How, exactly, would you propose measuring the success of a musician to find out whose CDs are worth pressing by the million, and whose to throw in the dumpster?
There is only one way to measure, being the feeling in my chest, and the look on my face, when I hear the music.
Perhaps the problem is that a large percentage of people are not good judges of music quality.
Although I think that has something to do with it, I think the real problem is that people don't know where to find a reasonable array of choices, so they follow the path of least resistance and buy popular garbage. I've known lots of people with good taste who suffered deeply because they could not locate any CD's which satisfied their urges. I propose that the status quo music industry denies them access to the quality they seek.
But how do you solve that?
My theory (and that of many others) is that the labels are marketing machines, thus when their marketing and sales channels are finally and truly made obsolete by the internet, then consumers will be aware and choose from a drastically different array of cultural media products. Once those crazy kids grow up, and a larger percent of the country/world can effectively use information technology to locate and define what truly interests them, we will no longer be subject to the tyranny of commercial radio.
People buy what they are told, thats why marketing professionals exist. Once pop radio and MTV are not the sole method of music promotion, things will change rapidly.
When the consumer is exposed to more complete information about the world around them, then the market will decide in favor of artists which are of higher quality, because there will finally be new competitors. The whole 'lowering barriers of entry' bit can be inserted here.
For example, notice that once college radio got hot (R.E.M.), record companies started looking there for talent, then commercial radio imitated with "alternative." Once another real compteitor arrives, the vile music promotion industry will have to either evolve again (hopefully more drastically) or perish.
First of all, if you believe a music industry accounting statement, I have some swamp land in florida and a bridge you might be interested in buying. Secondly, the cliche is OLD wine in NEW bottles. OLD.
Dischord Records (Fugazi) is the best example of a virtuous label, and one of the FEW truly "independant" labels which are world renouned. You could always buy their stuff cheaper than retail by mailorder, and this fact is printed on the back of all the records. I bought the newest Fugazi record for $10 post paid. No record store will EVER beat that price, so I bought the EP too. I highly recommend you go buy the entire Fugazi catalog, is the best bang-for-your buck you will find for visionary recordings.
The next generation of consumers will feel this way, and most of the economics surrounding the consumption of new creative intellecutal property will radically change. The music industry has been suing home recording facilities for years, but you can't sue an individual who creates at home without invoicing anyone. Digital recording is cheap and getting cheaper, and this is spreading to video too. TV and Films are next.
However, this cannot happen until A) New artists and personalities are consistantly broken by free music and video marketing and B) kids who actually USE the internet and are not so trained to devour CD's grow up and start making real money.
Since broadband adoption slowed down, this might take a LONG time.
a successful formula to minimize losses on crappy bands (the 95%) and maximize profits on good bands (the 5%)
I must beg to differ. It is quite clear that quality of music has very little correlation to its success in the marketplace. When a good band actually gets popular, I assure you it is merely a random coincidence. A friend of mine who has worked at WB records for 20 years said it best: "If 16 million people buy it, its GOT to suck!" The only exceptions I can think of @16M would be Nirvana and Lauren Hill. Cake is good, but not megaplatnum. If you listen to Blink132 or Creed, your mind and soul are in danger. Please go to a small record store and ask whoever has the most tattos for guidance. And buy some pre-Dio Black Sabbath. Viva Rikki Martin y la vida loco!
I recommend you all read Ayn Rand's Anthem. Its a powerful statement about reverse-engineering and fascist control. And its only 100 pages, so if you aren't used to looking at paper, it shouldn't hurt your eyes.
I think all slashdotters should be familiar with this simple, short story.
You are correct. However, remember that your DV camera was not made for this purpose, not designed for daily wear and tear on the RCA inputs.
I know this because before i got laid off they had me doing lots of DV dumps with a Cannon pro-sumer model. It was a great little cam, and I warned them what was bound to happen long beforehand, but the audio inputs fritzed out. I am looking to buy a broken DV cam with working RCA ports...
Except for actually recording your tv feed, Macs already do all this stuff! What are you waiting for?
Also, with a media encoder you could easily capture from VHS...perhaps you could do it on the fly but you would want a different machine to do it. This thing claims to be able to capture video thru a coaxial feed.
I agree. The difference between the net and TV, print, and AM/FM radio is that the net offers one-to-many communications which can be broadcast, not only recieved, but the average citizen. Everyone has a voice, even though nobody wants to hear them.
