What are you going to put on DVD when broadcast flags go into effect next year? Between the DMCA, DRM, and Secure computing, I can see a day in less than 10 years where I'd have nothing left to burn.
The hard drives Apple uses are commodity IDE. Same for USB devices, VGA monitors, and power supplies. The most of the 6 steps in the article involve sacrificing designy case in favor of market share. Offering homebrew kits allows geeks to try OSX without shelling out $3000. If they like it, instant evangelists. Since it's tough to homebrew a laptop and that's really were Apple excels, maybe they'll get their $3000 there.
Apple needs to start selling individual motherboards and processors. I've been saying this for years, but how many of you would invest in an Apple motherboard/processor/OS bundle for $200-$300? The average geek has an extra hard drive, power supply, and case laying around.
Apple wouldn't be canalizing their market because these people aren't going to shell out $3000 for a new G5, but they may spend $200-$300 to try out another Unix with a polished GUI.
At $79, you can hardly afford the harddrive to roll your own PVR.
What about the subscription cost? I'd still like to see someone build a quality homebrew PVR for $399. Unless there time is worth nothing and they have access to really cheap hardware, you can't beat the price of a ReplayTV or TiVo.
The problem comes when someone hacks these to pull their content updates from another source. The The Hacking the TiVo FAQ hosted by samba.org is against it... but what will happen to TiVo's business model when someone hacks together support for XMLTV or RSS enclosures?
When something is advertised as being broadband enabled, I kind of expected an ethernet port on the TiVo I bought. Instead you have to buy a USB ethernet adapter which TiVo wants $40 for. You can find compatible adapters for $15 and this wouldn't be much of a problem if I didn't need 6 TiVo's to work togther for a research project about media coverage of election poll results.
The idea was to use the TiVo's to record several hours of several stations' election coverage. We went with TiVo vs. ReplayTV because we could easily move video to a TiVo with a DVD burner to archive content.
With Replays WITH ethernet starting at $79, 6 of those with a patch panel and a stand-alone DVD burner would have been a better buy.
I have a Treo300 through Sprint and I love it. When I'm surfing with my phone, it is very slow... but when I connect using Scott Gruby's WirelessModem on my G4 laptop, I get transfer speed comparable to a 56K dial-up.
The difference in speed is the difference between the 33MHz Dragonball VZ in my Treo and the 800MHz G4 in my laptop. I've tried Treo600's and will be upgrading to a 610 when it's released. Moving up from a 33MHz to a 312MHz processor will make a huge difference.
Think about it. What would broadband do for a 33MHz Pentium?
We bought a few Sony MD recorders for academic use before we realize how difficult it was to get the recorded content off the minidiscs.
While the product description for new Walkman claims the software included with the Walkman can convert MP3 and WMA to the proprietary ATRAC format... there is no mention of how or if the files can be converted to use on a non-Sony product. In the 80's, I could move a tape from my Sony Walkman to my Magnovox boombox. Sony worked with a standard format for recording and media and they were successful. You'd think they would have learned from the MiniDisc's failure that open and compatible sells better than close and proprietary.
To get the best of Sony style but a less restricting DRM, check out RetroPod.
We long ago moved from the model of buying media with a recording on it under the assumption we owned both the object and the right to do anything we wanted with the recording that the law allowed. Now we only buy an option to listen to a song, watch a movie, play a game, or even use an application at the copyright owner's discression. Consumers of entertainment own less with every new format.
The PBS's affilates were some of the first to upgrade to HDTV compatible transmitors. Accoring to PBS, "As of June 2004, 261 PBS member stations are offering digital broadcast services, covering 87.44% of all U.S. TV households."
Sorry to state the obvious, but even main stream media outlets like the New York Times (reg. req.) are aware "over 100 independent television stations streaming over the Internet, covering almost every imaginable interest."
I really think the amount of content and diversity continues to increase... just not on television as we knew it.
I work for a university and I'm sick of trying to explain why I can't convert a RealAudio stream into something that can be used in a PowerPoint. I'm told the faculty member's use is covered under Fair Use and while that's true, the process of getting to the content isn't. The DMCA trumps Fair Use. Big Media knew this when they lobbied for it. Technology impaired PhD's didn't realize how a law that was marketted as something to stop people from illegally copying DVDs would effect them until they tried to play something in class that requires them to watch a 2 minute FBI warning and then a 5 minutes of teaser that they are "Not Permitted" to fast forward though before they even get to the DVD menu or wanted to copy a audio or video clip hosted on a site they feared might change and were told that was illegal. Part of the problem is that most University support staff I know will just crack/copy/convert the content rather than listen to the faculty member whine.
