...but then again, this is Steve Job's Apple we're talking about. "We're insanely great: the peasants will be lucky just to buy our product at all!"
Fruity colors alone aren't going to put them over the top in the handheld market. In fact, in the business world, making your info device look like a Game Boy would be a hindrance (imagine taking a neon orange PalmPilot out of your suit coat pocket on an interview).
But, a low-cost Palm with Fruit Loop colors and a graphing calculator app would probably go over well with the high school crowd.
To some extent, a lawsuit = free advertising. And all they'd have to do if they lost is change the name to, say, Internet Toaster. (Would a fine be likely? How could Apple prove damages?)
Come to think of it, iToaster also sounds a lot like the Video Toaster of NewTek fame.
How about iTV instead?
Jon Acheson
Re:Top X Things You Can Do With Your DIVX Disks
on
DIVX is dead
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· Score: 2
Grind into dust. Sell as New Age Crystal Aphrodesiac.
Perpetrate UFO hoax.
High-tech grinding attachment for dremel tool.
Clay pigeons
Mail them to little Timmy, who needs an operation.
Glue to floor of nasty abandoned warehouse. Open nightclub.
Very expensive horseshoes.
Slip onto cellphone antenna for stylish retro-50's radiator look.
Glue to forehead, go to costume party as ER doctor.
Purchase universal remote. Now that you have a Record button, tape over them (oh come on, how do you think the signal go there in the first place?).
Hang them on your office wall. Pretend you're Paul McCartney.
OK, it's not like it would ever win an Oscar, and it would be surprising if it even wound up being a good movie, but Liz Hurley would be a great choice to play Lara Croft. She has the looks, she can act, and she's British. I don't know if she can do running backflips while firing mini-Uzis in each hand, but they could hire a trainer...
I have a knee-jerk reaction against government regulation, I admit it, but I still see this being a lot more problematic than the article writer seems to think it would be.
Firstly, how are you going to get this legislation passed? That in and of itself seems like it would require big bucks for lobbying in all the various countries. Plus, all the laws would be different if it did get passed.
Secondly, how would you ensure that the government bureau policing software has a clue? Or that they don't develop a political agenda that they pursue above and beyond objective good science? Or that they don't just get bought off? The nasty thing about these kind of government bureaus is that after they're in place their decisions have the force of law, but they're not accountable to anyone. You can't vote them out, no matter how bad a job they do.
Lastly, it's only reactive: the shitty games still hit the market, and the bureau only penalizes the companies after the consumer has already gotten shafted. That's IF the company is still around and in the black.
Instead, and for a fraction of the cost, you could set up an Underwriter's Laboratory type of indie regulation agency, where they would test the stuff and if it met some criteria, give it the Sacred Fist of Judgement Seal of Decency. If it was a well-known and sought after seal, like the UL seal is for electrical appliances, it would have the desired effect: people would look for it when shopping. If enough people surfed the regulation agency's website, they might even make enough money off ads to defray some of the costs. They could also charge game companies to review their products for them, but that would only be feasible if they were already established as a standard.
This type of system works pretty well when Sony certifies games for the playstation. It's fairly rare to even find a significant bug. Of course, Sony has a complete lock on this sales channel, because you can't put a playstation logo on the game without their okay, which an indie agency would not have.
Linux is only free if you place no value on the time you have to spend futzing around getting it to work right. It is only free in the enterprise for companies who are willing to hire additional staff to lurk on Usenet 40 hours a week giving away IP (giving as well as receiving advice)
Every OS takes futzing to get it to work right. NT takes futzing to get it to work right, plus futzing to get it to stay working, like regular reboots.
Prove to me that all or even most LINUX sysops spend 40 hours a week giving advice. Or 10 hours a week. Or 1 hour a week.
Unix people generally have to hire additional staff only when they do additional work or change things. Linux, like most UNIX oses is pretty damn low maintenance as a server once everything is running. Unlike NT.
A lot of people work on it when they're being paid by an employer to be doing productive work to benefit the company. That's called theft. Look ahead to many lawsuits from companies who can rightfully claim components of Linux as IP that staffers illegally put under the GPL.
I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't an ounce of proof in that statement.
