Many people in North America (Region 1) do not realize that DVDs have DRM other than they cannot skip/Fast Forward through the FBI warnings (Disney tried forcing viewers to sit through previews at first, but relented after they got a bunch of complaints from irate parents and relented). The only people that regionalization affects in N.A. is Anime and British TV fans (Dr. Who for example). Most everything else is already available in Region 1.
In the rest of the world the story is completely different, and regionalization has been for the most part, a failure. In Europe, Asia, and Australia it is not too hard to buy a multi-region DVD player. It is not too hard to get access to region 1 DVDs in those areas of the world.
Regionalization, for the most part, has been a failure. DRM is not an issue only if it doesn't affect you. As soon as it does, a way around it will be found.
If Clinton is responsible for 09.11, then George H. W. Bush is responsible for the 1993 bombing of the WTC. After all, Clinton only took office less than 2 months before that happened.
Both of these attacks were rather low-tech - a fuel and ferilizer bomb in 1993, and taking over planes with box cutters in 2001. I'm all for increasing National Security as long as the Constitution is not violated. If this high-tech fingerprint system can be effective without compromising the Constitution, great. As soon as it crosses the line (they are only fingerprinting Foreigners now, but who's to say won't expand in the future), then it is no longer acceptable. If Ashcroft et al can trash the Constitution, then the Terrorists have won and the Republic is lost.
Unfortunately, most (if not all) of those cases were settled out of court, with no judiciary involved. Basicly, the RIAA said "Give us $2,000 (or insert other value here) and destroy all of your MP3's, and never share again, and we will leave you alone. Otherwise, we will sue you for the maximum allowed by the DMCA." Faced with paying off Guido and only being out $2K, or hiring a lawyer and facing a Zillion Dollar lawsuit, they agreed to pay off Guido.
IANAL, so once they sign an agreement with Guido, I not sure if they CAN go back, or if they do go back, they can escape the Zillion dollar lawsuit, and lawyer costs.
Not only $ competition, but mindset competition. When I was in High School and College (Grad HS in 1981, College in 1986) Music was a big part of who you were. There were Metalheads (AC/DC, Metallica...) Punk (Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys...) so on and so forth. In 1983, a friend intoduced me to a group called R.E.M. and the alternative sound. We all made tapes and swapped music, but we also tended to buy the Albums (yes, those 12" black discs) of our favorite groups.
Now fast forward to 2003. My daughter(13)and her friends still listen to music, but DVDs and PS2/Game Cube is what is popular. She is always asking for this or that DVD, and her cousin is the same way (if she is not wanting a new game for her Game Cube). Every once in awhile my Daughter asks for a music CD, but it is very rare, and then mostly around Birthday or Christmas. We just had a birthday bash for her 13th birthday, and she mostly got makeup and stuff like that from her friends. The only entertainment thing she got was Pirates of the Carribean, and she was thrilled. There were no CDs given as a gift.
My daughter likes music, but it isn't a major item in her life, and there aren't many CDs put out this year that she wants. This shift in the importance of music is IMHO a bigger problem for the RIAA than sharing will ever be.
I forgot about the Roberts center -- was too busy watching SUVs go into the median around there last night (was coming back from my Sister-in-law's graduation and there were icy spots between Columbus and Cinci). I suppose they need the brightness so that the signs are visable during the day, but surely they could dim them a little at night - especially Roberts. You can see that sucker several miles away.
I don't know about the FM radio part of it, but Cincinnati has the first (and only, so far) billboard I have seen that is a full billboard-sized color screen (it must be one of those screens like they use at the new Pro Stadiums). It is on Southbound I-71 just a few miles before you hit downtown. I have seen it the last few trips between Erie, PA and Louisville, so it has been there at least 6 months to a year (I don't remember when I first saw it). This billboard screen could work with a radio sensing system, but with 4 lanes of Southbound traffic, it would have to pick ads based off of what the system judged to be the most popular station at the moment or it would go nuts changing ads. I would think any system like this would have to do some kind of station averaging for it to have any value (to the advertiser) in any location where there is any sort of heavy traffic.
