It has nothing to do with "organization". Netflix doesn't own the content. Anything it wants to show you, it has to negotiate special deals for. It can't go to the open market and buy stuff like you can. Netflix and any company like it is in a uniquely vulnerable position.
It take that back. They are very much like cable operators that are at the mercy of content providers.
However the streaming services have no such distribution monopoly and are actually at the mercy of the old distribution monopolies.
The main problem that an HTPC still addresses is those situations that these current "consumer friendly" appliances simply fail to address.
Grandma's vacation videos are a good example.
N00bs are great at coming up with creative new ways to use technology since they don't know any better. They don't have any clue that what they are asking is not possible due to how limited devices are or how DRM might be employed.
> Except nobody* wants to connect a computer to a TV
Don't be an idiot. If you can do ANYTHING with a PC, then you can set up an HTPC. Ultimately, it's just installing some software.
Can you install Civ5? Then you can install XBMC.
This is just retarded. The first generations of home computers just plain used TVs as monitors. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about the idea.
You're basically arguing that no one is capable of using PCs.
>> Slashdot isn't full of underhanded thieves > > I never said it was. I said it was anti-copyright. There's a big difference.
Not really. It's still misleading. It still makes it sound like we're "just a bunch of freeloaders".
What you have here are a bunch of reactionaries that mainly have objections to the most recent changes to the law that have been put in place to cater to powerful corporate interests. These changes have also attacked individual rights.
Calling that "anti-copyright" is rather misleading.
If you did a rollback to 1970, you would probably satisfy most of the malcontents here. I think it is untrue that there isn't significant consensus in this regard.
Even the more radical factions are likely motivated by the current grossly imbalanced state of the law. Remove that and you would likely remove much of their issues as well.
PVRs have been accessing digital cable since the beginning. This was long before there were any sort of digital tuners. The problem is hardly insurmountable. Tivo clearly survived it's own era of IR blasters.
If you have Comcast, a cablecard tuner might even be an option.
Either way, suitable tech is available for any cable operator of your choosing.
I know a 90 year old retired accountant from behind the iron curtain that has less problem with technology than a lot of people that are a lot younger and grew up in the West.
I had to teach a physician about right clicking in Windows. So the idea that such a person might need bailed out when using a universal remote isn't so surprising.
You would think that professionals would be more adaptable and inquisitive, but it's clearly not always the case.
The difference is that they have more cut out of them now. This has escalated even in the last 20 years with some older shows being visibly mangled.
The show you saw in the 90s won't be the same show today. More has been cut out of it and it's getting bad enough to seriously impact the plot and flow of the show.
This all comes down to whether or not you're willing to eat dirt or not. If you are then by all means stick with an inferior canned solution. Just don't try to pretend it is superior when it is not.
Building an HTPC may be a bother WHEN YOU FIRST SET IT UP. Beyond that, it is superior in every respect to every appliance you've mentioned. While "bothersome", you are in total control of it. That includes enforcing a level of consistency you won't find with a hodgepodge of consumer devices.
Once built, an HTPC is not so much "the computer" any more as it is an appliance that happens to have started out as a regular PC.
Farther behind doesn't matter so much if you never bothered to pay attention to release dates to begin with. Netflix is great at fostering that kind of attitude and they have been doing well at it for over 10 years now.
The only content they are "loosing" is perhaps the streaming stuff.
The disk service is still going strong despite a number of factions that want to ignore it.
Yields better features and quality while not subject to network bandwidth issues, caps, or throttling.
Trayvon probably thought it was pretty silly too. One could hardly blame him what with a black man being in the White House and all. It's too bad the neighborhood vigilante didn't agree.
Insurance companies love to collect premiums but never pay claims. This manifests in high medical premiums, high malpractice premiums, low payments to doctors, litigation against insurance companies, and high value tort verdicts.
Big money tort verdicts only occur when the insurance company in question tries to shirk their responsibility.
When California tried tort reform, they had to put in explicit insurance price controls because the promised decreases in premiums never manifested.
Extraordinary measures to prolong life can easily cost in the 6 and 7 figures and quite often end up being moot as well as contrary to the wishes of the person being "saved".
Every one of the middle aged Hutts in the neighborhood is on a battery of of prescription drugs. Based on my own flirtation with choosing drugs over necessary lifestyle changes (pet allergy), I expect that their drug regimen is by no means cheap.
