“Bob Frankston is one of the smartest people I speak to. If you don’t recognize his name, Bob is best known as the programmer who wrote VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, realizing the design of his partner, Dan Bricklin,” Robert X. Cringely writes for PBS.
“In a sense Microsoft is a lot like the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire’s growth and economy was driven by conquering and plundering neighboring regions. Within the Empire they created a sort of safe economic zone where commerce could work and technology could be developed. However, that came at a price, as they tended to destroy everything outside the empire as it grew,” Cringely writes.
“Same for Microsoft, whose leaders were greedy and made a number of good, shrewd business decisions. They were also ruthless. Over time they managed to destroy the surrounding software industry. Within Microsoft’s world was a sort of safe economic zone. If you were not a threat to Microsoft or if you did something Microsoft didn’t want to do (like make PCs) you were able to grow under the shadow of Redmond. When the emperor spoke, you listened,” Cringely writes.
“It is too early to predict the fall of the Microsoft Empire. Does Microsoft have the leaders and generals who can lead the company into the future? Who knows? In the software world there is nothing else to conquer or plunder. In other markets it will be hard, if not impossible, for Microsoft to dominate whole industries as it has in the past. Microsoft now needs to act like a responsible company, work well with others, and grow through cooperation and teamwork. This will be hard for Microsoft,” Cringely writes. “The Romans couldn’t do it. The Romans neglected one of their ‘partners’ and eventually that partner did them in.”
Cringely writes, “Today’s Microsoft is a great generator of cash. With some good product refreshes, this cash generation can continue for years to come. The BIG decision is what to do with the cash. Microsoft needs to develop new businesses. Microsoft could have a great future doing things that have nothing to do with computers. They could be making a great electric car, or great new medications, or any number of other things. Microsoft could create new industries that could have a huge benefit to the economy. Microsoft could change the world, again. Ten years from now Microsoft could be a huge holding company of which PC software is but one part. They don’t have to gut the software unit, which is viable enough to be a great moneymaker for another 25 years if Microsoft manages it well.”
Cringely writes, “Right now Microsoft is like a deer in the headlights. They are stuck on software and computer stuff. They can’t move. There are much more interesting growth opportunities out there.”
Full article, including much about Net Neutrality and the idea that “making almost any regulation specifically to hinder OR HELP the Internet can only make things worse,” here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft has never been a maker of great, inspired, elegant, innovative, original software. The best Microsoft products have been bought or copied/stolen. Ideas generated inside of the Redmond behemoth are… well, two words: Microsoft Bob. Maybe Microsoft should take their billions and do something else with it; something more useful, at which they might prove to be more adept?
For example — forget Cringely’s electric cars: electric, schlmetric — GM has so far invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in hydrogen fuel cell research. Imagine what Microsoft could do in that field with their many billions? Gather the best scientists and engineers in the field, pay them extremely well, and let them get to work. Certainly, leading the world into a hydrogen economy and a truly sustainable future is a better use of their big sweaty piles of cash than slipping and then finally shipping another bloated, ugly, counterintuitive, inelegant Windows operating system along with an equally affected office suite and other software products?
Although, it would take a good bit of PR to reconcile “Microsoft+Hydrogen” (see: Hindenburg), such an endeavor might even be more profitable than floundering around in software trying desperately to cling to “backwards compatibility” to maintain their market position. One thng: just focus on the fuel cell technology, Microsoft, and let Apple handle the vehicle control software and the user interface, okay?
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
What Microsoft has chopped from Windows Vista, and when – June 27, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
How to delete a shortcut in Windows Vista in just 7 steps – June 01, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft collapsing under its own weight, Gates has driven Windows Vista into the ground – April 20, 2006
Windows Vista to be Microsoft’s last operating system? – April 21, 2006
What’s the difference between Mac OS X and Vista? Microsoft employees are excited about Mac OS X – March 22, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
Microsoft is a disease.
Only with young small companies can you get any innovation now a days.
Even Apple copies a lot. Mac OS X is a botch job on top of a solid Unix foundation.
The iPod is a ripoff of a MP3 player.
Where is the innovation from Apple and their “billions”?
The only thing we are seeing is some great stuff in colleges.
Here is a example.
MIT has created a device that can “touch” over seas.
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2002/touchlab3.html
Now that’s innovation.
Microsoft could make a good electric car if they had to.
Macsweep,
Electric vehicles are typical liberal Ed Begley, Jr. bullshit. Feel good, knee jerk stupidity. As they plug in their cars, the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal and emits the remains into the atmosphere.
As MDN states so concisely: “electric, schlmetric.”
That said, I do wonder if Microsoft could make a workable hydrogen fuel cell vehicle if they wanted to do so. That would truly change the world.
Heck, just dropping Windows and having everyone switch to Mac OS X would send world productivity skyrocketing.
Forget hydrogen – Ballmer’s hot air could fuel a million cars!
In his acclaimed book on investing, “One up on Wall Street,” investment genius Peter Lynch warned against profitable companies following a policy of “deworseification” – a slap at diversification. Lynch astutely observed that companies that move away from what they do best typically squander profits badly, and that the operations they expand into usually fail.
An example: General Mills once moved away from their core grain milling, commodities, cake mix and cereal business, by acquiring clothing lines like Chemise Lacoste, clothing stores like Talbots and Eddie Bauer, and restaurant chains like Darden Restaurants (Red Lobster and Olive Garden). Under the management of General Mills, these businesses floundered, and became a drag on corporate earnings.
