Strangely, people that care about Logic HAVE to buy Apple products, because I don't think more recent versions of Logic have been released for Windows (now owned/written by Apple and it's the core of Garageband), and people that use Reason use either OS X or Windows as the installer is dual-platform.
So from a musician's perspective your argument is incorrect on both counts hehe;P
Why should they? You have another player... you can already USE it with your mp3 collection. Just drag your music across to the player from your library.
That too hard for you? Then don't blame Apple for other products not working with iTunes. Blame the manufacturers of the other products for not making a media player that does everything iTunes can - if you had a decent media player program for your Zen (to pick a player's name out of the air as a 'for instance') written by Creative for your OS of choice which had options to organise your music collection and perhaps even a built-in music store for purchasing new tracks then you'd probably use it rather than iTunes. But they don't, so you can't - your beef should be with THEM, not Apple.
I don't get p*ssed off with Apple because my car's CD player has no iPod attachment - it's not their problem, it's Sony's problem.
The bit that is missing is "... until they try to move their music to another PC/non-iPod/Xbox/MP3 Hi-Fi/iTunes 2/whatever and find out they're not allowed"
And the missing bit of your 'correction' is "...until they realise they ARE allowed and it just involves ripping to CD to circumvent the restrictions. OR in fact, just deauthorising that one machine and authorising the other machine if it's running iTunes."
Alternatively, if they'd had all their music as DRM crippled WMA they really WOULD have been in trouble!
The only other thing I can think you are referring to is when iTunes asks you (during install) 'Do you want iTunes to search your hard drive for Music and add it to your library?' where you are presented with the options 'Yes, add music now' or 'No Thanks, I'll add them manually later'.
If you clicked 'Yes' then you'd have TOLD it to add music to your library (which would likely be in it's default open-source AAC format)... not really rocket science is it? Even then it wouldn't delete the original tracks, just copy them to the iTunes library location so you'd end up with two lots of files. Perhaps it's a lesson in learning to read those prompts on screen;)
It only 'imported' your mp3s as AACs (I'm guessing you mean it converted them to AAC - an open source format not even written by Apple, unlike the proprietary format mp3s) because you told it to - and it DIDN'T ADD DRM. AAC's do NOT contain DRM unless it's added by Apple prior to downloading from iTMS, iTunes itself doesn't add the DRM. And on top of all that, it didn't delete your originals - iTunes just doesn't.
If you add mp3s to your collection by drag n drop it wouldn't convert their format anyway, it would just move them to your library folder and organise them for you (leaving the original files you added in their location). Only if you clicked 'convert to aac (or whatever format you chose as default)' in the menus would it change their format. You can specify library location, codec and bitrate etc etc etc in the preferences.
For someone who knows so much about DRM I would have thought you'd have learned to look a little deeper before condemning a piece of software for doing the things you've explicitly asked it to do - it's not like it tries to hide any of this from you (if you delete a track from the library in the iTunes window it even asks you if you want to keep the track or just move it to the trash - it then takes YOU to empty the trash afterwards to actually get rid of it). Come on - must try harder.
Add to that, iTunes is ALSO one of the free offerings. Apple have never charged anybody any money to download it. So a free player that allows people to also purchase music and sync with their player and it's a win-win package for most consumers IMHO.
I'm sorry, but you don't buy Apple PRODUCTS because of the DRM in AAC downloads from the iTMS? That's a strange logic.
The DRM isn't in their hardware, it's in a piece of software. ONE piece of software. You talk as though the whole OS restricts you from copying files to/from other machines - so that would make OS X server useful for WHAT exactly?
Just because you use one Apple product, you're not restricted to only buying Apple's products for other tasks. My Nokia phone works fine with my Mac - it syncs all my contacts, automatically opens iPhoto to copy all my photos and video and can be used via Bluetooth as a remote control. No problems there. My Zen player works just as well with my mp3 collection as my iPod - sure it's a little more involved to sync it, but it doesn't cripple it's operability in any way.
