I don't like the thought of that any more than you do, but the truth is out that MicroSoft wants to be in control of authentication services -starting with their own.
Personally, I would just get either a group account that everyone can use, or just have someone else there grab the downloads for you.
BTW if you are going to lie, do it right. Get a few Passports. Mix 'em up a little change race, gender, age, and name and keep them for a rainy day when they are going to get harder to get.
As a parent, I fought over the moral dilemma surrounding censorware. In the end the only choice really was to introduce the kids to the net one on one. This is why:
As a child I did not have a lot of parental supervision, so my morals and ethics came from others in the community. For a lot of kids this does not work well, for me it turned out ok. All depends on who you start relating to early on in life.
So basically what I am saying is that kids will get their core set of social norms and values from some source somewhere. They basically need these things to grow mentally, and at some low level know that and seek out what they need.
Parents who do not try to provide these things are basically saying "go forth! find your way in the world, let me know what you found out!"
Looking back over my life, it is easy to see how easily things could have been much different. (for the worse...)
The problem with the Internet today is the body of knowledge and culture required to make sane judgements about the content. Getting facts is one thing, culture shock is another. Think about it a little. Some of the simplest humor on the internet is quite beyond the cultural experience of your typical 8-12 year old. Some well presented totally useless information can easily be taken as truth simply because it looks true!
Spending time on the net with your kids is vital! No software is going to be able to give kids what they need to understand the net for what it is. They need to look at it through your experience after all who better to learn with than with someone that saw the whole thing happen and got to grow with it.
So, as a parent you really have three basic choices.
1. Censor the net and send the message to your childeren that you are ignoring the basic issues, and they can figure things out later at their expense when they are older. They just might hate you for this later when they do understand things better and wonder why you never helped them.
2. Leave the net wide open and unattended and send the message that it is ok for them to look outside the family for their social norms. This one also has a lot to do with trust and could be ok for some kids, but probably not for a lot of them. Do you really trust your kids? Are their core values secure enough that you know they are going to ask you things and make good decisions? Do your kids have any sort of common sense? If you say no to any of these, better not let them use the net without help.
3. Use the net with them. This one sends the message that you want them to explore, but don't want them getting hurt in some way. You the parent are in control and this is important!
Your perspective as a parent on the net is very important espcially for this crowd! With all the companies fighting for your kids attention, what makes you think that they are going to learn what you want them to learn? Nothing! They are going to learn what others want them to learn, unless the parents are there to filter through the noise and explain what is going on.
No software will ever do this.
I want my kids to be able to make their place on the net and be comfortable with that; otherwise, their place will be chosen for them.
I live in Portland Oregon. As a kid I remember many differences between radio stations back then. There was one here called KSKD. They played lots of different things. Had a very deep play list, you were never quite sure what you were going to hear. They did stay focused on a particular genera of music, but did not stick with the approved singles. When they were sold to become a hard rock station, it all went away. That is when my eyes began to open.
The simple truth of it is that there is a lot of really good content out there. Things like Peer to Peer, and the Internet in general have shown me this. Think you can stand FM radio? Try this:
1. Spend a day on the Internet. Check out the music being presented in other countries. Use the web, your favorite P2P tool and get some of it.
2. Put all of that in a directory and set it to shuffle play.
3. Leave it on for a couple of days and go about your business.
4. If at work, ask others to contribute by dropping random things in there. Just make sure they are not top 40.
5. After a while turn your radio on and just try to find something listenable, and if you do, try to see if the mood lasts for more than 10 minutes.
6. Wonder briefly about your lost innocence and move on to the wider world of music you havd discovered.
7. After one year compare your music collection to those who are still getting their new music via traditional means.
We are doing this right now where I work, (From import CD's mostly dammit!) and in only a couple of months it changed everything. We listen to techno from japan, dance and club from europe, rock from down under, and a lot more. Yes we do buy CD's, just not the top 40 ones. We know where to hear those songs over and over....
Radio used to be better. It was never all that good, but now it sucks in general. Every station that has gone out on a limb to play interesting music has only lasted about 6 months here... Even though people listened.
Each market here should be allowed to have one station that gets to play a diverse play list. Localize things a little. In a nation as large as America, you would think travelling 1000 miles or so would get you some new tunes...
There is something seriously wrong with the fact that you don't.
Who cares? I liked the story. Everyone has their motivators, I was just surprised to hear his, and that he was willing to say it.
High Stakes tests are the problem. Open or Closed
on
Closed-Source Tests
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· Score: 3
What is needed here is a peer process. Teachers get certified about what is important and what is not. They they evaluate the student as part of their classwork, and input to the class.
Personality conflicts can cause problems with this, but if there is an appeals process of some kind, most of this can be worked out.
Tests do not even begin to reveal a students achivements in school, or their worth to society. Peer review does.
Imagine the students testing themselves. They know the requirements, let them work toward them. I am not saying let the students choose if they pass or fail, but make them involved in the process so they understand it, and can help each other.
I know what I did in school. All of the really good stuff that mattered was not on the tests. It was the projects I did, and the papers I wrote, and the arguments I had with staff and friends.
Of all the classes I have to say that Music and Drama were the most interesting from a testing point of view. These classes are peer reviewed by their nature. How do you know you are doing well? Do others say so? Did your performance at the play get some applause? Your teacher is a mentor in these sort of things. They take what is there and improve it. You will get an 'A' anyway, so why work hard at all? If things work the way they are supposed to in school, the teacher gets you motivated, and sets direction, your peers give you someone to work with and achieve goals and share success. Standardized tests totally ruin all of this.
Point is simple. Teachers know the students best. Most of them actually care even if they are underpaid. Let them make choices, and help to form good citizens. Taking all the hard work, and boiling it down to one test is stupid. Even a genius will have a bad day. Should the rest of their life be changed because of it?
You know I agree with you on the boycott thing. I will not be buying things online that have licenses or encryption wrappers attached. The ethics you bring to the table are sound, and make sense; however...
The hard truth here is that not everyone agrees with these ethics, and even if they do, they don't consider something like music to qualify. (They are wrong in their actions, but not in their intent.) This is called a free market, and the force right now being applied to the music companies, software companies, and hardware makers is called 'Market Pressure'. Most people know damn well that they should be able to have loose enjoyment of their music, and will exercise it (wrongly) by doing what it takes to enjoy. This means breaking some agreements.
I do this by buying CD's and trading tracks with friends. This does two things. 1) Brings down the cost of obtaining new music to an acceptable level and... 2) Lets me experience new things without high cost.
Those two things are what people want, and unless the industry gives it to them, they are going to exercise other means to get it. They will do this because 40 Million of them found out that they can and have told the rest.
It this right? No. Is speeding? No. Do people do it? Hell yes they do, because they know they can.
Boycotts work to a degree, but with something like this, getting the average joe to understand what they are boycotting and why is too large a task. It won't have the effect that is needed to do the right thing.
I do try to support my views by recommending products and services that are open and reasonable. When you walk into a store with someone and they say "Why do you want that DVD over this one?" "They look the same, and just play the little disks right?" You know thats a tall order to explain why one player should be bought over another. You get to the end, and they say "Well that does not matter to me, I am just going to watch movies." Depressing.
