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The Power of the Hacking Community
narramissic writes "In the world of business software, vendors routinely offer tools to help developers customize applications. Not so in the consumer space, where TiVo and Xbox are notable exceptions. This article offers and interesting look at what companies have to gain — and lose — by embracing the hacker community. From the article: 'One example is TiVo Inc., founded in 1997 to develop digital video technology that allows users to record TV shows. TiVo, based on Linux, is an extensible platform, and from its early days the company welcomed hackers and professional developers. "When we first came out no one knew what DVR was," said Richard Bullwinkle, vice president of products at entertainment networking company Mediabolic Inc., and formerly a senior member of TiVo's product marketing team. "So we made it hacker friendly."'"
Sony Corp. has been too strict about preventing users from playing around with hacks into products like the PlayStation Portable, Bullwinkle and other panelists agreed. Even though the PSP modding community has had to fight Sony every step of the way, they've still been able to do some pretty cool things. COuld you imagine what might have happened if they actually had been able to just do what they wanted, or even been encouraged by Sony? There might actually be a reason for someone to buy one of them.
Say a company created a console with the sole intent of KNOWING people were going to hack it. I can udnerstand the companies wanting to prevent people from playing downloaded ISO's, but that's not what I'm referring to. I'm refering to the Xbox DVR or Linux Box, things like that.
If word gets out into the hacking community that the new Gametron 3000 is designed in such a way to ENCOURAGE people to muck with the innards...well, it might do something good.
Take the PS3 for example. Nearly every discussion on the PS3 has the fact that linux is easily loaded to it popping up. It's a shame there is so much negative thinking about the system...in fact, in retrospect, the PS2 was rather simple as well.
HDAdvance + Network Adapter + 200 gig hard drive = fun. Add in a flip top, and it's even more fun. (Altho sony seemed to learn from that mistake by making a slot-loading mechanism this time)
Something that I find to be funny, and something I have noticed few people think about: a PC or laptop is basically a tool that is sold that encourages people to fuck with it...it's a blank slate, a universal tool to be done with whatever someone wants. No restrictions, no nothing (unless of course you are trying to overclock most brand name computers).
Interesting to think about things like that...
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The entire point of the GPL is that hackers can modify and replace GPLed software. Tivo's hardware refuses to run modified Linux kernels, ignoring the intent of the the license they agreed to. It may be legal, but it's not morally right, and it certainly is the opposite of "embracing the hacker community." That same community that gave them the operating system they built upon. It's an insult.
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A very timely posting.
I was very excited yesterday when I heard the news of the Apple iPhone. At last! A phone I can actually control, a have my own software running on! I can integrate into voice mail and SMS!
Not to be. Apple have, perhaps, given in to the airtime providers who want to lock us into old, expensive ways of working. While "Ring Tones" is a multi billion dollar business our mobile phones are going to remain retarded.
I wonder if some one will create a phone that frees us from these chains, and then shows an advert in the superbowl of a 1984 style advert... like, er, Apple?
What a pity.
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Meh - at least there's some "legitimate" way to do development. I've done hobby development for a bunch of platforms, but it's never really been fully above board (ie. to develop for the Nintendo DS I flashed my firmware and used a gray-market flash cartridge). With very few exceptions (Dreamcast) it's always been difficult to distribute homebrew console apps. At least with the 360 there's the intimation that eventually there'll be a workable distribution path. In the meantime, getting started with XNA is free and it works pretty well (from my very limited testing).
While the 360 isn't exactly "designed to be hackable", I think MS deserves some credit for giving developers anything. Any fiddling I do with XNA and the 360 is more than I'd be doing with a Wii.
(Also, it's worth noting that the built-in media player on the 360 works pretty good (though it means an extra step of transcoding via VLC). I watch TV shows off my computer using it all the time. This was a big factor in me purchasing the thing as now I have only one device hooked up to the projector and it plays DVD's, games, and content from the computer. My wife is much happier with this setup.)
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
While it's great that Sony allows Linux to run, it does so without GPU support. This is a fairly major blow to anyone considering writing games for the thing - enough of a blow that I think PS3 Linux will end up being as exciting as PS2 Linux was (which is to say "not very exciting at all"). Sure there will be media players and what not, but without some tools (and GPU support) from Sony there's not going to be a lot of great games. And that's kind of a bad sign for a console.
In the other corner, I think MS is serious about getting developers producing actual games for the 360. I recognize it's not ideal at this point, but it's off to the right start. From the XNA FAQ: "We are actively working on other ways to allow you to more easily distribute your games and are very excited about the possibilities this will open up for independent game development." Looking at the thought that went into the XNA stuff I've tried, I think they're serious about this.
And that's the other part: the tools. XNA Game Studio is actually easy enough to use that I think people are really going to do something with it, something that could become big. If they solve the distribution problem, small developers could have access to a large audience with consistent, solid hardware in their living rooms. And they can do development without investing too much on tools/getting-started.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
Contrast the iOpener, which was a little web terminal sold at a loss with the plan of recouping the cost by selling service subscriptions. But rather than following the cellphone model, where the hardware is only discounted if you sign up for service, they just trusted that nobody would buy the hardware without also buying service.
:)
When hackers realized it was a generic PC and started buying them en masse, iOpener responded by smearing glue on the circuit board, changing the BIOS, and generally sticking their head in the sand. Linksys got it right with the WRT54GL: sell the good hardware directly to hackers at a fair price.
Today, iOpener is but a sad little footnote in the annals of hardware-hacker history, while the WRT54G(L) is riding high.
Every once in a while, I get angry at hackers who aim to make Xbox or PSP hardware more useful by imbuing it with software that doesn't suck. "Why would you aid the enemy by embracing their hacker-hostile business?", I agonize. Then I remember that those game systems are sold at a loss. Awesome.
The electronics industry actually predates today's culture of quivering, trembling, pants-wetting terror of anything that might even hint at liability. Have a look in electronics magazines from the 60's: "Hey kids! Build your own Tesla Coil in your back yard!"
A little story... I went down to Circuit City to buy one of those but they were out of stock. I paid for it anyway and used my credit card. Weeks went by and I got a letter in the mail from IOpener that stated that they had AMENEDED their licensing. I could "still purchase" their device but that if I did so and didn't sign up for their service in X days my CREDIT CARD would be billed something like $350!
Now, HOW did they get my ADDRESS? HOW did they get my CREDIT CARD number? Why it seems that Circuit City was only more than willing to provide them with my address at least and apparently my CREDIT CARD information. I called and wrote Circuit City about this and never received any sort of satisfactory answer - only form letters.
Guess which consumer electronics store I have not spent a dime in in something like 10 years? Yup, Circuit City and all because those pricks handed over information to the IOpener people. I wish like hell I had paid cash that day but the new had just broken and i was damned excited to run out and get one - grr!
P.S. An even odder footnote. When I went to that CC store it was one I hadn't been tobefore but somehow whenI gave them my phone number they had my address. Turns out that YEARS before a family member who no longer lived in my home had bought something there and they had retained that information in their computers all that time. THAT sent a chill down my spine too.....
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