You miss the point of the small print. The small print is REQUIRED by law. Rather than having a * and saying "Restrictions apply, see store, website or whatever for details" they are require to shove all the terms right there on the screen. And it is often too much info to fit in, so they shrink it to fit.
IMHO, if you don't know what you're signing, then don't sign it.
People don't want to buy a cell phone. They don't want to buy a service. They want both.
If they wanted to buy a phone, they would buy the phone, then look for service provider. The problem here in the US is that you can buy a phone that your preferred provider cannot support (CDMA vs GSM).
In other countries, you buy your phone, buy your SIM card and pay for your service as part of that contract, because they all run on the same basic system.
And while you may think we're backwards, it doesn't matter what you think. Reality is we're where we are, and there is not much we can do short of Government Mandates.
Personally, I have no problem with early termination fees, because they are generally stated in the contract. Don't like those terms, then don't sign the contract, and get a cheap pay as you go phone. Or pay a minor fortune for a "world phone" where you're not tied to anything what so ever.
Of course, you want it for nothing down, so you'll go with the two year contract with the early termini nation fees. And bitch and complain when your blackberry sucks compared to the new Droid, and you still have 10 months on your contract. Damn this 8330 with its crippled GPS which I'll never use.
While I can see the point of the FSF view on closed systems. I'll counter it by suggesting that FSF position of "fully open" systems is just as "defective by design".
DRM allows the idiots that want to protect their copyrights the right to protect and earn a living off of it. You might not agree with the whole "profit" motivation, however, if it means the difference between being able to read a book or not being able to read a book, then what the FSF is doing is tantamount to censorship.
Yes, DRM doesn't work. It is and will be broken. WE understand this. As for APPSTORE restriction, so freakin what? There are many many things in this world where you can only get approved addons from one source.
What you don't realize is that APPLE's reputation is that of making things that "Just Work". If you want a free and open ecosystem, use Microsoft or Lunux. Both allow you to run whatever you want on their products.
My wife is a good example of the target market of such a device. She just wants it to work. Her iPod, she wants it to hold and play music. She wants to go and get the music she wants and finds it on iTMS. As for the iPod, she didn't even know what it was when I got it for her. It took her all of few minutes to figure out how to work it.
You and me, we're geeks. We like to tinker, toy and play with things. And when things go wrong, we like to figure out why, and fix it. We are NOT the target market for iPod, iPad and iPhone aren't for us.
We look for "features", build our own, use Android and such because that is what we're about. My wife just wants to listen to music, read a book, make a phone call.
What the FSF doesn't realize is that their "ideals" are, for all intents and purposes, "defective by design", because it doesn't take into account the need for something to "just work" that doesn't require a geek to configure, tweak, install, maintain it.
And this is why Linux is not on the "desktop". I just set up Ubuntu for one of my relatives, on his laptop. While it installed and configured itself perfectly with one exception, that one exception would be a deal killer if I wasn't capable in fixing it. The wireless setup was broken.
Now you may feel the need to point out that was a driver problem related to the manufacturer not having proper Linux drivers, and you'd be right. Ubuntu people have decided that they know best for people and don't include proprietary drivers. Because of this, it is DEFECTIVE... and BY DESIGN.
The problem isn't "Defective by design", it is competing and mutually exclusive design principles. And as long as we have a choice in what principles we value, then we have freedom. THE MOMENT we lose that, then we are enslaved.
Phone suck for "reading" and movies... Laptops mostly overload for reading and movies. There is other potential market places for this like perhaps a new class of games or games that already exist on iPhone that would like more screen.
I don't know the pricing on these things, but imagine if you bought one, and it came with two ebooks and a movie download from iTunes. I would rather have something like this on a long flight than having to flip open my notebook just to watch a movie, and when I was done, switch to the latest book i am reading.
And someone will create a Firefox Plugin in a few days that will randomize the variables being reported back, thus invalidating this.
I use a couple dozen different computers for things, and if they can "track" "ME" from that, all the better. Additionally, there are other people who use the same computers that I do, and if they can sniff out who is browsing at what time, all the more power to them. I also use three different browsers on the same computer to browse various sites as well, because of how they are rendered and the speed of rendering.
Now I also realize, that I'm not a "normal" case. Here's to being "odd" !
This is exactly why lawyers should be arbitrarily appointed by the judge as if drawn from a hat.
