For anyone interested in an out-of-the-box solution for PVR/DVD -> VCD, etc. Check out Sony's Vaio PCV-W102 (I think it's only available in Japan, though)
As a programmer, I like to tweak with my boxes, but this is so cool by default, I don't even want to mess with it! 1.6GHz Celeron (Could be worse!), 256MB Ram (512MB would be much better, but what the hell!), DVD/CDRW, Tuner (coax-in only, unfortunately), all-in-one integrated AV remote (however, can't use remote as a mouse, that's too bad...), memory card slot, 2 PCMCIA slots, 3 USB, 2 Firewire, Widescreen flat 15.5" display (it looks sweet!), etc. It's has Windows XP installed, but it has lots of cool-ass software for ripping music and video, so I'll leave it be.
Anyway, Cygwin now has support for rootless mode under X, so I'm running all my favorite apps (esp. Konsole!) seamlessly.
It's not a set top box, but it did completely replace my TV/DVD/VCR setup, and I'm stoked about it!
IMO the appropriate counter to DRM is fairness (as in fair-use and fair-mindedness). Not hot-headed, knee-jerk emotionalism.
They got fat and rich taking ideas from others, processing them, and spitting out "Intellectual Property" This isn't really a fair assesment. To say that the entertainment industry, in general, does not make a significant creative contribution on top of the borrowed ideas is just plain wrong. Remember underneath the RIAA and the MPAA are artists (fairly treated or not, they are still there).
They don't like paying anyone else for ideas, This is obviously untrue. Entertainment is an industry, they are more than happy to pay for ideas that will make money. Licensed material is extremely common. Movie/Game cross-overs. Move/Comic cross-overs. Movie/Book cross-overs. Geez. A huge percentage of the entertainment industry is built on licensed material.
but if we happen to want to do something based on Steamboat Willie, oh... that's Theft! True enough. But hardly universal. Disney is a huge company and as much as they'd like to speak with one voice, assuming there isn't dissent on this issue, within the company, is pretty naive.
Forcing me to re-buy The White Album Please. No one forced you to buy anything. Also, formats changing over time has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. I can still play my LPs, casettes, etc. I buy into new formats because they add value for me. You're saying you buy into new formats because someone puts a gun to your head? I'm sorry.
... in order to make sure the authors had sufficient incentive to put works into the public domain How is this on-topic? There is no argument on the table for unlimited-length copyrights here. Yes, limited copyrights are good. Yes, the idea that the public should have access to material eventually is good too. So?
Now the slackers in Congress have perverted the original design to provide for Government enforced monopolies on ideas. And? You're saying that congress is corrupt, right? I hope you have some other point, because that's obvious and expected. Hell, that's the reason the US constitution was designed the way it is, it assumes branches will be corrupt and attempts to limit it. What we should be looking at is the failure of the checks and balances, not the failure of congress. They fail. They do really dumb-ass things. It's in their blood, or they wouldn't be in congress. It's also not on the topic of entertainment and tech industries working together.
This can not stand, in the long run. The long-run? Nothing stands in the long-run. The sun will fail eventually and this won't be an issue. If we're talking about DRM this is a very immediate issue.
DRM is evil, there is no practical purpose for it. I'm no fan of DRM. It is the wrong approach. It will not accomplish its goals. It will irritate people. However, to say it's evil is just silly. Let's reserve that for things that truly are.
I agree. But it would suit me better if it was built into the OS. I want an (optionally) compressed, (optinionally) encrypted, journalled filesystem that is not fundamentally linked to the media it's on. So I can just extract/copy an image (subset) to CDR or floppy and mount it then sync it up later.
This seems like a good plan.
What plan? I mean zip already has encryption (bad), this'll just make it better. I didn't read anything in the article that they would offer me (as a business) that I don't already have. It's pure hype. I want real details and a real development roadmap!
This shows why it wasn't smart for ID software to GPL outdated software, suddenly a new low-end market evolves and the software isn't outdated any more.
So what? I don't ever remember reading John Carmack saying "We're releasing the Doom source because we don't think we can squeeze another drop from this cash-cow's tits" -- It was released because they were more-or-less done with it and wanted to share. Fast-forward to today with tons of loyal fans (both users and developers) and the cash to back it up, and I'm not sure it's wise to doubt whether or not the move was "smart".
Of course if Id wants to say "Hey, we see a potential market for DoomIII on biotech implant PDAs in about fifteen years, so we have no plans on releasing the source," that's fine too.
