It is human nature to prefer what you know, especially when you don't know much. Otherwise, it is impossible to defend liking grits, pig-knuckles, tripe and all the other left-over pig parts that poor people say is delicious, even after they climb out of poverty and into the middle class.
I'll bet that hearing loss is much more common among teenagers now, compared to 10-20 years ago.
GDI, why do people keep uttering this rubbish. I say again, everyone I knew in the early 80s (when I was a teen) had a Sony Walkman. You might remember a little TV channel called MTV that played music videos? Well, that channel spawned an entire generation of Walkman consumers. Before us it was long haired hippies cranking their 70s rock (with big quarter inch plug headphones). Before that, well, I'd have to ask dad...
8. Invest in companies making hearing aids. I foresee the iPod generation needing these as they get older.
9. Forget investing in hearing aid companies, because adults my age who all had Sony Walkmans as children didn't turn out needing hearing aids by age 40.
That's odd. In 39 years of life, I've finally been confused for a Brit. Perhaps you misread my post, because I'm American. I did live in the UK for 3 years though. Just to let you in on my sarcasm, I said American Football has four 15 minute quarters which is SUPPOSED to be one hour , but the games last 3 hours or more. Soccer, on the other hand, has two 45-minute halves, and the games last 90 minutes (plus half-time break)
You make an excellent point about the jump in quality from 96 to 128. Below 128 is unacceptable to even the least discerning ears. 128 - 192 has very modest quality improvements, and anything above that, to my ears, is diminishing returns. This is why the 128 standard was chosen as the "best" trade-off between file size and quality. With more broadband now days, I imagine 192 would be a better "trade-off" or higher, but to me, above 192 has no benefit. And I'm an old school jazz drummer and can't stand the cymbal sound of most pop rock recordings these days, regardless of bit rates;-)
Actually the people on here arguing that taste, especially in the context of artisanry, is subjective are the reason for Coor's and Budweiser's continued success. Hey, to each their own, but please don't preach to me that your inferior beer-flavored water is somehow on par with my nice hand-crafted brew.
People have been listening to music in earphones at loud volumes long before the iPod (my first one was the original Sony walkman, early 1980s). I also don't prefer the sound of 8-tracks, even though that is what I honed my ears on as a small child. Then again, the quality difference between mp3 to a CD track is minute compared to the quality difference in 8-track to cassette, LP or CD.
There's also the notion that, while one format may be technically superior, there are other aspects of sound other than just 1s and 0s. CDs sound shrill and harsh compared to LPs (or so they say). That's because they have a higher dynamic range (or so they say), but that's NOT to say that the human ear finds the higher range to be pleasant. The same thing goes for mp3s versus CDs (so they say). I'm just going to go with what I say, instead of what they say, and say I generally can't tell the difference between a medium quality mp3 and a CD, but I can tell the difference between a track played on my old-ass Bose accoustimass vs. my modern/expensive Paradigm/Yamaha setup. I would take a lower quality mp3 on my higher end gear over the higher end CD track on a lower end stereo system.
For crying out loud, quit producing crap that I can tell panders to morons and will continue to be crap! Ooh, Eliza Duschku...she's hot, must be a great show. I guess I should wait four more episodes to see if they ever move beyond the "almost-famous-kinda-hot-chick-but-might-be-the-next-Jessica-Alba-also-not-talented-but-looks-good-in-a-wet-tshirt" script.
What Fox wants...is another The Simpsons--much more mainstream, much longer appeal. The Simpsons is timeless. The X-files yells "1990s" very loudly. The X-files will be a Zeitgeist for the 90s. The Simpsons will be a Zeitgeist for the television era.
Can you remember the last time you stayed at home to watch some tv program?
Last night. I watched The Who live from the Isle of Wight.
Why would I want to watch a crappy torrent of a great concert on my 20" computer monitor that takes a few hours to download with my tiny plastic speakers sitting on hard office furniture, when I have a 52" HD TV and $5000 in Paradigm/Yamaha audio equipment in the living room and can sit on plush living room furniture?
