I actually enjoy Cringely's work, I've subscribed to his rather good podcasts, where he reads aloud his written articles, no fancy intros or production, just Cringely and his "sexy" voice.
You can actually follow the Cringely predictions over the years, I picked 2007 for no reason in particular,
This is my 2007 predictions column, where I first examine my predictions from 2006 to see how well or poorly I did (my multiyear average is around 75 percent) then provide a list of predictions for the current year that are sufficiently vague that I may be able to squint and claim that they were correct, too, a year from now.
He makes predictions for the next year, and comments on the ones from the year that has passed. According to that 2007 article, he was ONLY 60% right, and hes normally fairly honest with what counts and what doesnt, if hes off by a few months then that doesnt count. He says there that 60% was very low for him.
That is my worst performance EVER. I got nine of 15 predictions correct for a 60 percent average. In my defense I'll point out that just because I am wrong now doesn't mean I'll still be wrong in another week. Three years ago I predicted Intel would support AMD's 64-bit instruction extensions, but they took 53 weeks to do so, making me off by seven days. I think that by the end of February, 2-3 of these predictions could still swing the other direction.
To all the people who bash popular writers in pithy comments online, if you think you are up to the job of making predictions about tech, why dont you write a column yourself? Think about all the big bucks you'd be making for what you already do! And its "sooooo easy" remember?
I have a 13 year old friend here in New Zealand (im "only" 21 ha, its not that bad), and he has his own radio show, talking about how he decided to be vegan a year or more ago, he has a website selling t shirts online, and is now setting up a podcast.
hear hear, I remember the Labour government wanting to ban Compact Florescent bulbs, I use them myself, despite the lower light output (my opinion) and the scary mercury, I remember a bunch of elderly people being afraid of them, calling into Talkback radio because they seemed to have a thing for exploding, they would just blow when you flicked on the lightswitch and send bits of mercury and glass everywhere. Its scary to think that a government can tell you what you can and cannot buy, gosh I sound like an american complaining about energy efficient cars now! I guess theres going to be a time when we look back at incandescent bulbs as if they were raping our children etc, and that it has to start sometime. I voted National, and they seem to be no better than Labour were, both (main) parties are about the same really:(
Overall I think New Zealand is a great place to live, look forward to seeing any/.ers who move to sunny Invercargill:)
I could imagine it would handle Quake 3, I've heard the latest one, the iPhone 3GS can do more advanced shading etc etc.
I'm assuming you dont have an iPhone etc and are interested in one? I'll give you a beginners FAQ about the games, they are all quite short sadly, sad is the right word for me, I imagine what the iPhone could do with a full game with levels and quests etc. You know what I think would KICK ASS on the iPhone? Pokemon type games, I really can imagine that taking off, I remember playing Pokemon Yellow when I was little, and that was basically the best game ever! I still remember the items, etc. I guess it was like Zelda for another generation. I think a Pokemon style game could work very well on an iPhone or iTouch, using wifi for multiplayer, swapping items and working together....playing over the internet....
Overall iPhone games are about Playstation 1, with a few good ones that are PS2 quality. Many games have "cheap" feelings to them, and basically none have a great story that takes days to beat. Most of the time, you have to do something involving tapping, dragging, tilting, and each level gives you more items to work with, and less time etc.
The iPhone could do so much more, I'm thinking of RPG type games with multiplayer. The graphics could be summed up as PS2 I guess, if people put in the time I think PS2 is reasonable to think of as the average iPhone graphic quality. But, its so much more, with the wifi, motion controls, multi touch etc, its so much more than JUST a old PS2.
glad you mostly like your iPhone, however there are a few steps you could cut out there. You dont have to have the time lock, where you put in a pin on, I dont have it on myself. So, thats just touching a button to bring up the screen (wake it up), and then sliding to unlock right there. You also could put an app you like on the main screen, "home" if you want to call it that. To move apps, touch and hold down on one, and it will start to "jiggle" about, first time I came across it by accident I thought I must be drunk:P You can drag it to where you want that app, just drag it "back" and off screen kinda to go back a page, or forwards. Apps push each other about, you drag one over another to move the old one along. They also show up with an X, tap that and it will delete the app off the iPhone, will still be installed on iTunes on the computer so you can reinstall it later if you want, I THINK, you shouldnt lose any paid apps etc if you just want them off the phone for more storage space.