Or, you could just be trolling and I've wasted my breath.
orientated and oriented have different meanings. It's not really a matter of British correctness vs. American corruption. For the most part, they can be used interchangeably. But when in doubt, use oriented. It has more meanings therefore can cover-up more ignorance. Which is of course why American's prefer it!
There's something to be said for using common typewriters and flash-paper instead of MS Outlook on a WiFi network. I don't have much to say for using WordStar though. But hell, if I could get a copy of WordPerfect 5 (5.2?) that would run well over xterm in linux, I'd be stoked. Now to go and actually read the article...
Hell yah. Type-ahead makes browsing much nicer. Now, if I could just replace the editor with my own choice (i.e. vi) I'd almost be able to replace lynx!
Of course the BSD vs. GPL license debate is not new. Here's a link to a very good article on the subject. The author does lean toward BSD, but there is a lot of good information. Also, here are the author's research notes for the paper.
Neither BSD nor GPL does much for the "end-user" If we're talking about licenses we're talking about coders' and distributors' rights. As a coder, I'll use BSD because I want to give my code away. I want people to use it. I don't care if they make money off of it. If I do care, I'll use GPL. Simple.
My code can't be "exploited" because I said they can do pretty much whatever they hell they want with it (under BSD) I want the code I release to be free in the truest sense. Your code (or modifications) I don't really care about, so do what you want, even if that means re-releasing under GPL.
Your phone needs to be flashed as a development version in order for you to install application directly.
You might be able to convince a Verizon store to do this for you (if you say you're developing brew apps).
However, the phone becomes much less stable in general. Don't use it as your only phone!
I don't think there's a practical way around dropping cash to get into brew development.
However the ARM compiler is available for a 30 day trial, so you should be able to get all the tools together (for free) just to see if it's something you're interested in.
Doesn't anyone else find it odd that this was developed in Japan of all places? Living there, I don't know when the last time I shook hands with someone was. At least this could be handy for exchanging information with women... because I don't when when the last time I had (physical) contact with a man.
Re:Microbes would be ... depressing.
on
Life on Pluto?
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· Score: 1
I for one am hopeful that all that's out there right now really is just microbes. That'll give the us a head start so we can really kick butt (if necessary) when they do evolve. If there is evolved life out there then we may be on the losing end of the stick, and I'm not into that.
Although LOGO was one of the first things I was introduced to, and may have genuinely led me to become a programmer, my daughter is now older than I was at that time and has a much more sophisticated knowledge about computer use.
I'm not sure that the same teaching tools are really applicable when the background of the student is so different. At seven, she can surf the net, install her new game, and write an email while bitching about WinXP. I don't she'll as impressed by moving a little triangle around as I was.
But it's cool anyway. I'll play with it, even if she doesn't.
Re:don't worry; this book will sell well!
on
Essential Blogging
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· Score: 1
> Actually, I would have liked some firsthand accounts of how famous bloggers managed their website, both from a technical and a literary point of view
Well, uh, due to the nature of blogs, wouldn't you (I would) assume that this information might be actually contained in the blogs themselves?
I mean if I wanted to know how to setup a blog (I don't) wouldn't I just go to the first couple of entries in a famous one?
> at least consumer electronics corporations are on the side of the people like you and I
You're talking about consumer electronics corporations like Sony (owns Columbia, etc.) and Microsoft (XBox is consumer electronics)... just to start the list. I don't think there are very many CEC out there that are on "our side" (yeah, like we can agree on what that is anyway) -- at best they're trying to play both sides and hoping no one notices.
> But isn't true that modern compilers generate code that is much more efficient than anything you can do by hand?
This is a complete lie that is spread by people who have either never programmed in assembly or never want to again. Compilers are getting better, that's true, but no compiler I use is even close to what can be done by hand. I don't even think in theory it -could- be (at least in the case of C) -- the compiler simply doesn't have near the amount of information about the process or data that I do.
Assembly is relevant to me. I use it all the time. GCC for the PS2 is oh-so-lame and don't get me started on CodeWarrior. And of course let's not forget the VU microcode. There are some tools out now to help people get moving there (e.g. VectorC) but no one will say they can beat a coder.
Compilers are a cost issue. We use them to save time so long as they don't get interfere with the end result. When they do (the need-for-speed loops) just toss them and do it yourself. Simple!
