• Gizmodo
  • bestmodo
  • lifehacker
  • kotaku
  • Profile logout login

#usa#makeupeffortbringslovebackmicrosoft

Gizmodo

Share Cancel
   
Upload an image | Add an image URL
×

logging in
  • FAQ. Include # before tag:
  • #tips,
  • #dealzmodo,
  • #rumors,
  • #broken,
  • #iphoneapps,
  • #apple,
  • etc.

New York, 11:35 PM
Mon Dec 7
72 posts in the last 24 hours

FR | IT | DE | SP | JP | AU | BR

Gizmodo Team

Tip your editors:

Editorial Director:
Brian Lam | | Twitter

Editor:
Jason Chen
| AIM | Twitter

Features Editor:
Wilson Rothman
| Twitter

Senior Contributing Editors:
Jesus Diaz
| AIM | Twitter
Mark Wilson, Reviews
| AIM | Twitter

Contributing Editors:
Matt Buchanan
| AIM | Twitter
Adam Frucci
| Twitter
Sean Fallon
| Twitter
Jack Loftus
| Twitter
John Herrman
| Twitter
Dan Nosowitz

Chris Mascari

Danny Allen
| Twitter
Rosa Golijan
| Twitter
Chris Jacob

Columnist:
Brendan I. Koerner

Interns:
Don Nguyen

Kyle VanHemert

Heroes and Friends

Comment Account Questions:

SUBSCRIBE TO Gizmodo RSS

New: Breaking news and daily top stories via email
9515 Subscribers
Gizmodo
  • Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of EBone EBone
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    Nokia's West Coast US headquarters is about five minutes from my house. I always wonder what they're doing in the that huge building, since their phones are mostly off the radar here in the US, except with the geek crowd.


    And I would love to have the e-wallet here.

     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of MerisCater MerisCater
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    Very interesting. We here over at the other side of the Atlantic sometimes tend to think that America has all the best things, but it turns out that's not really the case. Anyway, I find the remark about AIM being popular in Israel a bit puzzling: to the best of my knowledge, both MSN and ICQ are much more popular. I once knew a girl who used Yahoo messenger, but I got her to switch to MSN... I think the reasons for both apps' popularity is that in the late 90's most Israeli's had Hotmail (which got you MSN) and also ICQ started out as an Israeli company.
    Personally i prefer Gtalk, but since not many of my friends are willing to let go of their other clients, i use Digsby to stay in touch.
    still, good reading!
     Reply
    MerisCater was starred MerisCater was unstarred
    Image of Wilson Rothman Wilson Rothman
    03/03/09

    @MerisCater: ICQ is owned by AOL--and administered by the AIM group, if I'm not mistaken. Hence the point.
     Reply
    Wilson Rothman was starred Wilson Rothman was unstarred
    Image of MadCrazy MadCrazy
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    4th of July seems to have come early for the giz commentators...and the yanks wonder why ever1

    they are hated.
     Reply
    MadCrazy was starred MadCrazy was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    03/03/09

    @MadCrazy: Are you drunk or just stupid?
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/03/09

    @Curves: Or, tee hee, Mad Crazy.


    @MadCrazy: I'm assuming that this stems from the "Technological superpower" comment. Grimace as much as you like from across the pond, it's not an exaggeration.

     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/03/09

    @Kaiser-Machead: Hm, that seems to be a fail for me.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    I adored my Minidisc player. It had fantastic battery life, was immune to skipping, unlike Discmans, and was pretty easy to use (I thought). I think I still have one laying around here somewhere. My particular model was cheap, and didn't use rechargeable batteries, but on a single AA, it could go almost all week long.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of snoob snoob
    03/03/09

    @Kaiser-Machead:


    +1 I have the same model, sitting in my bedside table, waiting for a run. Of course I will never install that god-aweful sony software again, so i'm stuck with the music I listened to in 8th/10th grade.

     Reply
    snoob was starred snoob was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/03/09

    @snoob: I made random mixes with Simple Burn rather than use Sonic Stage with the MD utility. It didn't plant the names into the files, but I never really paid much attention to file names when the extent of the GUI was just a small black and grey LCD.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    The only problem I see with Mobil TV is we drive more than other countries do. We can't handle talking on the phone and driving, just picture someone getting lost in an episode of "As the World Turns" while trying to merge.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was starred GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was unstarred
    Image of robot-shmobot robot-shmobot
    03/03/09

    @WhatStockMarket?_GitEmSteveDave: I was thinking the same thing.. except the fact that everyone and their dog has a huge HDTV now, so people prefer to watch tv and relax in front of a big screen, rather than sit in traffic and squint at the latest episode of the Office.
     Reply
    robot-shmobot was starred robot-shmobot was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday
    03/03/09

    @robot-shmobot: I have a huge TV, but it was made in 1996, so it's XTRALODTV.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was starred GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was unstarred
    Image of kyle4 kyle4
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    Mobile TV sounds really interesting. The only foreseeable problem for us getting it is if the shows consume bandwidth. With the caps setting in that would run it up quickly.


