skoker
Jan 9, 04:51 PM
Awesome Running smooth. We're the first in line so its smooth. Keynote coverage and ***removed**** release.
THANK YOU!
You must be either excited or ignorant, spoiler ;)
THANK YOU!
You must be either excited or ignorant, spoiler ;)
NebulaClash
May 4, 08:56 AM
Finally... They realized the word "Magic" is childish.
"Magic" appeals to children as well as those of us who can still look at the world in child-like wonder. That's a gift, not a curse, and I'm glad Apple still markets the iPad as magical. It is.
"Magic" appeals to children as well as those of us who can still look at the world in child-like wonder. That's a gift, not a curse, and I'm glad Apple still markets the iPad as magical. It is.
NewSc2
Oct 3, 12:56 AM
If this is the iPhone of houses, I guess my house is the Zune of houses. Or perhaps a 1st Gen nano . . . old, small, and ugly.
heyy... the 1st nano still looks pretty sweet. use mine on a regular basis.
heyy... the 1st nano still looks pretty sweet. use mine on a regular basis.
Clive At Five
Oct 2, 04:14 PM
You're exactly right. To me, the refusal to license FairPlay is the single most puzzling thing about Apple right now. With one move, they could have potentially hundreds of content providers wrapped around their finger in the same way MS had so many PC vendors wrapped around theirs in the past two decades. They could lock down the market for many, many years if they did it right. (BTW, I don't advocate that kind of thing, but they could do it and most companies would jump at the chance.) The iTunes music store would probably disappear or gradually fade away but then, Apple doesn't make the bulk of their money off that anyway and perhaps the FairPlay licensing money would cover that loss. Think of the iPod with hundreds of licensed content providers out there trying to outdo each other. I can't imagine why Apple hasn't done it yet.
My knowledge on these areas is pretty slim but would Apple be able to license FairPlay content only or would that open up the risk of other companies creating MP3 players that could read FairPlay content and, hence, compete with the iPod? ...or is that some sore of seperate licensure?
-Clive
My knowledge on these areas is pretty slim but would Apple be able to license FairPlay content only or would that open up the risk of other companies creating MP3 players that could read FairPlay content and, hence, compete with the iPod? ...or is that some sore of seperate licensure?
-Clive
more...
Retrosonic
Dec 18, 08:15 PM
Super interesting thread here. Very enjoyable reading, at least for most of the messages. (except for the ditzo who cant see why Apple would have two seperate iphone upgrade dates, one in Jan and one in June.....it makes complete business sense).
The minute I saw Verizons announcement out of nowhere about rolling out the LTE network in 1/3 of the country on Dec 5, my ears went up. I mean why do that if there isnt something following it soon after? It sure SEEMs like they are "setting the table" for something.
I guess we'll find out soon enough.
I just really hope the Verizon Iphone is available in White from Day One. The white is sharp looking.
The minute I saw Verizons announcement out of nowhere about rolling out the LTE network in 1/3 of the country on Dec 5, my ears went up. I mean why do that if there isnt something following it soon after? It sure SEEMs like they are "setting the table" for something.
I guess we'll find out soon enough.
I just really hope the Verizon Iphone is available in White from Day One. The white is sharp looking.
ctdonath
Sep 29, 04:03 PM
maybe those with private baths for each bedroom care more about their guests/kids than you?
Maybe that's not an axiom for "degree of caring" for some people. To the contrary, and considering that Jobs seems to have an affinity to some Japanese aesthetic sensibilities, the "eating, sleeping, loving, and relaxing" imperative for family space presumes some degree of sharing of such spaces with no negative notion of "lesser". To make all such facilities that private makes them isolated, stifling the family-oriented intimacy of the desired imperative. Perhaps more so, the extra bedrooms get only part-time use, so there is no need to commit extensive resources full-time to serving each of them individually (see prior comments on why no library/gym/sauna/screening-room/etc.).
they don't think they deserve better than others.
"Deserve" is a loaded term here.
It's his home. You're a guest therein. Yes, the homeowner gets the best facilities therein, and only the snooty see that as a snub. If nothing else, he's there and using some areas full-time/daily, while guests are occasional.
Of late I'm more struck by how many people presume everyone else must think like them, and impute malice where others don't. Whither celebrating diversity?