I don't write assembly on my PC (except just for fun stuff) because it doesn't come up -- I use high level tools for what they are appropriate for -- high level problems. I think most of the applications people are familiar with are high-level apps and are therefore more appropriately written in C#/Java/Lisp/Rebol or whatever is suitable for the stuff.
Geez, I can't believe we still have this argument. Yes, there are less and less programmers who need assembly, but they'll always be there because -someone- has to talk to the machine.
"...that fewer programmers would be needed with the rendering programming..."
You're right. I wasn't clear. My impression of what people were expecting was that the h/w would be easy enough that more programmers could directly use it. (i.e. Game programmers would be using h/w level API rather than an "engine")
I have absolutely no desire to load big clunky files into h/w. That would be terrible, and I'd probably just find something else to work on. I was just making the point that the expectation is that engine programmers are going to be cut out of the loop at some point in the "future." I happen to disagree, though (My tone wasn't reading through?)
And, yes! Game designer is incredibly valid and important. I'm glad more people think so. But there are very few good ones (so far...) and the title has a bad reputation so it's a slow process to get teams to accept the need.
I'd like to point out (to everyone else) that you distinguished between "level builder" and "game designer." Which is how is should be. But part of the problem is that plenty of people (producers?) can't tell the difference.
I can only speak for consoles, but there have been some interesting developments over the last five years or so...
1. Knowledge prerequisite for engine development has gone up, not down, as was previously thought (hoped?) Some people had thought that with the latest generation of h/w (XBox, PS2, Gamecube) that more programmers would be able to work on the graphics-end (XBox because of DirectX -- PS2 well, because they didn't know any better). But just like on the previous generation of h/w although we don't have to do some of the lower level tasks anymore (s/w render, perspective correction, blah blah) more complex tasks are required for the latest games. I think everyone's hoping (again) that this will change in the -next- generation (e.g. send 3DMax/Maya file to hardware! yeah, right.). maybe. we'll see...
2. The ever-increasing (and always lamented) trend of h/w shy programmers has (maybe?) kept the graphics engine teams small. It still is very common to have one or two man teams building the engine. For example, we have two engine programmers (working on different engines on different platforms) and about 25 on titles. Based on other companies I've been at or seen, this isn't really unusual. If you meant artists (by "graphics department") then yes, there is clearly a trend for having more artists than any other role.
3. Game teams are not oblivious to the severe lack of quality gameplay. Publishers aren't either (really!)...but as always it's an issue of cost/market/etc. Game development is big business now, it's not a make-something-fun-and-sell-it-in-a-ziplock-bag industry anymore.
4. Unfortunately, the idea of "game designer" as a profession (outside of a few notable individuals) has been historically ridiculed. It's been ranked with "tester" and "your mom" as far as development teams were/are concerned. However, even though only a small percentage of development houses (still!) recognize "game designer" as a legitimite role, one of the most promising trends has been (perhaps out of necessity?) the steady increase in them. -That- is good news. Basically, more places have someone in charge of "fun."
speaking of the slashdot effect (on/. itself or otherwise), does anyone have any references for projects working on P2P web serving? I'm sure someone is working on this... perhaps as a browser plugin?
considering how many people view the article (thus the effect) and their caches, it's something to think about. page lifespans, upload limits, etc. would get rid of some of the big obvious issues.
Re:Backwards compatability?
on
Microsoft Freon
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· Score: 2, Interesting
"At least an old pc can still play new games..."
1. what you describe would be forward compatibility not backward (XBox playing XBox2 games which isn't going to happen)
2. one of my biggest peeves with windows is lack of compatibility for games across versions. my daughter has something like a hundred PC games (bought!) that were written for various versions of DX and windows and all of which show an amazing lack of compatibility with the newer versions of windows. Win2K,WinME don't work -most- of the time. WinXP is a bit better (in compatibility mode). so I have to basically maintain an extra machine to play (Win98) to play these games. let's not even go on to my pile of DOS games. the PC is no better.
3. sony has set a nice example with PS2 compatibility with PSX games. I would be surprised if the next version of XBox didn't do the same thing.
"Releasing new box after new box, and cutting off your established user base isn't going to win this system any fans..."
uhh.. hello? this is the way the console market has -always- worked. and it -has- won them new fans, year after year. I don't hear much complaining that the gamecube doesn't play NES games.
