Another good argument FOR seatbelt laws, there was a study (sorry no URL, trust me, I'm not making this up), that found that a driver was more likely to lose control in a spinout if their seatbelt was not fastened, because they would slide out of their seat, and away from the controls. A large percentage of spinouts, or near spinouts could be recovered from if the drivers had their belts fastend.
I think there's a reason professional drivers and racers have seatbelts - and those reasons often apply to civillians as well.
"It is only illegal to copy CD's that you do not own. However, this has been going on for a long time and never hurt CD sales. It is only because there is an easy target that the RIAA is even doing anything about it. "
This is not true. Yes, Napster is an easy target at first glance, but Napster isn't the culprit here. They've taken the list of 300k users and booted them for violations. Napster is in perfect compliance. It's the 300k pirates that are the target, and they aren't so easy.
The RIAA knows this, and that's why THEY haven't gone after the 300k users. Metallica did. The RIAA is not involved (unless Lars is Lying). The only reason this is an issue is just what Lars said. The scale of it now - a few thousand tapes before, compared to millions and millions at the click of a mouse. And it's not about the money, it's about the control.
There are two obvious options. Either the RIAA adopts a more liberal stance (give up control, sell music for 25 cents a song, also sell CDs as limited run sets, as collecters items, they will still command a healthy demand). OR make CDs obsolte, no longer produce CDs at all, make everyone buy new hardware to play a new medium that can be controlled, and watch the hackers bust it wide open within a week, and still be unable to staunch the piracy.
It's true. That train left the station back in 1980 (82?) when the industry decided to go to CD's. The digital format is what makes the music easy to copy limitlessly. The personal computer, the internet, the MP3 format, are all technologies that assist, but really none were necessary once we had CD's. This has been coming for a LONG time. When internet bandwidth gets large enough, people will not trade music MP3's they'll be trading entire CD's in native format.
Charging 25 cents or 50 cents a song download will prevent piracy, generate the required publicity, and allow a broader range of consumers to legally consume. I don't think it will hurt anyone's bottom line one bit, and I still think there will be a vigorous demand for CDs - audiophile quality recordings with collateral materials:
My big thing is, there's WAY too much crap out there for me to even keep track of what music I like. I could buy all the CD's of all the bands I like, it would probably run in the thousands of dollars, but logistically, finding most of those CD,'s, figuring out which ones were ones I like and don't like, would be an impossibility. Being able to download MP3 tracks of everything for a few bucks more would make the task much easier for me, and believe me, would not compel me to not purchase a single CD of music I like. All it would do would be to prevent me from buying CD's I don't like. As it stands now, I was ready to go drop a few hundred bucks last month (stock options ROCK) on CDs of bands I liked in the 80's, most of which I have on Vinyl. I sat down and made a list, and couldn't find most of them at the record store. I ended up buying a Kid Rock CD, because I liked that Bawidibaw song. Every other song on that fucking CD was a peice of shit. So I decided not to buy any more CDs for the time being. Buying a $20 peice of shit is keeping me from spending probably hundreds of dollars on filling out the gaps in my music collection with other CDs. I have since amassed a large collection of MP3s, so I can better tell which ones I like.
RIAA - it is your business model that is screwed up, and in need of adjustment.
it is really gut-wrenching to read Lars espouse his business philosophy which is diametrically opposed to the philosophy espoused in his "art". Their songs raised a generation. There lyrics worked their way into the mindset of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of teenagers, who are now young adults.
But Lars says he wants to keep the business side distinct and separate from the creative side. You can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.
Big city hassles without all the big city culture. yeah, the weather's nice, but not in the Summer.
Do you enjoy fire-ants? Termites? Do you enjoy alligators? Do you enjoy very large cockroaches that hit you up for protection money?
Now, in Orlando, you don't have nearly the redneck problem you'd have in Hotlanta. And again, you have a huge gap in property values. Housing is VERY expensive in areas where there are decent schools (for your kids. remember them?), and not only are the houses expensive, but you end up more often than not with high association fees for maintenance for the golf course you live on. If you're into that sort of thing. If you're not, too bad. And in the areas where housing is affordable, not only do the schools suck, but you're facing rather high-crime, so buying a cheap house and sending your kids to private school isn't a great plan either. Plus, all the cultural richness that is Disney and disney's parasitic competitors (Universal Studios, etc.).
