What are you doing bringing up things like basic economics and imply that the music industry adjust when they think they can just keep suing people and buying legislation?
Unfortunately not. I asked my credit union when I opened a new account if I could specify the PIN and the answer was no. They claimed they were not equipped to handle it.
Now after reading this story, that may prove to be more than an inconvenience of having to memorize a new PIN.
Yes, I understand that is the point. My original intent is that "crazy" is from my perspective, not the bank's. They'd be laughing all the way to the, uh, bank (couldn't resist).
My wife and I are looking for a house. I want to keep our mortgage in the $120K range. We have a decent chunk to put down ~$45K.
I was told that I qualify for a $320K mortgage. That is nuts. If I took out a mortgage that big, the bank would own the house in a few years or I would not eat, go out, have heat and electricity, etc.
Re:Oh there's that world class Microsoft innovatio
on
Assorted CES Gizmos
·
· Score: 1
I may end up kicking myself for sending in the $10 rebate if that prevents me from returning it. I knew there was product activation, but did not know about the C-Zilla aspect of it.
I have been a Turbo Tax user for the last 7 or 8 years. Several years ago I decided to change how I was handling depreciation on a rental property. I was able to reinstall my old copies of Turbo Tax and amend my tax returns. I had kept my.tax files around on my computer.
While it is of limited use, some people do need to access/change previous tax returns. With the new product activation it sounds like I may have been screwed.
While this is a bit better than some of the other types of DRM crap the industry has tried, it still is annoying.
Since I bought my burner, the first thing I do when I buy a CD is make two copies of it. I put the original in a Case Logic case and store it. I put one copy in one of my Sony CD jukeboxes. I have all of my 400+ CDs available in the jukeboxes and ready to go. The other copy is available for me to thrown in another case and listen to in my car or in my Sony Discman when I workout.
I do not share via Kazaa, etc. or by burning copies for others. Whether what I am doing it technically illegal or not I don't care. I bought the CD and have make a couple of physical backups to listen to where and when I want. This type of DRM will prevent me from doing that. I guess I won't be buying CDs as much so maybe I won't need to buy another Sony jukebox. Yes, I could always do the digital out to digital in ripping, but that is not the point. I want a bit for bit backup that will identify with freedb. This lets me burn a copy with CD-Text (another Sony technology).
I am happy that it will not carry the CD logo. While they have a right to sell what they want, they have the responsibility to let people know it does not meet their expectations. Most people won't know or care and will still buy it.
My point is I have been a pretty good Sony customer over the years. While being a somewhat more middle of the road DRM approach, it still sucks and hurts me as a customer. I won't buy any CDs with this crap.
Thanks for the info about the source of the software. I had already heard about the targetted advertising.
Your comparison against $10 forever against one time $250 is a little off though. It is $250 for the one time Tivo subscription plus $300 or so for the box.
Making some broad based assumptions about keeping prices constant (yeah, yeah, I know the problem with doing that) and ignoring taxes the comparison is:
Cable box PVR: Cost - $10/month per service - $5/month per box - I did not count that originally as I had been paying the $5 per month for my previous digital box to get Music Choice. I could add a 2nd box for another $5 and am thinking of doing so. - Having my info sold and receiving targetted advertising. This is a minor annoyance as I fast forward through all commercials. I don't think they are to the point of doing targetted product placements in shows. - The software is definitely lacking compared to Tivo.
Tivo: - $300 for each box. - $250 one time fee, or $12.95 per month - Lifetime cost of $550 per unit. This is the lifetime of the box, not "forever". Hopefully the boxes will last at least 55 months, but HDs do not last forever. - Supporting a pioneer that has been community friendly. - Much better software
Time Warner is shipping the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8000 set top box with built in PVR functions. It is definitely not Tivo based! The software is somewhat buggy but functional.
They charge $10 extra per month. There were no up front costs. From my understanding it is about $3 cheaper per month than if I went out today and bought a Tivo based unit.
It has a dual tuner. You can record two shows while watching a third. This is probably similar to the Direct TV Tivo units.
One interesting note: I called to report some bugs and found out that Time Warner is writing the software. They started with software from Scientific-Atlanta and have been tweaking it. I was a little surprised by it.
While it is not as polished as a Tivo, it works well. My wife is a convert (she didn't understand why I wanted one). She now loves it.
Time Warner is now offering the Exlorer 8000 digital cable box with DVR functionality. Tivo has much better software, but there are advantages to using TW's box.
