You just explained my point. If there's a difference in quality between a product that costs money and an "identical" product that is free, you can get people to pay money for the higher quality item. As you just pointed out, that's how they're able to sell bottled water. Similarly, some people have proposed a music distribution model where low-quality mp3s are free but higher quality mp3s (or CDs) cost money. It's a solution (certainly not the only solution) to the problem of how to give music away so people can sample it, but still make money selling music.
The event, dubbed the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", was organised by a local FM radio station with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer."
Suppose you're a manager, considering whether or not to implement a "cost saving measure" that will reduce expenses (and increase profits) in the short run, but cost a lost more money 10 years from now. Should you do it?
Keep in mind that your stock options expire 5 years from now. If you're a politician, keep in mind that you're up for reelection next year.
That's right. There's also SARS patients, grizzly bears, incompetent politicians, no jobs, horrible traffic, we're right next to the Pacific Ocean (which routinely produces typhoons that kill thousands of people), nuclear power plants, deadly blizzards... we even have a place called Death Valley.
(if we scare everyone off maybe the housing will actually be semi-affordable someday)
Two things to remember about the tax break on hybrids:
1. It's a deduction, not a credit. That means your taxable income is reduced by $2000, so you actually save $500 if you're in the 25% bracket (or as much as $700 if you're in the highest tax bracket). You are not getting a "$2000 tax break."
2. The deduction goes down to $1500 next year, so there's an advantage to buying before December 31.
1. Performance: it doesn't exist. Hybrid cars have little or no horses under the hood.
The 2004 prius goes from 0-60 in about 10 seconds, which is comparable to most 4 cylinder cars. They're making them more powerful now than they used to.
2. Safety: Typically hybrid cars must weigh under 2000 lbs to allow for the engine/motor to overcome the mass of the vehicle. This being the case, in a collision with another vehicle... guess who is not winning.
2004 Prius weighs about 2800 pounds. Should be just as safe as any other comparably sized car.
3. Environment: Well, I hate to burst your bubble but... guess where electicity comes from... burning fossil fuels! It doesn't just magically come out of your wall... it is produce by similar or worse processes than the internal combustion engine.
That's true for fully electric cars, but with the hybrids the electricity comes from the gas engine in the car. You put gas in it and it goes, like any other car. It's just that you don't have to put quite so much gas into a hybrid.
In all seriousness, I think that Hydrogen cars / fuels cells are going to be the only real revolution in the automotive industry.
Where does the hydrogen come from? You don't just find it in the ground; you get it from water molecules. The process requires energy from... fossil fuels or whatever the power plant runs on.
"I spent $29.95 on Kazaa and thought I could download thousands of dollars of CDs, movies, software and pr0n." Riiiight..
I spent 1 cent on this mail order thing and I thought I could get 12 CDs (over $200 worth). Legitimate, non-pirate CDs. Riiiight.
There's nothing unusual about people believing offers that are too good to be true. Get a free credit report (but they sign you up for a service with an expensive annual fee). Lease a Mercedes for $299 a month (5 year lease, annual mileage limit 8000, 50 cents for each additional mile, taxes and fees extra). Free cell phone (with a 2 year contract). Free pr0n site registration, we just need your credit card for age verification (and to charge you $49.99 a month if you don't call us and cancel. Operators are available from 2-3am EST, Tuesdays and Fridays). People should be more skeptical when they see these offers, but do they deserve to be sued for $millions for making a mistake?
So the question is what would happen if there was no such thing as copyright on recorded music. The worst case scenario is it would be impossible to make money on music recordings.
So how would musicians make money? Same way they did before there was a such thing as recorded music. For example, they could have concerts and charge admission.
Of course, it would be much more difficult for large multinational music corporations to manufacture the "artists" that make the most money. However, the less money and attention that is paid to copyright lawyers, CEOs, and Britney, the more there is for independent aritsts trying to get some exposure.
Even with spell checking, it will bee easy too tell who knows how to spell correctly, who van avoid making typos, whom knows how to use grammar correct, and who can avoid using, improper punctuation.
Probably not. I seem to remember there was a band that called themselves "Green" and put out an album called "R.E.M." The idea of course being to get people to buy it by mistake. As far as I know, they never got sued.
The RIAA has been saying over and over again that "music needs to be paid for" or "free music is bad mmmkay" or whatever. So, what most people remember is if you paid money, good; if you didn't pay money, bad. This is a perfect opportunity for scam artists to set up pay p2p sites that many people assume have the blessing of the RIAA for the simple reason that they had to pay money to use it.
