""Middle class" used to mean a small home and a single car, or a modest apartment if you lived in a city -- plus entertainment/disposable income that's a fraction of what people spend today (as a fraction of their income, but probably in absolute terms when you adjust for inflation, too)."
"Bankruptcy law expert and Harvard University Professor Elizabeth Warren spent a lot of time crunching consumer spending numbers for her popular books, "The Fragile Middle Class" and "The Two-Income Trap." In both, she makes this point: Despite all those $200 sneakers you hear about and the long lines at Starbucks, consumers are actually spending less of their income - much less - on discretionary items like clothing, entertainment and food than their parents did. In fact, after taking care of essentials like housing and health care, today's middle class has about half as much spending money as their parents did in the early 1970s"
"I mean that further bad or mediocre iterations of the franchise are likely to damage the whole and make it less likely that a good iteration will be produced."
A much bigger factor in that is whether or not copyright law is reformed. Luke Skywalker and Mickey Mouse should both be public domain at this point in time.
"Actually, I never snuck into an R Rated movie, correct. My parents took me to some though - those they felt appropriate."
That's unfortunate. Seeing an R-rated movie at 16 and breaking a rule is good for your spirit.
"As such, I would like to have some control of what my [hypothetical] kids could get access too, and would not mind assistance to ensure store clerks aren't selling things they shouldn't to the kids. I'd not object to some assistance in the matter."
Sure, fine - I don't think GTA should be sold to kids by a store clerk. I think we can agree on that. Where you and I part ways is holding some 16 year old looking for some spending money over the summer accountable and legally responsible for this enforcement - especially in an instance where I do not believe there's a link between the offending item and a damaging effect on youth. What's the problem we're trying to solve with another law on the books? Also - how do you propose this system works? Are you going to stick with the ESRB as the ratings board or establish a publicly accountable board?
"And actually, as far as the latter point - yes I do agree with making movie theaters accountable for letting minors access R movies without a guardian, or video rental places renting such material, etc."
You and I have a fundamental disagreement but at least you've got consistent thinking on this topic.
I take it you never snuck into an R-rated movie? I, as a parent, don't mind if my kids try to get access to adult games or violent movies. It'll make them more industrious and, also as a parent, I'll always find out what they're up to. If I think they've gone and gotten a video game that they shouldn't have (and really, my kids aren't such shallowed idiots that they're going to be scarred by a violent video game), I can take it back. Why involve the government and police in this matter?
Have you been rallying support for making the movie theaters accountable for letting minors into R-rated films without a parent of guardian?
Wow! That's a great view of how the courts should function. Not only do you get punished for the act, you get punished for daring to defend yourself.
Maybe we should start using this as another way to tax people? Make up some phony law where if you immediately plead guilty, you get a $1,000 fine but if you plead innocent, the punishment is death. That'll be great! Think of how the public coffers will be filled!
They licensed Pretty Vacant to EA. It was not re-recorded. (Not that I am impressed with this song for Guitar Hero being re-recorded but it is different than what is taking place for Skate.)
Obviously I didn't cite anything to prove my side but, as you admit, it's a widely held belief that employees cause more loss than customers. In order to prove that widely held belief incorrect you're going to have to do a little better than say some head of corporate security for some unnamed company said it was wrong.
Logically, I don't see any reason why an employee is more likely to admit to previous theft than a customer.
Most losses that retail outlets incur come as the result of theft committed by employees - not customers. Why is it that you believe receipt checkers are effective against shoplifting?
"I don't help perpetuate the popularity of shows that are made by companies that want to control when, where, and how I watch stuff that I'm willing to pay for."
Let's look at Heroes, a program that NBC releases. They offer the program over the air across the country with advertising. They allow people to view it over the internet with advertising. They offer it on DVDs without advertising. My point is that I don't think your dislike of NBC is well-placed. They're offering their content in a variety of ways to try to maximize the number of people that will accept a given distribution channel. Not everyone is willing to pay for television programs. This is an attempt to get those people to watch and make money from them through advertising. Why does this bother you?
Alright, I can understand that if you work retail then you are accustomed to saying SKU. The majority of people around here who use SKU are just trying to sound like they're "in the know" and failing.
"I almost considered getting an Elite Sku for my home system which is setup with pure HDMI hookups."
I don't think a random string of alphanumerics has any HDMI hookups whatsoever.
"But at the time the failure rates I saw scared me greatly."
?? What are you talking about? I haven't heard anything about problems with the stock keeping units. They seem to be consistent on each item in stock and reflect what is in the box. Are you saying that stores are getting inventory with incorrect sku designations? What are you talking about?
sincerely, Bud Dickman
p.s. you take a console home; the retailer is concerned with their inventory and keeping track of it - the customer is not. You're talking about being a customer; use appropriate language. You were thinking about buying an Elite system or an Elite console or an Elite model - you have no interest in the SKU on the system you might pick up and don't even know what it is.
Here's why I object to people using "SKU" and do not object to people using "rig". When someone uses SKU, it brings an unnecessary and inappropriate acronym into the mix. Unless the writer and the audience are retailers, then they do not keep stocks of Xbox consoles on hand. Therefore the notion of a stock keeping unit is not something they would encounter in any other realm except for those who use it in an attempt to sound "in the know". Using SKU says to me that people aren't pleased with themselves and want to make themselves out to be something they're not...OR...they're MBAs, and in that case, I don't want to take part in a discussion with them.
