Well, I don't think it matters at all anymore if RDRAM "makes it", is superior, or not. Since they got this bullshit patent going on SDRAM, they're still going to make buttloads of cash.
If you don't believe it - go look at RMBS's performance over the last 6 months. I sure wish I was morally soiled enough to have bought 1000 shares of that in March. ..
It *would* be cool if Superman fought Batman. VERY cool. Too bad Christopher Reeves is paralyzed. Although, I have no idea who would make a good Batman. Obviously, the people who are making the Batman movies don't either.
Ah, the old Frank Miller's Dark Knight series. . . didn't they redo some of that in Batman Beyond?
It would have made a great series - had they gone say, two seasons before Deckard found out the truth himself. . . then maybe another season, before he got retired himself. Then it could end, and we could all be happy, and nobody would have to bitch about the series going down the toilet because the writers were getting tired and scraping the bottom of the barrel, like so so many other sci fi series (*cough* star trek).
soon, MP3.com finds that if they weigh the collaborative results (ie. stack the deck) to favor certain bands, perhaps certain bands that gave them blowjobs or drugs, perhaps certain bands that signed favorable contracts, etc. - then the consumers don't spend as much time wading through the crap, weeding it out, and spend more time listening and buying the first thing that pops up.
In other words, the same mechanism that is at work in the record companies, will come to play in the "new econcomy" record companies like MP3.com. Just because they have a web server, doesn't mean they aren't greedy fucking bastards.
While collaborative filtering is a nice idea, I can't see it working for this very reason. That's why I think we can remove the conflict-of-interest, and make either the collaborative filtering a separate site, not financially connected to the provider, or use music reviewers, from the press - with a system ensuring no conflict of interest - like www.rottentomatoes.com - post the review, the reviewer's name, the publication they work for, and the parent company of the publication, and the parent company of the company that produced the music. That will eliminate any credibility problems.
I think that a well-established network of independent music reviewers could go a long way towards filtering the crap. (ie. www.rottentomatos.com) We don't need the conflict of interest that the RIAA companies pose in terms of who controls what is or isn't heard, and who gets blowjobs, or who is related to whom.
Studio time is really expensive because the economy is artificially inflated. Of course they're going to charge a lot more than they would be worth if the record label is fronting the money. It's the same reason medical care is so expensive. Insurance foots the bill, so normal market forces cannot work to keep prices down.
It's closer to the technical equivalent of a roadside billboard transmitting a command to your car's control system to immediately stop, so you can read the entire ad before whizzing by at 60mph.
no, it is not technically infeasible. The only feasible way, however, is to eliminate all CD players, and replace them with closed, proprietary players that are the only things that can play the "new" CD format. Distribute under whatever draconian terms you like, all music on the "new" CD format only. The player has no speakers, nor does it have any audio "out" signal. It has a telepathic interface which beams the signal directly into your mind, your consciousness. Ensure with this telepathic technology that the consciousness that the music is being beamed into is, in fact, the consciousness that paid for the music, and is licensed to "experience" it. Then, as the music is "played", prevent the mind from remembering the experience, by forcing the neural pathways to memory to not "learn".
Thus, we have a "perfect" pay-per-view technology that nobody can circumvent by any means.
shit, I'd totally be willing to pay say a nickel a track for my 20+ gig collection, if two conditions could be met: the screwed up tracks I have, poor recording, etc. can be fixed, I can download new clean tracks to replace them, and if I can also get ahold of tracks that are "missing" (albums where some idiot only ripped the songs that got airtime, not the others), or also get ahold of albums that are currently out of print, or just not stocked at most record stores.
I am not willing to pay what the record companies would otherwise ask for - about $3-$5 per track. Without physical media? without liner notes etc.? without "collectability" features that a material CD would have?
