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2004 Digital Media Winners and Losers
An anonymous reader writes "MP3 Newswire has just released Richard Menta's annual digital media winners and losers list. Apple tops the winners list for the second year in a row as does eDonkey and last spring's Grey Album protest. Losers include the term iPod Killers, Winamp, and the WMA format. BitTorrent made both lists. Menta also released a 2005 wishlist. Topping that list is an iPod in-dash unit similar to the old Rio Car. You can see Menta's previous years winners and losers lists."
In the winner side may be kind to name ARM, IBM, AMD and VIA designs; at the loser side, Intel, MIPS and Hitachi (CPU division) for being less paranoid than expected (that was the key secret for previous uP series: be paranoid in extremis to survive).
Slashdot operates on the CMS known as Slashcode WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashcode is written in Perl WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot's backend is MySQL WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot's web server is Apache WHICH IS OPEN SOURCE! Slashdot is runned by EXPERT administrators knowledgable IN OPEN SOURCE! Due to the nature of Open Source, it is impossible for there to be bugs or problems. Bugs can only be found in proprietary software.
Judging by the news on it, shouldn't Tivo be in the loosers and not winners list?
Sometimes I wish I was a plumber, then I'd know how to deal with other people's shit.
This guy seriously needs to be more digital Media saavy...
With everyone making Tivo knockoffs (got my card @ newegg.com for $30 bucks last year) -- how is that service a winner?
Did the author forget Tivo charges for DVR when most of us that are tech saavy can get it for free?
or mainly their bitching, I heard about the Grey Album and downloaded it to see what the fuss was about. Had they not done anything I would of been none the wiser, now I posess an albums worth of good music.
Btw, I don't own any other illegal mp3s. Just the Grey album because EMI moaned rather than marketed it. Given a chance, I'd still pay for the cd however, the bit rates are lower (192kbps) than what I rip at (256kbps).
Jonathanjk.com
WMA's ability to load web content is NOT merely flaw. It's a flawed feature.
Think like Microsoft for a second. All it wants to do is dominate without any concern for security. It's trying to get the content industry to use its WMA format. Some lackey speaks up at a meeting:
"I have a great idea. Let's add a feature to WMA so that it'll open up web content. So if EMI wants to distribute an WMA song it'll open an option to buy the whole CD."
Of course all the brainless other lackeys at Microsoft agree that it's a great idea and implements it, completely oblivious to any security concerns.
My question is whether Microsoft will be smart enough to disable this feature in future releases.
If someone says he and his monkey have nothing to hide, they almost certainly do.
2004 winner Apple
2003 winner Apple
2002 2nd place Apple Ipod
2001 3rd place Apple Ipod
Figured I'd take a look at the front page, and lo and behold, five out of the top six items in the amazon.com ad on the website's homepage feature Apple products. It looks like a dynamic ad, but I reloaded several times just for fun and there were 5 out of 6 Apple products there each time.
It's so cute when these guys give each other handjobs under the table.
RealNetworks / Rob Glaser should be a huge loser this year, as their online music store and phony "grassroots" capaign failed miserably.
Sucks to be Rob Glaser.
I got through to a few of them. Unfortunately, they were pointed at empty desks in empty rooms. No naked women anywhere.
if you get and alpine cda-xxxx head unit, say like this head unit here, and also get this adapter you will be able to control the ipod from the head unit and have song titles and other info display on the head. this is not the same as the bmw thing...it is much much better.
i saw the baby, and the baby looked at me
..now that you're running a full blown computer as a DVR for 24/7?
Not feeling so tech savvy anymore, eh?
I am having the same problems
Its becoming obvious that a totally open non-DRM format is a precondition for digital music.
Clicking the winners list brought us to:
... Overall, it was an active year all around and with that in mind we offer our list of digital losers for 2004.
...
...The 2004 Losers list is as follows:
...
1. Apple
It took the top spot last year and has earned it for this year. The iPod increased its dominating market position for 2004 selling 4 million units during the Christmas season alone. As for iTunes, it sells two out of every three digital song files. No surprises here.
