Not everyone makes/desires a home-brew alternative
on
TiVo Will Die
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· Score: 5, Insightful
I just converted a box at my house to a Media Center PC for the fun of it. It can do everything a Tivo can do, everything a regular DVD player can do, everything a regular stereo can do, and everything a WinXP Pro machine can do.
When normal people want toast, they buy a toaster. They don't take a previously-existing, alternate kitchen appliance, tear it open, and make it capable of producing toast.
The key to making a name for TiVo was impressing the geeks, as they were most likely to be the early adopters. The key to selling TiVo is to convince the regular people that it's easy-to-use, provides a valuable service, and that it's priced within reason. Seeing as every person I know who has used my TiVo for a few minutes has purchased one, geek or not, I believe it has adequately met those criteria.
The way I see it, the future probably will lie in Massive-multiplayer. As residential connections get faster, and protocols are improved to cope with lag better, it might be possible to design games where hundreds of thousands of players compete in real time in one virtual environment. That would be awesome.
I've been playing Planetside, on and off, for about six months. The concept of fighting in large, organized battles with hundreds of other gamers was very appealing. Still, as the novelty of large groups began to wear off, the game was exposed for what it really is... kinda boring. It's a decent FPS, but just decent. It lacks an engaging plot line, developed characters, and the gameplay itself is fairly bland. The developers, who I have a great deal of respect for (despite this less-than-stellar review), are constantly trying to update the game and make it more interesting. It's still lacking something addictive. Adding a lot of people to the equation doesn't add that quality any more than flashy graphics to a standard FPS.
How many 6 Megapixel shots from your fixed network camera do you need? Do you think your fishtank is that interesting to people?
Honestly, the interesting part here is that it's a self-contained network camera. Jamming features into a device doesn't necessarily make it better. If it's primary purpose is a webcam, then you don't want huge downloads... hence the jpeg compression.
He's been part of a secret organization with advanced technology trying to protect the universe (Men In Black I & II), hunted by an evil government conspiracy which he defeats (Enemy of the State), and even married to a stripper (Independence Day)!
Considering that the service no longer belongs to him, but rather to eBay, this guy can't be held responsible for it sucking. He also can't be expected to improve upon a product that he no longer controls. The opinion that it sucked before the sale is irrelevant.
If it sucks, don't use it. Most of the people I know who have used PayPal don't have problems with it. If PayPal isn't protecting you from fraud, you should focus on your credit card company. You aren't any more responsible for transactions you can't complete any more than the ones you don't make.
It won't work for the same reason that the RIAA killing Napster or trying to copy-protect new discs won't work. For every person out there who creates a new technology to stop someone from doing something "bad" there are ten people who will find a way to bypass it, either for fun or for profit.
I don't usually bite on the obvious trolls, but...
In the Macintosh graphic design field, where Adobe has their most rabid supporters, there is a severe issue because QuarkXpress isn't supported on OS X. The problem is, Quark is the premiere desktop publishing tool and even Adobe hasn't been able to take that away.
You would think, since Adobe has cornered the market on just about every other graphic design aspect, that people would immediately switch to their equivalent page layout product. After all, inter-program functionality should be more fluid. Still, even with compatibility issues, there are a lot of people running multiple OS or multiple machine configurations just to use both Quark and OS X. That's inertia... in a big way.
It took Microsoft years to kill off Netscape (or eclipse, for those who still hold out some hope of their resurrection) and that was long before the Web became what it is today. People still aren't as attached to their web browsers as they are to tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Quark. Microsoft has a long way to go before they reverse Adobe's inertia in graphic design, PC or Mac.
Linux is a made up word that is trademarked. Not a common word that was used before Microsoft decided to try to claim it.
Right. That would be fine if someone came out with "Windows Cleaner" and the software had to do with pieces of translucent material that provide a view to the interior of a building. They don't. They are trying to imply a direct tie to the Microsoft OS.
Read the damn article. MS isn't trying to prevent them from using the word. They're just requesting that they use the OS name in a way that separates it from the third-party product.
There's a huge implication made by calling something "Windows Widgets" instead of "Widgets for Windows" The latter implies that it's an add-on utility for the Microsoft OS, while the former implies a more direct relationship. If enough people eased up on the bandwagon MS-bashing, they might see the point.
