I'm not entirely convinced that this is an insurmountable problem, or that one disc is too small. Although it's quite derivative (love it or hate it), Saints Row does just fine, though admittedly isn't as large as GTASA. (On the other hand it isn't as tedious or boring, but that's purely subjective.)
Still, if Volition can do this with their first effort, I'm sure Rockstar will manage admirably.
If Microsoft is gone, someone else will have the biggest share of the market and thus make the biggest, most appealing target. It helps that Windows is perceived as more vulnerable (though it can be argued it isn't - not that I hold this position myself), but surely some of that is due to the combination of more attacks against it (more home users and businesses) and a less-than-instant response to security holes.
Whoever the biggest name in a Microsoft-free world was (assuming they were the biggest in a similar kind of space with businesses and home users, not biggest like the bajillion flavors of *nix kind of way), I'm sure things would be the same, and only the details would vary.
1) Carefully profile and select for asexual individuals. (Yeah, right - as if the selection requirements for the crew for an interplanetary mission aren't tight already... assuming you even *can* positively select for this.
2) Do your best to create a sexually-compatible crew and hope for the best.
3) While signing various waivers and forms, have a 'celibacy pledge'. I'm sure the White House would approve.
And - much like using a TiVo or other DVR-type hardware and/or software solution to skip television ads - the majority of people who take part won't even bother with the extra effort. They'll just 'tune out' or ignore the ad and not bother with the extra effort to strip out the ads. I think that for most people (which is not to say/. readers in general) wouldn't care enough to take the 'extra hassle' of running through and clipping the ads from their tracks. Heck, I have an HD DVR from DirecTV (not a TiVo, alas) but most of the time, I just can't be arsed to pick up the remote and skip the ads. It's a good excuse to grab a glass of water, check on a process running on a machine in the other room, visit the bathroom, whatever.
Even if it's a simple 'feed we7 mp3 to stripper app' process, I'd wager that Joe Wal*Mart using his eMachines desktop and AOL (assuming he could even get to we7.com on his own in the first place) probably would just ignore the ads (or, well, possibly go and purchase products and services while being influenced by them, presumably).
And yet - putting up a radio tower (or buying/leasing the transmitter) is almost always far less expensive than buying sattelite broadcast time, or putting your own satellite. Which should negate some of the need for the ad-related revenue stream and more 'in demand' DJs. Of course those DJs can drive away as many listeners as they attract, much like the music or opinions being broadcast on the station, since it's all subjective anyway.
Often (speaking of just the meat itself, and the butchering, and not the preparation and so on), the higher cost of higher quality steak is because it has less fat and tends to be less tough, and thus people are willing to pay more to get those cuts rather than the less-desirable ones. High quality and low quality steaks can come from the very same dead cow, and one portion of it's carcass doesn't cost any more to raise and slaughter than another. (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be inflammatory to vegetarians or meat eaters or whatever in my use of terminology. For the record, I loves me some steaks, and am fine with those who don't, too.)
An older, used vehicle might be more reliable than a new car, and might cost more in some cases, depending on the vehicles.
Production cost might be factored into sale price, but at the end of the day, what determines the price that anyone (sane) charges for anything that they're providing or selling is based on what they perceive as what the market will bear (that's the whole capitalism thing that was referenced earlier).
If Steve/Apple thought that the price they could charge for iTMS tracks that would maximize profit was $3.75 a track, you can bet that that is what they'd charge. It isn't about deciding at the beginning that you will mark up your product and earn (just a manufactured number) $0.30 per unit, so you'll charge $0.30 beyond the cost of production. You figure out what the market will bear while maximizing your sales - or at least your profits - and charge that.
For myself, I'm fine with the iTMS model. I don't care if I can buy a CD for $8 and buy the album for $9.99 on iTMS if I only want two songs. I can get the two songs for $1.98 from iTMS or the two songs plus the rest of the album that I don't want for $8.
That's the other part of the pricing structure and is (yet again) based on what the market will bear. You have noticed in restaurants that you generally pay more for side dishes when you don't get them with your meal or entree, I imagine. A la carte pricing.
Now, that's not to say that iTMS is 'the ultimate perfect Platonic ideal of only media distribution' or anything. Far from it (in my opinion). But the pricing is 'fair', inasmuch as they've sold more than a couple songs over their years, and people seem willing to buy in great quantities.