Something is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. I'm not willing to pay what they're asking. I don't see why they have a problem with increasing their sales 100-fold, and reducing their prices similarly, While almost eliminating costs of manufacture and distribution entirely? What is the big deal? Why are they so stupid?
okay, that's cool, but a couple of very important questions:
Are TMBG doing ANYTHING to prevent piracy of the music they sell? Can TMBG show any data that moving to MP3s has helped their bottom line? (which is what the music industry - musicians AND record companies ought to be interested in).
Obviously, record companies are necessary just because of the need for a promotion network. If their model switches over to internet sales eventually, that's cool, they'll have stiffer competition from just about anybody with a recording studio and web server. (no massive CD presses or record-store/radio-station networks necessary). But in order to convince musicians to move to this model - it has to be more viable for them than the present model. Clearly, a band like TMBG with limited appeal (okay, *I* think they're great, and *you* think they're great, but they don't have mass-appeal like n*sync), will not suffer from piracy as much, in an unrestrained technological model like selling MP3s. They could probably sell MP3's at 1 buck a pop and get away with it. People would pirate, but it wouldn't affect their profits much, most people who are interested in TMBG would pay. But for bands like n*sync with a much wider appeal (not necessarily better), will be forced to sell at like a nickel a pop, because otherwise, people will pirate the shit out of them - they'll have a much lower compliance ratio, but a much higher total volume, still make the same money probably.
But this has to be better than (make them more or the same money as) a controlled distribution technology (SMDI, or CD's) - or it won't be adopted. And MP3's will never gain legitimate status.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
Re:Calif. must love this. More $$$ from smog check
on
Gas-Powered Shoes?
·
· Score: 1
Hey, my new fuckin lawn mower (CA), has a SEALED engine. I cannot take it apart and fix it myself. Only the certified Sears guys are allowed (by law) to service it, lest the enduser (me) misadjusts the engine or rigs it for better performance/worse emissions.
They're serious about this stuff.
Maybe I'll just buy a goat, because the engine has started to misbehave, it runs fast-slow-fast-slow for no reason, and to get Sears to look at it? $50 just to crack the case, more if there's work that needs to be done. Bottom line, if you need any serious work on your lawnmower, you're better off buying a new one. What happens to the old one? Landfill.
um- don't y'all remember "Jam Echelon Day"? And the news articles that followed where the NSA spokesman joked about it saying that the extra traffic won't cause them any problem, because the technologies for filtering a much more advanced now?
yes, DirectX's main purpose in life is the same as MFC and VisualBasic (and C#): Discourage cross-platform development - or rather, define "cross-platform" to mean, "All Windows platforms". Call it cross-platform, using that definition, ignoring other platforms, which are competitors, captivate your developers by dangling the "easier-faster-lowcost development" carrot, and harness them up to the wagon.
Good hardware isn't the strategy. Buying out all the good game companies and making them produce XBox-only titles is. This is Microsoft's standard MO, has been for 15 years. Where have you been?
One thing that nobody's mentioned yet is how the Bungie purchase fits into this whole mess.
My (conspiracy) theory is that it's all more promotion of DirectX. And why not? API's have been a successful strategy for MS so far, and API's were not really addressed during the trial.
My guess is that these particular renderings are meant to either fish out a leak within Apple, or to make the rumors sites look stupid. It's happened before.
Steve Jobs is VERY anti-rumor site. (that's just a rumor).
Slashdot Mirror
Well, I don't think it matters at all anymore if RDRAM "makes it", is superior, or not. Since they got this bullshit patent going on SDRAM, they're still going to make buttloads of cash.
.
If you don't believe it - go look at RMBS's performance over the last 6 months. I sure wish I was morally soiled enough to have bought 1000 shares of that in March. .
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
It *would* be cool if Superman fought Batman. VERY cool. Too bad Christopher Reeves is paralyzed. Although, I have no idea who would make a good Batman. Obviously, the people who are making the Batman movies don't either.
Ah, the old Frank Miller's Dark Knight series. . . didn't they redo some of that in Batman Beyond?
