Irregardless of whether Astrology is "true" or not it is a belief. So practitioners as human beings more than temporary assemblages of H, O, Si, etc. deserve respect for their beliefs. What about Omnists for Terry Pratchett fans, they have rights too.
As a scientist there is much we have to "believe" in for our universe to work. We are awfully good at looking at the trees through the prism of the Scientific method but as far as looking at the forest, "Not so good".
For instance, let's take the Big Bang. We all know Newtonian's laws and the modifications of the space time required for relativity as formulated by Einstein. All things work well until we wind down to the beginning. Then everything goes to hell. We can't explain what was before, why it collapsed, how the forces we know now broke down and why it exploded. We have to have a lot of "faith" and it's not understood.
I've been around enough to hear about how close the Grand Unified Field theory is and how close Quantum Mechanics is to being figured out with larger accelerators. The Higgs Boson ties it all together but we haven't found it yet. Without it we can't even explain mass or gravity. Understanding black holes, why the universe is not at Absolute zero and thus not moving, etc. requires a lot of "Then a miracle occurs" kind of logic.
So as scientists we're really good at the what and the description, we have a mixed record on the how and we're really lacking in the why.
Astrology is pretty determinant on the why and how and not so predictable on the what.
So as far as dating someone with different beliefs, look in the mirror. Other than your hubris, are you emperor wearing any clothes.
The uproar over Microsoft only content and the DRM restrictions reminds me of NetFlix, the US DVD distribution service.
Netflix is offering live video content over a Windows PC through Internet Explorer. I love NetFlix and have a PC but my primary home PC is a MAC and if I can't use FireFox and can't use a Mac it's game over.
For media distributors, get the message. Your customers don't want lock in by platform, OS, or browser.
Leaving out iTunes is a big mistake. The reason Steve Jobs has the power that the record companies don't like is because Jobs is representing the consumer. Where would this removal of DRM movement be without Jobs helping to champion it and push it.
Even with this offer from Universal, which is half a step in the right direction, they're only doing it on a provisional basis. You either get in bed with the consumer and trust them or you don't. How many EMI tracks sold by iTunes do you think have been pirated. None or nearly none because the vast majority of consumers who buy their tracks are not going to pirate. "It's not in their nature".
I get used CDs from Amazon but I dont' want another account to buy from Amazon and Target and Best Buy and Walmart. iTunes takes care of my music and if Universal wants to deny me that then I will deny Universal any of my music purchases.
I don't want any Microsoft DRM tied to Internet Explorer either.
One more thing, Does Sony pay the record companies a tax for every stereo they sell?
They previously counted XP sales after leaving the sales channel (installed on a machine) instead
of just going out to retailers and they included upgrade coupons. So all of that floating inventory that
is "in the sales channel" is counting as sales.
They also didn't account for higher sales of PCs.
If you were buying a PC and you could get XP or Vista installed on it, which would you choose. Now if
you don't have a choice, then it's a Vista sale, though not a willing one.
A good analogy of renting vs. buying individual tracks is sports season ticket holders vs. buyers of individual tickets. Season ticket holders get a reduced price per game and get to see any game they want to. Ticket buyers get to pick and choose but pay a higher price. I might want to go to a game once every three years or maybe three a year. The season ticket holder is much more passionate about the team (music) but we're both sports (music) fans. Both are necessary for the support of music.
The difference between the two models is numbers. It's a classic pyramid where there are many (10?) times more people who are casual buyers vs. season ticket holders.
Where DRM comes in, is imagine that your memories of those games you attend only survives as long as you keep buying season tickets. For individual buyers, you have to keep track of your music, etc., much less onerous. With DRM free, your memories won't die with minimal maintenance of your music library.
Subscription services are important but not for the mass market. So Steve Jobs is right that the iTunes eco-system should not go through a radical change to meet the needs of a few. That doesn't mean the needs of a few are a failure or cannot be met elsewhere.
I just got mine this weekend and hooked it up to a 480i TV with component cables. Both of our standard def TVs have component cable input and I don't think it's as uncommon as people make it out to be. Just look at your owners manual or the back of your TV. If there are red, green and blue RCA jacks you have component.
My kids watched Pirates of the Caribbean on it and I could not tell the difference between it and a DVD. I never noticed any compression artifacts and as the author stated, setup was a breeze. It does what it does very well. Yeah, it'd be nice if it had DVR/Tivo capabilities and a DVD/High Def DVD player on it as well but then it would be well a mess. The one easy enhancement that is just a software/DRM enhancement would be to allow movie rentals.
What it does now is decouple your family room from the room your computer is in. I can play my iTunes collection on my stereo with real speakers and I can watch movies and TV shows. I can also work on my computer while the Apple TV is being used. It's great for buying movies by impulse, don't have to go to the rental store or wait for NetFlix. Yes, I'd like higher def content (720p) but for me personally when I get an HDTV. I'm sure Apple is getting its ducks in a row to distribute high def content. But that would also undercut DVD sales. I'd like more studios to climb aboard.