    The Mini-disc sounds great. You'd think it'd be the next logical step from CD's (like DVD's to Blu-ray).


    This was a good list and I thought everything fit but the next gen messaging. There is not one person I know who doesn't use Windows Live/Msn messenger. Most have never heard of AIM

     Reply
    kyle4 was starred kyle4 was unstarred
    Image of tmed tmed
    03/03/09

    @kylo4iskyle4: mobileTV can only matter in the US in the cities with thriving middle class public transportation. Of course, there a are a few huge cities with just that, so once the DTV transition takes hold, maybe some Mobile TV love starts happening.
     Reply
    tmed was starred tmed was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    03/03/09

    @tmed:
    Make that thriving above-ground middle-class public transportation. I imagine the NYC subway system is deep enough at some points that the signals wouldn't be able to pierce down through all the dirt and concrete without underground repeaters being set up.
     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Image of ras_d ras_d
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    seriously? Laser-discs and mini-discs? those were outdated about a minute after they came out.
     Reply
    ras_d was starred ras_d was unstarred
    Image of Reapman Reapman
    03/03/09

    @ras_d:


    Seriously? Outdated? What outdated Laserdisc a minute after they came out? VHS? DVD's were barely a pipe dream at this point. MD's weren't outclassed until MP3 players came out.


    There's a difference between "Outdated" and "sold miserably in North America". Both techs were technologically superior to anything available.

     Reply
    Reapman was starred Reapman was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    03/03/09

    @Reapman:
    Laserdiscs had several problems that kept it from going anywhere in the US. VHS prices had finally hit the point where they were readily affordable by the masses, and then LD shows up with the return of $100-per-title pricing. That's okay for a seriously blown-out special edition, but not for general releases.


    The discs themselves were huge and cumbersome, which makes disc-killing scratches a persistent danger. And given theose sky-high prices, and the fact that these came stored in sleeves rather than proper cases, it was a tough pill to swallow for most people.


    Short runtimes were a mood-killer. Where DVD can get a movie that runs over three hours on a single dual-layer read surface, and VHS could handle about 2.5 hours on an extra-long tape, laserdiscs could only fit about half an hour per side (the extended edition of Lord of the Rings would require 13 double-sided LDs, and that's just for the movies w/ audio commentaries...and buying TV series on LD would require special high-strength flooring).


    Finally (and I witnessed this first-hand), the sheer size and weight of these discs created problems that most DVD-owners simply aren't aware of. I had a college film class where the professor rented a laserdisc title out of Chicago. Imagine his (and our) surprise when he stepped up in front of the class and pulled the laserdisc out of the sleeve...to find a hole the size of a quarter punched through the the read surface. Yeah, all that extra weight and size makes it a lot easier to cause catastrophic incidental damage.


    In addition to all of those things, I suspect that, due to skipping problems that aren't as much of an issue on DVDs, Laserdiscs were probably set up for a read profile similar to a vinyl record, where you start at one point and simply read in a spiral until the track ends. Put a scratch on the disc, and it's like dropping a brick in the path of ants that are returning to the nest. DVDs split the data up into chunks that are non-adjacent, so even if you lose one chunk, a good player can simply skip to the next one.

     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Image of ScottRose ScottRose
    03/03/09

    @Purple Dave: Good points.


    I remember back when I was about 10 y/o or so and saw my first LD player I asked, "can you record on it?" When I found out that the answer was "no", I didn't want one anymore.


    Despite relative low quality with VHS, the fact is that you just had to buy one machine to both play videos from the store and to record your own (and to play back home movies, too).


    And remember the quality of the average TV back then? It wasn't exactly killer, and so comparing VHS to Laserdisc wasn't quite so dramatic. (I'm talking about the average home here, not the videophile's home theater).

     Reply
    ScottRose was starred ScottRose was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    I can do/did without all of these except Instant Message, which I would go crazy without. I even message myself notes and reminders from me@work to me@home and vice versa.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    03/03/09

    @Curves: Well that's taking talking to yourself to the extreme... ;)
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    03/03/09

    @Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: Some of my best conversations are with myself.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    03/04/09

    @Curves: I talk to myself because I'm the only one who listens to me... ;)
     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of aerospaceman aerospaceman
    03/03/09

    In reply to Six Technologies That Passed America By
    if by "passed us by" you mean "replaced with better alternatives", then I completely agree with this article.
    Maybe a find/replace is in order?
     Reply
    aerospaceman was starred aerospaceman was unstarred
    Image of aerospaceman aerospaceman
    03/03/09

    @aerospaceman:
    MSN/AIM/ICQ...who gives a fuck, get Trillian.
     Reply
    aerospaceman was starred aerospaceman was unstarred
    Image of balls187 balls187
    03/03/09

    @aerospaceman: Trillian is ass. Get Digsby.
     Reply
    balls187 was starred balls187 was unstarred
    Image of Shadowlayer Shadowlayer
    02/05/09

    In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
    Thats enough to power more than 20 DeLoreans!

