The article states that the $1000 dollar figures are what the company incurs, not what they're charging. It explicitly says that consumers will be able to buy a single service at industry-standard rates, or multiple services at a discount. That's not cheap, but still nowhere near $1000.
Here it is, approaching Halloween time. Does anyone know what will happen to the fungus if mixed with Worcestershire sauce? That episode of South Park is looming in my mind...
Not only does ReplayTV make long-distance phone calls to update its guide, not only does it not have the manual timer functions of a VCR, but now they're actually going to spy on me as well? All this, and they still cost more than Tivo, who has a well-publicized privacy policy?
Looks like I made the right choice when I returned the Replay and kept the Tivo.
It looks like they're going for release next month. I'm wondering how they're gonna fit a thousand-page novel into the framework of a feature-length movie.
Answer: They aren't. It has been reported on numerous sites that the movie is only going to cover the first third or so of the book. Presumably, they see potential for a franchise here.
I'm certain to be flamed to cinders for this, but I was able to solve the "autodialer spam" problem with a Microsoft app; specifically, Microsoft Phone. I've set my message box such that you have to press '5' to leave a message. If they don't, it disconnects.
Does anyone know of some decent telephony software for Linux, BTW?
I suppose I should expect it by now. Post a controversion opinion (ie one that the slashdot zealots disagree with) get modded down as Troll (whatever that is) or Flamebait.
The word is controversial. I thought that marketing types were supposed to be skilled linguists.
You were moderated down because the article (which you obviously didn't read) focused on the speed of the technology and the decreased power usage it provides. Storage capacity was barely mentioned.
One thing that was mentioned, though, was the potential applications for consumer electronics. Tech like this would pave the way for TVs with built-in digital recorders, business cards with interactive product demonstrations, and credit cards with the kind of security that financial service companies drool over.
I think I just "told" your "story," and I'm not even a marketing guy.
This page spells out in painful detail why the Bakshi adaptation sucked, how many levels it sucked at, ad nauseum. It is well worth the read, IMHO, particularly for the people here who have hazier memories of the books and the films.
If I recall, there were no trolls in Lord of the Rings; they're not organized by Mordor.
Not true. There were trolls in Moria, although they did little besides block out the torchlight so that the Orcs could see better. More importantly, a team of trolls manned 'Grond,' the giant battering ram that brought down the gates of Minas Tirith. Finally, companies of trolls wearing armor were mentioned in the ambush that was sprung on the Good Guys™ while they were in Mordor.
In the Hobbit, three trolls were kept up past their bedtime, and they turned to stone.
True. In Lord of the Rings, Sauron sent an artificial cloud cover out of Mordor to cover the land and provide darkness for his forces.
I just want to see their rendition of Shelob. Do it wrong, and that half-goddess giant spider will come off very unbelievably.
Agreed. I very much like what I've seen from the footage so far, though.
Oh, thank you for the reasoned response. It's almost unheard of here on Slashdot, Land of Flames™.
Well, yes, that was kind of my point, altough expressed poorly (englizh is nut me natif language) : I am, like most slashdotters, very opposed to the way content companies are trying to take away customers rights. It is a reason for me not to buy a DVD-player (the most important to me however, is that I refuse whenever possible to use any storage technology which isn't "two way", i.e. read/writeable, for ideological reasons). I would boycott hollywood movies, if I actually watched them in the first place (well I do see some, but the vast majority are independent films).
I agree with all of those principles. Personally, though, if I were to boycott, I would go all out; no movies in theaters, no DVDs, et cetera. Even some of the independent companies (Artisan springs to mind) are in with the CCA, so I would have to opt for Total Abstinence™ if I were to boycott. Just my opinion, though.
What I was trying to express however, is that I don't even see that much of an advantage to DVDs in opposition to the good old movie theaters (the quality and usefulness of the technology being the usual argument in favor of DVD). Your post intrigued me tough.
I can see that. There is a local theater/bar here in Austin, TX that shows football on the big screen, and that is quite exhilarating (sp?).
Arrgh this sounds bad. Well you see I live in Switzerland, where people seem to still have some respect for the movie-going experience. I own a cell-phone, but I always turn it off for movies, since I'd rather not imagine what would happen to me if it rang during the movie (lynched at the very least)...
I was once drawn into a fight that broke out because of a woman who wouldn't turn off her phone, but left it in her purse so that it rang and rang and rang...
