Object-X
Oct 3, 12:48 PM
Software:
I think we'll get a software update of the iLife and iWork suites, a closer look at Leopard and it's new features, and an update to Frontrow for use with iTV. Am I the only one who thought the iTV interface looked less than polished?
Hardware:
No video iPod, but the iPhone will debut. This will be the BIG announcement. I don't think they would release a new iPod at the same time as the phone, so my money is on an iPhone.
I expext the quad core Mac Pros too. --prays-- A mid tower or mid priced configuration of the Mac Pro. By mid I mean around $1400 - $1600.
That's it! Try to keep some perspective. Everytime one of these keynotes is given the rumor mill predicts everything and the kitchen sink, but only a small number of annoucemnets are actually made. So, some standard software updates, a review of Leopard, configuration options for Mac Pros and the BIG iPhone announcement.
I think we'll get a software update of the iLife and iWork suites, a closer look at Leopard and it's new features, and an update to Frontrow for use with iTV. Am I the only one who thought the iTV interface looked less than polished?
Hardware:
No video iPod, but the iPhone will debut. This will be the BIG announcement. I don't think they would release a new iPod at the same time as the phone, so my money is on an iPhone.
I expext the quad core Mac Pros too. --prays-- A mid tower or mid priced configuration of the Mac Pro. By mid I mean around $1400 - $1600.
That's it! Try to keep some perspective. Everytime one of these keynotes is given the rumor mill predicts everything and the kitchen sink, but only a small number of annoucemnets are actually made. So, some standard software updates, a review of Leopard, configuration options for Mac Pros and the BIG iPhone announcement.
Cutwolf
Mar 17, 06:41 AM
Not to condone OP's actions in any way, but karma isn't real.
People should conduct themselves according to their moral code, not out of fear that the universe will somehow reward or punish them. This is the 21st century, it's time mankind grew up and took some personal responsibility. There is no "higher power" judging our actions.
Man, this thread is full of douchiness. Karma is symbolic, not literal. Although it's cute that you were so ready to jump on your anti religion high horse. You sound like a high school student who just got out of philosophy class.
People should conduct themselves according to their moral code, not out of fear that the universe will somehow reward or punish them. This is the 21st century, it's time mankind grew up and took some personal responsibility. There is no "higher power" judging our actions.
Man, this thread is full of douchiness. Karma is symbolic, not literal. Although it's cute that you were so ready to jump on your anti religion high horse. You sound like a high school student who just got out of philosophy class.
citizenzen
Apr 18, 01:56 PM
Precisely, some of the side effects of forced change are learning disorders, dyslexia, stuttering and other speech disorders.
Left handed people have always been persecuted and represent a significantly larger portion of society than homosexuals, plus they tend to do well in society regardless of the persecution.
Doesn't your first statement contradict the second?
Wouldn't learning disorders, dyslexia, stuttering and other speech disorders make it more difficult to "do well in society"?
Left handed people have always been persecuted and represent a significantly larger portion of society than homosexuals, plus they tend to do well in society regardless of the persecution.
Doesn't your first statement contradict the second?
Wouldn't learning disorders, dyslexia, stuttering and other speech disorders make it more difficult to "do well in society"?
jettredmont
Jul 21, 08:38 PM
Show me another phone that can drop calls from just the position of one finger. Nokia have their problems at the moment, but their reception has always been rock solid.
See one post directly above yours: the Nokia N1. Both points refuted with one example!
The point, again, is that the signal drop through touching the "right" spot with a finger maxes out significantly lower than the signal drop through dense body attenuation, as you get when your hand or head is blocking the signal. They are different things, but the more significant one is the one Apple is showing here.
This is just how antennas work. You can degrade a signal by detuning it, but you can stop the signal dead by attenuation.
See one post directly above yours: the Nokia N1. Both points refuted with one example!
The point, again, is that the signal drop through touching the "right" spot with a finger maxes out significantly lower than the signal drop through dense body attenuation, as you get when your hand or head is blocking the signal. They are different things, but the more significant one is the one Apple is showing here.
This is just how antennas work. You can degrade a signal by detuning it, but you can stop the signal dead by attenuation.
SeaFox
Oct 28, 11:23 PM
A) It's not the OSS community that's trying to crack Apple's DRM. Lets get that straight. These people have nothing to do with that community. These guys are just pirates using the source that is out there.
