Selling a gun to a customer and selling a gun to a known murderer are not the same thing. If you sell software that can enforce censorship to countries that practice censorship, you know that they're going to use it for that. Does that make the seller an accomplice? I dunno, ask a cop about selling a gun to a known murderer and whether they could bring someone up on charges for that.
... how well Gates likes his Mac? Becuase it's widely known he uses a Mac and almost never uses Windows himself. This also applies to Ballmer and all other top-level executives working for MS. If there's an page where the interviewer asked him about that, I'd love to have a link to it. It seems most never dare. So you see, I'm not really all that excited about an interview with Gates; most of the interviewers seem too well-trained to ask anything interesting.
True, but that's exactly why I think this will ultimately fail. They will try to control it to that extent and people won't go for it. So then they will try to shove it down everyone's throats. But others will produce freeware or even open source alternatives, and the more they try to shove their ePaper down out throats, the more those free or open source alternatives will catch on. Or maybe the ePaper won't catch on much at all - wasn't the wma hyped to completely replace the mp3?
Now if only there was an open souce alternative to the pdf and Acrobat Pro.
So this is why most open source apps are exact copies of their Windows counterparts(The UI especially)?
Since when? I use both OS software and Windows, and few of the OS software are exact copies of Windows anything. KDE, for example, is definitely not Explorer. It's not only more stable and far more configurable, it's just plain different. QtParted compared to Partition Magic? QtParted is way better and faster and has a simpler interface. Parition Magic is painfully slow by comaprison. There is no resemblance between K3b and any other cd-burning software I've seen on Windows, and I've had Roxio, NTI, Nero and a couple of others over the years. OpenOffice.org compared to MS Office? They're similar only to the point that they're both office suites; MS Office bears just a smuch resemblance to Corel's office suite. Xmms and Winamp? Again, they're similar because they do the same thing; there's as much resemblance between them as there is between all multimedia players. Well, with the possible exception of Xine, the GUI of which bears little resemblance to anything I've ever seen on Windows. The Gimp compared to Photoshop? I've heard that the Gimp's UI does bear a resemblance to the older versions of PS, but there's certainly little resemblance between them now; I've used both. And how do you compare OS software that there is no counterpart for on Windows except ports? Fluxbox the windows manager is one of these. Before Blackbox was ported to Windows, there was absolutely nothing like it on Windows at all. And what about Vim? And other text editors that bear no resemblance to Notepad or Wordpad whatsoever?
Firefox crashing? Yeah, it does that occasionally. Not even half as much as IE. Again, I've both; I used IE for years and it usually crashed about 3 times on a good day, not to mention all those "page cannot be found" but could easily be found by Opera or any othe browser. Now I'd rather break my finger than use IE. Not to mention that you can turn off software installation in both Mozilla & FF and this helps protect your Windows from spyware and viruses. And both can block popups without needing tird-party software. You can't do either with IE. Give me Firefox or Mozilla any day.
I don't know what universe you're in, but in this one, most OS software are not copies of Windows anything, let alone "exact" copies. If you're going to glorify MS against OSS you should come up with some facts instead of easily-refuted lies like that.
Try being known as a nerd and working in a factory. You'd think a call a month was slow! Funny thing, it's not me who works in a factory - it's my husband. He bragged that we didn't have the problems they were always griping about because I knew how to handle and fix Windows. Now his co-workers call me at home at home to get help with Windows problems. I kid you not. And almost all of them have XP too.
I also know a married couple who met online, but as above, it was through chatting, not a dating service. At any rate, they're expecting their first child soon, and they seem to be reasonably happy together, despite financial difficulties.
As to the poster saying "love" requires money/power/looks/charisma, this couple seems to have none of these in abundance. Yet they apparently love each other anyway. Just because you've never experienced actual love doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Given your statements, I doubt that you ever will either - love requires that none of that matters as much as much as itself. People who are so shallow as to base their relationships on such are incapable of actual love; they can only need another person, not love them.