In fact, if anything I think Apple's computer hardware is one of the LEAST problematic for vendor lock-in. I have a Vaio laptop (it was given to me, not bought... wouldn't buy a piece of sh*t like that) that will ONLY run Windows - it just refuses point blank to get beyond a boot screen for any LiveCD I've tried to date. Now THAT'S hardware with restrictions. My Mac Mini on the other hand is setup and running with OS X, Ubuntu, XP and Vista without any hassle (apart from some issues in Ubuntu with the non-standard aspect ratio I'm running, easily solved).
Perhaps your wife isn't the audiophile that your are, so maybe wouldn't notice the difference in quality with a lossy encoded format like mp3 - especially if you encoded them at a high enough bitrate.
Might I suggest your easiest option is to batch-reencode your oggs to mp3s and have a more peaceful life (and happier wife) as a result?:)
You could always use an open source Front Row replacement that you can configure to access your music library from a very easy to use GUI. Haven't looked for them in a while, but 2 I found a while ago were iTheater and CentreStage (with the BackStage app for custom configs). Might be worth a Google to see how development is going.
But what exactly IS it about iTunes that you hate so much? The way it organises your library into a useful and fast resource to find and play your music, or the way it's easy to use for the average noob?;p
...and their friend might well tell them just to burn their music tracks to CD and rip them back in to strip the DRM. They might think it's a pain in the arse, but they'll at least know how to get around the restrictions.
IMHO this is a damn sight better than SOME of the DRM employed by other companies which even lock out other operating systems (Windows MediaSlayer I'm looking at you)
That being said, Apple made a big hoo-hah about their DRM-free tracks (and the increased price tag... grrr), and I seem to recall they were claiming that they were going to offer more and more tracks without DRM which prompted many to assume they'd be dropping the practice not long after, but here we are many moons later and it's still the dominant practice for iTunes purchases. In fact, I'm not even sure how many tracks you can get on iTunes without DRM now.
Given enough bad press DRM will eventually go away, but it has to be made as public as possible in a sustained campaign for this to have any effect at all - or a cheap mp3 download service making a BIG deal of not having DRM and getting decent media coverage. Competition from a serious contender that the public begin flocking to (and away from iTMS) will be a more effective engine in driving Apple to drop the DRM in the long run. I don't think people are stupid enough to believe that mp3s they download from other sources can't be used with their shinyPod (despite the BBC's best efforts to repeatedly claim the iPod can ONLY play tracks from the iTMS and vice versa that tracks from the iTMS can only be played on the iPod).
I think you'll find that statistically speaking most deaths tend to be on the descent of ANY mountain.
It's not just a medical condition, but quite often down to general lapses in concentration.
When you're pushing for the summit you're absolutely focussed on your goal and pay attention to every little detail. Once you've topped out and experienced the elation of making it it's very easy to let your mind relax as you descend, and combined with the tiredness it's more likely you'll make a mistake that can lead to a fall or other accident such as taking the wrong route - this happens to a lot of people on Ben Nevis where the route down isn't so obvious in winter.
It will also probably cost less to employ people to stand next to these numpties and punch them in the face every time they throw the wiimote at the telly. Eventually the message will be punched home to actually GRIP the wiimote and wear the strap!
In reality, the figures they're talking about in TFA would last the US alone a couple days or so at 2005's consumption levels - average 22 million barrels per day (bpd) petroleum, 4.1m bpd diesel! That's BARRELS per day, not GALLONS per day
IMHO I think that what we really need is to stop consuming so much shit and rethink our infrastructures and ways of living if we're going to ride this one out. Too much town/city planning is oriented towards the car - shops located in retail parks (some without any sort of pavement for pedestrian access), business parks built miles from residential areas. It's all backwards and unsustainable. If we redesigned the way we live and travel we wouldn't need to find anywhere near as many 'substitute' energy sources in the first place.
I'd argue that Windows never 'marginalised' the Mac - ever. The Mac boomed into a massively used computer in it's niche markets (the creative industries) and has never been usurped in those industries by Windows - if anything Windows is hugley marginalised in that market sector.
The fact that Windows grew into a more widely distributed operating system than MacOS overall doesn't mean the Mac was ever marginalised, it merely didn't expand into other markets with as much vigour (mainly down to accountants looking at the massive initial purchase costs of Macs back in the day and deciding instead to buy a load of cheap PC's running Windows).
