This detour into bizarro land is brought to you by objectivism.
Honestly, what is it about DRM stories that brings out some of the most tortured analogies, twisted arguments and insane reasoning seen on/.? (And that's saying something, 'cause the rest of the/. stories bring out some pretty wild analogies, arguments and reasoning, too.)
That was God's response to Pharaoh's decree that all first-born Hebrews were to be executed. Shucks, you don't even have to read the Bible to know that - didn't you watch The Ten Commandments? You know...Passover? Moses told Ramses that the next plague would be of Pharaoh's own decree.
BTW, to stretch the analogy to the breaking point, there were exceptions to this decree as well, but somehow I don't think that the blood of lamb will do much for DRM.
The GP's post is pretty much nuts anyway - but this topic tends to bring them out of the woodwork.
Yes, but, don't 'flash drives' suffer from a more limited number of times you can read/write to them than a regular HD?
The typical number tossed around for NAND erase cycles is 100,000. You can read as often as you like, but to write data, you have to erase a block of data first, 132KB on the devices that I design with.
Of course, those are the data sheet numbers - that is what the manufacturer guarantees. Reality is usually quite a bit better. And it wouldn't surprise me if Samsung and others had some much higher performance flash memory in the pipeline.
At least if the P2P laws that's up in France goes through (flat rate per month to be allowed to use P2P legally for all material). So, suddenly all of France is one big loophole. This will be interesting, indeed.
It's pretty clear that GP meant that most users who chose to use emusic chose it because they use a non-DRM format. Choose != use. Best to read carefully before sticking your foot in your mouth.
Like I said, I'm not championing the idea of patenting a business model. I'm just pointing out the facts. If you think it's stupid, more power to you. But it doesn't change the facts.
That's why the morons that sell insurance make $20k or less per year plus commission...
Spoken like someone who has absolutely no idea of just how much of his first-year premium goes to commissions. And also has absolutely no idea of the power of residuals.
No, this is a version of selling something online - exactly the opposite.
You can put an ad on the Internet at name your price, or best offer. But that's not an auction. The claims of the patent are pretty specific and it looks to me like the company is applying the patent in that very specific manner. That's not to say that patenting a business model is right, but what they patented isn't "make an offer or buy it now". They patented a particular model of selling something online.
Incidentally, Priceline is more like what you've suggested, although backwards. You provide the "best offer" and if it's not accepted, they'll come back with a fixed price. You can "buy it now", but it's not an auction.
It's not the 50% mark of the company's pay scale, it's the mean of the pay range. Ideally, in a mature company, the mean of that scale ought to also be pretty close to the median. In my experience, the median is usually a little lower, but not as dramatically as you suggest, however, my experience is as an engineer, not as a programmer.
Without some supporting evidence, the rest of your excerpt can't really be evaluated - except that I can state with some authority that what you say is not entirely true. I earn more than the "competitive" average in my field simply because of supply and demand - there is not a plethora of experienced signal integrity engineers in my neck of the woods.
My company uses banding, although they, like most others, don't call it that. Some people are above the mean, a bit more are below it. Both performance and demand have a big bearing on salary and bonuses.
dude! what do you know,film school was crawling with babes... Too bad you went to DeVry... plus you gotta have something to do in the down time... what do you do..? Talk to your woman.... I bet you even care if she gets off... you know the joke about real men caring about their women getting off... I didn't think so. Post as yourself next time or don't you have any balls?
Dude, relax - Mr. Conrad's 4th period photography class doesn't count as "film school" and those cheerleaders don't even know that you exist.
So again, what does America produce that people in other countries might want to buy? I can't think of very many off the top of my head, other than Hollywood movies (which are frequently and easily copied, and also are subject to fickle consumer tastes), and maybe some raw materials, coal, and agriculture products (corn, etc.), which aren't exactly high-value goods the way manufactured goods are.
If you can't think of any, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. The US exported about a trillion dollars of goods last year, third behind the EU (which is a little tough to think of as a "country") and Germany (a member of the EU, thus counted twice). I'll leave it to you as a Google exercise to figure out what the content of those exports were, but I'll give you a freebie: Movies aren't near the top.
By the way, the GDP number is hardly crap - GDP is the only real measure of a country's economic output. It doesn't exist in a vacuum - but, again, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. Google is your friend and it will teach you a little bit about economics if you ask the right questions. But, again, a freebie for you: your assumptions in the third paragraph are a red herring.
Slashdot Mirror
This detour into bizarro land is brought to you by objectivism.
/.? (And that's saying something, 'cause the rest of the /. stories bring out some pretty wild analogies, arguments and reasoning, too.)
Honestly, what is it about DRM stories that brings out some of the most tortured analogies, twisted arguments and insane reasoning seen on
-h-
According to "The Bible" killing first born children was a law at one time too.
But not in the US.
Uhh...no.
That was God's response to Pharaoh's decree that all first-born Hebrews were to be executed. Shucks, you don't even have to read the Bible to know that - didn't you watch The Ten Commandments? You know...Passover? Moses told Ramses that the next plague would be of Pharaoh's own decree.
BTW, to stretch the analogy to the breaking point, there were exceptions to this decree as well, but somehow I don't think that the blood of lamb will do much for DRM.
The GP's post is pretty much nuts anyway - but this topic tends to bring them out of the woodwork.
-h-
Wow, this thread really brought out the nut cases!
Yes, but, don't 'flash drives' suffer from a more limited number of times you can read/write to them than a regular HD?
The typical number tossed around for NAND erase cycles is 100,000. You can read as often as you like, but to write data, you have to erase a block of data first, 132KB on the devices that I design with.
