For me self-checkouts are slower. Simply put: I don't move as fast as the full-time worker does. It takes me about 3 times longer. Also the "scale" often doesn't register when I move my item into the shopping bag.
"Please put your item in your bag."
"I did."
"Please put your item in your bag."
(removes item. Puts back into bag)
"Please put your item in your bag."
"Grrr." (pulls item out of shopping cart and dumps into bag)
"Thank you sir. Please scan next item or press done to continue." ----- Yes that's right. I stole an item. Not my fault the machine doesn't work right. It's the store's fault.
Remember when we had self-dial modems, rather than the auto dial? That was because the government-created monopoly ATT (aka Bell) would not allow devices to hook directly to the line. THEN the next thing they tried to do was impose a $10 modem fee on my line (because modems are on 10, 20, or even 24 hours a day - thereby overloading the line). I denied ever having a modem, which of course was a blatant lie, but I don't care.
"Gotta save those phone operators jobs!" This is really no different than those backwards member states (i.e. OR and NJ) that don't allow self-pumping of gasoline. They probably would outlaw self-dialing too if they had thought of it.
Every time I drive through NJ I pump my own gas, not because I'm anti-full service, but because they move so damn slow. I have better things to do than sit in my car for ten minutes waiting for an attendant to show up, especially if I still have a 2 hour drive ahead of me.
>>>Yes, it does work out to "pennies" on a per person basis.
No not really. Enterprise was watched by about 2 million people when UPN (now CW) showed it. So it works out to $1.50 per viewer if they bought the episode directly (which they do not - it's provided free with ads).
>>>staring at that progress bar creeping along is such a buzzkill! Although, to be fair, it's a lot better than camping out under my mailbox waiting for the Netflix DVD or my Amazon order to show up
You can't walk or drive the 5 minutes to a store to buy a Bluray? Damn. And I thought I was lazy.
>>>There's no reason for me to lose even 15 minutes going to the store instead of 15 seconds setting up the download in my computer.
You also forgot the 250 GB limit that Comcast (or whoever) imposes on you. All it would take is 5-6 Bluray downloads, and you'd be limited to dialup speed for the rest of the month. So once again, I consider Bluray Discs as a not-yet-replaceable technology.
Sorry no. The reason why the Bill of Rights and a written Constitution exists, is because leaders DON'T have common sense. That's why a Law that is higher than the leaders was imposed upon them, to oblige them into submission. That's why it is necessary to amend the constitution and strike out the current clause that allows 150 year (or more) copyright monopolies. The leaders don't have enough sense.
That won't happen. The price of the e-book or e-game is the same as the physical copy, even though it's impossible to sell it in your garage sale when you're done with it. There's no price reduction. I also disagree with the idea that owners should not be able to sell their used DVDs or TVs or Cars.
I just got into an argument with an Ebay Seller about this very topic. I bought a computer and it said "Comes with Office 2010 just purchased at the store". So even though I don't use MS Office, I bought the computer figuring I could sell the Software Box/Discs on amazon's used market.
Unfortunately the computer didn't come with the box. The MS Office was a download and the seller neglected (as required by US Law) to inform the consumer of this. Since it's impossible to sell a file online, I complained to paypal, and they gave me a $50 refund (estimated value of the missing Office Box).
I haven't tried WINE lately but in the Ubuntu 2009.0 days, it couldn't even run my Netscape Dialing program or the included Web Accelerator properly (it crashed). If it can't run something that simple, I don't trust it to run MS Word properly either.
>>>And yet, you still don't understand how the Constitution was created, was changed, and will be changed in the future.
False assumption. Please don't insult me. I have an IQ of 135 and am just as intelligent as you or any of the other slashdotters. I understand perfectly how the Constitution was created, changed, and how to make future amendments.
HOWEVER I've taken time to read Amendments 9 and 10 (which limit the US to a FEW enumerated powers) while you conveniently skipped that part, because you want the US Congress to have unlimited power to do almost anything it desires.
Considering there were about 25 million living in 1940s Germany, the chance of any one person being rounded-up & led to a deathcamp in any given year was only 1 in ~100,000 so why worry about the problem?
>>>The studios got their money back a long time ago
False. When a TV show is in production, it is produced at a LOSS. Most of the money is made off the backend, during the sales of reruns. If a show is popular in reruns than yes, it recovers the cash, but if the show is a flop in reruns (as happened with Alias) then it remains "in the red" forever.
And of course some money comes from DVD or iTunes sales, but its mainly the rich advertisers that fund 80% of the show's cost.
