Fuad Abazovic waves the INQ goodbye

SUBJECT: PS3 Price

Here in Sweden the PS3 is announced for pre-order at the bargain price of SEK 6500. Or about US$920. Could you please tell Sony that they can stick it up their posterior.

Bjorn

Subject: Quantum research

Nick

at no time has Quantum Research suggested that Apple has "nicked our touch screen". This is a gross exaggeration. Quantum has simply said that it will be "looking carefully at the iPhone" when the product appears.

I trust that the Inquirer does not wish to mislead its readers and if you would like to speak to Hal Philipp to get an accurate perspective on this story I can arrange an interview.

I am responsible for their public relations.

Regards
Bob Jones

Subject: Fudo leaves the Inq?!?

..And make his own site?!!

For heaven's sake, does that mean that from now on I'll have to look at TWO websites every morning?! Where will all this end?!

Mcbalaban

Subject: fudo

This is NOT a flame.

Good luck to you Fuad. Sincerely. I believe this is my second letter to Inq ever, and I believe this warrants it. I've read the Inq ALOT over the years, and while not everything is 100 percent accurate, it is the first thing i look at when i pop onto the web. I could never understand the utter lack of dignity some people have in regards to Fuad. If it weren't for people like him that push the envelope of news and such, the web would be a pretty boring place, for me at least.

I really don't know how he handles all the critisism he recieves, but i have huge respect for him for being able to do so. In fact, if he does have some involvement in RyderMark, i will purchase it for that reason alone, to show my support. And i've already bookmarked his new website. I hope everyone at the Inq appreciates what he's done.

And I have no doubt that there are companies out there that USE Fuad to spread dissinformation and lies, in the interest of distancing themselves from said lies. The people that use the Inq as pawns are the ones that should be chastised and punished, not the other way around. It sickens me and it has for a long time. I'm sure there are many reporters for the Inq that get used in that way. In any event, I really do wish Fuad the best of luck. So many people bash him, it makes me very VERY angry. So this is my only way to show some appreciation, and i'm sure others feel similarily.

Again, good luck Fuad.

waffles

Subject: What the @#$! is a "Bogger"

Why do you insist on making your website so hard to read with all kinds of invented gibberish words? It's not a substitute for wit or insight, nor is it cute or endearing; it's simply annoying.

PLEASE JUST STOP AND TRY SOMETHING NEW

Your website provides useful information that would otherwise be a pleasure to read.

regards,
Sean

Subject: Use your mobile phone to buy a Big Mac

.. in a totally unrelated news story: Diagnoses of heart disease in Japan expected to double in within 18 months.

matt

Subject: Abazovic tells Daily Tech to get a life

Well, good riddance Fudo.

The collective IQ will suddenly jump up at the Inquirer at the end of the month then.

It's a win-win situation if ever there was one. Fudo can now freely pursue his never-ending quest for a clue.

For the rest of us, it will again be worth reading the articles about graphics cards at the Inq.

And I can toss my flame thrower away.

Richard

Subject: Fuad's new website

Hello,

I got the link of Fuad's new website, it seems to be in a language other than english, he could have made an english version, couldn't he?

Muaathtj

Subject: They deserve all they get ..

After receiving multiple marketing crap emails from Halifax each of which having a handy link to one of their sites requiring the user to log-in, I thought I'd mail them to suggest it a bad idea, what with phishing and all that.

After going through a tiresomely lengthy exchange with them suggesting they say something along the lines of 'never click a link to a site in an email from a bank, always type the address directly' they still couldn't see the problem.

Hope they lose millions, might wake them up ...

gs wood

Subject: Geforce go 7 series :(

Hi Mike,

I own a Dell Inspiron 9400 laptop with a Geforce go 9700. The standard screen sucks but otherwise a fairly nice machine. When I check nVidias website and look under Geforce Go 7 Series it says:

Since all GeForce Go 7 Series GPUs are designed to be compatible with the next-generation Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system (OS), you can rest assured that your investment in your notebook PC will serve you well into the future!

Hmm I have a little trouble finding any Vista driver for my card. And besides that i have not seen a new XP driver from the Geforce Go 7 series since July 5 2006 (84.63). Apparently the Geforce Go 7 series needs a "special" driver like the 8800, and nVidia dont "think" about the "little" Geforce Go 7 series users.....

Spread the word and make some noice :-) TK

Subject: fudo

fudo will be missed.

now need to learn Bosnian

virtblue

Subject: Other PS3 changes!