Also, I couldn't help but notice that you completely missed the point of my original post.
So they actually cut off the end of the credits? That's a BAD idea.
When you show a movie commercially, you MUST show all of the credits. I believe it's because the people in the credits have a clause in their contracts stating that they must be credited. No show, no credit. No credit, no fulfillment of contractual obligations.
If this is a regular occurrance, it could get them in serious hot water.
I'm NOT referring to competition on technical grounds - Linux can and will kick NT's ass in a fair fight, as a server at least.
But the simple fact of the matter is that Linux is GIVEN AWAY FOR FREE. The vast majority of people who work on it WORK ON IT FOR FREE. In an economic sense, how does this constitute competition? It's like saying that backyard gardens are competition with supermarkets. The reason the Linux model works is that it DOESN'T depend on sales!
Every commercial competitor of Microsoft's has been woefully unable to generate enough sales to build momentum, even when, as in the case of OS/2, their product was superior and in the market first. Microsoft has too much of a headlock on the sales channel and the mindshare of businesses and corporations. Not enough copies of the OS get sold, and so not enough software companies jump in making software for the OS because the market is too small, which in the turn causes people to not buy the OS. It's a vicious cycle.
The only reason that Linux hasn't fallen victim to this is that Linux isn't being developed for monetary reward. It's like if all the HO scale train buffs decided to build a real train line for the love of it.
Saying that Linux is competition for Microsoft is like saying that ham radio is competition for the telcos. It's being developed completely outside the traditional arena of work for pay. How then can you say that it competes within that arena?
I read a really interesting article in Free China Today magazine a few years back about Taiwanese comics. It turns out the the Taiwanese market was flooded with pirated copies of Japanese comics.
Obviously, this wasn't benefitting the Japanese creators, but that's not my point.
What was happening was that the TAIWANESE comics creators were being CRUSHED by this setup. Pirate merchandise can always be cheaper than legitimate merchandise because you don't have to pay the creator. Thus, the pirated Japanese comics were all much cheaper than the legitimate Taiwanese equivalents. Given a choice between a good comic that costs 5 bucks, and a good comic that costs 10 bucks, most consumers will buy the $5 comic, even if it's a pirate. So the Taiwanese creators couldn't sell their books, and had trouble staying in business.
Obviously, it was the lack of IP law enforcement in Taiwan that was screwing the local creators. So those of you who like movies, books, comics, or whatever, think twice before getting rid of IP laws.
I agree that fair use should be extended, particularly in the case of fanfic where no profit is being made. I do however think that the creator of the original should have the right to object to a copy of their work which is sick or just embarassingly done.
The big thing about fanfic vs. parody is that parody is a comment ABOUT the original work, whereas fanfic is more like an extension of the original, and could concievably be mistaken for work by the original creator if it was well-executed (several April Fool's jokes on rec.arts.anime come to mind).
If everyone were able to knock out cheap ripoffs of other people's works, it would be very hard for people with only a passing knowledge of the work to sort out the originals from the copies.
What I'd like to see is a system where creators can choose to ignore fanfic if they see fit, without giving up their copyrights. This is how things work in Japan (as I suspect you know). It lets fans publish fanfics, though it's well known that they are distinct from the original, and the companies generally shrug it off as free advertising. Publishing fanfics turns out to be a good way for up-and-coming artists to ease into turning pro.
The fact that drug companies feel compelled to *advertise* for prescription medication should be a clear indicator that they are trying to create markets for drugs, rather than filling a real societal need.
Are you only referring to TV ads? Bear in mind that a lot of what gets lumped under "advertising" for prescription medicines is really education. The companies send out salesmen to spread the word to doctors that their product exists, and to teach them when and how how the medicine is supposed to be used. If the companies did not do this, the word would not get out nearly so quickly that medicine X is better than medicine Y under Z conditions.
Cops wouldn't have to be so worried about the other guy pulling a gun on them, that they instead overreact and become far too harse when the person was being compliant. Instead, if this is developed and has no sideeffects, the officer can simply stun the guy, handcuff them, and then wait for them to wake up.
Excuse me? Since when is "stun anything that moves" a good police policy?
