Anyone with a TiVo will tell you that it has the absolute highest "Wife Acceptance Factor" of any piece of home electronics. Don't get "permission" first... just bring it home, set it up, and show her how to skip commercials and record something like Law and Order. Trust me, that will do it.
Actually, TiVo has already told it's customers (via their community forums), that if TiVo were to go under, they can release a great deal of the functionality to be used without the service. It's a last-ditch-switch that they can throw if they need to.
Slate made a pretty big mistake in their analysis of why TiVo is going to fail. They mostly chalk it up to that "first mover" disadvantage that kills good products.
Only, TiVo wasn't the first mover. Panasonic was with the Showstopper... which is now dead.
Some of the other tidbits are accurate, such as TiVo's difficulty in explaining what a "PVR" is, but that would be true of ANY device in the market. However, they really aren't trying to compare it to a VCR. The ads have always touted features VCRs just don't have, like the "Trick Play" features that come with having a Live TV "buffer".
There's also one other thing that they neglect to mention (probably because it didn't fit in the author's view), when they mention that other machines will have DVR capabilities too.
TiVo SERVICE is what makes the PVR so popular with TiVo customers. The hardware is all fine and dandy, but it's that software that is easy to use, and the features in it that make it special. TiVo's "Season Passes" can follow programs around when they switch time slots on the same channel. No other competitior can do that, and it's a godsend!
Regardless, TiVo is doing a lot of things right. They MAY go under, but it won't be for any other reason than the mass market just not being ready for it yet.
There are a lot of people out there that only know how to cook one dish, but in your opinion, what one dish do you think EVERYONE should know how to cook to perfection? Personally, I grill a pretty great steak, and the secret to it is pretty easy... so I'd say grilling meats, but I'd like to know if there's something else you'd consider to be crucial to everyone's cooking arsenal.
The Screen Savers on TechTV had a couple of folks demoing a handheld REAL PC from Tiqit. A full 640x480 screen, built-in keyboard, PCMCIA, Secure Digital, docking ability.
Price tag will be steep (upwards of $1000), and the processor isn't as beefy as I'd like, but the built-in screen is SEXY.
This commercial has been out for a while, and it was BEFORE this public derision of the bill started.
The commercial features Ted Waitt and a cow in a semi singing along to Devo's "Whip it".
This has been on TV for a couple MONTHS now. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the bill, but was just being used as counterpoint in the article, saying that while this bill is being submitted, a computer maker is suggesting that ripping audio and burning CD's is fair use.
It's no different than Apple's "Rip. Mix. Burn." advertisement a while back.
THIS, my friends, is one of my biggest complaints about the Internet. The uninformed can start bashing anything to their hearts content. Here is a case where someone started baching a product he hadn't yet used. Then he used it, and bashed various parts of it without fully reading the notes on what he was using. Then, he finally figures it all out, and posts a "retraction"... that few people will ever read.
People are so quick to "have their say", they don't stop to think whether or not what they are saying is factually based or not.
In this particular case, Valve has done more for PC gaming (and Internet gaming) than most companies ever dream of. Half-Life is indeed an incredible value, as is just about everything of Valve's I've touched.
I have no reason to beleive that Steam doesn't work as they claim (people are using it and says that it does indeed work just as Gabe claims), or that there is some huge ulterior motive here. Just more Slashdot conspiracy theorists, needing something besides Microsoft to bitch about.
Hell, there's a post above where someone managed to take a shot at MS (something about needing to reinstall Windows and losing your cd-key for Half-Life) in addition to Valve. That takes talent of a sort.
The Internet has given everyone a voice. And everyone uses that voice to BITCH.
The broadband adapter and Modem adapter ARE ready. They just aren't RELEASED yet.
And if you think they weren't holding on to them just for this... you're mistaken. Sega would have loved Nintendo to release them so they could get PSO out the door.
I suppose then that it would be appropriate to mention that Planet GameCube posted it FIRST. It wasn't a "similar" story. GameSpot posted it afterwords.
This has nothing to do with cheap Taiwanese knockoffs. This has to do with Microsoft making a different, smaller controller exclusively for the Japanese market (one that would obstensibly be more comfortable for some of us)... and now giving us no way to import this OFFICIAL controller. THAT is why people are upset.
