motoring analogy, if the driver who bumped your car swerved to avoid a dangerous driver then the dangerous driver would be responsible for your damages. I this case MS are the dangerous driver."
Not in the USofA, you have to prove culpability and intent of the other driver. You, as the driver, are responsible for the operation of your automobile. The imagined, unproven, actions of others do not relieve you of that responsibility or absolve you if you take deadly action.
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A turtle was happily swimming along a river when a scorpion hailed it from the shore.
"Dear friend turtle!" called the scorpion. "Please let me climb upon your back and swim me to the other side of the river!"
"No," replied the turtle, "for if I do, you shall sting me, and I shall die."
"Nonsense!" replied the scorpion. "If I kill you in the middle of the river, you shall sink, and I shall drown and die with you."
The turtle thought this over, and saw the truth of the scorpion's statement. He let it upon his back and began swimming towards the other side of the river. Halfway across, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck.
"Why have you stung me?!" cried the turtle as his body began to stiffen. "Now you shall die as well!"
As the pair sank to their death, the scorpion replied, "Because it is in my nature".
Maybe they should have chosen a name that taunts just a bit less. Maybe those that call themselves pirates deserve to be treated as such. Maybe discretion is the better part of valor; not to mention simply keeping a low profile and staying off certain people's RADAR.
Que Sera, Sera
.. but I'm NOT a Microsoft fan. The problem I had with Linux (Ubuntu, and give me a break for the next comment) was it just didn't do what I wanted it to do with the ease of XP on a fully functional multimedia/Home Office/Surfing/Email box, i.e. an "over spec'ed system". But I need to think again.
I like simplicity and I like ease of use. Linux (Ubuntu maybe) on a platform such as a netbook, just might be exactly what I'm looking for in a very portable box. Mostly I use it as a portable storage system for photographs since my wife and I are rather proficient amateur photographers and we have post retirement travel in the near future. Specifically, travel with a Windows laptop for use as an email station and as a storage depot for pic files. But the idea of a smaller, simplier netbook with Linux is beginning to make great sense.
I'm really very familiar with the capabilities of Ubuntu and, quite frankly, a netbook with Linux and a BIG external hard drive has all of a sudden become very appealing.
We'll always use Windows, its just too embedded to dump (tried it) but the idea of moving away from a Windows laptop is an idea I need to really consider. Maybe eventually other platforms too. One success usually breeds others and I like that idea.
To the vast majority of automobile drivers, fluid flow and thermodynamics is not only uninteresting, it's hard to master, takes a dedicated effort to learn, and then once it is learned its uses are relatively few. I learned a bit of it as a nuc boat mechanic in 1969; been no good to me since. And yet I drive a truck daily that takes advantage of the principles of fluid flow and thermodynamics... among others admittedly. But do I care how heat is generated and how it's used? Do I care how pressures are created and put to use? Do I care about how energy is extracted form a fuel? Do I really care about all the engineering that has to go into the creation of a usable engine to meet my transportation needs? No, and neither do 99.99% of the other drivers on the road all over the world. And it's always been that way; all they want to do it get from point A to point B in their version of style and comfort.
The same applies to the OS. It's a frakkin' tool to simply get a job done for 99.99% of the world's home computer users and 99.99% of them don't give a tinker's damn which one it is or what it's called or named. If the tool works they're satisfied.
The IT world simply can't come to grips that when it comes to the OS on the platter the non-tecky types (the buyers of home computers) just don't give a damn...they want it to work and they expect those of you who revel in the OS and its nuances to install it when needed, fix it when needed, and then silently take the money and slink away back to where ever it is you come from until needed again.
Guys, nobody but you cares about the OS and the fact that this type conversation keeps happening is proof that you're just not getting your story out and into the heads of your intended audience. On this site, and other arenas like it, your preaching to the choir; everywhere else you may as well be speaking Martian 'cause ain't nobody caring or listening. You enable nice toys, but after that nobody gives a damn what you think or want. You're their fix-it man when it breaks and invisible the rest of the time.
Now you have to understand, I love it. I love a good clown act and I love to see people beat themselves up over stuff only they understand. Kind of like watching a fireworks factory explode. Oh wow! Man that was awesome! The fireball was magnificent and the sound was deafening! Huh? There was somebody in those buildings? Damn, that's gotta hurt! Wow did you see that green fireball!!!
We need more green explosions guys, so keep the fires going.
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