Education doesn't make you smarter, it teaches you to make use of of the capabilities you already have, and it gives you a piece of paper which may convince others to employ you. Free education for all on the other hand means there will be more people competing for the jobs, and might actually make you poorer.
Sounds like you're using some extremely basic dumbphone that has no capability to create playlists, or to automatically play the next song (or a random one) when the previous one finishes...
It's not actually illegal everywhere, and in many instances is the only option available at all.
So it is only "best" for the consumer, not the producer, not for the economy.
As i said it's not just people unwilling to pay, many people would subscribe to a service which offered the flexibility and quality of piracy. Also excessively long copyright terms are bad for almost everyone too.
And the more people who get their content that way, the less content will be created.
Based on what evidence? The most heavily pirated titles tend to be those with the highest sales, some content can't be pirated (live shows), and countries with the highest piracy rates are often still producing local content. In fact it's just as likely that content producers would attempt to compete with the pirates by offering better services. I found cinemas to be both better and cheaper in countries with high piracy, as they have to provide a compelling experience to tempt people away from the pirate copies. In countries with low piracy rates, the cinemas are overpriced, uncomfortable, dirty and noisy with poor service.
Piracy is currently by far and away the best solution...
Streaming providers are fragmented, impose arbitrary discrimination based on your source ip or what device you're using, use drm etc... People actually pay to subscribe to services which provide pirated media because these services offer so many advantages, so it's not that people are unwilling to pay or just looking for the cheapest option.
Giving a nontechnical person a windows laptop is also a terrible idea, they are not qualified to maintain such a complex system and it will end up infected with malware.
Unless you have an IT department to configure and maintain things for you, both linux and windows are out. You'll be better off getting a mac or a chromebook.
Why pay double or triple the cost for premier support only to have a replacement arrive the following day, when you can simply buy 2 or 3 of the cheaper items for the same cost and have a replacement immediately available should the primary fail?
Does "a very limited amount of things you can do with it" include the things she's actually going to be doing with it? Because most day to day business actually involves "a very limited amount of things". If so, then what's the problem?
Buying a device that is more complicated than necessary is just a waste of money, both in the initial purchase cost and in the subsequent maintenance and security headaches.
Full blown complex computers are a niche only really required for specialist users, for most people a chromebook or ipad is actually a much better choice.
Letting her decide is not a good idea if she's not a technical employee (and even if she was it's often not a good idea), as she won't have sufficient understanding of the subject to make a qualified decision... Her criteria for what laptop she wants might be "it's pink", or she might end up being scammed by a salesman in a store into buying something overpriced and unsuitable.
Remember this laptop will be used to conduct YOUR business, and will hold YOUR data. You want to make sure it's secure, and you will be responsible for ensuring that as the user isn't qualified to do so herself. In larger companies you have an IT department to do this, but in your small 2-employee company that job falls on you and it's probably not worth the cost to hire someone else for that purpose.
It's also your responsibility to keep the laptop functional, if it breaks your employee won't be able to do any work. Again as you don't have resources for an IT department or keeping spares on hand i'd suggest taking out a decent support contract on the device so you can get a quick turnaround on any repairs/replacement that might be needed.
Also consider the data, your business data is important so you don't want it being lost in the event that the drive in the laptop fails or the device gets stolen. Ensure that data is encrypted on the device, and backed up regularly.
If the business owns the computer, then it owns the data on it, can dictate how the hardware is used and can demand its return once the employee resigns. It's also your responsibility to maintain it and ensure it remains functional and secure but you also have some level of control over that security.
If the hardware belongs to the employee then you have a lot less control, you cannot dictate what the employee does with the hardware, or who they allow to use it etc. Your company data becomes at serious risk.
DRM is intentionally designed not just to prevent copying but also restrict your other legitimate uses of the product. The extra difficulties involved in making a decent quality copy of an analog source are an inherent property of the medium.
Sounds like your phone was poorly integrated into the car, probably through one of those cassette adapters (which themselves introduce a lot of hiss)... On most modern cars you can skip songs using a button on the steering wheel, and you can fit a lot more songs on a modern phone than you can on a very large stack of tapes so you also avoid the distraction of changing or turning over tapes. Some cars also have a button which invokes voice control on the phone, so you can verbally command it to change song etc.
