fast food franchises obliterated a sense of geographical and cultural differences among different regions of the United States.
Come on, Katz/Schlossinger, this is such laughable crap. Go to El Paso, then Seattle, then New York, then Chicago, and eat at the local restaurants. Note that the food is totally different. Note how you can't get decent Tex-Mex in NY, or decent coffee in El Paso, or decent bagels in Seattle. Note how the deep dish pizza in Chigago != the thin crust pizza in NY. Note further the thousands upon thousands of non-fast-food restaurants that people eat at every day.
Then, having discovered this basic fact of life, re-examine your thesis. Surprise! No monoculture. Apply to internet: diversity will persist. Thank you for playing.
But it's not. Thomas Friedman of the New York Times (author of The Lexus and the Olive Tree) posited this a few years back, before we bombed Belgrade. Even though that exception pretty clearly wipes out the rule (after all, there are lots of Mickey D's in China, and we may find ourselves at war with them someday), it's still an interesting point.
As societies get richer and middle classes grow, the willingness of ordinary people to become cannon fodder declines rapidly. Mock McDonald's if you like, but in many countries it is very much considered a sign of prosperity (clean restrooms!) and popular among the emerging middle class.
I prefer the longer-standing principle that democracies don't go to war against one another. But you have to admit that, for all of its repressive behavior, Yugo was fairly democratic - Milosevic was elected, and now Kostunica is.
As for Fast Food Nation, I can't be bothered to read it, because it's clearly written with the attitude that it's somehow wrong to have a Big Mac. Don't like McDonald's? Eat somewhere else! Then quit bitching about other people's choices.
Seriously. This is the dumbest one yet. I mean, come on - if Google didn't have a "non-exclusive right" to your posting, it couldn't post it on usenet!
They will tell you that you can always buy VHS. Until you can't, of course...
While free OS are still a niche market this won't matter much - it will probably just reduce the usage of this tool. But if at some point Linux becomes the standard, this could be a problem for users - it seems to me. (Much like DVD becoming standard even though it started as a specialty product.)
Now (a) I'm probably preaching to the choir, and (b) I'm talking about the US not Australia, but wouldn't DVD region coding be a per se violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act in the US as an "agreement, combination, or conspiracy in restraint of trade"?
Sure, the publishers have the right to distribute where they want, but making it difficult or impossible to use region 1 (or other region - eg. Japanese anime!) discs elsewhere sounds pretty darn fishy to me. Someone needs to sue them here, in the States.
for document management - it's okay for that purpose, but quite inflexible for document sharing on an intranet. I've found myself frustrated with this inflexibility quite often. (e.g. you can't easily have a user-friendly index.html pointing to the documents you want to share in a directory). Haven't tried the version control feature.
I haven't uploaded any data to CDDB yet, nor do I plan to given this debacle; but I would gladly give $20 to a legal defense fund that would pay for such a lawsuit. Gracenote is being ridiculous and should be forced to pay for this behavior.
Man, what a blast from the past. Back in 1996 when Hotwired was new, people were using the term "multimedia" to describe pretty much anything hip and modern - much like "internet" and then "e-" were used a few years later.
Some usage I remember:
1. (Describing a PC) Equipped with sound, video, and CD-ROM.
2. (Describing a game or web site) Graphically intensive, with sound and/or video.
3. (Describing a data protocol) Able to support multiple services - e.g. ATM, which is designed to support voice, data, and video
4. (Describing an industry segment) Broadly defined to include game developers, web designers, software developers, and editors of fancy magazines about same
5. (Describing a neighborhood) A place where innovative, cutting-edge companies producing 1, 2, and 4 (but not 3) locate.
But it's really obsolete usage by now. I haven't seen it in common usage in several years, except to describe slow, graphically intensive web sites that make me want to uninstall Flash.
(Note that it's 404 in the Jargon File. Probably because it's so amorphous as to be useless as jargon.)
Seriously, this is the clearest point I've seen on the topic. Microsoft et al. are making fools of themselves right now - witness the severely user-hostile decisions being made re WMA vs. MP3, and copy protection / watermarking - and those who want to win against them should simply let them.
Meanwhile, push your product based on its benefits (Free as in Beer ain't bad)! And try, just try, to standardize a little, for Joe User out there...
I've always liked this idea. It rewards sharing and discourages free-riding. Done right it would allow the user with lots to share a flat-rate subscription but charge download-only users something for mooching off the system.
Hey, did you see the bit about Microsoft's DRM on their site?