Wow. What happened? When I moved to CA two years ago from Chicago, gas was $.20 higher in CA (avg), now I just filled up fo an outrageous $1.79 in CA, and Chicago is $.10 higher?
I'm telling you, housing is more expensive, income taxes are higher, but CA is WAY better than Chicago. (I'm liking the weather - the only thing I miss are occasional thunderstorms).
3000 sq. ft. house for $450k (not BAD, still pretty steep). California climate, Ten minutes to the ocean, twenty to halfway decent rock climbing or mountain biking. Fifteen minute drive to work through vineyards and horse pastures, almost no traffic, high-tech job @~$70k-ish (plus substantial, very substantial stock options).
Yes, nowhere NEAR a big city. No, I don't really miss the big-city culture. No, you are NOT welcome to move here.
yeah, and you can ride your bike like what, 2 months out of the year in Chicago? (I'm talking June and September - the rest of the year it's either too hot or too cold or too rainy).
Now, I'm not talking recreational riding. Sure, get on your slicks, and hop some mud in the rain. But try biking to work in a suit and tie in August when it's 100 degrees, 99% humidity -it's just not a realistic option for most people. Maybe you don't have to wear a tie to your Baskin-Robbins job, (I don't to my computer job), but a lot of people, most people, still do.
You make one excellent point. I've lived in a few different neighborhoods at a few different income levels, and this isn't a "hang-the-rich" argument here, but it seems like the higher the average income, the LESS FRIENDLY the people are. In my old neighborhood, people were actual jerks, they wouldn't invite us over for parties, they wouldn't come to our parties. Moved to a more up-and-coming pre-boom-ish neighborhood, where housing prices still had a ways to go, and man, we've had parties every other week where everybody comes. Stuck-up jerks in the expensive neighborhood. I could have bought any one of their houses for cash, and they were still jerks.
Heh, and SV, everytime I'm up there, it's all anyone talks about, is how expensive the housing is, and how miserable the commutes are, and how it's impossible to find and retain good employees. When are these companies going to move out? Silly goofs.
I agree, I also moved from Chicago to California, and the housing costs, well, you get used to them. The food isn't that bad, cost-wise. But the Gasoline is fucking absurd, and this is due to stupidly crafted (but well-meaning) environmental laws, that restricts where California can import Gasoline from. Gas dealers tend to take advantage of slightly moderate rises in price as oil fluctuates, and spike the prices mercilessly.
Also, cable is out of hand, but then again, that's the same all over.
Sounds all "conspiracy theory"-ish, I know, but if you've ever been to Phoenix, and driven around, and look at the subdivisions, the traffic hassles, the way everything's laid out, you'll see exactly what he's talking about.
The same exact situation dominates Orlando FL, and the Chicago IL (at least the western suburbs).
DCOM is a big piece of poo. If that's an example of a successful software product out of Microsoft, propping up this XBOX (which will have abso-fuckin-lootly nothing at all to do with DCOM), then they'll have to sell every XBOX with a fire-extinguisher because this thing is going to get totally burned.
The thing I don't understand is, why-oh-why do they insist on using like, the highest-cost RAM available for this application, when there's plenty of 4-meg simms out there from old machines and memory upgrades that are not being used. Why can't someone create a drive like this that just has arrays of empty simm slots, so we can get this currently worthless commodity, and put it to good use?
I was ruined by BASIC when I was 13, with a TRS-80, no less. Yeah, I learned a little z-80 assembler too. And look at me now, 20 years later, I'm a tech support guy, I'm crippled, I can't learn C!!!
My 12 year old son is using MSWLogo in his school. He's in for a suprise when he comes to visit this summer, I'm giving him a PC and a copy of Caldera Linux. And a copy of The C Programming Language.
Like I said before, it's all about mindshare, market bandwidth.
Lars DOES have a point, Metallica IS in a special position, because they have LOTS of mindshare, mindshare that was very expensively bought by the record companies.
