How much is one viewer really worth to advertisers? $0.25, $.50, $1.00??? I'd gladly pay a dollar to download old, canceled TV shows. I've got the Tivo for new shows, but there are shows that I'd like that are off the air. I would never pay $40 at once for a season of TV, but at $1.00 a pop (no commercials), I'd use a service like that all the time. Give me bittorrent speeds, not worrying about copyright infringement, and a large library...I'd be a customer.
I admit to downloading some TV in the past, but it was mostly stuff I could have recorded, but forgot to. I can't count the times that the first few minutes of a Tivo'd show has been cut off...I don't think I've seen the first 3 minutes of an episode of Lost since I watched the pilot. Their customers want an on demand service. There's other options if you want to buy/rent a DVD, but there's plenty of people with setups using their computers. Why else would downloading shows be so popular?
I think they're worried about contributing to the files that are already floating around on p2p networks...but the p2p networks aren't going away. Apple's mp3 site is a good example of legal downloads that are bringing in profit.
**The following message has been Super-Moderated by the F.C.C. Any further disregard to the Internet Decency Standards Act of 2007 will result in a really crappy karma score.**
I've played around with a lot of HTPC software. It can be pretty fun, but I've found it becomes a constant project. I've had a small bookpc under my TV for a couple of years. I use it to stream DivX and Xvid movies along with mp3s from various peers. I love it for that stuff. I never wanted to upgrade my hardware ($$) to get a decent system working for the TV capture. I know the $10.00/month is expensive for the DVR, but it works great. Dual tuner, girlfriend can use, seems to work. My biggest gripe is that it's almost impossible (without violating some warranties:) )to pull the video off the box.
Good luck with MythTV...I've mostly used windows software (due to my crappy ATI video card), but MythTV always looked cool. If you're looking at windows solutions (probably not?), Snapstream and Meedio are two commercial programs that seem pretty good. You could also go free with myHTPC (the 1st free version of Meedio). It takes a little more customization, but it's pretty useful and the support forums are great.
My bill actually creeps up to $145 with broadband, but I don't mind the $45 for the internet connection.
In my area (at least my house) the only real options are Comcast Cable or Direct TV. Comcast has been trying to phase out the analog cable for a few years, in place of digital.:
Here's what I pay now:
$60.00 for standard digital cable
$10.00 for HBO (Girlfriend needs her HBO)
$10.00 for cable boxes (required by digital)
$10.00 for DVR (my best value for the money)
$10.00 for various taxes, franchise and FCC fees
$45.00 internet $145.00 Total
From my $145.00 bill, the $45 for the internet and the $10.00 for the DVR are gladly paid (relatively speaking). That leaves $95.00 a month on cable costs. Like I said before, Comcast is making the anaolog option less desirable. They knock down the price to $45.00 (instead of the $55.00) in my area. The problem I have is that if I want HBO, analog isn't a good option. I still pay the $10.00 a month...and then I still need a cable box (to descramble the HBO signal). So with HBO, I can pay $95.00 for digital, 300 channels, HBO or $80-85.00 for analog with 45 channels, HBO and some old cable boxes. I'm not saying that any of this is neccessary at all (I think it's kind of excessive) but my options aren't great for dropping to analog. I'd gladly drop all of it, get tivo, for a basic $15/month service...HBO be damned.:)
From what I've read, Direct TV isn't any better on price. Where do you live? I want $15 cable too.
One more thing...when did we except the 10 minutes of commercials that happen before a movie?? Remember when it was just some previews and some dancing peanuts? I thought the ticket bought the experience. I can deal with subtle product placement, but how much are the 5-10 commercials worth to the advertisers?
Back to TV: How much would you pay to remove commercials from the broadcast? Everyone will benefit from legal, commercial-free, TV downloads./rant off
All I know is that 10 years ago I paid about 12 bucks for cable. Somehow, my current bill is around $100 bucks. I've got cooler features I don't need and a lot more channels I don't want. Doesn't some of that money go towards cable programming? I don't see how it's different from people taping a show and skipping the commercials.
