My slim PS2 (1st-gen slim) gets hotter than my PS3, I've noticed... though, the exhaust port of the PS3 is easy to find.;) heheh. I think they did a PHENOMENAL job in cooling the system. Microsoft could learn a thing or two about cooling from Sony this go round... whisper quiet, and efficient at expelling heat.
Heavenly Sword is on my must-buy list.:-) That's for sure. And that Dynasty Warriors Gundam game... what can I say, I like giant robots.
Lair will be 2nd or 3rd, since I've heard it was going to be short initially, but will have add-ons... If it's beautiful and plays like I think it will... my fall's all set.;)
I'm more and more liking my PS3 purchase... I've seen nothing but good things on the horizon for it... and with stiff competition, maybe both sides (MS and Sony) will work that much harder for my $60 game purchases.;)
And yet Microsoft admitted in a conference call recently that _EVERY_ 360 that has been sold has the potential for the RROD, and they are taking a $1 billion charge against having to fix _ALL_ of them. That's as close to admitting a severe design flaw as I've seen so far... Of course it doesn't fix the problem... because what of those consoles that last beyond the warranty by a week or a month? The flaw manifests itself differently and some people will _STILL_ be SOL... but removing the EE from PS3's is a big deal... yeah... right.
Picking solely on Sony is a bit one-sided and fanboyish (even unintentionally) by most press and blog sites. Has anyone seen that amount of coverage on MS's foible as we get on this? There's a few sites complaining, but most are "ooh, look! HALO 3!!!" and sweep this disaster under the rug. It's made it so whatever comes after the 360 from MS will remain on the shelf. I won't buy it. I like my 360, but this is ri-goddamned-diculous.
I like my PS3. They could do some things better (like releasing some of their PS1 fighting games over here at the store) and they have been accused of hubris... (odd that MS hasn't... I mean, c'mon...) but to write them off this generation for these things is silly. Stupid stunts and dumb ideas didn't stop Microsoft from crawling back out of the hole they were in with the xBox... And one generation hence they may be right back in the hole.... (Replace that with Nintendo and you'll see an even more dramatic turnaround) It's competition and the nature of having a healthy marketplace for advances and fun that benefit us.
Nixing one or more players because of some silly stuff they say in the press is short-sighted... Are they stupid at times? Yes, but what corporation isn't? They're run by old men in suits for chrissakes... they aren't always staffed by the brightest souls in business.... (Microsoft is no exception *cough* ballmer *cough*)
And the 80gig model sans EE chip will actually benefit in the long run because it will allow AA, scaling, and other advances to PS2 games (and PS1 for that matter)... that are not possible with a straight HW emulation. Calling it "crippled" isn't true... I think that was the idea all along... but I can't be sure of that.
Wonder what the failure rate of PS3's are? I bet it's not even _CLOSE_ to Microsoft's, or we'd be having 30 different bloggers and reporters claiming the end of time as we know it... babies are being killed by PS3s'!!!!! RUN!
I dunno... my mom hates DVD players in general... but some of the Winders tools seem really simple to click and copy...;) Not that she cares enough to do so...
She rarely buys DVDs... preferring to see the movie once and take it back to the blockbuster (or whatever..) The prime candidate for "online content delivery" through a set top box... not that she'd approve...;)
DRM is only effective for those who are willing to "play by the rules"... or who are not enamored with technology at all... (like my mom) Trouble is, it is an inconvenience to the wrong people. It makes it difficult for those "straight arrows" the MPAA/etc is proud of to enjoy the movie/cd/whatever. Or at the very least it preaches to them with stupid non-fast-forward-able ads equating infringement with theft, and FBI warnings... that do nothing but annoy. (or in the case of that stupid video, piss me off.)
The rest of us that know how to get around their little stupid tricks are not the ones who lose from all this digital restrictions management. The conglomerates haven't really gotten the idea that they're peeving their loyal base all for the "evil" people who probably wouldn't buy it anyway... and they are not stopping fair use for those of us who know it's a right... (which seems to be their "collateral" plan all along... in order to get to their "pay per view/listen" utopia...)
The MPAA can piss up a rope. I don't care enough about their crap to give a rat's ass if the entire industry imploded tomorrow. However, I _DO_ care how they have fucked copyright in the butt and continue to rape the Constitution with the complicity of those who are supposed to be making sure it doesn't _get_ this bad... It's infuriating, to be perfectly honest.... but that's for another rant.;)
You know he's certainly confident in the format war, isn't he? 10 years? That's assuming Blu-Ray wins... (not to start a format war... but the war's going on right now... and the crippling's good for "10 years"... hey, that's optimism!!!)
Bah... they keep rolling it out... and teens keep breaking it. Why do they bother?
Rumble's overrated to me. I turn it off when I can... it adds nothing to the game for me. I've played for decades without it... the last-gen gimmick is not my idea of a "must have"...
but since the lawsuit's over... the Sixaxis is getting it I am sure.
