I read as many of the responses to this article as I could, but the overwhelming urge to vomit was difficult to withstand. Why?
Because the people of this forum make me sick sometimes.
Now, it's not everyone so don't get all defensive on me. The majority of posters on/. seem to have a simple-minded approach to everything in this world. They believe the world and everything in it revolves around them. The world should serve them and bend to their will. If they don't like something, then it sucks. Or it's a monopoly. Or it's a sign of an egomaniac. Or it's a marketing ploy. Please...Spare me the time to read the crap spewing from your keyboard.
Feel free to rate this post as a troll or flamebait, but you'll simply be supporting my argument, so it's up to you. I won't waste any more time on this argument than I already have, but I had to get it off my chest.
Now on to my real comments about the article.
N'SYNC is a marketing ploy by Lucas because (he's an egomaniac) | (he's lost touch with his demographic) | (he's a sellout) | (he's a terrible writer).
Ack...do you believe this junk? It's a part worthy of an extra. If it truly is something that you can blink-and-miss (as the UK article states), then they won't be talking. They can hardly be called acting. If it's a marketing ploy that's aimed to attract an audience that wouldn't normally watch a Star Wars movie, then why do we know that it's a part for an extra? Why didn't Lucas hide this fact? Why is the part so small to begin with? People of the N'SYNC fanclub age are not ignorant or stupid. They wouldn't be fooled by something as obvious as this.
I guess this begs the question as to why they are there in it in the first place. The UK article states that Lucas did it as a favor to his daughter. Damn, I think that makes Lucas at least a decent Dad. I'd do something like this for my daughter as long as it doesn't compromise the movie (if a two-second thing compromises a movie for you...you've got problems). What if the UK article is wrong?
I'm sure we can come up with other reasons. Hollywood is, after all, a rather large "business" of sorts. Businessmen do call in favors from time to time. I think this qualifies as something resembling a favor that is being done. After all, I remember reading an article that said Samuel Jackson was in Ep1 because he was a huge fan and asked for a part. Samuel Jackson's popularity still ran high in the previous years with hits such as Pulp Fiction, Die Hard 3, and The Negotiator. Not exactly movies that "geeky" Star Wars and low-budget Sci-Fi fans are known to watch, are they? But was there any controversy over this inclusion? I don't recall any. Nevermind the fact that you may like Jackson and not N'SYNC (as I'm sure is true of most of us). It's the principle that matters here. It is said that Jackson's role is expanded in Ep2. Good for him. He is a great actor and deserves it.
There's a lot of heresay involved in this speculation on both my part and that of the/.ers. It's possible that some of this information is wrong. If the part of N'SYNC resembles something requiring acting skills, then we would all have right to be pissed. If an N'SYNC song appeared on the soundtrack, we would have a right to be pissed. If some sort of cross-promotional LucasFilm N'SYNC thing appeared, we'd all be pissed. But at this moment in time, you are simply fuming over nothing.
NOTHING...
This thread isn't about the Phantom Menace and whether or not it's good, so I won't spend a lot of time on it either. Personally, I thought it was a fine film. Maybe in 10 years, it's popularity will boost from nostalgic value, too. I felt it did an excellent job of introducing what will become Darth Vader. I think Lucas did a great job of giving us a glimpse in to what the universe was like during the height of the Jedi; something many fans dreamed about. I recently watched it again and I found myself anticipating Ep2 even more now.
Finally, I read someone's post knocking the name Attack of the Clones. Please. As if The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi were more creative and inspired. The Star Wars expanded universe talks about the Clone Wars a lot. The title alludes to a focus on the Clone Wars (which ties in to the attempt at Jedi extinction). Sounds like Attack of the Clones is an excellent title for Ep2.
a memory card (please tell me what the point is...it's got a hard drive!)
I thought the same thing at first, but then I realized that it's so you can save a game and bring it to a friends house or something like that. I suppose not everyone has broadband to make use of the Ethernet port (not that it matters now until MS gets the network for it up).
I don't know of any place selling an XBOX outside of a bundle. If you are able to just get the console as a walk-in at the store, then buy a lottery ticket cause your karma is really high today. Other than that, I noticed this morning that Yahoo was selling XBOX bundles off their homepage this morning. I don't know if that's still going on though.
Re:Microsoft diluting themselves
on
XBox Released
·
· Score: 1
And companies are left with OS's that are rapidly becoming obsolete because efforts to maintain a consistent OS were subjegated by the quest for the "perfect" game box.
Obsolete operating systems? Last I knew, something only became obsolete when a new product was released that better met market demands than the current solution. Not only that, but XP was never meant to replace NT/2k as a "mid-range server OS".
If you're worried about obsolete MS operating systems, then perhaps you're in the wrong business. The only company that makes an MS OS obsolete is MS. Besides, what "needs" to do you perceive to have of your OS that Win2k is not meeting? If you're against MS so much, than move on and find a better solution. You're only encouraging them to be lazy by waiting for them to give you a better solution. There's lot of successful companies out there with mid-range servers running Linux..and they love it.
This only feeds the perception that many IS people feel, that Microsoft is only really good at making a platform for games and not a serious platform for business.
You must be crazy then. I recall the days when gamers thought Windows would never be a viable gaming plaform. Long live DOS, they claimed. I don't know about you, but the only solid, decent, and reliable gaming platform from MS is Win2k and even then, it can be flaky at times. Win 9x and ME are crap for stability and we all know about (pure) NT and gaming.
If IS people are worried about the money being poured in to the XBOX by MS instead of "innovating" their OS, then perhaps they should examine things like the Compaq-HP merger or the rapid expansion and takeover of AOL-TW and see how THAT'S going to affect their IS world...