Scenario:
Big Company (BC), wants to sue Joe Blow (JB), for some reason, the BC has to appear before a judge and state the nature of the suit. The judge pulls out of the hat three names of lawyers, of which the BC chooses the one they want.
At the same time, JB is in the courtroom and the judge pulls our three names from the pool.
The judge gives each person one month to prepare. The judge then requires each side to sumbit its case and then each side gets two weeks to prepare a rebuttal. When the rebuttals are prepared, the judge gets these, and sets a final court date for witnesses to appear and such.
The day of the trial comes, the judge assembles the cast, swears all witnesses in at once, and the trial begins.
The trial lasts as long as the Judge (jury) has unanswered questions, lawyers aren't allowed to pontificate anything, but only allowed to counsel their clients on the "law".
Loser pays set fee for use of all lawyers, plus court costs. Since the burden of evidence is upon the person making the suit, they have the added burden of paying the defending litigant the exact sum being asked for in the suit.
Part of every award goes towards a fund for the "poor", to cover the costs associated for people of limited means.
This is fair to everyone involved. If you have a weak case, you're less likely to sue. If you have a strong case, there is a huge incentive to settle out of court.
And the deep pockets of the rich will have limited effect on the case.
Civil trials take way too long, and there is incentives by lawyers to keep the system flooded with needless, useless and pointless lawsuits.
I don't want people telling me what I can and can't do, if I'm not hurting anyone else.
If I want to smoke 3 packs a day and drink my liver into submission, why should you or anyone else pay for my health care when I get sick? And if you say I can't smoke 3 packs a day, and can't drink my liver into submission, then are you gonna stop Grocery Stores from selling Snickers and Ice Cream to the Obese people? If not, then you're not being fair.
More people die and have severe heath problems from obesity than from drugs and alcohol. You gonna regulate how much people weigh? If so, do I weigh too much at 270 lbs? How about if I am 6'5" and am a football player?
Who gets to decide?
I don't want to pay for other people's poor lifestyle choices. Not really.
However, isn't that a state that is capable of giving you everything you want from it? If they're strong enough to protect you, they're strong enough to abuse you.
Maybe in your world. In my world, everyone would be part of the military, like Switzerland or Israel. Keeping and bearing arms would be a requirement of full citizenship.
When you realize that I think the "Government" is "we the people", then understanding the responsibility of all the citizens to a COMMON good is a REQUIREMENT of good governance. When you have 60% of the people opposed to something, and the "Government" officials thinking they know better, you have a problem.
And while many on Slashdot make fun of the "tea baggers", they are just expressing the disdain for elitism that has taken over the world.
I want a LIMITED government because unrestrained government is ruled by a small cadre who think the rest of us are too stupid to know what's best for us.
When one realizes that Government is a NECESSARY evil, then one always is fighting to limit it. That is where I am.
You left out police department, fire department, EMS, contract enforcement and a standing military.
Nope. Police, Fire, EMS and Law are all essential, and locally provided services. If I don't like them, I can move to the next town much easier than moving to another state, or country.
As we move those services away from LOCAL control, we lose control over them, and our ability to escape, or change them.
Lets take "HEALTH CARE" as it currently exists in the Senate version (most likely to pass at this moment), do you have ANY ability to have any effective say in the complexity and bribery going on in an effort to "pass" that legislation?
You think it is appropriate for Nebraska, Louisiana, or Unions to get their sweetheart deals at the expense of people who don't belong to those groups?
How about Mass, who already has "Health Care" (which is broke financially), having to give up its version in favor of the garbage of the Senate bill.
And what happens when that bill, should it get passed, doesn't work as they claim? Do we get a chance to just "Scrap" it or will they spend endless amount of time, effort and money trying to "fix" it?
What if I don't get any better Health Care in five years, but actually get "substantially" worse care because, when the crap doesn't work, it is worse than it is now?
What happens when Mexico sends Millions of its sick to the US because... well it can? You gonna pay for them? You want UNIVERSAL Health Care, are you willing to take every poor person from Latin America in and give up the access you currently have now for it? If not, how many are you willing to take before you get pissed.
These are questions I have, which NO progressive is willing to answer, for whatever reason. Progressives live in a fantasy rose tinted world that has NO basis in reality.
Wait, you don't think the government should protect children from molesters? Really? I must have read that wrong.