I do hope that this turns out to be bunk, some made up fanboy rumor based off spec sheets that they didn't understand.
"Trust) Do you really trust a machine to balance you? What happens when clutzy folks use this? Me being a totally uncoordinated person. Or how about people who weigh a bit more and runs into a person who weighs a bit less?"
How many times a day do you just "fall over?"
Your natural instinct to right yourself, even if you trip on something, is what keeps Segway upright.
You know, I wonder if you could even get away with selling a bicycle in this day and age if they hadn't already been invented. No inherent safety devices... it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
That said, I just KNOW that someone is going to hurt themselves on one of these things, and immediately sue. I hope the case gets thrown out without even being heard, because if not, you probably COULD sue a bicycle manufacturer for falling off. It would be a nasty precedent.
No. Because YOUR natural reaction is going to be to right yourself, and thus, the Segway will do the same.
People really like to try to outthink this thing, not realizing that regardless of anything you can think of that might "surprise" the Segway into doing something unintended, the fact that YOU are on it and will instinctively try to NOT hit the Bus, is what makes Segway WORK.
You have no idea what you're talking about. Let me clue you in.
Magazines don't get "special" copies. They get "Gold" code versions, they just aren't retail pressed copies. Most publishers have strict rules about magazines publishing "reviews" of anything other than a specifically reviewable version of the game.
Second, in this case, the clownboat is claiming to have been allowed to play the game by Nintendo. I know for a FACT that NO ONE outside of Nintendo has seen a build more recent than the E3/Cube Club version.
Third, Silicon Knights mocked up a lot of areas and removed anything pertaining to the actual plot in an effort to keep it secret. What he "reviewed" was nothing more than a technical demo.
Lastly, it's more the magazine's insistence that this reviewer wouldn't lie about having played the final game, so he much have reviewed it fairly. That's ignorant. Reviewers fake shit all the fucking time. To claim that YOUR reviewer wouldn't lie is ridiculous.
I suppose the only solace we can take is that "Replay Magazine" is more of a newsletter than a REAL magazine.
I'm glad it got cancelled. The liberal use of epilepsy inducing strobe-lights was ignorant at best, and criminal at worst.
My wife couldn't even watch the show without getting a headache. We liked the general idea (except for the fact that if THEY decided you couldn't take any more they'd pull you, no matter how much you protested), but the strobes made the show literally unwatchable.
Football is only on for a couple of months. Futurama's ratings have been shitty for FOUR SEASONS.
Someone give me a better argument for why this show should stay on the air and continue costing Fox money. They put the show on after the Simpsons, no one watched. They put it on after football, no one watched. They put it back to back with Family Guy (another critically acclaimed, and seldom watched show), and NO ONE WATCHED.
They've put this show in every time slot imaginable waiting for that vocal viewership to tune in, and it just didn't happen.
I like the show, but not enough to watch it. Apparently, just like everyone else.
As for the Neilsen ratings, that's bullshit. The Simpsons gets great ratings, and the viewership should be the same. The people watching the Simpsons just aren't watching Futurama or Family Guy. Blame THEM, not FOX.
That's the exact opposite of what I've heard. From what I understand (IANAL), if you don't vigorously and tenaciously defend your patents, you're at dire risk of losing them.
Even against little guys where it would cost more to fight it than it would to ignore them.
WATCH the damned thing. Shows, even shitty ones, don't get cancelled if people WATCH them. If the show gets cancelled, it's because you aren't putting your viewing habits where your mouth is!
I am as big a "fan" of Futurama and Family Guy as the next person. But when push comes to shove, there's other things on TV I'd rather watch more.
That's why they've been cancelled. Fox needs shows that people will watch, and that means being BETTER than the stuff on the other two (three, counting CBS) networks.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone with a TiVo will tell you that it has the absolute highest "Wife Acceptance Factor" of any piece of home electronics. Don't get "permission" first ... just bring it home, set it up, and show her how to skip commercials and record something like Law and Order. Trust me, that will do it.
Actually, TiVo has already told it's customers (via their community forums), that if TiVo were to go under, they can release a great deal of the functionality to be used without the service. It's a last-ditch-switch that they can throw if they need to.
