I like that I can have different components from different manufacturers. It means I can shop around for the best deals. As soon as one company ties it all in you can look forward to the death of standards like HDMI.
Apple TV works with HDMI and supports a bunch of resolutions. It works with many TVs.
Anyone remember ADC? The Apple Display Connector? Don't think for a second Apple wont start doing this to lock you in.
After switching from Windows, to both Linux and Macs, I can hook the MacBook Pro I'm typing this on to any monitor currently available. Actually I've been looking for a big screen monitor for photo editing.
It boggles the mind why people get so excited about vendor lock-in like this.
I haven't seen anyone excited about vender lock-in.
I just got an iphone to get rid of that piece of shit E65 after promising everyone, that it was my last ever nokia.
Yea, I can kick myself for buying the Nokia item I bought. A bit over 10 years ago I saw a 21" Nokia monitor and liked it, so as I was looking for a large monitor I bought one. I didn't have it a year before paying to send it into their repair facility because the display was wrong. After getting it back a week or two later it still had the same problem. It was nice while it worked but it didn't work long.
Sounds to me like this guy is an Apple fan who hasn't really done his homework about what is actually out there, or done any real business analysis of if a market would be good for Apple to get in to.
While these systems, like X10, and services already exist Apple has a record of moving into something and putting pieces together with a polished UI and selling it, such as the iPod and iPhone. What Apple doesn't have is a record of going into homes however they can put a system together to control home automation and multi-media home entertainment systems. A systems installer can then install the equipment Apple supplied.
Actually there's a pretty good market in home installations now, with media centers, automatic systems, and remote control like X10 being installed. I've seen 3 or 4 magazines that focus on these like "Smart Homeowner" and "Electronic House".
Falcon
A consumer that has a TV that's brand A and a stereo receiver that's brand B, and neither one of them work with Apple's latest "digital media center" (or don't work very well) aren't going to run out and buy an Apple TV or receiver, especially when there are other products that will work with his or her existing equipment.
Except Apple TV works with many, if not most or all, TVs. It also can play different audio formats. What I don't see though are any regular stereo inputs. All I've got now is an old stereo, however I want to get an amp/receiver, reel-to-reel tape deck, and a vinyl turntable. With such a setup I'd do what I used to do, the first tyme I played a record I recorded it on a reel of tape then played the tape. If the tape wears out I still would have the record and could rerecord it. I could also add another step, import the music onto my Mac and rip into mp3 files.
The way the 360 integrates with an internal computer network to deliver high quality video and audio is pretty darn slick.
Other than perhaps a less clunky interface, I can't imagine how Apple could trump that.
With built in network ports, Ethernet and WiFi, Apple TV can also integrate with a computer network, and it works with Windows and OS X. It can serve up movies, music, and photos. And it works with standard as well as HDTVs.
And I really doubt that any company, even Apple, would really want to or be able to serve up paid media and install BT to link into illegal distribution of copyrighted materials onto their box like that
Bittorrent is quite capable of distributing legal media as well as illegal. I'm not a content provider however if I did make movies and or music I very well may use Bittorrent for distribution. I'd use it to distribute low quality version of whatever then allow a high quality version to be downloaded for paying customers. For a little extra they could even order the movie or music on physical media sent by Fed Ex, UPS or snail mail.
imagine if you ran a small software store and a Microsoft rep told you to remove the $1 Ubuntu CDs* from your rack or have all of your Windows and Office "retailer contracts" suddenly turn into non-transferable "consumer contracts." (Meaning you couldn't sell them.)
That would be a breach of contract. A contract can't be unilaterally changed, both parties have to agree to the change.
Needless to say I called BS on them because I was never provided with a copy of the agreement and they certainly don't have my signature on anything. Unfortunately, consumers have no legal rights when it comes to a credit report. It's not considered liable because credit reports aren't public information. Anyone have an idea of a legal argument I can make that would force them to tell the credit agencies the bill is invalid?
All you have to do is write the credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. By law they are required to investigate and if you're right remove anything derogatory. If they can't verify your version they have to include your explanation of it in the report.