The fact of the matter is that more is lost in the translation of the DVD; I don't get surround sound and I don't get extras or outtakes.
The other reason MP3s are so popular is that many of today's CDs only contain 1 to 3 good songs - the rest is filler. Many people only download (or keep) the songs they like. On the other hand, (most) people watch a whole movie -- they don't download and keep only the scenes they like. I'm sure there are exceptions, but most people I know will watch the whole Matrix, and not just the lobby shooting scene, for example.
Therefore, it is much easier to justify spending $15 to $20 for a DVD versus a CD. The DVD also has the added bonus of the ability to be rented -- for $3 to $5 one can rent a DVD and not be out too much money if the movie sucks. There is currently no legal way (in the U.S.A.) to rent a CD for a few bucks and see if it worth the money.
Get Penn State, then a few more big Universities in a deal like this, and Roxio (Napster 2) has a guaranteed revenue stream. If they pull this off, their future is assured as long as they can get music from RIAA companies. This is a smart move from Roxio's viewpoint.
I heard yesterday on Tech-TV that Napster is going to offer prepaid cards that will be sold at various retailers. I think the cost was $18.55 or so for a 20 song card. The idea (besides the usual reasons for offering gift cards) is to enable downloads to be purchased without a credit card.
It depends on what OS the cart device uses and how it communicates with the Store's computer system. If they end up using 802.11x or bluetooth without any security, then chances are good that someone could get into the cart device with a laptop and a wireless card. My guess, a virus is not as big of a threat as someone changing data or inserting some custom programming. I hope the manufacturer takes wireless security seriously -- otherwise we will end up having ads for Preparation-H (or worse) starring the Goatse Man or Marvin, the Paranoid Cart.
Ask Professor Usher at Penn State. He got a takedown notice from the RIAA for having some lectures on MP3. The RIAA did back down on this one, but it shouldn't of happened in the first place.
Telsa and Westinghouse made AC power the standard. Despite all of Edison's attempt to discredit AC power, AC won out because it there is much less loss over long distances for AC power transmission versus DC. That allowed the current power grid system to be developed. Without AC, electrical power would be much more localized without the ability of the current grid to move power where it is needed. The current grid system has problems, but that is due to maintenance issues and not the technology itself.
Are you offended by stores that employ anti-shoplifting measures (tattle tape in books, nogo wafers on clothing, surveillance cameras, etc)? After all, by doing so, they are stating loud and clear that they think that their customers are going to walk away with merchandise if they aren't watched.
Anti-shoplifting devices do not bother me because they remove or disable them once I purchase the item. After I leave the store, I am free to do with the item as I wish. Walmart/Target/J.C. Penney, etc. does not tell me when I can wear my purchase, where I can store it at home (no closet for you!), and I can sell it when I want, to whomever I want.
I understand that they don't want the music shared on P2P networks, but this DRM goes way beyond that. The Labels want the music to be restricted because of the fallout from the stupid decisions that they made from Napster on, but I do not intend to play their game. They can protect the music all they want until I buy it, but once it goes home with me, the Retailer and/or Label has no business telling me how I can listen to my purchase. The same goes for CDs.
The RIAA may be legally correct, but they made their own bed and now don't like sleeping in it. Technology has advanced and the RIAA want to stay back in the 20th century. Fast computers and MP3 players ended that era. If the RIAA would have bought out Napster and turned it into a reasonably priced download service (say about $0.25 per song, no DRM) this whole thing would have never happened. Yes, there would still be piracy around, but most people are willing to pay a reasonable price for convenience. The best part (for the RIAA) would have been with reasonable prices for MP3s, there would be less pressure to lower prices on CDs. Their customers would have a choice -- inexpensive MP3s are the more expensive CD or DVD with special features.