That's true. But they are the ones who are going bellyache continually about Apple not having the software available anymore. "Why can't I get the Darwin source code?" "This is unfair, they used BSD stuff and now they aren't sharing!" "Why haven't they released 10.4.9?" (when it comes out)
They aren't going to look at it from Apple's perspective. They aren't going to say. "Well, gee thanks Apple for trying to share the software with us. We're sorry you're getting screwed over by Wintel hackers who are too cheap to just buy a Mac." They're going too say. Well, we're sorry that's happening but you have to just put up with it as part of having your stuff available. They'll make Apple out to be evil when this is all a reactionary measure. Apple wants to release Darwin as open source, otherwise they could have just released the first version and then closed the source after that (they can legally do that, just because it was open source and you released it once doesn't mean you have to keep doing it). Apple would never be able to use any newer BSD components after that, they would begin maintaining their software as a fork pretty much. They only pulled it because someone keeps hacking to run it on plain beige box Wintels. And the OSS people aren't going to look at those hackers as the ones responsible for the source being pulled.
Many OSS people are the free as in speech types, but I feel most are a combination of the free as in speech and as in beer types. They wants software to be free for use and they don't think it should have a pricetag attached. These are the ones always saying Apple should have to release Aqua too just because the Darwin part of OSX is released.
Edit:
Oh ****! Thanks Apple! Now, how am I supposed to get Mac OS X to run on my old Linux box?
See? There they are now. "Oh, ****! Thanks Apple!" Who's fault is it the source was pulled again?
That's true. But they are the ones who are going bellyache continually about Apple not having the software available anymore. "Why can't I get the Darwin source code?" "This is unfair, they used BSD stuff and now they aren't sharing!" "Why haven't they released 10.4.9?" (when it comes out)
They aren't going to look at it from Apple's perspective. They aren't going to say. "Well, gee thanks Apple for trying to share the software with us. We're sorry you're getting screwed over by Wintel hackers who are too cheap to just buy a Mac." They're going too say. Well, we're sorry that's happening but you have to just put up with it as part of having your stuff available. They'll make Apple out to be evil when this is all a reactionary measure. Apple wants to release Darwin as open source, otherwise they could have just released the first version and then closed the source after that (they can legally do that, just because it was open source and you released it once doesn't mean you have to keep doing it). Apple would never be able to use any newer BSD components after that, they would begin maintaining their software as a fork pretty much. They only pulled it because someone keeps hacking to run it on plain beige box Wintels. And the OSS people aren't going to look at those hackers as the ones responsible for the source being pulled.
Many OSS people are the free as in speech types, but I feel most are a combination of the free as in speech and as in beer types. They wants software to be free for use and they don't think it should have a pricetag attached. These are the ones always saying Apple should have to release Aqua too just because the Darwin part of OSX is released.
Edit:
Oh ****! Thanks Apple! Now, how am I supposed to get Mac OS X to run on my old Linux box?
See? There they are now. "Oh, ****! Thanks Apple!" Who's fault is it the source was pulled again?
mars526
Apr 25, 03:07 PM
iPhone
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPhone 4G
iPhone 4GS
...
Design change every 2 years. Speed bump up next year after design change. Communication technology change every 4 years.
iPhone 3G
iPhone 3GS
iPhone 4
iPhone 4S
iPhone 4G
iPhone 4GS
...
Design change every 2 years. Speed bump up next year after design change. Communication technology change every 4 years.
Belly-laughs
Oct 3, 01:35 PM
I�m guessing we�ll see iTV coupled with iPod Hi-Fi wireless + iPod Hi-Fi mini satellites.