I find it very easy to add appointments to my iPhone, you did simplify the palm version above a fair bit, you didnt have to hit "save" or "done" or an equivalent on your Palm?
Seriously. Read the disc? thats what it does! You're talking about a hardware problem if it cant read a disc inserted! What do you do if a Dell pc etc cant read a disc? You blame iTunes? lol.
Man, you came up with some "problem" that didnt exist, that iTunes cant import cds -AT ALL-, I find you the Apple help page, then you say Im a fanboi, and that if I had to do it with 200 cds it wouldnt work....I tell you I've done it at least 100, even with some cds not in the database,...
I cant be bothered. I've given you links, offered you help, tried it myself, and its still not good enough for you.
Hey, you're the dipshit who couldnt see the obvious "Import CD" button.
My music collection is fairly "mainstream", ooh, is that an insulting word? Its a loaded term isnt it, like "pro-life", to say you're not "pro-life", then you must be pro death! I have no problem with having a "mainstream" music collection.
But, I do have some band burned cds, that my friends have recorded and sold at gigs etc. They didnt show up when I put them into iTunes! ooh, are you going to jump on that? Well, since I was probably the first person to put it into iTunes, it didnt know that cd. So, I added the tracks myself, and actually added it to the libary, I believe if anyone else, anywhere in the world, puts that cd in, it should know its track names now.
So, far from an "unfixed problem", iTunes has so far had a perfect score!
Not attacking you at all, but I havnt seen "Quantum G's Kick Ass Music Player", do you have a better way of importing music than iTunes? Im asking again. I asked how it could be done better than having a simple button that comes up when you put the cd in.....do you want it to take over the screen, have a full screen of text saying "IM GOING TO IMPORT THIS CD AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!11111!!" or perhaps "import cd, cancel or allow"?
This is sure a long conversation for something pretty simple, so please just answer! how would you do it better than iTunes? Since you picked the example, lets figure it out! Um, ok, so you have a beef that you have to have a audio cd IN the drive to import, um, an audio cd? As compared to Windows Media Player that can "rip" cds while they stay in the jewel case? Why should there be a button saying "Import CD" all the time? Especially on computers that dont even have an optical drive, as in a MacBook Air, I love those things, will pick one up as a memento when they are old and crusty. It would be like my PowerMac G5 showing me a battery gauge, it doesnt have a battery attached, a cd inserted, so why should it show that option? That would be nuts! It might as well say that its petrol tank is on E for empty!
Please, what is it you want Apple to change about importing CDs? Until now, I've never realised anyone in the world had a problem with it.
I have 153 albums in iTunes right now, some are things I've made myself, but I have at least 100 cds that I've imported. I've never EVER had a problem with gracenote (I think it uses that?) not finding CD track names etc, its always worked fine.
If you have an iTunes account, then it can even grab artwork for you, thats very handy.
You know what you said before, I dont need to quote it, about a "unfixed" problem with iTunes, that you couldnt figure out how to "rip" a cd. Ok, well iTunes calls it "Import" at least on the button, put a disc in, it shows up, it has exactly one button that wasnt there before, saying "Import CD".
Rather than arguing "you havnt had my problem!!!!!!!111!!!" and then mentioning a whole bunch of other supposed problems that you just cant think of right now, how about we talk about dealing with them?
Do you have a favourite OS? And a media program like iTunes? How do they deal with importing 200 CDS, if thats what you use it for, thats better than iTunes? You know, that little button that says "Import CD" in the bottom right, not tucked away in a billion ribbon menus or anything.....
If you couldnt see the "Import CD" button, then what did you do to get 200 CDS imported? Will them in?
Its rather unfair to bring up problems you cant remember etc, and use them against me when I help you with other problems, like not seeing the "Import CD" button.
