Not only does the story Godwin itself, but it's pure troll.
Lots of sites are carrying this story, and experience has made us all quick to believe the most ridiculous things about Scientology, but this looks incredibly fake, and I can't find any reliable sources.
You joke, but that's probably exactly what they're going for. I'm sure Steve Ballmer "fucking hates" the fact that people use "google" as a verb meaning "to search on the web". His last attempt to create hip new lingo ("squirt") was a dud (even though I've found the product itself to be actually quite good). Now he's trying it again.
(This is off-topic)In regards to your sig: You know, just because someone is an expert in one field, does not mean their opinion is more valid then another's in an unrelated field. When discussing science, a quote of Albert Einstein is a great thing to bring up. When discussing politics and war, most nearly as valid.
I get that comment from a lot of people around here.
Albert Einstein is not a one-dimensional character. He had a brilliant mind — not just a brilliant scientific mind — and had great insight into many topics. He spent his life studying, contemplating, and writing about many subjects — not just science.
Just because he's most known for his contributions to science, doesn't mean his thoughts on other subjects are meaningless. I'm not a physicist, and therefore have little interest in his physics work. However, I have great respect for what he had to say on a number of political and social issues.
Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons (to name one) is not a caricature. He's a real guy. I've met him. He lives in most comic book shops.
Exactly. He was partly inspired by a specific comic book guy in LA, but Matt Groening says: "I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, 'I know who you based that comic book guy on. It's that comic-book guy right down the block.' And I have to tell them, 'No, it's every comic-bookstore guy in America.'"
Actually as I pointed out above it's also on the Amazon UK product page for it as well.
Of course it is. Amazon UK took that info straight from the Asus UK product page. If it's on one, then it'll be on the other.
I never said it was some grand partnership between them.
The article, its summary, and most of the posters on this page certainly said it was. That is the context of this discussion.
But the very fact that it's linked from an Asus page and on the Amazon page for the same product means that Asus had to have some part in it.
No, it means that at least one person with access to Asus's Content Management System had to have some part in it. It does not mean that Asus (the company) had any part in it.
Your assertions that they had nothing to do with it aren't evidence.
Here's the evidence suggesting that this isn't an official Asus/Microsoft campaign as suggested by the article and summary:
Domain is registered through GoDaddy to some random guy in Washington with a Hotmail address
Website doesn't mention Asus
Neither company's logo appears on the website
Website contains no copyright information
Website has no details of any trademarks used belonging to either company
Quality of the website is less than amateur
Here's the evidence that it is an official Asus/Microsoft campaign:
One suspicious link on one page on the UK site which has been copied by Amazon's UK site
If you think that's enough to declare my suspicions to be a "FAIL", well, so be it.
Yep, Asus had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of this website and that's why they link to it from their own site. FAIL.
Although it is peculiar that the Asus website links to the site, it doesn't actually mean that they had anything to do with creating the site. I can link to Google, but that doesn't mean I created Google.
Also, it's worth noting that this link only exists on Asus's UK site. It's not found on any of their other international websites. Also, other than that single link, there's no information anywhere on any of their websites that makes any reference to an "It's Better With Windows" advertising campaign. Most companies don't build a website just to hide one tiny link to it (with a typo no less — it should be "www.ItsBetterWithWindows.com") on one page on one of their websites. They generally like to draw attention to it.
So go ahead and assume that this is the result of some grand partnership between Asus and Microsoft, even though it could very well simply be the result of a single website administrator inserting an unofficial link to a poorly-designed website (or any of a number of other reasonable explanations).
Again, I ask you to take a look at the actual site, and pay attention to the fact that it doesn't contain a single link to Asus or Microsoft, it doesn't even mention Asus, it has no logos from either company, and it has no copyright notice. Seriously, do you actually think that in this day and age a company like Asus or Microsoft would build a website and not make mention of their intellectual property anywhere on it?.
The website is amateur, and the link to it from the Asus UK website is suspicious at best.
Face it. Neither of us knows for sure whether Asus or Microsoft were involved with this website, but the evidence is very strongly against it.
His last name is Riches, not Richards, and he's batshit insane. He's in prison, and just occupies his time launching frivolous lawsuits against anyone and anything he can think to sue. He's tried suing everyone from Britney Spears to Somali Pirates to the Eiffel Tower to the Garden of Eden. If he reads this, he'll probably list me in his next lawsuit. That's just what he does.