Given that, I happily watch the market pressure do its thing, and make sure as many as possible understand why these things are going on.
I like this guy because he still understands what it is like to be a kid. Bet he has a lot of fun playing pro ball. And to make that comment... Unreal. He deserves some respect.
I have said this in other places. Pay per play with regard to music just is not going to cut it. There are too many problems. The major labels want this, they want it so bad that they will crush any alternative. It is just not about money, it is about control. As long as they have it, they will be able to preserve the monopoly they have now.
Pay per play is problematic for a few reasons. (There are lots more.)
1. People are used to just buying music and being able to do what they want with it.
2. Paying by the song will be annoying. The work you do to listen is about as much as the listening itself. Besides, who listens to music at their computer. Sure we all have our mp3 collection, but how valuable is that really if you have to be at the machine to listen?? Monthly subscription models will mitigate this somewhat, but still there is the problem of copies. If people can't make them easliy, then they are still tied to their machine. Not too appealing.
3. People want to trade tracks. Why not profit off of that? Answer: Control. Alternative labels could make good use of something like Napster and friends to get known and compete. God knows the majors can't have that!
If I could predict the future....
--------------- Begin Wistful Fantasy ------------
1. RIAA -vs- Napster.
2. Napster gets neutered.
3. The slightly smarter consumer goes to one of at least 10 alternatives, or at the least just starts
trading tracks through ICQ or something similar.
4. RIAA and friends push hard for content controlled inferior means of distribution. In doing this they blow much of the gift that P2P technoloiges offer in the first place, but they take the long view, and decide maybe it is worth it, after all if they are the only means of distribution, even if it sucks, they will win in the end.
5. The slightly smarter consumer just moves the content off the content controlled platform, if they even buy any of it, and goes about business as usual...
6. The Feds watch in amusement as the battle goes on and on and on...
7. SDMI arrives stillborn, and is "supported on the windows platform", new players sporting lots of colorful logos appear. The slightly smarter consumer asks "Why?" I have that now!
8. The hardware guys don't like any of this so far because they just want to sell things, and the only way that works for the masses is if it is simple. People buy their stuff now, anything that makes that harder is not in their interest so...
9. SDMI will get about the same attention as AM Stereo did.
10. The Fed decides that they have been here before, and lays down the law. People like Hatch see that they can actually make some rules, and look good to the voters, so they do what they can to please the largest number of them. Soft money only goes so far. When push comes to shove, the RIAA does not have the numbers voterwise so they get the shorter end of this exchange.
11. Through all this the slightly smarter consumer has already found and mastered a number of alternatives. The hardware guys cater to these people as they are actually buying things. Easy, simple things, just the way they like to make them.
12. It takes the RIAA 10 years to pay off their investment in content control due to the lack of paying users on their new services. But again they take the long view and realize that they are getting paid anyway, and that they are in control.
13. RIAA begins to market around the new services in an attempt to boost revenue, and gets sued by the mainstream retailers, because of unfair competition and price fixing. RIAA is seen as trying to milk an old business model at the expense of their partners. (They are still trying to sell CD's at $16.99...)
14. New labels sprout up that utilize an alternative distribution model. It is P2P based. Their fans begin selling for them. The artists have a lot of control in the process, and share in the success. New labels make services avaliable for the small talented groups that would otherwise get looked over. Reasonably easy online access results in lots of exposure. They partner with Amazon for those more mainstream buyers that still want their traditional media, and those same angry retail outlets by helping to fund their law suits against the RIAA.
Eager to level the playing field the new labels are more than happy to invest a little as they are now beginning to take the long view of things... Because they are young, and can adapt they are confident that they can compete in the new more open distribution channel, their future looks bright indeed.
In the end, people are going to get what they have now. Access to a large music catalog unfettered with albums, and unwanted tracks. The hard truth here is not ethically correct, but simple. The service and technology is here now. Somebody is going to use it, and they are going to continue to use it. Sombody will force the issue, but they are not going to just make a new thing like this go away because everybody wants it. Would be political suicide to do otherwise and deny the advantages of the technology that is out there now ready for people to use.
--------- End wistful fantasy ------------
Do I think this will happen? Maybe.
Do I want it to happen? Oh yeah. The sooner the better. I know damn well that current P2P technology permits people the freedom to get music they want, and make a ton of money. Any other lame pay to play scheme pales in comparison. One source quoted 40million Napster users at one point. That is a lot of people that are going to realize the same thing...
I agree with you on the profit thing; however, the resolution issue is another thing altogether.
Newer televisions allow for much better color resolution than older ones do. I have a Zenith Chromacolor. Its video frequency response drops off dramatically about 4mhz. It can only realistically display about 320 full color distinct pixels in the normal viewing area. (Not counting overscan) So on this television I would agree that DVD does not have a lot over VHS. (There tends to be less noise coming from a DVD, but with full motion video this does not get you much.) Also have a newer off-brand 15 inch television. This one responds to the higher frequencies. Most televisions made in the last 6 years or so do. A DVD is better on this model. Also have a Sony Vega. Using Svideo it can display 640x480 in color and it is readable even with text. Using the component video inputs it is interlaced monitor quality. DVD makes a very nice difference on this set.
So if you are watching an older model, VHS is your best value if you don't mind the tapes degrading. Over the next 5 years there are going to be a lot of televisions that are capable of displaying the difference between DVD and VHS, so resolution does matter.
I think your concept of a cartridge is a very good one. This would make DVD more consumer friendly. Too bad we won't see it....
Companies like things that work the same way every time so they can evaluate their risk, build their business plan, and go to market with their product. The internet is not very controlled right now, and this they cannot deal with.
It is also about competition. Nobody likes an open market when you actually have to give a sh*t about your customers. Better to have some lock-in so that you can minimize support and service costs; otherwise, it is not worth doing.
That second point is very relevant. MAYBE IT IS NOT WORTH DOING. If there are competing technologies, maybe just maybe, people will choose those over the traditional media. They must have thought that through, and if they have, then they must fear that over the long term, thus the need for control.
Personally, I am watching a lot less TV these days. There is a lot I could be doing besides watching TV, and it is a good thing. Freeing up all that time has let me begin to program again after not having done it for a while, coaching kids sports teams, working with music, and improving my home. These things are real, and matter to people around me. TV is not. Once in a while the escape is nice, but it is not the same as it once was.
Maybe it is the quality, or maybe it is just a change in times, but our family just does not watch as much TV. We do like DVD's and do buy them. CD Music is good, so is the occasional movie in the theatre. We also play games, PS2, Dreamcast (is that a fire sale or what!) and some retro stuff via Xmame.
News comes now from the net where I can get 5 opinions, and lots of commentary from any number of sources in the time it takes to wade through the local newscast. Local news and talk is good (Portland, Oregon actually has a new station that does this! -- Go AM 860!) and is worth a listen on the radio on the way home, maybe if things get quiet the late night newscast is ok, maybe not...
So after all of this, what does TV really have to offer? Premium television has some things that appeal (Sopranos OZ Fights Sports). Broadcast television has very little. Old sitcoms, Old movies, some (very precious little) local programming. TV is sort of in trouble when you look at things this way.
