"Keep creating the music YOU want to make. Keep doing your shows in bars and other small venues, and have one of your good friends make you a decent web site for beer. Join any one of the new crop of indy sites aimed at getting your music out there. Use a payment or donation system, and always make sure that your audience knows where to look on the web when they get home"
Dear Cruciform, I have a wife and two kids to feed. I need more stable income than just payment or donations. Can you show me something a little more substantial, please?
Provide a better service? Make music easier to find, faster to download, guarantee the quality?
If you have trouble seeing this, consider that lots of people still go to Starbucks and pay $3.00 for a cup of jo even though they have free/cheap coffee they can drink at home/office.
The RIAA could very easily compete with 'free' especially when 'free' has so many problems. Apple proved this with iTunes.
"If the market will bear $2.99 CD's then they have the right to sell at that price. Don't like it? Don't buy. Unfortunately for you, there are millions of people who WILL pay the price."
If the music industry wasn't an oligopoly, I might agree with you.
"Too bad Nintendo spend 5 seconds to display their logo on their cartridge-using GBA, when they could have made it instant-on."
There really aren't any systems that don't do that these days. I read somewhere that they throw the logo up there as a way of 'proving' that the game was licensed to be manufactured by Nintendo (or Sega, or Sony, you get the idea...) legitimately. If you made a knock-off unlicensed cartridge, and that logo appeared, you were commiting a copyright violation and could be nailed.
I might have the particulars a little messed up, clarification would be appreciated. I guess the point I'm getting at is that the logo is there for a specific reason, it's not a Nintendo/Sony/Sega/Microsoft commercial.
I think the implication, rather, is that you'll have to come up with your own packing solution. They're not doing anything special to guarantee the cargo. "Yo fault!"
"I think that the public needs to be more educated about the alternatives to the monopoly which controls the machines all around us"
I think there needs to be a much stronger effort by these alternatives to effectively replace Microsoft. It's not like I can just switch to Linux and automatically be happy.
"Why pay to reinstall the same OS that came originally on the system?"
Actually, the article mentions an upgrade to a newer OS.
"Computers donated by large companies are typically three years old and the MAR program upgrades the software to newer versions of Windows that donated PCs can support, for a nominal charge that covers materials and program operations."
"If It came with 98, then it has a legal license for 98, no need to buy a new one. If I donate it to a charity, then I donate my license."
It doesn't always work like that. People can donate the computer without donating the license. (Whether Microsoft sees it that way is a different matter I suppose, but if you went to Office Depot and bought a Windows box...) Ultimately, it means that the original owner of the machine may be using that Windows license elsewhere. This service provides a way to legitimize the computer. Personally, I think Microsoft's being a little too restrictive with its licenses. Then again, it is creating a situation for them, though, where they can have companies line up to make sure that Windows is the OS they use down the road. Microsoft may be evil, but man I wouldn't mind having some stock.
"So Microsoft can get refurbishers to pay again for an operating system that was licensed and installed on the system in the first place, since 99+% of PC's ship with windows when originally sold? Nice deal."
Umm. Think about how this would really work.
1.) How many machines would be donated with the original Windows disc? I doubt there's a significant number. If the original user kept the disc and installed it elsewhere, then they would be violating the license by reinstalling it.
2.) They don't say how much it costs, but they describe it as a 'nominal fee for the service'. My guess is, and I could easily be wrong, but this is considerably cheaper than buying another license. Additionally, it is installed by somebody trained for it. Icing.
3.) They would probably get an upgrade to the OS out of it. Depending on the machine, they might get Windows 2000 instead of 98. Boy would they be pleasantly surprised by the deal.
I doubt this is about double-charging people for the OS, I bet it's so that recycled computers all run Windows, thus making Microsoft the company that's in the face of students and the like down the road. Trading one evil for another? I'm not going to comment. Just trying to put a more realistic face on what's happening here.
Slashdot Mirror
"Just what we need. Survivor in space."
Yeah you sound cynical now, but if Stan the blue eyed blond haired hunk were to double over due to stomach pain, you'd be on the edge of your seat.
"Rack mounted system? I think Pamela Anderson might be a good investment to look at."
Pamela Anderson? Oh wow, that brings back some mammories...
"Any bets on the tone if Microsoft made the IPod?"
Microsoft defective iPods are just another stepping stone in their quest for world dominance for reasons we're still conjuring up!
"Keep creating the music YOU want to make. Keep doing your shows in bars and other small venues, and have one of your good friends make you a decent web site for beer. Join any one of the new crop of indy sites aimed at getting your music out there. Use a payment or donation system, and always make sure that your audience knows where to look on the web when they get home"
Dear Cruciform, I have a wife and two kids to feed. I need more stable income than just payment or donations. Can you show me something a little more substantial, please?
"And second, how can they compete with free?"
Provide a better service? Make music easier to find, faster to download, guarantee the quality?
If you have trouble seeing this, consider that lots of people still go to Starbucks and pay $3.00 for a cup of jo even though they have free/cheap coffee they can drink at home/office.
The RIAA could very easily compete with 'free' especially when 'free' has so many problems. Apple proved this with iTunes.