Still too fucking long, especially if you want to do something else like watch the latest Eureka episode, which will slow down the download to more than a day. .
>>>I won't. I can redownload it whenever I want.
And pay another $10. Maybe it's not like that now, but it will be eventually. I prefer to buy my movies just once, not multiple times. .
>>> lots of people have already.
Lots? Only about 5% have your speed. That leaves the other 95% wanting Bluray because it will be easier to get than waiting DAYS to finish the 50 gigabyte download.
It's not gamestop that I'm worried about, but gamers like me who enjoy selling our older games on amazon.com or ebay.com. If the used market "implodes" as you say, we'll be cut off from a large supply of money (which we use to fund purchases of new games).
What about simply using an antenna? I get about 40 channels through mine, and the cost is FREE (see list below). There are a few cable-only shows I can't see, like Ghost Hunters and Eureka, but I just stream them off the syfy.com or hulu.com websites..... also free. Paying ~$1000/year for television in today's environment is illogical.
ABC, CBS, et cetera PBS PBSkids PBSworld PBSarts (concerts) PBSinfo (documentaries) CW MyNetTV ION Mind Link Megahertz ThisTV (movies) Weather Channel NBC Universal Sports 24 four News channel RetroTV (70s/80s) FamilyTV (50s/60s reruns) RerunTV (stargate SG1,SGA,SGU, Star Trek, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Closer, Mr. Monk, and so on) Smile of a Child Qubo Univision Telemundo Telefutura JCTV (music) ION_life Shopping channel Wellness Channel (health, etc)
I probably left some off, but you get the point. All free of charge via antenna. Plus whatever else I get through hulu.com. Why on earth would I pay for television?!?!?
>>>by charging excessively for that which cost them pennies to produce,
An episode of Star Trek Enterprise, when it was still on TV, was 3 million per episode. I've heard Stargate Universe is 1 million dollars more than Atlantis cost, which would be 3.5 million dollars per episode. Not exactly "pennies" to produce.
>>>will be the response of the copyright conglomerates.
And here would be my response:
Amendment ____ : "A healthy culture being necessary to the pursuit of happiness by the People, and the suppression of said culture having been abused by existing media conglomerates, the clause 'To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries' is hereby stricken from this Constitution. It shall be replaced with 'To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for one decade the revocable, monopoly privilege to their respective Writings and Discoveries'."
I don't think I'd have much trouble rallying the support of the Pirate Party, downloaders, and other disgruntled costumers who just had their copy of ____ erased from their TVs or Game Consoles.
Well ou say you can't sell the software, but if you still have original discs you must certainly CAN sell it. For example I still have my MS Office 97 laying in my drawer and could sell it on ebay if I wished. Ditto my ancient copy of Windows 3.1 .
>>>at some point soon Microsoft decides to remote-kill an OS in the future if you don't update it to a new version
That would royally piss off a lot of customers. Perhaps even enough that the CEO would need to hire protection from pissed-off people with guns.
>>>PC Game Digital Downloads Dramatically Outpace Retail Sales
Looks like the PS3, X360, and Wii will be the last game consoles I ever own. I'm not going to buy any future consoles that are disc-free and force me to RENT rather own my software (and which also means I can't sell the game Used when I'm sick of it).
But before we jump on that bandwagon, let's not forget practical limitations. A Bluray holds 50 gigabytes of data. Downloading that over my 750k DSL connection would take 7 days, and there are a lot of people who don't have even that speed (still suck on dialup). Plus once I've downloaded the file I'll want to store it somewhere permanent, like a Bluray-R so why not just save some time, go to the store, and get the Bluray already conveniently pressed on disc for me?
Bottom Line - Blurays are not disappearing yet. People like the convenience and instant gratification.
Also Steve Jobs has a bad habit of burying technology while it's still alive & breathing in the coffin. He famously stopped putting floppies in Macs (1999), when people still needed floppies to trade work files, or to access older archived software, or to revive dead systems, thereby forcing Mac users to spend extra for an external drive. NOW it looks like he's doing the same with DVDs and Blurays - declaring them as "not needed" when they still ARE needed.
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For me self-checkouts are slower. Simply put: I don't move as fast as the full-time worker does. It takes me about 3 times longer. Also the "scale" often doesn't register when I move my item into the shopping bag.
"Please put your item in your bag."
"I did."
"Please put your item in your bag."
(removes item. Puts back into bag)
"Please put your item in your bag."