I had one of those dish systems. It is currently turned off because we did not make enough use of it to justify the money each month. I may just buy a premium channel or two for HBO or something, but for now the family does not miss it much at all. That should say something to the broadcasters, and the TV industry in general.
Maybe the plan is to simply use the broadcasters as a conduit for premium programming once the powers that be are sure that it won't be copied and eat into their cash cows (DVD VHS).
I would not worry just yet about NTSC being shut off. Broadcasters know the points I have mentioned above. They don't dare kill the older televisions until they have something that people want, that will be worth the higher quality, and that will keep them coming. Looking at todays fare makes me think we are a long way from that. Sporting events and some nature programming and perhaps movies are about the only things that are worth the HD standard. Even then, how much more does one enjoy the content at the higher resolution? I can tell the difference, but DVD resolution is pretty decent. The enjoyment of a good DVD and a VEGA television is pretty good now. I am not sure the price or the hassle are worth it.
In short I don't have a reason to buy unless they make it law. I know lots of people living the way that I do, so they probably don't have a reason to buy either.
As far as I am concerned they are cutting their own throats. Home entertainment technology is about simple easy things. If it becomes a pain in the ass, then many will find other things to do.
I don't have a press release, but I spoke with the manager of a local rental store here in Portland, OR and he showed me a box of DVD's and games that were un-rentable. He gets much longer lifetimes out of VHS tapes.
Also I do have kids, and funny thing is I can let them have access to the VHS tapes. They seem to stand up to standard kid wear. DVD's are a no-no. They can't pass the 6 year old test.
Yes I agree with the post above. I have some kids just a little bit from high-school, and wonder every day about the differences. This is very good stuff to be discussing here, as most of us will have to deal with it in one way or another in the near future.
in danger. I mean if you have to get a pack of lawyers, and walk a legal minefield just to develop a product, people are going to do it somewhere else. With the net as it is today, this really is not a big deal.
Also has been said here before, but most of these large companies got their start doing the very same things they are now trying to make illegal. Just protecting the cash cow.
I think this will never happen in the first place. They will get some trials done, and there will be some case somewhere where someone needed to speed, and or a life will be lost, and that will be the end of it.
But if it actually does, then look out for the old car industry. Get yourself a nice model, and hook up with the parts industry, and look out. Lots of money to be made keeping older cars on the road.
They may try to convert the older ones, but those will be easy to crack, and very costly. Who is going to pay for that?
Another problem: What about those criminals who need to speed to get away. Think that their car will have a device on it? This just makes life less for those dupes who actually buy the cars.
I might take one if they gave it to me. But regulate my OWN DAMN CAR? No thanks...
This is just wistful thinking on the part of the UK.
While not a school teacher, this guy started a small computer club when I was about 14. Got a bunch of kids together, and started talking about computers and Ham Radio. Pretty decent about it as well. Spent a lot of time and bought lots of Pepsi for us as well:) The world needs more people like this, and I probably will do the same when the kids get a little older, and the time is there.
We started by doing simple programs in Basic on the Apple ][ machines. This led to games, and the need for speed. At that time it meant assembly language. So we learned that on the 6502. Built little routines that we could call from the basic.
The assembly language stuff was probably some of the most important learning that I have ever done. Granted today there is little use for it, but having written full programs in it made for an understanding of things in a way that would have not been possible given just higher language tools.
At the time I owned an Atari 800 machine. Cool graphics chips. He basically taught me assembler the hard way. We wrote all the tools needed in the Basic language at the time, then sped them up with code generated from those same tools. The 6502 is fast, but very limited in its capability. I remember him teaching me what self modifying code was, and how wierd of a concept that was, but on that chip, it made the difference between night and day. Later on I got a macro assembler with intergrated debugger (Mac 65 --I still have it!) and was in heaven.
He owned a couple of TRS 80 color computers. They had probably the worst graphics around (some motorola thing), but they also had a 6809 CPU. After cutting my teeth on a 6502, the 6809 was awesome. Very nice instruction set, and probably as powerful as you can get for an 8 bitter. More important was at the time I was maybe 16 years old, and I could tell you which CPU's sucked, and why I thought they did. (Die Z80 Die!) The number of kids in my school that could do that was maybe 5. I lived also in a small town where you worked with what you could find.
On that chip we wrote code that was reentrant, and relocatable. Making code readable, small, and fast at the same time was an art that I am very glad to have learned to appreciate. Also ran Os/9 multi user with a few terminals setup on the serial ports.
Using the Atari with its very nice bi-directional game ports (6520 I think) we also did some input output control stuff. One project was to send and receive morse code using the computer as a teletype. This ended up working, and I was able to converse with someone else using the setup, and they had no idea.
All this nice stuff before 1986! and on consumer hardware.
Kind of interesting these days when the memory required to hold a full color icon on the display can require more memory in user space than those systems did, yet much of the knowledge still applies.
We also went and got our Ham Radio License. I have since let mine lapse. (should not have though) This involved early radio ethics, basic AC DC theory, and antennas. Mix this with the computers, and technology becomes a toy, and and an enabler. Want to fix something? Start reading. How about make something new? Used all of this stuff to get one of my first jobs, and also repair and enjoy some great stereo equipment that I would not have otherwise been able to afford.
Today I look also at computing with an eye toward what should be possible. I spent about 10 years working with PC hardware, and M$ OSes and was kind of missing something. Now I run SGI IRIX, and Linux, and it's back! Computing environments that are mallable, and yet still have some structure that matters, and that you can count on.
All I have to say to this guy is Thank You! Those early days of bit-mapped graphics, look up tables, and CPU level math are not forgotten. Wonder if he reads SlashDot?
Apple is doing something that the other Personal Computer makers have not done well if at all. They are making a machine with nice capability built in, and depth for those that want to explore it. I have not yet had the chance to explore OS X, but if it does most of what they say well, it will be a killer for anybody that wants to run a 'cool' computer.
Quite a turnaround from the older Apple days.
What is a cool machine these days? Get yourself a fast CPU, cool case, maybe some nice toys to connect to it. Step through all of the windows garbage, and you have basically a multimedia machine with no serious guts. You could also get your latest Linux, and pile on all the half done stuff, and have a machine with real depth, but unpolished applications. Either you go Joe Mainstream, or Extreme Geek, there is no comprimise.
These new machines have the nice stuff that everybody is talking about built in, and probably easy to use. For the rest of us there is a respectable kernel, and the ability to build tools we like. Room to hack around, basically enjoy the machine. Jobs has given people a reason to buy. That is everything right now.
Everyone selling PC hardware right now knows that there is no money because the higher end boxes perform a little better because of their design (Go SGI ZX10!), but the Dell machines are close, and are easy to get. Hard sell these days. Most buyers are thinking "I can get two machines for the price of one." Say each of the Dell machines can perform at 80% percent of a high end HP or SGI(was Intergraph). Given that the cost is sometimes half, that is a powerful incentive to just buy the reasonable machine because nobody out there is giving people another reason to buy.