You can be sure that in the next few months, more of these pay sites will start appearing. This could be a bad thing for sites like Itunes. How will the non/. crowd tell the difference between a pay site that can get them sued and one that can't? And if the cost of getting it wrong is tens of thousands of dollars, who's going to take the risk?
Several people have wondered about the probability of getting into a car crash vs. getting sued by the RIAA.
Assuming 261 lawsuits, 60 million file sharers, 42,000 annual traffic deaths (in 2002), and a US population of 280 million, you're more likely to get killed in a car crash in the next two weeks than to have been sued by the RIAA.
Something to think about next time you drive to the record store to buy an RIAA CD.
I could see SCO offering an "amnesty" program: Delete all copies of Linux that you have and promise that you won't ever violate SCO's copyright again, and they won't sue you.
Now I understand the real reason why Microsoft is supporting SCO by buying their licenses.
If I went and dumped one billion pieces of junk mail into the mail box at the post office, intervention by the post office keeps it from automatically sending that junk mail from going to every person out there--they would just trash it and probably come arrest or fine me.
Actually, the post office would happily collect your $370 million in postage (minus whatever the bulk mail discount is) and send the letters to their destination. The only thing that keeps postal junk mail in check is that the sender pays, unlike spam where the recipient pays.
The fact that the car is moving doesn't stop it from taking up space. The only way to stop the car from taking up valuable real estate is to park it outside the city and ride a train/bus/taxi into the city. You could also use the space more efficiently by building a 20 story parking garage.
If you think downtown traffic is bad now, imagine what would happen if everyone hired drivers to avoid having to park.
The Bay Area doesn't have any toll roads, except for the bridges which are toll. Like many places with toll roads, you can get a transponder to put on your car and automatically pay the toll.
When you order a transponder, they ship it to you by UPS. There was a mild controversy a while ago when people realized what happens when the UPS truck drives over the bridge.
Exactly. The (USA) government subsidizes tobacco growing while at the same time taxing cigarettes. So that means the government wants more tobacco use but less cigarettes?
This would be like the government giving huge tax breaks to gas guzzling SUVs and then taxing gasoline. Oh wait, they do that too.
Actually a lot of spam is illegal - pump n dump schemes, Nigerian scams, pr0n sent to people under 18, etc. I doubt these spammers care if the person sending out their spam for them is using a virus to do it.
Google top 10 search results for RIAA: 1. riaa.com 2. boycott-riaa.com 3. riaa radar 4. riaa radar 5. riaa.com 6. riaa.com 7. News article "riaa hit list" 8. News article "how to tell if the riaa wants you" 9. News article "riaa wants to hack your PC" 10. EFF subpoena database
Summary: 3 links to RIAA's site, 4 links to sites opposed to riaa, 3 news articles (2 of the headlines editorialize against the riaa)
Google is 60% anti-RIAA.
MSN top 10 search results for RIAA: 1. Latest news on riaa 2. riaa.com 3. boycott-riaa.com 4. News article "riaa asks napster to apologize to Metallica" 5. News article "riaa goes after file traders" 6. News article "riaa wins battle to id kazaa user" 7. News article "phony advisory attacks riaa" 8. News article "RIAA/IFPI Force CD Cover Site To Take Down Covers" 9. "Rolls VP129 Tube Phono Preamp w/RIAA EQ - American Musical Supply" (???) 10. News article "RIAA files proposed wording for Madster"
Summary: 1 link to RIAA's site; 1 link to a site opposed to RIAA; 1 neutral site; 7 news articles (none of the headlines editorialize against the riaa).
MSN is 10% anti-RIAA.
Conclusion: If Google represents what most people think of the RIAA, then MSN search has a pro-RIAA bias.
Slashdot Mirror
You just explained my point. If there's a difference in quality between a product that costs money and an "identical" product that is free, you can get people to pay money for the higher quality item. As you just pointed out, that's how they're able to sell bottled water. Similarly, some people have proposed a music distribution model where low-quality mp3s are free but higher quality mp3s (or CDs) cost money. It's a solution (certainly not the only solution) to the problem of how to give music away so people can sample it, but still make money selling music.
If you have coke coming from faucet at home, how much would you pay for a bottle? "
Same amount I would pay for a bottle of water, probably.
