they are to greedy to understand that they would make a lot more delivering something that people want that they could own than trying to squeeze a nickel out of everything even if it costs most of it to try make it work and have a draconian DRM system. I think a lot of this is driven by egos, control, and middle manager charts that are out of touch with the real world.
You sound like James Taggart. Greed may be motivating the Labels to be douches now, but it is also what will compel them to change. If they make more money under this new model than they would suing people (possibly even more money than they ever were selling CDs), everyone ends up happy.
Personally, I think that the DRM and Lawsuit Boondoggles are more the result of ignorance and refusal to change and adapt to new markets than outright "greed." "Greed" can inspire people to make revolutionary new technologies and offer competitive, efficient services... it is only dishonest greed coupled with ignorance that breeds the brand of assholes we see in the Big Labels today.
Sure, they're willing to pay $7/month for VPN, they aren't willing to pay for what they download. Take away the VPN and they'll keep pirating. Charge a fair price and they'll keep pirating.
I doubt that. They're not _really_ paying use a VPN, they're paying $7/mo to securely download all the media they can handle. If a legit service came out for $7/mo, I bet most of the Pirates would switch to that.
Sure, they'd make a fortune. But would the fortune they make cover the production costs of everything they were selling?
Suppose this takes off and TPB starts raking in cash.
This shows that even Pirates are willing to fork over money and pay for the products if the service is good enough and the price is low enough.
Netflix already has similar Pay-for-Unlimited-Access plans between $8 and $20... and if TPB is successful, I predict that more distributors will move to this service model.
Imagine Blockbuster or Amazon or iTunes saying: "Take whatever you want. Movies, music, ANYTHING. $20/month." They'd make a fortune. Hell, if you threw games in there, I'd personally pay like $100/month.
This certainly isn't the First Anti-China Video on Youtube, and from TFA, the Chinese Government was in the practice of blocking individual videos.
I guess the Tibetan Beating Video was the straw such that the Chinese Government just said, "Aw, screw it. Ban the whole thing."
It's not like no one saw it coming, but whats really scary is not that Chinese Citizens sit by and take this... but that from what I understand, they _condone it_ and even expect it.
Maybe, since they believe in a higher power, they believe that they "belong" on Earth and "have work to do" and that they can actually make a difference in the universe.
Compare this with an atheist who might believe that life is futile, fleeting, and nothing they do matters in the long run... they might be more accepting and complacent.
I'm not saying that either of these two are the case, my real point is that there are a billion different ways to look at this.
I agree entirely. My comment was specifically targeting the naysayers with comments like "I've wanted a flying car for 30 years! All promises and no delieveries. Why will this be different."
This has been beaten to death over and over again, and I thought that, by now, people would understand that this product isn't a Jetson's "Flying Car," but already, with just two comments, we've got someone confused on the subject.
This is not a Jetson's style "Flying Car" for everyone to keep in their driveways. It is a plane that can fold its wings and has enough lights such that it is street legal. It is meant as something for private pilots (with pilot licenses) such that they can store their planes at home and "drive" them to the local airport before taking off on a pleasure flight.
It is NOT meant for people to fly to work after taking off from their garages, merging onto the skyway, and passing some old geezers flying outdated DeLoreans.
It's just a plane that you can also legally 'drive' on the road. That's it.
F.E.A.R. is the only game to date that I've played and honestly felt like I was playing against human opponents. Honestly, they were as smart as or even smarter than playing against people online.
They did this through heavy use of waypoints and scripted events. If that's what you have to do to make it realistic, then by all means, do it.
I have a question: Does the Uncertainty Principle play into this at all?
Years ago, I read "A Brief History of Time" and Stephen Hawking asserts that the reason that Particles randomly pop into existence and annihilate again is because of the uncertainty principle. You can never know the exact momentum and position of a particle with complete certainty, and the more you know of one, the less you know of the other. Then, he says, you can never have a true vacuum. The position and momentum of this "vacuum" would _both_ be zero and since that simply can't be, there must be fluctuations.
WTF??!?!
I've read the passage over and over again, and I swear that _that_ is his line of reasoning, but it makes NO sense to me. I thought that the uncertainty principle was all about measurements, and altering things whenever you try and look at it... not about whether some random hypothetical area of space can exist as a vacuum or not.
Am I missing something, or did Stephen Hawking take some particularly potent Valium that day?