I think that the multimedia/animation/studio crowd will go nuts over these machines. Ever take a look at Maya running on an SGI machine? Looks great, does everything nicely, and does not crash often. See it on NT? It is an exercise in comprimise. I work with people using Wavefront products. Most of them are still using SGI, but they don't like the high price, and the IRIX environment good as it is does require the user to know some things to get basic tasks done. Wavefronts own people are drooling over these machines. They went to NT because the market was demanding it. They are moving to the Mac because they think it is going to rock.
Some of those users I spoke of have 'upgraded' to NT. Got reasonable boxes, saved money, and intergrated their Office tools with their Media software, and have had problems, downtime, and various issues. All this just to get Office, Maya, and Adobe on the same Desktop.
You should also think about that a little. All around me, I see people willing to make fairly large sacrifices just because of Office. This means no matter what its merits, most users and the companies they work for want it really bad, and they want it on one machine because having two is just not as easy as having one machine. (I personally like having several machines, but since they run UNIX, they seem like one. NT users don't know this. This is the true M$ monopoly not windows itself. One user, one machine, one Office.
Apple is poised to blow the NT machines in this market away. Macs run Office (even if you hate it, the reality is that lots of people have it, and it is needed in most shops to communicate!), and they are going to run Outlook. This combined with Maya, the BSD kernel, and Adobe tools will make for a workstation better than the other two alternatives combined. If Apple builds these machines right, there will be no better place to do multimedia. Lots of the smaller studios have switched to NT from SGI IRIX. Watch them switch again when this starts to roll. In fact the ones running high end stuff are smart enough to intergrate these new machines into the big iron that they already have. Give these machines a good X server, and they will make very nice desktops to run the UNIX machines from.
For the first time in a long time, I am really looking hard at one of the new G4 machines. Before this I had my eyes on an O2 from SGI because of its very nice media capability. Apple will provide most if not all of this for less, and on cool hardware. (Never Beige!)
Hope they do well. I do not work for an Apple reseller. For the first time ever, I kind of wish the company I work for would take a look at these because I think there will be something to sell. Not just to the lower end crowd, but to the higher end crowd that will pay for an SGI machine, or drop 9-15K ?!? on a high end NT machine.
You said something about being poor. This is a bonus! If you get everything right away, then you lose some very important things as a result. I was poor also, but I wanted things, so I either built them, repaired broken ones, or worked for the money to buy what I wanted. This ethic is a good thing, and has served me well. (I am 32 now --bummer) Be creative, and enjoy this time in your life. You only get it once!
Your early experience sounds a lot like mine. Got started computing on a Trash80 w/ 8K RAM & cassette! I think I was about 10-12 at the time. The first time I wrote a program and had it work was great, yet at the same time there was this discord in my life because I knew that I had accomplished something really good, and had nobody to tell that understood its meaning. This did tell me where my life was going to go though. Don't underestimate the value of that! Most of the people I grew up with have no clue as to what they wanted to do. As a result they are doing whatever they got started doing. This is not to say that they have done poorly. Most of them have done well, but they don't enjoy and feel passion for what they do.
Funny thing about music. Seems that the younger generation needs something annoying to the previous generation in order to have something unique to relate to. You have a pretty high percentage chance of calling your future sons music noise. Early in life I got to know personally some people involved with music. (Mainly teachers) This was a good experience as they taught me to open my ears, and listen. Almost any genre of music has something that will appeal. (Country sucks hard no matter how you look at it) Take time once in a while, and listen to lots of new music. Go to just one Symphony performance while you are young, and can appreciate it. You also have the benefit of Napster right now. Use it! Easy to sample. As long as you look the new stuff over, you will not lose touch completely with the generation to come. Understanding a little about old music gives you perspective, and deepens appreciation of the new. I have kids now, and I can say that 90 percent of what they listen to is garbage, but that other 10 percent is surprising, and gives us common ground. Makes being friends with my kids easier.
Your responses brought back some good memories, and were interesting. Thanks! Have a good life. You should pester Taco about doing a follow up in a couple of years or so.
Making extra cash is one thing, charging people for nothing is another. A lot of quick start internet companies are looking for ways out of their terminal burn cycle, so the idea that they are going to try and charge anyone for anything they can does not surprise me. Some of it might even work. I think this goes past the money issue though.
The author does point out that the firms in question could use technology instead of the courts to enforce their policies, why they don't they just do that? Nobody would find out about them! If you can't index and link to their content, how is joe schmoe going to find out about the site? For that matter, how would one gauge the content bias, worth, or truth?
I think this is about more content control. If you make linking some sort of business transaction, then you probably get by extension some other legal options that you don't have now. Everybody is worried sick about what might get said about them, or the things they produce. You can't put a positive spin on a lame choice on the net without people seeing it for what it is. Slick marketing is no match for word of mouth when it happens as fast as it does on the internet.
What if just the address is listed like on the 2600 page? Here is their copyright notice http://www.abqjournal.com/copyright.htm You can still get it, the address is still of use, and some software will interpet the above text as a link anyway, and save you the trouble of copying it into an address window.
Sombody needs to write something that can be used to automatically process the above text into a browser, infact make that a filter on the browser content so that it is seen as a link anyway.
Anybody that pays for those links is paying for nothing.
Posting WAY too much to this discussion, but dammit I liked my Atari.
The 600xl was basically an 800xl with less ram. (16k i think.) You could upgrade it, but very few people did. The Xl series of machines featured cheaper hardware, greater addressable RAM, and slightly improved graphics chips. You could put the ROM, and the chips in the older (400 800) machines, and get everything but the bank switched RAM.
The xl machines also had fewer joystick ports. 2 instead of 4.
IRIX machines. They just don't die. Have a couple of them from the late 80's to early 90's. They still are useful for many things. Heck I have one that runs at 30mhz, and it makes a fine mp3 player. Even while running NFS!
Anyway, old machines 10 years from now will be those designed like the Atari machine was. Reliable, simple, and flexible. The cheap clones, and comprimise machines will be in the dumpster.
About that tape drive... I can't be any old tape drive. They used some special encoding on the tape. Not just audio. I remember this because mine broke once.
There also was another nice feature. You could record audio on one track, and the tape data on the other. With a couple of peeks and pokes you could then listen to something while your data loaded from tape. Nice feature because the transfer rate was a brisk 300 baud.
The Atari also was one of the only machines that allowed you to hear the data transfer. Some part of the process went through the audio chip, and would pipe to the speaker by default. Cracked the copy protection on Ultima II because of this. They used the bad sector trick. Well on the Atari machine breaking this was easy. You put in the original disk, then listen for the bad sector. Remember the number of beeps. Do the same thing again with the copy (I wanted a backup that I could mod ok?), and just open the drive door when the right time came. Wait a second, then close it. Game loads fine. Guess they were not looking for a specific error, just any error.
Just get 'em lots of Ataris. If I still had mine I would just send it. You can find these things in your local thrifty for $5.00! Less if they don't know what it is.
Once you factor this in the Atari looks good again. They probably have a very well defined procedure that steps them through this process. The amount of learning and un-learning involved in changing hardware is probably not worth it to them. They might very well consider a more capable machine a waste as it could do other things the Atari can't.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't like the thought of that any more than you do, but the truth is out that MicroSoft wants to be in control of authentication services -starting with their own.
Personally, I would just get either a group account that everyone can use, or just have someone else there grab the downloads for you.
