I feel very strongly AGAINST buying a DVD player right now. Yes, the quality is higher, blah blah blah but as a college student, VHS (at least I hope it's not) is not going ANYWHERE for awhile, not in my collection, and I certainly don't have the money to drop on even a cheaper DVD player. This is really reminiscent of the Cassette/CD conunudrum that I endured for years and it pisses me off that WB is yanking my chain like this.
Well, like the song goes, time marches on. New formats do come in, and, because they're better, they eventually surpass the older ones. If that weren't so, forget about 8-track tapes, we'd still be using wire recording from the 1930s. There are periods of turmoil, yes, as people have to switch over, but ten years from now, once everything's settled down again, we'll all wonder how on earth we got along before DVDs. Slight exaggeration, maybe, but only slight.
At any rate, I do agree with you that a DVD player is not the way to go. I personally think a standalone DVD player is something of a dead end. It only has the one use--playing DVDs. Why pay that much for something you're only going to use not even half as much as you would a VCR? (A VCR, after all, can record too.)
Look at these two alternatives:
DVD-ROM drive: It can play movies, DVD-ROM software titles, CD-ROMs, and so on. Sooner or later, you'll need one anyway; be enjoying the movies now rather than later. At $170 plus shipping for a Sony DDU220E/Sigma Designs Hollywood + combo, that's less than most players, less even than some VCRs. And it's useful for other things, too...
Playstation II: It's going to use DVDs as its game media, and it seems likely it'll play video DVDs too. And the PSXes are usually sold as loss leaders so Sony can make profits off the game discs...so it'll be cheaper than the same components would be elsewhere. And it's useful for more than just watching movies, too.
I really think that DVDs herald the start of the next stage of computer/media convergence...DVD players are a dead end (or at least less of a standalone appliance than LD players or VCRs), because before too many years, most people will have computers capable of viewing them without needing something separate. Look at how many people have color TVs now.
Incidentally, "losing" a retail copy might not be the wisest thing, given how much they tend to cost. I wouldn't pay $100 for The Matrix, no matter how cool I might think it is. But then, I have a DVD-ROM drive...
Even with DVD-RAM drivers, I'm afraid you still can't create a video DVD--real-time mastering isn't possible. Check out the DVD FAQ for more info--I don't have the URL handy, but do a search on "DVD FAQ" and you should turn something up.
Re:From the unsubstantiated rumors pile:
on
DVD-RAM Support
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· Score: 2
When I wrote to the fellow in charge of hiring the guy who wrote Linux drivers for the SBLive!, he said:
As for DVD, we are working on a prototype right now. Unfortunately we are a very small team and it may take us a while. I have no estimate right now because we are also fighting a legal issue with the DVD Consortium, that may end up holding us up indefinitely. If we can get the legal stuff taken care of then there may be a beta this summer. Stay tuned...
So I guess you never know...
I've also heard that Sigma Designs will be doing Linux drivers for their next generation of decoder card; they can't do it for the H+ because the H+ actually does its decoding in on-card software.
Re:Consumer DVD-ROM Support for Linux?
on
DVD-RAM Support
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· Score: 3
The closest thing seems to be the linuxdvd mailing list, which has been in existance for a couple of months. They're pretty much only in the early planning/discussion stages, with list traffic seeming to be split about equally between technical jargon and licensing discussion. Any actual hardware or software will probably be at least several months off, and that's contingent on whether they can get licensing worked out.
Why do I have this sudden image of the "real" seal that adorns every real-milk product now?:)
Re:So now I'll buy DVD player, any recommendations
on
DIVX is dead
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Now if I could figure out how to use a PC DVD to play movies and output the signal over to my TV, I'd be set.;-)
Well, the Hollywood + decoder card has an SVHS-out jack in it, and comes with an SVHS-to-composite converter jack. Works fine for my TV...you might need to invest in extension cables depending on how far away it is from your computer.
