"I think a more accurate statement is that they are *used to* two button mice. I use a PC at work (say 8 hours/day) and a Mac at home (say 1 hour a day) on a daily basis."
I use PCs mostly, and Macs. The single button on the mice infuriates me to no end. I like to use scroll wheels when I'm reading web pages, and I like to use the right mouse button to right click to open up other browser windows as tabs in either FireFox or Safari. And during that time, I don't want my hand to be on the keyboard so that I can replicate what I can do with one hand on a two button + scroll wheel mouse.
It also bugs me that the right button option apparently doesn't work in Yahoo Messenger on OS X. I don't like having to do the whole "control + c" to copy text from a Messenger chat session window to paste elsewhere.
But yes, there are some that do prefer the single button.
"Being that Deutsche Telekom has been rumoured to be shopping around T-Mobile, this could be the property Apple should be looking in."
There's yet another reason for Apple to be looking at T-Mobile USA, even if it is only for a 50% acquisition/partnership. The reason being the T-Mobile "Hot Spot" network. And who is the big corporation with thousands of locations partnered up with T-Mobile on this and proudly displaying their logo on their doors? Yep, you guess it, Starbucks.
Bet you thought I was going to say "Frank Stallone" in some weird homage to Norm Macdonald, weren't ya?
The other reason to do so is to have gorgeous Catherine Zeta Jones as a spokeswoman for Apple. Yep, that's something to bite into...:)
"A Wal-Mart offering would most likely be targeted at value-oriented and credit-challenged prepaid customers looking for the best price."
What, Wal-Mart wants to steal away Sprint's customer base?
Geez. That's one thing I don't miss about Sprint. Going into the Sprint store and witnessing the allegedly drug dealing thugs trying to pay their mobile phone bills with cash.
Granted, I don't know which is worse for society these days...thugs or monopolies like SBC. I think I had a better signal with Sprint in Sacramento than I currently do with Cingular. Then again, maybe this town's geography just is GSM-unfriendly.
"even just the rumor of this might be enough to spur the current American cell providers to offer internet service somebody might actually find useful..."
Probably not a good thing to bet on. The last time we had the chance of having a real mobile phone company enter the American market and offer innovation was when Vodaphone was interested in buying up AT&T Wireless (and thus dumping their - Vodaphone - interest in Verizon Wireless). Unfortunately, SBC used its huge pile of monopoly gained fortune and outbid Vodaphone. And thus people like me, who switched to AT&T Wireless to get away from the idiots at Cingular, got screwed over.
Cingular's idea of innovation is to:
1. Treat existing AT&T Wireless customers as non-Cingular customers so they can charge an $18 upgrade fee when buying a new Cingular phone claiming its a new network we are joining when AT&T Wireless and Cingular had shared their existing network. Its fraud.
2. Turning around and claiming that AT&T Wireless customers are existing Cingular customers in order to restrict the "new customer" discount on new mobile phone purchases. Again, fraud.
Do you get the feeling I really hate Cingular (or more importantly, SBC)?:0
Cingular really deserves a large class-action lawsuit leveled against it.
"Odd statement, considering that phones which interoperate with iTunes have already been spotted in the wild."
That article (and all the other places that linked to it) sucks. It doesn't mention which existing Motorola phones are recognized by iTunes. And I'm not going to go buy a RAZR just to test it. I would buy a RAZR if I knew ahead of time if iTunes recognized it.
"They create a mobile iTunes software that can work with the phones for just about any manufacturer and try to get some contracts with Verizon, Cellular One, and the other big companies."
From what I've read, iTunes Mobile is Java based. Apple could really piss off the mobile phone companies by offering it as a free download through the iTunes Music Store and then have links to the Apple store to sell the various cables for the different mobile phones so people could hook up their non-Bluetooth phones to their machines and start the downloading madness. And with that, it would be a one-two punch to the various mobile phone companies (that means you, Sprint and Verizon) that won't play nice with Jobs. Say goodbye to $2.50 ringtones.
"So you could do what... "type" entries by scrolling through letters one at a time with the wheel? What good is having a PDA OS on a device with essentially no input?"
Kensington makes a Bluetooth iPod adapter. Bundle an Apple branded version with a Bluetooth enabled thumbpad keyboard. For future iPods, they could make the screen larger and offer a separate stylus if the screens were touch sensitive.