Here are some of the features/points: 1. No capital outlay of ~$300. 2. Service fee is $10 above normal cost of digital cable. 3. 40 hour recording 4. Dual tuner (it sounds like DirectTivo in that you can watch two things while recording a third). 5. It works with the built in program guide. No searching for actor or title like Tivo. 6. The software is pretty buggy but functional.
I am very happy with the unit. My wife loves it even though she did not really want to get it.
My guess is things started out this way in the States because of flat rate local landline service. Most residential landlines have flat rate monthly fees. The additional per minute charge for calling local numbers is zero. Someone had to pay and landline customers would have griped. So they charged the cell phone users for the radio air time. Besides having to deal with customer gripe if they tried to insert toll charges to call local cellphones, they probably would have had some billing and other infrastructure things to change.
My understanding is in Europe (at least the UK), local phone calls on landlines are metered. The infrastructure is there for someone to pay when calling landline to cell.
Since I don't use my cell phone or landline that much, it doesn't matter too much to me. My wife would love having her incoming calls be free. She is in her car for work and uses the time to keep in touch with friends. She has perfected getting 345+ minutes of use out of her 350 minute plan without going over.:)
I know it says CD tracks, but I did not see any mention of them being wave files. I hopped on listen.com and they said "High quality encoded" music. My guess is over > 128 kbps MP3.
I just got digital cable with the PVR capability. Time Warner is using the Explorer 8000 from Scientific Atlanta. I had wanted a Tivo but had never got around to buying one. I had been hoping to see the functionality get integrated into the cable box. When they came out in my area, I ordered one.
From what I hear, the Tivo software is definitely better. The Explorer 8000 has some quirks. You can set it up to record all episodes of something from the interactive guide. At the end of watching the episode, you get asked if you want to delete the show. You do (since you watched it) and it deletes the scheduled recordings of the other episodes! Definitely not intuitive!
It does not have the thumbs up/down or some of the other nice Tivo features.
The advantages are: 1. The digital cable box rental is $5.95 per month. This is the same as regular digital cable boxes. 2. The PVR service is $10 per month (a little cheaper than Tivo). 3. There is no $299+ outlay for the box. If it dies, Time Warner replaces it. Yes, you would lose what you had taped. 4. No need to phone or ethernet hookup. The Guide is pulled in over the already attached cable connection.
While I am sure Tivo is better in many ways, I am happy with my digital cable box with PVR functionality.
I just got digital cable with the PVR capability. Time Warner is using the Explorer 8000 from Scientific Atlanta.
I had wanted a Tivo but had never got around to buying one. I had been hoping to see the functionality get integrated into the cable box.
From what I hear, the Tivo software is definitely better. The Explorer 8000 has some quirks. You can set it up to record all episodes of something from the interactive guide. At the end of watching the episode, you get asked if you want to delete the show. You do (since you watched it) and it deletes the scheduled recordings of the other episodes! Definitely not intuitive!
It does not have the thumbs up/down or some of the other nice Tivo features.
The advantages are: 1. The digital cable box rental is $5.95 per month. This is the same as regular digital cable boxes. 2. The PVR service is $10 per month (a little cheaper than Tivo). 3. There is no $299+ outlay for the box. If it dies, Time Warner replaces it. Yes, you would lose what you had taped. 4. No need to phone or ethernet hookup. The Guide is pulled in over the already attached cable connection.
While I am sure Tivo is better in many ways, I am happy with my digital cable box with PVR functionality.
Use rechargeable NiMH AA(A)s. I bought my Visor Neo over some of the other models because it did not have a built in battery. I wanted something that could live without a PC for a few weeks while on vacation.
I have two sets of rechargeable NiMH AAs. Cost $20. They charge overnight and last a couple of weeks with heavy use.
I know some people here get the latest and greatest games off Kazaa for free, but most people have to cough up the $50 each to buy the newest games on PCs.
The games cost that much on the consoles too. However, I can go down to Blockbuster and rent the newest game for a week for $6 to see if I like it or not. I've beaten some simpler games in two rentals ($12).
Over the summer, Blockbuster had a deal where you could have any two games out a time for a month for $25 (maybe $30). I tried out 12 games in a month for my PS2. I bought one of them and there are a couple more I may eventually bye. Others were fun and a couple sucked.
I still like PCs for games but found I've been spending more gaming time on my PS2 than PC lately.
The USB network adapter is connected to the PS2. The network adapter is connected to your home network. This gives the PS2 access to the PC's networked drives which contain the recorded video. The PS2 decodes and outputs the video to your TV.
