True. Since I don't own an Xbox, I don't really know how cool Halo 2 is, but I've played Halo, and it does, as all Bungie FPS, blow the doors off and expand the genre. Liked Oni a lot as well.
One begins to wonder if the same sort of thing might begin to happen to other in-house Xbox games studios, like Bungie (makers of Halo and a metric ass-load of cool Mac-only games before that). Still, Halo was the (only?) must-have game for Xbox when it launched. I am sure Bungie has some cred in the halls of power at MS for that.
If, say, id starts making way cooler FPS games for Xbox . . .
I see a lot of posts here saying that MS missed the point of GMail. Doesn't everyone realize that the very definition of "the point" is "something MS missed?"
I do begin to wonder as to your constant usage of terms like "clearly", "certainly", "absolutely", and so forth. Do your arguements really need to be bolstered in such a fashion? In any case, nothing is certain, clear or absolute until it's been tested, and none of the items to which you attached these terms has been. As to my egocentricity, at least I am only speaking for myself, not all iPod owners. If other iPod owners want to use this service, fine, but that doesn't make it legal, good practice, good for the iPod in general or prove the inherent righteousness of Real's crusade. Beyond that, if people want to use their iPods as an interesting coat hanger or some form of over-sized earring, that's fine by me as well. The point is, they shouldn't expect Apple to support it, just as Ford doesn't have to support a Mustang with a Corvette engine in it, and Sony isn't responsible when the TV signal is blacked out due to inclement weather. Real is claiming compatibility, but chances are the midden will hit Apple's windmill when it breaks.
All I have been saying, all along, is that my iPod is perfectly capable of playing music from other sources without having to resort to Real's tactics. If it's about freedom of choice for all iPod owners, do please explain Real's unfathomable decision to make their store unuseable for Mac owners. Real's tactics are the worst form of cash grab. With Real, it's about the money. Not that with Apple it isn't. Or any other publically traded company you wish to point out. Your vendor lock-in in this case is misdirected: it's the record companies causing this, and I fully support not using the DRM techology (*ahem* MP3 - Ogg if iPod ever supports it), but Real just swaps one DRM for another. I'm not using Apple's *or* Real's DRM (or Microsoft's or anyone else's) when it comes to music. If there was a way to remove it that was convenient, I probably would. It's just less of a hassle to buy the CD.
What part of Apple has available several legal avenues" don't you understand? That's the basis for my statement on legality. Not some conjured "finger wagging" argument. Real's actions are in a hazy legal area at best, and that's the lawyers talking, not just me, and not just on the basis of DMCA. Spouting that it's legal when it hasn't been tested doesn't make something legal. Beyond that, Real approached Apple on interoperability, Apple said no. Real is fully aware of their tactics, and to invoke "freedom of choice" as a justification is at the very least disingenuous.
DVD Jon isn't selling anything. He isn't required to support his software. If you use his software (and I have and do), and your program/hardware/whatever breaks, it's your problem. I don't particularly agree with Apple's recent cease and desists in his case either, but it's the thin edge of the wedge: if Apple hadn't reacted, Real would have a stronger case. [Again with the can and should?] Perhaps he does feel he is allowed to use his hardware for anything he likes, and he is right. His blog certainly seems to support that supposition. So let me rephrase that: he doesn't *expect* anyone else to support his software. It's only his and my time being wasted if something breaks due to a firmware update, or a hardware change.
Real, on the other hand (here's where the issue is), *is* selling something. Something for which support will be expected. If I buy 300 songs from their store, and the next Apple firmware update breaks the compatibility, I'm left to either call Real for a fix, Apple for more information, or eat the $150 (soon to be right back up to $300 - you'll see). Apple is under no obligation to support Real's Harmony. And Real probably won't help me at all, or at least not until I click through 17 pages of "buy our player instead." If it breaks permanently, I'm out *money*, and if I'm a typical American, I'm going to want it back from someone, even if it means a frivolus lawsuit.
How many times? I use my iPod with *mp3s*. *MP3S*. *MP3S*!!! I'm not in "intellectual chains." And yet, somehow, I'm managing to use my iPod as I like. Just not as Real likes. Or perhaps even as Apple would most like, since I am not funding their store, nice as it is reported to be. Still, I can avoid the whole issue if I like. It just doesn't have to be easy or convenient, as you would seem to want it to be.
