It's called "convenience." Is the fact that you have to pay more to pick up a six-pack of beer when you're paying gas a huge injustice (You know, 7-11 could put their logo on a piece of dog poo!1!11oneoneoneoneeleventy) than when you go to the grocery store.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that it's probably more expensive than it should be. In fact, I was of the impression that we wouldn't get DRM-free music on the iTunes store unless the labels would agree to sell it at the same $.99 price point, which would mean Apple and the music labels would never get past their impasse. Obviously, I was wrong here. And I personally think that yeah, $1.29 for a single is high and it should be cheaper. But that's no reason to be a dipstick and insist there's NO advantage to buying music through iTunes over brick-and-mortar. You make reference to the time it takes to download the music. Compared to the time it takes to wait for Amazon.com to ship it, or for you to drive to the nearest record store? It's all but guaranteed to be much shorter.
If you want instant gratification and DRM-less music there are NO other *legal* options for this than eMusic and iTunes. That's a combination that neither filesharing, brick-and-mortar, music catalogs, or other online stores offer. You can either take a cheap shot at Apple's customers or realize that this is in fact a big deal.
That we already have caught the people in charge of CherryOS in at least one lie. Or at the least, a broken promise. From page 2 of a Wired article from October:
Kryeziu said he's happy to supply the PearPC developers with the source code so they can see for themselves, and will do so when the first public release is ready, which will likely be in a few days.
"If it's based on PearPC, the PearPC developers will figure it out," he said. "I will provide the source code so they can compare it. I will give it to them to clear up the trash talk."
I'm sure everyone will understand that insanely abstract metaphor. iTunes emulates a jukebox. The Finder emulates a computer? You are really reaching, IMHO. ---
The target audience would seem to be people who have Xbox or Gamecube consoles and want to play games in progressive scan format, which is rather superior to plain ole TV, but don't have an expensive HDTV. Of course, it is still expensive - but not quite as much so as a huge TV.
The only notable thing, is that as this sort of thing gets widespread, cable companies will have to either add more value to the service (
free PPV perhaps, or more digital channels) or price it cheaper.
There are a LOT of people who don't think they need Microsoft on their computer. I'm still convinced that one of Apple's biggest problems is that you can't BUY them anywhere. They have no visibility. My parents went computer shopping this summer (before I had switched), and they went to OfficeMax to window shop. You wouldn't know that Apple existed in that store, even though they carried every other manufacturere (minus Dell of course).
Now, everybody in the South goes to WalMart for practically everything. I can't stand the warehouse atmosphere of the place, but oh well. The point is that, here we have a non-Microsoft computer with good visibility. True, many of the people buying it do so because it's cheap, but the fact remains:they didn't care that it didn't have Windows! More non-Microsoft computers need to get on the shelves and in the stores where people who don't read Slashdot will have corporeal evidence that they exist, and I firmly believe Microsoft's monopoly would crumble.
Re:Why the RIAA's P2P vendetta is crazy
on
Cringely on P2P
·
· Score: 2
Well...there is a signifigant difference between me using KaZaA to sample the latest Aimee Mann cd, and some kid with a radio tuner sampling the latest carbon-copy studio swill.
Specifically, with the radio route, you are still letting someone else control what you are exposed to, which is why this isn't nearly as good of an option for people who - I hope this doesn't shock anybody - actually don't like RIAA-sanctioned top 20-music ; )
Jesus H Christ. I'm not sure if this is a troll or an honest question, but does nobody read BoingBoing besides me? Mark Frauenfelder, who was featured in the first run of ads (which are no longer available on Apple's web site) has been mainting BoingBoing with Cory Doctorow for quite a while now. I was reading his blog long before the switch ads started appearing. The cynicism of some people amazes me. Yes, the men and women featured in Apple's commercials are real people telling their real stories.
University of West Florida does just this-they have a firewall that completely blocks all P2P software ports. Kazaa, gnutella, whatever, it just doesn't work. I think I have the only solution - get
Timbuktu installed on my home computer, remotely download files from my cable modem and then upload to my college box. Ta-da!