But there are also wired remotes for the iPod currently. A wired keyboard would also be doable.
"This is a big market for a company to jump into. Apple may be doing well, but they are no Virgin or Walt Disney, and they don't have those kind of resources."
Apple has $5 billion in the bank and very little (or no) corporate debt at this point. Apple can do what it wants, and if it wants to enter the mobile market in the U.S., whether or not it means using Sprint's or Cingular's network, Apple will.
Sheesh, Apple has a better shot of being successful in the market than Virgin does/did. The teen market and the techies would jump at the chance to have an Apple branded phone to complement their iPods. Just imagine what an iPod/Sidekick combo would do in the marketplace.
And...continuing...Apple is a lot more credible for a mobile phone company than Walt Disney. After all, where's the corporate brain power at Disney thinking about marketing mobile phones to families where the under-12 would be using the phones? Almost all the health studies about mobile phones have stressed than pre-teens should not use the devices. Disney would be setting itself up for a giant class action lawsuit within 10 years if they went ahead with this program, leading to Disney's stock being flushed down Eisner's toilet and Disney itself becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.
"Apple continues to do absolutely everything possible to do everything they can except enter the PDA market."
And this is what really bugs me. I'd like to have true PDA function on my iPod. I'd prefer the PDA convergence be with MP3 players than with phones. I would love to see Apple have an option to download a new version of Newton, mini-OS X, or PalmOS onto the iPods. They'd go from 0% to 70% of the PDA market almost immediately with such a move.
Hell, come to think of it, I really wish Sony would offer PalmOS as an optional download for the PSP, considering how WIFI capable it is, and such a pretty screen to boot.
"Who actually listens to music on their cellphone anyway? When's the last time a company built a cellphone just for the purpose of making and receiving calls?"
Speak for yourself. While I don't want to listen to music on my mobile phone in order to replace my separate iPod (because it would eat up the mobile phone's batteries too much - a fact Nokia can't wrap their heads around), I do want it to be able to use iTunes AAC+Fairplay tracks as ringtones. And I'm not alone in this wish that needs to be granted.
"I've always said I want a Cell-Phone/iPod/PDA all in one unit. Looks like it's almost time to empty out my bank account and truly become an Apple Fanboy!:)"
I want an iTunes capable phone, but I won't be buying it if Motorola makes it in a "candybar" form instead of the more popular "flip phone" style. From personal experience, I've received stronger signals from the flip phones. Motorola should bring out a RAZR 2.0 phone with more physical memory, an SD (or whatever) flash memory slot, and iTunes/AAC+Fairplay compatible phone. I might not want to buy tunes over the mobile network, but I certainly want to use my iTunes tracks as ringtones.
Issuing a "candybar" phone to the public at this point reminds me of Atari bringing the Falcon computer to the market in the old school 1040ST case when probably 90% of the interested buyers wanted the machine manufactured in a separate case/detached keyboard like the MegaST/STE & TT lines were. I'm sure the Amiga fanboys on here would also agree with the sentiment in relation to the Amiga 500 and 600 models... But I digress...:)
"This is about as likely as Apple switching to Intel x86 chips... oh.. wait."
Or marketing a flash-based iPod.
Now if they'd only finally bring out a two button + scroll wheel mouse standard for their Macs!*:)
*Before I get flamed, let me explain my statement. It is my belief that if Apple finally brought out a two button + scroll wheel mouse, coupled with the always reliable style of Apple, Apple would pick up a lot of sales to the PC market and steal away marketshare from both Logitech and Microsoft, not to mention halt the trend of Mac users buying two button mice from the two previously mentioned companies. My argument has nothing to do with the fact that Mac OS and OS X are designed with the simplicity of a single mouse button in mind. I'm not mocking that; I'm only stating for the record that the vast majority of computer users prefer two button mice and Apple would be wise to begrudgingly accept this and market another sure-fire profitable item for all of us. Especially since Apple seems to understand Bluetooth the best out of all the manufacturers I've mentioned in my rant.
"I don't know anyone who buys downloadable music online. I was just wondering if I could hear some pro arguaments about downloadable music against actually having the CD. (I know you don't technically own the music, but it's still there in your hands and I feel that means something.)"