I've got to warn you thought that Experian has a bad record of verifying claims. I should also recommend people not to use any of those agencies that say they can clean up your credit, all they will do is dispute any bad claims which is explained above. They will also dispute every single bad claim all at once, and the report agencies frown on that. You should dispute only one or two items at a tyme, with 6 months between disputes filed.
when software companies realize that they can't sell non-transferable software, they will have their economists do some calculations to determine how that will affect total sales, since people who would have had to buy the software will now buy it second-hand.
Except companies like Adobe have allowed a License Transfer [pdf]. Googling software "license transfer" results in almost 150,000 results. On the first page of results are links to Adobe, HP, and Quark as well as Microsoft.
There's no law that says Microsoft can't require your PC to phone home to verify it's using the same hardware as before.
I switched, to both Linux and Macs, because Microsoft treats it's users like criminals.
So while this decision could be repeated if Microsoft tried to stop you from reselling Vista and you went to court over it, it would probably not have any effect on that sold copy of Vista being useless because Microsoft wouldn't activate it.
If Vista came on a retail disk and MS refused to activate it I think the court would rule MS's refusal illegal. That is as long as it was installed only on one PC. And while I've complained about MS repeatedly, I don't think they would refuse to activate it. A number of people on/. have said they had no trouble activating XP on a new PC after calling MS.
First sale doesn't allow you to distribute copies, even if it's with the original work.
First Sale most definitely allows you to sell copies. What is illegal is selling illegal copies. If I wanted to I could buy 1,000 copies of Leopard from Apple and sell them to any one who will buy them. What would be illegal is if I took one copy of Leopard, copied it, then sold those copies without a license from Apple.
There's no way Autodesk is going to let this ruling stand unappealed, and if the appeals court rules against them again, there will be a cavalcade of software companies prepared to flood the Supreme Court with amicus briefs on their behalf.
Actually I doubt it. Other companies allow ownership to be transfered. Take for instance Adobe, Adobe has a Transfer of Adobe License [pdf] form the seller fills out when they transfer software to someone else, whether giving it away or selling it. Just as this guy sells AutoCAD on eBay others sale various Photoshop and CS versions. And Photoshop is the leading photo editor photo pros use, whereas AutoCAD has a number of competitors.
If it is so easy to put you into a defensive posture where you expend energy being defensive, rather than learning how reality works... Then perhaps I will do that just for the sheer enjoyment
Yea, it's more fun to "win" by being an ass than it is to win by winning a debate and changing what a person believes.
Composed, used as fertilizer, and used as a base for other growing plants still leaves it in the ecosystem, basically. It's not airborn, yet, but might be depending on what happens afterwards.
That's the problem with petro, it was taken out of the atmosphere and ecosystem and buried a long tyme ago. Burning it reintroduces it to the ecosystem. Algae on the other hand is carbon neutral, while growing it takes CO2 out of the atmosphere then reintroduces it after it dies. Actually it can be pressurized to form charcoal blocks. I don't recall where it was but I recently read a science article that said dead plants, such as trees, might be able to be buried deep underground keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Here's one from "New Scientist", "Burying biomass to fight climate change".
I've had to replace 3 mobos and 2 hdds in the first year of owning a new PC.
I don't know what or where you're buying, but I've had only one catastrophic mobo failure in about 15 years. And HDDs fail, that's just a fact of life. I have ten-year old 540MB Maxtor drives that are still ticking
The first PC the mobo failed in was a Gateway and the second an HP, both in the first year. And while I expect hdds to fail I don't expect them the fail in the first year, maybe the third of fourth year but not the first. I have 2 40 GB hdds more than 10 years old, though I don't know or recall the manufacturer, that are still good. However that does not make up for a harddisk drive failing after 6 months, which is how long it took the first hdd to fail.
It's no skin off my back if you want to play stupid and can't find the MULTIPLE corrections by MULTIPLE people -- some even citing links to the laws. But play stupid. Pretend you're right. If it makes you feel better, march through the gates of Stupidia. I don't really care anymore. You're wrong. Have fun.
I may be wrong but at least I'm not callous. Reasonable debate will change my mind whereas calling me names will only make me defensive.
Unfortunately, with a school, you pretty much are stuck with autocad, as that is typically what you are teaching.