Maybe some of us stay in on Friday nights to watch good shows like BSG already, regardless of the current economic environment. Night watching Battlestar Galactica with awesome wife + drinking a few beers > going to crowded, loud bar loaded with horny 20 somethings looking to hookup.
This stems from the fact that TV execs assume that science fiction fans are nerds with no life, and so Friday is the perfect time to play these shows.
I'm hardly a nerd, but who is to say that watching tv with friends/family on a Friday night qualifies you as having "no life"? So those people "with a life" only watch TV on Wednesdays? Pretty much anybody over the age of 24 gave up "going out" on Friday nights--it's called growing up.
I can understand why network execs HATE them (aside from skipping commercials), because at X O'clock on Y day of the week, they want you to watch the show they are airing, not watching something you recorded they were trying to kill by putting it in a bad spot.
I think we are forgetting that most people grew up without DVRs so their viewing habits are exactly that: habits. They sit down in front of the tv at set times on set dates out of habit. I'd be willing to bet that more people still do this than actually use their DVR to watch their favorite shows at their own leisure. Yes, that means I'm saying people don't watch their favorite shows--the watch the show that is on when the sit down in front of the TV. I would say the execs are still in control with a large segment of society, but not for much longer.
More importantly, BBC airs matches without commercials. Thus a 90 minute program lasts 90 minutes, not 90 minutes + 15 minutes in commercials. American football has four 15 minute quarters (one hour, right?) but takes 3 hours to play. Some of that is due to the clock stopping after certain plays, but most of it is due to this: score a touchdown, go to commercial, come back for the extra point kick (all of 30 seconds) go to commercial, come back for the kickoff (all of 10 seconds), go to a commercial, come back and resume play for three plays, punt, go to commercial.
Scientific Atlantic DVRs provided with Time Warner are pretty crappy in remembering "this show" on "this day" in "this time slot" on "this channel" if the show moves or airs on a special night or is shifted later for a political or sporting event, etc. I blame Scientific Atlanta for a horrible DVR, though, not the networks.
I think your post just goes to show that even a niche, well produced product with a small following on a small network in a bad time slot can be wildly successful, as long as it is a good product. Only 2 episodes left!
FHow little of a life do you have to have to watch a show about people whose goal in life is to become a one way, non-recycleable momentary 'star'?
More of a life than that guy living in his parents' basement leveling his Mage and working on his next killer hack, while living off Mountain Dew, hot pockets, cheetos and ramen? While his parents are upstairs with no life watching American Idol, they are providing said basement, mountain dew, hot pockets and ramen for their loser son who is in paid-for basement railing against the establishment on slashdot (taking a break in between RAIDS with his awesome guild).
I rather download my music from reputable and accountable sources.
Like PirateBay? What makes iTunes less reputable or accountable than, say, Rhapsody or Amazon or XXXTORRENTS4FREE, or any other legit or illegit source out there? I mean, if it were an accepted fact that Apple is neither reputable nor accountable, than your statement stands on its own, but it doesn't, so you need to qualify your statement.
That depends. With iTunes, I know exactly what I'm getting...middle of the road AAC/MP3 files that are tagged and labeled correctly. With bittorrent I can get anything from "not acceptable" to "higher quality than detectable by human ear" to everything in between. Personally, I'd rather click "buy" and know what I'm getting instead of downloading 8 versions of some album and crossing my fingers that at least one of them has a bit rate of higher than 96 and and hoping that some stoner didn't override the tags with his own stoner spelling abilities.
Levine and Boldrin point to students being sued for 'pirating' music on the internet (sic)...as examples of the failure of the current system.
I can only assume they consider the 'system' a failure because people are still downloading music illegally, even though some people are getting sued. Otherwise, this is a really annoying statement typical of the free-loader mentality. Just get rid of the rule against downloading copyrighted material and it no longer is illegal to download copyrighted material.
Well the main issue most people have with my Mazdaspeed3 is that it gets about 15mpg less than the non-turbo version. I would have no problem paying some sort of gas-guzzler tax for my car.
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It is human nature to prefer what you know, especially when you don't know much. Otherwise, it is impossible to defend liking grits, pig-knuckles, tripe and all the other left-over pig parts that poor people say is delicious, even after they climb out of poverty and into the middle class.