Slashdot Mirror
For anyone interested in an out-of-the-box solution for PVR/DVD -> VCD, etc. Check out Sony's Vaio PCV-W102 (I think it's only available in Japan, though)
As a programmer, I like to tweak with my boxes, but this is so cool by default, I don't even want to mess with it! 1.6GHz Celeron (Could be worse!), 256MB Ram (512MB would be much better, but what the hell!), DVD/CDRW, Tuner (coax-in only, unfortunately), all-in-one integrated AV remote (however, can't use remote as a mouse, that's too bad...), memory card slot, 2 PCMCIA slots, 3 USB, 2 Firewire, Widescreen flat 15.5" display (it looks sweet!), etc. It's has Windows XP installed, but it has lots of cool-ass software for ripping music and video, so I'll leave it be.
Anyway, Cygwin now has support for rootless mode under X, so I'm running all my favorite apps (esp. Konsole!) seamlessly.
It's not a set top box, but it did completely replace my TV/DVD/VCR setup, and I'm stoked about it!
It cost me around 170000JPY at the Sony store.
They got fat and rich taking ideas from others, processing them, and spitting out "Intellectual Property"
This isn't really a fair assesment. To say that the entertainment industry, in general, does not make a significant creative contribution on top of the borrowed ideas is just plain wrong. Remember underneath the RIAA and the MPAA are artists (fairly treated or not, they are still there).
They don't like paying anyone else for ideas,
This is obviously untrue. Entertainment is an industry, they are more than happy to pay for ideas that will make money. Licensed material is extremely common. Movie/Game cross-overs. Move/Comic cross-overs. Movie/Book cross-overs. Geez. A huge percentage of the entertainment industry is built on licensed material.
but if we happen to want to do something based on Steamboat Willie, oh... that's Theft!
True enough. But hardly universal. Disney is a huge company and as much as they'd like to speak with one voice, assuming there isn't dissent on this issue, within the company, is pretty naive.
Forcing me to re-buy The White Album
Please. No one forced you to buy anything. Also, formats changing over time has absolutely nothing to do with this issue. I can still play my LPs, casettes, etc. I buy into new formats because they add value for me. You're saying you buy into new formats because someone puts a gun to your head? I'm sorry.
How is this on-topic? There is no argument on the table for unlimited-length copyrights here. Yes, limited copyrights are good. Yes, the idea that the public should have access to material eventually is good too. So?
Now the slackers in Congress have perverted the original design to provide for Government enforced monopolies on ideas.
And? You're saying that congress is corrupt, right? I hope you have some other point, because that's obvious and expected. Hell, that's the reason the US constitution was designed the way it is, it assumes branches will be corrupt and attempts to limit it. What we should be looking at is the failure of the checks and balances, not the failure of congress. They fail. They do really dumb-ass things. It's in their blood, or they wouldn't be in congress. It's also not on the topic of entertainment and tech industries working together.
This can not stand, in the long run.
The long-run? Nothing stands in the long-run. The sun will fail eventually and this won't be an issue. If we're talking about DRM this is a very immediate issue.
DRM is evil, there is no practical purpose for it.
I'm no fan of DRM. It is the wrong approach. It will not accomplish its goals. It will irritate people. However, to say it's evil is just silly. Let's reserve that for things that truly are.
Sorry for the rant.
you forgot a step
I agree. But it would suit me better if it was built into the OS. I want an (optionally) compressed, (optinionally) encrypted, journalled filesystem that is not fundamentally linked to the media it's on. So I can just extract/copy an image (subset) to CDR or floppy and mount it then sync it up later.
This seems like a good plan.
What plan? I mean zip already has encryption (bad), this'll just make it better. I didn't read anything in the article that they would offer me (as a business) that I don't already have. It's pure hype. I want real details and a real development roadmap!
man tar
This shows why it wasn't smart for ID software to GPL outdated software, suddenly a new low-end market evolves and the software isn't outdated any more.
So what? I don't ever remember reading John Carmack saying "We're releasing the Doom source because we don't think we can squeeze another drop from this cash-cow's tits" -- It was released because they were more-or-less done with it and wanted to share. Fast-forward to today with tons of loyal fans (both users and developers) and the cash to back it up, and I'm not sure it's wise to doubt whether or not the move was "smart".
Of course if Id wants to say "Hey, we see a potential market for DoomIII on biotech implant PDAs in about fifteen years, so we have no plans on releasing the source," that's fine too.
Or, you could just be trolling and I've wasted my breath.
orientated and oriented have different meanings. It's not really a matter of British correctness vs. American corruption. For the most part, they can be used interchangeably. But when in doubt, use oriented. It has more meanings therefore can cover-up more ignorance. Which is of course why American's prefer it!
