I never said it was. Just that the company can avoid the potential of a lawsuit by prohibiting it. Lawsuits take time and money. Just the threat of a lawsuit can change behavior and that is what is happening here.
P2P is merely moving/copying files between systems, no?
I would have thought slashdot posters would be familiar with the concept by now.
Use an outliner. There are several out there, the one that springs to my mind immediatley is Omni Outline (www.omnigroup.com).
Using an outliner allows great hierarchical structure allowing you to edit quickly.
A good outliner will also output to HTML/XML where you can apply a CSS file for both screen/print mediums. Mozilla, even IE 5+ will ensure your docs appear how you want. Heck, you can change the CSS file and not worry about the presentation at all. Just create a few CSS templates and off you go.
I don't know why you'd make it harder than you have to.
While I would like a global release it just isn't going to happen. 2 reasons why:
1. You can't dub/subtitle movies in a lot of languages in a few days. They require time and money.
2. Distribution rights are given to different companies throughout the world.
Example:
Shaolin Soccer came out in HK last summer. It did very well at the box office. Disney/Miramax bought the rights to release in North America. When will they release it? They claim they will release it here, but when? They recently went after gray market importers in the US and Canada, essentially forcing them to quit offering it for sale here. The DVD has English subtitles so I can easily watch it, but Disney isn't see any of my money.
While a global release is desireable the economic reality is it isn't possible unless the same company has distribution rights throughout the world. And that isn't going to happen.
I disagree. Many video stores and chains are going out of business. The ones that are succeeding are either mom and pop niche stores or owned by media distribution giants (Blockbuster).
Since you worked in a video store you understand the margins are razor thin. The majority of money is made on fees, right?
What will happen is video rental outlets will see the same thing with DVDs as cassettes th eonly difference being video stores will pay a higher premium for less content. For example, the DVD for LotR will be released at video stores shortly after the PV run. However, it will be just the movie with no extra features. But when the consumer release follows they'll get a cheaper price and more features. IF the studios price DVDs between $10 and $20 there will be little reason for people to rent them.
I expect video rental stores to continue to diminsh. A lot of their costs is in storing and replacing VCR tapes. While DVD could lower their costs in the long run, their short term costs will be huge because they'll need to replace their catalog and a LOT of movies arent on DVD and may be waiting a long time (especially the small and independent studios).
If the studios want to control their product fully they'll continue to squeeze out the rental markets ont he low end and continue to consolidate their hold on the big chains.
But you are right in that high prices are in place to protect the studio's release chain for the time being.
That's what I've been paying. Except fo rmy Special Edition of Shiri which was $30, and the only version I can play on my DVD player.
I think what this is intended to do is really work for future video "broadcasts" via next-gen TV. DVDs already have copy protection. The industry needs to create a system that ensures people don't rip "Buffy" before it's shown in Australia or Europe or make their own DVD of the show before the episode is out on DVD.
What I don't understand is why people want to share these things over the net. It'd be much more efficient to use the internet to create sharing pools and then exchange the stuff via CD-ROm or DVD.
I can understand (not condone) writing viruses/worms/trojans for getting access to a computer for other ends, but why create a virus for Flash? Infecting other Flash files seems pretty silly to me. The only reason I can think of is marketing or corporate sabotage for graphic designers.
Maybe its just a case of "I can do it, so I must"? It's not like ActionScripting can be used in DoS attacks or to steal your credit card. Wouldn't you need to need a system to get the credit card number and another to actually send it somewhere?
"This would have the fun bonus of giving Microsoft a monopoly on DVD software"
The entertainment industry is NOT going to give control of media formats to Microsoft. The entertainment industry rightfully fears Microsoft and is very careful to control MS influence. Remember, MS is fighting SSSCA and similar proposals. Besides, the entertainment industry already has a monopoly on DVD software (the format). IF the industry wanted this, why would MS go to the hardware manufacturers?