Fortunately, the executives at General Mills (no doubt prompted by shareholders) saw the light. The company sold off these businesses and focused on what they do best. The result: General Mills became more profitable, and the individual businesses they sold off flourished.
The lesson: they could have put the money lost in these ventures to much better use.
I love reading Cringely, but I would not make business or investment decisions based on his thoughts. It’s what makes Mac Daily News fun. But for all the purported news about things Macintosh that we see here that gets us all worked up, if you step back, you realize that about 95 percent is little more than NOISE. Real and impactful news is very far and few between. The article above is yet another example of what I mean.
But I read it anyway.
Carson Busses,
If companies should stay focused on what they do best, then Microsoft should keep copying Apple innovations, pretending that they invented them, and illegally leveraging their monopolies.
Software can’t be what Microsoft does best. No company can be that incompetent.
Puhleeeeze.
With their tens of billions of dollars, how about if Microsoft just built a secure crash-free OS at a reasonable price, or a quality and affordable (non-bloated) Office productivity suite, or a game box that didn’t catch on fire, or… you get the idea.
Their core business is Windows and Office, and they can’t get those right. Why would we think they could go into a completely different business and do well to anyone’s benefit (other than give me a couple of billion for “research”)?
Uh, sorry. My bad. Microsoft’s “core business” is cut-throat FUD and illegal, unethical business practices, at which they excel.
I could be in a coma for weeks and still figure out that Microsoft will always be a paranoid snake of a company, and all that they have of value is money. Nothing else.
Wait. I’ve actually been in a coma, and that’s what I figured out about Microsoft while unconscious. See?
Cringley writes the most compelling and thoughtful phrase ever about Microsoft:
“It is too early to predict the fall of the Microsoft Empire. Does Microsoft have the leaders and generals who can lead the company into the future? Who knows? In the software world there is nothing else to conquer or plunder. In other markets it will be hard, if not impossible, for Microsoft to dominate whole industries as it has in the past. Microsoft now needs to act like a responsible company, work well with others, and grow through cooperation and teamwork. This will be hard for Microsoft…”
Exactly. It won’t happen with Gates and Ballmer anywhere near the top of the totem pole. It may not happen at all. As to the end of the Empire, the only thing left to figure out is when, not if.
I’m sleepy now…
Tera Patricks
Tera Talks
As they plug in their cars, the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal.
What about nuclear plants, the Pandora’s Boxes with a byproduct that must be carefully stored & guarded forever? (Sorry, the “only 10,000 years” argument sounds like forever to me). Coal isn’t great, but at least the plants stop polluting when you shut them down.
MDN’s take is just a wee bit off-target and shows a lack of knowledge about how business works. Microsoft will never give up “backwards-compatibility”, because they’re signing their own death warrant if they do so. Of course, this is probably what MDN secretly desires, so that OSX can then displace Windows in the workplace. Face it–that’s not going to happen. Too many legacy apps, too many billions of dollars necessary to port over to a new platform. Heck, we still have COBOL apps running!
They could be making a great electric car, or great new medications
OMFG!! NO!!!
One reason MS has survived is because, for the most part, their lousy products haven’t killed anybody.
Would you really want to entrust your life to the company that gave us Windows, Clippy, and Steve Ballmer?
If MS diversifies, it’ll have to be into areas where their usual boobed product design & execution won’t hurt anyone. Maybe MS can fund independent research or something; just keep it well clear of MS meddling.
old fogey,
Read it again. MDN clearly explained that Microsoft clings to backwards compatibility in order to “maintain their market position.”
So, who really has a “lack of knowledge?” I vote for the old fogey who can’t read and comprehend.
Maybe they just nead lead in hte Redmind drinking water.
The only way to save Microsoft is to destroy it. Microsoft’s current leadership is blinded by lack of vision, shackled by adoration of historical precedence, restrained by adherence to mediocrity, and committed to the pathological practice of suppressing corporate rivals through economic leverage rather than intellectual competition. Getting rid of people who conform to this corporate culture and creed of greed is the first step in the right direction.
Make that “Maybe they just need lead in the Redmond drinking water.”
I can spell.
My fingers can’t.
Tera Patricks,
One question: Why the hell would Microsoft make a “secure crash-free OS at a reasonable price” when they can extort US$50 per year (to start) from their sucker customers to “protect” their own shoddy piece of shit Windows?
MacDailyNews related: Mafiasoft launches Windows protection racket – May 31, 2006
He had me in his corner right up to the point where he said “microsoft is like the roman empire.” uh, ok, sure. Good analogy-NOT.
Bull, electricity is also generated in clean hydro electric powerplants, and by windmill farms and solar arrays. (in some places, nuclear)
Electric cars have been around for 100 years and the technology has not been allowed to thrive because it is not in BIG OIL’s best interest to let it.
GM wants to pretend that the EV1 never existed and is systematically destroying every last one of them.
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/electric-car-removed-from-smithsonian-replaced-by-suv-181959.php
Electric sports cars are capable of 0 to 60 in 4 seconds, but only in the elite billionaire boys club, with vehicles that will cost over $500,000 to purchase.
http://news.com.com/Electric+sports+car+ready+to+challenge+Porsche/2100-11389_3-6080269.html
So cut the knee jerk, liberal-bashing rehashed rhetoric. It’s not about Lib or Con it’s about money, and who’s making it and trying to keep it. (obscene oil profits)
” the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal and emits the remains into the atmosphere.”
