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Forget Computers. Here Comes the Sun.
NY Times ^
| April 14, 2006
| JOHN MARKOFF
Posted on 04/15/2006 9:01:38 AM PDT by neverdem
click here to read article
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To: thackney
41
posted on
04/15/2006 12:55:46 PM PDT
by
Richard Kimball
(I like to make everyone's day a little more surreal)
To: neverdem
TJ's a fine fellow. I always listen to what he has to say. He has a vision worth buying into IMHO.
42
posted on
04/15/2006 1:02:05 PM PDT
by
Maeve
(Chaplet of the Divine Mercy)
To: mississippi red-neck
We might move to a 6 year life cycle someday but, at this time, that's not a wise move in terms of Total Cost of Ownership. Increasingly you have mechanical failure on machines beyond year 3 and we've only negotiated a 4 year warranty on our PCs. The cost of 6 years maintenance is greater than the replacement costs by a long shot.
And that doesn't address the technological obsolescence problem. We had the single largest SAP system on the planet at one point and they, and many of our other IT partners, keep moving the ball in terms of requirements. It's getting better and we may be able to consider that in a couple of years, but right now our road map is pretty solidly documented and defensible.
This is what I do for a living. I'm the client architect for a Fortune 100 company and control the technical aspect on the spend of millions of IT dollars every year on PC hardware and software. I've done this for this company for over 20 years and have been in the PC busines, literally, since the first day pre-assembled PCs were ever sold. In fact, myself and 3 other people unveiled and sold the first pre-built PC in the world at the First West Coast Computer Faire in San Jose in 1977.
I just made the call yesterday, for example, that we're not signing a Vista Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft for the next 3 years because we're not going to adopt Vista unless something that no one in the industry expects happens, and the odds a very high that it's the right decision and will save us several million dollars. That's a good thing in the current corporate climate.
Of course, I'm playing with it now and will continue to play with it, and other things. But my end users? Not a chance.
43
posted on
04/15/2006 1:06:27 PM PDT
by
Phsstpok
(There are lies, damned lies, statistics and presentation graphics, in descending order of truth)
Comment #44 Removed by Moderator
To: upcountryhorseman
I hope he can make these cells more efficient, but there's a BIG problem: silicon is in short supply. You should have put a sarcasm tag on that one, I thought you were series for about half a second.
45
posted on
04/15/2006 3:59:49 PM PDT
by
PeaceBeWithYou
(De Oppresso Liber! (50 million and counting in Afganistan and Iraq))
Comment #46 Removed by Moderator
To: Moonman62
47
posted on
04/15/2006 11:20:52 PM PDT
by
jiggyboy
(Ten percent of poll respondents are either lying or insane)
To: thackney
There is also the issue of actual solar energy available per square meter. There are nice charts showing how many hours of sunshine one can expect at a given geographical location.
48
posted on
04/15/2006 11:29:10 PM PDT
by
Myrddin
To: jiggyboy
So a magazine geared toward granola crunchers is supposed to convince me otherwise? Photovoltaics are good for off grid applications, but their total energy savings isn't worth it. Technological improvements have been slow, but one day PV may be worthwhile.
Right now, solar concentrators are better economically. Of course, every form of energy we use that isn't nuclear or tidal is some form of solar energy. PV is at the bottom of the list for efficiency.
49
posted on
04/16/2006 8:09:54 AM PDT
by
Moonman62
(Federal creed: If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it)
To: Tanniker Smith
You don't usually read articles like this and encounter statements like the one above that refer to the kind of weed that you don't smoke. I wouldn't jump to conclusions. T.J. Rodgers is a libertarian.
50
posted on
04/16/2006 8:30:26 AM PDT
by
Moonman62
(Federal creed: If it moves tax it. If it keeps moving regulate it. If it stops moving subsidize it)
To: thackney
A matching 24 grid unit on the opposite slope (out of the picture) would allow for for most of the difference.
51
posted on
04/16/2006 8:53:50 AM PDT
by
Old Professer
(The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
To: Richard Kimball
You know, I never noticed that before: Lloyd says "jig-a-watts" twice, and then Fox asks "what's a gig-a-watt?"
Granted, I know pretty of people that don't agree on the pronounciation (regardless of which, if either or both, is correct), but if you're asking someone what the thing he just said is, you would think you would use the same pronounciation.
52
posted on
04/16/2006 12:26:21 PM PDT
by
Tanniker Smith
(I didn't know she was a liberal when I married her.)
To: Phsstpok
You got great background and experience wasn't trying to tell you how to run your business just offering a suggestion to someone I thought might be seeking some ideas . Good luck ! MRN.
53
posted on
04/16/2006 4:36:40 PM PDT
by
mississippi red-neck
(You will never win the war on terrorism by fighting it in Iraq and funding it in the West Bank.)
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