Well, fast forward to "now", and the patent system is used almost entirely differently. At Microsoft, we used to pay little attention to patents - we would just make new things, and that would be it. Then we started getting worried - other big competitors (much bigger than we were at the time) had been patenting their inventions for some years, and it made us vulnerable. One of these big companies could dig through their patent portfolio, find something close to what we had done, then sue us, and we would have to go through an elaborate defense and possibly lose. So Microsoft did what most big companies do, which is start to build what is called a "defensive" patent portfolio. So if a big company tried to sue us, we could find something in our portfolio they were afoul of, and counter-sue. In the cold war days, this strategy was called "mutual assured destruction", and since it was intolerable for all parties to engage, it resulted in a state called "détente", or "standoff". This is what you see today for the most part in lots of industries.
There are lots of other problems with the patent system. For example, Microsoft gets "submarined" quite often. A small company or individual has an idea, which they patent as quietly as possible. Then they sit back and wait (years if necessary), until some big company develops something (independently of course) that is sufficiently similar to their idea that they can surface and sue us. I have been involved in a couple of these, so I can speak from experience. The people involved often never had any intent of developing their idea, and they also make sure to wait until we have been shipping a product for several years before informing us they think they have a patent on something related, so that "damages" can be assessed as high as possible. This simply makes innovating the equivalent of walking into a minefield. This doesn't seem to be helping the process of moving humanity forward.
Another view is that big companies patent lots of things, and then by the implicit threat of suing the "small guy", prevent innovation from moving forward. In practice this is harder than it sounds, since the damage to the image of the company can be considerable if it tried to sue a small target - that's why you rarely see it happen. I think this works both ways of course as I described in the last paragraph. Basically whoever has the patent has the power.
How do you determine income? Gates makes less than a million a year in salary. He could still pay a 10 days worth of income fine eith the change in his couch.
Even more, if I upgrade my PIII computer to something that can play Doom 3, I'm looking at a (potentially) $2-3K system.
Actually only about $500-1000. Still a lot more than an Xbox. But saying that you need to spend $2k on a computer to run HL2 or Doom 3 is just wrong.
An Athlon XP 2800+ with 512MB and new motherboard can be had for little more than $300. Add in a $200 video card and you're all set. Even if you built from scratch instead of upgrading, it would only be about an additional $400 more (OS+hard drive+CD-RW+case).
Haven't you ever taken a car in GTA3 and wanted to see how long you could obey the traffic laws before some kind of shit breaks out that you had no hand in?
Let's see. Should I (1) see how long I can obey all laws; or (2) see how long I can live with a wanted level of 6 stars? Not exactly a hard choice for me to make.:-)
Are you an owner of a Playstation2? And if so, how long and which model? (I'll eventually get another one, just wondering if they fixed things)
I own a PS2. I bought it Summer 2002. I have no idea which model it is. Hasn't given me a single problem with the drive yet.
In addition, the VAST MAJORITY of consumer CD and DVD players are front loading. As are *ALL* drives that fit into computer systems. As are nearly all drives that fit in cars. Just because you got a dud isn't a reason to say that all front loading optical players are trash. The concept of front-loading is nearly as old as the CD itself.
use a DVD/CD-ROM which is top-loading (THIS CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH!) like the Playstation1 or the 'Cube,
They can't please everybody all the time. People who put their game consoles on a rack with their other stereo equipment much prefer drawer loading CD/DVD drives.
Doesn't work for all emails though. When I first started my new job, one of the first things I did was send an email to about 20 people as bcc. The ones sent to my former co-workers all were marked as spam.
Some spam filters are more aggressive than others.
Figure out what you don't like about your current job. Then find out if the company your interviewing with behaves the same way. For example, you don't like constant supervision, does the company you're interviewing with have a more hands-off approach? Conversely, if you never get face time with your bosses now, will the other company give you good interaction with your boss(es).
Similar story. In HS, I had to buy a new calculator every semester because they were so fragile. Finally, my senior year, I bought an HP 32S. It lasted me the entire year and my entire undergrad. It'd still be with me today if I had the slightest idea where I put it.
It was error for the Court of Appeals to conclude that the commercial nature of 2 Live Crew's parody of "Oh, Pretty Woman" rendered it presumptively unfair.
Not only is SDRAM it more expensive than DDR, it's harder to find. I had to upgrade an older computer and 2 local computer stores didn't even stock PC100 SDRAM. The one that did charged more than for DDR.
Last point, copyright does not only cover distribution but specifically, "performance" and "reproduction". distribution is treated as a derivitive of reproduction (as it rightly is).
Huh? Section 106 lists reproduction and distribution as separate rights owned by the copyright holder.
