Oh come on. Yes we all want to be driven solely by our own opinions inerests but there is something great about being, you know, "involved with society and culture." Water-cooler talk about the happenings in popular entertainment is not the only thing that we should strive to be a part of but it does add to camaraderie and friendship. Nothing wrong with that.
You know, I've been thinking about this a bit and after reading a couple good articles, I think I have built a somewhat interesting theory.
While piracy, quality of recent music, more entertainment options/competition, etc all come into play regarding the music industry's decline, I think there is a larger force at work. With the creation of the iTunes store, Apple and its customers decided that songs were only worth 99 cents each, albums 9.99 each and that no premium would be placed on new releases. This is a huge shift for the industry. Suddenly you can't mark up perennial hits like the White Album or the newest teenage anthem that hit the top 40. Suddenly everything is sold for the price of a catalog title. You can't increase margin during the popular new release phase so your only hope to match previous profits is to make it up in volume. Good luck.
Additionally, in the past singles were never priced as a function of album cost/number of tracks=per track cost. But this is the general feel of the iTunes store. If a CD would cost roughly $10 and it had about 10 songs on it then its $1 a track. CD singles with 2-4 songs on them did not get priced like that - they cost 7-8 bucks. Customers at that time believed that enough went into the packaging, recording, management, etc. that the price was justified. I also think past customers believed the idea that more expensive hit singles supported the band (not that there was any price competition to test this). Modern customers do not recognize these justifications. They have seen how simple it is to make music on the computer and with basic recording supplies. Packaging and distribution costs have vanished. The labels are often seen as the robber barons of this whole thing. Nobody worries if they lose out. Due to this, it very much like an economic bubble has burst. There has been an adjustment in the market value of a song.
So the combination of these two things, no premium for new / popular products and the decrease in the perceived value of a single song has sent the industry into a new, lower revenue bracket. How do you continue to grow profits when your customers decided that your product is a commodity and worth half as much as it was ten years ago. I don't think there is any way back.
Thanks for the post. I love classic film and its good to hear that there will be new clarity brought to many of my favorites. I agree with you about the ideal of getting lost in a movie's story over paying attention to the eye candy. But since film is such a visual storytelling medium, you really want to see exactly the image that the director shot - and that all the elements together you should get wrapped up in it. After all, what would the film 2001 be without its visuals? Thats what sucks you in.
I have been following the many stories on slashdot regarding HD-DVD/Blu-Ray with great interest. I am a huge film fan and am excited for the formats to shake out. The thing that totally surprises me is the posts from so many people. I'm not sure if you were all around or watching the launch of DVD but this current launch is looking exactly the same. Here are the posts I see repetedly:
The $500 - $1000 hardware is ridiculously over-priced. When DVD launched, I remember salivating over the $1000 DVD players in the crutchfield catalog. DVD launched in 1997 (as I remember) and the hardware was expensive at first. My first player that I bought in 1998 wa $400. It took a couple years for prices to drop into the mainstream $100 level. This is the same thing that happens with every ne technology.
The choice of launch titles is stupid. My first DVDs (bought off a little spinning rack which contained the whole store's inventory) were Unforgiven and Ronin. These seem very similar to the launch titles of today - oscar winner (Unforgiven/Million Dollar Baby) and mid-level action (Ronin/Last Samurai). My guess is that these are good 'testing the waters' titles. They aren't so old that the sales volume would be low regardless and they aren't your heavy hitters (the Matrix, LOTR) that you want to promote heavily once player penetration is high enough that the money spent on marketing will help sell a lot of units.
The discs are way too expensive! This will get lower over time as well. Back in 98 there were no bargin bin $9.99 titles. The movies I bought were all around $25. It looks like the HD titles will be in the same ballpark. If the adoption is slow, expect them to stay there (basicall there will be consumer and videophile price levels) and if adoption is fast, watch them drop (to reach the widest consumer base).
The quality is not worth the upgrade. I would say seeing is believing on this one. Thats what it took for DVDs nearly 10 years ago. Granted DVD also had the side benefits of not being a tape mechanism and all the problems with that format. This was a real benefit that the new HD formats won't be able to use as a feature.
My DVDs work just fine! Do they expect me to re-buy my collection? While I'm sure the studios would love it if you did, no one is going to force you to. My interest mainly lies in new movies (why buy Superman Returns when it comes out on DVD instead of HD?) and replacing my absolute favorite films (LOTR will look amazing). I even read somewhere that films made before the 1970's used film stock that does not have enough resolution to make use of HD. I don't know if this is true but it is certainly possible.