KnightWRX
Apr 28, 06:34 AM
Nekbeth, I'm looking at the code and I'm thinking you still don't quite understand what NSTimer is and does. You keep track of "Elapsed" using 2 implementation scope global variables :
NSInteger seconds = 0;
NSInteger minutes = 0;
However, grepping for these variables, you never reset them back to 0 aside from their initial initialization :
$ grep -e minutes -e seconds ATimerViewController.m
NSInteger seconds = 0;
NSInteger minutes = 0;
%IMG_DESC_9%
%IMG_DESC_10%
%IMG_DESC_11%
%IMG_DESC_12%
%IMG_DESC_13%
%IMG_DESC_14%
%IMG_DESC_15%
%IMG_DESC_16%
%IMG_DESC_17%
%IMG_DESC_18%
%IMG_DESC_19%
NSInteger seconds = 0;
NSInteger minutes = 0;
However, grepping for these variables, you never reset them back to 0 aside from their initial initialization :
$ grep -e minutes -e seconds ATimerViewController.m
NSInteger seconds = 0;
NSInteger minutes = 0;
kdarling
Oct 22, 08:00 PM
The site does update the information. Zoom in and click on the "deadspots" The date reported is shown. I clicked on 25 for Verizon and 25 for AT&T they were all reported in 2008 or 2009.
Cool. I'll have to see if there's a way to report a fixed dead spot. Just no time right now.
Cool. I'll have to see if there's a way to report a fixed dead spot. Just no time right now.
Dagless
Apr 4, 01:33 PM
oh, and if the internet provider is giving you the run-around.
http://www.ip-adress.com/
go here, type in the IP address and it'll tell you exactly where the server is that they are connected to. It gives you the IP latitude and IP longitutde.
tell them that it is being connected at this server location and they'll be able to location exactly which hub it's being connected at and .. yea. trace the burgulars home down..
Now that just doesn't work for me either. It's saying I'm in Oxford. :confused:
http://www.ip-adress.com/
go here, type in the IP address and it'll tell you exactly where the server is that they are connected to. It gives you the IP latitude and IP longitutde.
tell them that it is being connected at this server location and they'll be able to location exactly which hub it's being connected at and .. yea. trace the burgulars home down..
Now that just doesn't work for me either. It's saying I'm in Oxford. :confused:
lordonuthin
Jul 22, 04:27 AM
My router is having some trouble, seems to quit working whenever I'm at work :mad: I bought a new one on ebay, hope it gets here SOON!
DoFoT9
Aug 11, 07:27 PM
i'm tellin ya, there's something about starting with the number 4.
but it got too hot, and i had to turn it down to 3.98 ghz. not quite 4. hopefully it'll stay at that though
i prefer the number 9 to be honest :p 9ghz! phoar!
what temps are they running at? had you considered water cooling?
but it got too hot, and i had to turn it down to 3.98 ghz. not quite 4. hopefully it'll stay at that though
i prefer the number 9 to be honest :p 9ghz! phoar!
what temps are they running at? had you considered water cooling?
tigress666
Apr 9, 01:53 AM
wow, you try to shut down a whole shop because they hurt your feelings?
Ever thought of the many people who depend on working there? What unbelievable egoism.
Well, to be fair I have no idea what happened but depending on what they did, it could be very unfair to say they just "hurt his feelings".
That being said, yeah, I think that poster is being a little delusional that they'd shut the whole store down over what he did.
At best Best Buy fires anyone involved that caused them to have to pay out some large fine and maybe any of the managers that were around at the time. But they aren't going to shut the store down over it. And that is how it should be, cause the whole store shouldn't suffer because of some really bad employees (but the bad employees should be gone).
Ever thought of the many people who depend on working there? What unbelievable egoism.
Well, to be fair I have no idea what happened but depending on what they did, it could be very unfair to say they just "hurt his feelings".
That being said, yeah, I think that poster is being a little delusional that they'd shut the whole store down over what he did.
At best Best Buy fires anyone involved that caused them to have to pay out some large fine and maybe any of the managers that were around at the time. But they aren't going to shut the store down over it. And that is how it should be, cause the whole store shouldn't suffer because of some really bad employees (but the bad employees should be gone).
Young Spade
May 4, 03:01 AM
Meh, overall I dont' agree with them taking out applications that allow for tethering. Yes it is against the "rules" but I also don't agree that I should be charged to spend the data I'm already paying for a different way than they intend for me to use it.
I have the Nexus 1 and luckily ATT has no direct control over the phone as it's sold through Google and I'm allowed to use the built in tethering application at no charge to me. I don't wirelessly tether often but it does come in handy when I'm in class and there's no wifi or when I'm out or riding in the car.
