When I asked that, it was supposed to be a joke, but apparently it fell flat. About 6 months ago, it seemed like that type of question showed up every few weeks, to the point that it was getting tagged "notagain".
Different emulators have different goals. Mame isn't in it for the money. Contrast this to an emulator such as the one used by Nintendo for the Wii. Their goal is to provide an acceptable level of emulation, at the lowest possible cost.
They want the old games to be forgotten. They want you to buy new ones. Unless, of course, they can find a way to monitize the old ones, such as the various new "Arcade" style stores that let you download old stuff for a price.
It's easy to have custom parts made for things like the Atari 2600. It's engineering is relatively straightforward. Contrast that to a PS3, which specifically is designed with security in mind. Duplicating some of the parts there would be much, much more difficult.
The problem as I see it is that we, now, don't know what will be valued in the future. Whatever clown decided to make the same rock with Hieroglyphs, demotic, and greek would have no idea that at the time he was creating one of the most important archiological artifacts ever.
In short, preserve it now, let future generations decide what to study and what to ignore.
By the way, I wonder what medium we should use if we want to store data for a really, really long time. It'd be nice if there was an "Ask Slashdot" on this. Ah well. One can only dream...
Then don't buy it. EA isn't your friend. They're a corporation. They don't like you, they only like your money. As long as people see expansions as "obligatory", they'll keep charging $49.99 for them.
Nickel and Diming can be ok, if it means you don't have to pony up a $20 up front. It's also ok if they charge you a nickel for something which brings you at least a nickel worth of enjoyment.
That was from 1996, so I understand this stuff changes, but it *always* goes over time and over budget. Can't the planners be a bit more realistic?
The planners who give realistic budgets never get their project built. The money ends up going to the guy who gave an unrealistic budget, an the illusion of a much better value.
Yeah. The news is all like: "Hey, did you hear about the new collider? It's like the largest ever and stuff." "Really? Does it work?" "No, but if it did, I bet it'd be really cool."
They are selling these editions at 9.99$. It seems a bit hight to me.
Not if people will pay it. As marginal cost of production drops (now acutally a cost of distribution, not production), and excess production of unpopular titles ceases to be an issue, the authors/publishers will move towards maximizing the gross rather than net revenue (the two will converge as production cost approaches zero).
The seller will try to anticipate the demand curve at any given time. Multipy the cost against the projected number of people who will buy it at that cost. Whatever cost generates the greatest net income will be charged. And that price will change over time with market conditions (e.g. staleness of the book's content or a surge due to popular discovery (think "Girl w/ dragon tattoo")).
If you consider being able to recognize a McDonalds sign as a sign for McDonalds as your criterion for literacy, then yes, I'd say we've achieved 99% literacy.
Carved into stone? Are you mad? When we get driven from our lands by invading barbarians, what are you going to do? Load up the ol' cart with a few hundred tablets? Good luck.
That's why we use oral history. Sure, it eats up most of a kid's childhood teaching it to him, and he gets unhappy when we beat him for forgetting parts, but it's mobile. Plus, we can make as many copies as we want, just by speaking to other people. The StoneCarver's industry is just using this to make sure you have to pay them for every copy.
I don't know about all this 'eReader' hub-bub, but personally, I miss the way parchment felt between your fingers. Yeah, I know everybody says the printing press brought literacy to the masses, but in my opinion, it's just another way for the Kings and Lords to control what us serfs read.
There was a time when you traveled from village to village meeting people and looking for new parchment you hadn't read before. Now, they print off 100 of something like it's no big deal, and hey, look, now everybody in the village is all up on the "bible" all of a sudden.
Not all devices. Sony's ereader, for example, has no remote access, and can be used entirely on an un-networked pc. Oh, and by the way, Amazon, when you're coming up on the wrong side of Sony on a digital rights disucssion on Slashdot, that should tell you something.
Interesting. You could draw a comparison to books. When the copyright expires on a book, is the author required to release the notes and research he did while writing it?
Similarly, I don't have to release to the public letters written by my great-great-great-great grandmother, even though they'd be out of copyright now had I/she published them in the past.
No they don't. A good small business lawyer can help you set up an LLP / LLC, plus give you a good start on all the regulatory, employment and tax stuff you have to file for a couple of grand.
This is generally the response of people who can't get their heads around the fact that complicated things are complicated for a reason. People think there's no need for lawyers, or complicated contracts.
Two guys should be able to take out a loan, buy a truck, and start a moving company without a lawyer, right? It happens all the time. Then, one of the guys moves to Florida, to take care of his ailing mother. Who gets the truck? Who makes the payments? What happens to the guy who stays put, who will now probably have to disolve his business, because his partner ran off?
A good lawyer helps small business people (or large business people) see the pitfalls beforehand, and form agreements before the fact. Most of the really nasty litigation cases (both business and inter-personal/divorce) occur because two parties throw themselves into a situation they haven't fully considered.
Slashdot Mirror
When I asked that, it was supposed to be a joke, but apparently it fell flat. About 6 months ago, it seemed like that type of question showed up every few weeks, to the point that it was getting tagged "notagain".
Different emulators have different goals. Mame isn't in it for the money. Contrast this to an emulator such as the one used by Nintendo for the Wii. Their goal is to provide an acceptable level of emulation, at the lowest possible cost.