I do. But mainly through Pepsi/Mountain Dew and 7Eleven promotions.
I don't like buying CDs because often times, I only want one song. Buying that one song online "rewards" the artist a little, but definitely more than downloading that same song via a P2P network. Buying music online also will hasten the demise of the CD, and hopefully increase the strength of Apple to negotiate the fees the RIAA charges, or ultimately cuts the RIAA/labels out since artists would not longer need those middle-men if all music were commercially available online. Buying the CD only props up the RIAA's business model with sales statistics. Plus, I listen to music through my iPod, and it seems like every music label is trying to thwart the person's legal right to back up their media purchase and/or convert/transfer the music over to a more portable digital format such as MP3, OGG, or unencrypted AAC (FLAC, ALAC, etc.).
"Spoken like a true Slashdotter. Get with the programme dolt; you can give the other 9 to friends. Maybe even a girl that you sorta like."
Or you could trade one iPod Mini for 30 minutes with a quality escort. Not that I would know from experience, but judging from the prices quoted on Craigslist it is accurate estimation...:)
"So kill off Ham...the only communication medium that was going after the Blackout last year...not to mention 9/11 after the cell phone network got jammed and of course the recent Tsunami."
Your made a statement, but not a point. Did the Federal Government depend upon your HAM radio to get the word out about 9/11? I'd be willing to bet they did not. Could the Federal Government use your spectrum for emergency and national security concerns? Yes. Does the Federal Government outweigh your right to use radio spectrum to speak to an extremely small number of people around the world that totals less than Vonage's VOIP subscriber base? Yes.
The last time I checked, I did not depend on my news being filtered to me by my neighbor during power outtages. A simple $20 radio and some batteries will suffice. An APC UPS can also power my television so it can receive news during a national crisis during a blackout as well. And my neighbor also does not have a HAM radio...nor does the large number of neighbors of Americans either.
The point is, your right to operate an amateur radio does not outweigh the right of countless other people in this country to afforable high-speed communication of the 21st Century. Broadband is crucial to the economy of our nation and its security as well. HAM radio is not.
"Also, in case you want to take your foot out of your mouth about this "primitive" communication system, I suggest you actually read up on the hobby first."
A hobby does not outweigh a national interest. And arguing about your form of communication is about as constructive as a bike messenger trying to ban fax machines.
"isn't one enough? I'd gladly trade in the extra 9 for more songs."
For more songs? Over, say, a free iBook?
The last time I checked, questions of legality and morality aside, you can download songs from P2P. You cannot, however, download a free iBook from P2P.
"Don't go there...if you look at the history of Slashdot they're anti-Ham radio for the most part. Their reasoning is why stop progress for something that only 600,000 people in the country do. You know, the needs of the many outway the needs of the few. Ham is very useful, but try telling that here. Expect to be flooded with people with these sentiments, and I hope I'm wrong about that."
If broadband can be delivered to the masses cheaply via the power grid without damaging WIFI and Bluetooth in the process, then by all means kill HAM in the process. I've seen posts in this thread about the *open source* nature of HAM, but giving email and net access to the "less fortune" (or the people who aren't less fortunate but based upon geography are shut out on traditional broadband) is more along the lines of democratic principles than upholding a "primitive" communication system that requires certification and specialized equipment and used by less than 1 million people.
This is similar to the argument that people (and broadcast networks) are making about retaining the analog television spectrum instead of ditching it and adopting digital SD/HD broadcasting. I am not going to cry about that either. Instead, I will buy an HDTV since they are now currently under $900 for a 32" widescreen and smaller.
And in terms of personal opinion, I'd say the BBS/Fidonet is/was cooler than HAM, but in no way am I surrendering my broadband and going back to 56k or less over the phone line as well as saying goodbye to the richness of the net as a whole.
"Source? When did Puff Daddy say he invented the internet? Also the man graduated from college. He runs a music business. Thats as far away from a thug as one can get."
You can find more by doing a Google Search on the title/lyric "we invented the remix."
As for the business savvy of Combs, just remember that business degrees do not teach people to use baseball bats on your business partners in order that they sign away their 50% ownership in your business directly to you for free.