Imagine the thrill of HAM radio when it came out. Email and IM has numbed us to the awesome power of communicating with a hobbiest on the other side of the planet.
Where people are going is less important than what people are saying, IMHO, even if its just a site about hippopotomi (sp?).
Even if 90% of americans lose interest in the net and 9% only request files from disney.com, the remaining 1% can use the net to enhance our lives in ways previously unimaginable.
National soverignty is way bigger than you, Sklyarov, and this defamation suit. Not if I'm a solopsist.
my position is that bad laws happen. Right. So did Mcarthyism, Japanese detention camps, and surveillance of the Black Panthers, all by federal mandate.
Making laws universal makes them unescapable Nothing is inescapable.
Once we give up our right to decide what is and isn't legal on our soil I, for one, have never enjoyed this right. Have you?
you might as well Give Up There is slightly more dignity in resisting until the party puts a starving caged rat on your face.
Sorry to be such a bitch, but i just couldn't let go. I guess I need a job or something.
The question is will the legal system become realistic and reasonable once it is clear that there are not nearly enough resources on the planet to sue everyone who committs an internet infraction?
The alternative is that the public will continue to sleep while particular individuals are targeted and destroyed, even though they were singled out for extraneous reasons from a pool of criminalized individuals which include the vast majority of computer users worldwide.
The technophobes and those fearful of internet stalkers and the evil hacker myth may just smile and say "hang 'em high." In times of instability prior to revolutions, the intelluctals are often purged with extreme prejudice to maintain the power structure in question.
Who needs rights anyway? Most of the planet isn't used to them, and wont miss them.
"We are looking forward to Mary J. Blige, Andrea Bocelli, Brandy, Goo Goo Dolls, Macy Gray, Enrique Iglesias, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, and Alanis Morrissette releasing works in the coming months," Rosen concluded.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Don't worry. They are doomed. They are just in the panic and denial stage right now. They knew they were in trouble in 1995 when the Beatles re-release beat the pants off ALL their new releases.
Everyone please just patiently keep recording in your basements. Relax. Actually, no, get really angry so that your recordings are better.
Become a lawyer or a cop. Either that or get ahold of proof that Hillary Rosen, Jack Valenti, or any politician has a stolen version of windoze at home, or nabbed a copy of photoshop and M$ office from their office so that their children can do better at school. Then either blackmail them, or put it in a safe deposit box. That should work better than Johnny Cochran.
I am suprised the establishment is still trying to enforce this stuff. Before you know it they will start releasing the non-violent drug offenders so they can put people who couldn't afford to go to the movies in prison.
Final Cut Pro II (by Apple) is giving Avid Suites a run for their money. The company I used to work for produced a TV series on a G4 and it passed broadcast spec's in the UK. It is good enough for professional video applications.
Also, Quicktime has always been superior to WMP and RealPlayer: you can play it while downloading it (without streaming) and you can easily save and edit the files if the host allows you to.
It would only classify as a publicity stunt if Apple took action. What do you want them to do, refuse the award?
Firewire is AWESOME, and it makes dealing with audio and video files and applications much eaiser. Having a 1 inch tall hot-swappable 100GB drive is clearly incredible. It brings me great joy, and gives me this wierd fuzzy feeling.
Apple got this award because they invented a quality product which saves the television industry time and money. Perhaps thats why PC's adopted it?
It is a bit silly, giving an emmy to an inanimate entity, but if that post about Video Toaster getting one as well, I think its more than appropriate.
For you unfortuante, stricken, diseased Windoze lovers: Why not contact Jack Valenti and ask him to nominate Bill Gates for an Oscar, presented for making the nightmare of our Orwellian future not just a book, but a reality.
Your response makes a lot of sense to me. Thank you for correcting me with your experiences. It is just that where I have worked, it has usually been management's failure to understand or consider the techie's suggestions, or even capabilities, which have caused serious inefficiencies and bad employee morale. Also, I wonder what kind of technical expertise the decision makers at CMGI, idealab, and all the other incubators and VC firms had. These may have been the meetings where we needed geeks to blow the whistle, but i wasn't there. I don't really know.
