The Blu-Ray folks seem dead set against this. From the New York Times article:
In recent interviews, executives at Fox and Disney were unequivocal in their support for Blu-ray. They said they believed that releasing DVDs in both formats would only prolong confusion and the emergence of a winning format. "I think the fastest way to end the format war is through decisiveness and strength," said Bob Chapek, the president of Buena Vista Worldwide Entertainment, the home video arm of Walt Disney.
As has been noted in an earlier post, Blu-Ray disks hold more data. Those behind Blu-Ray would not be happy to see their disks reduced to computer archives rather than media as Warner Bros. sells content to happy consumers. This could be a considerable loss for Blu-Ray as empty disks sell for much less than disks with media.
Something that is not mentioned in the article is why consumers would want either format anyway.
I have a 1080i television and a seXbox-360, but I don't want either format because of the DRM and the lack of features. Maybe in the future when they can offer something substantive, as DVD did when it displaced video tape, I'll consider Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or Total DVD. Right now, DVD looks just fine to me.
Manufacturers have the ability to sell to anyone they want. You are correct that if they do, they have to take on the role of tax-collector for the State; that's every state they sell product in. Not the kind of paperwork they really want to get involved with.
For instance, in California, If you are a manufacturer that does not sell to the public you get a tax exempt form that allows you to buy raw material without paying the state of California any tax on it. Without this document you pay the tax.
Another consideration is contract law. Sony has contracts with Best Buy, Circuit Shitty, Target, you name the company, to supply them with items. I suppose that each of those contracts has a clause that prohibits Sony from by-passing them and selling direct to the consumer. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that such a clause was standard.
Sure no one gets hurt. In truth, no one was tortured in Milgram's experiment either. The problem arrives when you realize that you have asked someone to "punish" another person and they do it strictly on your perceived authority.
Whether your "volunteer" has actually harmed someone or not, the psychological trauma is very real. That's the part where they describe the very real stress indicators. For those that don't know, the Nazi's kept free liquor flowing to the guards in the concentration camps. Why did they need liquor? Because of the emotional trauma associated with performing such vile acts on another human being.
It makes me wonder if the human subjects of this experiment truly trusted the statements of those in authority that they were NOT shocking real humans. Was something clicking in the backs of their heads warning them that they may be torturing real humans instead of electronic simulations?
By pardoning Nixon, Ford stopped all of the investigations and set the US up for another Imperial Presidency. Rather than putting Watergate, and it's excesses, behind the country, Ford's pardon put them into the future. Take a look around and you'll see for yourself.
For those too young to know better; the Watergate scandal is NOT about the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters! Watergate is about everything that happened AFTER!
Morse code was GREAT...back in the day when we could pull tubes, resistors, caps, and discrete transistors from the wreckage of a Nuclear/Natural disaster and put togther a quick rig to spit out RF. You could then communicate with other radio operators, assuming you had some batteries. One such person per neighborhood was all that would be needed for a distant government relief agency to keep in touch with desperate people.
Skip forward to September, 2005. Imagine yourself in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now imagine yourself pulling the remains of your CD player, television, and whatever pieces of electronic debris you have available. You need to communicate with FEMA, not that they're going to do anything, but you need to communicate with them. What do you see inside your various consumer electronics items: Surface Mount Devices (SMD) and exotic ICs.
WTF are you going to do with that shit?
Morse code is dead as far as a civilian response in times of emergency!
Check out the cover to this month's Air Brush Action.
Now let's just assume that Dru Blair decides, for whatever reason, to paint a naked child and post it on the internet. Is that a violation of the proposed law?
Humans have always created images. Humans will always create images. The computer is just another tool that happens to also be good at distribution.
Even in cultures that frown upon "realistic" images art is created. Now, I don't know what is going through the minds of those that look at the abstract decorative art in Islamic culture, but I'm sure they have their share of pedophiles as well as other things I would classify as freakish.
