If it's this simple, why are CDs more expensive than cassettes, which are more expensive to manufacture than CDs?
Furthermore, the banter about the CPI going up 60% is a crock as well. Other media haven't followed the CPI either (although movies in my area have gone up a tad).
The fact of the matter is, we've been being overcharged for CDs for years. True, their margins are probably shrinking due to higher production costs, but make no mistake: the recording industry is nowhere near losing money.
No you are not the only one. Most people just read the original, sensationalized EDITORIAL on yahoo, and skipped the original post in the Harvard Crimson.
The editorial, written by a Mac zealot, made Intel out to be evil, yet admitted he based his story on the Harvard Crimson story. The story in the Crime had the following quote:
"Because of the last-minute changes, we tried to accommodate Intel," Hess said. "There was no monetary pressure. It was just a courtesy to Intel because of the last-minute confusion."
A far cry from what was inferred in the editorial. It's unfortunate that the otherwise intelligent people here on slashdot lose all control of their senses when an editorial is posted that depicts negative behavior from Intel, Microsoft, and any other "enemy of the day."
It's also unfortunate that slashdot doesn't research the stories a little more and post links to the non-biased accounts of the information at hand. But that's another story:)
Now maybe our European friends will get off their high horse and not be so quick to criticize Americans for all the stupid crap that goes on in the U.S.
We've all got stupid laws to work on getting repealed, and stupid politicians that need to be voted out of office. It's time to go to work and fix the stuff, instead of pointing to others and laughing at how stupid their countries are.
One of the most important things is to spend the extra dough to hire competent people. I've been with three startups and they've all failed to do this in one way or another.
The first startup didn't hire anyone, so it never got off the ground. Lesson: If the existing staff is already working their collective ass off for you, and there's more work in the queue, get more people. The trick here is to not hire more people than you need.
The second company managed to hire an extremely talented staff for below industry-standard wages, due to the lure of the stock, but failed to keep this staff by awarding 3% raises to everyone in the company. By giving the top performers the same amount of raise and stock options as those not performing to the same level, the company all but assured that the talent would leave in droves. And they did. Lesson: A little extra money in the right place goes a long way to keep your talent.
The third company had a mostly incompetent staff and was the most aggravating company to work for out of the three. The handful of competent people there carried the load of the greater numbers of slackers, whiners, and incompetants. Lesson: It doesn't take too many bad apples to ruin the whole bunch.
I'd say besides what I already mentioned, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that an employee who wants to be at work, will be willing to go the extra mile to make it succeed.
I hope this helps. There are alot of hard lessons to be learned in the land of startups. Unfortunately the only way anyone learns anything is to fuck up and adjust accordingly.
...except that it's not the real reason, of course. Universities make a great deal of money on the monopolies that they control, and will go to great lengths to protect them.
The sad part about this is that the students are paying to use that bandwidth and internet connection, and they are being told how to use it. Worse yet, most campus facilities don't offer alternatives like DSL or cable modems.
It always enraged me when I had to pay a $100 "lab fee" per computer science course, even though I never set foot in the computing center at school. In fact, I didn't even tie up one of their crappy dialups, instead preferring an outside ISP. Did I have a leg to stand on when I argued that I shouldn't have to pay? No. They simply charged my account. What was I going to do?
Until we make some changes in the whole mentality of higher education in this country, these sorts of examples will prevail. Instead of students serving the Universities, Universities need to serve the needs of the students. Students will continue to be overcharged, underrepresented, bullied, and "processed" through a system which just wants money at every turn.
It's been going on for years. It's high time someone makes use of the collective powers of the Internet to change this.
I would guess that the CCA would say that use of DeCSS consists of "Unauthorized copying," which is "strictly prohibited."
For that matter playing the video under Linux could be called "unauthorized exhibition," which they also prohibit according to the text you quoted.
I agree this all sucks. I purchased a license to use the content on my DVD and certainly feel that I should be able to use this content, for personal use, in new and creative ways. It's not like I'd be profiting from it in any way.
I liken this comparison to the guy who built a wooden case for his Palm Pilot. While the legality of him making those available for sale without the appropriate license is questionable, nobody is going to haul him into court for doing it to his own copy, for his own personal use. There is no reason that something analogous for DVDs, and any other software for that matter, shouldn't exist.