Funny thing is, you can update your PS3 to any size HDD you can fit in there (youtube even has examples of using external 500GB 3.5" drives.. not practical, but doable...) So, unless they add "super pursuit mode" in the 80GB model... you're not getting _that_ much more than a 20GB has... (FWIW, I have a 20GB updated to 120GB for all of $75...) And my 360? Still at 20, because MS is greedy with their drive pricing...
Sad that the 360 HDD is limited to what King Bill says you can have... unless you hack it, then they won't let you play in their sandbox (understandable, but the HDD issue is a big deal for the 360... why make it so hard?)
So, rest easy... the PS3 is pretty much set for the next at _least_ 6 or 7 years... They aren't adding anything new to a console this lifespan... besides smaller parts and cheaper manufacturing...
OTOH, the way MS dropped the original XBox like a bad habit... I'm not so sure... (Shades of Sega, anyone?)
They need bashing... bashing to the center of the earth... buried at a crossroads and lit on fire... (not necessarily in that order...)
The fact that this is the lesser-known "sue the girl scouts" entity (isn't that them?) Why not get a few jabs into this increasingly broken system? (It's entertainment... why are they treating it like blood plasma or nuclear secrets?) It appears you can do more jail time for "piracy" than you can for stealing classified documents and stuffing them in your pants...
These groups are expendable, so they figure they need to get theirs now (all of them BMI, ASCAP, RIAA, MPAA, etc.) before the public realizes they don't NEED them or their "product." It's a luxury most people wouldn't miss if they actually tried... believe me, I've not missed TV much in the last year... in fact, I missed absolutely nothing.:) It's a void... the music that is shoved out of their collective asses is just as vacant.
It's high time they began to work for us... the people who PAY them. If they can get by on other corporate donations... have at it. Without _our_ money, they die. Treating me like a criminal certainly closes my wallet faster. *shrug*
Oh... and.... look... I used... lots... and lots... of... ELLIPSES!:) AHAHAHAH! commies.
That's what happens when you have no competition. There are problem customers... but I dispute the number and severity of them, because of those "few" that a problems, there are hundreds upon hundreds who can't get legitimate resolution to their problems because... where ya gonna go? Another jack-booted bunch of thugs with towers? Most of the "problem" customers that the phone jockeys claim to be such are merely trying again to get their issue resolved because being nice got them the runaround and disconnected. Sometimes firm, annoyed, and downright pissed off tones get the job done... blame the lack of compassion at the CS level for that. It's not necessarily always the customer. (Yes, I'll repeat it for the cheap seats... there _are_ problem customers.)
I used to work the phones of a software development house... their proprietary system they made for billing was a pain.. and in all the time I worked there, there was only one customer who would legitimately be classified as "problem." The rest were frustrated.. and if you acted even a _little_ like you cared, the "problem" customer would become a "valued" one... but blow them off... put them on hold for hours, or generally BS them and you're asking for a louder response than you want to hear from someone who is just trying to use your product.
The truth still stands, that if Sprint cancels the service prematurely for whatever reason... the $175 fee should be paid to the affected customer. A contract's a contract... as it was said before.
Just stop outsourcing, lying to customers, over-promising, and being jackoffs, all you super-rich Telecomm companies and practice a little self-restraint. Waving the big stick of cancellation because of "excessive" use of the support network (don't advertise it as unlimited support if you're not going to give it) serves only to make the next guy's job that much harder....
Like I said... that's what we get for no competition. And people love monopolies? Silly.
Remember back in the days of VHS movies (that came out at $100 a pop or more)... and the first "subsidized" movie from Hollyweird to come out at a reasonable price was Top Gun because it had a Pepsi advert at the beginning?
Or the early days of cable television... "advert free!" because you "paid" to subscribe to it... funny... never panned out there either.
Wonder where the price drop for this advertising comes in? Guess it's not getting as far as us this time. We're paying to be advertised to. Amazing how far we've fallen.
What did they overpromise? I don't think it under-delivers at all. (And yes, I have both the 360 and the PS3) What you're comparing to is 360's 2nd year with Ps3's first year. Look at the first year of the 360... lackluster titles, QC issues (that haven't gone away)... I think Resistance and Motorstorm are solid titles (YMMV)... and no, I'm not in denial and trying to justify my purchase... I look forward to Heavenly Sword, and Lair... I'm one of the few people who couldn't care less about Halo 3.... and no, it's not because I hate Microsoft... it's because it's yet another FPS... (like Resistance... but Resistance has a story... I am guessing Halo 3 will be all about multiplayer... Halo 2 was sorta devoid of story as well... focus shifted to multiplayer. That's fine... just not my cup of tea.)