Sure, you couldn't do any of those things, but why would you want to? There are indeed ways to get the mouse pointer to pre-point at the default choices: you install a program on the computer. Logitech's MouseWorks does this, IIRC. You, on the other hand, advocate ONE application to behave inconsistently with every other. That's not innovation. That is pissing off me, the user. If I want the button to do that I'll install the software that will facilitate it system-wide,damnit. I don't want one single application to think it's cool. Put buttons on the menubar? Are you on crack? Tell me why this would be innovation. Buttons go on toolbars. That is a rule. Similarly, the button to honk the horn is on the steering wheel, not the gas pedal. That's just the way it is.
Furthermore, this does not hinder interface innovation. The innovations will come in future OS revisions, which is when users expect that things will be different. You don't go changing the way Windows works until the next version of Windows comes out.
I know I sound bitchy and cranky, but this is how I get when people try to be Jakob Neilsen when they obviously aren't. A general rule about interfaces: if you don't know what your talking about, don't mess with them.
Yes, because that works so well for heroin. And prohibition worked really well, too. And isn't something like 95% of the trading on KaZaA and Gnutella illegal as well? And all of the child porn readily available on the net?
Spam, like these things, is going to be extremely difficult to enforce. Laws or no laws, filters will be necessary.
My karma might suffer for this. (On the other hand, it might not, depending on what the moderators think of Tolkien.) And Im also afraid I might be responding to a troll...but I suppose Ill bite anyway.
Tolkien's books were badly paced,
Tolkien did not want LotR to be multiple books. It is one large story, and was separated into separate parts because the publisher was afraid people would be intimidated by the huge tome that is the collected LotR. Of course, if you feel like replying, you could give more specific examples, and if need be, I may be willing to concede some aspects of pacing.
his storyline brought in new elements with little or no forshadowing,
I seem to remember the books being positively rife with foreshadowing. Of course, I havent really proven anything there. I guess I would like you to reply with an example.
and the climactic scene of entire story took place in book 5/6, and was solved by a villian.
Ok, Im not really sure why having the climactic scene in the last book is a problem, so Ill move on. (Again, feel free to reply with clarifications). The way the ring is destroyed in the end is, in my opinion, one of the best aspects of the books. The entire point of that scene is to show that no living being could have the willpower to throw the ring into the fire, so great was its powers of temptation and treachery. (Spoiler ahead, watch yourself folks.) Having Gollum seize the ring from Frodo and then fall into the pit amidst his excitement over being reunited with his precious further refutes your claim about foreshadowing, as it fulfills the predictions Gandalf made way back in the Fellowship of the Ring. Gandalf specifically wanrs Frodo not to kill Gollum, both out of pity and because Gandalf felt that Gollum still had some purpose to fulfill. If Frodo had ignored that advice and killed Gollum, ironically, he would have doomed all of existance to defeat at the hands of Sauron. In my opinion, that scene was very, very well done.
Obviously, I am a biased, Slashdot-reading LotR geek. I dont pretend to be impartial, as these are some of my favorite books, and I am not trying to say that they are immune to criticism; I have some complaints of my own about the books. But aside from possibly some complaints about pacing, I think the criticsm you have thrown at the books are entirely off base.
How in the hell are.NET and OS X similar? One is a new Unix-based operating system leveraging Apple technologies, and one is a completely new "applications as internet services" paradigm. Hell, I'll go even further to prove my point that switching words proves nothing:
"This makes huge sense for The Legions of Satan: their future is.Mussolini and the company has been saying this for some time. I'm glad they are making the cut now, still relatively early in.Mussolini's life cycle. This will help push developers onto the new platform; in turn this is good for end users because the applications they need to run are more likely to appear on.Mussolini.
And again it shows that The Legions of Satan are able to make gutsey decisions and lead the market rather than follow it. Whatever you think of the relative merits of.Mussolini vs. traditional COM applications, this is the kind of bleeding-edge decision making that The Legions of Satan need if they are to differentiate itself from the other platforms."
Of course changing the words to something inherently changes their meanings. That's how language works, dummy.
This was a very well-written article, and I loved the way it portrayed all the insane work, struggle, and worry that goes into the creation of a game console. But at the same time, it reminded me why I've always been a Nintendo man.