I guess the rift between MBA's and geeks and the relationship between both groups in the context of an organization is more complicated than I had assumed. The points of view all over this discussion certainly have added to our depth of understanding. I still think the geek shall inherit the earth, but they are going to have to find the right buisness guys to overthrow the establishment.
This past weekend, I met dozens of pre-MBA students for an orientation program. I am not as technical as most dotters. I'm a a/v engineer, Mac user, use server apps a lot but can't install or do much at the command line. I am, by this sites standards, probably not a geek. However, the pre and current MBA students I met thought i was a computer whiz. They cant do anything but check their email. I believe simply our perspective of loving our machines, pushing them to the limit, and understanding part of the socio-political and community aspects of network philosophy offer us perspective which is crucial to the future of all organizations. How exactly it will fit remains to be seen. Either way, I feel it is up to libertarian nerds to avert the impending Orwellian/Huxlean/utopian nightmare on the horizon. The suits may never understand that.
Top MBA programs usually have nearly 100% placement after graduation. This is a bad year to graduate from an MBA program, however riding out a recession while being a full time student is always a good idea.
Although you are correct in the inevitable increase in applications during recession, which is true for ALL academic institutions, this does not mean there will be more students accepted. It does mean that it will be a helluva lot harder to get in to school.
If you want to go, it is still a good idea to apply. The application process can take years, and having applied to an institution in the past increases your chances of getting in next time. I know many folks who sit on admissions boards and continued interest is a big factor in the admissions process.
I think if you check slashdot regularly, you probably know as much about "e-commerce" as most business schools. Its just a website. Not really different from catalog and mail-order sales. Focus on something you don't know, and for god's sake stay out of retail. I've been advised that Finance is the most worthwhile concentration.
New economy fever infected academia just like the business world, but schools don't go out of business, and it embarasses them to remove courses, so they avoid doing that. KnowhutImean?
If they are really that stupid, doesn't that amount to an advantage for people like you, who presumably are not stupid idiots?
If you have such a problem with them, you should support the infiltration of the MBA world by technical people. I would think that a geek with an MBA would be *much* better at communicating and working well with other geeks.
Such personel might break the negative stereotype of MBA's in the IS world, another advantage. Stop whining and take control.
Minority MBA applicants should check out http://www.cgsm.org. They offer full scholarships to an array of top schools, including University of Austin, which is ranked #1 for Information Systems. I will respond to e-mail questions regarding the program. I strongly encourage any qualified applicants to look into this. The sooner you start the application process the better.
Slashdot Mirror
How, exactly, would you propose measuring the success of a musician to find out whose CDs are worth pressing by the million, and whose to throw in the dumpster?
There is only one way to measure, being the feeling in my chest, and the look on my face, when I hear the music.
Perhaps the problem is that a large percentage of people are not good judges of music quality.
Although I think that has something to do with it, I think the real problem is that people don't know where to find a reasonable array of choices, so they follow the path of least resistance and buy popular garbage. I've known lots of people with good taste who suffered deeply because they could not locate any CD's which satisfied their urges. I propose that the status quo music industry denies them access to the quality they seek.
But how do you solve that?
My theory (and that of many others) is that the labels are marketing machines, thus when their marketing and sales channels are finally and truly made obsolete by the internet, then consumers will be aware and choose from a drastically different array of cultural media products. Once those crazy kids grow up, and a larger percent of the country/world can effectively use information technology to locate and define what truly interests them, we will no longer be subject to the tyranny of commercial radio.
People buy what they are told, thats why marketing professionals exist. Once pop radio and MTV are not the sole method of music promotion, things will change rapidly.
When the consumer is exposed to more complete information about the world around them, then the market will decide in favor of artists which are of higher quality, because there will finally be new competitors. The whole 'lowering barriers of entry' bit can be inserted here.
For example, notice that once college radio got hot (R.E.M.), record companies started looking there for talent, then commercial radio imitated with "alternative." Once another real compteitor arrives, the vile music promotion industry will have to either evolve again (hopefully more drastically) or perish.
First of all, if you believe a music industry accounting statement, I have some swamp land in florida and a bridge you might be interested in buying. Secondly, the cliche is OLD wine in NEW bottles. OLD.
considering the fact that you posted this message without including a link to your music makes the fact that you sold 1000 even more interesting...
