iPods at War

phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica has put together an outstanding piece of journalism about the use of personal technology in America's military and how these devices along with blatant piracy is causing new problems in the face of war: "While soldiers once deployed with little more than a backpack and a rifle, today's crop of infantry troops pack along MP3 players, digital cameras, DVD players, video games, movie collections, and computers of their own. The personal electronics have made modern American warfare the most comfortable it has ever been, but they've also brought a new set of problems onto the battlefield.""

Comments

an interesting tidbit:

[yagu]

From the fine article, first page, a paragraph:

The entertainment industry has yet to sue soldiers in Iraq for copyright infringement, but perhaps it should if it's serious about stopping piracy. An MP in Afghanistan, who goes by the forum handle SirEverlast, tells Ars, "Every country I've been to has disregarded the MPAA and sold bootleg DVDs that soldiers buy for next to nothing."

First, please let this be tongue in cheek on the author's part (I'm assuming it is).

That aside, it's an interesting notion. Yeah, let the MPAA and RIAA go after the piracy of media by soldiers afield. The stipulation would be that the RIAA and MPAA must confront the accused personally, i.e., make them go the active front... after all, they've claimed they themselves are engaged in a war. What better way to experience that reality?

Anyway, if you've read Joseph Heller's Catch 22, soldiers' ingenuity to make their insane world a little more liveable is Milo Minderbinder redux. More power to them for making it through.

It's still war.

[Rob T Firefly]

The personal electronics have made modern American warfare the most comfortable it has ever been

That's rather like saying we've invented a form of molten lead that's more comfortable to have poured onto you than normal common or garden variety molten lead. These soldiers aren't exactly enjoying an evening at Chuck E. Cheese, for pity's sake!

I'm reminded of what Colnel Kurtz said

[antifoidulus]

in Apocalypse now, " As long as our officers and troups (sic) perform tours of duty limited to one year, they will remain dilletantes in war and tourists in Vietnam. As long as cold beer, hot food, rock and roll and all the other amenities remain the expected norm, our conduct of the war will gain only impotence. (In the document, but not read aloud - The wholesale and indiscriminate use of firepower will only increase the effectiveness of the enemy and strengthen their resolve to prove the superiority of an agrarian culture against the world's greatest technocracy...The central tragedy of our effort in this conflict has been the confusion of a sophisticated technology with human commitment. Our bombs may in time destroy the geography, but they will never win the war...)...We need fewer men, and better; if they were committed, this war could be won with a fourth of our present force..."

While I have been against the Iraq war from the begining, I wonder how much truth there is to this. Are short stints and relatively comfortable surroundings really not motivating the troops to do their job? A quote from Captain Willard: "Charlie didn't get much USO. He was dug in too deep or moving too fast. His idea of great R and R was cold rice and a little rat meat. He had only two ways home: death or victory."

Just take the above quotes and replace "Vietnam" with "Iraq" and "Charlie" with the insurgency and you have quotes that apply as much to this war as it did 'Nam....

Re:Unfounded Criticism

[FiveDollarYoBet]

Been back from Iraq for less than a year. We lived in steel containers with windows, a door and an AC unit cut into the sides. Our water tank was outside and non-potable so you didn't shower if you had a cut. In the winter the water was cold. In the summer it was too hot to shower after 7AM. About half the guys in my platoon had laptops. All but a few had iPods.

It's nice to be able to listen to some tunes or play some NCAA with the AC going full blast when it's 130F outside. You do it to try to bring back a feeling of normality. You know that in two hours you're going out for a patrol and you know that your sector is averaging an IED every other day but for that short time beforehand you can almost imagine that you're back home.

Is a $3000 plasma screen excessive? An entire DJ booth over the top? In my opinion yes, but to that soldier it's probably still not enough to make them feel like they were home.

One thing of note.... the PX who supplies most of the crap that soldiers buy is a monopoly. They stock that $3000 plasma that a buck private probably can't afford knowing that they'll take the money and run. In my opinion they were bigger cheats than the Haji shop on base that tried to sell you Rodex watches.

Re:Chuck E Cheez - our robot elvis man-dog overlor

[oofoe]

Actually...

On specific instructions from the Chuck E. Cheez top management, a large number of these had their fur disposed of and their endoskeletons/mechanics cut up with blowtorches. A friend of mine used to work at one of these places when the order came down. He managed to rescue one of them (sans fur) from the cutter and I wound up with it when he no longer had space for it. It's a very interesting device, all pneumatically actuated using a low pressure air line. He also managed to grab a programming console for it, which you can use to drive it manually. All you need is an air source (a truck inner tube will do) and you can drive it around. Since this one was the lead guitar player (I think), it has a reasonable number of degrees of freedom.

The most striking thing about it is the beautiful blue eyes. Seeing it for the first time is quite a shock since the rest of it is quite Terminator-esque.

It's currently standing guard in my basement, waiting for the rise of Goog... I mean SkyNet...

Gotta speak my mind...

[MBC1977]

Gents and Ladies,

Regardless of what side of the coin you follow (democrat or republican, liberal or conservative), if you are not putting your
life on the line don't criticize others that do. In addition, as to servicemembers allegedly listening to music or watching videos
illegally, I would ask you to consider the morale factor. If you know you can possibly die at anytime, do you really think that we care
(during our deployment in a hostile country) that the RIAA is going to come after us? Whatever my fellow servicemembers and I need to
maintain our calm in a chaotic situation is what matters plain and simple. Because the simple matter is lives are at stake, namely ours.
Irregardless of whether this war is a good or bad action to undertake.

Another way I'll put is like this: If the RIAA wants to fight terrorism in Iraq before it comes to our shores, I'll gladly hand my M16A4
over to one of the cushy (or pudgy in somecases) lawyers and they can stand post. I don't mind sitting on my ass collecting big checks from
overpaid, overhyped artists (whom the majority can't sing or act anyway). At least I won't harrass dead people's families, college students,
and children. (Not to mention, all that gear hurts my back any damm way).

Regards,

MBC1977
(US Marine, College Student, and Good Guy)

Please note: The following comment is personal and not an official US Marine statement

Piracy is the least of my concern

[vivin]

Thank you, kind sir for putting it in perspective.

Piracy is the least of our concerns here. In fact, piracy is mostly the ONLY way we are able to get music and movies to bring a little comfort into our lives. I'm stationed in Iraq now, and have been so for the past 10 months. Let me tell you - we soldiers swap movies and music amongst ourselves all the time. The PX'es have a small selection of music and movies, and so we turn to other avenues (like swapping music and movies) or buying pirated CD's and DVD's from Iraqis. We can get whole TV series (Babylon 5, Sopranos, Simpsons) and if they are DVD rips, the quality is pretty good. We can even get movies when they're still in theater - of course, the copy is pretty crappy, but sometimes it'll do. Piracy is rampant here and I wonder if the RIAA knows about it. To put it quite simply, none of us are really bothered - we're mostly trying to make sure we stay alert and alive. To be honest, I find that if I hear some music from a band/artist I like, I buy their CD's. For example, I recently got a song or two by Death Cab For Cutie from my friend. I liked their music, so I bought their CD.

I'm waiting for the day when the *AA sends their representatives into the battlefield to make sure piracy isn't running wild amongst the troops - I'd laugh. I wonder if they'd have the balls to do that or to prosecute soldiers/marines/seamen/airmen who are simply trying to make their lives a little more comfortable.