As for Linux support...well, in Linux it still works as a CD-ROM, and I have a Windows partition for games anyway. YMMV.
Re:Good idea, VERY poor implementation
on
DIVX is dead
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The thing is, Blockbuster (and other rental chains and stores) utterly abhorred DIVX. Why? Because it would have put them out of business (or at least put a substantial dent in it). Re-rental fees would go directly to the DIVX people, not to them.
Re:So now I'll buy DVD player, any recommendations
on
DIVX is dead
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I would suggest a DVD-ROM rather than, or in addition to, a DVD for the following reasons:
1) Sooner or later, you'll need one anyway, as software gradually migrates to DVD.
2) If you get the right one, you can disable Macrovision and region-lockout.
3) The ability to watch movies on your computer even when someone else wants to use the TV is just plain neat.:)
I've heard some people complain about how the picture sucks if you're watching it on a monitor, but I haven't seen that--in fact, it looks better than on my TV set.
Just something to consider.
Re:Dead, was it ever alive?
on
DIVX is dead
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· Score: 1
There's plenty of software for it now.
1) Software the First: Look at all the thousands of CD-ROM titles out there. (Yes, DVD-ROMs still do play legacy CD-ROMs...) Why, I even got two (Zork: Grand Inquisitor and an unabridged multimedia encyclopedia) bundled with my Sony 5x/Hollywood + combo. At $170 for the whole deal, that's not bad at all--when you split the costs, that's barely more than you'd pay for a fast CD-ROM these days--and the Sony reads CDs at 32x, too.
2) Software the Second: Didn't you hear that all DVD movies are now referred to as "software"? So there are already several thousand more DVD software titles out there now.:)
At any rate, according to the DVD FAQ, various CD-ROM manufacturers have announced they are or will be phasing out manufacturing new CD-ROM drives with the DVD along to replace it. In a few years, CD-ROM software packagers will probably follow suit. So, you'll probably need one sooner or later anyway...why not now?
Re:Don't be dissin' Laser Disc
on
DIVX is dead
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Disclaimer: IANAL, etc. etc.
As far as I know, buying a DVD from somewhere else and playing it is not illegal. From what I understand, region codes are strictly a matter of contract between the DVD specs group and the people who make DVD players. They're to make it so that legal action is actually less necessary--ie, make it harder for pirates to do their thing. They couldn't care less about common people--it's still legal to import foreign DVDs because they don't expect you'll be able to do anything with them if you do.
And if region-lockout is a real concern for you, then you have every reason to get a DVD-ROM drive/card combo instead of (or in addition to) a DVD player. DVD-ROMs offer most of the same playback abilities, plus (if you get the right ones) can be patched to override region locks. And you'll need a DVD-ROM sooner or later anyway, given that CD-ROM drives are going to be phased out and DVD-ROMs will still play legacy CD-ROMs.
I have a friend who has minidiscs, and uses them for recording and listening to MP3s. They hold a lot more than the Rio, he's fond of saying, and you can swap the media. Also, Sony still puts out albums on minidisc.
I'm into Modern Western Square Dancing, and most square dance callers use minidisc players, too. They're handy for carrying their music around with them in case they should be at a square dance and asked to guest call a tip or two.
I've also heard a rumor that the PSX II will use minidiscs instead of memory carts as its save medium, though I'm not sure how much credence to put into that. Would be neat if it were true, though.
I don't know that I'd call DVD-video a truly open standard. You have to pay Toshiba $5000 and, I would imagine, sign a NDA to get the specs.
It's more open than DIVX for the consumer, of course...
Re:They're still trying to put a spin on it
on
DIVX is dead
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Well, duh. Of course they're trying to put a spin on it. Do you honestly expect a mea culpa from a publically-traded corporation that relies upon its corporate image to attract investors? The moment they admitted to a lapse in judgment, the stockholders would begin to wonder about their judgment in other things, and hence desert them in droves (more than they already must be, anyway:).