Lending original media is a bad idea, just make copies on demand. When i was a kid i was always encouraged to make copies of any tapes or floppy discs i bought, and then play the copies and if the media got damaged just make another copy. Kids destroy things.
Most modern cars have a button on the steering wheel to let you skip to the next track etc, very easy and doesn't distract you from the act of driving.
What i hate are cars where for "safety reasons" they won't let you access certain functions like setting a destination for the navigation system while the car is moving, even if those functions are being used by a passenger.
Given that youtube is a digital medium, you're saying that an analog medium converted to digital is better than a directly digital medium? This can only occur if the original digital version was extremely poorly done in the first place. You could take a digital rip from youtube and burn it to cd and it would sound identical to how it did on youtube, so the cd itself isnt the problem - it's how the audio was processed prior to being put onto cd.
such as jurisdiction-specific tax preparation tools
I would imagine it's in the interest of that jurisdiction to ensure that people complete their tax returns accurately, so they should fund the development using some of the tax revenue.
There's also a huge difference between a storefront selling physical goods, and someone selling virtual goods. Selling virtual goods always has almost no overhead.
This line is all too common, companies intentionally poorly train their employees or in some cases expect them to lie, because they know that most customers are equally unaware of the facts...
A good example of this is consumer protection laws in europe, which tend to be fairly strong and provide consumers with various rights for replacement of faulty goods, right to return etc. Under EU law for instance the warranty on goods is 2 years, not 1 as typically advertised by the manufacturers and any return shipping costs for faulty goods are the responsibility of the merchant not the end customer. Usually whoever you speak to first on the phone or in a store won't be aware of this, and will insist the warranty is only 1 year and you have to pay return shipping etc. This will usually fool most people, but if you demand to speak to a manager they will usually handle your complaint.
There should be laws on advertising however, any price displayed should be the price you pay - any non optional fees or taxes should be included in the advertised price.
They don't keep your card, they pre authorise a large amount to cover your tab, and then finalise the amount when you leave. Hotels do the same etc.
Also businesses that don't take cash will usually advertise this fact up front - eg with signs in the store indicating their non acceptance of cash. It's illegal to take goods while knowingly not having the means to pay for them, if the business advertises a list of payment methods they accept and you take their goods when you know you don't have any of the acceptable methods then its your fault.
It works another way however, if the business advertises acceptance of cards but is then unable to take your card payment due to a fault of their own (eg card reader not working) that's their problem not yours. They can't make you go and get cash.
What is especially annoying when travelling however, is countries which have local payment methods that don't exist anywhere else. As a visitor i don't have these local payment methods, i'm probably not eligible to apply for them and i probably can't read the information which explains how they work or where to get them. If somewhere accepts visa/mastercard that's great, i have these cards from my home country and can use them almost anywhere.
Many credit and debit cards don't charge a fee for foreign currency transactions, and will usually give you much better rates than you'd get by changing cash. If you plan to travel a lot then get a card that's appropriate for travel. https://www.revolut.com/ for instance.
You don't have to incur debt, or pay any fees... There are various debit cards available, and on most credit cards its possible to pay the balance in full every month and not incur any fees. Many cards also now come with a mobile app so you can see at anytime how much you've spent or have left. Cards are always useful in emergencies too, where you might be faced with an unexpectedly large bill and not have enough cash. Payment in multiple currencies is also much easier with cards, and you don't end up leaving a foreign country with piles of useless small change.
How often does the power fail in first world countries these days? And in third world countries or remote locations with unreliable power, there will usually be battery backups and generators anyway.
Also a lack of power is not good in a grocery store that's selling refrigerated or frozen goods, once the temperature climbs too much all those goods will have to be discarded anyway.
Emotional pain is self inflicted, for it to have any effect you have to actually care about whoever's saying stuff about you... People online can say anything they like about me, i don't care and it's not going to cause me any pain. If close friends or family said something it might hurt. You certainly won't be able to hurt me with your words, but you're more than welcome to try.
If care that much what random anonymous commenters on the internet say about you then you should seek some help from a psychiatrist.
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Education doesn't make you smarter, it teaches you to make use of of the capabilities you already have, and it gives you a piece of paper which may convince others to employ you.