I have a strange feeling that if Microsoft came out with a product called "MS Linux Toolset" the vast majority of people here would have an aneurysm. They may be a little less rabid about "MS Toolset for Linux"
The space shuttle was a lackluster design when it was originally built. Yes, it got people into space, which is a sizeable accomplishment, but the track record isn't even close to ideal (Challenger explosion withstanding, you still have numerous delayed/cancelled launches for mechanical failures). The US has a lot of cojones to make fun of the Mir space station. Short of foolish pride, I don't understand why someone would keep the current design as long as they have. It seems to me that healthy competition keeps things new, innovative, and cost-efficient at the same time.
I've heard the arguement that, besides tourism, there's no reason for the vast majority of people to go into space. Perhaps, allowing a larger number of people access would uncover new reasons.
A 33 MHz Palm is far more responsive UI-wise than a 200 MHz WinCE device, and lasts far longer on battery.
I replaced my old Palm recently... with a new one. It's simple, really. While WinCE was trying to cram every known thing into their PDA OS, Palm continued to provide the essential features to the user as quickly as possible. I hit one button and there's my address book or calendar.
Screw solitaire and mp3 files if I have to sit through a boot time.
While we were living in Italy, we were one of the fortunate people, through military contacts, who could procure a land line quickly and with very little effort. It wasn't an "old world" area, but the group in charge of telephones didn't generally feel pressured to move quickly. I'm not sure how much has changed in the last 10 years, but I would imagine that it's probably much easier to get a mobile phone than a land line, so "acceptance" is probably a sign of convenience, rather than progressive thinking.
From what I understand, your physical existence could be restored, but not your memory. It does bring up the interesting topic of how your brain stores memories. If those truly can be backed up, it could just as easily be erased or altered. "I know kung-fu." Creepy.
Microsoft, like every other game console producer, takes a hit on the console. It isn't to put the other guy out of business (though sometimes that's a benefit), but rather, to get you hooked on a specific console. After that, they recoup their loss on the games. After all, who buys a console and then never buys a game? The only significant difference here is that Microsoft is banking on turning the profit in an online system, rather than just games.
Last year, the Sheetz gas station near us was selling gas for $0.95/gallon, significantly less than what they paid for it. It wasn't to kill the competitor, but rather to get people in the habit of filling up there. The money they made from their food, drinks, and various items inside the store made up their loss and they slowly raised the cost of gas to normal rates. I fully recognize that, but you know what? I still shop there and I'm not the only one.
Every console maker loses money on the console and assume they'll make it up somewhere else. I'm mildly surprised that they've lost so much money on games, but as more games are created, it will slowly come back. The only significant difference that I see is that, like TiVo, they're hoping the bulk of their money will come from a subscription to an online service.
but it brings up an interesting idea that I predict someone with too much time will eventually do...
Picture the case-modders and over-clockers of the world suddenly working on a DVD player and CD wallet that is sealed and pumped with some easily-obtained gas (for example, helium). You have a double-door for loading and then openings with heavy rubber gloves (like the beds for premature babies) to open the DVD and load it in the player. So long as the media is never exposed to the air, the dye never fades.
Hell, if Blockbuster would send my rentals in the mail and I could "rent" and preserve any movie for one or two bucks, while keeping the apparatus relatively small, I could almost justify it. The obvious downside is the emotional breakdown when your gigantic DVD colection is lost to a slow leak.
Maya is nice, but if you aren't animating you're only using a very small portion of its abilities.
Rather than learn an inferior program (I use that adjective lightly), learn the one that does the most, so you don't have to re-learn the basics in a different suite later.
One of the reasons I use Maya (recently switching from 3D Studio Max) is because it does everything, without the need for extra plugins. Truthfully, I don't use most of the features, but it's nice to know I can. After all, I don't use 90% of the features in Word, but that doesn't mean I'll switch to Works.
As for cost, most 3D programs, including Maya, have demo versions and significantly reduced cost for students. A reduced-price Maya plus the cost of a community college course to qualify is dirt-cheap. Beyond that, the free versions are usually stripped-down, but contain enough features to learn the suite (which is, of course, the point).
nobody cares about your company. think about it. its important to you, but it makes a grain of salt of difference to anyone else.
Except every script kiddie out there who has a different, specific target in mind for a DoS attack. Most people hit by viruses and worms weren't even known to the attacker, let alone the intended target. If all the @home distributed computing projects are important enough to you, fine. If your security is more important, you'd be stupid to run the risk.