"This would have the fun bonus of giving Microsoft a monopoly on DVD software, and making DVD playing on Linux (excluding the current illegal hacks, which aren't a nice way to experiance the media you payed for; no menus to access lots of the content) even more of a pipe dream."
Please. All this does is add WMV and WMA support to DVD players. It is actually a brilliant move on MS' part because it allows consumers to create "DVD quality" audio and video on CD. Rather than require consumers to buy expensive DVD burners, MS allows normal CD burners to create this content. This makes MS look good in the eyes of the consumers by decreasing their costs, while hiding the fact that pro level gear software for A/V creation is absent from MS software.
If such a system is picked up by consumers, MS may be able to bargain for other industries to adopt WMA/WMV, but the entertainment industry is not going to change DVD formats. They've wasted a lot of time already and DVDs are finally starting to take off. No, it'll likely be streaming media, corporate promos and the like that will be switching to MS formats.
Ironically, given the consumer focus, most content will likely be warez and porn.
I don' think it was really marketed as such. The games were an extra. The other features (interactive and other) seemed to be the big selling points AFAIK.
We'll never really know as VM LAbs has filed for Chapter 11.
Not to cast doubt on your argument, but then why didn't Nuon succeed? There are a few products available, but not the breakout success you'd expect from simple product differentiation.
Its for law enforcement. If you can know what country a user is in you can apply local laws to that user. This is a boon for things like unauthorized computer entry, IP laws, jurisdictional determination, as well as determining what rates to charge somebody.
Really... if The Man wants such a thing he'll get it one way or the other. Passing laws is cheaper, but determining where somebody is, is the first step to enforcing the laws on the book.
It won't be long before the SSSCA is amended to add anonymity and location scrambling to its list of prohibited activities.
How does a citizen prevent the government from doing anything? In a representative democracy about all you can do is vote. That is an extremely inefficient means of voicing dissent, especially in a situation like the US which is basically a one party system subservient to whoever raises the most money for their campaigns.
One could demonstrate, but given history as well as recent trends, mass movements take a long time to develop and a lot of effort to sustain. Demonstrations reported on TV the past 10 years or so have been portrayed in a very negative light no matter what the cause. Not surprising seeing who controls the media.
Things in the US and other mature democracies will not change in a significant way short of violent unrest with a clear leader and organized agenda. Even then it is doubtful change would last.
Baby steps to get the US government responsive to its citizens are:
1. campaign finance reform to remove the so-called two party system and increase third party viability
2. a belief that government is actually responsive to the needs and desires of its citizens. The corollary of course being citizens be active in the political process.
3. a belief that "market forces" are not always the best solution to a problem. You'd think that the events of 9-11 would pound this home, but the response of the government says otherwise.
None of this wil occur in my lifetime, but it will occur. History is cyclical and repeats itself despite humanity's resistance.
I suspect the reason that distributors (seems to be mostly Sony/Columbia and Disney/Miramax) are holding the rights to the film for US release is they see a potential profit. The fact that some of these films *could* generate a large amount of profit (such as Crouching Tiger...) yet most don't (such as most Jackie Chan or Iron Monkey) makes them even more nervous and uncertain.
I know of very few commercials for Crouching Tiger here in the US when it was released and yet it did great business despite being subtitled. At the same time, Disney released Mononoke using the same lack of advertising and yet dubbed it. They made no money.
I suspect the real issue is like you said, quality. There are some great films outside the US and a lot of crap. Doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy it. And if I was Asian or a college student I certainly would like to have a venue for seeing cinema from another country. But Hollywood is locking it all away for their Region 1, dubbed and re-editted DVDs.
Best of luck to you. If you are in the Twin Cities area be sure to check out Cinema with Passion before it goes away. (http://www.amamedia.org/movies/)
I've shopped there and a few other places. Nevertheless, it irratates me to no end that a lot of movies won't/can't be shown here because some MNC just sits on them.