Too much DRM! Thats valid. There is a lot of DRM with this round. But when DVD came out there was no DeCSS yet. Everyone lived with the copy protection. Most people just want to pop the disc into the player and watch anyway. I don't like the direction that all the DRM is going either but to say that this is any different from DVD is not accurate.
What this all boils down to is the same kind of launch that everything gets. The XBOX 360 is expensive and had somewhat marginal launch titles. I'm sure the PS3 will be the same and whatever the big thing is after that.
The big question is how successful will the HD format be (once someone wins the format war). I expect it to be something akin to Laser Disc for the next 5 years. It would be imediately popular with film lovers but everyone else will wait until it gets cheaper and they buy HDTVs. This may take 5 or more years. Eventually I think everyone will just buy an HD capable player becaue the prices will be equivalent, and it will play all your old DVDs. It won't be the massive shake-up that DVD was but it will eventually flow into the next generation pretty smoothly. Everyone will gradually switch over when their TVs support it and the player prices come down. Everyone wil start to have a mixed DVD/HD collection and nobody will really care.
Unless h.264 and massive broadband increases kill physical media first...:)
I am running a G4 mini with front row on it and if you download and install the divx and xvid codecs (simple process), you absolutely can view these formats in front row and/or quicktime. I access my collection of xvid tv shows across a wired network straight out of front row. The quality and ease of use is great. I haven't upgraded to front row with bonjour so right now I just use an alias (shortcut) to link to the movies folder on my server.
I think that a feature that would have made the HiFi really worthwhile is to build in an airport express with aritunes into the unit. Imagine being able to stream music straight to the HiFi or use it with the ipod. This would be great for my home since all my music is stored in itunes. I could throw the HiFi into the kitchen and use it as a remote speaker. Plus it would extentd the wireless network. Only wire would be power. This is a product I would love to see.
I imagine that steve jobs has treated himself to a cocktail and is lounging in his giant house after Google's (is that all?) announcement of a video store and software installer.
See, Apple has done a lot of things right for the consumer:
1. Standardized pricing (for the most part). Some say this is unfair. How is this any different than Target setting its prices as it chooses? Apple is a retailer just as any other. And how much easier would it be if you knew that when you went in to a Target store, every CD would be 12.99 and every dvd 19.99? Yes there would be no great deals but there would never be any sticker shock either. I would certainly prefer this over the current system of drastic reductions for new release week and then overpriced until it has been out for 6 months.
2. Standard DRM. Yes we all agree that no DRM would be better. However if we must have it then having every download use the same rules is best for the customer. From the Google press release, it sounds as if everything is up to the content provider. Does it expire? If it expires is it after a number of viewings or after a specific time? Will it play on my PSP or iPod? Do I need to be connected to the internet to play the file? Gotta figure it out for EACH purchase. Flexibility in this instance only benefits the content provider. If I was a user who routinely downloaded a show to watch on my ipod and then tried a new show and didn't understand that the new show had entirely different DRM rules I would be pretty pissed. Especially if the file expired!
3. Works on Mac and Windows. This covers *most* people. Doesn't help linux but I hoenstly don't know if that is much of a loss to apple or many consumers. Linux users tend to be more militant abiout the drm and sticker price.
Now, I think there is room for improvement in the itunes media store. Mainly I think the video needs to be Hi-Def or at least dvd quality. Otherwise you are choosing convenience in exchange for lower quality - with roughly the same pricing (1.99/episode x 22eps/season = roughly $44 pr the same as a season on dvd). Although this is exactly what happened with MP3 downloads so who knows... Personally I would happy with a 1.99 ipod / 2.99 hd structure. I have grown so tired of TV and all the commercials, changing time slots, good shows being cancelled (*Cough*arrested development*Cough*) and everything that I * want* to buy into the ITMS for video. I just can't deal with the video quality on my projection system. If apple can just deliver on the quality and get all the content, they can replace my cable bill and make me happier about TV. If the content providers can just see how much of an opportunity this is and not demand stupidly high prices for everything (4 bucks for an NBA game?!) the world is their oyster.
What an insightful post. Now that you mention it, I could see apple totally going this way. Why add features that make the system dependent on your cable subscription and let them have the money? If you were apple with an elegant video download system, there is no need to rely on anyone but you. All the money can come to you through direct television purchases. The same benefits of DVR could be applied to this model: ITMs could find shows you would like by keyword and it could set up auto-purchasing and download of shows you subscribe to. The only thing you miss out on is live tv - but that isn't the primary benefit of a DVR anyway.