The DMCA should have been named "Consumers License the Right to View Content vs. Own Content Act". Maybe then more people would see that their rights are being eroded. Are they going to wait until Maytag starts selling subscription service to keep food cold or Craftsman sells hammers that can only be used with their nails? Cars that only run on Ford approved gas? HDTV that can't be recorded or TiVo'ed?
What is it going to take for Average Joe American to realize Big Co's really own all his stuff? I completely support this legislation and I hope every/.er is completing this EFF form to let their congressional representatives know people care about this issue.
If you believe that the DMCA is trampling your rights under Fair Use, please get involved in supporting the EFF and the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA, H.R. 107).
If we don't let our representatives know we are watching how they vote on this, Big Media will crush this legislation. If the/. community would spend a fraction of the time lobbying against laws like the DMCA as we do bitching about the companies that sue using it, PlayFair (and any other DRM cracker) would already be legal.
If you're going to count Be, then you'd have to count OS2 and Amiga. But it looks like Be is the only company that sued.
I keep hearing about 30-40 other lawsuits pending, but I've never seen a list.
Has anyone seen (or made) a complete list or timeline that Microsoft has crushed this way? I know Apple, Netscape(/AOL), and Real have all "settled" with Microsoft in the past. And recently, Sun, InterTrust, and Lindows.
Christian Langreiter has written an interesting tool that visually compares the results of a Yahoo vs. Google search.
Will be really interesting to watch the deviation change as Yahoo skews their ranks for $$... not that Google hasn't been skewed by A-List bloggers for years.
"I can't believe Chiat Day failed to clear the use of these songs with Pink, Mariah Carey, and The Who... or whatever major label actually owns the rights."
Wait, forget the linked articles, now we're not even reading the posts? I'm confused.
... literally. A couple of Disney "Imagineers" were in town for a presentation and said that Disney has changed to the point that they are now cracking down on free coffee while DreamWorks is providing free lunches in an effort to keep it's talent on campus.
The Disney approach is typical accounting mentality towards creativity. Because profits are down, we need to tighten the screws. Meanwhile the talent is spending 20 minutes deciding where to go for lunch, 20 minutes to get there, and if they're networking with anyone, it's to look for a new job.
During their introduction, a sketch of Mickey was slowly drawn on the screen with the explanation that some of the greatest ideas start with a sketch. It was all I could do not to yell out, "Yeah, a sketch of Steam Boat Willy!".
I refrained and was allowed to listen to these two blather on about how outdated Disney's creative process is. These were supposed to people be people who actually designed physical attractions, but there was no mention of 3D visualization, rapid prototyping, or virtual walk throughs.
I'm confused here. If you bought MusicMatch without an iPod, it didn't support the iPod. The only version with iPod support came with the iPod... from Apple. This leads me to believe it was Apple that wrote the iPod conduit, not MusicMatch.
MusicMatch would have a legitimate complaint if they had a stand alone product that supported the iPod that Apple's software conflicted with, but that's not what happened.
Apple wrote a conduit for the iPod and decided to change how that conduit works.
I expect to get my news from an aggregate/agent from many sources. These sources/feeds will be a combination of subscription/ad driven/professional reporting/blog. They will be a blend of text/audio/video from fast (realtime) and slow (downloaded) connections.
I doubt very much that I'll be able to distinguish between what was a newspaper, television, or radio station.
I see the current rules as a being very irrelevant in 5-10 years.
Why not transition to the OS option that even Microsoft describes as a "seamless transition". While Microsoft's continued support for cross platform compatibility between Windows and Macs isn't guaranteed, I am constantly switching platforms and supporting students who do the same and see very few compatibility issues.
I realize that buying into Macs has a hardware AND software cost, but if you transition the users who don't use Windows applications other than Office to flat panel iMacs and Office.X at $2,000 a seat, you'll likely save money during the machine and software's lifecycle and update your office's image at the same time.
"Simple, Yet Powerful" has always been a red flag for me when dealing w/ vendors. When evaluating a product, I try to follow my Mom's advise about women...