Dischord Records (Fugazi) is the best example of a virtuous label, and one of the FEW truly "independant" labels which are world renouned. You could always buy their stuff cheaper than retail by mailorder, and this fact is printed on the back of all the records. I bought the newest Fugazi record for $10 post paid. No record store will EVER beat that price, so I bought the EP too. I highly recommend you go buy the entire Fugazi catalog, is the best bang-for-your buck you will find for visionary recordings.
The next generation of consumers will feel this way, and most of the economics surrounding the consumption of new creative intellecutal property will radically change. The music industry has been suing home recording facilities for years, but you can't sue an individual who creates at home without invoicing anyone. Digital recording is cheap and getting cheaper, and this is spreading to video too. TV and Films are next.
However, this cannot happen until A) New artists and personalities are consistantly broken by free music and video marketing and B) kids who actually USE the internet and are not so trained to devour CD's grow up and start making real money.
Since broadband adoption slowed down, this might take a LONG time.
Here is a good starting point http://detritus.net/illegalart/.
I wonder why PBS isn't trying to grab some of the music market...
a successful formula to minimize losses on crappy bands (the 95%) and maximize profits on good bands (the 5%)
I must beg to differ. It is quite clear that quality of music has very little correlation to its success in the marketplace. When a good band actually gets popular, I assure you it is merely a random coincidence. A friend of mine who has worked at WB records for 20 years said it best: "If 16 million people buy it, its GOT to suck!" The only exceptions I can think of @16M would be Nirvana and Lauren Hill. Cake is good, but not megaplatnum. If you listen to Blink132 or Creed, your mind and soul are in danger. Please go to a small record store and ask whoever has the most tattos for guidance. And buy some pre-Dio Black Sabbath. Viva Rikki Martin y la vida loco!
I recommend you all read Ayn Rand's Anthem. Its a powerful statement about reverse-engineering and fascist control. And its only 100 pages, so if you aren't used to looking at paper, it shouldn't hurt your eyes.
I think all slashdotters should be familiar with this simple, short story.
I agree. Game over. Batten down the hatches.
Did everyone else involved in the making of "Tornado" think it was a joke too?
You are correct. However, remember that your DV camera was not made for this purpose, not designed for daily wear and tear on the RCA inputs.
I know this because before i got laid off they had me doing lots of DV dumps with a Cannon pro-sumer model. It was a great little cam, and I warned them what was bound to happen long beforehand, but the audio inputs fritzed out. I am looking to buy a broken DV cam with working RCA ports...
Also, with a media encoder you could easily capture from VHS...perhaps you could do it on the fly but you would want a different machine to do it. This thing claims to be able to capture video thru a coaxial feed.
I agree. The difference between the net and TV, print, and AM/FM radio is that the net offers one-to-many communications which can be broadcast, not only recieved, but the average citizen. Everyone has a voice, even though nobody wants to hear them.
Imagine the thrill of HAM radio when it came out. Email and IM has numbed us to the awesome power of communicating with a hobbiest on the other side of the planet.
Where people are going is less important than what people are saying, IMHO, even if its just a site about hippopotomi (sp?).
Even if 90% of americans lose interest in the net and 9% only request files from disney.com, the remaining 1% can use the net to enhance our lives in ways previously unimaginable.
National soverignty is way bigger than you, Sklyarov, and this defamation suit.
Not if I'm a solopsist.
my position is that bad laws happen.
Right. So did Mcarthyism, Japanese detention camps, and surveillance of the Black Panthers, all by federal mandate.
Making laws universal makes them unescapable
Nothing is inescapable.
Once we give up our right to decide what is and isn't legal on our soil
I, for one, have never enjoyed this right. Have you?
you might as well Give Up
There is slightly more dignity in resisting until the party puts a starving caged rat on your face.
Sorry to be such a bitch, but i just couldn't let go. I guess I need a job or something.
The question is will the legal system become realistic and reasonable once it is clear that there are not nearly enough resources on the planet to sue everyone who committs an internet infraction?
The alternative is that the public will continue to sleep while particular individuals are targeted and destroyed, even though they were singled out for extraneous reasons from a pool of criminalized individuals which include the vast majority of computer users worldwide.
The technophobes and those fearful of internet stalkers and the evil hacker myth may just smile and say "hang 'em high." In times of instability prior to revolutions, the intelluctals are often purged with extreme prejudice to maintain the power structure in question.
