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I was quite saddened to see the news recently that SAAB are likely to disappear as a major car maker. Of course, they have not been the SAAB of old since they joined the General Motors stable but I still have very fond memories of my old 99. It was one of the best second-hand cars I ever owned – a real pleasure to drive and lot of fun. When I bought it, the roof had some minor damage from some sort of chemical spillage that had eaten into the paint but I got it for a good price and took it to a specialist for a respray. The guy was a big SAAB fan. I asked if the chemical damage was likely to continue to eat away at the roof. He gave me a withering look and opened up the bonnet. “Feel that” he said, indicating the thickness of the bonnet. I put the edge between my fingers and had to agree that this was indeed a fairly solid chunk of metal. He seemed pleased and then said: “There’s more metal in that bonnet than in a whole Ford Fiesta”! And he might well have been right.
“Microsoft has reached agreement with European Union anti-trust regulators to allow European users a choice of web browsers. The accord ends 10 years of dispute between the two sides.” That’s what it said on the BBC news website last week. Who exactly are these guys? Did we elect them? I don’t think so. But we have paid out of our taxes to fund this petty and ill-conceived war – first over the bundling of the Media Player In Windows and then later the bundling of Internet Explorer. And guess what? I am, whether I like it or not , a European – and for as long as I can remember now I have had a choice of web browser. It’s not rocket science. I really do not need some puffed up creep full of his self-imposed sense of importance to tell me that I can download Firefox any tme I want to. Or Opera. Or Chromium. Or Safari. I have never been forced to use either Microsoft’s Media Player or Internet Explorer. And nor have any other Europeans. And how come Apple are not being hounded by these idiots? Do they not bundle Quick Time and Safari in exactly the same way?
On a personal note, I recently discovered – or perhaps a better word would be realised – that I was wasting a lot of shampoo and conditioner washing where my hair used to be but no longer is. The hairline has moved a couple of inches or so backwards but my method of hair washing had not kept up with the times.
It is a shame about SAAB, but not exactly surprising is it, two largish OKish front drive saloons, if GM had really wanted SAAB to succeed they needed to be building smaller cars and at least one MPV/SUV type car, in addition to replacing and upgrading the 9-3 and 9-5, the 9-5 is a ten year old car.
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“I have never been forced to use either Microsoft’s Media Player or Internet Explorer”
Wrong, you cannot connect to the Internet with your newly installed OS with anything other than IE, even if , like me the first you do is connect to Mozilla and download FireFox. Then even with FF installed you still have to have IE to get Windows Updates.
Apple provide QT and Safari for Mac and Win, whereas Windows Media Player and IE is Win only. Apple’s Software Update is standalone, whereas MS Update is built into IE
The reason why Apple are not in same boat is simple, while I may prefer Mac OSX, as I know you do, Mac OSX is still such a tiny proportion that it is doesn’t fall foul of the monopoly laws that were used against MS.
The cases were brought by, I think Real Player and Opera respectively, not forgetting that years back Windows did the same to Netscape.
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My hair’s gone thin, so I shave it to a number 2, I can wash my hair with a blob of shampoo, no larger than my finger nail !! – dries quick as well
I didn’t read this post until Jan. 22nd….
A bit of trivia I learned during a visit to Sweden years ago is that SAS (the airline company) and SAAB automobiles are really (or originally were, maybe) the same company. SAAB is an abbreviation for Svenska Aeronautica AktieBolaget, that last word being their language’s equivalent of our Limited or Incorporated.
I meant late Jan 23rd my time, early Jan 24th your time.
Bob Brague´s last blog ..How Definitions Change Over Time