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    ARS should stop reviewing ICE vehicles- it only encourages them

    Now's a good time to start! The tide is definitely shifting.
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    ARS should stop reviewing ICE vehicles- it only encourages them

    Why would you want to rely on a technology site for your ICE car reviews, then? Ars is not only better-suited to EV reviews as a tech-centric outlet, it has a certain responsibility to promote an eco-friendly future as a publication with a clear pro-environment stance (and otherwise making its...
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    I don’t understand how Android is the dominant phone platform.

    There are a few factors, but they're fairly simple. Google offered a free or inexpensive licensed mobile OS at a time when Microsoft was charging a small fortune to license Windows Mobile/Phone. It made a lot more sense than Windows if you were operating on razor-thin profit margins. Android...
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    iPhone is great but no ecosystem for Windows folks

    Muscle yes, commitment no. Microsoft's problem in the Ballmer era was that absolutely everything at the company had to be subservient to Windows on PCs. Windows Phone was only ever allowed to be a side project. It didn't get the full weight of the company behind it (Joe Belfiore even...
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    Is Google an evil company?

    I'm not that angry about Google, but it's clearly not the "don't do evil" company it was, if it ever was. Then again, I knew the company was somewhat disingenuous in 2010, when it was in full-on "Android is open! Open open open open open!" mode at the same time as it was promoting use of a...
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    2019 16 Inch MacBook Pro

    The changes all seem welcome, but I must admit the figure that keeps reeling me in: support for 8TB of storage. You could edit substantial 4K videos on this thing without immediately scrambling for external drives. YouTubers like Marques Brownlee could leave the iMac Pro at home... well, if...
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    Tech cos are scams

    To me, the biggest problem with this notion that companies 'owe' dividends and buybacks is that it contributes to what's wrong with not just tech companies, but business as a whole: that obsession with pleasing investors in the short term at the expense of long-term viability. These payouts...
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    Windows Phone is now officially dead: A sad tale of what might have been

    I think we can boil down Windows Phone/Mobile's failure to one simple problem: there was never a sense of urgency. It's not just that Microsoft didn't grasp the magnitude of the threat posed by the iPhone (or later Android), it's that the company never really devoted the resources needed to...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    Surprised not one person has mentioned that Samsung's leader has been arrested over alleged bribery. This is tied to South Korea's presidential scandal, but still... doesn't look good when the company's ruling family has had two leaders go behind bars (the only reason Lee Kun-hee is out is...
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    Battlefront predictions thread 2017

    Quick predictions because I realize these can be drawn out: Microsoft - Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 arrive with newer processors and welcome design improvements - Surface phone arrives, but it's too little too late no matter how good it is - Windows mobile continues on path toward...
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    Am I the only one around here who think mirrorless is just better?

    I see it this way: DSLRs still definitely have their use cases, but the range of those cases is rapidly dwindling... and in some situations, a mirrorless might be a much better option. Street photography is where mirrorless shines. It's not just that it's easier to carry and wield a...
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    Facebook listening to conversations?

    I'm tempted to invoke Betteridge's Law (even though this is a forum thread and not a news article): if a headline ends with a serious question, the answer is always "no." It's more likely that Facebook is pulling info from elsewhere than it is that it's eavesdropping on conversations. I mean...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    Reuters suggested that the holding company strategy was at least partly meant to keep the Lee family in power (I'm having trouble finding the link). Boost their influence and keep the spirit of the chaebol intact.
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    So Samsung saw its profits drop 30 percent year over year thanks to the Note 7 debacle, and its mobile group made its lowest profit since late 2008. The upside: its mobile division still turned a profit despite the costs of giving up the Note 7. However, the real problem is what you see in Q4...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    Very bad. Even if your product works, it's a sign that it will probably stop working soon... and when it does, it could easily end up in a fire.
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    I don't think this is fatal for Samsung, but it couldn't come at a worse time. First, of course: the Note 7 was supposed to be the staple of Samsung's holiday quarter. It not only loses that revenue, but racks up expenses from the botched recall, the likely imminent second recall, the...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    The issue isn't so much stock versus custom as Samsung's implementation. TouchWiz still imposes a lot of overhead, duplicates Google apps (at least some of which are similar quality) and only sometimes offers meaningful improvements. Some users talk about a "decay" where the phone bogs down...
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    New New Razer Blade

    The rumor goes that it'll use an AMD Polaris-baed GPU. Which kinda sucks, but makes sense. The laptop GTX 1060 isn't wholly incapable of going into thin-and-light systems, but I understand that it's relatively power-hungry. Apple probably wants something that would be fine in an even thinner...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    The bigger issue may be that the Note 7 is going off the market until Samsung has things sorted out. There'll be a conspicuous dearth of Note 7s... but gee, there's a lot of iPhone 7 Pluses. Samsung must be thankful that it has the S7 Edge, because it otherwise wouldn't have a modern...
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    Is Samsung in trouble?

    I'm surprised no one has touched on Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 recall yet. Suffice it to say that this is very bad timing for Samsung. It barely launched the phone, supplies were tight, and it's entering the holiday quarter. Even though the Note 7 isn't as big as the Galaxy S7, missing out on...