If Amazon starts allowing its software to be used on _any_ platform, whether it be iPhone, Kindle, Laptop, Netbook, or 3rd Party eBook Reader, would that be an acceptable compromise to the fact that their e-books use DRM?
Valve's Steam has shown that people (even Geeks who notoriously hate DRM) are willing to compromise and use DRM if something of great enough value is offered with it (and possibly because of it).
Does that mean I should get hyped up over every advancement in everything because it might one day meet a niche demand for someone?
No, but you don't have to troll every article asking "Whats the point!!" just because you can't see how this will be useful in a few years. A simple "Ah, cool! Glad they're making progress!" is appropriate, I think.
And as easy to damage/lose/get stolen?
Your $300 EEEpc isn't easy to steal or damage or lose? Hell, this thing's probably MORE robust. I doubt dropping it would hurt it at all. Try dropping your EEEPC off your desk and see what happens.
And my $300 EEE netbook couldn't possibly meet this demand? Keep your flexible e-book. Real books meet my requirements.
Three years ago I'm sure your laptop met your requiremenst and you wondered what the deal with these new "Netbooks" was. Ten years ago I bet your Desktop met all your requirements and you had no idea why people would need or want mobile e-mail. Fifteen years ago I'm sure your landline phone was perfectly fine at keeping you connected to everyone.
The world changes, and this technology, while not finished, will certainly become mainstream and offer convenience, robustness, and (heh) flexibility.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think Happy-Puppy-Rainbow-Unicorn CADIE is going to go Skynet on us until she reaches 4chan.
It still doesn't handle spacing right.
There's at least two stories on the FrontPage of Slashdot that I _still_ can't tell if they're real or not.
Don't post just for the achievement.
Hey now! Don't do that!!!
I work at the sort of place where "read slashdot for [x] consecutive days" would likely get you a promotion for high values of x.
Hey, Slashdot keeps us in the KNOW on new technology.
And vice versa.
Taxes are the highway robbers we pay for not having prices.
...what?
Uhhhhhh.... no.
I don't know of anyone who could take a Bong Hit of tobacco without throwing up.
Just about the only legal use is as a Paper Weight, and it's not really a logical one.
If TPB does it, $0 goes to the artists, and I cannot agree with that.
I agree with you entirely.
I hate pirates and hate all of the bullshit excuses that they come up with to keep doing it.
I really hope that legitimate companies manage to survive and adapt the new service-oriented business model.
they are to greedy to understand that they would make a lot more delivering something that people want that they could own than trying to squeeze a nickel out of everything even if it costs most of it to try make it work and have a draconian DRM system. I think a lot of this is driven by egos, control, and middle manager charts that are out of touch with the real world.
You sound like James Taggart. Greed may be motivating the Labels to be douches now, but it is also what will compel them to change. If they make more money under this new model than they would suing people (possibly even more money than they ever were selling CDs), everyone ends up happy.
Personally, I think that the DRM and Lawsuit Boondoggles are more the result of ignorance and refusal to change and adapt to new markets than outright "greed." "Greed" can inspire people to make revolutionary new technologies and offer competitive, efficient services... it is only dishonest greed coupled with ignorance that breeds the brand of assholes we see in the Big Labels today.
Sure, they're willing to pay $7/month for VPN, they aren't willing to pay for what they download. Take away the VPN and they'll keep pirating. Charge a fair price and they'll keep pirating.
I doubt that. They're not _really_ paying use a VPN, they're paying $7/mo to securely download all the media they can handle. If a legit service came out for $7/mo, I bet most of the Pirates would switch to that.
Sure, they'd make a fortune. But would the fortune they make cover the production costs of everything they were selling?
Netflix seems to think so.
Suppose this takes off and TPB starts raking in cash.
This shows that even Pirates are willing to fork over money and pay for the products if the service is good enough and the price is low enough.
Netflix already has similar Pay-for-Unlimited-Access plans between $8 and $20... and if TPB is successful, I predict that more distributors will move to this service model.
Imagine Blockbuster or Amazon or iTunes saying: "Take whatever you want. Movies, music, ANYTHING. $20/month." They'd make a fortune. Hell, if you threw games in there, I'd personally pay like $100/month.
This certainly isn't the First Anti-China Video on Youtube, and from TFA, the Chinese Government was in the practice of blocking individual videos.