The only advantage I can see to this vs. using a video card with S-video out would be having a TV in the living room with the PC back in the office. You could have a long run of Ethernet rather than a long run of S-video and audio. Also, I would imagine the PS2 controller would provide the ability to "drive" rather than trying to use some type of IR remote to control your PC that is in another room.
I don't know if a PS2 has an IP stack built in or if it is included in networked games, but games that supported play hook into home networks easily. I have my PS2 hooked into my router and can connect to net to play networked Madden 2003.
I agree. This is especially true for health related studies that claim "Studies show that eating ABC will increase your risk of XYZ by 50%". If the chances of getting XYZ was 1 in 10,000 and it changes to 1.5 in 10,000, I don't care. If the chance was 50% and increases to 75%, then I will be more interested.
First, thanks for pointing out the CNN article. The responses from the researchers discredit the Atkins diet. They talk about good fat and good carbs. "Enter the Zone" by Sears talks about the same things. Atkins is more anti-carb than Sears. Sears says to reduce the high glycemic carbs (pastas, breads, sugars) and to have fruits & veggies instead. Sears pushes the omega 3 fats (as found in fish) just like the researchers in the CNN article. Sears other main point is to eat all meals and snacks in the same proportion of protein, carbs, & fats to control your insulin levels.
I am just rereading "Enter the Zone" because I have gained some weight since I stopped following it's guidelines. I had lost 40 pounds and kept it off for 4 years. I got lazy and started eating take out too much. I also switched from Diet soda to regular. I gained weight. So I know if I go back to my eating habits I had I will start losing 1 to 1.5 lbs a week and not be hungry. I just have to spend more time cooking...
You forgot to include "payola". Oh yeah, that's right, producers and others in the business are not supposed to pay radio stations to play their music, so that is not part of the costs.
I had ordered one (after reading about the price on a previous Slashdot article). I did receive a notification email explaining the error and apologizing for the inconvenience.
I gave up and assumed it was a lost cause. I have to dig through my home account and see if I saved the email.
To be honest, I had expected the response I received. Now that I read the lies and other stunts they are pulling and the abuse they are giving customers, I'm annoyed. The fact that they are caving in for some customers also makes me want to try to get the card. The "Why should they get it and not me?" attitude.;)
Slashdot Mirror
What are you doing bringing up things like basic economics and imply that the music industry adjust when they think they can just keep suing people and buying legislation?
Unfortunately not. I asked my credit union when I opened a new account if I could specify the PIN and the answer was no. They claimed they were not equipped to handle it.
Now after reading this story, that may prove to be more than an inconvenience of having to memorize a new PIN.
Yes, I understand that is the point. My original intent is that "crazy" is from my perspective, not the bank's. They'd be laughing all the way to the, uh, bank (couldn't resist).
My wife and I are looking for a house. I want to keep our mortgage in the $120K range. We have a decent chunk to put down ~$45K.
I was told that I qualify for a $320K mortgage. That is nuts. If I took out a mortgage that big, the bank would own the house in a few years or I would not eat, go out, have heat and electricity, etc.
Nah, 640K should be enough for a watch....
I may end up kicking myself for sending in the $10 rebate if that prevents me from returning it. I knew there was product activation, but did not know about the C-Zilla aspect of it.
I have been a Turbo Tax user for the last 7 or 8 years. Several years ago I decided to change how I was handling depreciation on a rental property. I was able to reinstall my old copies of Turbo Tax and amend my tax returns. I had kept my .tax files around on my computer.
While it is of limited use, some people do need to access/change previous tax returns. With the new product activation it sounds like I may have been screwed.
While this is a bit better than some of the other types of DRM crap the industry has tried, it still is annoying.
Since I bought my burner, the first thing I do when I buy a CD is make two copies of it. I put the original in a Case Logic case and store it. I put one copy in one of my Sony CD jukeboxes. I have all of my 400+ CDs available in the jukeboxes and ready to go. The other copy is available for me to thrown in another case and listen to in my car or in my Sony Discman when I workout.
I do not share via Kazaa, etc. or by burning copies for others. Whether what I am doing it technically illegal or not I don't care. I bought the CD and have make a couple of physical backups to listen to where and when I want. This type of DRM will prevent me from doing that. I guess I won't be buying CDs as much so maybe I won't need to buy another Sony jukebox. Yes, I could always do the digital out to digital in ripping, but that is not the point. I want a bit for bit backup that will identify with freedb. This lets me burn a copy with CD-Text (another Sony technology).
I am happy that it will not carry the CD logo. While they have a right to sell what they want, they have the responsibility to let people know it does not meet their expectations. Most people won't know or care and will still buy it.