Ok, since you are accusing other people of knee jerk, im calling you out. You don’t get it. You immediately ‘knee-jerk’ into thinking that all electric plants are going to be run by coal always and forever. That isn’t always going to be the case going forward.
Secondly, the idea of removing the exhaust from the car and transferring it over to the power stations is that the pollution becomes centralized and thus able to control it better. It’s not going to be a perfect solution until the electric is generated from much cleaner means, but scrubbing technologies at least offer a better alternative than having millions of cars spewing exhaust that has no chance of being reduced and controlled.
People like you just hate anyone who tried to move people in a more positive direction, which is what electric cars would do, by at least getting the pollution out of the city centers and into a more manageable situation. You’d rather sit back, and be lazy and cast aspersions on other people instead of actually thinking about doing something to move people forward. That’s much easier to do than to actually try to do something about problems.
(off soapbox)
As for MS making an electric car. No thanks. I want to get where I’m going on time.
Electric Schmeletric
You can shove your sadly typical, knee-jerk Rethuglican conservatard bull. Lots of electricity is produced via hydroelectric power — the Hoover Dam is one of many exaamples. But don’t let your ignorance stop you from attacking people who want to conserve energy and use alternative resources for their needs.
You just keep sitting there and spouting the same unhelpful garbage that your traitorous pals have been doing for the last six years. Because attitudes like yours will really convince voters to put those scumbags back into office. America, we hardly knew ye…
In fact I would hazard to say that there is probably less pollution from the Coal powerplant with all its sulphur scrubbers and filters powering electric vehicles than from the equivalent number of carbon monoxide belching ICE vehicles.
One of the smartest moves would be to replace ALL inefficient 2-stroke engines on lawn mowers with electric, cutting your lawn for an hour creates the equivalent pollution to weeks of driving! Plus there is the danger of storing fuel in your garage, and polluting the environment with accidental spillage.
Then again, if people bought appropriate vehicles for the intended use, does one person really need to drive around in an Escalade or a H3? If you are a single person who mostly does city commuting get a Smart car, or a Suzuki Swift or some other fuel efficient subcompact.
macromancer,
Don’t try to tell me what I want. What I want is the hydrogen fuel cell. Microsoft could accomplish it with their cash horde. Microsoft is free to do this. They are completely unencumbered by big oil ties, unlike GM and government.
Imagine that Microsoft does it. The car companies will then have to choose to license the tech or die. Ditto for the service station industry. And Microsoft wins. The Earth wins. Everyone wins, except the sheiks.
Electric power can’t be adequately generated with pie-in-the-sky tree-hugger tech. Windmills blight the landscape. Solar doesn’t fscking work, so give it a rest. Dams ruin the environment and cause all kinds of unintended results. Nuclear creates poison that will outlast us all. So, get real. I work in the alternative energy industry.
We need hydrogen fuel cell technology. Microsoft has the means to do it. Governments won’t. Car companies will eventually, but only multiple decades from now after the oil runs out or gets too expensive and the environment is really fouled beyond recognition.
I’m thinking lawn furniture. Or mulch.
Then again there is also the air car.
http://www.theaircar.com/
or the Aussie air engine
http://www.engineair.com.au/
I see Redmont has great expertise with in all these years. Can’t see anyone having done that year after year consistently bringing the practice to levels never achieved before.
All they have done show it, the main characteristic of all their *innovations* and *new standard* or *bespoke approach* just scream the truth in the face of everyone. Hardly anyone can deny that.
Collectively, Redmont unsurpassed experience in this unrivaled skill they have, their products, their practices just ask for it:
Microsoft has to get into VACUUM CLEANERS.
They SUCKS. Their products SUCKS, their attitude SUCKS, their arrogance in forcing customers into update scams subscriptions SUCKS, the way they squashed with monopolistic behavior companies having better products but less cash SUCKS, the way they keep their API obscure making better third party products suffer the comparison to crappy Microsoft bad copies with less functionality SUCKS.
They could make great vacuum cleaners with great suction power.
Too bad they’ll try to make it Microsoft way: they’ll suck too, but will be bad for vacuum cleaners.
Mac Yak,
You are the one who sounds ignorant:
Hoover Dam has caused irreversible environmental damage to the Colorado River:
http://www.environmentcalifornia.org/energy/clean-energy-l.a
It would probably stink of conflict of interest, but I think developing plastic/electronic part recycling technology could be a boon for Bill and Co.
Here’s the web site for an intriguing new movie… http://www.sonyclassics.com/whokilledtheelectriccar/
Read the full article, it is wonderful.
This blog is just another attempt of MDN to take a few paragraphs out of context and use them to bash Microsoft. MDM is all too frequently just pathetic. They could have done so much more by pointing out the good in Cringely’s article.
I have little use for Microsoft as we have 6 Macs for 3 people in my household and I love them and Mac OSx. I just find MDM’s continuous harang of Microsoft, too over the top.
I did find Harry’s “Forget hydrogen – Ballmer’s hot air could fuel a million cars!”, hilarious.
Why is MDN obsessed with Microsoft???
It seems like the majority of the posts at MDN in the last 3-6 months have been about Microsoft.
artpease,
If you really did read the full article, you’d know that MDN most certainly did not “take a few paragraphs out of context and use them to bash Microsoft.”
