You described the advantage of selling MP3 as reduced costs, no packaging etc etc, and then you go on to try to figure out ways of adding extra things. I sense some confusion.
Dude, sell the music. Only. And sell it track by track, not per album.
If you want to be fussy about it, you could add some header info or better yet some bit overlayed (post encoding) purchase info to track folks "sharing" it, but other than that, keep it simple. People are used to the idea of $1 == 1 song, so if you can, just go with it.
The problem of course is that at $1 per sale, transaction fees become a problem, so you'll have to figure out some logistics first. Debit accounts could work, but you'll need more than one band to get people interested. Maybe selling "singles" rather than full albums would be the go, at like 3 bucks a pop or something. I dunno, but the golden rule of online selling is make it easy and make it fast.
There may be niche applications near the sun but for most trips there are more realistic alternatives. Especially for long trips the only viable option is to go nuclear (or anti-matter).
Which begs the question, why not just use nuclear of anti-matter engines?
My cunning plan is to produce an orbital (or Mars based) production facility for a multi-phase nuclear/electric engine. It works around the drama of earth based launches going awry. Mars would be way cool, especially if the craft could be built there.
As for moving the ship, first off, get it into orbit with conventional methods, then fit the nuclear engine in orbit. Move away from the production/fitment facility with gas thrusters, then use explosive detonation to accelerate the craft nice and fast, then switch to ion-drive for slow but constant accelleration up to even insaner speeds. Slowing down could be "interesting" as although reverse ion-drive is probably managable, I'm not sure about reverse nuclear detonation... maybe some gravitaional sling-shot trickery could be used here too.
I guess I see it nuclear as a brute force approach - solar sails are more elegant, but nukes will get the job done. I don't doubt something better will come along sometime (some crazy zero-point / antimatter / space-time shiz) but for now, nuclear packs the biggest bang for the buck. Hopefully someone has the balls to build this kind of thing.
As someone who gets a fair bit of stuff from the US and UK into NZ, I can see your points, but from a customer perspective it's lousy.
A few points:
PIA? Your call, but many businesses are built on exports, my own included. If you want to limit your market to your own backyard then fine, but remember that you're missing out on most of the world. The forms might be a hassle, but only until you get used to it and the processes involved.
Shipping costs and insurance? Of course they're different, nobody expects flat rate international postage, so pass the costs on to the customer.
Returns policy? Usual deal - buyer pays shipping. Most US shops charge a "restocking fee" anyway.
Customer service? Most of us do it for one of two reasons - cost or availablity. That's it. You don't order $300 worth of whatever from the other side of the world and expect to be talked through setup and install over the phone - you do it because it's not available locally, or not available for reasonable cost (eg passed through too many hands)
You reasons may be valid, but the feeling I get from many stores is that they think the world ends at US borders or it's just not worth bothering with foreigners, and that's not even getting into the "Made in China" electronics that can't be exported to some countries... My perspective is that a sale is a sale, and if I have to charge 10 bux to cover the 2 minutes it takes to fill in the forms, then so be it.
Yep, pure digital into a good system can be very good - it bypasses the cheap and nasty sounding analog bits that make the difference between good sound cards and average ones. My informal comparison was an analog setup plugged in the way I figure most non-audio-junkies would do it - eg just plug the powered speakers in and listen to it. I'm pretty keen to try out the flash external USB version of that M-Audio card - mmmm... 7.1 surround procesing, 24bit, 96kHz, 101 dB S/N, 0.00345% THD... But, yeh, my desk speakers won't do that kit justice, so it's going in my car instead:)
This is the X factor that the recording industry hasn't really bothered to look into and I find it very interesting that one of the most successful online music sites is part of a computer company (Apple).
If I was a betting man, I would wager that something similar comes built into the next version of Windows or maybe even Windows Media Player*.
*I don't use Windows so it could already be there and I wouldn't know... I'm not stupid, just ignorant;-)
Not necessarily. If the signal path from the Mac into the stereo amp is electrically noisier than the signal path from the stereo's CD player to the amp, it could easily sound worse from the Mac. The source signal would be very much the same, but it's getting fux0red along the way.
I have to respectfully disagree. With you being a DJ, I don't doubt you know good sound when you hear it, but...