Of course they know that if the consumers had really been behind it, the studios would have supported it. But the studios make a convenient scapegoat. Like the old song goes, "Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you--blame it on the rain."
Re:Expires on 20010630? Well, isn't THAT special!!
on
DIVX is dead
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"End of the world" switch?
Nothing that complicated. If the phone bank that they dial into for pay-for-play approval goes offline, then there's no way to get authorization to play their movies.
Obviously, they're not going to want to keep it running, spending the overhead and such on it, if there's no possibility of future profit out of it. They'd probably just as soon kill it right now if the public outcry didn't outweigh the money they'd save.
Look, what we do after someone dies isn't for the dead person - what do they care? It's for the rest of us.
Speaking as one of "the rest of us," I have to say that I was considerably jarred and disheartened by that dept. comment. I consider that sort of mean-spirited "humor" questionable at the best of times.
Yes, what we do after someone dies is for the rest of us. And the rest of us--at least those of us who were fans--are sad enough about it already; we don't need to be hit by a smart-ass comment making fun of the fact that this person is dead.
Well, thankfully, the version of X11amp that I have right now still works just fine for me, so I can afford to wait 'til RPMs of the newer gtk+ and glib are out. Just because a newer version is available is seldom the best reason to upgrade...
I have the Soundblaster Live! beta driver...is that OSS or ALSA, or neither? I'm not sure what the difference is between the two, and which one the beta driver would count as...
I've heard it said that some companies, governments, etc. have a formula they apply to protest mail, poll results, and so forth.
For every one person who cared enough to write in, they figure, there might be, say, nine more who hold the same opinion but didn't care quite enough to take the time and effort to get around to writing, or didn't know where to send the letter, or whatever.
The figure might well be higher for Sierra's purposes, who knows...but even if it's only 10x, same as for those write-in polls...I've regularly seen twenty to thirty thousand people vote on/. polls. If only, say, ten thousand of those vote for Linux in Sierra's poll, that means they can assume there's a hundred thousand people out there who would buy Linux games from them.
Which represents about 10% of the number of copies Half-Life has sold so far--or about four to five million dollars' worth of business, at box prices.
Why shouldn't the Mac get the second-best following?
All the other choices in the poll are essentially non-choices.
DVD games? What does this mean? Won't they end up putting their games on DVD anyway, once the standard settles in?
Console games? What serious console gamer is going to find his way to the webpage of a manufacturer of computer-only games?
Don't expand? Who's going to choose that? One game on more platforms is always better than the same game on fewer.
The Mac and Linux choices are the only ones there that people who vote there would possibly care to place a vote for. So, if someone isn't a Linux person, of course he'll choose Mac, or else he just won't vote.
I'd just like to note that Sierra(/Valve) does already do some Linux stuff. There is a Linux version of the Half-Life server out. No client yet, though...and frankly, I would love to see that. I'd pay the $50 all over again to be able to play it under Linux.
So I think that there is a pretty good chance of them listening to the fact that there have been so many Linux responses on the poll, even if they throw out the numbers themselves.
Now, if we just had some decent 3D drivers for TNT cards for Linux...
Actually, the results of the poll at this moment look just about normal. (I don't think very many people must have voted at the time the poll was noticed.) I mean, sure, Linux Games has 49%, Mac Games has 48%, but look at the other choices. Console games, DVD games, and "stay focussed on PC games."
Let's face it, among people likely to be browsing to a webpage, PCs, Linux, and Mac are about the only systems (DVD isn't really a "system", and anything Sierra develops will probably eventually come out on DVD anyway, if only in one of those "5 old but neat games for $20" collections) that they're seriously going to be interested in. And they've got plenty of stuff out for PCs already.
About all that should really interest them, I think, would be the overall numbers.
If you'll check the website, you'll see not only is the song by Mark Jonathan Davis, but due to legal matters he can't put the song out on CD lest Barry Manilow's lawyers start breathing down his neck.