I don't mean to troll, but so what? I can say I'm an expert Unix hacker if I want to. I can say I'm a better coder than Torvalds if I want to. Can I prove it? 'Course not. If I'd been at those career talks and some MS employee claimed to have been a Unix hacker who switched to them, I'd have asked for proof. Simply put, that makes no sense. Why decide such an insecure, unstalbe OS is better than the stable, more secure OS that started it all?
There is a Windows version too. If you think you're not into music editing, well, ever get an mp3 that was just too low in volume? Audacity can easily fix that - amplify, under the effect menu. Not suprisingly, Audacity is also open source. Not a big download either, but you will need to get the LAME codec to import/export mp3s. There's a link on the Audacity page to the codec and it tells you how to load it into the program. Just do a search; the Audacity home page should be enar the top.
Not to get into the giant pissing match here, but music sounds better on Linux (at least with classic rock and old blues). It's got more clarity. Windows palying music seems to have a little muffling effect by comaprison. You might be able to adjust the settings somewhere in Windows to sound that good, but I've never found out how. If you know, please post it here or post a link.
Ah. Guess that proves I'm old. Nowadays I don't even know what the young people mean by "nerd". See you young 'uns later.
Misty retreats back to the old folks' home.
"I wan't born a bitch, men like you made me one". That's a reason that saying came around. If you're [insert something here], let someone direclty insult what you are and see how good a mood that puts you in.
And, no, I don't scream at my husband all day and I don't even have kids, I'm just more aware of how much responsibility it is to raise kids than many people who haven't had any. Exactly what gave you that impression? Why is it that when a woman gets mad everyone assumes she's a bitch all the time? Men can get mad without people making such assumptions. See what I mean? That attitude is so pervasive, people do it without even realizing it. People get mad, male or female.
And I'm bitchy because I got mad when standing up for women? What was I supposed to say to someone who instulted women in general and every mother in the US in particular? So that makes me bitchy in a man's opinion. That says it all right there. A woman who stands up for women is a bitch, right?
Also from a guy's point of view: you make one mistake by not pulling out in time and end up supporting a woman and brat How many men have beaten the shit out of their wife and kids saying that exact same thing? Think about what you just said.
And if that's how you feel about supporting a woman and "brat" (thanks for all the love, Daddy), please do pull out or use a condom. Mary was, as far we know, a one-time case; women usually don't get pregnant on their own. If you feel that way about supporting your wife and children, please don't have any. It's that attitude that encourages abusive fathers and husbands. Are you one of those? If not, please read the paragraph below.
I knew a guy who was racist. I asked him if he's like to go kill black people. He said "no, 'course not, I just don't like 'em. I asked him how he'd feel if someone he talked to totally agreed with him and then went out and killed a black family that night. He didn't answer me for a while, but then he said "but that wouldn't be my fault". True enough, I answered, but you did encourage him. That's what spouting racial/sexual/whatever hatred does - even if you'd never do a terrible thing to someone beause of it, you're encouraging others who would. How about not encouraging people to do such things? It would help. And so far as I see, the attitude that a woman is a bitch for standing up for women or supporting a woman and her brat after you've fathered the child is definitely not helping; it's enouraging men who hate women and will oppress/abuse or even kill them.
... because it's an easy-to-install Debian distro, you might want to check out Debian Pure. That's all it is, Debian with an easy install. Not dissing Ubuntu, not at all (no need to flame me, guys), but I've heard some say that's why they like it; they didn't know there's a real Debian out there that's just as easy to install.
And what is the father is supposed to do while the mother raises the children? Hardly a damn thing. Don't tell me it wasn't like that, buddy, I was raised in a family like that. Why the hell should one parent be saddled with most of the responsibility of raising the children while the other isn't? Just because he's a man? If you think one parent should be more responsible for raising the children than the other, why not the man? That's just a sexist excuse for exploiting your wife. You have an orgasm, she's pregnant for nine months, goes through labor, and you do... what? Work. How does that compare with raising kids? It doesn't. It never did. It was utter crap back in those days and it still is.