For every one person who turns their phone/pager/watch off, though, it seems like there are four who don't...
I've never seen anyone light up a cigarette in a movie (well yes, a joint once, in spain during Lost Highway, which I found very justified;)
LOL! I couldn't agree more...
Chatting during the movie is not that much of a problem neither, since for action movies the volume is turned way up, and when it's a more intellectual one, most guys are sleeping anyway.
My problem is that I like horror and suspense movies, and the entire picture can be ruined by one jerk placing a call during a scene, or some thoughtless couple bringing an infant who is rightly upset by what I call "Sound System Scares."
We don't have that much of a "popcorn-coke" habit around here either.
Well, no, you have access to the best chocolate in the world. I visited Geneva ten years ago, and I still feel it in my stomach:)
I don't know about the quality of movie-theaters at your place, but I've been very satisfied by them so far.
Oh, it's not the theaters, per se, that I object to...it's the people ruining the theater's features. Like an enduser abusing a nice computer...
The single most convincing argument being the SIZE of the screen. I find it much more immersive. To match that I'd have to buy a giant TV, for which I (1) don't have the money (poor student) and (2) no place to store (everything filled up with computers).
Oh, well then, here is your solution. Costs about as much as a nice TV, but less space.
This actually sounds interesting. I had never seriously looked into purchasing such a system. In my situation tough, it's still more expensive, since I only see a few carefully selected movies, about once a month. I'd have to get a bigger TV anyway, mine's too small.
Fair enough. I'm something of a movie junkie, though, as you've probably guessed from my rental habits. DVD makes it possible for me to rent movies that don't look/sound like garbage.
In conclusion, I really think there's something great about going to the theater which DVDs won't top. After all, technically, theaters will go digital soon as well, and it's the best excuse to get off of my computer screen and meet friends.
I don't dispute the social aspect of the theater experience. Comedies, in particular, are more fun to watch with a crowd. However, I will offer the counterpoint: ever since I started my home theater habit, many of my friends request a "movie night" at my place rather than going to the theater. I have often wondered what would happen to theaters if a cheap disk (i.e., the destructable DVD or DIVX or something) were to ship day-and-date with theater prints. Not that the movie companies would endanger their own theaters that way...
Well I for one will happily go along without DVDs and go watch movies in the theater.
I'm not sure that I follow you. This whole DVD issue is being caused by the very companies that put those movies in theaters. If you're not talking about doing this as a form of protest, though, feel free to disregard that.
Better video, better sound, better experience.
I have to respectfully disagree. In the last year or so, theater experiences have been come near-intolerable. Cell phones, pagers, smoking-rights activists lighting up during the movie, etc. It's not worth the $7.50 to me anymore--particularly when I can rent all the DVDs I want from Netflix for $20.00/month. My home theater beats the crap out of sticking my feet to the floor while some baby screams at its parents for bringing it into an overpowered sound system.
I'm certainly not going to buy myself a whole home theater solution just for the pleasure of watching movies. It's more expensive anyway.
No, it isn't. I've hooked up several of my coworkers with PC-based home theaters that only cost about as much as, well, a PC. You can get Dolby Digital decoders and home-theater quality speaker systems for $299 these days; perfect for the tech on a budget. It's also great for, say, living in an apartment.
In addition, I've never seen the point in owning a movie. I've got some on video, but it's been years since I've ever watched one of those tapes again (and yes, that includes Star Wars).
I can definitely see your point there. However, with Netflix allowing you to rent as many DVDs as you want with no return dates, the rental industry is making a huge stride forward. There are also broadband-based rentals that allow you to download entire movies for rental or purchase. Video On Demand is still a long way off, but Encore and a few other networks are conducting serious experiments to get them done.
An exhaustive comparison to ReplayTV is at I Want PTV .
As an owner of one of each unit, I should point out that BOTH Replay and Tivo have extensive programming guides, contrary to what some people are saying here.
The big difference is that Replay includes a $200 price bump over Tivo to pay up front for the service. I should also point out that Replay has no manual, VCR-type setting, like Tivo or a traditional VCR does. So, if the guide is inaccurate or you just want to set an event manually, you're screwed. OTOH, Replay lets you pause a live event for hours and hours, whereas Tivo has a 30 minute limit under the most recent software version.
An interesting interview that provides insight into the mind of an aging baby boomer...
He's 78 years old. That puts him a full generation older than baby boomers. If you guys are going to flame someone based on age stereotypes, at least get it right.
