"Great! Let me know where I can go to a website and see every Steve Martin movie that is coming up in the next two weeks, with specific channel numbers, dates, and times."
"And which website was it where I could go and click on MOVIES, and then type in "Steve Martin", and have it record all of those movies automatically?"
I'd give you a more detailed answer if you weren't being so overly-sensitive about a legitimate complaint. Last thing I need is for some jackass to get all heated at me because they think I'm attacking their precious TiVo.
... paying a fee for using something like a Tivo, (afterall, I do want them to stay in business), but it does irk me that the service you basically get is "it knows the stuff you can get on line for free, like what channel something is on..."
Here's an idea, why not do something like Pay Per View, only the Tivo unit automatically captures it for you ready to play? (as opposed to having to catch it while it's on...)
The other option is keep me interesting in upgrading the machines once in a while. I don't want to replace the whole box, but I'll always be interested in buying new hard drives etc. Wouldn't it be cool if they used something like Firewire so you could keep adding more units to increase the storage?
This is interesting to me, at least. I'm the kind of guy who likes to watch shows from beginning to end. I'd watch Farscape, for example, if I could catch the first episode and reliably watch the rest of them in the order they were intended for. Problem is, that's a lot of storage if I'm mid-season.
*Shrug* It's cool that they're offering that service, hopefully it'll get Tivo and Sonicblue to reeconsider what you're actually paying for.
"Don't assume that Sony is a monolith. It's entirely possible that the division of Sony that makes the PS/2 understands the value of fan contributions but that they don't talk to the division that makes the Aibo enough to pass on the idea."
Yeah, you're right. It's easy to assume that the motivations of one department reflect on the goals of the entire company *cough*Microsoft*cough*.
You gotta wonder, though, why Sony's not being more agressive of merging the video entertainment side with the video game side. I realize it's not as simple as changing the mission statement, but it would be nice for a company like Sony to back something like that. Why aren't they making movies for PC users, take advantage of the net as a distribution medium. They'd have the ability to define the rules!
I think making the RIAA pay is a good start. But I think it'd be more worthwhile to take away their ability to refuse returns on opened CD's.
The reason why their price fixing is do damaging is that the consumer is left with no way to protest the price. If a CD sucks, they're less likely to return it if the price is okay than they are if the price is ridiculous. It would force them to be careful about what they charge. If you give the customer a way to say "I'm not satisfied", then you give the RIAA very strong incentive to make sure everything's fair.
"I can't really give you a good answer on that one. I work more in the manufacturing/engineering side of things. We don't do any of the art stuff here. However, I would say that in general, I find Sony to be a great place to work. Good luck in your search!"
"I often see a lot of grumbling about Sony here on Slashdot, but honestly, I like the company. I think Sony has the resources and position to do things right."
I haven't caught the grumblings about Sony, but I do have to admit that I'm surprised that people don't see Sony the way they see MS. I'd go into detail, but I think it'd be rude of me to go into any other detail other than there's reason for them to have that attitude.
I will give Sony credit, though, I do feel like they've thought through a lot of their products. I recently bought a low-end DV camera by Sony and was pleasantly surprised at how accomodating it is. It didn't have the best CCD or lens out there, but it had plenty of other stuff to make me feel like I didn't buy a bare bones machine.
I'm drifting off topic a bit, but I might as well ask now: Do you consider Sony (or the area you're closest to) to be a good environment for artists? I'm asking because I may change jobs soon but I haven't locked down where I want to work.
"Originality is one of the rarest things around. We've all been exposed to so many different stories, movies, etc that there's really not much we haven't seen. If one in 10,000 artists actually does something original, how do you propose to build an economy off of that?"
You mean like the entertainment economy that's doing very well today?
"Does it occur to you guys that most of the stories worth telling have already been told?"
Did it occur to you that there's a lot more to content than getting from act I to act IV?
Was the interesting part about Ghostbusters the way they defeated Zuul, or was the interesting part about it watching these 3 guys (eventually 4) start an unusual business?
"To many, business is beneath the law. When a Sony lawyer threatened a fan of the company's Aibo robotic dog, who had posted a hack online to teach the dog to dance to jazz, he or she no doubt never thought to ask exactly how making the Aibo dog more valuable to customers could possibly harm Sony. Harm was not the issue, a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was: consumers should be banned from hacking Sony dogs, whether or not it was to Sony's benefit."
You know, I'm a little surprised Sony (of all places) doesn't understand this concept. It would be hard to argue that one of Quake n's most appetizing features was the mods available to it. Though ID didn't make money off the mods themselves, it helped make sure that many many MANY copies of Quake were sold. Sony, with its game division, should be eyeballing Id more carefully than that.