Point is, Combs is a thug-wannabe and deserves to be locked up just like Suge Knight, not rewarded with a fat contract with McDonalds.
Here's an article on the potential McDonald's contract:
Well, at least that's what Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Sean John/Sean "Puffy" Combs or whatever the tool calls himself today claims.
Even worse, McDonald's is going to pay him money to redesign the McDonald's employee uniforms. If you too are dismayed at the "family friendly" McDonald's paying money to a thug wanna-be to make their clothing hip, please contact McDonald's Corporate and complain.
"However, for all the grandstanding of the media companies in the US, the real "piracy" (actually, a very bad term) problem they face is in the far east. The problem is not people downloading low-resolution copies of movies (which doesn't cost them much business), but entire factories which churn out illegally copied DVDs, and people who buy the cheap fakes rather than the expensive originals."
Well, speaking as someone that has had "Star Wars Episode III" in DVD format for over a month now - and its not the video camera copy - I'd say it is potentially a big problem. However, I just have it for "geek cred," since I've seen the film four times (non movie-hopping, paid each time) at the theatre now so I'm not hurting Lucasfilm/Fox at all and I'm not sharing the copy either. Although I must confess that I'd rather wait for the Blu-Ray release instead of buying the DVD release later this year, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I have the leaked copy already and more the fact that Blu-Ray will be in release next year and that's not a long wait at all. Of course, that's assuming Episode III will be one of the first titles Fox brings to Blu-Ray format next year.
"Bad movies, on the other hand, have a hard time drumming up rentals if they really bombed in the theater. ("Catwoman" is a great example. I personally thought it wasn't half as bad as people made it out to be -- but are you going to spend your money on it?)"
That is true about "bad" movies, but overlooked gems that failed at the box office usually find a very profitable home from home video/DVD sales/rentals. Just look at the examples of "Blade Runner," "Big Trouble in Little China," "Fight Club," "Blade," and "Austin Powers." In the cases of "Blade" and "Austin Powers", both of those titles' strengths in home video influenced New Line into making sequels. "Office Space" has made enough money from its home video/DVD release to merit a sequel, although there isn't a lot of buzz about it other than the studio is interested.
"Personally, my beef with TV is that good shows are getting cancelled because the terrible ratings system focuses on the cream of the ratings crop rather than what has the most potential to grow. They're focusing on empty ratings at the cost of long-term success."
My advice to you is since you don't like the Nielsen ratings system, then buy yourself a TiVo and turn on the "aggregate viewing data reporting."
At some point, advertisers and the networks will ditch the Nielsen system. After all, which do you think is more accurate and representative of the American viewing public...6,000 Nielsen homes reporting what they want on pencil and paper or 2 million + (and growing) TiVo subscribers whose machines accurately report everything watched, everything paused and repeated, and which commercials are viewed or skipped?
Personally, TiVo's aggregate reporting feature was the reason why I originally picked the TiVo Series 1 machine (by Philips) over the ReplayTV units, because I despise the Nielsens that much...for keeping television programs on such as CBS's "Touched by an Angel" while influencing the WB to cancelling "Angel."
Universities should not be wasting money on services like these. It is a waste of money that could be pumped into, I dunno, education? Its even more of a waste considering the majority of students won't even use the service either, considering the students want an *MP3* player, they can get a student discount on an iPod at the campus Apple store...not to mention getting an iPod Mini free if they buy an iBook. That transfers the burden on the students and not the university itself.
Regardless, the campus IT departments should simply block ports on their networks disabling P2P usage, and ban/restrict students caught using P2P programs. Taking a proactive approach would also most likely shield the universities from a court action by the RIAA or the MPAA by consistently showing the university is not negligently tolerating piracy on their networks. That is a better approach than forking over a blank check to Dell and Napster for hardware/services that won't even be used by the majority of students.
I think I shall contact the alumni center of my ol' university (UC Davis) and vent my displeasure over any such offer that might've been put forth by Dell and Napster.
Slashdot Mirror
"I think a more accurate statement is that they are *used to* two button mice. I use a PC at work (say 8 hours/day) and a Mac at home (say 1 hour a day) on a daily basis."