People who suggest such draconian laws and principles just don't understand human beings. Human beings are creative, and versatile. Even if you lock a man in a dark room, his mind will conjure images that he finds pleasing.
Bottom line, you cannot legislate imagery. I suggest that if we were to travel to 19th century Iraq, or Iran we would find "realistic" images, just as we would find "porno" in Queen Victoria's London.
Heroin, morphine, and cocaine are all derived from Opium and have been around for a LOOOONG time. There was another derivative called laudlin or something like that. All of these derivatives were easily obtained around the turn of the 20th century.
In the 1950s drugs such as Thalidomide were thought to be safe.
It won't take much "googling" to find current drugs that were once thought to be safe.
What the post above yours was saying is that, in this culture, the promises of drug companies as to the safety of their products is something to be taken with a large pinch of salt.
Yes, that is exactly what I was writing about. What I didn't know was that there was a similar symbol in use prior to that.
It's amazing how similar humans are no matter where they are from. Take the swastika for instance. It has turned up, in many different forms, and in many different cultures prior to the Nazi use of it. In fact, they borrowed it from other anti-semitic groups that used it before them.
Back on topic now. I wonder how many other cultures have used a snake on a rod as a symbol of healing.
Back in the 1950s the FCC was actually a friend of the consumer. Companies developed color televisions, but the signals would not work with existing Black & White televisions so the FCC refused to approve the new technology because it would have required people to have two television sets. One set for watching B&W, the other for color.
Finally RCA, which owned NBC, developed "compatible" color television sets. This is what became our "modern" NTSC sets.
And that's also why NBC was used to use a peacock and advertise itself as "an all color network." It's also why all Star Trek (The Original Series) episodes are in color, yet the first year of "Lost In Space" is in B&W.
Everytime this discussion comes up someone asks why computers should be sent when there are other needs. Your comment was direct and to the point. I only wish I had been the one to make it.:)
Yes, it's true. There are naturally occuring particles that are extremely small. In fact this reminds me of a photograph I saw once of a mite or other small insect that was on the leg of a flea. There was a caption about how something as small and bothersome as a flea had it's own pest.
OK, I'm through digressing. Back to the point.
Andrew Maynard is concerned that "very, very fine particles with high surface area, lead to a greater inflammatory response...". (emphasis mine)
The Widipedia idea is something that has been talked about. And I think that either that or something like that is a very exciting idea. Of course you've always got the issue of validating the information which is there. (emphasis mine)
Second:
That's where you come down to talking about "oversight" rather than regulations. (some content removed) So there are ways of dealing with challenges in the near future that don't necessarily mean resorting to regulation.
Given Andrew Maynard's actual comments I don't see why you have to call him an idiot. In many ways he agrees with you.
My Betamax still works! It had a superior picture to VHS. I watch my old Betamax stuff today and it still looks good. It's no match for DVD, but it still looks good.
Your point about things not always being cheap: I have to disagree there with respect to consumer electronics. Tape players, DVD players, computers, game systems, all get cheaper with time. That's why I had to laugh when I saw a bunch of guys sitting in front of Best Buy yesterday with tents. Those morons (yes, morons) were willing to spend a cold night on cold cement for a game system that WILL drop in price!
Yes, I know, some bigger jackass will actually pay more than $600.00 for the systems on E-bay. Even if the morons double their money it still was not worth it.
Let's see, I saw them at 4:00 PM yesterday. The system will NOT be sold before mid-night tonight. That's thirty-two hours MINIMUM. If they double their money they earn only $18.75 per hour MAXIMUM. The total is less than that if they were there before I saw them. What did I tell you? MORONS!
...my position assumes (and you know what happens when you ASS-U-ME don't you?) that you won't buy a system until there ARE GAMES YOU WANT TO PLAY. It also assumes (there's that word again) that there are enough games to justify the expense of the system. That's the biggest reason I won't buy a PS3. I just don't play enough games to make me go crying and begging to my wife for one. There are a LOT of other things I'd rather spend $600.00 on than a game system alone.
