Case in point - my neighbor threw out a fairly expensive Panasonic DVD player 2 years ago - from date of manufacture on the case, it was about a year old. I plugged it in - it seemed to work. The only problem was that the carousel wouldn't eject. I opened the top and plucked out a DVD that had been jammed in there. Total repair cost was $0 and 5 minutes of my time. And I got a basically new DVD player for my trouble (no, I didn't return it to him since asshats like him deserve to reap the benefits of their stupidity - did I mention that he was also a professional spammer?)
-b.
Re:people don't wan't to hold on to a phone 5+ yea
on
Why Do Gadgets Break?
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· Score: 1
in 1 or 2 years there's better cameras, more storage, nicer/smaller designs, etc
If I can talk on it and send text messages, that's enough for me. I don't think you can get much smaller than today's phones without them becoming really uncomfortable to use.
3. No consumers want something to last for decades.
Well, computers should last for at least *a* decade - a 90s computer is perfectly adequate for what most people do on computers today (word processing/web surfing). Cars should last even longer - I drive an 1988 Volvo wagon and it does everything that I need a car to do. It even makes 30 mpg, which is about average for a big non-hybrid gas car today.
All 50's and 60's Jags and Triumphs seemed to conform to the motorcycle rule: drive them one hour, work on them two hours.
Motorcycle rule? I guess that "rule" only applied to British bikes as well. My Japanese bikes have held up fine, except for an old Yamaha XS650 that basically *was* a copy of a British bike. BMWs, both old and new, also have a reputation for reliability. (So do British bikes these days, but Triumph isn't the same company that it was 30 years ago.)
Engines are the same. Get a factory rebuild block from ANY auto maker or even a engine rebuilder and you will get an engine that will only make it 100,000 miles.
Many engines that supposedly need a rebuild, actually don't, though, and taking the whole motor apart and "rebuilding" it can make things worse if the rebuilders isn't both skilled and obsessive. Case in point: 3 years ago, my Volvo 245 started making a clanking sound and running on 3 out of 4 cylinders. I took it to the mechanic: "probably threw a rod (broke one of the rods connecting a piston to the crankshaft). You'll need a new motor. We can swap you in a used motor for $2000."
I went home and removed the spark plug on the dead cylinder. Stuck a wire down there and cranked it over - the piston was still moving so the rod wasn't broken. Turns out a valve spring had fractured and wasn't letting the exhaust valve on that cylinder return to the closed position. Total cost in parts to fix - $250 including a new head gasket, various other gaskets, timing belt, spring, valve, and a case of beer. Time 8 hr - I did the job myself with a friend, but that would have come to about $560 assuming a rate of $70/hr. The engine is still running fine 30,000 miles later with 215,000 miles on it.
iPod: almost 4 years. Battery is shot, but that's a physics issue, not a quality issue.
If it used standard sized NiCd or LiIon batteries and the back was easily removable, any putz with a screwdriver would be able to replace them. Sealed devices are silly unless there's a compelling reason to seal them (water pressure resistance or something).
For instance, one might consider the MPAA to be an utterly evil business. A morally inclined person might see destruction of the MPAA as a moral good. But I've also heard of lawsuits related to "interference with business" or some such.
I'd think that it depends on the methods used. Encouraging people to boycott because of specific grievances is OK, especially if you say that the boycott will end if those grievances are addressed. If addressing the grievances will incidentally involve the company being unable to stay solvent, well so be it. Planting dynamite and ricin at the headquarters of the MPAA is unlikely to be legal:/
People routinely ignore laws in the US. People routinely break the speed limit, ignore traffic signals, and otherwise put their lives and other people's lives in jeopardy solely to decrease their travel time by a few seconds.
Americans (especially drivers) are almost shockingly law-abiding as compared to other countries, as regards the "minor" laws (not talking about serious crimes here). If the speed limit is 65, they generally drive 75 or 80, not 90 or 100. Mostly they stop at red lights and at least do a "California stop" at stop signs. And they let you in to their lane without too many problems. You want to see "non-law-abiding" traffic? Go to Italy, and Latin American country, or Eastern Europe... I suppose places like Switzerland may be more law-abiding, but those are pretty far between.
