mckilljoy

Technologically, a lot has been done under the hood since 1995 just to allow modern hardware to work. USB devices, wireless NICs, and multicore CPUs didn't even exist when Windows95 was released. Much of the "innovation" is unseen.

While I also wish they had innovated the UI more over the past decade, we are probably in the (admittedly growing) minority. You shouldn't switch the gas and break pedals in a car just to be "innovative", and I think for Microsoft the risk of alienating old users outweighs the risk of losing new users.

Apple of course has been more free to make sweeping changes to their OS over the past decade because, frankly, they haven't had much to lose. It will be interesting to see how dramatically they change OSX now that they have found something that sells.

Based on their latest presentation at CES, they have even lost that tiny sense of direction. Now the strategy has become "Many screens and a cloud" to encompass netbooks, tablets, etc. that weren't easily anticipated a year or two ago.

Maybe I'm cynical, but I feel like a long-term mission statement shouldn't be changing every 12 months.

I agree, even that is an impressive accomplishment. But after nearly 10 years, it would be nice to see them actually profit on the endeavor.

Acer jumps on all bandwagons at once in 2010, offering an application store, an E-reader, Chrome OS netbooks, and hints they are possibly working on a tablet.

An app store for Windows software seems a bit questionable, since Steam and the Microsoft e-store probably cover most people's software needs. Maybe a Linux-related app store, but that doesn't seem much more likely to succeed.

I have been happy with functionality and price of my Acer netbooks, so I look forward to their Chrome OS offerings.

Natal definitely has potential to revolutionize HCI, but I find it hard to believe it will help Xbox match the success of the Wii.

I cringe every time I see that video from E3 of that poor woman flailing on stage, swatting virtual dodge balls. Like Tony Hawk: Ride, when games start becoming too real, they tend to stop being fun.

Also, consider amputee or wheel-chair bound gamers who don't fit the typical body shape. Perhaps a small market, but a potential PR nightmare when Iraq veterans are told they don't have enough points of articulation for Natal.

I don't feel papers like this are really adding much to the community. Of course all explanations of consciousness go against our conventional understanding of the universe, that's why we don't understand consciousness yet. More likely than not, we just don't understand the universe as well as we thought we did. Bonus points to those who think different.

1. Windows brand does not connect with a particular demographic. 2. Microsoft sponsors Family Guy special in order to connect with this demographic. 3. Microsoft realizes content this demographic finds funny does not align with the Windows brand. 4. Fail

Seems like this whole dance could have been prevented.

Those Fusion IO cards are wicked fast, so long as you don't mind paying like $8K for 160 GB.