Instead, due to the RIAA's luddite ways, they are doing nothing but pissing off everyone including the all important paying customer. Hopefully the latest stupid decision, this time made by Sunncomm, will clearly show how stupid the DMCA is -- but the way things are going, I'm not going to hold my breath.
I hope it doesn't come to that, but perhaps we need to start thinking about hosting open source software in a software patent free location. I would hate to see a great open source application disappear from Sourceforge because it "violated" some stupid software patent.
Our whole current "IP" scheme makes me sick. We are tying our hands with software patents, many of our Elderly (at least here in the good 'ole USA) cannot afford their medicine due to Pharma charging them out the Wazoo, we have the RIAA sueing 12 year olds and 71 year olds instead of changing with the times, and I could go on and on. I still hope that there will eventually be a popular uprising against what is going on, but I am not going to hold my breath. On second thought, perhaps a corporate-free techno-utopia is our only hope...
One problem I see with this device is that it doesn't have a good way to connect to the internet. Yes it has a modem, but from what I have read, there aren't many land line phones in the third world, and instead of laying copper, the trend is to go with cell phones. It is cheaper to put up cell towers and let "the last mile" be bridged by RF rather than laying copper, which is more expensive can be taken.
I would think that either a cell modem or 802.11 would be a more effective solution for this application. What good is a simputer with a modem jack if you have to find someone with a land line to hook up to. If that is the case, then real PCs at an internet cafe (I believe this is done in India) is a better solution. One can read iBooks, prepare resumes, and surf the web at a cafe for a small charge instead of having to buy a simputer and go looking for a hook up. Just my $0.02.
Good comeback -- you brought up points that I thought would be brought up. Remember this is a civil lawsuit and not a criminal trial. If the defense can present the Mother as person who bought a product/service for her daughter so she could listen to music and stay out of trouble (off of the streets), then they should be able to convince a jury that no damages are due. Of course, the RIAA lawyers will attempt to convince the court that this is not the case, and that damages are due. I think in this case a good lawyer could successfully defend the Mother and Daughter.
In this case, the mother paid $30 to allow her daughter to download music on kazaa.
This may be enough to give the Mother an out. If she can convince the court/jury in a civil trial that she paid her $30 to Kazaa in good faith for the product/service, expecting that she and her daughter could use it, then she should be able to beat the RIAA. Many everyday Joes and Janes do not have any concept what current copyright law really is, so I can see where if she paid her money, she would expect to be able to use the software. Hopefully someone will work the case pro bono for her since this would be a good case to fight.
The RIAA has and continues to make a mess of things for itself and everyone else. If they would have just taken advantage of music downloading back in the Napster days instead of acting like a bunch of Fat Ass Morons, then everyone could have been happy. Now instead of profiting, they continue to pi$$ off their current, former, and potential customers. The quicker the RIAA dies, the better off music will be.
It's sad to see times change like this. The pictures of all those machines reminded me of the good times we had in the arcades in the '80s when I was in College. PS2s and such are great, but the whole arcade "experience" (meeting up with friends after classes and seeing the new high scores) is gone. Now, the last mall arcade in our area is closed -- the end of an era. Good luck in the future.
That is true, but since you never have the tax money in hand, it is not as "in your face." For example, say you make $2000 every 2 weeks. When your get your pay check, your take home pay is say $1300. You live your life and pay your bills based on the $1300. You file your taxes at the end of the year and either owe a little or get a little back.
Now imagine having to write a (say) $500 check for Federal taxes (IRC and SSI) plus another $200 for State/Local taxes every two weeks -- or better yet, $13000 ($500 * 26) Federal and $5200 for State/Local taxes every year. Here the cost is on your face, plus additional problems (with the yearly tax bill) of people not having the money. The way things are now, it is out of sight, out of mind since the money was never "in hand" to begin with.
It makes raising and collecting taxes a little easier for the Gov't.