Who needs rights anyway? Most of the planet isn't used to them, and wont miss them.
"We are looking forward to Mary J. Blige, Andrea Bocelli, Brandy, Goo Goo Dolls, Macy Gray, Enrique Iglesias, Jewel, Natalie Merchant, and Alanis Morrissette releasing works in the coming months," Rosen concluded.
HAHAHAHAHAHA
Don't worry. They are doomed. They are just in the panic and denial stage right now. They knew they were in trouble in 1995 when the Beatles re-release beat the pants off ALL their new releases.
Everyone please just patiently keep recording in your basements. Relax. Actually, no, get really angry so that your recordings are better.
Oh yeah, and how can I capitalize on this?
Become a lawyer or a cop. Either that or get ahold of proof that Hillary Rosen, Jack Valenti, or any politician has a stolen version of windoze at home, or nabbed a copy of photoshop and M$ office from their office so that their children can do better at school. Then either blackmail them, or put it in a safe deposit box. That should work better than Johnny Cochran.
I am suprised the establishment is still trying to enforce this stuff. Before you know it they will start releasing the non-violent drug offenders so they can put people who couldn't afford to go to the movies in prison.
the fact that ANYONE even bothered to develop video via USB solutions is awful. The quality is offensive.
Final Cut Pro II (by Apple) is giving Avid Suites a run for their money. The company I used to work for produced a TV series on a G4 and it passed broadcast spec's in the UK. It is good enough for professional video applications.
Also, Quicktime has always been superior to WMP and RealPlayer: you can play it while downloading it (without streaming) and you can easily save and edit the files if the host allows you to.
It would only classify as a publicity stunt if Apple took action. What do you want them to do, refuse the award?
Firewire is AWESOME, and it makes dealing with audio and video files and applications much eaiser. Having a 1 inch tall hot-swappable 100GB drive is clearly incredible. It brings me great joy, and gives me this wierd fuzzy feeling.
Apple got this award because they invented a quality product which saves the television industry time and money. Perhaps thats why PC's adopted it?
It is a bit silly, giving an emmy to an inanimate entity, but if that post about Video Toaster getting one as well, I think its more than appropriate.
For you unfortuante, stricken, diseased Windoze lovers: Why not contact Jack Valenti and ask him to nominate Bill Gates for an Oscar, presented for making the nightmare of our Orwellian future not just a book, but a reality.
I guess the rift between MBA's and geeks and the relationship between both groups in the context of an organization is more complicated than I had assumed. The points of view all over this discussion certainly have added to our depth of understanding. I still think the geek shall inherit the earth, but they are going to have to find the right buisness guys to overthrow the establishment .
This past weekend, I met dozens of pre-MBA students for an orientation program. I am not as technical as most dotters. I'm a a/v engineer, Mac user, use server apps a lot but can't install or do much at the command line. I am, by this sites standards, probably not a geek. However, the pre and current MBA students I met thought i was a computer whiz. They cant do anything but check their email. I believe simply our perspective of loving our machines, pushing them to the limit, and understanding part of the socio-political and community aspects of network philosophy offer us perspective which is crucial to the future of all organizations. How exactly it will fit remains to be seen. Either way, I feel it is up to libertarian nerds to avert the impending Orwellian/Huxlean/utopian nightmare on the horizon. The suits may never understand that.
Top MBA programs usually have nearly 100% placement after graduation. This is a bad year to graduate from an MBA program, however riding out a recession while being a full time student is always a good idea.
If you want to go, it is still a good idea to apply. The application process can take years, and having applied to an institution in the past increases your chances of getting in next time. I know many folks who sit on admissions boards and continued interest is a big factor in the admissions process.
New economy fever infected academia just like the business world, but schools don't go out of business, and it embarasses them to remove courses, so they avoid doing that. KnowhutImean?
If you have such a problem with them, you should support the infiltration of the MBA world by technical people. I would think that a geek with an MBA would be *much* better at communicating and working well with other geeks.
Such personel might break the negative stereotype of MBA's in the IS world, another advantage. Stop whining and take control.
Minority MBA applicants should check out http://www.cgsm.org. They offer full scholarships to an array of top schools, including University of Austin, which is ranked #1 for Information Systems. I will respond to e-mail questions regarding the program. I strongly encourage any qualified applicants to look into this. The sooner you start the application process the better.