A liitle too far in campaigning? By whose judgment - yours? You're obviously sexist and therefore biased. How many women are out in the streets raping men everyday? I don't see men being given lesser wages just for being a man, but I see the opposite at the factory where my husband works. (For those who think that doesn't happen anymore, I'm afraid it still does.) I don't see men spending twice as much time in prison for the same offenses that women commit. Considering how women are still discriminated against in every field, I'd say we haven't gone far enough. Nowhere near far enough.
I'll tell you what would help the absolute most. Getting rid of the attitude that certain types of people - whether it's a matter of sex, race, religion, or whatever - aren't entitled to do or have the same things that everyone else is entitled to. People wouldn't have excuses for exploiting or oppressing others then; people like would just have to admit outright that that's what they want to do.
And exactly what does it mean, "looking at the graces of the average mother in the US nowadays"? I think I know. It means you think American mothers are shit. Since when are fathers everywhere not? Here's a clue - people are bad. It's not just women, it's not just politicians, not just lawyers, not just whites or blacks. All people. The very fact that the anonymity of the internet makes you feel free to spout sexist and insulting remarks like yours proves what people are really like inside. That is the source of almost all problems; people like you, who want to oppress/abuse/insult others to feel superior. Or maybe it's just pure, classic malice; I don't know, I don't go around doing that sort of thing, online or in RL.
I played D&D and read fantasy fiction long before computers were common and I was considered a nerd for that. Has that changed? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?
You're almost certainly right, but "these days"? Dude, that kind of thing has been going on for a long time. That's why marijuana is illegal; the dangerous drug angle is what was cooked up to justify that law. In the 50s, a bar owner filed a comlaint over a C&W song about a drunk driver killing a child because it was hurting his business (something you couldn't do nowawadays). I'm not making this crap up; hit a search engine with 'em. The US and any country where there are politicians is like this and always has been.
But does that mean they always have to get away with it? No. Lobbies could be formed to lobby against serving special interests & business using the same tactics, but so far, no one seems to care enough to do that.
Oh, I don't know, how about face to face with people their own age where they can learn such things as manners, etiquette, constructive dialog, the fact that "teh" is not a word. Not to mention that one kid can't say something disrespectful, disparaging, or derogatory about another without immediately being smacked in the face like we used to do in the good ol' days.
The internet doesn't screw up kids, apothetic parents do.
That's very, very true. But most of you guys are forgetting 2 things:
1. How wilfully defiant kids can be (don't tell me you never did anything you weren't supposed to do when you were a teenager). "Oh, they're just overreacting, that'll never happen to me."
2. Not even the best parents can have all the time in the world, no matter how much they try to. Parents have jobs and lives, not to mention that even the most loving parents do need a little time to themselves once in a while to keep from going crazy.
Oh, I'm not saying I agree with this. Like the other posters said, kids will just lie about their age, so it seems pretty pointless. But it's not entirely a game of "let's blame something besides ourselves". It's fear, and not an entirely ungrounded fear. In a way, I don't blame them, I just think this won't help.
Whether it really happened or not, what I wonder is where the idea came from? It seems strangely anachronistic, even though ancient Greek sceintific knowledge was more advanced than most people think. For example, they knew the earth was round - they found that out by observing lunar eclipses (which shows how backwards later Europeans actually were, rather than the norm as we consider them). So how did Achimedes come up with an idea like that? What sceintific knowledge did he have that his fellow Greeks didn't? Too bad we don't have more writings about him.
They were the only ones who were that anyone I knew had heard of when I was a kid, unless you're referring to Unix. Unix was servers. Do you have a link that describes any other desktop computers there were in the early 70s?
On the other hand, don't bother. That proves my point nicely - they had a monopoly on desktop computers back then just like MS does today because to this day, how many people know there were other computers then besides Mac and Unix?
They have a 3-5% share of the desktop computer market NOW. But before MS came along? They were making the only desktop computers back then. And wasn't it recently proven that OSX will run on a unix-type computer but they had deliberating programmed it not to? I don't have a link now but the news isn't even 3 weeks old, google it. So doesn't that seem like they were trying to establish a sort of OS and hardware monopoly back in those days? God knows they felt they could charge whatever they wanted as the only desktop computer system around. Unfortunately for the world, they're still pursuing that tactic by making out their OS will only run on their hardware. They were price gouging then and they still are.