Consider this... this is the same boat the PS2 was in during its launch... people complained it was hard to program for, that it under-delivered (it actually did... didn't make the hype)... turned out to be the best-selling console (and still selling) of that generation. So, counting them out... "sticking it to them" for whatever reason is entirely too fanboyish... even for Slashdot. What did Sony do to you personally? Kill your dog? Rape your mom?
MS can't keep consoles running, won't admit they have a flaw, and has a failure rate that makes the PsOne's problems seem tiny... yet no one is giving them shit about it... well, besides the people who have to return their console a 2nd or 3rd time for the "red rings of death".
Am I saying that for Fanboy points? No. Just for some perspective. Sony's not all bad, and MS is not all good. They both have their strengths... and having them both competing for your entertainment dollar makes for a better experience... add the Wii as a wildcard and we all win.:)
Stomp and run Sony out of town with pitchforks and torches serves only to divide... We are talking about faceless corporations here.:) Not Ma and Pa organizations "fighting the man."
And just for the record: More games != better games. I would rather have 3 great titles than 30 mediocre ones.
It's not America. It's the corporations. America has been subjugated to corporations since the early days of the 20th Century... only now that the average corporation has more money than most countries (and no loyalties to any region), we're seeing the ill effects more directly. The WTO is a corporate whore like America.... it serves no interests but to the multinationals. We, as Americans, have let it happen to our country, and I hate it. But the rest of the world rails against the "evil" abuses of America, yet support the corporations who corrupt her (and by proxy, all of the world)... So, in effect, we all are doing it, unless we live somewhere outside of the corporate reach (which is getting smaller and harder to find, even in the Third World.)
It's not been about countries and governments for quite some time... it's just now easier to see because the veil of secrecy is gone... The United States of Exxon-Mobil... etc etc... we reap what we sow.
Until we strangle the lifeblood of corporate goons (money) by refusing to buy their crap (we can do it with most things...) we're going to be in this same boat this time next year. Same story, different names. *shrug* I'm really at a loss as to what to do, personally. And it saddens me...
In the US, the next to the last center of power we possessed as individuals was the right to vote. We've subjugated that by propping up a one-party "two name" system... so pretty much the only thing left is armed revolt... and that's probably not going to happen in my lifetime... but as things get worse and worse, I see it as an inevitability.... the cycle can't keep sustaining itself without the sources drying up... but I digress...
And no, this isn't a commie anti-corporate rant. This is a rant against the reality of a multinational corporate world that is out of control.
That's a good point. There are a few artists that I listen to regularly who are on a tainted label (Metal Blade to be precise)... King Diamond, etc.. But for the most part, I can find it somewhere else online (like eMusic, or just the CD itself used)... I'm lucky, I guess... most (99%) of my music collection is what you'd label as "not mainstream..." So the big labels are really not fighting over my $... which is fine by me.:) The RIAA would have to kill my children and butcher my dog before I'd stop buying King Diamond...:)
I also like the CD purchasing (though it's a bit steep with currency exchanges being what they are... not terrible... but shipping can kill you) direct from the labels' European shops... (Like Nuclear Blast... though that's a US store... or Syn-Gate, which is really obscure electronic, etc...)
I guess I'm getting old... the list of active bands I listen to (those touring and releasing CDs) is dwindling...;) More money for other things... like overpriced Video Games. heheheh.
Agreed. Quite frankly, I'm glad I rarely use my printer... I am costing them a fortune with cheap refills from 3rd parties and nonstandard usage patterns that do not get the company's required "minimum commitment"....
Screw 'em. Next printer I'll get will be a laser anyway.:) Or basically, just implement my paperless office sooner.;)
How in THE hell can these companies prevent me from REFILLING my carts? It's like making someone buy a new gas can every time he wanted to get a gallon of gasoline.
Yes, the heads can be proprietary (so what? reverse engineering isn't illegal in this country... in spite of the untested DMCA) but the mechanism to deliver the ink is pretty standard... like fuel injection or whatnot. *sigh* They can all lick my hairy man-marbles. I'm getting utterly tired of this... find a NEW GODDAMNED business model if the "cheap printer-exorbitant ink" isn't working in the face of COMPETITION.
That's really it... they can't compete realistically... so they're going to fuck the consumer in the ass so the printer companies can still rake in their dough they feel 'entitled' to.
It's not difficult. It's not embedded sneakily... it's THERE. You can EDIT IT OUT. And since you are required to provide the information TO apple to BUY THE SONG IN THE FIRST PLACE, you're not exactly getting broadsided by an underhanded tactic. Really... some people just don't get it...
And putting your email address on a tune you bought that you play on YOUR computer is not the same as PUTTING IT ON A BUMPER STICKER on your car.
Not even close....
It's been said before... but only on/. do morons like you get modded insightful.
If it's against your wishes, DON'T SHOP AT THE ITUNES STORE AND SHUT THE HELL UP.
