First off, your analogy to an assassin is terrible. Selling prescription drugs is not a felony like aggravated murder is. Second, the companies selling the prescriptions are not always blatantly violating the law. Usually they're skating the razor-thin line around the law.
This has nothing to do with TFA, which I did read.
I'll try harder to make this very clear to you: Microsoft does not sell a Microsoft branded portable audio player. If they did, that would be a competing product. They don't, so they don't have a product that competes with the iPod. I'm not talking about the software that the PC runs to support the player, I'm talking about the player itself.
Because all my music is on my portable. I am not permitted to have my music collection on my work system. A DVD would work, but I would still need 4 of them, and I'm too lazy to switch. I have my iPod on me anyway, I just get here and drop it into the dock. Plus, I don't lose my music when I reboot with a newly-built kernel.:-)
It might be interesting if your points were actually valid. There are many players that don't use MS software at all. Also, your OSX "analogy" doesn't apply, because MS has a competing product.
Completely agree. They are uncomfortable, and sound like crap. And, they're ugly. Mine are sitting in the box in the basement, and I'm using an inexpensive replacement instead.
Dude, of course you need a right mouse button. And a scroll wheel. How else are you going to change weapons and use the alt-fire in Unreal and other FPSs?
Simple: buy a PC laptop, and dual boot to your choice of Linux.
It should be able to add something to an already labelled disk. Perhaps by printing a marker and reading it.
Good fucking lord. Before you bitch about a feature it should have, read the goddamn article to see if it does have the feature. From TFA:
If you want to add more information to the label at a later date, a small barcode on the label side of the disc tells the laser how to align the new info alongside what's already there.
I don't know what's more sad: your comment, or the fact that you got modded up.
Other companies have tried "appliances" like you describe, and failed. The market just isn't there.
You can still get the hardware, and if you like to tinker, get it doing most of what you ask. Search for "3com audrey". They're cheap, and apart from having a mouse (touch-screen instead), can do everything you mention.
who made "psshhhh-kapoooo!" noises with your Hot Wheels
I played with Hot Wheels when I was a kid, and made lots of noises, but "psshhhh-kapoooo!" was not one of them. What the hell is that supposed to represent, anyway?
And my friends Tivo will tape something that Tivo HQ tells it to tape, some new show someone is paying to promote.
If your "friend" would spend 30 seconds doing research, he would find that:
a) this has been a feature from the get-go b) it has nothing to do with someone paying to promote a show c) you can FUCKING TURN IT OFF if you don't like it
It's annoying when people bitch about something that they haven't even tried to fix.
Who really cares is this has an iPod dock or is compatible? What purpose would it serve? People already have a computer to sync to, and a device like this is presumably large enough to hold all the music you'd have on your portable, plus a whole lot more.
Yep... just another blind, knee-jerk iPod reference.
Re:What other products have this capability?
on
TiVo to Go Released
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· Score: 1
Why do people so vehemently defend TiVo even when they do stupid things like announce wanting to put commercials on while you fast forward
This was posted on slashdot before, and the general concensus from the comments were that people didn't care.
openly oppose copying the shows off your system in order to archive them?
It might be that TiVo is trying to avoid getting dumped and bought up due to legal troubles. Do you forget what happened shortly after Replay offered this functionality? Do they offer it on the new units? Does MythTV have a sizable portion of the PVR market? The answers to those questions should clue you in a little.
You're right, there are alternatives. Some of us have even tried them, and deemed them to be too much of a pain, too big, too loud, too inadequate in the UI department, etc. A lot of people think that TiVo is the best. But you have a choice. Ignore the stories if you don't like hearing about it.
This is very true. Not firsthand information, but friend-of-a-friend type: someone my dad knows has been a UPS driver for quite some time (maybe 15 years?), and pulls in around $125k a year. Compare that to other industries where you can work a lifetime and and not earn half that.
This is extremely unlikely, based on every piece of software ever released.
I've yet to see a firmware upgrade to improve the "software" for PS/2 or XBox from their respective sellers, but they could sure do it if they wanted to.
Are you implying that a game console's firmware has the same amount of functionality as the operating system for a PVR?
It obviously would have to be someone who also puts together "normal" PCs, so as to leech off of their big bulk-buying efficiencies for parts, but it could be done.
This is not what the grandparent poster and I were discussing. He suggested a start-up, not someone who puts together "normal" PCs.
For subscription, charge to have the device hooked up to broadband. Hard-wire the website for it to get software from in such a way that it would be hard to spoof with a proxy server. Then, accessing your servers for software "updates" would incur a $5-10 fee. Make this part of the contract.
Contract? Fee? Subscription? That sounds familiar...
Here is a computer for $200 that has everything except the Tuner card which can be had for under $100 if you shop around.
