I watch a fair number of movies every week but I really have no use for DVD's or HD-DVD's. My local cable provider provides a lot of HD content and the On Demand HD selections are expanding.
I no longer rent or purchase DVD's. Although they look "ok" on my 52" Mitsubishi, they are disappointing compared to the HD content I regularly view.
The optical format is arguably not the best format for backups. The only advantage I see is portability. Most people with a decent home theater setup do not care so much about portability.
Let the manufacturers dispute this while IP TV evolves and makes the whole point moot. You know somehow, someday, regardless of DRM, we're going to own huge hard drives full of HD movies delivered via IP.
I'm all for this. I don't know why anyone would argue this is a bad thing. Sure, there are some concerns and not everyone may be interested or need the technology but I for one would benefit.
I currently have a lot of data on my smartphone. This includes a 1GB TomTom map database, MP3's (music, Podcasts), audio dictations, images, videos and emails. Multi GB SD cards are expensive.
Battery consumption of the mini-HD can be overcome by caching to device RAM and other smart power technologies. I'm sure these use much less power than the original mini-drives; The first one I owned drained my iPAQ in 45 min. This was fixed when I purchased the expansion sleeve with a built in battery but the whole setup was huge.
As for speed, the drives will keep up with most applications. Sure, flash drives are quick but unless you're doing professional digital photograpy for example, that speed is not necessary. Similar small HD's are working out fine in the video iPods and other DAPs arent't they?
"Kids want fun games, not necessarily photo-realistic graphics."
Tell that to the mobs of kids that come to our house to play on my son's Xbox. Their parents say they barely touch their Gamecubes. All they want to play is Halo2.
In another example a kid told me the only reason he plays his Nintendo is because his dad is always on the Xbox.
If Comcast didn't provide DVD's with the PPV's it would negatively impact DVD retail sales, since the PPV's will be made available simultaneously with the DVD release. DVD's are a huge portion of overall movie revenues. It's all about convenience for the subscriber and timing for the DVD release.
I'm all for it and would pay $17 for top-run features but the PPV's better be in HD. I won't pay that much to watch it in SD.
Ok, so you are saying Ham operators will invest thousands of dollars in their equipment just so they can get on the air in the rare event of a power outage? That's just plain ridiculous. It's called amateur radio because it takes a lot of training, experimentation, practice and $$$. If they only got to get on the air for a few minutes in a year, trust me, they would cause more interference than you can imagine because they would have no clue what they're doing. The hobby will truly die.
There were encounters. If utter disgust wasn't involved, there sometimes was pleasure. Those who succeeded succumbed to Syphilis. Those who failed wrote negative blog entries and returned to self love, as a previous/.er described.
Just about the time these technologies are officially outlawed, auto auto-pilot will become widely available. We'll have nothing better to do during our auto-commutes than pick our noses, floss or gawk at attractive female commuters....slightly less dangerously than we do currently.
"XM has a low-pass filter that cuts out everything above 15 KHz, in order to mask compression artifacts. Listen to a song on XM, then listen to the same song on CD, and you'll hear a difference - the entire top end is missing on XM."
Ya, I've read that, but it's really no matter for a vast majority of listeners. I have the home PCR and it sounds great on a mid-range Harman Kardon surround system. It's even better hooked digitally into my 12 speaker system in my BMW. I don't think anyone would argue it isn't tons better than FM. Hell, even my Ford F-150, FM modulated is better than I expected.
I'm deaf in one ear and can't hear out the other, (too many Iron Maiden concerts) but I have never noticed digital artifacts on any of XM's music stations, only on the news/talk/sports channels. From what I understand, XM is NEAR CD quality. I don't have the patience to find out what the actual bit-rate is, for the purpose of blathering it in this post, but XM sounds great to me.
I've got a Fujitsu convertible Tablet-PC (T-3010D) and it suits me just fine. Actually, I would be hard pressed to part with it. Before I first laid my hands on a Win-Tablet I wondered what all the fuss was about. After using mine for the last year, I can't imagine going back to a conventional notebook, not even to one with much more power.
Slate mode is by far the most comfortable design for lounging on the couch or in bed. Obviously it is the most comfortable design to use while standing. My Tablet stays in slate mode unless I'm at my desk or if I have A LOT of text to input.
My company did a pilot implementation to prove the concept of Tablet-PC use for our field workers and it was a whopping success.
I believe Microsoft really put forth an effort to advance this technology. The innovation argument, ie, who invented it, is rubbish. The Tablet-PC is a combination of several technologies, which were all a natural evolution to a more usable design. For example, writing on the screen is a practical and logical interface whos time has come. I don't believe innovation is the correct terminology for this adaptation.
I'm tired of the incessant noise about the Newton and how it was the first Tablet-PC. Fujitsu and other vendors have been making pen-format PC's for decades. The Newton was also proprietary and had limited functionality. Microsoft has taken a better approach by simply developing the OS and setting hardware stardards to help equipment manufacturers quickly bring products to market.
Adoption has been slow, but recently, Tablet-PC prices have come down significantly.