Another interesting question is the definition of digital musical recordings.
The Audio Home Recording Act was originally intended to prevent exact bit-fot-bit copies of digital recordings. It can be argued that an MP3 therefore isn't a digital musical recording according to the AHRA. Argument may not work, but it may be worth a shot.
Why does it have to be non-OEM? You can find OEM copies (FULL, non-upgrade) for $100 or less at practically any internet software vendor. All you need to do is buy hardware.
But that case was a joke. A drunk driver ran into the victims at an incredible rate of speed. Yet it is GM's fault? The victims just went after the deep pocket. Just like the MS case. (Jaguar and Panther cost more than XP, how is Windows overpriced?)
Agreed. They've never been accused of using their OS "monopoly" to leverage their Office "monopoly." Split them up, and you two "monopolies" instead of one.
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My computers:
1994--133 MHz; don't remember hard drive or memory
1997--400 MHz; 64 or 128 MB RAM; 10 GB hard drive
2000--1 GHz; 128 MB RAM; 30 GB hard drive
today--1 GHz; 384 MB RAM; 150 GB hard drive (upgrades of 2000 computer)
next month--3 GHz; 1 GB RAM; 320 GB hard drive
Utter bullshit. Whether or not they *maintain* their dominant position through "monopolistic" practices, they got on top through purely legal means.
How do you determine income? Gates makes less than a million a year in salary. He could still pay a 10 days worth of income fine eith the change in his couch.
Actually only about $500-1000. Still a lot more than an Xbox. But saying that you need to spend $2k on a computer to run HL2 or Doom 3 is just wrong.
An Athlon XP 2800+ with 512MB and new motherboard can be had for little more than $300. Add in a $200 video card and you're all set. Even if you built from scratch instead of upgrading, it would only be about an additional $400 more (OS+hard drive+CD-RW+case).
CONSOLE exclusive. People called GTA PS2 exclusive even after GTA was released for the PC.
Let's see. Should I (1) see how long I can obey all laws; or (2) see how long I can live with a wanted level of 6 stars? Not exactly a hard choice for me to make. :-)
I own a PS2. I bought it Summer 2002. I have no idea which model it is. Hasn't given me a single problem with the drive yet.
In addition, the VAST MAJORITY of consumer CD and DVD players are front loading. As are *ALL* drives that fit into computer systems. As are nearly all drives that fit in cars. Just because you got a dud isn't a reason to say that all front loading optical players are trash. The concept of front-loading is nearly as old as the CD itself.
They can't please everybody all the time. People who put their game consoles on a rack with their other stereo equipment much prefer drawer loading CD/DVD drives.
Some spam filters are more aggressive than others.
Figure out what you don't like about your current job. Then find out if the company your interviewing with behaves the same way. For example, you don't like constant supervision, does the company you're interviewing with have a more hands-off approach? Conversely, if you never get face time with your bosses now, will the other company give you good interaction with your boss(es).
Similar story. In HS, I had to buy a new calculator every semester because they were so fragile. Finally, my senior year, I bought an HP 32S. It lasted me the entire year and my entire undergrad. It'd still be with me today if I had the slightest idea where I put it.
2 Live Crew never got permission. That's why they were sued.
Not only is SDRAM it more expensive than DDR, it's harder to find. I had to upgrade an older computer and 2 local computer stores didn't even stock PC100 SDRAM. The one that did charged more than for DDR.
Huh? Section 106 lists reproduction and distribution as separate rights owned by the copyright holder.
Parodies are covered whether or not it's non-profit. E.g., the 2 Live Crew case definitely covered a commercial parody.
The Audio Home Recording Act was originally intended to prevent exact bit-fot-bit copies of digital recordings. It can be argued that an MP3 therefore isn't a digital musical recording according to the AHRA. Argument may not work, but it may be worth a shot.
It wasn't found "guilty" of anything. Only criminal trials result in "guilty" verdicts. MS was not part of a criminal trial.
As pointed out earlier in this thread, hardware can mean a $3 NIC.
Probably because most "high-end" sets (above $2000 or so), include DVI inputs.
Why does it have to be non-OEM? You can find OEM copies (FULL, non-upgrade) for $100 or less at practically any internet software vendor. All you need to do is buy hardware.
This case is just a money grab. Whether or not MS is a monopoly, they don't overcharge for their software.
But that case was a joke. A drunk driver ran into the victims at an incredible rate of speed. Yet it is GM's fault? The victims just went after the deep pocket. Just like the MS case. (Jaguar and Panther cost more than XP, how is Windows overpriced?)
Agreed. They've never been accused of using their OS "monopoly" to leverage their Office "monopoly." Split them up, and you two "monopolies" instead of one.