I use PCs mostly, and Macs. The single button on the mice infuriates me to no end. I like to use scroll wheels when I'm reading web pages, and I like to use the right mouse button to right click to open up other browser windows as tabs in either FireFox or Safari. And during that time, I don't want my hand to be on the keyboard so that I can replicate what I can do with one hand on a two button + scroll wheel mouse.
It also bugs me that the right button option apparently doesn't work in Yahoo Messenger on OS X. I don't like having to do the whole "control + c" to copy text from a Messenger chat session window to paste elsewhere.
But yes, there are some that do prefer the single button.
"Being that Deutsche Telekom has been rumoured to be shopping around T-Mobile, this could be the property Apple should be looking in."
:)
There's yet another reason for Apple to be looking at T-Mobile USA, even if it is only for a 50% acquisition/partnership. The reason being the T-Mobile "Hot Spot" network. And who is the big corporation with thousands of locations partnered up with T-Mobile on this and proudly displaying their logo on their doors? Yep, you guess it, Starbucks.
Bet you thought I was going to say "Frank Stallone" in some weird homage to Norm Macdonald, weren't ya?
The other reason to do so is to have gorgeous Catherine Zeta Jones as a spokeswoman for Apple. Yep, that's something to bite into...
Sorry....I meant to spell it as *Vodafone.*
Gotta remember to incorrectly spell words to give respect to corporate brand names and identities.
"A Wal-Mart offering would most likely be targeted at value-oriented and credit-challenged prepaid customers looking for the best price."
What, Wal-Mart wants to steal away Sprint's customer base?
Geez. That's one thing I don't miss about Sprint. Going into the Sprint store and witnessing the allegedly drug dealing thugs trying to pay their mobile phone bills with cash.
Granted, I don't know which is worse for society these days...thugs or monopolies like SBC. I think I had a better signal with Sprint in Sacramento than I currently do with Cingular. Then again, maybe this town's geography just is GSM-unfriendly.
"even just the rumor of this might be enough to spur the current American cell providers to offer internet service somebody might actually find useful..."
:0
Probably not a good thing to bet on. The last time we had the chance of having a real mobile phone company enter the American market and offer innovation was when Vodaphone was interested in buying up AT&T Wireless (and thus dumping their - Vodaphone - interest in Verizon Wireless). Unfortunately, SBC used its huge pile of monopoly gained fortune and outbid Vodaphone. And thus people like me, who switched to AT&T Wireless to get away from the idiots at Cingular, got screwed over.
Cingular's idea of innovation is to:
1. Treat existing AT&T Wireless customers as non-Cingular customers so they can charge an $18 upgrade fee when buying a new Cingular phone claiming its a new network we are joining when AT&T Wireless and Cingular had shared their existing network. Its fraud.
2. Turning around and claiming that AT&T Wireless customers are existing Cingular customers in order to restrict the "new customer" discount on new mobile phone purchases. Again, fraud.
Do you get the feeling I really hate Cingular (or more importantly, SBC)?
Cingular really deserves a large class-action lawsuit leveled against it.
"Odd statement, considering that phones which interoperate with iTunes have already been spotted in the wild."
That article (and all the other places that linked to it) sucks. It doesn't mention which existing Motorola phones are recognized by iTunes. And I'm not going to go buy a RAZR just to test it. I would buy a RAZR if I knew ahead of time if iTunes recognized it.
"They create a mobile iTunes software that can work with the phones for just about any manufacturer and try to get some contracts with Verizon, Cellular One, and the other big companies."
From what I've read, iTunes Mobile is Java based. Apple could really piss off the mobile phone companies by offering it as a free download through the iTunes Music Store and then have links to the Apple store to sell the various cables for the different mobile phones so people could hook up their non-Bluetooth phones to their machines and start the downloading madness. And with that, it would be a one-two punch to the various mobile phone companies (that means you, Sprint and Verizon) that won't play nice with Jobs. Say goodbye to $2.50 ringtones.
"So you could do what... "type" entries by scrolling through letters one at a time with the wheel? What good is having a PDA OS on a device with essentially no input?"
Kensington makes a Bluetooth iPod adapter. Bundle an Apple branded version with a Bluetooth enabled thumbpad keyboard. For future iPods, they could make the screen larger and offer a separate stylus if the screens were touch sensitive.
But there are also wired remotes for the iPod currently. A wired keyboard would also be doable.
