These costs are not even remotely accurate. If you are judging by the "Pay per use" charge, you are not looking at the big picture. The pay per use charge is there so people will see the value of getting into a package. When you are in a package, you tend to use the service more. Using the service more = happy customers.
200 text messages = $5 1500 text messages = $15 Unlimited text messages = $20
So by that, you are looking at.025 per text,.01 per text, or unknown. There are people that easily surpass 5000 text a month, on the unlimited plan you are looking at.004 a text.
I still don't understand why people who text still do pay per use. It doesn't matter if they raise the price to $50 per text, the packages exist for a reason.
It's great from an "I don't want to install XP to install Vista on a reinstall" standpoint.
However, to do it just to save money doesn't work. The cost for Vista Ultimate Upgrade, for example, is $249. The cost for Vista Ultimate OEM is $199. The OEM works the same as retail, no installing twice and $50 cheaper.
Am I missing something here?
Using either on a system to get out of buying retail breaks the ULA anyway. Might as well save $50 while you are at it.
Actually, if you do a bit of searching, the reason your system bailed was because of the update you did on Live. It has destroyed many systems, and MS will not acknowledge that it is the cause. MANY people had no problems until the "1080p fix" update. It has caused lockups and in worse cases bricked systems.
Don't be afraid to get another. I have had one since launch and it's all good. Just don't update it. Stay off of Live for a bit until they recall the update.
Microsoft is INDEED their own worse enemy.
This is nothing more than bribery for trade secrets. Period. The only thing Microsoft can do is retaliate.
1) Immediately release a statement that they are horrified that they are being pressured to make copyrighted works public or else face fines.
2) Announce an IMMEDIATE withdrawl of Windows software from the EU. They will buy back licences at fair market value, as long as there is proof that the OS has been removed from the system. Announce no more support for those that continue to use it.
3) Profit.
How? The EU would shit their pants if Microsoft pulled Windows from the market. They could not function without it. Try doing a multi country conversion to Linux without disrupting business, it can't happen. They would come crawling back with their tail tucked.
Call their bluff, Microsoft. This is grade A bullshit.
Funny thing about this is the fact that the only places that can legally stop you to check your receipt (unless they have proof you stole something, or set off the alarm) are the membership warehouses liek BJ's, Costco, etc. When you pay for membership, you agree to their operatiing terms.
Best Buy, Target, etc. Just walk out the door. Go ahead. As long as you haven't stolen anything and you don't set off alarms you DO NOT have to stop for anyone. They will be illegally detaining you and you can threaten legal action. If they threaten calling the police, tell them that you will do it for them.
Fear mongering at it's finest. Everyone believes that they have a right to stop you for any reason, but they need just cause.
Well I took the plunge. I looked at Blu-Ray. Player is $1000 (retail), backed by Sony - whom of which I despise due to their recent business practices. I wasn't impressed with the video quality, as everything is encoded in MPEG2 on 25gb discs and there is noticible compression.
Then I looked at HD DVD. Backed by Toshiba, which brought me DVD - I know I like that. My first DVD player was a Toshiba, bought about a month after they came out for around $700 (from AMEX, got points deal and whatnot). The video quality was excellent, 30GB discs, but encoded in VC-1. No compression artifacts to be seen. Player was $500 (retail), that sealed the deal. Toshiba HD-A1.
I brought it home and was BLOWN away. I have it going over HDMI which looks just *slightly* better than component out. The player outputs at 1080i, but the display does the deinterlacing (as opposed to the BR player which *does* the deinterlacing - doesn't output true 1080p). Outputting Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is something to be heard.
So naturally at this point I hope that HD DVD wins. Sony does the whole "we can do 2 - 4 layer discs" and other promises they won't / can't keep.
Oh, and this thing upscans DVDs to the best quality I have ever seen. Not as good as HD, but it looks great. I have always been an early adopter. I know if HD DVD fails, I still have a kick ass player that will last me for years to come.