Cringely covered two totally unique and separate ideas in the one article. I believe that MDN chose the one most interesting to the majority of their readers.
MDN also pointed out that “Net Neutrality” was also discussed as they linked to the full article.
Microsoft sucks at creating unique software that works for people. If you don’t believe that, you’ve never used a Mac.
Electric Schlmetric: I agree we need fuel cell technology. We also need to use hydrogen as a fuel for our existing internal combustion engines and other powerplants. Here is a link to a site proposing a very interesting method of producing hydrogen: http://www.windhunter.org/
Having said that, if a plug-in electric car met my needs, I’d buy it because I am sick of forking over money to big oil to squander on big salaries, stock options, and pensions for their executives instead of investing in new technologies like hydrogen and fuel cells.
One reason MS has survived is because, for the most part, their lousy products haven’t killed anybody.
WRONG
Powerpoint caused the Shuttle disaster.
http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1040423/posts
Also 800 plane pileup.
http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?NewsID=2275
Reliable information transfer is very important in todays world.
Microsoft ain’t da Romans, it’s da mob. Now it’s musclin’ into my protection rackets. What’s next? Bathtub gin? What’s it gonna do ’bout dat navy destroyer dead in da wadda? If it had any brains, it’d screw da feds outta real protection — five mill or it’ll happen again, GB, right when you need it da mos’, ’cause it’s their finger on da blue screen o’ death button.
Yeah, right, like Microsoft isn’t the gubmint.
Microsoft could be THE best tech company if that were it’s goal. It has resources galore. But its goal has always been primarily making money– like most businesses. But that’s the problem– innovation in tech requires a mindset that includes moving things forward– and sometimes change has to be radical in what amounts to an intellectual pursuit. They have many smart people there, but because the goal is money, they’re being largely wasted.
M$ should diversify. It will only stretch them even more thinly, making room for the real tech innovators. Instead of doing a few things very well, they are mediocre at a lot of things. Why not encourage them to get into even more? Every large company/entity that gets that bloated ands up getting cockolded by the new kids on the block.
I say, bring it on. Bloat, M$, BLOAT!
“Don’t try to tell me what I want. “
I wasnt, I was taking you to task for labeling people who want us to move forward with both energy independence and responsible environmental policy as liberals or ‘stupid’ as you called them.
If you wanna buy all the crap MS puts out, go ahead no, one’s stopping you. You ought to consider however that the people who want positive change aren’t stupid, as you put it. They usually are people who see the light and thus are a threat to the status quo and the governing interests that protect them.
I see a lot of people talking up hydrogen power, and it’s good to see so many people caring about the environment. I would like to point out, however, that there’s a major problem with hydrogen power: nearly all natural hydrogen on Earth is trapped inside water. That means if we want to collect enough of it to power a vehicle, we have to split it from water, a process known as electrolysis. (Wikipedia about it)
The unfortunate thing about electrolysis is water has to be hit with a massive dose of electricity to produce any usable amount of hydrogen, a process that is not 100% efficient. This makes hydrogen cars even worse than electric cars at simply shifting the problem to the power plants that make the electricity to begin with.
I’m still an optimist, though. In the short term, we need to proliferate the use of hybrid cars and other gas sippers. In the long term, simply replace coal power plants with something cleaner. Solar power is rapidly getting cheaper, for example. And why not generate power from ATP, like living organisms have been doing for millions of years? I’ve even read an article about attempts to fly a special kite high up into the jet stream, harnessing the super fast winds at that altitude.
The rising cost of gas is an excellent and extremely positive development. It makes the alternatives look much more appealing. In the end, I think capitalism will save us from ourselves.
Channel Z
Im no fan of Powerpoint, but the simple fact is, that a program isn’t going to cause a problem like this. The people who organize the data and design the presentation have a responsibility to prioritize the data in a manner that articulates their point effectively. The big error here is in not having adequate resources who understand the tehcnology to work with the people on the ground who understand the material, to prepare effective communications.
In other words, if they had a good design or communications person help them with this, it wouldnt be a problem. To blame it on the software missed the real problem.
I would rather see the return of Commodore and a more dynamic computer industry than see Microsoft ruin another segment of the consumer market!
Uh, hello work…., uh I’m gonna be late, my car just blue screened.
If I’m going to get in a car with hydrogen, I’ll wait for it to run on Linux or OSX thank you
Good M$ joke:
http://www.joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/836.html
go into something else? duh. that’s like turning an apple into an orange (or a rib-eye steak, to be a bit further out.
Microsoft should accept that it is a mature company and concentrate on putting out a solid product- if some dope isn’t saying “diversify” then another is saying un-diversify- like the analysists that are currently chiding SONY for making perfume, soap and feminine napkins in addition to tvs, stereos, walkmans, washers. . .
Hydrogen cells in cars? something TOTALLY different? why would you retool a software behemuth over just pulling together a new company from scratch?
Corporations aren’t people. they are vehicles. and microsoft has just about arrived at it’s destination. It is going to have a very hard time selling it’s next OS. They needed to jettison legacy, but they couldn’t b/c institutions that “make” microsoft buying their product require it. The very thing that makes M$ strong holds it back. And to boot, their next OS has excessive hardware requirements. . . and most institutions/ businesses need a beige box that someone can type on. For a long time, they will stick with XP.