When I want to watch a more recent movie...I watch DVDs just like you and everyone else.
Please don't buy a system based on what you think your friends are going to buy! If you want to play Zelda more than any other game, buy a Wii and nothing else. Buy a system if and only if it has the game or games you want to play. Nothing else really makes any sense.
Think of it this way. If you have a Wii and your bestest friend in the whole world has a PS3 your gaming enjoyment may have actually increased because now he can play Zelda when he visits you and you can play whatever is on the PS3 when you visit him.
If you buy a PS3 because he buys a PS3 you only deprive yourself of the enjoyment of Zelda. This assumes that you are buying only one system and not two or more of course.
On an offtopic note, I wonder if I should do something else to piss-off the spelling and grammar NAZIs! Nah, I'd better not because I'm a spelling and grammar NAZI too.:)
...before Sony abandoned it. So I got a LOT of use out of it.
It's not like I just shrugged my shoulders and bought another system. Besides, VHS recorders had dropped dramatically in price by the time that happened, so I bought one of those after I found it difficult to buy Betamax tape. It really was no big deal. It's sort of like the situation I'm in now. The PS2 is about to die. I have an investment in the PS2 in the form of games that I continue to play. My sister and I are patiently waiting for the price of the PS2 to drop under $100.00. Then we are going to buy one or two more each as backup systems. If my Betamax had not worked so well, I would have done the same back in the eighties when Betamax machines were suddenly CHEAP!
Yes, the Betamax machine is basically relegated to being a cheap time machine. I rarely pay any attention to the shows I recorded. Most of my attention goes to the old commercials, and old stuff you don't see anymore like the ancient HBO station identifiers.
I have a, still functioning, Sony Betamax. I have a, still functioning, Sony PS2. I have a, still hasn't set the house on fire, Xbox 360. I would like a Wii.
I don't care who "wins". I just want a machine I can play fun games on.
I don't own stock in any of these companies. I don't work for any of these companies. I have been on the "losing" side of these "wars" before. Just note my admission of owning a Betamax above. When Sony stopped making the players and stopped making the tapes, my machine continued to function quite well. In fact, I still watch my recordings of the original airings of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watch for the old commercials more than for the show. Those who lived in the Oakland/SF Bay Area in the 1980s will know what I'm talking about when I mention "Paul, from the Diamond Center".
The phone and cable companies have been dragging their feet with regard to internet service which makes sense. They don't want phat pipes before they are allowed to charge both sides of the pipe. See their arguments against net neutrality for more.
Is there any consumer backlash?
No. Think back to when Coca-Cola changed the formula for Coke. People took to the streets and it hit ALL of the major news media in the US.
People don't care. I think they don't care because what they have is fast enough. It's the same with DVD and Hi-Def. I already have movies in DVD format. I have seen one of my favorites, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in Hi-Def this summer and compared it, on the same television, to my DVD copy. Net result, I LOVED the Hi-Def image but I'm not going to buy the movie again in Hi-Def for the simple reason that there is no compelling reason to buy it in a lesser format.
Slashdot Mirror
As has been noted in an earlier post, Blu-Ray disks hold more data. Those behind Blu-Ray would not be happy to see their disks reduced to computer archives rather than media as Warner Bros. sells content to happy consumers. This could be a considerable loss for Blu-Ray as empty disks sell for much less than disks with media.
Something that is not mentioned in the article is why consumers would want either format anyway.
I have a 1080i television and a seXbox-360, but I don't want either format because of the DRM and the lack of features. Maybe in the future when they can offer something substantive, as DVD did when it displaced video tape, I'll consider Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or Total DVD. Right now, DVD looks just fine to me.
For instance, in California, If you are a manufacturer that does not sell to the public you get a tax exempt form that allows you to buy raw material without paying the state of California any tax on it. Without this document you pay the tax.
Another consideration is contract law. Sony has contracts with Best Buy, Circuit Shitty, Target, you name the company, to supply them with items. I suppose that each of those contracts has a clause that prohibits Sony from by-passing them and selling direct to the consumer. I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out that such a clause was standard.