Of course, those are the data sheet numbers - that is what the manufacturer guarantees. Reality is usually quite a bit better. And it wouldn't surprise me if Samsung and others had some much higher performance flash memory in the pipeline.
-h-
Dude, this is /. - if you don't go with the groupthink, the group will think for you.
At least if the P2P laws that's up in France goes through (flat rate per month to be allowed to use P2P legally for all material). So, suddenly all of France is one big loophole. This will be interesting, indeed.
The bill was tabled - as the article pointed out.
Beside the fact that that was for World War II, the French can never repay us for foisting Gerard Depardieu on us. And fois gras, too. Nasty.
It's pretty clear that GP meant that most users who chose to use emusic chose it because they use a non-DRM format. Choose != use. Best to read carefully before sticking your foot in your mouth.
-h-
Like I said, I'm not championing the idea of patenting a business model. I'm just pointing out the facts. If you think it's stupid, more power to you. But it doesn't change the facts.
-h-
That's why the morons that sell insurance make $20k or less per year plus commission...
Spoken like someone who has absolutely no idea of just how much of his first-year premium goes to commissions. And also has absolutely no idea of the power of residuals.
-h-
Isn't selling anything online a version of this?
No, this is a version of selling something online - exactly the opposite.
You can put an ad on the Internet at name your price, or best offer. But that's not an auction. The claims of the patent are pretty specific and it looks to me like the company is applying the patent in that very specific manner. That's not to say that patenting a business model is right, but what they patented isn't "make an offer or buy it now". They patented a particular model of selling something online.
Incidentally, Priceline is more like what you've suggested, although backwards. You provide the "best offer" and if it's not accepted, they'll come back with a fixed price. You can "buy it now", but it's not an auction.
-h-
...but the amount of gay bashing and whatnot I see in barrens chats...
Almost anything would be a break from the endless "Chuck Norris" drivel...
-h-
I think it's a little disturbing that your fantasy world apparently means a place without any homosexuals.
Maybe it would be a little disturbing if your fantasy world meant a place without any homosexuals.
-h-
I don't think it's practical to give everyone a corner office, but everyone _could_ have a window.
whoosh!!!!
Considering his track record, HE should be put in a box.
Yeah, and buried so deep...oh...wait...
Maybe you should consider lining that tinfoil hat with lead - I think that the mind control rays are leaking through...
It's not the 50% mark of the company's pay scale, it's the mean of the pay range. Ideally, in a mature company, the mean of that scale ought to also be pretty close to the median. In my experience, the median is usually a little lower, but not as dramatically as you suggest, however, my experience is as an engineer, not as a programmer.
Without some supporting evidence, the rest of your excerpt can't really be evaluated - except that I can state with some authority that what you say is not entirely true. I earn more than the "competitive" average in my field simply because of supply and demand - there is not a plethora of experienced signal integrity engineers in my neck of the woods.
My company uses banding, although they, like most others, don't call it that. Some people are above the mean, a bit more are below it. Both performance and demand have a big bearing on salary and bonuses.
-h-
For a second there, I thought that Tom Wolfe was the latest convert to Open Source zealotry.
-h-
Why? Do his arguments not stand on their own? Or do we have to throw some "Ad Hominem" at him?
Grain of salt, baby...grain of salt.
dude!
what do you know,film school was crawling with babes... Too bad you went to DeVry... plus you gotta have something to do in the down time... what do you do..? Talk to your woman.... I bet you even care if she gets off... you know the joke about real men caring about their women getting off... I didn't think so. Post as yourself next time or don't you have any balls?
Dude, relax - Mr. Conrad's 4th period photography class doesn't count as "film school" and those cheerleaders don't even know that you exist.
-h-
Maybe he's French.
So again, what does America produce that people in other countries might want to buy? I can't think of very many off the top of my head, other than Hollywood movies (which are frequently and easily copied, and also are subject to fickle consumer tastes), and maybe some raw materials, coal, and agriculture products (corn, etc.), which aren't exactly high-value goods the way manufactured goods are.
If you can't think of any, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. The US exported about a trillion dollars of goods last year, third behind the EU (which is a little tough to think of as a "country") and Germany (a member of the EU, thus counted twice). I'll leave it to you as a Google exercise to figure out what the content of those exports were, but I'll give you a freebie: Movies aren't near the top.
By the way, the GDP number is hardly crap - GDP is the only real measure of a country's economic output. It doesn't exist in a vacuum - but, again, I'm not going to do your thinking for you. Google is your friend and it will teach you a little bit about economics if you ask the right questions. But, again, a freebie for you: your assumptions in the third paragraph are a red herring.
-h-
I guess that it should come as no surprise. /. is the epitome of both NIMBY and tunnel vision.
-h-
You're singing the same tired refrain that we've been hearing for the past 30 years.
Year Real GDP (billions of 2000 dollars)
1970 $3771.9
1971 $3898.6
1972 $4105.0
1973 $4341.5
1974 $4319.6
1975 $4311.2
1976 $4540.9
1977 $4750.5
1978 $5015.0
1979 $5173.4
1980 $5161.7
1981 $5291.7
1982 $5189.3
1983 $5423.8
1984 $5813.6
1985 $6053.7
1986 $6263.6
1987 $6475.1
1988 $6742.7
1989 $6981.4
1990 $7112.5
1991 $7100.5
1992 $7336.6
1993 $7532.7
1994 $7835.5
1995 $8031.7
1996 $8328.9
1997 $8703.5
1998 $9066.9
1999 $9470.3
2000 $9817.0
2001 $9890.7
2002 $10048.8
2003 $10320.6
2004 $10755.7
Detect a trend?