Oh yeah. The SALES staff knew EXACTLY what was going to happen.
Couldn't tell that to the management, though. The whole thing was the 1-800-COMPUTER phone number. Morans.
I worked at Outpost.com which was doing all the work for Computers.com on Superbowl Sunday. Just about everyone that worked for Outpost in the sales and customer services departments worked that night, we had a ton of food and stuff while we waited for the commercial to air and the phones to start ringing off the hook.
Long story short, the phones rang like 5 times. No more calls after that. Dismal failure.
The reason DVD is so popular isn't so much cost or quality, even though it helps. It was because it was the ONLY format. Most people that have a DVD player now can't even tell the difference between VHS and DVD (sad, I know) and only got one because they can borrow movies from their friends and because they are cheap. This whole thing is going to blow up in their faces because Joe Average isn't going to know which one to get and they sure aren't going to buy 2 players.
At that rate, even if there are all in one players they are never going to hit the hillbilly Wal-Mart sub $50 price point (or $100 at that rate) having to have 3 lasers (Blu-ray, HDDVD, DVD/CD).
This porn thing is going to be a mess too. Porn is a HUGE industry. If there is going to be a format war internally there, you can expect nothing but a mess.
Just get a recorder that has bitsetting (NEC 2510a with hacked firmware) and you can change the booktype to DVD-ROM. That way older players will play them just as well as -R and original media.
It's finally happpening. My prayers have been answered! I hope they die a LONG PAINFUL death. For 15+ years they have been torturing me with their horrid games, and they finally get whats what.
Slashdot Mirror
These costs are not even remotely accurate. If you are judging by the "Pay per use" charge, you are not looking at the big picture. The pay per use charge is there so people will see the value of getting into a package. When you are in a package, you tend to use the service more. Using the service more = happy customers.
.025 per text, .01 per text, or unknown. There are people that easily surpass 5000 text a month, on the unlimited plan you are looking at .004 a text.
200 text messages = $5
1500 text messages = $15
Unlimited text messages = $20
So by that, you are looking at
I still don't understand why people who text still do pay per use. It doesn't matter if they raise the price to $50 per text, the packages exist for a reason.
12345678... AMAZING! That's the same exact password I have on my briefcase!
What about the TurboExpress? It was by far the best portable of it's time...
It's great from an "I don't want to install XP to install Vista on a reinstall" standpoint. However, to do it just to save money doesn't work. The cost for Vista Ultimate Upgrade, for example, is $249. The cost for Vista Ultimate OEM is $199. The OEM works the same as retail, no installing twice and $50 cheaper. Am I missing something here? Using either on a system to get out of buying retail breaks the ULA anyway. Might as well save $50 while you are at it.
Actually, if you do a bit of searching, the reason your system bailed was because of the update you did on Live. It has destroyed many systems, and MS will not acknowledge that it is the cause. MANY people had no problems until the "1080p fix" update. It has caused lockups and in worse cases bricked systems. Don't be afraid to get another. I have had one since launch and it's all good. Just don't update it. Stay off of Live for a bit until they recall the update. Microsoft is INDEED their own worse enemy.
This is nothing more than bribery for trade secrets. Period. The only thing Microsoft can do is retaliate.
1) Immediately release a statement that they are horrified that they are being pressured to make copyrighted works public or else face fines.
2) Announce an IMMEDIATE withdrawl of Windows software from the EU. They will buy back licences at fair market value, as long as there is proof that the OS has been removed from the system. Announce no more support for those that continue to use it.
3) Profit.
How? The EU would shit their pants if Microsoft pulled Windows from the market. They could not function without it. Try doing a multi country conversion to Linux without disrupting business, it can't happen. They would come crawling back with their tail tucked.
Call their bluff, Microsoft. This is grade A bullshit.
I paid $60 tax included for Dead Rising. Yeah, $13 is a big deal.