Go to concerts and enjoy live performances but DO NOT BY RECORDINGS IN STORES OR ONLINE!
Unless the bands are selling the recordings themselves or they're being sold be small-time "tapers" as is done a lot for some jam band shows (MM&W, Lesh, etc). This is with the permission of the band, BTW.
Infringe all you want, just don't get caught. If you pirate something, send a check for the cost of the music directly to the performer. If enough people do that, maybe performers will get the message that the recording (rather, hard media selling, good sound men will always be needed!) industry as we have it today is dinosaur and isn't needed.
Be mad at the media industry and Congress. Get the legislation fixed.
I am. I don't buy any of their products. I'm fine with going to concerts and/or getting recordings directly from smaller bands and production houses. As for Congress, I do try to vote for the best candidates, but nothing positive is going to happen (IMHO) until the US moves to an approval voting system where voters can vote for a 3rd party without the stigma of "throwing-away" their votes.
You hit the nail right on the head.... but you forgot to mention all the crap OEM's install on their computers
Only on their low-end boxes. The reason for this is, of course, that software manufacturers pay the hardware makers to "seed" their machines, thus enabling the HW manufacturers to sell their really cheap hardware even more cheaply (or just make more of a profit). Unlike low-end Dells, the high-end boxes like the Precision 380/390 don't come with any bloatware that you don't request preinstalled. You can actually get a box with *just* the OS installed with appropriate drivers. Nothing else, not even MS Office if you don't ask.
Laptops always were pretty much disposable; when was the last time you upgraded your laptop? It's too much hassle/cost/risk.
Popping in some extra RAM is easy. So is upgrading the HD in most cases or sticking in an EV-DO PC Card. Upgrading laptops isn't that difficult, and I've done it many times.
Many people have multiple phones, hence the numbers.
That's kind of dumb, if only because if it were I, I'd probably lose one of the extra phones quickly. Has anyone tried to address the problem by making a phone that takes the multiple (say 2 or 3) SIM cards? One for the employer's cell service, one for personal service. It's unlikely you'll be talking on both cells at once.
Let me guess, you're single, right? No wife ever puts up with this. And to anyone that reckons their wofe does, they don't. They just say it's fine then do something horrible to your lunch.
Actually, he uses a crate in his basement among all the used electronics to store his ex-wives' bodies. He figures the police won't want to search through all of the toxic junk and cobwebs to find the truth...
£339 - £175 = £164. £164 for an upgraded laptop starts to sound ok, doesn't it.
Except that you (IMHO) can't get a decent laptop for £339 (~$600). My sister bought a $550 Dell and it's overweight, has awful battery life, and has been problematic - screen not working right, pointer going apeshit, etc. And, yes, XP is a clean install, those are hardware problems.
If you want a decent new laptop that's actually usable as a portable and reliable enough to be a business machine, be prepared to pay around $1000. Anything less will get you garbage. (Or buy a used Thinkpad or Toughbook for $500.)
The problem is coming home and having a furious wife.... I'd rather pick up the phone and not have to deal with a fury in the evening;-)
Hey, you chose to marry her... I'd say keep turning it off during the day and if she gets mad, ignore her... Basically, treat her like a 2 yo who has temper tantrums - it *will* break her of that habit.
but rather the paper should be manually erased when needed.
Maybe develop ink that fades when exposed to UV or infrared of a certain spectrum...
-b.
Re:Reusable paper good idea but only in volume
on
Self-Recycling Paper
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· Score: 2
Or, do you seperate the two and perhaps have reusable paper get mixed up with real paper and tossed?
Two printers. One for reusable paper. One for normal paper. Reusable paper should be marked with something like a red stripe across the top so that everyone in the know will know it'll fade after a day.
-b.
Re:Reusable paper good idea but only in volume
on
Self-Recycling Paper
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· Score: 1
Nothing new about reusable paper. In the middle ages, Monks would take priceless copies of the works of Archemedes, scrubbed them clean then bleach, cut to quarto and fold sideways,
Except they didn't use paper, they used parchment which was made from animal skins (and thus much more expensive and durable).
