Slashdot Mirror
CueCat Seeks Simpsons Endorsement
smirkleton writes "The San Jose Mercury News has a story about the current struggles of CueCat manufacturer DigitalConvergence. One of several interesting factoids within the article: CueCat is trying to procure product endorsements from Apu Nahasapeemapetilon and Lisa Simpson. Mr. Groening, for the love of Flanders, don't do it! 'The Simpsons' once dissed on Apple's Newton (hilariously)- and it had an actual purpose and loyal following. Endorsing this utterly useless and universally despised advertising toy would constitute a sellout of Dilbertian proportions."
I read an article online somewhere (anyone know the one?) that had a good quote from the president of Digitial Convergence, makers of CueCat...
He basicly said "We were really suprised how much of a following we have with the geek crowd. We're really happy we've got such an 'underground' following." or some such.
So, to anyone, reading the article that's not really familure with the CueCat's past, thinks that DC is actually encouraging hackers to find alternative uses for their product.
Very frustrating.
In Soviet Russia...michael would be rotting in Siberia!
With that in mind, I believe that it is time for all those remaining Buggy Whip manufacturers to begin a class-action lawsuit against Ford, General Motors, et al, with regards to the destruction of the Buggy Whip manufacturing industry that occurred when the automobile manufacturers made the Buggy Whip manufacturers business model irrelevant.
Of course, if Henry Ford, et al had exercised "self control beyond what is required by law" then we all would probably be living in a much different world: smaller communities, fewer products that are less available, poorer communications (it takes me an hour by car to go visit friends across town; that would likely be a half-day journey one way without a car).
"values of beta will give rise to dom!"
The Dallas Morning News prints CueCat bar codes with newspaper articles. You can scan them in and see online coverage that is more current than what's printed in the paper. I'm not sure if other newspapers do this (Dallas Morning News was the first).
-Sean
so what if Scott Adams "sold out"? What was he rebelling against in the first place? Ice cream? You're not making any sense, moron. I think it's great that Dilbert is featured on Ben & Jerry's ice cream, it's more of an honor than anything. More than you can say about your pathetic life, Hemos, you phoney rebel.
I read Hemos' comment as implying that it was Ben & Jerry (ice cream co. with a hippy left-wing image) who were selling out by pimping Dilbert -- after all, Scott Adams has come out and said plainly enough that he's in it for the money, and will license his properties to pretty much anybody (I lost most of what little respect I had for Adams when I heard about his licensing Dilbert for use in IBM employee handbooks).
But personally, at this stage in the game, I have a hard time getting myself worked up over cartoon characters being used to sell shoddy merchandise. After Warner Bros. stores opened every half mile from coast to coast, I just stopped caring.
All your shameless plugs are belong to us.
...it would have fell through on something else as well. People tinker with stuff all the time. Hell, that's how some of the stuff we have today came about.
A long time ago, some nutcase put heavy nylon monofiliment on a tin can and attached it to a drill attached to a stick. Now we have spin trimmers. The makers of monofiliment didn't have it in their business plan to have it used that way. Neither did the people that made the stick and the drill. They should have expected people to tear them apart/reverse engineer them and produce at least drivers that didn't use their service.
It's the same things that the dot-coms are going through right now. The ones with fragile/bad business models are failing for varying reasons, not including people "cracking" thier system.
Give me one good reason (what you've given isn't very good, really...) to NOT play with this stuff- the busniess wouldn't care too much if I went broke, why should I care if they're stupid?
Actually, I rather enjoy the idea that my curiosity can destroy a hardware industry.
ALL YOUR INDUSTRY ARE BELONG TO... oh, sorry.
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314-15-9265
There was ONE line about the Simpsons. One line. The Slashdot summary had more text about the Simpsons than the article it was on.
The article covered their problems with market penetration and getting the advertisements in magazines.
There was as much on the Simpsons as the MUCH more interesting one-liner about how the magazines don't need to cater to advertisers as much because of the collapse of online advertisement as a competitor.
This was an absurd article, I'm disappointed in Slashdot for this one.
Rest assured I was on the internet within minutes registering my disgust throughout the world.
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+&x
Anyway, Digital Convergence tried suing people who ran websites hosting drivers and software for the CueCat claiming IP violations, which led to a great deal of ill will toward them. On top of it all, their site was cracked, and customer information was leaked.
