Get this through your head: Centralised distribution networks cost lots to host and run. How they go about monetising P2P isn't my concern. It does, however, take all of the heartache of high cost hosting out of this.
And the cost of creating content is negligible, as Jamendo is proof of. You can achieve near-studio quality with a Powerbook and a lot of patience. Talent doesn't cost a thing, but it can still make you a lot of money.
Bonus points: If you look at the "Artists Impression" picture, you'll see that it's a perfect sphere, with a perfect brilliant cut diamond in the centre! Who knew ET was a diamantaire.
Apologies, I also have DVD content protected by CSS, and a couple of games with SecuROM on a shelf. They're not installed, though, and haven't been for over a year.
I'm from that generation, more or less, and still think it's pretty rude to download stuff that you didn't pay for.
We do do. We wish they'd give us a reasonable alternative which didn't cost exactly the same as a physically pressed media. Because it sure doesn't cost the same to make.
I have never, and will never, buy anything with HDCP enabled. The only DRM scheme I use is Steam, and that's because it's convenient and unintrusive, and completely compatible with my existing hardware without any modification whatsoever.
HDMI / HDCP can die in a fire. I've had 16:10 1920x1200 better-than-HD for over two years without any of this HDMI crap, and I can go a hell of a lot longer without it. By the way, that includes the next progression, whatever that may be.
Which is why you talk to your legal representative before trial and give them some questions to ask, like "What sanitisation procedures did the evidence collection follow? Where's the audit trail? How was read-only access guaranteed, from extraction from the defendants equipment through to exhibit in court? Audit trail? I'll be providing an independent expert to verify all this."
And then you'll wake up, realise you're still in jail, and your cellmate Jim-Bob has that glint in his eye again...
Given the chance, they'd much prefer to be given a set of calipers and a phrenology chart than to actually have to do some investigation and evidence gathering.
Maybe a ruler to check if their eyes are too far apart / close together. I'm not sure which would result in a conviction. Probably both.
I lose a little more faith in the judicial system every time I hear something like this.
Bargain bin doesn't apply to digital software distribution. There is no stock to clear. There may well be promotions which reduce the cost, but the actual price of software sold through digital distribution is storage of one copy + bandwidth. So, when L4D went on sale at an 80% price reduction, it sold 1600% more than at the higher price. More profit from the lower price, if you can believe that.
You've already stated, as others have, that the per unit cost is negligible as it is a digital reproduction of the original. So the costs recuperated are going to differ at any price point. My point is that while some people may choose to pay the $6 price, it's obvious that the $3 price will result in the higher volume. It will more than likely be well over double the volume of $6 sales (Look at how many downloaded Radiohead's Rainbows for 1c compared to any other price point).
If he covers all of his outgoings for hosting and distributing the DLC at $3 per unit (note this is only distribution) then the rest is profit for him. That profit may well go into covering his rent, food, electricity bills, whatever. I don't think, however, that this is his only source of income, thereby making the couple of hundred cents per sale extra beer money for him. And by God, I'd prefer it to be my beer money.
It's not a $3 discount on the cheaper one, it's 100% profit on the more expensive.
Preempting the altruistic "I'm funding future development" crowd with "I have bills to pay. I know he does to. Obviously $2.99 covers the cost, so his bills are paid. That $3 goes towards paying mine." More power to you if you have disposable income, you can spend it on his 100% markup if you choose, but you're a mug if you do.
It is a thin client. All it's doing is holding the client software to accept the pre-rendered feed. It does nothing but hold a high speed network connection and display rendered frames.
It's their fault for using such a high powered bit of kit, but if it's doing no processing of its own it's still just a thin client. Albeit extremely expensive.
A belief in a universe-creating being (or similar) without any organised worship, moral code, etc etc associated with prescribed religion.
Useful for those of us who think that a couple of billion years of evolution isn't enough for us to be able to question why we're here, which is pretty much all I have trouble with regarding Darwinian evolution.
I'd agree with you if the Big Bang happened exactly where Earth is, but it didn't. Well, technically it did as all things came from it, therefore it happened everywhere. My point is that we're moving too, and not stationary in the universe. The Milky Way is travelling too, part of the expansion. Therefore, it may be a slight difference, but we'll see a further distance towards one side of the universe than the other. Moving away from a source of data makes time to reception longer, or something like that. I'm no physicist, but it makes sense.
You could of course mean an observation made at one particular instant, in which case yes all distances would be the same. What we observed in those directions wouldn't be the same age, though.
Why should I have to come up with an idea of how to make musicians money? I don't owe them a living. Still, it's an interesting proposal. How about:
Make great, original music Tour Sell merchandise Become more popular Sell more merchandise Tour more Sell more merchandise Become more popular Ad infinitum
If they're not popular, they'll flop and get a job as an accountant, maybe making songs in their spare time.
And finally, regarding your second point, yes. Yes they absolutely should produce music just for the joy of it. They say exactly that in interviews with pop culture magazines, sounding all deep and inspirational. If it's a lie, then they should be called up on it. "I make music so you idiots will pay me millions and I can retire at 30 with a Bentley and a house in Sand Banks. Suckers" doesn't sound too appealing. Are you suggesting that's why they do it?
You want to see a man making music because he loves making music? Go watch Anvil. That is a musician I can admire.
Slashdot Mirror
Get this through your head: Centralised distribution networks cost lots to host and run. How they go about monetising P2P isn't my concern. It does, however, take all of the heartache of high cost hosting out of this.
And the cost of creating content is negligible, as Jamendo is proof of. You can achieve near-studio quality with a Powerbook and a lot of patience. Talent doesn't cost a thing, but it can still make you a lot of money.
Wikipedia
SIMBAD
Ho. Lee. Crap.