Of course, this didn't stop the real dyed-in-the-wool, off-shore-operating, parrot-on-the-shoulder, chip-modding, math-prodigy, Trans-Am-On-The-Cinder-Blocks, Complete-and-Total-Social-Outcast Pirates
While it's true I have a parrot, I wouldn't be caught dead in a Trans Am.
There are huge cultural differences between America and Germany, and it's important to try and understand those differences before over reacting.
I have quite a few German relatives, half in the US now, who I never considered offensive or rude since I grew up around them. It wasn't until one of my friends pointed out how incredibly rude she thought my aunt was when she told my mother, "That outfit looks horrible on you," that I even gave it a second thought.
While trying to avoid making broad generalizations, most of the German people I've met just tend to be extremely blunt. It may take some getting used to, but I prefer the brutal honesty more than the flowery, politically-correct BS that we deal with here in the US.
What's to stop somebody from running up $2000 on a machine, then claiming to "lose" the card. They'd be personally liable for only $50, and the casino would have a chargeback for the rest.
With the sheer amount of security cameras available, I don't think a casino would have any problem identifying the user of the card in court. I would be more worried about the smarter thief who steals a credit card, wins a couple grand, cashes out, ditches the card, and then bolts. If the casino subtracts the original charge from the winnings and it never actually hits the credit card (avoiding the charge fees, saving the casino money), nobody is the wiser.
I've seen the people who abuse their ATM and credit cards gambling. Last year, I watched a guy use an ATM on a casino boat just out of Florida waters. The ATM fee was $40 and he must have hit the machine at least 10 times, never pulling out more than $200.
I don't think the gambling helps these people, but I'm pretty sure these are the same people who don't understand the fundamental concepts behind credit systems. I could just as easily see them buying items they can't afford, then rolling over thousands of dollars in balances each month.
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I just converted a box at my house to a Media Center PC for the fun of it. It can do everything a Tivo can do, everything a regular DVD player can do, everything a regular stereo can do, and everything a WinXP Pro machine can do.
When normal people want toast, they buy a toaster. They don't take a previously-existing, alternate kitchen appliance, tear it open, and make it capable of producing toast.
The key to making a name for TiVo was impressing the geeks, as they were most likely to be the early adopters. The key to selling TiVo is to convince the regular people that it's easy-to-use, provides a valuable service, and that it's priced within reason. Seeing as every person I know who has used my TiVo for a few minutes has purchased one, geek or not, I believe it has adequately met those criteria.
The way I see it, the future probably will lie in Massive-multiplayer. As residential connections get faster, and protocols are improved to cope with lag better, it might be possible to design games where hundreds of thousands of players compete in real time in one virtual environment. That would be awesome.
I've been playing Planetside, on and off, for about six months. The concept of fighting in large, organized battles with hundreds of other gamers was very appealing. Still, as the novelty of large groups began to wear off, the game was exposed for what it really is... kinda boring. It's a decent FPS, but just decent. It lacks an engaging plot line, developed characters, and the gameplay itself is fairly bland. The developers, who I have a great deal of respect for (despite this less-than-stellar review), are constantly trying to update the game and make it more interesting. It's still lacking something addictive. Adding a lot of people to the equation doesn't add that quality any more than flashy graphics to a standard FPS.
How many 6 Megapixel shots from your fixed network camera do you need? Do you think your fishtank is that interesting to people?
Honestly, the interesting part here is that it's a self-contained network camera. Jamming features into a device doesn't necessarily make it better. If it's primary purpose is a webcam, then you don't want huge downloads... hence the jpeg compression.
He's been part of a secret organization with advanced technology trying to protect the universe (Men In Black I & II), hunted by an evil government conspiracy which he defeats (Enemy of the State), and even married to a stripper (Independence Day)!
This guy is every Slashdot reader's hero.
Considering that the service no longer belongs to him, but rather to eBay, this guy can't be held responsible for it sucking. He also can't be expected to improve upon a product that he no longer controls. The opinion that it sucked before the sale is irrelevant.
If it sucks, don't use it. Most of the people I know who have used PayPal don't have problems with it. If PayPal isn't protecting you from fraud, you should focus on your credit card company. You aren't any more responsible for transactions you can't complete any more than the ones you don't make.
