Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on May 25, 2007 08:10 AM
That is one of the reasons I made it clear that my skepticism should NOT be confused with whether or not you had written a good article, and why I phrased things as real (not "let's pretend") questions.
Let us start with the unbiased bit. I said that I accept your article was unbiased, I stated the reasons why I might be unsure (so that everything was declared), and I have not changed my mind on that. I believe your article to be unbiased and I accept your word completely that you put enormous effort into making sure what you write is genuine. You are to be complimented on that. Not many writers have that level of maturity.
It is indeed very easy to bash, and I see a lot of other posters did indeed do so. My questions serve one purpose and one purpose alone - to find things out. I can't speak for others, but it was clear that many "questions" posted were never intended to be answered.
It is easy to bash ideas intended for people the basher will never meet, who live in countries the basher has never been to. It is certainly true that I personally have never been to Africa. Many of my relatives have, but that is not first-hand knowledge.
My own journeys are limited to most of Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, America, New Zealand and Australia, and my understanding of extremes is limited to what I have personally experienced in places such as North Dakota, both Northern and Southern Alps, assorted tropical rainforests and the terrors of the Breckon Beacons.
My knowledge of living conditions is likewise limited to personal experience. My experience of shanty towns and traveller wagons is first-hand. My knowledge of slums isn't from books or a pair of binoculars at a viewpoint, but from being there.
And I know, from everyone I've talked to, that my experiences barely even touched the merest fringes of what day-to-day life was like. However, it is the only experience I can personally vouch for and therefore is the only experience I can base any meaningful, honest questions around.
Then come the questions themselves. Do I expect them all to be answered with a "yes"? This is effectively version 1. Nobody, nobody at all, expects version 1 to have everything in place. Not even me.
So why ask? Because then I know what aspects of the machine I can match with my experience and, from that, conclude where I would expect the machine to do well and where I would expect the machine to not do well. It's all a matter of context. Know the context and everything else is simple numbers.
The YouTube video is not credible, because this isn't an issue of language or nationality, this is all a question of context. I already know the computer works well in the context of a room with electricity - your article is sufficient to show that.
Each of my questions targets a different context. One looks at groups who remain as groups but are mobile for whatever reason. Another looks at the effects of climate - and when it rains in Wales, it rains HARD. My questions are not aimed at discrediting the Classmate PC, but are aimed at discovering more about it.
Are my replies long and rambling? Probably. I've often been accused of being the Pontiff of Pontificating Posts. Is this a bad thing? Not usually. You can't put something the size of a planet into a tiny box. People probably won't read it all, but I'd rather be complete than popular.
But are my replies angry? Hopefully not today. That used to be a problem, a long time ago, but these days my aim is to get the thoughts flowing rather than the adrenaline. If my earlier post suggested otherwise (and assuming you've read this far), apologies.
Lastly, I will tackle the issue of intelligent readers. Intelligence is commonplace, experience is not, and it is experience which matters here. Intelligence allows one to infer that being out in the Australian desert in summer will be hot, and that being in the Badlands of the Dakotas in winter will be cold. That's important to know, and makes a whole one-fifth of those factors I consider significant.
Intelligence won't tell you anything about the other four-fifths and won't help you know what would be a reasonable, workable, cost-effective solution/compromise for any of them. For that, experience alone is what matters. And with no disrespect intended to anyone here, I probably have more experience than the majority of posters - and my experience is almost nothing compared to those living there.
This is a complex problem, demanding a thorough analysis if the analysis is to be truly complete. Your article may end up being part of that analysis. Who knows? All that I consider to be certain is that there are key questions for which I'm not seeing anyone provide an answer, and that bothers me.
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Re:Inadequate review.
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on May 25, 2007 08:10 AMLet us start with the unbiased bit. I said that I accept your article was unbiased, I stated the reasons why I might be unsure (so that everything was declared), and I have not changed my mind on that. I believe your article to be unbiased and I accept your word completely that you put enormous effort into making sure what you write is genuine. You are to be complimented on that. Not many writers have that level of maturity.
It is indeed very easy to bash, and I see a lot of other posters did indeed do so. My questions serve one purpose and one purpose alone - to find things out. I can't speak for others, but it was clear that many "questions" posted were never intended to be answered.
It is easy to bash ideas intended for people the basher will never meet, who live in countries the basher has never been to. It is certainly true that I personally have never been to Africa. Many of my relatives have, but that is not first-hand knowledge.
My own journeys are limited to most of Britain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, America, New Zealand and Australia, and my understanding of extremes is limited to what I have personally experienced in places such as North Dakota, both Northern and Southern Alps, assorted tropical rainforests and the terrors of the Breckon Beacons.
My knowledge of living conditions is likewise limited to personal experience. My experience of shanty towns and traveller wagons is first-hand. My knowledge of slums isn't from books or a pair of binoculars at a viewpoint, but from being there.
And I know, from everyone I've talked to, that my experiences barely even touched the merest fringes of what day-to-day life was like. However, it is the only experience I can personally vouch for and therefore is the only experience I can base any meaningful, honest questions around.
Then come the questions themselves. Do I expect them all to be answered with a "yes"? This is effectively version 1. Nobody, nobody at all, expects version 1 to have everything in place. Not even me.
So why ask? Because then I know what aspects of the machine I can match with my experience and, from that, conclude where I would expect the machine to do well and where I would expect the machine to not do well. It's all a matter of context. Know the context and everything else is simple numbers.
The YouTube video is not credible, because this isn't an issue of language or nationality, this is all a question of context. I already know the computer works well in the context of a room with electricity - your article is sufficient to show that.
Each of my questions targets a different context. One looks at groups who remain as groups but are mobile for whatever reason. Another looks at the effects of climate - and when it rains in Wales, it rains HARD. My questions are not aimed at discrediting the Classmate PC, but are aimed at discovering more about it.
Are my replies long and rambling? Probably. I've often been accused of being the Pontiff of Pontificating Posts. Is this a bad thing? Not usually. You can't put something the size of a planet into a tiny box. People probably won't read it all, but I'd rather be complete than popular.
But are my replies angry? Hopefully not today. That used to be a problem, a long time ago, but these days my aim is to get the thoughts flowing rather than the adrenaline. If my earlier post suggested otherwise (and assuming you've read this far), apologies.
Lastly, I will tackle the issue of intelligent readers. Intelligence is commonplace, experience is not, and it is experience which matters here. Intelligence allows one to infer that being out in the Australian desert in summer will be hot, and that being in the Badlands of the Dakotas in winter will be cold. That's important to know, and makes a whole one-fifth of those factors I consider significant.
Intelligence won't tell you anything about the other four-fifths and won't help you know what would be a reasonable, workable, cost-effective solution/compromise for any of them. For that, experience alone is what matters. And with no disrespect intended to anyone here, I probably have more experience than the majority of posters - and my experience is almost nothing compared to those living there.
This is a complex problem, demanding a thorough analysis if the analysis is to be truly complete. Your article may end up being part of that analysis. Who knows? All that I consider to be certain is that there are key questions for which I'm not seeing anyone provide an answer, and that bothers me.
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