"If it's easy, it isn't good."
If someone described a blind date as simple, yet powerful, would you go?
Slashdot Mirror
What are you going to put on DVD when broadcast flags go into effect next year? Between the DMCA, DRM, and Secure computing, I can see a day in less than 10 years where I'd have nothing left to burn.
David Stotts' website. It looks like they are going to be presenting at Hypertext 2004 as well.
The hard drives Apple uses are commodity IDE. Same for USB devices, VGA monitors, and power supplies. The most of the 6 steps in the article involve sacrificing designy case in favor of market share. Offering homebrew kits allows geeks to try OSX without shelling out $3000. If they like it, instant evangelists. Since it's tough to homebrew a laptop and that's really were Apple excels, maybe they'll get their $3000 there.
Apple needs to start selling individual motherboards and processors. I've been saying this for years, but how many of you would invest in an Apple motherboard/processor/OS bundle for $200-$300? The average geek has an extra hard drive, power supply, and case laying around.
Apple wouldn't be canalizing their market because these people aren't going to shell out $3000 for a new G5, but they may spend $200-$300 to try out another Unix with a polished GUI.
At $79, you can hardly afford the harddrive to roll your own PVR.
What about the subscription cost? I'd still like to see someone build a quality homebrew PVR for $399. Unless there time is worth nothing and they have access to really cheap hardware, you can't beat the price of a ReplayTV or TiVo.
The problem comes when someone hacks these to pull their content updates from another source. The The Hacking the TiVo FAQ hosted by samba.org is against it... but what will happen to TiVo's business model when someone hacks together support for XMLTV or RSS enclosures?
The idea was to use the TiVo's to record several hours of several stations' election coverage. We went with TiVo vs. ReplayTV because we could easily move video to a TiVo with a DVD burner to archive content.
With Replays WITH ethernet starting at $79, 6 of those with a patch panel and a stand-alone DVD burner would have been a better buy.
The difference in speed is the difference between the 33MHz Dragonball VZ in my Treo and the 800MHz G4 in my laptop. I've tried Treo600's and will be upgrading to a 610 when it's released. Moving up from a 33MHz to a 312MHz processor will make a huge difference.
Think about it. What would broadband do for a 33MHz Pentium?
We bought a few Sony MD recorders for academic use before we realize how difficult it was to get the recorded content off the minidiscs.
While the product description for new Walkman claims the software included with the Walkman can convert MP3 and WMA to the proprietary ATRAC format... there is no mention of how or if the files can be converted to use on a non-Sony product. In the 80's, I could move a tape from my Sony Walkman to my Magnovox boombox. Sony worked with a standard format for recording and media and they were successful. You'd think they would have learned from the MiniDisc's failure that open and compatible sells better than close and proprietary.
To get the best of Sony style but a less restricting DRM, check out RetroPod.
We long ago moved from the model of buying media with a recording on it under the assumption we owned both the object and the right to do anything we wanted with the recording that the law allowed. Now we only buy an option to listen to a song, watch a movie, play a game, or even use an application at the copyright owner's discression. Consumers of entertainment own less with every new format.
The PBS's affilates were some of the first to upgrade to HDTV compatible transmitors. Accoring to PBS, "As of June 2004, 261 PBS member stations are offering digital broadcast services, covering 87.44% of all U.S. TV households."
Sorry to state the obvious, but even main stream media outlets like the New York Times (reg. req.) are aware "over 100 independent television stations streaming over the Internet, covering almost every imaginable interest."
I really think the amount of content and diversity continues to increase... just not on television as we knew it.
I work for a university and I'm sick of trying to explain why I can't convert a RealAudio stream into something that can be used in a PowerPoint. I'm told the faculty member's use is covered under Fair Use and while that's true, the process of getting to the content isn't. The DMCA trumps Fair Use. Big Media knew this when they lobbied for it. Technology impaired PhD's didn't realize how a law that was marketted as something to stop people from illegally copying DVDs would effect them until they tried to play something in class that requires them to watch a 2 minute FBI warning and then a 5 minutes of teaser that they are "Not Permitted" to fast forward though before they even get to the DVD menu or wanted to copy a audio or video clip hosted on a site they feared might change and were told that was illegal. Part of the problem is that most University support staff I know will just crack/copy/convert the content rather than listen to the faculty member whine.
