I can see where you'd think that this is the same thing, but in my mind those are two different services. I mean I may pay for cable TV or DSS, but that doesn't mean that I don't expect a better quality from the same movies when I buy them on DVD. Yes, XM doesn't sound good to me, but in my car it will do. When I'm listening to music on my home system I desire a higher quality to my music because my home system is designed for that level of quality.
If more of the albums I like were available as DVD-A or SACD I would buy a TON of them, but as it stands, the music industry seems content to only push old technology.
I could even overlook the DRM if the quality was there, but it's not. If they were selling 320kbs MP3s I'd probably be first in line, but they are not, and as it stands I am not willing to pay for anything less. I realize that I am not the typical customer, and that the 128k AAC will probably be just fine for most people, but all I'm saying is if Apple wants me as a customer then they're going to have to offer a product that I'm interested in.
but I think you've missed the point of my post. There's nothing more that I'd love than to see this law passed. I've been pushing open source at my agency for years now, but every time I do I get told to stop being so sill and that we'll NEVER go to such a setup. A good amount of things need to change in the State gonvernments but I don't see the employees there wanting to change.
As an I.T. guy/admin for a Texas agency this isn't going to happen. First of all, at least 75% of the tech staff at your average state agency isn't going to be able to learn to support open source software. It's not like in the real world where a good number of people in I.T. are interested in learning new things. Where I work there are techs that are possibly going to retire simply because we're going from Win 9x to 2k. Now if that throws them that much what do you think is going to happen when you put a Linux/BSD box in front of them? Also, it's painfully obvious that the people that run these agencies could care less about saving money. For example, we paied $300 to have a cpu fan replaced in a computer the other day because if we went out and bought one ourselves and installed it we'd be in violation of a contract with the harware repair vender. I deal with things like this every day and there's nothing that can be done about it.
It's much easier to contain things like this with management than with technical means. I find that simply having a "talk" with users that break such policies take care of the problem. Give them that "big brother is watching you" feeling ang 99% of your problems will be taken care of.
"Linux and Unix users are, in fact, switching to Macs in droves."
I'd like to see where they're getting this information. While I'm aware of some overlap, I just don't see a lot of Unix/Linux admins running Apples. It might have something to do with the fact that they are smart enough to know what a real computer is. I don't care what the popular opinion is, Steve Jobs is just as evil as Microsoft. I just don't understand why so many Apple users think he's a saint.
This was my main worry when I was looking into getting the service, but I've now had the service with two different setups in two different cars, and the ONLY time I've had the service cut out was in a parking garage. It's almost scary how stong their signal must be to have been recieved in some of the monsoons I've been in.
Since I got XM I've been intorduced to a vast verity of music and artists that I simply wouldn't know about had they not been on XM. While my cd changer in my car still gets a good amount of use, the two simply aren't the same thing in my opinion. I also think you'd be suprised at the number of people such as myself that spend a good amount of time in their car every day. I might be seeing things in rose colored glasses because I use the service, but I consider XM to be just as important as my Tivo, and that's saying a lot.
Will it signify the end of the satellite radio? As someone whose has XM I really hope that they pull through. It's one of the best services I've seen in a long time and just about the only way to get some good blues and jazz in your car outside of cd's. I'd pay twice as much for the service just to keep it alive.
I have seen one of these things. Last Spring I was outside doing yard work when I head a loud thunk. I walk over to where the noise came from and there was a LARGE ball of ice about the size of a basketball. The odd thing was, it was a clear day. I'm glad to finally know it wasn't just God trying to smite me or something.:-)
BMW announced in a press release earlier today, that they are about to begin work on a new car that will fix itself when things go wrong, including driving itself to the store to buy the needed parts. This certianly means the days of the auto mechanic are numbered.
Try finding some good jazz at a higher bitrate on there. I'm finding that unless you like whatever's popular with the kids these days you're pretty much screwed on the p2p networks. Oh how I miss Audiogalaxy.
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Nope, I still love the show and since I have the dvd set on pre-order from Amazon I'll still be able to watch it.
Wait.... no Firefly info?! Bunch of misleading bastages! God I love that show...
Maybe I just didn't get it, but I never saw the draw of eBooks.
I can see where you'd think that this is the same thing, but in my mind those are two different services. I mean I may pay for cable TV or DSS, but that doesn't mean that I don't expect a better quality from the same movies when I buy them on DVD. Yes, XM doesn't sound good to me, but in my car it will do. When I'm listening to music on my home system I desire a higher quality to my music because my home system is designed for that level of quality.