My point is I have been a pretty good Sony customer over the years. While being a somewhat more middle of the road DRM approach, it still sucks and hurts me as a customer. I won't buy any CDs with this crap.
Thanks for the info about the source of the software. I had already heard about the targetted advertising.
Your comparison against $10 forever against one time $250 is a little off though. It is $250 for the one time Tivo subscription plus $300 or so for the box.
Making some broad based assumptions about keeping prices constant (yeah, yeah, I know the problem with doing that) and ignoring taxes the comparison is:
Cable box PVR:
Cost
- $10/month per service
- $5/month per box - I did not count that originally as I had been paying the $5 per month for my previous digital box to get Music Choice. I could add a 2nd box for another $5 and am thinking of doing so.
- Having my info sold and receiving targetted advertising. This is a minor annoyance as I fast forward through all commercials. I don't think they are to the point of doing targetted product placements in shows.
- The software is definitely lacking compared to Tivo.
Tivo:
- $300 for each box.
- $250 one time fee, or $12.95 per month
- Lifetime cost of $550 per unit. This is the lifetime of the box, not "forever". Hopefully the boxes will last at least 55 months, but HDs do not last forever.
- Supporting a pioneer that has been community friendly.
- Much better software
Time Warner is shipping the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer 8000 set top box with built in PVR functions. It is definitely not Tivo based! The software is somewhat buggy but functional.
They charge $10 extra per month. There were no up front costs. From my understanding it is about $3 cheaper per month than if I went out today and bought a Tivo based unit.
It has a dual tuner. You can record two shows while watching a third. This is probably similar to the Direct TV Tivo units.
One interesting note: I called to report some bugs and found out that Time Warner is writing the software. They started with software from Scientific-Atlanta and have been tweaking it. I was a little surprised by it.
While it is not as polished as a Tivo, it works well. My wife is a convert (she didn't understand why I wanted one). She now loves it.
Time Warner is now offering the Exlorer 8000 digital cable box with DVR functionality. Tivo has much better software, but there are advantages to using TW's box.
Here are some of the features/points:
1. No capital outlay of ~$300.
2. Service fee is $10 above normal cost of digital cable.
3. 40 hour recording
4. Dual tuner (it sounds like DirectTivo in that you can watch two things while recording a third).
5. It works with the built in program guide. No searching for actor or title like Tivo.
6. The software is pretty buggy but functional.
I am very happy with the unit. My wife loves it even though she did not really want to get it.
Don't put up a fuss and sign it as "Daffy Duck" or "Mickey Mouse".
Hey, I got 4 points on my license for running over some guy. Those points cost me $$$ in insurance...
My guess is things started out this way in the States because of flat rate local landline service. Most residential landlines have flat rate monthly fees. The additional per minute charge for calling local numbers is zero. Someone had to pay and landline customers would have griped. So they charged the cell phone users for the radio air time. Besides having to deal with customer gripe if they tried to insert toll charges to call local cellphones, they probably would have had some billing and other infrastructure things to change.
:)
My understanding is in Europe (at least the UK), local phone calls on landlines are metered. The infrastructure is there for someone to pay when calling landline to cell.
Since I don't use my cell phone or landline that much, it doesn't matter too much to me. My wife would love having her incoming calls be free. She is in her car for work and uses the time to keep in touch with friends. She has perfected getting 345+ minutes of use out of her 350 minute plan without going over.
I know it says CD tracks, but I did not see any mention of them being wave files. I hopped on listen.com and they said "High quality encoded" music. My guess is over > 128 kbps MP3.
I just got digital cable with the PVR capability. Time Warner is using the Explorer 8000 from Scientific Atlanta. I had wanted a Tivo but had never got around to buying one. I had been hoping to see the functionality get integrated into the cable box. When they came out in my area, I ordered one.
From what I hear, the Tivo software is definitely better. The Explorer 8000 has some quirks. You can set it up to record all episodes of something from the interactive guide. At the end of watching the episode, you get asked if you want to delete the show. You do (since you watched it) and it deletes the scheduled recordings of the other episodes! Definitely not intuitive!
It does not have the thumbs up/down or some of the other nice Tivo features.
The advantages are:
1. The digital cable box rental is $5.95 per month. This is the same as regular digital cable boxes.
2. The PVR service is $10 per month (a little cheaper than Tivo).
3. There is no $299+ outlay for the box. If it dies, Time Warner replaces it. Yes, you would lose what you had taped.
4. No need to phone or ethernet hookup. The Guide is pulled in over the already attached cable connection.
While I am sure Tivo is better in many ways, I am happy with my digital cable box with PVR functionality.