BTW if you are going to lie, do it right. Get a few Passports. Mix 'em up a little change race, gender, age, and name and keep them for a rainy day when they are going to get harder to get.
Sounds like the satellite thing could be pretty decent. I'll be watching for it.
:O
As a parent, I fought over the moral dilemma surrounding censorware. In the end the only choice really was to introduce the kids to the net one on one. This is why:
As a child I did not have a lot of parental supervision, so my morals and ethics came from others in the community. For a lot of kids this does not work well, for me it turned out ok. All depends on who you start relating to early on in life.
So basically what I am saying is that kids will get their core set of social norms and values from some source somewhere. They basically need these things to grow mentally, and at some low level know that and seek out what they need.
Parents who do not try to provide these things are basically saying "go forth! find your way in the world, let me know what you found out!"
Looking back over my life, it is easy to see how easily things could have been much different. (for the worse...)
The problem with the Internet today is the body of knowledge and culture required to make sane judgements about the content. Getting facts is one thing, culture shock is another. Think about it a little. Some of the simplest humor on the internet is quite beyond the cultural experience of your typical 8-12 year old. Some well presented totally useless information can easily be taken as truth simply because it looks true!
Spending time on the net with your kids is vital! No software is going to be able to give kids what they need to understand the net for what it is. They need to look at it through your experience after all who better to learn with than with someone that saw the whole thing happen and got to grow with it.
So, as a parent you really have three basic choices.
1. Censor the net and send the message to your childeren that you are ignoring the basic issues, and they can figure things out later at their expense when they are older. They just might hate you for this later when they do understand things better and wonder why you never helped them.
2. Leave the net wide open and unattended and send the message that it is ok for them to look outside the family for their social norms. This one also has a lot to do with trust and could be ok for some kids, but probably not for a lot of them. Do you really trust your kids? Are their core values secure enough that you know they are going to ask you things and make good decisions? Do your kids have any sort of common sense? If you say no to any of these, better not let them use the net without help.
3. Use the net with them. This one sends the message that you want them to explore, but don't want them getting hurt in some way. You the parent are in control and this is important!
Your perspective as a parent on the net is very important espcially for this crowd! With all the companies fighting for your kids attention, what makes you think that they are going to learn what you want them to learn? Nothing! They are going to learn what others want them to learn, unless the parents are there to filter through the noise and explain what is going on.
No software will ever do this.
I want my kids to be able to make their place on the net and be comfortable with that; otherwise, their place will be chosen for them.
AMEN!
I live in Portland Oregon. As a kid I remember many differences between radio stations back then. There was one here called KSKD. They played lots of different things. Had a very deep play list, you were never quite sure what you were going to hear. They did stay focused on a particular genera of music, but did not stick with the approved singles. When they were sold to become a hard rock station, it all went away. That is when my eyes began to open.
The simple truth of it is that there is a lot of really good content out there. Things like Peer to Peer, and the Internet in general have shown me this. Think you can stand FM radio? Try this:
1. Spend a day on the Internet. Check out the music being presented in other countries. Use the web, your favorite P2P tool and get some of it.
2. Put all of that in a directory and set it to shuffle play.
3. Leave it on for a couple of days and go about your business.
4. If at work, ask others to contribute by dropping random things in there. Just make sure they are not top 40.
5. After a while turn your radio on and just try to find something listenable, and if you do, try to see if the mood lasts for more than 10 minutes.
6. Wonder briefly about your lost innocence and move on to the wider world of music you havd discovered.
7. After one year compare your music collection to those who are still getting their new music via traditional means.
We are doing this right now where I work, (From import CD's mostly dammit!) and in only a couple of months it changed everything. We listen to techno from japan, dance and club from europe, rock from down under, and a lot more. Yes we do buy CD's, just not the top 40 ones. We know where to hear those songs over and over....
Radio used to be better. It was never all that good, but now it sucks in general. Every station that has gone out on a limb to play interesting music has only lasted about 6 months here... Even though people listened.
Each market here should be allowed to have one station that gets to play a diverse play list. Localize things a little. In a nation as large as America, you would think travelling 1000 miles or so would get you some new tunes...
There is something seriously wrong with the fact that you don't.
Just on a little IRIX craze right now. Every once in a while the old .sig needs to be changed, and at the moment an IRIX box made me really happy so...
IRIX Kicks Ass! (It's really easy to say, you should try it!)
Who cares? I liked the story. Everyone has their motivators, I was just surprised to hear his, and that he was willing to say it.
What is needed here is a peer process. Teachers get certified about what is important and what is not. They they evaluate the student as part of their classwork, and input to the class.
Personality conflicts can cause problems with this, but if there is an appeals process of some kind, most of this can be worked out.
Tests do not even begin to reveal a students achivements in school, or their worth to society. Peer review does.
Imagine the students testing themselves. They know the requirements, let them work toward them. I am not saying let the students choose if they pass or fail, but make them involved in the process so they understand it, and can help each other.
I know what I did in school. All of the really good stuff that mattered was not on the tests. It was the projects I did, and the papers I wrote, and the arguments I had with staff and friends.
Of all the classes I have to say that Music and Drama were the most interesting from a testing point of view. These classes are peer reviewed by their nature. How do you know you are doing well? Do others say so? Did your performance at the play get some applause? Your teacher is a mentor in these sort of things. They take what is there and improve it. You will get an 'A' anyway, so why work hard at all? If things work the way they are supposed to in school, the teacher gets you motivated, and sets direction, your peers give you someone to work with and achieve goals and share success. Standardized tests totally ruin all of this.
Point is simple. Teachers know the students best. Most of them actually care even if they are underpaid. Let them make choices, and help to form good citizens. Taking all the hard work, and boiling it down to one test is stupid. Even a genius will have a bad day. Should the rest of their life be changed because of it?
Don't think so.
You know I agree with you on the boycott thing. I will not be buying things online that have licenses or encryption wrappers attached. The ethics you bring to the table are sound, and make sense; however...
The hard truth here is that not everyone agrees with these ethics, and even if they do, they don't consider something like music to qualify. (They are wrong in their actions, but not in their intent.) This is called a free market, and the force right now being applied to the music companies, software companies, and hardware makers is called 'Market Pressure'. Most people know damn well that they should be able to have loose enjoyment of their music, and will exercise it (wrongly) by doing what it takes to enjoy. This means breaking some agreements.
I do this by buying CD's and trading tracks with friends. This does two things. 1) Brings down the cost of obtaining new music to an acceptable level and... 2) Lets me experience new things without high cost.
Those two things are what people want, and unless the industry gives it to them, they are going to exercise other means to get it. They will do this because 40 Million of them found out that they can and have told the rest.
It this right? No. Is speeding? No. Do people do it? Hell yes they do, because they know they can.
Boycotts work to a degree, but with something like this, getting the average joe to understand what they are boycotting and why is too large a task. It won't have the effect that is needed to do the right thing.
I do try to support my views by recommending products and services that are open and reasonable. When you walk into a store with someone and they say "Why do you want that DVD over this one?" "They look the same, and just play the little disks right?" You know thats a tall order to explain why one player should be bought over another. You get to the end, and they say "Well that does not matter to me, I am just going to watch movies." Depressing.
