Re: Um...
So what?
For the sharp, pointy end of the usage bell-curve, lifespan might be limited to a few years. And your claim is that this invalidates the entire product range?
Tough crowd.
GJC
Posts by Geoff Campbell
2112 publicly visible posts • joined 13 Jun 2008
Page:
Samsung intros super-speedy consumer SSDs, 'fastest M.2s ever'
Double-negative tweet could be Microsoft Surface Phone hint
Tuesday 20th September 2016 09:51 GMT 
Goodness, aren't we all grumpy this week?
I'm looking forward to the Surface Phone. It might be good, it might be shit, but it'll be trying something different, and that is to be applauded in the currently fairly stagnant market.
I have reasonably high hopes for Continuum, as someone who travels a lot and works on lots of different sites, but again, it might work, it might not. That's how innovation works, surely?
GJC
London to Dover 'smart' road could help make driverless cars mainstream – expert
Tesla books over $8bn in overnight sales claims Elon Musk
Monday 4th April 2016 10:22 GMT
Re: Musk - the new Jobs
> Tesla is losing about $1B per year
Tesla have spent vast wodges of cash on building infrastructure recently, mostly the Fremont and Nevada factories. As all young companies with any sense do.
They are going into the approaching fight with a massive advantage, in that they can build their own battery packs, because of that expenditure. This will make the profits per car very different to that of their competitors.
GJC
Elon Musk takes wraps off planet-saving Model 3 vapourmobile
Friday 1st April 2016 08:03 GMT
Re: Service Intervals
I had that discussion when I was looking at a Model S (sadly couldn't afford it, in the end).
They recommend a service every 12,500 miles, but there's no warranty requirement, and they were quite happy with once a year even at 40,000 miles per year. I guess there's pretty much nothing to service, really.
GJC
Car-makers, telecoms bodies push standards for self-driving vehicles
Brits unveil 'revolutionary' hydrogen-powered car
Thursday 18th February 2016 11:34 GMT
Re: Sounds great !
I think it needs a good re-packaging, tuck everything away nicely to create room for a small boot at the back, and at the same time redesign the rear end to make it rather less eye-searingly ugly.
So, a good first step, certainly. If they can produce one with room for three bags of shopping, and some means of fuelling up (perhaps a solar/wind powered electrolysis plant at home?), it would make a good second car for our use.
GJC
FBI iPhone unlock order reaction: Trump, Rubio say no to Apple. EFF and Twitter say yes
Thursday 18th February 2016 07:12 GMT
Re: Why is this even necessary?
iOS uses AES 256 bit encryption, as I understand it. This is essentially uncrackable with current computer architectures. From Wikipedia:
"Breaking a symmetric 256-bit key by brute force requires 2^128 times more computational power than a 128-bit key. 50 supercomputers that could check a billion billion (10^18) AES keys per second (if such a device could ever be made) would, in theory, require about 3×10^51 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space."
GJC
Computer Science grads still finding it hard to get a job
Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950XL: Clear thoughts of Continuum with a snazzy camera
Samsung Gear VR is good. So good 2016 could be year virtual reality finally makes it
Apple supremo Tim Cook rules out OS X fondleslab, iOS merger
Tuesday 17th November 2015 12:33 GMT
Re: Interesting
I like Windows 10. Yes, I know, I'm weird like that...
The add-ons were nothing exciting - Bluetooth headset, webcam, external microphone, and a mouse. That latter might come back into the fold, but the touchpad on the SP4 is much nicer than the one on my Asus laptop, so it might not.
GJC
Tuesday 17th November 2015 11:17 GMT
Interesting
Apple, remember, is the company that swore blind they would never produce a phone bigger than 3.5".
I've just bought a Surface Pro 4. It has allowed me to clear out of my briefcase:
A laptop
An 8" tablet
An A4 pad
Three pens
Sundry laptop add-ons
A USB charger (there's one integrated with the SP4 PSU)
It's a very, very nice device, and Microsoft are to be commended for having usefully combined the tablet (for referring to stuff in meetings), the notepad (for jotting stuff down), and the laptop (for proper long-form writing/spreadsheets/etc. on the move).