As long as the law as it is currently written is in place, you're going to have to put up with stupid restrictions and put up with doing work to get around them.
As I said: mass media as we know it is dead. Deal with it and move on to new technologies. The Red Flag laws in England (someone had to walk in front of all moving cars waving a red flag) in the late 1800s didn't prevent cars from replacing horses and buggies eventually. Same as laws artificially hobbling data sharing equipment aren't going to help the media industry in the long run. But, hey, there's hope. Some buggy manufacturers went on to make a killing in the auto industry.
If the TOS say you can't sell content out-of-game then you are a cheating lowlife and should be banned from the game, if not dragged out into the street, forced onto your knees and shot in the mouth.
Sod the TOS! If there are gullable idiots willing to buy virtual merchandise, nothing wrong with making a few bucks. Only crime is getting caught!
If you are on a student visa, you're not supposed to be making money by working, you're supposed to be studying. no I know there are ways around this, but with most of them, if you get caught, you go home
Under US law, are you allowed to make money in your home country while studying? Let's say you're German studying in the US. Can you do programming for German clients via the Internet and receive payment in Germany?
As far as Japanese law, he should have recieved payment for the items outside Japan. His only moral crime was getting caught. Nothing wrong with making a killing off of stupid people who want to overpay for virtual crap. And what did Japan lose from it? He was studying over there, paying money to the university, and spending money to prop up the economy. Probably he should have paid taxes, but it was still a net gain for Japan.
Slashdot Mirror
-b.
If I can talk on it and send text messages, that's enough for me. I don't think you can get much smaller than today's phones without them becoming really uncomfortable to use.
-b.
Well, computers should last for at least *a* decade - a 90s computer is perfectly adequate for what most people do on computers today (word processing/web surfing). Cars should last even longer - I drive an 1988 Volvo wagon and it does everything that I need a car to do. It even makes 30 mpg, which is about average for a big non-hybrid gas car today.
-b.
Motorcycle rule? I guess that "rule" only applied to British bikes as well. My Japanese bikes have held up fine, except for an old Yamaha XS650 that basically *was* a copy of a British bike. BMWs, both old and new, also have a reputation for reliability. (So do British bikes these days, but Triumph isn't the same company that it was 30 years ago.)
-b.
Many engines that supposedly need a rebuild, actually don't, though, and taking the whole motor apart and "rebuilding" it can make things worse if the rebuilders isn't both skilled and obsessive. Case in point: 3 years ago, my Volvo 245 started making a clanking sound and running on 3 out of 4 cylinders. I took it to the mechanic: "probably threw a rod (broke one of the rods connecting a piston to the crankshaft). You'll need a new motor. We can swap you in a used motor for $2000."
I went home and removed the spark plug on the dead cylinder. Stuck a wire down there and cranked it over - the piston was still moving so the rod wasn't broken. Turns out a valve spring had fractured and wasn't letting the exhaust valve on that cylinder return to the closed position. Total cost in parts to fix - $250 including a new head gasket, various other gaskets, timing belt, spring, valve, and a case of beer. Time 8 hr - I did the job myself with a friend, but that would have come to about $560 assuming a rate of $70/hr. The engine is still running fine 30,000 miles later with 215,000 miles on it.
-b.
If it used standard sized NiCd or LiIon batteries and the back was easily removable, any putz with a screwdriver would be able to replace them. Sealed devices are silly unless there's a compelling reason to seal them (water pressure resistance or something).
-b.
I'd think that it depends on the methods used. Encouraging people to boycott because of specific grievances is OK, especially if you say that the boycott will end if those grievances are addressed. If addressing the grievances will incidentally involve the company being unable to stay solvent, well so be it. Planting dynamite and ricin at the headquarters of the MPAA is unlikely to be legal :/
-b.
Americans (especially drivers) are almost shockingly law-abiding as compared to other countries, as regards the "minor" laws (not talking about serious crimes here). If the speed limit is 65, they generally drive 75 or 80, not 90 or 100. Mostly they stop at red lights and at least do a "California stop" at stop signs. And they let you in to their lane without too many problems. You want to see "non-law-abiding" traffic? Go to Italy, and Latin American country, or Eastern Europe... I suppose places like Switzerland may be more law-abiding, but those are pretty far between.
