... and extending the life of purchased videos another six months.
I think he means "extending the life of rented videos another six months." I wish companies would just be clear on the fact that you aren't actually buying anything, if the seller can revoke your privilege to use it at any time. I'm really tired of government and corporations trying to undermine the idea of "property", of what is mine and what is not.
Now that's what I call an "atomic cannon". I guess we should be grateful the thing didn't land in Russia back then. They'd probably have thought it was an attack and launched.
... but it's still very cutthroat to undercut below profit margin just to kill a poorer competitor.
They aren't selling below cost to kill a competitor, it's just that they've chosen to lose money on the consoles in order to make money selling games. That's nothing more than Sony and Nintendo have been doing for years, and in that mix you can include printer manufacturers.
A hundred and fifty million is peanuts to Microsoft, a drop in the bucket, chump change, and that's just as true for the studios. I doubt Microsoft could buy them for so little. It doesn't really cost them anything to release their product on one or both formats, but if they place the wrong bet here they could lose a lot more than that 150 mil. I'm thinking there's more to it. If they did make this announcement at Microsoft's behest, you can bet they won some other concession from the Beast.
Big business is expected to be dishonest, which is why regulation is important. And, actually, big government and big business did work well enough together for a long time. I mean, AT&T did build a hell of a phone network over the past century, with the Feds keeping a close eye on them, and enforcing standards. The problem now is that Feds have not only fallen asleep at the switch... they've sold the damn thing! And for a song at that.
I dunno. I have a server that's running Win 2K Advanced Server, and I've always had Automatic Updates turned off. Yet it did reboot, and I got a message saying it was because of an important update from Microsoft. Pissed me off too, because I had some tasks running that got aborted and I had to start them all over again.
Klingons, schlmingons. You'd just better hope that the Psychlos don't pick one of them up, backtrack its trajectory to figure out where we are, and send an invulnerable gas drone around the planet to kill us all!
President Bush's visit to Germany (when was it, last year?) involved welding quite a few of them shut, I understand. It's important, cause otherwise, you know... a terrorist might just POP up out of one of the things and start shooting!
It was a significant hassle and I further understand that they don't intend to invite him back any time soon.
now how about taking a closer look at the rest of AT&T's business practices?
Re:The not-so-nice part about the internet
on
YouTube for Science?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Maybe someone with some bucks should pay for click-through "ads" that have messages like "DID YOU KNOW that Evolution doesn't claim to know how life originated on Earth? No? Click here for more info!" or "Creationism is an untestable hypothesis, not a scientific Theory. Do you want to know more?" or maybe "Science is not in the God business. Why should God be in Science's business?" I'm sure you folks can think of a bunch more good teasers to bring in the undecided. Could even make some money for sites that show them. If nothing else, something good might come out of the advertising quagmire that passes for a World Wide Web nowadays.
Many religions spend plenty of time and money on bombarding people with their message, on getting the Word out. Maybe it's time we did the same... who knows, maybe we can keep a few young minds from going over to the Dark Side. One thing's for sure: if we let these people have their way, the next Dark Age will come just that much sooner.
It's more like if, say, cell phone companies were to charge you a fixed rate every month, and then added extra charges for voice calls, data transfer, Web access, text messaging, etc. That would be ridiculous, of course, and nobody in their right mind would buy such a service.
Won't be long until something like "www.idtv.org" or (given the way the Feds are funding Christian groups these days) maybe "www.creationtv.gov" comes along to try and counteract the dissemination of accurate science to the population.
Could be. I'm not arguing either way, and like I said, my own experience has been good regarding large downloads. Occasionally I'll download a TV show if I miss an episode, and the other day I pulled one down at over ten mbits/sec. In Azureus no less.
I've had less luck with Comcast's DNS and mail servers, so I don't use either of them. But that's another issue.
I have the feeling it's not so simple as that. I'm on the Comcast 8 meg tier and have also noticed no difference in behavior. But then again, where I live I have lots of broadband options (I didn't plan it that way but there it is.) I doubt Comcast is going to screw with me too much because I could switch to a more congenial provider with a phone call. On the other hand, if you're someplace where Comcast (or any other ISP) is the only game in town, I think it might be a different story. Besides, Comcast is huge and is under no obligation to apply any policies equally across their entire network. You and I could be among the lucky ones (for now.)
Yes, they sold us a service based upon consumer expectations at the time... worked great for a while too. Then (as always happens) our appetite for capacity increased, they didn't predict it (or, if they did, failed to act on that prediction) and now they're scrambling to keep the bandwidth hogs in their place. The problem is that, as you say, everyone is on the verge of becoming a bandwidth hog. If nothing else, things are about to get interesting.
whether they are going to give us what want, and find a way to stay profitable... or not. In other words, they're going to have to start acting like real businesses.
Slashdot Mirror
"How would Congress know if information was being kept from them.."
... that's how we know that information is being kept from us.
Uh, because it's full of corrupt, venal, self-centered fucking idiots?
No
Hell, our foreign policy could learn from that, even.
Hell, our President could learn from that, even.
... and extending the life of purchased videos another six months.
I think he means "extending the life of rented videos another six months." I wish companies would just be clear on the fact that you aren't actually buying anything, if the seller can revoke your privilege to use it at any time. I'm really tired of government and corporations trying to undermine the idea of "property", of what is mine and what is not.