I get most of my music from emusic.com, ambient.us, and legaltorrents.. The stuff I can't get from there, if I like it and it's not a major label release, I will either buy from iTunes or the CD itself... depending upon the mood I'm in.. (I'm not always inclined to search for a CD at 3 or 4 shops, because they only carry "mainstream" crap.) I avoid RIAA tainted labels with a vengeance these days.:) Call me nutty, but their tactics are the sole reason music is in the shape it's in. Gone are the days when you can say "this is what you'll like" and force artists onto the public. The Internet has obsoleted their "we know what's best" system of doing business... and it couldn't have come soon enough.
I can't tell the difference among the various formats, because thanks to the Walkman... I have shot my hearing to hell. I can still distinguish the various subtleties in music, even mp3... but telling which sounds better, even on my car stereo, is impossible to me. (Not that Candlemass is full of subtle nuances...) I don't think they're just "good enough"... because I like the convenience of downloading a high-bitrate mp3 set from ambient.us and paying $10 for it... no drm... (if I can at all help it.)
CD's are now mostly CD-R's for me, when I need to listen to them in the car... if I ever get another radio for my car, it'll have the USB stick mp3 capability.. then CD's will be for backup or nostalgia.:)
Ah well... I guess I'm just not the high end.. I don't even have surround sound for my TV. Stereo's fine. a $50 Sony bookshelf system makes for a great amp to play Xbox/PS games.:) If people are determined to pay the exorbitant prices for their high-end gear... I'm not saying they're idiots for doing so... it's their money and their ears/eyes.:) What works for some doesn't work for me.;)
That's the rub, isn't it? Now, I hope that Germany errs on the side of caution, but hey... anything can happen. If they do not provide a criteria like current personal property investigations, and if they allow more blanket rules abiding on "national security" (the current buzzword to trump personal liberty these days)... then we have a problem.
I don't suggest that Germany's law is any of these things, but when they get their ideas to start enumerating and "modernizing" their laws, we tend to be on a slippery slope. "Data can be deleted! We must mandate retention laws" "Spoofing IPs is rampant! We must mandate no-spoofing clauses" "Anonymous email is a tool of the wicked! Only evil people want to remain anonymous! We must eliminate anonymous email.."
I mean, it's the fear that people will not behave rationally in the face of danger that has the Western world in a pickle. My original point still stands (because where the US is today is the same place Germany might be... "modernizing" their laws to cope with new technology... and look what a mess we've made of it...) And no, it's not all Shurb's fault. This has been going on for a long time.. Decades of erosive legislation that simply stomps all over personal liberty... in the name of not only "modernizing" laws, but to expand police powers, and expand the reach of our already intrusive government...
yeesh. Now I've depressed myself.;) I need a nap.:D
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're correct. Our Constitution (here in America... for those watching abroad) has no "right to dignity" or "right to not be offended" clauses. Personal freedoms trump these simply because you can always go elsewhere, change the channel, or stop listening. (Yes, we have a concerted group of morons who think that it's wrong... but those people are idiots and if they had any inclination to realize what their "dignity" clauses and other nonsense were doing to personal liberty... they'd stop... you know the proverbial "shoe on the other foot..." analogy).
But additionally, I'd like to point out (I'm sure I'm not the first)... that when we hear about privacy concerns in the US, the Europeans (in general) tout their globally-defining, far-reaching, non-paranoid system of personal liberty that trumps the "evil" US time and again......and then we see this law in Germany. Or we see the ban on Nazi symbols in Europe (tasteless? Sure... but dealing in WWII memorabilia doesn't mean we can avoid the Swastika so someone who might use it in a current political environment is monumentally absurd.) It certainly hasn't stopped the Neo Nazis, now has it? That's a mild one... not unlike the "banning" by good ol' Ted Turner of all the "offensive" cartoons that came from Warner and MGM in the 30's and 40's... thankfully Youtube has them for historical reference. (Banning them doesn't make them go away, it just makes them more enticing... but that's another story.) Were the cartoons offensive? Sure... but I digress...
I'm not saying this to "neener neener" the Europeans (or Brazilians), but to point out, the US doesn't have a monopoly on the desire to undermine personal liberty in Western Civilization......and that to me is sad in the 21st century. You'd think we would have learned since 1787.
Sure, why not? If it helps without bothering me... I don't really care.:)
The point is that these suits that are brought are as simple as mobsters forcing protection money out of merchants. And we have laws to prevent that too...
Slashdot Mirror
My slim PS2 (1st-gen slim) gets hotter than my PS3, I've noticed... though, the exhaust port of the PS3 is easy to find. ;) heheh. I think they did a PHENOMENAL job in cooling the system. Microsoft could learn a thing or two about cooling from Sony this go round... whisper quiet, and efficient at expelling heat.
:)
I love my PS3.
Heavenly Sword is on my must-buy list. :-) That's for sure. And that Dynasty Warriors Gundam game... what can I say, I like giant robots.