Pay careful attention to the part of the article where it describes the Xbox team versus the WebTV team vying for the support of Bill Gates, and notice the tactic which was used to convince Gates that Xbox was a worthwhile venture: "Bill, if we don't go forward with this, Sony will wipe out any hopes of a consumer presence," is the basic gist of it.
Ah, Microsoft. Once again they demonstrate their ability to thrust themselves into a market based on paranoia. Xbox fans, take note: if not for Sony, there would be no Xbox. Hopefully my geekiness isn't getting too extravagant because I have a sense of smugness over having bought a Gamecube. I feel that way because Nintendo doesn't see the Gamecube as a trojan horse to take over my living room's connectivity.
I think I might just have to move to Europe. My favorite part of that article was when it quoted John Dvorak saying he didn't like Europe because they always did their own things and bought Amigas, Ataris, and OS/2s. You know, the cool stuff that the rest of the world is too timid to use.
So if I got this right, Europe actually gives a shit about their computers. My plane leaves in five hours ; )
If I need to tell the truth about an employer that I don't even work for anymore, than nobody should be able to stop it. If I quit or get fired, what more do they want? If it's true, than it's not slanderous. This sets a bad precedent: why couldn't movie studios hire thugs to make sure a given film gets a high rating...?
...that this is not a great deal worse than we were before. DVDs have always been the most annoying, closed media around, and theses companies are really trying to prevent any 'unlicensed' players from being able to play these discs.
Dave Barry also pointed out in his book, Dave Barry in Cyberspace (IIRC), that there was always a parallel universe called "Macintosh" created with the bizarre idea a human could actually use it.
Barry was quick to point out that manly computer users such as himself didn't want a computer they could use, and so the Macintosh has a pitiful market share, even to this day ; )
Slashdot Mirror
It's called "convenience." Is the fact that you have to pay more to pick up a six-pack of beer when you're paying gas a huge injustice (You know, 7-11 could put their logo on a piece of dog poo!1!11oneoneoneoneeleventy) than when you go to the grocery store.
Don't get me wrong, I agree that it's probably more expensive than it should be. In fact, I was of the impression that we wouldn't get DRM-free music on the iTunes store unless the labels would agree to sell it at the same $.99 price point, which would mean Apple and the music labels would never get past their impasse. Obviously, I was wrong here. And I personally think that yeah, $1.29 for a single is high and it should be cheaper. But that's no reason to be a dipstick and insist there's NO advantage to buying music through iTunes over brick-and-mortar. You make reference to the time it takes to download the music. Compared to the time it takes to wait for Amazon.com to ship it, or for you to drive to the nearest record store? It's all but guaranteed to be much shorter.
If you want instant gratification and DRM-less music there are NO other *legal* options for this than eMusic and iTunes. That's a combination that neither filesharing, brick-and-mortar, music catalogs, or other online stores offer. You can either take a cheap shot at Apple's customers or realize that this is in fact a big deal.
Does this mean they'll also commit to a Mac version of WMP that doesn't absolutely suck? I'm not holding my breath.
Yeah, he seems trustworthy.
...and what happens when the students attach the iPods to their own computers, and get all of the 'educational' audio erased?
(rolls eyes)
I'm sure everyone will understand that insanely abstract metaphor. iTunes emulates a jukebox. The Finder emulates a computer? You are really reaching, IMHO.
---
The target audience would seem to be people who have Xbox or Gamecube consoles and want to play games in progressive scan format, which is rather superior to plain ole TV, but don't have an expensive HDTV. Of course, it is still expensive - but not quite as much so as a huge TV.
Great idea! We can call it...penny picher video.
Now, everybody in the South goes to WalMart for practically everything. I can't stand the warehouse atmosphere of the place, but oh well. The point is that, here we have a non-Microsoft computer with good visibility. True, many of the people buying it do so because it's cheap, but the fact remains:they didn't care that it didn't have Windows! More non-Microsoft computers need to get on the shelves and in the stores where people who don't read Slashdot will have corporeal evidence that they exist, and I firmly believe Microsoft's monopoly would crumble.