Unfortunately, you can't screen a DVD or VHS format. I volunteer for a group that shows actual Chinese *films* and is in danger of going under like so many Chinese theaters because there's so little content that can be screened now.
Well, I got to see a large chunk of Miyazaki's work in 1999. I saw Totoro, Laputa, and Porco Rosso. They showed Nausicaa and Lapin aka Castle of Cagliostro. IIRC, they also showed Mononoke a week before Disney's release.
The thing about Totoro that most people don't understand is it is, like most of Miyazaki's work, heavy on the relationships of its characters. In Totoro's case this manifests itself in how the children are able to cope with their mother's hospitalization. Of course, the theme of nature and man's role in interacting with it also appears in Totoro and is one of the main themes throughout Miyazaki's work, especially Monoke, Laputa and Nausicaa.
Unlike a lot of anime, Miyazaki films almosy always have the following characteristics:
1. themes of man vs nature
2. strong characterization
3. a female protagonist that is not simply a man with curves
4. some kind of awesome planes (miyazaki loves planes and flight)
I'll gladly watch some Miyazaki work, but most anime does blow, either being mindless drivel as an excuse for combat, or highly abstract crap trying to be philosophical (the highly acclaimed Neon Genesis Evangelion was a pain to watch for me) while justbeing boring.
Miyazaki manages to write stories that successfully entertain kids and adults alike. He is a perfectionist that actually allows that to work for him and not agianst him.
It is too bad that Disney won't release a lot of their films to the home video market. But they do the same thing with Chinese films as well.
Their business model differs from others in that they aren't building infrastructure. I get the impression that they just want to do all the "service" stuff. It's an intertesting approach, perhaps the biggest draw being a VPN available.
Still, at $7.95/connection for one service tier, it ain't cheap.
Remember the hype for Harsh Realm a few years ago? Fox ran the premiere once on a Friday night. Monday morning they decided to cancel it due to low ratings. They ran the second episode that week then the series vanished.
How is somebody like Whedon supposed to do any better? It took Whedon, like Carter, several years on a "second-class TV network" before their work grew beyond a cult following.
I'm sceptical such a thing will be allowed time to grow on Fox.
Anybody seen "The Tick" after the first 2 or 3 episodes? I didn't think so.
Thank you for the clarification. Here is what caused my confusion:
"The official Apple recommendation to developers regarding the storage of file type metadata in Mac OS X (as expressed in the Mac OS X System Overview document at the time of this writing) is as follows
In Mac OS X, you indicate the type of a document by specifying two things:
Type and creator codes stored as attributes of a file (if it is created on an HFS or HFS+ volume)
One or more file extensions relevant to the type (for example,.html and.htm)
...
The "consequences" of removing a file name extension are actually determined by Mac OS X applications, not by the operating system itself. If I email a Photoshop document named "Logo(Second Revision)" to a Windows user and my email application does not encode the file type information in the file name by appending the appropriate ".psd" file name extension, then the recipient may have trouble opening the file.
Unfortunately, Apple does not recommend that applications that move files across platforms behave in this manner. Instead, as we've seen, Apple recommends that Mac OS X applications encode file type metadata in the file name as soon as the file is created. This "solves" the interoperability problem in that any file created in this manner can be sent to another platform without encoding file type metadata in the file name at the time of the transfer. But it requires Mac users to live with file name extension the rest of the time as well.
More info is also available at:http://people.ne.mediaone.net/siracusa/proposal.html
In any event, I apologize for my stupidity. In any event, what I want is to view files in the Finder and be able to sort by attributes similat to Hacker's Be equivalent.
Since I returned to the Mac in 97 and was using it for web work I got used to typing in the extensions to file names. I never thought this was a big deal having done it ion Windows a lot. When OSX came out and the metadata controversy reared its head I was unsure what the rancor was about.
After reading this article I can now understand why some people want a different system than that used in OSX. In some ways OSX takes a step backward by getting rid of the resource fork. On the other hand, it acknowledges the fact that to be compatible in a heterogeneous network you have to accomodate Windows and UNIX. The system Scot mentions that was used in Be sounds very intriguing. The fact that MS is moving to a database structure for their file system is also interesting.