;)
;)
Lair will be 2nd or 3rd, since I've heard it was going to be short initially, but will have add-ons... If it's beautiful and plays like I think it will... my fall's all set.
I'm more and more liking my PS3 purchase... I've seen nothing but good things on the horizon for it... and with stiff competition, maybe both sides (MS and Sony) will work that much harder for my $60 game purchases.
That's assuming my 360 doesn't have the RRoD.
I guess that means there's 499 reasons why the 360 hasn't sold in Japan like the PS2. :)
And yet Microsoft admitted in a conference call recently that _EVERY_ 360 that has been sold has the potential for the RROD, and they are taking a $1 billion charge against having to fix _ALL_ of them. That's as close to admitting a severe design flaw as I've seen so far... Of course it doesn't fix the problem... because what of those consoles that last beyond the warranty by a week or a month? The flaw manifests itself differently and some people will _STILL_ be SOL... but removing the EE from PS3's is a big deal... yeah... right.
Picking solely on Sony is a bit one-sided and fanboyish (even unintentionally) by most press and blog sites. Has anyone seen that amount of coverage on MS's foible as we get on this? There's a few sites complaining, but most are "ooh, look! HALO 3!!!" and sweep this disaster under the rug. It's made it so whatever comes after the 360 from MS will remain on the shelf. I won't buy it. I like my 360, but this is ri-goddamned-diculous.
I like my PS3. They could do some things better (like releasing some of their PS1 fighting games over here at the store) and they have been accused of hubris... (odd that MS hasn't... I mean, c'mon...) but to write them off this generation for these things is silly. Stupid stunts and dumb ideas didn't stop Microsoft from crawling back out of the hole they were in with the xBox... And one generation hence they may be right back in the hole.... (Replace that with Nintendo and you'll see an even more dramatic turnaround) It's competition and the nature of having a healthy marketplace for advances and fun that benefit us.
Nixing one or more players because of some silly stuff they say in the press is short-sighted... Are they stupid at times? Yes, but what corporation isn't? They're run by old men in suits for chrissakes... they aren't always staffed by the brightest souls in business.... (Microsoft is no exception *cough* ballmer *cough*)
And the 80gig model sans EE chip will actually benefit in the long run because it will allow AA, scaling, and other advances to PS2 games (and PS1 for that matter)... that are not possible with a straight HW emulation. Calling it "crippled" isn't true... I think that was the idea all along... but I can't be sure of that.
Wonder what the failure rate of PS3's are? I bet it's not even _CLOSE_ to Microsoft's, or we'd be having 30 different bloggers and reporters claiming the end of time as we know it... babies are being killed by PS3s'!!!!! RUN!
Are you channeling Jack Valenti?
That was his argument about the "license" v. "media" argument... and how the MPAA/RIAA justifies their lack of a media exchange policy.
I dunno... my mom hates DVD players in general... but some of the Winders tools seem really simple to click and copy... ;) Not that she cares enough to do so...
;)
;)
She rarely buys DVDs... preferring to see the movie once and take it back to the blockbuster (or whatever..) The prime candidate for "online content delivery" through a set top box... not that she'd approve...
DRM is only effective for those who are willing to "play by the rules"... or who are not enamored with technology at all... (like my mom) Trouble is, it is an inconvenience to the wrong people. It makes it difficult for those "straight arrows" the MPAA/etc is proud of to enjoy the movie/cd/whatever. Or at the very least it preaches to them with stupid non-fast-forward-able ads equating infringement with theft, and FBI warnings... that do nothing but annoy. (or in the case of that stupid video, piss me off.)
The rest of us that know how to get around their little stupid tricks are not the ones who lose from all this digital restrictions management. The conglomerates haven't really gotten the idea that they're peeving their loyal base all for the "evil" people who probably wouldn't buy it anyway... and they are not stopping fair use for those of us who know it's a right... (which seems to be their "collateral" plan all along... in order to get to their "pay per view/listen" utopia...)
The MPAA can piss up a rope. I don't care enough about their crap to give a rat's ass if the entire industry imploded tomorrow. However, I _DO_ care how they have fucked copyright in the butt and continue to rape the Constitution with the complicity of those who are supposed to be making sure it doesn't _get_ this bad... It's infuriating, to be perfectly honest.... but that's for another rant.
You know he's certainly confident in the format war, isn't he? 10 years? That's assuming Blu-Ray wins... (not to start a format war... but the war's going on right now... and the crippling's good for "10 years"... hey, that's optimism!!!)
Bah... they keep rolling it out... and teens keep breaking it. Why do they bother?
Rumble's overrated to me. I turn it off when I can... it adds nothing to the game for me. I've played for decades without it... the last-gen gimmick is not my idea of a "must have"...
but since the lawsuit's over... the Sixaxis is getting it I am sure.