Given that, I happily watch the market pressure do its thing, and make sure as many as possible understand why these things are going on.
Peace,
I like this guy because he still understands what it is like to be a kid. Bet he has a lot of fun playing pro ball. And to make that comment... Unreal. He deserves some respect.
I have said this in other places. Pay per play with regard to music just is not going to cut it. There are too many problems. The major labels want this, they want it so bad that they will crush any alternative. It is just not about money, it is about control. As long as they have it, they will be able to preserve the monopoly they have now.
Pay per play is problematic for a few reasons. (There are lots more.)
1. People are used to just buying music and being able to do what they want with it.
2. Paying by the song will be annoying. The work you do to listen is about as much as the listening itself. Besides, who listens to music at their computer. Sure we all have our mp3 collection, but how valuable is that really if you have to be at the machine to listen?? Monthly subscription models will mitigate this somewhat, but still there is the problem of copies. If people can't make them easliy, then they are still tied to their machine. Not too appealing.
3. People want to trade tracks. Why not profit off of that? Answer: Control. Alternative labels could make good use of something like Napster and friends to get known and compete. God knows the majors can't have that!
If I could predict the future....
--------------- Begin Wistful Fantasy ------------
1. RIAA -vs- Napster.
2. Napster gets neutered.
3. The slightly smarter consumer goes to one of at least 10 alternatives, or at the least just starts
trading tracks through ICQ or something similar.
4. RIAA and friends push hard for content controlled inferior means of distribution. In doing this they blow much of the gift that P2P technoloiges offer in the first place, but they take the long view, and decide maybe it is worth it, after all if they are the only means of distribution, even if it sucks, they will win in the end.
5. The slightly smarter consumer just moves the content off the content controlled platform, if they even buy any of it, and goes about business as usual...
6. The Feds watch in amusement as the battle goes on and on and on...
7. SDMI arrives stillborn, and is "supported on the windows platform", new players sporting lots of colorful logos appear. The slightly smarter consumer asks "Why?" I have that now!
8. The hardware guys don't like any of this so far because they just want to sell things, and the only way that works for the masses is if it is simple. People buy their stuff now, anything that makes that harder is not in their interest so...
9. SDMI will get about the same attention as AM Stereo did.
10. The Fed decides that they have been here before, and lays down the law. People like Hatch see that they can actually make some rules, and look good to the voters, so they do what they can to please the largest number of them. Soft money only goes so far. When push comes to shove, the RIAA does not have the numbers voterwise so they get the shorter end of this exchange.
11. Through all this the slightly smarter consumer has already found and mastered a number of alternatives. The hardware guys cater to these people as they are actually buying things. Easy, simple things, just the way they like to make them.
12. It takes the RIAA 10 years to pay off their investment in content control due to the lack of paying users on their new services. But again they take the long view and realize that they are getting paid anyway, and that they are in control.
13. RIAA begins to market around the new services in an attempt to boost revenue, and gets sued by the mainstream retailers, because of unfair competition and price fixing. RIAA is seen as trying to milk an old business model at the expense of their partners. (They are still trying to sell CD's at $16.99...)
14. New labels sprout up that utilize an alternative distribution model. It is P2P based. Their fans begin selling for them. The artists have a lot of control in the process, and share in the success. New labels make services avaliable for the small talented groups that would otherwise get looked over. Reasonably easy online access results in lots of exposure. They partner with Amazon for those more mainstream buyers that still want their traditional media, and those same angry retail outlets by helping to fund their law suits against the RIAA.
Eager to level the playing field the new labels are more than happy to invest a little as they are now beginning to take the long view of things... Because they are young, and can adapt they are confident that they can compete in the new more open distribution channel, their future looks bright indeed.
In the end, people are going to get what they have now. Access to a large music catalog unfettered with albums, and unwanted tracks. The hard truth here is not ethically correct, but simple. The service and technology is here now. Somebody is going to use it, and they are going to continue to use it. Sombody will force the issue, but they are not going to just make a new thing like this go away because everybody wants it. Would be political suicide to do otherwise and deny the advantages of the technology that is out there now ready for people to use.
--------- End wistful fantasy ------------
Do I think this will happen? Maybe.
Do I want it to happen? Oh yeah. The sooner the better. I know damn well that current P2P technology permits people the freedom to get music they want, and make a ton of money. Any other lame pay to play scheme pales in comparison. One source quoted 40million Napster users at one point. That is a lot of people that are going to realize the same thing...
I agree with you on the profit thing; however, the resolution issue is another thing altogether.
Newer televisions allow for much better color resolution than older ones do. I have a Zenith Chromacolor. Its video frequency response drops off dramatically about 4mhz. It can only realistically display about 320 full color distinct pixels in the normal viewing area. (Not counting overscan) So on this television I would agree that DVD does not have a lot over VHS. (There tends to be less noise coming from a DVD, but with full motion video this does not get you much.) Also have a newer off-brand 15 inch television. This one responds to the higher frequencies. Most televisions made in the last 6 years or so do. A DVD is better on this model. Also have a Sony Vega. Using Svideo it can display 640x480 in color and it is readable even with text. Using the component video inputs it is interlaced monitor quality. DVD makes a very nice difference on this set.
So if you are watching an older model, VHS is your best value if you don't mind the tapes degrading. Over the next 5 years there are going to be a lot of televisions that are capable of displaying the difference between DVD and VHS, so resolution does matter.
I think your concept of a cartridge is a very good one. This would make DVD more consumer friendly. Too bad we won't see it....
Companies like things that work the same way every time so they can evaluate their risk, build their business plan, and go to market with their product. The internet is not very controlled right now, and this they cannot deal with.
It is also about competition. Nobody likes an open market when you actually have to give a sh*t about your customers. Better to have some lock-in so that you can minimize support and service costs; otherwise, it is not worth doing.
That second point is very relevant. MAYBE IT IS NOT WORTH DOING. If there are competing technologies, maybe just maybe, people will choose those over the traditional media. They must have thought that through, and if they have, then they must fear that over the long term, thus the need for control.
Personally, I am watching a lot less TV these days. There is a lot I could be doing besides watching TV, and it is a good thing. Freeing up all that time has let me begin to program again after not having done it for a while, coaching kids sports teams, working with music, and improving my home. These things are real, and matter to people around me. TV is not. Once in a while the escape is nice, but it is not the same as it once was.
Maybe it is the quality, or maybe it is just a change in times, but our family just does not watch as much TV. We do like DVD's and do buy them. CD Music is good, so is the occasional movie in the theatre. We also play games, PS2, Dreamcast (is that a fire sale or what!) and some retro stuff via Xmame.
News comes now from the net where I can get 5 opinions, and lots of commentary from any number of sources in the time it takes to wade through the local newscast. Local news and talk is good (Portland, Oregon actually has a new station that does this! -- Go AM 860!) and is worth a listen on the radio on the way home, maybe if things get quiet the late night newscast is ok, maybe not...
So after all of this, what does TV really have to offer? Premium television has some things that appeal (Sopranos OZ Fights Sports). Broadcast television has very little. Old sitcoms, Old movies, some (very precious little) local programming. TV is sort of in trouble when you look at things this way.