While I would love the ability to use attributes in files like Be did, Apple doesn't have the luxury of starting from-the-ground-up. Still this was THE feature (aside from performance) that I wish OSX had. Would make Sherlock much better. Scot seemed to find some of this functionality in iTunes. Wish it was in the Finder.
It doesn't matter who violates a monopoly position, only that it is violated. This argument of "company X would do the same thing" is a poor rhetorical argument often sprouted by MS apologists.
If George II violates a law he should be tried, not let off the hook because some polls place his popularity/approval rating at 90%.
"Unlike earlier drafts, this draft defers hugely to the private sector and the high-tech firms," Padden said. "In earlier drafts, the government just set a content protection standard. In this draft, the high-tech industry is given 18 months to negotiate with each other. It even provides the high-tech companies with antitrust exemptions."
Because it is more flexible. Sure, it will stream but you don't *have* to stream it. Since MPEG-4 will allow all kinds of cool things like multi-language tracks, subtitles, close captioning etc, why would you NOT use it? Plus, with MPEG-4 you can store a current DVD's content on a VCD. MPEG-4 uses an object-based coding standard which makes life much easier for authors, service providers, and end users of interactive multimedia content. These are all features the spec allows.
Quit thinking of DVD as a video deployment format. It is a storage device and as such allows interactive content (including audio and video) to be stored on a single object.
I would also encourage you to read an article that provides the answers you need in greater detail. http://www.webreview.com/mmedia/2001/03_16_01.shtm l
Slashdot Mirror
I never said it was. Just that the company can avoid the potential of a lawsuit by prohibiting it. Lawsuits take time and money. Just the threat of a lawsuit can change behavior and that is what is happening here.
P2P is merely moving/copying files between systems, no?
I would have thought slashdot posters would be familiar with the concept by now.
That's why. Avoid a lawsuit from the RIAA and still allow a competitive advantage (moving files).
Use an outliner. There are several out there, the one that springs to my mind immediatley is Omni Outline (www.omnigroup.com).
Using an outliner allows great hierarchical structure allowing you to edit quickly.
A good outliner will also output to HTML/XML where you can apply a CSS file for both screen/print mediums. Mozilla, even IE 5+ will ensure your docs appear how you want. Heck, you can change the CSS file and not worry about the presentation at all. Just create a few CSS templates and off you go.
I don't know why you'd make it harder than you have to.
While I would like a global release it just isn't going to happen. 2 reasons why:
1. You can't dub/subtitle movies in a lot of languages in a few days. They require time and money.
2. Distribution rights are given to different companies throughout the world.
Example:
Shaolin Soccer came out in HK last summer. It did very well at the box office. Disney/Miramax bought the rights to release in North America. When will they release it? They claim they will release it here, but when? They recently went after gray market importers in the US and Canada, essentially forcing them to quit offering it for sale here. The DVD has English subtitles so I can easily watch it, but Disney isn't see any of my money.
While a global release is desireable the economic reality is it isn't possible unless the same company has distribution rights throughout the world. And that isn't going to happen.
I disagree. Many video stores and chains are going out of business. The ones that are succeeding are either mom and pop niche stores or owned by media distribution giants (Blockbuster).
Since you worked in a video store you understand the margins are razor thin. The majority of money is made on fees, right?
What will happen is video rental outlets will see the same thing with DVDs as cassettes th eonly difference being video stores will pay a higher premium for less content. For example, the DVD for LotR will be released at video stores shortly after the PV run. However, it will be just the movie with no extra features. But when the consumer release follows they'll get a cheaper price and more features. IF the studios price DVDs between $10 and $20 there will be little reason for people to rent them.