About.Com covers both here: http://it.about.com/compute/it/library/weekly/aa09 2300a.htm
Because Simpsons is like sex: even when it's bad, it's good.
Err, I hope nobody interprets this as me wanting to have sex with Marge Simpson, because she's NOTHING compared to Wilma Flintstone.
Quoteth CBG on the latest episode: "Worst Episode,....EVER!"
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
Lisa Simpson, the precocious ethical-to-a-fault vegan? This is the girl who is supposed to sponsor a device marred in IP rights battles?
Vidi, Vici, Veni
I can't see the page to the Newton dissing, but...
I own an Apple Newton MP120 and I saw the first Newton in action. The simple fact is, that Apple showed this to the World and brought it to market before it was ready, and then, it was too expensive.
However, my MP120 is FAR easier to use than any other stylus input PDA I've ever used, and with the handwriting recognition set to printing (with cursive off), and with a little initial setting up to my style and then a little effort to actually write properly versus my usual chicken scrawl, it gives me 95% acuracy plus.
And, I can write anywhere! Not just some silly little box and char at a time with alien characters.
From my point of view, the Palm is a phenomenon, perhaps the public never got beyond the first bad press of the Newton. I only wish the 120 had a backlight.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
I agree that Adams hasn't completely sold out -- but the beauty of it is if he does, it is totally appropriate as something his alter-ego Dogbert would do. I still love Adams (writing as Dogbert) answering a complaint about banner ads on the Dilbert site (then unofficial, I believe): "Yes, banner ads are evil. Because every click on them costs the advertiser money, I recommend showing your disapproval by repeatedly reloading the page and clicking on the ads"
I admit, the CueCat was a piece of crap, but it didn't fail because it was a piece of crap.
No, the CueCat failed because well-meaning and curious individuals tore it, and with it DC's business model, to pieces. I am not saying that the hackers were in the wrong, but aside from any statement of blame, the CueCat is dead.
True, the CueCat doesn't matter. It was fairly stupid anyway. Is this going to be a model, though, for future hardware releases? Will well-meaning hackers destroy business model after business model until nobody bothers to innovate in hardware manufacture?
No, nobody has a right to have a particular business model work, but I don't think that we want to destroy the hardware industry just to appease our own curiousity. Sometimes, self control is needed beyond what is required by the law. Do the right thing, not because the law forces you, but for yourself.
- qpt
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Domine Deus, creator coeli et terrae respice humilitatem nostram.
blackboard: "What they don't know can't hurt them is not an excuse"
Open: Pan to Principle Skinner with Marge at school, parent/teacher conference is under way.
Skinner: I'm afraid we're going to have to ask Bart to take a semester off school. You see, we've caught him doing so many bad things already, and statistics tell us that means he's doing 10 times as many bad things that we don't catch.
Marge: But that doesn't seem fair, to kick a kid out of school because statistics show he's more likely to do bad things. He may not have done them.
Skinner: Marge, I'm afraid we've got these statistics down to a fine art. Did you know that people with larger shoe sizes tend to do better at math and complex calculous. Statistics can tell you the most amazing things.
Marge: That IS amazing. I just can't bear the that Bart would have to leave school. Tell me, if we could know EVERYTHING that Bart did, then might he stay in school?
Skinner: Sure, that'd be fine, but we have no way of doing that.
Scene Two: Mr. Burns and Homer, nuclear factory.
Homer: Awww Mr Burns, can't you see? Bart won't be able to stay in school unless you threaten to blow up the entire town?
Mr. Burns. Now Homer, that not necessary at all. You see, I know EXACTLY what that little bart simpson is doing at all times.
Homer: You dooo? Hows that?
Mr. Burns: You know that little white cat he's always running around an scanning things with?
Homer: I do!!!
Mr. Burns: We'll look here, we can watch what he's scanning right here.
Computer Screen:
Dynamite
Dynamite
TNT
C4
More Dynamite
15 Year of FBI secrets left in a park.
Homer: That's amazing, thank you so much Mr. Burns. Bart'll be so happy to be back in school.
Computer:
Violent Comics
Nuclear Reactor Meltdown Code
Meltdown initiated...
Babies are not good at solving complex calculus problems, so statistically speaking large show size does equal greater tendency to be able to solve math problems.