The trouble with the 'polls' you mention is that they are more often than not engineered to produce certain results through the careful choice and wording of the questions - framing the discussion. If you try to discuss issues outside of the officially sanctioned framework you're dismissed by the mainstream media as a loony, militant, conspiracy theorist or terrorist. This ensures that the media can widely disseminate the results of these polls safe in the knowledge they'll reflect the preordained outcome.
One classic example of this kind of poll question would be something like: "When did you stop beating your wife?" (A) A month ago, (B) Last week, (C) Yesterday. There is no answer (D) I have never beaten my wife.
The answers in that example would all suggest a widespread problem of wifebeating with no alternative viewpoint. It's like the leading questions asked by the BBC's 'Have Your Say' forum on their website - you're lucky if a comment you make to question the validity of the original proposition ever makes it past the moderators.
That's exactly what they've been trying to do with National ID cards. They then switched tactics (when defeated by the unelected House of Lords for gawds sake!) to a plan to require biometric drivers licences in the future. Not sure when or even if this is still coming in, but it'll extend the amount of data from that already held on RFID passports.
They love the idea of RFID'd cards for some reason even though it's borked tech.
People who argue against their own rights never fail to amaze me. The only logical explanation is that due to the phallus on their forehead they don't consider themselves humans!
The governments in the EU aren't actually democratically elected. If they were then a government could not exist if just over a third of the voters (the ones who weren't so jaded that they bothered to vote) voted for them. Remember, they only got 37% of the vote - and voter turnout was particularly low, so it's not 37% of eligible voters. Minority rule.
We have no true representation in the UK. It's a sham democracy where your only tantalising hint of involvement is once every so many years. Try asking an MP to represent the majority view of their constituents over ANY issue that runs against party lines and see how much representation you get in Parliament. Especially if your MP is a member of the cabinet.
Anyone remember the world's biggest ever protest in London against the Iraq war? Personally I only knew 1 person who actually thought we should go to war, and he's an admitted racist. Everyone else I know (including members of the armed services who tell me all their colleagues were anti-war too) was against it - so how much 'democracy' did we have over one of the most important decisions our elected 'representatives' could make? Rhetorical question I know, but you get the picture...
*how long can they justifiably continue to style themselves as "new"?
For as long as they're right wing Tory bar-stewards continuing the Thatcherite rape and pillage of the working classes!
Note to mods - this isn't polemic, it's documented fact;)**
**for reference see the latest NuStasi attempts to reduce benefits payments to single mothers who have a 1 year-old child by 40% if they're not 'actively seeking work and can demonstrate a clear plan of action to this end'
And following the usual patterns of copying bad things from the states, police are to be issued with tasers over here too.
Actually, they already have them, but only firearms officers (who receive the requisite training for handling all firearms that normal officers don't) can currently use them, but that's set to change soon.
So expect to see deaths in police custody on the increase.
In the usual fascist Home Secretary model, the current one Jacqui Smith is particularly vile. She's constantly 'disappointed' when her evil schemes to subjugate us are thwarted. First it was their defeated ID cards scheme, now this judgement.
To get around this (the ID card/DNA debacle), she's currently trying to push new legislation through (hidden in another bill) to open up private information allowing every government department access to your records from another department. So the DVLA (Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority) will be able to gain access to your financial history, medical records, education history... anything. As will the police, benefits departments, you name it. Currently to do this it needs to be passed by parliamentary oversight, but the new legislation will allow this with the OK of a single minister on a whim. This government have a horrible track record for their inability to keep data safe, so this is a nightmare waiting to happen even forgetting the massive breach of rights.
To top it all off, there's a clause in the bill which will allow it to be OK'd to pass this information to other non-governmental bodies (but fails to stipulate who) - scary huh!?
The surveillance state was just a beginning, welcome to our new Stasi nation (now with added corporate sponsorship)
Slashdot Mirror
Most uses of the word 'most' most of us have ever seen in most sentences.
...mostly!