It will be interesting to see what Apple does to make their Tablet entry compelling..that is, if they make one. Apple, or more accurately Jobs, screwed up big by rejecting PDA and Tablet architectures after killing the Newton.
If you haven't tried a Tablet-PC, I would strongly urge you to do so. Doctors, students and service workers greatly benefit from the design. Anyone else who prefers their PC to be as natural and ergonomic as possible will also enjoy owning one.
If adding BC in ANY way compromises the superiority of the next Xbox, then I vote no. MS should focus exclusively on developing simply the best gaming console (again).
That's just great. I've been telling my customers the new PC's they buy will be useful much longer than those they bought in the past. I was hoping the obsolescence curve would grow less steep.
As usual, most angles have been discussed here, but I've been an Xbox owner since its release and I have strong opinions on a few issues:
1. Backward compatibility is bad. I would rather MS concentrate development efforts on creating the best console (again) rather than divert dollars to BC. Most people who will want to play old games already have an Xbox. I'll keep mine. Can the common person resist selling their's on eBay?
2. Just a guess, but I would reckon only a fraction of a percent of revenue is lost due to haxxors. Can you imagine the common Joe trying to solder in a surface-mount mod-chip? I've casually considered moding my unit, but after a half-hearted, unsuccessful effort to find and purchase a chip, I blew it off. Sounds like a pain in the ass to me. All for what?...to accomplish what a cheap media center PC, which is extremely more versatile can do? D/Ling Xbox games notwithstanding.
3. Noise? I don't ever really hear my Xbox. The only noise I've noticed is when I play my scratched-up Mech Assault disk. It sounds like the drive is making repeated reads.
4. Level and patch downloads are a significant boon to Xbox sales. It has impressed the hell out of me how many times Mech Assault has been upgraded. I REALLY feel I have gotten my money's worth out of this game and others. I'm not saying this is not possible w/o the HD, but it just sounds more difficult and possibly more expensive and/or restrictive.
Maybe MS is considering a cutting-edge memory technology like holographic or polymer storage! Only problem then will be the minus 250 deg centigrade cooling required...at least they can lose the fan.
Slashdot Mirror
I watch a fair number of movies every week but I really have no use for DVD's or HD-DVD's. My local cable provider provides a lot of HD content and the On Demand HD selections are expanding.
I no longer rent or purchase DVD's. Although they look "ok" on my 52" Mitsubishi, they are disappointing compared to the HD content I regularly view.
The optical format is arguably not the best format for backups. The only advantage I see is portability. Most people with a decent home theater setup do not care so much about portability.
Let the manufacturers dispute this while IP TV evolves and makes the whole point moot. You know somehow, someday, regardless of DRM, we're going to own huge hard drives full of HD movies delivered via IP.
I'm all for this. I don't know why anyone would argue this is a bad thing. Sure, there are some concerns and not everyone may be interested or need the technology but I for one would benefit. I currently have a lot of data on my smartphone. This includes a 1GB TomTom map database, MP3's (music, Podcasts), audio dictations, images, videos and emails. Multi GB SD cards are expensive. Battery consumption of the mini-HD can be overcome by caching to device RAM and other smart power technologies. I'm sure these use much less power than the original mini-drives; The first one I owned drained my iPAQ in 45 min. This was fixed when I purchased the expansion sleeve with a built in battery but the whole setup was huge. As for speed, the drives will keep up with most applications. Sure, flash drives are quick but unless you're doing professional digital photograpy for example, that speed is not necessary. Similar small HD's are working out fine in the video iPods and other DAPs arent't they?
"Kids want fun games, not necessarily photo-realistic graphics." Tell that to the mobs of kids that come to our house to play on my son's Xbox. Their parents say they barely touch their Gamecubes. All they want to play is Halo2. In another example a kid told me the only reason he plays his Nintendo is because his dad is always on the Xbox.
For added intimidation, thump defeated enemy units off the board.
If Comcast didn't provide DVD's with the PPV's it would negatively impact DVD retail sales, since the PPV's will be made available simultaneously with the DVD release. DVD's are a huge portion of overall movie revenues. It's all about convenience for the subscriber and timing for the DVD release. I'm all for it and would pay $17 for top-run features but the PPV's better be in HD. I won't pay that much to watch it in SD.
Ok, so you are saying Ham operators will invest thousands of dollars in their equipment just so they can get on the air in the rare event of a power outage? That's just plain ridiculous. It's called amateur radio because it takes a lot of training, experimentation, practice and $$$. If they only got to get on the air for a few minutes in a year, trust me, they would cause more interference than you can imagine because they would have no clue what they're doing. The hobby will truly die.
Can you say BattleSTAR GalacticaTREK?
Just for grins, what were your pre-conceived prejudices of NY?
There were encounters. If utter disgust wasn't involved, there sometimes was pleasure. Those who succeeded succumbed to Syphilis. Those who failed wrote negative blog entries and returned to self love, as a previous /.er described.
I bet they also do not know how to insert line breaks.
A huge majority of broadband users stay w/ AOL because:
1. They do not want to change their email address.
2. They do not know how to configure their email client to point at their ISP.
3. They belong to special interest groups on AOL. 4. They have years of familiarity w/ AOL and fear change.
I work with these people every day. Sigh.
