TheUnbeholden said:
O maestre said:
i do not think you can effectively boycott Microsoft, as an electronic engineering student I have time and time again been surprised by just how much of our technology has a Microsoft patent alongside it thanks to aggressive corporate acquisitions , whether it be hardware, software, complete machines, operating systems, drivers, components or even peripherals along with part ownership of some new outlets. Believe me Microsoft gets its piece of the pie no matter which kind of pie it is. There is a reason that both American and European courts have hauled Microsoft into court on anti trust and monopoly charges. I do not think it can be feasibly done to avoid the company, unless you stop buying consumer electronics all together.
Where theres a will theres a way. Even Oil companies are finally going to get killed off in a 4-5 years time when electric cars get released to the public (that run on solar energy, and actually make more energy then they use). There will be supercharger stations around America.
Lol...no. Just no. There are several things wrong with this. First, 4-5 years? No, it's going to take longer than that. Calling that right now. Secondly, solar energy? I realize it's improving substantially every year, but there's still a LOT wrong with the solar car idea. Places like Seattle come to mind. I always thought the hydrogen fuel cell car was generally accepted as the most viable gas alternative. And then "superchargers stations around America?" Yeah, maybe everybody will have access to one someday...like 20 years down the line when they start becoming common in my neck of the woods.
Maybe, if somebody's feeling generous and pities the podunk parts of the US.
And then just because something is released to the public doesn't mean it's going to immediately be owned by a huge amount of the public. People have to buy these cars. They will be new at first, so the only people who will buy them will be people who:
- Can afford a brand new car
- Want/need a car of the specific size and specs of those solar cars
- Are interested in electric cars
- Aren't worried about travelling to places without charging stations
That is a very narrow pool of buyers. Not to mention all the vehicles that are already on the market and not owned by people. A huge percentage of vehicles on the road today are 10 and 20 years old. The people who own these cars usually can't just replace them on a whim. And even if they do replace them, it'll be a used car because they can't just up and buy a new one.
I don't know what sort of optimistic science-fiction magazine you've been reading, but I'm afraid there's a lot of reality in the way of this dream of yours. The only thing I could see making enough drivers switch to alternative fuel that could have any effect on oil companies is an acute oil crisis accompanied by government programs giving people who can't afford them alternative fuel vehicles. Maybe where you live people are all optimistic about this stuff, but where I live the very idea of solar energy is a joke, and electric cars have never proven themselves as effective as gas. A lot of people around here
need trucks for work, and the ones in need of a new car aren't interested in some crazy electric car they don't know if they'll be able to fill up everywhere. They'd just be happy with a car built after the year 2000.
And then there's the fact that that electricity has to come from somewhere, and in most places the sun certainly isn't going to be providing enough. Oil companies will still have a refuge in power plants, especially if electricity usage spikes with these new cars.
