If you mean that, you either are a Microsoft lover, or you've never used MacOS. Possibly both.
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of either; but I'm forced to use both on a regular basis and MacOS, while still "dumbed down", seems to be dumbed down in a more predictable way.
It might just be me, but the number of MS-basher-bashers often seems to exceed the number of MS-bashers here.
I'm of the MS-basher kind, and not without reason. MS-bashing is necessary. Why? It's only natural that in a market where one product is dominant, the people who actually are aware of the many shortcomings of that product AND of the totally unfair behaviour of the product's manufacturer, try to make the general public aware of this.
If "we" wouldn't bash MS, probably no one would, and MS wouldn't be slowly losing its grip on the market like it is now. It would probably be growing even stronger every day.
It should be noted however, that mindless bashing is quite useless, or possibly even good for MS.
Although the idea is interesting, you are blindly assuming quite a lot. Microsoft, DOS and Intel were all filling a gap, and if they hadn't, it's not at all unlikely that another entity would have. I refuse to believe that without MS, in an age of great technological advances, there wouldn't be commodity hardware these days.
I think it is however quite possible that without the Intel/MS interaction going exactly as it has, the OS market these days would be much more diverse and evenly divided.
You sure you hit "reply to this" on the right message?
Subscription music services. Streaming web radio. Promotional CDs. Compilation discs. Reviews in magazines. Free promotional compilation discs in magazines with reviews that you can subscribe to.
... all suffer from the same ailment I mentioned: only one or two tracks. It might be me or it might be my taste in music, but the only way for me to decide if I like something is by listening to it entirely a few times. Small parts of an album often give an either wrongfully positive or negative impression of the entire composition.
All of you people who keep crying and complaining that the prices are all too high
I'm perfectly willing to shell out [average CD price] for a CD, as long as I'm reasonably sure it's actually worth it.
and the labels are all unfair,
You are wrongfully accusing me and a lot of other people of ignorance. I think the average/.-er is perfectly well aware of the existence of independant labels that care about music, not money.
and you'd be fine if they'd just wake up and provide a low-cost alternative.
There's no need for an alternative. The current system is turning out to be real good for music as an art (many people are finding, and subsequently paying for, music they would never have found without p2p), and real bad for those who make more money when everyone just listens to & buys whatever junk is currently at #1 in the charts.
Too bad independent record labels get so little media attention, I wouldn't be suprised if their sales have been increasing. That would be a real good stick to beat the RIAA with.
as though the majority of the people on Kazaa are "sampling" all those albums in order to run to the store and purchase them to re-get them.
Actually, the majority of people I know do.
I don't get this incessant need to avoid stating the OBVIOUS TRUTH, which is that p2p is used for a shitload of outright piracy and avoiding paying for stuff. I'd say over 90%. You're being foolish and purposely stoic if you pretend otherwise.
I was merely responding to another post. Pardon me for not blurring the argument by involving every issue that's even slightly related. (Someone: "Apples suck." I: "No, apples rule." You: "You're purposely ignoring the fact that many apples are green!")
suing people who are illegally distributing their product
It's the musicians' product. Never mind that many musicians are just as unhappy about the RIAA as most p2p users.
Your analogy is bullshit because... ... physical items can't be copied at no cost. ... many stores let you return items you regret you purchased (provided they can still be sold); unfortunately very few CD stores do. ... you can usually tell whether you like certain clothes or not on first sight, while this is impossible for most music (and *all* non-crappy music) ... I still pay for everything I keep.
More education is necessary. One form of education is lawsuits.
Sad thing is, he's probably right in some way. Lawsuits have become a way not just to resolve conflicts that the law is unclear on, but also to attract media attention. And I'm betting there's a good lot of people brainwashed enough to not see anything wrong with that...
I'm sorry, but I refuse to decide whether I should spend $10 or more (I'm a poor student...) on a CD based on listening just one song. I listen the entire album once or twice in the background, if I like it I buy it, if I don't, I delete it.