As would the inverse of building a house suited for Florida in the North.
Who would ever want to build a single-wide trailer in the North?
I'll bet that hearing loss is much more common among teenagers now, compared to 10-20 years ago.
GDI, why do people keep uttering this rubbish. I say again, everyone I knew in the early 80s (when I was a teen) had a Sony Walkman. You might remember a little TV channel called MTV that played music videos? Well, that channel spawned an entire generation of Walkman consumers. Before us it was long haired hippies cranking their 70s rock (with big quarter inch plug headphones). Before that, well, I'd have to ask dad...
8. Invest in companies making hearing aids. I foresee the iPod generation needing these as they get older.
9. Forget investing in hearing aid companies, because adults my age who all had Sony Walkmans as children didn't turn out needing hearing aids by age 40.
That's odd. In 39 years of life, I've finally been confused for a Brit. Perhaps you misread my post, because I'm American. I did live in the UK for 3 years though. Just to let you in on my sarcasm, I said American Football has four 15 minute quarters which is SUPPOSED to be one hour , but the games last 3 hours or more. Soccer, on the other hand, has two 45-minute halves, and the games last 90 minutes (plus half-time break)
You make an excellent point about the jump in quality from 96 to 128. Below 128 is unacceptable to even the least discerning ears. 128 - 192 has very modest quality improvements, and anything above that, to my ears, is diminishing returns. This is why the 128 standard was chosen as the "best" trade-off between file size and quality. With more broadband now days, I imagine 192 would be a better "trade-off" or higher, but to me, above 192 has no benefit. And I'm an old school jazz drummer and can't stand the cymbal sound of most pop rock recordings these days, regardless of bit rates ;-)
Actually the people on here arguing that taste, especially in the context of artisanry, is subjective are the reason for Coor's and Budweiser's continued success. Hey, to each their own, but please don't preach to me that your inferior beer-flavored water is somehow on par with my nice hand-crafted brew.
People have been listening to music in earphones at loud volumes long before the iPod (my first one was the original Sony walkman, early 1980s). I also don't prefer the sound of 8-tracks, even though that is what I honed my ears on as a small child. Then again, the quality difference between mp3 to a CD track is minute compared to the quality difference in 8-track to cassette, LP or CD.
There's also the notion that, while one format may be technically superior, there are other aspects of sound other than just 1s and 0s. CDs sound shrill and harsh compared to LPs (or so they say). That's because they have a higher dynamic range (or so they say), but that's NOT to say that the human ear finds the higher range to be pleasant. The same thing goes for mp3s versus CDs (so they say). I'm just going to go with what I say, instead of what they say, and say I generally can't tell the difference between a medium quality mp3 and a CD, but I can tell the difference between a track played on my old-ass Bose accoustimass vs. my modern/expensive Paradigm/Yamaha setup. I would take a lower quality mp3 on my higher end gear over the higher end CD track on a lower end stereo system.
Actually, no, your post shows you don't understand human nature. People like what they are familiar with. Too many studies to cite here.
For crying out loud, let it develop
For crying out loud, quit producing crap that I can tell panders to morons and will continue to be crap! Ooh, Eliza Duschku...she's hot, must be a great show. I guess I should wait four more episodes to see if they ever move beyond the "almost-famous-kinda-hot-chick-but-might-be-the-next-Jessica-Alba-also-not-talented-but-looks-good-in-a-wet-tshirt" script.
What Fox wants...is another The Simpsons--much more mainstream, much longer appeal. The Simpsons is timeless. The X-files yells "1990s" very loudly. The X-files will be a Zeitgeist for the 90s. The Simpsons will be a Zeitgeist for the television era.
Can you remember the last time you stayed at home to watch some tv program?
Last night. I watched The Who live from the Isle of Wight.
Why would I want to watch a crappy torrent of a great concert on my 20" computer monitor that takes a few hours to download with my tiny plastic speakers sitting on hard office furniture, when I have a 52" HD TV and $5000 in Paradigm/Yamaha audio equipment in the living room and can sit on plush living room furniture?
