Funny I turn lose complete novices on my Linux systems and they adapt
quickly. Some of them figured it out and can't even figure out how to turn
the computer on (yes that scares me too).
*^*^*^*
Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sungod robes
on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little
pickles at you? -- Real Genius
On Thu, 28 Sep 2000, dwyatt wrote:
> Uh...the free tanks are hard to use.
>
>
> dwyatt
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Michael" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2000 12:39 PM
> Subject: Re: [newbie] Microsoft and George W. Bush
>
>
> > Yes, but what happens as more people notice the free tanks? Slowly their
> > numbers gather and they become easier and easier to notice. Not seeing
> > them would be like being next door to Woodstock and not noticing anything
> > out of the ordinary. As each person comes to get their free tank they tell
> > their friends and their friends are interested and want to try a free tank
> > too. The numbers grow exponetially. Eventually only a few crackpots are
> > still going to the station wagon and sedan dealers. A few may look at the
> > batmobiles but then someone decides to make their tank look like a
> > batmobile and suddenly everyone who wants a batmobile just takes their
> > free tank and presses a newly installed shiny little button and their tank
> > turns into a batmobile. Woo.
> >
> > *^*^*^*
> > Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sungod robes
> > on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little
> > pickles at you? -- Real Genius
> >
> > On Thu, 28 Sep 2000 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >
> > > This is the entire article in its entirety =) enjoy!! (I
> appologize
> > > for the formatting) comments?
> > >
> > > MGBs, TANKS, AND BATMOBILES
> > >
> > > Around the time that Jobs, Wozniak, Gates, and Allen were dreaming up
> these
> > > unlikely schemes, I was a teenager living in Ames, Iowa. One of my
> friends'
> > > dads had an old MGB sports car rusting away in his garage. Sometimes he
> > > would actually manage to get it running and then he would take us for a
> > > spin around the block, with a memorable look of wild youthful
> exhilaration
> > > on his face; to his worried passengers, he was a madman, stalling and
> > > backfiring around Ames, Iowa and eating the dust of rusty Gremlins and
> > > Pintos, but in his own mind he was Dustin Hoffman tooling across the Bay
> > > Bridge with the wind in his hair.
> > >
> > > In retrospect, this was telling me two things about people's
> relationship
> > > to technology. One was that romance and image go a long way towards
> shaping
> > > their opinions. If you doubt it (and if you have a lot of spare time on
> > > your hands) just ask anyone who owns a Macintosh and who, on those
> grounds,
> > > imagines him- or herself to be a member of an oppressed minority group.
> > >
> > > The other, somewhat subtler point, was that interface is very important.
> > > Sure, the MGB was a lousy car in almost every way that counted: balky,
> > > unreliable, and underpowered. But it was fun to drive. It was
> responsive.
> > > Every pebble on the road was felt in the bones, every nuance in the
> > > pavement transmitted instantly to the driver's hands. He could listen to
> > > the engine and tell what was wrong with it. The steering responded
> > > immediately to commands from his hands. To us passengers it was a
> pointless
> > > exercise in going nowhere--about as interesting as peering over
> someone's
> > > shoulder while he punches numbers into a spreadsheet. But to the driver
> it
> > > was an experience. For a short time he was extending his body and his
> > > senses into a larger realm, and doing things that he couldn't do
> > > unassisted.
> > >
> > > The analogy between cars and operating systems is not half bad, and so
> let
> > > me run with it for a moment, as a way of giving an executive summary of
> our
> > > situation today.
> > > Imagine a crossroads where four competing auto dealerships are situated.
> > > One of them (Microsoft) is much, much bigger than the others. It started
> > > out years ago selling three-speed bicycles (MS-DOS); these were not
> > > perfect, but they worked, and when they broke you could easily fix them.
> > >
> > >
> > > There was a competing bicycle dealership next door (Apple) that one day
> > > began selling motorized vehicles--expensive but attractively styled cars
> > > with their innards hermetically sealed, so that how they worked was
> > > something of a mystery.
> > > The big dealership responded by rushing a moped upgrade kit (the
> original
> > > Windows) onto the market. This was a Rube Goldberg contraption that,
> when
> > > bolted onto a three-speed bicycle, enabled it to keep up, just barely,
> with
> > > Apple-cars. The users had to wear goggles and were always picking bugs
> out
> > > of their teeth while Apple owners sped along in hermetically sealed
> > > comfort, sneering out the windows. But the Micro-mopeds were cheap, and
> > > easy to fix compared with the Apple-cars, and their market share waxed.