No, you hand a sandwich to someone starving. However I have yet to see someone starving in America go hungry. If someone is a Child Molester, you lock them up and throw away the key.
Both are last resort options. Otherwise I'd much rather have self control and self responsibility be the expectation, rather than Government to the rescue.
You don't like it when the police have guns and camera's pointed at your privacy any more than I like having guns pointed at my wallet.
The argument is exactly the same. The sad thing is, you're unable to realize it.
A state that is capable of giving you everything you want, is capable of taking everything you have. Which is why a limited government is best.
I have a simple question I ask people like yourself. Who gets to decide what level of "Welfare" is appropriate and why? Your answer will betray your own cause (and it doesn't matter what you say).
Health Care, Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, Police Surveillance.... it is all the same to me.
I know I'm gonna get modded "troll" for this, but you can't have the Government protect you from everything all the time, UNLESS you're willing to give up essential liberties for the sake of security. You deserve neither security nor liberty!
The problem is that the whole "Do it for the children" argument is used by both Left Wing and Right Wingers alike. It doesn't matter if it is to protect against "starvation" or "molesters"; they are both the same.
People calling forget the obvious.... PERHAPS I'm not in a place where I can answer a phone the moment you call. You know, like taking a leak, or having Carnal Relations with my wife.
And calling me back repeatedly as if I missed the first three times doesn't actually help. I don't care if you think I'm on 24 hour duty at work, you don't pay me enough to stop *whatever* I am doing to take your "MY PRINTER ISN'T WORKING" phone call.
Both you, and the grandparent post miss the point. You are not the customer.
File sizes do not matter. Spam does not matter. You are not the customer.
You only have one choice, to realize that you are not the customer, or ignore the problem.
Why would you buy something when you're not the customer? Would you buy a McDonalds Hamburger, if what you got was a Spamburger instead? On the other hand, you might prefer spam to McDonalds Hamburger. I know I would!
Actually, you're not only wrong, you're only 1/2 right.
Apple is an EXPERIENCE company. They control the WHOLE experience. They control it via making sure the Software runs on the hardware, and runs well on the hardware, and the hardware does what the software needs it to do.
This is different from Microsoft, which tries to be all things to all people on all hardware. This is different from Linux as well, for the same reason.
People who think that Apple is HW (or SW) only company that happens to sell SW (or HW) is entirely wrong simply because they don't realize the truth. iPods weren't the first or most feature rich or least expensive MP3 player. It was the one that simply (key word) did one thing well, play music. Yes, you can get a better featured, lessor expensive MP3 player and you're missing the point. It also didn't hurt Apple that iPod was "cool" as well.
I'm probably not getting a iPhone, I currently have a blackberry, and will probably end up with an Android at some point. However, every time I see a iPhone it does everything my BB does, only it makes it look "easier" than fumbling with a ball and typing on a tiny keyboard. I have yet to see Android up close and personal, however it if can't come close to what I see from Apple, I will indeed get an iPhone.
And it won't matter how many "apps" or how FOSSy the Android is, if it gets in the way of me using it. I want the experience.
Don't need to transport HDDs. You just need a big fat fiber-optic connection.
And what is the point of archiving if in a few years you can't find the drives or the controllers or the whatever to read the media? Having been in this industry for this long, I've already experienced having an archive of something but not able to find a drive to read it. Remember the old TRS-80 and the audio tape drives? State of the art 30-35 years ago, utterly useless today. Even if I could find a cassette player, I'd still have no way for any modern computer to read it, short of inventing it over again.
You think that is rare? How about 8" floppies?, How about Zip, Bernoulli drives, Heck it is getting hard to find 3.5" drives.
If your archival horizon is longer than about 10 years, you're looking at the wrong life cycle planning. Do you think whatever flavor of SAS we have today is going to exist in 15 years?
Slashdot Mirror
You missed this ...
"Sure, any one of those things, no problem"
And you've done exactly what this guy clearly excused. ONE of those items is NOT enough.
I'd rather have them on a jury than you. You can't even read.
So did you.
That is because all that needs be made is an accusation of impropriety. I will not have a female aide. Period.
The sad thing is, any girl geeky enough to want to be my aide now loses out because I'm over protective of my reputation.
You miss the point of the small print. The small print is REQUIRED by law. Rather than having a * and saying "Restrictions apply, see store, website or whatever for details" they are require to shove all the terms right there on the screen. And it is often too much info to fit in, so they shrink it to fit.