Actually, it is more like having to call the Garbage Company every time you want to put trash in the dumpster so that they can make sure that you are authorized to use that dumpster. Doing the CD shuffle is bad enough if your computer is a desktop and the CDs are right there, but it is a big PITA if you have a laptop. You have to carry every CD for every game/app that you want to use, and of course Murphy's Law states that the one game you really want to play will be the one where you left the CD at home. Or worse, you will lose the CD while on the road....
Raid on a laptop would be great. I think in the next ten years laptops (and smaller) will be most people's primary machine. Laptops are popular now where I work. The problem is if the hard drive goes, one is SOL unless regular backups are done or raid is present (and one of the HDs survives). A buddy I worked with knocked his laptop off the desk (while on) and lost the HD. Even though most of his stuff was backed up, he lost the work he had done that morning.
I'm suprised that no one has brought up that TV channels 2 thru 6 are just above the 6 Meter band (50 MHz to 54 MHz). So if this technology messes up frequencies from 2 MHz to 80 Mhz, Channels 2 to 5 will definitely get hammered, and channel 6 (which ends at the 88 MHz FM radio band) may be slightly affected.
Not only that, but where the hell am I going to find a HAM operator after an earthquake? That's probably the least of my worries.
Things Hams after a disaster:
1. Help Coordinate emergency relief (police/fire communications may be out, espicially if they are trunked or depend on repeaters*)
2. Coordinate supplies -- food, medicine, water, blankets, etc.
3. Send messages out -- "Hey Mom, I'm alive and okay! Don't worry."
Don't worry about finding one -- we pop out of the woodwork real quick when there is a disaster.
* repeater : a radio that retransmits a signal received on an input frequency out over a second frequency for reception. This allows 2 units that could not communicate directly to be able to communicate. The repeater is at a location that allows a large area to be covered.
Wait until there is a natural (or man made) disaster in your area and comunications are knocked out. No phone, internet, or power. Ham radio can be the only way to communicate out of an area. Modern communications are great, but there are times when good old ham radio is needed, and is the only way to communicate. So, yes, it is just a hobby -- at least until that tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc. comes...
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Many people in North America (Region 1) do not realize that DVDs have DRM other than they cannot skip/Fast Forward through the FBI warnings (Disney tried forcing viewers to sit through previews at first, but relented after they got a bunch of complaints from irate parents and relented). The only people that regionalization affects in N.A. is Anime and British TV fans (Dr. Who for example). Most everything else is already available in Region 1.
In the rest of the world the story is completely different, and regionalization has been for the most part, a failure. In Europe, Asia, and Australia it is not too hard to buy a multi-region DVD player. It is not too hard to get access to region 1 DVDs in those areas of the world.
Regionalization, for the most part, has been a failure. DRM is not an issue only if it doesn't affect you. As soon as it does, a way around it will be found.
If Clinton is responsible for 09.11, then George H. W. Bush is responsible for the 1993 bombing of the WTC. After all, Clinton only took office less than 2 months before that happened.
Both of these attacks were rather low-tech - a fuel and ferilizer bomb in 1993, and taking over planes with box cutters in 2001. I'm all for increasing National Security as long as the Constitution is not violated. If this high-tech fingerprint system can be effective without compromising the Constitution, great. As soon as it crosses the line (they are only fingerprinting Foreigners now, but who's to say won't expand in the future), then it is no longer acceptable. If Ashcroft et al can trash the Constitution, then the Terrorists have won and the Republic is lost.
Unfortunately, most (if not all) of those cases were settled out of court, with no judiciary involved. Basicly, the RIAA said "Give us $2,000 (or insert other value here) and destroy all of your MP3's, and never share again, and we will leave you alone. Otherwise, we will sue you for the maximum allowed by the DMCA."
Faced with paying off Guido and only being out $2K, or hiring a lawyer and facing a Zillion Dollar lawsuit, they agreed to pay off Guido.
IANAL, so once they sign an agreement with Guido, I not sure if they CAN go back, or if they do go back, they can escape the Zillion dollar lawsuit, and lawyer costs.
