"How many of you have slowed or stopped your file sharing???"
I stopped file sharing when I heard of Rhapsody. The short version is that I pay $10 a month, and I can listen to any of their 300,000 songs in their database as many times as I want as long as I'm subscribed. The downside is that I can only hear the music when I'm connected to the net, the plus-side is that the music comes down quickly and is easy to find. For $1 I can burn a track to CD for use in the car or something.
That's not a one-size-fits-all solution, so I don't expect everybody to think that's wondeful. But, as I said, no more P2P for me, this service is better. Poor Jack Valenti, he claimed you can't compete with free. Idiot.
"Price isn't an issue, Nanogator insisted that I'd suggested it was."
Not exactly. I'd argue with you about it, but you and he have already had that discussion. Frankly, I'm not interested in the argument anyway. NG's response was understandable. (And no, he did not put words in your mouth.)
The real reason you're so focused on the 'price' aspect of the argument is that you found a weakness in his original post (a bad choice of words on NG's part, never mind that the rest of his point doesn't support your view of what he said) and are trying to discredit him so you don't look defeated. It's really as simple as that. I really cannot say I'm impressed. You could very easily have just said "I think you misunderstood me, let me clarify" but instead you went off on a rant and tried to insult him.
Suddenly, the reasons you get flamed come sharply into focus.
You are defending the price aspect of that discussion way too hard, to the point of silliness I might add. You are claiming that you never said anything about price, yet the meaning of what he said is pretty much in line with your point.
I read your responses and I think "Man, this guy doesn't take a good rebuttal very well, does he?"
Simmer down. He didn't put words into your mouth, but he did point out evidence to the contrary of your point. You really should consider discussing with him instead of arguing.
"I found an easter egg in Quake 3. What you do is you go into a multiplayer game of Capture the Flag. Then, get really really good at using the railgun. Once you reach a certain level of accuracy, the game will call you a 'faggot camper'! "
I hate when when a funny post gets modded as off-topic. I realize that at first glance it seems off-topic, but the submission did have a reference to Adventure having the first easter egg. It's not the most on-topic post in the world but it isn't off-topic either.
Cut the guy some slack, the FAQ does say to try to be funny.
(Note: Before modding me off-topic, consider that you're wasting a mod-point that could be better directed making somebody's insightful or funny post more visible.)
"Huh? How can you be making less than the minimum? What minimum are you talking about?"
Insightful? It isn't obvious? Most places have a salary range for any given title. "The miminum we pay a nurse is $16 an hour". He's below that. Using the example I gave, he's a nurse making $13 an hour. Not trying to bash you (or the moderator) dude, but I'm a little baffled as to why that comment didn't make sense to you.
My question is: did he get into that position by a field promotion, or did they hold him back because he didn't have a full education in his field or something?
"I gather you're interested in getting this soundtrack, as I am; are you into scores?"
Sometimes. The music itself wasn't of that big of concern to me when I posted, but rather some of the motivations behind it. I mean, if the music turned out pretty decent, yeah I'd probably want to get it. However, I didn't post because I was going to be first in line to get this particular album.
I agree that's a possibility. I think it should also be considered that Mr. Miyamoto is a VERY polite person. I remember when the GameCube was unveiled, he demo'd the features of the system. He struck me as such a nice guy.
"so presumably the worst-case scenario for people who want this is they'll either have to wait for some indeterminate time between a week and six months to get it from the Windows iTMS"
Well, that's what sparked my original comment. They won't wait. They'll acquire it via P2P. And if that happens, I worry that it'll be used to justify DRM and legislation and everything else the RIAA has tried to do. I realize this is FOX and not the RIAA, but still.
