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Phantom Menace Pre-Orders Available
Geckoman writes "Amazon.com has The Phantom Menace available for presales in both widescreen and pan-and-scan. If you're boycotting Amazon, then you can also find it at Reel.com among other places."
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After all, what are you waiting for to support? A new uncrackable and closed format with even more restrictions than DVD? I don't understand the "boycott DVD' thinking.
Because a new open standard just Ain't Gonna Happem (tm), the next best thing is to support the one that was cracked. Boycotting DVD will only make it easier for Hollowood jerks to point at low sales and say how it therefore won't be a big deal to dump the format in favor of the next DIVX2.0. Billions of DVDs in poeples homes create a "piss off" factor that even Hollywood must yield to.
Support the DVD format now! Before something worse can come along to replace it!
10) Install Windows 2000
9) Surf the Gay Jedi fanfic page.
8) Call up the MPAA and rat on people who link to DeCSS
7) Make Natalie Portman posts on /.
6) Try to make money by getting my friends to read my epinions (you too can be a spammer).
5) Run Ultima 9 on a non VooDoo 3 card.
4) Start a Daiktana fan page
3) Meet Jeff K on IRC for hacking tips. (FrEE KEVIN NITMACK!)
2) Code a DOS Emulator for Linux so I can play badass games designed for 486s
1) Order DVDs from MPAA aligned studios on Amazon.
These may sound evil - but they're probably more productive for your own karma in the long run.
Next!
- A.P.
--
"One World, one Web, one Program" - Microsoft promotional ad
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Hit chapters.ca for good prices (and no amazon!)
Here's a link.
Maybe it's a 35mm print of the film. That would justify the $15. :)
The idea is obvious, the implementation straightforward but time-consuming (Amazon will eagerly tell you that they have "thousands of hours" of work tied up in one-click, which is technically true - it takes thousands of hours of work to implement this obvious feature.)
Having obtained this rather dubious patent for such an obvious e-commerce service, they have turned around and sued Barnes and Noble, coincidentally their biggest competitor, for infringing upon it. If they succeed, they set a dangerously low standard for what is patentable in the world of e-commerce, and will permit the digital amalgams of basic physical customer service to be monopolized via the patent system. (When you think about it, this is electronically equivalent to your corner bookseller recognizing who you are and billing your charge account. It's a business practice that's been around for hundreds of years, but when you do it with a computer, you can get a patent.)
The FSF has a page on the boycott.
After watching a complete movie in DVD, I'm never going to bother with VHS again. DVD truly is spectacular on a computer monitor. VHS is truly a colossal waste of time and money. When you get your graduation presents, make sure they have a DVD drive. You don't need a decoder, just download a software DVD player. I don't care what Linus/Transmeta says. A Linux box and a computer monitor will always have better color and resolution than any crummy appliance.
There will no doubt be those that would really prefer seeing the next film in the Star Wars saga in full DVD glory but are willing to spring for the VHS version today, as a DVD release is quite distant.
Please don't!
If we want to send Lucas a message, this is our chance to do it. If we can spread the word and get people to avoid buying the VHS version of the movie in favor of waiting for a superior DVD release, we can hopefully send a message in the language Lucas seems to speak fluently: his pocketbook.
Poor VHS sales, with enough publicity, will hopefully be attributed to everyone's preference for DVD. Since it's quite likely he's trying to milk everyone for VHS purchases in addition to DVD purchases down the road, let's try to keep this from happening.
DVD is a superior video format. Don't get suckered into getting a VHS version of the movie just because you can't wait, and for those that are even thinking about getting a DVD player in the future, STOP BUYING VHS altogether, the sooner the better.
Once you go widescreen, you never go back. Therefore, I went to Reel.com to see what the widescreen version cost (I don't get into all the boycotting BS and DeCSS bunk, so I don't really care; it was just the only link) and whoa, it's $15 more than the regular VHS version. Why the dramatic difference? It looks like Lucas is screwing us over. To get the widescreen version, you have to get the Collector's Edition, which comes with a collector's book, 35mm filmstrip (?), and a documentary. What if you don't want all that garbage? Well, you're screwed then.
Does Lucas know how to make money or what? Seriously, this guy is starting to make Bill Gates look like a kid with a cheap lemonade stand.
Actually the message "We don't buy any more videotape" must be resonating quite loudly in studio land, ie. as a significant drop in video sales to accompany the rise in DVD sales.