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I'm not entirely convinced that this is an insurmountable problem, or that one disc is too small. Although it's quite derivative (love it or hate it), Saints Row does just fine, though admittedly isn't as large as GTASA. (On the other hand it isn't as tedious or boring, but that's purely subjective.)
Still, if Volition can do this with their first effort, I'm sure Rockstar will manage admirably.
If Microsoft is gone, someone else will have the biggest share of the market and thus make the biggest, most appealing target. It helps that Windows is perceived as more vulnerable (though it can be argued it isn't - not that I hold this position myself), but surely some of that is due to the combination of more attacks against it (more home users and businesses) and a less-than-instant response to security holes.
Whoever the biggest name in a Microsoft-free world was (assuming they were the biggest in a similar kind of space with businesses and home users, not biggest like the bajillion flavors of *nix kind of way), I'm sure things would be the same, and only the details would vary.
1) Carefully profile and select for asexual individuals. (Yeah, right - as if the selection requirements for the crew for an interplanetary mission aren't tight already... assuming you even *can* positively select for this.
2) Do your best to create a sexually-compatible crew and hope for the best.
3) While signing various waivers and forms, have a 'celibacy pledge'. I'm sure the White House would approve.
And - much like using a TiVo or other DVR-type hardware and/or software solution to skip television ads - the majority of people who take part won't even bother with the extra effort. They'll just 'tune out' or ignore the ad and not bother with the extra effort to strip out the ads. I think that for most people (which is not to say /. readers in general) wouldn't care enough to take the 'extra hassle' of running through and clipping the ads from their tracks. Heck, I have an HD DVR from DirecTV (not a TiVo, alas) but most of the time, I just can't be arsed to pick up the remote and skip the ads. It's a good excuse to grab a glass of water, check on a process running on a machine in the other room, visit the bathroom, whatever.
Even if it's a simple 'feed we7 mp3 to stripper app' process, I'd wager that Joe Wal*Mart using his eMachines desktop and AOL (assuming he could even get to we7.com on his own in the first place) probably would just ignore the ads (or, well, possibly go and purchase products and services while being influenced by them, presumably).
And yet - putting up a radio tower (or buying/leasing the transmitter) is almost always far less expensive than buying sattelite broadcast time, or putting your own satellite. Which should negate some of the need for the ad-related revenue stream and more 'in demand' DJs. Of course those DJs can drive away as many listeners as they attract, much like the music or opinions being broadcast on the station, since it's all subjective anyway.
Often (speaking of just the meat itself, and the butchering, and not the preparation and so on), the higher cost of higher quality steak is because it has less fat and tends to be less tough, and thus people are willing to pay more to get those cuts rather than the less-desirable ones. High quality and low quality steaks can come from the very same dead cow, and one portion of it's carcass doesn't cost any more to raise and slaughter than another. (Disclaimer: I'm not trying to be inflammatory to vegetarians or meat eaters or whatever in my use of terminology. For the record, I loves me some steaks, and am fine with those who don't, too.)
An older, used vehicle might be more reliable than a new car, and might cost more in some cases, depending on the vehicles.
Production cost might be factored into sale price, but at the end of the day, what determines the price that anyone (sane) charges for anything that they're providing or selling is based on what they perceive as what the market will bear (that's the whole capitalism thing that was referenced earlier).
If Steve/Apple thought that the price they could charge for iTMS tracks that would maximize profit was $3.75 a track, you can bet that that is what they'd charge. It isn't about deciding at the beginning that you will mark up your product and earn (just a manufactured number) $0.30 per unit, so you'll charge $0.30 beyond the cost of production. You figure out what the market will bear while maximizing your sales - or at least your profits - and charge that.
For myself, I'm fine with the iTMS model. I don't care if I can buy a CD for $8 and buy the album for $9.99 on iTMS if I only want two songs. I can get the two songs for $1.98 from iTMS or the two songs plus the rest of the album that I don't want for $8.
That's the other part of the pricing structure and is (yet again) based on what the market will bear. You have noticed in restaurants that you generally pay more for side dishes when you don't get them with your meal or entree, I imagine. A la carte pricing.
Now, that's not to say that iTMS is 'the ultimate perfect Platonic ideal of only media distribution' or anything. Far from it (in my opinion). But the pricing is 'fair', inasmuch as they've sold more than a couple songs over their years, and people seem willing to buy in great quantities.