Okay, I do use the PVR all of the time...and come to think of it, I'll delay watching a program for 10-20 minutes just to avoid commercials. Some of the extra money I'm spending on cable has to make up the difference on the commercials. How much one viewer watching commercials worth per hour? $0.25, $0.50, $1.00??
I don't know about your area, but in mine there are hundreds of open AP's within a 5-minute drive. Most aren't meant to be public. I think they would have a hard time closing those up. That law wouldn't prevent a business from offering an open network. I'm still waiting for AMD's open wifi network to come to my city.
Even if they made "open" networks illegal, what's to prevent everyone that wants to share from adopting the same WEP key?
The funny thing is, if I had an easy outlet for legal tv downloads, I'd probably use it. I'd pay a couple of bucks to watch a missed Stargate episode that I missed recording.
I don't think the MPAA even likes Tivo'ing or recording shows. Remember...skipping commercials is stealing.
I'm guilty of the same thing. I forgot to record a show...what's wrong with downloading it? I think the distinction that they make is based on the fact that you are offering (distributing) copywritten material without permission. Everytime you download from a torrent, you're distributing it too. TV shows on DVD's are big money now, so I could see the other side's point.
Between this and Kazaa's paper showing that they save logs, I wonder if this will cause anyone the think twice. I wonder if they will go after users from the logs.
It seems like the TNG movies are getting worse and worse. I would have liked a DS9 movie, but most of the characters left the station. I'm not sure what's left for more movies. With Enterprise canceled, a doubt they'll get a big-budget movie. Does anyone want to see a Voyager movie? (Just kidding). I suppose the franchise will take some time off. I'd kind of like to see a Section 31 series or the fall of the Federation.
"but there was something comforting in the knowledge that if I ever wanted to see how the Federation I was doing (or at least.. did) I could waste my Friday night watching Enterprise.
Hmm, it appears I'm a nerd. "
Mod parent down -1 redundent.
Just kidding, I know what you mean. Enterprise never really felt like Trek to me. Maybe a break and some fresh ideas would bring it back as something the fans would want.
I don't see where you get your numbers: 100,000 if Microsoft didn't exist. At 1 million a year, you'd need a lot of small companies to equal the money that MS brings in. I'm sure they avoid as much tax as they can (like any business owner does), but they still contribute a lot to the pool. I made my comment as a joke, but I'm not really sure I agree with your statement. It would be hard to predict, with any accuracy, where the PC industry would even be today without MS (not because they're so great, but because they've had such a huge influence) Do you think the PC industry would be larger? smaller? the same? I don't like the anti-competitive practices at all, but just being a large company doesn't make a corp bad for the country. As long as we are capitalistic, rewarding work is how the economy is driven.
Okay, I haven't thought this through very clearly. Some of the short stories are better. Stand By Me is a good example. I guess some of my favorites have turned into poor movies, but there are some good exceptions.
I've leaned towards the shorter FPS games (ie, Halo2, Ghost Recon 2) for a simple lack of time. I can't dedicate hours a day, forgetting to eat, on a RPG like when I was younger. I tend to prefer the games that I can play for 30 minutes and stop. That's just my $0.02.
Slashdot Mirror
How much is one viewer really worth to advertisers? $0.25, $.50, $1.00??? I'd gladly pay a dollar to download old, canceled TV shows. I've got the Tivo for new shows, but there are shows that I'd like that are off the air. I would never pay $40 at once for a season of TV, but at $1.00 a pop (no commercials), I'd use a service like that all the time. Give me bittorrent speeds, not worrying about copyright infringement, and a large library...I'd be a customer.
I admit to downloading some TV in the past, but it was mostly stuff I could have recorded, but forgot to. I can't count the times that the first few minutes of a Tivo'd show has been cut off...I don't think I've seen the first 3 minutes of an episode of Lost since I watched the pilot. Their customers want an on demand service. There's other options if you want to buy/rent a DVD, but there's plenty of people with setups using their computers. Why else would downloading shows be so popular?