-b.
Litvinenko blamed the Russians as he lay dying in hospital. Doesn't make him any more alive now, does it?
-b.
Unless the bands are selling the recordings themselves or they're being sold be small-time "tapers" as is done a lot for some jam band shows (MM&W, Lesh, etc). This is with the permission of the band, BTW.
-b.
Infringe all you want, just don't get caught. If you pirate something, send a check for the cost of the music directly to the performer. If enough people do that, maybe performers will get the message that the recording (rather, hard media selling, good sound men will always be needed!) industry as we have it today is dinosaur and isn't needed.
-b.
I am. I don't buy any of their products. I'm fine with going to concerts and/or getting recordings directly from smaller bands and production houses. As for Congress, I do try to vote for the best candidates, but nothing positive is going to happen (IMHO) until the US moves to an approval voting system where voters can vote for a 3rd party without the stigma of "throwing-away" their votes.
-b.
-b.
Only on their low-end boxes. The reason for this is, of course, that software manufacturers pay the hardware makers to "seed" their machines, thus enabling the HW manufacturers to sell their really cheap hardware even more cheaply (or just make more of a profit). Unlike low-end Dells, the high-end boxes like the Precision 380/390 don't come with any bloatware that you don't request preinstalled. You can actually get a box with *just* the OS installed with appropriate drivers. Nothing else, not even MS Office if you don't ask.
-b.
Popping in some extra RAM is easy. So is upgrading the HD in most cases or sticking in an EV-DO PC Card. Upgrading laptops isn't that difficult, and I've done it many times.
-b.
That's kind of dumb, if only because if it were I, I'd probably lose one of the extra phones quickly. Has anyone tried to address the problem by making a phone that takes the multiple (say 2 or 3) SIM cards? One for the employer's cell service, one for personal service. It's unlikely you'll be talking on both cells at once.
-b.
Actually, he uses a crate in his basement among all the used electronics to store his ex-wives' bodies. He figures the police won't want to search through all of the toxic junk and cobwebs to find the truth...
-b.
Except that you (IMHO) can't get a decent laptop for £339 (~$600). My sister bought a $550 Dell and it's overweight, has awful battery life, and has been problematic - screen not working right, pointer going apeshit, etc. And, yes, XP is a clean install, those are hardware problems.
If you want a decent new laptop that's actually usable as a portable and reliable enough to be a business machine, be prepared to pay around $1000. Anything less will get you garbage. (Or buy a used Thinkpad or Toughbook for $500.)
-b.
Hey, you chose to marry her... I'd say keep turning it off during the day and if she gets mad, ignore her... Basically, treat her like a 2 yo who has temper tantrums - it *will* break her of that habit.
-b.
Maybe develop ink that fades when exposed to UV or infrared of a certain spectrum...
-b.
Two printers. One for reusable paper. One for normal paper. Reusable paper should be marked with something like a red stripe across the top so that everyone in the know will know it'll fade after a day.
-b.
Except they didn't use paper, they used parchment which was made from animal skins (and thus much more expensive and durable).
-b.
As I said: mass media as we know it is dead. Deal with it and move on to new technologies. The Red Flag laws in England (someone had to walk in front of all moving cars waving a red flag) in the late 1800s didn't prevent cars from replacing horses and buggies eventually. Same as laws artificially hobbling data sharing equipment aren't going to help the media industry in the long run. But, hey, there's hope. Some buggy manufacturers went on to make a killing in the auto industry.
-b.
Sod the TOS! If there are gullable idiots willing to buy virtual merchandise, nothing wrong with making a few bucks. Only crime is getting caught!
-b.
Under US law, are you allowed to make money in your home country while studying? Let's say you're German studying in the US. Can you do programming for German clients via the Internet and receive payment in Germany?
As far as Japanese law, he should have recieved payment for the items outside Japan. His only moral crime was getting caught. Nothing wrong with making a killing off of stupid people who want to overpay for virtual crap. And what did Japan lose from it? He was studying over there, paying money to the university, and spending money to prop up the economy. Probably he should have paid taxes, but it was still a net gain for Japan.
-b.