2. eDonkey
Clicking the losers list brought us to:
1. iPod Killers
There were none. A few competing players like the Rio Carbon are excellent, but none have even put a dent on the iPod's dominance. A marketing phrase, nothing more.
2. Sony
Is this a typho or Freudian slip?
are unfortunately the customers
Hey, this is my sig, if you don't like it, STOP READING MY POSTS!
Hi mom :)
As for the cable boxes that are starting to include it, they're even worse than you could ever imagine. UI nightmares ahoy, terrible listings, horrible season pass implementations, and overall just too restrictive.
The only downside I can give Tivo is their Cablecard HD capable model wont be out until 2006, which is too long. It should have been released by summer 2004.
is the biggest loser category of all: "Slashdot Subscribers".
What a sold out website,
Apple is #1 for their great innovation of having been the first to create the 'mp3 player' and the 'ipod killers' are at the top of the loosers list... what about all the really cool media devices? iRiver plays back MOOVIES as well as music... not just stupid photos, and where is the Sony PSP? The PSP is REAL innovation... games, music, videos, wireless, everything in a handsize package...
Ironically, they also have the ipod u2 edition for sale at the bottom of the page... just another bunch of Jobs dick suckers if you ask me.
Using Lame 3.90.3 and the --alt-preset standard command line switch will give you much better results than a fixed bitrate encode at 256kbs. The file will also be about 25% smaller.
If file size doesn't matter to you, use --alt-preset extreme. The file size will be about the same, and you can sleep happy knowing that you used more bits.
You're paying for packaging and convenience.
Most maps are available online -- yet ADC and other companies still exist, who package and distribute maps. People still buy TV Guide, and yet again, it's something that people could get online for free, if they knew where to look.
I've written code to parse the NOAA's collection of METAR information, because my boss didn't want to pay some service provider for them to supply us with the information that had been converted to a more readily understood format.
But that's not to say that there is no sustainable market for those people who sell the information. In the case of TiVo, they're selling more than just the information, as you're also paying for the rest of your system, and continued R&D. [and of course, lining someone's pockets, but we'll just assume that part isn't a significant number].
There are plenty of things that are sold where the initial sale results in a loss, but additional money is made over time to justify the cost. Cell phones are a prime example -- they give the phones away, so they can make a profit by selling service. If TiVo wasn't selling service, they'd have to charge you more upfront. [and in fact, there's the 'lifetime' charge, which takes this into consideration, however, they're still losing money in the expense of their modem banks, and whatever else it takes for them to supply to information and distribution infrastructure]
Just because you aren't willing to pay for the service, doesn't mean that no one else is willing to pay for convenience. We live in a commercial society where people are willing to pay extra for time savings (prepackaged meals), and to show off (luxury vehicles, oversized homes)
I'm not going to claim that I can predict that TiVo is going to flop, or not, and I did work with my roommate on building a TV-connected game system that was also a PVR a few years ago, and I thought the process was a pain in the ass. I do know that I don't bother using it with the current software, and I haven't gone to the trouble of rebuilding it. I'd probably pick up a TiVo, and recycle that system, rather than go to the process of updating it.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Jens of Sweden buy cheap stuff from Korea and puts a logo on it... and then sells it expensive
Not only is this a shill site, the author doesn't know the difference between lossy and lossless audio formats. Notice how they suggest FLAC might replace WMA.
I mean, this is SO 2004!
A radio with a space for your iPod to actually slide into it - or an iPod dock that flips out of it somehow for the iPod to stand on, as long as it's secured well enough to not fall off when you corner like I do - would be pretty user-friendly. Make a couple models - AM/FM/CD/iPod Dock for those who haven't ripped everything they own and shoved it onto their iPod, and AM/FM/iPod Dock for those who have.
I googled, and I haven't seen anything meeting this exact description just yet, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time.