Strangely, people that care about Logic HAVE to buy Apple products, because I don't think more recent versions of Logic have been released for Windows (now owned/written by Apple and it's the core of Garageband), and people that use Reason use either OS X or Windows as the installer is dual-platform.
So from a musician's perspective your argument is incorrect on both counts hehe ;P
Why should they? You have another player... you can already USE it with your mp3 collection. Just drag your music across to the player from your library.
That too hard for you? Then don't blame Apple for other products not working with iTunes. Blame the manufacturers of the other products for not making a media player that does everything iTunes can - if you had a decent media player program for your Zen (to pick a player's name out of the air as a 'for instance') written by Creative for your OS of choice which had options to organise your music collection and perhaps even a built-in music store for purchasing new tracks then you'd probably use it rather than iTunes. But they don't, so you can't - your beef should be with THEM, not Apple.
I don't get p*ssed off with Apple because my car's CD player has no iPod attachment - it's not their problem, it's Sony's problem.
And the missing bit of your 'correction' is "...until they realise they ARE allowed and it just involves ripping to CD to circumvent the restrictions. OR in fact, just deauthorising that one machine and authorising the other machine if it's running iTunes."
Alternatively, if they'd had all their music as DRM crippled WMA they really WOULD have been in trouble!
The only other thing I can think you are referring to is when iTunes asks you (during install) 'Do you want iTunes to search your hard drive for Music and add it to your library?' where you are presented with the options 'Yes, add music now' or 'No Thanks, I'll add them manually later'.
If you clicked 'Yes' then you'd have TOLD it to add music to your library (which would likely be in it's default open-source AAC format)... not really rocket science is it? Even then it wouldn't delete the original tracks, just copy them to the iTunes library location so you'd end up with two lots of files. Perhaps it's a lesson in learning to read those prompts on screen ;)
It only 'imported' your mp3s as AACs (I'm guessing you mean it converted them to AAC - an open source format not even written by Apple, unlike the proprietary format mp3s) because you told it to - and it DIDN'T ADD DRM. AAC's do NOT contain DRM unless it's added by Apple prior to downloading from iTMS, iTunes itself doesn't add the DRM. And on top of all that, it didn't delete your originals - iTunes just doesn't.
If you add mp3s to your collection by drag n drop it wouldn't convert their format anyway, it would just move them to your library folder and organise them for you (leaving the original files you added in their location). Only if you clicked 'convert to aac (or whatever format you chose as default)' in the menus would it change their format. You can specify library location, codec and bitrate etc etc etc in the preferences.
For someone who knows so much about DRM I would have thought you'd have learned to look a little deeper before condemning a piece of software for doing the things you've explicitly asked it to do - it's not like it tries to hide any of this from you (if you delete a track from the library in the iTunes window it even asks you if you want to keep the track or just move it to the trash - it then takes YOU to empty the trash afterwards to actually get rid of it). Come on - must try harder.
Add to that, iTunes is ALSO one of the free offerings. Apple have never charged anybody any money to download it. So a free player that allows people to also purchase music and sync with their player and it's a win-win package for most consumers IMHO.
I'm sorry, but you don't buy Apple PRODUCTS because of the DRM in AAC downloads from the iTMS? That's a strange logic.
The DRM isn't in their hardware, it's in a piece of software. ONE piece of software. You talk as though the whole OS restricts you from copying files to/from other machines - so that would make OS X server useful for WHAT exactly?
Just because you use one Apple product, you're not restricted to only buying Apple's products for other tasks. My Nokia phone works fine with my Mac - it syncs all my contacts, automatically opens iPhoto to copy all my photos and video and can be used via Bluetooth as a remote control. No problems there. My Zen player works just as well with my mp3 collection as my iPod - sure it's a little more involved to sync it, but it doesn't cripple it's operability in any way.
In fact, if anything I think Apple's computer hardware is one of the LEAST problematic for vendor lock-in. I have a Vaio laptop (it was given to me, not bought... wouldn't buy a piece of sh*t like that) that will ONLY run Windows - it just refuses point blank to get beyond a boot screen for any LiveCD I've tried to date. Now THAT'S hardware with restrictions. My Mac Mini on the other hand is setup and running with OS X, Ubuntu, XP and Vista without any hassle (apart from some issues in Ubuntu with the non-standard aspect ratio I'm running, easily solved).