And at CES, microsoft is touting URGE. THey are so far behind the 8-ball on this. Music stores are yesterdays news, If apple can run with this, they are going to make an insane amount of money and redefine tv. You sir, should win a cupie doll.
I would go along with that if Microsoft occasionally delivered simplicity. But they never do. I think it just shows that intelligence without insight may take you far but doesn't allow you to capture the 'hearts and minds' like apple's products do. Afterall, gates has seen and demoed MCE with the remote for years now - he could have put down a change order at any time if he thought it was a mistake.
I can easily picture an interface for front row that can be add dvr functionality without adding buttons to the remote - and I got a way lower SAT score than gates. MS has always tried to figure out how to get a product to do *more*; apple has always tried to figure out how to get a product to do what it does *better*. The latter speaks to me and my interests more than the former.
The ONLY thing I think that should ever be added to the front row remote would be numeric buttons for channels. I wish all my av gear had as simple a remote/interface.
What I find so useful about rss feeds is that I don't have to go visit all the websites. I don't have to open up my bookmarks. I don't have to navigate to subpages for specific content.
With RSS, I simply load up my feed reader (Newsfire on OS X - its great) and it grabs everything without forcing me to do anything. Many of you are pointing out that with just lists of headlines in the news feed, you might as well go to the website to see the same thing. That is true, but for me it is easier to open up 1 information point and get ALL the headlines than go to a bunch of sites for the same thing. For me it is is just much more efficient. AND it provides a consistent interface - I just see the headlines. No dealing with crap designs on some sites.
Also, I happen to be looking for a new job now and 2 job site search engines (indeed.com and simplyhired.com) allow you to search all the other job sites and then save out a custom RSS feed based on your search criteria. This saves me a ton of time because I don't have to manually do a repetitive search. Hits just come straight to me. Its great.
The best thing about RSS is that once its set up, you no longer need to remember to check stuff. Now, this is great for non-tech people. Slashdot readers are probably more interested in control and immediacy than the average person. And setting feeds up with Safari is very easy. Any site with a feed is detected and shows an RSS logo in the address bar. Click it and (by default) it will bookmark the feed in safari or if you've changed your default reader, it will launch that app and bookmark. Simple.
>>My guess is that the doctor who snatched you from your mother's womb was, likewise, not "free" (as in speech).
I think he means that a doctor has the doctor/patient privilege thing. Meaning that he does not have a right to announce to the world that you have cancer.
Here's my (educated*) guess - These sites provide metrics to media buyers. Media buyers have no clue about the 'popup ad arms race' - all they know is they have effective response rates from popups and site XYZ can show that they show popups to N visitors. N is just the amount joe ad buyer is looking for. He doesn't know that the only reason this number is so high is due to circumvention of popup blockers and a royally annoyed audience.
So my guess is that it really is the sites that host the ads which aren't being totally honest.
* I was an advertising major in college and have a little experience with media buying - I would suspect that this is what is happening.
While I understand your point about built-in functionality being preferable, there are USB digital audio 'dongles' available which aren't too expensive and are also fairly small. I am going to be adding one of the following to my Mac mini (if it ever gets here - jeesh).
MS seems to keep having this problem. I heard the same thing at the release of XP.
As a Mac OS X user (XP at work), I much prefer the more modest OS upgrades that come out more often at a lower cost (than Windows). This eases the transistion between new versions (less UI differences, more software compatibility, etc).
It seems that Windows users have to weigh the pros (new features (the ones that haven't been cut), 'newest thing' addiction) against the cons (forced software upgrades for compatibility, relearning the UI, high upgrade cost). Any reason why MS doesn't release more often? The only thing that springs to mind is that IT departments hate upgrades and the cost but if you did it more often and made the upgrades less painful then there wouldn't be such a problem. MS tends to be going this way with their 'subscription' model anyway...
That may happen a lot but ideally marketing is in touch with customers and can determine what the market wants. Then marketing passes the spec to the programmers who develop said feature that the customers/market would pay for.
In my experience, programmers often have little to do with the customer and may not know what features would be worth it for the customer - it is marketing's job to provide this feedback loop between the tech department and the customer.