Of course, we also need the trunk-mounted 6-iPod changer, with docks for half-a-dozen iPods... ;)
Village idiot in some extremely smart villages.
Oh please. Microsoft is one of the GOOD GUYS. Their OS may very well incorporate open source code, they have security features that allow useful bots to spread and they have a GUI that grandma actually owns. The iPod doesn't even support WMA. Is it really so bad for Slashdot to give them a little press every now and then to help them in their fight against the evil Apple digital media empire?
How about this then from Dension here in the UK, just add a 2.5" HDD of your choice and go: http://www.dension.com/main.php?pageid=49&topid=42
Ive not had the pleasure of an iPod or 'iPod Killer', but most of my music is MP3-based and I use a car more than walk (not that I'd walk around with an iPod in my pocket these days). End of this month, I'll be hopefully getting hold of one - I think they retail for around £270 - £300 (what that is in $ is anyones guess atm).
"This is not the same as the bmw thing...it is much much better"
I seriously doubt you have used one.
The Alpine iPod controller is one of the most pathetic efforts I've seen in recent years.
The cumbersome-ness of the Alpine interface must be experienced to be believed. I would actually pay MORE not to
have to use this interface.
But, I have no doubt that some people will buy them, just like some people bought Yugos.
The far better solution is to continue using the iPod's built-in interface.
BTW, I like Alpine car stereos, but the iPod interface is just plain trash.
i find the donkey/overnet network less
usable last 6 months. probab ly dc++ and
torrents in the future..
edonkey is a nice network but keep in mind eMule is the best client because of the many tweaking ability and it's clean cuz its open source.
As for Sony being #2 in Losers, they imo deserve a lower slot like 5 or 6. While ATRAC is a codec that provides you very limited possibilities (so many little choices of bitrates), the players themselves aren't bad in terms of features such as long battery life (at least on the NetMD, ~45-50 hours playback), 5-band equalizer and the great remotes that makes make it so you don't ever (almost) reach your player to do changes.I think the problem with Sony was really the Software and the Codec itself. If the Minidiscs supported mp3 playback and if the software Sonicstage would of been better (such as better interface and more functionalities) than what it is today, then it would of been a nice player to own.
testing 123
that's what happens when you try to write anything over 100 lines in perl...
The market has branded the iPod a winner, and this site just reports it. It's not spinning anything (as you would believe).
6 million iPods sold, possibly 8.
You also have some strange history there. Apple didn't create the first mp3 player. Or the second, third, or even 10th. Creative and Compaq were ahead of them with hard drive units and Rio, Samsung, and a few others were ahead of them with CD and flash based units.
Apple is #1 for transforming the mp3 market from niche to mainstream. That is why the iPod is synonymous with mp3 players; not because it's the first, but because it made the market it now rules.
Kind of like how Ford created the automobile market, even though they weren't by far the first cars.
What you want is not a list of "2004 winners," and "2004 losers," you want a list of "2004 cool gadgets," but then I would argue what is important:
The device that no one remembers?
The device that everyone knows?
GPL Deconstructed
Bittorrent is on the winners list, but several key torrent sites that were raided are on the losers list as they have been permanently closed. The maddening thing is that torrent sites don't trade music files, just torrents (little road signs to files) so there is no legal precedent in ANY country that makes them illegal. The problem is, these sites don't have the money to mount a case. The concept of guilty until proven innocent gets a boost here.
. htm .
That is not true actually, a few years ago, in Belgium, when mp3's where publicly available on http and ftp servers, some webmasters that only linked to those files or sites were sentenced/convicted in court (I don't know which is the most correct legal term). Here is a Dutch text that describes what happened: http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/jura/36n2/dumortier
This is one lame signature, please read the message above instead.
I want all my music needs sorted, car, plane and home.
When I am in my car I want to use the Head Unit to control my MP3 player, since the iPod is so common several companies such as Alpine and Pioneer supporting with there new Head Units (in Pioneer case you may already have a unit that supports the iPod Adapter).