If more of the albums I like were available as DVD-A or SACD I would buy a TON of them, but as it stands, the music industry seems content to only push old technology.
I could even overlook the DRM if the quality was there, but it's not. If they were selling 320kbs MP3s I'd probably be first in line, but they are not, and as it stands I am not willing to pay for anything less. I realize that I am not the typical customer, and that the 128k AAC will probably be just fine for most people, but all I'm saying is if Apple wants me as a customer then they're going to have to offer a product that I'm interested in.
I'll pay $1 a song when it's a 320kbs MP3 with NO DRM or restrictions. Until then I'll either use Kazaa or just buy the CD.
I'll pay $1 a song when it's a 320kbs MP3 with NO DRM or restrictions. Until then I'll either use Kazaa or just buy the CD.
"It's a mutha beautiful bridge!"
but I think you've missed the point of my post. There's nothing more that I'd love than to see this law passed. I've been pushing open source at my agency for years now, but every time I do I get told to stop being so sill and that we'll NEVER go to such a setup. A good amount of things need to change in the State gonvernments but I don't see the employees there wanting to change.
As an I.T. guy/admin for a Texas agency this isn't going to happen. First of all, at least 75% of the tech staff at your average state agency isn't going to be able to learn to support open source software. It's not like in the real world where a good number of people in I.T. are interested in learning new things. Where I work there are techs that are possibly going to retire simply because we're going from Win 9x to 2k. Now if that throws them that much what do you think is going to happen when you put a Linux/BSD box in front of them? Also, it's painfully obvious that the people that run these agencies could care less about saving money. For example, we paied $300 to have a cpu fan replaced in a computer the other day because if we went out and bought one ourselves and installed it we'd be in violation of a contract with the harware repair vender. I deal with things like this every day and there's nothing that can be done about it.
Is that case sensitive?
It's much easier to contain things like this with management than with technical means. I find that simply having a "talk" with users that break such policies take care of the problem. Give them that "big brother is watching you" feeling ang 99% of your problems will be taken care of.
It's quite possible that they have...
that is MS wanted to make a BSD based OS that could still run dos/win32 based apps they could. Just my $.02
"Linux and Unix users are, in fact, switching to Macs in droves."
I'd like to see where they're getting this information. While I'm aware of some overlap, I just don't see a lot of Unix/Linux admins running Apples. It might have something to do with the fact that they are smart enough to know what a real computer is. I don't care what the popular opinion is, Steve Jobs is just as evil as Microsoft. I just don't understand why so many Apple users think he's a saint.
"If you are going to prioritize style over substance..."
:)
He already said he was using an Apple. No need to be redundant.
This was my main worry when I was looking into getting the service, but I've now had the service with two different setups in two different cars, and the ONLY time I've had the service cut out was in a parking garage. It's almost scary how stong their signal must be to have been recieved in some of the monsoons I've been in.
Since I got XM I've been intorduced to a vast verity of music and artists that I simply wouldn't know about had they not been on XM. While my cd changer in my car still gets a good amount of use, the two simply aren't the same thing in my opinion. I also think you'd be suprised at the number of people such as myself that spend a good amount of time in their car every day. I might be seeing things in rose colored glasses because I use the service, but I consider XM to be just as important as my Tivo, and that's saying a lot.
Will it signify the end of the satellite radio?
As someone whose has XM I really hope that they pull through. It's one of the best services I've seen in a long time and just about the only way to get some good blues and jazz in your car outside of cd's. I'd pay twice as much for the service just to keep it alive.
A common one from work. "The queue server may be running. I don't think it is."
I have seen one of these things. Last Spring I was outside doing yard work when I head a loud thunk. I walk over to where the noise came from and there was a LARGE ball of ice about the size of a basketball. The odd thing was, it was a clear day. I'm glad to finally know it wasn't just God trying to smite me or something. :-)
BMW announced in a press release earlier today, that they are about to begin work on a new car that will fix itself when things go wrong, including driving itself to the store to buy the needed parts. This certianly means the days of the auto mechanic are numbered.
Try finding some good jazz at a higher bitrate on there. I'm finding that unless you like whatever's popular with the kids these days you're pretty much screwed on the p2p networks. Oh how I miss Audiogalaxy.