"So he did the same for Star Wars, and if I had his writing skill I'd have written more or less the same piece back then, because the sight of two billion people gloating about mindless eyecandy is thoroughly disgusting if you haven't been successfully force-fed this anti-intellectual stance in the first place."
How is a simple story anti-intellectual? Why should the sociological motivations of these fictional characters be of such great importance? I could certainly understand his takes on these universes were the works that he's critiquing politically relevant, but, let's face it, trying to glean some sociological insight from Star Wars is like getting voting advice from Bert and Ernie.
If you can recall, the Star Wars essay was, for the most part, an objection to the "individual hero is born to save the universe" story used in science fiction. What, then, of Frank Herbert's Dune, whose Muad'Dib is but a slight change from the Arabic word for "Messiah"? What, then, about the The Matrix, an extremely popular movie with a release date not quite three months prior to the writing of his essay? Had Brin used either of these works in support of his thesis, had he taken on another well-known (and more respected) science fiction work, then I might have seen more academic merit to his essay, but as it was, it just looked like he was taking out an easy target (like you said, "It's relatively easy to bash SW").
In that essay, Brin even goes so far as to dictate what "genuine" science fiction should be which just smacks of pretentiousness--his implication--that Dune and The Matrix aren't science fiction because they aren't egalitarian.
But of course, he doesn't say so explicity; he only does so through his attack on Star Wars.
Ok, granted, looking at LOTR or Star Wars from the standpoint of Sauron or the Emperor being a good guys might lead to some interesting trains of thought, but, really, should it merit an article on a popular news site? It's just kind of like a funny, little, forwarded joke that you send around to all your friends in email. To devote four pages (abridged, apparently) of text to this subject is overkill.
Which brings me back to the conclusion that Salon is trolling for pageviews.
Indeed, in the past Brin issued an essay commenting on the relative merit of another small series of movies, the timing of which coincided neatly with the release date of a much-anticipated prequel.
As much as I like Salon's coverage of various subjects, it seems everytime a big blockbuster movie comes out (Star Wars/LOTR), they'll find some essayist (Brin and that other guy who spewed some pseudo-intellectual vitriol about Lucas and Joseph Campbell) to write something contrary to how most people feel about the work.
While I can certainly see some of the points the various writers have made as valid, the coincidence of the the timing and attitudes have just lead me to the conclusion that Salon is trolling geeks for clicks.
Sorry...I was trying to imply that, personally, if faced with the choice of having crappy, analog, box-free, 100-channel cable with a TiVo to crappy, digital, ad-ridden, banner-screwy, 600 channel cable without TiVo, I'd choose the former. With TiVo, I'd need neither the channel guide nor the extra channels if I'm getting the basic channels that I want.
Sure, having 6 HBOs sounds cool, but I've got enough network/public TV to load the TiVo as it is, and HBO (as well as most cable original programming) replays all of its original programming throughout the week anyways. Even some networks have taken to replaying their shows (Fox's 24 on FX, and the WB's easy-view Smallville).
"But I'm moving to an area without broadband so looks like I'm going to ditch Cable. Screw them anyways."
Make sure you give them the finger on your way out:)
Because AT&T Broadband, despite all of their insipid customer service issues, doesn't have the paradigm block that Comcast apparently has. Either that or they recognize that despite objections, PVRs and PVR technology is the way consumers will want to view television in the future.
The other issue is cable companies losing the ability to sell/rent their own crappy boxes to their customers. Their revenue stream from these boxes can be two-fold--ads and sales/rentals.
I know that when I visit my parents in Miami, and use their shitty digital cable receiver box, I get big ads and huge banners which obscure the picture on the television. If my parents didn't live where the HOA frowned upon it, I'd tell them to get DirecTV.
Great. Then don't insult people who are not just making new PVR software, but who want to make it slick and easy to use, and who want to share it with you. . . . We're not going to get such a laudable goal if you discourage people from working on it. So at least be receptive and encouraging to such efforts. This can be as little as telling developers 'I still like the Tivo better... but here is what you can do to change my mind.'
