Re: CDR: Re: the news from bush's speech...H-power
On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Tim May wrote: The 2-4 year payback cycle in the electronics industry, from roughly 1955 to the present, was terribly important. Each generation of technology paid for the next generation, and costly mistakes resulted in companies ceasing to exist (Shockley Transistor, Rheem, Precision Monolithics, and so on...the list is long). Successful products led to the genes (or memes) propagating. Phenotypes and genotypes. This same model gave us, basically, the commercial automobile and aviation industries. I agree completely with what you're saying, and I'm not sure that Eugene would agree with what I'm writing here. One of the problems I think is rampant with, for instance, getting alternate fuel sources off the ground is that government subsidies are ensuring they don't happen by distorting the market for fossil fuels. Ethically, the entire situation is absurd. Realistically, if someone actually wants to try to build say, a hydrogen powered car, government interference in your business is a fact of life, and looking for angles to Make It Work are the only way to attempt to compete. There are a metric assload of good ideas that have been killed by government interference in markets. I know this is part of what you were saying. This is important to call out. -j -- Jamie Lawrence[EMAIL PROTECTED] I Can't Believe It's A Law Firm, LLP does not necessarily endorse the contents of this message.
Re: CDR: Re: the news from bush's speech...H-power
Tim writes: There is no way to control fundamental breakthroughs, whether PV conversion or caburetors that violate the laws of physics!. Any of the above non-oil companies (and one can add Texas Instruments and others to the list) which develops a more efficient, cheaper to manufacture PV system will find success. Ovshinsky, the amorphous semiconductor guy, developed a relatively efficient photovoltaic film that could be manufactured by continuous extrusion by a simple machine. For some reason, that never hit the big time either. While I will agree with you that fundamental breakthroughs cannot be put back into Pandora's Box, some industries, like automobile manufacturing, have high costs of entry due to regulation and safety requirements. Thus, snidely saying you are free to start your own car company is just a tiny bit disingenuous. As a recent article linked from Slashdot informs us, gadgets sink or swim based on The Whole Product, which includes not only the clever engineering, but the service and support, availability of software, interoperability, consumer culture, the upgrade path, and the perception the company will be around tomorrow. The typical Wintel PC contains not the best microprocessor, not the best bus, most certainly not the best OS. You are free to start your own computer company, of course. -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law