"This is a big market for a company to jump into. Apple may be doing well, but they are no Virgin or Walt Disney, and they don't have those kind of resources."
Apple has $5 billion in the bank and very little (or no) corporate debt at this point. Apple can do what it wants, and if it wants to enter the mobile market in the U.S., whether or not it means using Sprint's or Cingular's network, Apple will.
Sheesh, Apple has a better shot of being successful in the market than Virgin does/did. The teen market and the techies would jump at the chance to have an Apple branded phone to complement their iPods. Just imagine what an iPod/Sidekick combo would do in the marketplace.
And...continuing...Apple is a lot more credible for a mobile phone company than Walt Disney. After all, where's the corporate brain power at Disney thinking about marketing mobile phones to families where the under-12 would be using the phones? Almost all the health studies about mobile phones have stressed than pre-teens should not use the devices. Disney would be setting itself up for a giant class action lawsuit within 10 years if they went ahead with this program, leading to Disney's stock being flushed down Eisner's toilet and Disney itself becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.
"Apple continues to do absolutely everything possible to do everything they can except enter the PDA market."
And this is what really bugs me. I'd like to have true PDA function on my iPod. I'd prefer the PDA convergence be with MP3 players than with phones. I would love to see Apple have an option to download a new version of Newton, mini-OS X, or PalmOS onto the iPods. They'd go from 0% to 70% of the PDA market almost immediately with such a move.
Hell, come to think of it, I really wish Sony would offer PalmOS as an optional download for the PSP, considering how WIFI capable it is, and such a pretty screen to boot.
"Who actually listens to music on their cellphone anyway? When's the last time a company built a cellphone just for the purpose of making and receiving calls?"
Speak for yourself. While I don't want to listen to music on my mobile phone in order to replace my separate iPod (because it would eat up the mobile phone's batteries too much - a fact Nokia can't wrap their heads around), I do want it to be able to use iTunes AAC+Fairplay tracks as ringtones. And I'm not alone in this wish that needs to be granted.
"I've always said I want a Cell-Phone/iPod/PDA all in one unit. Looks like it's almost time to empty out my bank account and truly become an Apple Fanboy! :)"
:)
I want an iTunes capable phone, but I won't be buying it if Motorola makes it in a "candybar" form instead of the more popular "flip phone" style. From personal experience, I've received stronger signals from the flip phones. Motorola should bring out a RAZR 2.0 phone with more physical memory, an SD (or whatever) flash memory slot, and iTunes/AAC+Fairplay compatible phone. I might not want to buy tunes over the mobile network, but I certainly want to use my iTunes tracks as ringtones.
Issuing a "candybar" phone to the public at this point reminds me of Atari bringing the Falcon computer to the market in the old school 1040ST case when probably 90% of the interested buyers wanted the machine manufactured in a separate case/detached keyboard like the MegaST/STE & TT lines were. I'm sure the Amiga fanboys on here would also agree with the sentiment in relation to the Amiga 500 and 600 models... But I digress...
"This is about as likely as Apple switching to Intel x86 chips... oh.. wait."
:)
Or marketing a flash-based iPod.
Now if they'd only finally bring out a two button + scroll wheel mouse standard for their Macs!*
*Before I get flamed, let me explain my statement. It is my belief that if Apple finally brought out a two button + scroll wheel mouse, coupled with the always reliable style of Apple, Apple would pick up a lot of sales to the PC market and steal away marketshare from both Logitech and Microsoft, not to mention halt the trend of Mac users buying two button mice from the two previously mentioned companies. My argument has nothing to do with the fact that Mac OS and OS X are designed with the simplicity of a single mouse button in mind. I'm not mocking that; I'm only stating for the record that the vast majority of computer users prefer two button mice and Apple would be wise to begrudgingly accept this and market another sure-fire profitable item for all of us. Especially since Apple seems to understand Bluetooth the best out of all the manufacturers I've mentioned in my rant.
"I don't know anyone who buys downloadable music online. I was just wondering if I could hear some pro arguaments about downloadable music against actually having the CD. (I know you don't technically own the music, but it's still there in your hands and I feel that means something.)"
I do. But mainly through Pepsi/Mountain Dew and 7Eleven promotions.