I have the Nexus 1 and luckily ATT has no direct control over the phone as it's sold through Google and I'm allowed to use the built in tethering application at no charge to me. I don't wirelessly tether often but it does come in handy when I'm in class and there's no wifi or when I'm out or riding in the car.
mcmadhatter
Sep 12, 08:21 AM
If you click check for itunes updates you get a message The Itunes update server could not be contacted, try again later
ctdonath
Sep 29, 09:37 AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackling_House
mrgreen4242
Jan 15, 02:56 PM
Absolute madness. No offence.
Well, we'll wait and see. Laptops already account for over half of all new computer sales, and the iMac uses MOSTLY laptop parts as it is. The big thing holding laptops back has been drive speed and capacity. Those are both being improved upon with traditional HDDs and SSDs. The Time Capsule will become the place where you store your "extra" files and big media, etc. There's even already a spec being developed for wireless HD video communication for TV to media player connection. People could have a MacBook with a 20"+ display, 1TB HDD, and fullsize keyb and mouse on their desk with no wires. Add in an induction charging pad and you've got a really, really cool workspace.
I think they'll bring back the $1500 PowerMac/Mac Pro and drop the iMac and mini lines in favor of expanded laptop lines, including a 20" "laptop" (wouldn't be the first one on the market).
Well, we'll wait and see. Laptops already account for over half of all new computer sales, and the iMac uses MOSTLY laptop parts as it is. The big thing holding laptops back has been drive speed and capacity. Those are both being improved upon with traditional HDDs and SSDs. The Time Capsule will become the place where you store your "extra" files and big media, etc. There's even already a spec being developed for wireless HD video communication for TV to media player connection. People could have a MacBook with a 20"+ display, 1TB HDD, and fullsize keyb and mouse on their desk with no wires. Add in an induction charging pad and you've got a really, really cool workspace.
I think they'll bring back the $1500 PowerMac/Mac Pro and drop the iMac and mini lines in favor of expanded laptop lines, including a 20" "laptop" (wouldn't be the first one on the market).
Preclaro_tipo
Mar 28, 02:23 PM
What a lame rule...clearly they don't care about the best or most innovative products for people, they care about themselves and this time they aren't even TRYING to make it look like it is people/software/design first...it is purely Apple first.
I know Apple (and Microsoft, and google and Oracle, etc) gets accused of being evil, slimy, greedy, monopolistic, or some combination or derivation of these from time to time, or even regularly, but for me this is the one of the most flagrant 'slimy' (et al) practices I've seen of Apple.
I know Apple (and Microsoft, and google and Oracle, etc) gets accused of being evil, slimy, greedy, monopolistic, or some combination or derivation of these from time to time, or even regularly, but for me this is the one of the most flagrant 'slimy' (et al) practices I've seen of Apple.
leekohler
Apr 22, 11:19 AM
we'll see how france looks when the interest on their debt exceeds their GDP. Paid vacation has to end sometime
Well, ours is not much better. We just never get anything for it. At least the French do.
Oh wait. Sorry- corporations and big oil have gotten quite a bit of money out of it.
Well, ours is not much better. We just never get anything for it. At least the French do.
Oh wait. Sorry- corporations and big oil have gotten quite a bit of money out of it.
mcmadhatter
Oct 17, 09:46 AM
I'm not sure about what you're saying here, because content producers will still be having to supply the same film in two different formats.
No they won't they can produce their film in whatever format they like because all players would be dual format so it wouldn't matter, they wouldn't even need those fancy hybrid discs
They'll likely drop the less popular format, and thus, we'll have a winner. This could happen though it is unlikely with dual format drives
DVD +/- is a writing thing. It's not the same, because people don't care where they get their blank discs from as much.
When it was going on it was a big thing, because a lot of dvd Players would only Play one type of disc so if you recorded to + and your friend had - they would not be able to play it
More simply, I'm curious of who out there needs to burn 30 to 50 GB chunks of data, too large for a dual layer DVD to hold, and why.
I do , I have 140Gb of Photos from my DSLR (and previous digital cameras) putting this on 3 discs rather than 40 discs would be great
I also have 28Gb of music, backing up form itunes to 1 disc rather than 8 would also be useful
External drives are very easy to break beyond repair with osx (3 different NEW external drives, 3 different disk manufacturers disks, and the longest they lasted without dying so badly they needed an RMA was 72 hours) and dvd blueray etc discs take up less space, and you have the possibility of having 3-4 copies.
