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Cool, but I think that even when useful quantum computers become a thing, they'll be the huge room-filling things used mostly for simulation at quantum scales. Mortals like most of us won't ever get to program them, and we wouldn't understand it anyway. Eventually quantum computing would become cheaper, and we might start seeing services pop up where you can submit parameters for a fixed set of problems that they can solve.
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Maybe. I don't count it as a true quantum computer. D-Wave is cool and quantumy, but afaik only applicable to some specific problems, even more niche than a proper quantum computer would be.
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Does it do email?
Regards,
Rob Philpott.
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To some extent the possibility is already there.
You know the advice to use those 'military grade' disk wipe applications before you give an already used hard-drive to another person - it's because the amplitude of the magnetism on a disk gives away the previous values stored on that physical part of the disk.
I am surprised that nobody has yet developed a disk/driver that will allow multiple bits to be written at the same time using this feature of being able to measure the amplitude of the magnetism - you could triple disk size.
There again I am not an electronics engineer so I may be off on one...
“That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
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I read In five years, Microsoft’s share of personal computing fell from 90 to 33% [^] from apple insider.
Their title claims that PC is losing market share... that is true, but what I don't understand is :
-How do they conclude it falls from 90 to 33% from their graph "PC (+tablet) shipment" ?
-Why Microsoft should care, since PC shipment are not so much impacted by the tablet market ?
-How does it show that people drops PC for tablets and phone ?
My interpretation of the same graph is that consumers are giving more money to the whole device industry, not that personal computer relevance is dropping.
Same number, different interpretation, am I biased ?
modified 14-Oct-13 4:24am.
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I think they probably means computing used to be PC, dominated by Microsoft.
Computing is now PC + tablet + iPhone + iPod + iWatch + iGlass (or gGlass?), not dominated by Microsoft, ergo Apple is taking over the world! ^_^
On a similar topic I used to think I have to change my PC every 3 years to keep up, but now, my monster desktop from 2010 is still very decent! I think I will wait until I can buy an affordable laptop which can beat it...
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on the other hand they make you change your iStuff every year 
The point is that it is common belief that tablet and phone are replacing computer for the consumers market, but the numbers does not show the computer industry declining at all.
The only imperceptible decline might be attributed to the stupid Windows 8 OS, as when vista released... which was compensated when Windows 7 released in 2009.
I feel this is because when people equals "lose of market share" to "selling less", where in reality the pie just become bigger.
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Nicolas Dorier wrote: on the other hand they make you change your iStuff every year
The point is that it is common belief that tablet and phone are replacing computer for the consumers market, but the numbers does not show the computer industry declining at all.
The only imperceptible decline might be attributed to the stupid Windows 8 OS, as when vista released... which was compensated when Windows 7 released in 2009.
I feel this is because when people equals "lose of market share" to "selling less", where in reality the pie just become bigger.
Apple makes you change it??? I guess if Gallagher can smash watermelons on your front lawn, Apple can smash apples on your lawn until you are forced to upgrade to their latest toy. http://s.codeproject.com/script/Forums/Images/smiley_redface.gif
Personally, I still use XP and even DOS and 95 (also Linux). If it "ain't broke, don't fix it"! Unlike what the new CEO did to Yahoo e-mail. What used to work fine is now a disaster. They felt they had to compete with Google by emulating G-Mail. If I wanted to use G-Mail, I would have switched. Now Yahoo is driving me there as at least it works.
Back on topic, desktops are not selling like they used to sell. You can achieve pretty much the same thing (in most cases) with a good laptop. And people who bought laptops due to their portability are now buying tablets. Much more convenient (and longer battery usage before recharging). Also, desktops and laptops are lasting longer than in the early days. Even businesses are slow to migrate with many still using XP. Just because Microsoft ends support doesn'r mean XP is going to stop running. Plus many of the non-Microsoft products will continue to run (unless you upgrade, of course). People in the consumer market found out they can do what they need to do with a tablet and not be concerned that its not Windows iPads and Androids get the job done for most home users and for many business users. Of course, if you are developing code, that is another matter. I also wouldn't want to develop a spreadsheet on a tablet or even write a lengthy message (unless I have a small, but usable keyboard).
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People in the consumer market found out they can do what they need to do with a tablet and not be concerned that its not Windows iPads and Androids get the job done for most home users and for many business users.
That is the point of this topic. What you say is what every blogger says, but the numbers are telling otherwise : People do not replace laptop and pc with tablets.
Check the link I gave, it is the number of laptop shipment from 2008. It did not slow down one bit.
The effect of a bad Windows version is way more important to shipment than the release of any android or istuff.
That's what I don't understand : why we have the same numbers but different interpretation.
modified 15-Oct-13 8:07am.
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Super Lloyd wrote: I used to think I have to change my PC every 3 years to keep up
Exactly the same here. My current desktop was put together when Win7 was released and still gets the job done very well. My current laptop is six months older with Win7 and also performs exceptionally well. Like you, I had been on about a 3 year replacement schedule, but that cycle has now been broken...and barring a major hardware failure, I can see both workstations serving me well for at least another two years.
There was a previous thread discussing the decrease in PC sales over the last few years. One of the explanations for the trend was that we had achieved 'desktop nirvana', or at least gotten a point where it's good enough for most users.
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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Nicolas Dorier wrote: Same number, different correct interpretation
But you can't expect the apple insider to say "Hey, Microsoft's doing pretty well!", can you?
I dare say that there's a pro-MS site somewhere with exactly the same figures, but using them as proof that apple is collapsing into oblivion.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Apple has changed the world. Android is taking it over. And by Android I mean Linux. 