I had one of those dish systems. It is currently turned off because we did not make enough use of it to justify the money each month. I may just buy a premium channel or two for HBO or something, but for now the family does not miss it much at all. That should say something to the broadcasters, and the TV industry in general.
Maybe the plan is to simply use the broadcasters as a conduit for premium programming once the powers that be are sure that it won't be copied and eat into their cash cows (DVD VHS).
I would not worry just yet about NTSC being shut off. Broadcasters know the points I have mentioned above. They don't dare kill the older televisions until they have something that people want, that will be worth the higher quality, and that will keep them coming. Looking at todays fare makes me think we are a long way from that. Sporting events and some nature programming and perhaps movies are about the only things that are worth the HD standard. Even then, how much more does one enjoy the content at the higher resolution? I can tell the difference, but DVD resolution is pretty decent. The enjoyment of a good DVD and a VEGA television is pretty good now. I am not sure the price or the hassle are worth it.
In short I don't have a reason to buy unless they make it law. I know lots of people living the way that I do, so they probably don't have a reason to buy either.
As far as I am concerned they are cutting their own throats. Home entertainment technology is about simple easy things. If it becomes a pain in the ass, then many will find other things to do.
I don't have a press release, but I spoke with the manager of a local rental store here in Portland, OR and he showed me a box of DVD's and games that were un-rentable. He gets much longer lifetimes out of VHS tapes.
Also I do have kids, and funny thing is I can let them have access to the VHS tapes. They seem to stand up to standard kid wear. DVD's are a no-no. They can't pass the 6 year old test.
Durable media? Don't think so.
Whew, glad that is going to be over. Seeing as how watermarking is so secure. Wouldn't want to make a backup of a DVD or anything would I?
Yes I agree with the post above. I have some kids just a little bit from high-school, and wonder every day about the differences. This is very good stuff to be discussing here, as most of us will have to deal with it in one way or another in the near future.
in danger. I mean if you have to get a pack of lawyers, and walk a legal minefield just to develop a product, people are going to do it somewhere else. With the net as it is today, this really is not a big deal.
Also has been said here before, but most of these large companies got their start doing the very same things they are now trying to make illegal. Just protecting the cash cow.
I think this will never happen in the first place. They will get some trials done, and there will be some case somewhere where someone needed to speed, and or a life will be lost, and that will be the end of it.
But if it actually does, then look out for the old car industry. Get yourself a nice model, and hook up with the parts industry, and look out. Lots of money to be made keeping older cars on the road.
They may try to convert the older ones, but those will be easy to crack, and very costly. Who is going to pay for that?
Another problem: What about those criminals who need to speed to get away. Think that their car will have a device on it? This just makes life less for those dupes who actually buy the cars.
I might take one if they gave it to me. But regulate my OWN DAMN CAR? No thanks...
This is just wistful thinking on the part of the UK.
While not a school teacher, this guy started a small computer club when I was about 14. Got a bunch of kids together, and started talking about computers and Ham Radio. Pretty decent about it as well. Spent a lot of time and bought lots of Pepsi for us as well :) The world needs more people like this, and I probably will do the same when the kids get a little older, and the time is there.
We started by doing simple programs in Basic on the Apple ][ machines. This led to games, and the need for speed. At that time it meant assembly language. So we learned that on the 6502. Built little routines that we could call from the basic.
The assembly language stuff was probably some of the most important learning that I have ever done. Granted today there is little use for it, but having written full programs in it made for an understanding of things in a way that would have not been possible given just higher language tools.
At the time I owned an Atari 800 machine. Cool graphics chips. He basically taught me assembler the hard way. We wrote all the tools needed in the Basic language at the time, then sped them up with code generated from those same tools. The 6502 is fast, but very limited in its capability. I remember him teaching me what self modifying code was, and how wierd of a concept that was, but on that chip, it made the difference between night and day. Later on I got a macro assembler with intergrated debugger (Mac 65 --I still have it!) and was in heaven.
He owned a couple of TRS 80 color computers. They had probably the worst graphics around (some motorola thing), but they also had a 6809 CPU. After cutting my teeth on a 6502, the 6809 was awesome. Very nice instruction set, and probably as powerful as you can get for an 8 bitter. More important was at the time I was maybe 16 years old, and I could tell you which CPU's sucked, and why I thought they did. (Die Z80 Die!) The number of kids in my school that could do that was maybe 5. I lived also in a small town where you worked with what you could find.
On that chip we wrote code that was reentrant, and relocatable. Making code readable, small, and fast at the same time was an art that I am very glad to have learned to appreciate. Also ran Os/9 multi user with a few terminals setup on the serial ports.
Using the Atari with its very nice bi-directional game ports (6520 I think) we also did some input output control stuff. One project was to send and receive morse code using the computer as a teletype. This ended up working, and I was able to converse with someone else using the setup, and they had no idea.
All this nice stuff before 1986! and on consumer hardware.
Kind of interesting these days when the memory required to hold a full color icon on the display can require more memory in user space than those systems did, yet much of the knowledge still applies.
We also went and got our Ham Radio License. I have since let mine lapse. (should not have though) This involved early radio ethics, basic AC DC theory, and antennas. Mix this with the computers, and technology becomes a toy, and and an enabler. Want to fix something? Start reading. How about make something new? Used all of this stuff to get one of my first jobs, and also repair and enjoy some great stereo equipment that I would not have otherwise been able to afford.
Today I look also at computing with an eye toward what should be possible. I spent about 10 years working with PC hardware, and M$ OSes and was kind of missing something. Now I run SGI IRIX, and Linux, and it's back! Computing environments that are mallable, and yet still have some structure that matters, and that you can count on.
All I have to say to this guy is Thank You! Those early days of bit-mapped graphics, look up tables, and CPU level math are not forgotten. Wonder if he reads SlashDot?
End Nostalga mode...
Apple is doing something that the other Personal Computer makers have not done well if at all. They are making a machine with nice capability built in, and depth for those that want to explore it. I have not yet had the chance to explore OS X, but if it does most of what they say well, it will be a killer for anybody that wants to run a 'cool' computer.
Quite a turnaround from the older Apple days.
What is a cool machine these days? Get yourself a fast CPU, cool case, maybe some nice toys to connect to it. Step through all of the windows garbage, and you have basically a multimedia machine with no serious guts. You could also get your latest Linux, and pile on all the half done stuff, and have a machine with real depth, but unpolished applications. Either you go Joe Mainstream, or Extreme Geek, there is no comprimise.
These new machines have the nice stuff that everybody is talking about built in, and probably easy to use. For the rest of us there is a respectable kernel, and the ability to build tools we like. Room to hack around, basically enjoy the machine. Jobs has given people a reason to buy. That is everything right now.
Everyone selling PC hardware right now knows that there is no money because the higher end boxes perform a little better because of their design (Go SGI ZX10!), but the Dell machines are close, and are easy to get. Hard sell these days. Most buyers are thinking "I can get two machines for the price of one." Say each of the Dell machines can perform at 80% percent of a high end HP or SGI(was Intergraph). Given that the cost is sometimes half, that is a powerful incentive to just buy the reasonable machine because nobody out there is giving people another reason to buy.