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
It would have made a great series - had they gone say, two seasons before Deckard found out the truth himself. . . then maybe another season, before he got retired himself. Then it could end, and we could all be happy, and nobody would have to bitch about the series going down the toilet because the writers were getting tired and scraping the bottom of the barrel, like so so many other sci fi series (*cough* star trek).
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
Well, it was just a coincidence that he just happened to naturally expire at the same time he was immersed in cold water. His time was just up.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
go buy an Apex 600a, because it's got the "secret menu", it makes you feel better that you can screw "them" by owning this hardware.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
Well, what happened to Mars, in the end, was completely absurd, totally beyond the realm of possibility, so of course it was a dream.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
I don't think it qualifies as a spoiler if the movie is over 10 years old.
Loser.
Get out there and buy the DVD now! (Which is obviously why this info was leaked. . . sales must be lagging)
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
soon, MP3.com finds that if they weigh the collaborative results (ie. stack the deck) to favor certain bands, perhaps certain bands that gave them blowjobs or drugs, perhaps certain bands that signed favorable contracts, etc. - then the consumers don't spend as much time wading through the crap, weeding it out, and spend more time listening and buying the first thing that pops up.
In other words, the same mechanism that is at work in the record companies, will come to play in the "new econcomy" record companies like MP3.com. Just because they have a web server, doesn't mean they aren't greedy fucking bastards.
While collaborative filtering is a nice idea, I can't see it working for this very reason. That's why I think we can remove the conflict-of-interest, and make either the collaborative filtering a separate site, not financially connected to the provider, or use music reviewers, from the press - with a system ensuring no conflict of interest - like www.rottentomatoes.com - post the review, the reviewer's name, the publication they work for, and the parent company of the publication, and the parent company of the company that produced the music. That will eliminate any credibility problems.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
I think that a well-established network of independent music reviewers could go a long way towards filtering the crap. (ie. www.rottentomatos.com) We don't need the conflict of interest that the RIAA companies pose in terms of who controls what is or isn't heard, and who gets blowjobs, or who is related to whom.
Studio time is really expensive because the economy is artificially inflated. Of course they're going to charge a lot more than they would be worth if the record label is fronting the money. It's the same reason medical care is so expensive. Insurance foots the bill, so normal market forces cannot work to keep prices down.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
not to mention, the buttons on the Palm do not make for an enjoyable gaming experience.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
It's closer to the technical equivalent of a roadside billboard transmitting a command to your car's control system to immediately stop, so you can read the entire ad before whizzing by at 60mph.
Definately rude.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
no, it is not technically infeasible. The only feasible way, however, is to eliminate all CD players, and replace them with closed, proprietary players that are the only things that can play the "new" CD format. Distribute under whatever draconian terms you like, all music on the "new" CD format only. The player has no speakers, nor does it have any audio "out" signal. It has a telepathic interface which beams the signal directly into your mind, your consciousness. Ensure with this telepathic technology that the consciousness that the music is being beamed into is, in fact, the consciousness that paid for the music, and is licensed to "experience" it. Then, as the music is "played", prevent the mind from remembering the experience, by forcing the neural pathways to memory to not "learn".
Thus, we have a "perfect" pay-per-view technology that nobody can circumvent by any means.
Guess what? Nobody will buy it, either.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
shit, I'd totally be willing to pay say a nickel a track for my 20+ gig collection, if two conditions could be met: the screwed up tracks I have, poor recording, etc. can be fixed, I can download new clean tracks to replace them, and if I can also get ahold of tracks that are "missing" (albums where some idiot only ripped the songs that got airtime, not the others), or also get ahold of albums that are currently out of print, or just not stocked at most record stores.
I am not willing to pay what the record companies would otherwise ask for - about $3-$5 per track. Without physical media? without liner notes etc.? without "collectability" features that a material CD would have?
Something is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it. I'm not willing to pay what they're asking. I don't see why they have a problem with increasing their sales 100-fold, and reducing their prices similarly, While almost eliminating costs of manufacture and distribution entirely? What is the big deal? Why are they so stupid?