You can still get it as an MP3, though (though not on the page cited in the Slashdot reference; you have to go to the other Star Wars Cantina page to get it.)
Slashdot Mirror
I feel very strongly AGAINST buying a DVD player right now. Yes, the quality is higher, blah blah blah but as a college student, VHS (at least I hope it's not) is not going ANYWHERE for awhile, not in my collection, and I certainly don't have the money to drop on even a cheaper DVD player. This is really reminiscent of the Cassette/CD conunudrum that I endured for years and it pisses me off that WB is yanking my chain like this.
Well, like the song goes, time marches on. New formats do come in, and, because they're better, they eventually surpass the older ones. If that weren't so, forget about 8-track tapes, we'd still be using wire recording from the 1930s. There are periods of turmoil, yes, as people have to switch over, but ten years from now, once everything's settled down again, we'll all wonder how on earth we got along before DVDs. Slight exaggeration, maybe, but only slight.
At any rate, I do agree with you that a DVD player is not the way to go. I personally think a standalone DVD player is something of a dead end. It only has the one use--playing DVDs. Why pay that much for something you're only going to use not even half as much as you would a VCR? (A VCR, after all, can record too.)
Look at these two alternatives:
DVD-ROM drive: It can play movies, DVD-ROM software titles, CD-ROMs, and so on. Sooner or later, you'll need one anyway; be enjoying the movies now rather than later. At $170 plus shipping for a Sony DDU220E/Sigma Designs Hollywood + combo, that's less than most players, less even than some VCRs. And it's useful for other things, too...
Playstation II: It's going to use DVDs as its game media, and it seems likely it'll play video DVDs too. And the PSXes are usually sold as loss leaders so Sony can make profits off the game discs...so it'll be cheaper than the same components would be elsewhere. And it's useful for more than just watching movies, too.
I really think that DVDs herald the start of the next stage of computer/media convergence...DVD players are a dead end (or at least less of a standalone appliance than LD players or VCRs), because before too many years, most people will have computers capable of viewing them without needing something separate. Look at how many people have color TVs now.
Incidentally, "losing" a retail copy might not be the wisest thing, given how much they tend to cost. I wouldn't pay $100 for The Matrix, no matter how cool I might think it is. But then, I have a DVD-ROM drive...
Found the link that explains why you can't record video DVDs yet. It can explain things better than I can. Check it.
Even with DVD-RAM drivers, I'm afraid you still can't create a video DVD--real-time mastering isn't possible. Check out the DVD FAQ for more info--I don't have the URL handy, but do a search on "DVD FAQ" and you should turn something up.
When I wrote to the fellow in charge of hiring the guy who wrote Linux drivers for the SBLive!, he said:
As for DVD, we are working on a prototype right now. Unfortunately we are a very small team and it may take us a while. I have no estimate right now because we are also fighting a legal issue with the DVD Consortium, that may end
up holding us up indefinitely. If we can get the legal stuff taken care of then there may be a beta this summer. Stay tuned...
So I guess you never know...
I've also heard that Sigma Designs will be doing Linux drivers for their next generation of decoder card; they can't do it for the H+ because the H+ actually does its decoding in on-card software.
The closest thing seems to be the linuxdvd mailing list, which has been in existance for a couple of months. They're pretty much only in the early planning/discussion stages, with list traffic seeming to be split about equally between technical jargon and licensing discussion. Any actual hardware or software will probably be at least several months off, and that's contingent on whether they can get licensing worked out.
Why do I have this sudden image of the "real" seal that adorns every real-milk product now? :)
Now if I could figure out how to use a PC DVD to play movies and output the signal over to my TV, I'd be set. ;-)
Well, the Hollywood + decoder card has an SVHS-out jack in it, and comes with an SVHS-to-composite converter jack. Works fine for my TV...you might need to invest in extension cables depending on how far away it is from your computer.
As for Linux support...well, in Linux it still works as a CD-ROM, and I have a Windows partition for games anyway. YMMV.