Im not sure what I would do, if I ever had a problem like the ones you are mentioning with networks. What would YOU do in your favourite OS? I guess I would check the Network page under System Preferences, see if Wifi or whatever was turned "on", and maybe run through a setup wizard.
If you have any better ideas on how to import cds than the "Import CD" button, I'd love to know. Seriously! We're all computer users, if you can think of a better way, then it benefits us all.
I just tested it myself too, I put an audio cd into my mac, iTunes opened, showed me the cd, and bottom right it has "Import CD".......
Debunked.
RE wifi,
I've never had ANY issue with my Macs and wifi, or networking AT ALL. I find it near impossible to get windows networks going, only tried it a couple times, but I can make a network any way you can imagine with any two macs. Hell, put a firewire cable from this machine to that machine, and it goddam works! Turn one on, hold down T and you can boot off one drive, "Target Disk Mode".
Theres no bullshit "workgroups", or IP addresses to screw around with. It just works! I recently plugged in a USB wifi adaptor into an XP laptop, god , what a pain that was! Compared to the same thing on the Mac, plug it in, it didnt need the drivers at all, and this was not a big brand wifi adapter, it just worked. I think it said something like "network found, connect?" then I put in the password and BOOM.
Any other Mac problems you'd like me to help with?:)
roads etc didnt get the way they are now in america (apparently) by themselves you know. As more people start cycling, then areas will be better designed. Its like, how come France, Japan, the UK all have better train systems than america? because people use them! duh!
Build it, they will come!
Im not responsible if trillions of USD are spent promoting cycling, building bike lanes, and then people dont use them
I decided to lose weight by riding my exercycle, that cost about 120 USD, while I used my computer. I'm on my mac for hours a day, I do 66KM each day, with little effort really, just coasting at 35KPH, I mean, you dont use your legs while watch dvds, using wikipedia etc!
Im so glad I started, its great exercise, easy to do, and I feel great. Then again, I am Vegan, so you have to expect everything I do to be crazy!
I think its funny to hear people saying that they dont eat because they are so engaged in a video game, you know those little blinking lights on a shiny piece of glass? Surely more important than the basic fuel we all need!
I like games myself, but theres priorities. I also think that its BS to consider gaming as exercise, or that it helps people lose weight, its not unlike people who eat lots of food, and then vomit deliberately to "purge" themselves of calories. Its unhealthy! If people just eat decent food in decent amounts, we'd all be better off! I'm a vegan who plays online PS3 games with my friends for an hour or two a day, I spend hours on the computer each day, but while I do those activities I'm also on my exercycle, cruising along at 35Kph, I do about 66KM a day. It doesnt take any real involvement any more than a fat ass sitting in a computer chair.
Also, the Playstation 2 was classed as a supercomputer, its a marketing gimmick right?
The thing with the PS2 was, you couldnt ship it overseas, or else "the tur-rusts will use it to steer cruise missiles".
Im sorry you didnt like my analogy. I've had a few female friends who have had that happen to them, I know how upsetting it is.
I didnt mention anything about money making it right or wrong, dont twist what I said. Some things are just morally not right, like stealing, no matter who its from. You dont need to download 20GB of music, without paying,each day to live.
I used that example, because its fairly common to do with piracy, its like, I'm vegan, and its common for Vegans to use "the holocaust on your plate" argument. I can see thats tiresome, I dont use silly things like that. Tell you what, from now on I wont bring up that other topic again.
However, theres no glamour in ripping off people. I dont see a difference between ripping off one person selling hot dogs on the street, or a major corporation. It also breeds contempt for "The Man" etc, wouldnt you agree? To think that you can just get away with things, if you are caught, you can claim "it was a performance art piece" or something like The Pirate Bay.
Perhaps we wont agree about that either.
I'd appreciate not being called "you people" and being told to stay away from half the population too.
that i wasnt ever, ever, ever planning on paying, how much money did she lose?
