Interesting. Thing I wonder is I remember when blue LEDS were difficult and expensive to produce. Now almost every piece of equipment I have has a blue LED on it.
"On the other hand, the rules closed source plays by are completely unfair. It depends on the enforcement of an artificial monopoly on making and distributing copies."
The process of reciprocal agreements is quite fair. Those trying to destroy them are being "unfair".
Economics as an aggregate may not, but you can't divest economics of it's human element. As for the OPs argument. He'd be right if you consider creation as a static. But it's not and that's what people pay for. Change. The argument that started this whole discussion is can the process of creation be sustained WITHOUT money in some form? That's were the "headed for zero" argument comes from. It's a legitimate question and so far we're too early in history to adequately answer it. To say "Ideas should be free" certainly doesn't answer it.
"Marginal cost is the cost of making the next one of whatever you're selling. In software, this is a little tricky because the raw material cost of the next copy is bandwidth or the CD/DVD media. The marginal cost of the first copy is the big one... it absorbs all the cost of development."
Amortization use to apply until piracy became mainstream. Now it's one chance (near zero) and "we got you".
So, in this way of analysis, software companies take a big loss developing the software, then can make it back by selling enough copies, then can afford to make it near-free because the sales are pure profit.
Well, except it's only "pure profit" if you're assuming all business costs have been taken care of, and no one intends to invest in the future.
"Just because your software is open source doesn't mean that you get to sit on your duff and collect money off your paid extensions in perpituity. Just like any other software company, if you want to keep food on your metaphorical table, you've got to continue to innovate and improve. Otherwise, just like any other software company, your competitors (in this case, open source develoeprs) will eat your metaphorical lunch."
Well the problem with that argument is that OSS does the %90, but leaves it to the commercial sector to do the remaining %10 that takes a product from "good enough" to great. That's why a closed source desktop (Apple) is winning the desktop wars with an underlying base of OSS.
"For what it's worth, though, nothing would be different if your software were closed source, except that your user base would probably be smaller and..."
Not quite otherwise there wouldn't be a difference between OSS and closed source.
"...depending on how necessary your software is, open source competitors would be even more eager to push you out."
Which simply reinforces the OSS image of being taillight chasers instead of innovators. Wait till someone else does the hard work and then OSS rides coattails.
"First, I can put together an AMD box equivalent to an Intel for about $200 bucks cheaper. That money goes into my Video Card and I wind up with a better overall System."
Oh I don't know. Newegg has some nice deals on Intel/Mobo combo deals. Throw in any promo codes and rebates and you can get a good deal on an intel.
"I love the streaming videos more than I probably should. In fact, I'm going to say I love it for the exact reasons I play games on the console rather than the PC in the first place: I don't like messing around with the PC settings at all when I'm trying to entertain myself. The netflix streaming videos didn't work instantly on my PC and I never bothered with it again, on the console it worked immediately. Call that laziness if you want, I'll just turn around and call you something else."
The word you're looking for is "appliance" as in "My DVD player is an appliance". It's not a bad thing unless you like challenges getting work done. Personally I'm tired of TELNETTing in to use my washing machine.
""Leading Hollywood film studios Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Disney Enterprises are suing Australia's second largest ISP, iiNet, saying it's complicit in the infringement of their copyrighted material. According to a statement of claim, "the ISP knows that there are a large number of customers who are engaging in continuing infringements of copyright by using BitTorrent file sharing technology".""
Well I've certainly noticed the USUAL tags so here's a question. Take all those content provider names out and substitute "small mom and pop content producers that doesn't have a lot of resources", legal or otherwise. Now ask yourself if the tags are applicable (protecting hard work or greed "we feel you've made enough")? And at what point will we be satisfied that everyone who produces and consumers will be happy with the set of compromises that will be required? Or do we still believe in "my way or the highway"?
"having looked at the screen shots for Herod's Lost Tomb, and having played History Channel's Great Battles of Rome, i have to say i'm not too impressed with these TV-based educational games. educational games are simply a bad idea in the first place. aside from Oregon Trail, i can't think of any other educational game that delivers on its promises of making learning fun."
What? You never played Rome:Total War? There's even a reality mod for the thing.
"Most students buy their books used and sell most of them back to the bookstore at the end of the semester. If publishers started offering textbooks for the kindle, they'd presumably be DRM'd, and you wouldn't be able to sell them back. The publishers hate the used textbook market, and they do anything they can to kill it off (e.g., a new edition of a calculus textbook every 2-3 years), so there's no question in my mind that they'd use DRM to eliminate it. "
Or instead of being conditioned to think the traditional way. How about you buy an E-book reader (it really doesn't need the Kindles bells an whistles) loaded with all the material you'll need for your course of study* and sell THAT back at the end? This would address your complaints.