I wonder how long it'll be before they realize that tape is well on the way to becoming a legacy medium for film distribution (as distinct from TV time-shifting)? Nobody that I know buys films on video anymore, even if they don't (yet) have DVD players -- they know it's money wasted. I give it 3 years max.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
No, you've got that wrong: DVDs played on the computer monitor do NOT look better than on video or TV monitors. At best, the picture might have better geometry, but the experience will almost always be worse than on any half-decent lounge TV.
DVDs are encoded for presentation on an ordinary video display, so it's not surprising that that's what they display best on.
However, you can have your cake and eat it too by using a display card with a TV out, such as for example some of the MPEG decoder cards, and they often have S-video output as well, which yields even clearer pictures on the telly. Hook up your computer to an infrared remote sensor (like the IRman) positioned next to the TV and watching DVDs becomes a far more enjoyable experience than you can have watching it directly on your computer.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra
Hey, you could pre-order it from Amazon for 28$
American, or you could pre-order it from Chapters
(Chapters.ca) for 28$ Canadian (~20$ US).
Consider are statement against Amazon if you wish.
This is probably as good a place as any to plug the Star Wars on DVD campaign, which has an on-line petiton up. Go sign it.
Linking in comments seems to be broken at the moment, so the URL is http://www.dvdfile.com/interactive/guestbook/addgu est.html
"Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" -Salvor Hardin
Nerd also means a sence of humour. Usually a very wierd nerdy one. This is what you miss.
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
A bootleg has been released in fourth world countries very long ago. About a week after the movie hit the screen. Go skying ;-)
Baker's Law: Misery no longer loves company. Nowadays it insists on it
http://www.sigsegv.cx/
There is a referral link in that link, and I doubt it's Slashdot's (of course I could be wrong, but why would they still have links to Amazon?). I consider it extremely lame to try to get your affiliat link slashdotted. Really lame. And if it isn't supposed to be there, I forgive emmett :) He's new
Personally, I'm bothered that he's not doing LaserDiscs. He released the "Last Ever Original" set on Laser, and the "Oooh... I have a COMPUTER" Special Editions.
Not that I'd buy TPM on ANY format, I'm just bothered that letterboxing, which costs less to make than Pan&Scan, is only a "special costs too much" edition.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Fuck Lucas. He's screwing his audience and only the ones smart enough to pay attention will notice anything unsavoury going on. I started getting suspicious when the letterbox "Final Original" VHS package wasn't released until *after* Christmas.
Pope
It doesn't mean much now, it's built for the future.
Don't buy TPM or anything else from the companies suing to stop deCSS or MP3s or whatever is next. Don't give them the money to finance these battles!
Write-in's were the best part, as it just became a competition to see what the funniest end for the question could be.
The best I remembered was
IMac: I'd rather have a ____ coloured one.
And the best write in for it was "real computer than a stupid girly"
Anyone who thinks that TPM was even "okay" should think back to the couple of minutes when they were outside the theater after seeing TPM for the first time, on opening day. There were hundreds of star wars fans dressed in star wars costumes standing around talking trying really hard not to be disappointed. Hell, I played that game too. I tried to "look on the bright side". But it didn't work. You can only lie to yourself for so long.
Oh no. The couple hundred dollars you decide not to spend on movies will really strike a nerve with the people heading the multibillion-dollar entertainment industry.
Boycott Microsoft. Boycott the MPAA. Boycott eToys. I'm sure they're shaking in their boots. Can you imagine?
Geek's friend: "Hey, here's this cool little game I got where you throw snowballs at kids! It's awesome!"
Geek: "I'm sorry, that game runs on Windows. Windows is evil because it is written by Microsoft, who do not support the software ideals that I hold dear. You, sir, are perpetuating the monopoly that Microsoft has over our collective consciences and are therefore insulting my intelligence."
Friend: "Um, OK. Wanna go catch a movie tonight?"
Geek: "No. That would be supporting the Motion Picture Association of America, whose selfish motions have deeply tarnished the entertainment portion of open source, which is obviously the future of the world once everyone learns to stop using Windows which is evil."
And you wonder why geeks don't get out much.
For more information, click here.
Trusty google has turned up the following slashdot relic (it may not be the original, but it is quite old):
.mp3 fans) try to make it out to be. Fact is, it's going to suck if it isn't done exactly right, and it's next to impossible to do it exactly right, so why not just dedicate the efforts to more worthwhile tasks (like developing affordable broadband internet connections so we can pirate raw cdda data instead, or eating oatmeal)?