Penn Jillette got a patent on masturbating in a hot tub in 1999. A patent lawyer's kid got a patent on swinging sideways on a swing in 2002. If neither of these made enough of a point to bring about any patent reform, how will this?
When the first video game was made, it was the best video game in the world. When there were a dozen titles, more than 80% of games were in the top ten.
Today, we've all seen a gajillion games in our lifetime, so anything new that comes out has some serious competition to even be considered "okay".
It was both. It was a comedy with some aspects of drama in it. It was the polar opposite (in the same genre at least) of a slapstick comedy like most of Jim Carrey's movies. It made you laugh, but it had a cool story, too.
It was standard comedy for the 80's. There's usually some semblance of dramatic element in a comedy, even the slapstick ones. And most dramas have comedic moments, too.
But for a band, such as the one I'm in at the moment, that's looking for a quick and easy way to get some physical albums out there... this looks pretty neat.
I agree. I intend to make use of this service as well.
Why would a truly independent artist want to get on mainstream radio in the first place?
Because it's one way to promote your band. It's not the only way, but it's one way. To be clear, my original point was simply that services like this don't provide promotion. Someone else responded that you can promote yourself by sending CDs to radio stations, and I simply said that this doesn't work for mainstream stations. If you're an artist, it's totally your call if you want to try to get onto mainstream radio. I'm just saying you won't get there just by sending in a CD.
You can't promote your band's website on your band's CD?
You can't promote your band's website on the front cover. Think about it: Does iTunes want you to use them as a means of spreading the word about your band to the masses, only to have the album cover image on iTunes direct iTunes shoppers to the band's website where they can buy it for cheaper through something like Nimbus? Not likely.
Go ahead and put whatever you want inside the CD jacket, though. Who the hell wants their URL on the cover anyway?
Incorrect. You send them the CD, and then have a few different people call in and request the song over the course of a few days. The typical DJ will get curious and pop it open (or adventurous and play it).
Unfortunately, that's not how it works. As I said before, it may work with college radio, but mainstream radio doesn't let the DJ just pop in whatever he or his callers want to hear.
They get their music from a central playlist, which is why they won't even open the package if you send them a CD. If it didn't come from the central source, then they're just not interested.
Some stations do have (very limited) "free play" slots, but good luck getting in on those slots. Getting all your friends to call in and request your song is a start, but don't think that you're the only one doing this. I hope you have lots of friends.
I'm not saying it's impossible for a truly independent artist to get on mainstream radio. It's just not as simple as sending in a CD and they'll happily play it.
Touring doesn't mean you don't also need promotion. As someone who has actually travelled to another city to play in an empty room (literally — the only people there were the staff, and whenever they stepped outside for a smoke, we were actually playing to an empty room), trust me that you need promotion as well.
There are ways to promote yourself, as many in this thread have pointed out. Some artists are coming up with really clever ways to do it through the Internet. Personally, I'm thrilled with the opportunities that the 'Net presents for artists.
But not everyone has figured out how to take advantage of it yet. That's the part that services like this one from Amazon are not addressing.
I don't think there would be anyone stopping the band from buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $15...
...or buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $9, since they're getting $3.59 back from Amazon anyway. Maybe round it up to $10 since it's easier to deal with 10-dollar bills at the merchandise table.
What?!? The labels working for the band?!? Blasphemy!!!:)
What you've described is exactly how the industry should work, and I agree that it will get there. Interestingly enough, while the major labels are fighting this evolution tooth and nail, the small independent labels are already starting to do exactly what you described.
Slashdot Mirror
Not only does the story Godwin itself, but it's pure troll.
Lots of sites are carrying this story, and experience has made us all quick to believe the most ridiculous things about Scientology, but this looks incredibly fake, and I can't find any reliable sources.
Does anyone have any evidence that this is real?
Not paying your taxes regularly and getting away with it is not so easy.
Stealing a DVD regularly and getting away with it is not so easy.
Pirating software/movies regularly and getting away with it is much simper than buying the original and dealing with the anti-piracy hassles.
"Here, let me bing that for you."
Hmmmm... No.
You joke, but that's probably exactly what they're going for. I'm sure Steve Ballmer "fucking hates" the fact that people use "google" as a verb meaning "to search on the web". His last attempt to create hip new lingo ("squirt") was a dud (even though I've found the product itself to be actually quite good). Now he's trying it again.