Not only $ competition, but mindset competition. When I was in High School and College (Grad HS in 1981, College in 1986) Music was a big part of who you were. There were Metalheads (AC/DC, Metallica...) Punk (Sex Pistols, Dead Kennedys...) so on and so forth. In 1983, a friend intoduced me to a group called R.E.M. and the alternative sound. We all made tapes and swapped music, but we also tended to buy the Albums (yes, those 12" black discs) of our favorite groups.
Now fast forward to 2003. My daughter(13)and her friends still listen to music, but DVDs and PS2/Game Cube is what is popular. She is always asking for this or that DVD, and her cousin is the same way (if she is not wanting a new game for her Game Cube). Every once in awhile my Daughter asks for a music CD, but it is very rare, and then mostly around Birthday or Christmas. We just had a birthday bash for her 13th birthday, and she mostly got makeup and stuff like that from her friends. The only entertainment thing she got was Pirates of the Carribean, and she was thrilled. There were no CDs given as a gift.
My daughter likes music, but it isn't a major item in her life, and there aren't many CDs put out this year that she wants. This shift in the importance of music is IMHO a bigger problem for the RIAA than sharing will ever be.
I forgot about the Roberts center -- was too busy watching SUVs go into the median around there last night (was coming back from my Sister-in-law's graduation and there were icy spots between Columbus and Cinci). I suppose they need the brightness so that the signs are visable during the day, but surely they could dim them a little at night - especially Roberts. You can see that sucker several miles away.
I don't know about the FM radio part of it, but Cincinnati has the first (and only, so far) billboard I have seen that is a full billboard-sized color screen (it must be one of those screens like they use at the new Pro Stadiums). It is on Southbound I-71 just a few miles before you hit downtown. I have seen it the last few trips between Erie, PA and Louisville, so it has been there at least 6 months to a year (I don't remember when I first saw it).
This billboard screen could work with a radio sensing system, but with 4 lanes of Southbound traffic, it would have to pick ads based off of what the system judged to be the most popular station at the moment or it would go nuts changing ads. I would think any system like this would have to do some kind of station averaging for it to have any value (to the advertiser) in any location where there is any sort of heavy traffic.
The fact of the matter is that more is lost in the translation of the DVD; I don't get surround sound and I don't get extras or outtakes.
The other reason MP3s are so popular is that many of today's CDs only contain 1 to 3 good songs - the rest is filler. Many people only download (or keep) the songs they like. On the other hand, (most) people watch a whole movie -- they don't download and keep only the scenes they like. I'm sure there are exceptions, but most people I know will watch the whole Matrix, and not just the lobby shooting scene, for example.
Therefore, it is much easier to justify spending $15 to $20 for a DVD versus a CD. The DVD also has the added bonus of the ability to be rented -- for $3 to $5 one can rent a DVD and not be out too much money if the movie sucks. There is currently no legal way (in the U.S.A.) to rent a CD for a few bucks and see if it worth the money.
Get Penn State, then a few more big Universities in a deal like this, and Roxio (Napster 2) has a guaranteed revenue stream. If they pull this off, their future is assured as long as they can get music from RIAA companies. This is a smart move from Roxio's viewpoint.
I heard yesterday on Tech-TV that Napster is going to offer prepaid cards that will be sold at various retailers. I think the cost was $18.55 or so for a 20 song card. The idea (besides the usual reasons for offering gift cards) is to enable downloads to be purchased without a credit card.
It depends on what OS the cart device uses and how it communicates with the Store's computer system. If they end up using 802.11x or bluetooth without any security, then chances are good that someone could get into the cart device with a laptop and a wireless card. My guess, a virus is not as big of a threat as someone changing data or inserting some custom programming. I hope the manufacturer takes wireless security seriously -- otherwise we will end up having ads for Preparation-H (or worse) starring the Goatse Man or Marvin, the Paranoid Cart.
Ask Professor Usher at Penn State. He got a takedown notice from the RIAA for having some lectures on MP3. The RIAA did back down on this one, but it shouldn't of happened in the first place.
