New Mini Computer

[okfine]

Using a new AZW Beelink i5. $150.00. So far so good.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

This is what Microsoft is aiming for.....getting rid of desktops altogether.

Businesses use them now. They call them ThinClients.

Literally..........all it is, is a little black box........literally.

It's only function is to be a connective go-between, between the user (you) and the cloud.
Everything will be based in clouds soon.

What does this mean? We're all fucked.

If you don't know what the technical term for a cloud is......it's just a large "secure" building that is full of computer hardware meant to be used as storage devices.

Here's a cloud center near me............

Why are we all fucked?

Well, it means ALL of your personal data is in the cloud. And ANYBODY can get access to it, I don't care WHAT bullshit they tell you about how "secure" it is.......YOUR information can be had by anybody. And YOU WILL NEVER KNOW ABOUT IT!

It also means there are NOT going to be any personal options for you using your computer. Things like font settings, color schemes, VPN's, "security" of any kind will all be a thing of the past. Everybody will be using the same fonts, the same colors, the same settings for everything.

I can't use my companies ThinClient to access work sites, because it is locked into one specific type of setting. When I connect it to my monitor/tv, I cannot read anything on the screen because the fonts are SO FUCKING MINISCULE, I cannot read them! And there is NO altering or correcting this, unless they change the entire setup at the cloud source. Which they aren't going to do, because then that would mean everybody ELSES setups would fuck up where THEY can't use their connective black boxes anymore!

By 2025, they want to do away completely with desktops, and ONLY have the little black boxes. So much for privacy.

 

[okfine]

This is what Microsoft is aiming for.....getting rid of desktops altogether.

Businesses use them now. They call them ThinClients.

Literally..........all it is, is a little black box........literally.

It's only function is to be a connective go-between, between the user (you) and the cloud.
Everything will be based in clouds soon.

What does this mean? We're all fucked.

If you don't know what the technical term for a cloud is......it's just a large "secure" building that is full of computer hardware meant to be used as storage devices.

Here's a cloud center near me............
View attachment 582910

Why are we all fucked?

Well, it means ALL of your personal data is in the cloud. And ANYBODY can get access to it, I don't care WHAT bullshit they tell you about how "secure" it is.......YOUR information can be had by anybody. And YOU WILL NEVER KNOW ABOUT IT!

It also means there are NOT going to be any personal options for you using your computer. Things like font settings, color schemes, VPN's, "security" of any kind will all be a thing of the past. Everybody will be using the same fonts, the same colors, the same settings for everything.

I can't use my companies ThinClient to access work sites, because it is locked into one specific type of setting. When I connect it to my monitor/tv, I cannot read anything on the screen because the fonts are SO FUCKING MINISCULE, I cannot read them! And there is NO altering or correcting this, unless they change the entire setup at the cloud source. Which they aren't going to do, because then that would mean everybody ELSES setups would fuck up where THEY can't use their connective black boxes anymore!

By 2025, they want to do away completely with desktops, and ONLY have the little black boxes. So much for privacy.

It's used for access and cameras. Internet is very fast. No issues with fonts or monitor. Yes, it is the go-between to the cloud which results in 3-4 seconds delay from the transponder tags.

 

[daveman]

When I joined the Air Force in 1991, finished training, and got to my first assignment at Eielson AFB, AK, the Civil Engineering squadron had a database used for tracking labor, project costs, etc. Each work center had a terminal connected to the mainframe in the squadron HQ.

Looks like we're headed back to that.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

When I joined the Air Force in 1991, finished training, and got to my first assignment at Eielson AFB, AK, the Civil Engineering squadron had a database used for tracking labor, project costs, etc. Each work center had a terminal connected to the mainframe in the squadron HQ.

Looks like we're headed back to that.

Exactly.
This was called Terminal Access. It is what all computer systems were before the desktops were invented.
All you had on your desk was a "dummy terminal" connected to the server.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

What this is all moving towards is the move for providers to switch to "subscriber based applications"
"Cloud based Application" is just a more appealing sounding name than what it ACTUALLY IS... "Forever pay as you use application".
Consider - Adobe Creative Suite. Creative suite is Photoshop/InDesign/Illustrator bundled together. For years you bought the software (expensive - around $1200) and then you can pay for updates - if you want - pretty affordable... around $150,
So take that example for 5 years.
The old way - buying the software:
Original purchase $1200 plus 4 updates at $150 each = $1800 for 5 years use and you are update to latest version.
"Cloud Based Application" - $85/month in perpetuity.
60 months @ $85/mo = $5100 for 5 years use and updated to latest version.
And this is why providers want cloud based computing.
Basically - they wow us into paying three times as much money for the same thing.