I know that DVD Jon has published software to allow music streaming to AirPort Express from anywhere, which I presume is what you are refering to. Fine and dandy. He makes no pretentions that he should be *allowed* to do this, as Real does. The legality of Real's actions remain to be seen.
As to your first argument, you *can* jump off a very high bridge. But I'm not saying you should. Do you see the difference between can and should now?
Free ride on the iPod gravy train?!! All Real wants is the ability to sell content to an installed base of people with playing devices.
Do I really have to say anything about this? You've just restated my point. Real didn't develop, sell, market, build or promote the iPod, but they want to make money off of it. Is it appropriate to sell to the largest user base? Sure, but to extend your later analogy, if my TV broadcast signal was incompatible with the TV, I don't get to screw with the TV to make it work. Why should Real think they have any right to screw with the iPod? Apple doesn't want to license FairPlay, and Real can't sell mp3s because the labels won't allow it. So, it's tethered swimming for Real: they put themselves in this position. So did Apple, when it comes down to it, but they put in more effort on more fronts (hardware, software, pioneering distribution agreements), so I have no sympathy for Real's "me-too" dealings.
The iPod should be able to play Real's tunes because the platform should be open it can and should be since we're talking about file formats here.
Notice the "shoulds" in that sentence. Just because you wish or want something to happen, does not mean it should happen, that Apple should condone it, or that Real is in the right for doing it. Again, the iPod is plenty open if you use the mp3 format. The lock-in is not only artificial, but avoidable.
any platform can play the content of any other through software or format changes
Really? I can play my DVDs in my VCR? Oh, yes, I can, by DeCSSing the DVD to my HD, then transferring it down to tape. But *not* by reverse-engineering the VCR. DeCSS doesn't hurt the DVD player or the VCR. If Real, or someone else, wants to release a converter to take Real formatted items and turn them into unrestricted mp3s, that's fine, and then I can play them on my iPod. That is not what Real is doing however.
The issue of legal music downloading is one of convenience: you get just the songs you want through a novel distribution model. The trade-off that the labels require of you is that the music is restricted. So, the choice is restricted copies of just what you want, or unrestricted copies of what they want you to have. You're screwed either way, but I choose the latter. Why is my business. If you think I've missed the point, I haven't.
Good thing, too. Since Voltron was their design in the first place. However, a pox on you for bringing the Power Rangers into a discussion of Voltron! Voltron is clearly superior and would kick the Zord's shiny metal @$$ any day.
Any place you care to buy a non-DRM'd mp3 download, that file can be played by both iTunes and iPod. Buy a CD, rip it to mp3 with iTunes, play it on your iPod. The only thing Apple is preventing from playing is other non-AAC DRM'd music. I don't play a single DRM'd song from Apple, Real, Sony or anyone else on my iPod. I can play *music* from other vendors such as Target, Virgin Megastore, Barnes & Noble, whatever. The simple fact of the matter is that Real is doing this for a free ride on the iPod gravy train. Why isn't Real reverse engineering to get onto the Sony NW-HD1? Real has the Rio whatevers that are compatible with their store, yes? Maybe Real should work on making those better.
No, it is not a good thing for iPod owners, no matter how many times you or anyone else says it.
And since Real's poxy music store doesn't work with Macs, Real doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to decrying choice and compatibility.
OT, but while I liked Voltron, I never really understood the logistics of controlling it. Take the 5 Lion Voltron (aka the best one). Once it's all together, what do the other 4 people do? If the head dude had full control, what is the left leg pilot doing? Nothing? Fire control? Changing the tapes in the tape deck? If the head dude didn't, then some of the more complex maneuvers would have taken, well, a lot of coordination between pilots (see the Dexter's Lab spoof of Voltron for an interesting take on that). Yeah, it didn't bug me when I was 10, but it sure does now.
My personal favorite is being allowed to print your boarding pass yourself. Some of those are trivial to alter with the most inexpensive photo editing software you can find. Put whatever name you like on it!
I'll not illuminate the process here, for fear of DMCA prosecution, but let's just say it involves "Print to PDF..."
Within the decade the spinning hard disk may go the way of the floppy and CRT.
Presumably this means that Macs won't commonly have them, but the Wintel crowd will still cling to them, claiming that Apple is crazy to think anyone would buy a machine without a spinning hard disk?