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As a scientist there is much we have to "believe" in for our universe to work. We are awfully good at looking at the trees through the prism of the Scientific method but as far as looking at the forest, "Not so good". For instance, let's take the Big Bang. We all know Newtonian's laws and the modifications of the space time required for relativity as formulated by Einstein. All things work well until we wind down to the beginning. Then everything goes to hell. We can't explain what was before, why it collapsed, how the forces we know now broke down and why it exploded. We have to have a lot of "faith" and it's not understood.
I've been around enough to hear about how close the Grand Unified Field theory is and how close Quantum Mechanics is to being figured out with larger accelerators. The Higgs Boson ties it all together but we haven't found it yet. Without it we can't even explain mass or gravity. Understanding black holes, why the universe is not at Absolute zero and thus not moving, etc. requires a lot of "Then a miracle occurs" kind of logic.
So as scientists we're really good at the what and the description, we have a mixed record on the how and we're really lacking in the why.
Astrology is pretty determinant on the why and how and not so predictable on the what.
So as far as dating someone with different beliefs, look in the mirror. Other than your hubris, are you emperor wearing any clothes.
Netflix is offering live video content over a Windows PC through Internet Explorer. I love NetFlix and have a PC but my primary home PC is a MAC and if I can't use FireFox and can't use a Mac it's game over.
For media distributors, get the message. Your customers don't want lock in by platform, OS, or browser.
Leaving out iTunes is a big mistake. The reason Steve Jobs has the power that the record companies don't like is because Jobs is representing the consumer. Where would this removal of DRM movement be without Jobs helping to champion it and push it.
Even with this offer from Universal, which is half a step in the right direction, they're only doing it on a provisional basis. You either get in bed with the consumer and trust them or you don't. How many EMI tracks sold by iTunes do you think have been pirated. None or nearly none because the vast majority of consumers who buy their tracks are not going to pirate. "It's not in their nature".
I get used CDs from Amazon but I dont' want another account to buy from Amazon and Target and Best Buy and Walmart. iTunes takes care of my music and if Universal wants to deny me that then I will deny Universal any of my music purchases.
I don't want any Microsoft DRM tied to Internet Explorer either.
One more thing, Does Sony pay the record companies a tax for every stereo they sell?
Microsoft is stacking the channel as this article points out http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/stack ing_vista_licenses_too_high.html
They previously counted XP sales after leaving the sales channel (installed on a machine) instead of just going out to retailers and they included upgrade coupons. So all of that floating inventory that is "in the sales channel" is counting as sales.
They also didn't account for higher sales of PCs.
If you were buying a PC and you could get XP or Vista installed on it, which would you choose. Now if you don't have a choice, then it's a Vista sale, though not a willing one.
A good analogy of renting vs. buying individual tracks is sports season ticket holders vs. buyers of individual tickets. Season ticket holders get a reduced price per game and get to see any game they want to. Ticket buyers get to pick and choose but pay a higher price. I might want to go to a game once every three years or maybe three a year. The season ticket holder is much more passionate about the team (music) but we're both sports (music) fans. Both are necessary for the support of music.
The difference between the two models is numbers. It's a classic pyramid where there are many (10?) times more people who are casual buyers vs. season ticket holders.
Where DRM comes in, is imagine that your memories of those games you attend only survives as long as you keep buying season tickets. For individual buyers, you have to keep track of your music, etc., much less onerous. With DRM free, your memories won't die with minimal maintenance of your music library.
Subscription services are important but not for the mass market. So Steve Jobs is right that the iTunes eco-system should not go through a radical change to meet the needs of a few. That doesn't mean the needs of a few are a failure or cannot be met elsewhere.
A person who likes to own music.
I just got mine this weekend and hooked it up to a 480i TV with component cables. Both of our standard def TVs have component cable input and I don't think it's as uncommon as people make it out to be. Just look at your owners manual or the back of your TV. If there are red, green and blue RCA jacks you have component.
My kids watched Pirates of the Caribbean on it and I could not tell the difference between it and a DVD. I never noticed any compression artifacts and as the author stated, setup was a breeze. It does what it does very well. Yeah, it'd be nice if it had DVR/Tivo capabilities and a DVD/High Def DVD player on it as well but then it would be well a mess. The one easy enhancement that is just a software/DRM enhancement would be to allow movie rentals.
What it does now is decouple your family room from the room your computer is in. I can play my iTunes collection on my stereo with real speakers and I can watch movies and TV shows. I can also work on my computer while the Apple TV is being used.
It's great for buying movies by impulse, don't have to go to the rental store or wait for NetFlix.
Yes, I'd like higher def content (720p) but for me personally when I get an HDTV. I'm sure Apple is getting its ducks in a row to distribute high def content. But that would also undercut DVD sales. I'd like more studios to climb aboard.
But for now I'm very happy with it.