I expect video rental stores to continue to diminsh. A lot of their costs is in storing and replacing VCR tapes. While DVD could lower their costs in the long run, their short term costs will be huge because they'll need to replace their catalog and a LOT of movies arent on DVD and may be waiting a long time (especially the small and independent studios).
If the studios want to control their product fully they'll continue to squeeze out the rental markets ont he low end and continue to consolidate their hold on the big chains.
But you are right in that high prices are in place to protect the studio's release chain for the time being.
"15$ or 20$ for a new DVD would be nice"
That's what I've been paying. Except fo rmy Special Edition of Shiri which was $30, and the only version I can play on my DVD player.
I think what this is intended to do is really work for future video "broadcasts" via next-gen TV. DVDs already have copy protection. The industry needs to create a system that ensures people don't rip "Buffy" before it's shown in Australia or Europe or make their own DVD of the show before the episode is out on DVD.
What I don't understand is why people want to share these things over the net. It'd be much more efficient to use the internet to create sharing pools and then exchange the stuff via CD-ROm or DVD.
I can understand (not condone) writing viruses/worms/trojans for getting access to a computer for other ends, but why create a virus for Flash? Infecting other Flash files seems pretty silly to me. The only reason I can think of is marketing or corporate sabotage for graphic designers.
Maybe its just a case of "I can do it, so I must"? It's not like ActionScripting can be used in DoS attacks or to steal your credit card. Wouldn't you need to need a system to get the credit card number and another to actually send it somewhere?
I'm clueless here. Help me out.
"This would have the fun bonus of giving Microsoft a monopoly on DVD software"
The entertainment industry is NOT going to give control of media formats to Microsoft. The entertainment industry rightfully fears Microsoft and is very careful to control MS influence. Remember, MS is fighting SSSCA and similar proposals. Besides, the entertainment industry already has a monopoly on DVD software (the format). IF the industry wanted this, why would MS go to the hardware manufacturers?
"This would have the fun bonus of giving Microsoft a monopoly on DVD software, and making DVD playing on Linux (excluding the current illegal hacks, which aren't a nice way to experiance the media you payed for; no menus to access lots of the content) even more of a pipe dream."
Please. All this does is add WMV and WMA support to DVD players. It is actually a brilliant move on MS' part because it allows consumers to create "DVD quality" audio and video on CD. Rather than require consumers to buy expensive DVD burners, MS allows normal CD burners to create this content. This makes MS look good in the eyes of the consumers by decreasing their costs, while hiding the fact that pro level gear software for A/V creation is absent from MS software.
If such a system is picked up by consumers, MS may be able to bargain for other industries to adopt WMA/WMV, but the entertainment industry is not going to change DVD formats. They've wasted a lot of time already and DVDs are finally starting to take off. No, it'll likely be streaming media, corporate promos and the like that will be switching to MS formats.
Ironically, given the consumer focus, most content will likely be warez and porn.
I don' think it was really marketed as such. The games were an extra. The other features (interactive and other) seemed to be the big selling points AFAIK.
We'll never really know as VM LAbs has filed for Chapter 11.
Not to cast doubt on your argument, but then why didn't Nuon succeed? There are a few products available, but not the breakout success you'd expect from simple product differentiation.
I should have added that as well. :)
Its for law enforcement. If you can know what country a user is in you can apply local laws to that user. This is a boon for things like unauthorized computer entry, IP laws, jurisdictional determination, as well as determining what rates to charge somebody.
Really... if The Man wants such a thing he'll get it one way or the other. Passing laws is cheaper, but determining where somebody is, is the first step to enforcing the laws on the book.
It won't be long before the SSSCA is amended to add anonymity and location scrambling to its list of prohibited activities.
I think this story was run a year or so back too.
How does a citizen prevent the government from doing anything? In a representative democracy about all you can do is vote. That is an extremely inefficient means of voicing dissent, especially in a situation like the US which is basically a one party system subservient to whoever raises the most money for their campaigns.
