Well, lets see. (Cr)apple makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality products, and is now being sued by a company that makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality cables and A/V accessories...if one of them loses and goes out of business, its a win for consumers. The only outcome better than that would be if BOTH could lose and go out of business!!! Both of these companies are committing fraud, somehow getting people to think that high price =quality product, and that owning (insert name of company that makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality products here) products makes them cool somehow.
People that buy products from companies like this need to wise up and realize that buying products from companies like these only makesthem and idiot (or an IDiot) for paying insanely high prices for the crappiest low quality products available!
The thing is, easy piracy increases console sales.
Maybe in Europe and the 2nd and 3rd world, but not in the US, CA, NZ, AU, UK and Japan. Which...not-surprisingly, are the places with low piracy rates where people are actually willing to buy games.
The thing is, easy piracy increases console sales.
Maybe in Europe and the 2nd and 3rd world, but not in the US, CA, NZ, AU, UK and Japan. Which...not-surprisingly, are the places with low piracy rates where people are actually willing to buy games.
Piracy was rampant on both PlayStation and PlayStation 2 in the UK. This was largely because these generations coincided with the mass commoditisation of CD and then DVD burners in PCs.
People may have been willing to buy games. However, willingness and ability are not the same thing. Many gamers had huge collections that they couldn't possibly have acquired legitimately.
I can't speak for orher regions but I suspect the same would have been true.
...while I could see easily spending 1500 on games over the year for the 360, while being able to get about the same ~200 on the PC just a bit later after their release.
If you are spending 1500 a year (£ or $), you aren't playing games, you are just buying them.
Plus, even after both games have been out for over three years now, they can still be played, there are still servers for them.
Is it still possible to play FIFA 10 online?
I stopped buying EA Sports games after buying Tiger Woods 11 in mid 2011' only for the online features to be removed before the year was out, presumably to encourage buyers on to Tiger Woods 12. I expect more than 6 months of value from a game.
They don't offer free tethering because you have to pay for what you consume.
That other companies have the temerity to charge you extra just for the privilege of tethering is a whole other problem. That would be like the water company charging you extra for the privilege of using water to wash with instead of just drinking it.
The fact is, we pay for data plans, unlimited or metered. Either way, it should be ours to do as we wish with! The telcos should not be allowed (should not have any right) to impose on us any kinds of fees or limitations on what we have purchased from them. End of story.
Tethering charges on mobile phones are equivalent to the water company charging you more for attaching a hose to your tap so you can water your garden. Gouging, pure and simple.
To those who say "but people watch videos and stuff on their laptops but just check email on their phones", plenty of people watch video on their phones and many only use their laptops for email. Don't make sweeping assumptions about everyone. The logical outcome to this scenario is charging for data usage by app type. Tethering obscures that, so precludes any move to that sort of business model.
I paid for a set amount of data, not any consumption velocity or data type restrictions. If I wanted to use my month's allowance in less than an hour by streaming some HD video, then that's my choice. The way it works right now, lots of mobile networks are under-provisioned, meaning that even if I want to spend more money on heavy data usage, they aren't in any position to sell it to me.
Don't even get me started on their "unlimited*" (*limited) marketing bullshit. How long can these phone companies and ISPs keep going without providing what their customers actually want?
"We live in a global economy, and I would hate to have to revert back to only a local economy."
The corporations live in a global economy. The summary talks about criminalising those who work around region codes. Region codes are there specifically to thwart people trying to benefit from a global economy. You will pay the price the corporations want you to pay based on where you live, while they surf the world's lowest cost economies for their benefits. I appreciate this benefits their shareholders, who are usually the same people getting the shaft from region codes and the like. Wouldn't it be better if those same shareholders could see the bigger picture and benefits to everyone of not locking down local markets.
There are A LOT of people who would pay more for a car made in Japan, than the same model made in the USA.
This doesn't mean that everything the American make is inferior to the Japanese counterpart.
On the contrary, you American have very large penis. We Japanese have very tiny penis.
Near where I live there is a new Mini that parks next to a Volvo, I just had to photograph the comparison: http://bit.ly/L7Yq7Q As a lover of the original Mini, it's shocking just how far they have strayed from the template whilst still having the cheek to call it a Mini. BMW missed a trick, they really should have re-launched the Maxi.
The funny thing is: if you click on the "Sourceforge Top Downloads" (not on the projects in it, but on the title itself) on the/. homepage you get a 404 error.
The French language has very few actual swear words. English is the language of choice for swearing in Europe. Fuck is probably the most recognised word across all languages.
You can also use the GTA:SA towtrucks to tow other towtrucks! I managed to get a train of 6 going for a few miles. Corners and traffic were a pain though. GTA:SA was quite simply one of the best games I have ever played for pretty much allowing you to do whatever looks feasible.
Good luck with playing PS3 games and BluRay films then.