I've downloaded plenty of music over the years, but if I find that its good, I actually buy the cd, yes, often I buy someone elses secondhand copy from Trademe (like eBay) to save money, but I do buy a legit copy.
Once or twice I've downloaded movies that are unavailable elsewhere, such as the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, it was not being made in my region at the time.
I dont think people have the right to steal music etc. The fact is, the people you're taking it from want you to pay for it, I dont care if they are a huge company or not. Its just not right.
To say "oh, all this kids hipity hop musics the tool of the devil, not like how we had it in my day..." etc is a terribly curmudgeon thing to say!
Im 21, and although I often dont like a random song on the radio now, I do think there are many "future classics" to be dug up. If you look at the top songs of this decade, the 2000's, there are some massive hits. The same as there were the decade before, and the decade before, and the 50 years before that.
When you bring up artists I've never heard of, and make out that all the artists from 1980 on are shit, well, what about the "thousands" of other groups from the 1950's? It wasnt just Elvis you know!
I work at a business where older people are the majority of customers, we have to have one of those "old bugger FM" stations on, taglines such as "coast, timeless music", and they supposedly have people from the other side of the world (Im a New Zealander) email in saying they listen in on the internet stream, because in the entire rest of the world theres not a radio station that plays 9 of Elvis' 10 mainstream hits a day, then The Beetles, oh no! You cant buy the music yourself either, hell no! Because the older people (50+) that it targets dont seem to know how to steal music on those computer things, they are lead to believe the only way to listen to music is from this one radio station.
To think you're generation is somehow special, and the best, while the rest are just dreck, thats a pretty sad way of life!
I'm sure I'll listen to Kanye West etc in 10 years time, and probably in another 20. I guess the use of Auto Tune and current musical trends will be laughed about , as is synthesized music from the 1980's, but then think about all the CLASSIC songs from the 1980's, its fun to put on GTA Vice City and drive around to the old hits. I'm still a huge Michael Jackson fan, and I'll be listening to Thriller, biggest album EVER in the entire world, screw The Eagles, biggest in America, when Thriller is 50 years old, its 25 years old now.
How about we wait until music is actually quite old before we judge whether or not it will stand the test of time?
If you are worried about monthly charges, and I am, get an unlocked phone. I got what I still think is a killer deal, I bought my iPhone, the original iPhone, for $790 nzd, thats 451 usd according to google. I'm on prepay , Vodafone. I spend about, hmm, 5-10 nzd a month on my phone, through 20c each text messages really. Although, its mostly to one friend, who I could just pay 6nzd and get unlimited calling, and txting to, "best mates".
I know Americans think that paying for things outright is the devil, but its how the rest of the world probably operates? At the moment, the iPhone 3G, bought officially, costs about 1200 NZD for the 16GB, without a plan. Put it on prepaid, and boom, away you go. Then again, I dont use my phone much for calls etc, because they are too expensive for me, and I use my iPhone on Wifi daily, never use the gprs speed service, that costs a dollar per day for up to 10MB.
Anyone notice how the brightest men are named "steve"? Steven, Stephen, Theres Wozniak, Hawking, Jobs, Ballmer, um, hold the last one maybe?
Is there another first name so closely linked to genius?
Slashdot Mirror
You can actually follow the Cringely predictions over the years, I picked 2007 for no reason in particular,
This is my 2007 predictions column, where I first examine my predictions from 2006 to see how well or poorly I did (my multiyear average is around 75 percent) then provide a list of predictions for the current year that are sufficiently vague that I may be able to squint and claim that they were correct, too, a year from now.
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070105_001440.html
He makes predictions for the next year, and comments on the ones from the year that has passed. According to that 2007 article, he was ONLY 60% right, and hes normally fairly honest with what counts and what doesnt, if hes off by a few months then that doesnt count. He says there that 60% was very low for him.
That is my worst performance EVER. I got nine of 15 predictions correct for a 60 percent average. In my defense I'll point out that just because I am wrong now doesn't mean I'll still be wrong in another week. Three years ago I predicted Intel would support AMD's 64-bit instruction extensions, but they took 53 weeks to do so, making me off by seven days. I think that by the end of February, 2-3 of these predictions could still swing the other direction.
