Recently my auto insurance was up for renewal and the company decided not to renew the policy. They would, however off-load me onto one of their wholly owned subsiduaries with a 50% increase in my premium. Why? They were now looking at credit scores as well as driving record.
My credit isn't terrible (I was just approved to buy a house) but they thought the score was too low for their "prefered rate".
Using credit as a factor in making insurance decisions may make statistical sense. In my case, it probably does not. I am a careful driver. Insurance and statistics are about predicting - and can never be 100% accurate.
Even if it were 98% certain that a lower credit score meant a higher rate auto insurance was warranted, it still stinks being part of that 2 percent.
In my case I did some research and found another insurance company. Now both home and auto insurance are at company B. Company A has lost the income from both home and auto policies because of their new credit check "policy".
I probably would have changed even if I couldn't find less a less expensive competitor. I am sure that most people would have just paid the new higher rate because dealing with insurance is such a hassle.
Heaven forbid you have a lapse in coverage!
"Sounds of 165 dB would cause a person's hair to catch fire from the frictional heating..."
Ok, that was just too cool a fact NOT to include in the article.
Already happening
Agent: Sir, we are not renewing your auto insurance policy.
Motorist: Why? I have not had an accident or tickets since my last renewal?
Agent: Well, our home office computers have correlated your driving record, credit scores, and....
I think the home office would love to get it's mitts on your TIVO settings.
Good point - you can try it before you buy it. It might be their only use.
I don't think these DVD's will ever work in the rental arena. For one thing, getting you back into the store to return the video is critical. The other is that late fees are too important a revenue source.
Where these (hopefully bio-degradable!) disposable discs will be a boon is in the try-it-before-you-buy-it arena.
With the right tools, anyone can copy a DVD. And yes, more than likely in a year or so everyone will have a DVD writer as a standard component in their computer / stereo / whatever.
This does not however mean that a "sampler disc" of video / audio isn't useful.
A lot of people I know (yes, annecdotal) use P2P to listen to music tracks to make purchasing decisions. The ONE song the radio plays over and over is no indication if the other tracks are any good. Give me a degradable DVD. If I like the content, I might buy from one of the artists. If I don't, I won't feel bad about tossing it.
I have physical control over my computer and I still don't trust everything it tells me. That doesn't mean that many (if not most) cheaters will not be stopped by just the threat of being banned because they can be identified. Can they play at another machine? Yes. Can they change their MAC address? Yes. Hardly any security scheme is infallible. This will not stop the DETERMINED cheater. It will deter the casual cheater, and stop the follish ones.
This is a technology that makes file sharing easier. Can it be used to distribute copywrighted material? Of course.
Hammers are a technology that make nail driving easier. Can hammers be used to smash ones fingers? Of course. (I freely admit to having smashed a thumb on more than one occasion)
Will a judge find that the primary purpose of this software is to facilitate copywrite infringement? Maybe.
I don't think that I am unlike many who find that putting MY purchased CD's in MP3 format is convinient. I also downladed songs to hear them - liked them and bought the album. Guess what I did with the songe I didn't like? Delete. Does that make me a criminal?
I find this problem exasperating because I can see RIAA's point - people might be downloading songs they would otherwise have to buy or listen to on the radio (and pay for by listening to commercials). They would probably label me a fool for purchasing the album when I can download it so easily. Make it lest tempting! Instead of making the music harder to copy sell me something more than just the music. I can't belive how chinzy the packaging on CD's has become. How do they justify $18 a pop for CD's?!
I think we have it all wrong - a 2x CD drive can hold 2 standard coffee cups, and a 4x can hold the weight of 4 cups. We need 40x because those 7-11 mugs are huge!
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Recently my auto insurance was up for renewal and the company decided not to renew the policy. They would, however off-load me onto one of their wholly owned subsiduaries with a 50% increase in my premium. Why? They were now looking at credit scores as well as driving record. My credit isn't terrible (I was just approved to buy a house) but they thought the score was too low for their "prefered rate". Using credit as a factor in making insurance decisions may make statistical sense. In my case, it probably does not. I am a careful driver. Insurance and statistics are about predicting - and can never be 100% accurate. Even if it were 98% certain that a lower credit score meant a higher rate auto insurance was warranted, it still stinks being part of that 2 percent. In my case I did some research and found another insurance company. Now both home and auto insurance are at company B. Company A has lost the income from both home and auto policies because of their new credit check "policy". I probably would have changed even if I couldn't find less a less expensive competitor. I am sure that most people would have just paid the new higher rate because dealing with insurance is such a hassle. Heaven forbid you have a lapse in coverage!
"Sounds of 165 dB would cause a person's hair to catch fire from the frictional heating..."
Ok, that was just too cool a fact NOT to include in the article.
Already happening Agent: Sir, we are not renewing your auto insurance policy. Motorist: Why? I have not had an accident or tickets since my last renewal? Agent: Well, our home office computers have correlated your driving record, credit scores, and ....
I think the home office would love to get it's mitts on your TIVO settings.
Good point - you can try it before you buy it. It might be their only use. I don't think these DVD's will ever work in the rental arena. For one thing, getting you back into the store to return the video is critical. The other is that late fees are too important a revenue source. Where these (hopefully bio-degradable!) disposable discs will be a boon is in the try-it-before-you-buy-it arena. With the right tools, anyone can copy a DVD. And yes, more than likely in a year or so everyone will have a DVD writer as a standard component in their computer / stereo / whatever. This does not however mean that a "sampler disc" of video / audio isn't useful. A lot of people I know (yes, annecdotal) use P2P to listen to music tracks to make purchasing decisions. The ONE song the radio plays over and over is no indication if the other tracks are any good. Give me a degradable DVD. If I like the content, I might buy from one of the artists. If I don't, I won't feel bad about tossing it.
I have physical control over my computer and I still don't trust everything it tells me. That doesn't mean that many (if not most) cheaters will not be stopped by just the threat of being banned because they can be identified. Can they play at another machine? Yes. Can they change their MAC address? Yes. Hardly any security scheme is infallible. This will not stop the DETERMINED cheater. It will deter the casual cheater, and stop the follish ones.
funny thing is that we saw it in 2-d (on a big flat screen) and it still looked good. It could be done in 2-d right now.
This is a technology that makes file sharing easier. Can it be used to distribute copywrighted material? Of course. Hammers are a technology that make nail driving easier. Can hammers be used to smash ones fingers? Of course. (I freely admit to having smashed a thumb on more than one occasion) Will a judge find that the primary purpose of this software is to facilitate copywrite infringement? Maybe. I don't think that I am unlike many who find that putting MY purchased CD's in MP3 format is convinient. I also downladed songs to hear them - liked them and bought the album. Guess what I did with the songe I didn't like? Delete. Does that make me a criminal? I find this problem exasperating because I can see RIAA's point - people might be downloading songs they would otherwise have to buy or listen to on the radio (and pay for by listening to commercials). They would probably label me a fool for purchasing the album when I can download it so easily. Make it lest tempting! Instead of making the music harder to copy sell me something more than just the music. I can't belive how chinzy the packaging on CD's has become. How do they justify $18 a pop for CD's?!
I think we have it all wrong - a 2x CD drive can hold 2 standard coffee cups, and a 4x can hold the weight of 4 cups. We need 40x because those 7-11 mugs are huge!