couldn't agree with you more. basically, try not to micromanage. if they don't do things the way you like, trying to force them to do so will not make things work the way you do.
classic example is bosses threatening to take away web and solitaire because they waste too much time. they don't realize that web and solitaire is not the reason they are "wasting time." they just happen to "waste their time" by using web and solitaire. if those are gone, they will find other means to "waste their time."
try to create an environment where people feel trusted and empowered to do their job on their own terms. if people start to go a bit too far out of reasonable expectations, then take action.
i'm not convinced at all that a download video market exists. i don't see compelling reasons why downloading would be any more convenient or cost effective than something like netflix. and if they think they can charge more for movies than music, then forget about it because you can buy DVDs cheaper than CDs at most stores. also, there's no compelling reason to split up the movie contents - while ability to sell ind. songs definitely helped with the popularity of online music distribution.
distributing movies online will cost more storage, time, bandwidth than music distribution. most users will buy a lot less movies than songs and impulse buys will be far rarer. if napster hasn't taken off selling music, i don't see why selling movies would be more profittable.
i think "music players" refer to solid state "mp3" players. i believe. hasn't sony's CD players pretty much always supported mp3 CDs ever since that technology became avaialble?
if i'm mistaken, then sony is worse than i thought... to not support mp3 CDs would be an extremely stupid move, like you said.
sony really did miss a very narry window of opportunity in the mid-90's before the CD burners took off for the mini disc to succeed outside of japan. when mp3s became popular in late 90's, that sealed its fate.
in japan, mini disc succeeded for two reasons - rental CD shops are common and small profile/protected discs/recording capability were all favored by a country full of people commuting by train.
sony misread the american market, which generally do not favor new formats, don't care much about small profile or the protected discs. only musicians took up the recording capabilities. what sony should have done in america was to promote albums in mini disc format, and perhaps price it a tad below CDs. never happened...
i liked my mini disc player. i used it extensively for about 3 yeras from 1999 when i converted all of my CDs into MDs. but as soon as i switched to an iPod, my collection of about 200 MDs pretty much died instantly. ever since then, i only pull out MDs to check to see if there are any songs I'm still "missing" in my mp3 collection.
pepsi is paying apple so some cola drinkers will be enticed to buy a pepsi instead of a coke by offering iTMS songs as incentives. nothing more, nothing less. if you just want a song, yeah, like you said, just go to iTMS and buy one...
in the first promotion, you could cheat by tilting the bottle to look at the cap before purchasing. did they fix this? (which would be good in some sense because they'd have to put more soda in there...)
since LCD is active matrix, refresh rate isn't as big of a deal. it simply means the pixels can only change values once every 60 Hz or whatever the refresh rate is, but unlike CRT, pixels will always be "on" until the next refresh. so there's no "flicker."
this is a type of a job FBI does. FBI doesn't exist just to "protect us."
should Microsoft be similary ridiculed for working on non-secutiry issues? should NSF be faulted for funding "basic sciences" instead of spending all of its money on "life-saving sciences"?
i was basically pointing out that whenever hardware comparisons like this are made, i find it lacking the most important consideration, as far as i'm concerned, and that is the OS.
to me, the fact Mac mini is small and price/performance competitive with just about any PC is just a bonus. to me, OS X is worth all the money i supposedly overspent on my PB compared to a "comparable" PC laptop.
btw, native apps in OS X goes into/Applications. what apps do you have that goes into/bin?
a lot of moments (good and bad) that make "life" worthwhile would become less so if we could live forever.
also, in practical terms, i'd rather not know that my death will most likely be by a sudden accident and that i can't ever "retire" because i won't know how long i'll live (hence how much i need.)
>Mom and pop internet surfer won't give their ATM pin or their credit card number to a guy on the street
not if someone dressed as a "trusted" merchant or a "citibank representative" come knocking on your door... then some will probably volunteer such information.
these fake websites are fairly well made quite often. it's not like these people are so dumb that it's akin to giving those information to complete strangers on the street.
slashdot is not posting them... and the linked websites aren't posting them for commercial purposes either, i believe.. it's just a forum, private people sharing information...