Funny thing about this is the fact that the only places that can legally stop you to check your receipt (unless they have proof you stole something, or set off the alarm) are the membership warehouses liek BJ's, Costco, etc. When you pay for membership, you agree to their operatiing terms. Best Buy, Target, etc. Just walk out the door. Go ahead. As long as you haven't stolen anything and you don't set off alarms you DO NOT have to stop for anyone. They will be illegally detaining you and you can threaten legal action. If they threaten calling the police, tell them that you will do it for them. Fear mongering at it's finest. Everyone believes that they have a right to stop you for any reason, but they need just cause.
A lot of FUD here.
Well I took the plunge. I looked at Blu-Ray. Player is $1000 (retail), backed by Sony - whom of which I despise due to their recent business practices. I wasn't impressed with the video quality, as everything is encoded in MPEG2 on 25gb discs and there is noticible compression.
Then I looked at HD DVD. Backed by Toshiba, which brought me DVD - I know I like that. My first DVD player was a Toshiba, bought about a month after they came out for around $700 (from AMEX, got points deal and whatnot). The video quality was excellent, 30GB discs, but encoded in VC-1. No compression artifacts to be seen. Player was $500 (retail), that sealed the deal. Toshiba HD-A1.
I brought it home and was BLOWN away. I have it going over HDMI which looks just *slightly* better than component out. The player outputs at 1080i, but the display does the deinterlacing (as opposed to the BR player which *does* the deinterlacing - doesn't output true 1080p). Outputting Dolby TrueHD 5.1 is something to be heard.
So naturally at this point I hope that HD DVD wins. Sony does the whole "we can do 2 - 4 layer discs" and other promises they won't / can't keep.
Oh, and this thing upscans DVDs to the best quality I have ever seen. Not as good as HD, but it looks great. I have always been an early adopter. I know if HD DVD fails, I still have a kick ass player that will last me for years to come.
What do you mean *demo*?
The only bots in Battlefield 2 are in SINGLE PLAYER! No CO-OP. No CTF. Not purchasing.
Quite a few people are PISSED about it - you can kiss LAN PARTY out the window unless you have 16+ ppl. So much for the casual get-together.
Oh yeah. The SALES staff knew EXACTLY what was going to happen. Couldn't tell that to the management, though. The whole thing was the 1-800-COMPUTER phone number. Morans.
I worked at Outpost.com which was doing all the work for Computers.com on Superbowl Sunday. Just about everyone that worked for Outpost in the sales and customer services departments worked that night, we had a ton of food and stuff while we waited for the commercial to air and the phones to start ringing off the hook. Long story short, the phones rang like 5 times. No more calls after that. Dismal failure.
The reason DVD is so popular isn't so much cost or quality, even though it helps. It was because it was the ONLY format. Most people that have a DVD player now can't even tell the difference between VHS and DVD (sad, I know) and only got one because they can borrow movies from their friends and because they are cheap. This whole thing is going to blow up in their faces because Joe Average isn't going to know which one to get and they sure aren't going to buy 2 players.
At that rate, even if there are all in one players they are never going to hit the hillbilly Wal-Mart sub $50 price point (or $100 at that rate) having to have 3 lasers (Blu-ray, HDDVD, DVD/CD).
This porn thing is going to be a mess too. Porn is a HUGE industry. If there is going to be a format war internally there, you can expect nothing but a mess.
This is going to be a colossal freaking debacle.
Its about time that someone stood up to those thugs and gave them what's what.
Just get a recorder that has bitsetting (NEC 2510a with hacked firmware) and you can change the booktype to DVD-ROM. That way older players will play them just as well as -R and original media.
It's finally happpening. My prayers have been answered! I hope they die a LONG PAINFUL death. For 15+ years they have been torturing me with their horrid games, and they finally get whats what.
If they made a decent game once in a while they wouldn't be boned. I dream of the day I read this same thing about Acclaim.
www.miragespeakers.com
And never ever look back.
Yes it would. And thats why it would never happen. Nintendo hasn't had a brilliant idea since the SNES.