*All of it with progressive unlocking as you progress in your studies. No longer do you have to run back to the bookstore to get new books.
"5) it sucked when i was telling a guy who just discovered chuck klosterman that he should check out _downtown owl_, because it's a great book and i just finished re-reading it, and i'd loan/give it to him except that it's on my kindle."
Maybe Steam for books.
"6) i don't like there being a record of everything i read on my kindle out there for amazon/_insert random government agency_/etc. to see, but frankly it's not nearly as embarassing/suspicious as the things i look at on my web browser, and i figure someone at my isp is currently being treated to hookers/blow/[hookers & blow] by the nsa in exchange for turning over my browsing records, anyway. i have no illusions of privacy."
Hows that any different than buying hardcover? Unless of course you pay for everything with cash.
"the thing has pros and cons like any other media format. but the last time i moved, i had a truckload of books. literally. a one-ton pickup truck full of books. the idea of being able to read what i want (whenever i want) without acquiring another truckload of physical book-objects is worth the downside to me. and thus i got this kindle. and i like it so far."
As the person who brought to the attention about the last E-reader. This was part of my reason. The other is basically I "lost (no longer have available)" all those books and have to start back at square one and rebuild. It also impacted in other ways. The weight and space had to be taken into consideration were I lived. I couldn't be as mobile as I wanted because I knew the books would have to come along. I love reading and wouldn't give up reading but for it's pluses it also has downsides. So now I wait for the technology to mature.
Slashdot Mirror
Interesting. Thing I wonder is I remember when blue LEDS were difficult and expensive to produce. Now almost every piece of equipment I have has a blue LED on it.
"On the other hand, the rules closed source plays by are completely unfair. It depends on the enforcement of an artificial monopoly on making and distributing copies."
The process of reciprocal agreements is quite fair. Those trying to destroy them are being "unfair".
Economics as an aggregate may not, but you can't divest economics of it's human element. As for the OPs argument. He'd be right if you consider creation as a static. But it's not and that's what people pay for. Change. The argument that started this whole discussion is can the process of creation be sustained WITHOUT money in some form? That's were the "headed for zero" argument comes from. It's a legitimate question and so far we're too early in history to adequately answer it. To say "Ideas should be free" certainly doesn't answer it.
"Marginal cost is the cost of making the next one of whatever you're selling. In software, this is a little tricky because the raw material cost of the next copy is bandwidth or the CD/DVD media. The marginal cost of the first copy is the big one... it absorbs all the cost of development."
Amortization use to apply until piracy became mainstream. Now it's one chance (near zero) and "we got you".
So, in this way of analysis, software companies take a big loss developing the software, then can make it back by selling enough copies, then can afford to make it near-free because the sales are pure profit.
Well, except it's only "pure profit" if you're assuming all business costs have been taken care of, and no one intends to invest in the future.
"The world provides no guarantee that you can forever be profitable at the thing you currently make money on."
I suspect the issue isn't perpetual income but is it fair competition? Are the rules that OSS plays by fair to only a minority?
"Just because your software is open source doesn't mean that you get to sit on your duff and collect money off your paid extensions in perpituity. Just like any other software company, if you want to keep food on your metaphorical table, you've got to continue to innovate and improve. Otherwise, just like any other software company, your competitors (in this case, open source develoeprs) will eat your metaphorical lunch."
Well the problem with that argument is that OSS does the %90, but leaves it to the commercial sector to do the remaining %10 that takes a product from "good enough" to great. That's why a closed source desktop (Apple) is winning the desktop wars with an underlying base of OSS.
"For what it's worth, though, nothing would be different if your software were closed source, except that your user base would probably be smaller and..."
Not quite otherwise there wouldn't be a difference between OSS and closed source.
"...depending on how necessary your software is, open source competitors would be even more eager to push you out."
Which simply reinforces the OSS image of being taillight chasers instead of innovators. Wait till someone else does the hard work and then OSS rides coattails.
Who wants to pretend that open source is the magic bullet that will give us world peace?
"I am sure the same would happen with other AI problems if a large enough prize was put out there."
Give me a million dollars and I can solve the problem of why geeks don't get dates.
"Those people have needs while at work and it'd be inhumane to not address them!"
Well that explains the secret ingredient in MREs.
"First, I can put together an AMD box equivalent to an Intel for about $200 bucks cheaper. That money goes into my Video Card and I wind up with a better overall System."