I don't like buying CDs because often times, I only want one song. Buying that one song online "rewards" the artist a little, but definitely more than downloading that same song via a P2P network. Buying music online also will hasten the demise of the CD, and hopefully increase the strength of Apple to negotiate the fees the RIAA charges, or ultimately cuts the RIAA/labels out since artists would not longer need those middle-men if all music were commercially available online. Buying the CD only props up the RIAA's business model with sales statistics. Plus, I listen to music through my iPod, and it seems like every music label is trying to thwart the person's legal right to back up their media purchase and/or convert/transfer the music over to a more portable digital format such as MP3, OGG, or unencrypted AAC (FLAC, ALAC, etc.).
"Spoken like a true Slashdotter. Get with the programme dolt; you can give the other 9 to friends. Maybe even a girl that you sorta like."
:)
Or you could trade one iPod Mini for 30 minutes with a quality escort. Not that I would know from experience, but judging from the prices quoted on Craigslist it is accurate estimation...
"So kill off Ham...the only communication medium that was going after the Blackout last year...not to mention 9/11 after the cell phone network got jammed and of course the recent Tsunami."
Your made a statement, but not a point. Did the Federal Government depend upon your HAM radio to get the word out about 9/11? I'd be willing to bet they did not. Could the Federal Government use your spectrum for emergency and national security concerns? Yes. Does the Federal Government outweigh your right to use radio spectrum to speak to an extremely small number of people around the world that totals less than Vonage's VOIP subscriber base? Yes.
The last time I checked, I did not depend on my news being filtered to me by my neighbor during power outtages. A simple $20 radio and some batteries will suffice. An APC UPS can also power my television so it can receive news during a national crisis during a blackout as well. And my neighbor also does not have a HAM radio...nor does the large number of neighbors of Americans either.
The point is, your right to operate an amateur radio does not outweigh the right of countless other people in this country to afforable high-speed communication of the 21st Century. Broadband is crucial to the economy of our nation and its security as well. HAM radio is not.
"Also, in case you want to take your foot out of your mouth about this "primitive" communication system, I suggest you actually read up on the hobby first."
A hobby does not outweigh a national interest. And arguing about your form of communication is about as constructive as a bike messenger trying to ban fax machines.
"isn't one enough? I'd gladly trade in the extra 9 for more songs."
For more songs? Over, say, a free iBook?
The last time I checked, questions of legality and morality aside, you can download songs from P2P. You cannot, however, download a free iBook from P2P.
"A use for all those free songs I had saved up from Mountain Dew bottles!"
I hope you cashed in your credits and downloaded those songs already because if not, they expired.
There's a new promotion on 40oz (or is it 33oz?) Slurpee cups at 7Eleven until the end of this month. Have at it.
"Don't go there...if you look at the history of Slashdot they're anti-Ham radio for the most part. Their reasoning is why stop progress for something that only 600,000 people in the country do. You know, the needs of the many outway the needs of the few.
Ham is very useful, but try telling that here. Expect to be flooded with people with these sentiments, and I hope I'm wrong about that."
If broadband can be delivered to the masses cheaply via the power grid without damaging WIFI and Bluetooth in the process, then by all means kill HAM in the process. I've seen posts in this thread about the *open source* nature of HAM, but giving email and net access to the "less fortune" (or the people who aren't less fortunate but based upon geography are shut out on traditional broadband) is more along the lines of democratic principles than upholding a "primitive" communication system that requires certification and specialized equipment and used by less than 1 million people.
This is similar to the argument that people (and broadcast networks) are making about retaining the analog television spectrum instead of ditching it and adopting digital SD/HD broadcasting. I am not going to cry about that either. Instead, I will buy an HDTV since they are now currently under $900 for a 32" widescreen and smaller.
And in terms of personal opinion, I'd say the BBS/Fidonet is/was cooler than HAM, but in no way am I surrendering my broadband and going back to 56k or less over the phone line as well as saying goodbye to the richness of the net as a whole.
"Source? When did Puff Daddy say he invented the internet?
/ explore-items/-/B000065CT3/0/101/1/none/purchase/r ef%3Dpd_sxp_r0/102-9077773-6790560
Also the man graduated from college. He runs a music business. Thats as far away from a thug as one can get."
I said the thug claims he invented the remix.