"but that the vast overwhelming majority of them are not creative."
The same way it has always been in my estimation. And since "creativity" is a pretty vague definition, I think we're going to just have to agree to disagree on that one unless you've got a metric for measuring creativity that we can argue over.
"there are probably more "bands" and "musicians" out there now than in the 70's pushing their music through sites like myspace trying to get a national audience rather than trying to improve themselves by going out and playing shows at local venues."
I can guarantee that statement is correct since myspace didn't exist in the 70s, there were approximately 0 bands pushing their music through sites like myspace.
"but those are the exceptions. sure, the uncreative bands existed in the 60's and 70's, but there were a lot more bands that were collaborations of artists from other bands (new riders, JGB, derek and the dominos, dylan and the dead, entire concerts performed jointly between multiple bands all playing together rather than one at a time). that doesn't happen as often anymore. the collaboration is not as prevalent."
So what? Bands themselves are a collaborative effort since there are multiple people involved. Who are you to tell people how and in what manner they should create music? I really don't see your point. You mention Derek and the Dominos - that was 4 guys playing music together. How is that any different than any other rock band out there today? Oh - because it's a "supergroup" that somehow makes it a "super-collaboration" as opposed to the regular collaboration that any group of musicians that make up a band undertake! I see now. Brilliant.
"I don't want another Beatles, I want bands who just make decent music or strive for it rather than striving to sound like their favorite band du jour."
Now, much more so than any time in history, the range of music being created is so much more diverse I find it hard to believe that you can't find anything that's "decent music". Sure, there are plenty of bands that follow the pack but that's nothing new. Do you know why the whole disco thing happened in the 70s? Because bands climbed on board and started trying to sound like the favorite band du jour. Do you think Kiss made a disco album because they were really interested in experimenting with disco or could it be that they were following the other commercially successful bands in an attempt to make more money? I reject your implication that the current bands who are trying to emulate what is selling is a new phenomenon and I also reject your implication that there are no bands out there who do not experiment and try to hone their craft and create a unique sound.
You're comparing the Beatles to a sampling of bands you found on myspace? Wouldn't a more apt comparison be between a less revered band than the Beatles? You listed off the best of the best and you're making some vague comparison to an undisclosed list of bands you found on the internet. Not exactly scientific or concrete enough to argue with you about it. What was your point anyway?
He keeps his job because he gets coverage like this. Even if everyone who reads this story on Slashdot is in agreement that Dvorak doesn't know what he's talking about, he's still brought in readers. When Slashdot covers his next asinine statement, PC Magazine's website will get the same jump.
People need to start canceling subscriptions to PC Magazine and avoiding their website until they stop publishing this rubbish. After all, this is the same guy that complained that Windows System Idle Process was monopolizing his CPU.
My point was that I don't believe it is wrong to complain about certain anti-piracy campaigns the MPAA has undertaken. Regardless of whether people are willing to sit through them, that kind of nonsense is not tolerable to me and therefore I am perfectly justified in my complaints.
Why should I have to sit through an anti-piracy warning every time I want to watch a DVD that I purchased? I've paid money for the product and they continue to tell me not to steal from them and threaten me.
Yeah, unskippable warnings on legally bought DVDs are bs. Why do you think that's tolerable?
Slashdot Mirror
What's your source?
Have you been rallying support for making the movie theaters accountable for letting minors into R-rated films without a parent of guardian?
Wasting time? Sure - if she lied under oath and it can be proven, go ahead and arrest her for perjury. But wasting time? Are you fucking serious?
Maybe we should start using this as another way to tax people? Make up some phony law where if you immediately plead guilty, you get a $1,000 fine but if you plead innocent, the punishment is death. That'll be great! Think of how the public coffers will be filled!
Me, that information is incorrect.
They licensed Pretty Vacant to EA. It was not re-recorded. (Not that I am impressed with this song for Guitar Hero being re-recorded but it is different than what is taking place for Skate.)
Logically, I don't see any reason why an employee is more likely to admit to previous theft than a customer.
The RIAA is made up of multi-national corporations. You're naive if you don't think RIAA members have their hooks in politicians around the world.
Alright, I can understand that if you work retail then you are accustomed to saying SKU. The majority of people around here who use SKU are just trying to sound like they're "in the know" and failing.
sincerely,
Bud Dickman
p.s. you take a console home; the retailer is concerned with their inventory and keeping track of it - the customer is not. You're talking about being a customer; use appropriate language. You were thinking about buying an Elite system or an Elite console or an Elite model - you have no interest in the SKU on the system you might pick up and don't even know what it is.
sincerely,
Bud Dickman
sincerely,
Bud Dickman
People need to start canceling subscriptions to PC Magazine and avoiding their website until they stop publishing this rubbish. After all, this is the same guy that complained that Windows System Idle Process was monopolizing his CPU.
sincerely,
Bud Dickman
Yeah, unskippable warnings on legally bought DVDs are bs. Why do you think that's tolerable?