Yes, Apple makes a great OS - or so people tell me, as I'm too poor to have used one since DOS was new. But if Microsoft hadn't come along, Apple would be Microsoft. And just because they do tend to be more honest than MS, one shouldn't assume they would still be so if they had that kind of power. Don't get me wrong, I think MS is one of the most dishonest companies ever and they make a crappy OS, but if there had never been Windows, Apple would probably still be the only makers of desktop computers and only the rich would be using them, just as it was when I was a kid. Linux might still be around, but that would set it back several years simply because desktop computers would be less common. Solaris would most likely be servers only, not desktop. Hell, there might not even be a Slashdot; not enough nerds would have computers at all. I know I wouldn't. And that is what Apple did try to do, but they simply failed.
Studio time may be expensive, but it has little to with the tech involved. It's because you need someone who knows how to use that technology. And I'm not talking hardware - I can do a lot with Audacity that many musicians still think can only be done in a studio. If you don't believe me, get some of these music-making and enhancing programs and read the manuals. And some of these programs are cheap or even free (Audacity is open source, in fact). So you're mostly paying for the expertise to use the hardware and software, not the tech itself.
With the above in mind, you are absolutely right about one thing - the long term doesn't exist anymore for the RIAA. The illusion that they're needed for, well, anything, is crumbling (not to mention that the patience of their own customers is wearing thin). All musicians really need are distributors, recording experts and advertising. When the RIAA's power falls, there will be companies willing to offer that for a fee rather claiming ownership of the music. But right now, with the RIAA still around, no company can expect to make much of a profit from that, even if the RIAA doesn't cook up some bullshit excuse to sue them.
Slashdot Mirror
Selling a gun to a customer and selling a gun to a known murderer are not the same thing. If you sell software that can enforce censorship to countries that practice censorship, you know that they're going to use it for that. Does that make the seller an accomplice? I dunno, ask a cop about selling a gun to a known murderer and whether they could bring someone up on charges for that.
Here's 3 links on articles on how MS fired an employer who posted in his blog that Mac G5s were being delivered to MS.
Hyku
MacNN
Seattlepi
Bbl with requested information. No, I'm not just spouting bullshit or popular myth.
... how well Gates likes his Mac? Becuase it's widely known he uses a Mac and almost never uses Windows himself. This also applies to Ballmer and all other top-level executives working for MS. If there's an page where the interviewer asked him about that, I'd love to have a link to it. It seems most never dare. So you see, I'm not really all that excited about an interview with Gates; most of the interviewers seem too well-trained to ask anything interesting.
True, but that's exactly why I think this will ultimately fail. They will try to control it to that extent and people won't go for it. So then they will try to shove it down everyone's throats. But others will produce freeware or even open source alternatives, and the more they try to shove their ePaper down out throats, the more those free or open source alternatives will catch on. Or maybe the ePaper won't catch on much at all - wasn't the wma hyped to completely replace the mp3?
Now if only there was an open souce alternative to the pdf and Acrobat Pro.
So this is why most open source apps are exact copies of their Windows counterparts(The UI especially)?
Since when? I use both OS software and Windows, and few of the OS software are exact copies of Windows anything. KDE, for example, is definitely not Explorer. It's not only more stable and far more configurable, it's just plain different. QtParted compared to Partition Magic? QtParted is way better and faster and has a simpler interface. Parition Magic is painfully slow by comaprison. There is no resemblance between K3b and any other cd-burning software I've seen on Windows, and I've had Roxio, NTI, Nero and a couple of others over the years. OpenOffice.org compared to MS Office? They're similar only to the point that they're both office suites; MS Office bears just a smuch resemblance to Corel's office suite. Xmms and Winamp? Again, they're similar because they do the same thing; there's as much resemblance between them as there is between all multimedia players. Well, with the possible exception of Xine, the GUI of which bears little resemblance to anything I've ever seen on Windows. The Gimp compared to Photoshop? I've heard that the Gimp's UI does bear a resemblance to the older versions of PS, but there's certainly little resemblance between them now; I've used both. And how do you compare OS software that there is no counterpart for on Windows except ports? Fluxbox the windows manager is one of these. Before Blackbox was ported to Windows, there was absolutely nothing like it on Windows at all. And what about Vim? And other text editors that bear no resemblance to Notepad or Wordpad whatsoever?