One of the things that sometimes bothers me about slashdot is that when someone points out some new product and how it solves problem XYZ and makes their life easier/better, then a bunch of people jump in to say that you could have had the same thing for free/cheaper by simply doing something less-simple/intuitive/elegant. The same thing has been going round and round with the mac mini. Everyone says just get a Dell custom configured this way and that and you'll save $50 bucks and have a low-end LCD. When will people realize that ISN'T what everyone wants. Sometimes its worth some extra money for the thing you like better. Whether it allows you to use the ol' corded phone that you always liked or have a whisper quite unix system, if you feel its worth it, SPEND the money - that's what its for!
Sorry, rant over. It just gets frustrating when people find neat things and then they get told that their preferences should be different. And it always seems to lean towards not spending anything...
If you are interested in Delicious Library, I would also recomend looking into DVDpedia before you purchase. I must admit that Delicious Library is highly polished but is pretty much a straight catologer. DVDpedia offers some features that allow you venture into the media center mac arena. For instance you can link to media files straight from 'pedia for trailers (.mov) or the movie iteslf (.vob). This allows you to launch a movie straight from the dvdpedia interface. Also, I like to add the original posters to dvdpedia instead of the often ugly dvd package image which DL requires you to use. Finally 'pedia allows for smart collections - like all movies which I have rated five stars or movies from the 80's or movies by speilberg. These are just a sample of the extra features in DVDpedia that I like and I thought you might like to so download both and give em a try.
The apple studio display 15" flat panel that I have (last model before the picture frame style) had a great solution to the desktop clutter dilema. The monitor had one cable coming out the back. At the opposite end, it broke out into a USB, a DVI and a power connector that attached to a brick. It is great. No desktop clutter but the flexibility of DVI. I expect that these new monitors will go back to that. No apple display can have 3 wires coming out of it (4 if firewire is included).
You are exactly right. Everyone seems to be treating this device as if Apple claimed to be launching the "be all and end all" of home audio mp3 integrations. It is a wireless access point with features of equal importance for (1) travellers who want wireless on the go (2) home users who need wireless (3) home users who want to extend their existing wireless (4) home users who want to print wirelessly (5) music listeners who wish they could play songs on their existing stereo wirelessly. Note how many time wireless showed up in my description. Thats what the product is.
From what I have seen of friends who had parents like this, they followed every rule (only when at home), talked shit about their parents behind their backs, moved out at first possible convenience and pretty much just talked to the folks on birthdays and christmas. That's just the relationship I would want. The other result I have seen is the child becoming a "namby pamby" adult who can't think outside the box ever at all and is scared of new ideas and situations. Sounds good all around!
Just like it! Except for the fact that the internet protects you from all bodily harm (which is the first reason to turn away from dark alleys).
I'm not a dad but I would make sure the "don't talk to strangers" and "never give out your personal info" (full name, address, phone, etc) rules are followed and help them to understand why.
As for adult content, my opinion is "who cares?" The point is to help the chidren become adults - not block out everything until they move out. Let them grow from the safety of home.
Sounds like a sony (or maybe any PC) is not a powerbook killer for the reasons listed in the parent comment. I have never had to worry about installing any other Apple OS on any supported machine and I have never had to jump throught these kind of hoops (installing drivers in the right order? for christ's sake!).
Now, even though I am a long time mac user/proponent, I use PCs at work and the pure usablity gap is decreasing. But when it comes to polish, fit and finish, and total cost of ownership - I just can't see the pc as a good choice for most people. It's too bad that the price sticker at best buy doesn't have to include a breakdown of how much the unit will cost over its lifetime and how much hair you will pull out (sort of like energy costs on appliances).
Everytime I think of adding an ultralight PC laptop to my home network to run the odd pc app, I read these posts and remember that it ain't worth it.
And the things cost way more than a 12" PB!
-matt
Extreme Base Station does not throttle down
on
WiFi Woes With .11g
·
· Score: 4, Informative
According to this Apple Knowledge Base article, the speed of the base station DOES NOT throttle when 11b users are connected.
It specifically says:
"Mixing clients on an AirPort Extreme network
When you mix 802.11b (AirPort) and 802.11g (AirPort Extreme) clients on an AirPort Extreme network, each type of client receives an appropriate data throughput rate. The 802.11g clients continue to receive data at a higher rate than 802.11b clients.'
The "little 2" is probably there so people don't think that when an 11b user is transfering files to an 11g user that the transfer will zoom along at 54mbs. In this scenerio, all user need to be extreme to get high speeds.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh come on. Yes we all want to be driven solely by our own opinions inerests but there is something great about being, you know, "involved with society and culture." Water-cooler talk about the happenings in popular entertainment is not the only thing that we should strive to be a part of but it does add to camaraderie and friendship. Nothing wrong with that.