Free education for all on the other hand means there will be more people competing for the jobs, and might actually make you poorer.
Easy, they disable their competitors ads...
Sounds like you're using some extremely basic dumbphone that has no capability to create playlists, or to automatically play the next song (or a random one) when the previous one finishes...
It's not actually illegal everywhere, and in many instances is the only option available at all.
So it is only "best" for the consumer, not the producer, not for the economy.
As i said it's not just people unwilling to pay, many people would subscribe to a service which offered the flexibility and quality of piracy.
Also excessively long copyright terms are bad for almost everyone too.
And the more people who get their content that way, the less content will be created.
Based on what evidence? The most heavily pirated titles tend to be those with the highest sales, some content can't be pirated (live shows), and countries with the highest piracy rates are often still producing local content.
In fact it's just as likely that content producers would attempt to compete with the pirates by offering better services. I found cinemas to be both better and cheaper in countries with high piracy, as they have to provide a compelling experience to tempt people away from the pirate copies. In countries with low piracy rates, the cinemas are overpriced, uncomfortable, dirty and noisy with poor service.
Those idiots in florida probably already have a good boat, this might make a good anchor tho...
Piracy is currently by far and away the best solution...
Streaming providers are fragmented, impose arbitrary discrimination based on your source ip or what device you're using, use drm etc... People actually pay to subscribe to services which provide pirated media because these services offer so many advantages, so it's not that people are unwilling to pay or just looking for the cheapest option.
Giving a nontechnical person a windows laptop is also a terrible idea, they are not qualified to maintain such a complex system and it will end up infected with malware.
Unless you have an IT department to configure and maintain things for you, both linux and windows are out. You'll be better off getting a mac or a chromebook.
Why pay double or triple the cost for premier support only to have a replacement arrive the following day, when you can simply buy 2 or 3 of the cheaper items for the same cost and have a replacement immediately available should the primary fail?
Does "a very limited amount of things you can do with it" include the things she's actually going to be doing with it? Because most day to day business actually involves "a very limited amount of things".
If so, then what's the problem?
Buying a device that is more complicated than necessary is just a waste of money, both in the initial purchase cost and in the subsequent maintenance and security headaches.
Full blown complex computers are a niche only really required for specialist users, for most people a chromebook or ipad is actually a much better choice.
Letting her decide is not a good idea if she's not a technical employee (and even if she was it's often not a good idea), as she won't have sufficient understanding of the subject to make a qualified decision... Her criteria for what laptop she wants might be "it's pink", or she might end up being scammed by a salesman in a store into buying something overpriced and unsuitable.
Remember this laptop will be used to conduct YOUR business, and will hold YOUR data. You want to make sure it's secure, and you will be responsible for ensuring that as the user isn't qualified to do so herself. In larger companies you have an IT department to do this, but in your small 2-employee company that job falls on you and it's probably not worth the cost to hire someone else for that purpose.
It's also your responsibility to keep the laptop functional, if it breaks your employee won't be able to do any work. Again as you don't have resources for an IT department or keeping spares on hand i'd suggest taking out a decent support contract on the device so you can get a quick turnaround on any repairs/replacement that might be needed.
Also consider the data, your business data is important so you don't want it being lost in the event that the drive in the laptop fails or the device gets stolen. Ensure that data is encrypted on the device, and backed up regularly.
If the business owns the computer, then it owns the data on it, can dictate how the hardware is used and can demand its return once the employee resigns. It's also your responsibility to maintain it and ensure it remains functional and secure but you also have some level of control over that security.
If the hardware belongs to the employee then you have a lot less control, you cannot dictate what the employee does with the hardware, or who they allow to use it etc. Your company data becomes at serious risk.
DRM is intentionally designed not just to prevent copying but also restrict your other legitimate uses of the product.
The extra difficulties involved in making a decent quality copy of an analog source are an inherent property of the medium.
The difference is the intent.
Sounds like your phone was poorly integrated into the car, probably through one of those cassette adapters (which themselves introduce a lot of hiss)...
On most modern cars you can skip songs using a button on the steering wheel, and you can fit a lot more songs on a modern phone than you can on a very large stack of tapes so you also avoid the distraction of changing or turning over tapes. Some cars also have a button which invokes voice control on the phone, so you can verbally command it to change song etc.