Firefox crashing? Yeah, it does that occasionally. Not even half as much as IE. Again, I've both; I used IE for years and it usually crashed about 3 times on a good day, not to mention all those "page cannot be found" but could easily be found by Opera or any othe browser. Now I'd rather break my finger than use IE. Not to mention that you can turn off software installation in both Mozilla & FF and this helps protect your Windows from spyware and viruses. And both can block popups without needing tird-party software. You can't do either with IE. Give me Firefox or Mozilla any day.
I don't know what universe you're in, but in this one, most OS software are not copies of Windows anything, let alone "exact" copies. If you're going to glorify MS against OSS you should come up with some facts instead of easily-refuted lies like that.
Try being known as a nerd and working in a factory. You'd think a call a month was slow! Funny thing, it's not me who works in a factory - it's my husband. He bragged that we didn't have the problems they were always griping about because I knew how to handle and fix Windows. Now his co-workers call me at home at home to get help with Windows problems. I kid you not. And almost all of them have XP too.
I also know a married couple who met online, but as above, it was through chatting, not a dating service. At any rate, they're expecting their first child soon, and they seem to be reasonably happy together, despite financial difficulties.
As to the poster saying "love" requires money/power/looks/charisma, this couple seems to have none of these in abundance. Yet they apparently love each other anyway. Just because you've never experienced actual love doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Given your statements, I doubt that you ever will either - love requires that none of that matters as much as much as itself. People who are so shallow as to base their relationships on such are incapable of actual love; they can only need another person, not love them.
I don't mean to troll, but so what? I can say I'm an expert Unix hacker if I want to. I can say I'm a better coder than Torvalds if I want to. Can I prove it? 'Course not. If I'd been at those career talks and some MS employee claimed to have been a Unix hacker who switched to them, I'd have asked for proof. Simply put, that makes no sense. Why decide such an insecure, unstalbe OS is better than the stable, more secure OS that started it all?
5 minutes? more liek 5 seconds!
Well, y'know, it's seen so much porn already and considering it's *cough* advancing age *cough*, I figured it would be about 5 minutes by now.
There is a Windows version too. If you think you're not into music editing, well, ever get an mp3 that was just too low in volume? Audacity can easily fix that - amplify, under the effect menu. Not suprisingly, Audacity is also open source. Not a big download either, but you will need to get the LAME codec to import/export mp3s. There's a link on the Audacity page to the codec and it tells you how to load it into the program. Just do a search; the Audacity home page should be enar the top.
Not to get into the giant pissing match here, but music sounds better on Linux (at least with classic rock and old blues). It's got more clarity. Windows palying music seems to have a little muffling effect by comaprison. You might be able to adjust the settings somewhere in Windows to sound that good, but I've never found out how. If you know, please post it here or post a link.
Considering how much porn there is on the internet, it should climax every 5 minutes.
Ah. Guess that proves I'm old. Nowadays I don't even know what the young people mean by "nerd". See you young 'uns later. Misty retreats back to the old folks' home.
"I wan't born a bitch, men like you made me one". That's a reason that saying came around. If you're [insert something here], let someone direclty insult what you are and see how good a mood that puts you in.
And, no, I don't scream at my husband all day and I don't even have kids, I'm just more aware of how much responsibility it is to raise kids than many people who haven't had any. Exactly what gave you that impression? Why is it that when a woman gets mad everyone assumes she's a bitch all the time? Men can get mad without people making such assumptions. See what I mean? That attitude is so pervasive, people do it without even realizing it. People get mad, male or female.
