You're so right. Look at www.direct2drive.com for a prime example of this.
It works great, you pay your money and just download the game straight away. Not steamified crap either, you just get the setup exe and install. I have actually started *buying* games again, for the first time in awhile, just cause it's so convenient.
It's also pretty cheap, I mean FarCry for $19.99, I don't think anyone will feel ripped off at that price. I just wish they had more selection.
I would say it's another attempt by Websense to sell more product. Haven't we seen this all before from Symantec/Mcafee et al, scaring the masses into buying their product?
I don't think anybody is knocking the direct-to-consumer part of steam, which is definately cool and the way to go.
What people don't like is that once they pay for the game and it's on their pc, then it should no longer be reliant on steam or steam servers to operate. I think consumers should also be in charge of updates if they want to be, just like windows update.
"Engine Lubricant pressure levels are below reccomended levels. Do you wish to continue with operation?
| Yes | No | Cancel |"
That's funny, to me that's exactly what a low oil indicator is telling me, when it blinks on. I can carry on driving with the possbility of engine siezing, stop my car, or just ignore it and hope it goes away.
Somehow I don't think Robin Hood would have been such a hero if he stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
On a moral level I think you can make a distinction, stealing $1 from a person who has $100 is less moraley corrupt then stealing the same amount from a person who has $1.
If it wasn't ok to have a crash each x number of flights it's unlikely that any plane would ever take off, or it would certainly be extremely expensive to travel by plane.
The fact is, it is ok to have x number of crashes, that's why we do have x number of crashes.
I can't understand why more people aren't giving hotmail the kudo's they deserve when it comes to fighting spam. My hotmail a/c, which I've had forever, gets almost zero spam these days, down from perhaps 20 per day at its peak.
I believe this is largely due to their agressive pursuit of spammers, they physically track down spammers in order to take legal action against them. This not only benefits them but the internet community as a whole. Whatever you think about MS, that's a pretty good job imo.
For indie/shareware developers I don't see this happening. Firstly sales turnover is normally lowish. Second most people already use the peer support model very successfully in this area. Very few are going to pay for support for a shareware product mainly because they are simply not complex apps that require much support.
I find your answer really contradictory. Sure you can charge a fee for GPL/OS software (cost of redistribution), but this is not something you can make money from since the first person to pay that fee simply bittorrents it (legally).
So charging for software is impossible *if* you don't want to offer support or offer a product that requires little in the way of support.
Sure if your product is something really complex and focussed at corporate organistations (ie redhat/linux), you have a way to make money, but not for indie/shareware developers.
Support,customization and installation are the last things in this world that I want to offer or do.
I just want to write software and sell it to people who will find it useful or entertaining. I understand that some people may require support, but for many shareware products this involves forums (peer support), which is an even better support model imo.
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This is a great tool which I will certainly use, but why the slider? They only need 3 settings, research, shopping, both.
So much for Google being all about geeky search algorithms... I guess that doesn't work.
You're so right. Look at www.direct2drive.com for a prime example of this.
It works great, you pay your money and just download the game straight away. Not steamified crap either, you just get the setup exe and install. I have actually started *buying* games again, for the first time in awhile, just cause it's so convenient.
It's also pretty cheap, I mean FarCry for $19.99, I don't think anyone will feel ripped off at that price. I just wish they had more selection.
I don't think you are understanding the grandparent.
I would say it's another attempt by Websense to sell more product. Haven't we seen this all before from Symantec/Mcafee et al, scaring the masses into buying their product?
They are not extending the Firefox code directly. These are extensions, which are interfaces that allow you to plug your own code into firefox.
However the code is completely seperate from Firefox.
Why not use I2P instead? It's a great anon network and it already has a bittorrent-type client.
The more users start using it the better it will get.
I don't think anybody is knocking the direct-to-consumer part of steam, which is definately cool and the way to go.
What people don't like is that once they pay for the game and it's on their pc, then it should no longer be reliant on steam or steam servers to operate. I think consumers should also be in charge of updates if they want to be, just like windows update.
What's so hard about that?
wow, a comment that says there are elephants and lions on the street corners is modded informative?
"Engine Lubricant pressure levels are below reccomended levels. Do you wish to continue with operation? | Yes | No | Cancel |"
That's funny, to me that's exactly what a low oil indicator is telling me, when it blinks on. I can carry on driving with the possbility of engine siezing, stop my car, or just ignore it and hope it goes away.
uhm, I reckon Taco is doing it on purpose dude.. just his way of saying screw you all, I guess.
stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
erm whatever.. =)
Somehow I don't think Robin Hood would have been such a hero if he stole from the rich and gave to the poor.
On a moral level I think you can make a distinction, stealing $1 from a person who has $100 is less moraley corrupt then stealing the same amount from a person who has $1.
Not to mention GIGO...
I've said it before and I'll say it again, MS are doing a good job at tracking down large scale spammers and hitting them where it counts.
You just have to look at how little spam is directed at hotmail these days, to know that it is working.
From a consumer standpoint I think 'Reduced Media' is a far better description of the product than 'N'... which means what exactly to the average joe?
If it wasn't ok to have a crash each x number of flights it's unlikely that any plane would ever take off, or it would certainly be extremely expensive to travel by plane.
The fact is, it is ok to have x number of crashes, that's why we do have x number of crashes.
I can't understand why more people aren't giving hotmail the kudo's they deserve when it comes to fighting spam.
My hotmail a/c, which I've had forever, gets almost zero spam these days, down from perhaps 20 per day at its peak.
I believe this is largely due to their agressive pursuit of spammers, they physically track down spammers in order to take legal action against them. This not only benefits them but the internet community as a whole. Whatever you think about MS, that's a pretty good job imo.
How do you get mother's maiden name?
Well actually I disable Java under Firefox and IE.
Doesn't make a difference to my browsing experience.
For indie/shareware developers I don't see this happening. Firstly sales turnover is normally lowish. Second most people already use the peer support model very successfully in this area.
Very few are going to pay for support for a shareware product mainly because they are simply not complex apps that require much support.
I find your answer really contradictory. Sure you can charge a fee for GPL/OS software (cost of redistribution), but this is not something you can make money from since the first person to pay that fee simply bittorrents it (legally).
So charging for software is impossible *if* you don't want to offer support or offer a product that requires little in the way of support.
Sure if your product is something really complex and focussed at corporate organistations (ie redhat/linux), you have a way to make money, but not for indie/shareware developers.
Support,customization and installation are the last things in this world that I want to offer or do.
I just want to write software and sell it to people who will find it useful or entertaining. I understand that some people may require support, but for many shareware products this involves forums (peer support), which is an even better support model imo.
So how do I make any money?
That's why you should never have a corporate motto like "don't be evil".
Because if you do, people will forever be trying to prove the opposite.
I get a horrible feeling of vertigo just looking at some of those..