"Grrr." (pulls item out of shopping cart and dumps into bag)
"Thank you sir. Please scan next item or press done to continue." ----- Yes that's right. I stole an item. Not my fault the machine doesn't work right. It's the store's fault.
Really???
Remember when we had self-dial modems, rather than the auto dial? That was because the government-created monopoly ATT (aka Bell) would not allow devices to hook directly to the line. THEN the next thing they tried to do was impose a $10 modem fee on my line (because modems are on 10, 20, or even 24 hours a day - thereby overloading the line). I denied ever having a modem, which of course was a blatant lie, but I don't care.
"Gotta save those phone operators jobs!" This is really no different than those backwards member states (i.e. OR and NJ) that don't allow self-pumping of gasoline. They probably would outlaw self-dialing too if they had thought of it.
Every time I drive through NJ I pump my own gas, not because I'm anti-full service, but because they move so damn slow. I have better things to do than sit in my car for ten minutes waiting for an attendant to show up, especially if I still have a 2 hour drive ahead of me.
>>>Yes, it does work out to "pennies" on a per person basis.
No not really. Enterprise was watched by about 2 million people when UPN (now CW) showed it. So it works out to $1.50 per viewer if they bought the episode directly (which they do not - it's provided free with ads).
I use a Channel Master CM4228 indoors, and it picks-up stations 50 miles away. Give that a try.
>>>staring at that progress bar creeping along is such a buzzkill! Although, to be fair, it's a lot better than camping out under my mailbox waiting for the Netflix DVD or my Amazon order to show up
You can't walk or drive the 5 minutes to a store to buy a Bluray?
Damn.
And I thought I was lazy.
>>>There's no reason for me to lose even 15 minutes going to the store instead of 15 seconds setting up the download in my computer.
You also forgot the 250 GB limit that Comcast (or whoever) imposes on you. All it would take is 5-6 Bluray downloads, and you'd be limited to dialup speed for the rest of the month. So once again, I consider Bluray Discs as a not-yet-replaceable technology.
>>>The first amendment, plus some common sense,
Sorry no. The reason why the Bill of Rights and a written Constitution exists, is because leaders DON'T have common sense. That's why a Law that is higher than the leaders was imposed upon them, to oblige them into submission. That's why it is necessary to amend the constitution and strike out the current clause that allows 150 year (or more) copyright monopolies. The leaders don't have enough sense.
>>>I'd rather just see games 45% the price
That won't happen. The price of the e-book or e-game is the same as the physical copy, even though it's impossible to sell it in your garage sale when you're done with it. There's no price reduction. I also disagree with the idea that owners should not be able to sell their used DVDs or TVs or Cars.
I just got into an argument with an Ebay Seller about this very topic. I bought a computer and it said "Comes with Office 2010 just purchased at the store". So even though I don't use MS Office, I bought the computer figuring I could sell the Software Box/Discs on amazon's used market.
Unfortunately the computer didn't come with the box. The MS Office was a download and the seller neglected (as required by US Law) to inform the consumer of this. Since it's impossible to sell a file online, I complained to paypal, and they gave me a $50 refund (estimated value of the missing Office Box).
If I'm going to face a life time punishment (how long it takes to pay off a million dollar fine), it might as well be for something worthy.
I haven't tried WINE lately but in the Ubuntu 2009.0 days, it couldn't even run my Netscape Dialing program or the included Web Accelerator properly (it crashed). If it can't run something that simple, I don't trust it to run MS Word properly either.
>>>And yet, you still don't understand how the Constitution was created, was changed, and will be changed in the future.
False assumption. Please don't insult me. I have an IQ of 135 and am just as intelligent as you or any of the other slashdotters. I understand perfectly how the Constitution was created, changed, and how to make future amendments.
HOWEVER I've taken time to read Amendments 9 and 10 (which limit the US to a FEW enumerated powers) while you conveniently skipped that part, because you want the US Congress to have unlimited power to do almost anything it desires.
Considering there were about 25 million living in 1940s Germany, the chance of any one person being rounded-up & led to a deathcamp in any given year was only 1 in ~100,000 so why worry about the problem?
Really? Amazon.com doesn't exist for you? Where do you live? The dark zone of Tibet?
>>>The studios got their money back a long time ago
False. When a TV show is in production, it is produced at a LOSS. Most of the money is made off the backend, during the sales of reruns. If a show is popular in reruns than yes, it recovers the cash, but if the show is a flop in reruns (as happened with Alias) then it remains "in the red" forever.
And of course some money comes from DVD or iTunes sales, but its mainly the rich advertisers that fund 80% of the show's cost.