A higher resolution TV is always better, even if the TV already has better resolution than the human eye.
A bigger SUV is always better, even if a small one is already big enough to hold everyone in your family.
A faster processor is always better, even if all you ever do is read email/surf the web/post to Slashdot.
A bigger house is always better, even if you already have more space than you know what to do with.
Supersizing your meal at McDonalds is always a good idea, even if you already weigh 300 lbs.
If you're a man, you've not big enough down there; buy some of these pills
etc etc etc
The event, dubbed the "First Open Computer Destruction Championship", was organised by a local FM radio station with the professed aim of raising young people's awareness of the dangers of spending too much time in front of a computer."
Well, it's one way to stop people from using p2p.
Suppose you're a manager, considering whether or not to implement a "cost saving measure" that will reduce expenses (and increase profits) in the short run, but cost a lost more money 10 years from now. Should you do it?
Keep in mind that your stock options expire 5 years from now. If you're a politician, keep in mind that you're up for reelection next year.
Slashdot just has a better moderation system than those other sites.
Try browsing at -1 sometime.
That's from Jack Handey (Deep Thoughts).
Fourth one down
(if we scare everyone off maybe the housing will actually be semi-affordable someday)
If you don't need AC on then standing in traffic without an engine running is fine.
The 2004 Prius has fully electric a/c. That means you can be sitting in traffic with the engine off and the a/c on.
I think most complaints about hybrids will go away as the technology develops and they redesign the cars to get rid of annoyances like this.
This post is for USA only...
Two things to remember about the tax break on hybrids:
1. It's a deduction, not a credit. That means your taxable income is reduced by $2000, so you actually save $500 if you're in the 25% bracket (or as much as $700 if you're in the highest tax bracket). You are not getting a "$2000 tax break."
2. The deduction goes down to $1500 next year, so there's an advantage to buying before December 31.
1. Performance: it doesn't exist. Hybrid cars have little or no horses under the hood.
... it is produce by similar or worse processes
The 2004 prius goes from 0-60 in about 10 seconds, which is comparable to most 4 cylinder cars. They're making them more powerful now than they used to.
2. Safety: Typically hybrid cars must weigh under 2000 lbs to allow for the engine/motor to
overcome the mass of the vehicle. This being the case, in a collision with another vehicle... guess
who is not winning.
2004 Prius weighs about 2800 pounds. Should be just as safe as any other comparably sized car.
3. Environment: Well, I hate to burst your bubble but... guess where electicity comes from... burning fossil fuels!
It doesn't just magically come out of your wall
than the internal combustion engine.
That's true for fully electric cars, but with the hybrids the electricity comes from the gas engine in the car. You put gas in it and it goes, like any other car. It's just that you don't have to put quite so much gas into a hybrid.
In all seriousness, I think that Hydrogen cars / fuels cells are going to be the only real revolution in the automotive industry.
Where does the hydrogen come from? You don't just find it in the ground; you get it from water molecules. The process requires energy from... fossil fuels or whatever the power plant runs on.
"I spent $29.95 on Kazaa and thought I could download thousands of dollars of CDs, movies, software and pr0n." Riiiight..
I spent 1 cent on this mail order thing and I thought I could get 12 CDs (over $200 worth). Legitimate, non-pirate CDs. Riiiight.
There's nothing unusual about people believing offers that are too good to be true. Get a free credit report (but they sign you up for a service with an expensive annual fee). Lease a Mercedes for $299 a month (5 year lease, annual mileage limit 8000, 50 cents for each additional mile, taxes and fees extra). Free cell phone (with a 2 year contract). Free pr0n site registration, we just need your credit card for age verification (and to charge you $49.99 a month if you don't call us and cancel. Operators are available from 2-3am EST, Tuesdays and Fridays). People should be more skeptical when they see these offers, but do they deserve to be sued for $millions for making a mistake?
So the question is what would happen if there was no such thing as copyright on recorded music. The worst case scenario is it would be impossible to make money on music recordings.
So how would musicians make money? Same way they did before there was a such thing as recorded music. For example, they could have concerts and charge admission.
Of course, it would be much more difficult for large multinational music corporations to manufacture the "artists" that make the most money. However, the less money and attention that is paid to copyright lawyers, CEOs, and Britney, the more there is for independent aritsts trying to get some exposure.
Even with spell checking, it will bee easy too tell who knows how to spell correctly, who van avoid making typos, whom knows how to use grammar correct, and who can avoid using, improper punctuation.