Maybe that's not an axiom for "degree of caring" for some people. To the contrary, and considering that Jobs seems to have an affinity to some Japanese aesthetic sensibilities, the "eating, sleeping, loving, and relaxing" imperative for family space presumes some degree of sharing of such spaces with no negative notion of "lesser". To make all such facilities that private makes them isolated, stifling the family-oriented intimacy of the desired imperative. Perhaps more so, the extra bedrooms get only part-time use, so there is no need to commit extensive resources full-time to serving each of them individually (see prior comments on why no library/gym/sauna/screening-room/etc.).
they don't think they deserve better than others.
"Deserve" is a loaded term here.
It's his home. You're a guest therein. Yes, the homeowner gets the best facilities therein, and only the snooty see that as a snub. If nothing else, he's there and using some areas full-time/daily, while guests are occasional.
Of late I'm more struck by how many people presume everyone else must think like them, and impute malice where others don't. Whither celebrating diversity?
more...
tekker
May 3, 09:34 PM
I'll buy one when it gets a capacitive pressure based screen/stylus (Like the HTC Flyer)
McBeats
Oct 6, 04:49 PM
No the add is right. To many people drool over apple so they go with ATT. If you picked AT&T for the iPhone and knew the service was spotty in your area you loose all right to complain about it.
i get what your sayin, but nah, they can still complain all they want... i dont think it says in the contract be expected to have 30% dropped calls.
people complain not only to relieve themselves, but to eventually get whats right. (complaining on macrumors isnt exactly the best way of going about it, ill give you that)
i get what your sayin, but nah, they can still complain all they want... i dont think it says in the contract be expected to have 30% dropped calls.
people complain not only to relieve themselves, but to eventually get whats right. (complaining on macrumors isnt exactly the best way of going about it, ill give you that)
more...
lordonuthin
May 8, 08:01 PM
so do you have it up and folding now?
It is folding at stock speed with threading turned off and it is doing big normal units at 3 minutes per frame. For some reason it hasn't gotten any -bigadv units since I set it up like this. It is using all 6 cores at least.
i've been working on mine this morning. i gave up on 4.0 ghz and it's now running at 3.7 ghz. i think this is stable, but i guess we'll see
3.7 is still really good, hope it stays there ok.
well i lost another bigadv unit on my alienware rig. but i did get my 2nd gtx 260 going on that machine, so that's a plus. and i just upped it to 3.7 ghz. we'll see how it goes
I'm starting to think that gpu's are the only way to go from now on; you tend not to lose wu's on them and if you do it only takes a couple of hours to catch up to where you were on the last one, not the day or 2 like bigadv units.
Hope that Alienware rig works ok now, can you get anymore gpu's in it?
It is folding at stock speed with threading turned off and it is doing big normal units at 3 minutes per frame. For some reason it hasn't gotten any -bigadv units since I set it up like this. It is using all 6 cores at least.
i've been working on mine this morning. i gave up on 4.0 ghz and it's now running at 3.7 ghz. i think this is stable, but i guess we'll see
3.7 is still really good, hope it stays there ok.
well i lost another bigadv unit on my alienware rig. but i did get my 2nd gtx 260 going on that machine, so that's a plus. and i just upped it to 3.7 ghz. we'll see how it goes
I'm starting to think that gpu's are the only way to go from now on; you tend not to lose wu's on them and if you do it only takes a couple of hours to catch up to where you were on the last one, not the day or 2 like bigadv units.
Hope that Alienware rig works ok now, can you get anymore gpu's in it?
Marlor
May 2, 11:31 PM
1) I think you're really missing one whole point of jailbreaking, which is to allow officially unsupported modifications such as widgets on the lockscreen.
Is that really worth breaking compatibility with updates? I don't think so.
If someone does think so, then they can do it... but then it is a bit rich to complain in forums about the need to re-jailbreak every time Apple releases an update.
Is that really worth breaking compatibility with updates? I don't think so.
If someone does think so, then they can do it... but then it is a bit rich to complain in forums about the need to re-jailbreak every time Apple releases an update.
more...
Sydde
May 4, 05:46 PM
Any law that tells a physician what they can and can't ask a patient, or who they must treat despite their own personal views - is stupid. Physicians should be able to ask whatever they want, if the person answers that's their own choice, and if the physician no longer wants to treat them, thats his/her choice.
Where do you live? Cedar Rapids, where the nearest next physician is five or ten minutes away, at most? What if you were in Guttenberg, where the next physician is half an hour or more? Open-ended liberty to refuse to provide treatment at a whim is just plain irresponsible.