No. What's laughable is that you only get a "modest difference" from taking care of yourself. There are any number of expensive to treat conditions that are the direct result of poor eating and exercise habits.
This is a complex situation. It's scientifically dishonest to try to fixate on one or two variables while not trying to control all of the others.
Beyond cultural habits, genetics also plays a significant role in longevity.
Conspicuously absent from that list of countries that "are doing it right" is the UK. So's Germany. You've probably missed 90% of the American cultural and genetic variables right there.
I find this aspect of Apple pretty hilarious actually. For a brand that is supposed to be "superior quality", they sure don't stand behind it. If they were worthy of the propaganda, this would not be an issue at all. 4 year warranties would be standard.
In other words, you still have a choice because you can buy yourself a farm in Amish country. That's about what it will take to completely avoid dealing with corporations that engage in the kind of rights-stripping nonsense we're talking about here.
They are sufficient to treat Zimmerman as a murderer.
What we don't have are sufficient "well established facts" to conclude that he is not a murderer. Therefore, the local authorities should be treating him as a murderer and going through the normal associated procedures.
Failing to allow such procedures to proceed merely ensure that the facts are never established.
Slashdot Mirror
The idea that PCs are complicated is just a red herring.
This has nothing to do with technology or complexity. It's all about the money. It's why GoogleTV flopped so hard and why Boxee continues to struggle.
This is also why Tivo continues to struggle.
People are cheap. This has squat to do with "how hard it is".
If you sold them the nettop preconfigured with MCE, people would still balk at it simply because of the price.
Americans are cheap and they will gladly eat dirt to save a buck.
The whole Amazon+Netflix+Hulu fixation is a great demonstration of this.
It has nothing to do with "organization". Netflix doesn't own the content. Anything it wants to show you, it has to negotiate special deals for. It can't go to the open market and buy stuff like you can. Netflix and any company like it is in a uniquely vulnerable position.
It take that back. They are very much like cable operators that are at the mercy of content providers.
However the streaming services have no such distribution monopoly and are actually at the mercy of the old distribution monopolies.
So they are doubly screwed.
The main problem that an HTPC still addresses is those situations that these current "consumer friendly" appliances simply fail to address.
Grandma's vacation videos are a good example.
N00bs are great at coming up with creative new ways to use technology since they don't know any better. They don't have any clue that what they are asking is not possible due to how limited devices are or how DRM might be employed.
> Except nobody* wants to connect a computer to a TV
Don't be an idiot. If you can do ANYTHING with a PC, then you can set up an HTPC. Ultimately, it's just installing some software.
Can you install Civ5? Then you can install XBMC.
This is just retarded. The first generations of home computers just plain used TVs as monitors. There's nothing particularly revolutionary about the idea.
You're basically arguing that no one is capable of using PCs.
>> Slashdot isn't full of underhanded thieves
>
> I never said it was. I said it was anti-copyright. There's a big difference.
Not really. It's still misleading. It still makes it sound like we're "just a bunch of freeloaders".
What you have here are a bunch of reactionaries that mainly have objections to the most recent changes to the law that have been put in place to cater to powerful corporate interests. These changes have also attacked individual rights.
Calling that "anti-copyright" is rather misleading.
If you did a rollback to 1970, you would probably satisfy most of the malcontents here. I think it is untrue that there isn't significant consensus in this regard.
Even the more radical factions are likely motivated by the current grossly imbalanced state of the law. Remove that and you would likely remove much of their issues as well.
I run MythTV with a couple of HDPVRs.
PVRs have been accessing digital cable since the beginning. This was long before there were any sort of digital tuners. The problem is hardly insurmountable. Tivo clearly survived it's own era of IR blasters.
If you have Comcast, a cablecard tuner might even be an option.
Either way, suitable tech is available for any cable operator of your choosing.
PBS stuff on Netflix? You're better off with an antenna.
If you can get a good enough signal, then you can get the rest of the PBS content that Netflix chooses not to offer.
Big gaping gaps in kid shows.
8GB per day won't cover an hour of BD quality video.
It won't cover an hours worth of pristine HD TV signal either.
I know a 90 year old retired accountant from behind the iron curtain that has less problem with technology than a lot of people that are a lot younger and grew up in the West.