Source? Try here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/sim-explorer
You can find more by doing a Google Search on the title/lyric "we invented the remix."
As for the business savvy of Combs, just remember that business degrees do not teach people to use baseball bats on your business partners in order that they sign away their 50% ownership in your business directly to you for free.
Point is, Combs is a thug-wannabe and deserves to be locked up just like Suge Knight, not rewarded with a fat contract with McDonalds.
Here's an article on the potential McDonald's contract:
http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2005/07/0602.cfm
Well, at least that's what Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Sean John/Sean "Puffy" Combs or whatever the tool calls himself today claims.
Even worse, McDonald's is going to pay him money to redesign the McDonald's employee uniforms. If you too are dismayed at the "family friendly" McDonald's paying money to a thug wanna-be to make their clothing hip, please contact McDonald's Corporate and complain.
"However, for all the grandstanding of the media companies in the US, the real "piracy" (actually, a very bad term) problem they face is in the far east. The problem is not people downloading low-resolution copies of movies (which doesn't cost them much business), but entire factories which churn out illegally copied DVDs, and people who buy the cheap fakes rather than the expensive originals."
Well, speaking as someone that has had "Star Wars Episode III" in DVD format for over a month now - and its not the video camera copy - I'd say it is potentially a big problem. However, I just have it for "geek cred," since I've seen the film four times (non movie-hopping, paid each time) at the theatre now so I'm not hurting Lucasfilm/Fox at all and I'm not sharing the copy either. Although I must confess that I'd rather wait for the Blu-Ray release instead of buying the DVD release later this year, but that has nothing to do with the fact that I have the leaked copy already and more the fact that Blu-Ray will be in release next year and that's not a long wait at all. Of course, that's assuming Episode III will be one of the first titles Fox brings to Blu-Ray format next year.
"Bad movies, on the other hand, have a hard time drumming up rentals if they really bombed in the theater. ("Catwoman" is a great example. I personally thought it wasn't half as bad as people made it out to be -- but are you going to spend your money on it?)"
That is true about "bad" movies, but overlooked gems that failed at the box office usually find a very profitable home from home video/DVD sales/rentals. Just look at the examples of "Blade Runner," "Big Trouble in Little China," "Fight Club," "Blade," and "Austin Powers." In the cases of "Blade" and "Austin Powers", both of those titles' strengths in home video influenced New Line into making sequels. "Office Space" has made enough money from its home video/DVD release to merit a sequel, although there isn't a lot of buzz about it other than the studio is interested.
"Personally, my beef with TV is that good shows are getting cancelled because the terrible ratings system focuses on the cream of the ratings crop rather than what has the most potential to grow. They're focusing on empty ratings at the cost of long-term success."
My advice to you is since you don't like the Nielsen ratings system, then buy yourself a TiVo and turn on the "aggregate viewing data reporting."
At some point, advertisers and the networks will ditch the Nielsen system. After all, which do you think is more accurate and representative of the American viewing public...6,000 Nielsen homes reporting what they want on pencil and paper or 2 million + (and growing) TiVo subscribers whose machines accurately report everything watched, everything paused and repeated, and which commercials are viewed or skipped?
Personally, TiVo's aggregate reporting feature was the reason why I originally picked the TiVo Series 1 machine (by Philips) over the ReplayTV units, because I despise the Nielsens that much...for keeping television programs on such as CBS's "Touched by an Angel" while influencing the WB to cancelling "Angel."
Universities should not be wasting money on services like these. It is a waste of money that could be pumped into, I dunno, education? Its even more of a waste considering the majority of students won't even use the service either, considering the students want an *MP3* player, they can get a student discount on an iPod at the campus Apple store...not to mention getting an iPod Mini free if they buy an iBook. That transfers the burden on the students and not the university itself.
Regardless, the campus IT departments should simply block ports on their networks disabling P2P usage, and ban/restrict students caught using P2P programs. Taking a proactive approach would also most likely shield the universities from a court action by the RIAA or the MPAA by consistently showing the university is not negligently tolerating piracy on their networks. That is a better approach than forking over a blank check to Dell and Napster for hardware/services that won't even be used by the majority of students.
I think I shall contact the alumni center of my ol' university (UC Davis) and vent my displeasure over any such offer that might've been put forth by Dell and Napster.