In fact, if I hadn't just upgraded my desktop, I might also be tempted to buy a docking station and use it for that, too.
About the only thing that will stop it sweeping the market is the price, I think. Fine as a business tool for those who move around a lot, but too expensive for the mass market. It will be very interesting to see how the sales stack up against the iPad Pro in 12 months time.
GJC
Here's the little-known legal loophole that permitted mass surveillance in the UK
Coding with dad on the Dragon 32
Sunday 8th November 2015 09:33 GMT
Re: "In 1983 when I was 10 years old"
I left secondary school in 1983, and there was no hint of any computing on the curriculum, at least in our slowly sinking cesspit in Woking. The school did have three computers (ZX-81, BBC B, and RM380Z), and a maths teacher with a perpetually puzzled look on his face whenever I tried to talk about programming them. I think I was about the only pupil in the school who knew anything about programming, all of which was completely self-taught.
I did attempt to take Computer Science at A Level, but me and the lecturers didn't really agree on much, so I bailed out after the first year and got a job as a programmer.
GJC
At Microsoft 'unlimited cloud storage' really means one terabyte
Apple 1 goes on sale, expected to fetch £300,000 to £500,000
Microsoft, the VW family sedan of IT, wants to be tech's new Rolls-Royce
Intel's 6th gen processors rock – but won't revive PC markets
Saturday 12th September 2015 08:08 GMT
Heater
I just upgraded my PC with a Skylake i7-6700K. One of the fringe benefits is the cooling is now *way* simpler. I've disconnected all but one of the case fans, and both that and the CPU cooler fan are running at 600rpm, making the whole thing damn near silent.
Also, fast. Very, very fast. 4GHz FTW! :-)
GJC
I want my EPG, say Windows Media Center users left in dire straits
Wednesday 9th September 2015 09:54 GMT
Re: UK EPG is broken for Windows Media Center
W8.1 failed about a week or so ago for me. It falls back to getting the EPG from the OTA data, which makes it a bit hard to spot exactly, but the HD channels have had a blank EPG here for about 2-3 days, so I'm guessing the web-based EPG went off the air about the 1st-2nd September.
I do wish they'd stop dicking around with it.
GJC
Samsung emits mobe charging monitor. For your 'active lifestyle'
WHAT ARE the 'WEIRD' SPOTS seen on far-flung PLUTO?
Osbo PRINTS first Tory budget in 19 years with his BARE HANDS
Thursday 9th July 2015 07:37 GMT
Re: If you're an IT Contractor
That one surprised me. I was under the impression that a lot of the "Consultancy-as-hidden-bung" recirculation of money happened through small service companies set up on exactly the same model as IT contractors use. Unusual for the Exchequer to tax its friends like that.
GJC
Robo-taxis, what are they good for? Er, the environment and traffic
Wednesday 8th July 2015 06:53 GMT
Re: questionable thinking
There's a steady stream of taxis along the M4 from Heathrow into London, to give just one example.
Your two second separation is mostly reaction time. Without the meatbag, there is no reaction time, it's pretty much instantaneous. Add intelligent signalling between vehicles, and the reaction time can be negative, with cars further back slowing before they are required to. There's no reason why such intelligent cars couldn't drive a few inches apart, ignoring of course the rather boring requirement to maintain the sanity of the passengers.
GJC
We tried using Windows 10 for real work and ... oh, the horror
Han Solo to get solo prequel flick in 2018, helmed by LEGO men
Microsoft to HIKE Azure prices as exchange rates shift
Kobo Glo HD vs Amazon Kindle Paperwhite: Which one's best?
Will rising CO2 damage the world's oceans? Not so much
Looking forward to getting Windows 10 the day it ships? Yeah, about that...
Friday 3rd July 2015 07:27 GMT
In-place upgrades
Generally, I would agree with you. However, I ran the upgrade to Windows 10 beta release a couple of months back just for the hell of it, and my system has worked perfectly since. I would have to say, cautiously, that I think Microsoft have done a really good job this time.
GJC
Biting the hand that feeds IT