"Hmm... perhaps that's why the CD's getting released after the iTMS file? I wonder... "
Well, they've got a customer base that cannot possibly use this album, so I can imagine that's their backdoor. However, the whole 'instant gratification' factor becomes a big part of it. With the RIAA's recent announcements to sue individual P2P users, I'm sure there are a signficant number of people saying "I don't need to buy CDs anymore". They may well sell CDs here, but I'd be cautious about using this as a ruler for future business. (I could be assuming way too much, btw. I'm on the pessimistic side.;))
"Ah. From this, it sounds a bit like you don't know there's a Windows version in the works. Were you aware of this?"
Yes, I was. But unless it's coming out within a week or two of the release of this album, I'd say that they're begging for a failure. If Fox were to say "We have a few more albums we'll try it with..." I'd settle down a bit. If FOX says "We released this, and we didn't sell many, but plenty made their way around the net anyway so we won't do it anymore" I'd be rather loud-mouthed about it. Maybe FOX is smarter than that? At some point, somebody has to realize that there's a model to be had here.
If it's successful, I hope they publish the results of how much it cost to release the album this way sans CD media. (i.e. what'd the bandwidth cost?)
"Actually, there will indeed be a physical CD, for the benefit of people who can't (or won't) use the iTMS; the CD just won't be distributed at retail in the US. "
Ouch, glad Slashdot doesn't use the word 'fact' anywhere.;)
"As for whether it's a smart move or not, the point is actually to determine just that."
That's why I was annoyed. iTunes isn't mature enough for that. Granted, it's been successful, iTunes still isn't available for Windows. So the market's not just internet users, but Mac users? (Maybe I'm, missing a factor here?)
In the mean time, if that CD is hard to get, what happens when people wanting the sound-track go to Kazaa and get it from there for lack of a better way (iTunes) to get it? I'm worried that this situation will create data that'll stall the release of albums like this down the road.
You know, I'd do a complete 180 if Windows users could get to this too. I'd think it was wonderful. I feel very strongly that the net distribution method could really work to everybody's satisfaction. I just don't want them jumping the gun at this crucial time and making drastic conclusions. Know what I mean?
I think he was saying that Slashdot conversations take getting used to because of peculiar spelling from time to time.
I remember one time there was an article about Intel's XENON processor. (yes, all caps.) Over and over again 'XENON, XENON'. Sounded like a processor that ran on gas.
"Since it's the RIAA's alegation that I'm not buying music, I'm only buying a disk and acompaning license to play the music on the disk, I have paid legitimately for a licence to that music, so when the disk became unusable I retrieved my validly licensed content from the only available source, Napster."
That's one thing that bugged me about one of the arguments made by the RIAA in this interview. Oppenheim said that 90% of the people using Grokster were downloading illegal content or something like that. The problem is he conveniently ignored the people who were downloading legitimately. Your case is exactly what some people were doing. Some didn't want to lug lots of CDs around anymore so they downloaded what they already had and put it into a playlist. Some people wanted to find new bands to buy CDs for. I wish I could give you numbers, but the best I can do is say 'substantial'. Even today that's true, otherwise the 'billions' of songs the RIAA is claiming are flying around the net would equal a HUGE dent in their sales. The 5% loss they've reported has plenty of explanations outside of file trading.
His response to that question really burned me up seeing as how I used Kazaa over the weekend to find some demo software. (and yes, I said *demo* software, not pirate or cracked software.)
Hmm I wonder if I can redistribute demo programs on P2P like that legally or if I have to have permission first. It'd certainly take the wind out of the RIAA's sails if everybody did that, thus costing the parent company less to get their product tried out there.
So... does that mean a bunch of different people could put up 'thumbnail segments' of mp3s and you just need to collect the right files to play the whole song?
"Can I get an etymology on "asshat"? I've been wondering about that for a while now..."
It probably evolved from one of two places:
1.) Ever hear the term "You'll be wearing your ass as a hat!" ? It's supposed to mean something like "I'm going to kick your ass so hard it'll rise up above your shoulders"
Derived from there, asshat would be somebody who is extremely deserving of such an ass kickin.
--or--
2.) There's also the phrase "You've got your head up your ass", one could draw a link that says an asshat is somebody who's ignorant.