IMHO, if you don't know what you're signing, then don't sign it.
People don't want to buy a cell phone. They don't want to buy a service. They want both.
If they wanted to buy a phone, they would buy the phone, then look for service provider. The problem here in the US is that you can buy a phone that your preferred provider cannot support (CDMA vs GSM).
In other countries, you buy your phone, buy your SIM card and pay for your service as part of that contract, because they all run on the same basic system.
And while you may think we're backwards, it doesn't matter what you think. Reality is we're where we are, and there is not much we can do short of Government Mandates.
Personally, I have no problem with early termination fees, because they are generally stated in the contract. Don't like those terms, then don't sign the contract, and get a cheap pay as you go phone. Or pay a minor fortune for a "world phone" where you're not tied to anything what so ever.
Of course, you want it for nothing down, so you'll go with the two year contract with the early termini nation fees. And bitch and complain when your blackberry sucks compared to the new Droid, and you still have 10 months on your contract. Damn this 8330 with its crippled GPS which I'll never use.
While I can see the point of the FSF view on closed systems. I'll counter it by suggesting that FSF position of "fully open" systems is just as "defective by design".
DRM allows the idiots that want to protect their copyrights the right to protect and earn a living off of it. You might not agree with the whole "profit" motivation, however, if it means the difference between being able to read a book or not being able to read a book, then what the FSF is doing is tantamount to censorship.
Yes, DRM doesn't work. It is and will be broken. WE understand this. As for APPSTORE restriction, so freakin what? There are many many things in this world where you can only get approved addons from one source.
What you don't realize is that APPLE's reputation is that of making things that "Just Work". If you want a free and open ecosystem, use Microsoft or Lunux. Both allow you to run whatever you want on their products.
My wife is a good example of the target market of such a device. She just wants it to work. Her iPod, she wants it to hold and play music. She wants to go and get the music she wants and finds it on iTMS. As for the iPod, she didn't even know what it was when I got it for her. It took her all of few minutes to figure out how to work it.
You and me, we're geeks. We like to tinker, toy and play with things. And when things go wrong, we like to figure out why, and fix it. We are NOT the target market for iPod, iPad and iPhone aren't for us.
We look for "features", build our own, use Android and such because that is what we're about. My wife just wants to listen to music, read a book, make a phone call.
What the FSF doesn't realize is that their "ideals" are, for all intents and purposes, "defective by design", because it doesn't take into account the need for something to "just work" that doesn't require a geek to configure, tweak, install, maintain it.
And this is why Linux is not on the "desktop". I just set up Ubuntu for one of my relatives, on his laptop. While it installed and configured itself perfectly with one exception, that one exception would be a deal killer if I wasn't capable in fixing it. The wireless setup was broken.
Now you may feel the need to point out that was a driver problem related to the manufacturer not having proper Linux drivers, and you'd be right. Ubuntu people have decided that they know best for people and don't include proprietary drivers. Because of this, it is DEFECTIVE ... and BY DESIGN.
The problem isn't "Defective by design", it is competing and mutually exclusive design principles. And as long as we have a choice in what principles we value, then we have freedom. THE MOMENT we lose that, then we are enslaved.
Unless you're a congressman or President. Then you're possibly exempt, and often are explicitly exempt from the stupid laws you create.
Phone suck for "reading" and movies ... Laptops mostly overload for reading and movies. There is other potential market places for this like perhaps a new class of games or games that already exist on iPhone that would like more screen.
I don't know the pricing on these things, but imagine if you bought one, and it came with two ebooks and a movie download from iTunes. I would rather have something like this on a long flight than having to flip open my notebook just to watch a movie, and when I was done, switch to the latest book i am reading.
This is what iTouch should have been.
TFIFY
And someone will create a Firefox Plugin in a few days that will randomize the variables being reported back, thus invalidating this.
I use a couple dozen different computers for things, and if they can "track" "ME" from that, all the better. Additionally, there are other people who use the same computers that I do, and if they can sniff out who is browsing at what time, all the more power to them. I also use three different browsers on the same computer to browse various sites as well, because of how they are rendered and the speed of rendering.
Now I also realize, that I'm not a "normal" case. Here's to being "odd" !
This is exactly why lawyers should be arbitrarily appointed by the judge as if drawn from a hat.
