Hollosi Information eXchange /HIX/
HIX KORNYESZ 445
Copyright (C) HIX
1997-12-02
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Megrendelés Lemondás
1 meadows-rovat (mind)  101 sor     (cikkei)
2 FIKSZ Radio zold musorajanlat (mind)  10 sor     (cikkei)
3 [Cikk] Jobb akkumlatorok kellenek (mind)  61 sor     (cikkei)

+ - meadows-rovat (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

THE LAST LAMENT OF THE MACINTOSH USER

I'd laugh at the Bill Gates jokes circulating around the Internet, but as one
of the last embattled Macintosh users, I find Mr. Gates and his empire
increasingly unfunny.

The jokes take the form of fake press releases announcing Microsoft's latest
acquisition -- of the U.S. Government, for example.  "Microsoft representatives
held a briefing at the Oval Office with U.S. President Bill Clinton, and
assured members of the press that changes to U.S. Government policy will be
'minimal.'  The United States will be managed as a wholly owned subsidiary of
Microsoft Corp.  An initial public offering is planned for July 4 of next year,
and the Federal Government is expected to be profitable by 1999, according to
Microsoft president Steve Ballmer.

"President Bill Clinton stated that he had 'willingly and enthusiastically'
accepted a position as vice president of USA Operations with Microsoft,
reporting directly to CEO Bill Gates.

"Gates said that the US House and Senate would 'of course' be abolished. 
'Microsoft isn't a democracy,' Gates said, 'yet look how well we're doing.' 
When asked if the rumored acquisition of Canada was proceeding, Gates would
only say that Microsoft doesn't comment on unannounced products."

Another joke announces the Microsoft purchase of the Roman Catholic Church --
"the first time a computer software company has acquired a major world
religion."

 "Pope John Paul II will become senior vice-president of the combined company's
new Religious Software division," it says, "while Microsoft senior
vice-presidents Michael Maples and Steven Ballmer will be invested in the
College of Cardinals."

The release quotes Gates's plans to make the sacraments available on-line. "You
can get Communion, confess your sins, receive absolution  even reduce your time
in Purgatory  all without leaving your home."

"The Microsoft move could spark a wave of mergers and acquisitions, according
to Herb Peters, a spokesman for the U.S. Southern Baptist Conference, as other
churches scramble to strengthen their position in the increasingly competitive
religious market."

All this would be chuckle material, if I hadn't just ordered a piece of
software, only to be told that it is available only for Windows.

I had been dreading this day.

For those of you who are uninvolved in the computer wars, there's a problem
here that goes way beyond Bill Gates.  It's a flaw in the magical market that
is supposed to be so efficient at selecting the best products and serving
consumer needs.

>From its beginning Macintosh has had the best product.  I'm one of millions wh
o
started with IBM and the operating system called DOS, the original source of
Bill Gates's fortune.  Then I tried a Macintosh and never went back.  It was
easier, faster, more intuitive, more fun.  So Gates copied it.  He pasted onto
DOS a program called Windows, which is, from the point of view of Apple fans,
an overcomplicated, memory-hogging, pathetic imitation of a Mac.  Every time I
fool with Windows, I wonder how people can live with it.  If the market worked
the way they say it does, there would be no contest, no Windows.

Windows is taking over the world, not because it's better, just because it's
bigger.  It started with IBM marketing muscle.  Computer users, especially in
the business world, adopted it simply because everyone else did.  More software
was written for DOS, because the market was bigger.  Mac users regretfully
switched over, needing to be compatible with co-workers.  The more they did
that, the more others had to do it.

The market is full of inferior products that dominate simply because they're
first or biggest.  The most famous is the typewriter keyboard called QWERTY
(for the top-row letters).  More efficient keyboards have been invented.  But
once people learned to type on QWERTY, no manufacturer dared make anything
else.  QWERTY was even carried from typewriters to computers.

The demise of the Betamax video system, pushed out by VHS, is another example. 
So is the persistence in America of the weird British measurement system.  And
the tasteless Red Delicious apple.  (Tasteless, but It Is Always There in the
supermarket.)  The principle here is perfectly illustrated by my sheep Pansy,
twice as fat as any sheep in my flock and getting fatter, just because she
occupies more space at the feeding trough.

A non-joke item circulating the Internet is a letter from Bob Herbold,
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, chiding
Ralph Nader for his activism against the company's monopolistic tactics.  It
says in part, "I hope you will take the time to seriously study the market
dynamics that shape the computer industry.  As a consumer advocate, you should
want to support a market defined by strong competition that results in
continually improving product quality and declining prices."

By that logic Pansy is a continually improving sheep, just because she throws
her weight around.  And any product that dominates the market is, by
definition, the best.

If you have ever struggled with Microsoft's horrible Word 6, you will never
believe that fairy tale again.  The market can be won by sheer power as well as
by quality.  It does not necessarily meet people's needs.  From apples to
Apple, it's not meeting mine.