Slashdot Mirror
classic example is bosses threatening to take away web and solitaire because they waste too much time. they don't realize that web and solitaire is not the reason they are "wasting time." they just happen to "waste their time" by using web and solitaire. if those are gone, they will find other means to "waste their time."
try to create an environment where people feel trusted and empowered to do their job on their own terms. if people start to go a bit too far out of reasonable expectations, then take action.
i see, like posting on /. :)
untapped or non-existent?
i'm not convinced at all that a download video market exists. i don't see compelling reasons why downloading would be any more convenient or cost effective than something like netflix. and if they think they can charge more for movies than music, then forget about it because you can buy DVDs cheaper than CDs at most stores. also, there's no compelling reason to split up the movie contents - while ability to sell ind. songs definitely helped with the popularity of online music distribution.
distributing movies online will cost more storage, time, bandwidth than music distribution. most users will buy a lot less movies than songs and impulse buys will be far rarer. if napster hasn't taken off selling music, i don't see why selling movies would be more profittable.
because if i was, i'd be posting anonymously!
it must be him... so he *does* know everything... but we can't be told...
...but this one goes to eleven.
if i'm mistaken, then sony is worse than i thought... to not support mp3 CDs would be an extremely stupid move, like you said.
sony really did miss a very narry window of opportunity in the mid-90's before the CD burners took off for the mini disc to succeed outside of japan. when mp3s became popular in late 90's, that sealed its fate.
in japan, mini disc succeeded for two reasons - rental CD shops are common and small profile/protected discs/recording capability were all favored by a country full of people commuting by train.
sony misread the american market, which generally do not favor new formats, don't care much about small profile or the protected discs. only musicians took up the recording capabilities. what sony should have done in america was to promote albums in mini disc format, and perhaps price it a tad below CDs. never happened...
i liked my mini disc player. i used it extensively for about 3 yeras from 1999 when i converted all of my CDs into MDs. but as soon as i switched to an iPod, my collection of about 200 MDs pretty much died instantly. ever since then, i only pull out MDs to check to see if there are any songs I'm still "missing" in my mp3 collection.
give consumers what consumers want, not what you want consumers to want (to make the most money)
pepsi is paying apple so some cola drinkers will be enticed to buy a pepsi instead of a coke by offering iTMS songs as incentives. nothing more, nothing less. if you just want a song, yeah, like you said, just go to iTMS and buy one...
but you will be a minority, i'm fairly sure. many will go through with the iTMS process - afterall, it's "free."
in the first promotion, you could cheat by tilting the bottle to look at the cap before purchasing. did they fix this? (which would be good in some sense because they'd have to put more soda in there...)
since LCD is active matrix, refresh rate isn't as big of a deal. it simply means the pixels can only change values once every 60 Hz or whatever the refresh rate is, but unlike CRT, pixels will always be "on" until the next refresh. so there's no "flicker."
i didn't see it at the first glance, but did he remember that a 17" CRT monitor has less display space than a 17" LCD, for example?
should Microsoft be similary ridiculed for working on non-secutiry issues? should NSF be faulted for funding "basic sciences" instead of spending all of its money on "life-saving sciences"?
so it's not really comparable, is it? windows costs money. linux takes time to install/configure.
then factor in iLife apps. and warranty.
how about dvi out?
to me, the fact Mac mini is small and price/performance competitive with just about any PC is just a bonus. to me, OS X is worth all the money i supposedly overspent on my PB compared to a "comparable" PC laptop.
btw, native apps in OS X goes into /Applications. what apps do you have that goes into /bin?
it is when it's the dominant parameter being used to make comparisons.
but as a mac user, i wouldn't touch a PC even if it's $200 cheaper and smaller than mac mini for the simple reason it won't be running OS X.
we can all live long enough so that a 6-digit /. id's will become "rare and wise" when there are 10 million /. members. :)
also, in practical terms, i'd rather not know that my death will most likely be by a sudden accident and that i can't ever "retire" because i won't know how long i'll live (hence how much i need.)
iMac sold to the US household isn't dual voltage... (but the ones sold elsewhere are.) so beware.
not if someone dressed as a "trusted" merchant or a "citibank representative" come knocking on your door... then some will probably volunteer such information.
these fake websites are fairly well made quite often. it's not like these people are so dumb that it's akin to giving those information to complete strangers on the street.
excellent! :D
slashdot is not posting them... and the linked websites aren't posting them for commercial purposes either, i believe.. it's just a forum, private people sharing information...