I use Vista on a Media Center PC I built. I bought it to use the latest unreleased to the public TV Pack (or whatever it was called) which fixed QAM channels.
Anyway, because it's basically a DVR I don't really use it enough to know what's different. The only thing I notice is that lot of the features/tasks are now buried, I guess to dumb down the interface to make it easier somehow. I honestly can't think of any other reason.
Here's an example, in every other version of Windows if you want to change the balance to your speakers, e.g., make the left speaker a little louder, you could just double click on the little speaker icon in the system tray, the Volume Mixer would come up, and you'd be good-to-go.
Not so with Vista...
1. Right click on that speaker icon. 2. Choose Playback Devices. 3. Select your playback device. 4. Click Properties. 5. Choose the Levels tab. 6. Click the balance button. 7. Adjust the balance of your speakers. 8. Click "OK." 9. Click "OK." 10. Click "OK." 11. Click "OK."
Wow, all that to change your speaker's balance. I hardly call that a fix. One step forward, and 11 steps back.
...to allow the typical Windows users to easily rename a file without having him or her remember the particular extension of the file.
Think of a noob trying to change the name of a file: "Image1.jpg" would become "Picture of my Dog Fluffy".
Of course after changing the name and eliminating the file extension, the file would no longer work with the user's favorite program, and chaos would ensue. MS merely nipped that problem before it started (and created another problem in the process!)
You honestly expect me to waste my time searching for evidence to support an accusation made by an anonymous coward? Seriously?
The EFF is an advocacy group pushing an agenda. I have no doubt that the group manipulates facts to further its agenda. This is not based on any actions of the EFF, but is based on advocacy groups in general.
However, before I make a specific accusation about the EFF I'd want my facts straight. Giving a link to posting which does not back up my accusation is not good enough. And expecting people to go through 1079 comments to find my evidence is ludicrous.
Here's how you do it. Take the EFF press release, take the "real facts" behind the story, and show how the EFF twisted the facts. It would not be hard to do.
Of course you'll argue that I could do it. But it's not my accusation. So why would I do it?!
The link you provided, your evidence for your accusation against the EFF, makes no mention that the EFF forgot anything It appears that it is your personal opinion that the EFF forgot something and it further appears that you have have no objective evidence to support your personal opinion.
You accuse the EFF as having a "strong bias... to selectively use facts for propaganda." You provide a link. But that link does not support your accusation at all. Would you like to clarify? Thanks!
Anyone has the right to charge whatever price they want for any product or service they are selling. If you don't like it, don't pay it. It's as simple as that.
Yeah, I know you'll mod me down for this, it seems to happen every time I point out an utterly obvious truth.
You have no idea what you're talking about. I agree that the quality of vinyl decreased. However, that was an intentional decision by the music industry to get us over to the CD. I worked at a music store back in the 80s to early 90s. The LP didn't die off, it was murdered.
And I have no idea what you're talking about a tiered approach to music. Other than releasing a single to radio, or releasing a single early to whet listener's appetite, all music was and is released for sale at the same time. Movies are released in tiers because each tier represents a valuable independent market that depends at least partially on the delay. That simply doesn't happen in music. Sure there are CD, iTunes, Amazon, ringtone markets. But there's no financial reason to delay any of them as there are in the movie industry.
Once again, you're talking about two completely different things. Stick to the topic, not about something completely unrelated.
I have to admit, if I could buy a movie on the way out of a theater, I probably would in some circumstances. And think of all the parents who would have to buy the movie right then because their kids are screaming, "We want it now, we want it now, we want it now!!!"
I think the movie industry is missing out on some nice profits there. But, maybe I'm an idiot when it comes to profiting. As a poor idiot, I'm probably not qualified to make such judgments.
But would that "reasonable" fee for immediately access make up for the money lost on pay-per-view/premium TV/DVD/Blu-ray? (I'm talking about movies here, I have no idea why anyone would pay anything to watch TV!)
Tell what to the vinyl record industry? That it's a tiny niche market because only a minuscule percentage of people buy vinyl compared to other forms of access? Heck, I bet you don't know this, but profits from the ringtone market totally dwarfs the mighty iTunes. And vinyl is a mere drop in the bucket compared to iTunes.