(Donella H. Meadows is an adjunct professor of environmental studies at
Dartmouth College.)
+ - FIKSZ Radio zold musorajanlat (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

A FIKSZ Radio soronkovetkezo keddi (dec. 2-ai) ZOLDINDULAS c. musoraban
az elelmiszer-adalekanyagokrol csevegunk, azokrol a bizonyos E-szamosokrol.
Szakerto vengedunk Szilagyi Laszlo (Szili), a Kukabuvar foszerkesztoje,
aki a minap egy sajtotajekoztato kereteben a hirek szerint pillanatok alatt
keszitett abszolute mesterseges anyagokbol "nagyszeru" kiwi-izu pudingot.
Aki pedig segit nekem a kerdezesben: Mathe Orsi.

Hallgasd a FIKSZ Radiot Budapest vetelkorzeteben a 98 MHz-en!
Zoldindulas pedig minden kedden 18-19 ora kozott!
                                                                   Tepi
+ - [Cikk] Jobb akkumlatorok kellenek (mind) VÁLASZ  Feladó: (cikkei)

Az alabbi cikket a Termeszet vilaga 1997. novemberi szamaban talaltam
(511. oldal). Szerintem elegge elkeserito, de ez persze csak egy 
laikus velemenye...

-SzT-

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Jobb akkumlatorok kellenek

Ot esztendovel ezelott kezdtek el Ru~gen szigeten azt a nagyszabasu
kiserletsorozatot, amelynek 60 millio markas koltsegebol 34 milliot az
erintett ipar vallalt magara, a tobbit a Szovetsegi Kutatasi
Miniszterium fedezte. Az eredmeny: a kiprobalt elektroautok kerulo
uton ugyan -- az aramtermelo eromuvek kozvetitesevel --, de
kilometerenkent tobb szen- es kendioxiddal szennyezik a legkort, mint
a hagyomanyos jarmuvek, igaz ugyan, hogy kevesebb szenhidrogen- es
nitrogen-oxid-szennyezest okoznak. Elsodleges energiafelhasznalasuk,
mint azt a kozelmultban nyilvanossagra hozott jelentes megallapitja,
nagyobb a belso egesu motoros autokenal.

A kiserletsorozatban eveken at 36-60 elektroauto mindennapi
alkalmazasat vizsgaltak, majd a tapasztalatokat osszehasonlitottak a
konvencionalis autok vizsgalataval nyert eredmenyekkel. Kiderult, hogy
az eromuvek aramtermelesi modja miatt kedvezotlen az elektromos autok
merlege. A nemet eromuvekben az aram 36 szazalakat nyerik
atomeromuvekbol, vagy olyan megujulo energiahordozokbol, mint a viz, a
Nap es a szel. Az aram zomet asvanyi tuzeloanyagok -- szen es olaj --
elegetesevel allitjak elo, amely karosanyag kibocsatassal jar.

Heidelbergi kutatok egyidejuleg vegzett tudomanyos viszgalatai szerint
az akkumlatorral meghajtott autok mukodese kovetkezteben negyszer
annyi, 0,5 g/km ken-dioxid kibocsatasa tortenik, mint belso egesu
motoros autok eseten. De az elektroautok a szen-dioxidot es a metant
tekintve is hatranyban vannak.

A rugeni kiserlet alapveto fontossagu volt a belso egesu motoros es az
elektroautok primer energiafelhasznalasanak osszevetese. Nemcsak az
autok kozvetlen meghajtasahoz szukseges energiat vettek figyelembe,
hanem a teljes fogyasztast: a fenyszorok, a szellozes, a futes, a 280
C folott uzemelo magas homersekletu akkumlatorok onkisulese altal
okozott veszteseget is.

Arra az eredmenyre jutottak, hogy az elektroautok ebbol a szempontbol
rosszabbak a hasonlo teljesitmenyu Otto- es dizelmotoros jarmuveknel:
legalabb egynegyeddel tobb energiat fogyasztanak. Ez reszben arra volt
visszavezetheto, hogy a tesztelt elektroautok atepitett hagomanyos
autok voltak, tehat nehezebbek es fogyasztasukat is kevesbe
optimalizaltak. Masok a kiegeszito fogyasztas nagysagat tartjak
dontonek: nehany kocsinal a futoenergia-szukseglet tobb mint
ketszerese volt a kozvetlen meghajtasra forditott energianak. A
kiserlet tapasztalatai azonban nem alkalmasak az elektroautok
altalanos es vegleges megitelesere, mert uj elkepzelesekkel
valoszinuleg javitani lehet a jelenlegi kedvezotlen helyzeten.

Vitathatatlan azonban az elektroautok helyi elonye: uzemeltetesuk
helyszinen nem bocsatanak ki kipufogogazokat. Az arammal hajtott
autok forgalomba allitasaval tehat jelentosen javitani lehetne az
autoforgalommal tulterhelt belvarosok levegojenek minoseget.

(Bild der Wissenschaft, 1997. 7. sz.)

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