I fully agree with you that no copy protection plan will prevent someone somewhere from getting a copy of a DVD.
I think their goal, however, is to make it difficult enough that copying a DVD isn't a commonplace event for the average user.
The trading of online music, for example, didn't become such a hot topic with the recording industry until services such as Napster in conjunction with MP3 rippers and encoders made it easy enough for the guy down the hall who has trouble turning his machine on, to rip, encode and share the latest music with the nation.
However, an even bigger concern for myself is how much trouble too many incompatible copy protection schemes will cause for someone attempting to simply play their legally purchased DVD's. Macrovision on VHS annoys me as it is.
Maybe it's just me, but isn't it possible to actually provide the kind of service customers can reasonably expect, while still making the same kind of profit, let alone simply not taking every opportunity to screw the customers over?
What I mean by this, is that while you won't be able to rip every last cent out of a consumer, wouldn't it be possible to attract more customers with better overall service, leading to a larger net profit?
Just because a company can exploit you, doesn't mean that they should, even under capitalist theory.
Overestimation of Consumer pricing preferences?
on
Pentium IV study
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· Score: 3
While it's true that Joe Consumer will base alot of his perception of performance on a simple number such as clock speed, he or she is also very conscious of price.
Otherwise, why would the sub $400 USD computers be so popular? Show a consumer a 1.2 GHz AMD based computer and a 1.5 GHz computer, at a even $200 price difference and expect to see the AMD win.
So how many people who either dual-boot, or have more than one computer, couldn't wait wait for the Linux client and bought the Windows version?
Personally, besides the fact that I was an impatient little player, I figured that I would get better performance from my Windows machine as a client, and I'll use my Linux box as a server.
At Ohio State there is a seperation between what University Technology Services and the Resnet Technical Support (which is actually under housing), so it wouldn't have been UTS which would have had any say about what he did or didn't put on the network.
I worked for Ohio State's Resnet for a year, and Linux was on the supported list, and we actually had some student tech support that was versed in the various alternative operating systems (Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, etc).
Additionally, OSU had an Open Source club when I left, so a LUG wouldn't have been unacceptable by any means.
Exactly how much information needs to be traded back and forth in modern games? For some genres, like Real-Time Stragy games, I'd imagine it's well within the modem range of bandwidth.
But when you start getting into the latest FPS's that are coming out now or in the future, that information load begins to push the limits of the average modem, resulting in the amount of lag we get currently.
So, unless broadband suddenly becomes commonplace, what can we expect from future games? Will they rely on trusting clients with more normally hidden in-game information to lower the bandwidth requirements at the cost of security against cheats? Or will there eventually be a seperation between games designed for either LPBs and HPWs?
Yes, game play or story is important, but isn't it just one of the many overall attributes that make a game 'good'? A well designed interface, along with graphics that I'd want to look at over long periods of time, are important to me as well. Granted, various stronger attributes of a game can make up for others, such as story over graphics, but there must be some balance
It'd be the equivalent to taking some really good actors and a great storyline, and then filming on an old Super8 home movie camera with sets put together from "Plan 9 From Outer Space", and then complaining that no one wants to sit through it and give it a chance.
Exactly how does a company believe that the potential global market for such a device is "$100 billion" after naming it "Digital Angel"?
I mean, could you get any more perfect fodder for Christian beliefs of the "end times" and ramblings about the "mark of the Beast"?
Forget any rational arguements about why they shouldn't let such a device get implanted. All you'd have to do quote a little from their Bible to get your average Christian worked up about this.
Last year I started trying out the three Linux magazines I knew of (Linux Journal, Linux Magazine, Maximum Linux) in order to decide which one I was going to subscribe to.
The first problem I had with ML was the USD$29 subscription rate for six issues a year. The copies that I had purchases on the newsstand were too thin for me to consider this a very good price for such a short run.
The second problem I had was the "game magazine" feel of the publication. I have no problem with the idea of a "non-business" orientation, however, ML felt as if it was trying to be one of those magazines that caters to 16-year old male console gamers. There just wasn't enough meat in the articles to really drag me in.
The last problem was just the fact that most of the articles were really just introductions to Linux concepts or applications. It was fine for the new user the magazine said they targetted, but once that new user had been introduced to something, they were never given more indepth information afterwords.
How can any modern film hope to compete against the subtle beauty of Self-Conscious Guy (1951), a movie that "shows how feelings of self-consciousness keep a high school boy from doing his classwork well or making friends easily."