Telsa and Westinghouse made AC power the standard. Despite all of Edison's attempt to discredit AC power, AC won out because it there is much less loss over long distances for AC power transmission versus DC. That allowed the current power grid system to be developed. Without AC, electrical power would be much more localized without the ability of the current grid to move power where it is needed. The current grid system has problems, but that is due to maintenance issues and not the technology itself.
Are you offended by stores that employ anti-shoplifting measures (tattle tape in books, nogo wafers on clothing, surveillance cameras, etc)? After all, by doing so, they are stating loud and clear that they think that their customers are going to walk away with merchandise if they aren't watched.
Anti-shoplifting devices do not bother me because they remove or disable them once I purchase the item. After I leave the store, I am free to do with the item as I wish. Walmart/Target/J.C. Penney, etc. does not tell me when I can wear my purchase, where I can store it at home (no closet for you!), and I can sell it when I want, to whomever I want.
I understand that they don't want the music shared on P2P networks, but this DRM goes way beyond that. The Labels want the music to be restricted because of the fallout from the stupid decisions that they made from Napster on, but I do not intend to play their game. They can protect the music all they want until I buy it, but once it goes home with me, the Retailer and/or Label has no business telling me how I can listen to my purchase. The same goes for CDs.
The RIAA may be legally correct, but they made their own bed and now don't like sleeping in it. Technology has advanced and the RIAA want to stay back in the 20th century. Fast computers and MP3 players ended that era. If the RIAA would have bought out Napster and turned it into a reasonably priced download service (say about $0.25 per song, no DRM) this whole thing would have never happened. Yes, there would still be piracy around, but most people are willing to pay a reasonable price for convenience. The best part (for the RIAA) would have been with reasonable prices for MP3s, there would be less pressure to lower prices on CDs. Their customers would have a choice -- inexpensive MP3s are the more expensive CD or DVD with special features.
Instead, due to the RIAA's luddite ways, they are doing nothing but pissing off everyone including the all important paying customer. Hopefully the latest stupid decision, this time made by Sunncomm, will clearly show how stupid the DMCA is -- but the way things are going, I'm not going to hold my breath.
I hope it doesn't come to that, but perhaps we need to start thinking about hosting open source software in a software patent free location. I would hate to see a great open source application disappear from Sourceforge because it "violated" some stupid software patent.
Our whole current "IP" scheme makes me sick. We are tying our hands with software patents, many of our Elderly (at least here in the good 'ole USA) cannot afford their medicine due to Pharma charging them out the Wazoo, we have the RIAA sueing 12 year olds and 71 year olds instead of changing with the times, and I could go on and on. I still hope that there will eventually be a popular uprising against what is going on, but I am not going to hold my breath. On second thought, perhaps a corporate-free techno-utopia is our only hope...
One problem I see with this device is that it doesn't have a good way to connect to the internet. Yes it has a modem, but from what I have read, there aren't many land line phones in the third world, and instead of laying copper, the trend is to go with cell phones. It is cheaper to put up cell towers and let "the last mile" be bridged by RF rather than laying copper, which is more expensive can be taken.
I would think that either a cell modem or 802.11 would be a more effective solution for this application. What good is a simputer with a modem jack if you have to find someone with a land line to hook up to. If that is the case, then real PCs at an internet cafe (I believe this is done in India) is a better solution. One can read iBooks, prepare resumes, and surf the web at a cafe for a small charge instead of having to buy a simputer and go looking for a hook up. Just my $0.02.
Good comeback -- you brought up points that I thought would be brought up. Remember this is a civil lawsuit and not a criminal trial. If the defense can present the Mother as person who bought a product/service for her daughter so she could listen to music and stay out of trouble (off of the streets), then they should be able to convince a jury that no damages are due. Of course, the RIAA lawyers will attempt to convince the court that this is not the case, and that damages are due. I think in this case a good lawyer could successfully defend the Mother and Daughter.
In this case, the mother paid $30 to allow her daughter to download music on kazaa.