     Reply
    Shadowlayer was starred Shadowlayer was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    02/04/09

    In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
    I'm proud to say that 252 megawatts of that new power was developed, constructed, and is managed by my company. In case you're curious, that's enough energy for about 100,000 homes annually.
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    02/04/09

    In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
    Wait, this can't be true! We became #1 in Wind Power production while Dubyah was in office! But, that's not right! Awwww people of Sherwood Forest we've been had, bamboozled, flimflammed... We didn't land on wind power, wind power landed on us.
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of Luke Thornton Luke Thornton
    02/04/09

    In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
    This is great news! Obama is going to DOUBLE the production of renewables...so in the next few years it's going to be very promising, slowly releasing our thirst for oil.


    I just can't wait for a time when electricity and clean energy are rife, clean air....mmmmmm. Knowing that using energy is not damaging anything, so i can use things without any 'guilt'.....twenty years from now the world will be a very different place, especially when considering China is making HUGE efforts to come out of the recession in a 'green' way

     Reply
    Luke Thornton was starred Luke Thornton was unstarred
    Image of VakeroRokero VakeroRokero
    02/04/09

    @Luke Thornton: double? he barely can get money to lend people, where is he going to get 30 trillion to spend on energy?
     Reply
    VakeroRokero was starred VakeroRokero was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday
    02/04/09

    @VakeroRokero: I can't pay the mortgage on the terms I agreed to, but I can afford a windmill for my house!
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was starred GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    02/04/09

    @Luke Thornton: People keep talking about reducing the thirst for oil, but there really aren't enough electric powered vehicles on the market to do this, or even coming to market in the next 4 years.


    Most plants are coal or natural gas powered in the US. Not OIL powered anyway.


    I think you mean cleaner energy sources here. It's going to be a LONG time until we're really off of oil.


    But, what about the noise pollution from windmills? Or, you know, the fact that they kill birds? Even wind power isn't perfect here.


    I'm glad we're pursuing alternative fuel sources, but I can tell you that ethanol is a sham and yet another way to starve poor people.


    What we need, is energy from space!

     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday
    02/04/09

    @Lite: must go faster.: OK, seriously. If a bird can't spot a whirling 150 foot blade, perhaps it's good we eliminate that bird. It seems that's the kind of bird who would ignore a plane flying at it until it gets sucked into the engine.
     Reply
    GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was starred GitEmSteveDave_HatesFriday was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    02/04/09

    In reply to U.S. Flew to the Top in Wind Power Production Last Year
    I just saw our governor giving some line about how she's going to set it up so that everyone in Michigan can sell solar power back to the power companies. And I though to myself...so what will we do the other nine months of the year?
     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Image of Lite: hates Illinois Nazis Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
    02/04/09

    @Purple Dave: In most states your meter can run forward or backward. So if you produce more energy than you consume, the power company must pay you.
     Reply
    Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was starred Lite: hates Illinois Nazis was unstarred
    Image of Purple Dave Purple Dave
    02/04/09

    @Lite: shops smart. He shops at S-Mart.:
    In Michigan, we have these things called "clouds". That and the blanket of snow that's likely to be covering the solar panels during the winter months means that solar panels are pretty much just a fancy way to dress up your roof for most of the year. I understand the whole thing with being able to sell excess home-generated power back to the company (and indeed, I didn't think it required a new law for that to work). It's just that solar power would be a lot more cost-effective if we were, say, a desert. Wind-power would make more sense, especially given how much coastline we have, but people don't like having those things parked in their backyards.


    No, the only way you're likely to be able to sell solar power back to the power company while living in Michigan is if you cover every square inch of your property in solar panels and go on vacation for most of the summer. Otherwise it'll just cut down on your power bill a little bit.

     Reply
    Purple Dave was starred Purple Dave was unstarred
    Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion

Login

Enter your username and password.

Please enter a username.
Please enter your password.
logging in
Login via Facebook | Sign Up | Forgot Password?

Reset Password

Please enter your email address to have your password reset.

Please enter your email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
requesting password reset

Register

Registering will give you a user profile and the ability to add other users as friends. To become a commenter, however, you need to audition.

Want to know more? Consult the Comment FAQ and legal terms.

Please enter a username.
Please enter a password.
Please confirm your password.
Passwords are not identical.
Please enter a valid email address.
registration sent, waiting for reply

Submit Your Comment

You don't need to login to comment. Just enter your email address below.

See how your address will be displayed in the Comment FAQ.

Please enter a valid email address.
Please enter a valid email address.
logging in

Login with your Facebook or Gizmodo account.

Sign up here.



  • Archives
  • About
  • Advertising
  • Legal
  • Help
  • Report a Bug
  • FAQ
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.