One could demonstrate, but given history as well as recent trends, mass movements take a long time to develop and a lot of effort to sustain. Demonstrations reported on TV the past 10 years or so have been portrayed in a very negative light no matter what the cause. Not surprising seeing who controls the media.
Things in the US and other mature democracies will not change in a significant way short of violent unrest with a clear leader and organized agenda. Even then it is doubtful change would last.
Baby steps to get the US government responsive to its citizens are:
1. campaign finance reform to remove the so-called two party system and increase third party viability
2. a belief that government is actually responsive to the needs and desires of its citizens. The corollary of course being citizens be active in the political process.
3. a belief that "market forces" are not always the best solution to a problem. You'd think that the events of 9-11 would pound this home, but the response of the government says otherwise.
None of this wil occur in my lifetime, but it will occur. History is cyclical and repeats itself despite humanity's resistance.
I suspect the reason that distributors (seems to be mostly Sony/Columbia and Disney/Miramax) are holding the rights to the film for US release is they see a potential profit. The fact that some of these films *could* generate a large amount of profit (such as Crouching Tiger...) yet most don't (such as most Jackie Chan or Iron Monkey) makes them even more nervous and uncertain.
I know of very few commercials for Crouching Tiger here in the US when it was released and yet it did great business despite being subtitled. At the same time, Disney released Mononoke using the same lack of advertising and yet dubbed it. They made no money.
I suspect the real issue is like you said, quality. There are some great films outside the US and a lot of crap. Doesn't mean I wouldn't enjoy it. And if I was Asian or a college student I certainly would like to have a venue for seeing cinema from another country. But Hollywood is locking it all away for their Region 1, dubbed and re-editted DVDs.
Best of luck to you. If you are in the Twin Cities area be sure to check out Cinema with Passion before it goes away. (http://www.amamedia.org/movies/)
I've shopped there and a few other places. Nevertheless, it irratates me to no end that a lot of movies won't/can't be shown here because some MNC just sits on them.
Unfortunately, you can't screen a DVD or VHS format. I volunteer for a group that shows actual Chinese *films* and is in danger of going under like so many Chinese theaters because there's so little content that can be screened now.
Well, I got to see a large chunk of Miyazaki's work in 1999. I saw Totoro, Laputa, and Porco Rosso. They showed Nausicaa and Lapin aka Castle of Cagliostro. IIRC, they also showed Mononoke a week before Disney's release.
The thing about Totoro that most people don't understand is it is, like most of Miyazaki's work, heavy on the relationships of its characters. In Totoro's case this manifests itself in how the children are able to cope with their mother's hospitalization. Of course, the theme of nature and man's role in interacting with it also appears in Totoro and is one of the main themes throughout Miyazaki's work, especially Monoke, Laputa and Nausicaa.
Unlike a lot of anime, Miyazaki films almosy always have the following characteristics:
1. themes of man vs nature
2. strong characterization
3. a female protagonist that is not simply a man with curves
4. some kind of awesome planes (miyazaki loves planes and flight)
I'll gladly watch some Miyazaki work, but most anime does blow, either being mindless drivel as an excuse for combat, or highly abstract crap trying to be philosophical (the highly acclaimed Neon Genesis Evangelion was a pain to watch for me) while justbeing boring.
Miyazaki manages to write stories that successfully entertain kids and adults alike. He is a perfectionist that actually allows that to work for him and not agianst him.
It is too bad that Disney won't release a lot of their films to the home video market. But they do the same thing with Chinese films as well.
Some actual good jokes, I guess. What I think is shite people like and what I think is good gets no replies.
:)
Besides, I own a mac so I think G4!=games.
So why isn't Steve Jobs there? He's always going off about how great the G4 is!
here:
http://80211b.weblogger.com/2001/12/19
Their business model differs from others in that they aren't building infrastructure. I get the impression that they just want to do all the "service" stuff. It's an intertesting approach, perhaps the biggest draw being a VPN available.
Still, at $7.95/connection for one service tier, it ain't cheap.