This may be enough to give the Mother an out. If she can convince the court/jury in a civil trial that she paid her $30 to Kazaa in good faith for the product/service, expecting that she and her daughter could use it, then she should be able to beat the RIAA. Many everyday Joes and Janes do not have any concept what current copyright law really is, so I can see where if she paid her money, she would expect to be able to use the software. Hopefully someone will work the case pro bono for her since this would be a good case to fight.
The RIAA has and continues to make a mess of things for itself and everyone else. If they would have just taken advantage of music downloading back in the Napster days instead of acting like a bunch of Fat Ass Morons, then everyone could have been happy. Now instead of profiting, they continue to pi$$ off their current, former, and potential customers. The quicker the RIAA dies, the better off music will be.
It's sad to see times change like this. The pictures of all those machines reminded me of the good times we had in the arcades in the '80s when I was in College. PS2s and such are great, but the whole arcade "experience" (meeting up with friends after classes and seeing the new high scores) is gone. Now, the last mall arcade in our area is closed -- the end of an era. Good luck in the future.
That is true, but since you never have the tax money in hand, it is not as "in your face." For example, say you make $2000 every 2 weeks. When your get your pay check, your take home pay is say $1300. You live your life and pay your bills based on the $1300. You file your taxes at the end of the year and either owe a little or get a little back.
Now imagine having to write a (say) $500 check for Federal taxes (IRC and SSI) plus another $200 for State/Local taxes every two weeks -- or better yet, $13000 ($500 * 26) Federal and $5200 for State/Local taxes every year. Here the cost is on your face, plus additional problems (with the yearly tax bill) of people not having the money. The way things are now, it is out of sight, out of mind since the money was never "in hand" to begin with.
It makes raising and collecting taxes a little easier for the Gov't.
Actually, it is more like having to call the Garbage Company every time you want to put trash in the dumpster so that they can make sure that you are authorized to use that dumpster. Doing the CD shuffle is bad enough if your computer is a desktop and the CDs are right there, but it is a big PITA if you have a laptop. You have to carry every CD for every game/app that you want to use, and of course Murphy's Law states that the one game you really want to play will be the one where you left the CD at home. Or worse, you will lose the CD while on the road....
Raid on a laptop would be great. I think in the next ten years laptops (and smaller) will be most people's primary machine. Laptops are popular now where I work. The problem is if the hard drive goes, one is SOL unless regular backups are done or raid is present (and one of the HDs survives). A buddy I worked with knocked his laptop off the desk (while on) and lost the HD. Even though most of his stuff was backed up, he lost the work he had done that morning.
I'm suprised that no one has brought up that TV channels 2 thru 6 are just above the 6 Meter band (50 MHz to 54 MHz). So if this technology messes up frequencies from 2 MHz to 80 Mhz, Channels 2 to 5 will definitely get hammered, and channel 6 (which ends at the 88 MHz FM radio band) may be slightly affected.
Not only that, but where the hell am I going to find a HAM operator after an earthquake? That's probably the least of my worries.
Things Hams after a disaster :
1. Help Coordinate emergency relief (police/fire communications may be out, espicially if they are trunked or depend on repeaters*)
2. Coordinate supplies -- food, medicine, water, blankets, etc.
3. Send messages out -- "Hey Mom, I'm alive and okay! Don't worry."
Don't worry about finding one -- we pop out of the woodwork real quick when there is a disaster.
* repeater : a radio that retransmits a signal received on an input frequency out over a second frequency for reception. This allows 2 units that could not communicate directly to be able to communicate. The repeater is at a location that allows a large area to be covered.
Wait until there is a natural (or man made) disaster in your area and comunications are knocked out. No phone, internet, or power. Ham radio can be the only way to communicate out of an area. Modern communications are great, but there are times when good old ham radio is needed, and is the only way to communicate. So, yes, it is just a hobby -- at least until that tornado, earthquake, hurricane, etc. comes...
DE WB3IZT