No they won't they can produce their film in whatever format they like because all players would be dual format so it wouldn't matter, they wouldn't even need those fancy hybrid discs
They'll likely drop the less popular format, and thus, we'll have a winner. This could happen though it is unlikely with dual format drives
DVD +/- is a writing thing. It's not the same, because people don't care where they get their blank discs from as much.
When it was going on it was a big thing, because a lot of dvd Players would only Play one type of disc so if you recorded to + and your friend had - they would not be able to play it
More simply, I'm curious of who out there needs to burn 30 to 50 GB chunks of data, too large for a dual layer DVD to hold, and why.
I do , I have 140Gb of Photos from my DSLR (and previous digital cameras) putting this on 3 discs rather than 40 discs would be great
I also have 28Gb of music, backing up form itunes to 1 disc rather than 8 would also be useful
External drives are very easy to break beyond repair with osx (3 different NEW external drives, 3 different disk manufacturers disks, and the longest they lasted without dying so badly they needed an RMA was 72 hours) and dvd blueray etc discs take up less space, and you have the possibility of having 3-4 copies.
Lord Blackadder
Aug 10, 01:10 PM
There's nothing really sinister about it. It's just harder to measure and to this point, there's been no point in trying to measure it in comparison to cars.
I understand that they have to be measured differently, but doesn't it make sense that they be compared apples-to-apples (if possible) to the vehicles they are intended to replace?
Most people do ignore it to a large extent, because they say "heck, if it costs me $1 to go 40 miles on electric vs. $2.85 to go 40 miles on gasoline, then that *must* be more efficient in some way". And they are probably right. Economics do tend to line up with efficiency (or government policy).
That is true, but as you pointed out later "green", "efficient", "alternative[to oil imports]" are not all the same thing. Perhaps they are more green but less efficient, or less efficient but more green. Just being more efficient in terms of bang for buck is not necessarily also good from an environmental or alternative energy standpoint. But you are right that the end cost per mile is going to weigh heavily when it comes to consumer acceptance of new types of autos.
I think it's great that European car manufacturers have invested heavily in finding ways to make more fuel efficient cars. And they have their governments to thank for that by making sure that diesel is given a tax advantage vs. gasoline. About 15 years ago, Europe recognized the potential for efficiency in diesels to ultimately outweigh the environmental downside. It was a short-term risk that paid off and now that they have shifted the balance, Europe is tightening their diesel emissions standards to match the US. Once that happens, I'm sure there will a huge market for TDIs in the US and we'll have a nice competitive landscape for driving-up fuel efficiency with diesels vs. gasoline hybrids vs. extended range electrics.
I would argue that Europe's switch to diesels did not involve quite the environmental tradeoff you imply - in the 70s we in the US were driving cars with huge gasoline engines, and to this day diesel regulation for trucks in this country is pretty minimal. Our emissions were probably world-leading then - partially due to the fact that we had the most cars on the roads by far. The problem lies (in my heavily biased opinion) in ignorance. People see smoke coming off diesel exhausts and assume they are dirtier than gasoline engines. But particulate pollution is not necessarily worse, just different. People are not educated about the differerence between gasoline engine pollution and diesel engine pollution. Not to mention the fact that diesel engines don't puff black smoke like they did in the 70s. I'm not arguing that diesels are necessarily cleaner, but they are arguably no worse than gasoline engines and are certainly more efficient.
Whether or not it's "greener" depends upon your definition of green. If you're worried about smog and air quality, then you might make different decisions than if you are worried about carbon dioxide and global warming. Those decisions may also be driven by where you live and where the electricity comes from.
A lot of people in the US (and I assume around the world) are also concerned about energy independence. For those people, using coal to power an electric car is more attractive than using foreign diesel. Any cleaner? Probably not, but probably not much dirtier and certainly cheaper. Our government realizes that we can always make power plants cleaner in the future through regulation, just as Europe realized they could make diesels cleaner in the future through regulation. Steven Chu is no dummy.
It's a fair point. Given the choice, I would prioritize moving to domestic fuel sources in the short term over a massive "go green" (over all alse) campaign.
Which is why we will need new metrics that actually make sense for comparing gasoline to pure electric, perhaps localized to account for the source of power in your area. For example, when I lived in Chicago, the electric was 90% nuclear. It's doesn't get any cleaner than that from an air quality / greenhouse gas standpoint. However, if you're on the east coast, it's probably closer to 60% coal.