I guess the Tibetan Beating Video was the straw such that the Chinese Government just said, "Aw, screw it. Ban the whole thing."
It's not like no one saw it coming, but whats really scary is not that Chinese Citizens sit by and take this... but that from what I understand, they _condone it_ and even expect it.
What's to stop Don Corleone from breaking your knees if you don't vote via mail-in ballot and show him how you are voting?
Maybe, since they believe in a higher power, they believe that they "belong" on Earth and "have work to do" and that they can actually make a difference in the universe.
Compare this with an atheist who might believe that life is futile, fleeting, and nothing they do matters in the long run... they might be more accepting and complacent.
I'm not saying that either of these two are the case, my real point is that there are a billion different ways to look at this.
It IS an innovation in technology... and Slashdot is about Technology.
We have articles on Jetpacks and stuff that only the rich can afford... this is no different.
I agree entirely. My comment was specifically targeting the naysayers with comments like "I've wanted a flying car for 30 years! All promises and no delieveries. Why will this be different."
My point is that this _is_ different.
This has been beaten to death over and over again, and I thought that, by now, people would understand that this product isn't a Jetson's "Flying Car," but already, with just two comments, we've got someone confused on the subject.
This is not a Jetson's style "Flying Car" for everyone to keep in their driveways. It is a plane that can fold its wings and has enough lights such that it is street legal. It is meant as something for private pilots (with pilot licenses) such that they can store their planes at home and "drive" them to the local airport before taking off on a pleasure flight.
It is NOT meant for people to fly to work after taking off from their garages, merging onto the skyway, and passing some old geezers flying outdated DeLoreans.
It's just a plane that you can also legally 'drive' on the road. That's it.
F.E.A.R. is the only game to date that I've played and honestly felt like I was playing against human opponents. Honestly, they were as smart as or even smarter than playing against people online.
They did this through heavy use of waypoints and scripted events. If that's what you have to do to make it realistic, then by all means, do it.
I would have gone with Lamarr.
Thanks a bunch for the response... that's a very clear answer, exactly what I was looking for.
May the mod points be with you.
I have a question: Does the Uncertainty Principle play into this at all?
Years ago, I read "A Brief History of Time" and Stephen Hawking asserts that the reason that Particles randomly pop into existence and annihilate again is because of the uncertainty principle. You can never know the exact momentum and position of a particle with complete certainty, and the more you know of one, the less you know of the other. Then, he says, you can never have a true vacuum. The position and momentum of this "vacuum" would _both_ be zero and since that simply can't be, there must be fluctuations.
WTF??!?!
I've read the passage over and over again, and I swear that _that_ is his line of reasoning, but it makes NO sense to me. I thought that the uncertainty principle was all about measurements, and altering things whenever you try and look at it... not about whether some random hypothetical area of space can exist as a vacuum or not.
Am I missing something, or did Stephen Hawking take some particularly potent Valium that day?
If Amazon starts allowing its software to be used on _any_ platform, whether it be iPhone, Kindle, Laptop, Netbook, or 3rd Party eBook Reader, would that be an acceptable compromise to the fact that their e-books use DRM?
Valve's Steam has shown that people (even Geeks who notoriously hate DRM) are willing to compromise and use DRM if something of great enough value is offered with it (and possibly because of it).
I think, in context, that's one of the funniest things I've seen on the internet.
Does that mean I should get hyped up over every advancement in everything because it might one day meet a niche demand for someone?
No, but you don't have to troll every article asking "Whats the point!!" just because you can't see how this will be useful in a few years. A simple "Ah, cool! Glad they're making progress!" is appropriate, I think.
And as easy to damage/lose/get stolen?
Your $300 EEEpc isn't easy to steal or damage or lose? Hell, this thing's probably MORE robust. I doubt dropping it would hurt it at all. Try dropping your EEEPC off your desk and see what happens.
And my $300 EEE netbook couldn't possibly meet this demand? Keep your flexible e-book. Real books meet my requirements.
Three years ago I'm sure your laptop met your requiremenst and you wondered what the deal with these new "Netbooks" was. Ten years ago I bet your Desktop met all your requirements and you had no idea why people would need or want mobile e-mail. Fifteen years ago I'm sure your landline phone was perfectly fine at keeping you connected to everyone.
The world changes, and this technology, while not finished, will certainly become mainstream and offer convenience, robustness, and (heh) flexibility.