Well...there is a signifigant difference between me using KaZaA to sample the latest Aimee Mann cd, and some kid with a radio tuner sampling the latest carbon-copy studio swill. Specifically, with the radio route, you are still letting someone else control what you are exposed to, which is why this isn't nearly as good of an option for people who - I hope this doesn't shock anybody - actually don't like RIAA-sanctioned top 20-music ; )
I removed Microsoft from my "trusted publishers" list a long time ago ; )
Jesus H Christ. I'm not sure if this is a troll or an honest question, but does nobody read BoingBoing besides me? Mark Frauenfelder, who was featured in the first run of ads (which are no longer available on Apple's web site) has been mainting BoingBoing with Cory Doctorow for quite a while now. I was reading his blog long before the switch ads started appearing. The cynicism of some people amazes me. Yes, the men and women featured in Apple's commercials are real people telling their real stories.
University of West Florida does just this-they have a firewall that completely blocks all P2P software ports. Kazaa, gnutella, whatever, it just doesn't work. I think I have the only solution - get Timbuktu installed on my home computer, remotely download files from my cable modem and then upload to my college box. Ta-da!
Furthermore, this does not hinder interface innovation. The innovations will come in future OS revisions, which is when users expect that things will be different. You don't go changing the way Windows works until the next version of Windows comes out.
I know I sound bitchy and cranky, but this is how I get when people try to be Jakob Neilsen when they obviously aren't. A general rule about interfaces: if you don't know what your talking about, don't mess with them.
License!=Good Game
Spam, like these things, is going to be extremely difficult to enforce. Laws or no laws, filters will be necessary.
Obviously, I am a biased, Slashdot-reading LotR geek. I dont pretend to be impartial, as these are some of my favorite books, and I am not trying to say that they are immune to criticism; I have some complaints of my own about the books. But aside from possibly some complaints about pacing, I think the criticsm you have thrown at the books are entirely off base.
How in the hell are .NET and OS X similar? One is a new Unix-based operating system leveraging Apple technologies, and one is a completely new "applications as internet services" paradigm. Hell, I'll go even further to prove my point that switching words proves nothing:
"This makes huge sense for The Legions of Satan: their future is .Mussolini and the company has been saying this for some time. I'm glad they are making the cut now, still relatively early in .Mussolini's life cycle. This will help push developers onto the new platform; in turn this is good for end users because the applications they need to run are more likely to appear on .Mussolini.
And again it shows that The Legions of Satan are able to make gutsey decisions and lead the market rather than follow it. Whatever you think of the relative merits of .Mussolini vs. traditional COM applications, this is the kind of bleeding-edge decision making that The Legions of Satan need if they are to differentiate itself from the other platforms."
Of course changing the words to something inherently changes their meanings. That's how language works, dummy.
Wasn't he going to work on OS X at Apple anyway? I seem to recall reading that somewhere.
Pay careful attention to the part of the article where it describes the Xbox team versus the WebTV team vying for the support of Bill Gates, and notice the tactic which was used to convince Gates that Xbox was a worthwhile venture: "Bill, if we don't go forward with this, Sony will wipe out any hopes of a consumer presence," is the basic gist of it.
Ah, Microsoft. Once again they demonstrate their ability to thrust themselves into a market based on paranoia. Xbox fans, take note: if not for Sony, there would be no Xbox. Hopefully my geekiness isn't getting too extravagant because I have a sense of smugness over having bought a Gamecube. I feel that way because Nintendo doesn't see the Gamecube as a trojan horse to take over my living room's connectivity.
So if I got this right, Europe actually gives a shit about their computers. My plane leaves in five hours ; )
...must of us want the internet to be a playground, not some place where we need to get a hall pass to use a hyperlink.
If I need to tell the truth about an employer that I don't even work for anymore, than nobody should be able to stop it. If I quit or get fired, what more do they want? If it's true, than it's not slanderous. This sets a bad precedent: why couldn't movie studios hire thugs to make sure a given film gets a high rating...?
...that this is not a great deal worse than we were before. DVDs have always been the most annoying, closed media around, and theses companies are really trying to prevent any 'unlicensed' players from being able to play these discs.
Barry was quick to point out that manly computer users such as himself didn't want a computer they could use, and so the Macintosh has a pitiful market share, even to this day ; )