Where he is wrong though, is to say that record companies will always be necessary to generate this mindshare. Perhaps Napster, as it currenlty stands, isn't the best model to generate this kind of thing. But the thing is, people have come to accept this lemming attitude that the major music labels are THE authority on what is good music, and what is not. Sometimes, they hit on good talent, and it gets out. Most of the time, they do not, but it is still sold and hyped and cast upon the masses, and sorry to sound like an elitist here, but the masses buy it, and the record labels make money, and these one-hit-wonders retire, or they go on to capitalize further on their fame. It's largely this fame that keeps them going. Rarely is it excellent talent. When it is, Then, I'd say the system is working, the system is functional.
What I believe that most of us here, on/. agree on, is the philisophical opposition to the fact that talentless fucks can go out, blow a record executive, get signed, and posess this great mindshare for years, or even decades, when great talented bands are swept aside by what is essentially fasion. The mere fact that the record companies make such obscene profits is really beside the point. It's much easier to argue the ethical drawbacks to that issue, but it's not really the point. This is why you hear these intangible arguments like, how bad backstreet boyz are, or brittney spears is.
I think what we're looking for is a mechanism to circumvent the record industry's dictatorship, and a lot of us are taken with technology as the cure-all solution to this problem, because we see it solving so many other things right now.
It's true that in this perfect dream world, that a lot of crap unsigned bands will exist, and will in-effect, drown out the signal of good talent. The fallacy is that we need some kind of authority to "tune-in" the consumer to what is good and what is bad. The fact is, I believe that the strong collaborative power that the internet lends us all, can be harnessed to focus the signal that the few good talented musicians out there represents. I believe strongly that probably, some successor to Napster will be that tool - but it probably will be in conjunction with tools in other media, like TV, print, and radio, which have traditionally been the best promotional tools. They've been the defining and leading tools. I think they need to be tools that follow from what goes on the internet. The internet is where music fans will discuss, SAMPLE, read about, new music, whether it's from crap bands, or good bands, but they'll all be UNSIGNED bands. Perhaps there will be agencies that will promote the bands on the internet, radio, print, and TV, but no longer will those agencies have a monopoly on what is heard and what is not. The reason I use SAMPLE above, in all caps, is because that is the main missing element today. We can't sample the music easily or conveniently. This was the essential component Lars was talking about, the free sample, well, he's afraid that the free sample is a perfect first-generation recording. FACT: it is not. Not even at the highest bitrate is MP3 equivalent to even a CD, which also is not equivalent to a first-generation recording. Where do they want to draw the line? Obviously, what they want is some kind of technology that gives them control of distribution, (like SMDI). At the same time SMDI will let bands who want no control to free it. What they don't want is something that increases supply infinately (which is what MP3 does) because that theoretically drives down demand to 0. Demand for what? for a digital copy of a recording? Profits are made from selling the CD, and from concerts. This is the argument we've made all along. Drive demand for the digital recording down to 0 where it belongs, and you do not devalue the true art, the live performance, and collateral materials (CD, liner notes, cover art, lyrics sheets, etc.) Control the sample with something like SMDI, and the potential is that you could be paying $20 for a single you could listen to one time only. THat's what that kind of control can give you.
It's the capability to eliminate scarcity by the free copying of data, that pops intellectual property like a recording right out of the market equation. It's no longer a commodity, it's a promotional tool. Which is what it should be. It's what videos originally were, promotional tools, not actual products. Tell me Lars, are your videos currently profit centers, or losses? That should illustrate the point.
Slashdot Mirror
Another good argument FOR seatbelt laws, there was a study (sorry no URL, trust me, I'm not making this up), that found that a driver was more likely to lose control in a spinout if their seatbelt was not fastened, because they would slide out of their seat, and away from the controls. A large percentage of spinouts, or near spinouts could be recovered from if the drivers had their belts fastend.
I think there's a reason professional drivers and racers have seatbelts - and those reasons often apply to civillians as well.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
then there's the unobvious option, which is the road the RIAA seems to be going down:
Alter current law, which leaves Napster not liable for the piracy, and eliminate anonymity on the net, so those 300k pirates CAN be attacked.