That's the good thing about it being a school. A school teaching thousands to use a specific CADD program can carry a lot of weight. If the students use another software like CATIA then there's a good possibility they will want to use it for work as well.
I gave up on autocad, and went with one of the lower end parametric cad programs (Alibre) - of course Catia is the "big boy" of the parametric CADs.
About 15 years ago where I worked this guy working in a machine shop talked about starting his own business machining special pieces and he said he could do everything he wanted with catia. Actually that's the only reason I know of it, I hadn't heard of it before and since then I've only heard people refer to it infrequently. Under 20 tymes I'd say.
Alibre has a free version - limited to what it can do, but not too bad (what do you want for free as in beer) and Design Pro isn't unreasonable in price (For instance they were just running a tax rebate special - $300)
Though not a draftsman or in any other field that uses CAD(D) I'd like to get one. Price alone puts AutoCAD out of reach, using Linux and Macs does too. Sure, if someone wanted to they could install Windows on a Mac they could either dualboot or run Windows in a VM. However I switched to Macs, and Linux, from Windows because I was sick and tired of the hassles I had with PCs and Windows. I also hate the fact that Microsoft wants to treat it's customers like criminals. It appears from reading some of the comments regarding Adobe, so does it treat customers like that.
I've always thought of Autocad as a good general purpose CAD. Thing is, it's mostly a architectural CAD IMHO.
That's the main reason I want CAD, but also for wood and maybe for metal working. I don't own it now but I'm supposed to buy the apartment building I live in. Right now my sister owns it. Being on disability and not working I wouldn't normally qualify for a mortgage, but a mortgage company would more likely to make a mortgage for 60% of the value of a property. Anyway I hate the layout of the building and want to gut out the shell and rebuild the interior. Then hopefully down the road in 10 or 15 years I'll be in a position to buy some land I could build my own home on from the ground.
If you are going to do Machine shop work - grab Pro/E or Alibre (any of the parametric CADs are better for mechanica design than AutoCAD).
I'd use CAD for architecture as I say above both I also like building things with wood and would like to get into metallurgy, though I don't know if CAD would help here.
As Lawerence Lessig argues (in part) in his book Free Culture, movie companies don't care about piracy, what they worry about is a reduction in the barriers to market. P2P enables anyone with a $200 camera and a $1500 computer to be a movie producer and seen by anyone almost instantly with no restrictions to geographic region.
...
A good movie is a lot more difficult. Far more expensive.
"The Blair Witch Project" proves that's wrong. It was made on a budget of $22,000 yet grossed $248,639,099. Though it was made with $1,000,000 "Kissing Jessica Stein" grossed millions more, it's lowest grossing month in 2002 was almost $500,000 while it's highest month was more than $7,000,000 in the US alone. If they weren't any good then they wouldn't have made money.
And for heaven's sake, make it a DVD. Selling tapes is probably your #1 problem - so many people just don't have tape players anymore and they go rent a download just so they can play it at all.
No, it should be available in both formats, dvd and tape. VHS/VCRs are still sold in stores. I was just in BestBuy today and they had Blu-ray and/or HD DVD with tape players built in. I imagine a bunch of people are like me, they bought tapes and they still want to watch them without buying the dvd. I have been slowly replacing my tapes with dvds but now I'll have to replace them with Blu-ray or HD DVDs, after I get a player. I see no reason to get one now though, I don't have an HDTV yet and to watch an HD movie I'd also have to buy an upconverter or a player with one built in.
Be that as it may, it is the case that they are special rental versions. Apparently you can't verify this as easily, but there are other comments here, made by other people, saying the same thing.
I don't know if they are special or not, however saying others agree with you doesn't work as others have said they aren't special as well.
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I like that I can have different components from different manufacturers. It means I can shop around for the best deals. As soon as one company ties it all in you can look forward to the death of standards like HDMI.
Apple TV works with HDMI and supports a bunch of resolutions. It works with many TVs.
Anyone remember ADC? The Apple Display Connector? Don't think for a second Apple wont start doing this to lock you in.
After switching from Windows, to both Linux and Macs, I can hook the MacBook Pro I'm typing this on to any monitor currently available. Actually I've been looking for a big screen monitor for photo editing.
It boggles the mind why people get so excited about vendor lock-in like this.