It won't work for the same reason that the RIAA killing Napster or trying to copy-protect new discs won't work. For every person out there who creates a new technology to stop someone from doing something "bad" there are ten people who will find a way to bypass it, either for fun or for profit.
I don't usually bite on the obvious trolls, but...
In the Macintosh graphic design field, where Adobe has their most rabid supporters, there is a severe issue because QuarkXpress isn't supported on OS X. The problem is, Quark is the premiere desktop publishing tool and even Adobe hasn't been able to take that away.
You would think, since Adobe has cornered the market on just about every other graphic design aspect, that people would immediately switch to their equivalent page layout product. After all, inter-program functionality should be more fluid. Still, even with compatibility issues, there are a lot of people running multiple OS or multiple machine configurations just to use both Quark and OS X. That's inertia... in a big way.
It took Microsoft years to kill off Netscape (or eclipse, for those who still hold out some hope of their resurrection) and that was long before the Web became what it is today. People still aren't as attached to their web browsers as they are to tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, and Quark. Microsoft has a long way to go before they reverse Adobe's inertia in graphic design, PC or Mac.
Linux is a made up word that is trademarked. Not a common word that was used before Microsoft decided to try to claim it.
Right. That would be fine if someone came out with "Windows Cleaner" and the software had to do with pieces of translucent material that provide a view to the interior of a building. They don't. They are trying to imply a direct tie to the Microsoft OS.
Read the damn article. MS isn't trying to prevent them from using the word. They're just requesting that they use the OS name in a way that separates it from the third-party product.
There's a huge implication made by calling something "Windows Widgets" instead of "Widgets for Windows" The latter implies that it's an add-on utility for the Microsoft OS, while the former implies a more direct relationship. If enough people eased up on the bandwagon MS-bashing, they might see the point.
I have a strange feeling that if Microsoft came out with a product called "MS Linux Toolset" the vast majority of people here would have an aneurysm. They may be a little less rabid about "MS Toolset for Linux"
The space shuttle was a lackluster design when it was originally built. Yes, it got people into space, which is a sizeable accomplishment, but the track record isn't even close to ideal (Challenger explosion withstanding, you still have numerous delayed/cancelled launches for mechanical failures). The US has a lot of cojones to make fun of the Mir space station. Short of foolish pride, I don't understand why someone would keep the current design as long as they have. It seems to me that healthy competition keeps things new, innovative, and cost-efficient at the same time.
I've heard the arguement that, besides tourism, there's no reason for the vast majority of people to go into space. Perhaps, allowing a larger number of people access would uncover new reasons.
A 33 MHz Palm is far more responsive UI-wise than a 200 MHz WinCE device, and lasts far longer on battery.
I replaced my old Palm recently... with a new one. It's simple, really. While WinCE was trying to cram every known thing into their PDA OS, Palm continued to provide the essential features to the user as quickly as possible. I hit one button and there's my address book or calendar.
Screw solitaire and mp3 files if I have to sit through a boot time.
While we were living in Italy, we were one of the fortunate people, through military contacts, who could procure a land line quickly and with very little effort. It wasn't an "old world" area, but the group in charge of telephones didn't generally feel pressured to move quickly. I'm not sure how much has changed in the last 10 years, but I would imagine that it's probably much easier to get a mobile phone than a land line, so "acceptance" is probably a sign of convenience, rather than progressive thinking.
From what I understand, your physical existence could be restored, but not your memory. It does bring up the interesting topic of how your brain stores memories. If those truly can be backed up, it could just as easily be erased or altered. "I know kung-fu." Creepy.
For one, JVC and Canon camcorder models mentioned in the site get shock certified at 0.6 Mach speed, with forces exceeding 1G. Wow!
The speed is impressive, but I certainly hope it could handle more than 1G. Otherwise, you couldn't pick it up off a table without breaking it.
It's not dumping. Period.
Microsoft, like every other game console producer, takes a hit on the console. It isn't to put the other guy out of business (though sometimes that's a benefit), but rather, to get you hooked on a specific console. After that, they recoup their loss on the games. After all, who buys a console and then never buys a game? The only significant difference here is that Microsoft is banking on turning the profit in an online system, rather than just games.