Perhaps your wife isn't the audiophile that your are, so maybe wouldn't notice the difference in quality with a lossy encoded format like mp3 - especially if you encoded them at a high enough bitrate.
Might I suggest your easiest option is to batch-reencode your oggs to mp3s and have a more peaceful life (and happier wife) as a result? :)
You could always use an open source Front Row replacement that you can configure to access your music library from a very easy to use GUI. Haven't looked for them in a while, but 2 I found a while ago were iTheater and CentreStage (with the BackStage app for custom configs). Might be worth a Google to see how development is going.
But what exactly IS it about iTunes that you hate so much? The way it organises your library into a useful and fast resource to find and play your music, or the way it's easy to use for the average noob? ;p
...and their friend might well tell them just to burn their music tracks to CD and rip them back in to strip the DRM. They might think it's a pain in the arse, but they'll at least know how to get around the restrictions.
IMHO this is a damn sight better than SOME of the DRM employed by other companies which even lock out other operating systems (Windows MediaSlayer I'm looking at you)
That being said, Apple made a big hoo-hah about their DRM-free tracks (and the increased price tag... grrr), and I seem to recall they were claiming that they were going to offer more and more tracks without DRM which prompted many to assume they'd be dropping the practice not long after, but here we are many moons later and it's still the dominant practice for iTunes purchases. In fact, I'm not even sure how many tracks you can get on iTunes without DRM now.
Given enough bad press DRM will eventually go away, but it has to be made as public as possible in a sustained campaign for this to have any effect at all - or a cheap mp3 download service making a BIG deal of not having DRM and getting decent media coverage. Competition from a serious contender that the public begin flocking to (and away from iTMS) will be a more effective engine in driving Apple to drop the DRM in the long run. I don't think people are stupid enough to believe that mp3s they download from other sources can't be used with their shinyPod (despite the BBC's best efforts to repeatedly claim the iPod can ONLY play tracks from the iTMS and vice versa that tracks from the iTMS can only be played on the iPod).
Invisible Pink Unicorn perchance?
I think you'll find that statistically speaking most deaths tend to be on the descent of ANY mountain.
It's not just a medical condition, but quite often down to general lapses in concentration.
When you're pushing for the summit you're absolutely focussed on your goal and pay attention to every little detail. Once you've topped out and experienced the elation of making it it's very easy to let your mind relax as you descend, and combined with the tiredness it's more likely you'll make a mistake that can lead to a fall or other accident such as taking the wrong route - this happens to a lot of people on Ben Nevis where the route down isn't so obvious in winter.
...prior art = Bump Top 3D desktop?
It will also probably cost less to employ people to stand next to these numpties and punch them in the face every time they throw the wiimote at the telly. Eventually the message will be punched home to actually GRIP the wiimote and wear the strap!
eeeuuuggghhh! Anyone getting off THAT much from reading /. MUST be a full time slashdotter.
1% from Coffee? Are you kidding?
In reality, the figures they're talking about in TFA would last the US alone a couple days or so at 2005's consumption levels - average 22 million barrels per day (bpd) petroleum, 4.1m bpd diesel! That's BARRELS per day, not GALLONS per day
IMHO I think that what we really need is to stop consuming so much shit and rethink our infrastructures and ways of living if we're going to ride this one out. Too much town/city planning is oriented towards the car - shops located in retail parks (some without any sort of pavement for pedestrian access), business parks built miles from residential areas. It's all backwards and unsustainable. If we redesigned the way we live and travel we wouldn't need to find anywhere near as many 'substitute' energy sources in the first place.
I'd argue that Windows never 'marginalised' the Mac - ever. The Mac boomed into a massively used computer in it's niche markets (the creative industries) and has never been usurped in those industries by Windows - if anything Windows is hugley marginalised in that market sector. The fact that Windows grew into a more widely distributed operating system than MacOS overall doesn't mean the Mac was ever marginalised, it merely didn't expand into other markets with as much vigour (mainly down to accountants looking at the massive initial purchase costs of Macs back in the day and deciding instead to buy a load of cheap PC's running Windows).