Sharing a few thousand songs is a bit extreme, I agree (still no reason for legal action though, in my opinion). Personally, I share the stuff I like best so I might get others hooked on it. And I'm betting many of those who do will actually buy the CD just like I do.
I would say listening to it first is a pretty good way to decide whether something is valuable to you. At least that's the way I choose which CD's to buy: download songs from p2p/usenet, and buy the CD if I like it.
I think this problem will solve itself. If M$'s market share would one day be half of what it is today, it will have become less evil. Simply because it has to.
Even if their software would still be inferior, far fewer people would actually hate Microsoft since they would simply have a real choice between using their software, or simply ignoring them.
If you think finding 8x media is hard (and lemme tell ya, no-name brand 4x media often only works at 2.4x!),
I use Verbatim media for my long-term backups, and while their 4x media are not the cheapest, my burner (Plextor PX-708A) actually decides to burn them at 8x most of the time.
In case you're wondering, I do regular integrity checks of my backups and haven't had a single read error yet.
Yup, Linux will boom not just by itself, but because the competitions implodes. 99% of people don't actively look for something better as long as what they currently have is "good enough".
What would really help Linux is a disastrous (Fortune500-company- secrets-in-the-newspaper- disastrous) security hole in Windows.
Isn't Surround Sound the technique of encoding 4 channels of audio (left, right, front, rear ("surround")) in 2 discrete channels, such as used by a lot of movies on TV? Since only 2 real channels are used, this was already possible using MP3.
Maybe "multichannel" would be a more appropriate description.
If you want real fast browsing, give Dillo a try. It still has trouble rendering some pages, but it leaves all the so-called "fast" browsers far behind.
Exactly. And AMD will have no choice but to adjust their rating as well. Ofcourse, just a little too much according to Intel's tastes, so Intel will also adjust (or spread FUD). Ultimate effect: useful reference system nowhere to be seen.
Possible following developments: - An independent entity will develop a well-balanced reference system and both Chipzilla and Chimpzilla will agree to use it. (unlikely) OR - Comparisons will continue to remain vague (more likely). This isn't as bad as it seems though, remember that numbers that are really useful just by themselves are actually quite rare in many types of computer components.
As to the situation in the Netherlands, a lot can be found on the site of Bits of Freedom. Unfortunately, most of it is in Dutch (very simple english version). I don't remember any significant attention from the international media to this, but if you are really interested, I think delving through the archives of The Register might turn up one or two interesting articles.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, but at least this way, you won't have to wait for your coffee! I knew our tax dollars wouldn't be wasted!
Personally, I'm not a huge fan of either; but I'm forced to use both on a regular basis and MacOS, while still "dumbed down", seems to be dumbed down in a more predictable way.
I'm of the MS-basher kind, and not without reason. MS-bashing is necessary. Why? It's only natural that in a market where one product is dominant, the people who actually are aware of the many shortcomings of that product AND of the totally unfair behaviour of the product's manufacturer, try to make the general public aware of this.
If "we" wouldn't bash MS, probably no one would, and MS wouldn't be slowly losing its grip on the market like it is now. It would probably be growing even stronger every day.
It should be noted however, that mindless bashing is quite useless, or possibly even good for MS.
I think it is however quite possible that without the Intel/MS interaction going exactly as it has, the OS market these days would be much more diverse and evenly divided.
Well, it's rather obvious. Trees need rain every now and then. It doesn't rain underwater. There's your problem.
for i in All these comments; do .
ln -s "$i"
done
Subscription music services. Streaming web radio. Promotional CDs. Compilation discs. Reviews in magazines. Free promotional compilation discs in magazines with reviews that you can subscribe to.
... all suffer from the same ailment I mentioned: only one or two tracks. It might be me or it might be my taste in music, but the only way for me to decide if I like something is by listening to it entirely a few times. Small parts of an album often give an either wrongfully positive or negative impression of the entire composition.