(This is off-topic)In regards to your sig: You know, just because someone is an expert in one field, does not mean their opinion is more valid then another's in an unrelated field. When discussing science, a quote of Albert Einstein is a great thing to bring up. When discussing politics and war, most nearly as valid.
I get that comment from a lot of people around here.
Albert Einstein is not a one-dimensional character. He had a brilliant mind — not just a brilliant scientific mind — and had great insight into many topics. He spent his life studying, contemplating, and writing about many subjects — not just science.
Just because he's most known for his contributions to science, doesn't mean his thoughts on other subjects are meaningless. I'm not a physicist, and therefore have little interest in his physics work. However, I have great respect for what he had to say on a number of political and social issues.
Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons (to name one) is not a caricature. He's a real guy. I've met him. He lives in most comic book shops.
Exactly. He was partly inspired by a specific comic book guy in LA, but Matt Groening says: "I can't tell you how many times people have come up to me and said, 'I know who you based that comic book guy on. It's that comic-book guy right down the block.' And I have to tell them, 'No, it's every comic-bookstore guy in America.'"
Actually as I pointed out above it's also on the Amazon UK product page for it as well.
Of course it is. Amazon UK took that info straight from the Asus UK product page. If it's on one, then it'll be on the other.
I never said it was some grand partnership between them.
The article, its summary, and most of the posters on this page certainly said it was. That is the context of this discussion.
But the very fact that it's linked from an Asus page and on the Amazon page for the same product means that Asus had to have some part in it.
No, it means that at least one person with access to Asus's Content Management System had to have some part in it. It does not mean that Asus (the company) had any part in it.
Your assertions that they had nothing to do with it aren't evidence.
Here's the evidence suggesting that this isn't an official Asus/Microsoft campaign as suggested by the article and summary:
Here's the evidence that it is an official Asus/Microsoft campaign:
If you think that's enough to declare my suspicions to be a "FAIL", well, so be it.
Yep, Asus had absolutely nothing to do with the creation of this website and that's why they link to it from their own site. FAIL.
Although it is peculiar that the Asus website links to the site, it doesn't actually mean that they had anything to do with creating the site. I can link to Google, but that doesn't mean I created Google.
Also, it's worth noting that this link only exists on Asus's UK site. It's not found on any of their other international websites. Also, other than that single link, there's no information anywhere on any of their websites that makes any reference to an "It's Better With Windows" advertising campaign. Most companies don't build a website just to hide one tiny link to it (with a typo no less — it should be "www.ItsBetterWithWindows.com") on one page on one of their websites. They generally like to draw attention to it.
So go ahead and assume that this is the result of some grand partnership between Asus and Microsoft, even though it could very well simply be the result of a single website administrator inserting an unofficial link to a poorly-designed website (or any of a number of other reasonable explanations).
Again, I ask you to take a look at the actual site, and pay attention to the fact that it doesn't contain a single link to Asus or Microsoft, it doesn't even mention Asus, it has no logos from either company, and it has no copyright notice. Seriously, do you actually think that in this day and age a company like Asus or Microsoft would build a website and not make mention of their intellectual property anywhere on it?.
The website is amateur, and the link to it from the Asus UK website is suspicious at best.
Face it. Neither of us knows for sure whether Asus or Microsoft were involved with this website, but the evidence is very strongly against it.
There are some people that would like to take an organization's word for what the words mean.
And those people are incredibly naive.
Almost as naive as the people who actually believe that this site was created by Microsoft and Asus.
Seriously, have you looked at it? It was made by a 6-year-old.
Not only that, but:
You'd have to be pretty naive (or blinded by Microsoft-hatred) to actually think either of these companies had anything to do with this site.
...which is why you don't see it in truly cold locations like Canada.
Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that Winnipeg has cement roads.
For those who haven't been there, it's outrageously cold in the winter, and outrageously hot in the summer.
You don't need a "great computer" to run the Vista, you just need a lot of RAM. And by a lot, I mean 1GB, which, by todays standards isn't that much
Not only is that not much by today's standards, but it's even dirt cheap. One GB of RAM costs less than $15.
And yes, Vista does all kinds of nifty caching and other tricks to make better use of RAM. There's simply no point in having RAM sit there unused.
it could buzz before it even has the answer calculated.
So can players. And they do quite frequently.