> > >
> > >
> > > Eventually the big dealership came out with a full-fledged car: a
> colossal
> > > station wagon (Windows 95). It had all the aesthetic appeal of a Soviet
> > > worker housing block, it leaked oil and blew gaskets, and it was an
> > > enormous success. A little later, they also came out with a hulking
> > > off-road vehicle intended for industrial users (Windows NT) which was no
> > > more beautiful than the station wagon, and only a little more reliable.
> > > Since then there has been a lot of noise and shouting, but little has
> > > changed. The smaller dealership continues to sell sleek Euro-styled
> sedans
> > > and to spend a lot of money on advertising campaigns.
> > >
> > > They have had GOING OUT OF BUSINESS! signs taped up in their windows for
> so
> > > long that they have gotten all yellow and curly. The big one keeps
> making
> > > bigger and bigger station wagons and ORVs.
> > > On the other side of the road are two competitors that have come along
> more
> > > recently.
> > > One of them (Be, Inc.) is selling fully operational Batmobiles (the
> BeOS).
> > > They are more beautiful and stylish even than the Euro-sedans, better
> > > designed, more technologically advanced, and at least as reliable as
> > > anything else on the market--and yet cheaper than the others.
> > >
> > > With one exception, that is: Linux, which is right next door, and which
> is
> > > not a business at all. It's a bunch of RVs, yurts, tepees, and geodesic
> > > domes set up in a field and organized by consensus. The people who live
> > > there are making tanks. These are not old-fashioned, cast-iron Soviet
> > > tanks; these are more like the M1 tanks of the U.S. Army, made of
> space-age
> > > materials and jammed with sophisticated technology from one end to the
> > > other. But they are better than Army tanks. They've been modified in
> such a
> > > way that they never, ever break down, are light and maneuverable enough
> to
> > > use on ordinary streets, and use no more fuel than a subcompact car.
> These
> > > tanks are being cranked out, on the spot, at a terrific pace, and a vast
> > > number of them are lined up along the edge of the road with keys in the
> > > ignition. Anyone who wants can simply climb into one and drive it away
> for
> > > free.
> > >
> > > Customers come to this crossroads in throngs, day and night. Ninety
> percent
> > > of them go straight to the biggest dealership and buy station wagons or
> > > off-road vehicles. They do not even look at the other dealerships.
> > > Of the remaining ten percent, most go and buy a sleek Euro-sedan,
> pausing
> > > only to turn up their noses at the philistines going to buy the station
> > > wagons and ORVs. If they even notice the people on the opposite side of
> the
> > > road, selling the cheaper, technically superior vehicles, these
> customers
> > > deride them cranks and half-wits.
> > > The Batmobile outlet sells a few vehicles to the occasional car nut who
> > > wants a second vehicle to go with his station wagon, but seems to
> accept,
> > > at least for now, that it's a fringe player.
> > >
> > > The group giving away the free tanks only stays alive because it is
> staffed
> > > by volunteers, who are lined up at the edge of the street with
> bullhorns,
> > > trying to draw customers' attention to this incredible situation. A
> typical
> > > conversation goes something like this:
> > > Hacker with bullhorn: "Save your money! Accept one of our free tanks! It
> is
> > > invulnerable, and can drive across rocks and swamps at ninety miles an
> hour
> > > while getting a hundred miles to the gallon!"
> > > Prospective station wagon buyer: "I know what you say is
> > > true...but...er...I don't know how to maintain a tank!"
> > > Bullhorn: "You don't know how to maintain a station wagon either!"
> > > Buyer: "But this dealership has mechanics on staff. If something goes
> wrong
> > > with my station wagon, I can take a day off work, bring it here, and pay
> > > them to work on it while I sit in the waiting room for hours, listening
> to
> > > elevator music."
> > > Bullhorn: "But if you accept one of our free tanks we will send
> volunteers
> > > to your house to fix it for free while you sleep!"
> > > Buyer: "Stay away from my house, you freak!"
> > > Bullhorn: "But..."
> > > Buyer: "Can't you see that everyone is buying station wagons?"
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