Ummm, I quote...
Yeah, part of me wants to build my own to play with and compare to the TiVo I already have. All the posts about MythTV and Freevo have certainly gotten more numerous, and the various snippets that I see about their features tell me that they're quickly catching up to TiVo in terms of functionality (not sure about usability, though--IMHO, the TiVo has the best designed user interface since the Mac).
Indeed, in the amount of time that I've followed the open PVR software movement, MythTV appears to have made some significant progress as far as what I've seen as its reported functionality.
But aren't you still subject to sudden "reprogramming" (aka upgrades), since the Tivo box calls home every night? That would be the issue I'd be most concerned about - that the studios one day would get a court injunction to force the company to remove features, and force ads upon the viewers - even the lifetime subscribers.
I can't really see the studios asking TiVo to remove any of the *current* featureset, although it is a possibility. SonicBlue's ability to share a show via network does sound like something that Hollywood would put the kibosh on, though.
I'd much rather roll my own box, and control the whole shebang, though being the lazy bastard that I am, I've really been tempted to buy a standalone box (SonicBlue or Tivo...)
Yeah, part of me wants to build my own to play with and compare to the TiVo I already have. All the posts about MythTV and Freevo have certainly gotten more numerous, and the various snippets that I see about their features tell me that they're quickly catching up to TiVo in terms of functionality (not sure about usability, though--IMHO, the TiVo has the best designed user interface since the Mac).
But as a horrendously lazy bastard, myself, I keep looking at the prepackaged ones--TiVo's are relatively cheap now, even moreso if you're looking to start getting DirecTV (bonus with DirecTiVo: you can record two channels at one time).
"This guy isn't doing anything that deserves a slashdot article."
Actually, there's one key item which piques my interest: the ability to record to VCD.
While I've seen others hack their way into this ability on their TiVos, if enough users/enthusiasts clamor for this kind of functionality, TiVo/Replay may add USB CD-R/DVD.R support to future revisions.
Given the television and film industries' general aversion to digital reproduction, however, should TiVo/Replay provide this support, it might behoove them to placate Hollywood by specifically coding the functionality to keep the commercials with the shows.
One reason why you'd want to build your own (other than "just 'cause") is that you can customise it to do more. For example, if there are 2 shows on that you really, really would like to record, you can slap another tv capture card into your box, and record 2 shows simultaneously.
DirecTivo units, as well as MS's UlitmateTV, can do this now. The disadvantage with the former is that DirecTV is required. I'm not sure about UltimateTV, because, really, I'd rather not...
I can agree with some of your points, but as devil's advocate:
"You could hack the program a bit and add a button that lets you Zap a show to a standard DVD-R."
I know someone who's currently archiving all of his TiVo's shows to his computer and subsequently to VCD/DVD. It takes a bit of know how, but it's already been done for TiVo units.
"You could use NFS and make a similar pc with a WiFi card in it, but minimal hard drive and a TV out card and have the view your recorded shows on any tv. Or start watching it in the living room, pause and go to the bedroom to finish."
I actually do this now, with video and remote sender/receiver units (total about $80), eliminating the cost of
an extra PC
two WiFi cards
a possible extra monitor
The flipside of the advantages of the homegrown solution is that TiVo has welcomed users hacking their units. This hacker-friendly mentality has snowballed into a large community of customers doing who-knows-what with their units (i.e. getting Caller-ID info on their televisions through the TiVo).
Even with lifetime service, the total cost is only $150 more
Actually, that would be $250 more, but it's well worth it.
I've owned my unit for over 2 years now, and my Standalone TiVo is still chugging away at some 15 hours of shows a week--at the old prices ($10 monthly, $200 lifetime), I've already paid off the cost of the lifetime sub.
If you have DirecTV, the DirecTiVo units are an even better deal with the monthly fee being 5 dollars or so.
