Posts by hugh Pym

ubuntu-dell

google search now reveals the link

http://www.dell.com/ubuntu

Bloody hell...

... some sense spoken at a marketing conference? I don't know about global warming but I think hell just froze over.

Profit Centres

The point is that microsoft made almost all it's it's money either from new users getting their first computer or by the continuous upgrade cycle.

The computer market is reaching stagnation. most people buying a computer for business or home use are replacing an older one. These people are a bit more tech savvy and not so desperate to throw money at resellers as previous generations. The lack of any new compelling application means that users are only upgrading when they feel their current machine can no longer cope with it's current workload. For some users this could be a long long time.

The reason for continuous upgrade is because the new version offered real advantages over the previous one. Often because the previous version was crap. With XP a just-about-good-enough OS (when used with third party security software) the advantage of upgrading to Vista isn't clear. Don't forget despite the security everybody still advises all the anti-virus and stuff. If this wasn't the case MS wouldn't be threatening business user with the end of XP licence availability.

All this points to a reduction in revenue stream that will not get better in the future. At some point MS will need to find profit elsewhere.

been here before

The argument that global warming is a myth reminds me greatly of the 'smoking isn't bad for you' campaigns by tobacco giants some time ago. Vast quantities of misinformation generated by patently interested parties seeking to silence the obvious truth, believed by the gullible and those who just want to justify their discredited lifestyles. The problem is that the interested parties might just get away with it long enough for their own self interest; sell-out, retirement or death, leaving every one else to clear up the mess.

Look at the two sides of the argument. What do they have to gain? On one side the vast profits on ever increasing consumerism and on the other... well what do the advocates of global warm gain? They are not selling anything.

Look at the sort of arguments people use. Some people say we should all try to cut down on energy use. Other say they enjoy their energy rich lifestyle and don't want to give it up.

Look at the people making the arguments. I'm not anti-American but most of the head-in-the-sand talk comes from the highest energy per capita country in the world by far. Who backed out of the Kyoto agreement? Which county has a leader from an oil baron family?

Whether or not you believe in the science of global warming it is clear that everything we do has an effect somewhere and global resources are not limitless. Many of us have children and grand children and for them we should seek to leave the world a better place that when we entered it. It's not about the science, that's all been done. It's about politics, business and self interest now and a cursory glance shows what 's going on there.