To all the people who bash popular writers in pithy comments online, if you think you are up to the job of making predictions about tech, why dont you write a column yourself? Think about all the big bucks you'd be making for what you already do! And its "sooooo easy" remember?
as a New Zealander (drive on the left, Right Hand Drive car) it makes sense for right handed people, you know, the vast majority of people?
When I were 13, life was much slower :P
not my friend, pal :)
Move to New Zealand.
you deserve it, Im sick of the cruel MJ jokes.
Overall I think New Zealand is a great place to live, look forward to seeing any /.ers who move to sunny Invercargill :)
I'm assuming you dont have an iPhone etc and are interested in one? I'll give you a beginners FAQ about the games, they are all quite short sadly, sad is the right word for me, I imagine what the iPhone could do with a full game with levels and quests etc. You know what I think would KICK ASS on the iPhone? Pokemon type games, I really can imagine that taking off, I remember playing Pokemon Yellow when I was little, and that was basically the best game ever! I still remember the items, etc. I guess it was like Zelda for another generation. I think a Pokemon style game could work very well on an iPhone or iTouch, using wifi for multiplayer, swapping items and working together....playing over the internet....
Overall iPhone games are about Playstation 1, with a few good ones that are PS2 quality. Many games have "cheap" feelings to them, and basically none have a great story that takes days to beat. Most of the time, you have to do something involving tapping, dragging, tilting, and each level gives you more items to work with, and less time etc.
The iPhone could do so much more, I'm thinking of RPG type games with multiplayer. The graphics could be summed up as PS2 I guess, if people put in the time I think PS2 is reasonable to think of as the average iPhone graphic quality. But, its so much more, with the wifi, motion controls, multi touch etc, its so much more than JUST a old PS2.
CMust your attention be constantly filled with something on a 2 inch screen with pretty graphics?
Two inches I can go without, but my iPhone has 3.5 inches of shiny stuff! Big difference
I find it very easy to add appointments to my iPhone, you did simplify the palm version above a fair bit, you didnt have to hit "save" or "done" or an equivalent on your Palm?
Hope you fully enjoy your iPhone soon!
Seriously. Read the disc? thats what it does! You're talking about a hardware problem if it cant read a disc inserted! What do you do if a Dell pc etc cant read a disc? You blame iTunes? lol.
Man, you came up with some "problem" that didnt exist, that iTunes cant import cds -AT ALL-, I find you the Apple help page, then you say Im a fanboi, and that if I had to do it with 200 cds it wouldnt work....I tell you I've done it at least 100, even with some cds not in the database, ...
I cant be bothered. I've given you links, offered you help, tried it myself, and its still not good enough for you.
Hey, you're the dipshit who couldnt see the obvious "Import CD" button.
To hell with you.
My music collection is fairly "mainstream", ooh, is that an insulting word? Its a loaded term isnt it, like "pro-life", to say you're not "pro-life", then you must be pro death! I have no problem with having a "mainstream" music collection.
But, I do have some band burned cds, that my friends have recorded and sold at gigs etc. They didnt show up when I put them into iTunes! ooh, are you going to jump on that? Well, since I was probably the first person to put it into iTunes, it didnt know that cd. So, I added the tracks myself, and actually added it to the libary, I believe if anyone else, anywhere in the world, puts that cd in, it should know its track names now.
So, far from an "unfixed problem", iTunes has so far had a perfect score!
Not attacking you at all, but I havnt seen "Quantum G's Kick Ass Music Player", do you have a better way of importing music than iTunes? Im asking again. I asked how it could be done better than having a simple button that comes up when you put the cd in.....do you want it to take over the screen, have a full screen of text saying "IM GOING TO IMPORT THIS CD AND THERES NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!!!!11111!!" or perhaps "import cd, cancel or allow"?
