Some of the software has the advantage of being Free Softwar
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tracyanne Jan 02, 2011 7:17 PM EDT |
nt |
| gus3 Jan 02, 2011 8:59 PM EDT |
Not Thievery |
| Bob_Robertson Jan 02, 2011 9:39 PM EDT |
The Keynesian who got in the first comment on that story made me so mad I almost signed up to chew him out. |
| tuxchick Jan 02, 2011 10:45 PM EDT |
Which one is that, Bob, the one who thinks an economy based on overpriced under-featured cr@pware is good? |
| hkwint Jan 02, 2011 11:33 PM EDT |
Bob: He should consider himself lucky you refrained! Unless he wanted a lesson about wealth generators / destructors and such, of course. |
| Bob_Robertson Jan 03, 2011 10:59 AM EDT |
TC, Hk, both right. "Must impoverish everyone and stop all labor-saving advances to keep jobs." I had typed a great reply, with "Let's destroy all backhoes! For every backhoe we destroy, 100 men with picks and shovels will get their jobs back!" ...but then found out they didn't accept anon posts. Ran across the same "must limit technology or everyone will lose their job" in a Jack Chalker novel once, lost all respect for his work after that. |
| bigg Jan 03, 2011 11:17 AM EDT |
I wonder how that comment has anything to do with Keynes. |
| Bob_Robertson Jan 03, 2011 11:30 AM EDT |
Give me a few minutes, I'll come up with something... Oh, there it is. Protectionist measures to "defend" jobs against "unfair competition" from abroad. Protectionist trade barriers: Doing to yourself in peacetime what the enemy tries to do to you in wartime, and very much in the Keynes playbook. |
| tuxchick Jan 03, 2011 2:44 PM EDT |
Maybe we should look at it as a business opportunity, surely we're all capable of producing some kind of useless garbage with minimal effort. We just need to figure out how to force people to buy it. It works for Microsoft. We'll be rich, rich I tell you! |
| mrider Jan 03, 2011 6:01 PM EDT |
Quoting:Ran across the same "must limit technology or everyone will lose their job" in a Jack Chalker novel once, lost all respect for his work after that.Do you happen to remember which book offhand? I've read a number of his books, several of which I still have, and don't recall that. I'd be interested to see if I missed it in a book I have or if there's a book I haven't read. |
| Bob_Robertson Jan 03, 2011 8:38 PM EDT |
> Do you happen to remember which book offhand? Ok, let's see. Genetically engineered female prostitute with hooves instead of feet and no thumbs. To keep them from getting uppity. I don't think it was "Well of Souls" or "Dancing Gods"... I think the main story line was that the Devil (who is the engineer in a super-universe spacecraft) is getting loose after being sealed away, and another "race" (humans) are brought up out of their (our) childhood into partnership with the other races of the universe by making people into the image of angels. That sounds rather peculiar out of the context of the book, that's for sure. Don't even get me started on "Flux and Anchor".... |
| tracyanne Jan 03, 2011 8:53 PM EDT |
Quoting:Maybe we should look at it as a business opportunity, surely we're all capable of producing some kind of useless garbage with minimal effort. We just need to figure out how to force people to buy it. There's no need to force people to buy it. That's what marketing departments are for, making it look desirable in spite of it's shortcommings. Works for Apple. |
| hkwint Jan 04, 2011 6:13 AM EDT |
But TA, the trick is to make people need undesirable items! That's what Microsoft invented, selling people stuff they don't really want, but can't live without. |
| tuxchick Jan 04, 2011 1:55 PM EDT |
There is a big difference between Apple and Microsoft-- Apple has slick, stylish products and marketing, and Apple's customers actually want and like Apple products. Hardly anyone like MS products, and their marketing is beyond dumb. It's clunky and stupid and unintentionally funny. MS sells through lockin. In a real competitive market not many customers would choose MS. |
| gus3 Jan 04, 2011 2:29 PM EDT |
Quoting:Hardly anyone like MS products, and their marketing is beyond dumb. It's clunky and stupid and unintentionally funny.Bill Gates wiggling his butt was neither unintentional nor funny. |
| bigg Jan 04, 2011 3:02 PM EDT |
To me the Bing advertisements are the funniest. The ads have nothing to do with Bing, they're tough to follow, and then at the end they tell you that they can help you better navigate through all the information on the internet. Good luck with that if I can't even follow your dumb ad. I remember in particular the one with the vampire. Aside from the stupidity of tossing a vampire into an ad for a computer service, it initially left me scratching my head as to how it was related, then I realized it's Microsoft so the whole thing is a lost cause. |
| jdixon Jan 04, 2011 3:20 PM EDT |
> ...a vampire into an ad for a computer service, it initially left me scratching my head as to how it was related... It's Microsoft and you have to ask how a bloodsucker is related? |
| mrider Jan 04, 2011 4:35 PM EDT |
Quoting:It's Microsoft and you have to ask how a bloodsucker is related?Funny, I recall seeing a message ages ago about the deal between Microsoft and Novel on /. that was something along the lines of "one of these days you'll find Novel laying at the side of the road with bite marks in the neck". Which in fact came true. Vampires indeed. @Bob_Robertson: Thanks. I'm pretty sure I have that series of books stashed away somewhere - haven't read them in years. I'm going to take a fresh look with your comment in mind. I don't recall getting that message from those books, but I'm not always the best person for picking up on stuff like that. :) |
| bigg Jan 04, 2011 5:17 PM EDT |
> I'm not always the best person for picking up on stuff like that. :) I can assure you, you're definitely not as good as Bob. |
| Bob_Robertson Jan 04, 2011 6:51 PM EDT |
> I can assure you, you're definitely not as good as Bob. In next week's episode, we cover how Isaak Azimov poisoned generations of potential economists minds by asserting in _Foundation_ that human society's wants, needs and trends could successfully be mathematically modeled if your Philosopher King was infallable enough. ...but I digress. Seriously, Microsoft has had the money and the time to hire at least two generations of the finest programmers (after the NSA gets their pick of course) the universities of the world could produce, and they made VISTA? Proof that sufficient middle management can destroy anything! |
| tuxchick Jan 04, 2011 7:21 PM EDT |
I heart LXerers :D |
| hkwint Jan 05, 2011 7:33 AM EDT |
Bob: Some of the soccer clubs payed by some Russian oil people employ worlds most expensive players, some of them bought for over 70 million Euro's, and then they still don't play decent soccer. Their solution? Throw even more money at it. Sounds like Microsoft to me! |
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