The bandwidth issue is again, a market force - a balance between cost and user satisfaction. I'm ok with that.
And I don't mean HUGE bitrate... I mean something more than 64k/128k. I rip all my stuff at 192k beacause to me, it provides a good balance between quality and storage space. I use Series 2 Tivos in my house to pipe music and video where ever I want it (and with an interface my wife can use;) ), and have a Nomad 20g jukebox for the car. I wouldn't want to listen to classical music at that rate, but pop/rock/punk/etc sound fine.
You may be correct in that the high bitrate thing isn't important to everyone. The fact that people for years made "mix tapes" on cassette and were (are?) perfectly happy points toward this. As does the fact that many people buying a $150 dolby digital stereo at Walmart think it's amazing. However... it doesn't *cost* anything more to provide high bitrate, good quality mp3s as it does to provide crappy ones. In other industries, you'd see companies touting their high quality product (and striving to make it better), rather than artificially limiting it. What we should be seeing is market research into how long the user feels is a reasonable download time - a market force, not an artificial quality control.
The usability issue, however, I still think rings true. I know that a whole lot of people are buying mp3 players (as in iPod/Nomad/Archos/etc)... they want to download music onto them, and not have to deal about complicated restrictions on how many times or how they do it.
The problem with all the online music stores is... control. You can't just download a high-quality MP3 and use it how you'd like.
Don't think that the RIAA doesn't "get it". They do. They just don't want you to "get it". "It" being music at a reasonable price in the format you want without restrictions on how you can use it.
The RIAA's (their members', actually) business is based on control. They want to control what you hear and how you hear it. Without this control, their entire business model breaks. If any old artist can self-publish online (or be published online by a 3rd party for a reasonable fee) with world-wide exposure... they become redundant. I honestly believe this is their big fear.
Everyone knows what the public wants:.mp3's (or OGG for the tech savvy) at a high bitrate for a reasonable price, conveniently. In any other industry, you'd see the producers of a product jumping on the chance to produce something that millions of people want.
Many people here keep going off on tangents like "You can't expect them (ISPs) to lose money".
And I don't. What I expect is to know up front what I'm signing up for, and don't tell me it's "Unlimited" when it's not. It's like the old joke where a guy sits down at an "all you can eat" resturaunt and they bring him a plate of food saying "That's all you can eat".
Tell me up front what the limits are, and I'll vote with my wallet. I currently have Cox cable and they are very specific on what the limits are (http://www.cox.com/INETIncludes/policy/limitation s.asp), and I find them more than reasonable for the price I'm paying. They also don't advertise the service as "unlimited"... which makes sense - it's not. It has limits.
Advertising "Unlimited" service then having an unknown moving-target bandwidth limit that is applied only to certain people in certain areas is not acceptable.
Off the top of my head, I know Sony and Samsung both have DirecTV/HD receivers that do. Other than that, you'd need to look at the various models available.
Get a RCA DTC-100. It's a DirecTV and off-air HD receiver with a standard 15 pin VGA output on the back. New they're about $500, but you can pick them up used on Ebay.
Unless you really want to use NTSC sources, it's really not worth it. Audio Authority (Component to RGB Video Converter ) and other companies have component output to VGA converters for less than $200. Even if you wanted to hook up multiple sources, you could buy a 4 way component switch and a converter for less than this thing's $400 price tag.
I guess what I don't understand is the selective application of responsibility in the U.S.
Guns are not Illigal. Gun manufacturers are not responsible for crimes commited (mis)using their products. End users are responsible.
Sharing Files is not Illigal. Software makers/ISPs *are* responsible for crimes commited (mis)using their products. End users are also responsible.
Maybe we should adopt a new motto: "Software doesn't infringe on copyrights, people do".
- Roach
Slashdot Mirror
I meant in terms of production cost.
... I mean something more than 64k/128k. I rip all my stuff at 192k beacause to me, it provides a good balance between quality and storage space. I use Series 2 Tivos in my house to pipe music and video where ever I want it (and with an interface my wife can use ;) ), and have a Nomad 20g jukebox for the car. I wouldn't want to listen to classical music at that rate, but pop/rock/punk/etc sound fine.
The bandwidth issue is again, a market force - a balance between cost and user satisfaction. I'm ok with that.
And I don't mean HUGE bitrate
= Roach
You may be correct in that the high bitrate thing isn't important to everyone. The fact that people for years made "mix tapes" on cassette and were (are?) perfectly happy points toward this. As does the fact that many people buying a $150 dolby digital stereo at Walmart think it's amazing. However ... it doesn't *cost* anything more to provide high bitrate, good quality mp3s as it does to provide crappy ones. In other industries, you'd see companies touting their high quality product (and striving to make it better), rather than artificially limiting it. What we should be seeing is market research into how long the user feels is a reasonable download time - a market force, not an artificial quality control.
... they want to download music onto them, and not have to deal about complicated restrictions on how many times or how they do it.
The usability issue, however, I still think rings true. I know that a whole lot of people are buying mp3 players (as in iPod/Nomad/Archos/etc)
- Roach
The problem with all the online music stores is
Don't think that the RIAA doesn't "get it". They do. They just don't want you to "get it". "It" being music at a reasonable price in the format you want without restrictions on how you can use it.
The RIAA's (their members', actually) business is based on control. They want to control what you hear and how you hear it. Without this control, their entire business model breaks. If any old artist can self-publish online (or be published online by a 3rd party for a reasonable fee) with world-wide exposure
Everyone knows what the public wants:
- Roach
Many people here keep going off on tangents like "You can't expect them (ISPs) to lose money".
n s.asp), and I find them more than reasonable for the price I'm paying. They also don't advertise the service as "unlimited" ... which makes sense - it's not. It has limits.
And I don't. What I expect is to know up front what I'm signing up for, and don't tell me it's "Unlimited" when it's not. It's like the old joke where a guy sits down at an "all you can eat" resturaunt and they bring him a plate of food saying "That's all you can eat".
Tell me up front what the limits are, and I'll vote with my wallet. I currently have Cox cable and they are very specific on what the limits are (http://www.cox.com/INETIncludes/policy/limitatio
Advertising "Unlimited" service then having an unknown moving-target bandwidth limit that is applied only to certain people in certain areas is not acceptable.
- Brian Roach
What's the problem? Oh ... I dunno ... how about enough black DVDs in landfills to make the AOL marketing Dept look like amateurs?
- Roach
Off the top of my head, I know Sony and Samsung both have DirecTV/HD receivers that do. Other than that, you'd need to look at the various models available.
- Roach
Get a RCA DTC-100. It's a DirecTV and off-air HD receiver with a standard 15 pin VGA output on the back. New they're about $500, but you can pick them up used on Ebay.
- Roach
Unless you really want to use NTSC sources, it's really not worth it. Audio Authority (Component to RGB Video Converter
) and other companies have component output to VGA converters for less than $200. Even if you wanted to hook up multiple sources, you could buy a 4 way component switch and a converter for less than this thing's $400 price tag.
- Roach
I guess what I don't understand is the selective application of responsibility in the U.S. Guns are not Illigal. Gun manufacturers are not responsible for crimes commited (mis)using their products. End users are responsible. Sharing Files is not Illigal. Software makers/ISPs *are* responsible for crimes commited (mis)using their products. End users are also responsible. Maybe we should adopt a new motto: "Software doesn't infringe on copyrights, people do". - Roach