Slashdot Mirror
I read as many of the responses to this article as I could, but the overwhelming urge to vomit was difficult to withstand. Why?
Because the people of this forum make me sick sometimes.
Now, it's not everyone so don't get all defensive on me. The majority of posters on /. seem to have a simple-minded approach to everything in this world. They believe the world and everything in it revolves around them. The world should serve them and bend to their will. If they don't like something, then it sucks. Or it's a monopoly. Or it's a sign of an egomaniac. Or it's a marketing ploy. Please...Spare me the time to read the crap spewing from your keyboard.
Feel free to rate this post as a troll or flamebait, but you'll simply be supporting my argument, so it's up to you. I won't waste any more time on this argument than I already have, but I had to get it off my chest.
Now on to my real comments about the article.
N'SYNC is a marketing ploy by Lucas because (he's an egomaniac) | (he's lost touch with his demographic) | (he's a sellout) | (he's a terrible writer).Ack...do you believe this junk? It's a part worthy of an extra. If it truly is something that you can blink-and-miss (as the UK article states), then they won't be talking. They can hardly be called acting. If it's a marketing ploy that's aimed to attract an audience that wouldn't normally watch a Star Wars movie, then why do we know that it's a part for an extra? Why didn't Lucas hide this fact? Why is the part so small to begin with? People of the N'SYNC fanclub age are not ignorant or stupid. They wouldn't be fooled by something as obvious as this.
I guess this begs the question as to why they are there in it in the first place. The UK article states that Lucas did it as a favor to his daughter. Damn, I think that makes Lucas at least a decent Dad. I'd do something like this for my daughter as long as it doesn't compromise the movie (if a two-second thing compromises a movie for you...you've got problems). What if the UK article is wrong?
I'm sure we can come up with other reasons. Hollywood is, after all, a rather large "business" of sorts. Businessmen do call in favors from time to time. I think this qualifies as something resembling a favor that is being done. After all, I remember reading an article that said Samuel Jackson was in Ep1 because he was a huge fan and asked for a part. Samuel Jackson's popularity still ran high in the previous years with hits such as Pulp Fiction, Die Hard 3, and The Negotiator. Not exactly movies that "geeky" Star Wars and low-budget Sci-Fi fans are known to watch, are they? But was there any controversy over this inclusion? I don't recall any. Nevermind the fact that you may like Jackson and not N'SYNC (as I'm sure is true of most of us). It's the principle that matters here. It is said that Jackson's role is expanded in Ep2. Good for him. He is a great actor and deserves it.
There's a lot of heresay involved in this speculation on both my part and that of the /.ers. It's possible that some of this information is wrong. If the part of N'SYNC resembles something requiring acting skills, then we would all have right to be pissed. If an N'SYNC song appeared on the soundtrack, we would have a right to be pissed. If some sort of cross-promotional LucasFilm N'SYNC thing appeared, we'd all be pissed. But at this moment in time, you are simply fuming over nothing.
NOTHING...
This thread isn't about the Phantom Menace and whether or not it's good, so I won't spend a lot of time on it either. Personally, I thought it was a fine film. Maybe in 10 years, it's popularity will boost from nostalgic value, too. I felt it did an excellent job of introducing what will become Darth Vader. I think Lucas did a great job of giving us a glimpse in to what the universe was like during the height of the Jedi; something many fans dreamed about. I recently watched it again and I found myself anticipating Ep2 even more now.
Finally, I read someone's post knocking the name Attack of the Clones. Please. As if The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi were more creative and inspired. The Star Wars expanded universe talks about the Clone Wars a lot. The title alludes to a focus on the Clone Wars (which ties in to the attempt at Jedi extinction). Sounds like Attack of the Clones is an excellent title for Ep2.
a memory card (please tell me what the point is...it's got a hard drive!)
I thought the same thing at first, but then I realized that it's so you can save a game and bring it to a friends house or something like that. I suppose not everyone has broadband to make use of the Ethernet port (not that it matters now until MS gets the network for it up).
I don't know of any place selling an XBOX outside of a bundle. If you are able to just get the console as a walk-in at the store, then buy a lottery ticket cause your karma is really high today. Other than that, I noticed this morning that Yahoo was selling XBOX bundles off their homepage this morning. I don't know if that's still going on though.
And companies are left with OS's that are rapidly becoming obsolete because efforts to maintain a consistent OS were subjegated by the quest for the "perfect" game box.
Obsolete operating systems? Last I knew, something only became obsolete when a new product was released that better met market demands than the current solution. Not only that, but XP was never meant to replace NT/2k as a "mid-range server OS".
If you're worried about obsolete MS operating systems, then perhaps you're in the wrong business. The only company that makes an MS OS obsolete is MS. Besides, what "needs" to do you perceive to have of your OS that Win2k is not meeting? If you're against MS so much, than move on and find a better solution. You're only encouraging them to be lazy by waiting for them to give you a better solution. There's lot of successful companies out there with mid-range servers running Linux..and they love it.
This only feeds the perception that many IS people feel, that Microsoft is only really good at making a platform for games and not a serious platform for business.
You must be crazy then. I recall the days when gamers thought Windows would never be a viable gaming plaform. Long live DOS, they claimed. I don't know about you, but the only solid, decent, and reliable gaming platform from MS is Win2k and even then, it can be flaky at times. Win 9x and ME are crap for stability and we all know about (pure) NT and gaming.
If IS people are worried about the money being poured in to the XBOX by MS instead of "innovating" their OS, then perhaps they should examine things like the Compaq-HP merger or the rapid expansion and takeover of AOL-TW and see how THAT'S going to affect their IS world...