WHAT M$ SHOULD DO IS INVEST IN APPLE, I THINK LIKELY A BETTER RETURN COULD BE HAD FOR THEIR SHAREHOLDERS. M$ is not going to double their own mshare any time soon. . .
Since Microsoft could not deliver its Vista on time even with the omission of a myriad of promised features, continues to make excuses for delays in the release of Office 2007, and considers Origami a premier example of technological innovation and intellectual prowess, I doubt that Microsoft is capable of producing anything worthwhile except doorstops and soda straws.
“”In a sense Microsoft is a lot like the Roman Empire.”
Complete with a vomitorium and a slave handing out feathers?
Channel Z:
Solely blaming Microsoft for these “disasters”, you have excused all other dimwits and morons at NASA and FAA for their carelessness and negligence.
Dear Microsoft Daily News,
I don’t believe that Microsoft should make cars. Crashing computers are one thing, self crashing cars are another.
Ampar:
Yes, they finish developing their own products, and go into the vomitorium for about an hour. That’s why it’s taking so long to ship Vista…
Welcome to the future
“We are the children of concrete and steel
This is the place where the truth is concealed
This is the time when the lie is revealed
boldEverything is possible, but nothing is realbold“
Everything is possible, but nothing is real
I’m telling you…watch the video
http://hytechapps.com/aquygen/hhos
@pr–that is fascinating! Thanks for the link!
Company link, for anyone else interested: http://hytechapps.com
then there is this….he was murdered
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3333992194168790800
Does seem pretty good, my SUV is killing me on the gas and wouldn’t mind a simple upgrade to get better gas mileage.
Only problem is in the video the guy mentions water vapor exiting the exhaust, water vapor is NOT a good thing.
I have to keep my tank filled with gas or the little condesation that results makes my engine run rough as well as builds up carbon deposits in the engine that cost money to clean out.
So apparantly not 100% pure hydrogen is entering the combustion chamber or a chemical reaction with the gases (oxygen + hydrogen + heat = water vapor) is happening which the by product (water) may not be exiting the system and cause deposits/rust etc.
So one may get better fuel economy, at the cost of a seriously shortened engine life.
Channel Z – All static, all day, forever. – B-52’s.
If Microsoft wound up in the medical field, as implied in this article, could you imagine what insurance would cost? Would I need an anti-virus shot along with Microsoft’s medicine? Would the medicine be available in time for me to get the much-needed shot? Would I crash or passout every five minutes after getting the shot? Would my anti-virus medication expire soon after the shot is given? Would the medication be compatible with my blood type? I’ve never had to worry about this with Johnson&Johson;.
Microsoft in the medical field. What a disasterous idea! Even as a joke that’s a bad thing of which to talk. I’d rather have them create more bad product.
There is lots of scientific research going on in making spliting of water a energy reduced process so that in the end it generates more energy than the work required to produce it.
http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_production_delivery.html
This inventor guy was most likely murdered by one of his crackpot followers to make him famous (or to steal his invention) than a big “power” or a bunch of ragheads in the middle east or much anyone else. Zero energy fruitcakes are more nutty and willing to kill somebody than some rich gas station tycoon.
Oil is used for many things once it’s cracked, to make medicine, chemicals, lubricants, clothes, plastics and a wealth of other things. It’s a diversified product with many uses.
Any change to the infastructure would come slowly and take many years as the new engines were introduced into new cars. More than enough time for those in a tight situation to make smart decsions (like raising prices) and get enough money to retire happily.
Nobody would be desperate enough to kill over it. The “rich” are already rich, they are not some young desperate boy with a violent temper. The rich have enough to sustain themselves through any economic condition regardless, they live to reduce risk and live as happily as possible.
The fruitcakes of the world: the ideologists, the radical religious, the mentally unstable are attracted by “alternate energy” and “aliens” and such wacko stuff and a prime candidate for a murder suspect than rich and comfortable (aka stable) people.
You want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, then hydrogen fuel cells are the answer.
You want hydrogen then nuclear power producing electricity for the electrolysis of water is the answer.
We can dispose of nuclear waste with today’s technology.
We can place it in a subduction zone at the bottom of the ocean and let plate tectonics suck it deep into the mantel where it would not resurface for millions of years.
Or, we could fire it into low solar orbit where it could fuel nature’s thermonuclear reactor and keep the sun shining.
We have the technology. Microsoft’s billions in ill gotten gains could help the cause.
The article MDN cites about the Hindenburg has false information: “Airship Hindenburg burst into flame at an altitude of about 200 feet and was burned to destruction by hydrogen fire…” (Emphasis mine)
Hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, goes straight up in the atmosphere. Hence hydrogen fueled fires do the same. And their flames are invisible or nearly so. From the pictures, you can see the flames are both very visible and enveloping. The fire shown is simply not a hydrogen fueled fire. It is, however, a fire of the ship’s exterior material, which is very similar to some solid rocket fuels.
Hydro power is not environmentally friendly. It is devastating to fish and ecosystems. Likewise wind farms can be harmful to birds. However small scale hydro and wind systems can be environmentally friendly. And solar technology keeps advancing each year.
As for electric cars, aside from the ecological impact of electric generation, there is the ecological impact of the batteries used therein. These only last a half decade or so and must be replaced. Electric vehicles may sound eco-friendly, but they are not. Fuel cell technology would be an improvement over battery powered electric vehicles or combustion engines.