The thing is, Blockbuster (and other rental chains and stores) utterly abhorred DIVX. Why? Because it would have put them out of business (or at least put a substantial dent in it). Re-rental fees would go directly to the DIVX people, not to them.
I would suggest a DVD-ROM rather than, or in addition to, a DVD for the following reasons:
:)
1) Sooner or later, you'll need one anyway, as software gradually migrates to DVD.
2) If you get the right one, you can disable Macrovision and region-lockout.
3) The ability to watch movies on your computer even when someone else wants to use the TV is just plain neat.
I've heard some people complain about how the picture sucks if you're watching it on a monitor, but I haven't seen that--in fact, it looks better than on my TV set.
Just something to consider.
There's plenty of software for it now.
:)
1) Software the First: Look at all the thousands of CD-ROM titles out there. (Yes, DVD-ROMs still do play legacy CD-ROMs...) Why, I even got two (Zork: Grand Inquisitor and an unabridged multimedia encyclopedia) bundled with my Sony 5x/Hollywood + combo. At $170 for the whole deal, that's not bad at all--when you split the costs, that's barely more than you'd pay for a fast CD-ROM these days--and the Sony reads CDs at 32x, too.
2) Software the Second: Didn't you hear that all DVD movies are now referred to as "software"? So there are already several thousand more DVD software titles out there now.
At any rate, according to the DVD FAQ, various CD-ROM manufacturers have announced they are or will be phasing out manufacturing new CD-ROM drives with the DVD along to replace it. In a few years, CD-ROM software packagers will probably follow suit. So, you'll probably need one sooner or later anyway...why not now?
Disclaimer: IANAL, etc. etc.
As far as I know, buying a DVD from somewhere else and playing it is not illegal. From what I understand, region codes are strictly a matter of contract between the DVD specs group and the people who make DVD players. They're to make it so that legal action is actually less necessary--ie, make it harder for pirates to do their thing. They couldn't care less about common people--it's still legal to import foreign DVDs because they don't expect you'll be able to do anything with them if you do.
And if region-lockout is a real concern for you, then you have every reason to get a DVD-ROM drive/card combo instead of (or in addition to) a DVD player. DVD-ROMs offer most of the same playback abilities, plus (if you get the right ones) can be patched to override region locks. And you'll need a DVD-ROM sooner or later anyway, given that CD-ROM drives are going to be phased out and DVD-ROMs will still play legacy CD-ROMs.
I have a friend who has minidiscs, and uses them for recording and listening to MP3s. They hold a lot more than the Rio, he's fond of saying, and you can swap the media. Also, Sony still puts out albums on minidisc.
I'm into Modern Western Square Dancing, and most square dance callers use minidisc players, too. They're handy for carrying their music around with them in case they should be at a square dance and asked to guest call a tip or two.
I've also heard a rumor that the PSX II will use minidiscs instead of memory carts as its save medium, though I'm not sure how much credence to put into that. Would be neat if it were true, though.
I don't know that I'd call DVD-video a truly open standard. You have to pay Toshiba $5000 and, I would imagine, sign a NDA to get the specs.
It's more open than DIVX for the consumer, of course...
Well, duh. Of course they're trying to put a spin on it. Do you honestly expect a mea culpa from a publically-traded corporation that relies upon its corporate image to attract investors? The moment they admitted to a lapse in judgment, the stockholders would begin to wonder about their judgment in other things, and hence desert them in droves (more than they already must be, anyway :).
Of course they know that if the consumers had really been behind it, the studios would have supported it. But the studios make a convenient scapegoat. Like the old song goes, "Whatever you do, don't put the blame on you--blame it on the rain."
"End of the world" switch?
Nothing that complicated. If the phone bank that they dial into for pay-for-play approval goes offline, then there's no way to get authorization to play their movies.
Obviously, they're not going to want to keep it running, spending the overhead and such on it, if there's no possibility of future profit out of it. They'd probably just as soon kill it right now if the public outcry didn't outweigh the money they'd save.