Funny thing is, you can update your PS3 to any size HDD you can fit in there (youtube even has examples of using external 500GB 3.5" drives.. not practical, but doable...) So, unless they add "super pursuit mode" in the 80GB model... you're not getting _that_ much more than a 20GB has... (FWIW, I have a 20GB updated to 120GB for all of $75...) And my 360? Still at 20, because MS is greedy with their drive pricing...
Sad that the 360 HDD is limited to what King Bill says you can have... unless you hack it, then they won't let you play in their sandbox (understandable, but the HDD issue is a big deal for the 360... why make it so hard?)
So, rest easy... the PS3 is pretty much set for the next at _least_ 6 or 7 years... They aren't adding anything new to a console this lifespan... besides smaller parts and cheaper manufacturing...
OTOH, the way MS dropped the original XBox like a bad habit... I'm not so sure... (Shades of Sega, anyone?)
They need bashing... bashing to the center of the earth... buried at a crossroads and lit on fire... (not necessarily in that order...)
:) It's a void... the music that is shoved out of their collective asses is just as vacant.
.... look... I used... lots... and lots... of... ELLIPSES! :) AHAHAHAH! commies.
The fact that this is the lesser-known "sue the girl scouts" entity (isn't that them?) Why not get a few jabs into this increasingly broken system? (It's entertainment... why are they treating it like blood plasma or nuclear secrets?) It appears you can do more jail time for "piracy" than you can for stealing classified documents and stuffing them in your pants...
These groups are expendable, so they figure they need to get theirs now (all of them BMI, ASCAP, RIAA, MPAA, etc.) before the public realizes they don't NEED them or their "product." It's a luxury most people wouldn't miss if they actually tried... believe me, I've not missed TV much in the last year... in fact, I missed absolutely nothing.
It's high time they began to work for us... the people who PAY them. If they can get by on other corporate donations... have at it. Without _our_ money, they die. Treating me like a criminal certainly closes my wallet faster. *shrug*
Oh... and
That's what happens when you have no competition. There are problem customers... but I dispute the number and severity of them, because of those "few" that a problems, there are hundreds upon hundreds who can't get legitimate resolution to their problems because... where ya gonna go? Another jack-booted bunch of thugs with towers? Most of the "problem" customers that the phone jockeys claim to be such are merely trying again to get their issue resolved because being nice got them the runaround and disconnected. Sometimes firm, annoyed, and downright pissed off tones get the job done... blame the lack of compassion at the CS level for that. It's not necessarily always the customer. (Yes, I'll repeat it for the cheap seats... there _are_ problem customers.)
I used to work the phones of a software development house... their proprietary system they made for billing was a pain.. and in all the time I worked there, there was only one customer who would legitimately be classified as "problem." The rest were frustrated.. and if you acted even a _little_ like you cared, the "problem" customer would become a "valued" one... but blow them off... put them on hold for hours, or generally BS them and you're asking for a louder response than you want to hear from someone who is just trying to use your product.
The truth still stands, that if Sprint cancels the service prematurely for whatever reason... the $175 fee should be paid to the affected customer. A contract's a contract... as it was said before.
Just stop outsourcing, lying to customers, over-promising, and being jackoffs, all you super-rich Telecomm companies and practice a little self-restraint. Waving the big stick of cancellation because of "excessive" use of the support network (don't advertise it as unlimited support if you're not going to give it) serves only to make the next guy's job that much harder....
Like I said... that's what we get for no competition. And people love monopolies? Silly.
Nah.... I... don't... really... feel... like... it...
thanks... for... your... input... though....
I think it's got better stealth than Manhunt. Manhunt was just a juvenile attempt at a gory "edge" whatnot. It's what 12 year olds consider "kewl."
Remember back in the days of VHS movies (that came out at $100 a pop or more)... and the first "subsidized" movie from Hollyweird to come out at a reasonable price was Top Gun because it had a Pepsi advert at the beginning?
Or the early days of cable television... "advert free!" because you "paid" to subscribe to it... funny... never panned out there either.
Wonder where the price drop for this advertising comes in? Guess it's not getting as far as us this time. We're paying to be advertised to. Amazing how far we've fallen.
What did they overpromise? I don't think it under-delivers at all. (And yes, I have both the 360 and the PS3) What you're comparing to is 360's 2nd year with Ps3's first year. Look at the first year of the 360... lackluster titles, QC issues (that haven't gone away)... I think Resistance and Motorstorm are solid titles (YMMV)... and no, I'm not in denial and trying to justify my purchase... I look forward to Heavenly Sword, and Lair... I'm one of the few people who couldn't care less about Halo 3.... and no, it's not because I hate Microsoft... it's because it's yet another FPS... (like Resistance... but Resistance has a story... I am guessing Halo 3 will be all about multiplayer... Halo 2 was sorta devoid of story as well... focus shifted to multiplayer. That's fine... just not my cup of tea.)
:)
:) Not Ma and Pa organizations "fighting the man."