Bonus points: If you look at the "Artists Impression" picture, you'll see that it's a perfect sphere, with a perfect brilliant cut diamond in the centre! Who knew ET was a diamantaire.
Apologies, I also have DVD content protected by CSS, and a couple of games with SecuROM on a shelf. They're not installed, though, and haven't been for over a year.
Since I swapped to Linux, actually.
This just proves people have caught on, and aren't buying overpriced locked-down crap anymore.
iPhone not withstanding.
I'm from that generation, more or less, and still think it's pretty rude to download stuff that you didn't pay for.
We do do. We wish they'd give us a reasonable alternative which didn't cost exactly the same as a physically pressed media. Because it sure doesn't cost the same to make.
According to the RIAA, at 20Mb you can download $1000 worth of copyrighted media in a little over 0.3 seconds.
I have never, and will never, buy anything with HDCP enabled. The only DRM scheme I use is Steam, and that's because it's convenient and unintrusive, and completely compatible with my existing hardware without any modification whatsoever.
HDMI / HDCP can die in a fire. I've had 16:10 1920x1200 better-than-HD for over two years without any of this HDMI crap, and I can go a hell of a lot longer without it. By the way, that includes the next progression, whatever that may be.
Which is why you talk to your legal representative before trial and give them some questions to ask, like "What sanitisation procedures did the evidence collection follow? Where's the audit trail? How was read-only access guaranteed, from extraction from the defendants equipment through to exhibit in court? Audit trail? I'll be providing an independent expert to verify all this."
And then you'll wake up, realise you're still in jail, and your cellmate Jim-Bob has that glint in his eye again...
Given the chance, they'd much prefer to be given a set of calipers and a phrenology chart than to actually have to do some investigation and evidence gathering.
Maybe a ruler to check if their eyes are too far apart / close together. I'm not sure which would result in a conviction. Probably both.
I lose a little more faith in the judicial system every time I hear something like this.
Bargain bin doesn't apply to digital software distribution. There is no stock to clear. There may well be promotions which reduce the cost, but the actual price of software sold through digital distribution is storage of one copy + bandwidth. So, when L4D went on sale at an 80% price reduction, it sold 1600% more than at the higher price. More profit from the lower price, if you can believe that.
You've already stated, as others have, that the per unit cost is negligible as it is a digital reproduction of the original. So the costs recuperated are going to differ at any price point. My point is that while some people may choose to pay the $6 price, it's obvious that the $3 price will result in the higher volume. It will more than likely be well over double the volume of $6 sales (Look at how many downloaded Radiohead's Rainbows for 1c compared to any other price point).
If he covers all of his outgoings for hosting and distributing the DLC at $3 per unit (note this is only distribution) then the rest is profit for him. That profit may well go into covering his rent, food, electricity bills, whatever. I don't think, however, that this is his only source of income, thereby making the couple of hundred cents per sale extra beer money for him. And by God, I'd prefer it to be my beer money.
s/em hi/'em high/
Sorry.
That's a real long post just to say "Stack em hi, sell em cheap + Slashvertisment = Profit!"
It's not a $3 discount on the cheaper one, it's 100% profit on the more expensive.
Preempting the altruistic "I'm funding future development" crowd with "I have bills to pay. I know he does to. Obviously $2.99 covers the cost, so his bills are paid. That $3 goes towards paying mine." More power to you if you have disposable income, you can spend it on his 100% markup if you choose, but you're a mug if you do.
Guess I won't be able to find God after all.
With enough XML, probably.
It is a thin client. All it's doing is holding the client software to accept the pre-rendered feed. It does nothing but hold a high speed network connection and display rendered frames.
It's their fault for using such a high powered bit of kit, but if it's doing no processing of its own it's still just a thin client. Albeit extremely expensive.
10fps to be able to see glass refraction on a surface so small it's totally inconsequential.
Yawn. Wake me up when they get refraction working with a playable framerate like Source had seven years ago. Regarde
That's not incorrect spelling, it's ignorance of the correct word.
Not calling the man stupid; He's a physics professor. He just doesn't know the nomenclature for Apple PMPs.
Now you're just being facetious.
Woot!
Forget this post, I've learned more since writing it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism
A belief in a universe-creating being (or similar) without any organised worship, moral code, etc etc associated with prescribed religion.
Useful for those of us who think that a couple of billion years of evolution isn't enough for us to be able to question why we're here, which is pretty much all I have trouble with regarding Darwinian evolution.
I'd agree with you if the Big Bang happened exactly where Earth is, but it didn't. Well, technically it did as all things came from it, therefore it happened everywhere. My point is that we're moving too, and not stationary in the universe. The Milky Way is travelling too, part of the expansion. Therefore, it may be a slight difference, but we'll see a further distance towards one side of the universe than the other. Moving away from a source of data makes time to reception longer, or something like that. I'm no physicist, but it makes sense.
You could of course mean an observation made at one particular instant, in which case yes all distances would be the same. What we observed in those directions wouldn't be the same age, though.
Why should I have to come up with an idea of how to make musicians money? I don't owe them a living. Still, it's an interesting proposal. How about:
Make great, original music
Tour
Sell merchandise
Become more popular
Sell more merchandise
Tour more
Sell more merchandise
Become more popular
Ad infinitum
If they're not popular, they'll flop and get a job as an accountant, maybe making songs in their spare time.
And finally, regarding your second point, yes. Yes they absolutely should produce music just for the joy of it. They say exactly that in interviews with pop culture magazines, sounding all deep and inspirational. If it's a lie, then they should be called up on it. "I make music so you idiots will pay me millions and I can retire at 30 with a Bentley and a house in Sand Banks. Suckers" doesn't sound too appealing. Are you suggesting that's why they do it?
You want to see a man making music because he loves making music? Go watch Anvil. That is a musician I can admire.