Seriously, I have a MythTV setup and it's good but to compare it to the PS3 is pointless. MythTV is exactly what Sony et al would prefer you didn't use, so clearly it will do lots of things you want it to. The kicker is that it also won't necessarily do what they don't want you to do (listings, anything DRM, proper PVR etc...) A PS3 will support 'endorsed media' as well as increasing varieties (soon to include DivX I read somewhere) of other media as preferred by the user. So ultimately you can choose Cake, Eat or both.
If you say "too late", then what really were you in the market for? Iit certainly wasn't a games console.
I'm sorry but the ability to download games originally available on N64, SNES, Nintendo, TG16, Genesis, and Neo Geo (for money) does not equal backwards compatibility. I know this because I have a Wii, along with original versions for most of these consoles. I have yet to find the slot for any of these
Did I get one of those Walmart Wii consoles by mistake?
Thanks for explaining that. I guessed there wasn't really going to be such an obvious loophole. If you have an 'old' author there may be some benefit however.
I have a question regarding the 'life of author + n years' approach. What if the author is not an individual but is a large group , i.e. a corporation. who has to die before the 'n years' starts counting? Can a corporation claim authorship and avoid the 'life of author' expiry as corporations don't die?
To the GP poster who said..
"If you don't like being treated that way, don't spend your money with Microsoft."
I'd suggest an alternative. "If you don't like being treated that way, DO spend your money with Microsoft".
Rightly or wrongly, this is purely to stop people trying to run copied (therefore pirated in MS' eyes) discs.
But it works with VHS, DVD, CD etc... These are just commodity electronic goods working to common(ish) standards. The differentiation comes in quality of components, styling, brand and so-on.
Saying this, I still agree with the general feeling that this will never happen with games consoles.
"Let me guess that one of them is the following movie-plot weakness: the Mafia could start to use blind people as unknowing couriers for large sums of money by punching extra holes in the bills that are being transported."...yes but try spending your $1 bill with the $100 holes punched in it. Immediately illegal tender I would suggest.
Mafia etc are not interested in notes that cannot be spent, surely? That would be a rubbish movie, it could be called 'Gone in 60 Holes'....I have a better idea for a plot for that film though!
The format war between HD-DVD & Blu-Ray is surely moot for the 360. If Blu-Ray wins, then MS just license that and bring out an external Blu-Ray drive instead. Maybe even a multi-format drive.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, lets see. (Cr)apple makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality products, and is now being sued by a company that makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality cables and A/V accessories...if one of them loses and goes out of business, its a win for consumers. The only outcome better than that would be if BOTH could lose and go out of business!!! Both of these companies are committing fraud, somehow getting people to think that high price =quality product, and that owning (insert name of company that makes insanely vastly overpriced, extremely low quality products here) products makes them cool somehow.
People that buy products from companies like this need to wise up and realize that buying products from companies like these only makesthem and idiot (or an IDiot) for paying insanely high prices for the crappiest low quality products available!
Posted from my iPhone.
The thing is, easy piracy increases console sales.
Maybe in Europe and the 2nd and 3rd world, but not in the US, CA, NZ, AU, UK and Japan. Which...not-surprisingly, are the places with low piracy rates where people are actually willing to buy games.
The thing is, easy piracy increases console sales.
Maybe in Europe and the 2nd and 3rd world, but not in the US, CA, NZ, AU, UK and Japan. Which...not-surprisingly, are the places with low piracy rates where people are actually willing to buy games.
Piracy was rampant on both PlayStation and PlayStation 2 in the UK. This was largely because these generations coincided with the mass commoditisation of CD and then DVD burners in PCs. People may have been willing to buy games. However, willingness and ability are not the same thing. Many gamers had huge collections that they couldn't possibly have acquired legitimately. I can't speak for orher regions but I suspect the same would have been true.
...while I could see easily spending 1500 on games over the year for the 360, while being able to get about the same ~200 on the PC just a bit later after their release.
If you are spending 1500 a year (£ or $), you aren't playing games, you are just buying them.
Plus, even after both games have been out for over three years now, they can still be played, there are still servers for them.
Is it still possible to play FIFA 10 online?
I stopped buying EA Sports games after buying Tiger Woods 11 in mid 2011' only for the online features to be removed before the year was out, presumably to encourage buyers on to Tiger Woods 12. I expect more than 6 months of value from a game.
They don't offer free tethering because you have to pay for what you consume.
That other companies have the temerity to charge you extra just for the privilege of tethering is a whole other problem. That would be like the water company charging you extra for the privilege of using water to wash with instead of just drinking it.
The fact is, we pay for data plans, unlimited or metered. Either way, it should be ours to do as we wish with! The telcos should not be allowed (should not have any right) to impose on us any kinds of fees or limitations on what we have purchased from them. End of story.
