I have a feeling this change will cause similar forums to rise in popularity and Blizzard will accomplish little other than losing control of the conversation and pissing off their users.
This is already largely the case with the min/max raiding crowd gravitating to a few non-Blizzard sites/forums for their information and discussion.
Interestingly, one reason the referenced site grew to popularity is the iron-handed approach to moderation - the slightest hint of trolling or asshatery is generally quickly stomped upon and/or mocked relentlessly by both the moderators and user population.
Saying that the system of government best suited to corporate profits is a fascist-leaning dictatorship is like saying Bernie Madoff will get you the best return on your investment. It is sometimes true in the short term, but in the long term it is very, very false.
That would be relevant, if only people and corporations had the foresight to pay attention to anything more than the Next Big Thing. The lack of any sort of a long view and the attitude that what is best for right now is always the right choice are both almost ubiquitous in our culture and are detrimental to society in many cases.
Cash depreciates over time relative to inflation, so almost no one holds significant amounts of cash but rather invest in securities, real estate, commodities, etc.
Here is Warren Buffett's portfolio, as an example.
We also keep in mind that large portions of these people's wealth is invested in various markets, so a year ago when the market was driven down by the panic-stricken masses, their wealth also plummeted. With the market correcting to more normal levels, they can't help but show massive gains in the past year.
If I had $20 invested in the stock market at the peak, which dropped to $10 in the market at the bottom, and now have $16, I would show a gain of 60% in the last year, but would have still lost money due to the recession.
I think the big factors are the perceived lack of responsiveness for the gaming crowd and the lack of value it provides to most business-class desktop users.
Speaking from experience, I would be vary cautious were I to decide to purchase another bluetooth mouse. I personally found Bluetooth to be far more trouble than it was worth.
On the gaming side of things, the small but perceptible lag I experienced coupled with the connection dropping at inopportune times and requiring the pairing process to be completed again put a damper on things. For business applications it was less frustrating, but in that realm the added convenience doesn't seem to offset the increased price and support cost with the exception of mobile users. When 90% of calls regarding user input devices coming in to a help desk concern problems with wireless keyboards/mice, they quickly go away for most users.
The Logitech Bluetooth mouse I was using was the top of the line offering at the time I purchased it. I picked up a comparatively inexpensive corded USB mouse and continue to enjoy using it years later, and haven't missed the cordless convenience one bit.
Slashdot Mirror
I have a feeling this change will cause similar forums to rise in popularity and Blizzard will accomplish little other than losing control of the conversation and pissing off their users.
This is already largely the case with the min/max raiding crowd gravitating to a few non-Blizzard sites/forums for their information and discussion.
For example:
http://www.elitistjerks.com/
Interestingly, one reason the referenced site grew to popularity is the iron-handed approach to moderation - the slightest hint of trolling or asshatery is generally quickly stomped upon and/or mocked relentlessly by both the moderators and user population.
Saying that the system of government best suited to corporate profits is a fascist-leaning dictatorship is like saying Bernie Madoff will get you the best return on your investment. It is sometimes true in the short term, but in the long term it is very, very false.
That would be relevant, if only people and corporations had the foresight to pay attention to anything more than the Next Big Thing. The lack of any sort of a long view and the attitude that what is best for right now is always the right choice are both almost ubiquitous in our culture and are detrimental to society in many cases.
Whoever got a study funded that allowed them to buy large amounts of bottled beer on someone else's dime was a very smart person indeed.
In 2007 he was worth 60 billion, today he is worth 47 billion, which is a 'gain' of 10 billion over last year but is down from the 2007 number.
Should have been 2008, rather.
Source?
Cash depreciates over time relative to inflation, so almost no one holds significant amounts of cash but rather invest in securities, real estate, commodities, etc.
Here is Warren Buffett's portfolio, as an example.
http://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Warren+Buffett
In 2007 he was worth 60 billion, today he is worth 47 billion, which is a 'gain' of 10 billion over last year but is down from the 2007 number.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Buffett#Path_to_wealth
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35799215/ns/business-forbescom/
We also keep in mind that large portions of these people's wealth is invested in various markets, so a year ago when the market was driven down by the panic-stricken masses, their wealth also plummeted. With the market correcting to more normal levels, they can't help but show massive gains in the past year.
If I had $20 invested in the stock market at the peak, which dropped to $10 in the market at the bottom, and now have $16, I would show a gain of 60% in the last year, but would have still lost money due to the recession.
I think the big factors are the perceived lack of responsiveness for the gaming crowd and the lack of value it provides to most business-class desktop users. Speaking from experience, I would be vary cautious were I to decide to purchase another bluetooth mouse. I personally found Bluetooth to be far more trouble than it was worth. On the gaming side of things, the small but perceptible lag I experienced coupled with the connection dropping at inopportune times and requiring the pairing process to be completed again put a damper on things. For business applications it was less frustrating, but in that realm the added convenience doesn't seem to offset the increased price and support cost with the exception of mobile users. When 90% of calls regarding user input devices coming in to a help desk concern problems with wireless keyboards/mice, they quickly go away for most users. The Logitech Bluetooth mouse I was using was the top of the line offering at the time I purchased it. I picked up a comparatively inexpensive corded USB mouse and continue to enjoy using it years later, and haven't missed the cordless convenience one bit.
For some Apple fanatics, Apple could sell them a kick in the balls and they'd stand in line for six days just to buy it.
I'm pretty sure that was called Apple TV.