Someone mentioned burning hydrogen fuel in today’s gas engines. Yes this can be done, but it is a waste of the energy potential of the fuel. Energy would be lost in the combustion process, compared to using, for example, a fuel cell to extract the energy. And a fuel cell vehicle with electric motors instead of a heavy combustion engine would be far lighter, thus able to travel farther on the same amount of energy. Additionally, there is the astonishing fact that about 85% of the energy output of a combustion automobile engine is wasted.
The biggest drawback to a hydrogen fuel economy is hydrogen fuel is not a liquid fuel like gasoline and diesel. It would require an entirely different infrastructure to get hydrogen fuel to the consumer. Also, burning hydrogen fuel directly in an auto engine would require installation of pressurized hydrogen tanks.
It would not surprise me to see China take the lead in an effort to transition to a hydrogen based energy economy. Although it might present M$ with another monopoly opportunity, i doubt that even M$ has the financial resources to make it happen. At the very least, they would have to bet the farm on it, and they won’t do that.
An interesting page, with links to many alternative energy pages, is Michael’s Conservation, Alternative Energy and Green Construction Jump Page. Enjoy!
Rainy Day
The assumption your making is that people would have to lug around compressed hydrogen tanks, get them refueled at hydro-stations and what not.
If you watched the video, the goal is a small device that would split the water at near zero energy cost, inject it into a engine which would combine it, the energy used and the water recycled to be used again.
The goal of course is to get this process as efficient as possible so it’s people can simply fill their cars up with their garden hose.
Forget this huge infrastructure and volitile tanks of compressed hydrogen.
The link I provided has various research into lowing the energy cost in the water splitting.
Biological – not practical even if it did work. What if the bacteria got loose?
Well, electric cars work great and can use “green” electricity or “dirty” electricity equally well. Wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric power work great for obtaining electricity. My electricity is 25% wind power, since I signed up to pay the extra 10% for it.
Diesel cars get about twice the fuel efficiency of gasoline-powered cars, and if you run them on biodiesel they pollute much less than gasoline-burning cars. In europe they pretty much run diesel in most modern cars since it is so much more economical.
Hydrogen fuel cells is a great idea, but it’s 10 or 15 years off, and they’ve been telling us that for 10 or 15 years. Electric cars are proven to work well today. Diesel cars are proven to be far more economical than gasoline-powered cars. Our greedy oil industry is the only thing keeping us lagging behind in technology and keeping us dependent on the middle east.
“…I am sick of forking over money to big oil to squander on big salaries, stock options, and pensions for their executives instead of investing in new technologies like hydrogen and fuel cells…”
So you’d rather hand your money over to ‘big electricity’ so they can squander it? By ‘big oil’ I suppose you mean companies that seek out, procure, transport from around the world, refine (into a ridiculously large number of required blends), and distribute to the pump for a remarkably reasonable price (most of the cost of a gallon of gas is taxes) the substance that allows you to rush home in time to log on and bitch about them? That ‘big oil’?
Try not to have such a cartoonish view of the world.
I just read some more on this – there are ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels becoming widely available in the USA, and the 2.0L diesel that VW has offered in europe for some time will finally be available in the USA in late 2007. It’s going to have more than 200ft/lbs torque with about 140hp (0-60 about 9 seconds for the Jetta), and get about 37mpg in the city, 48mpg on the freeway. It will also feature reduced emissions to meet tighter US regulations.
Hybrid cars get crappy highway mileage (they burn gas like any other car on the highway) and have batteries that must be thrown away every several years. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are (as always) many years away. Higher performance diesel cars with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel are less than 2 years away in our country, available now in europe.
QUIT GIVING THEM IDEAS!!!!! THEY ARE THE BAD GUY!!!
the 2.0L diesel that VW has offered in europe for some time will finally be available in the USA in late 2007
VW’s are great cars… when they run.
I’m in the Siberian upper Midwest US, where we can have winter days that WARM UP to -20 F. Until an automotive diesel proves itself worthy of the climate, I’ll stick with my 32mpg gas guzzler.
“I’m in the Siberian upper Midwest US, where we can have winter days that WARM UP to -20 F.”
Wow! You must, er, love it there!
“Should Microsoft reinvent itself . . .?”
Yes, but this time go Macrohard. Duh.
“Wow! You must, er, love it there!”
I think the response is supposed to be, “Ahhhhh, you betcha.”
Those crazy Lutefisk lovers.
Can we just forget about Microsoft? I thought this site is about Apple. Is this a site for venting MS Windows hate messages? No OS is perfect
Sorry, diesel fuel is a by-product of gasoline refinement.
macromancer
Im no fan of Powerpoint, but the simple fact is, that a program isn’t going to cause a problem like this. The people who organize the data and design the presentation have a responsibility to prioritize the data in a manner that articulates their point effectively. The big error here is in not having adequate resources who understand the tehcnology to work with the people on the ground who understand the material, to prepare effective communications.
In other words, if they had a good design or communications person help them with this, it wouldnt be a problem. To blame it on the software missed the real problem.
Bad software can cause a communication problem, I’ll give you a example of my point.
There is a stop light near me controling a 4 way intersection. It has a pattern to allow the two opposite paralel lanes to turn left respectively first, before the main traffic goes in opposite directions.
The lights from left to right are as follows: Red, left turn green, yellow and green.
You know what happens just about 3 times out of ten when that red light turns off and the green left arrow turns on? Sure the left lane cars go, but so does a few cars in the straight lanes, right into the cars trying to turn left from the opposite lanes. crash.