Tethering charges on mobile phones are equivalent to the water company charging you more for attaching a hose to your tap so you can water your garden. Gouging, pure and simple. To those who say "but people watch videos and stuff on their laptops but just check email on their phones", plenty of people watch video on their phones and many only use their laptops for email. Don't make sweeping assumptions about everyone. The logical outcome to this scenario is charging for data usage by app type. Tethering obscures that, so precludes any move to that sort of business model. I paid for a set amount of data, not any consumption velocity or data type restrictions. If I wanted to use my month's allowance in less than an hour by streaming some HD video, then that's my choice. The way it works right now, lots of mobile networks are under-provisioned, meaning that even if I want to spend more money on heavy data usage, they aren't in any position to sell it to me. Don't even get me started on their "unlimited*" (*limited) marketing bullshit. How long can these phone companies and ISPs keep going without providing what their customers actually want?
"We live in a global economy, and I would hate to have to revert back to only a local economy." The corporations live in a global economy. The summary talks about criminalising those who work around region codes. Region codes are there specifically to thwart people trying to benefit from a global economy. You will pay the price the corporations want you to pay based on where you live, while they surf the world's lowest cost economies for their benefits. I appreciate this benefits their shareholders, who are usually the same people getting the shaft from region codes and the like. Wouldn't it be better if those same shareholders could see the bigger picture and benefits to everyone of not locking down local markets.
Replying to undo incorrect mod. Sort out the hair trigger Slashdot.
There are A LOT of people who would pay more for a car made in Japan, than the same model made in the USA. This doesn't mean that everything the American make is inferior to the Japanese counterpart.
On the contrary, you American have very large penis. We Japanese have very tiny penis.
Near where I live there is a new Mini that parks next to a Volvo, I just had to photograph the comparison: http://bit.ly/L7Yq7Q As a lover of the original Mini, it's shocking just how far they have strayed from the template whilst still having the cheek to call it a Mini. BMW missed a trick, they really should have re-launched the Maxi.
The funny thing is: if you click on the "Sourceforge Top Downloads" (not on the projects in it, but on the title itself) on the /. homepage you get a 404 error.
Gratz, Geeknet!
Slashdotted.
The French language has very few actual swear words. English is the language of choice for swearing in Europe. Fuck is probably the most recognised word across all languages.
The key thing with rail travel is to always make sure they "parallelize" the tracks before you get on the train.
This is a perfect opportunity for me to ask a question that has always confused me...
If it is illegal to own a sawn-off shotgun, what about just owning the bit you saw off?
What do you legal experts think?
Australia? USA? Canada? Hong Kong?
OK, apart from the second one, I wouldn't say any of these meet the classic definition of a developing nation.
the The?
You can also use the GTA:SA towtrucks to tow other towtrucks! I managed to get a train of 6 going for a few miles. Corners and traffic were a pain though.
GTA:SA was quite simply one of the best games I have ever played for pretty much allowing you to do whatever looks feasible.
Good luck with playing PS3 games and BluRay films then.
Seriously, I have a MythTV setup and it's good but to compare it to the PS3 is pointless. MythTV is exactly what Sony et al would prefer you didn't use, so clearly it will do lots of things you want it to. The kicker is that it also won't necessarily do what they don't want you to do (listings, anything DRM, proper PVR etc...) A PS3 will support 'endorsed media' as well as increasing varieties (soon to include DivX I read somewhere) of other media as preferred by the user.
So ultimately you can choose Cake, Eat or both.
If you say "too late", then what really were you in the market for? Iit certainly wasn't a games console.
I'm sorry but the ability to download games originally available on N64, SNES, Nintendo, TG16, Genesis, and Neo Geo (for money) does not equal backwards compatibility. I know this because I have a Wii, along with original versions for most of these consoles. I have yet to find the slot for any of these Did I get one of those Walmart Wii consoles by mistake?
Thanks for explaining that. I guessed there wasn't really going to be such an obvious loophole. If you have an 'old' author there may be some benefit however.
I have a question regarding the 'life of author + n years' approach. What if the author is not an individual but is a large group , i.e. a corporation. who has to die before the 'n years' starts counting? Can a corporation claim authorship and avoid the 'life of author' expiry as corporations don't die?
To the GP poster who said.. "If you don't like being treated that way, don't spend your money with Microsoft." I'd suggest an alternative. "If you don't like being treated that way, DO spend your money with Microsoft". Rightly or wrongly, this is purely to stop people trying to run copied (therefore pirated in MS' eyes) discs.
But it works with VHS, DVD, CD etc... These are just commodity electronic goods working to common(ish) standards. The differentiation comes in quality of components, styling, brand and so-on. Saying this, I still agree with the general feeling that this will never happen with games consoles.
"Let me guess that one of them is the following movie-plot weakness: the Mafia could start to use blind people as unknowing couriers for large sums of money by punching extra holes in the bills that are being transported." ...yes but try spending your $1 bill with the $100 holes punched in it. Immediately illegal tender I would suggest.
...I have a better idea for a plot for that film though!
Mafia etc are not interested in notes that cannot be spent, surely? That would be a rubbish movie, it could be called 'Gone in 60 Holes'.
Didn't Debbie Harry do some French kissing in the USA once?
The format war between HD-DVD & Blu-Ray is surely moot for the 360. If Blu-Ray wins, then MS just license that and bring out an external Blu-Ray drive instead. Maybe even a multi-format drive.