I had to teach a physician about right clicking in Windows. So the idea that such a person might need bailed out when using a universal remote isn't so surprising.
You would think that professionals would be more adaptable and inquisitive, but it's clearly not always the case.
That number has changed over the decades.
Older shows have longer run times.
The difference is that they have more cut out of them now. This has escalated even in the last 20 years with some older shows being visibly mangled.
The show you saw in the 90s won't be the same show today. More has been cut out of it and it's getting bad enough to seriously impact the plot and flow of the show.
All of those combined don't have the same availability of content that cable has. Cheap and inferior is not always a suitable option.
You're probably better off with a good antenna.
The Amazon and Apple PPV options are a little more interesting though. However, they are still rather limited.
> Yea, I was looking at some online rentals and they were like $5 each.
How much you wanna bet that you can already BUY some of those Paramount movies for $5? Never mind renting...
Best Buy bargain BD bin anyone?
This all comes down to whether or not you're willing to eat dirt or not. If you are then by all means stick with an inferior canned solution. Just don't try to pretend it is superior when it is not.
Building an HTPC may be a bother WHEN YOU FIRST SET IT UP. Beyond that, it is superior in every respect to every appliance you've mentioned. While "bothersome", you are in total control of it. That includes enforcing a level of consistency you won't find with a hodgepodge of consumer devices.
Once built, an HTPC is not so much "the computer" any more as it is an appliance that happens to have started out as a regular PC.
Farther behind doesn't matter so much if you never bothered to pay attention to release dates to begin with. Netflix is great at fostering that kind of attitude and they have been doing well at it for over 10 years now.
The only content they are "loosing" is perhaps the streaming stuff.
The disk service is still going strong despite a number of factions that want to ignore it.
Yields better features and quality while not subject to network bandwidth issues, caps, or throttling.
Trayvon probably thought it was pretty silly too. One could hardly blame him what with a black man being in the White House and all. It's too bad the neighborhood vigilante didn't agree.
It may be obvious but a rather large portion of the peanut gallery need to be constantly reminded of it.
Must not be so obvious after all...
Perhaps he's worked in the industry.
Insurance companies love to collect premiums but never pay claims. This manifests in high medical premiums, high malpractice premiums, low payments to doctors, litigation against insurance companies, and high value tort verdicts.
Big money tort verdicts only occur when the insurance company in question tries to shirk their responsibility.
When California tried tort reform, they had to put in explicit insurance price controls because the promised decreases in premiums never manifested.
Death Panels!
Extraordinary measures to prolong life can easily cost in the 6 and 7 figures and quite often end up being moot as well as contrary to the wishes of the person being "saved".
Every one of the middle aged Hutts in the neighborhood is on a battery of of prescription drugs. Based on my own flirtation with choosing drugs over necessary lifestyle changes (pet allergy), I expect that their drug regimen is by no means cheap.
Being fat is not free.
Please feel free to provide some supporting numbers rather than just unjustified assumptions.
No one that has any training in chemistry will seriously suggest that you actually heat plastic together with your food.
Had that fight with the spouse for years before the whole BPA thing hit the news.
The risks are far too great if your wrong and the benefits are far too trivial even if you're right.
No. What's laughable is that you only get a "modest difference" from taking care of yourself. There are any number of expensive to treat conditions that are the direct result of poor eating and exercise habits.
This is a complex situation. It's scientifically dishonest to try to fixate on one or two variables while not trying to control all of the others.
Beyond cultural habits, genetics also plays a significant role in longevity.
Conspicuously absent from that list of countries that "are doing it right" is the UK. So's Germany. You've probably missed 90% of the American cultural and genetic variables right there.
I find this aspect of Apple pretty hilarious actually. For a brand that is supposed to be "superior quality", they sure don't stand behind it. If they were worthy of the propaganda, this would not be an issue at all. 4 year warranties would be standard.
You would never have to worry.
In other words, you still have a choice because you can buy yourself a farm in Amish country. That's about what it will take to completely avoid dealing with corporations that engage in the kind of rights-stripping nonsense we're talking about here.
There are "well established facts" in this case.
They are sufficient to treat Zimmerman as a murderer.
What we don't have are sufficient "well established facts" to conclude that he is not a murderer. Therefore, the local authorities should be treating him as a murderer and going through the normal associated procedures.
Failing to allow such procedures to proceed merely ensure that the facts are never established.