Scenario:
Big Company (BC), wants to sue Joe Blow (JB), for some reason, the BC has to appear before a judge and state the nature of the suit. The judge pulls out of the hat three names of lawyers, of which the BC chooses the one they want.
At the same time, JB is in the courtroom and the judge pulls our three names from the pool.
The judge gives each person one month to prepare. The judge then requires each side to sumbit its case and then each side gets two weeks to prepare a rebuttal. When the rebuttals are prepared, the judge gets these, and sets a final court date for witnesses to appear and such.
The day of the trial comes, the judge assembles the cast, swears all witnesses in at once, and the trial begins.
The trial lasts as long as the Judge (jury) has unanswered questions, lawyers aren't allowed to pontificate anything, but only allowed to counsel their clients on the "law".
Loser pays set fee for use of all lawyers, plus court costs. Since the burden of evidence is upon the person making the suit, they have the added burden of paying the defending litigant the exact sum being asked for in the suit.
Part of every award goes towards a fund for the "poor", to cover the costs associated for people of limited means.
This is fair to everyone involved. If you have a weak case, you're less likely to sue. If you have a strong case, there is a huge incentive to settle out of court.
And the deep pockets of the rich will have limited effect on the case.
Civil trials take way too long, and there is incentives by lawyers to keep the system flooded with needless, useless and pointless lawsuits.
It isn't your phone. AND You're not the customer.
I wonder if there is a lawsuit for that?
I don't want people telling me what I can and can't do, if I'm not hurting anyone else.
If I want to smoke 3 packs a day and drink my liver into submission, why should you or anyone else pay for my health care when I get sick? And if you say I can't smoke 3 packs a day, and can't drink my liver into submission, then are you gonna stop Grocery Stores from selling Snickers and Ice Cream to the Obese people? If not, then you're not being fair.
More people die and have severe heath problems from obesity than from drugs and alcohol. You gonna regulate how much people weigh? If so, do I weigh too much at 270 lbs? How about if I am 6'5" and am a football player?
Who gets to decide?
I don't want to pay for other people's poor lifestyle choices. Not really.
And Google has (Temporarily) killed the best VOIP service out there: Gizmo5.
I only wish I picked up a Gizmo SIP while I had a chance. I'm extremely depressed that I didn't. :(
Google, please bring it back!
Maybe in your world. In my world, everyone would be part of the military, like Switzerland or Israel. Keeping and bearing arms would be a requirement of full citizenship.
When you realize that I think the "Government" is "we the people", then understanding the responsibility of all the citizens to a COMMON good is a REQUIREMENT of good governance. When you have 60% of the people opposed to something, and the "Government" officials thinking they know better, you have a problem.
And while many on Slashdot make fun of the "tea baggers", they are just expressing the disdain for elitism that has taken over the world.
I want a LIMITED government because unrestrained government is ruled by a small cadre who think the rest of us are too stupid to know what's best for us.
When one realizes that Government is a NECESSARY evil, then one always is fighting to limit it. That is where I am.
I guess expecting self control and responsibility is now considered "Troll".
Figures
Nope. Police, Fire, EMS and Law are all essential, and locally provided services. If I don't like them, I can move to the next town much easier than moving to another state, or country.
As we move those services away from LOCAL control, we lose control over them, and our ability to escape, or change them.
Lets take "HEALTH CARE" as it currently exists in the Senate version (most likely to pass at this moment), do you have ANY ability to have any effective say in the complexity and bribery going on in an effort to "pass" that legislation?
You think it is appropriate for Nebraska, Louisiana, or Unions to get their sweetheart deals at the expense of people who don't belong to those groups?
How about Mass, who already has "Health Care" (which is broke financially), having to give up its version in favor of the garbage of the Senate bill.
And what happens when that bill, should it get passed, doesn't work as they claim? Do we get a chance to just "Scrap" it or will they spend endless amount of time, effort and money trying to "fix" it?
What if I don't get any better Health Care in five years, but actually get "substantially" worse care because, when the crap doesn't work, it is worse than it is now?
What happens when Mexico sends Millions of its sick to the US because ... well it can? You gonna pay for them? You want UNIVERSAL Health Care, are you willing to take every poor person from Latin America in and give up the access you currently have now for it? If not, how many are you willing to take before you get pissed.
These are questions I have, which NO progressive is willing to answer, for whatever reason. Progressives live in a fantasy rose tinted world that has NO basis in reality.