Way does this happen? Same thing like Powerpoint, it does the job but fails to communicate effectively.
The lights work, but the order and sequence is wrong.
The correct way would be to have the lights like this: Left green arrow, red, yellow, green. The green arrow light would be on the far left to represent the left hand lane.
The correct sequence would have been: when the green arrow is lit, the red light would remain lit. The meaning is clear, everyone stop except the ones turning left.
Bad software can cause substancial lost of life because critical information is not passed in the correct manner to achieve the desired results.
With everyone stuck using inferior Microsoft software, a monoculture brought on by monopolisic practices. Innovation and correct information transfer can’t occur which in turn led to substancial loss of life.
Nothing can force Microsoft to change and the monopolistic nature of this company has stifled any attempts by anyone to make the necessary improvements.
In FACT, with the 800 plane pile up. A rock solid UNIX system that was working for years reliably was replaced by cheap Dells and inferior Windows Server which a workaround of having to reboot the system every 30 days was implemented.
All it took was for someone to miss one of those reboots.
“Sorry, diesel fuel is a by-product of gasoline refinement.”
Ahhh, but vegetable oil isn’t. Pure “biodiesel” is simply vegetable oil with an additive so it doesn’t solidify at low temperatures. It releases 78% less CO2 than diesel fuel does when it burns, and it’s easier on the engine than diesel is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel
Diesels are great. I have a 1979 diesel VW Rabbit. This is one of the old technology diesel engines; puts out the black soot if i accelerate too quickly, makes a clanky sound, and requires 15-30 seconds for the glow plugs to warm the engine before ignition. Pure (i.e. B100) biodiesel significantly reduces the soot problem with this car. The newer diesels are much cleaner, start up instantly, are much quieter, and are greatly improved over my engine. The diesel engine is so much simpler than a gasoline engine (no spark plugs) and lasts much longer.
What many people do not know about diesels is they can run on straight vegetable oil (SVO) once the engine is warm. Some people have converted their cars to dual tanks: one for SVO and one for biodiesel. The engine is started using biodiesel, and after a couple of minutes, is switched over to SVO. The problem with this system is that you need to remember to switch back to biodiesel before turning the engine off, so that biodiesel is in the fuel line for the next start-up.
Although biodiesel is far better for the environment than petroleum diesel, SVO is better still.
Diesel engines do not get twice the mileage of a gasoline engine, however. My 1979 Rabbit gets 45 mpg in town and 51 mpg on the highway. A 1979 gasoline Rabbit will get about 27/33 mpg.
Nick, actually, biodiesel isn’t just SVO with an additive. It involves a chemical reaction which takes about 3 days to complete. But it’s fairly simple to make and many people make their own from used cooking oil from fast food “restaurants.” But it is somewhat dangerous to do because of the chemicals involved.
Biodiesel does clean out the engine (and fuel tank). When starting to use biodiesel for the first time, you need to change the fuel filter after a few tanks because of all the kruft in the tank left over from petroleum diesel.
Regarding carbon emissions, the important thing to remember with either biodiesel or SVO is that there is no net increase in atmospheric carbon (as the plants which produce the oil are drawing carbon from the atmosphere). Not the case with petroleum diesel where 100% of the carbon emissions are coming from carbon which had been locked away in the Earth’s crust for millions of years.
“Should Microsoft reinvent itself and develop new businesses outside of software?”
Yeah, I’ve got some rats in my basement that need clearing out, and the there’s a septic tank nearby that could really do with emptying.
After that they could cut the grass on my lawn, and then do the dishes.
But I bet what would happen is that they would say they’ve cleared the rats but instead they’d be an explosion in the breeding population.
They’d then offer me their super-duper XP Pro rat contract, and I’d have to buy it because they’d have bought out every other rat-controller in the area’s business.
The septic tank would leak, poisoning thousands, and they’d try to sell them Vista Health Insurance.
You get the idea. It doesn’t matter what business Microsoft get’s into, they have to completely take it over, to the detriment of their customers. I say close it down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Electric Schmlectric says: “Electric vehicles are typical liberal Ed Begley, Jr. bullshit. Feel good, knee jerk stupidity. As they plug in their cars, the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal and emits the remains into the atmosphere.
As MDN states so concisely: “electric, schlmetric.”
Electric Schmlectric, I have nothing against hydrogen fuel research, but why are you becoming so nasty over another clean energy alternative that is here today? Some car manufacturers are on the verge of producing plug in hybrid vehicles (like the Prius) that can travel 30 miles round trip without using a drop of gasoline. You claim that to charge the batteries requires the dirty electric plant that burns coal. But get this: If you own a home, throw a solar panel on the roof and recharge the plug in battery using the good old sun. Not only do you get to charge your plug in vehicle using the free energy of the sun, you cut out the coal electric company as well. I admit the cost to make your hybrid vehicle a plug in is not cheap right now, but if millions of people embraced this solution, the price would come down in a hurry. Ford Motor Company understands this, they are targeting 2007 to produce their own version of the hybrid plug in.
Please tell me what’s so knee jerk stupid about having multiple options to become energy independent.
Microsoft should resign and give all the money back to their stockholders or something like that.
Listen to the Dell…dude.
Pure “biodiesel” is simply vegetable oil with an additive so it doesn’t solidify at low temperatures.
Really?