In this particular context, I think #1 probably fits better. I'm sure the sentiment here is that SCO is begging for somebody to come along and through rocks at them.
"The analyst is wrong. Game consoles are NOT home entertainment devices, they are game consoles. "
I think causality is in question. PS2 has a DVD player, and it also sold well. Therefore, the PS2 sold well because of the DVD player.
Actually there is some truth to that. The launch titles on the Ps2 sucked, but in Japan the units were gobbled up because in Japan, DVD players were spendy items and the PS2 was competitive.
However, system sales does not a successful system make. Nintendo may not be in as many homes as Sony, but they sure as hell don't mind the millions of copies of software they sell every few months when they release a new game.
Nintendo's in a better place than Sony. They have a following that'll chase them anywhere they go. Sony, on the other hand, is very much vulnerable to Microsoft or any other ambitious company who wants to make a new console. Sony doesn't have Mario or Fox McCloud to lure people over.
Sony will be kicked out of it's roost one day, but Nintendo will always have it's following. Sort of reminds me of Apple in some ways.
FUD alert: Windows 2000 and XP do not get unstable when IE crashes. Windows 95, 98, and presumably ME were quite unstable when IE crashed. (I can't remember if NT 4 was succeptable or not. I don't remember much in terms of instability from that OS.)
So this statement is partially true, but if you're using XP or 2K this statement doesn't apply.
"The only downside is that if we start acting like him, we'll start sounding like idiots. But I'm willing to pay that price if he keeps overheating like he is.;)"
Ha!
I wouldn't bother. He's doing all the damage himself. Acting like him would be redundant.
Your so called enlightened view came when you attacked me for a post I made.
"please do some research on sarcasm. [not "look up the definition of sarcasm", but go find out the origins of sarcasm, some famous works of sarcasm, etc] Then shut the fuck up."
(The funny thing is that the moderators agreed with me but not with you.)
Then, you went on to judge NG's entire character because he came to my defense.
Sorry bud, this ain't enlightenment. Enlightenment comes from understanding. Understanding people don't run around calling other people names.
Either you are delusional, a liar, or maybe even a troll. Either way ya go, you're not impressing anybody.
Awww, whatsa matter? It's okay to call him a fucking idiot but when he shows you that your basis for calling him that was flawed suddenly the deflectors go up? But sir! It's devastating to my case!
MS's own fault? They have no obligation to fill that request. They do, on the other hand, have reason not to comply as their units are sold at a loss. On top of that, the way MS was approached was lame. "Give us what we want that's not in your own best interests or we'll tell people how to break your machine and potentially lose more money by having people buy XBOXes for uses other than buying the games that make them money."
Frankly, I don't see how Free-X would have felt that they were approaching MS in a reasonable way. Their handling of this situation was irresponsible, and trying to sound like the victim here makes things worse. They've essentially validated the need for the DMCA. All MS has to do now is post a loss as a result of it, and the courts will have to factor that in their decisions.
It would be a really good idea to make sure that whatever comes of Linux on the XBOX encourages people to continue using their XBOX as a game machine. Use it to do stuff that doesn't get in the way of playing games. Playing movies or MP3s is good, they can pop their game disc in and play. Using it as a server is bad, they want it up all the time and don't want to interrupt it.
I'd feel a whole lot better about this situation if the people involved were trying to expand the use of the system instead of just flipping off Microsoft. (I'd also feel better if uses for this machine running Linux weren't better served with a cheapy PC.)
Slashdot Mirror
"How many of you have slowed or stopped your file sharing???"
I stopped file sharing when I heard of Rhapsody. The short version is that I pay $10 a month, and I can listen to any of their 300,000 songs in their database as many times as I want as long as I'm subscribed. The downside is that I can only hear the music when I'm connected to the net, the plus-side is that the music comes down quickly and is easy to find. For $1 I can burn a track to CD for use in the car or something.