This is sure a long conversation for something pretty simple, so please just answer! how would you do it better than iTunes? Since you picked the example, lets figure it out! Um, ok, so you have a beef that you have to have a audio cd IN the drive to import, um, an audio cd? As compared to Windows Media Player that can "rip" cds while they stay in the jewel case? Why should there be a button saying "Import CD" all the time? Especially on computers that dont even have an optical drive, as in a MacBook Air, I love those things, will pick one up as a memento when they are old and crusty. It would be like my PowerMac G5 showing me a battery gauge, it doesnt have a battery attached, a cd inserted, so why should it show that option? That would be nuts! It might as well say that its petrol tank is on E for empty!
Please, what is it you want Apple to change about importing CDs? Until now, I've never realised anyone in the world had a problem with it.
Hope you get it sorted.
I have 153 albums in iTunes right now, some are things I've made myself, but I have at least 100 cds that I've imported. I've never EVER had a problem with gracenote (I think it uses that?) not finding CD track names etc, its always worked fine. If you have an iTunes account, then it can even grab artwork for you, thats very handy.
You know what you said before, I dont need to quote it, about a "unfixed" problem with iTunes, that you couldnt figure out how to "rip" a cd. Ok, well iTunes calls it "Import" at least on the button, put a disc in, it shows up, it has exactly one button that wasnt there before, saying "Import CD".
Rather than arguing "you havnt had my problem!!!!!!!111!!!" and then mentioning a whole bunch of other supposed problems that you just cant think of right now, how about we talk about dealing with them?
Do you have a favourite OS? And a media program like iTunes? How do they deal with importing 200 CDS, if thats what you use it for, thats better than iTunes? You know, that little button that says "Import CD" in the bottom right, not tucked away in a billion ribbon menus or anything.....
If you couldnt see the "Import CD" button, then what did you do to get 200 CDS imported? Will them in?
Its rather unfair to bring up problems you cant remember etc, and use them against me when I help you with other problems, like not seeing the "Import CD" button.
Im not sure what I would do, if I ever had a problem like the ones you are mentioning with networks. What would YOU do in your favourite OS? I guess I would check the Network page under System Preferences, see if Wifi or whatever was turned "on", and maybe run through a setup wizard.
If you have any better ideas on how to import cds than the "Import CD" button, I'd love to know. Seriously! We're all computer users, if you can think of a better way, then it benefits us all.
Have a swell day :)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1347
I just tested it myself too, I put an audio cd into my mac, iTunes opened, showed me the cd, and bottom right it has "Import CD".......
Debunked.
RE wifi,
I've never had ANY issue with my Macs and wifi, or networking AT ALL. I find it near impossible to get windows networks going, only tried it a couple times, but I can make a network any way you can imagine with any two macs. Hell, put a firewire cable from this machine to that machine, and it goddam works! Turn one on, hold down T and you can boot off one drive, "Target Disk Mode".
Theres no bullshit "workgroups", or IP addresses to screw around with. It just works! I recently plugged in a USB wifi adaptor into an XP laptop, god , what a pain that was! Compared to the same thing on the Mac, plug it in, it didnt need the drivers at all, and this was not a big brand wifi adapter, it just worked. I think it said something like "network found, connect?" then I put in the password and BOOM.
Any other Mac problems you'd like me to help with? :)
Build it, they will come!
Im not responsible if trillions of USD are spent promoting cycling, building bike lanes, and then people dont use them
Im so glad I started, its great exercise, easy to do, and I feel great. Then again, I am Vegan, so you have to expect everything I do to be crazy!
I like games myself, but theres priorities. I also think that its BS to consider gaming as exercise, or that it helps people lose weight, its not unlike people who eat lots of food, and then vomit deliberately to "purge" themselves of calories. Its unhealthy! If people just eat decent food in decent amounts, we'd all be better off! I'm a vegan who plays online PS3 games with my friends for an hour or two a day, I spend hours on the computer each day, but while I do those activities I'm also on my exercycle, cruising along at 35Kph, I do about 66KM a day. It doesnt take any real involvement any more than a fat ass sitting in a computer chair.