Whether your "volunteer" has actually harmed someone or not, the psychological trauma is very real. That's the part where they describe the very real stress indicators. For those that don't know, the Nazi's kept free liquor flowing to the guards in the concentration camps. Why did they need liquor? Because of the emotional trauma associated with performing such vile acts on another human being.
It makes me wonder if the human subjects of this experiment truly trusted the statements of those in authority that they were NOT shocking real humans. Was something clicking in the backs of their heads warning them that they may be torturing real humans instead of electronic simulations?
Too bad Philip K. Dick is dead.
For those too young to know better; the Watergate scandal is NOT about the break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters! Watergate is about everything that happened AFTER!
No body has been found to date.
Thank you, Zonk!
Ummm. Is there any money to be had?
Skip forward to September, 2005. Imagine yourself in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Now imagine yourself pulling the remains of your CD player, television, and whatever pieces of electronic debris you have available. You need to communicate with FEMA, not that they're going to do anything, but you need to communicate with them. What do you see inside your various consumer electronics items: Surface Mount Devices (SMD) and exotic ICs.
WTF are you going to do with that shit? Morse code is dead as far as a civilian response in times of emergency!
Now let's just assume that Dru Blair decides, for whatever reason, to paint a naked child and post it on the internet. Is that a violation of the proposed law?
Humans have always created images. Humans will always create images. The computer is just another tool that happens to also be good at distribution.
Even in cultures that frown upon "realistic" images art is created. Now, I don't know what is going through the minds of those that look at the abstract decorative art in Islamic culture, but I'm sure they have their share of pedophiles as well as other things I would classify as freakish.
People who suggest such draconian laws and principles just don't understand human beings. Human beings are creative, and versatile. Even if you lock a man in a dark room, his mind will conjure images that he finds pleasing.
Bottom line, you cannot legislate imagery. I suggest that if we were to travel to 19th century Iraq, or Iran we would find "realistic" images, just as we would find "porno" in Queen Victoria's London.
See, it doesn't work when printed. We tend to read in our own voices. This needs to be heard. :) G'wan, rent the DVD. It's hilarious!
In the 1950s drugs such as Thalidomide were thought to be safe.
It won't take much "googling" to find current drugs that were once thought to be safe.
What the post above yours was saying is that, in this culture, the promises of drug companies as to the safety of their products is something to be taken with a large pinch of salt.
I would quote it here, but that is something that begs to be heard in the original...whatever the hell it was he was speaking. :)
It's amazing how similar humans are no matter where they are from. Take the swastika for instance. It has turned up, in many different forms, and in many different cultures prior to the Nazi use of it. In fact, they borrowed it from other anti-semitic groups that used it before them.
Back on topic now. I wonder how many other cultures have used a snake on a rod as a symbol of healing.
Even small amounts of water will kill...sandworms. :)
I didn't know that. Thank you for the information.
The snake on the staff is there for a reason.
Finally RCA, which owned NBC, developed "compatible" color television sets. This is what became our "modern" NTSC sets.
And that's also why NBC was used to use a peacock and advertise itself as "an all color network." It's also why all Star Trek (The Original Series) episodes are in color, yet the first year of "Lost In Space" is in B&W.
Everytime this discussion comes up someone asks why computers should be sent when there are other needs. Your comment was direct and to the point. I only wish I had been the one to make it. :)
OK, I'm through digressing. Back to the point.
Andrew Maynard is concerned that "very, very fine particles with high surface area, lead to a greater inflammatory response...". (emphasis mine)
The Widipedia idea is something that has been talked about. And I think that either that or something like that is a very exciting idea. Of course you've always got the issue of validating the information which is there. (emphasis mine)
Second:
That's where you come down to talking about "oversight" rather than regulations. (some content removed) So there are ways of dealing with challenges in the near future that don't necessarily mean resorting to regulation.
Given Andrew Maynard's actual comments I don't see why you have to call him an idiot. In many ways he agrees with you.