Or Suggestion Box (1945), the nail bitingly suspenseful telling of "How war plant workers made suggestions that resulted in efficiency and economy".
And don't forget About Bananas (1955), the touching story about the banana industry. My eyes tear up even thinking about it.
All the big budget action flicks will never be able to withstand the awesome beauty of 1950's hygene flicks.
Admit it. Deep down inside, we all like to see a bad title get ripped to shreds at the hand of a reviewer with a sarcastic bent.
Hell, half the reason for reading a review on a game you've pretty much given up for bad (Daikatana) is to see which reviewer will spill the most blood during their piece.
Against historical commonsense Leadbeater, a former Financial Times journalist, dates the "first Internet" from 1996 to 2000. Forget the twenty-five years or so year before the World Wide Web took off. Leadbeater is well aware of this forgery. He deliberately rewrites history, provoking the ASCII/Linux believers by saying that the Internet was born out of the dotcom spirit of e-commerce. What Leadbeater is pushing is what we may call New Voluntarism. Forget the hackers story of Internet rooted in military/academic informatics. Internet was born out of the Will to eBusiness. Shopping and entertainment are the true nature of humankind. They are the one and only source, engine and destiny of the Net.
...
According to Leadbeater the "first Internet" failed because the technologists and geeks, in the end, triumphed over the CEOs and their managers and usability HTML slaves. Early online business pioneers were of good will, ready to serve their first customers. But the general audience got scared off by geekish hocus-pocus. Consumers, terrified by the complexity and clumsiness of this hyped-up yet incredibly self-referential environment simply left, way too early, never to come back again.
So it didn't fail because people who rushed into being a dot.com with a plan no more complicated than "We want to make money online and fast, we don't care how". I failed because of all the geeks and nerds and their technology? Wow.
Frankly, the idea that the Internet "failed" because pets.com didn't crush your local pet store is kind of silly. As a geek, the Internet is still chugging along nice for me. And even for my non-geek friends, the continued growth in websites for research papers and entertainment, communication through instant messengers and email, and online gaming galore, means that the Internet hasn't failed for them either.
Maybe it's just my lack of business experience, but this author sounds like someone who's upset that eCommerce wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and now wants to create the "next big thing".
While this is good news in terms of portable storage, the fact that it uses standard floppies is a bad thing, to me at least.
Maybe it's because the profit margin on the average floppy today is so small, or maybe it's just my imagination, but those disks just don't seem to last as long as they used to.
Nearly every day in the dorms, being the "computer geek" everyone knew, I'd get someone running down to me with a floppy that they had saved their 27 page final report on, that suddenly was showing disk errors. I shudder to think of the number of times I had to give them the bad news that floppies aren't the most reliable methods of storage anymore, and their work was lost.
So, this means 31 extra megs of term papers to lose. Joy!
Exactly. You should use the tool that provides all the features you need, along with support options that suite you.
Linux support and documentation isn't the best out there. OpenBSD, for instance, has some of the best man pages I've come across. And the book, "Building Linux and OpenBSD Firewalls" was more than enough to help me install and configure a nicely tuned daemon firewall box.
However, not everyone goes about searching for information the same way, which in the end was my main point. For some, answers will come quickly through *BSD channels. For others, a particular Linux site may be everything they'll ever need. When I was playing around with different installs on a spare box, I never could find the information needed to get a particular sound card working, or to adjust this or that feature under FreeBSD, whereas I happened upon the solutions quickly for the current Debian setup I have now.
So, as I said originally, the main reason I use Linux isn't because of it's technological superiority or even better support, just that the layout of the user support channels happens to suit me better than it might someone else.
Hey, although it's an attempt at humor, your post is actually kind of close to my philosophy of "using the right tool for the right job".
I've had plenty of people ask me if they should switch from MS Windows over to Linux. For some the answer is yes. But only if they're ready for the headaches that come with breaking from the pack. For others, I realise early on that they're going to be much more productive on a machine with an operating system that they're pretty much guarenteed to be able to be fixed by the local Best Buy.
It really isn't about which OS is the holy grail, perfect for all situations and godsend to all who use it. That's because such a beast doesn't exist. It's about finding the right tool for the job, and the right tool means not only the proper amount of control and features, but support and comfort for the person using it.
Despite what we geeks tell ourselves, an operating system is just a tool, not a lifestyle. Right? Right? Guys? Hello?
I have to agree with you on the philosophy of "Using the right tool for the right job", even when it gets a little hard sometimes, with the natural human tendency to favor one camp over the other.