And why are you comparing quicker access to movies and TV versus a higher fidelity sound recording? People want LPs for a completely different reason than theodp wants movies and TV. He's not willing to pay more for higher quality. In fact, it appears he wants to pay more for lower quality. He doesn't want to wait for the Blu-ray release, as a vinyl lover would wait for vinyl, he wants a crappy and immediate internet release. That's exactly the opposite of what the vinyl market is all about. God, you couldn't make an accurate analogy, on the most analogous day of your life, with an electrified analogy machine!
The answer is twofold. First, the vast majority of people will not pay a hefty monthly fee for immediate access to recent movies and TV shows. So there really is not market for it. You cannot compete with free by putting a "hefty" fee on it. God, that's fricken ludicrous. Why is this completely asinine idea even posted here?!
Second, the movie industry makes a lot of money with its gated approach to releasing movies. First, to theaters. Then to premium TV channels and pay-per-view. Then to DVD/Blue-ray. Than the normal TV. If the studios started releasing new movies as soon as they were released in they theaters, or even soon after, the money from the premium TV/pay-per-view/DVD/Blu-ray releases would drastically decrease. It's all about making the Benjamins, not about making it convenient for the viewer.
... which is another way of saying they really doesn't work at all. Both annoy legitimate customers and users while still allowing those with nefarious motives to do whatever they wanted to do in the first place.
If you don't want to pay Google's alleged "high prices" for copies of out of print books, then go to the library and scan them yourself. Or pay someone else to do it. Problem solved. Next please!
And a big thanks to everyone who modded me down. After being modded up to five I thought maybe I was wrong. That maybe the Linux-heads of the world had grown up a little and could accept some cold hard facts. But, thanks for proving me right in the first place!
I've recently patented a process by which a cool but yet pragmatic device, software, or system will be created and either sold, rented, or leased to solve a problem or make people enjoy and/or better utilize a different device, software, or system.
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I use Vista on a Media Center PC I built. I bought it to use the latest unreleased to the public TV Pack (or whatever it was called) which fixed QAM channels.
Anyway, because it's basically a DVR I don't really use it enough to know what's different. The only thing I notice is that lot of the features/tasks are now buried, I guess to dumb down the interface to make it easier somehow. I honestly can't think of any other reason.
Here's an example, in every other version of Windows if you want to change the balance to your speakers, e.g., make the left speaker a little louder, you could just double click on the little speaker icon in the system tray, the Volume Mixer would come up, and you'd be good-to-go.
Not so with Vista...
1. Right click on that speaker icon.
2. Choose Playback Devices.
3. Select your playback device.
4. Click Properties.
5. Choose the Levels tab.
6. Click the balance button.
7. Adjust the balance of your speakers.
8. Click "OK."
9. Click "OK."
10. Click "OK."
11. Click "OK."
Wow, all that to change your speaker's balance. I hardly call that a fix. One step forward, and 11 steps back.
"Vista fixed this."
God, I never thought that sentence could ever make sense!
...to allow the typical Windows users to easily rename a file without having him or her remember the particular extension of the file.
Think of a noob trying to change the name of a file: "Image1.jpg" would become "Picture of my Dog Fluffy".
Of course after changing the name and eliminating the file extension, the file would no longer work with the user's favorite program, and chaos would ensue. MS merely nipped that problem before it started (and created another problem in the process!)
"And actually I did just that last October by installing Ubuntu 8.04, haven't had a call since."
God, I nearly did the same thing to my in-laws. It's like their PC is a spyware/malware/virus magnet.
"to the point where even some libertarians would agree."
Maybe he meant to write librarians, but no true libertarian thinks that the government should purchase ads for McAfee and Symantec.
My index finger is sore from holding down the shift key on all the Netflix Blu-rays and DVDs I've ripped.
"If you quickly scrolled through the comments..."
You honestly expect me to waste my time searching for evidence to support an accusation made by an anonymous coward? Seriously?
The EFF is an advocacy group pushing an agenda. I have no doubt that the group manipulates facts to further its agenda. This is not based on any actions of the EFF, but is based on advocacy groups in general.
However, before I make a specific accusation about the EFF I'd want my facts straight. Giving a link to posting which does not back up my accusation is not good enough. And expecting people to go through 1079 comments to find my evidence is ludicrous.
Here's how you do it. Take the EFF press release, take the "real facts" behind the story, and show how the EFF twisted the facts. It would not be hard to do.
Of course you'll argue that I could do it. But it's not my accusation. So why would I do it?!