I fotoblog becuz I cant spel or tipe.
Just about the time these technologies are officially outlawed, auto auto-pilot will become widely available. We'll have nothing better to do during our auto-commutes than pick our noses, floss or gawk at attractive female commuters....slightly less dangerously than we do currently.
"...this is really the story of Jar Jar Binks..."
OMG..this is the worse travesty ever imposed on mankind!
"XM has a low-pass filter that cuts out everything above 15 KHz, in order to mask compression artifacts. Listen to a song on XM, then listen to the same song on CD, and you'll hear a difference - the entire top end is missing on XM."
Ya, I've read that, but it's really no matter for a vast majority of listeners. I have the home PCR and it sounds great on a mid-range Harman Kardon surround system. It's even better hooked digitally into my 12 speaker system in my BMW. I don't think anyone would argue it isn't tons better than FM. Hell, even my Ford F-150, FM modulated is better than I expected.
I'm deaf in one ear and can't hear out the other, (too many Iron Maiden concerts) but I have never noticed digital artifacts on any of XM's music stations, only on the news/talk/sports channels. From what I understand, XM is NEAR CD quality. I don't have the patience to find out what the actual bit-rate is, for the purpose of blathering it in this post, but XM sounds great to me.
There is no better an odor than new electronics. bling, bling
Maybe you should place the 0 in quotes.
I've got a Fujitsu convertible Tablet-PC (T-3010D) and it suits me just fine. Actually, I would be hard pressed to part with it. Before I first laid my hands on a Win-Tablet I wondered what all the fuss was about. After using mine for the last year, I can't imagine going back to a conventional notebook, not even to one with much more power. Slate mode is by far the most comfortable design for lounging on the couch or in bed. Obviously it is the most comfortable design to use while standing. My Tablet stays in slate mode unless I'm at my desk or if I have A LOT of text to input. My company did a pilot implementation to prove the concept of Tablet-PC use for our field workers and it was a whopping success. I believe Microsoft really put forth an effort to advance this technology. The innovation argument, ie, who invented it, is rubbish. The Tablet-PC is a combination of several technologies, which were all a natural evolution to a more usable design. For example, writing on the screen is a practical and logical interface whos time has come. I don't believe innovation is the correct terminology for this adaptation. I'm tired of the incessant noise about the Newton and how it was the first Tablet-PC. Fujitsu and other vendors have been making pen-format PC's for decades. The Newton was also proprietary and had limited functionality. Microsoft has taken a better approach by simply developing the OS and setting hardware stardards to help equipment manufacturers quickly bring products to market. Adoption has been slow, but recently, Tablet-PC prices have come down significantly. It will be interesting to see what Apple does to make their Tablet entry compelling..that is, if they make one. Apple, or more accurately Jobs, screwed up big by rejecting PDA and Tablet architectures after killing the Newton. If you haven't tried a Tablet-PC, I would strongly urge you to do so. Doctors, students and service workers greatly benefit from the design. Anyone else who prefers their PC to be as natural and ergonomic as possible will also enjoy owning one.
Up next: DRM for your brain. Maybe now I can get rid of all those silly TV theme songs constantly playing in my head.
If adding BC in ANY way compromises the superiority of the next Xbox, then I vote no. MS should focus exclusively on developing simply the best gaming console (again).
Donkeys, asses, liberals or {insert your label here} have made the film into a warcry for the promotion of environmentalism.
That's just great. I've been telling my customers the new PC's they buy will be useful much longer than those they bought in the past. I was hoping the obsolescence curve would grow less steep.
As usual, most angles have been discussed here, but I've been an Xbox owner since its release and I have strong opinions on a few issues:
1. Backward compatibility is bad. I would rather MS concentrate development efforts on creating the best console (again) rather than divert dollars to BC. Most people who will want to play old games already have an Xbox. I'll keep mine. Can the common person resist selling their's on eBay?
2. Just a guess, but I would reckon only a fraction of a percent of revenue is lost due to haxxors. Can you imagine the common Joe trying to solder in a surface-mount mod-chip? I've casually considered moding my unit, but after a half-hearted, unsuccessful effort to find and purchase a chip, I blew it off. Sounds like a pain in the ass to me. All for what?...to accomplish what a cheap media center PC, which is extremely more versatile can do? D/Ling Xbox games notwithstanding.
3. Noise? I don't ever really hear my Xbox. The only noise I've noticed is when I play my scratched-up Mech Assault disk. It sounds like the drive is making repeated reads.
4. Level and patch downloads are a significant boon to Xbox sales. It has impressed the hell out of me how many times Mech Assault has been upgraded. I REALLY feel I have gotten my money's worth out of this game and others. I'm not saying this is not possible w/o the HD, but it just sounds more difficult and possibly more expensive and/or restrictive.
Maybe MS is considering a cutting-edge memory technology like holographic or polymer storage! Only problem then will be the minus 250 deg centigrade cooling required...at least they can lose the fan.
...But ethanol will be converted to hydrogen, which IS an extremely efficient energy source when powering fuel cells.