Maybe some of us stay in on Friday nights to watch good shows like BSG already, regardless of the current economic environment. Night watching Battlestar Galactica with awesome wife + drinking a few beers > going to crowded, loud bar loaded with horny 20 somethings looking to hookup.
This stems from the fact that TV execs assume that science fiction fans are nerds with no life, and so Friday is the perfect time to play these shows.
I'm hardly a nerd, but who is to say that watching tv with friends/family on a Friday night qualifies you as having "no life"? So those people "with a life" only watch TV on Wednesdays? Pretty much anybody over the age of 24 gave up "going out" on Friday nights--it's called growing up.
I can understand why network execs HATE them (aside from skipping commercials), because at X O'clock on Y day of the week, they want you to watch the show they are airing, not watching something you recorded they were trying to kill by putting it in a bad spot.
I think we are forgetting that most people grew up without DVRs so their viewing habits are exactly that: habits. They sit down in front of the tv at set times on set dates out of habit. I'd be willing to bet that more people still do this than actually use their DVR to watch their favorite shows at their own leisure. Yes, that means I'm saying people don't watch their favorite shows--the watch the show that is on when the sit down in front of the TV. I would say the execs are still in control with a large segment of society, but not for much longer.
More importantly, BBC airs matches without commercials. Thus a 90 minute program lasts 90 minutes, not 90 minutes + 15 minutes in commercials. American football has four 15 minute quarters (one hour, right?) but takes 3 hours to play. Some of that is due to the clock stopping after certain plays, but most of it is due to this: score a touchdown, go to commercial, come back for the extra point kick (all of 30 seconds) go to commercial, come back for the kickoff (all of 10 seconds), go to a commercial, come back and resume play for three plays, punt, go to commercial.
Scientific Atlantic DVRs provided with Time Warner are pretty crappy in remembering "this show" on "this day" in "this time slot" on "this channel" if the show moves or airs on a special night or is shifted later for a political or sporting event, etc. I blame Scientific Atlanta for a horrible DVR, though, not the networks.
I think your post just goes to show that even a niche, well produced product with a small following on a small network in a bad time slot can be wildly successful, as long as it is a good product. Only 2 episodes left!
FHow little of a life do you have to have to watch a show about people whose goal in life is to become a one way, non-recycleable momentary 'star'?
More of a life than that guy living in his parents' basement leveling his Mage and working on his next killer hack, while living off Mountain Dew, hot pockets, cheetos and ramen? While his parents are upstairs with no life watching American Idol, they are providing said basement, mountain dew, hot pockets and ramen for their loser son who is in paid-for basement railing against the establishment on slashdot (taking a break in between RAIDS with his awesome guild).
I rather download my music from reputable and accountable sources.
Like PirateBay? What makes iTunes less reputable or accountable than, say, Rhapsody or Amazon or XXXTORRENTS4FREE, or any other legit or illegit source out there? I mean, if it were an accepted fact that Apple is neither reputable nor accountable, than your statement stands on its own, but it doesn't, so you need to qualify your statement.
That depends. With iTunes, I know exactly what I'm getting...middle of the road AAC/MP3 files that are tagged and labeled correctly. With bittorrent I can get anything from "not acceptable" to "higher quality than detectable by human ear" to everything in between. Personally, I'd rather click "buy" and know what I'm getting instead of downloading 8 versions of some album and crossing my fingers that at least one of them has a bit rate of higher than 96 and and hoping that some stoner didn't override the tags with his own stoner spelling abilities.
...for two more weeks.
Levine and Boldrin point to students being sued for 'pirating' music on the internet (sic) ...as examples of the failure of the current system.
I can only assume they consider the 'system' a failure because people are still downloading music illegally, even though some people are getting sued. Otherwise, this is a really annoying statement typical of the free-loader mentality. Just get rid of the rule against downloading copyrighted material and it no longer is illegal to download copyrighted material.
Well the main issue most people have with my Mazdaspeed3 is that it gets about 15mpg less than the non-turbo version. I would have no problem paying some sort of gas-guzzler tax for my car.