The link you provided, your evidence for your accusation against the EFF, makes no mention that the EFF forgot anything It appears that it is your personal opinion that the EFF forgot something and it further appears that you have have no objective evidence to support your personal opinion.
You accuse the EFF as having a "strong bias... to selectively use facts for propaganda." You provide a link. But that link does not support your accusation at all. Would you like to clarify? Thanks!
Anyone has the right to charge whatever price they want for any product or service they are selling. If you don't like it, don't pay it. It's as simple as that.
Yeah, I know you'll mod me down for this, it seems to happen every time I point out an utterly obvious truth.
"Hows it feel to want?"
A literal laugh out loud!
You have no idea what you're talking about. I agree that the quality of vinyl decreased. However, that was an intentional decision by the music industry to get us over to the CD. I worked at a music store back in the 80s to early 90s. The LP didn't die off, it was murdered.
And I have no idea what you're talking about a tiered approach to music. Other than releasing a single to radio, or releasing a single early to whet listener's appetite, all music was and is released for sale at the same time. Movies are released in tiers because each tier represents a valuable independent market that depends at least partially on the delay. That simply doesn't happen in music. Sure there are CD, iTunes, Amazon, ringtone markets. But there's no financial reason to delay any of them as there are in the movie industry.
Once again, you're talking about two completely different things. Stick to the topic, not about something completely unrelated.
I have to admit, if I could buy a movie on the way out of a theater, I probably would in some circumstances. And think of all the parents who would have to buy the movie right then because their kids are screaming, "We want it now, we want it now, we want it now!!!"
I think the movie industry is missing out on some nice profits there. But, maybe I'm an idiot when it comes to profiting. As a poor idiot, I'm probably not qualified to make such judgments.
But would that "reasonable" fee for immediately access make up for the money lost on pay-per-view/premium TV/DVD/Blu-ray? (I'm talking about movies here, I have no idea why anyone would pay anything to watch TV!)
"Tell that to the vinyl record industry."
Tell what to the vinyl record industry? That it's a tiny niche market because only a minuscule percentage of people buy vinyl compared to other forms of access? Heck, I bet you don't know this, but profits from the ringtone market totally dwarfs the mighty iTunes. And vinyl is a mere drop in the bucket compared to iTunes.
And why are you comparing quicker access to movies and TV versus a higher fidelity sound recording? People want LPs for a completely different reason than theodp wants movies and TV. He's not willing to pay more for higher quality. In fact, it appears he wants to pay more for lower quality. He doesn't want to wait for the Blu-ray release, as a vinyl lover would wait for vinyl, he wants a crappy and immediate internet release. That's exactly the opposite of what the vinyl market is all about. God, you couldn't make an accurate analogy, on the most analogous day of your life, with an electrified analogy machine!
The answer is twofold. First, the vast majority of people will not pay a hefty monthly fee for immediate access to recent movies and TV shows. So there really is not market for it. You cannot compete with free by putting a "hefty" fee on it. God, that's fricken ludicrous. Why is this completely asinine idea even posted here?!
Second, the movie industry makes a lot of money with its gated approach to releasing movies. First, to theaters. Then to premium TV channels and pay-per-view. Then to DVD/Blue-ray. Than the normal TV. If the studios started releasing new movies as soon as they were released in they theaters, or even soon after, the money from the premium TV/pay-per-view/DVD/Blu-ray releases would drastically decrease. It's all about making the Benjamins, not about making it convenient for the viewer.
I know I am, I hear it's quite popular with test groups.
... which is another way of saying they really doesn't work at all. Both annoy legitimate customers and users while still allowing those with nefarious motives to do whatever they wanted to do in the first place.
Oh god that was fucking, yeah, I'm saying it, fucking funny!
... who read that as a "high-tech tomato chase"?!
I'd have to agree with you. There are exceptions, but for the most part they went out of print for a reason.
If you don't want to pay Google's alleged "high prices" for copies of out of print books, then go to the library and scan them yourself. Or pay someone else to do it. Problem solved. Next please!
And a big thanks to everyone who modded me down. After being modded up to five I thought maybe I was wrong. That maybe the Linux-heads of the world had grown up a little and could accept some cold hard facts. But, thanks for proving me right in the first place!
"So as long as we all invent useless rubbish"
It's the American way!
I've recently patented a process by which a cool but yet pragmatic device, software, or system will be created and either sold, rented, or leased to solve a problem or make people enjoy and/or better utilize a different device, software, or system.