I too have found the *BSD's to make excellent servers (I use an OpenBSD as my personal firewall), whereas the multimedia hardware support, and therefore desktop, has always seemed to have an edge with Linux.
The important thing that I try to remember is that it's not about which operating system is better, but which is better at a particular job.
I've played around with several of the distros, as well as FreeBSD and OpenBSD, and the absolute most basic reason I use Linux over FreeBSD is simply because I have an easier time finding out how to install, maintain, admin or fix some problem from the various Linux sites out there.
It's not really a matter of which is technologically superior, and I suspect that FreeBSD may in fact be so. However, in the particular style of searching for information on how to accomplish a particular task, I've always found the Linux information quicker and easier than for the FreeBSD way of doing things.
Again, this doesn't mean that Linux is better, far from it. It's just easier for me to run thanks to the types of online resources I come across.
Your mileage, as always, may vary. Offer void in most major cities. Not to be taken internally, while pregnant, or running for Congress.
This person should have more reasons to leave. If they really aren't that important to the company, then they should go with the better offers and let the corporation fill the hole.
If the company can't stay solvent over one individual leaving, it wasn't worth keeping in the first place. If it can easily replace the person leaving, then it stays around, and he gets a better job.
Either way, there's really no good reason to stay.
Well, a quick search of the U.S. Trademark Electronic Search System pops up with around 184 matches with the term "Helix", including a slew of "Helix Technology" varients.
All that would be needed is a game production company to want to cut development costs by not wanting to pay for a rewrite of mountains of code.
This is already happenning, just not with open sourced game engines. Instead of using valuable development time and money, several companies have licensed game engines from others, with the UnrealTournament and Quake III Arena being very popular.
Slashdot Mirror
I think their goal, however, is to make it difficult enough that copying a DVD isn't a commonplace event for the average user.
The trading of online music, for example, didn't become such a hot topic with the recording industry until services such as Napster in conjunction with MP3 rippers and encoders made it easy enough for the guy down the hall who has trouble turning his machine on, to rip, encode and share the latest music with the nation.
However, an even bigger concern for myself is how much trouble too many incompatible copy protection schemes will cause for someone attempting to simply play their legally purchased DVD's. Macrovision on VHS annoys me as it is.
What I mean by this, is that while you won't be able to rip every last cent out of a consumer, wouldn't it be possible to attract more customers with better overall service, leading to a larger net profit?
Just because a company can exploit you, doesn't mean that they should , even under capitalist theory.
Otherwise, why would the sub $400 USD computers be so popular? Show a consumer a 1.2 GHz AMD based computer and a 1.5 GHz computer, at a even $200 price difference and expect to see the AMD win.
Personally, besides the fact that I was an impatient little player, I figured that I would get better performance from my Windows machine as a client, and I'll use my Linux box as a server.
Yes.
AOL, NAVY Settle Privacy Case
I worked for Ohio State's Resnet for a year, and Linux was on the supported list, and we actually had some student tech support that was versed in the various alternative operating systems (Linux, FreeBSD, BeOS, etc).
Additionally, OSU had an Open Source club when I left, so a LUG wouldn't have been unacceptable by any means.
But when you start getting into the latest FPS's that are coming out now or in the future, that information load begins to push the limits of the average modem, resulting in the amount of lag we get currently.
So, unless broadband suddenly becomes commonplace, what can we expect from future games? Will they rely on trusting clients with more normally hidden in-game information to lower the bandwidth requirements at the cost of security against cheats? Or will there eventually be a seperation between games designed for either LPBs and HPWs?
It'd be the equivalent to taking some really good actors and a great storyline, and then filming on an old Super8 home movie camera with sets put together from "Plan 9 From Outer Space", and then complaining that no one wants to sit through it and give it a chance.
I mean, could you get any more perfect fodder for Christian beliefs of the "end times" and ramblings about the "mark of the Beast"?
Forget any rational arguements about why they shouldn't let such a device get implanted. All you'd have to do quote a little from their Bible to get your average Christian worked up about this.
The first problem I had with ML was the USD$29 subscription rate for six issues a year. The copies that I had purchases on the newsstand were too thin for me to consider this a very good price for such a short run.
The second problem I had was the "game magazine" feel of the publication. I have no problem with the idea of a "non-business" orientation, however, ML felt as if it was trying to be one of those magazines that caters to 16-year old male console gamers. There just wasn't enough meat in the articles to really drag me in.
The last problem was just the fact that most of the articles were really just introductions to Linux concepts or applications. It was fine for the new user the magazine said they targetted, but once that new user had been introduced to something, they were never given more indepth information afterwords.