Consider this... this is the same boat the PS2 was in during its launch... people complained it was hard to program for, that it under-delivered (it actually did... didn't make the hype)... turned out to be the best-selling console (and still selling) of that generation. So, counting them out... "sticking it to them" for whatever reason is entirely too fanboyish... even for Slashdot. What did Sony do to you personally? Kill your dog? Rape your mom?
MS can't keep consoles running, won't admit they have a flaw, and has a failure rate that makes the PsOne's problems seem tiny... yet no one is giving them shit about it... well, besides the people who have to return their console a 2nd or 3rd time for the "red rings of death".
Am I saying that for Fanboy points? No. Just for some perspective. Sony's not all bad, and MS is not all good. They both have their strengths... and having them both competing for your entertainment dollar makes for a better experience... add the Wii as a wildcard and we all win.
Stomp and run Sony out of town with pitchforks and torches serves only to divide... We are talking about faceless corporations here.
And just for the record: More games != better games. I would rather have 3 great titles than 30 mediocre ones.
It's not America. It's the corporations. America has been subjugated to corporations since the early days of the 20th Century... only now that the average corporation has more money than most countries (and no loyalties to any region), we're seeing the ill effects more directly. The WTO is a corporate whore like America.... it serves no interests but to the multinationals. We, as Americans, have let it happen to our country, and I hate it. But the rest of the world rails against the "evil" abuses of America, yet support the corporations who corrupt her (and by proxy, all of the world)... So, in effect, we all are doing it, unless we live somewhere outside of the corporate reach (which is getting smaller and harder to find, even in the Third World.)
It's not been about countries and governments for quite some time... it's just now easier to see because the veil of secrecy is gone... The United States of Exxon-Mobil... etc etc... we reap what we sow.
Until we strangle the lifeblood of corporate goons (money) by refusing to buy their crap (we can do it with most things...) we're going to be in this same boat this time next year. Same story, different names. *shrug* I'm really at a loss as to what to do, personally. And it saddens me...
In the US, the next to the last center of power we possessed as individuals was the right to vote. We've subjugated that by propping up a one-party "two name" system... so pretty much the only thing left is armed revolt... and that's probably not going to happen in my lifetime... but as things get worse and worse, I see it as an inevitability.... the cycle can't keep sustaining itself without the sources drying up... but I digress...
And no, this isn't a commie anti-corporate rant. This is a rant against the reality of a multinational corporate world that is out of control.
That's a good point. There are a few artists that I listen to regularly who are on a tainted label (Metal Blade to be precise)... King Diamond, etc.. But for the most part, I can find it somewhere else online (like eMusic, or just the CD itself used)... I'm lucky, I guess... most (99%) of my music collection is what you'd label as "not mainstream..." So the big labels are really not fighting over my $... which is fine by me. :) The RIAA would have to kill my children and butcher my dog before I'd stop buying King Diamond... :)
;) More money for other things... like overpriced Video Games. heheheh.
I also like the CD purchasing (though it's a bit steep with currency exchanges being what they are... not terrible... but shipping can kill you) direct from the labels' European shops... (Like Nuclear Blast... though that's a US store... or Syn-Gate, which is really obscure electronic, etc...)
I guess I'm getting old... the list of active bands I listen to (those touring and releasing CDs) is dwindling...
No doubt. And since I don't buy any Universal artists, I really don't care if they disappear....
I'd also like to add ambient.us too... (with props to eMusic if you are into subscriptions... but they're crippleware-free!)
DRM free?
HAH. don't hold your breath... and it _will_ be more expensive than iTunes, and it _will_ be more DRM-crippling than iTunes.
Yeah, competition's great.
Agreed. Quite frankly, I'm glad I rarely use my printer... I am costing them a fortune with cheap refills from 3rd parties and nonstandard usage patterns that do not get the company's required "minimum commitment"....
:) Or basically, just implement my paperless office sooner. ;)
Screw 'em. Next printer I'll get will be a laser anyway.
How in THE hell can these companies prevent me from REFILLING my carts? It's like making someone buy a new gas can every time he wanted to get a gallon of gasoline.
Yes, the heads can be proprietary (so what? reverse engineering isn't illegal in this country... in spite of the untested DMCA) but the mechanism to deliver the ink is pretty standard... like fuel injection or whatnot. *sigh* They can all lick my hairy man-marbles. I'm getting utterly tired of this... find a NEW GODDAMNED business model if the "cheap printer-exorbitant ink" isn't working in the face of COMPETITION.
That's really it... they can't compete realistically... so they're going to fuck the consumer in the ass so the printer companies can still rake in their dough they feel 'entitled' to.
Eat shit.
SO CHANGE IT.
/. do morons like you get modded insightful.
It's not difficult. It's not embedded sneakily... it's THERE. You can EDIT IT OUT. And since you are required to provide the information TO apple to BUY THE SONG IN THE FIRST PLACE, you're not exactly getting broadsided by an underhanded tactic. Really... some people just don't get it...