Slashdot Mirror
The article states that the $1000 dollar figures are what the company incurs, not what they're charging. It explicitly says that consumers will be able to buy a single service at industry-standard rates, or multiple services at a discount. That's not cheap, but still nowhere near $1000.
In five years, though, the housing costs in Austin won't allow anyone to live in the service area.
Here it is, approaching Halloween time. Does anyone know what will happen to the fungus if mixed with Worcestershire sauce? That episode of South Park is looming in my mind...
Looks like I made the right choice when I returned the Replay and kept the Tivo.
It looks like they're going for release next month. I'm wondering how they're gonna fit a thousand-page novel into the framework of a feature-length movie.
Answer: They aren't. It has been reported on numerous sites that the movie is only going to cover the first third or so of the book. Presumably, they see potential for a franchise here.
I'm certain to be flamed to cinders for this, but I was able to solve the "autodialer spam" problem with a Microsoft app; specifically, Microsoft Phone. I've set my message box such that you have to press '5' to leave a message. If they don't, it disconnects.
Does anyone know of some decent telephony software for Linux, BTW?
I suppose I should expect it by now. Post a controversion opinion (ie one that the slashdot zealots disagree with) get modded down as Troll (whatever that is) or Flamebait.
The word is controversial. I thought that marketing types were supposed to be skilled linguists.
You were moderated down because the article (which you obviously didn't read) focused on the speed of the technology and the decreased power usage it provides. Storage capacity was barely mentioned.
One thing that was mentioned, though, was the potential applications for consumer electronics. Tech like this would pave the way for TVs with built-in digital recorders, business cards with interactive product demonstrations, and credit cards with the kind of security that financial service companies drool over.
I think I just "told" your "story," and I'm not even a marketing guy.
This page spells out in painful detail why the Bakshi adaptation sucked, how many levels it sucked at, ad nauseum. It is well worth the read, IMHO, particularly for the people here who have hazier memories of the books and the films.
Not true. There were trolls in Moria, although they did little besides block out the torchlight so that the Orcs could see better. More importantly, a team of trolls manned 'Grond,' the giant battering ram that brought down the gates of Minas Tirith. Finally, companies of trolls wearing armor were mentioned in the ambush that was sprung on the Good Guys™ while they were in Mordor.
In the Hobbit, three trolls were kept up past their bedtime, and they turned to stone.
True. In Lord of the Rings, Sauron sent an artificial cloud cover out of Mordor to cover the land and provide darkness for his forces.
I just want to see their rendition of Shelob. Do it wrong, and that half-goddess giant spider will come off very unbelievably.
Agreed. I very much like what I've seen from the footage so far, though.
I doubled up on the boldface tag there. My apologies.
Thanks for your very interesting reply.
;)
:)
Oh, thank you for the reasoned response. It's almost unheard of here on Slashdot, Land of Flames™.
Well, yes, that was kind of my point, altough expressed poorly (englizh is nut me natif language) : I am, like most slashdotters, very opposed to the way content companies are trying to take away customers rights. It is a reason for me not to buy a DVD-player (the most important to me however, is that I refuse whenever possible to use any storage technology which isn't "two way", i.e. read/writeable, for ideological reasons). I would boycott hollywood movies, if I actually watched them in the first place (well I do see some, but the vast majority are independent films).
I agree with all of those principles. Personally, though, if I were to boycott, I would go all out; no movies in theaters, no DVDs, et cetera. Even some of the independent companies (Artisan springs to mind) are in with the CCA, so I would have to opt for Total Abstinence™ if I were to boycott. Just my opinion, though.
What I was trying to express however, is that I don't even see that much of an advantage to DVDs in opposition to the good old movie theaters (the quality and usefulness of the technology being the usual argument in favor of DVD). Your post intrigued me tough.
I can see that. There is a local theater/bar here in Austin, TX that shows football on the big screen, and that is quite exhilarating (sp?).
Arrgh this sounds bad. Well you see I live in Switzerland, where people seem to still have some respect for the movie-going experience. I own a cell-phone, but I always turn it off for movies, since I'd rather not imagine what would happen to me if it rang during the movie (lynched at the very least)...
I was once drawn into a fight that broke out because of a woman who wouldn't turn off her phone, but left it in her purse so that it rang and rang and rang...
For every one person who turns their phone/pager/watch off, though, it seems like there are four who don't...