And I'm bitchy because I got mad when standing up for women? What was I supposed to say to someone who instulted women in general and every mother in the US in particular? So that makes me bitchy in a man's opinion. That says it all right there. A woman who stands up for women is a bitch, right?
Also from a guy's point of view: you make one mistake by not pulling out in time and end up supporting a woman and brat How many men have beaten the shit out of their wife and kids saying that exact same thing? Think about what you just said.
And if that's how you feel about supporting a woman and "brat" (thanks for all the love, Daddy), please do pull out or use a condom. Mary was, as far we know, a one-time case; women usually don't get pregnant on their own. If you feel that way about supporting your wife and children, please don't have any. It's that attitude that encourages abusive fathers and husbands. Are you one of those? If not, please read the paragraph below.
I knew a guy who was racist. I asked him if he's like to go kill black people. He said "no, 'course not, I just don't like 'em. I asked him how he'd feel if someone he talked to totally agreed with him and then went out and killed a black family that night. He didn't answer me for a while, but then he said "but that wouldn't be my fault". True enough, I answered, but you did encourage him. That's what spouting racial/sexual/whatever hatred does - even if you'd never do a terrible thing to someone beause of it, you're encouraging others who would. How about not encouraging people to do such things? It would help. And so far as I see, the attitude that a woman is a bitch for standing up for women or supporting a woman and her brat after you've fathered the child is definitely not helping; it's enouraging men who hate women and will oppress/abuse or even kill them.
I believe the proper command is "apt-get dist-upgrade". If that doesn't work, you might need to ask at a K/Ubuntu forum.
... because it's an easy-to-install Debian distro, you might want to check out Debian Pure. That's all it is, Debian with an easy install. Not dissing Ubuntu, not at all (no need to flame me, guys), but I've heard some say that's why they like it; they didn't know there's a real Debian out there that's just as easy to install.
And what is the father is supposed to do while the mother raises the children? Hardly a damn thing. Don't tell me it wasn't like that, buddy, I was raised in a family like that. Why the hell should one parent be saddled with most of the responsibility of raising the children while the other isn't? Just because he's a man? If you think one parent should be more responsible for raising the children than the other, why not the man? That's just a sexist excuse for exploiting your wife. You have an orgasm, she's pregnant for nine months, goes through labor, and you do... what? Work. How does that compare with raising kids? It doesn't. It never did. It was utter crap back in those days and it still is.
A liitle too far in campaigning? By whose judgment - yours? You're obviously sexist and therefore biased. How many women are out in the streets raping men everyday? I don't see men being given lesser wages just for being a man, but I see the opposite at the factory where my husband works. (For those who think that doesn't happen anymore, I'm afraid it still does.) I don't see men spending twice as much time in prison for the same offenses that women commit. Considering how women are still discriminated against in every field, I'd say we haven't gone far enough. Nowhere near far enough.
I'll tell you what would help the absolute most. Getting rid of the attitude that certain types of people - whether it's a matter of sex, race, religion, or whatever - aren't entitled to do or have the same things that everyone else is entitled to. People wouldn't have excuses for exploiting or oppressing others then; people like would just have to admit outright that that's what they want to do.
And exactly what does it mean, "looking at the graces of the average mother in the US nowadays"? I think I know. It means you think American mothers are shit. Since when are fathers everywhere not? Here's a clue - people are bad. It's not just women, it's not just politicians, not just lawyers, not just whites or blacks. All people. The very fact that the anonymity of the internet makes you feel free to spout sexist and insulting remarks like yours proves what people are really like inside. That is the source of almost all problems; people like you, who want to oppress/abuse/insult others to feel superior. Or maybe it's just pure, classic malice; I don't know, I don't go around doing that sort of thing, online or in RL.
I played D&D and read fantasy fiction long before computers were common and I was considered a nerd for that. Has that changed? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?