That system does not meet the criteria needed for a PVR. You'd need a larger hard drive, more memory, and a case that fits into an entertainment system, both physically and aesthetically.
You make a good argument in the rest of your comment, but I disagree with the idea that a cheap, non-subscription DVR will work.
I know the guide data is freely available now, but will it be tomorrow? If it goes away, will you provide one, or have the average consumer ssh in and change an XML file? How about the accuracy?
What about software support? Will there be periodic updates, and what will pay for the development?
The problem with the non-subscription business model is that there is no continuous revenue stream. Either you operate on a razor-thin margin and provide shoddy software and support, or you price yourself out of your target market. $500 is hard to stomach. $100 for a TiVo plus the monthly service is much easier to the average consumer.
I'd love to be proven wrong, I just don't think it will work.
This comment shouldn't be modded flamebait, there is some truth to it. How interesting would it be to see a company like Microsoft try to implement a non-DRM solution? The ??AA's are used to being able to shove people/companies around, but who can shove Microsoft around?
Dell could ship one for $500 under a new brand name with a couple hundred grand investment in R&D. The increase in blank DVD sales would probably make the whole thing worth while regardless of the margins on the box.
WTF are you talking about? You can barely get a Dell PC with no OS for less than $500, and that's not even including the hardware you'd need for a PVR, like a capture card, big disk, and fancy case/PSU. And with the blank DVD sales, it doesn't matter if the sales increase. The profit margin is so low, it doesn't matter how many you sell.
Earlier in the thread, someone asked where the $400 MythTV box is. It doesn't exist, and neither does your idea, because it's not profitable. On slashdot, there is so much talk so much about free and open, but few really know nothing about business at all. Everything around you exists because someone made money by producing it. If it doesn't make money (or convince someone with a lot of money that it will), you aren't going to see it on the market, period. If you think this isn't the case, stick your nuts out there and try to break the trend. You'll fail, I promise.
Slashdot Mirror
First off, your analogy to an assassin is terrible. Selling prescription drugs is not a felony like aggravated murder is. Second, the companies selling the prescriptions are not always blatantly violating the law. Usually they're skating the razor-thin line around the law.
I imagine this guy gets his panties in a bunch over Garfield because none of the characters has ever developed feline AIDS.
It's the leading killer of domestic cats!
Of course they also say people get 18.5 spam per day, and I'm tipping in at 20x that.
Yeah, their estimate is really low. I mean, everyone runs a website that gets millions of hits a day. They apparently don't realize this.
This has nothing to do with TFA, which I did read.
I'll try harder to make this very clear to you: Microsoft does not sell a Microsoft branded portable audio player. If they did, that would be a competing product. They don't, so they don't have a product that competes with the iPod. I'm not talking about the software that the PC runs to support the player, I'm talking about the player itself.
Got it now?
Because all my music is on my portable. I am not permitted to have my music collection on my work system. A DVD would work, but I would still need 4 of them, and I'm too lazy to switch. I have my iPod on me anyway, I just get here and drop it into the dock. Plus, I don't lose my music when I reboot with a newly-built kernel. :-)
It might be interesting if your points were actually valid. There are many players that don't use MS software at all. Also, your OSX "analogy" doesn't apply, because MS has a competing product.
Try harder next time.
Completely agree. They are uncomfortable, and sound like crap. And, they're ugly. Mine are sitting in the box in the basement, and I'm using an inexpensive replacement instead.
Nothing that 20 million people do is a big deal to US readers but Choice magazine has been around for a long time.
Instead of the typical anti-American spewing, why don't you go find a sense of humor so maybe you get the joke?
Dude, of course you need a right mouse button. And a scroll wheel. How else are you going to change weapons and use the alt-fire in Unreal and other FPSs?
Simple: buy a PC laptop, and dual boot to your choice of Linux.
Good fucking lord. Before you bitch about a feature it should have, read the goddamn article to see if it does have the feature. From TFA:
I don't know what's more sad: your comment, or the fact that you got modded up.
Other companies have tried "appliances" like you describe, and failed. The market just isn't there.
You can still get the hardware, and if you like to tinker, get it doing most of what you ask. Search for "3com audrey". They're cheap, and apart from having a mouse (touch-screen instead), can do everything you mention.
Yeah, you're right. The 20G 4G iPods are selling MUCH better than the smaller-capacity 4G iPods.
Quick question - why is it "by definition" that half the population has an IQ under 100?
. html
For the same reason half of 100 is 50: because that's the way the scale is defined. Looky here: http://www.geocities.com/rnseitz/Definition_of_IQ
When you were 4, you knew what a turbo charger was, and what a blowoff valve sounded like? Impressive.
who made "psshhhh-kapoooo!" noises with your Hot Wheels
I played with Hot Wheels when I was a kid, and made lots of noises, but "psshhhh-kapoooo!" was not one of them. What the hell is that supposed to represent, anyway?