Get that? Alter current law. Who do you think runs this country now?
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
"It is only illegal to copy CD's that you do not own. However, this has been going on for a long
time and never hurt CD sales. It is only because there is an easy target that the RIAA is even
doing anything about it. "
This is not true. Yes, Napster is an easy target at first glance, but Napster isn't the culprit here. They've taken the list of 300k users and booted them for violations. Napster is in perfect compliance. It's the 300k pirates that are the target, and they aren't so easy.
The RIAA knows this, and that's why THEY haven't gone after the 300k users. Metallica did. The RIAA is not involved (unless Lars is Lying). The only reason this is an issue is just what Lars said. The scale of it now - a few thousand tapes before, compared to millions and millions at the click of a mouse. And it's not about the money, it's about the control.
There are two obvious options. Either the RIAA adopts a more liberal stance (give up control, sell music for 25 cents a song, also sell CDs as limited run sets, as collecters items, they will still command a healthy demand). OR make CDs obsolte, no longer produce CDs at all, make everyone buy new hardware to play a new medium that can be controlled, and watch the hackers bust it wide open within a week, and still be unable to staunch the piracy.
Quite a quandry.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
It's true. That train left the station back in 1980 (82?) when the industry decided to go to CD's. The digital format is what makes the music easy to copy limitlessly. The personal computer, the internet, the MP3 format, are all technologies that assist, but really none were necessary once we had CD's. This has been coming for a LONG time. When internet bandwidth gets large enough, people will not trade music MP3's they'll be trading entire CD's in native format.
Charging 25 cents or 50 cents a song download will prevent piracy, generate the required publicity, and allow a broader range of consumers to legally consume. I don't think it will hurt anyone's bottom line one bit, and I still think there will be a vigorous demand for CDs - audiophile quality recordings with collateral materials:
My big thing is, there's WAY too much crap out there for me to even keep track of what music I like. I could buy all the CD's of all the bands I like, it would probably run in the thousands of dollars, but logistically, finding most of those CD,'s, figuring out which ones were ones I like and don't like, would be an impossibility. Being able to download MP3 tracks of everything for a few bucks more would make the task much easier for me, and believe me, would not compel me to not purchase a single CD of music I like. All it would do would be to prevent me from buying CD's I don't like. As it stands now, I was ready to go drop a few hundred bucks last month (stock options ROCK) on CDs of bands I liked in the 80's, most of which I have on Vinyl. I sat down and made a list, and couldn't find most of them at the record store. I ended up buying a Kid Rock CD, because I liked that Bawidibaw song. Every other song on that fucking CD was a peice of shit. So I decided not to buy any more CDs for the time being. Buying a $20 peice of shit is keeping me from spending probably hundreds of dollars on filling out the gaps in my music collection with other CDs. I have since amassed a large collection of MP3s, so I can better tell which ones I like.
RIAA - it is your business model that is screwed up, and in need of adjustment.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
it is really gut-wrenching to read Lars espouse his business philosophy which is diametrically opposed to the philosophy espoused in his "art". Their songs raised a generation. There lyrics worked their way into the mindset of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of teenagers, who are now young adults.
But Lars says he wants to keep the business side distinct and separate from the creative side.
You can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Homer Simpson, on Florida:
"but, that's America's wang!"
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Orlando:
Big city hassles without all the big city culture.
yeah, the weather's nice, but not in the Summer.
Do you enjoy fire-ants?
Termites?
Do you enjoy alligators?
Do you enjoy very large cockroaches that hit you up for protection money?
Now, in Orlando, you don't have nearly the redneck problem you'd have in Hotlanta. And again, you have a huge gap in property values. Housing is VERY expensive in areas where there are decent schools (for your kids. remember them?), and not only are the houses expensive, but you end up more often than not with high association fees for maintenance for the golf course you live on. If you're into that sort of thing. If you're not, too bad. And in the areas where housing is affordable, not only do the schools suck, but you're facing rather high-crime, so buying a cheap house and sending your kids to private school isn't a great plan either.
Plus, all the cultural richness that is Disney and disney's parasitic competitors (Universal Studios, etc.).