In MN last winter (2005/2006 season), production of biodiesel was temporarily halted because it was jelling at higher temps than regular “arctic blend” diesel. And not at brutal -40 F either; problems were reported at -10 F, which is both a common & comparatively mild temp (and not a problem for regular winter blend).
So the biodiesel formula still needs needs some perfecting.
From the Straight Dope:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/021101.html
While there was something called a vomitorium (from the Latin vomitus, past participle of vomere, to vomit), it wasn’t a room set aside to vomit in. Rather a vomitorium was a passageway in an amphitheater or theater that opened into a tier of seats from below or behind.
Biodiesel and ethanol seem on the surface to have potential, and maybe they do, but what about the water needed to grow the biomass to produce them?
People talk a lot about prairie grass for ethanol, too, but does it actual contain enough energy per pound to make it worth extraction?
We are already facing large shortages of water in many areas.
Maybe the most concentrated (per gallon) form of practical energy that we have (gasoline) is not so bad after all.
Beware of simple answers to complex problems, and complex answers to simple problems.
kenh writes: “Biodiesel and ethanol seem on the surface to have potential, and maybe they do, but what about the water needed to grow the biomass to produce them?”
A good question. There are a variety of crops which can be used for biodiesel. In North America, rapeseed is considered one of the best overall. It can be grown as a dryland crop.
One of the most water wasteful “crops” is beef production. It takes something like 5000 gallons of water for each pound of beef. This is in part due to the irrigation which goes into cattle feed. No single plant crop even approaches the water usage of beef per pound of yield.
gel up: Biodiesel has a higher gelling point than does petroleum diesel. In the winter in cooler climates, it is recommended to blend biodiesel with petroleum diesel for this reason. In extreme climates, biodiesel may not be practical unless fuel tank heating is used.
Big Oil wants to CONTROL energy sources, distribution and consumption… keep it CENTRALIZED. This is why solar and alternative energies are NOT compatible with the current financial and energy delivery infrastructures. This is why Oil companies bought out the majority of alternative energy technology companies back in the ’70s to RETAIN total control on energy sources and distribution.
Solar/alternative energies empower individuals and communities. The government and big business do NOT want that… they WANT an anesthetized populace that doesn’t CARE what goes on as long as they’ve got a steady stream of gasoline, sugar, fried food, bad TV, bad music and pro sports to keep them passified. Since what we have now IS essentially a ONE party system, Dems and the GOP are basically the same.
Microsoft could use their world-class RUTHLESSNESS as leverage to step around Big Oil, Corporate America and the Gummint to develop and deploy alternative energies. Microsoft could threaten to make Windows WORSE and use threats and extortion to get the government and their business lackeys to get out of their way and put the MS timetable to deploy alternative energies… They’re got a vast army of undercover IT agents to spread FUD to their enemies…
Oh, wait, there’s Vista on the horizon, maybe the Microsoft Master Plan IS in motion already!
“While there was something called a vomitorium (from the Latin vomitus, past participle of vomere, to vomit), it wasn’t a room set aside to vomit in. Rather a vomitorium was a passageway in an amphitheater or theater that opened into a tier of seats from below or behind.”
Thank you for ruining a funny Saturday Night Live skit. We don’t always need to know.
Microsoft should be limited to desiging and producing mission-critical products and services for the military, banking, finance and insurance industries, emergency response teams, and all other healthcare related businesses. They should be granted exclusive contracts from the private and public sector so that our nation and the world is dependent on one trusted source for all of their needs especially in times of crisis.
Ampar, you’re wit is getting very cryptic. It was hard even reading your last post, the idea you present is downright scary.
Because you base your education, knowledge of history and the state of the world upon Saturday Night Live skits, you should be informed that Charlton Heston isn’t and wasn’t Moses, and it isn’t and wasn’t a floor wax and a dessert topping.
“We don’t always need to know.”
I detect the beginnings of the Stockholm syndrome within your hitherto sensible psyche. You have, no doubt, been watching too much Fox news.
“Ampar, you’re wit is getting very cryptic.”
Thanks, davida! Of course it was extreme sarcasm. But is it that far from Bill’s biggest wet dream? A respirator with a Microsoft logo? <shudder>
Warren Buffett thinks Bill can do no wrong. And $60 billion isn’t money. It’s power. A LOT of power.
“I detect the beginnings of the Stockholm syndrome within your hitherto sensible psyche. You have, no doubt, been watching too much Fox news.”
You’re funny. <tickle>
” . . . knowledge of history and the state of the world upon Saturday Night Live skits”
You may be right. I searched eBay for a Bass-O-Matic and came up empty.
Dang!
BTW, if you’re 118 years old and you are dating an 80 year old, is that still considered robbing the cradle? How long is this “cradle statute”?
I think that if microsoft change their market, they will begin to slump, theyre ok for computers(ish) but nothing else
However they should also maybe go into the electric car industry
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Electric Schlmetric:
“Electric vehicles are typical liberal Ed Begley, Jr. bullshit. Feel good, knee jerk stupidity. As they plug in their cars, the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal and emits the remains into the atmosphere.”
“Solar doesn’t fscking work, so give it a rest.”
You might look into this before making such a rediculous statement. Many people are successfully using solar.
Ed Begley Jr charges his car at home on his solar powered house. He’s been solar for years, and he’s leading by example.
Correction: As they plug in their cars…
Then M$ will just make the next model wireless! See, it’s all in the plan.
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