That's not a one-size-fits-all solution, so I don't expect everybody to think that's wondeful. But, as I said, no more P2P for me, this service is better. Poor Jack Valenti, he claimed you can't compete with free. Idiot.
"Price isn't an issue, Nanogator insisted that I'd suggested it was."
Not exactly. I'd argue with you about it, but you and he have already had that discussion. Frankly, I'm not interested in the argument anyway. NG's response was understandable. (And no, he did not put words in your mouth.)
The real reason you're so focused on the 'price' aspect of the argument is that you found a weakness in his original post (a bad choice of words on NG's part, never mind that the rest of his point doesn't support your view of what he said) and are trying to discredit him so you don't look defeated. It's really as simple as that. I really cannot say I'm impressed. You could very easily have just said "I think you misunderstood me, let me clarify" but instead you went off on a rant and tried to insult him.
Suddenly, the reasons you get flamed come sharply into focus.
You are defending the price aspect of that discussion way too hard, to the point of silliness I might add. You are claiming that you never said anything about price, yet the meaning of what he said is pretty much in line with your point.
I read your responses and I think "Man, this guy doesn't take a good rebuttal very well, does he?"
Simmer down. He didn't put words into your mouth, but he did point out evidence to the contrary of your point. You really should consider discussing with him instead of arguing.
That's hardly a good thing. It's 100k they'll add to their piracy estimate.
"I found an easter egg in Quake 3. What you do is you go into a multiplayer game of Capture the Flag. Then, get really really good at using the railgun. Once you reach a certain level of accuracy, the game will call you a 'faggot camper'! "
I hate when when a funny post gets modded as off-topic. I realize that at first glance it seems off-topic, but the submission did have a reference to Adventure having the first easter egg. It's not the most on-topic post in the world but it isn't off-topic either.
Cut the guy some slack, the FAQ does say to try to be funny.
(Note: Before modding me off-topic, consider that you're wasting a mod-point that could be better directed making somebody's insightful or funny post more visible.)
"Huh? How can you be making less than the minimum? What minimum are you talking about?"
Insightful? It isn't obvious? Most places have a salary range for any given title. "The miminum we pay a nurse is $16 an hour". He's below that. Using the example I gave, he's a nurse making $13 an hour. Not trying to bash you (or the moderator) dude, but I'm a little baffled as to why that comment didn't make sense to you.
My question is: did he get into that position by a field promotion, or did they hold him back because he didn't have a full education in his field or something?
Heheh good job on scooping MacCentral. ;)
"I gather you're interested in getting this soundtrack, as I am; are you into scores?"
Sometimes. The music itself wasn't of that big of concern to me when I posted, but rather some of the motivations behind it. I mean, if the music turned out pretty decent, yeah I'd probably want to get it. However, I didn't post because I was going to be first in line to get this particular album.
I agree that's a possibility. I think it should also be considered that Mr. Miyamoto is a VERY polite person. I remember when the GameCube was unveiled, he demo'd the features of the system. He struck me as such a nice guy.
"so presumably the worst-case scenario for people who want this is they'll either have to wait for some indeterminate time between a week and six months to get it from the Windows iTMS"
;))
Well, that's what sparked my original comment. They won't wait. They'll acquire it via P2P. And if that happens, I worry that it'll be used to justify DRM and legislation and everything else the RIAA has tried to do. I realize this is FOX and not the RIAA, but still.
"Hmm... perhaps that's why the CD's getting released after the iTMS file? I wonder... "
Well, they've got a customer base that cannot possibly use this album, so I can imagine that's their backdoor. However, the whole 'instant gratification' factor becomes a big part of it. With the RIAA's recent announcements to sue individual P2P users, I'm sure there are a signficant number of people saying "I don't need to buy CDs anymore". They may well sell CDs here, but I'd be cautious about using this as a ruler for future business. (I could be assuming way too much, btw. I'm on the pessimistic side.
"Ah. From this, it sounds a bit like you don't know there's a Windows version in the works. Were you aware of this?"