While the main appeal to most people to purchase a TiVo is its timeshifting ability, there is far more to its featureset than just the way it pauses live TV. Anyone who thinks that TiVo is just a digital VCR hasn't really looked at one closely enough to understand the flexibility that it grants you.
"And I don't like the concept of having my destiny linked with the fortunes of the supplying company. I don't need a US$300 doorstop if the TiVo company should someday fail. Hey, if Enron and Worldcom can end up in the toilet, you have to allow for the fact that no one company will be around forever."
I think TiVo has stated that should they go under, they'd supply the current users with some facility to allow the units to continue to function.
"It should also be capable of creating images that can be burned on Video CDs (VCD)."
This is an ability I know someone has hacked into their TiVo. In addition, the new version of WinDVD allows you to view a stream at 1.2x the speed of broadcast, letting you shave down a 60 minute program to 30 minutes or so (after eliminating commercials).
Who said that the students necessarily had to use open source software? The author specifically mentions the need for Mac and Windows Networking capabilities.
The article is a cost-benefit analysis of Open Source usage in implementing infrastructure, not for pedagogical use.
Dr. Parsons spent an extraordinary amount of time getting the hardware for the laser small enough to fit on a wristwatch, and powerful enough despite the small batteries.
What many people haven't realized is that TiVo and other manufactured DVR's strength is not in the fact that it can record shows digitally. Their strength is in the software and interface which will allow you to record every possible episode of Invader Zim on any given channel without the need to interact with the machine after initially telling it that you like Zim (or more appropriately, Gir).
I'm well aware of some of the open source PVR projects. The benefit for both the average and the technology-savvy user of a unit like the TiVo, is it's pretty much a turnkey solution, for both hardware *and* software. This would include Season Passes to record every episode of a given show, Wishlists to record everything Alyson Hannigan has ever starred in, everything Coppola ever directed, or everything with even the slightest mention of Poker; A well-designed and customizable remote which works well with satellite receivers, cable boxes, and regular antennae, and both hardware and software upgradeability.
But again, as I mentioned in my first post, I don't deny the appeal to rolling your own PVR--from both obtaining the technical knowledge, to perhaps contributing something to the Linux community at large. But if you're looking at a PVR from the standpoint of cost-benefit analysis, you'd likely be better off with a mass-produced unit.
The hack to download movies from the TiVo is not an "endorsed" hack, and more than likely would be considered illegal (of course, under the DMCA).
I think the general feeling amongst TiVo users is that using said technology may cause a Hollywood backlash against TiVo. I think Tridge coded his own backdoor into the files but didn't publicize it out of respect for the company and its interests.
For five to six hundred dollars, if you're unscrupulous, you can buy a TiVo with lifetime subscription, and add a TiVo network card, and load software to download your shows to an existing computer.
You could also try a TiVo with lifetime sub, and a video capture USB device (like a Dazzle or Pinnacle), and add it to your existing computer.
Both will guarantee that you'll get a far better interface than one that you could build, plus an exceedingly rich featureset.
But rolling your own does have a "I want to figure out how this works" appeal, as well...
There's quite a few units on ebay with lifetime subscriptions and blown modems. For the technically inclined, all you'd need to do is slap in a network card from the 9th tee, and do a little tweaking, and you've got a subscription-less TiVo...
IANAL, but I think such `updating' is illegal in the USA (think DMCA).
Not necessarily--Say the manufacturer is correcting a problem with the drive (a drive which does not read mass produced discs correctly would be a drive which would not be successful...). It's in the manufacturer's best interest to enable the drives to read all discs.
It's horrendously shortsighted of the RIAA to resort to this crappy kludge to try to circumvent copying.
I can't speak for the rest of the world, but I find finding [ack] music online and downloading it less of an effort than going to the store, searching for the CD, and paying for it.