I just bought a Pioneer DEH 7600 MP (£180) which is iPod Adaptor ready and the iPod Adapter will be available in March with a suggested RRP of US $140 (so with any luck it will be £100 in the UK).
For information on iPod Adapter goto:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/press/relea
For information on a range of Pioneer Head Units that support iPod adapter goto:
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/press/relea
I've noticed that there aren't too many comments being posted today, so I'll step up and hopefully someone will find some value in what I have to say:
I've used the eDonkey network since its conception, and suffered through the original client/server software just like all other early adopters. Based on that software's interface, I would have guessed that the eDonkey network would have dried up long ago; but it didn't.
The turning point for me (and many others) was the release of eMule. It turned the network around very quickly. The best part about eMule is that it's open source. We're able to hack the code to our liking, and when a security flaw is found, we can fix it almost immediately. The next best thing about eMule is how close it feels to the original Napster software, which many of us grew accustomed to using. You run a search, sort by any number of criteria (usually 'number of sources'), and then download the file you wanted.
Sure the eDonkey network makes getting files very time intensive (you can wait for weeks for a single file to complete downloading), but if you're patient, you'll get what you want. You can also leave comments for each file that show up automatically once someone starts requesting a chunk from you. It's not the best way for fishing out fakes, but it helps. Just like BitTorrent, there is a way to indicate which files are garbage, except you do it through the donkey fakes project.
The eDonkey network was transferring chunks before BitTorrent was around, and borrowed many ideas from Gnutella before becoming a truly unique P2P network. Thanks to the eMule client, the network is not only faster (due to a better queue/ratio system), it also allows you to put certain files on "release" mode, meaning if someone requests that file from you, it takes priority over other non-release files for the duration of the chunk you're sending.
This might sound like a bad thing, but I haven't bought a single music CD since I starting using eMule more than 3 years ago. You can find nearly any full album you want and get it within hours. The wait is worth it, as most albums are encoded at 192 kbps or higher!
I have an Iriver IHP-120 that is a 20 gig mp3 player and I have to say that it beats the shit out of ANY mp3 player I have seen. The Ipod is great and I LOVE Ipods GUI but Iriver cannot be matched IMO. Three thing about it that cannot be beaten by Ipod: 1. Copying anything (music included) onto the ihp-120 is so much simpler than the Ipod it is rediculous. When you plug it into the computer, it shows up as an icon in my computer or on the desktop in the case of a mac. Create folders inside as if it is a removable HDD and drag and drop. That is it. No software required. Totally plug and play with ANY computer i have ever tried it with. 2. With an Ipod, to get anything, music or data, on or off the ipod, it must be connected to a computer. Not the iriver. There is a line in jack, a line out jack, and an optical input and output. Plus it has an internal microphone and the option to connect external mics. So not only can you directly connect the 120 to anything with an audio output and record music with real time MP3 encoding on the fly, to can also record anyting around you. I have used the internal mic in numerous buisness meetings and the quality is amazing. 3. A minor detail, but one definatly worth mentioning. Everyone has encountered the corrupted audio file that causes your mp3 player to freeze. With and ipod, most of the time you just have to wait for the battery to run out (which in this case is good cause the battery life is pretty short on an ipod as opposed to the iriver), but not with the 120. on the bottom of the device there is a reset button. Press it with a pin and the device reboots as if nothing happened. Yet, noone mentions the iriver anymore. I have not taken a personal look at the new irvier jukeboxes (http://www.iriveramerica.com/prod/hd/), but I have to say, the IRIVER IHP-120 IS THE IPOD KILLER.
It is better to be thought an idiot, than to speak and remove all doubt.
I would have thought Bose would have made the list. The company has majorly repositioned its legacy systems to support new digital units and formats.
Listening to low quality music on the go is tolerable but attaching that shitty quality music into one's car is just foolish.
Being convicted means you are found guilty.
Being sentenced means you are given a punishment for the crime you are guilty of.
Conviction comes before sentencing.