/.er is completing this EFF form to let their congressional representatives know people care about this issue.
The DMCA should have been named "Consumers License the Right to View Content vs. Own Content Act". Maybe then more people would see that their rights are being eroded. Are they going to wait until Maytag starts selling subscription service to keep food cold or Craftsman sells hammers that can only be used with their nails? Cars that only run on Ford approved gas? HDTV that can't be recorded or TiVo'ed?
What is it going to take for Average Joe American to realize Big Co's really own all his stuff? I completely support this legislation and I hope every
If we don't let our representatives know we are watching how they vote on this, Big Media will crush this legislation. If the /. community would spend a fraction of the time lobbying against laws like the DMCA as we do bitching about the companies that sue using it, PlayFair (and any other DRM cracker) would already be legal.
If you're going to count Be, then you'd have to count OS2 and Amiga. But it looks like Be is the only company that sued. I keep hearing about 30-40 other lawsuits pending, but I've never seen a list.
Has anyone seen (or made) a complete list or timeline that Microsoft has crushed this way? I know Apple, Netscape(/AOL), and Real have all "settled" with Microsoft in the past. And recently, Sun, InterTrust, and Lindows.
Who can you add?
Ze has a Apple style video rant about Friendster that's worth watching.
Christian Langreiter has written an interesting tool that visually compares the results of a Yahoo vs. Google search. Will be really interesting to watch the deviation change as Yahoo skews their ranks for $$... not that Google hasn't been skewed by A-List bloggers for years.
Wait, forget the linked articles, now we're not even reading the posts? I'm confused.
... literally. A couple of Disney "Imagineers" were in town for a presentation and said that Disney has changed to the point that they are now cracking down on free coffee while DreamWorks is providing free lunches in an effort to keep it's talent on campus.
The Disney approach is typical accounting mentality towards creativity. Because profits are down, we need to tighten the screws. Meanwhile the talent is spending 20 minutes deciding where to go for lunch, 20 minutes to get there, and if they're networking with anyone, it's to look for a new job.
During their introduction, a sketch of Mickey was slowly drawn on the screen with the explanation that some of the greatest ideas start with a sketch. It was all I could do not to yell out, "Yeah, a sketch of Steam Boat Willy!".
I refrained and was allowed to listen to these two blather on about how outdated Disney's creative process is. These were supposed to people be people who actually designed physical attractions, but there was no mention of 3D visualization, rapid prototyping, or virtual walk throughs.
Why put your name on the crack? Why even crack it in the first place? Why eat the Apple?
Because we're human.
I'm confused here. If you bought MusicMatch without an iPod, it didn't support the iPod. The only version with iPod support came with the iPod... from Apple. This leads me to believe it was Apple that wrote the iPod conduit, not MusicMatch.
MusicMatch would have a legitimate complaint if they had a stand alone product that supported the iPod that Apple's software conflicted with, but that's not what happened.
Apple wrote a conduit for the iPod and decided to change how that conduit works.
I expect to get my news from an aggregate/agent from many sources. These sources/feeds will be a combination of subscription/ad driven/professional reporting/blog. They will be a blend of text/audio/video from fast (realtime) and slow (downloaded) connections.
I doubt very much that I'll be able to distinguish between what was a newspaper, television, or radio station.
I see the current rules as a being very irrelevant in 5-10 years.
Why not transition to the OS option that even Microsoft describes as a "seamless transition". While Microsoft's continued support for cross platform compatibility between Windows and Macs isn't guaranteed, I am constantly switching platforms and supporting students who do the same and see very few compatibility issues.
I realize that buying into Macs has a hardware AND software cost, but if you transition the users who don't use Windows applications other than Office to flat panel iMacs and Office.X at $2,000 a seat, you'll likely save money during the machine and software's lifecycle and update your office's image at the same time.
"If it's easy, it isn't good."
If someone described a blind date as simple, yet powerful, would you go?
http://www.kaleidoscope.net/
Macs have whacked interface schemes since Greg Landweber and Arlo Rose hacked this piece of shareware out.
Kaleidoscope has schemes rivaling anything on themes.org.
I've always prefered the interfaces and icons of Mac users create to anything coming out of the Windows or Linux camps.
Take a look at Audion's Faces compared to WinAmp's Skins.
Is there a Windows or Linux equivalent to Icon Factory?