As a comparison, I played the same tracks through a VIA Eden M6000 with onboard sound, and an M-Audio Revolution in the PCI slot. It was chalk and cheese, and this was just using some pretty average Creative/Cambridge SoundWorks 2.1 speakers. The purist in me prefers FLACC, but even with MP3 or Ogg at (around) 256 bitrate, I can hear a big difference. Maybe a lot depends on the individual mainboard and PSU etc, but in this instance the sub-$100 M-Audio card kicked it's ass.
You can posture and attempt to blur the argument all you like with pseudo philosophical babble, but when it comes down to it, do you or do you not think a murderer is only "doing something we don't approve of?".
only a fruitcake could redefine a murderers down to merely "people doing a thing we don't approve of"
Only a fruitcake wouldn't see the gradual erosion of rights through social engineering presented by the grandparent post.
As for the murderers to "people doing a thing we don't approve of" process... How many people are killed by "good" people in a war? Was it murder? Were the people who got killed "bad"? Were the people doing the killing murderers or were they saviours? Maybe they were just "doing their job"? Do you approve of it? Do you approve of the other people killing *your* people?
It's all subjective - every one knows "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", but no one is prepared to accept that as a reality if it's their people getting killed. Ultimately what it comes down to is exactly that - "people doing a thing we don't approve of".
Mod me down if you like, but the world isn't a nice place, and the systems we have in place are based on old authoritarian structures based on the principle of those in power being "right" and the people by and large accepting that. It's based on the people not doing things that those in power "approve of"; If a gansta disappeares don't expect a big investigation, but if a judges daughter goes missing it'll all be on. Both are IMO Very Bad Things, but only the latter is something that we (society as we think of it) "don't approve of". Equally, to me, a lot of the shit that goes on in the world is "evil", but for some folks, its normal. Just like a woman wearing t-shirts and shorts is normal here.
People are mostly pack animals, and social "approval" keeps us in line, more or less, which is why altering what is "approved" works so well. A few hundred years ago, people were burned alive for being "witches" and this was "approved of" - even today people are still stoned* for crimes - so don't think we can't get equally fucked up (if in other directions) systems in place in the future.
Killing in the name of... Fuck you I won't do what you tell me...
*No not a good kind of stoned. A bad stoned, like having rocks thrown at you.
Re:Very cool idea, but WAYY too expensive...
on
Duct Tape Goes Minature
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Of course, provided he wasn't granted a patent for it, 3-rd parties should be imitating it in no time, and selling it for a fraction of the cost.
From the article: "Biggest risk factor: Imitators. Patent pending now with U.S. Patent Office."
This cannot seriously get a patent. I mean, a small role of duct tape is that fricken innovative??? Props for being first to market, but we've got small tape and we've got big duct tape, so this is hardly the work of genius.
I took that line slightly out of context - "like this" probably refers to the manner of the challenge, rather than companies like MS, but the point was made.
I hesitate to get started, but if sacrifices aren't made (like these guys getting toasted in court) then corporations and by extension, the governments they pay for, WILL walk all over the people. I hope the X-mod guys don't get fubared over extortion-type claims, but if they do, I think there will still be a greater benefit from pushing the point of "consumer" rights to use things they payed for - eg, an X-Box.
One thing I think they forget, is that away from work and outside their industry, they too are "consumers".
"You should never challenge a powerful company like this."
Nope. I gotta disagree with that.
I for one do NOT believe "powerful" aka rich companies shoudn't be challenged. Having money should not mean carte-blanch authority to steamroll customers over trivialities and the greater business community should be wary of any organisation that grows unchecked. It may be difficult (especially if the court is swayed by financial contributions) but powerful companies should ALWAYS be challenged.
Just had a thought...
Forget lodging formal complaints - just find the CEO's phone number and call him at dinner time to tell him how you feel about it.
We all hate this shit, but going off at the Telemarketers and Spammers doesn't work - they've proven time and again that they have no respect for the "consumer".
Better is a) Don't buy the stuff, and b) Lodge formal complaints with the CEO of the company's using their services. Most of the top-dogs have little idea their marketing departments are doing this shit so let them know, and let them know you don't like it and won't buy their stuff as long as they do it.
Slashdot Mirror
You described the advantage of selling MP3 as reduced costs, no packaging etc etc, and then you go on to try to figure out ways of adding extra things. I sense some confusion.
Dude, sell the music. Only. And sell it track by track, not per album.
If you want to be fussy about it, you could add some header info or better yet some bit overlayed (post encoding) purchase info to track folks "sharing" it, but other than that, keep it simple. People are used to the idea of $1 == 1 song, so if you can, just go with it.