I won't comment on the winners and losers list, but the number one thing *I* want to see? A volume control for the iPod. Yeah, the scroll wheel is a great metaphor, and I love it, but it's a pain in the ass for changing the volume.
For one thing, you have to be at the "Now Playing" screen for volume to even be available. Now, imagine you have the unit in your shirt pocket, walking down the street. The next song comes on way too loud (or way too quiet). Quick - reach in and try to find the right spot on the wheel and rotate it in the right direction, without hitting any of the other buttons. Or, try to press the pause/next/previous buttons. Not too easy, is it?
Ideally, there would be a volume slider and the three playback buttons on the top of the unit, between the hold switch and the remote adapter on the Mini. The hold switch is too big anyway, and could be rotated 90 degrees so so that it moves front-to-back, with no loss of usability.
Yes, I know you can get an aftermarket remote-control dongle from Apple that does this, but have you looked at those? Big, ugly, heavy things that dangle from the headphones like a tumor. Couldn't they have made something that fit flat against the top of the unit - you know, kind of an elegant design?
Anyway, I love the unit, but hate the annoyance. It's a small annoyance, but it makes an obvious wart on a really clean design.
Oh, and the ability to randomize a playlist/album would be absolutely fantastic.
What if life is just a side effect of some other process and God has no idea we exist?
It's an unreliable piece of crap. We polled employees at work when we were considering distributing content via BT, and not a single user said they did better than 1 out of 10 downloads completing. I'm sorry, working 10% of the time or less does not deserve an award.
Just found this... If you attach the low sound quality iPod to any car, even Enya will sound like Ashlee Simpson (LIVE)
I must concur. WMA, while proprietary, is a great-sounding format. Even 64kb/sec is tolerable--not so with mp3. 128kb/sec on my Creative Muvo sounds fantastic.
"OH SHIT, THERE'S A HORSE IN THE HOSPITAL!"
How is this news for nerds or even stuff that matters? It's an opinion piece by some guy that is an Apple fan and runs an MP3 new site. It's fluff.
I agree that WMA is a *good* format, but with *great* open source formats like FLAC and OGG arround, i wonder if it worth selling our privacy to MS for a good format ?
But still i do find it good that MS users have a decent format that they can call their own.
Lima India November Uniform X-ray
With the demise of Suprnova, I think we're all losers.
Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
My god...
If you really believe that, you must be near deaf.
WMA9 at any CBR bitrate under 160KB/s sounds like ass. The high end is way, way too compressed.
Is the slashdot main page broken? It hasnt been updated in some hours .. as in .. according to the main page there are only 4 mod 1 comments to this article.
iTunes has lossless audio as well, as does the iPod. In fact, I'm listening to my stereo right now through iTunes->AirPort Express, which uses the lossless codec to stream the music to my stereo over my 802.11g signal on my laptop. It works on Windows and Mac.
Actually, for low-bitrate encodings -- spoken-word in particular -- I have found WMA to be far superior to both MP3 and OGG.
-----
PGP Key ID 0xCB8FF658
Has anyone seen that new poster advertising the IP Addresses of everyone they sued? Keep in mind they're getting at least a couple thousand dollars from each of those IP's, and there are quite a few of them.
All it really takes is a shitty-ass lawyer to take a couple hours (10 at very most) of his time to print some data, send a nasty letter to an ISP, send a nasty letter home, and BOOM, 3-4 figures of instant revenue.
Although the amount of simultaneous p2p users may not have been affected that much, I'd say they're doing a pretty decnet job of scaring a good nuumber of people.
But alas, let's pretend they're not scaring anyone. They're still suing a ton of teenagers for what is more or less their life savings or more, and that just goes to cash in the bank. The RIAA is not collapsing and it's not being threatened. For whoever hasn't noticed, CD sales are up this year.
The majority of the Losers List is companies/products that failed miserably and dumped a lot of money into something that's not paying off. RIAA seems to be excelling quite well. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but support your bands, buy theiir mp3's online, but STOP BUYING RECORDS.