Where do you live? Cedar Rapids, where the nearest next physician is five or ten minutes away, at most? What if you were in Guttenberg, where the next physician is half an hour or more? Open-ended liberty to refuse to provide treatment at a whim is just plain irresponsible.
robPOD
Apr 3, 10:50 PM
That sucks.... shows you how dumb burglers are
more...
stevehp
Oct 10, 04:34 PM
Wireless would work well with iTV too. Stream songs right from your iPod through your entertainment system, controlled through your TV with no cables...Heck, the iPod could stay in your pocket! I'm not holding my breath though...Maybe they are trying to get this out before/at the same time as the Zune?
CalBoy
Apr 14, 10:50 PM
I understand the point you are trying to make (re: enhanced security measures] but technically those two incidents had nothing to do with the TSA since they both flew from non-USA airports - that is, the TSA didn't screen them at all.
While this is true, we can't allow that technicality to wipe the slate clean. Our security as a whole is deficient, even if the TSA on its own might not be responsible for these two particular failures. Our tax dollars are still going to the our mutual safety so we should expect more.
I guess that depends on how you define "not much trouble". We can't know the actual number, since we will never know many actually get through. But they are catching over half the weapons that their own agents try to smuggle through on test/training runs. So that counts as being "some trouble". How much "trouble" is enough? Read my post above about how much risk a "bad person" organization is willing to take on 50/50 odds. My late father made his career "gaming" situations, so I have a bit of a passing knowledge of it. I am certain that the TSA has "gamed" the odds, and the TSA believe that they have reached a reasonable balance between costing the public time, money, and indignities - and - ensuring a reasonable level of safety for the flying public. They may be wrong.... but I would bet money that, to the best of their ability, they believe they have reached a balance.
Well when a fanatic is willing to commit suicide because he believes that he'll be rewarded in heaven, 50/50 odds don't seem to be all that much of a deterrent. What's worse is that we've only achieved that with a lot of our personal dignity, time, and money. I don't think we can tolerate much more. We should be expecting more for the time, money, and humiliation we're putting ourselves (and our 6 year-old children) through.
If this is the TSA's best effort and what it believes is the best balance, I want a new TSA.
OK, then why are hijackings down? I have my working hypothesis. I cited some evidence to support it. If you don't agree, then it is up to you to state an alternative one that is supported by more than unsupported statements.
I am not saying the TSA (or in my case CATSA) is perfect or haven't mucked things up sometimes. I'm just saying that I believe that they have been mostly responsible for a dramatic drop in airline hijackings. I cited some statistics. Now it's your turn.....
Your statistics don't unequivocally prove the efficacy of the TSA though. They only show that the TSA employs a cost-benefit method to determine what measures to take.
Since you believe in the efficacy of the TSA so much, the burden is yours to make a clear and convincing case, not mine. I can provide alternative hypotheses, but I am in no way saying that these are provable at the current moment in time. I'm only saying that they are rational objections to your theory.
My hypothesis is essentially the same as Lisa's: the protection is coming from our circumstances rather than our deliberative efforts.
Terrorism is a complex thing. My bet is that as we waged wars in multiple nations, it became more advantageous for fanatics to strike where our military forces were. Without having to gain entry into the country, get past airport security (no matter what odds were), or hijack a plane, terrorists were able to kill over 4,000 Americans in Iraq and nearly 1,500 in Afghanistan. That's almost twice as many as were killed on 9/11.
If I were the leader of a group intent on killing Americans and Westerners in general, I certainly would go down that route rather than hijack planes.
ps there is no proof that it wasn't Lisa's rock. There are some very weird causal relationships in the world. Like shooting wolves causes the Aspen to die off in Wyoming. Or .... overfishing the Salmon in the Pacific changes the mix of trees along the rivers of the BC coast.....
It's pretty clear that it was not the rock. Ecosystems are constantly finding new equilibriums; killing off an herbivore's primary predator should cause a decline in vegetation. That is not surprising, nor is it difficult to prove (you can track all three populations simultaneously). There is also a causal mechanism at work that can explain the effect without the need for new assumptions (Occam's Razor).
The efficacy of the TSA and our security measures, on the other hand, are quite complex and are affected by numerous causes. Changes in travel patterns, other nations' actions, and an enemey's changing strategy all play a big role. You can't ignore all of these and pronounce our security gimmicks (and really, that's what patting down a 6 year-old is) to be so masterfully effective.
While this is true, we can't allow that technicality to wipe the slate clean. Our security as a whole is deficient, even if the TSA on its own might not be responsible for these two particular failures. Our tax dollars are still going to the our mutual safety so we should expect more.