Mod parent +5 funny :)
You're welcome :P
Also, the Playstation 2 was classed as a supercomputer, its a marketing gimmick right? The thing with the PS2 was, you couldnt ship it overseas, or else "the tur-rusts will use it to steer cruise missiles".
Good for you , bringing up the G4 and G5.
Im sorry you didnt like my analogy. I've had a few female friends who have had that happen to them, I know how upsetting it is.
I didnt mention anything about money making it right or wrong, dont twist what I said. Some things are just morally not right, like stealing, no matter who its from. You dont need to download 20GB of music, without paying,each day to live. I used that example, because its fairly common to do with piracy, its like, I'm vegan, and its common for Vegans to use "the holocaust on your plate" argument. I can see thats tiresome, I dont use silly things like that. Tell you what, from now on I wont bring up that other topic again.
However, theres no glamour in ripping off people. I dont see a difference between ripping off one person selling hot dogs on the street, or a major corporation. It also breeds contempt for "The Man" etc, wouldnt you agree? To think that you can just get away with things, if you are caught, you can claim "it was a performance art piece" or something like The Pirate Bay.
Perhaps we wont agree about that either.
I'd appreciate not being called "you people" and being told to stay away from half the population too.
Peace. http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1212291&cid=27727059#
I've downloaded plenty of music over the years, but if I find that its good, I actually buy the cd, yes, often I buy someone elses secondhand copy from Trademe (like eBay) to save money, but I do buy a legit copy.
Once or twice I've downloaded movies that are unavailable elsewhere, such as the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast, it was not being made in my region at the time.
I dont think people have the right to steal music etc. The fact is, the people you're taking it from want you to pay for it, I dont care if they are a huge company or not. Its just not right.
Im 21, and although I often dont like a random song on the radio now, I do think there are many "future classics" to be dug up. If you look at the top songs of this decade, the 2000's, there are some massive hits. The same as there were the decade before, and the decade before, and the 50 years before that.
When you bring up artists I've never heard of, and make out that all the artists from 1980 on are shit, well, what about the "thousands" of other groups from the 1950's? It wasnt just Elvis you know!
I work at a business where older people are the majority of customers, we have to have one of those "old bugger FM" stations on, taglines such as "coast, timeless music", and they supposedly have people from the other side of the world (Im a New Zealander) email in saying they listen in on the internet stream, because in the entire rest of the world theres not a radio station that plays 9 of Elvis' 10 mainstream hits a day, then The Beetles, oh no! You cant buy the music yourself either, hell no! Because the older people (50+) that it targets dont seem to know how to steal music on those computer things, they are lead to believe the only way to listen to music is from this one radio station.
To think you're generation is somehow special, and the best, while the rest are just dreck, thats a pretty sad way of life!
I'm sure I'll listen to Kanye West etc in 10 years time, and probably in another 20. I guess the use of Auto Tune and current musical trends will be laughed about , as is synthesized music from the 1980's, but then think about all the CLASSIC songs from the 1980's, its fun to put on GTA Vice City and drive around to the old hits. I'm still a huge Michael Jackson fan, and I'll be listening to Thriller, biggest album EVER in the entire world, screw The Eagles, biggest in America, when Thriller is 50 years old, its 25 years old now.
How about we wait until music is actually quite old before we judge whether or not it will stand the test of time?
Im as "oh, they big companies are screwing the consumer" as anyone else, but thats hardly Rick-rolling in million dollar notes there! http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/rickroll_songwriter_only_made_16_youtube
I know Americans think that paying for things outright is the devil, but its how the rest of the world probably operates? At the moment, the iPhone 3G, bought officially, costs about 1200 NZD for the 16GB, without a plan. Put it on prepaid, and boom, away you go. Then again, I dont use my phone much for calls etc, because they are too expensive for me, and I use my iPhone on Wifi daily, never use the gprs speed service, that costs a dollar per day for up to 10MB.
Anyone notice how the brightest men are named "steve"? Steven, Stephen, Theres Wozniak, Hawking, Jobs, Ballmer, um, hold the last one maybe? Is there another first name so closely linked to genius?