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Not really. Linux is good for power users, and the ocasional enthusiast.
Company wise, it's still all windows. There's really no way to escape it.
I think untill linux gets a decent bite on the company/industry cake, it can never never a decent foothold on the consumer side.
I have an android tablet, and tried an android phone. It's all fun and games to mess around with, but I pretty much put the tablet down and barely touched it in a while. It's fun to play around with, but on the other hand, i just love my windows phone.
Not that it's better or worse. I do sometimes wish that I could change a couple more settings than it lets me, but as a phone, i like it way more than android, because "it just works". And that's really the bottom line, useability.
The normal user has no time to mess around with the phone, and figure out what is the best to do something on it. If i want to do something on my windows phone, I just do it, and it's done and I don't have to worry about it. (Android sometimes thinks on it's own and does something different that I intended, I think skynet is becoming self aware.)
Oh and the seamless sync and interaction with my windows 8 on the pc. Awsome. I had to do 0 work for it to function perfectly, even with several accounts. And on the company side, that's what's important. It's now how perfect it is, it's how good it works with minimal effort.
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Oh, for sure, Windows is on the Enterprise Desktop in a big way.
But it is being worn down by consumer devices elsewhere.
This might sound crazy, but I had reason to suppose that two of my Linux boxes had suffered a Privilege Escalation attack while my Android phone was physically connected, so the Windows/Linux security discussion is far from closed.
Android is older, less patched Linux and is a juicy target for the bad guys.
I switched to BlackBerry. Loving the Z10, does a few more and a few less things than my Android, but there is no physical connection to Linux at all, you have to share over a temporary WiFi bridge.
Who knows, maybe in a year this will be 'security by obscurity'? 
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Well, to be fair, Windows came in the mobile market wayyyyy too late.
Windows 8 is trying to fix it, and I have to say, on the mobile phone side, it works brilliantly.
The confusion because of Metro (that a LOT of people seem to think is the only UI available even on a desktop) is what is holding MS down right now.
I remember when they changed the office suite to use the ribbon. Oh snap, IT everywhere wanted to burn down microsoft. But after a while they went with it.
Yes windows 8 is flawed, the lack of a start menu is weird for a lot of people, but it changed nothing about the way I use windows. I always am at desktop mode, and never use metro. the only time I use the metro is when I press windows key and search for an application by name and press enter to open it. The SAME EXACT WAY I did with the start menu.
I never used a BlackBerry, but heard good things about them. Scurity wise... Security on the phone side, starts and ends with the user. Even the other day I watched a video about the public charging stations ijecting malware into the phone while you think it's only getting some extra juice for the day.
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So true; Metro sounds similar to the Ubuntu 'Unity' system that people are supposed to dislike so much.
I use it exclusively at home and on some of our (cross) dev machines at work.
Metro and Unity are possibly quicker and easier than scanning through dozens of nested menus to find a programme; Unity I know will find things based on description and function as well as name, and it keeps a recent cache.
Personal preference I suppose. I like having 100% width for my applications.
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Grammar alert. The error replacing the correct "losing market share" with the incorrect and meaningless "loosing market share" is becoming so common. Why? "loosen" is what you do when your trousers are too tight.
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fixed, I would say I hit the 'o' key too hard. 
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It's understandable, at least. If you want an "oo" sound, then the temptation must be there to type the letters that represent that sound.
Such understandable errors can always be overcome with a little judicious flogging.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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So, i'm not the only one that's sick of those articles?
I'm brazilian and english (well, human languages in general) aren't my best skill, so, sorry by my english. (if you want we can speak in C# or VB.Net =p)
"Given the chance I'd rather work smart than work hard." - PHS241
"'Sophisticated platform' typically means 'I have no idea how it works.'"
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Its a bigger pie, but people make decisions based on who holds the most of the entire pie. And rightfully so -- no single developer can keep a company alive, they must follow the crowd or vanish themselves. Case in point, blackberry -- smaller slice of the bigger pie -> fewer apps -> diminishing market share -> goodbye.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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I don't have the number of BlackBerry, but I think their shipment decreased. (I might be wrong on that)
But one thing is sure, that's not happening with PC. That is to say : people do not replace PC with tablet and smartphone, contrary to popular wisdom. Numbers shows it.
So why tech blogs keep trolling on it ?
One thing is sure : the PC industry stop growing because it is ubiquitous.
There is no growth in this market, that explain why there is less and less marketing for it, that tech companies are pushing other devices, and tech blogs following it.
But the point is there is no decrease as well, contrary to what happened to mainframes or BlackBerry for example.
It is like electricity, once it reached the critical size, people stop talking about it because there is no potential growth left.
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Having watched the decline and vanishing of blackberry from the point of view of a blackberry user, I'm watching the same pattern repeat with laptops and desktops. I expect the same result. Partly, it requires the manufacturers actively attempting to kill the product -- blackberry successfully did this, laptop and PC manufacturers are currently engaged in doing so.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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I am working on a generic code editor application (if I can get VS to cooperate with me) and I am using PowerShell for the build scripts.
I basically have a few scripts with utility functions, and the main ci-build.ps1 script that references the other scripts.
Any PowerShell tips you guys would like to share?
EDIT: And now I have found that MSBuild doesn't like a full path to a solution file, it just says the current working directory does not contain a solution or project file. 
The working directory doesn't have a solution file, but I pass the absolute path to MSBuild, so one would think it would work.
Keep Clam And Proofread
--
√(-1) 23 ∑ π...
And it was delicious.
modified 13-Oct-13 18:10pm.
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