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
In case any of you all haven't heard the news, Rob Malda was rushed to the hospital earlier today for an emergency operation. This is why the comment posting at Slashdot is currently broken. Please take a moment to pray for his recovery. According to his doctors, although a gerbilectomy is not a common operation, with the proper antibiotics his prognosis is good. Unfortunately, they were unable to save the gerbil. PETA members, please remember the gerbil in your prayers. Thanks, and God bless.
Quoting TFA:
Just tell me if I'm getting wrong, but on my planet, in base 10, 7 comes between 6 and 8.
Juste my '7' cents...
Do you mean failed as a Real Rhapsody sales driver/marketing device or that the Freedom of Choice Campaign has failed to build any momentum (or site updates)?
Admittedly, I don't buy into all the antiReal sentiment and may fail to fully comprehend the taint of Real's sponsorship, but on the face of it, the campaign seems pretty reasonable, especially given that I don't see the Recording Industry Ass. of America giving up DRM voluntarily or being compelled to do so.
Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge:
Regarding the wish list:
I'm pretty sure the line between copyright and public domain is 1923, not 1928.
Wikipedia says so too.
It sucks battery like it's going out of fasion.
The iRiver H300 line support ogg which is why I bought it, but on using it I found that with oggs, the battery life is around 30% less than with variable bit rate mp3's. Compared to fixed bit rate mp3's it's more like 50% less.
192bit quality oggs: 6-7 hours
192bit quality VBR mp3: 9-10 hours
192bit FBR mp3: 14-15 hours
Given that vbr negates the aural advantage that ogg had over mp3, I can't see idealism (free, as in speech) winning out over inconvenence (battery consumption).
Exactly where/when do you claim macs running OSX 'randomly rebooting'? I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Not once has my entire computer ever crashed in the middle of operation. I assume by random reboot, you mean something along the lines of a blue-screen, which I haven't seen/heard of since.
Next is ignorant users. Actually, Mac users know a lot more about using their computers than most windows users. Granted they're more detached from the actual computer operations, but who cares? They're much better using applications, which is what the concept of a GUI is based on. Ever heard the phrase "I just click on the e" or "my computer is slow maybe it'll go faster if I defrag it (for the 3rd time this week)"?
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
Security Holes, my friend, are updated and patched automatically, similar to windows update, only much less frequent and urgent (due to OS being much more stable and having many fewer security holes), aa well as having smaller download sizes.
Mac OS being 'crash free' isn't quite accurate, but it's unquestionably the best OS out there. I ran Red Hat 8 for a while, and even the integrated Shoot-em-up game and the Penguin game crashed within a few minutes. Oh sorry, the applications disappeared. OpenOffice still has some miles to go until it can sync well with MS Office, and I wouldn't consider that bug-free either.
As for Windows, famous of IE and Outlook Express, I think I've said enough.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
Partial Credit: The Engineer's Best friend
"Well, the bridge didn't fall all the way down!"
Why does the site carry this article comparing identifying file swappers with nazis making jews wear star of david. I'm the first to call bullshit when some Zionist uses the anti-Semite card to defend Israel, and now I'll be the first to say that the comparison between the law quoted and the precursor to the Final Solution is preposterous and trivialising an atrocious event.
What the hell is wrong with winamp?
Well, for starters is that obnoxious "skinning" craze it started. And that its own skins are so tiny you can't read them.
ipod killers as loosers? HAHAHa everyonhe I've shown my Iriver ihp-140 to wants one, noone wants an ipod after seeing it, the only thing holding iriver back is it's lack of advertising, the ipod is already beaten on technical merit. It's just a matter of time before it loses. Remember noone needs more market/mindshare than apple... they just need to make a profit on the devices.
nt
I don't see "democracy" in the Winners List. What, no more propoganda? I guess those infidels will finally pay for their crimes against Canada, eh? ermm, I mean; yay District INC. of Corumbia.
Mod parent up!