I think that the multimedia/animation/studio crowd will go nuts over these machines. Ever take a look at Maya running on an SGI machine? Looks great, does everything nicely, and does not crash often. See it on NT? It is an exercise in comprimise. I work with people using Wavefront products. Most of them are still using SGI, but they don't like the high price, and the IRIX environment good as it is does require the user to know some things to get basic tasks done. Wavefronts own people are drooling over these machines. They went to NT because the market was demanding it. They are moving to the Mac because they think it is going to rock.
Some of those users I spoke of have 'upgraded' to NT. Got reasonable boxes, saved money, and intergrated their Office tools with their Media software, and have had problems, downtime, and various issues. All this just to get Office, Maya, and Adobe on the same Desktop.
You should also think about that a little. All around me, I see people willing to make fairly large sacrifices just because of Office. This means no matter what its merits, most users and the companies they work for want it really bad, and they want it on one machine because having two is just not as easy as having one machine. (I personally like having several machines, but since they run UNIX, they seem like one. NT users don't know this. This is the true M$ monopoly not windows itself. One user, one machine, one Office.
Apple is poised to blow the NT machines in this market away. Macs run Office (even if you hate it, the reality is that lots of people have it, and it is needed in most shops to communicate!), and they are going to run Outlook. This combined with Maya, the BSD kernel, and Adobe tools will make for a workstation better than the other two alternatives combined. If Apple builds these machines right, there will be no better place to do multimedia. Lots of the smaller studios have switched to NT from SGI IRIX. Watch them switch again when this starts to roll. In fact the ones running high end stuff are smart enough to intergrate these new machines into the big iron that they already have. Give these machines a good X server, and they will make very nice desktops to run the UNIX machines from.
For the first time in a long time, I am really looking hard at one of the new G4 machines. Before this I had my eyes on an O2 from SGI because of its very nice media capability. Apple will provide most if not all of this for less, and on cool hardware. (Never Beige!)
Hope they do well. I do not work for an Apple reseller. For the first time ever, I kind of wish the company I work for would take a look at these because I think there will be something to sell. Not just to the lower end crowd, but to the higher end crowd that will pay for an SGI machine, or drop 9-15K ?!? on a high end NT machine.
You said something about being poor. This is a bonus! If you get everything right away, then you lose some very important things as a result. I was poor also, but I wanted things, so I either built them, repaired broken ones, or worked for the money to buy what I wanted. This ethic is a good thing, and has served me well. (I am 32 now --bummer) Be creative, and enjoy this time in your life. You only get it once!
Your early experience sounds a lot like mine. Got started computing on a Trash80 w/ 8K RAM & cassette! I think I was about 10-12 at the time. The first time I wrote a program and had it work was great, yet at the same time there was this discord in my life because I knew that I had accomplished something really good, and had nobody to tell that understood its meaning. This did tell me where my life was going to go though. Don't underestimate the value of that! Most of the people I grew up with have no clue as to what they wanted to do. As a result they are doing whatever they got started doing. This is not to say that they have done poorly. Most of them have done well, but they don't enjoy and feel passion for what they do.
Funny thing about music. Seems that the younger generation needs something annoying to the previous generation in order to have something unique to relate to. You have a pretty high percentage chance of calling your future sons music noise. Early in life I got to know personally some people involved with music. (Mainly teachers) This was a good experience as they taught me to open my ears, and listen. Almost any genre of music has something that will appeal. (Country sucks hard no matter how you look at it) Take time once in a while, and listen to lots of new music. Go to just one Symphony performance while you are young, and can appreciate it. You also have the benefit of Napster right now. Use it! Easy to sample. As long as you look the new stuff over, you will not lose touch completely with the generation to come. Understanding a little about old music gives you perspective, and deepens appreciation of the new. I have kids now, and I can say that 90 percent of what they listen to is garbage, but that other 10 percent is surprising, and gives us common ground. Makes being friends with my kids easier.
Your responses brought back some good memories, and were interesting. Thanks! Have a good life. You should pester Taco about doing a follow up in a couple of years or so.
Making extra cash is one thing, charging people for nothing is another. A lot of quick start internet companies are looking for ways out of their terminal burn cycle, so the idea that they are going to try and charge anyone for anything they can does not surprise me. Some of it might even work. I think this goes past the money issue though.
The author does point out that the firms in question could use technology instead of the courts to enforce their policies, why they don't they just do that? Nobody would find out about them! If you can't index and link to their content, how is joe schmoe going to find out about the site? For that matter, how would one gauge the content bias, worth, or truth?
I think this is about more content control. If you make linking some sort of business transaction, then you probably get by extension some other legal options that you don't have now. Everybody is worried sick about what might get said about them, or the things they produce. You can't put a positive spin on a lame choice on the net without people seeing it for what it is. Slick marketing is no match for word of mouth when it happens as fast as it does on the internet.
What if just the address is listed like on the 2600 page? Here is their copyright notice http://www.abqjournal.com/copyright.htm You can still get it, the address is still of use, and some software will interpet the above text as a link anyway, and save you the trouble of copying it into an address window.
Sombody needs to write something that can be used to automatically process the above text into a browser, infact make that a filter on the browser content so that it is seen as a link anyway.
Anybody that pays for those links is paying for nothing.
Posting WAY too much to this discussion, but dammit I liked my Atari.
The 600xl was basically an 800xl with less ram. (16k i think.) You could upgrade it, but very few people did. The Xl series of machines featured cheaper hardware, greater addressable RAM, and slightly improved graphics chips. You could put the ROM, and the chips in the older (400 800) machines, and get everything but the bank switched RAM.
The xl machines also had fewer joystick ports. 2 instead of 4.
IRIX machines. They just don't die. Have a couple of them from the late 80's to early 90's. They still are useful for many things. Heck I have one that runs at 30mhz, and it makes a fine mp3 player. Even while running NFS!
Anyway, old machines 10 years from now will be those designed like the Atari machine was. Reliable, simple, and flexible. The cheap clones, and comprimise machines will be in the dumpster.
About that tape drive... I can't be any old tape drive. They used some special encoding on the tape. Not just audio. I remember this because mine broke once.
There also was another nice feature. You could record audio on one track, and the tape data on the other. With a couple of peeks and pokes you could then listen to something while your data loaded from tape. Nice feature because the transfer rate was a brisk 300 baud.
The Atari also was one of the only machines that allowed you to hear the data transfer. Some part of the process went through the audio chip, and would pipe to the speaker by default. Cracked the copy protection on Ultima II because of this. They used the bad sector trick. Well on the Atari machine breaking this was easy. You put in the original disk, then listen for the bad sector. Remember the number of beeps. Do the same thing again with the copy (I wanted a backup that I could mod ok?), and just open the drive door when the right time came. Wait a second, then close it. Game loads fine. Guess they were not looking for a specific error, just any error.
Just get 'em lots of Ataris. If I still had mine I would just send it. You can find these things in your local thrifty for $5.00! Less if they don't know what it is.
Once you factor this in the Atari looks good again. They probably have a very well defined procedure that steps them through this process. The amount of learning and un-learning involved in changing hardware is probably not worth it to them. They might very well consider a more capable machine a waste as it could do other things the Atari can't.