No thank you.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Wow. What happened? When I moved to CA two years ago from Chicago, gas was $.20 higher in CA (avg), now I just filled up fo an outrageous $1.79 in CA, and Chicago is $.10 higher?
I'm telling you, housing is more expensive, income taxes are higher, but CA is WAY better than Chicago. (I'm liking the weather - the only thing I miss are occasional thunderstorms).
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Well, I'm not telling you where I live.
3000 sq. ft. house for $450k (not BAD, still pretty steep). California climate, Ten minutes to the ocean, twenty to halfway decent rock climbing or mountain biking. Fifteen minute drive to work through vineyards and horse pastures, almost no traffic, high-tech job @~$70k-ish (plus substantial, very substantial stock options).
Yes, nowhere NEAR a big city. No, I don't really miss the big-city culture. No, you are NOT welcome to move here.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
yeah, and you can ride your bike like what, 2 months out of the year in Chicago? (I'm talking June and September - the rest of the year it's either too hot or too cold or too rainy).
Now, I'm not talking recreational riding. Sure, get on your slicks, and hop some mud in the rain. But try biking to work in a suit and tie in August when it's 100 degrees, 99% humidity -it's just not a realistic option for most people. Maybe you don't have to wear a tie to your Baskin-Robbins job, (I don't to my computer job), but a lot of people, most people, still do.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
You make one excellent point. I've lived in a few different neighborhoods at a few different income levels, and this isn't a "hang-the-rich" argument here, but it seems like the higher the average income, the LESS FRIENDLY the people are. In my old neighborhood, people were actual jerks, they wouldn't invite us over for parties, they wouldn't come to our parties. Moved to a more up-and-coming pre-boom-ish neighborhood, where housing prices still had a ways to go, and man, we've had parties every other week where everybody comes. Stuck-up jerks in the expensive neighborhood. I could have bought any one of their houses for cash, and they were still jerks.
Heh, and SV, everytime I'm up there, it's all anyone talks about, is how expensive the housing is, and how miserable the commutes are, and how it's impossible to find and retain good employees. When are these companies going to move out? Silly goofs.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
I agree, I also moved from Chicago to California, and the housing costs, well, you get used to them. The food isn't that bad, cost-wise. But the Gasoline is fucking absurd, and this is due to stupidly crafted (but well-meaning) environmental laws, that restricts where California can import Gasoline from. Gas dealers tend to take advantage of slightly moderate rises in price as oil fluctuates, and spike the prices mercilessly.
Also, cable is out of hand, but then again, that's the same all over.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Sounds all "conspiracy theory"-ish, I know, but if you've ever been to Phoenix, and driven around, and look at the subdivisions, the traffic hassles, the way everything's laid out, you'll see exactly what he's talking about.
The same exact situation dominates Orlando FL, and the Chicago IL (at least the western suburbs).
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
why would I want to get rid of my calculator, alarm clock, and television?
Because a PC can do any of those jobs better.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
"Truth, Justice, and the American Way" was written by a comic book writer.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
duplex is talking out his ass again, I see.
DCOM is a big piece of poo. If that's an example of a successful software product out of Microsoft, propping up this XBOX (which will have abso-fuckin-lootly nothing at all to do with DCOM), then they'll have to sell every XBOX with a fire-extinguisher because this thing is going to get totally burned.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
i think there's a better reason you shouldn't be a PC consultant.
.
The fact that you don't know SHIT about PCs might be a good one. .
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Pavlov would be pleased.
good consumer. here's your treat.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
in an AT case.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
The thing I don't understand is, why-oh-why do they insist on using like, the highest-cost RAM available for this application, when there's plenty of 4-meg simms out there from old machines and memory upgrades that are not being used. Why can't someone create a drive like this that just has arrays of empty simm slots, so we can get this currently worthless commodity, and put it to good use?
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
English language, machine: people.
"Johnny, go tell your sister to clean up her room."
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
I was ruined by BASIC when I was 13, with a TRS-80, no less. Yeah, I learned a little z-80 assembler too. And look at me now, 20 years later, I'm a tech support guy, I'm crippled, I can't learn C!!!