Assume 100,000 miles over the lifetime of the car
Okay, clearly you own an American car.
There's something to be said for using common typewriters and flash-paper instead of MS Outlook on a WiFi network.
I don't have much to say for using WordStar though. But hell, if I could get a copy of WordPerfect 5 (5.2?) that would run well over xterm in linux, I'd be stoked.
Now to go and actually read the article...
Hell yah. Type-ahead makes browsing much nicer. Now, if I could just replace the editor with my own choice (i.e. vi) I'd almost be able to replace lynx!
If RMS cares that much (which is fine IMO, just in another forum) he should just get a group together and fork the Linux kernel using GPL tools.
That is the freedom he's helped establish. If you don't like a project or how it's being run, rather than just bitching about it, you can change it.
Geez. It's the -least- complicated part of the GPL.
Of course the BSD vs. GPL license debate is not new. Here's a link to a very good article on the subject. The author does lean toward BSD, but there is a lot of good information. Also, here are the author's research notes for the paper.
Neither BSD nor GPL does much for the "end-user" If we're talking about licenses we're talking about coders' and distributors' rights. As a coder, I'll use BSD because I want to give my code away. I want people to use it. I don't care if they make money off of it. If I do care, I'll use GPL. Simple.
My code can't be "exploited" because I said they can do pretty much whatever they hell they want with it (under BSD) I want the code I release to be free in the truest sense. Your code (or modifications) I don't really care about, so do what you want, even if that means re-releasing under GPL.
Your phone needs to be flashed as a development version in order for you to install application directly.
You might be able to convince a Verizon store to do this for you (if you say you're developing brew apps).
However, the phone becomes much less stable in general. Don't use it as your only phone!
I don't think there's a practical way around dropping cash to get into brew development.
However the ARM compiler is available for a 30 day trial, so you should be able to get all the tools together (for free) just to see if it's something you're interested in.
Of course the best source for information is Qualcomm's Brew Development Page
Well, I am only speaking for myself but...
If the choice comes down to Britney Spears' music or civil liberties, I'll choose civil liberties.
If the choice comes down to Britney Spears or civil liberties? Which civil liberties exactly would I have to give up?
Doesn't anyone else find it odd that this was developed in Japan of all places? Living there, I don't know when the last time I shook hands with someone was. At least this could be handy for exchanging information with women... because I don't when when the last time I had (physical) contact with a man.
I for one am hopeful that all that's out there right now really is just microbes. That'll give the us a head start so we can really kick butt (if necessary) when they do evolve. If there is evolved life out there then we may be on the losing end of the stick, and I'm not into that.
Although LOGO was one of the first things I was introduced to, and may have genuinely led me to become a programmer, my daughter is now older than I was at that time and has a much more sophisticated knowledge about computer use.
I'm not sure that the same teaching tools are really applicable when the background of the student is so different. At seven, she can surf the net, install her new game, and write an email while bitching about WinXP. I don't she'll as impressed by moving a little triangle around as I was.
But it's cool anyway. I'll play with it, even if she doesn't.
> Actually, I would have liked some firsthand accounts of how famous bloggers managed their website, both from a technical and a literary point of view
Well, uh, due to the nature of blogs, wouldn't you (I would) assume that this information might be actually contained in the blogs themselves?
I mean if I wanted to know how to setup a blog (I don't) wouldn't I just go to the first couple of entries in a famous one?
> at least consumer electronics corporations are on the side of the people like you and I
... just to start the list. I don't think there are very many CEC out there that are on "our side" (yeah, like we can agree on what that is anyway) -- at best they're trying to play both sides and hoping no one notices.
You're talking about consumer electronics corporations like Sony (owns Columbia, etc.) and Microsoft (XBox is consumer electronics)
> But isn't true that modern compilers generate code that is much more efficient than anything you can do by hand?
This is a complete lie that is spread by people who have either never programmed in assembly or never want to again. Compilers are getting better, that's true, but no compiler I use is even close to what can be done by hand. I don't even think in theory it -could- be (at least in the case of C) -- the compiler simply doesn't have near the amount of information about the process or data that I do.
Assembly is relevant to me. I use it all the time. GCC for the PS2 is oh-so-lame and don't get me started on CodeWarrior. And of course let's not forget the VU microcode. There are some tools out now to help people get moving there (e.g. VectorC) but no one will say they can beat a coder.