>>>19 hours,
Still too fucking long, especially if you want to do something else like watch the latest Eureka episode, which will slow down the download to more than a day.
.
>>>I won't. I can redownload it whenever I want.
And pay another $10. Maybe it's not like that now, but it will be eventually. I prefer to buy my movies just once, not multiple times.
.
>>> lots of people have already.
Lots? Only about 5% have your speed. That leaves the other 95% wanting Bluray because it will be easier to get than waiting DAYS to finish the 50 gigabyte download.
You post has no connection to what I was discussing (why I'd rather buy a DISC than download the content).
>>>I have no loyalty to gamestop
It's not gamestop that I'm worried about, but gamers like me who enjoy selling our older games on amazon.com or ebay.com. If the used market "implodes" as you say, we'll be cut off from a large supply of money (which we use to fund purchases of new games).
>>>with Netflix rentals and Netflix streaming.
What about simply using an antenna? I get about 40 channels through mine, and the cost is FREE (see list below). There are a few cable-only shows I can't see, like Ghost Hunters and Eureka, but I just stream them off the syfy.com or hulu.com websites..... also free. Paying ~$1000/year for television in today's environment is illogical.
ABC, CBS, et cetera
PBS
PBSkids
PBSworld
PBSarts (concerts)
PBSinfo (documentaries)
CW
MyNetTV
ION
Mind
Link
Megahertz
ThisTV (movies)
Weather Channel
NBC Universal Sports
24 four News channel
RetroTV (70s/80s)
FamilyTV (50s/60s reruns)
RerunTV (stargate SG1,SGA,SGU, Star Trek, South Park, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Closer, Mr. Monk, and so on)
Smile of a Child
Qubo
Univision
Telemundo
Telefutura
JCTV (music)
ION_life
Shopping channel
Wellness Channel (health, etc)
I probably left some off, but you get the point. All free of charge via antenna. Plus whatever else I get through hulu.com. Why on earth would I pay for television?!?!?
>>>by charging excessively for that which cost them pennies to produce,
An episode of Star Trek Enterprise, when it was still on TV, was 3 million per episode. I've heard Stargate Universe is 1 million dollars more than Atlantis cost, which would be 3.5 million dollars per episode. Not exactly "pennies" to produce.
I wish Anonymous Cowards would use their USER IDs, instead of logging-out to post.
>>>will be the response of the copyright conglomerates.
And here would be my response:
Amendment ____ : "A healthy culture being necessary to the pursuit of happiness by the People, and the suppression of said culture having been abused by existing media conglomerates, the clause 'To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries' is hereby stricken from this Constitution. It shall be replaced with 'To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for one decade the revocable, monopoly privilege to their respective Writings and Discoveries'."
I don't think I'd have much trouble rallying the support of the Pirate Party, downloaders, and other disgruntled costumers who just had their copy of ____ erased from their TVs or Game Consoles.
Well ou say you can't sell the software, but if you still have original discs you must certainly CAN sell it. For example I still have my MS Office 97 laying in my drawer and could sell it on ebay if I wished. Ditto my ancient copy of Windows 3.1
.
>>>at some point soon Microsoft decides to remote-kill an OS in the future if you don't update it to a new version
That would royally piss off a lot of customers. Perhaps even enough that the CEO would need to hire protection from pissed-off people with guns.
>>>PC Game Digital Downloads Dramatically Outpace Retail Sales
Looks like the PS3, X360, and Wii will be the last game consoles I ever own. I'm not going to buy any future consoles that are disc-free and force me to RENT rather own my software (and which also means I can't sell the game Used when I'm sick of it).
>>>-with me just renting it.
Pretty much.
But before we jump on that bandwagon, let's not forget practical limitations. A Bluray holds 50 gigabytes of data. Downloading that over my 750k DSL connection would take 7 days, and there are a lot of people who don't have even that speed (still suck on dialup). Plus once I've downloaded the file I'll want to store it somewhere permanent, like a Bluray-R so why not just save some time, go to the store, and get the Bluray already conveniently pressed on disc for me?
Bottom Line - Blurays are not disappearing yet. People like the convenience and instant gratification.
Also Steve Jobs has a bad habit of burying technology while it's still alive & breathing in the coffin. He famously stopped putting floppies in Macs (1999), when people still needed floppies to trade work files, or to access older archived software, or to revive dead systems, thereby forcing Mac users to spend extra for an external drive. NOW it looks like he's doing the same with DVDs and Blurays - declaring them as "not needed" when they still ARE needed.