Remember the hype for Harsh Realm a few years ago? Fox ran the premiere once on a Friday night. Monday morning they decided to cancel it due to low ratings. They ran the second episode that week then the series vanished.
How is somebody like Whedon supposed to do any better? It took Whedon, like Carter, several years on a "second-class TV network" before their work grew beyond a cult following.
I'm sceptical such a thing will be allowed time to grow on Fox.
Anybody seen "The Tick" after the first 2 or 3 episodes? I didn't think so.
Thank you for the clarification. Here is what caused my confusion:
"The official Apple recommendation to developers regarding the storage of file type metadata in Mac OS X (as expressed in the Mac OS X System Overview document at the time of this writing) is as follows
In Mac OS X, you indicate the type of a document by specifying two things:
...
The "consequences" of removing a file name extension are actually determined by Mac OS X applications, not by the operating system itself. If I email a Photoshop document named "Logo(Second Revision)" to a Windows user and my email application does not encode the file type information in the file name by appending the appropriate ".psd" file name extension, then the recipient may have trouble opening the file.
d ata-8.html#macosx-file-types
l .html
Unfortunately, Apple does not recommend that applications that move files across platforms behave in this manner. Instead, as we've seen, Apple recommends that Mac OS X applications encode file type metadata in the file name as soon as the file is created. This "solves" the interoperability problem in that any file created in this manner can be sent to another platform without encoding file type metadata in the file name at the time of the transfer. But it requires Mac users to live with file name extension the rest of the time as well.
From: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/01q3/metadata/meta
More info is also available at:http://people.ne.mediaone.net/siracusa/proposa
In any event, I apologize for my stupidity. In any event, what I want is to view files in the Finder and be able to sort by attributes similat to Hacker's Be equivalent.
Hey, I admitted I was wrong, surely a /. first!
Since I returned to the Mac in 97 and was using it for web work I got used to typing in the extensions to file names. I never thought this was a big deal having done it ion Windows a lot. When OSX came out and the metadata controversy reared its head I was unsure what the rancor was about.
After reading this article I can now understand why some people want a different system than that used in OSX. In some ways OSX takes a step backward by getting rid of the resource fork. On the other hand, it acknowledges the fact that to be compatible in a heterogeneous network you have to accomodate Windows and UNIX. The system Scot mentions that was used in Be sounds very intriguing. The fact that MS is moving to a database structure for their file system is also interesting.
While I would love the ability to use attributes in files like Be did, Apple doesn't have the luxury of starting from-the-ground-up. Still this was THE feature (aside from performance) that I wish OSX had. Would make Sherlock much better. Scot seemed to find some of this functionality in iTunes. Wish it was in the Finder.
It doesn't matter who violates a monopoly position, only that it is violated. This argument of "company X would do the same thing" is a poor rhetorical argument often sprouted by MS apologists.
If George II violates a law he should be tried, not let off the hook because some polls place his popularity/approval rating at 90%.
From: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,46671,00 .html
An article on SSSCA:
"Unlike earlier drafts, this draft defers hugely to the private sector and the high-tech firms," Padden said. "In earlier drafts, the government just set a content protection standard. In this draft, the high-tech industry is given 18 months to negotiate with each other. It even provides the high-tech companies with antitrust exemptions."
Because it is more flexible. Sure, it will stream but you don't *have* to stream it. Since MPEG-4 will allow all kinds of cool things like multi-language tracks, subtitles, close captioning etc, why would you NOT use it? Plus, with MPEG-4 you can store a current DVD's content on a VCD. MPEG-4 uses an object-based coding standard which makes life much easier for authors, service providers, and end users of interactive multimedia content. These are all features the spec allows.
m l
Quit thinking of DVD as a video deployment format. It is a storage device and as such allows interactive content (including audio and video) to be stored on a single object.
I would also encourage you to read an article that provides the answers you need in greater detail. http://www.webreview.com/mmedia/2001/03_16_01.sht