When foundations, companies, etc. 'agree' to work with one of their main competitors, it almost seems as if it is just for publicity.
Although they may want to work with their competitor, they might not want to do it on anything EXCEPT their terms, and I get the feeling that this is the same situation - They say "we'd love to work with you", but when the other party doesn't agree to their terms, it is the other party that looks like they're refusing to co-operate.
If I've got a patent on something so general as to say "Umm... making music with an instrument is MY PROPERTY", no one is going to listen.
I guess Gibson is jumping on the patent troll bandwagon - maybe they believe that all the kids that would have previously bought a guitar to 'be cool' are now buying guitar hero kits?
So, blu-ray players are expensive. I guess that is an issue. I've got a media centre (and remote) I built, and I still don't see the benefit of DVDs (except to re-encode them in xvid/mp4). Forget blu-ray, bring on downloadable content.
And yes, we'll get that eventually. Maybe. one day...
I guess all I'm saying is that the US governmental system is THE problem for the USA. Come on, a TWO party electoral system? How does that qualify for a democracy?/end troll.
You know, only in the US is calling someone 'liberal' or 'a liberal' a slur. Everywhere else (important? lol) in the world (Okay, well - the EU and canada), liberal is just saying that someone has a left-ist view of politics.
Anyways, the government thinks that by regulating cable, it is keeping prices down - which it might be (the cost of infrastructure is lower, because you only need ONE system)... but if they don't regulate the companies themselves, then it is pointless!
So, in canada, you pay a small amount on every blank cd you buy. This sounds bad. Until you realize that this 'tax' basically legalizes downloading (but not using) of this media. And that is good, because the law only goes after people who play music without the proper license, and not the regular guys on the street. And this is good, because downloaded music doesn't equal lost sales - and the people who should be paying for music (Broadcast companies, etc) actually DO (in theory). Also... the law punishes people who profit illegally from music distribution, but if it isn't costing anyone money... than it doesn't seem to matter to them.
Also, we don't have 7 year olds getting charged with piracy - which makes the RIAA, and the USA by extension, look like a big bully, I might add.
In theory, the balances and checks in the american system are designed to prevent this sort of abuse at the top. So, in theory, the american system should prevent all problems like this... and in reality, well - you decide if it is working.
When big business (or advocacy groups) can abuse consumers and no one intervenes until there is a problem (even when it is illegal, or wrong), and there is NO punishment for doing so... why would they conform?
The RIAA seems to be operating without any regard to the actual laws of the country. Doesn't this bother anyone? It isn't a few isolated cases, the RIAA operates as if it IS the law and the government does nothing to stop it, UNLESS the RIAA is challenged.
So much for the land of the free - it is the land of 'Get away with whatever you can, as fast as you can'. Imagine if the general population acted like the RIAA does?
Thats my point - who cares if PC hardware isn't on par with consoles - there aren't any games coming out with those requirements, so stick to the old ones!
There aren't many GOOD pc games coming out lately. So, if the manufacturers drop the ball on hardware... it doesn't REALLY matter, because the software developers aren't doing much better either.
I don't think that it is a downward spiral, either - software companies aren't focusing on consoles because the PC hardware isn't great... they're focusing on consoles because there is more money in consoles!
The point wasn't that people need to read them. The point was that software developers, when searching for an applicable license, have TOO many to choose from, because everyone seems to think we need new, updated ones.
Too many choices is ALMOST as bad as not enough choices.
Well, for starters, I'm not whining (or whinge-ing) - I support products that either a) do what I want them to do or b) allow me to change them into what I want. As for Apple, they're certainly isn't hurting for cash - yes, they spend money on development, but I'd say the markup on their computers ALONE guarantees their bottom line, not to mention the markup on their ipods! (it should be criminal to charge so much for so little! - here's a
link for the 2 gig ipod nano. It isn't much more to make an 8 gig one)
I'd also disagree that your post is not insightful, it is redundant - it is the same thing my parents told me when I was a teenager - "If you don't like it, I'd like to see you do better!"
... Now, I don't know MUCH about GPL, etc. But the fragmentation of licensing agreements (LGPL, GPL, CC, CC2.5, ETC) is just going to confuse people
It is the SAME problem that most people have with linux - Linux is GREAT... but most people don't care. It is too confusing choosing a distro, and a lot of people will just stick with the first or second distro they find, because they don't care about all the variations.
On the other hand, most people don't care about these things (GPL et al. doesn't mean much, people just ignore it anyways).
I love how apple has declared that their 'controls' are actually 'freeing' the phone. Yes, now that you can put apps on the phone, it is a 'more' open platform. But you STILL have to go through apple, and since it is *MY* phone, why can't I do whatever *I* want to it?
... oh wait... I can... apple just doesn't like it;)
This is the same problem sony has with the psp (although, it has some differences as well) - If I want custom firmware on my psp, who is sony to tell me no?
I don't like where this attitude of control is taking us. Already, you don't buy software, you just buy a license to use it. I DON'T want to have to license my HARDWARE too!
edit: the music of eminem and the music of 2pac. I don't like either. I couldn't say whether or not I like either of them personally. I don't think I'll ever meet either one. It'd be hard to meet eminem, and much harder to meet 2pac;)
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I think they'd be more interested in apple's source code ;)
When foundations, companies, etc. 'agree' to work with one of their main competitors, it almost seems as if it is just for publicity.
Although they may want to work with their competitor, they might not want to do it on anything EXCEPT their terms, and I get the feeling that this is the same situation - They say "we'd love to work with you", but when the other party doesn't agree to their terms, it is the other party that looks like they're refusing to co-operate.