His last name is Riches, not Richards, and he's batshit insane. He's in prison, and just occupies his time launching frivolous lawsuits against anyone and anything he can think to sue. He's tried suing everyone from Britney Spears to Somali Pirates to the Eiffel Tower to the Garden of Eden. If he reads this, he'll probably list me in his next lawsuit. That's just what he does.
Penn Jillette got a patent on masturbating in a hot tub in 1999. A patent lawyer's kid got a patent on swinging sideways on a swing in 2002. If neither of these made enough of a point to bring about any patent reform, how will this?
Coca-Cola buys ... about 100 metric tons of dried Peruvian coca leaves each year ... (a)nd it uses it in Coca-Cola...
... after the cocaine has been extracted and sold for pharmaceutical use.
One word: nostalgia.
What about limited alternatives?
When the first video game was made, it was the best video game in the world. When there were a dozen titles, more than 80% of games were in the top ten.
Today, we've all seen a gajillion games in our lifetime, so anything new that comes out has some serious competition to even be considered "okay".
It was both. It was a comedy with some aspects of drama in it. It was the polar opposite (in the same genre at least) of a slapstick comedy like most of Jim Carrey's movies. It made you laugh, but it had a cool story, too.
It was standard comedy for the 80's. There's usually some semblance of dramatic element in a comedy, even the slapstick ones. And most dramas have comedic moments, too.
But for a band, such as the one I'm in at the moment, that's looking for a quick and easy way to get some physical albums out there ... this looks pretty neat.
I agree. I intend to make use of this service as well.
Why would a truly independent artist want to get on mainstream radio in the first place?
Because it's one way to promote your band. It's not the only way, but it's one way. To be clear, my original point was simply that services like this don't provide promotion. Someone else responded that you can promote yourself by sending CDs to radio stations, and I simply said that this doesn't work for mainstream stations. If you're an artist, it's totally your call if you want to try to get onto mainstream radio. I'm just saying you won't get there just by sending in a CD.
In that case, is there anything that would make a large band choose RIAA instead of this new system? Because, they still do!
Marketing and promotion.
Services like this just provide distribution. Distribution means nothing if nobody even knows your band exists.
It's possible to do it yourself, but bands who either don't know how or don't think they can do it as well will still turn to a label for help.
You can't promote your band's website on your band's CD?
You can't promote your band's website on the front cover. Think about it: Does iTunes want you to use them as a means of spreading the word about your band to the masses, only to have the album cover image on iTunes direct iTunes shoppers to the band's website where they can buy it for cheaper through something like Nimbus? Not likely.
Go ahead and put whatever you want inside the CD jacket, though. Who the hell wants their URL on the cover anyway?
Incorrect. You send them the CD, and then have a few different people call in and request the song over the course of a few days. The typical DJ will get curious and pop it open (or adventurous and play it).
Unfortunately, that's not how it works. As I said before, it may work with college radio, but mainstream radio doesn't let the DJ just pop in whatever he or his callers want to hear.
They get their music from a central playlist, which is why they won't even open the package if you send them a CD. If it didn't come from the central source, then they're just not interested.
Some stations do have (very limited) "free play" slots, but good luck getting in on those slots. Getting all your friends to call in and request your song is a start, but don't think that you're the only one doing this. I hope you have lots of friends.
I'm not saying it's impossible for a truly independent artist to get on mainstream radio. It's just not as simple as sending in a CD and they'll happily play it.
Touring doesn't mean you don't also need promotion. As someone who has actually travelled to another city to play in an empty room (literally — the only people there were the staff, and whenever they stepped outside for a smoke, we were actually playing to an empty room), trust me that you need promotion as well.
There are ways to promote yourself, as many in this thread have pointed out. Some artists are coming up with really clever ways to do it through the Internet. Personally, I'm thrilled with the opportunities that the 'Net presents for artists.
But not everyone has figured out how to take advantage of it yet. That's the part that services like this one from Amazon are not addressing.
I don't think there would be anyone stopping the band from buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $15...
...or buying the CDs from Amazon for $9 and selling them at the concert for $9, since they're getting $3.59 back from Amazon anyway. Maybe round it up to $10 since it's easier to deal with 10-dollar bills at the merchandise table.
What?!? The labels working for the band?!? Blasphemy!!! :)
What you've described is exactly how the industry should work, and I agree that it will get there. Interestingly enough, while the major labels are fighting this evolution tooth and nail, the small independent labels are already starting to do exactly what you described.