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Ubuntu Edge

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Re: Ubuntu Edge

#381

Post by jussij »

YokoZar wrote: post #343
effn wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, short term bonds get lower yield because they carry much less interest rate risk. There's no free lunch.

That cannot explain a negative interest rate.

> That cannot explain a negative interest rate.

Those were not bonds, but rather Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) which are tied to CPI.

The fixed payment on five-year TIPS, known as the real yield, has been pushed below zero because the rise in the CPI is greater than the yield on regular five-year U.S. notes

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-25/treasury-draws-nega...

Why they were negative is because they are tied to CPI and the CPI was higher than the interest on similar short term bonds.

So provided the CPI continues to rise, these TPS securities (which are tied to CPI) will end up paying more return than similar short term bonds.

In other words the market was betting the CPI would continue to rise while short term interest rates would remain low.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#382

Post by gbraad »

ihaveajob wrote: post #372
reedlaw wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This hardware looks like it blows everything else out of the water. So far, Firefox OS hardware offerings have been on the low-end.

I'm salivating over the hardware specs, but you have to consider that 1 year from now they won't seem as spectacular.

From the page I can conclude the hardware is non-existent (although possible). For now it is purely a wishlist of what they 'want' to offer. Hardware is actually also a large part of the development time of a phone and software, like drivers need to be optimized for the experience. Even if they have used development boards or reference designs for the current bring-up, it would still need hardware verification and a lengthy quality assurance process. Especially related to a phone device, this means certification. I wish them a lot of luck... but it would not amaze me if it results in a vaporware project.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#383

Post by e12e »

scholia wrote: post #347
e12e wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience donated/salvaged/second hand PCs usually come with an OEM licence (also true for second hand macs). Perhaps that's different in the US? And while you theoretically pay for the Windows licence that come with a new machine a) most people aren't aware of that, and b) aren't aware that you can get that money back if don't use it.

(b) because usually you can't. Nor should you be able to...

I believe there are some strong anti-trust arguments for it to be possible to pay for only the OS you want to buy, not the one the manufacturer bundles with your device?

Granted there's still a de-facto monopoly on paid for desktop operating systems for general x86 pcs -- but does that really mean that we should try to keep it that way?

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#384

Post by scholia »

e12e wrote: post #383
scholia wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(b) because usually you can't. Nor should you be able to...

I believe there are some strong anti-trust arguments for it to be possible to pay for only the OS you want to buy, not the one the manufacturer bundles with your device? Granted there's still a de-facto monopoly on paid for desktop operating systems for general x86 pcs -- but does that really mean that we should try to keep it that way?

That's not how systems are designed and built. You're not paying for the OS, you're buying an integrated product that wouldn't exist unless it was designed and manufactured for Windows.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#386

Post by codex »

The Edge is trying to solve a problem in hardware which is best left to software.

The problem: when you move between your devices, your apps look and act different, and they don't auto resume your state. But that's just because the software isn't mature yet. Eventually you will be able to compose a draft in Gmail online, unfinished, and the Gmail app on your smartphone will open to the draft automatically, and cloud apps will work the same everywhere--on the phone, on the desktop, and on the web.

And even if the apps are not completely identical, they will be good enough: I can switch from driving my car to a rental car without any issue; the interfaces to a car are fundamentally similar across all cars. So too with apps on various devices. It's just not a big deal. This is actually good for the Edge as most desktop displays do not support touch (and wouldn't work well if they did) so you'll still be shifting between touch and mouse, or touch and keyboard.

Solving this problem in hardware is sub-optimal: you'll always be fiddling around with monitor, keyboard, and mouse cables; your CPU, GPU, and RAM is limited; and your Internet connection will be slower from the phone than it would be had you plugged in to your 100Mbps+ cable connection from your cheap Ubuntu or Mac desktop.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#387

Post by nobodysfool »

devindotcom wrote: post #174
nobodysfool wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There aren't much in the way of specs here. The screen will likely be 1024x768 or similar, seeing as how they say that they are shooting for around 300ppi in a 4.5in screen. The battery technology that they say they want is unproven, produced only in sample quantities, and has issues with the electrolyte expanding to 4x it's size (which they say will be fixed via carbon nanotubes, the latest 'magic pixie dust'). I am…

300ppi at 4.5in would probably be 720p - that's what the First and M4/One mini have at 4.3 in for something like 330 ppi. That would be m y guess anyway. I'm more concerned with the promise of 4GB ram and 128GB storage. That's going to be very expensive. The highest end phones today cost more and half half or less of that. (I know, things get cheaper, but this isn't orders of 20 million, it's orders of 20,000)

Not only the ram. The 'sapphire screen' and battery are probably going to be the most expensive pieces of the system. I don't think anyone is complaining that their gorilla glass screen is not durable enough. The highest end phones have less ram most likely because of battery life issues. That ram has to be refreshed, and more of it means more drain on the battery. Not to mention that in android phones, they try to fill up the ram as much as possible to avoid accessing the flash storage after booting since that also drains the battery. The consequence may be longer boot times, if Ubuntu does this also.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#388

Post by umsm »

shock wrote: post #173
umsm wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am imagining a layout similar to an ipad, just for a larger monitor. Apple is slowly moving their desktop OS to a mobile-like experience.

I don't think I would like a 30" iphone/ipad interface. Would you?

I don't have an iMac, so I can't say :)

But seriously: IMO, that's where the market is heading.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#389

Post by rwallace »

RockyMcNuts wrote: post #267
socceroos wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you need to watch the video. It definitely sounds like they've had talks with manufacturers and been heavily criticized for believing that the industry is ready for this kind of convergent device. As Mark said, manufacturers need proof of this proposition. It sounds to me like Mark has said, "Fine then, we'll go to our fans with the ideal device and see if the market responds. If they do, we're right and you…

Sounds like another way of saying what I did, no? I hope it works and it's awesome. Just can't help thinking the pitch is a little half-assed, for an Ubuntu. The crowdfunding model is for little guys who are doing amazing things and can't get investment and distribution. It's a sign of weakness when an established player can't get those things. Ubuntu was featured by Dell but isn't anymore. Meanwhile Chromebook seems…

In fairness, on the scale of phone vendors, Canonical is a little guy, not an established player.

Re: Ubuntu Edge

#390

Post by Shorel »

zanny wrote: post #198
Shorel wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Find how many Steam subscribers are running Ubuntu and buying games, and subtract that number from the total estimated Ubuntu users. Count me in the 'buys games' lot.

Ubuntu is a very reasonable average joe OS. It is actually really crappy for gaming - when I was using Ubuntu at the Unity switch around 10.04, there were tons of absurd full screen and tearing bugs in games. Even now that most of that is fixed, Unity/compiz is still vastly outperformed by everything else when running full screen opengl apps. On Gnome / KDE I never encountered those.

10.04 was a virtual lifetime ago.

I just played Euro Truck Simulator 2 in Ubuntu 13.04 this morning. With the latest update it runs very nice. Full screen, no tearing. It has less FPS than in Windows, but that's expected for this particular game. Using an empty Openbox desktop to run it made no difference, the performance issues are not because Unity, but because of the game engine. I'm only working in moving my savegame from Windows to Ubuntu.

On the other hand, Portal and Half Life 2 run PERFECT in Ubuntu. Just as fast and pretty if not faster than in Windows 7. I'm waiting for Portal 2, as that's one game I have not managed to finish in any platform yet. They also support virtual desktops, so I can ctrl-alt-arrow them away in an instant if my GF needs something from me.

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