You know, I've been thinking about this a bit and after reading a couple good articles, I think I have built a somewhat interesting theory.
While piracy, quality of recent music, more entertainment options/competition, etc all come into play regarding the music industry's decline, I think there is a larger force at work. With the creation of the iTunes store, Apple and its customers decided that songs were only worth 99 cents each, albums 9.99 each and that no premium would be placed on new releases. This is a huge shift for the industry. Suddenly you can't mark up perennial hits like the White Album or the newest teenage anthem that hit the top 40. Suddenly everything is sold for the price of a catalog title. You can't increase margin during the popular new release phase so your only hope to match previous profits is to make it up in volume. Good luck.
Additionally, in the past singles were never priced as a function of album cost/number of tracks=per track cost. But this is the general feel of the iTunes store. If a CD would cost roughly $10 and it had about 10 songs on it then its $1 a track. CD singles with 2-4 songs on them did not get priced like that - they cost 7-8 bucks. Customers at that time believed that enough went into the packaging, recording, management, etc. that the price was justified. I also think past customers believed the idea that more expensive hit singles supported the band (not that there was any price competition to test this). Modern customers do not recognize these justifications. They have seen how simple it is to make music on the computer and with basic recording supplies. Packaging and distribution costs have vanished. The labels are often seen as the robber barons of this whole thing. Nobody worries if they lose out. Due to this, it very much like an economic bubble has burst. There has been an adjustment in the market value of a song.
So the combination of these two things, no premium for new / popular products and the decrease in the perceived value of a single song has sent the industry into a new, lower revenue bracket. How do you continue to grow profits when your customers decided that your product is a commodity and worth half as much as it was ten years ago. I don't think there is any way back.
Thanks for the post. I love classic film and its good to hear that there will be new clarity brought to many of my favorites. I agree with you about the ideal of getting lost in a movie's story over paying attention to the eye candy. But since film is such a visual storytelling medium, you really want to see exactly the image that the director shot - and that all the elements together you should get wrapped up in it. After all, what would the film 2001 be without its visuals? Thats what sucks you in.
:)
Thats my theory anyway.
House of Flying Daggers is a launch title for Blu-Ray in may. So there you go!
I have been following the many stories on slashdot regarding HD-DVD/Blu-Ray with great interest. I am a huge film fan and am excited for the formats to shake out. The thing that totally surprises me is the posts from so many people. I'm not sure if you were all around or watching the launch of DVD but this current launch is looking exactly the same. Here are the posts I see repetedly:
:)
The $500 - $1000 hardware is ridiculously over-priced. When DVD launched, I remember salivating over the $1000 DVD players in the crutchfield catalog. DVD launched in 1997 (as I remember) and the hardware was expensive at first. My first player that I bought in 1998 wa $400. It took a couple years for prices to drop into the mainstream $100 level. This is the same thing that happens with every ne technology.
The choice of launch titles is stupid. My first DVDs (bought off a little spinning rack which contained the whole store's inventory) were Unforgiven and Ronin. These seem very similar to the launch titles of today - oscar winner (Unforgiven/Million Dollar Baby) and mid-level action (Ronin/Last Samurai). My guess is that these are good 'testing the waters' titles. They aren't so old that the sales volume would be low regardless and they aren't your heavy hitters (the Matrix, LOTR) that you want to promote heavily once player penetration is high enough that the money spent on marketing will help sell a lot of units.
The discs are way too expensive! This will get lower over time as well. Back in 98 there were no bargin bin $9.99 titles. The movies I bought were all around $25. It looks like the HD titles will be in the same ballpark. If the adoption is slow, expect them to stay there (basicall there will be consumer and videophile price levels) and if adoption is fast, watch them drop (to reach the widest consumer base).
The quality is not worth the upgrade. I would say seeing is believing on this one. Thats what it took for DVDs nearly 10 years ago. Granted DVD also had the side benefits of not being a tape mechanism and all the problems with that format. This was a real benefit that the new HD formats won't be able to use as a feature.
My DVDs work just fine! Do they expect me to re-buy my collection? While I'm sure the studios would love it if you did, no one is going to force you to. My interest mainly lies in new movies (why buy Superman Returns when it comes out on DVD instead of HD?) and replacing my absolute favorite films (LOTR will look amazing). I even read somewhere that films made before the 1970's used film stock that does not have enough resolution to make use of HD. I don't know if this is true but it is certainly possible.
