Not condoning the RIAA here (actualy, living outside of the US don't really care much about them), but I think the problem isn't as simple as that (IMHO, at least). Word of mouth isn't really a very effective marketing campaign when used alone. Just name one band that has gotten as famous as, say, Nsync to name one that was the product of lot of marketing, by using word of mouth on the internet alone, and artist can only really expect lots of interest on performances (therefore earning money of them) if they're somewhat famous, and to be famous there needs to be marketing (videos shown on TV, music played on radio, magazine ads, etc) which is expensive, and whoever pays for that wants to earn money in return, and that is a gamble to begin with since few bands get to be famous moneymakers to begin with.
As I said, don't suport the RIAA and what are they doing, but I don't think it's as easy either, since the artists do need a huge backing up to have hopes of becoming famous these days and someone needs to pay for that, and hope to get back their expenses and some earnings because of that. Wether they're charging too much or geting too much back is something different, though.
Apache isn't too good of an example, IMHO, since it's a very specialized app that you have to install yourself and config for your specific case, while windows and internet explorer are something that doesn't require any effort on the user's part (it actually requires effort not to use them by installing alternatives).
I'd bet (WARNING, statistical number pulled out of my behind) that 90% of apache users are people that know their way around computers and know that they have to keep informed and patch when needed, while I'd bet (WARNING, second statistic pulled out of my behind on a single post) that over 80% of windows/internet explorer users don't.
If all windows users would just keep their computers up to date with the patches and knew NOT to click on unknown executable files (like all apache users, to name an example, are expected to know), there would be much less security problems in the internet at large.
IIRC the translation they used was "hembra", that is a good translation of female (as far as a dictionary goes), but it's normally only used when referring to female animals. I think it was in Republica Dominicana (might be wrong) that "hembra" was slang for "bitch" (here in Venezuela it wouldn't have been as bad)
The reason cell phones aren't allowed on airplanes also have to do with the way the cell phone networks work. They were designes to have a cell phone in range of mostly 3 or 4 cell phone transmitters (no idea what their real name in english is) at the same time, then they decide which one is the strongest and communicate you trough it. When you're airborne, the cell phone signal can be in range of hundreds of transmitters at the same time, clogging the whole service and making it reject lots of land-based calls. Which is probably why some airlines now allow you to use the cell phone, but only after landing. Or at least that's what the Iberia magazine said last time I went to Spain.
Sadly it'll never happen. For every computer newbie that smarts up to the point where they don't believe that a nigerian wants to give them money, that (insert company here) will give a penny to a dying girl for every forwarded mail, or that they really get a "once in a lifetime" offer, there will be someone (or several ones) that get a new computer, someone that gives granma a computer to keep in contact, or someone who gets a job where he/she uses a computer for the first time. Sad fact is that people are smarting up against spam, but the amount of people that answer to it remains the same as new internet-related ignorant people enter into play.
Slashdot Mirror
Not condoning the RIAA here (actualy, living outside of the US don't really care much about them), but I think the problem isn't as simple as that (IMHO, at least). Word of mouth isn't really a very effective marketing campaign when used alone. Just name one band that has gotten as famous as, say, Nsync to name one that was the product of lot of marketing, by using word of mouth on the internet alone, and artist can only really expect lots of interest on performances (therefore earning money of them) if they're somewhat famous, and to be famous there needs to be marketing (videos shown on TV, music played on radio, magazine ads, etc) which is expensive, and whoever pays for that wants to earn money in return, and that is a gamble to begin with since few bands get to be famous moneymakers to begin with. As I said, don't suport the RIAA and what are they doing, but I don't think it's as easy either, since the artists do need a huge backing up to have hopes of becoming famous these days and someone needs to pay for that, and hope to get back their expenses and some earnings because of that. Wether they're charging too much or geting too much back is something different, though.
Apache isn't too good of an example, IMHO, since it's a very specialized app that you have to install yourself and config for your specific case, while windows and internet explorer are something that doesn't require any effort on the user's part (it actually requires effort not to use them by installing alternatives). I'd bet (WARNING, statistical number pulled out of my behind) that 90% of apache users are people that know their way around computers and know that they have to keep informed and patch when needed, while I'd bet (WARNING, second statistic pulled out of my behind on a single post) that over 80% of windows/internet explorer users don't. If all windows users would just keep their computers up to date with the patches and knew NOT to click on unknown executable files (like all apache users, to name an example, are expected to know), there would be much less security problems in the internet at large.
IIRC the translation they used was "hembra", that is a good translation of female (as far as a dictionary goes), but it's normally only used when referring to female animals. I think it was in Republica Dominicana (might be wrong) that "hembra" was slang for "bitch" (here in Venezuela it wouldn't have been as bad)
The reason cell phones aren't allowed on airplanes also have to do with the way the cell phone networks work. They were designes to have a cell phone in range of mostly 3 or 4 cell phone transmitters (no idea what their real name in english is) at the same time, then they decide which one is the strongest and communicate you trough it. When you're airborne, the cell phone signal can be in range of hundreds of transmitters at the same time, clogging the whole service and making it reject lots of land-based calls. Which is probably why some airlines now allow you to use the cell phone, but only after landing. Or at least that's what the Iberia magazine said last time I went to Spain.
Sadly it'll never happen. For every computer newbie that smarts up to the point where they don't believe that a nigerian wants to give them money, that (insert company here) will give a penny to a dying girl for every forwarded mail, or that they really get a "once in a lifetime" offer, there will be someone (or several ones) that get a new computer, someone that gives granma a computer to keep in contact, or someone who gets a job where he/she uses a computer for the first time. Sad fact is that people are smarting up against spam, but the amount of people that answer to it remains the same as new internet-related ignorant people enter into play.