Probably not. I seem to remember there was a band that called themselves "Green" and put out an album called "R.E.M." The idea of course being to get people to buy it by mistake. As far as I know, they never got sued.
The RIAA has been saying over and over again that "music needs to be paid for" or "free music is bad mmmkay" or whatever. So, what most people remember is if you paid money, good; if you didn't pay money, bad. This is a perfect opportunity for scam artists to set up pay p2p sites that many people assume have the blessing of the RIAA for the simple reason that they had to pay money to use it.
/. crowd tell the difference between a pay site that can get them sued and one that can't? And if the cost of getting it wrong is tens of thousands of dollars, who's going to take the risk?
You can be sure that in the next few months, more of these pay sites will start appearing. This could be a bad thing for sites like Itunes. How will the non
Several people have wondered about the probability of getting into a car crash vs. getting sued by the RIAA.
Assuming 261 lawsuits, 60 million file sharers, 42,000 annual traffic deaths (in 2002), and a US population of 280 million, you're more likely to get killed in a car crash in the next two weeks than to have been sued by the RIAA.
Something to think about next time you drive to the record store to buy an RIAA CD.
I could see SCO offering an "amnesty" program: Delete all copies of Linux that you have and promise that you won't ever violate SCO's copyright again, and they won't sue you.
Now I understand the real reason why Microsoft is supporting SCO by buying their licenses.
If I went and dumped one billion pieces of junk mail into the mail box at the post office, intervention by the post office keeps it from automatically sending that junk mail from going to every person out there--they would just trash it and probably come arrest or fine me.
Actually, the post office would happily collect your $370 million in postage (minus whatever the bulk mail discount is) and send the letters to their destination. The only thing that keeps postal junk mail in check is that the sender pays, unlike spam where the recipient pays.
The fact that the car is moving doesn't stop it from taking up space. The only way to stop the car from taking up valuable real estate is to park it outside the city and ride a train/bus/taxi into the city. You could also use the space more efficiently by building a 20 story parking garage.
If you think downtown traffic is bad now, imagine what would happen if everyone hired drivers to avoid having to park.
Something like this has already happened.
The Bay Area doesn't have any toll roads, except for the bridges which are toll. Like many places with toll roads, you can get a transponder to put on your car and automatically pay the toll.
When you order a transponder, they ship it to you by UPS. There was a mild controversy a while ago when people realized what happens when the UPS truck drives over the bridge.
Exactly. The (USA) government subsidizes tobacco growing while at the same time taxing cigarettes. So that means the government wants more tobacco use but less cigarettes?
This would be like the government giving huge tax breaks to gas guzzling SUVs and then taxing gasoline. Oh wait, they do that too.
Actually a lot of spam is illegal - pump n dump schemes, Nigerian scams, pr0n sent to people under 18, etc. I doubt these spammers care if the person sending out their spam for them is using a virus to do it.
Google top 10 search results for RIAA:
1. riaa.com
2. boycott-riaa.com
3. riaa radar
4. riaa radar
5. riaa.com
6. riaa.com
7. News article "riaa hit list"
8. News article "how to tell if the riaa wants you"
9. News article "riaa wants to hack your PC"
10. EFF subpoena database
Summary: 3 links to RIAA's site, 4 links to sites opposed to riaa, 3 news articles (2 of the headlines editorialize against the riaa)
Google is 60% anti-RIAA.
MSN top 10 search results for RIAA:
1. Latest news on riaa
2. riaa.com
3. boycott-riaa.com
4. News article "riaa asks napster to apologize to Metallica"
5. News article "riaa goes after file traders"
6. News article "riaa wins battle to id kazaa user"
7. News article "phony advisory attacks riaa"
8. News article "RIAA/IFPI Force CD Cover Site To Take Down Covers"
9. "Rolls VP129 Tube Phono Preamp w/RIAA EQ - American Musical Supply" (???)
10. News article "RIAA files proposed wording for Madster"
Summary: 1 link to RIAA's site; 1 link to a site opposed to RIAA; 1 neutral site; 7 news articles (none of the headlines editorialize against the riaa).
MSN is 10% anti-RIAA.
Conclusion: If Google represents what most people think of the RIAA, then MSN search has a pro-RIAA bias.
Stable versions have even final digits.
Obviously Windows doesn't follow this pattern *cough*Windows98*cough*