Too much DRM! Thats valid. There is a lot of DRM with this round. But when DVD came out there was no DeCSS yet. Everyone lived with the copy protection. Most people just want to pop the disc into the player and watch anyway. I don't like the direction that all the DRM is going either but to say that this is any different from DVD is not accurate.
What this all boils down to is the same kind of launch that everything gets. The XBOX 360 is expensive and had somewhat marginal launch titles. I'm sure the PS3 will be the same and whatever the big thing is after that.
The big question is how successful will the HD format be (once someone wins the format war). I expect it to be something akin to Laser Disc for the next 5 years. It would be imediately popular with film lovers but everyone else will wait until it gets cheaper and they buy HDTVs. This may take 5 or more years. Eventually I think everyone will just buy an HD capable player becaue the prices will be equivalent, and it will play all your old DVDs. It won't be the massive shake-up that DVD was but it will eventually flow into the next generation pretty smoothly. Everyone will gradually switch over when their TVs support it and the player prices come down. Everyone wil start to have a mixed DVD/HD collection and nobody will really care.
Unless h.264 and massive broadband increases kill physical media first...
I am running a G4 mini with front row on it and if you download and install the divx and xvid codecs (simple process), you absolutely can view these formats in front row and/or quicktime. I access my collection of xvid tv shows across a wired network straight out of front row. The quality and ease of use is great. I haven't upgraded to front row with bonjour so right now I just use an alias (shortcut) to link to the movies folder on my server.
Here are the links you would need:
divx: http://www.divx.com/divx/mac/download/
xvid: http://www.xvidmovies.com/codec/
To view xvid files, you need to have both above codecs installed - not sure if this is the same on the PC.
-matt
I think that a feature that would have made the HiFi really worthwhile is to build in an airport express with aritunes into the unit. Imagine being able to stream music straight to the HiFi or use it with the ipod. This would be great for my home since all my music is stored in itunes. I could throw the HiFi into the kitchen and use it as a remote speaker. Plus it would extentd the wireless network. Only wire would be power. This is a product I would love to see.
I imagine that steve jobs has treated himself to a cocktail and is lounging in his giant house after Google's (is that all?) announcement of a video store and software installer.
See, Apple has done a lot of things right for the consumer:
1. Standardized pricing (for the most part). Some say this is unfair. How is this any different than Target setting its prices as it chooses? Apple is a retailer just as any other. And how much easier would it be if you knew that when you went in to a Target store, every CD would be 12.99 and every dvd 19.99? Yes there would be no great deals but there would never be any sticker shock either. I would certainly prefer this over the current system of drastic reductions for new release week and then overpriced until it has been out for 6 months.
2. Standard DRM. Yes we all agree that no DRM would be better. However if we must have it then having every download use the same rules is best for the customer. From the Google press release, it sounds as if everything is up to the content provider. Does it expire? If it expires is it after a number of viewings or after a specific time? Will it play on my PSP or iPod? Do I need to be connected to the internet to play the file? Gotta figure it out for EACH purchase. Flexibility in this instance only benefits the content provider. If I was a user who routinely downloaded a show to watch on my ipod and then tried a new show and didn't understand that the new show had entirely different DRM rules I would be pretty pissed. Especially if the file expired!
3. Works on Mac and Windows. This covers *most* people. Doesn't help linux but I hoenstly don't know if that is much of a loss to apple or many consumers. Linux users tend to be more militant abiout the drm and sticker price.
Now, I think there is room for improvement in the itunes media store. Mainly I think the video needs to be Hi-Def or at least dvd quality. Otherwise you are choosing convenience in exchange for lower quality - with roughly the same pricing (1.99/episode x 22eps/season = roughly $44 pr the same as a season on dvd). Although this is exactly what happened with MP3 downloads so who knows... Personally I would happy with a 1.99 ipod / 2.99 hd structure. I have grown so tired of TV and all the commercials, changing time slots, good shows being cancelled (*Cough*arrested development*Cough*) and everything that I * want* to buy into the ITMS for video. I just can't deal with the video quality on my projection system. If apple can just deliver on the quality and get all the content, they can replace my cable bill and make me happier about TV. If the content providers can just see how much of an opportunity this is and not demand stupidly high prices for everything (4 bucks for an NBA game?!) the world is their oyster.