I guess that depends on how you define "not much trouble". We can't know the actual number, since we will never know many actually get through. But they are catching over half the weapons that their own agents try to smuggle through on test/training runs. So that counts as being "some trouble". How much "trouble" is enough? Read my post above about how much risk a "bad person" organization is willing to take on 50/50 odds. My late father made his career "gaming" situations, so I have a bit of a passing knowledge of it. I am certain that the TSA has "gamed" the odds, and the TSA believe that they have reached a reasonable balance between costing the public time, money, and indignities - and - ensuring a reasonable level of safety for the flying public. They may be wrong.... but I would bet money that, to the best of their ability, they believe they have reached a balance.
Well when a fanatic is willing to commit suicide because he believes that he'll be rewarded in heaven, 50/50 odds don't seem to be all that much of a deterrent. What's worse is that we've only achieved that with a lot of our personal dignity, time, and money. I don't think we can tolerate much more. We should be expecting more for the time, money, and humiliation we're putting ourselves (and our 6 year-old children) through.
If this is the TSA's best effort and what it believes is the best balance, I want a new TSA.
OK, then why are hijackings down? I have my working hypothesis. I cited some evidence to support it. If you don't agree, then it is up to you to state an alternative one that is supported by more than unsupported statements.
I am not saying the TSA (or in my case CATSA) is perfect or haven't mucked things up sometimes. I'm just saying that I believe that they have been mostly responsible for a dramatic drop in airline hijackings. I cited some statistics. Now it's your turn.....
Your statistics don't unequivocally prove the efficacy of the TSA though. They only show that the TSA employs a cost-benefit method to determine what measures to take.
Since you believe in the efficacy of the TSA so much, the burden is yours to make a clear and convincing case, not mine. I can provide alternative hypotheses, but I am in no way saying that these are provable at the current moment in time. I'm only saying that they are rational objections to your theory.
My hypothesis is essentially the same as Lisa's: the protection is coming from our circumstances rather than our deliberative efforts.
Terrorism is a complex thing. My bet is that as we waged wars in multiple nations, it became more advantageous for fanatics to strike where our military forces were. Without having to gain entry into the country, get past airport security (no matter what odds were), or hijack a plane, terrorists were able to kill over 4,000 Americans in Iraq and nearly 1,500 in Afghanistan. That's almost twice as many as were killed on 9/11.
If I were the leader of a group intent on killing Americans and Westerners in general, I certainly would go down that route rather than hijack planes.
ps there is no proof that it wasn't Lisa's rock. There are some very weird causal relationships in the world. Like shooting wolves causes the Aspen to die off in Wyoming. Or .... overfishing the Salmon in the Pacific changes the mix of trees along the rivers of the BC coast.....
It's pretty clear that it was not the rock. Ecosystems are constantly finding new equilibriums; killing off an herbivore's primary predator should cause a decline in vegetation. That is not surprising, nor is it difficult to prove (you can track all three populations simultaneously). There is also a causal mechanism at work that can explain the effect without the need for new assumptions (Occam's Razor).
The efficacy of the TSA and our security measures, on the other hand, are quite complex and are affected by numerous causes. Changes in travel patterns, other nations' actions, and an enemey's changing strategy all play a big role. You can't ignore all of these and pronounce our security gimmicks (and really, that's what patting down a 6 year-old is) to be so masterfully effective.
more...
gravytrain84
Mar 17, 11:48 AM
Way to rep LSU! TOPS money well spent.
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l178/akg0186/b98a24ee.png
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l178/akg0186/b98a24ee.png
smugDrew
Apr 12, 03:48 AM
Windows 8?!! :rolleyes: it's not even at Beta stage. More useless transparencies and now with extra fat Ribbon UI boobery. How exciting.
OS X Lion - if you're a Dev you shouldn't be talking about it...
OS X Lion - if you're a Dev you shouldn't be talking about it...
more...
tekker
May 4, 08:28 PM
Do you own a Horse instead of a car and do still own an out house?
How are styluses/pens/pencils outdated? Please answer, because I'd hate to be 'hundreds of years' behind the curve as you're putting it.