Hard to believe my post got listed as a Troll, and yours (and in fact the original post as well!) didn't.
Of course I didn't bash Microsoft or praise Linux in my post, so I guess I can understand why after all.
Oh, and by the way... ANY e-commerce site could be a target for this sort of activity, no matter WHAT software they are using. The skill of the operators/implementors has quite a bit to do with the security of the site.
The point I was trying to make was that it could happen to ANY web server. I happen to think that IIS is a pretty good web server, all things considered. It's unfortunate that to some people "News for Nerds" means "News for people so caught up in anti-Microsoft sentiment that they can't see to forest for the trees."
Every web server has its strengths and weaknesses. Lets understand them all.
So do you. By showing that they were using BSDi, he was implying that they are "one of us," as in "also a hippie," as in "fellow open source zealots.":)
The true way to do this is to write language-independent objects using something such as COM (I'm looking forward to checking out KOM.) That way an interface can be written for any environment (shell, KDE, GNOME, etc.) without compromising the functionality or the integrity of the original code.
I can't believe this message is anything but a troll. Are there really people out there who would criticize someone for doing what they want to do? Especially someone who has contributed so much to enjoyment in their lives?
If you've never played any of his games of never benefitted from any of his work, then why would you even care what he does?
If you have benefitted from his many years of work, then get over yourself and let the guy do whatever he wants to do. He's earned it!
John's just a man, but it amazes me how many people demand that he keep slaving away at making more games for them, like he's some sort of indentured servant or something.
Of course I know I've just wasted my time talking to someone who probably hasn't done a thing for anyone but himself.:)
Laff. Just the sort of response I predicted from a portion of the paranoid anti-MS crowd.
MS isn't all bad, man. Maybe you can start by telling us why WMA sucks? Because it's not open-source? Sorry but you're going to have to do better than that.
WMA is technically superior to many things out there. The codec that they use sounds great at low bandwidths and a 64kbit WMA stream sounds almost as good as a 128kbit MP3. Got to www.windowsmedia.com and listen for yourself.
Now, I agree it sucks that Linux users are SOL until there is a player available, but that's what open source is all about, man. Get cracking on a decoder! Dig it!
Sorry, but as General Patent and Technology Counsel for Unisys the people that keep him in business are the shareholders and he's serving them well. The purpose of a business is to make money, after all, and maxinmize the way that happens. If they thought that "being there for the customers" would make them more money, they'd do it.
Hmm. I don't necessarily agree with everything you've said here. While I've been in Austin less than one year, I don't see many of the things you are talking about. I am also 29 and I'm making in the mid-80s as a senior NT developer. There aren't enough people to fill jobs where I work, so employers are careful how they act. I don't find it expensive here, but I moved here from the Northwest and have never lived anywhere else in Texas. A top-of-the-line one bedroom apartment with a garage for $950 isn't exactly expensive, at least not for anywhere I've lived. Really, the salaries aren't bad here, besides, I can't imagine making 85k in Houston. Also, having been to Houston twice, I wouldn't exactly say it's quite the mecca you make it out to be.
You are right about a few things that I've noticed in Austin... People definitely don't use turn signals, and there are ripoffs (texas.net being the largest band of criminals I've seen.) I don't think there are anymore ripoff artists then anywhere else, though.
Now, if you're making 100k in Houston with huge amounts of stock options, and spending $500 on a top-notch 2 bedroom apartment, let me know.:)
Slashdot Mirror
If it's this simple, why are CDs more expensive than cassettes, which are more expensive to manufacture than CDs?
Furthermore, the banter about the CPI going up 60% is a crock as well. Other media haven't followed the CPI either (although movies in my area have gone up a tad).
The fact of the matter is, we've been being overcharged for CDs for years. True, their margins are probably shrinking due to higher production costs, but make no mistake: the recording industry is nowhere near losing money.
No you are not the only one. Most people just read the original, sensationalized EDITORIAL on yahoo, and skipped the original post in the Harvard Crimson.