It's the "grits" problem all over again
by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 10[, 1999], @02:00AM EDT
...Every boy from south of the Mason-Dixon line swears that grits are good eatin'. However, no Northerner can seem to figure out why. They suck. The answer every southern boy gives him is, "you just haven't had them the way my mom makes them."
The point is, if it's that hard to do it right, it isn't as inherently good as all those southern boys (or
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
Yup... as a recent college grad, when I put together my home system I bought a DVD player - I don't OWN a VHS player, and don't plan on buying one for the purpose of watching a often poorly rendered Jar-Jar in less resolution... Last time I checked, my old VCRs really didn't have a digital out for 5.1, and weren't THX certified ;-) Oh, well - I can wait a couple of years to see the best lightsaber fight ever made...
"It's tough to be bilingual when you get hit in the head."
People, weren't we going to boycott the MPAA?
I guess we really do have the 20 second attention span that most modern movies assume of us.
-
We cannot reason ourselves out of our basic irrationality. All we can do is learn the art of being irrational in a reasonable way.
Slashdotters, This is a great opportunity to send the message to all that we won't stand for Amazon.com with their ridiculous "One-Click" patents and the MPAA with their desire for "Corporate Marshall Law." The Amazon.com case is bad enough, but if that were the only problem, the solution would be simple. Buy from another. Yet, this whole DeCSS thing is out of control. Plain and simply put, the case FOR DeCSS must be won or else the precident that will be set will be dangerous.
I am but one man. I don't know what will need to be done to effectively send the message. Boycotts are good. But we are all going to have to do it. I'm not buying DVDs. I'm boycotting movies. What else do I do? What else do we all do? Join the EFF? Ok, I'll do that too. But, what else?
Let's win soon guys. I really want to buy a DVD player and DVD movies. And that includes SW:TPM (when it's on DVD)
For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the sheltered will never know.
what about Alan Cox the wooky
It has been statistically shown that helmets increase the risk of head injury.
The first ref I saw was back in 98, when some anon poster said something 'did about as much good as pouring grits in my pants'
The regular series of 'I just pored grits down my pants' appears to be unrelated to that, however. I figure that someone just thought grits in their pants would be funny. At least one of the posts have survived archival; I wasted three moderator points once making sure a terribly humerous example of the genre made it into the archives at +2.. I waste too many of my points making sure the AC's actually get the attention they are due.
.sig: Now legally binding!
I'm glad I don't have moderator points today; I'd more than likely get grouchy and use them the wrong way. I'd moderate every " Aren't we supposed to be boycotting blah blah? " article down. Of course, disagreement isn't what moderation is for, so here I post.
YOU can boycott the MPAA if you like, because they like to sue Norweigians who put slashes in their Os or put k00l hacks in their websites.
YOU can tell Spielberg that you don't want Schindler's List or Star Wars, Chapter One: Phantom Menace or anything else he sells, on DVD(tm), LaserDisc(tm), VHS Collector's Edition(tm), Special Remastered Widescreen Edition(tm), "Jar Jar in My Pants" Underoos Special Edition(tm), or whatever else he markets for a buck.
YOU can firewall off DoubleClick if you like, because they write down your zipcode and tell a few online vendors that you also buy "Jar Jar in my Pants" Underoos.
YOU can decide not to support Michael Dell, because he's "in bed" with Intel, and everyone knows that Dell should use AMD because they're both coincidentally in Austin, TX.
YOU can fire off a flame at JonKatz when he writes about how so many kids are being cruelly taunted for wearing Jar Jar Binks Underoos, too.
YOU can tell Amazon.com to take a trip up the biggest river without your paddle, because they spitefully try to litigate the number of clicks it took you to find and buy a copy of the "Jar Jar in my Pants" Edition on one of their competitors' sites.
YOU can email billg@microsoft.com with your personal opinion of Windoze, Winhose, Winlose, Whinos (What leet name do you choose today?). You can giggle and gloat when you spend a few hours setting up a non-Microsoft solution that plays your legally obtained copy of "Jar Jar" DVD on your non-Dell computer, free of interruption from banner ads.
YOU can do whatever you want, it's your dollars, it's your time, it's your pants. I agree that there's a lot of stupidity in corporate life, and a lot of people out there trying a little too hard to stake their claim in the first years of a massive new market of online consumers.
Me, I just want to read SlashDot, hear about the various issues that are facing the geek community, and come to my own conclusions about what I should or should not do. When you assume that I'll follow like a lamb to every one of the causes posted here, you do me a disservice. Perhaps individuality isn't the hallmark of geekdom, after all.