The problem of course is that at $1 per sale, transaction fees become a problem, so you'll have to figure out some logistics first. Debit accounts could work, but you'll need more than one band to get people interested. Maybe selling "singles" rather than full albums would be the go, at like 3 bucks a pop or something. I dunno, but the golden rule of online selling is make it easy and make it fast.
Venture Capital.
Anyone know how this Tezro thing compares to the Duallie G5 Macs? The SGI has more expansion capacity for sure, but how about raw horsepower?
Or be true to yourself, but alone. *sigh*
There may be niche applications near the sun but for most trips there are more realistic alternatives. Especially for long trips the only viable option is to go nuclear (or anti-matter).
Which begs the question, why not just use nuclear of anti-matter engines?
My cunning plan is to produce an orbital (or Mars based) production facility for a multi-phase nuclear/electric engine. It works around the drama of earth based launches going awry. Mars would be way cool, especially if the craft could be built there.
As for moving the ship, first off, get it into orbit with conventional methods, then fit the nuclear engine in orbit. Move away from the production/fitment facility with gas thrusters, then use explosive detonation to accelerate the craft nice and fast, then switch to ion-drive for slow but constant accelleration up to even insaner speeds. Slowing down could be "interesting" as although reverse ion-drive is probably managable, I'm not sure about reverse nuclear detonation... maybe some gravitaional sling-shot trickery could be used here too.
I guess I see it nuclear as a brute force approach - solar sails are more elegant, but nukes will get the job done. I don't doubt something better will come along sometime (some crazy zero-point / antimatter / space-time shiz) but for now, nuclear packs the biggest bang for the buck. Hopefully someone has the balls to build this kind of thing.
Personally, I'd like to see the day when any person from *anywhere* can enjoy a trip to space for a reasonable price.
As someone who gets a fair bit of stuff from the US and UK into NZ, I can see your points, but from a customer perspective it's lousy.
A few points:
PIA? Your call, but many businesses are built on exports, my own included. If you want to limit your market to your own backyard then fine, but remember that you're missing out on most of the world. The forms might be a hassle, but only until you get used to it and the processes involved.
Shipping costs and insurance? Of course they're different, nobody expects flat rate international postage, so pass the costs on to the customer.
Returns policy? Usual deal - buyer pays shipping. Most US shops charge a "restocking fee" anyway.
Customer service? Most of us do it for one of two reasons - cost or availablity. That's it. You don't order $300 worth of whatever from the other side of the world and expect to be talked through setup and install over the phone - you do it because it's not available locally, or not available for reasonable cost (eg passed through too many hands)
You reasons may be valid, but the feeling I get from many stores is that they think the world ends at US borders or it's just not worth bothering with foreigners, and that's not even getting into the "Made in China" electronics that can't be exported to some countries... My perspective is that a sale is a sale, and if I have to charge 10 bux to cover the 2 minutes it takes to fill in the forms, then so be it.
Yep, pure digital into a good system can be very good - it bypasses the cheap and nasty sounding analog bits that make the difference between good sound cards and average ones. My informal comparison was an analog setup plugged in the way I figure most non-audio-junkies would do it - eg just plug the powered speakers in and listen to it. I'm pretty keen to try out the flash external USB version of that M-Audio card - mmmm... 7.1 surround procesing, 24bit, 96kHz, 101 dB S/N, 0.00345% THD... But, yeh, my desk speakers won't do that kit justice, so it's going in my car instead :)
Make Backup copies of your stuff like you've never done before!
Heh, yeah, OFF-SITE backup copies. Lots of them! :)
This is the X factor that the recording industry hasn't really bothered to look into and I find it very interesting that one of the most successful online music sites is part of a computer company (Apple).
If I was a betting man, I would wager that something similar comes built into the next version of Windows or maybe even Windows Media Player*.
*I don't use Windows so it could already be there and I wouldn't know... I'm not stupid, just ignorant ;-)
Not necessarily. If the signal path from the Mac into the stereo amp is electrically noisier than the signal path from the stereo's CD player to the amp, it could easily sound worse from the Mac. The source signal would be very much the same, but it's getting fux0red along the way.
I have to respectfully disagree. With you being a DJ, I don't doubt you know good sound when you hear it, but...