I haven't seen anyone excited about vender lock-in.
FalconApple doesn't need to create TVs, they just need HDMI.
Apple TV does HDMI and is compatible with many TV resolutions.
FalconI just got an iphone to get rid of that piece of shit E65 after promising everyone, that it was my last ever nokia.
Yea, I can kick myself for buying the Nokia item I bought. A bit over 10 years ago I saw a 21" Nokia monitor and liked it, so as I was looking for a large monitor I bought one. I didn't have it a year before paying to send it into their repair facility because the display was wrong. After getting it back a week or two later it still had the same problem. It was nice while it worked but it didn't work long.
FalconSounds to me like this guy is an Apple fan who hasn't really done his homework about what is actually out there, or done any real business analysis of if a market would be good for Apple to get in to.
While these systems, like X10, and services already exist Apple has a record of moving into something and putting pieces together with a polished UI and selling it, such as the iPod and iPhone. What Apple doesn't have is a record of going into homes however they can put a system together to control home automation and multi-media home entertainment systems. A systems installer can then install the equipment Apple supplied.
FalconActually there's a pretty good market in home installations now, with media centers, automatic systems, and remote control like X10 being installed. I've seen 3 or 4 magazines that focus on these like "Smart Homeowner" and "Electronic House". Falcon
A consumer that has a TV that's brand A and a stereo receiver that's brand B, and neither one of them work with Apple's latest "digital media center" (or don't work very well) aren't going to run out and buy an Apple TV or receiver, especially when there are other products that will work with his or her existing equipment.
Except Apple TV works with many, if not most or all, TVs. It also can play different audio formats. What I don't see though are any regular stereo inputs. All I've got now is an old stereo, however I want to get an amp/receiver, reel-to-reel tape deck, and a vinyl turntable. With such a setup I'd do what I used to do, the first tyme I played a record I recorded it on a reel of tape then played the tape. If the tape wears out I still would have the record and could rerecord it. I could also add another step, import the music onto my Mac and rip into mp3 files.
FalconThe way the 360 integrates with an internal computer network to deliver high quality video and audio is pretty darn slick.
Other than perhaps a less clunky interface, I can't imagine how Apple could trump that.
With built in network ports, Ethernet and WiFi, Apple TV can also integrate with a computer network, and it works with Windows and OS X. It can serve up movies, music, and photos. And it works with standard as well as HDTVs.
FalconAnd I really doubt that any company, even Apple, would really want to or be able to serve up paid media and install BT to link into illegal distribution of copyrighted materials onto their box like that
Bittorrent is quite capable of distributing legal media as well as illegal. I'm not a content provider however if I did make movies and or music I very well may use Bittorrent for distribution. I'd use it to distribute low quality version of whatever then allow a high quality version to be downloaded for paying customers. For a little extra they could even order the movie or music on physical media sent by Fed Ex, UPS or snail mail.
Falconimagine if you ran a small software store and a Microsoft rep told you to remove the $1 Ubuntu CDs* from your rack or have all of your Windows and Office "retailer contracts" suddenly turn into non-transferable "consumer contracts." (Meaning you couldn't sell them.)
That would be a breach of contract. A contract can't be unilaterally changed, both parties have to agree to the change.
FalconNeedless to say I called BS on them because I was never provided with a copy of the agreement and they certainly don't have my signature on anything. Unfortunately, consumers have no legal rights when it comes to a credit report. It's not considered liable because credit reports aren't public information. Anyone have an idea of a legal argument I can make that would force them to tell the credit agencies the bill is invalid?
All you have to do is write the credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. By law they are required to investigate and if you're right remove anything derogatory. If they can't verify your version they have to include your explanation of it in the report.
I've got to warn you thought that Experian has a bad record of verifying claims. I should also recommend people not to use any of those agencies that say they can clean up your credit, all they will do is dispute any bad claims which is explained above. They will also dispute every single bad claim all at once, and the report agencies frown on that. You should dispute only one or two items at a tyme, with 6 months between disputes filed.
Falconwhen software companies realize that they can't sell non-transferable software, they will have their economists do some calculations to determine how that will affect total sales, since people who would have had to buy the software will now buy it second-hand.