Thanks for letting me ramble on, on a news/discussion service that DOES post a variety of topics and lets ANYONE speak their mind.
-----------------------------------
p.s. Anagrams for "Jar Jar in my Pants" Underoos Special Edition, for those who like such things, may enjoy aspirins in maladjusted incorporate, after reading my journals despite draconian 'penis majority'.
[
Can an article be moderated as flamebait? We've been over all of this, and I'm sure that it will just be a matter of moments before the forum is ignited and flames about the lack of DVD (like myself), the evil MPAA and their handling of DeCSS, the supposed "boycott" of Amazon.com for their software patent, and of course, the beautiful Natalie Portman start flying...
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E2 IN2 IE?
And that mention of Amazon has generated more negative than positive publicity for them. If you look at the rest of the comments, you'll see a lot of discussion of the Amazon boycott, including notes from people who didn't know about the boycott until they read this article.
Maybe it wasn't fair to mention just two sources for the video, but Geckoman was trying to be helpful, and obviously couldn't list every e-tailer on the Web. (Note, btw, that contrary to the conspiracy theorists, the Amazon link seems to have been submitted by a reader, not put in by the Slashdot editors.)
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Just wanted to beat a certain AC out of this one... Just seems funny to me, but moderate me down if ya want. .
Bye karma
Have they switched? They're still using Amazon. Go to the book review section and you'll still see the Amazon slashbox. Perhaps /. is using Fatbrain as well, but Amazon is still there.
In case you haven't noticed, Slashdot has a partnership with Amazon.com. There's even a nice big Slashbox where you can search for books on Amazon, and if you buy something, Slashdot gets a cut. When money is involved, professed principles get thrown out of the window.
"The books here are brought to us in Partnership with Amazon.com.
If you follow the links around here, and eventually buy a book, we get a percentage of the cost!
Want books about any of these things? Perl, Linux, Unix, Gardening, CGI, Java?
Still not finding what you're looking for? Visit Amazon.com from this link, and we still get some credit. Or you could even Search Amazon using this convenient form:"
To buy from Amazon despite their patent stupidity?
To instead support reel.com, who are paying the LA times to print articles like Jack Valenti's rant's against DeCSS (check out the ads, they appear to have an exclusive).
Meanwhile I can only purchase videotape, which seems reasonable since the MPAA doesn't want me to spend money on their products if I'm only going to watch them on Linux.
I think I'll watch what may be the worst Superbowl in history and realize that the real purpose of the Internet is online trading. It would have been nice if the digital Christopher Reeve looked better. I think watching his dad in front of a blue screen looked more realistic...
Final decision? I don't see a reason to increase the money of reel.com or amazon.com because they're both acting like jerks. If Lucas doesn't want me to watch his film and the MPAA feel the same way they don't need my money either. I think I'll make a trip to the local small science fiction specialty bookstore tomorrow. They deserve my money more than anyone else.
-----
No Zen is good zen
heh...originality is the art of concealing your sources!
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
slashdot also has a partnership with fatbrain.com, for books. After the whole one-click shoping thing they switched.
Of course, fatbrain dosn't sell movies, as far as I know...
Amber Yuan (--ell7)
"and dear god does this website suck now." -- CmdrTaco
Neither is Star Wars series a real scifi classic nor is it of a particular interest to geeks/nerds unless they are younger than twelve years of age. I mean the episodes IV-VI were passable but the latest LucasFilm production has been such a bastardisation of the SF genre that I felt embarrased and conned with it.
For crying out loud if you have a separate Section for Star Wars instead of a generic Science Fiction one then I demand the following be Slashdot topics too:
Score:-1,Offtopic as there's no other place on /. to say this
Personally, I'll wait for the DVD's. Hell, we all waited almost 20 years for the prequel, is everyone saying they can't wait 7 years for Lucas to release an "Extra Super Duper Limited Edition (only 5.2 billion copys made, get 'em while they last)Box Set" thats actually just the same old shit in a fancy new wrapper? Most Star Wars fans (myself included) are addicts: he could put out only the pan & scan version one year and we'd buy it. 2 years later he'd put out the widescreen version and we'd buy it. 5 years later he'd put out the special edition and we'd buy it. He knows the people are going to buy it no matter what. He figures he'll make as much money as possible off it.
Shut up brain or I'll stab you with a Q-Tip. - Homer Simpson