How are styluses/pens/pencils outdated? Please answer, because I'd hate to be 'hundreds of years' behind the curve as you're putting it.
ct2k7
Apr 23, 05:28 PM
I'd have to disagree. There are a lot of ways to keep tabs on someone if you wish to do them harm. The issue is whether the (as yet unknown) purpose of this data is useful enough to justify it's being there in the state it's in. There is no immediate way it gives anyone any special or expedient means of causing another harm. You'll need a lot of contingencies and variables come together to form specific cases. I really don't see that happening. That said, the reasons I've seen so far aren't that nefarious. It actually makes sense to be tracked in this way, especially in light of the argument that it's a caching mechanism in order to make it easier to switch from tower to tower. I can believe this. I don't believe there's any evil behind it. Nor do I for the moment believe this is easily accessible by anyone other than physically by the user/owner of the phone. And then it's likely not easy for the average person.
Said paedophile *before* this information has been able to track children without problems using other means, I'd wager. Likely easier means, though I'm not well-versed in the specific modus operandi of paedophiles. I suspect I'll need forensics/law enforcement training to get a complete understanding.
Besides, your example is based upon pure conjecture. First assumption is they are able to hack into their phone. Is hacking into iPhones remoely a big problem out in the wild? Not that I've heard or seen.
What I'm saying is take the "wait and see" aproach before we begin to vilify and condemn Apple as self-serving, careless data-mining opportunists.
So it's a plea for sanity. But I've noticed that whenever Apple's quarterly report rolls around and it's usually stellar news, the insanity of our loveable contrarians ramps up, purely for the purpose of being contrarians, as if we need to "balance out" all the enthusiasm with careful doses of negativity so we're not *too* positive. I'm not referring to you, roadbloc, by the way.
So in any case, this is my position, and I'll say it's the same position I'd take if it were Google and MS.
Read the first line.
Hack the computers, not the iPhones.
Said paedophile *before* this information has been able to track children without problems using other means, I'd wager. Likely easier means, though I'm not well-versed in the specific modus operandi of paedophiles. I suspect I'll need forensics/law enforcement training to get a complete understanding.
Besides, your example is based upon pure conjecture. First assumption is they are able to hack into their phone. Is hacking into iPhones remoely a big problem out in the wild? Not that I've heard or seen.
What I'm saying is take the "wait and see" aproach before we begin to vilify and condemn Apple as self-serving, careless data-mining opportunists.
So it's a plea for sanity. But I've noticed that whenever Apple's quarterly report rolls around and it's usually stellar news, the insanity of our loveable contrarians ramps up, purely for the purpose of being contrarians, as if we need to "balance out" all the enthusiasm with careful doses of negativity so we're not *too* positive. I'm not referring to you, roadbloc, by the way.
So in any case, this is my position, and I'll say it's the same position I'd take if it were Google and MS.
Read the first line.
Hack the computers, not the iPhones.
MattyMac
Sep 12, 07:36 AM
Oh man Oh man Oh man
DetroitDrillSGT
Mar 17, 08:53 AM
:rolleyes:
Leoff
Oct 2, 03:55 PM
Think about this: Apple is in hot water with some European countries for the "monopoly" Apple has with its iPod and iTunes Store.
Could DVD Jon's venture help alleviate some of those country's worries?
-Aaron-
Not really. Apple isn't in "hot water" with "some European countries", France has very strict regulations as far as their TV broadcast formats go and they wanted to try and cross that over into the music territory.
Could DVD Jon's venture help alleviate some of those country's worries?
-Aaron-
Not really. Apple isn't in "hot water" with "some European countries", France has very strict regulations as far as their TV broadcast formats go and they wanted to try and cross that over into the music territory.
Mac Fly (film)
Oct 19, 10:15 AM
I'd like to see the figures just for the UK rather than "international". I'm a firm believer that it's the Apple Stores that are causing the upswing. Outside of the US, the UK is the only country where Apple stores are expanding their reach, which would confirm whether or not my thinking is misguided.
Your thinking is not misguided. Now where's our bloody Apple Store in Ireland.
Your thinking is not misguided. Now where's our bloody Apple Store in Ireland.
katanna
Jan 9, 06:34 PM
wow, I am surprised... it timed out after 2.5 minutes, but since it has been running for over an hour now... yea!
Added: had a glitch at 1:14, but it fixed quick enough.
Matthew
Added: had a glitch at 1:14, but it fixed quick enough.
Matthew
Lord Blackadder
Aug 8, 12:43 PM
The problem with the US is out transportation system was never laid out for a good mass transit. We have massive urban sprawl and no real way solve that problem. Add in the fact that rail systems were never designed into the system so retrofitting them is will be very costly and very difficult to do.