And my friends Tivo will tape something that Tivo HQ tells it to tape, some new show someone is paying to promote.
If your "friend" would spend 30 seconds doing research, he would find that:
a) this has been a feature from the get-go
b) it has nothing to do with someone paying to promote a show
c) you can FUCKING TURN IT OFF if you don't like it
It's annoying when people bitch about something that they haven't even tried to fix.
Who really cares is this has an iPod dock or is compatible? What purpose would it serve? People already have a computer to sync to, and a device like this is presumably large enough to hold all the music you'd have on your portable, plus a whole lot more.
Yep... just another blind, knee-jerk iPod reference.
Why do people so vehemently defend TiVo even when they do stupid things like announce wanting to put commercials on while you fast forward
This was posted on slashdot before, and the general concensus from the comments were that people didn't care.
openly oppose copying the shows off your system in order to archive them?
It might be that TiVo is trying to avoid getting dumped and bought up due to legal troubles. Do you forget what happened shortly after Replay offered this functionality? Do they offer it on the new units? Does MythTV have a sizable portion of the PVR market? The answers to those questions should clue you in a little.
You're right, there are alternatives. Some of us have even tried them, and deemed them to be too much of a pain, too big, too loud, too inadequate in the UI department, etc. A lot of people think that TiVo is the best. But you have a choice. Ignore the stories if you don't like hearing about it.
This is very true. Not firsthand information, but friend-of-a-friend type: someone my dad knows has been a UPS driver for quite some time (maybe 15 years?), and pulls in around $125k a year. Compare that to other industries where you can work a lifetime and and not earn half that.
But what if it works just fine out of the box?
This is extremely unlikely, based on every piece of software ever released.
I've yet to see a firmware upgrade to improve the "software" for PS/2 or XBox from their respective sellers, but they could sure do it if they wanted to.
Are you implying that a game console's firmware has the same amount of functionality as the operating system for a PVR?
It obviously would have to be someone who also puts together "normal" PCs, so as to leech off of their big bulk-buying efficiencies for parts, but it could be done.
This is not what the grandparent poster and I were discussing. He suggested a start-up, not someone who puts together "normal" PCs.
For subscription, charge to have the device hooked up to broadband. Hard-wire the website for it to get software from in such a way that it would be hard to spoof with a proxy server. Then, accessing your servers for software "updates" would incur a $5-10 fee. Make this part of the contract.
Contract? Fee? Subscription? That sounds familiar...
Here is a computer for $200 that has everything except the Tuner card which can be had for under $100 if you shop around.
That system does not meet the criteria needed for a PVR. You'd need a larger hard drive, more memory, and a case that fits into an entertainment system, both physically and aesthetically.
You make a good argument in the rest of your comment, but I disagree with the idea that a cheap, non-subscription DVR will work.
I know the guide data is freely available now, but will it be tomorrow? If it goes away, will you provide one, or have the average consumer ssh in and change an XML file? How about the accuracy?
What about software support? Will there be periodic updates, and what will pay for the development?
The problem with the non-subscription business model is that there is no continuous revenue stream. Either you operate on a razor-thin margin and provide shoddy software and support, or you price yourself out of your target market. $500 is hard to stomach. $100 for a TiVo plus the monthly service is much easier to the average consumer.
I'd love to be proven wrong, I just don't think it will work.
This comment shouldn't be modded flamebait, there is some truth to it. How interesting would it be to see a company like Microsoft try to implement a non-DRM solution? The ??AA's are used to being able to shove people/companies around, but who can shove Microsoft around?
Dell could ship one for $500 under a new brand name with a couple hundred grand investment in R&D. The increase in blank DVD sales would probably make the whole thing worth while regardless of the margins on the box.
WTF are you talking about? You can barely get a Dell PC with no OS for less than $500, and that's not even including the hardware you'd need for a PVR, like a capture card, big disk, and fancy case/PSU. And with the blank DVD sales, it doesn't matter if the sales increase. The profit margin is so low, it doesn't matter how many you sell.
Earlier in the thread, someone asked where the $400 MythTV box is. It doesn't exist, and neither does your idea, because it's not profitable. On slashdot, there is so much talk so much about free and open, but few really know nothing about business at all. Everything around you exists because someone made money by producing it. If it doesn't make money (or convince someone with a lot of money that it will), you aren't going to see it on the market, period. If you think this isn't the case, stick your nuts out there and try to break the trend. You'll fail, I promise.
They haven't been busy recently. They just updated the guide they did quite some time ago. Not very much new to see here...
Add another thing that's wrong with Unix: the elitist attitude towards outsiders.