So, I went for Linux Journal, instead.
Or Suggestion Box (1945), the nail bitingly suspenseful telling of "How war plant workers made suggestions that resulted in efficiency and economy".
And don't forget About Bananas (1955), the touching story about the banana industry. My eyes tear up even thinking about it.
All the big budget action flicks will never be able to withstand the awesome beauty of 1950's hygene flicks.
Hell, half the reason for reading a review on a game you've pretty much given up for bad (Daikatana) is to see which reviewer will spill the most blood during their piece.
Of all the things that went wrong with the original motion picture, this is the one change that would give the movie the most credibility.
Or maybe not.
So it didn't fail because people who rushed into being a dot.com with a plan no more complicated than "We want to make money online and fast, we don't care how". I failed because of all the geeks and nerds and their technology? Wow.
Frankly, the idea that the Internet "failed" because pets.com didn't crush your local pet store is kind of silly. As a geek, the Internet is still chugging along nice for me. And even for my non-geek friends, the continued growth in websites for research papers and entertainment, communication through instant messengers and email, and online gaming galore, means that the Internet hasn't failed for them either.
Maybe it's just my lack of business experience, but this author sounds like someone who's upset that eCommerce wasn't all it was cracked up to be, and now wants to create the "next big thing".
Maybe it's because the profit margin on the average floppy today is so small, or maybe it's just my imagination, but those disks just don't seem to last as long as they used to.
Nearly every day in the dorms, being the "computer geek" everyone knew, I'd get someone running down to me with a floppy that they had saved their 27 page final report on, that suddenly was showing disk errors. I shudder to think of the number of times I had to give them the bad news that floppies aren't the most reliable methods of storage anymore, and their work was lost.
So, this means 31 extra megs of term papers to lose. Joy!
Linux support and documentation isn't the best out there. OpenBSD, for instance, has some of the best man pages I've come across. And the book, "Building Linux and OpenBSD Firewalls" was more than enough to help me install and configure a nicely tuned daemon firewall box.
However, not everyone goes about searching for information the same way, which in the end was my main point. For some, answers will come quickly through *BSD channels. For others, a particular Linux site may be everything they'll ever need. When I was playing around with different installs on a spare box, I never could find the information needed to get a particular sound card working, or to adjust this or that feature under FreeBSD, whereas I happened upon the solutions quickly for the current Debian setup I have now.
So, as I said originally, the main reason I use Linux isn't because of it's technological superiority or even better support, just that the layout of the user support channels happens to suit me better than it might someone else.
I've had plenty of people ask me if they should switch from MS Windows over to Linux. For some the answer is yes. But only if they're ready for the headaches that come with breaking from the pack. For others, I realise early on that they're going to be much more productive on a machine with an operating system that they're pretty much guarenteed to be able to be fixed by the local Best Buy.
It really isn't about which OS is the holy grail, perfect for all situations and godsend to all who use it. That's because such a beast doesn't exist. It's about finding the right tool for the job, and the right tool means not only the proper amount of control and features, but support and comfort for the person using it.
Despite what we geeks tell ourselves, an operating system is just a tool, not a lifestyle. Right? Right? Guys? Hello?
I too have found the *BSD's to make excellent servers (I use an OpenBSD as my personal firewall), whereas the multimedia hardware support, and therefore desktop, has always seemed to have an edge with Linux.
The important thing that I try to remember is that it's not about which operating system is better, but which is better at a particular job.
It's not really a matter of which is technologically superior, and I suspect that FreeBSD may in fact be so. However, in the particular style of searching for information on how to accomplish a particular task, I've always found the Linux information quicker and easier than for the FreeBSD way of doing things. Again, this doesn't mean that Linux is better, far from it. It's just easier for me to run thanks to the types of online resources I come across.
Your mileage, as always, may vary. Offer void in most major cities. Not to be taken internally, while pregnant, or running for Congress.
Over to you, Bob . . .
If the company can't stay solvent over one individual leaving, it wasn't worth keeping in the first place. If it can easily replace the person leaving, then it stays around, and he gets a better job.
Either way, there's really no good reason to stay.
Although I don't use the actual distribution, I very much like Kondara's sleeker, goggle-wearing, anime style Tux and friends.
Still, "Ximian"? Yikes.
This is already happenning, just not with open sourced game engines. Instead of using valuable development time and money, several companies have licensed game engines from others, with the UnrealTournament and Quake III Arena being very popular.