Sony has eluded to other changes for the EU machines as well as the PS2 compatibility, but these seem to have been missed/glossed over by the majority of discussions. I think they even claim they are doing it to 'improve' the console for the European buyers!

The only reason for any changes is cost reduction, plain and simple. If this is the case then how can we guarantee that they haven't changed anything else in a more subtle way, such as using lower spec' CPUs that would have failed the quality tests for the US and Japanese machines. Maybe the CPU speed will be slower, or the memory be of poorer quality? The only way we'll know for sure is when PS3s from each of the regions are taken apart and tested for commonality.

Considering how Sony has treated its consumers in the past, especially in Europe, how can we trust what they say any more.

Remember 'the proof of the pudding is in the eating', only I guess there will be many less eating at the Sony table this year.

After resisting the urge to purchase an XBOX360 for over a year in anticipation of the Sony launch, I for one am very disappointed. I will instead be tucking in to some XBOX360 delights soon, while my kids will be playing with their WII. [pun intended ;-)]

David Loosemore

Subject: regarding my previos email about Fuad

PS. It's gonna be a little difficult for me to read though! heh

Waffles

Subject: Canon loses flat panel telly trademark case

BAH!!!!

When will this technology come out..... grr my 9 year old 19" Flat tube CRT is starting to die and I don't want LCD, that tech is crap for my uber 1337 gamerz rig ;). SED is so much better!! Why is it always like this, some really great display tech that actually is better than any other display tech out there which has all the important qualities of CRT but doesn't take your whole freaking desk. Cheap, scallability, low power, thin, light, excellent response time, what else could you want but because of some stupid legal crap we have to wait until this stupid battle is done and then this tech will probably go the way of the 400GB optical disk I read about in 2001 using florencense and up to 4 layers that had a theoretical 1Tb throughput..... yeah you guessed it, this tech put on the shelf until BD/HD-DVD is old (this tech had working models in 2001). I guess we are going to have to wait through at least 2 or 3 more optical disk formats (about 5 years) before we see this.

GRRRRRR IP (Intellectual Property)you suck, I propose a change in the IP regulations that states any tech should be forced to license their IP to anyone (as long as the license is payed of course). I don't think that IP will go away but hell if companies are forced by law to license their tech to competitors, you know us the people that this stuff is created for in the first freaking place would truly have novel innovation and great products that actually work together.

The only place where I believe that the current model of IP is usefull is in military/banking/police type realms. For the general populus these IP practises are abhorent and stifle progress and innovation. Hell here is an idea have two levels of IP one for general public one for military/banking/police type environments. Technology is the one of the only fields in life where the end user is protected the least. Well I guess our governments don't think that the people they SERVE!!!!!! can get screwed out of a pile of money and their health (remeber electronics is made of very poisness stuff, when you change your hardware every 2 to 3 years this stuff eventually gets thrown out) and hell what about people having their identities stolen where they get the royal crap treatment.

Anyway I've babbled enough, needed to let some steam out. Too bad I've been waiting for this tech for about 5 years now (ever since I read this article http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=6986) how much longer do I need to wait for this tech.

Dan B.

Subject: PS3 Pre-orders

Hi,

On the day your article about Wii pre-orders was released, all pre-orders were filled. At the time I was really looking forward to the PS3.

I pre-ordered Wii in three places and two of them by November could not guarantee launch day delivery so I cancelled them. My nephew's birthday happened to coincide with the Wii launch weekend.

At the same time, I signed up at Game, HMV, Comet, Amazon and Argos for PS3 pre-order notifications. Why is it that I can still order a PS3 from Amazon & Game with guaranteed launch day delivery.

The reasons why I am not getting one is:

* The killer app - Gears of War & Pro Evo 6. I bought a 360 just to play Gears.
* No rumble you cheap B******s Sony. It's obvious the rumble was taken out cos of Immersion and not manufacturing.
* £425 for console without hi-def support in the box. You have to buy another cable.
* What games are worth getting the console: None, maybe Metal Gear but without rumble will it be as good???
* £50 for games, I'd rather get the 360 version.
* 1080P - 360 does 1080i on my Bravia and Gears looks sweet so who cares about 1080P. There is only one plasma that can actually do 1080P (Pioneer PDP-5000EX) and that's £5000.
* Do I really need blu-ray when I have Sky HD? Not really.

I was sooooooo excited about PS3 and now I'm just put off it. The Wii is fantastic when people come round. Everyone looks it, especially Wii Bowling and Wii Tennis. I love playing Pro Evo 6 online or wif ma bro. I've bought six games for my 360. I had the original XBox and can I just say the Vole actually listen to customers. They took an ugly box and made it look "Wow", wireless joypads, lighter joypads and four shoulder buttons with RUMBLE and great online options. Initially, I dissed the 360 when I saw Killzone back in 2005 but now I'm glad I changed my mind.