The editorial, written by a Mac zealot, made Intel out to be evil, yet admitted he based his story on the Harvard Crimson story. The story in the Crime had the following quote:
"Because of the last-minute changes, we tried to accommodate Intel," Hess said. "There was no monetary pressure. It was just a courtesy to Intel because of the last-minute confusion."
A far cry from what was inferred in the editorial. It's unfortunate that the otherwise intelligent people here on slashdot lose all control of their senses when an editorial is posted that depicts negative behavior from Intel, Microsoft, and any other "enemy of the day."
It's also unfortunate that slashdot doesn't research the stories a little more and post links to the non-biased accounts of the information at hand. But that's another story :)
If they do decide to clone their lawyers, I hope they fix their proofreading capabilities before doing so:
"...the current antitrust litigation between the Microsoft and the government..."
Yes I know there is only ONE Microsoft, but...
It sounds like you let a perfect opportunity to change the message pass....
:)
Now maybe our European friends will get off their high horse and not be so quick to criticize Americans for all the stupid crap that goes on in the U.S.
We've all got stupid laws to work on getting repealed, and stupid politicians that need to be voted out of office. It's time to go to work and fix the stuff, instead of pointing to others and laughing at how stupid their countries are.
No, the author said he didn't write cphack, he wrote two other programs which he didn't assign to the FSF.
One of the most important things is to spend the extra dough to hire competent people. I've been with three startups and they've all failed to do this in one way or another.
The first startup didn't hire anyone, so it never got off the ground. Lesson: If the existing staff is already working their collective ass off for you, and there's more work in the queue, get more people. The trick here is to not hire more people than you need.
The second company managed to hire an extremely talented staff for below industry-standard wages, due to the lure of the stock, but failed to keep this staff by awarding 3% raises to everyone in the company. By giving the top performers the same amount of raise and stock options as those not performing to the same level, the company all but assured that the talent would leave in droves. And they did. Lesson: A little extra money in the right place goes a long way to keep your talent.
The third company had a mostly incompetent staff and was the most aggravating company to work for out of the three. The handful of competent people there carried the load of the greater numbers of slackers, whiners, and incompetants. Lesson: It doesn't take too many bad apples to ruin the whole bunch.
I'd say besides what I already mentioned, one of the most important things to keep in mind is that an employee who wants to be at work, will be willing to go the extra mile to make it succeed.
I hope this helps. There are alot of hard lessons to be learned in the land of startups. Unfortunately the only way anyone learns anything is to fuck up and adjust accordingly.
Good luck.
That's not true: http://www.efusion.com
Yeah it is. It crashed while they were trying to brute-force the encryption on Kevin Mitnick's files. :)
...except that it's not the real reason, of course. Universities make a great deal of money on the monopolies that they control, and will go to great lengths to protect them.
The sad part about this is that the students are paying to use that bandwidth and internet connection, and they are being told how to use it. Worse yet, most campus facilities don't offer alternatives like DSL or cable modems.
It always enraged me when I had to pay a $100 "lab fee" per computer science course, even though I never set foot in the computing center at school. In fact, I didn't even tie up one of their crappy dialups, instead preferring an outside ISP. Did I have a leg to stand on when I argued that I shouldn't have to pay? No. They simply charged my account. What was I going to do?
Until we make some changes in the whole mentality of higher education in this country, these sorts of examples will prevail. Instead of students serving the Universities, Universities need to serve the needs of the students. Students will continue to be overcharged, underrepresented, bullied, and "processed" through a system which just wants money at every turn.
It's been going on for years. It's high time someone makes use of the collective powers of the Internet to change this.
This happens to any OS, including Linux. My RedHat 6.1 box is current running kernel version 2.2.14.
A patch to the "release OS" doesn't invalidate the strengths of that OS overall.
I would guess that the CCA would say that use of DeCSS consists of "Unauthorized copying," which is "strictly prohibited."
For that matter playing the video under Linux could be called "unauthorized exhibition," which they also prohibit according to the text you quoted.
I agree this all sucks. I purchased a license to use the content on my DVD and certainly feel that I should be able to use this content, for personal use, in new and creative ways. It's not like I'd be profiting from it in any way.