I disagree, I think that they are losing. For one thing, the lawyers are getting paid, even if they're on a payroll rather than hourly, they're being taken away from other things they could be doing. Not to mention, due to all of this bad publicity, they are taking a cut in sales. Despite a yearly growth of 3(?) percent, in the record industry, their particular labels, especially the main ones, are taking a hit, as people like myself, run from anything they touch, and support the alternatives... They aren't dead yet, and they wont be dead for a long time, but I think they're boat has already begun taking in water.
WANNAWIKI Wannawiki WannaWiki WANNAWIKI!
testing 1 2 3
A present from my very generous other half. It's great. The little disk caddy hooks up to a PC as a USB 2.0 hard drive for easy and fast file transfer, then slots into the head unit behind the faceplate. I'm very happy with it and highly recommend it. Of course now I have to put all my cd's onto it which is taking aaaaages....
Dension dh100ix + 40Gbig toshiba drive = all your music available in the car.
Dension also do an iPod adaptor for other makes of stereo to allow you to hook up your iPod to the cd-changer port on most major branded head units and control it through their changer controls.
Cool company, if I was the type to invest in the stock market I'd be buying dension right now.
FYI they're a hungarian company I believe.
Well it's painfully apparent at this hour that Slashdot.org is no more. Some will say Slashdot was a victim of cold corporate indifference, others will point to a right wing conspiracy and of course there's the fact that it never made any money.
... I'll do it tomorrow*
Regardless there will be many walking this earth with a little emptiness in their life that use to be Slashdot.org.
-- AC
PS. Can somebody update Wiki? *meh
Once Micahel Sims comes out of his post homosexual orgy coma and feels the need to spew anti-capitalist rhetoric, he'll notice that Slashdot's front page has gone untouched since noon. The other editors are surely still sleeping off their afternoon fist-a-thon.
Come now. Neither Windows, OS X, or Linux are the most stable operating systems there are. Solaris has been stable for far longer than any of these three.
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
When Panther was released, there was a mass of buzz because Apple specifically said it would not issue security updates for Jaguar. After about a month of bad press and consumers complaining, Apple retracted this policy requiring users to buy the new version to get the security updates.
However, prior to this, with the release of Jaguar, Apple DID require users to buy the updated OSX in order to get the security fixes that came with Jaguar.
And if you don't believe this, you are either living in a dream world, or have no idea about what Apple does with its users. Do a quick google on the subject.
My company deals with TONS of Apple, *nix, and Windows users, trust me, I have been around this topic a bit to long for your revisionist history.
I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Really, a windows computer does this too? Hmm... Do you even know what standby and hibernate are? Do you even know that a computer cannot run indefinitely without power? Geesh...
And I never said random reboots were predominate on OSX, I said when the OS does crash and the system reboots, there are a lot of Mac users that have no idea that their computer just crashed.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
And yet you claim above you don't have crashes, which is it, or does my conclusion that Mac users don't get what crashes are hold true?
So far with both things you point out, you are just providing evidence for my rash generalization. And I meant it as a rash generalization, I didn't realize that SlashDot Mac users were going to chime in to prove they know nothing about their computer in depth. - Geesh
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
I wasn't even claiming I'm better than or don't even like Macs. I however don't put them on a false pedestal above all other OSes or Computers out of my ignorance or love of their ideal. I use OSX, Windows, and several *nixes on a daily basis. Not only for support, personal use, and development.
To even hint that I love any one of these far above the others is absurd, you have no idea who I am or what I stand for, so stop putting words in my mouth.
We can only better the computing world by finding and exploring the best ideals from ALL OS concepts and expanding the best ideas to a fulfilled reality. To state that one is the greatest and ignore the rest is not only ignorant, but does nothing but close your mind and stifle your ability to offer insightful or creative input to the computing world.
doodle.
/. today?
What's up with
"They're still suing a ton of teenagers for what is more or less their life savings or more, and that just goes to cash in the bank."
Must not have been much, if they couldn't afford all the movies, and music they downloaded.
Or maybe they're millionaires for all the stuff they didn't buy.
