I have a dreamcast, you can use any service provider you want (sega doesn't have one) It comes with software to install att worldnet but you don't have to and they walk you through setting up via any provider. Sega OWNS HEAT and this is where we may end up seeing game matching. But like M$ zone the play is primarily free.
The reason I believe the bounty is cool is that not everyones inspiration, or itch, is what anyone wants or needs. I can see a business etc needing something done that no-one has undertaken because it doesn't strike their fancy. Lets look at the plethoria of MP3 players and dearth of spreadsheets (quick name 3) much less all the other stuff that makes for a rich environment. Overall $$ make the world work.
The biggest problem and the largest strength from being part of the OS thing is that everyone bitches and questions everything. There is room for every grey area in the software world from RSF and his software utopia to the iron fist of M$ (well maybe not) but that's the thing that makes us great, If you don't like it don't participate, if enough people agree it will wither and die. But don't try and tell me not to if I so choose this is my world as well as yours and I believe less rhetoric and more code will make it a happier one.
What about LAPTOPS?!?!? no bus no cards etc... in my design group (we're the kind of people who come up with this stuff) most people have G3 laptops, I am one of the few with a tower computer (well actually four) but a laptop has integrated monitor, mainboard, and keyboard!! Most my users love that, on top of it it's portable. When the pc is like a playstation it will be truley ubiquitous, this is a step in that direction, they will not replace all the PC's but for the mainstream this is great! we want to get inside, I've been inside my playstation too but for the average human they want to plug into the tv or soemthing and do their thing!!
In the late 80's Atari made a number of carts under the tengen name. NOA took them to court on the basis that in order to play on their system (the NESat that time) the carts had to validate via some secret code and that code was copyright or patented by Nintendo. The court upheld and Atari was on the slippery slope to hell. Atari is now dead, don't even talk about the arcade machines that belongs to williams. Anyway This upheld the yakuza business model that ALL the japanese game companies work under. You must be an official licensee in order to develop for Nintendo/Sega/Sony. You Pay to be a licensee, the license states they have the right allow or deny you publishing your software based on their approval or disapproval. (This was all held up in OUR courts folks!)
They also get a royalty based on carts/cd produced not on those sold! TI tried a similar route with their home PC but no one would develop for it. Imagine Apple, Dell etc creating a bit of validation code and any software produced having to pay a fee to use the validation and Apple etc. having rufusal rights to any software developed for the platform. (or even worse M$ using the same argument to protect their OS)
This was deemed legal by the courts as they ruled that consoles are not cumputers! This happened when the license for tetris sued nintendo over tetris and lost on the basis that a console is not a computer and nintendo owned the license for consoles. I was there I worked with the guys. This all happened over ten years ago and I don't think that it has been argued since.
I beleive the entire console industry is based on an illegal standard that was held up in court because the court did not understand that consoles are and were computing devices. This has outraged me for many years and I beleive stifled the console software market. Look at the diversity in computer based software compared to console games. Since the console industry detirmines what can be published on their systems we end up with the drivel that they allow. Basically all the games look and play the same, and we all eat it up. Anyway this is thepart of the laws that should be attacked. Anyone with the desire should be allowed to create software for the platform without paying OR approval of the platform creator.
Well I do't know about the AVERAGE user (is the such a thing) Everyone has differing levels of abilities and things they are willing to try. The folks I deal with are tech enough to try upgrading some stuff and not others leaving their systems a mess. What makes this worse is I work at a design firm and we a 90% mac, and these people belive the Apple line that it's real easy and you can't screw up!!
Slashdot Mirror
The weird thing is I keep running into old friends via slashdot, Gillian used to be my Co-op at Ringling school of Art and Design about 6 years ago!
I have a dreamcast, you can use any service provider you want (sega doesn't have one) It comes with software to install att worldnet but you don't have to and they walk you through setting up via any provider. Sega OWNS HEAT and this is where we may end up seeing game matching. But like M$ zone the play is primarily free.
The reason I believe the bounty is cool is that not everyones inspiration, or itch, is what anyone wants or needs. I can see a business etc needing something done that no-one has undertaken because it doesn't strike their fancy. Lets look at the plethoria of MP3 players and dearth of spreadsheets (quick name 3) much less all the other stuff that makes for a rich environment. Overall $$ make the world work.
The biggest problem and the largest strength from being part of the OS thing is that everyone bitches and questions everything. There is room for every grey area in the software world from RSF and his software utopia to the iron fist of M$ (well maybe not) but that's the thing that makes us great, If you don't like it don't participate, if enough people agree it will wither and die. But don't try and tell me not to if I so choose this is my world as well as yours and I believe less rhetoric and more code will make it a happier one.
What about LAPTOPS?!?!? no bus no cards etc... in my design group (we're the kind of people who come up with this stuff) most people have G3 laptops, I am one of the few with a tower computer (well actually four) but a laptop has integrated monitor, mainboard, and keyboard!! Most my users love that, on top of it it's portable. When the pc is like a playstation it will be truley ubiquitous, this is a step in that direction, they will not replace all the PC's but for the mainstream this is great! we want to get inside, I've been inside my playstation too but for the average human they want to plug into the tv or soemthing and do their thing!!
In the late 80's Atari made a number of carts under the tengen name. NOA took them to court on the basis that in order to play on their system (the NESat that time) the carts had to validate via some secret code and that code was copyright or patented by Nintendo. The court upheld and Atari was on the slippery slope to hell. Atari is now dead, don't even talk about the arcade machines that belongs to williams. Anyway This upheld the yakuza business model that ALL the japanese game companies work under. You must be an official licensee in order to develop for Nintendo/Sega/Sony. You Pay to be a licensee, the license states they have the right allow or deny you publishing your software based on their approval or disapproval. (This was all held up in OUR courts folks!)
They also get a royalty based on carts/cd produced not on those sold! TI tried a similar route with their home PC but no one would develop for it. Imagine Apple, Dell etc creating a bit of validation code and any software produced having to pay a fee to use the validation and Apple etc. having rufusal rights to any software developed for the platform. (or even worse M$ using the same argument to protect their OS)
This was deemed legal by the courts as they ruled that consoles are not cumputers! This happened when the license for tetris sued nintendo over tetris and lost on the basis that a console is not a computer and nintendo owned the license for consoles. I was there I worked with the guys. This all happened over ten years ago and I don't think that it has been argued since.
I beleive the entire console industry is based on an illegal standard that was held up in court because the court did not understand that consoles are and were computing devices. This has outraged me for many years and I beleive stifled the console software market. Look at the diversity in computer based software compared to console games. Since the console industry detirmines what can be published on their systems we end up with the drivel that they allow. Basically all the games look and play the same, and we all eat it up. Anyway this is thepart of the laws that should be attacked. Anyone with the desire should be allowed to create software for the platform without paying OR approval of the platform creator.
Well I do't know about the AVERAGE user (is the such a thing) Everyone has differing levels of abilities and things they are willing to try. The folks I deal with are tech enough to try upgrading some stuff and not others leaving their systems a mess. What makes this worse is I work at a design firm and we a 90% mac, and these people belive the Apple line that it's real easy and you can't screw up!!