I liken this comparison to the guy who built a wooden case for his Palm Pilot. While the legality of him making those available for sale without the appropriate license is questionable, nobody is going to haul him into court for doing it to his own copy, for his own personal use. There is no reason that something analogous for DVDs, and any other software for that matter, shouldn't exist.
BTW: I am not a lawyer.
Hard to believe my post got listed as a Troll, and yours (and in fact the original post as well!) didn't.
Of course I didn't bash Microsoft or praise Linux in my post, so I guess I can understand why after all.
Oh, and by the way... ANY e-commerce site could be a target for this sort of activity, no matter WHAT software they are using. The skill of the operators/implementors has quite a bit to do with the security of the site.
Thanks for the information.
Sorry, I wasn't attacking you in general. The fact is all servers have problems when overloaded, including slashdot's.
I'm sure that it does hurt Microsoft in some way.
The point I was trying to make was that it could happen to ANY web server. I happen to think that IIS is a pretty good web server, all things considered. It's unfortunate that to some people "News for Nerds" means "News for people so caught up in anti-Microsoft sentiment that they can't see to forest for the trees."
Every web server has its strengths and weaknesses. Lets understand them all.
I'm so sick of hearing this bullshit. If it's a Linux or BSD server it "slashdotted." But lo-and-behold if it's an IIS server it's: "IIS sucks shit."
Get a life.
Yeah but I like the spelling. :)
Uhhhhhh. Oh yeah.
So do you. By showing that they were using BSDi, he was implying that they are "one of us," as in "also a hippie," as in "fellow open source zealots." :)
The true way to do this is to write language-independent objects using something such as COM (I'm looking forward to checking out KOM.) That way an interface can be written for any environment (shell, KDE, GNOME, etc.) without compromising the functionality or the integrity of the original code.
I can't believe this message is anything but a troll. Are there really people out there who would criticize someone for doing what they want to do? Especially someone who has contributed so much to enjoyment in their lives?
:)
If you've never played any of his games of never benefitted from any of his work, then why would you even care what he does?
If you have benefitted from his many years of work, then get over yourself and let the guy do whatever he wants to do. He's earned it!
John's just a man, but it amazes me how many people demand that he keep slaving away at making more games for them, like he's some sort of indentured servant or something.
Of course I know I've just wasted my time talking to someone who probably hasn't done a thing for anyone but himself.
Portland, Oregon.
Laff. Just the sort of response I predicted from a portion of the paranoid anti-MS crowd.
MS isn't all bad, man. Maybe you can start by telling us why WMA sucks? Because it's not open-source? Sorry but you're going to have to do better than that.
WMA is technically superior to many things out there. The codec that they use sounds great at low bandwidths and a 64kbit WMA stream sounds almost as good as a 128kbit MP3. Got to www.windowsmedia.com and listen for yourself.
Now, I agree it sucks that Linux users are SOL until there is a player available, but that's what open source is all about, man. Get cracking on a decoder! Dig it!
Sorry, but as General Patent and Technology Counsel for Unisys the people that keep him in business are the shareholders and he's serving them well. The purpose of a business is to make money, after all, and maxinmize the way that happens. If they thought that "being there for the customers" would make them more money, they'd do it.
Hmm. I don't necessarily agree with everything you've said here. While I've been in Austin less than one year, I don't see many of the things you are talking about. I am also 29 and I'm making in the mid-80s as a senior NT developer. There aren't enough people to fill jobs where I work, so employers are careful how they act. I don't find it expensive here, but I moved here from the Northwest and have never lived anywhere else in Texas. A top-of-the-line one bedroom apartment with a garage for $950 isn't exactly expensive, at least not for anywhere I've lived. Really, the salaries aren't bad here, besides, I can't imagine making 85k in Houston. Also, having been to Houston twice, I wouldn't exactly say it's quite the mecca you make it out to be.
:)
You are right about a few things that I've noticed in Austin... People definitely don't use turn signals, and there are ripoffs (texas.net being the largest band of criminals I've seen.) I don't think there are anymore ripoff artists then anywhere else, though.
Now, if you're making 100k in Houston with huge amounts of stock options, and spending $500 on a top-notch 2 bedroom apartment, let me know.
-K