Slate made a pretty big mistake in their analysis of why TiVo is going to fail. They mostly chalk it up to that "first mover" disadvantage that kills good products.
... which is now dead.
Only, TiVo wasn't the first mover. Panasonic was with the Showstopper
Some of the other tidbits are accurate, such as TiVo's difficulty in explaining what a "PVR" is, but that would be true of ANY device in the market. However, they really aren't trying to compare it to a VCR. The ads have always touted features VCRs just don't have, like the "Trick Play" features that come with having a Live TV "buffer".
There's also one other thing that they neglect to mention (probably because it didn't fit in the author's view), when they mention that other machines will have DVR capabilities too.
TiVo SERVICE is what makes the PVR so popular with TiVo customers. The hardware is all fine and dandy, but it's that software that is easy to use, and the features in it that make it special. TiVo's "Season Passes" can follow programs around when they switch time slots on the same channel. No other competitior can do that, and it's a godsend!
Regardless, TiVo is doing a lot of things right. They MAY go under, but it won't be for any other reason than the mass market just not being ready for it yet.
There are a lot of people out there that only know how to cook one dish, but in your opinion, what one dish do you think EVERYONE should know how to cook to perfection? Personally, I grill a pretty great steak, and the secret to it is pretty easy ... so I'd say grilling meats, but I'd like to know if there's something else you'd consider to be crucial to everyone's cooking arsenal.
I think here, "insane" is to interpreted as "not used by ANYONE".
The Screen Savers on TechTV had a couple of folks demoing a handheld REAL PC from Tiqit. A full 640x480 screen, built-in keyboard, PCMCIA, Secure Digital, docking ability. Price tag will be steep (upwards of $1000), and the processor isn't as beefy as I'd like, but the built-in screen is SEXY.
This commercial has been out for a while, and it was BEFORE this public derision of the bill started.
The commercial features Ted Waitt and a cow in a semi singing along to Devo's "Whip it".
This has been on TV for a couple MONTHS now. I'm pretty sure it had nothing to do with the bill, but was just being used as counterpoint in the article, saying that while this bill is being submitted, a computer maker is suggesting that ripping audio and burning CD's is fair use.
It's no different than Apple's "Rip. Mix. Burn." advertisement a while back.
THIS, my friends, is one of my biggest complaints about the Internet. The uninformed can start bashing anything to their hearts content. Here is a case where someone started baching a product he hadn't yet used. Then he used it, and bashed various parts of it without fully reading the notes on what he was using. Then, he finally figures it all out, and posts a "retraction" ... that few people will ever read.
People are so quick to "have their say", they don't stop to think whether or not what they are saying is factually based or not.
In this particular case, Valve has done more for PC gaming (and Internet gaming) than most companies ever dream of. Half-Life is indeed an incredible value, as is just about everything of Valve's I've touched.
I have no reason to beleive that Steam doesn't work as they claim (people are using it and says that it does indeed work just as Gabe claims), or that there is some huge ulterior motive here. Just more Slashdot conspiracy theorists, needing something besides Microsoft to bitch about.
Hell, there's a post above where someone managed to take a shot at MS (something about needing to reinstall Windows and losing your cd-key for Half-Life) in addition to Valve. That takes talent of a sort.
The Internet has given everyone a voice. And everyone uses that voice to BITCH.
The broadband adapter and Modem adapter ARE ready. They just aren't RELEASED yet.
... you're mistaken. Sega would have loved Nintendo to release them so they could get PSO out the door.
And if you think they weren't holding on to them just for this
I suppose then that it would be appropriate to mention that Planet GameCube posted it FIRST. It wasn't a "similar" story. GameSpot posted it afterwords.
Damn, those kids move QUICK.
What about the episode that actually nudity (via corpse)? While I wouldn't call that SEX (ewwww ...), it certainly pushed the boundaries a bit.
Oooh ... I just got a HUGE insurance settlement. Where can I buy my very own Senator? Would be a great anniversary gift for my wife!
I choose to interact with people that can spell worth a damn.
Yeah, it's flamebait. So what? What this guy said isn't?
This has nothing to do with cheap Taiwanese knockoffs. This has to do with Microsoft making a different, smaller controller exclusively for the Japanese market (one that would obstensibly be more comfortable for some of us) ... and now giving us no way to import this OFFICIAL controller. THAT is why people are upset.