I think they're worried about contributing to the files that are already floating around on p2p networks...but the p2p networks aren't going away. Apple's mp3 site is a good example of legal downloads that are bringing in profit.
/my long rambling post is over
**The following message has been Super-Moderated by the F.C.C. Any further disregard to the Internet Decency Standards Act of 2007 will result in a really crappy karma score.**
I've played around with a lot of HTPC software. It can be pretty fun, but I've found it becomes a constant project. I've had a small bookpc under my TV for a couple of years. I use it to stream DivX and Xvid movies along with mp3s from various peers. I love it for that stuff. I never wanted to upgrade my hardware ($$) to get a decent system working for the TV capture. I know the $10.00/month is expensive for the DVR, but it works great. Dual tuner, girlfriend can use, seems to work. My biggest gripe is that it's almost impossible (without violating some warranties :) )to pull the video off the box.
Good luck with MythTV...I've mostly used windows software (due to my crappy ATI video card), but MythTV always looked cool. If you're looking at windows solutions (probably not?), Snapstream and Meedio are two commercial programs that seem pretty good. You could also go free with myHTPC (the 1st free version of Meedio). It takes a little more customization, but it's pretty useful and the support forums are great.
You can't own MS software. You're just leasing it.
Please send all of your donations to givemeyourmoney@paypay.com so I can collect the legal fees to go after this crook and fight him in court.
My bill actually creeps up to $145 with broadband, but I don't mind the $45 for the internet connection.
:
:)
In my area (at least my house) the only real options are Comcast Cable or Direct TV. Comcast has been trying to phase out the analog cable for a few years, in place of digital.
Here's what I pay now:
$60.00 for standard digital cable
$10.00 for HBO (Girlfriend needs her HBO)
$10.00 for cable boxes (required by digital)
$10.00 for DVR (my best value for the money)
$10.00 for various taxes, franchise and FCC fees
$45.00 internet
$145.00 Total
From my $145.00 bill, the $45 for the internet and the $10.00 for the DVR are gladly paid (relatively speaking). That leaves $95.00 a month on cable costs. Like I said before, Comcast is making the anaolog option less desirable. They knock down the price to $45.00 (instead of the $55.00) in my area. The problem I have is that if I want HBO, analog isn't a good option. I still pay the $10.00 a month...and then I still need a cable box (to descramble the HBO signal). So with HBO, I can pay $95.00 for digital, 300 channels, HBO or $80-85.00 for analog with 45 channels, HBO and some old cable boxes. I'm not saying that any of this is neccessary at all (I think it's kind of excessive) but my options aren't great for dropping to analog. I'd gladly drop all of it, get tivo, for a basic $15/month service...HBO be damned.
From what I've read, Direct TV isn't any better on price. Where do you live? I want $15 cable too.
One more thing...when did we except the 10 minutes of commercials that happen before a movie?? Remember when it was just some previews and some dancing peanuts? I thought the ticket bought the experience. I can deal with subtle product placement, but how much are the 5-10 commercials worth to the advertisers?
/rant off
Back to TV: How much would you pay to remove commercials from the broadcast? Everyone will benefit from legal, commercial-free, TV downloads.
All I know is that 10 years ago I paid about 12 bucks for cable. Somehow, my current bill is around $100 bucks. I've got cooler features I don't need and a lot more channels I don't want. Doesn't some of that money go towards cable programming? I don't see how it's different from people taping a show and skipping the commercials.
Okay, I do use the PVR all of the time...and come to think of it, I'll delay watching a program for 10-20 minutes just to avoid commercials. Some of the extra money I'm spending on cable has to make up the difference on the commercials. How much one viewer watching commercials worth per hour? $0.25, $0.50, $1.00??
I don't know about your area, but in mine there are hundreds of open AP's within a 5-minute drive. Most aren't meant to be public. I think they would have a hard time closing those up. That law wouldn't prevent a business from offering an open network. I'm still waiting for AMD's open wifi network to come to my city.