You're almost certainly right, but "these days"? Dude, that kind of thing has been going on for a long time. That's why marijuana is illegal; the dangerous drug angle is what was cooked up to justify that law. In the 50s, a bar owner filed a comlaint over a C&W song about a drunk driver killing a child because it was hurting his business (something you couldn't do nowawadays). I'm not making this crap up; hit a search engine with 'em. The US and any country where there are politicians is like this and always has been.
But does that mean they always have to get away with it? No. Lobbies could be formed to lobby against serving special interests & business using the same tactics, but so far, no one seems to care enough to do that.
Only kids need this lesson?
That's very, very true. But most of you guys are forgetting 2 things:
1. How wilfully defiant kids can be (don't tell me you never did anything you weren't supposed to do when you were a teenager). "Oh, they're just overreacting, that'll never happen to me."
2. Not even the best parents can have all the time in the world, no matter how much they try to. Parents have jobs and lives, not to mention that even the most loving parents do need a little time to themselves once in a while to keep from going crazy.
Oh, I'm not saying I agree with this. Like the other posters said, kids will just lie about their age, so it seems pretty pointless. But it's not entirely a game of "let's blame something besides ourselves". It's fear, and not an entirely ungrounded fear. In a way, I don't blame them, I just think this won't help.
Whether it really happened or not, what I wonder is where the idea came from? It seems strangely anachronistic, even though ancient Greek sceintific knowledge was more advanced than most people think. For example, they knew the earth was round - they found that out by observing lunar eclipses (which shows how backwards later Europeans actually were, rather than the norm as we consider them). So how did Achimedes come up with an idea like that? What sceintific knowledge did he have that his fellow Greeks didn't? Too bad we don't have more writings about him.
They were the only ones who were that anyone I knew had heard of when I was a kid, unless you're referring to Unix. Unix was servers. Do you have a link that describes any other desktop computers there were in the early 70s?
On the other hand, don't bother. That proves my point nicely - they had a monopoly on desktop computers back then just like MS does today because to this day, how many people know there were other computers then besides Mac and Unix?
They have a 3-5% share of the desktop computer market NOW. But before MS came along? They were making the only desktop computers back then. And wasn't it recently proven that OSX will run on a unix-type computer but they had deliberating programmed it not to? I don't have a link now but the news isn't even 3 weeks old, google it. So doesn't that seem like they were trying to establish a sort of OS and hardware monopoly back in those days? God knows they felt they could charge whatever they wanted as the only desktop computer system around. Unfortunately for the world, they're still pursuing that tactic by making out their OS will only run on their hardware. They were price gouging then and they still are.
Yes, Apple makes a great OS - or so people tell me, as I'm too poor to have used one since DOS was new. But if Microsoft hadn't come along, Apple would be Microsoft. And just because they do tend to be more honest than MS, one shouldn't assume they would still be so if they had that kind of power. Don't get me wrong, I think MS is one of the most dishonest companies ever and they make a crappy OS, but if there had never been Windows, Apple would probably still be the only makers of desktop computers and only the rich would be using them, just as it was when I was a kid. Linux might still be around, but that would set it back several years simply because desktop computers would be less common. Solaris would most likely be servers only, not desktop. Hell, there might not even be a Slashdot; not enough nerds would have computers at all. I know I wouldn't. And that is what Apple did try to do, but they simply failed.
Studio time may be expensive, but it has little to with the tech involved. It's because you need someone who knows how to use that technology. And I'm not talking hardware - I can do a lot with Audacity that many musicians still think can only be done in a studio. If you don't believe me, get some of these music-making and enhancing programs and read the manuals. And some of these programs are cheap or even free (Audacity is open source, in fact). So you're mostly paying for the expertise to use the hardware and software, not the tech itself.
With the above in mind, you are absolutely right about one thing - the long term doesn't exist anymore for the RIAA. The illusion that they're needed for, well, anything, is crumbling (not to mention that the patience of their own customers is wearing thin). All musicians really need are distributors, recording experts and advertising. When the RIAA's power falls, there will be companies willing to offer that for a fee rather claiming ownership of the music. But right now, with the RIAA still around, no company can expect to make much of a profit from that, even if the RIAA doesn't cook up some bullshit excuse to sue them.