"If the market will bear $2.99 CD's then they have the right to sell at that price. Don't like it? Don't buy. Unfortunately for you, there are millions of people who WILL pay the price."
If the music industry wasn't an oligopoly, I might agree with you.
"Joe Sixpack is the avatar of lazyness and stupidity we sould try to get away from trying to save Joe Sixpacks and evolve to something higher."
Joe Sixpack's intelligence or 'laziness' can be judged by using Linux. You're not forcing him to evolve, you're forcing him to use Windows.
"A friend of mine makes over $600 a month by staying on the grid and setting up a few wind towers."
How much do wind towers cost?
"Too bad Nintendo spend 5 seconds to display their logo on their cartridge-using GBA, when they could have made it instant-on."
There really aren't any systems that don't do that these days. I read somewhere that they throw the logo up there as a way of 'proving' that the game was licensed to be manufactured by Nintendo (or Sega, or Sony, you get the idea...) legitimately. If you made a knock-off unlicensed cartridge, and that logo appeared, you were commiting a copyright violation and could be nailed.
I might have the particulars a little messed up, clarification would be appreciated. I guess the point I'm getting at is that the logo is there for a specific reason, it's not a Nintendo/Sony/Sega/Microsoft commercial.
"For the hard disk stuff: your distro should have used LABEL=/ instead of /dev/hda in your fstab, and avoided this problem."
It takes explanations like this to solve these problems, and you guys think Linux is ready for Joe Sixpack?
"Now does anyone have an example of Neoholitic porn?"
Here ya go!
"and kills off local small business in the process."
You do realize that Walmart's killing off these other businesses because they're carrying what you want for the price you want, right?
I can't speak for the former argument, but the latter is just plain thoughtless.
"Gator Files for IPO to Raise $150 Million"
Oh man, no wonder I had 5,000 unread messages in my inbox. Glad I checked Slashdot before uninstallling Outlook.
"Implying that it will be destroyed, right?"
I think the implication, rather, is that you'll have to come up with your own packing solution. They're not doing anything special to guarantee the cargo. "Yo fault!"
"Do we really want to turn the Moon into an interplanetary garbage dump?"
Well I do have a couple of bodies to bury...
"Valerie, the domestic android is a better deal.
http://www.androidworld.com/prod19.htm
It will be capable of washing dishes etc, and will cost only $59000."
This will be the best prom ever!!
"I think that the public needs to be more educated about the alternatives to the monopoly which controls the machines all around us"
I think there needs to be a much stronger effort by these alternatives to effectively replace Microsoft. It's not like I can just switch to Linux and automatically be happy.
Uh mom? What's your IP address? Hold on, I'll spend 15 minutes talking you through it.
"Sony should make a commercial version of this, if they can make it for $14. Isn't it amazing how much cooler things sound with a soundtrack."
A.) It's patenteted.
B.) Sony wouldn't sell it for $14, they'd sell it for like $10 than an actual one costs.
"I personally like calling stupid people to hear the echo of my voice in their empty head."
I personally like calling stupid people to hear the echo of my voice in their empty head.
"128Megs doesnt seem like much. or if it is, the video is probably lo-fi"
With modern codecs, you can store nearly an hour of 320 by 240 video.
Kinda takes the fun out of speeding, duddn't it?
"Maybe you should reevaluate my rebuttal, as it implies that the article itself would refute stupid bonehead comments such as yours."
It didn't when you originally stated that, it still doesn't. Other people, however, seem to agree with what I said.
So no, sorry, your rebuttal doesn't say anything.
Actually, the article mentions an upgrade to a newer OS.
"If It came with 98, then it has a legal license for 98, no need to buy a new one. If I donate it to a charity, then I donate my license."
It doesn't always work like that. People can donate the computer without donating the license. (Whether Microsoft sees it that way is a different matter I suppose, but if you went to Office Depot and bought a Windows box...) Ultimately, it means that the original owner of the machine may be using that Windows license elsewhere. This service provides a way to legitimize the computer.
Personally, I think Microsoft's being a little too restrictive with its licenses. Then again, it is creating a situation for them, though, where they can have companies line up to make sure that Windows is the OS they use down the road. Microsoft may be evil, but man I wouldn't mind having some stock.
"So Microsoft can get refurbishers to pay again for an operating system that was licensed and installed on the system in the first place, since 99+% of PC's ship with windows when originally sold? Nice deal."
Umm. Think about how this would really work.
1.) How many machines would be donated with the original Windows disc? I doubt there's a significant number. If the original user kept the disc and installed it elsewhere, then they would be violating the license by reinstalling it.
2.) They don't say how much it costs, but they describe it as a 'nominal fee for the service'. My guess is, and I could easily be wrong, but this is considerably cheaper than buying another license. Additionally, it is installed by somebody trained for it. Icing.
3.) They would probably get an upgrade to the OS out of it. Depending on the machine, they might get Windows 2000 instead of 98. Boy would they be pleasantly surprised by the deal.
I doubt this is about double-charging people for the OS, I bet it's so that recycled computers all run Windows, thus making Microsoft the company that's in the face of students and the like down the road. Trading one evil for another? I'm not going to comment. Just trying to put a more realistic face on what's happening here.