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
okay, that's cool, but a couple of very important questions:
Are TMBG doing ANYTHING to prevent piracy of the music they sell?
Can TMBG show any data that moving to MP3s has helped their bottom line? (which is what the music industry - musicians AND record companies ought to be interested in).
Obviously, record companies are necessary just because of the need for a promotion network. If their model switches over to internet sales eventually, that's cool, they'll have stiffer competition from just about anybody with a recording studio and web server. (no massive CD presses or record-store/radio-station networks necessary). But in order to convince musicians to move to this model - it has to be more viable for them than the present model. Clearly, a band like TMBG with limited appeal (okay, *I* think they're great, and *you* think they're great, but they don't have mass-appeal like n*sync), will not suffer from piracy as much, in an unrestrained technological model like selling MP3s. They could probably sell MP3's at 1 buck a pop and get away with it. People would pirate, but it wouldn't affect their profits much, most people who are interested in TMBG would pay. But for bands like n*sync with a much wider appeal (not necessarily better), will be forced to sell at like a nickel a pop, because otherwise, people will pirate the shit out of them - they'll have a much lower compliance ratio, but a much higher total volume, still make the same money probably.
But this has to be better than (make them more or the same money as) a controlled distribution technology (SMDI, or CD's) - or it won't be adopted. And MP3's will never gain legitimate status.
if it ain't broke, then fix it 'till it is!
Hey, my new fuckin lawn mower (CA), has a SEALED engine. I cannot take it apart and fix it myself. Only the certified Sears guys are allowed (by law) to service it, lest the enduser (me) misadjusts the engine or rigs it for better performance/worse emissions.
They're serious about this stuff.
Maybe I'll just buy a goat, because the engine has started to misbehave, it runs fast-slow-fast-slow for no reason, and to get Sears to look at it? $50 just to crack the case, more if there's work that needs to be done. Bottom line, if you need any serious work on your lawnmower, you're better off buying a new one. What happens to the old one? Landfill.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
um- don't y'all remember "Jam Echelon Day"? And the news articles that followed where the NSA spokesman joked about it saying that the extra traffic won't cause them any problem, because the technologies for filtering a much more advanced now?
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
Hey, the French made Godzilla, and he ended up trashing New York city, right?
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
And then there's the Russian space-shuttle "Buran".
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
yes, DirectX's main purpose in life is the same as MFC and VisualBasic (and C#): Discourage cross-platform development - or rather, define "cross-platform" to mean, "All Windows platforms". Call it cross-platform, using that definition, ignoring other platforms, which are competitors, captivate your developers by dangling the "easier-faster-lowcost development" carrot, and harness them up to the wagon.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
Good hardware isn't the strategy. Buying out all the good game companies and making them produce XBox-only titles is. This is Microsoft's standard MO, has been for 15 years. Where have you been?
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
One thing that nobody's mentioned yet is how the Bungie purchase fits into this whole mess.
My (conspiracy) theory is that it's all more promotion of DirectX. And why not? API's have been a successful strategy for MS so far, and API's were not really addressed during the trial.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
not to mention that batteries tend to run out up against project deadlines. Considering how dependent MacOS is on a mouse, this is not a good idea.
This was also why Wacom, with their cordless, batteryless pens pretty much dominate the tablet market, despite a hefty price difference.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
the clicking, the clicking. . .
STOP THAT DAMN CLICKING!!! IT'S DRIVING ME INSANE!
(all code and no Quake makes Jack a dull boy)
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
My guess is that these particular renderings are meant to either fish out a leak within Apple, or to make the rumors sites look stupid. It's happened before.
Steve Jobs is VERY anti-rumor site. (that's just a rumor).
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!
I like those as well, but don't y'all think it's about time that we give such universal functions such as these their own keys?
In fact, we could probably get rid of the never-used SysRq, ScrLk, and NumLock keys for this.
If it ain't broke, fix it 'til it is!