Seriously, this would be very cool for laptops, since spinning that HD is a major power drain.
You know, it used to be if MS claimed that they would be entering the market at some time in the future, even without so much as a line of code to show, or a conceptual drawing, the whole market would just pack up and cede to MS.
The fact that MS's intent to enter the market have yet to quell any sort of iPod sales numbers speaks volumes. It's possible history might not repeat this time.
I suspected as much. However, my place of work doesn't allow just any old web page to be displayed, and for some reason, the above site was blocked . . . and yet,/. is still allowed. Go fig.
I thought of Jack (but not Mitch), but it seemed too generic. Like Michael (Eisner). Hilary was the only good single name that came to mind. Doesn't Ms. Clinton spell it with 2 l's though (in repsonse to some other poster)?
Well, if it goes far enough, we may end up with leagues for "natural" and "enhanced" humans. We'll see. Once a football team fields a goalie the exact height and width of the goal, we may see some outcry.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah it did. They're basically just beating a dead horse now. Some would argue that horse was dead before Voyager . . . some before DS9.
No just ships. New Jersey used/is using decommissioned subway cars to build an artificial reef.
True. Since I don't own an Xbox, I don't really know how cool Halo 2 is, but I've played Halo, and it does, as all Bungie FPS, blow the doors off and expand the genre. Liked Oni a lot as well.
If, say, id starts making way cooler FPS games for Xbox . . .
Mmm, sour grapes. Don't have an account, do you?
I see a lot of posts here saying that MS missed the point of GMail. Doesn't everyone realize that the very definition of "the point" is "something MS missed?"
I played that once a long time ago. Very cool.
All I have been saying, all along, is that my iPod is perfectly capable of playing music from other sources without having to resort to Real's tactics. If it's about freedom of choice for all iPod owners, do please explain Real's unfathomable decision to make their store unuseable for Mac owners. Real's tactics are the worst form of cash grab. With Real, it's about the money. Not that with Apple it isn't. Or any other publically traded company you wish to point out. Your vendor lock-in in this case is misdirected: it's the record companies causing this, and I fully support not using the DRM techology (*ahem* MP3 - Ogg if iPod ever supports it), but Real just swaps one DRM for another. I'm not using Apple's *or* Real's DRM (or Microsoft's or anyone else's) when it comes to music. If there was a way to remove it that was convenient, I probably would. It's just less of a hassle to buy the CD.
What part of Apple has available several legal avenues" don't you understand? That's the basis for my statement on legality. Not some conjured "finger wagging" argument. Real's actions are in a hazy legal area at best, and that's the lawyers talking, not just me, and not just on the basis of DMCA. Spouting that it's legal when it hasn't been tested doesn't make something legal. Beyond that, Real approached Apple on interoperability, Apple said no. Real is fully aware of their tactics, and to invoke "freedom of choice" as a justification is at the very least disingenuous.
DVD Jon isn't selling anything. He isn't required to support his software. If you use his software (and I have and do), and your program/hardware/whatever breaks, it's your problem. I don't particularly agree with Apple's recent cease and desists in his case either, but it's the thin edge of the wedge: if Apple hadn't reacted, Real would have a stronger case. [Again with the can and should?] Perhaps he does feel he is allowed to use his hardware for anything he likes, and he is right. His blog certainly seems to support that supposition. So let me rephrase that: he doesn't *expect* anyone else to support his software. It's only his and my time being wasted if something breaks due to a firmware update, or a hardware change.
Real, on the other hand (here's where the issue is), *is* selling something. Something for which support will be expected. If I buy 300 songs from their store, and the next Apple firmware update breaks the compatibility, I'm left to either call Real for a fix, Apple for more information, or eat the $150 (soon to be right back up to $300 - you'll see). Apple is under no obligation to support Real's Harmony. And Real probably won't help me at all, or at least not until I click through 17 pages of "buy our player instead." If it breaks permanently, I'm out *money*, and if I'm a typical American, I'm going to want it back from someone, even if it means a frivolus lawsuit.
Perhaps we ough
I know that DVD Jon has published software to allow music streaming to AirPort Express from anywhere, which I presume is what you are refering to. Fine and dandy. He makes no pretentions that he should be *allowed* to do this, as Real does. The legality of Real's actions remain to be seen.