As a comparison, I played the same tracks through a VIA Eden M6000 with onboard sound, and an M-Audio Revolution in the PCI slot. It was chalk and cheese, and this was just using some pretty average Creative/Cambridge SoundWorks 2.1 speakers. The purist in me prefers FLACC, but even with MP3 or Ogg at (around) 256 bitrate, I can hear a big difference. Maybe a lot depends on the individual mainboard and PSU etc, but in this instance the sub-$100 M-Audio card kicked it's ass.
It's a cunning plan to make us actually read the effing articles.
It looks even worse for his patent lawyer.
Some terrorists are nobody's freedom fighters.
Well said.
You can posture and attempt to blur the argument all you like with pseudo philosophical babble, but when it comes down to it, do you or do you not think a murderer is only "doing something we don't approve of?".
To answer your question: Yes.
only a fruitcake could redefine a murderers down to merely "people doing a thing we don't approve of"
Only a fruitcake wouldn't see the gradual erosion of rights through social engineering presented by the grandparent post.
As for the murderers to "people doing a thing we don't approve of" process... How many people are killed by "good" people in a war? Was it murder? Were the people who got killed "bad"? Were the people doing the killing murderers or were they saviours? Maybe they were just "doing their job"? Do you approve of it? Do you approve of the other people killing *your* people?
It's all subjective - every one knows "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter", but no one is prepared to accept that as a reality if it's their people getting killed. Ultimately what it comes down to is exactly that - "people doing a thing we don't approve of".
Mod me down if you like, but the world isn't a nice place, and the systems we have in place are based on old authoritarian structures based on the principle of those in power being "right" and the people by and large accepting that. It's based on the people not doing things that those in power "approve of"; If a gansta disappeares don't expect a big investigation, but if a judges daughter goes missing it'll all be on. Both are IMO Very Bad Things, but only the latter is something that we (society as we think of it) "don't approve of". Equally, to me, a lot of the shit that goes on in the world is "evil", but for some folks, its normal. Just like a woman wearing t-shirts and shorts is normal here.
People are mostly pack animals, and social "approval" keeps us in line, more or less, which is why altering what is "approved" works so well. A few hundred years ago, people were burned alive for being "witches" and this was "approved of" - even today people are still stoned* for crimes - so don't think we can't get equally fucked up (if in other directions) systems in place in the future.
Killing in the name of... Fuck you I won't do what you tell me...
*No not a good kind of stoned. A bad stoned, like having rocks thrown at you.
Of course, provided he wasn't granted a patent for it, 3-rd parties should be imitating it in no time, and selling it for a fraction of the cost.
From the article: "Biggest risk factor: Imitators. Patent pending now with U.S. Patent Office."
This cannot seriously get a patent. I mean, a small role of duct tape is that fricken innovative??? Props for being first to market, but we've got small tape and we've got big duct tape, so this is hardly the work of genius.
I took that line slightly out of context - "like this" probably refers to the manner of the challenge, rather than companies like MS, but the point was made.
I hesitate to get started, but if sacrifices aren't made (like these guys getting toasted in court) then corporations and by extension, the governments they pay for, WILL walk all over the people. I hope the X-mod guys don't get fubared over extortion-type claims, but if they do, I think there will still be a greater benefit from pushing the point of "consumer" rights to use things they payed for - eg, an X-Box.
One thing I think they forget, is that away from work and outside their industry, they too are "consumers".
"You should never challenge a powerful company like this."
Nope. I gotta disagree with that.
I for one do NOT believe "powerful" aka rich companies shoudn't be challenged. Having money should not mean carte-blanch authority to steamroll customers over trivialities and the greater business community should be wary of any organisation that grows unchecked. It may be difficult (especially if the court is swayed by financial contributions) but powerful companies should ALWAYS be challenged.
I can draw up elaborate plans to go to Saturn or Uranus, do I have the money?
Well, I don't know about Saturn...
They've also built that big-ass hydro-electric dam, and I saw a claim for the world's largest steel arch bridge in Shanghai.
I think China might be over-compensating for something...
Just had a thought... Forget lodging formal complaints - just find the CEO's phone number and call him at dinner time to tell him how you feel about it.
Nah, it's fantastic news. Just think of all the paper recycling that will be going on!
We all hate this shit, but going off at the Telemarketers and Spammers doesn't work - they've proven time and again that they have no respect for the "consumer".
Better is a) Don't buy the stuff, and b) Lodge formal complaints with the CEO of the company's using their services. Most of the top-dogs have little idea their marketing departments are doing this shit so let them know, and let them know you don't like it and won't buy their stuff as long as they do it.