I agree completely. The transition needs to be made as transparent as possible. People need to know the source, efficiency and cleanliness of their power source so that they can make informed choices.
I think you're smart enough to know that it's more efficient, but you're not willing to cede that for the sake of your argument, but I encourage you to embrace the idea that we should have extended range electrics *and* clean diesels *and* gasoline hybrids. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
I'm not trying to sound stubborn, I simply have not come accross the numbers anywhere. I don't get paid to do this research, ya know. I do it while hiding from the boss. ;)
I've seen that propaganda FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) before. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Let's consider that the power grid can handle every household running an air conditioner on a hot summer day. That's approximately 2000-3500 watts per household per hour during daytime peak load (on top of everything else on the grid.) Now let's consider that a Volt (or equivalent) has a 16kw battery that charges in 8 hours. That's 200 watts per hour, starting in the evening, or the equivalent of (4) 50 watt light bulbs. This is not exactly grid-overwhelming load.
I'm no math whiz (or electrician), but wouldn't 200 watts/hr * 8 hours = 1.6kw, rather than 16kw? I thought you'd need 2kw/hr * 8hrs to charge a 16kw battery.
It's not that I don't think people have looked into this stuff, it's just that I myself have no information on just how much energy the Volt uses and how much the grid can provide. In the short term, plugin hybrids are few in number and I don't see it being an issue. But it's something we need to work out in the medium/long term.
Or, some would argue that the biggest thing that Americans have trouble with are a few people telling them what the majority should or shouldn't do - which is, as it seems, the definition of "Communism", but I wouldn't go so far as to say that. :)
Communism means nothing in this country, because we've been so brainwashed by Cold War/right-wing rhetoric that, like "freedom", the term has been stolen for propaganda purposes until the original meanings have become lost in a massive sea of BS. I was using it for it's hyperbole value. :D
Most people do indeed realize that they can get better mileage with a smaller car and could "get by" with a much smaller vehicle. They choose not to and that is their prerogative. If the majority wants to vote for representatives who will make laws that increase fuel mileage standards, which in turn require automakers to sell more small cars - or find ways to make them more efficient - that is also their prerogative. (And, in case you haven't noticed, in the last major US election, voters did indeed vote for a party that is increasing CAFE standards.)
Well, that's the nature of democracy. But it's not so much a question of the fact that people realize a smaller car is more efficient, but a question of whether people really care about efficiency. I have recently lived in Nevada and Alaska, two states whose residents are addicted to burning fuel. Seemingly everyone has a pickup, RV and four-wheelers. Burning fuel is not just part of the daily transportation routine - it's a lifestyle.
CAFE standardsAnd if it's important to you, you should do your part and ride a bike to work or buy a TDI, or lobby your congressman for reduced emissions requirements, or stand up on a soap box and preach about the advantages of advanced clean diesel technology. All good stuff.
I walk to work. I used to commute 34 miles a day (total), and while I never minded it, I felt pretty liberated being able to ditch the car for my daily commute. Four years of walking and I don't want to go back. I love cars and motorsport, and I don't consider myself an environmentalist, but I got to the point where I realized that I was driving a lot more than necessary. That realization came when I moved out of a suburb (where you have to drive to get anywhere) and into first a small town and then a biggish city. In both cases it became possible to walk almost everywhere I needed to go. A tank of fuel lasted over a month (or longer) rather than a week from my highway-commuting days. And I lost weight as I hauled by fat backside around on foot. ;)
I won't be in the market for another car for a few years, and my current car (a Subaru) is not very fuel efficient - but then again it has literally not been driven more than half a dozen times in the last six months. When the time comes to replace it I'll be looking for something affordable (ruling out the Volt) but efficiency will be high on the priority list, followed by green-ness.
I wonder if all of you people who are proposing a diesel/diesel hybrid are Europeans, because in America, diesel is looked at as smelly and messy - it's what the trucks with black smoke use.
<snip>
As far as the Chevy Volt goes, I just don't like the name... but the price is right assuming they can get it into the high $20,000's rather quickly.
I'm an American, and yes I've seen the trucks with black smoke. We just need to discard that preconception. This isn't 1973 anymore. We also need to tighten up emissions regualtion on trucks.