Advantages for Consumers Digital distribution offers consumers a convenient way to access their favorite content at any time. Consumers will also be able to access higher quality media on the Internet because content providers using DRM will be more willing to make such content widely available. Also, the DRM licensing scheme protects consumers from inadvertently pirating a file: Consumers can be confident that the media they receive is authentic material, and they have acquired it in a legitimate manner.
Slashdot Mirror
Come on, Katz/Schlossinger, this is such laughable crap. Go to El Paso, then Seattle, then New York, then Chicago, and eat at the local restaurants. Note that the food is totally different. Note how you can't get decent Tex-Mex in NY, or decent coffee in El Paso, or decent bagels in Seattle. Note how the deep dish pizza in Chigago != the thin crust pizza in NY. Note further the thousands upon thousands of non-fast-food restaurants that people eat at every day.
Then, having discovered this basic fact of life, re-examine your thesis. Surprise! No monoculture. Apply to internet: diversity will persist. Thank you for playing.
As societies get richer and middle classes grow, the willingness of ordinary people to become cannon fodder declines rapidly. Mock McDonald's if you like, but in many countries it is very much considered a sign of prosperity (clean restrooms!) and popular among the emerging middle class.
I prefer the longer-standing principle that democracies don't go to war against one another. But you have to admit that, for all of its repressive behavior, Yugo was fairly democratic - Milosevic was elected, and now Kostunica is.
As for Fast Food Nation, I can't be bothered to read it, because it's clearly written with the attitude that it's somehow wrong to have a Big Mac. Don't like McDonald's? Eat somewhere else! Then quit bitching about other people's choices.
from the shoulda-bought-that dept.
It was Shoeboy!
Harrumph.
Fuck 'em.
That and Britney Spears promos.
AOL has been bundled with Windows since 1996 . Why is this news now? AOL 6.0 and XP are just upgrades.
While free OS are still a niche market this won't matter much - it will probably just reduce the usage of this tool. But if at some point Linux becomes the standard, this could be a problem for users - it seems to me. (Much like DVD becoming standard even though it started as a specialty product.)
Sure, the publishers have the right to distribute where they want, but making it difficult or impossible to use region 1 (or other region - eg. Japanese anime!) discs elsewhere sounds pretty darn fishy to me. Someone needs to sue them here, in the States.
Oh yes I can - if the theatre is on fire!
for document management - it's okay for that purpose, but quite inflexible for document sharing on an intranet. I've found myself frustrated with this inflexibility quite often. (e.g. you can't easily have a user-friendly index.html pointing to the documents you want to share in a directory). Haven't tried the version control feature.
(By the way: they're semi-indie now, spun off into a company called Automatic Media, which also runs Slash user Plastic.)
I haven't uploaded any data to CDDB yet, nor do I plan to given this debacle; but I would gladly give $20 to a legal defense fund that would pay for such a lawsuit. Gracenote is being ridiculous and should be forced to pay for this behavior.
so what's the tune?
written for a non-technical audience. Very nice.
Well, if HP and Bruce are serious about the "real" name, I should start seeing GNUs spray-painted on the sidewalks next to IBM's penguins, right?
Did you notice the two admins? The great granddaddies of trolling.
I'm more likely to right-click on a flash ad to turn it off!
Some usage I remember:
1. (Describing a PC) Equipped with sound, video, and CD-ROM.
2. (Describing a game or web site) Graphically intensive, with sound and/or video.
3. (Describing a data protocol) Able to support multiple services - e.g. ATM, which is designed to support voice, data, and video
4. (Describing an industry segment) Broadly defined to include game developers, web designers, software developers, and editors of fancy magazines about same
5. (Describing a neighborhood) A place where innovative, cutting-edge companies producing 1, 2, and 4 (but not 3) locate.
But it's really obsolete usage by now. I haven't seen it in common usage in several years, except to describe slow, graphically intensive web sites that make me want to uninstall Flash.
(Note that it's 404 in the Jargon File. Probably because it's so amorphous as to be useless as jargon.)
This applies equally to the "enterprise" and Joe User audiences.
Meanwhile, push your product based on its benefits (Free as in Beer ain't bad)! And try, just try, to standardize a little, for Joe User out there...
Quick, get the uid! It's still free.
I've always liked this idea. It rewards sharing and discourages free-riding. Done right it would allow the user with lots to share a flat-rate subscription but charge download-only users something for mooching off the system.
Advantages for Consumers
Digital distribution offers consumers a convenient way to access their favorite content at any time. Consumers will also be able to access higher quality media on the Internet because content providers using DRM will be more willing to make such content widely available. Also, the DRM licensing scheme protects consumers from inadvertently pirating a file: Consumers can be confident that the media they receive is authentic material, and they have acquired it in a legitimate manner.
Of course, this should read:
Advantages for Consumers
None.