-matt
What an insightful post. Now that you mention it, I could see apple totally going this way. Why add features that make the system dependent on your cable subscription and let them have the money? If you were apple with an elegant video download system, there is no need to rely on anyone but you. All the money can come to you through direct television purchases. The same benefits of DVR could be applied to this model: ITMs could find shows you would like by keyword and it could set up auto-purchasing and download of shows you subscribe to. The only thing you miss out on is live tv - but that isn't the primary benefit of a DVR anyway.
And at CES, microsoft is touting URGE. THey are so far behind the 8-ball on this. Music stores are yesterdays news, If apple can run with this, they are going to make an insane amount of money and redefine tv. You sir, should win a cupie doll.
I would go along with that if Microsoft occasionally delivered simplicity. But they never do. I think it just shows that intelligence without insight may take you far but doesn't allow you to capture the 'hearts and minds' like apple's products do. Afterall, gates has seen and demoed MCE with the remote for years now - he could have put down a change order at any time if he thought it was a mistake.
I can easily picture an interface for front row that can be add dvr functionality without adding buttons to the remote - and I got a way lower SAT score than gates. MS has always tried to figure out how to get a product to do *more*; apple has always tried to figure out how to get a product to do what it does *better*. The latter speaks to me and my interests more than the former.
The ONLY thing I think that should ever be added to the front row remote would be numeric buttons for channels. I wish all my av gear had as simple a remote/interface.
-matt
What I find so useful about rss feeds is that I don't have to go visit all the websites. I don't have to open up my bookmarks. I don't have to navigate to subpages for specific content.
With RSS, I simply load up my feed reader (Newsfire on OS X - its great) and it grabs everything without forcing me to do anything. Many of you are pointing out that with just lists of headlines in the news feed, you might as well go to the website to see the same thing. That is true, but for me it is easier to open up 1 information point and get ALL the headlines than go to a bunch of sites for the same thing. For me it is is just much more efficient. AND it provides a consistent interface - I just see the headlines. No dealing with crap designs on some sites.
Also, I happen to be looking for a new job now and 2 job site search engines (indeed.com and simplyhired.com) allow you to search all the other job sites and then save out a custom RSS feed based on your search criteria. This saves me a ton of time because I don't have to manually do a repetitive search. Hits just come straight to me. Its great.
The best thing about RSS is that once its set up, you no longer need to remember to check stuff. Now, this is great for non-tech people. Slashdot readers are probably more interested in control and immediacy than the average person. And setting feeds up with Safari is very easy. Any site with a feed is detected and shows an RSS logo in the address bar. Click it and (by default) it will bookmark the feed in safari or if you've changed your default reader, it will launch that app and bookmark. Simple.
-matt
>>My guess is that the doctor who snatched you from your mother's womb was, likewise, not "free" (as in speech).
I think he means that a doctor has the doctor/patient privilege thing. Meaning that he does not have a right to announce to the world that you have cancer.
That's my take anyway.
Here's my (educated*) guess - These sites provide metrics to media buyers. Media buyers have no clue about the 'popup ad arms race' - all they know is they have effective response rates from popups and site XYZ can show that they show popups to N visitors. N is just the amount joe ad buyer is looking for. He doesn't know that the only reason this number is so high is due to circumvention of popup blockers and a royally annoyed audience.
So my guess is that it really is the sites that host the ads which aren't being totally honest.
* I was an advertising major in college and have a little experience with media buying - I would suspect that this is what is happening.
While I understand your point about built-in functionality being preferable, there are USB digital audio 'dongles' available which aren't too expensive and are also fairly small. I am going to be adding one of the following to my Mac mini (if it ever gets here - jeesh).
Edirol UA-1x
M-Audio Transit
Hope this helps.
MS seems to keep having this problem. I heard the same thing at the release of XP.
As a Mac OS X user (XP at work), I much prefer the more modest OS upgrades that come out more often at a lower cost (than Windows). This eases the transistion between new versions (less UI differences, more software compatibility, etc).
It seems that Windows users have to weigh the pros (new features (the ones that haven't been cut), 'newest thing' addiction) against the cons (forced software upgrades for compatibility, relearning the UI, high upgrade cost). Any reason why MS doesn't release more often? The only thing that springs to mind is that IT departments hate upgrades and the cost but if you did it more often and made the upgrades less painful then there wouldn't be such a problem. MS tends to be going this way with their 'subscription' model anyway...
That may happen a lot but ideally marketing is in touch with customers and can determine what the market wants. Then marketing passes the spec to the programmers who develop said feature that the customers/market would pay for.
In my experience, programmers often have little to do with the customer and may not know what features would be worth it for the customer - it is marketing's job to provide this feedback loop between the tech department and the customer.