 

[daveman]

What this is all moving towards is the move for providers to switch to "subscriber based applications"
"Cloud based Application" is just a more appealing sounding name than what it ACTUALLY IS... "Forever pay as you use application".
Consider - Adobe Creative Suite. Creative suite is Photoshop/InDesign/Illustrator bundled together. For years you bought the software (expensive - around $1200) and then you can pay for updates - if you want - pretty affordable... around $150,
So take that example for 5 years.
The old way - buying the software:
Original purchase $1200 plus 4 updates at $150 each = $1800 for 5 years use and you are update to latest version.
"Cloud Based Application" - $85/month in perpetuity.
60 months @ $85/mo = $5100 for 5 years use and updated to latest version.
And this is why providers want cloud based computing.
Basically - they wow us into paying three times as much money for the same thing.

There are not too many insanely expensive programs that do not have an open-source equivalent that you can have for free.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

There are not too many insanely expensive programs that do not have an open-source equivalent that you can have for free.

You rarely have the choice in business.
We would be 100% out of business without Adobe CS. Because that is what everyone uses. People send us Illustrator (.ai files) and Photoshop (.psd) files daily. We have to be able to open them. Nearly all back end systems in design are PDF based systems.
Use to be tiff based formats. Which yes, you could use GIMP ect. to produce. But GIMP won't open an .indd file. Nothing will and be able to correctly edit it.

 

[daveman]

You rarely have the choice in business.
We would be 100% out of business without Adobe CS. Because that is what everyone uses. People send us Illustrator (.ai files) and Photoshop (.psd) files daily. We have to be able to open them. Nearly all back end systems in design are PDF based systems.
Use to be tiff based formats. Which yes, you could use GIMP ect. to produce. But GIMP won't open an .indd file. Nothing will and be able to correctly edit it.

Yes, that's a problem. Enterprising developers have an opportunity here.

 

[toobfreak]

Why are we all fucked? Well, it means ALL of your personal data is in the cloud.

NONE of my data is in the cloud. I have about 24TB total storage right here locally.

 

[Baron Von Murderpaws]

A lot of people at the company I work for have these piece of shit things, and thats exactly what they are.......pieces of shit.

CONSTANT problems every day. Most people can't even work half the time. The system gets bogged down, the server is CONSTANTLY being "worked on", glitches all fucking day long, stalling is constant as well. It's not worth it. Maybe in 10 years when the engineers pull their heads outta their asses and get it done right.........but until then, it's just a new gimmick for raking in obscene amounts of money from morons and moronic companies.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

NONE of my data is in the cloud. I have about 24TB total storage right here locally.

None of our data is in the cloud either.
I have a Linux Mint Server with 8TB backed up to an external drive I swap out.

 

[JLW]

This is what Microsoft is aiming for.....getting rid of desktops altogether.

Businesses use them now. They call them ThinClients.

Literally..........all it is, is a little black box........literally.

It's only function is to be a connective go-between, between the user (you) and the cloud.
Everything will be based in clouds soon.

What does this mean? We're all fucked.

If you don't know what the technical term for a cloud is......it's just a large "secure" building that is full of computer hardware meant to be used as storage devices.

Here's a cloud center near me............
View attachment 582910

Why are we all fucked?

Well, it means ALL of your personal data is in the cloud. And ANYBODY can get access to it, I don't care WHAT bullshit they tell you about how "secure" it is.......YOUR information can be had by anybody. And YOU WILL NEVER KNOW ABOUT IT!

It also means there are NOT going to be any personal options for you using your computer. Things like font settings, color schemes, VPN's, "security" of any kind will all be a thing of the past. Everybody will be using the same fonts, the same colors, the same settings for everything.

I can't use my companies ThinClient to access work sites, because it is locked into one specific type of setting. When I connect it to my monitor/tv, I cannot read anything on the screen because the fonts are SO FUCKING MINISCULE, I cannot read them! And there is NO altering or correcting this, unless they change the entire setup at the cloud source. Which they aren't going to do, because then that would mean everybody ELSES setups would fuck up where THEY can't use their connective black boxes anymore!

By 2025, they want to do away completely with desktops, and ONLY have the little black boxes. So much for privacy.

I agree with this. I hate that so much what we do is stored on “the cloud.” I don’t trust that it is all that private or safe. I hate that it Is harder to buy software outright these days. I like to own and not pay in perpetuity. it is almost like going back to the Company store days. At any rate, one day the grid will either go down, be hacked or compromised and we will all be up the creek.

 

[iamwhatiseem]

I agree with this. I hate that so much what we do is stored on “the cloud.” I don’t trust that it is all that private or safe. I hate that it Is harder to buy software outright these days. I like to own and not pay in perpetuity. it is almost like going back to the Company store days. At any rate, one day the grid will go down, hacked or compromised and we will be up the creek.

It happened to us more than once.
With Adobe Cloud twice in the past year - it gives an error and it simply won't launch. Only option is to reinstall everything, when you do - you lose your preferences. And in Design software - preferences are really important!!... why the hell does it not correctly store your preferences on the computer itself!!??
Also - Quickbooks Pro. Every once in a while it won't log you in. You get "login failed - sign in to your live account to continue" So you have to go to your browser and re login to live... go through 3 or 4 security levels and then the software works again.
And fucking GoDaddy??? Don't even get me started.