While I don't deny that I have the "choice" that you mention (in fact I've chosen not to have a television, and haven't had one for over for 10 years). It is disingenuous to say that consumers have a real choice about whether we get DRM.
Yes, if my primary criteria for selecting media is whether it has DRM, I have choice. If, as is more realistic, my primary criteria is the content of the media, my choice of whether to have DRM dissapears very quickly.
Whether I have a right to a choice between DRM and non-DRM, once I've chosen the content I want, is a very different question than whether I have the choice.
Except that the media cartels remove that choice, too, by not providing that content in non DRM formats. You point out that we don't have to buy their media, which is true, but in most industries "my way or the highway" is generally not considered much choice.
Right. Never blame the monopoly that has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to create their own new standards, ignoring in-place standards, which proprietary standards quickly become nearly universal regardless of technical merit.
Not exactly the same, but in Spokane, WA, around 1999 - 2000, workers at a local aluminum plant were (more-or-less) required to strike by the national union. They weren't allowed to accept the company's offers and go back to work, and when their local money ran out, the national union abandoned them. Then, the plant was closed down because electricity prices were up and the company could make more money selling their contracted electricity than they could by selling aluminum.
What a large waste of money. Why do we need to explore a geologically dead orbitting rock and sand ball? Don't we have homeless, sick, and displaced people in our own country that should be cared for first before a money is spent frivolously on some stupid moon exploration? Don't we have grave environmental concerns that need to be addressed? There is still a lot of science to be done here on planet earth to protect and save her.
And you're just sitting around posting on slashdot. Shame on you.
I don't know what your childhood was (is?) like, but my parents definitely didn't let me hang out at the convenience store unsupervised for hours at a time.
And, come to think of it, those people that did (hang out at the convenience store unsupervised for hours at a time) generally weren't the people that my parents would have let babysit me.
...why people on slashdot, who surely must earn at least $50/hour grouse that Apple is more expensive amaze me. 20 hours of aggravation is $1000 bucks of your time lunkheads
I'm not amazed if you get $100,000/year, but your assumptions that everyone here (or even a majority) makes six figures costs you credibility. Critical thinkers are wondering what other illusions you have and if any of your conclusions can be correct.
That's very true. There are definitely more ISP options in the small town where I live than there are bookstores. My parents live in a smaller town, that doesn't have a bookstore, but they have several choices for internet access. (Not counting the bookstores one can access through an ISP.)
We had Defender for our Atari 800. (Actually both on floppy and on cartridge.) My older brothers and I would play untill we had a bunch of extra lives and smart bombs, then let our younger siblings play for a while while we rested. We could play that game in shifts as long as we wanted. It's kind of fun to use only smart bombs for 5 - 10 levels.
Three years later, your player dies. What do you do? Off to ebay to find a piece of junk to play the loser format with? What do you do in ten years, then?
This is a serious issue for important stuff that you want to last a long (> 50 years) time. That's why we keep a hard copy of our family journal.
On the other hand, old working computer equipment isn't that hard to find for free. I found, and installed, a working 5.25 floppy drive for one of my computers (Athlon XP 2800+). I used it to get all the data I cared about off my old floppies, so I probably won't use it again.
Slashdot Mirror
While I don't deny that I have the "choice" that you mention (in fact I've chosen not to have a television, and haven't had one for over for 10 years). It is disingenuous to say that consumers have a real choice about whether we get DRM.
Yes, if my primary criteria for selecting media is whether it has DRM, I have choice. If, as is more realistic, my primary criteria is the content of the media, my choice of whether to have DRM dissapears very quickly.
Whether I have a right to a choice between DRM and non-DRM, once I've chosen the content I want, is a very different question than whether I have the choice.
Right. Never blame the monopoly that has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to create their own new standards, ignoring in-place standards, which proprietary standards quickly become nearly universal regardless of technical merit.
Not exactly the same, but in Spokane, WA, around 1999 - 2000, workers at a local aluminum plant were (more-or-less) required to strike by the national union. They weren't allowed to accept the company's offers and go back to work, and when their local money ran out, the national union abandoned them. Then, the plant was closed down because electricity prices were up and the company could make more money selling their contracted electricity than they could by selling aluminum.
When it comes to employers, it has to be this way because the "other side" wants to get away with as much as possible and will play dirty to get it.
I don't know what your childhood was (is?) like, but my parents definitely didn't let me hang out at the convenience store unsupervised for hours at a time.
And, come to think of it, those people that did (hang out at the convenience store unsupervised for hours at a time) generally weren't the people that my parents would have let babysit me.
And here I was thinking Mr. Fusion.
After reading the replies (and the first mod) to the parent, I feel the need to check the altimeter on my browser.
That's a good point.
Yes, because that 3% is more likely to contain those people you most want to catch.
Don't you think that the group that works hardest to evade inspection is the group you most want to inspect?
Yeah! They only needed a few hundred K of RAM and disk space because of all the HUGE amount of stuff already stored in the ROM. Gigabytes, at least.
Once again, I'll quote the dude.
"Half of what we know about physics is wrong. The trouble is, we don't know which half." -Gary Skouson (AFAIK)
It's obvious that he isn't human at all.
It's just that his vacation time ran out.
We had Defender for our Atari 800. (Actually both on floppy and on cartridge.)
My older brothers and I would play untill we had a bunch of extra lives and smart bombs, then let our younger siblings play for a while while we rested. We could play that game in shifts as long as we wanted. It's kind of fun to use only smart bombs for 5 - 10 levels.
Because being mean isn't silly. It may not be hate, but it's a lot closer to hate than to silly.
You should only be disturbed if none of them are funny.
(So, we should all cower under our beds.)
As requested, a pic.
[]
There. I even framed it for you.
If you copy and paste what's in the frame into something else, you can zoom in as far as you want.
Oh, I should mention that it's the negative.
You forgot the Stamp. That's what's wrong.
On the other hand, old working computer equipment isn't that hard to find for free. I found, and installed, a working 5.25 floppy drive for one of my computers (Athlon XP 2800+). I used it to get all the data I cared about off my old floppies, so I probably won't use it again.