Even if they made "open" networks illegal, what's to prevent everyone that wants to share from adopting the same WEP key?
Norton Ghost is the only way to run Windows. Backup a clean disk image....and load it every 24 hours! :)
LOL
The funny thing is, if I had an easy outlet for legal tv downloads, I'd probably use it. I'd pay a couple of bucks to watch a missed Stargate episode that I missed recording.
I don't think the MPAA even likes Tivo'ing or recording shows. Remember...skipping commercials is stealing.
I'm guilty of the same thing. I forgot to record a show...what's wrong with downloading it? I think the distinction that they make is based on the fact that you are offering (distributing) copywritten material without permission. Everytime you download from a torrent, you're distributing it too. TV shows on DVD's are big money now, so I could see the other side's point.
Between this and Kazaa's paper showing that they save logs, I wonder if this will cause anyone the think twice. I wonder if they will go after users from the logs.
Forget Enterprise...I've got $20 bucks here to go towards a remake of Sliders, season 3.
Didn't a letter writing campaign save the original? Why not try that before forking over cash to Paramount?
...or one really scary way to get people to stop swapping mp3's
They did get BSOD into the language.....
It seems like the TNG movies are getting worse and worse. I would have liked a DS9 movie, but most of the characters left the station. I'm not sure what's left for more movies. With Enterprise canceled, a doubt they'll get a big-budget movie. Does anyone want to see a Voyager movie? (Just kidding). I suppose the franchise will take some time off. I'd kind of like to see a Section 31 series or the fall of the Federation.
I'm still pissed that they killed Data.
"but there was something comforting in the knowledge that if I ever wanted to see how the Federation I was doing (or at least .. did) I could waste my Friday night watching Enterprise.
Hmm, it appears I'm a nerd. "
Mod parent down -1 redundent.
Just kidding, I know what you mean. Enterprise never really felt like Trek to me. Maybe a break and some fresh ideas would bring it back as something the fans would want.
I guess the temporal war got out of hand, and destroyed the crappy spacetime continuum that "Enterprise" was in.
It's too bad...the new season was starting to grow on me.
I read the first Dark Tower book, but never really got into the rest. I'll have to give them a try sometime. It seems like there's a lot of fans.
I don't see where you get your numbers: 100,000 if Microsoft didn't exist. At 1 million a year, you'd need a lot of small companies to equal the money that MS brings in. I'm sure they avoid as much tax as they can (like any business owner does), but they still contribute a lot to the pool. I made my comment as a joke, but I'm not really sure I agree with your statement. It would be hard to predict, with any accuracy, where the PC industry would even be today without MS (not because they're so great, but because they've had such a huge influence) Do you think the PC industry would be larger? smaller? the same? I don't like the anti-competitive practices at all, but just being a large company doesn't make a corp bad for the country. As long as we are capitalistic, rewarding work is how the economy is driven.
Just my $0.02.
Okay, I haven't thought this through very clearly. Some of the short stories are better. Stand By Me is a good example. I guess some of my favorites have turned into poor movies, but there are some good exceptions.
I think the exact opposite. I can't think of a single example other than Shawshank ...(maybe The Shining), where to movie was better than the book.
Pet Cemetery? Cujo? The Dark Half? The Dead Zone? The Stand?
The most recent disappointment was Dreamcatcher. The movie was awful, but I really enjoyed the book. I suppose it's all personal opinion anyway.
"Isn't Microsoft X Box the one that we are hoping to fail the only one from America?"
On slashdot, hate for Microsoft always superseeds patriotism.
I'm sure all the machines have parts from different countries.
I've leaned towards the shorter FPS games (ie, Halo2, Ghost Recon 2) for a simple lack of time. I can't dedicate hours a day, forgetting to eat, on a RPG like when I was younger. I tend to prefer the games that I can play for 30 minutes and stop. That's just my $0.02.