No, you hand a sandwich to someone starving. However I have yet to see someone starving in America go hungry. If someone is a Child Molester, you lock them up and throw away the key.
Both are last resort options. Otherwise I'd much rather have self control and self responsibility be the expectation, rather than Government to the rescue.
You don't like it when the police have guns and camera's pointed at your privacy any more than I like having guns pointed at my wallet.
The argument is exactly the same. The sad thing is, you're unable to realize it.
A state that is capable of giving you everything you want, is capable of taking everything you have. Which is why a limited government is best.
I have a simple question I ask people like yourself. Who gets to decide what level of "Welfare" is appropriate and why? Your answer will betray your own cause (and it doesn't matter what you say).
Health Care, Welfare, Social Security, Medicare, Police Surveillance .... it is all the same to me.
I know I'm gonna get modded "troll" for this, but you can't have the Government protect you from everything all the time, UNLESS you're willing to give up essential liberties for the sake of security. You deserve neither security nor liberty!
The problem is that the whole "Do it for the children" argument is used by both Left Wing and Right Wingers alike. It doesn't matter if it is to protect against "starvation" or "molesters"; they are both the same.
Most people, who *CLAIM* to belong to a faith, actually are worse than those they berate for not having any.
But what is worse is that we as a society tend to promote the likes of Robertson and Westboro Baptist Church and the Jihadi Muslims.
Nothing like promoting attention seeking hypocritical whores.
People calling forget the obvious .... PERHAPS I'm not in a place where I can answer a phone the moment you call. You know, like taking a leak, or having Carnal Relations with my wife.
And calling me back repeatedly as if I missed the first three times doesn't actually help. I don't care if you think I'm on 24 hour duty at work, you don't pay me enough to stop *whatever* I am doing to take your "MY PRINTER ISN'T WORKING" phone call.
I'll call you back when it is convenient for me.
Thanks
Because we already have access to that data. If you don't trust US with that data, then you have bigger issues.
Both you, and the grandparent post miss the point. You are not the customer.
File sizes do not matter. Spam does not matter. You are not the customer.
You only have one choice, to realize that you are not the customer, or ignore the problem.
Why would you buy something when you're not the customer? Would you buy a McDonalds Hamburger, if what you got was a Spamburger instead? On the other hand, you might prefer spam to McDonalds Hamburger. I know I would!
Except I'm Kosher. ;)
And I figure this is cracked in 3 ... 2 .. 1.
Actually, you're not only wrong, you're only 1/2 right.
Apple is an EXPERIENCE company. They control the WHOLE experience. They control it via making sure the Software runs on the hardware, and runs well on the hardware, and the hardware does what the software needs it to do.
This is different from Microsoft, which tries to be all things to all people on all hardware. This is different from Linux as well, for the same reason.
People who think that Apple is HW (or SW) only company that happens to sell SW (or HW) is entirely wrong simply because they don't realize the truth. iPods weren't the first or most feature rich or least expensive MP3 player. It was the one that simply (key word) did one thing well, play music. Yes, you can get a better featured, lessor expensive MP3 player and you're missing the point. It also didn't hurt Apple that iPod was "cool" as well.
I'm probably not getting a iPhone, I currently have a blackberry, and will probably end up with an Android at some point. However, every time I see a iPhone it does everything my BB does, only it makes it look "easier" than fumbling with a ball and typing on a tiny keyboard. I have yet to see Android up close and personal, however it if can't come close to what I see from Apple, I will indeed get an iPhone.
And it won't matter how many "apps" or how FOSSy the Android is, if it gets in the way of me using it. I want the experience.
Tape is dead. Long live Tape.
Don't need to transport HDDs. You just need a big fat fiber-optic connection.
And what is the point of archiving if in a few years you can't find the drives or the controllers or the whatever to read the media? Having been in this industry for this long, I've already experienced having an archive of something but not able to find a drive to read it. Remember the old TRS-80 and the audio tape drives? State of the art 30-35 years ago, utterly useless today. Even if I could find a cassette player, I'd still have no way for any modern computer to read it, short of inventing it over again.
You think that is rare? How about 8" floppies?, How about Zip, Bernoulli drives, Heck it is getting hard to find 3.5" drives.
If your archival horizon is longer than about 10 years, you're looking at the wrong life cycle planning. Do you think whatever flavor of SAS we have today is going to exist in 15 years?