One of the things that sometimes bothers me about slashdot is that when someone points out some new product and how it solves problem XYZ and makes their life easier/better, then a bunch of people jump in to say that you could have had the same thing for free/cheaper by simply doing something less-simple/intuitive/elegant. The same thing has been going round and round with the mac mini. Everyone says just get a Dell custom configured this way and that and you'll save $50 bucks and have a low-end LCD. When will people realize that ISN'T what everyone wants. Sometimes its worth some extra money for the thing you like better. Whether it allows you to use the ol' corded phone that you always liked or have a whisper quite unix system, if you feel its worth it, SPEND the money - that's what its for!
Sorry, rant over. It just gets frustrating when people find neat things and then they get told that their preferences should be different. And it always seems to lean towards not spending anything...
Give it time.... :)
If you are interested in Delicious Library, I would also recomend looking into DVDpedia before you purchase. I must admit that Delicious Library is highly polished but is pretty much a straight catologer. DVDpedia offers some features that allow you venture into the media center mac arena. For instance you can link to media files straight from 'pedia for trailers (.mov) or the movie iteslf (.vob). This allows you to launch a movie straight from the dvdpedia interface. Also, I like to add the original posters to dvdpedia instead of the often ugly dvd package image which DL requires you to use. Finally 'pedia allows for smart collections - like all movies which I have rated five stars or movies from the 80's or movies by speilberg. These are just a sample of the extra features in DVDpedia that I like and I thought you might like to so download both and give em a try.
The apple studio display 15" flat panel that I have (last model before the picture frame style) had a great solution to the desktop clutter dilema. The monitor had one cable coming out the back. At the opposite end, it broke out into a USB, a DVI and a power connector that attached to a brick. It is great. No desktop clutter but the flexibility of DVI. I expect that these new monitors will go back to that. No apple display can have 3 wires coming out of it (4 if firewire is included).
You are exactly right. Everyone seems to be treating this device as if Apple claimed to be launching the "be all and end all" of home audio mp3 integrations. It is a wireless access point with features of equal importance for (1) travellers who want wireless on the go (2) home users who need wireless (3) home users who want to extend their existing wireless (4) home users who want to print wirelessly (5) music listeners who wish they could play songs on their existing stereo wirelessly. Note how many time wireless showed up in my description. Thats what the product is.
From what I have seen of friends who had parents like this, they followed every rule (only when at home), talked shit about their parents behind their backs, moved out at first possible convenience and pretty much just talked to the folks on birthdays and christmas. That's just the relationship I would want. The other result I have seen is the child becoming a "namby pamby" adult who can't think outside the box ever at all and is scared of new ideas and situations. Sounds good all around!
Just like it! Except for the fact that the internet protects you from all bodily harm (which is the first reason to turn away from dark alleys).
I'm not a dad but I would make sure the "don't talk to strangers" and "never give out your personal info" (full name, address, phone, etc) rules are followed and help them to understand why.
As for adult content, my opinion is "who cares?" The point is to help the chidren become adults - not block out everything until they move out. Let them grow from the safety of home.
Sounds like a sony (or maybe any PC) is not a powerbook killer for the reasons listed in the parent comment. I have never had to worry about installing any other Apple OS on any supported machine and I have never had to jump throught these kind of hoops (installing drivers in the right order? for christ's sake!).
Now, even though I am a long time mac user/proponent, I use PCs at work and the pure usablity gap is decreasing. But when it comes to polish, fit and finish, and total cost of ownership - I just can't see the pc as a good choice for most people. It's too bad that the price sticker at best buy doesn't have to include a breakdown of how much the unit will cost over its lifetime and how much hair you will pull out (sort of like energy costs on appliances).
Everytime I think of adding an ultralight PC laptop to my home network to run the odd pc app, I read these posts and remember that it ain't worth it.
And the things cost way more than a 12" PB!
-matt
According to this Apple Knowledge Base article, the speed of the base station DOES NOT throttle when 11b users are connected.
It specifically says:
"Mixing clients on an AirPort Extreme network
When you mix 802.11b (AirPort) and 802.11g (AirPort Extreme) clients on an AirPort Extreme network, each type of client receives an appropriate data throughput rate. The 802.11g clients continue to receive data at a higher rate than 802.11b clients.'
The "little 2" is probably there so people don't think that when an 11b user is transfering files to an 11g user that the transfer will zoom along at 54mbs. In this scenerio, all user need to be extreme to get high speeds.