I do hope that this turns out to be bunk, some made up fanboy rumor based off spec sheets that they didn't understand.
Like most rumors.
"Trust) Do you really trust a machine to balance you? What happens when clutzy folks use this? Me being a totally uncoordinated person. Or how about people who weigh a bit more and runs into a person who weighs a bit less?"
How many times a day do you just "fall over?"
Your natural instinct to right yourself, even if you trip on something, is what keeps Segway upright.
Apparently, no one told the elected officials in Washington that they could have been arrested for riding one.
http://www.wa.gov/wsp/newsfaqs/nr112000.htm
"Crashing: Not exactly sure but I remember hearing that it has some way of slowing down slowly even if it hits something suddenly"
Inertial Dampeners failing, Captain! All hands, abandon Segway!
You know, I wonder if you could even get away with selling a bicycle in this day and age if they hadn't already been invented. No inherent safety devices ... it would be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
That said, I just KNOW that someone is going to hurt themselves on one of these things, and immediately sue. I hope the case gets thrown out without even being heard, because if not, you probably COULD sue a bicycle manufacturer for falling off. It would be a nasty precedent.
No. Because YOUR natural reaction is going to be to right yourself, and thus, the Segway will do the same.
People really like to try to outthink this thing, not realizing that regardless of anything you can think of that might "surprise" the Segway into doing something unintended, the fact that YOU are on it and will instinctively try to NOT hit the Bus, is what makes Segway WORK.
Actually, while their REASONING is misguided, I would support any bill that would require the enforcement of the ratings system.
You have no idea what you're talking about. Let me clue you in.
Magazines don't get "special" copies. They get "Gold" code versions, they just aren't retail pressed copies. Most publishers have strict rules about magazines publishing "reviews" of anything other than a specifically reviewable version of the game.
Second, in this case, the clownboat is claiming to have been allowed to play the game by Nintendo. I know for a FACT that NO ONE outside of Nintendo has seen a build more recent than the E3/Cube Club version.
Third, Silicon Knights mocked up a lot of areas and removed anything pertaining to the actual plot in an effort to keep it secret. What he "reviewed" was nothing more than a technical demo.
Lastly, it's more the magazine's insistence that this reviewer wouldn't lie about having played the final game, so he much have reviewed it fairly. That's ignorant. Reviewers fake shit all the fucking time. To claim that YOUR reviewer wouldn't lie is ridiculous.
I suppose the only solace we can take is that "Replay Magazine" is more of a newsletter than a REAL magazine.
I'm glad it got cancelled. The liberal use of epilepsy inducing strobe-lights was ignorant at best, and criminal at worst.
My wife couldn't even watch the show without getting a headache. We liked the general idea (except for the fact that if THEY decided you couldn't take any more they'd pull you, no matter how much you protested), but the strobes made the show literally unwatchable.
Football is only on for a couple of months. Futurama's ratings have been shitty for FOUR SEASONS.
Someone give me a better argument for why this show should stay on the air and continue costing Fox money. They put the show on after the Simpsons, no one watched. They put it on after football, no one watched. They put it back to back with Family Guy (another critically acclaimed, and seldom watched show), and NO ONE WATCHED.
They've put this show in every time slot imaginable waiting for that vocal viewership to tune in, and it just didn't happen.
I like the show, but not enough to watch it. Apparently, just like everyone else.
As for the Neilsen ratings, that's bullshit. The Simpsons gets great ratings, and the viewership should be the same. The people watching the Simpsons just aren't watching Futurama or Family Guy. Blame THEM, not FOX.
That's the exact opposite of what I've heard. From what I understand (IANAL), if you don't vigorously and tenaciously defend your patents, you're at dire risk of losing them.
Even against little guys where it would cost more to fight it than it would to ignore them.
WATCH the damned thing. Shows, even shitty ones, don't get cancelled if people WATCH them. If the show gets cancelled, it's because you aren't putting your viewing habits where your mouth is!
I am as big a "fan" of Futurama and Family Guy as the next person. But when push comes to shove, there's other things on TV I'd rather watch more.
That's why they've been cancelled. Fox needs shows that people will watch, and that means being BETTER than the stuff on the other two (three, counting CBS) networks.