I've never seen anyone light up a cigarette in a movie (well yes, a joint once, in spain during Lost Highway, which I found very justified
LOL! I couldn't agree more...
Chatting during the movie is not that much of a problem neither, since for action movies the volume is turned way up, and when it's a more intellectual one, most guys are sleeping anyway.
My problem is that I like horror and suspense movies, and the entire picture can be ruined by one jerk placing a call during a scene, or some thoughtless couple bringing an infant who is rightly upset by what I call "Sound System Scares."
We don't have that much of a "popcorn-coke" habit around here either.
Well, no, you have access to the best chocolate in the world. I visited Geneva ten years ago, and I still feel it in my stomach
I don't know about the quality of movie-theaters at your place, but I've been very satisfied by them so far.
Oh, it's not the theaters, per se, that I object to...it's the people ruining the theater's features. Like an enduser abusing a nice computer...
The single most convincing argument being the SIZE of the screen. I find it much more immersive. To match that I'd have to buy a giant TV, for which I (1) don't have the money (poor student) and (2) no place to store (everything filled up with computers).
Oh, well then, here is your solution. Costs about as much as a nice TV, but less space.
This actually sounds interesting. I had never seriously looked into purchasing such a system. In my situation tough, it's still more expensive, since I only see a few carefully selected movies, about once a month. I'd have to get a bigger TV anyway, mine's too small.
Fair enough. I'm something of a movie junkie, though, as you've probably guessed from my rental habits. DVD makes it possible for me to rent movies that don't look/sound like garbage.
In conclusion, I really think there's something great about going to the theater which DVDs won't top. After all, technically, theaters will go digital soon as well, and it's the best excuse to get off of my computer screen and meet friends.
I don't dispute the social aspect of the theater experience. Comedies, in particular, are more fun to watch with a crowd. However, I will offer the counterpoint: ever since I started my home theater habit, many of my friends request a "movie night" at my place rather than going to the theater. I have often wondered what would happen to theaters if a cheap disk (i.e., the destructable DVD or DIVX or something) were to ship day-and-date with theater prints. Not that the movie companies would endanger their own theaters that way...
Well I for one will happily go along without DVDs and go watch movies in the theater.
.
I'm not sure that I follow you. This whole DVD issue is being caused by the very companies that put those movies in theaters. If you're not talking about doing this as a form of protest, though, feel free to disregard that
Better video, better sound, better experience.
I have to respectfully disagree. In the last year or so, theater experiences have been come near-intolerable. Cell phones, pagers, smoking-rights activists lighting up during the movie, etc. It's not worth the $7.50 to me anymore--particularly when I can rent all the DVDs I want from Netflix for $20.00/month. My home theater beats the crap out of sticking my feet to the floor while some baby screams at its parents for bringing it into an overpowered sound system.
I'm certainly not going to buy myself a whole home theater solution just for the pleasure of watching movies. It's more expensive anyway.
No, it isn't. I've hooked up several of my coworkers with PC-based home theaters that only cost about as much as, well, a PC. You can get Dolby Digital decoders and home-theater quality speaker systems for $299 these days; perfect for the tech on a budget. It's also great for, say, living in an apartment.
In addition, I've never seen the point in owning a movie. I've got some on video, but it's been years since I've ever watched one of those tapes again (and yes, that includes Star Wars).
I can definitely see your point there. However, with Netflix allowing you to rent as many DVDs as you want with no return dates, the rental industry is making a huge stride forward. There are also broadband-based rentals that allow you to download entire movies for rental or purchase. Video On Demand is still a long way off, but Encore and a few other networks are conducting serious experiments to get them done.
One of my coworkers joked the other day about "Napster for DVDs." Looks like he may have been at least partially right.
Where can we get it?
As an owner of one of each unit, I should point out that BOTH Replay and Tivo have extensive programming guides, contrary to what some people are saying here.
The big difference is that Replay includes a $200 price bump over Tivo to pay up front for the service. I should also point out that Replay has no manual, VCR-type setting, like Tivo or a traditional VCR does. So, if the guide is inaccurate or you just want to set an event manually, you're screwed. OTOH, Replay lets you pause a live event for hours and hours, whereas Tivo has a 30 minute limit under the most recent software version.
An interesting interview that provides insight into the mind of an aging baby boomer...
He's 78 years old. That puts him a full generation older than baby boomers. If you guys are going to flame someone based on age stereotypes, at least get it right.