As this subject is pretty prevalent these days, I did an informal poll of my colleagues, and most of them a) admitted to downloading music, b) felt the RIAA was wrong for their tactics in pursuing music pirates and c) felt somewhat guilty for cheating the artists out of some income. I'd wager that should CD prices come significantly down, most music fans (read non-technical and/or non-vehemently-opposed-to-the-RIAA) would return to buying CDs.
Were I to have the permission/wherewithal/time, I would try to get three other people and play either a game of Hearts or a game of Spades with the candidate as my partner. What might also work would be to get some poker chips and play a few rounds of No Limit or Pot Limit Texas Hold-em, just to see how they react.
Slashdot Mirror
"So he did the same for Star Wars, and if I had his writing skill I'd have written more or less the same piece back then, because the sight of two billion people gloating about mindless eyecandy is thoroughly disgusting if you haven't been successfully force-fed this anti-intellectual stance in the first place."
How is a simple story anti-intellectual? Why should the sociological motivations of these fictional characters be of such great importance? I could certainly understand his takes on these universes were the works that he's critiquing politically relevant, but, let's face it, trying to glean some sociological insight from Star Wars is like getting voting advice from Bert and Ernie.
If you can recall, the Star Wars essay was, for the most part, an objection to the "individual hero is born to save the universe" story used in science fiction. What, then, of Frank Herbert's Dune, whose Muad'Dib is but a slight change from the Arabic word for "Messiah"? What, then, about the The Matrix, an extremely popular movie with a release date not quite three months prior to the writing of his essay? Had Brin used either of these works in support of his thesis, had he taken on another well-known (and more respected) science fiction work, then I might have seen more academic merit to his essay, but as it was, it just looked like he was taking out an easy target (like you said, "It's relatively easy to bash SW").
In that essay, Brin even goes so far as to dictate what "genuine" science fiction should be which just smacks of pretentiousness--his implication--that Dune and The Matrix aren't science fiction because they aren't egalitarian.
But of course, he doesn't say so explicity; he only does so through his attack on Star Wars.
Ok, granted, looking at LOTR or Star Wars from the standpoint of Sauron or the Emperor being a good guys might lead to some interesting trains of thought, but, really, should it merit an article on a popular news site? It's just kind of like a funny, little, forwarded joke that you send around to all your friends in email. To devote four pages (abridged, apparently) of text to this subject is overkill.
Which brings me back to the conclusion that Salon is trolling for pageviews.
Indeed, in the past Brin issued an essay commenting on the relative merit of another small series of movies, the timing of which coincided neatly with the release date of a much-anticipated prequel.
As much as I like Salon's coverage of various subjects, it seems everytime a big blockbuster movie comes out (Star Wars/LOTR), they'll find some essayist (Brin and that other guy who spewed some pseudo-intellectual vitriol about Lucas and Joseph Campbell) to write something contrary to how most people feel about the work.
While I can certainly see some of the points the various writers have made as valid, the coincidence of the the timing and attitudes have just lead me to the conclusion that Salon is trolling geeks for clicks.
Sad, really.
Can someone explain to me why something called Final Fantasy has like 10+ sequels?
What does Hayasaka think of it.
Sorry...I was trying to imply that, personally, if faced with the choice of having crappy, analog, box-free, 100-channel cable with a TiVo to crappy, digital, ad-ridden, banner-screwy, 600 channel cable without TiVo, I'd choose the former. With TiVo, I'd need neither the channel guide nor the extra channels if I'm getting the basic channels that I want.
:)
Sure, having 6 HBOs sounds cool, but I've got enough network/public TV to load the TiVo as it is, and HBO (as well as most cable original programming) replays all of its original programming throughout the week anyways. Even some networks have taken to replaying their shows (Fox's 24 on FX, and the WB's easy-view Smallville).
"But I'm moving to an area without broadband so looks like I'm going to ditch Cable. Screw them anyways."