If I've got a patent on something so general as to say "Umm... making music with an instrument is MY PROPERTY", no one is going to listen.
I guess Gibson is jumping on the patent troll bandwagon - maybe they believe that all the kids that would have previously bought a guitar to 'be cool' are now buying guitar hero kits?
you both suck at karma whoring... wait ... why am I karma whoring too?
oh, I still WATCH tv ... I just do it on a monitor. Mmm, much more elitist-snob.
So, blu-ray players are expensive. I guess that is an issue. I've got a media centre (and remote) I built, and I still don't see the benefit of DVDs (except to re-encode them in xvid/mp4). Forget blu-ray, bring on downloadable content.
And yes, we'll get that eventually. Maybe. one day...
Even if it isn't fair - at least it is legal. The RIAA sometimes has problems with that, too.
how does telling someone that they're liberal (free, open, available to options) = slur? Only in america, I suppose.
I guess all I'm saying is that the US governmental system is THE problem for the USA. Come on, a TWO party electoral system? How does that qualify for a democracy? /end troll.
You know, only in the US is calling someone 'liberal' or 'a liberal' a slur. Everywhere else (important? lol) in the world (Okay, well - the EU and canada), liberal is just saying that someone has a left-ist view of politics.
... but if they don't regulate the companies themselves, then it is pointless!
Anyways, the government thinks that by regulating cable, it is keeping prices down - which it might be (the cost of infrastructure is lower, because you only need ONE system)
You might think it is a troll comment. I might think you're a troll.
;)
Either way, neither of us are moderating
So, in canada, you pay a small amount on every blank cd you buy. ... than it doesn't seem to matter to them.
This sounds bad. Until you realize that this 'tax' basically legalizes downloading (but not using) of this media.
And that is good, because the law only goes after people who play music without the proper license, and not the regular guys on the street.
And this is good, because downloaded music doesn't equal lost sales - and the people who should be paying for music (Broadcast companies, etc) actually DO (in theory).
Also... the law punishes people who profit illegally from music distribution, but if it isn't costing anyone money
Also, we don't have 7 year olds getting charged with piracy - which makes the RIAA, and the USA by extension, look like a big bully, I might add.
In theory, the balances and checks in the american system are designed to prevent this sort of abuse at the top. So, in theory, the american system should prevent all problems like this... and in reality, well - you decide if it is working.
When big business (or advocacy groups) can abuse consumers and no one intervenes until there is a problem (even when it is illegal, or wrong), and there is NO punishment for doing so ... why would they conform?
The RIAA seems to be operating without any regard to the actual laws of the country. Doesn't this bother anyone? It isn't a few isolated cases, the RIAA operates as if it IS the law and the government does nothing to stop it, UNLESS the RIAA is challenged.
So much for the land of the free - it is the land of 'Get away with whatever you can, as fast as you can'. Imagine if the general population acted like the RIAA does?
... well yeah, thats about it. ;)
besides, WOW runs in linux, so what else do you need?
Thats my point - who cares if PC hardware isn't on par with consoles - there aren't any games coming out with those requirements, so stick to the old ones!
There aren't many GOOD pc games coming out lately. So, if the manufacturers drop the ball on hardware ... it doesn't REALLY matter, because the software developers aren't doing much better either.
... they're focusing on consoles because there is more money in consoles!
I don't think that it is a downward spiral, either - software companies aren't focusing on consoles because the PC hardware isn't great
The point wasn't that people need to read them. The point was that software developers, when searching for an applicable license, have TOO many to choose from, because everyone seems to think we need new, updated ones.
Too many choices is ALMOST as bad as not enough choices.
Well, for starters, I'm not whining (or whinge-ing) - I support products that either a) do what I want them to do or b) allow me to change them into what I want. As for Apple, they're certainly isn't hurting for cash - yes, they spend money on development, but I'd say the markup on their computers ALONE guarantees their bottom line, not to mention the markup on their ipods! (it should be criminal to charge so much for so little! - here's a link for the 2 gig ipod nano. It isn't much more to make an 8 gig one)
I'd also disagree that your post is not insightful, it is redundant - it is the same thing my parents told me when I was a teenager - "If you don't like it, I'd like to see you do better!"
... Now, I don't know MUCH about GPL, etc. But the fragmentation of licensing agreements (LGPL, GPL, CC, CC2.5, ETC) is just going to confuse people
... but most people don't care. It is too confusing choosing a distro, and a lot of people will just stick with the first or second distro they find, because they don't care about all the variations.
... okay, well most end users, anyways.
It is the SAME problem that most people have with linux - Linux is GREAT
On the other hand, most people don't care about these things (GPL et al. doesn't mean much, people just ignore it anyways).
haha, did you read my nickname? I'm certainly NOT a fan of apple business practice, even if their products are interesting.
I love how apple has declared that their 'controls' are actually 'freeing' the phone. Yes, now that you can put apps on the phone, it is a 'more' open platform. But you STILL have to go through apple, and since it is *MY* phone, why can't I do whatever *I* want to it?
... oh wait ... I can ... apple just doesn't like it ;)
This is the same problem sony has with the psp (although, it has some differences as well) - If I want custom firmware on my psp, who is sony to tell me no?
I don't like where this attitude of control is taking us. Already, you don't buy software, you just buy a license to use it. I DON'T want to have to license my HARDWARE too!
edit: the music of eminem and the music of 2pac. I don't like either. I couldn't say whether or not I like either of them personally. I don't think I'll ever meet either one. It'd be hard to meet eminem, and much harder to meet 2pac ;)
I hate eminem just as much as I hate 2pac. don't worry, no racism, just *hate* rap.