I just got digital cable with the PVR capability. Time Warner is using the Explorer 8000 from Scientific Atlanta.
I had wanted a Tivo but had never got around to buying one. I had been hoping to see the functionality get integrated into the cable box.
From what I hear, the Tivo software is definitely better. The Explorer 8000 has some quirks. You can set it up to record all episodes of something from the interactive guide. At the end of watching the episode, you get asked if you want to delete the show. You do (since you watched it) and it deletes the scheduled recordings of the other episodes! Definitely not intuitive!
It does not have the thumbs up/down or some of the other nice Tivo features.
The advantages are:
1. The digital cable box rental is $5.95 per month. This is the same as regular digital cable boxes.
2. The PVR service is $10 per month (a little cheaper than Tivo).
3. There is no $299+ outlay for the box. If it dies, Time Warner replaces it. Yes, you would lose what you had taped.
4. No need to phone or ethernet hookup. The Guide is pulled in over the already attached cable connection.
While I am sure Tivo is better in many ways, I am happy with my digital cable box with PVR functionality.
Use rechargeable NiMH AA(A)s. I bought my Visor Neo over some of the other models because it did not have a built in battery. I wanted something that could live without a PC for a few weeks while on vacation.
I have two sets of rechargeable NiMH AAs. Cost $20. They charge overnight and last a couple of weeks with heavy use.
I know some people here get the latest and greatest games off Kazaa for free, but most people have to cough up the $50 each to buy the newest games on PCs.
The games cost that much on the consoles too. However, I can go down to Blockbuster and rent the newest game for a week for $6 to see if I like it or not. I've beaten some simpler games in two rentals ($12).
Over the summer, Blockbuster had a deal where you could have any two games out a time for a month for $25 (maybe $30). I tried out 12 games in a month for my PS2. I bought one of them and there are a couple more I may eventually bye. Others were fun and a couple sucked.
I still like PCs for games but found I've been spending more gaming time on my PS2 than PC lately.
The USB network adapter is connected to the PS2. The network adapter is connected to your home network. This gives the PS2 access to the PC's networked drives which contain the recorded video. The PS2 decodes and outputs the video to your TV.
The only advantage I can see to this vs. using a video card with S-video out would be having a TV in the living room with the PC back in the office. You could have a long run of Ethernet rather than a long run of S-video and audio. Also, I would imagine the PS2 controller would provide the ability to "drive" rather than trying to use some type of IR remote to control your PC that is in another room.
I don't know if a PS2 has an IP stack built in or if it is included in networked games, but games that supported play hook into home networks easily. I have my PS2 hooked into my router and can connect to net to play networked Madden 2003.
I agree. This is especially true for health related studies that claim "Studies show that eating ABC will increase your risk of XYZ by 50%". If the chances of getting XYZ was 1 in 10,000 and it changes to 1.5 in 10,000, I don't care. If the chance was 50% and increases to 75%, then I will be more interested.
First, thanks for pointing out the CNN article. The responses from the researchers discredit the Atkins diet. They talk about good fat and good carbs. "Enter the Zone" by Sears talks about the same things. Atkins is more anti-carb than Sears. Sears says to reduce the high glycemic carbs (pastas, breads, sugars) and to have fruits & veggies instead. Sears pushes the omega 3 fats (as found in fish) just like the researchers in the CNN article. Sears other main point is to eat all meals and snacks in the same proportion of protein, carbs, & fats to control your insulin levels.
I am just rereading "Enter the Zone" because I have gained some weight since I stopped following it's guidelines. I had lost 40 pounds and kept it off for 4 years. I got lazy and started eating take out too much. I also switched from Diet soda to regular. I gained weight. So I know if I go back to my eating habits I had I will start losing 1 to 1.5 lbs a week and not be hungry. I just have to spend more time cooking...
You forgot to include "payola". Oh yeah, that's right, producers and others in the business are not supposed to pay radio stations to play their music, so that is not part of the costs.
Nevermind.
I had ordered one (after reading about the price on a previous Slashdot article). I did receive a notification email explaining the error and apologizing for the inconvenience.
;)
I gave up and assumed it was a lost cause. I have to dig through my home account and see if I saved the email.
To be honest, I had expected the response I received. Now that I read the lies and other stunts they are pulling and the abuse they are giving customers, I'm annoyed. The fact that they are caving in for some customers also makes me want to try to get the card. The "Why should they get it and not me?" attitude.
I hate to point this out to someone with a list of "grammar enemies", but the first phrase should be:
"the price of their processors"
If you replaced "there" with "they're" as you suggest, you are actually saying that
"the price of they are processors".