Make sure you give them the finger on your way out
Because AT&T Broadband, despite all of their insipid customer service issues, doesn't have the paradigm block that Comcast apparently has. Either that or they recognize that despite objections, PVRs and PVR technology is the way consumers will want to view television in the future.
The other issue is cable companies losing the ability to sell/rent their own crappy boxes to their customers. Their revenue stream from these boxes can be two-fold--ads and sales/rentals.
I know that when I visit my parents in Miami, and use their shitty digital cable receiver box, I get big ads and huge banners which obscure the picture on the television. If my parents didn't live where the HOA frowned upon it, I'd tell them to get DirecTV.
Ummm, I quote...
Indeed, in the amount of time that I've followed the open PVR software movement, MythTV appears to have made some significant progress as far as what I've seen as its reported functionality.
So how exactly is that insulting/discouraging?
I can't really see the studios asking TiVo to remove any of the *current* featureset, although it is a possibility. SonicBlue's ability to share a show via network does sound like something that Hollywood would put the kibosh on, though.
Yeah, part of me wants to build my own to play with and compare to the TiVo I already have. All the posts about MythTV and Freevo have certainly gotten more numerous, and the various snippets that I see about their features tell me that they're quickly catching up to TiVo in terms of functionality (not sure about usability, though--IMHO, the TiVo has the best designed user interface since the Mac).
But as a horrendously lazy bastard, myself, I keep looking at the prepackaged ones--TiVo's are relatively cheap now, even moreso if you're looking to start getting DirecTV (bonus with DirecTiVo: you can record two channels at one time).
"This guy isn't doing anything that deserves a slashdot article."
Actually, there's one key item which piques my interest: the ability to record to VCD.
While I've seen others hack their way into this ability on their TiVos, if enough users/enthusiasts clamor for this kind of functionality, TiVo/Replay may add USB CD-R/DVD.R support to future revisions.
Given the television and film industries' general aversion to digital reproduction, however, should TiVo/Replay provide this support, it might behoove them to placate Hollywood by specifically coding the functionality to keep the commercials with the shows.
DirecTivo units, as well as MS's UlitmateTV, can do this now. The disadvantage with the former is that DirecTV is required. I'm not sure about UltimateTV, because, really, I'd rather not...
"You could hack the program a bit and add a button that lets you Zap a show to a standard DVD-R."
I know someone who's currently archiving all of his TiVo's shows to his computer and subsequently to VCD/DVD. It takes a bit of know how, but it's already been done for TiVo units.
"You could use NFS and make a similar pc with a WiFi card in it, but minimal hard drive and a TV out card and have the view your recorded shows on any tv. Or start watching it in the living room, pause and go to the bedroom to finish."
I actually do this now, with video and remote sender/receiver units (total about $80), eliminating the cost of
The flipside of the advantages of the homegrown solution is that TiVo has welcomed users hacking their units. This hacker-friendly mentality has snowballed into a large community of customers doing who-knows-what with their units (i.e. getting Caller-ID info on their televisions through the TiVo).
Actually, that would be $250 more, but it's well worth it.
I've owned my unit for over 2 years now, and my Standalone TiVo is still chugging away at some 15 hours of shows a week--at the old prices ($10 monthly, $200 lifetime), I've already paid off the cost of the lifetime sub.
If you have DirecTV, the DirecTiVo units are an even better deal with the monthly fee being 5 dollars or so.
While the main appeal to most people to purchase a TiVo is its timeshifting ability, there is far more to its featureset than just the way it pauses live TV. Anyone who thinks that TiVo is just a digital VCR hasn't really looked at one closely enough to understand the flexibility that it grants you.
"And I don't like the concept of having my destiny linked with the fortunes of the supplying company. I don't need a US$300 doorstop if the TiVo company should someday fail. Hey, if Enron and Worldcom can end up in the toilet, you have to allow for the fact that no one company will be around forever."
I think TiVo has stated that should they go under, they'd supply the current users with some facility to allow the units to continue to function.
"It should also be capable of creating images that can be burned on Video CDs (VCD)."