Yes, I was. But unless it's coming out within a week or two of the release of this album, I'd say that they're begging for a failure. If Fox were to say "We have a few more albums we'll try it with..." I'd settle down a bit. If FOX says "We released this, and we didn't sell many, but plenty made their way around the net anyway so we won't do it anymore" I'd be rather loud-mouthed about it. Maybe FOX is smarter than that? At some point, somebody has to realize that there's a model to be had here.
If it's successful, I hope they publish the results of how much it cost to release the album this way sans CD media. (i.e. what'd the bandwidth cost?)
"Actually, there will indeed be a physical CD, for the benefit of people who can't (or won't) use the iTMS; the CD just won't be distributed at retail in the US. "
;)
;)
Ouch, glad Slashdot doesn't use the word 'fact' anywhere.
"As for whether it's a smart move or not, the point is actually to determine just that."
That's why I was annoyed. iTunes isn't mature enough for that. Granted, it's been successful, iTunes still isn't available for Windows. So the market's not just internet users, but Mac users? (Maybe I'm, missing a factor here?)
In the mean time, if that CD is hard to get, what happens when people wanting the sound-track go to Kazaa and get it from there for lack of a better way (iTunes) to get it? I'm worried that this situation will create data that'll stall the release of albums like this down the road.
You know, I'd do a complete 180 if Windows users could get to this too. I'd think it was wonderful. I feel very strongly that the net distribution method could really work to everybody's satisfaction. I just don't want them jumping the gun at this crucial time and making drastic conclusions. Know what I mean?
Thanks for the response.
I think he was saying that Slashdot conversations take getting used to because of peculiar spelling from time to time.
I remember one time there was an article about Intel's XENON processor. (yes, all caps.) Over and over again 'XENON, XENON'. Sounded like a processor that ran on gas.
For those of us with A.D.D., here is a short version of the parent post:
The movie director decides "this character will die." The customer decides "we want to watch him die on VHS and not Beta."
"Since it's the RIAA's alegation that I'm not buying music, I'm only buying a disk and acompaning license to play the music on the disk, I have paid legitimately for a licence to that music, so when the disk became unusable I retrieved my validly licensed content from the only available source, Napster."
That's one thing that bugged me about one of the arguments made by the RIAA in this interview. Oppenheim said that 90% of the people using Grokster were downloading illegal content or something like that. The problem is he conveniently ignored the people who were downloading legitimately. Your case is exactly what some people were doing. Some didn't want to lug lots of CDs around anymore so they downloaded what they already had and put it into a playlist. Some people wanted to find new bands to buy CDs for. I wish I could give you numbers, but the best I can do is say 'substantial'. Even today that's true, otherwise the 'billions' of songs the RIAA is claiming are flying around the net would equal a HUGE dent in their sales. The 5% loss they've reported has plenty of explanations outside of file trading.
His response to that question really burned me up seeing as how I used Kazaa over the weekend to find some demo software. (and yes, I said *demo* software, not pirate or cracked software.)
Hmm I wonder if I can redistribute demo programs on P2P like that legally or if I have to have permission first. It'd certainly take the wind out of the RIAA's sails if everybody did that, thus costing the parent company less to get their product tried out there.
So... does that mean a bunch of different people could put up 'thumbnail segments' of mp3s and you just need to collect the right files to play the whole song?
Heh I'm only being half-sarcastic here.
"Yeah, I use SCO as my server platform, and WinXP for my desktop. I'm a /. rebel, baby!"
If you had said "WinME" then your rebel authority would have been recognized by the Pro MS ppl too.
"Can I get an etymology on "asshat"? I've been wondering about that for a while now..."
It probably evolved from one of two places:
1.) Ever hear the term "You'll be wearing your ass as a hat!" ? It's supposed to mean something like "I'm going to kick your ass so hard it'll rise up above your shoulders"
Derived from there, asshat would be somebody who is extremely deserving of such an ass kickin.