All of you people who keep crying and complaining that the prices are all too high
I'm perfectly willing to shell out [average CD price] for a CD, as long as I'm reasonably sure it's actually worth it.
and the labels are all unfair,
You are wrongfully accusing me and a lot of other people of ignorance. I think the average /.-er is perfectly well aware of the existence of independant labels that care about music, not money.
and you'd be fine if they'd just wake up and provide a low-cost alternative.
There's no need for an alternative. The current system is turning out to be real good for music as an art (many people are finding, and subsequently paying for, music they would never have found without p2p), and real bad for those who make more money when everyone just listens to & buys whatever junk is currently at #1 in the charts.
Too bad independent record labels get so little media attention, I wouldn't be suprised if their sales have been increasing. That would be a real good stick to beat the RIAA with.
Actually, the majority of people I know do.
I don't get this incessant need to avoid stating the OBVIOUS TRUTH, which is that p2p is used for a shitload of outright piracy and avoiding paying for stuff. I'd say over 90%. You're being foolish and purposely stoic if you pretend otherwise.
I was merely responding to another post. Pardon me for not blurring the argument by involving every issue that's even slightly related.
(Someone: "Apples suck." I: "No, apples rule." You: "You're purposely ignoring the fact that many apples are green!")
suing people who are illegally distributing their product
It's the musicians' product. Never mind that many musicians are just as unhappy about the RIAA as most p2p users.
Your analogy is bullshit because...
... physical items can't be copied at no cost.
... many stores let you return items you regret you purchased (provided they can still be sold); unfortunately very few CD stores do.
... you can usually tell whether you like certain clothes or not on first sight, while this is impossible for most music (and *all* non-crappy music)
... I still pay for everything I keep.
Sad thing is, he's probably right in some way. Lawsuits have become a way not just to resolve conflicts that the law is unclear on, but also to attract media attention. And I'm betting there's a good lot of people brainwashed enough to not see anything wrong with that...
Sharing a few thousand songs is a bit extreme, I agree (still no reason for legal action though, in my opinion). Personally, I share the stuff I like best so I might get others hooked on it. And I'm betting many of those who do will actually buy the CD just like I do.
You were trying to be funny, right?
Remember: spread the word, but don't sound like a fanatic.
I would say listening to it first is a pretty good way to decide whether something is valuable to you. At least that's the way I choose which CD's to buy: download songs from p2p/usenet, and buy the CD if I like it.
Even if their software would still be inferior, far fewer people would actually hate Microsoft since they would simply have a real choice between using their software, or simply ignoring them.
I use Verbatim media for my long-term backups, and while their 4x media are not the cheapest, my burner (Plextor PX-708A) actually decides to burn them at 8x most of the time.
In case you're wondering, I do regular integrity checks of my backups and haven't had a single read error yet.
Yeah, I suppose mr. Root Mean Square will be pretty angry...
What would really help Linux is a disastrous (Fortune500-company- secrets-in-the-newspaper- disastrous) security hole in Windows.
There are far better options around for multi-channel audio now.
Maybe "multichannel" would be a more appropriate description.
If you want real fast browsing, give Dillo a try. It still has trouble rendering some pages, but it leaves all the so-called "fast" browsers far behind.
Possible following developments:
- An independent entity will develop a well-balanced reference system and both Chipzilla and Chimpzilla will agree to use it. (unlikely)
OR
- Comparisons will continue to remain vague (more likely). This isn't as bad as it seems though, remember that numbers that are really useful just by themselves are actually quite rare in many types of computer components.
As to the situation in the Netherlands, a lot can be found on the site of Bits of Freedom. Unfortunately, most of it is in Dutch (very simple english version). I don't remember any significant attention from the international media to this, but if you are really interested, I think delving through the archives of The Register might turn up one or two interesting articles.
Thanks a lot! Just what I was looking for. Don't see how I could have overlooked it though...