The sooner the boys in Washington figure out that my use of the Net isn't a taxable resource, the better. Anything they come up with, I'll get around, whether through proxies, tunnels, encryption, or, in the end, by leaving the country and taking my computer skills somewhere that properly appreciates them.
And for those of you saying that this is all a hoax, think again - the net tax moratorium was passed specifically because lawmakers were eyeing the net with dollar signs in their eyes.
When technology such as digital signatures have been put into widespread enough use, and the USPS starts feeling the resulting business switch, just see if there aren't committees springing up all over the place to figure out how to tax email to make up the difference.
I find it "interesting" that Microsoft is telling the world about this group, and even supplying quotes from the team leader to the press...
I think that Microsoft is happy as hell at this point to see Linux pop up, because they need something to point to for competition in their antitrust suit - it's still going on, you know!
They've been clutching for something to call competition - Paul Maritz is quoted as saying under oath that AbiSource's word processor, AbiWord, is competition for MS Word, even though it's still WAY beta and not fully functional.
I'm not defending either company - this whole "service" thing is there for a reason, and it's not just to make it more convenient to record shows - it's a coverup for the marketing part.
But the big difference here, and the reason that, so far, TiVo is actually the good guy of the two, is that they're disclosing their plans and offering opt out, while Replay has nothing about privacy on their site so far.
Right now, given a choice between the two I'd take TiVo in a second. No way I'm going to plunk down $699 cash for something that very well may report every show I watch, with my name, back to central.
Where'd you hear that? Is it on their website? Have they made public, bindable statements to that effect?
Until they do, they can do whatever they want. At least TiVo has a very comprehensive privacy policy out there for all to see, and also has opt-out available. Haven't seen anything at all from Replay about privacy.
Well, that's fine - I tend to agree with the Linux solution. Let's see, what would we need..
An embedded-type board with something on the order of a Pentium II 233 (but not in that damn Socket I), 16 megs of RAM, a big drive (16 gig IDE drives and bigger are pretty cheap...), a capture card with cable tuner, which Linux 2.2 has the infrastructure to support, an infrared remote interface, and an infrared output to control cable boxes etc. Oh, and the all-important 100-baseT ethernet so you can pull video out of it to another Linux box for nonlinear editing and other munging.
Should be quite easy to get into a box the size of a cable box. Later we can tack on a DVD-RAM of some kind for saving programs on - minus commercials, of course!
Voila. Problem solved and TV execs can bitch all they want, won't do any good.
Good question - and I just asked it, since there's not a WORD about privacy on the entire site that I could find, and certainly not in the technical FAQ where it should be.
We'll see what (or if) they reply. I told them I wouldn't even consider their box until they answer, and neither would a lot of techies, who are, of course, their target audience.
This whole Network thing kinda scares me in general. Regardless of whether they collect info or not, being dependent on that isn't too great. What happens to the functionality if this thing is a general bomb and they run out of money? That's barely even improbable in this day and age. Does the box turn into a doorstop without the network?
I'd like this exact box, but let me set up the programs by hand, give them a name, and forget the Network stuff - i.e. automatic timeshifting, programs categorized, but no tapes to futz with. I don't need my hand held with network updates and neither do most techies - I'm most interested to see their reply to the privacy matter.
I have a nasty feeling ReplayTV is being heavily subsidized by some advertising interests who are slobbering to get viewership data...
Maybe I should look at the TiVo box - I've only seen Replay's site so far.
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The question is "can they", and the answer is no.
The sooner the boys in Washington figure out that my use of the Net isn't a taxable resource, the better. Anything they come up with, I'll get around, whether through proxies, tunnels, encryption, or, in the end, by leaving the country and taking my computer skills somewhere that properly appreciates them.
And for those of you saying that this is all a hoax, think again - the net tax moratorium was passed specifically because lawmakers were eyeing the net with dollar signs in their eyes.
When technology such as digital signatures have been put into widespread enough use, and the USPS starts feeling the resulting business switch, just see if there aren't committees springing up all over the place to figure out how to tax email to make up the difference.
I find it "interesting" that Microsoft is telling the world about this group, and even supplying quotes from the team leader to the press...
I think that Microsoft is happy as hell at this point to see Linux pop up, because they need something to point to for competition in their antitrust suit - it's still going on, you know!
They've been clutching for something to call competition - Paul Maritz is quoted as saying under oath that AbiSource's word processor, AbiWord, is competition for MS Word, even though it's still WAY beta and not fully functional.
Bzzzt, thanks for playing!
I'm not defending either company - this whole "service" thing is there for a reason, and it's not just to make it more convenient to record shows - it's a coverup for the marketing part.
But the big difference here, and the reason that, so far, TiVo is actually the good guy of the two, is that they're disclosing their plans and offering opt out, while Replay has nothing about privacy on their site so far.
Right now, given a choice between the two I'd take TiVo in a second. No way I'm going to plunk down $699 cash for something that very well may report every show I watch, with my name, back to central.
Where'd you hear that? Is it on their website? Have they made public, bindable statements to that effect?
Until they do, they can do whatever they want. At least TiVo has a very comprehensive privacy policy out there for all to see, and also has opt-out available. Haven't seen anything at all from Replay about privacy.
Well, that's fine - I tend to agree with the Linux solution. Let's see, what would we need..
An embedded-type board with something on the order of a Pentium II 233 (but not in that damn Socket I), 16 megs of RAM, a big drive (16 gig IDE drives and bigger are pretty cheap...), a capture card with cable tuner, which Linux 2.2 has the infrastructure to support, an infrared remote interface, and an infrared output to control cable boxes etc. Oh, and the all-important 100-baseT ethernet so you can pull video out of it to another Linux box for nonlinear editing and other munging.
Should be quite easy to get into a box the size of a cable box. Later we can tack on a DVD-RAM of some kind for saving programs on - minus commercials, of course!
Voila. Problem solved and TV execs can bitch all they want, won't do any good.
Good question - and I just asked it, since there's not a WORD about privacy on the entire site that I could find, and certainly not in the technical FAQ where it should be.
We'll see what (or if) they reply. I told them I wouldn't even consider their box until they answer, and neither would a lot of techies, who are, of course, their target audience.
This whole Network thing kinda scares me in general. Regardless of whether they collect info or not, being dependent on that isn't too great. What happens to the functionality if this thing is a general bomb and they run out of money? That's barely even improbable in this day and age. Does the box turn into a doorstop without the network?
I'd like this exact box, but let me set up the programs by hand, give them a name, and forget the Network stuff - i.e. automatic timeshifting, programs categorized, but no tapes to futz with. I don't need my hand held with network updates and neither do most techies - I'm most interested to see their reply to the privacy matter.
I have a nasty feeling ReplayTV is being heavily subsidized by some advertising interests who are slobbering to get viewership data...
Maybe I should look at the TiVo box - I've only seen Replay's site so far.