Last year, the Sheetz gas station near us was selling gas for $0.95/gallon, significantly less than what they paid for it. It wasn't to kill the competitor, but rather to get people in the habit of filling up there. The money they made from their food, drinks, and various items inside the store made up their loss and they slowly raised the cost of gas to normal rates. I fully recognize that, but you know what? I still shop there and I'm not the only one.
Every console maker loses money on the console and assume they'll make it up somewhere else. I'm mildly surprised that they've lost so much money on games, but as more games are created, it will slowly come back. The only significant difference that I see is that, like TiVo, they're hoping the bulk of their money will come from a subscription to an online service.
the money could be encrypted with the artist's public key. Let the RIAA go after the artist for their cut, instead.
but it brings up an interesting idea that I predict someone with too much time will eventually do...
Picture the case-modders and over-clockers of the world suddenly working on a DVD player and CD wallet that is sealed and pumped with some easily-obtained gas (for example, helium). You have a double-door for loading and then openings with heavy rubber gloves (like the beds for premature babies) to open the DVD and load it in the player. So long as the media is never exposed to the air, the dye never fades.
Hell, if Blockbuster would send my rentals in the mail and I could "rent" and preserve any movie for one or two bucks, while keeping the apparatus relatively small, I could almost justify it. The obvious downside is the emotional breakdown when your gigantic DVD colection is lost to a slow leak.
before a Corona commercial shows the guy on the beach adjusting the dish and using it as a shade umbrella?
Of course, if she's 5'8". 36-24-36, and in her 20's, I might have to change my mind.. :)
36-24-36?
Haha... only if she's 5'3"
Maya is nice, but if you aren't animating you're only using a very small portion of its abilities.
Rather than learn an inferior program (I use that adjective lightly), learn the one that does the most, so you don't have to re-learn the basics in a different suite later.
One of the reasons I use Maya (recently switching from 3D Studio Max) is because it does everything, without the need for extra plugins. Truthfully, I don't use most of the features, but it's nice to know I can. After all, I don't use 90% of the features in Word, but that doesn't mean I'll switch to Works.
As for cost, most 3D programs, including Maya, have demo versions and significantly reduced cost for students. A reduced-price Maya plus the cost of a community college course to qualify is dirt-cheap. Beyond that, the free versions are usually stripped-down, but contain enough features to learn the suite (which is, of course, the point).
nobody cares about your company. think about it. its important to you, but it makes a grain of salt of difference to anyone else.
Except every script kiddie out there who has a different, specific target in mind for a DoS attack. Most people hit by viruses and worms weren't even known to the attacker, let alone the intended target. If all the @home distributed computing projects are important enough to you, fine. If your security is more important, you'd be stupid to run the risk.
Of course, this didn't stop the real dyed-in-the-wool, off-shore-operating, parrot-on-the-shoulder, chip-modding, math-prodigy, Trans-Am-On-The-Cinder-Blocks, Complete-and-Total-Social-Outcast Pirates
While it's true I have a parrot, I wouldn't be caught dead in a Trans Am.
There are huge cultural differences between America and Germany, and it's important to try and understand those differences before over reacting.
I have quite a few German relatives, half in the US now, who I never considered offensive or rude since I grew up around them. It wasn't until one of my friends pointed out how incredibly rude she thought my aunt was when she told my mother, "That outfit looks horrible on you," that I even gave it a second thought.
While trying to avoid making broad generalizations, most of the German people I've met just tend to be extremely blunt. It may take some getting used to, but I prefer the brutal honesty more than the flowery, politically-correct BS that we deal with here in the US.
What's to stop somebody from running up $2000 on a machine, then claiming to "lose" the card. They'd be personally liable for only $50, and the casino would have a chargeback for the rest.
With the sheer amount of security cameras available, I don't think a casino would have any problem identifying the user of the card in court. I would be more worried about the smarter thief who steals a credit card, wins a couple grand, cashes out, ditches the card, and then bolts. If the casino subtracts the original charge from the winnings and it never actually hits the credit card (avoiding the charge fees, saving the casino money), nobody is the wiser.
I've seen the people who abuse their ATM and credit cards gambling. Last year, I watched a guy use an ATM on a casino boat just out of Florida waters. The ATM fee was $40 and he must have hit the machine at least 10 times, never pulling out more than $200.
I don't think the gambling helps these people, but I'm pretty sure these are the same people who don't understand the fundamental concepts behind credit systems. I could just as easily see them buying items they can't afford, then rolling over thousands of dollars in balances each month.