[BlueCup (753410)]
"For one thing, the lawyers are getting paid, even if they're on a payroll rather than hourly, they're being taken away from other things they could be doing."
Sounds like the "If only the KDE and GNOME people worked together? We'd be number one" argument.
"Not to mention, due to all of this bad publicity, they are taking a cut in sales. "
Even if all Slashdotters stopped buying music. I doubt it would even be a blip on the spreadsheet.
"Despite a yearly growth of 3(?) percent, in the record industry, their particular labels, especially the main ones, are taking a hit, as people like myself, run from anything they touch, and support the alternatives..."
There's more than one reason to run away from RIAA/MPAA products.
"They aren't dead yet, and they wont be dead for a long time, but I think they're boat has already begun taking in water."
We say the same about Microsoft, and the Government and whatever is on our shit list, and yet...here they are.
"are unfortunately the customers"
By their own free will too. Remember it's not others responsability to be your brain. It's your responsability. And in this "Internet" age there's no excuse for not being informed.
Has the site gone dead or is just me?
Let me translate your translation...
1) Apple used a stable OSS kernel as licensed.
2) Apple shares security holes with other 'nix systems - mostly affecting local users, nothing nasty widespread in the wild (so far).
Macs do crash, usually because of bad RAM, either as a freeze or a kernel panic with a screen that says so in several languages. Annoyingly mine has frozen once to date, that was after only 2 years of using OS X. YMMV.
Application crashes are a bit more frequent, the good news being that they don't affect the system. They can be a symptom of running out of free unfragmented hard disc space for OS X to play in.
The story that the "only way users could get the 'high risk' security holes fixed, was to buy the upgrade" was much hyped in the short interval between a particular Panther update and the Jaguar one that followed. No longer true.
You want to stick with XP, go ahead. I hear it's almost as stable as OS X.
How can they say this brillant plan didn't work? Here's what I did:
Bought broken iPod from friend - $5
Buy Dell's Digital Jukebox - $200
Send in iPod, recieve rebate + $100
Sold Jukebox on Ebay + $175
Final Count = $70 Profit! Thank you Dell!
Macs do crash, usually because of bad RAM, either as a freeze or a kernel panic with a screen that says so in several languages. Annoyingly mine has frozen once to date, that was after only 2 years of using OS X. YMMV.
Application crashes are a bit more frequent, the good news being that they don't affect the system. They can be a symptom of running out of free unfragmented hard disc space for OS X to play in.
And this is different from any other modern OS how?
Just because the Mac finally got a quite good OS with OSX, doesn't mean that tons of other OSes have not been around doing THE VERY SAME THING FOR A LONG TIME BEFORE OSX.
You want to stick with XP, go ahead. I hear it's almost as stable as OS X.
I think OSX is a good OS, I never said it wasn't, nor did I say that XP, Linux, Solaris, BSD, or 20 other OSes were any better than OSX. Funny that you would paint me as an XP person. It is a good OS too, but NOT THE BEST IN THE WORLD EITHER.
The difference is I don't blindly stick my head up Apples butt just because they finally are offering their customers something that *nix variants, Open Source OSes, and EVEN Microsoft has been offering its customers for years.
Apple is STILL NEW restrospectivily to having a modern OS, and it is great that they finally do. But I get sick of hearing how it is more secure, crashes less, or when people hype 'cool' features in OSX, when these features have been in other OSes for years.
It also annoys me to see people in the Open Source world bend to Apples will when Apple has done VERY LITTLE for the Open Source market or movement. Apple's bread and butter is a Closed Software GUI on Closed Hardware. Apple only pays credit to the Open Source and BSD underpinnings in OSX when licenses require them to, or they get a shot of publicity or fanfar by snow blowing the open source world.
If Apple flips open the GUI and discloses the source, then I will completely rethink the Apple Open Source connectivity, right now it just isn't as real as people would like to believe.
PS. Why do all the I love this OS or I love that OS zealots almost always respond anonymous?