--or--
2.) There's also the phrase "You've got your head up your ass", one could draw a link that says an asshat is somebody who's ignorant.
In this particular context, I think #1 probably fits better. I'm sure the sentiment here is that SCO is begging for somebody to come along and through rocks at them.
"There will be no physical CD and it will only be available from the iTunes Music Store."
Brilliant. Give non-Mac users a desire to use P2P to acquire the music.
"The analyst is wrong. Game consoles are NOT home entertainment devices, they are game consoles. "
I think causality is in question. PS2 has a DVD player, and it also sold well. Therefore, the PS2 sold well because of the DVD player.
Actually there is some truth to that. The launch titles on the Ps2 sucked, but in Japan the units were gobbled up because in Japan, DVD players were spendy items and the PS2 was competitive.
However, system sales does not a successful system make. Nintendo may not be in as many homes as Sony, but they sure as hell don't mind the millions of copies of software they sell every few months when they release a new game.
Nintendo's in a better place than Sony. They have a following that'll chase them anywhere they go. Sony, on the other hand, is very much vulnerable to Microsoft or any other ambitious company who wants to make a new console. Sony doesn't have Mario or Fox McCloud to lure people over.
Sony will be kicked out of it's roost one day, but Nintendo will always have it's following. Sort of reminds me of Apple in some ways.
FUD alert: Windows 2000 and XP do not get unstable when IE crashes. Windows 95, 98, and presumably ME were quite unstable when IE crashed. (I can't remember if NT 4 was succeptable or not. I don't remember much in terms of instability from that OS.)
So this statement is partially true, but if you're using XP or 2K this statement doesn't apply.
"The only downside is that if we start acting like him, we'll start sounding like idiots. But I'm willing to pay that price if he keeps overheating like he is. ;)"
Ha!
I wouldn't bother. He's doing all the damage himself. Acting like him would be redundant.
LOL!
Careful there, every time you use that type of satire to illustrate what a doofus he's being, he tries to change the subject.
Your so called enlightened view came when you attacked me for a post I made.
"please do some research on sarcasm. [not "look up the definition of sarcasm", but go find out the origins of sarcasm, some famous works of sarcasm, etc] Then shut the fuck up."
(The funny thing is that the moderators agreed with me but not with you.)
Then, you went on to judge NG's entire character because he came to my defense.
Sorry bud, this ain't enlightenment. Enlightenment comes from understanding. Understanding people don't run around calling other people names.
Either you are delusional, a liar, or maybe even a troll. Either way ya go, you're not impressing anybody.
Awww, whatsa matter? It's okay to call him a fucking idiot but when he shows you that your basis for calling him that was flawed suddenly the deflectors go up? But sir! It's devastating to my case!
"So does having a dictionary."
The last IQ test I took didn't have a spelling section.
"go them, its M$ own fault."
MS's own fault? They have no obligation to fill that request. They do, on the other hand, have reason not to comply as their units are sold at a loss. On top of that, the way MS was approached was lame. "Give us what we want that's not in your own best interests or we'll tell people how to break your machine and potentially lose more money by having people buy XBOXes for uses other than buying the games that make them money."
Frankly, I don't see how Free-X would have felt that they were approaching MS in a reasonable way. Their handling of this situation was irresponsible, and trying to sound like the victim here makes things worse. They've essentially validated the need for the DMCA. All MS has to do now is post a loss as a result of it, and the courts will have to factor that in their decisions.
It would be a really good idea to make sure that whatever comes of Linux on the XBOX encourages people to continue using their XBOX as a game machine. Use it to do stuff that doesn't get in the way of playing games. Playing movies or MP3s is good, they can pop their game disc in and play. Using it as a server is bad, they want it up all the time and don't want to interrupt it.
I'd feel a whole lot better about this situation if the people involved were trying to expand the use of the system instead of just flipping off Microsoft. (I'd also feel better if uses for this machine running Linux weren't better served with a cheapy PC.)