Your point about things not always being cheap: I have to disagree there with respect to consumer electronics. Tape players, DVD players, computers, game systems, all get cheaper with time. That's why I had to laugh when I saw a bunch of guys sitting in front of Best Buy yesterday with tents. Those morons (yes, morons) were willing to spend a cold night on cold cement for a game system that WILL drop in price!
Yes, I know, some bigger jackass will actually pay more than $600.00 for the systems on E-bay. Even if the morons double their money it still was not worth it.
Let's see, I saw them at 4:00 PM yesterday. The system will NOT be sold before mid-night tonight. That's thirty-two hours MINIMUM. If they double their money they earn only $18.75 per hour MAXIMUM. The total is less than that if they were there before I saw them. What did I tell you? MORONS!
...my position assumes (and you know what happens when you ASS-U-ME don't you?) that you won't buy a system until there ARE GAMES YOU WANT TO PLAY. It also assumes (there's that word again) that there are enough games to justify the expense of the system. That's the biggest reason I won't buy a PS3. I just don't play enough games to make me go crying and begging to my wife for one. There are a LOT of other things I'd rather spend $600.00 on than a game system alone.
Please don't buy a system based on what you think your friends are going to buy! If you want to play Zelda more than any other game, buy a Wii and nothing else. Buy a system if and only if it has the game or games you want to play. Nothing else really makes any sense.
Think of it this way. If you have a Wii and your bestest friend in the whole world has a PS3 your gaming enjoyment may have actually increased because now he can play Zelda when he visits you and you can play whatever is on the PS3 when you visit him.
If you buy a PS3 because he buys a PS3 you only deprive yourself of the enjoyment of Zelda. This assumes that you are buying only one system and not two or more of course.
On an offtopic note, I wonder if I should do something else to piss-off the spelling and grammar NAZIs! Nah, I'd better not because I'm a spelling and grammar NAZI too. :)
It's not like I just shrugged my shoulders and bought another system. Besides, VHS recorders had dropped dramatically in price by the time that happened, so I bought one of those after I found it difficult to buy Betamax tape. It really was no big deal. It's sort of like the situation I'm in now. The PS2 is about to die. I have an investment in the PS2 in the form of games that I continue to play. My sister and I are patiently waiting for the price of the PS2 to drop under $100.00. Then we are going to buy one or two more each as backup systems. If my Betamax had not worked so well, I would have done the same back in the eighties when Betamax machines were suddenly CHEAP!
Yes, the Betamax machine is basically relegated to being a cheap time machine. I rarely pay any attention to the shows I recorded. Most of my attention goes to the old commercials, and old stuff you don't see anymore like the ancient HBO station identifiers.
I have a, still functioning, Sony Betamax. I have a, still functioning, Sony PS2. I have a, still hasn't set the house on fire, Xbox 360. I would like a Wii.
I don't care who "wins". I just want a machine I can play fun games on.
I don't own stock in any of these companies. I don't work for any of these companies. I have been on the "losing" side of these "wars" before. Just note my admission of owning a Betamax above. When Sony stopped making the players and stopped making the tapes, my machine continued to function quite well. In fact, I still watch my recordings of the original airings of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I watch for the old commercials more than for the show. Those who lived in the Oakland/SF Bay Area in the 1980s will know what I'm talking about when I mention "Paul, from the Diamond Center".
Is there any consumer backlash?
No. Think back to when Coca-Cola changed the formula for Coke. People took to the streets and it hit ALL of the major news media in the US.
People don't care. I think they don't care because what they have is fast enough. It's the same with DVD and Hi-Def. I already have movies in DVD format. I have seen one of my favorites, 2001: A Space Odyssey, in Hi-Def this summer and compared it, on the same television, to my DVD copy. Net result, I LOVED the Hi-Def image but I'm not going to buy the movie again in Hi-Def for the simple reason that there is no compelling reason to buy it in a lesser format.
What I mean by lesser format is DRM.