The Volt is a practical car by all acoioutns, but it costs way too much. The battery is the primary contributing factor, I've heard that it costs somewhere between $8-15k by itself. Hopefully after GM has been producing such batteries for a few years the cost will drop substantially.
I understand that they have to be measured differently, but doesn't it make sense that they be compared apples-to-apples (if possible) to the vehicles they are intended to replace?
Most people do ignore it to a large extent, because they say "heck, if it costs me $1 to go 40 miles on electric vs. $2.85 to go 40 miles on gasoline, then that *must* be more efficient in some way". And they are probably right. Economics do tend to line up with efficiency (or government policy).
That is true, but as you pointed out later "green", "efficient", "alternative[to oil imports]" are not all the same thing. Perhaps they are more green but less efficient, or less efficient but more green. Just being more efficient in terms of bang for buck is not necessarily also good from an environmental or alternative energy standpoint. But you are right that the end cost per mile is going to weigh heavily when it comes to consumer acceptance of new types of autos.
I think it's great that European car manufacturers have invested heavily in finding ways to make more fuel efficient cars. And they have their governments to thank for that by making sure that diesel is given a tax advantage vs. gasoline. About 15 years ago, Europe recognized the potential for efficiency in diesels to ultimately outweigh the environmental downside. It was a short-term risk that paid off and now that they have shifted the balance, Europe is tightening their diesel emissions standards to match the US. Once that happens, I'm sure there will a huge market for TDIs in the US and we'll have a nice competitive landscape for driving-up fuel efficiency with diesels vs. gasoline hybrids vs. extended range electrics.
I would argue that Europe's switch to diesels did not involve quite the environmental tradeoff you imply - in the 70s we in the US were driving cars with huge gasoline engines, and to this day diesel regulation for trucks in this country is pretty minimal. Our emissions were probably world-leading then - partially due to the fact that we had the most cars on the roads by far. The problem lies (in my heavily biased opinion) in ignorance. People see smoke coming off diesel exhausts and assume they are dirtier than gasoline engines. But particulate pollution is not necessarily worse, just different. People are not educated about the differerence between gasoline engine pollution and diesel engine pollution. Not to mention the fact that diesel engines don't puff black smoke like they did in the 70s. I'm not arguing that diesels are necessarily cleaner, but they are arguably no worse than gasoline engines and are certainly more efficient.
Whether or not it's "greener" depends upon your definition of green. If you're worried about smog and air quality, then you might make different decisions than if you are worried about carbon dioxide and global warming. Those decisions may also be driven by where you live and where the electricity comes from.
A lot of people in the US (and I assume around the world) are also concerned about energy independence. For those people, using coal to power an electric car is more attractive than using foreign diesel. Any cleaner? Probably not, but probably not much dirtier and certainly cheaper. Our government realizes that we can always make power plants cleaner in the future through regulation, just as Europe realized they could make diesels cleaner in the future through regulation. Steven Chu is no dummy.
It's a fair point. Given the choice, I would prioritize moving to domestic fuel sources in the short term over a massive "go green" (over all alse) campaign.
Which is why we will need new metrics that actually make sense for comparing gasoline to pure electric, perhaps localized to account for the source of power in your area. For example, when I lived in Chicago, the electric was 90% nuclear. It's doesn't get any cleaner than that from an air quality / greenhouse gas standpoint. However, if you're on the east coast, it's probably closer to 60% coal.
I agree completely. The transition needs to be made as transparent as possible. People need to know the source, efficiency and cleanliness of their power source so that they can make informed choices.
I think you're smart enough to know that it's more efficient, but you're not willing to cede that for the sake of your argument, but I encourage you to embrace the idea that we should have extended range electrics *and* clean diesels *and* gasoline hybrids. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
I'm not trying to sound stubborn, I simply have not come accross the numbers anywhere. I don't get paid to do this research, ya know. I do it while hiding from the boss. ;)
I've seen that propaganda FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) before. It doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Let's consider that the power grid can handle every household running an air conditioner on a hot summer day. That's approximately 2000-3500 watts per household per hour during daytime peak load (on top of everything else on the grid.) Now let's consider that a Volt (or equivalent) has a 16kw battery that charges in 8 hours. That's 200 watts per hour, starting in the evening, or the equivalent of (4) 50 watt light bulbs. This is not exactly grid-overwhelming load.