As to your first argument, you *can* jump off a very high bridge. But I'm not saying you should. Do you see the difference between can and should now?
Do I really have to say anything about this? You've just restated my point. Real didn't develop, sell, market, build or promote the iPod, but they want to make money off of it. Is it appropriate to sell to the largest user base? Sure, but to extend your later analogy, if my TV broadcast signal was incompatible with the TV, I don't get to screw with the TV to make it work. Why should Real think they have any right to screw with the iPod? Apple doesn't want to license FairPlay, and Real can't sell mp3s because the labels won't allow it. So, it's tethered swimming for Real: they put themselves in this position. So did Apple, when it comes down to it, but they put in more effort on more fronts (hardware, software, pioneering distribution agreements), so I have no sympathy for Real's "me-too" dealings.
The iPod should be able to play Real's tunes because the platform should be open it can and should be since we're talking about file formats here.
Notice the "shoulds" in that sentence. Just because you wish or want something to happen, does not mean it should happen, that Apple should condone it, or that Real is in the right for doing it. Again, the iPod is plenty open if you use the mp3 format. The lock-in is not only artificial, but avoidable.
any platform can play the content of any other through software or format changes
Really? I can play my DVDs in my VCR? Oh, yes, I can, by DeCSSing the DVD to my HD, then transferring it down to tape. But *not* by reverse-engineering the VCR. DeCSS doesn't hurt the DVD player or the VCR. If Real, or someone else, wants to release a converter to take Real formatted items and turn them into unrestricted mp3s, that's fine, and then I can play them on my iPod. That is not what Real is doing however.
The issue of legal music downloading is one of convenience: you get just the songs you want through a novel distribution model. The trade-off that the labels require of you is that the music is restricted. So, the choice is restricted copies of just what you want, or unrestricted copies of what they want you to have. You're screwed either way, but I choose the latter. Why is my business. If you think I've missed the point, I haven't.
Good thing, too. Since Voltron was their design in the first place. However, a pox on you for bringing the Power Rangers into a discussion of Voltron! Voltron is clearly superior and would kick the Zord's shiny metal @$$ any day.
No, it is not a good thing for iPod owners, no matter how many times you or anyone else says it.
And since Real's poxy music store doesn't work with Macs, Real doesn't have a leg to stand on when it comes to decrying choice and compatibility.
Phaeton or Beetle?
OT, but while I liked Voltron, I never really understood the logistics of controlling it. Take the 5 Lion Voltron (aka the best one). Once it's all together, what do the other 4 people do? If the head dude had full control, what is the left leg pilot doing? Nothing? Fire control? Changing the tapes in the tape deck? If the head dude didn't, then some of the more complex maneuvers would have taken, well, a lot of coordination between pilots (see the Dexter's Lab spoof of Voltron for an interesting take on that). Yeah, it didn't bug me when I was 10, but it sure does now.
I'll not illuminate the process here, for fear of DMCA prosecution, but let's just say it involves "Print to PDF..."
Of course, keeping the drive spun up to do multiple reads and writes can't be *extending* battery life.
Presumably this means that Macs won't commonly have them, but the Wintel crowd will still cling to them, claiming that Apple is crazy to think anyone would buy a machine without a spinning hard disk?
Seriously, this would be very cool for laptops, since spinning that HD is a major power drain.
Yes, but confusing Scandinavians is why I was put on this earth.
The fact that MS's intent to enter the market have yet to quell any sort of iPod sales numbers speaks volumes. It's possible history might not repeat this time.
I suspected as much. However, my place of work doesn't allow just any old web page to be displayed, and for some reason, the above site was blocked . . . and yet, /. is still allowed. Go fig.
This is why I use a font that puts a / through the middle of the 0.
I thought of Jack (but not Mitch), but it seemed too generic. Like Michael (Eisner). Hilary was the only good single name that came to mind. Doesn't Ms. Clinton spell it with 2 l's though (in repsonse to some other poster)?
Well, if it goes far enough, we may end up with leagues for "natural" and "enhanced" humans. We'll see. Once a football team fields a goalie the exact height and width of the goal, we may see some outcry.
Could the same "gene-doping" be used to combat muscular dystrophy? Sounds like this may have more than one use. Like steroids.
I can't think of a better name than Hilary.