Lending original media is a bad idea, just make copies on demand.
When i was a kid i was always encouraged to make copies of any tapes or floppy discs i bought, and then play the copies and if the media got damaged just make another copy. Kids destroy things.
Most modern cars have a button on the steering wheel to let you skip to the next track etc, very easy and doesn't distract you from the act of driving.
What i hate are cars where for "safety reasons" they won't let you access certain functions like setting a destination for the navigation system while the car is moving, even if those functions are being used by a passenger.
Given that youtube is a digital medium, you're saying that an analog medium converted to digital is better than a directly digital medium? This can only occur if the original digital version was extremely poorly done in the first place. You could take a digital rip from youtube and burn it to cd and it would sound identical to how it did on youtube, so the cd itself isnt the problem - it's how the audio was processed prior to being put onto cd.
such as jurisdiction-specific tax preparation tools
I would imagine it's in the interest of that jurisdiction to ensure that people complete their tax returns accurately, so they should fund the development using some of the tax revenue.
There's also a huge difference between a storefront selling physical goods, and someone selling virtual goods. Selling virtual goods always has almost no overhead.
This line is all too common, companies intentionally poorly train their employees or in some cases expect them to lie, because they know that most customers are equally unaware of the facts...
A good example of this is consumer protection laws in europe, which tend to be fairly strong and provide consumers with various rights for replacement of faulty goods, right to return etc. Under EU law for instance the warranty on goods is 2 years, not 1 as typically advertised by the manufacturers and any return shipping costs for faulty goods are the responsibility of the merchant not the end customer. Usually whoever you speak to first on the phone or in a store won't be aware of this, and will insist the warranty is only 1 year and you have to pay return shipping etc. This will usually fool most people, but if you demand to speak to a manager they will usually handle your complaint.
There should be laws on advertising however, any price displayed should be the price you pay - any non optional fees or taxes should be included in the advertised price.
They don't keep your card, they pre authorise a large amount to cover your tab, and then finalise the amount when you leave. Hotels do the same etc.
Also businesses that don't take cash will usually advertise this fact up front - eg with signs in the store indicating their non acceptance of cash. It's illegal to take goods while knowingly not having the means to pay for them, if the business advertises a list of payment methods they accept and you take their goods when you know you don't have any of the acceptable methods then its your fault.
It works another way however, if the business advertises acceptance of cards but is then unable to take your card payment due to a fault of their own (eg card reader not working) that's their problem not yours. They can't make you go and get cash.
What is especially annoying when travelling however, is countries which have local payment methods that don't exist anywhere else. As a visitor i don't have these local payment methods, i'm probably not eligible to apply for them and i probably can't read the information which explains how they work or where to get them. If somewhere accepts visa/mastercard that's great, i have these cards from my home country and can use them almost anywhere.
Many credit and debit cards don't charge a fee for foreign currency transactions, and will usually give you much better rates than you'd get by changing cash. If you plan to travel a lot then get a card that's appropriate for travel. https://www.revolut.com/ for instance.
You don't have to incur debt, or pay any fees... There are various debit cards available, and on most credit cards its possible to pay the balance in full every month and not incur any fees. Many cards also now come with a mobile app so you can see at anytime how much you've spent or have left. Cards are always useful in emergencies too, where you might be faced with an unexpectedly large bill and not have enough cash. Payment in multiple currencies is also much easier with cards, and you don't end up leaving a foreign country with piles of useless small change.
How often does the power fail in first world countries these days?
And in third world countries or remote locations with unreliable power, there will usually be battery backups and generators anyway.
Also a lack of power is not good in a grocery store that's selling refrigerated or frozen goods, once the temperature climbs too much all those goods will have to be discarded anyway.
No, white men get *different* insults flung at them because many insults only make sense when targeted at a certain audience.
Emotional pain is self inflicted, for it to have any effect you have to actually care about whoever's saying stuff about you...
People online can say anything they like about me, i don't care and it's not going to cause me any pain. If close friends or family said something it might hurt. You certainly won't be able to hurt me with your words, but you're more than welcome to try.
If care that much what random anonymous commenters on the internet say about you then you should seek some help from a psychiatrist.