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
My 12 year old son is using MSWLogo in his school. He's in for a suprise when he comes to visit this summer, I'm giving him a PC and a copy of Caldera Linux. And a copy of The C Programming Language.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Like I said before, it's all about mindshare, market bandwidth.
/. agree on, is the philisophical opposition to the fact that talentless fucks can go out, blow a record executive, get signed, and posess this great mindshare for years, or even decades, when great talented bands are swept aside by what is essentially fasion. The mere fact that the record companies make such obscene profits is really beside the point. It's much easier to argue the ethical drawbacks to that issue, but it's not really the point. This is why you hear these intangible arguments like, how bad backstreet boyz are, or brittney spears is.
Lars DOES have a point, Metallica IS in a special position, because they have LOTS of mindshare, mindshare that was very expensively bought by the record companies.
Where he is wrong though, is to say that record companies will always be necessary to generate this mindshare. Perhaps Napster, as it currenlty stands, isn't the best model to generate this kind of thing. But the thing is, people have come to accept this lemming attitude that the major music labels are THE authority on what is good music, and what is not. Sometimes, they hit on good talent, and it gets out. Most of the time, they do not, but it is still sold and hyped and cast upon the masses, and sorry to sound like an elitist here, but the masses buy it, and the record labels make money, and these one-hit-wonders retire, or they go on to capitalize further on their fame. It's largely this fame that keeps them going. Rarely is it excellent talent. When it is, Then, I'd say the system is working, the system is functional.
What I believe that most of us here, on
I think what we're looking for is a mechanism to circumvent the record industry's dictatorship, and a lot of us are taken with technology as the cure-all solution to this problem, because we see it solving so many other things right now.
It's true that in this perfect dream world, that a lot of crap unsigned bands will exist, and will in-effect, drown out the signal of good talent. The fallacy is that we need some kind of authority to "tune-in" the consumer to what is good and what is bad. The fact is, I believe that the strong collaborative power that the internet lends us all, can be harnessed to focus the signal that the few good talented musicians out there represents. I believe strongly that probably, some successor to Napster will be that tool - but it probably will be in conjunction with tools in other media, like TV, print, and radio, which have traditionally been the best promotional tools. They've been the defining and leading tools. I think they need to be tools that follow from what goes on the internet. The internet is where music fans will discuss, SAMPLE, read about, new music, whether it's from crap bands, or good bands, but they'll all be UNSIGNED bands. Perhaps there will be agencies that will promote the bands on the internet, radio, print, and TV, but no longer will those agencies have a monopoly on what is heard and what is not. The reason I use SAMPLE above, in all caps, is because that is the main missing element today. We can't sample the music easily or conveniently. This was the essential component Lars was talking about, the free sample, well, he's afraid that the free sample is a perfect first-generation recording. FACT: it is not. Not even at the highest bitrate is MP3 equivalent to even a CD, which also is not equivalent to a first-generation recording. Where do they want to draw the line? Obviously, what they want is some kind of technology that gives them control of distribution, (like SMDI). At the same time SMDI will let bands who want no control to free it. What they don't want is something that increases supply infinately (which is what MP3 does) because that theoretically drives down demand to 0. Demand for what? for a digital copy of a recording? Profits are made from selling the CD, and from concerts. This is the argument we've made all along. Drive demand for the digital recording down to 0 where it belongs, and you do not devalue the true art, the live performance, and collateral materials (CD, liner notes, cover art, lyrics sheets, etc.) Control the sample with something like SMDI, and the potential is that you could be paying $20 for a single you could listen to one time only. THat's what that kind of control can give you.
It's the capability to eliminate scarcity by the free copying of data, that pops intellectual property like a recording right out of the market equation. It's no longer a commodity, it's a promotional tool. Which is what it should be. It's what videos originally were, promotional tools, not actual products. Tell me Lars, are your videos currently profit centers, or losses? That should illustrate the point.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .
Wrong, I have a BIG problem with paying $10 for a movie.
Well, no problem if it's a good movie. But I haven't seen one in a long, long, time. That's why I sneak in.
I just remembered this old Metallica song. . .