Except companies like Adobe have allowed a License Transfer [pdf]. Googling software "license transfer" results in almost 150,000 results. On the first page of results are links to Adobe, HP, and Quark as well as Microsoft.
FalconConsider CDs. Do you honestly think the RIAA would charge less if people couldn't buy used copies?
The RIAA is already making it difficult if not illegal to sell used CDs.
There's no law that says Microsoft can't require your PC to phone home to verify it's using the same hardware as before.
I switched, to both Linux and Macs, because Microsoft treats it's users like criminals.
So while this decision could be repeated if Microsoft tried to stop you from reselling Vista and you went to court over it, it would probably not have any effect on that sold copy of Vista being useless because Microsoft wouldn't activate it.
If Vista came on a retail disk and MS refused to activate it I think the court would rule MS's refusal illegal. That is as long as it was installed only on one PC. And while I've complained about MS repeatedly, I don't think they would refuse to activate it. A number of people on /. have said they had no trouble activating XP on a new PC after calling MS.
FalconFirst sale doesn't allow you to distribute copies, even if it's with the original work.
First Sale most definitely allows you to sell copies. What is illegal is selling illegal copies. If I wanted to I could buy 1,000 copies of Leopard from Apple and sell them to any one who will buy them. What would be illegal is if I took one copy of Leopard, copied it, then sold those copies without a license from Apple.
FalconThere's no way Autodesk is going to let this ruling stand unappealed, and if the appeals court rules against them again, there will be a cavalcade of software companies prepared to flood the Supreme Court with amicus briefs on their behalf.
Actually I doubt it. Other companies allow ownership to be transfered. Take for instance Adobe, Adobe has a Transfer of Adobe License [pdf] form the seller fills out when they transfer software to someone else, whether giving it away or selling it. Just as this guy sells AutoCAD on eBay others sale various Photoshop and CS versions. And Photoshop is the leading photo editor photo pros use, whereas AutoCAD has a number of competitors.
FalconThe GIMP is almost as good as Photoshop now.
GIMP isn't even close to Photoshop, not for a pro photographer. CinePaint, aka FilmGIMP, bridges the gap quite a bit though.
But I've never seen anything that compete with Autocad that is remotely as good.
There's CATIA, MicroStation, and Pro/ENGINEER. And if you don't need all that they offer, there's TurboCAD, as well as others.
FalconIf it is so easy to put you into a defensive posture where you expend energy being defensive, rather than learning how reality works ... Then perhaps I will do that just for the sheer enjoyment
Yea, it's more fun to "win" by being an ass than it is to win by winning a debate and changing what a person believes.
FalconComposed, used as fertilizer, and used as a base for other growing plants still leaves it in the ecosystem, basically. It's not airborn, yet, but might be depending on what happens afterwards.
That's the problem with petro, it was taken out of the atmosphere and ecosystem and buried a long tyme ago. Burning it reintroduces it to the ecosystem. Algae on the other hand is carbon neutral, while growing it takes CO2 out of the atmosphere then reintroduces it after it dies. Actually it can be pressurized to form charcoal blocks. I don't recall where it was but I recently read a science article that said dead plants, such as trees, might be able to be buried deep underground keeping carbon out of the atmosphere. Here's one from "New Scientist", "Burying biomass to fight climate change".
FalconI've had to replace 3 mobos and 2 hdds in the first year of owning a new PC.
I don't know what or where you're buying, but I've had only one catastrophic mobo failure in about 15 years. And HDDs fail, that's just a fact of life. I have ten-year old 540MB Maxtor drives that are still ticking
The first PC the mobo failed in was a Gateway and the second an HP, both in the first year. And while I expect hdds to fail I don't expect them the fail in the first year, maybe the third of fourth year but not the first. I have 2 40 GB hdds more than 10 years old, though I don't know or recall the manufacturer, that are still good. However that does not make up for a harddisk drive failing after 6 months, which is how long it took the first hdd to fail.
FalconIt's no skin off my back if you want to play stupid and can't find the MULTIPLE corrections by MULTIPLE people -- some even citing links to the laws. But play stupid. Pretend you're right. If it makes you feel better, march through the gates of Stupidia. I don't really care anymore. You're wrong. Have fun.