We have plenty of rail, and we are building more. The problem is that people don't ride it. Just as we have plenty of fuel efficient cars, and more are coming to market - but people are still buying SUVs. We [rightly] blame oil companies for being grasping and short-sighted. But consumers also bear much of the blame.
As for the mass eletric cars I think you pass over my point about how most of them will be charged at night during off peak hours which means for the most part the grid can take a a huge number of them before we will start having a real issue.
It still would not even begin to handle the strain generated by millions of new electric cars suddenly appearing in driveways across America. Large-scale adoption of electric cars would just make coal and oil get burned faster by power companies. Yes, power plants are more efficient than most cars in producing energy. But we are still burning fossil fuels and polluting. Also, has anyone done a study to compare the true efficiency of the best full electrics vs an efficient, equivalent diesel or gas car? For example, given an identical amount of oil, which vehicle uses it more efficiently? A diesel hatchback or an electric that gets it's juice from a power plant burning oil? I'd be curious to see the results. I'm not trying to sound skeptical - I just don't know what the comparison would reveal.
We need something to replace the use of gas. Hybrids I will say are a great thing to bridge between our combustion engine and what ever is next. Things like the volt I think are the best examples of the bridge because we just need to replace the power generator and that is fairly easy to do compared to having to figure out some other type of engine to move the car. We have electric motors that we can advance for moving.
GM's European arm Opel created a concept diesel series hybrid, the stupidly named Flextreme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Flextreme), which promises dramatically improved fuel economy over the Volt. I just feel like any series hybrid that uses a gasoline engine is a foolishly crippled piece of technology when appropriate diesels are available and would deliver far superior fuel economy.
Reducing our usage of fuel I would argue is a dead end tech. All it will do is delay the problem but not solve it. Hybrids bridge us to the solution.
Reducing our fuel consumption is not a solution, but it is the first crucial step in bridging the gap between fossil fuels and whatever alternative we develop. We need time to transition, and if everyone practices conservation we buy more time to transition.
As yet, no hybrids on the market outperform straight diesel engined cars consistently, so the hybrid concept is still very much in its infancy. I have yet to be convinced, especially with the cost and [lack of efficiency] of the battery packs. They may ultimately meet expectations, but they haven't yet.
We have plenty of rail, and we are building more. The problem is that people don't ride it. Just as we have plenty of fuel efficient cars, and more are coming to market - but people are still buying SUVs. We [rightly] blame oil companies for being grasping and short-sighted. But consumers also bear much of the blame.
As for the mass eletric cars I think you pass over my point about how most of them will be charged at night during off peak hours which means for the most part the grid can take a a huge number of them before we will start having a real issue.
It still would not even begin to handle the strain generated by millions of new electric cars suddenly appearing in driveways across America. Large-scale adoption of electric cars would just make coal and oil get burned faster by power companies. Yes, power plants are more efficient than most cars in producing energy. But we are still burning fossil fuels and polluting. Also, has anyone done a study to compare the true efficiency of the best full electrics vs an efficient, equivalent diesel or gas car? For example, given an identical amount of oil, which vehicle uses it more efficiently? A diesel hatchback or an electric that gets it's juice from a power plant burning oil? I'd be curious to see the results. I'm not trying to sound skeptical - I just don't know what the comparison would reveal.
We need something to replace the use of gas. Hybrids I will say are a great thing to bridge between our combustion engine and what ever is next. Things like the volt I think are the best examples of the bridge because we just need to replace the power generator and that is fairly easy to do compared to having to figure out some other type of engine to move the car. We have electric motors that we can advance for moving.
GM's European arm Opel created a concept diesel series hybrid, the stupidly named Flextreme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Flextreme), which promises dramatically improved fuel economy over the Volt. I just feel like any series hybrid that uses a gasoline engine is a foolishly crippled piece of technology when appropriate diesels are available and would deliver far superior fuel economy.
Reducing our usage of fuel I would argue is a dead end tech. All it will do is delay the problem but not solve it. Hybrids bridge us to the solution.
Reducing our fuel consumption is not a solution, but it is the first crucial step in bridging the gap between fossil fuels and whatever alternative we develop. We need time to transition, and if everyone practices conservation we buy more time to transition.
As yet, no hybrids on the market outperform straight diesel engined cars consistently, so the hybrid concept is still very much in its infancy. I have yet to be convinced, especially with the cost and [lack of efficiency] of the battery packs. They may ultimately meet expectations, but they haven't yet.
No comments:
Post a Comment