Sony you have lost a customer. Here is how you can win me back:

* Drop the price to be competitive
* Some games worth buying like Gran Turismo & Metal Gear
* Make Grand Theft Auto 4 exclusive to PS3
* Some other cool exclusives otherwise people are just going to get the cheaper 360.
* Most important of all - Settle with Immersion like Microsoft and replace all controllers with rumble support.

Enough ranting, my nephew is round and it's time for Wii bowling.

Tayib

Subject: Microsoft's intellectual property claims

Dear Mike, I have been doing some research lately into Microsoft's intellectual property claims, since I wanted to know in the most honest sense if they do have any kind of a legitimate case against Linux. What I found is that I think the case is even more biased towards Sun, IBM, Linux, Novell and all the others than I originally thought. My original assertion stands that the last noises Ballmer made were partly his fear that Dell is going to start selling Linux preinstalled, but I also think he is terrified at the thought of having real competition and knows that Microsoft has no substantial intellectual property to use as leverage against anyone.

No one but Microsoft makes real money off selling an operating system. Apple basically makes none, and Sun probably actually looses money on Solaris. Most companies that sell operating systems never make any substantial money off them (at least in the present business environment), and that is why IBM was so eager to let Microsoft keep DOS in the beginning. Any person with half a brain would have known that DOS was worthless at the time, but Bill Gates figured out how to artificially inflate its value.

Hence Sun also wants to try and get the open source community to help them develop and maintain Solaris to help them save money on it. AIX and HP-UX are basically worth nothing unless the entity selling them is also selling big iron to go with them, and Red Hat, Novell and all the rest would never be able to make money off Linux if they did not get most of the operating system for free.

US patent law as it pertains to software is totally ridiculous, because software is pure logic. In the case of DeCSS, a California court even found that software source code was free and protected speech, and I think that is the position the US Supreme Court will take when a software patent case that will allow a decision on the issue finally makes its way to the court: they will decide that copyright law applies to software but not patent law.

The idea of patenting software is like patenting mathematical equations, and the case law in this country that established the patentability of computer programmes is flawed. Had it been legitimate, SCO would have been able to at least make a reasonable argument that IBM had actually infringed its legal rights. That is assuming SCO really does have the rights it claims it bought from Novell; Novell is still involved in legal actions that disputes that, and I am pretty certain they will win if the case is decided before SCO goes bankrupt and has no real assets left.

The point is that if software were substantial enough to be patentable, SCO should have had some kind of a case that would have at least sounded reasonable enough to a court to make for a decent trial. Instead SCO has turned out looking like a bunch of fools during discovery, and I am of the opinion that Microsoft now knows that there is no way they will ever be able to go after Linux on intellectual property grounds. I think the figure Microsoft had to pay Sun for infringing Solaris patents a few years back was on the order of two billion to settle out of court, and it would have been a whole lot more if Sun actually made money out of Solaris. All of Solaris is basically worth $5 billion, so two is almost half what the entire operating system is worth. Microsoft also signed an agreement years ago that guaranteed Office on Apple machines just to keep Apple from suing over the look and feel of its software being totally copied.

Things like NTFS and everything else Microsoft uses are generic (and not even superior generic versions) implementations of software engineering technology, and that is one reason Microsoft is always having to pay some one for infringing a patent. I could not find a single case were another company had to pay a significant amount for infringing a Microsoft patent, because they do not have any show-stopping ones. The major cases I could find that involved Microsoft were for them infringing AT&T's patents (The Supreme Court will overturn that one.) and the half billion dollar award to that Chicago company for Internet Explorer infringements.

My legal recommendation for Microsoft would be to come out in favour of doing away with software patents, because it is looking like most of the UNIX software Windows infringes is going to be released under the GPL3. I would bet shortly after Solaris is GPLed that AIX and HP-UX will be, and then everyone will have cross patent protection under the GPL. Microsoft will be the odd company out trying to face everyone alone, and there may be a few companies that may decide to take a chunk out of them for fun.

Your Friend,
Will

PS Since the music industry is going to drop DRM, have you wondered if Microsoft will pull DRM out of Vista if the motion picture industry does, too?

Subject: fudo

As a fellow Bosnian, blogger, and INQ reader, I'll miss reading Fudo's graphics and industry articles. Best of luck to him.

armin

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