"Translation, in short words that even you can understand:
"You are a moron."
So are you going to say anything thing to back up that statement? I mean, if you're going to call me a moron without an explanation of what you think is wrong with my statement, then what's the point? Perhaps you're incapable of articulating a copmlete thought?
" If not, why are you using "music" CD-Rs rather then "data" ones for your music? (the only diffrence between the two is that music disks will work in special music drives, have serial copy protection (no copies of copies) and are taxed by the RIAA."
That might be acceptable to if putting music on these CD's (as opposed to data CDs) legalized my copy of the music. That would mean I could download all the music I like, and then burn it to a 'Music' CD that the RIAA specifically gets money from. It sure beats taxing the 50% of CD's that aren't used for music.
"No, but by the same token, killing netscape, Microsoft stands to profit through IIS server sales..."
You had me up intil this comment. IIS doesn't care which browser you use. All they needed to make IIS popular was for the internet to be a big thing. It didn't matter if IE was in the mix or not.
Slashdot Mirror
"Great! Let me know where I can go to a website and see every Steve Martin movie that is coming up in the next two weeks, with specific channel numbers, dates, and times."
http://www.tvGuide.com
"And which website was it where I could go and click on MOVIES, and then type in "Steve Martin", and have it record all of those movies automatically?"
http://www.snapsteram.com
"That is why I pay TiVo $4.95 a month."
I'd give you a more detailed answer if you weren't being so overly-sensitive about a legitimate complaint. Last thing I need is for some jackass to get all heated at me because they think I'm attacking their precious TiVo.
... paying a fee for using something like a Tivo, (afterall, I do want them to stay in business), but it does irk me that the service you basically get is "it knows the stuff you can get on line for free, like what channel something is on..."
Here's an idea, why not do something like Pay Per View, only the Tivo unit automatically captures it for you ready to play? (as opposed to having to catch it while it's on...)
The other option is keep me interesting in upgrading the machines once in a while. I don't want to replace the whole box, but I'll always be interested in buying new hard drives etc. Wouldn't it be cool if they used something like Firewire so you could keep adding more units to increase the storage?
This is interesting to me, at least. I'm the kind of guy who likes to watch shows from beginning to end. I'd watch Farscape, for example, if I could catch the first episode and reliably watch the rest of them in the order they were intended for. Problem is, that's a lot of storage if I'm mid-season.
*Shrug* It's cool that they're offering that service, hopefully it'll get Tivo and Sonicblue to reeconsider what you're actually paying for.
"Don't assume that Sony is a monolith. It's entirely possible that the division of Sony that makes the PS/2 understands the value of fan contributions but that they don't talk to the division that makes the Aibo enough to pass on the idea."
Yeah, you're right. It's easy to assume that the motivations of one department reflect on the goals of the entire company *cough*Microsoft*cough*.
You gotta wonder, though, why Sony's not being more agressive of merging the video entertainment side with the video game side. I realize it's not as simple as changing the mission statement, but it would be nice for a company like Sony to back something like that. Why aren't they making movies for PC users, take advantage of the net as a distribution medium. They'd have the ability to define the rules!
Oh well, I can dream.
I think making the RIAA pay is a good start. But I think it'd be more worthwhile to take away their ability to refuse returns on opened CD's.
The reason why their price fixing is do damaging is that the consumer is left with no way to protest the price. If a CD sucks, they're less likely to return it if the price is okay than they are if the price is ridiculous. It would force them to be careful about what they charge. If you give the customer a way to say "I'm not satisfied", then you give the RIAA very strong incentive to make sure everything's fair.
"I can't really give you a good answer on that one. I work more in the manufacturing/engineering side of things. We don't do any of the art stuff here. However, I would say that in general, I find Sony to be a great place to work. Good luck in your search!"
:)
I understand. Thank you and take care.
"I often see a lot of grumbling about Sony here on Slashdot, but honestly, I like the company. I think Sony has the resources and position to do things right."
I haven't caught the grumblings about Sony, but I do have to admit that I'm surprised that people don't see Sony the way they see MS. I'd go into detail, but I think it'd be rude of me to go into any other detail other than there's reason for them to have that attitude.
I will give Sony credit, though, I do feel like they've thought through a lot of their products. I recently bought a low-end DV camera by Sony and was pleasantly surprised at how accomodating it is. It didn't have the best CCD or lens out there, but it had plenty of other stuff to make me feel like I didn't buy a bare bones machine.
