Tag: Stupidity

More absolutely moronic Anti-Microsoft rhetoric

Soviet Microsoft: How Resistance to Free Markets and Open Ideas Will the Unravel the Software Superpower. « VistaSucks.WordPress.Com

This is a very amusing analogy, since it was the “free market economy” which created Microsoft’s success, and continues to sustain them. They are not being propped up artificially through government subsidies or bailouts, as so many companies in other industries seem to be. They are not trying to force governments or the courts to force their competitors to give up proprietary information or abandon markets to make it easier to compete.

In reality, it is the open source community, the “capitalism is evil” crowd, and those lobbying to take Microsoft down legislatively or litigiously who more resemble socialists/communists – “all intellectual property belongs to everyone”, “the government should intervene to level the playing field”, and other such crap.

The reality is, if you truly believe in the world of “free markets and open ideas”, the you believe that better ideas, smarter people, and better business models will ultimately prevail. This is the world in which Microsoft has played successfully for 20+ years. It is this model by which others can ultimately defeat Microsoft. It is Microsoft’s competition which seems unable to live within this model. 

CANOE — CNEWS – Canada: Kids book removed from schools

CANOE — CNEWS – Canada: Kids book removed from schools

This article is interesting to me, but not so much because of parents concerns leading to the book being pull from shelves. I mean, the entire point of religious schools (Catholic or otherwise) is to shelter kids from content they feel is “non-whatever-religion-they-follow”. What I find comical is the last line:

“…by British author Philip Pullman, an admitted atheist.”

An admitted atheist?!?!?!

The writer makes it sound like it is some sort of crime or deviant mental state, like an “admitted axe murderer” or an “admitted child molester”.

Atheism is a valid belief (not a lack of belief, as some would try to imply). Would any journalist worth reading say someone was an “admitted Catholic”? or an “admitted Jew”? Would they get away with saying it?

(December 20, 2009: note that the above link is broken – Canoe.ca does not seem to have maintained the article)

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Beta versus VHS all over again

What a sense of déjà vu. Over the last few days, I have been looking at buying a replacement for the DVD player in my home entertainment system. The one I have is quite old, and was never really all that good to begin with.

Being a geek and a gadget freak, I am of course looking at upgrading to a new high definition player. As many, if not all, of you know there are currently two competing, entirely incompatible format for high definition DVDs.

Now, I am not in much of a position to argue the detailed technical merits of the two formats, nor do I have any interest whatsoever in being in such a position.

What strikes me here is that, once again, we have an industry showing a complete lack of respect for its customers, encouraging a large number to invest in a technology which not survive. Then, anyone who has invested in the losing technology will not only have to invest in new hardware, but will potentially have to invest in replacement copies of any media which have been purchased in that format. What a windfall for the media owners – almost like they could have planned it that way, if one believed they were smart enough.

Really, I think this whole business of an industry which cannot get its act together to agree on a single high definition DVD format is absurd, and shows that this industry cannot learns from its mistakes.

Can I do anything about this stupidity? Probably not. The only option I have right now is the same one all of us have – i choose not to spend one thin dime on this crap until the industry gets it head out of its, well, you know.

Get with it people.