And putting your email address on a tune you bought that you play on YOUR computer is not the same as PUTTING IT ON A BUMPER STICKER on your car.
Not even close....
It's been said before... but only on
If it's against your wishes, DON'T SHOP AT THE ITUNES STORE AND SHUT THE HELL UP.
Amen!
:) Call me nutty, but their tactics are the sole reason music is in the shape it's in. Gone are the days when you can say "this is what you'll like" and force artists onto the public. The Internet has obsoleted their "we know what's best" system of doing business... and it couldn't have come soon enough.
:)
:) If people are determined to pay the exorbitant prices for their high-end gear... I'm not saying they're idiots for doing so... it's their money and their ears/eyes. :) What works for some doesn't work for me. ;)
I get most of my music from emusic.com, ambient.us, and legaltorrents.. The stuff I can't get from there, if I like it and it's not a major label release, I will either buy from iTunes or the CD itself... depending upon the mood I'm in.. (I'm not always inclined to search for a CD at 3 or 4 shops, because they only carry "mainstream" crap.) I avoid RIAA tainted labels with a vengeance these days.
I can't tell the difference among the various formats, because thanks to the Walkman... I have shot my hearing to hell. I can still distinguish the various subtleties in music, even mp3... but telling which sounds better, even on my car stereo, is impossible to me. (Not that Candlemass is full of subtle nuances...) I don't think they're just "good enough"... because I like the convenience of downloading a high-bitrate mp3 set from ambient.us and paying $10 for it... no drm... (if I can at all help it.)
CD's are now mostly CD-R's for me, when I need to listen to them in the car... if I ever get another radio for my car, it'll have the USB stick mp3 capability.. then CD's will be for backup or nostalgia.
Ah well... I guess I'm just not the high end.. I don't even have surround sound for my TV. Stereo's fine. a $50 Sony bookshelf system makes for a great amp to play Xbox/PS games.
That's the rub, isn't it? Now, I hope that Germany errs on the side of caution, but hey... anything can happen. If they do not provide a criteria like current personal property investigations, and if they allow more blanket rules abiding on "national security" (the current buzzword to trump personal liberty these days)... then we have a problem.
;) I need a nap. :D
I don't suggest that Germany's law is any of these things, but when they get their ideas to start enumerating and "modernizing" their laws, we tend to be on a slippery slope. "Data can be deleted! We must mandate retention laws" "Spoofing IPs is rampant! We must mandate no-spoofing clauses" "Anonymous email is a tool of the wicked! Only evil people want to remain anonymous! We must eliminate anonymous email.."
I mean, it's the fear that people will not behave rationally in the face of danger that has the Western world in a pickle. My original point still stands (because where the US is today is the same place Germany might be... "modernizing" their laws to cope with new technology... and look what a mess we've made of it...) And no, it's not all Shurb's fault. This has been going on for a long time.. Decades of erosive legislation that simply stomps all over personal liberty... in the name of not only "modernizing" laws, but to expand police powers, and expand the reach of our already intrusive government...
yeesh. Now I've depressed myself.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're correct. Our Constitution (here in America... for those watching abroad) has no "right to dignity" or "right to not be offended" clauses. Personal freedoms trump these simply because you can always go elsewhere, change the channel, or stop listening. (Yes, we have a concerted group of morons who think that it's wrong... but those people are idiots and if they had any inclination to realize what their "dignity" clauses and other nonsense were doing to personal liberty... they'd stop... you know the proverbial "shoe on the other foot..." analogy).
...and then we see this law in Germany. Or we see the ban on Nazi symbols in Europe (tasteless? Sure... but dealing in WWII memorabilia doesn't mean we can avoid the Swastika so someone who might use it in a current political environment is monumentally absurd.) It certainly hasn't stopped the Neo Nazis, now has it? That's a mild one... not unlike the "banning" by good ol' Ted Turner of all the "offensive" cartoons that came from Warner and MGM in the 30's and 40's... thankfully Youtube has them for historical reference. (Banning them doesn't make them go away, it just makes them more enticing... but that's another story.) Were the cartoons offensive? Sure... but I digress...
...and that to me is sad in the 21st century. You'd think we would have learned since 1787.
But additionally, I'd like to point out (I'm sure I'm not the first)... that when we hear about privacy concerns in the US, the Europeans (in general) tout their globally-defining, far-reaching, non-paranoid system of personal liberty that trumps the "evil" US time and again...
I'm not saying this to "neener neener" the Europeans (or Brazilians), but to point out, the US doesn't have a monopoly on the desire to undermine personal liberty in Western Civilization...
Sure, why not? If it helps without bothering me... I don't really care. :)
The point is that these suits that are brought are as simple as mobsters forcing protection money out of merchants. And we have laws to prevent that too...