They want the old games to be forgotten. They want you to buy new ones. Unless, of course, they can find a way to monitize the old ones, such as the various new "Arcade" style stores that let you download old stuff for a price.
It's easy to have custom parts made for things like the Atari 2600. It's engineering is relatively straightforward. Contrast that to a PS3, which specifically is designed with security in mind. Duplicating some of the parts there would be much, much more difficult.
The problem as I see it is that we, now, don't know what will be valued in the future. Whatever clown decided to make the same rock with Hieroglyphs, demotic, and greek would have no idea that at the time he was creating one of the most important archiological artifacts ever.
In short, preserve it now, let future generations decide what to study and what to ignore.
By the way, I wonder what medium we should use if we want to store data for a really, really long time. It'd be nice if there was an "Ask Slashdot" on this. Ah well. One can only dream...
All the earth is a prison, unless you're an astronaut.
Then don't buy it. EA isn't your friend. They're a corporation. They don't like you, they only like your money. As long as people see expansions as "obligatory", they'll keep charging $49.99 for them.
Who would ever think of buying a book by the chapter?
Comic book fans. You buy them a month at a time, and later on they bind them all together as a book, and sell them together.
Nickel and Diming can be ok, if it means you don't have to pony up a $20 up front. It's also ok if they charge you a nickel for something which brings you at least a nickel worth of enjoyment.
That was from 1996, so I understand this stuff changes, but it *always* goes over time and over budget. Can't the planners be a bit more realistic?
The planners who give realistic budgets never get their project built. The money ends up going to the guy who gave an unrealistic budget, an the illusion of a much better value.
But how will we shrink the Earth to an object the size of a pea on December 21, 2012?
Narf!
FTFY.
Yeah. The news is all like: "Hey, did you hear about the new collider? It's like the largest ever and stuff." "Really? Does it work?" "No, but if it did, I bet it'd be really cool."
In the 80's we bought a PCjr. Does that count?
my trusty Palm Tungsten for now, my eyes are still ok.
Not for long. According to what I was told as an adolecent, if you Palm your Tungsten too often, you'll go blind.
They are selling these editions at 9.99$. It seems a bit hight to me.
Not if people will pay it. As marginal cost of production drops (now acutally a cost of distribution, not production), and excess production of unpopular titles ceases to be an issue, the authors/publishers will move towards maximizing the gross rather than net revenue (the two will converge as production cost approaches zero).
The seller will try to anticipate the demand curve at any given time. Multipy the cost against the projected number of people who will buy it at that cost. Whatever cost generates the greatest net income will be charged. And that price will change over time with market conditions (e.g. staleness of the book's content or a surge due to popular discovery (think "Girl w/ dragon tattoo")).
I met one once. I pulled his underware up over his head, then took his lunch money.
If you consider being able to recognize a McDonalds sign as a sign for McDonalds as your criterion for literacy, then yes, I'd say we've achieved 99% literacy.
Carved into stone? Are you mad? When we get driven from our lands by invading barbarians, what are you going to do? Load up the ol' cart with a few hundred tablets? Good luck.
That's why we use oral history. Sure, it eats up most of a kid's childhood teaching it to him, and he gets unhappy when we beat him for forgetting parts, but it's mobile. Plus, we can make as many copies as we want, just by speaking to other people. The StoneCarver's industry is just using this to make sure you have to pay them for every copy.
I don't know about all this 'eReader' hub-bub, but personally, I miss the way parchment felt between your fingers. Yeah, I know everybody says the printing press brought literacy to the masses, but in my opinion, it's just another way for the Kings and Lords to control what us serfs read.
There was a time when you traveled from village to village meeting people and looking for new parchment you hadn't read before. Now, they print off 100 of something like it's no big deal, and hey, look, now everybody in the village is all up on the "bible" all of a sudden.
Not all devices. Sony's ereader, for example, has no remote access, and can be used entirely on an un-networked pc. Oh, and by the way, Amazon, when you're coming up on the wrong side of Sony on a digital rights disucssion on Slashdot, that should tell you something.
Interesting. Palm OS had the same thing, but they called it 'Gremlins'.
Interesting. You could draw a comparison to books. When the copyright expires on a book, is the author required to release the notes and research he did while writing it?
Similarly, I don't have to release to the public letters written by my great-great-great-great grandmother, even though they'd be out of copyright now had I/she published them in the past.
Actually, there was a clear winner in this case. Google.
No they don't. A good small business lawyer can help you set up an LLP / LLC, plus give you a good start on all the regulatory, employment and tax stuff you have to file for a couple of grand.
This is generally the response of people who can't get their heads around the fact that complicated things are complicated for a reason. People think there's no need for lawyers, or complicated contracts.
Two guys should be able to take out a loan, buy a truck, and start a moving company without a lawyer, right? It happens all the time.
Then, one of the guys moves to Florida, to take care of his ailing mother. Who gets the truck? Who makes the payments? What happens to the guy who stays put, who will now probably have to disolve his business, because his partner ran off?
A good lawyer helps small business people (or large business people) see the pitfalls beforehand, and form agreements before the fact. Most of the really nasty litigation cases (both business and inter-personal/divorce) occur because two parties throw themselves into a situation they haven't fully considered.