I hate to be cynical, but who's funding this kind of research, directly or indirectly? Now think about this strategy:
1) Quietly fund research at various institutions; 2) Wait for breakthroughs 3) Donate $10 mil to rename the school cafeteria "The Bill Gates Center for Nutrient Metabolism," or something equally inane; 4) Quietly acquire the school's patents on various discoveries.
After all, in some US schools the institution claims patent rights on discoveries made by students who use school research facilities; I have no clue how it works in China and Germany and elsewhere...
More than 60 posts replying to an article with "quantum" in the blurb, and not one Quantum Leap reference or bitchy gripe about the quality of Star Trek: Enterprise.
How long before somebody cobbles together a "system" this will run on - a re-creation of the hardware using today's components, or at least a neat-looking case for this emulator?
I'm sure somebody out there with more time than I have is working on it...:)
Talk about damning something with faint praise. From TFA:
But overall, (and here's where staunch Linux fans will take exception) this machine is not as easy to use for most computer users as the same machine running Windows XP or (if it could) Apple's OS X. You still need to know a lot more about the inner workings of a computer to excel on a Linux machine.
Maybe I'm missing the boat, but I think this is a given. I've never heard a Linux user claim that someone who's only familiar w/ Mac or Windows is going to fully understand (much less fall in love with) Linux the first time they use it. That kind of negativity - however slight and between-the-lines - is just pushing more people away from Linux by reinforcing the "theirs is harder to use than ours" idea.
You must figure out on your own things like where to store the software and associated programs and how to handle permissions. These are not things most consumers want to do.
...and because of this we have x million Windows machines running with little or no protection, instant worm-fodder.
Linux to me is professional-grade software - the difference between the Huffy bike you'd get when you're 10 and the 18-speed alloy frame bike you buy when you start racing. It won't always be that way; there are thousands of people out there pushing to make Linux more accessible to Mr. & Ms. Average Joe, but right now it's counterproductive to act like your average AOLer should be able to sit down with KDE and instantly feel at home.
Gov't's motivation ... ?
on
European DRM News
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· Score: 3, Informative
I haven't met anyone who bought a new DRM'd album (read: Velvet Revolver) and then couldn't play it in his/her home or car equipment. I've known several who tried to listen on the computer; as most of them have Autoplay turned off on principle they didn't have problems either. My only experience with an allegedly DRM'd album was Steely Dan's Everything Must Go which ripped without a hitch and made me think the whole thing was just hype.
So how big a problem is this at this moment? On most supposedly-DRM'd albums the protection doesn't work most of the time; most of the people who want to play the CD are able to do so. Not to be a tinfoil-hat theorist, but why should the government step in now unless it's to set a precedent of some sort? i.e. "Software DRM is obviously not working, so we need hardwired anti-copying chips mandatory in all systems by 2010..."
I'm not sure who's supposed to be the target market for this player, or others like it.
Techno-saavy users who want to watch / listen to media on the go? I may be in the minority, but a main reason I have a laptop is so I can play my movies and music on the go. (Oh, there's that whole job thing too...)
Mr. & Ms. Adult Consumer? They don't know what "Creative" is unless they also fit into the computer geek category. They're going to spend their money on the portable DVD player for home and car at Wal-Mart or Best Buy.
Mr. & Ms. Consumer's kids? They're going to go with what all the "cool kids" have, and around here that'd be an iPod.
I think only the techno-saavy are going to go for this, and look how many of them won't buy these things because of DRM or Apple loyalty or because they already own 3 other devices that'll do the same things and possibly do them better. I just don't understand how the companies expect to crack this market.
We haven't had our first developing world A-list blogger yet. We haven't even seen anyone in the West who writes primarily, or even frequently, about developing world issues developing the kind of reputation that would help them get the word out on crises[...]
I wonder if any American or European agencies concerned with human rights issues, stopping censorship, etc. could encourage people in "developing" nations to speak out by providing space, publicity (a Slashdot-like list of links to individuals' blogs), or other efforts to help people tell their stories?
I'm not a blogger because most of the ones I've seen are (a) long-winded political rants or (b) personal drama; I'd much rather see, and tell others about, the world events we aren't seeing on the evening news and aren't hearing about from our government.
Slashdot Mirror
1) Quietly fund research at various institutions;
2) Wait for breakthroughs
3) Donate $10 mil to rename the school cafeteria "The Bill Gates Center for Nutrient Metabolism," or something equally inane;
4) Quietly acquire the school's patents on various discoveries.
After all, in some US schools the institution claims patent rights on discoveries made by students who use school research facilities; I have no clue how it works in China and Germany and elsewhere ...
And you call yourselves nerds!
I'm sure somebody out there with more time than I have is working on it ... :)
But overall, (and here's where staunch Linux fans will take exception) this machine is not as easy to use for most computer users as the same machine running Windows XP or (if it could) Apple's OS X. You still need to know a lot more about the inner workings of a computer to excel on a Linux machine.
Maybe I'm missing the boat, but I think this is a given. I've never heard a Linux user claim that someone who's only familiar w/ Mac or Windows is going to fully understand (much less fall in love with) Linux the first time they use it. That kind of negativity - however slight and between-the-lines - is just pushing more people away from Linux by reinforcing the "theirs is harder to use than ours" idea.
You must figure out on your own things like where to store the software and associated programs and how to handle permissions. These are not things most consumers want to do.
...and because of this we have x million Windows machines running with little or no protection, instant worm-fodder.
Linux to me is professional-grade software - the difference between the Huffy bike you'd get when you're 10 and the 18-speed alloy frame bike you buy when you start racing. It won't always be that way; there are thousands of people out there pushing to make Linux more accessible to Mr. & Ms. Average Joe, but right now it's counterproductive to act like your average AOLer should be able to sit down with KDE and instantly feel at home.
So how big a problem is this at this moment? On most supposedly-DRM'd albums the protection doesn't work most of the time; most of the people who want to play the CD are able to do so. Not to be a tinfoil-hat theorist, but why should the government step in now unless it's to set a precedent of some sort? i.e. "Software DRM is obviously not working, so we need hardwired anti-copying chips mandatory in all systems by 2010..."
Techno-saavy users who want to watch / listen to media on the go? I may be in the minority, but a main reason I have a laptop is so I can play my movies and music on the go. (Oh, there's that whole job thing too...)
Mr. & Ms. Adult Consumer? They don't know what "Creative" is unless they also fit into the computer geek category. They're going to spend their money on the portable DVD player for home and car at Wal-Mart or Best Buy.
Mr. & Ms. Consumer's kids? They're going to go with what all the "cool kids" have, and around here that'd be an iPod.
I think only the techno-saavy are going to go for this, and look how many of them won't buy these things because of DRM or Apple loyalty or because they already own 3 other devices that'll do the same things and possibly do them better. I just don't understand how the companies expect to crack this market.
We haven't had our first developing world A-list blogger yet. We haven't even seen anyone in the West who writes primarily, or even frequently, about developing world issues developing the kind of reputation that would help them get the word out on crises[...]
I wonder if any American or European agencies concerned with human rights issues, stopping censorship, etc. could encourage people in "developing" nations to speak out by providing space, publicity (a Slashdot-like list of links to individuals' blogs), or other efforts to help people tell their stories?
I'm not a blogger because most of the ones I've seen are (a) long-winded political rants or (b) personal drama; I'd much rather see, and tell others about, the world events we aren't seeing on the evening news and aren't hearing about from our government.