I may be wrong but at least I'm not callous. Reasonable debate will change my mind whereas calling me names will only make me defensive.
FalconUnfortunately, with a school, you pretty much are stuck with autocad, as that is typically what you are teaching.
That's the good thing about it being a school. A school teaching thousands to use a specific CADD program can carry a lot of weight. If the students use another software like CATIA then there's a good possibility they will want to use it for work as well.
I gave up on autocad, and went with one of the lower end parametric cad programs (Alibre) - of course Catia is the "big boy" of the parametric CADs.
About 15 years ago where I worked this guy working in a machine shop talked about starting his own business machining special pieces and he said he could do everything he wanted with catia. Actually that's the only reason I know of it, I hadn't heard of it before and since then I've only heard people refer to it infrequently. Under 20 tymes I'd say.
Alibre has a free version - limited to what it can do, but not too bad (what do you want for free as in beer) and Design Pro isn't unreasonable in price (For instance they were just running a tax rebate special - $300)
Though not a draftsman or in any other field that uses CAD(D) I'd like to get one. Price alone puts AutoCAD out of reach, using Linux and Macs does too. Sure, if someone wanted to they could install Windows on a Mac they could either dualboot or run Windows in a VM. However I switched to Macs, and Linux, from Windows because I was sick and tired of the hassles I had with PCs and Windows. I also hate the fact that Microsoft wants to treat it's customers like criminals. It appears from reading some of the comments regarding Adobe, so does it treat customers like that.
I've always thought of Autocad as a good general purpose CAD. Thing is, it's mostly a architectural CAD IMHO.
That's the main reason I want CAD, but also for wood and maybe for metal working. I don't own it now but I'm supposed to buy the apartment building I live in. Right now my sister owns it. Being on disability and not working I wouldn't normally qualify for a mortgage, but a mortgage company would more likely to make a mortgage for 60% of the value of a property. Anyway I hate the layout of the building and want to gut out the shell and rebuild the interior. Then hopefully down the road in 10 or 15 years I'll be in a position to buy some land I could build my own home on from the ground.
If you are going to do Machine shop work - grab Pro/E or Alibre (any of the parametric CADs are better for mechanica design than AutoCAD).
I'd use CAD for architecture as I say above both I also like building things with wood and would like to get into metallurgy, though I don't know if CAD would help here.
FalconNo amount of sales receipts or serial numbers mattered. They didn't even care. Their solution every single time was to "Buy a new copy".
On top of that, upgrading almost never worked.
I don't know if it will work but next tyme you can tell Adobe you'll be upgrading to CATIA.
FalconAs Lawerence Lessig argues (in part) in his book Free Culture, movie companies don't care about piracy, what they worry about is a reduction in the barriers to market. P2P enables anyone with a $200 camera and a $1500 computer to be a movie producer and seen by anyone almost instantly with no restrictions to geographic region.
A good movie is a lot more difficult. Far more expensive.
"The Blair Witch Project" proves that's wrong. It was made on a budget of $22,000 yet grossed $248,639,099. Though it was made with $1,000,000 "Kissing Jessica Stein" grossed millions more, it's lowest grossing month in 2002 was almost $500,000 while it's highest month was more than $7,000,000 in the US alone. If they weren't any good then they wouldn't have made money.
FalconAnd for heaven's sake, make it a DVD. Selling tapes is probably your #1 problem - so many people just don't have tape players anymore and they go rent a download just so they can play it at all.
No, it should be available in both formats, dvd and tape. VHS/VCRs are still sold in stores. I was just in BestBuy today and they had Blu-ray and/or HD DVD with tape players built in. I imagine a bunch of people are like me, they bought tapes and they still want to watch them without buying the dvd. I have been slowly replacing my tapes with dvds but now I'll have to replace them with Blu-ray or HD DVDs, after I get a player. I see no reason to get one now though, I don't have an HDTV yet and to watch an HD movie I'd also have to buy an upconverter or a player with one built in.
FalconBe that as it may, it is the case that they are special rental versions. Apparently you can't verify this as easily, but there are other comments here, made by other people, saying the same thing.
I don't know if they are special or not, however saying others agree with you doesn't work as others have said they aren't special as well.
Falcon