Look, what we do after someone dies isn't for the dead person - what do they care? It's for the rest of us.
Speaking as one of "the rest of us," I have to say that I was considerably jarred and disheartened by that dept. comment. I consider that sort of mean-spirited "humor" questionable at the best of times.
Yes, what we do after someone dies is for the rest of us. And the rest of us--at least those of us who were fans--are sad enough about it already; we don't need to be hit by a smart-ass comment making fun of the fact that this person is dead.
De, we're gonna miss you.
Well, thankfully, the version of X11amp that I have right now still works just fine for me, so I can afford to wait 'til RPMs of the newer gtk+ and glib are out. Just because a newer version is available is seldom the best reason to upgrade...
I have the Soundblaster Live! beta driver...is that OSS or ALSA, or neither? I'm not sure what the difference is between the two, and which one the beta driver would count as...
There are easier ways to have some of the benefits of quasi-static IPs without annoying your provider to death, you know...
I've heard it said that some companies, governments, etc. have a formula they apply to protest mail, poll results, and so forth.
/. polls. If only, say, ten thousand of those vote for Linux in Sierra's poll, that means they can assume there's a hundred thousand people out there who would buy Linux games from them.
For every one person who cared enough to write in, they figure, there might be, say, nine more who hold the same opinion but didn't care quite enough to take the time and effort to get around to writing, or didn't know where to send the letter, or whatever.
The figure might well be higher for Sierra's purposes, who knows...but even if it's only 10x, same as for those write-in polls...I've regularly seen twenty to thirty thousand people vote on
Which represents about 10% of the number of copies Half-Life has sold so far--or about four to five million dollars' worth of business, at box prices.
Something to think about.
Why shouldn't the Mac get the second-best following?
All the other choices in the poll are essentially non-choices.
DVD games? What does this mean? Won't they end up putting their games on DVD anyway, once the standard settles in?
Console games? What serious console gamer is going to find his way to the webpage of a manufacturer of computer-only games?
Don't expand? Who's going to choose that? One game on more platforms is always better than the same game on fewer.
The Mac and Linux choices are the only ones there that people who vote there would possibly care to place a vote for. So, if someone isn't a Linux person, of course he'll choose Mac, or else he just won't vote.
I'd just like to note that Sierra(/Valve) does already do some Linux stuff. There is a Linux version of the Half-Life server out. No client yet, though...and frankly, I would love to see that. I'd pay the $50 all over again to be able to play it under Linux.
So I think that there is a pretty good chance of them listening to the fact that there have been so many Linux responses on the poll, even if they throw out the numbers themselves.
Now, if we just had some decent 3D drivers for TNT cards for Linux...
Actually, the results of the poll at this moment look just about normal. (I don't think very many people must have voted at the time the poll was noticed.) I mean, sure, Linux Games has 49%, Mac Games has 48%, but look at the other choices. Console games, DVD games, and "stay focussed on PC games."
Let's face it, among people likely to be browsing to a webpage, PCs, Linux, and Mac are about the only systems (DVD isn't really a "system", and anything Sierra develops will probably eventually come out on DVD anyway, if only in one of those "5 old but neat games for $20" collections) that they're seriously going to be interested in. And they've got plenty of stuff out for PCs already.
About all that should really interest them, I think, would be the overall numbers.
Apparently the story continues in Dan Green's next column. Maybe it'll have a more satisfactory ending this time.
If you'll check the website, you'll see not only is the song by Mark Jonathan Davis, but due to legal matters he can't put the song out on CD lest Barry Manilow's lawyers start breathing down his neck.
You can still get it as an MP3, though (though not on the page cited in the Slashdot reference; you have to go to the other Star Wars Cantina page to get it.)
What do you mean, off-topic??
Did whoever marked this down even bother to look at the "Star Wars Cantina" link in the article?
For crying out loud...