Compilers are a cost issue. We use them to save time so long as they don't get interfere with the end result. When they do (the need-for-speed loops) just toss them and do it yourself. Simple!
I don't write assembly on my PC (except just for fun stuff) because it doesn't come up -- I use high level tools for what they are appropriate for -- high level problems. I think most of the applications people are familiar with are high-level apps and are therefore more appropriately written in C#/Java/Lisp/Rebol or whatever is suitable for the stuff.
Geez, I can't believe we still have this argument. Yes, there are less and less programmers who need assembly, but they'll always be there because -someone- has to talk to the machine.
"...that fewer programmers would be needed with the rendering programming..."
You're right. I wasn't clear. My impression of what people were expecting was that the h/w would be easy enough that more programmers could directly use it. (i.e. Game programmers would be using h/w level API rather than an "engine")
I have absolutely no desire to load big clunky files into h/w. That would be terrible, and I'd probably just find something else to work on. I was just making the point that the expectation is that engine programmers are going to be cut out of the loop at some point in the "future." I happen to disagree, though (My tone wasn't reading through?)
And, yes! Game designer is incredibly valid and important. I'm glad more people think so. But there are very few good ones (so far...) and the title has a bad reputation so it's a slow process to get teams to accept the need.
I'd like to point out (to everyone else) that you distinguished between "level builder" and "game designer." Which is how is should be. But part of the problem is that plenty of people (producers?) can't tell the difference.
hell, I wish that were true! where do -you- work?
...but as always it's an issue of cost/market/etc. Game development is big business now, it's not a make-something-fun-and-sell-it-in-a-ziplock-bag industry anymore.
I can only speak for consoles, but there have been some interesting developments over the last five years or so...
1. Knowledge prerequisite for engine development has gone up, not down, as was previously thought (hoped?) Some people had thought that with the latest generation of h/w (XBox, PS2, Gamecube) that more programmers would be able to work on the graphics-end (XBox because of DirectX -- PS2 well, because they didn't know any better). But just like on the previous generation of h/w although we don't have to do some of the lower level tasks anymore (s/w render, perspective correction, blah blah) more complex tasks are required for the latest games. I think everyone's hoping (again) that this will change in the -next- generation (e.g. send 3DMax/Maya file to hardware! yeah, right.). maybe. we'll see...
2. The ever-increasing (and always lamented) trend of h/w shy programmers has (maybe?) kept the graphics engine teams small. It still is very common to have one or two man teams building the engine. For example, we have two engine programmers (working on different engines on different platforms) and about 25 on titles. Based on other companies I've been at or seen, this isn't really unusual. If you meant artists (by "graphics department") then yes, there is clearly a trend for having more artists than any other role.
3. Game teams are not oblivious to the severe lack of quality gameplay. Publishers aren't either (really!)
4. Unfortunately, the idea of "game designer" as a profession (outside of a few notable individuals) has been historically ridiculed. It's been ranked with "tester" and "your mom" as far as development teams were/are concerned. However, even though only a small percentage of development houses (still!) recognize "game designer" as a legitimite role, one of the most promising trends has been (perhaps out of necessity?) the steady increase in them. -That- is good news. Basically, more places have someone in charge of "fun."
It'll get better. Probably.
(slightly OT, sorry.)
speaking of the slashdot effect (on
considering how many people view the article (thus the effect) and their caches, it's something to think about. page lifespans, upload limits, etc. would get rid of some of the big obvious issues.
"At least an old pc can still play new games..."
1. what you describe would be forward compatibility not backward (XBox playing XBox2 games which isn't going to happen)
2. one of my biggest peeves with windows is lack of compatibility for games across versions. my daughter has something like a hundred PC games (bought!) that were written for various versions of DX and windows and all of which show an amazing lack of compatibility with the newer versions of windows. Win2K,WinME don't work -most- of the time. WinXP is a bit better (in compatibility mode). so I have to basically maintain an extra machine to play (Win98) to play these games. let's not even go on to my pile of DOS games. the PC is no better.
3. sony has set a nice example with PS2 compatibility with PSX games. I would be surprised if the next version of XBox didn't do the same thing.
"Releasing new box after new box, and cutting off your established user base isn't going to win this system any fans..."
uhh.. hello? this is the way the console market has -always- worked. and it -has- won them new fans, year after year. I don't hear much complaining that the gamecube doesn't play NES games.