Oh I don't know. Newegg has some nice deals on Intel/Mobo combo deals. Throw in any promo codes and rebates and you can get a good deal on an intel.
You and Torvalds will be hit by a bus...speeding...downhill...through the snow...both ways.
"I love the streaming videos more than I probably should. In fact, I'm going to say I love it for the exact reasons I play games on the console rather than the PC in the first place: I don't like messing around with the PC settings at all when I'm trying to entertain myself. The netflix streaming videos didn't work instantly on my PC and I never bothered with it again, on the console it worked immediately. Call that laziness if you want, I'll just turn around and call you something else."
The word you're looking for is "appliance" as in "My DVD player is an appliance". It's not a bad thing unless you like challenges getting work done. Personally I'm tired of TELNETTing in to use my washing machine.
""Leading Hollywood film studios Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Disney Enterprises are suing Australia's second largest ISP, iiNet, saying it's complicit in the infringement of their copyrighted material. According to a statement of claim, "the ISP knows that there are a large number of customers who are engaging in continuing infringements of copyright by using BitTorrent file sharing technology".""
Well I've certainly noticed the USUAL tags so here's a question. Take all those content provider names out and substitute "small mom and pop content producers that doesn't have a lot of resources", legal or otherwise. Now ask yourself if the tags are applicable (protecting hard work or greed "we feel you've made enough")? And at what point will we be satisfied that everyone who produces and consumers will be happy with the set of compromises that will be required? Or do we still believe in "my way or the highway"?
Well it certainly revolutionized jumping.
Ah, what Viagra can't do?
""World Wide Grid"? C'mon, we can do better than that. Cripes even GTE even managed to put some pizzaz with "Verizon"."
How about "WAYNE"?
Rome:Total Realism
"having looked at the screen shots for Herod's Lost Tomb, and having played History Channel's Great Battles of Rome, i have to say i'm not too impressed with these TV-based educational games. educational games are simply a bad idea in the first place. aside from Oregon Trail, i can't think of any other educational game that delivers on its promises of making learning fun."
What? You never played Rome:Total War? There's even a reality mod for the thing.
Hey everybody! Ankles!
Thankfully in FOSSs case. Decisions are engineer-driven all the way.
Not if they're yours.
This is why I save slashdot posts . Read in it's entirety.
"Most students buy their books used and sell most of them back to the bookstore at the end of the semester. If publishers started offering textbooks for the kindle, they'd presumably be DRM'd, and you wouldn't be able to sell them back. The publishers hate the used textbook market, and they do anything they can to kill it off (e.g., a new edition of a calculus textbook every 2-3 years), so there's no question in my mind that they'd use DRM to eliminate it. "
Or instead of being conditioned to think the traditional way. How about you buy an E-book reader (it really doesn't need the Kindles bells an whistles) loaded with all the material you'll need for your course of study* and sell THAT back at the end? This would address your complaints.
*All of it with progressive unlocking as you progress in your studies. No longer do you have to run back to the bookstore to get new books.
"5) it sucked when i was telling a guy who just discovered chuck klosterman that he should check out _downtown owl_, because it's a great book and i just finished re-reading it, and i'd loan/give it to him except that it's on my kindle."
Maybe Steam for books.
"6) i don't like there being a record of everything i read on my kindle out there for amazon/_insert random government agency_/etc. to see, but frankly it's not nearly as embarassing/suspicious as the things i look at on my web browser, and i figure someone at my isp is currently being treated to hookers/blow/[hookers & blow] by the nsa in exchange for turning over my browsing records, anyway. i have no illusions of privacy."
Hows that any different than buying hardcover? Unless of course you pay for everything with cash.
"the thing has pros and cons like any other media format. but the last time i moved, i had a truckload of books. literally. a one-ton pickup truck full of books. the idea of being able to read what i want (whenever i want) without acquiring another truckload of physical book-objects is worth the downside to me. and thus i got this kindle. and i like it so far."
As the person who brought to the attention about the last E-reader. This was part of my reason. The other is basically I "lost (no longer have available)" all those books and have to start back at square one and rebuild. It also impacted in other ways. The weight and space had to be taken into consideration were I lived. I couldn't be as mobile as I wanted because I knew the books would have to come along. I love reading and wouldn't give up reading but for it's pluses it also has downsides. So now I wait for the technology to mature.
"Dirty rotten companies shove mp3-camera-gameboy-dildo-phones down our throats every minute of every day. "
I would like to subscribe to your color E-newsletter with stereo screaming and moaning.