This is an ability I know someone has hacked into their TiVo. In addition, the new version of WinDVD allows you to view a stream at 1.2x the speed of broadcast, letting you shave down a 60 minute program to 30 minutes or so (after eliminating commercials).
Who said that the students necessarily had to use open source software? The author specifically mentions the need for Mac and Windows Networking capabilities.
The article is a cost-benefit analysis of Open Source usage in implementing infrastructure, not for pedagogical use.
Dr. Parsons spent an extraordinary amount of time getting the hardware for the laser small enough to fit on a wristwatch, and powerful enough despite the small batteries.
The effort was called "The Alan Parsons Project"
What many people haven't realized is that TiVo and other manufactured DVR's strength is not in the fact that it can record shows digitally.
Their strength is in the software and interface which will allow you to record every possible episode of Invader Zim on any given channel without the need to interact with the machine after initially telling it that you like Zim (or more appropriately, Gir).
I'm well aware of some of the open source PVR projects. The benefit for both the average and the technology-savvy user of a unit like the TiVo, is it's pretty much a turnkey solution, for both hardware *and* software.
This would include Season Passes to record every episode of a given show, Wishlists to record everything Alyson Hannigan has ever starred in, everything Coppola ever directed, or everything with even the slightest mention of Poker; A well-designed and customizable remote which works well with satellite receivers, cable boxes, and regular antennae, and both hardware and software upgradeability.
But again, as I mentioned in my first post, I don't deny the appeal to rolling your own PVR--from both obtaining the technical knowledge, to perhaps contributing something to the Linux community at large. But if you're looking at a PVR from the standpoint of cost-benefit analysis, you'd likely be better off with a mass-produced unit.
The hack to download movies from the TiVo is not an "endorsed" hack, and more than likely would be considered illegal (of course, under the DMCA).
I think the general feeling amongst TiVo users is that using said technology may cause a Hollywood backlash against TiVo. I think Tridge coded his own backdoor into the files but didn't publicize it out of respect for the company and its interests.
For five to six hundred dollars, if you're unscrupulous, you can buy a TiVo with lifetime subscription, and add a TiVo network card, and load software to download your shows to an existing computer.
You could also try a TiVo with lifetime sub, and a video capture USB device (like a Dazzle or Pinnacle), and add it to your existing computer.
Both will guarantee that you'll get a far better interface than one that you could build, plus an exceedingly rich featureset.
But rolling your own does have a "I want to figure out how this works" appeal, as well...
Actually, it's probably most like two bicyclists deciding to stop stiff-arming each other and draft one another to outpace the rest of the pack.
There's quite a few units on ebay with lifetime subscriptions and blown modems. For the technically inclined, all you'd need to do is slap in a network card from the 9th tee, and do a little tweaking, and you've got a subscription-less TiVo...
Not necessarily--Say the manufacturer is correcting a problem with the drive (a drive which does not read mass produced discs correctly would be a drive which would not be successful...). It's in the manufacturer's best interest to enable the drives to read all discs.
It's horrendously shortsighted of the RIAA to resort to this crappy kludge to try to circumvent copying.
As this subject is pretty prevalent these days, I did an informal poll of my colleagues, and most of them a) admitted to downloading music, b) felt the RIAA was wrong for their tactics in pursuing music pirates and c) felt somewhat guilty for cheating the artists out of some income. I'd wager that should CD prices come significantly down, most music fans (read non-technical and/or non-vehemently-opposed-to-the-RIAA) would return to buying CDs.
Is this like "Never get into a land dispute in Asia" or "Never go in against a Sicilian when Death is on the line"?
Were I to have the permission/wherewithal/time, I would try to get three other people and play either a game of Hearts or a game of Spades with the candidate as my partner. What might also work would be to get some poker chips and play a few rounds of No Limit or Pot Limit Texas Hold-em, just to see how they react.
Or maybe I'm just a sadist.