The trouble with the 'polls' you mention is that they are more often than not engineered to produce certain results through the careful choice and wording of the questions - framing the discussion. If you try to discuss issues outside of the officially sanctioned framework you're dismissed by the mainstream media as a loony, militant, conspiracy theorist or terrorist. This ensures that the media can widely disseminate the results of these polls safe in the knowledge they'll reflect the preordained outcome.
One classic example of this kind of poll question would be something like: "When did you stop beating your wife?" (A) A month ago, (B) Last week, (C) Yesterday. There is no answer (D) I have never beaten my wife.
The answers in that example would all suggest a widespread problem of wifebeating with no alternative viewpoint. It's like the leading questions asked by the BBC's 'Have Your Say' forum on their website - you're lucky if a comment you make to question the validity of the original proposition ever makes it past the moderators.
In response to your final 3 words (modern, free society), can I point you to this article by Mark Steel? ;D
That's exactly what they've been trying to do with National ID cards. They then switched tactics (when defeated by the unelected House of Lords for gawds sake!) to a plan to require biometric drivers licences in the future. Not sure when or even if this is still coming in, but it'll extend the amount of data from that already held on RFID passports.
They love the idea of RFID'd cards for some reason even though it's borked tech.
People who argue against their own rights never fail to amaze me. The only logical explanation is that due to the phallus on their forehead they don't consider themselves humans!
The governments in the EU aren't actually democratically elected. If they were then a government could not exist if just over a third of the voters (the ones who weren't so jaded that they bothered to vote) voted for them. Remember, they only got 37% of the vote - and voter turnout was particularly low, so it's not 37% of eligible voters. Minority rule.
We have no true representation in the UK. It's a sham democracy where your only tantalising hint of involvement is once every so many years. Try asking an MP to represent the majority view of their constituents over ANY issue that runs against party lines and see how much representation you get in Parliament. Especially if your MP is a member of the cabinet.
Anyone remember the world's biggest ever protest in London against the Iraq war? Personally I only knew 1 person who actually thought we should go to war, and he's an admitted racist. Everyone else I know (including members of the armed services who tell me all their colleagues were anti-war too) was against it - so how much 'democracy' did we have over one of the most important decisions our elected 'representatives' could make? Rhetorical question I know, but you get the picture...
Tuttle != Buttle
For as long as they're right wing Tory bar-stewards continuing the Thatcherite rape and pillage of the working classes!
Note to mods - this isn't polemic, it's documented fact ;)**
**for reference see the latest NuStasi attempts to reduce benefits payments to single mothers who have a 1 year-old child by 40% if they're not 'actively seeking work and can demonstrate a clear plan of action to this end'
Me too... DOH, I DO!!! :(
And following the usual patterns of copying bad things from the states, police are to be issued with tasers over here too.
Actually, they already have them, but only firearms officers (who receive the requisite training for handling all firearms that normal officers don't) can currently use them, but that's set to change soon.
So expect to see deaths in police custody on the increase.
In the usual fascist Home Secretary model, the current one Jacqui Smith is particularly vile. She's constantly 'disappointed' when her evil schemes to subjugate us are thwarted. First it was their defeated ID cards scheme, now this judgement.
To get around this (the ID card/DNA debacle), she's currently trying to push new legislation through (hidden in another bill) to open up private information allowing every government department access to your records from another department. So the DVLA (Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority) will be able to gain access to your financial history, medical records, education history... anything. As will the police, benefits departments, you name it. Currently to do this it needs to be passed by parliamentary oversight, but the new legislation will allow this with the OK of a single minister on a whim. This government have a horrible track record for their inability to keep data safe, so this is a nightmare waiting to happen even forgetting the massive breach of rights.
To top it all off, there's a clause in the bill which will allow it to be OK'd to pass this information to other non-governmental bodies (but fails to stipulate who) - scary huh!?
The surveillance state was just a beginning, welcome to our new Stasi nation (now with added corporate sponsorship)