Okay, Sony then. That's been a pillar of their business for years too.
Now that's what I call an "atomic cannon". I guess we should be grateful the thing didn't land in Russia back then. They'd probably have thought it was an attack and launched.
... but it's still very cutthroat to undercut below profit margin just to kill a poorer competitor.
They aren't selling below cost to kill a competitor, it's just that they've chosen to lose money on the consoles in order to make money selling games. That's nothing more than Sony and Nintendo have been doing for years, and in that mix you can include printer manufacturers.
A hundred and fifty million is peanuts to Microsoft, a drop in the bucket, chump change, and that's just as true for the studios. I doubt Microsoft could buy them for so little. It doesn't really cost them anything to release their product on one or both formats, but if they place the wrong bet here they could lose a lot more than that 150 mil. I'm thinking there's more to it. If they did make this announcement at Microsoft's behest, you can bet they won some other concession from the Beast.
Big business is expected to be dishonest, which is why regulation is important. And, actually, big government and big business did work well enough together for a long time. I mean, AT&T did build a hell of a phone network over the past century, with the Feds keeping a close eye on them, and enforcing standards. The problem now is that Feds have not only fallen asleep at the switch ... they've sold the damn thing! And for a song at that.
Just had it unchecked. I had left the update service running.
I dunno. I have a server that's running Win 2K Advanced Server, and I've always had Automatic Updates turned off. Yet it did reboot, and I got a message saying it was because of an important update from Microsoft. Pissed me off too, because I had some tasks running that got aborted and I had to start them all over again.
Sounds more like a complicated steam engine to me. Doesn't appear to be any electrical output ... just high pressure steam. Of course, I didn't RTFA.
Does it make a choo-chooo sound when you're punching anyone?
... more of a Fisssssssssssssssssss-WHAP!"
No
Puts interstellar travel into perspective.
I'd say it puts our lifespans into perspective. We really don't live long enough to play in this game.
Meh. I'm sure even Detroit could get great fuel economy is there was zero friction after you reached cruising speed.
Easy. Just make sure your girlfriend's previous relationships involved men who are better endowed than you are.
Klingons, schlmingons. You'd just better hope that the Psychlos don't pick one of them up, backtrack its trajectory to figure out where we are, and send an invulnerable gas drone around the planet to kill us all!
President Bush's visit to Germany (when was it, last year?) involved welding quite a few of them shut, I understand. It's important, cause otherwise, you know ... a terrorist might just POP up out of one of the things and start shooting!
It was a significant hassle and I further understand that they don't intend to invite him back any time soon.
now how about taking a closer look at the rest of AT&T's business practices?
Maybe someone with some bucks should pay for click-through "ads" that have messages like "DID YOU KNOW that Evolution doesn't claim to know how life originated on Earth? No? Click here for more info!" or "Creationism is an untestable hypothesis, not a scientific Theory. Do you want to know more?" or maybe "Science is not in the God business. Why should God be in Science's business?" I'm sure you folks can think of a bunch more good teasers to bring in the undecided. Could even make some money for sites that show them. If nothing else, something good might come out of the advertising quagmire that passes for a World Wide Web nowadays.
... who knows, maybe we can keep a few young minds from going over to the Dark Side. One thing's for sure: if we let these people have their way, the next Dark Age will come just that much sooner.
Many religions spend plenty of time and money on bombarding people with their message, on getting the Word out. Maybe it's time we did the same
It's more like if, say, cell phone companies were to charge you a fixed rate every month, and then added extra charges for voice calls, data transfer, Web access, text messaging, etc. That would be ridiculous, of course, and nobody in their right mind would buy such a service.
Won't be long until something like "www.idtv.org" or (given the way the Feds are funding Christian groups these days) maybe "www.creationtv.gov" comes along to try and counteract the dissemination of accurate science to the population.
Your real name is Faraday, isn't it.
Could be. I'm not arguing either way, and like I said, my own experience has been good regarding large downloads. Occasionally I'll download a TV show if I miss an episode, and the other day I pulled one down at over ten mbits/sec. In Azureus no less.
I've had less luck with Comcast's DNS and mail servers, so I don't use either of them. But that's another issue.
Will Internet TV Crash the Internet?
Will CEOs with no vision cause the Internet to crash.
I have the feeling it's not so simple as that. I'm on the Comcast 8 meg tier and have also noticed no difference in behavior. But then again, where I live I have lots of broadband options (I didn't plan it that way but there it is.) I doubt Comcast is going to screw with me too much because I could switch to a more congenial provider with a phone call. On the other hand, if you're someplace where Comcast (or any other ISP) is the only game in town, I think it might be a different story. Besides, Comcast is huge and is under no obligation to apply any policies equally across their entire network. You and I could be among the lucky ones (for now.)
Yes, they sold us a service based upon consumer expectations at the time ... worked great for a while too. Then (as always happens) our appetite for capacity increased, they didn't predict it (or, if they did, failed to act on that prediction) and now they're scrambling to keep the bandwidth hogs in their place. The problem is that, as you say, everyone is on the verge of becoming a bandwidth hog. If nothing else, things are about to get interesting.
whether they are going to give us what want, and find a way to stay profitable ... or not. In other words, they're going to have to start acting like real businesses.