I'm drifting off topic a bit, but I might as well ask now: Do you consider Sony (or the area you're closest to) to be a good environment for artists? I'm asking because I may change jobs soon but I haven't locked down where I want to work.
... change the laws to force people into it!
"Originality is one of the rarest things around. We've all been exposed to so many different stories, movies, etc that there's really not much we haven't seen. If one in 10,000 artists actually does something original, how do you propose to build an economy off of that?"
You mean like the entertainment economy that's doing very well today?
"Does it occur to you guys that most of the stories worth telling have already been told?"
Did it occur to you that there's a lot more to content than getting from act I to act IV?
Was the interesting part about Ghostbusters the way they defeated Zuul, or was the interesting part about it watching these 3 guys (eventually 4) start an unusual business?
I swear, people ridiculously over-value plot.
"To many, business is beneath the law. When a Sony lawyer threatened a fan of the company's Aibo robotic dog, who had posted a hack online to teach the dog to dance to jazz, he or she no doubt never thought to ask exactly how making the Aibo dog more valuable to customers could possibly harm Sony. Harm was not the issue, a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was: consumers should be banned from hacking Sony dogs, whether or not it was to Sony's benefit."
You know, I'm a little surprised Sony (of all places) doesn't understand this concept. It would be hard to argue that one of Quake n's most appetizing features was the mods available to it. Though ID didn't make money off the mods themselves, it helped make sure that many many MANY copies of Quake were sold. Sony, with its game division, should be eyeballing Id more carefully than that.
"And if McDonald's started handing out a free Big Mac for a sample of your DNA. People would line up around the block.
Even if they have to work a little to get that information, are you readily giving it out? I'll give you $5 for it."
Question: If you're that worried about your DNA, does that mean you're going to avoid their bathrooms like the plague?
"Translation, in short words that even you can understand:
"You are a moron."
So are you going to say anything thing to back up that statement? I mean, if you're going to call me a moron without an explanation of what you think is wrong with my statement, then what's the point? Perhaps you're incapable of articulating a copmlete thought?
" If not, why are you using "music" CD-Rs rather then "data" ones for your music? (the only diffrence between the two is that music disks will work in special music drives, have serial copy protection (no copies of copies) and are taxed by the RIAA."
That might be acceptable to if putting music on these CD's (as opposed to data CDs) legalized my copy of the music. That would mean I could download all the music I like, and then burn it to a 'Music' CD that the RIAA specifically gets money from. It sure beats taxing the 50% of CD's that aren't used for music.
"In slashdot-speak, that is."
Sorry, didn't understand that. Please explain?
"I'd rather rationalize my mp3 theft by saying CD prices are too high."
Theft is when you sell a consumer something they can't preview or return. "Open your mouth and close your eyes!"
"Pfff, they did this in Short Circuit way back in the 80's."
We all know that was a hoax. It was probably the Stone Cutters behind it. Afterall they did make Steve Gutenberg a star.
"No, but by the same token, killing netscape, Microsoft stands to profit through IIS server sales..."
You had me up intil this comment. IIS doesn't care which browser you use. All they needed to make IIS popular was for the internet to be a big thing. It didn't matter if IE was in the mix or not.
"Who the hell wants a watch that crashes with the BSOD whenever I ask it to tell me the time!"
.conf file to set the time!
It beats having a Linux watch, you'd have to edit a
I'd much prefer the Apple watch. It's only got one button, and I can pick any color I want!
"Personally, I would have preferred something with Mel Brooks...but I don't think he did anything with lawyers."
Oh great, a drewish... uh.. Well shit I can't think of a Mel Brooks reference either.
"In Soviet Russia, search engine files motion to dismiss YOU!"
Well, if you can't reuse, then recycle.
... Well I certainly hope that Search King wins. If my company decides to block Slashdot because I post too much at work, I'll be able to sue them!
" Google is a private company and has the right to exclude anyone they choose."
"Objection, your honor."
"On what grounds?"
"It's devastating to my case!"
(okay, the reference is a little obscure. Hint: Jim Carrey.)
"I guess some people find pleasure in this.. Personally I prefer women."
;)
At least he's found his pleasure...
"I want software that actually RUNS!"
C:\
C:\Dos\Run
Run \Dos\Run
Yeah, I know, I ripped it from somebody's sig.
"Cars aren't broken out of the factory. But a PC with Windows on it? Doesn't seem to fair to me."
Insert Firestone jokes here.
"Schroedinger's tea?"
Sorry to be llama, but could ya explain the reference?