I'm no math whiz (or electrician), but wouldn't 200 watts/hr * 8 hours = 1.6kw, rather than 16kw? I thought you'd need 2kw/hr * 8hrs to charge a 16kw battery.
It's not that I don't think people have looked into this stuff, it's just that I myself have no information on just how much energy the Volt uses and how much the grid can provide. In the short term, plugin hybrids are few in number and I don't see it being an issue. But it's something we need to work out in the medium/long term.
Or, some would argue that the biggest thing that Americans have trouble with are a few people telling them what the majority should or shouldn't do - which is, as it seems, the definition of "Communism", but I wouldn't go so far as to say that. :)
Communism means nothing in this country, because we've been so brainwashed by Cold War/right-wing rhetoric that, like "freedom", the term has been stolen for propaganda purposes until the original meanings have become lost in a massive sea of BS. I was using it for it's hyperbole value. :D
Most people do indeed realize that they can get better mileage with a smaller car and could "get by" with a much smaller vehicle. They choose not to and that is their prerogative. If the majority wants to vote for representatives who will make laws that increase fuel mileage standards, which in turn require automakers to sell more small cars - or find ways to make them more efficient - that is also their prerogative. (And, in case you haven't noticed, in the last major US election, voters did indeed vote for a party that is increasing CAFE standards.)
Well, that's the nature of democracy. But it's not so much a question of the fact that people realize a smaller car is more efficient, but a question of whether people really care about efficiency. I have recently lived in Nevada and Alaska, two states whose residents are addicted to burning fuel. Seemingly everyone has a pickup, RV and four-wheelers. Burning fuel is not just part of the daily transportation routine - it's a lifestyle.
CAFE standardsAnd if it's important to you, you should do your part and ride a bike to work or buy a TDI, or lobby your congressman for reduced emissions requirements, or stand up on a soap box and preach about the advantages of advanced clean diesel technology. All good stuff.
I walk to work. I used to commute 34 miles a day (total), and while I never minded it, I felt pretty liberated being able to ditch the car for my daily commute. Four years of walking and I don't want to go back. I love cars and motorsport, and I don't consider myself an environmentalist, but I got to the point where I realized that I was driving a lot more than necessary. That realization came when I moved out of a suburb (where you have to drive to get anywhere) and into first a small town and then a biggish city. In both cases it became possible to walk almost everywhere I needed to go. A tank of fuel lasted over a month (or longer) rather than a week from my highway-commuting days. And I lost weight as I hauled by fat backside around on foot. ;)
I won't be in the market for another car for a few years, and my current car (a Subaru) is not very fuel efficient - but then again it has literally not been driven more than half a dozen times in the last six months. When the time comes to replace it I'll be looking for something affordable (ruling out the Volt) but efficiency will be high on the priority list, followed by green-ness.
I wonder if all of you people who are proposing a diesel/diesel hybrid are Europeans, because in America, diesel is looked at as smelly and messy - it's what the trucks with black smoke use.
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As far as the Chevy Volt goes, I just don't like the name... but the price is right assuming they can get it into the high $20,000's rather quickly.
I'm an American, and yes I've seen the trucks with black smoke. We just need to discard that preconception. This isn't 1973 anymore. We also need to tighten up emissions regualtion on trucks.
The Volt is a practical car by all acoioutns, but it costs way too much. The battery is the primary contributing factor, I've heard that it costs somewhere between $8-15k by itself. Hopefully after GM has been producing such batteries for a few years the cost will drop substantially.
pcharles
May 2, 01:27 PM
I have been playing with the Lion Preview for a few weeks, on and off, and I am not liking what I see.
I like the minimalist look, to some extent. It feels very clean and Jobsian, but I feel like many of the features I rely on have been changed. For example:
I like the minimalist look, to some extent. It feels very clean and Jobsian, but I feel like many of the features I rely on have been changed. For example:
sweet160
Nov 16, 03:22 PM
i think this is just speculation. Maybe in 5 years... WHo knows.
MacSA
Sep 12, 08:05 AM
You can't even check on orders already placed at Apple.com. The store is down.
thats what happened last wednesday before the iMacs/Minis were released. New hardware must be coming out today.
thats what happened last wednesday before the iMacs/Minis were released. New hardware must be coming out today.
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