Also, I really wonder how well this will work against someone wearing a winter coat. They have problems with felons not falling down when hit with conventional tasers, too.
The idea of the ones that stop cars would also put an end to all those long dangerous car chases (although we would miss watching them on TV *smile*).
Hmm. Police zap moving vehicle. Moving vehicle, now without power brakes and steering, continues down the road at its previous velocity until it plows into something. Nope, sounds just like a CHiPs episode!;)
Still, it would be useful for preventing people from taking off in a car.
Though, wouldn't it be bad if the anti-car raygun accidentally hit a human being like a random pedestrian?
Linux ports to practically everything, so it's probably doable, but AFAIK, QNX is probably a better choice for an embedded systems device. It's expressly designed for that purpose, and it's tiny.
I viewed my QL not so much as a cheaper PC, but as a step up from my (nonfunctional) Atari 800XL. Compared to the Atari, the QL was way more powerful and expandable. And, while I agree that 3.5" microfloppies are way better than the QL microdrives, the microdrives weren't terribly worse than Atari floppies, you got two of them with the system, and besides, they were kewl!
Too bad nobody here in the US had ever heard of one. Getting software wasn't even worth thinking about.
Junior high was awful, and I was hanging out with a bad crowd simply because they'd accept pretty much anybody. I was in danger of flunking my classes because I just didn't care. I was depressed and had little hope that things would ever get better.
Eventually, though, I found out that you have to make the effort to improve your own situation, but when you do you can see real results. I learned how to get along with people and socialize, and I found activities I liked to do that let me meet people. I improved my study skills and brought my grades up. By the time I graduated, I wasn't Mr. Popular, but I at least understood the people around me and could get along with them.
My close friends are all still geeks, but at least I can relate to non-geek people I meet at church and on the job. I'd never hang out with them the same way I would my closest friends, but I can make the time I spend with them pleasant for everyone.
Basically, you have to be willing to meet people halfway, and you have to take the first step yourself. Making friends is a learned skill, and a damned useful one. Learn it. If you can't strike up a conversation with Joe Random person at your school, you need to learn how. It won't destroy your identity, and it won't make you a mindless clone. What social skills will do is make it possible to really understand people, and to express yourself so that they understand you. Being good at this takes your whole life, but if you don't start now, you'll never get anywhere.
Don't view people as cardboard outline stereotypes. Knowing what clicque they fit into is good for knowing what their interests are, but that's absolutely all it's good for. Every group, whether it be "jocks" "preppies" "honor students" "geeks" "goths" etc. has a full variety of personalities that play out different roles.
This is especially damning when you realise that these were kids who had a history of problems with the law. When you have a kid like that, it's very important to keep an eye on what they're doing, because YOU THE PARENT ARE RESPONSIBLE UNTIL THEY TURN 18.
An older friend of mine went through this with her eldest son, who was constantly getting into trouble, including drug dealing and gun theft. She had to watch him like a hawk, and go through his room, the whole nine yards, because if she gave him an inch, he'd abuse the situation and get himself into trouble again. The police and the legal system weren't much help. But, it was ultimately her responsibility, and she did what she had to to keep his nose clean until he was legally an adult.
There is no effing way the parents of these kids were minding their responsibilities. Not when you had apparently a CARLOAD of bombs sitting around waiting for the day.
The police also had warnings they didn't follow up on.
I certainly hope that there's a real crackdown where the blame actually lies.
Jon Acheson
This Article Needed A SPOILER ALERT!
on
Time on Star Wars
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· Score: 3
Geez! I stopped reading before the end of the first page, because they were giving all of the plot away! I hate that!
Slashdot Mirror
...but then again, this is Steve Job's Apple we're talking about. "We're insanely great: the peasants will be lucky just to buy our product at all!"
Fruity colors alone aren't going to put them over the top in the handheld market. In fact, in the business world, making your info device look like a Game Boy would be a hindrance (imagine taking a neon orange PalmPilot out of your suit coat pocket on an interview).
But, a low-cost Palm with Fruit Loop colors and a graphing calculator app would probably go over well with the high school crowd.
Still, whatever happened to basic black?
Jon
To some extent, a lawsuit = free advertising. And all they'd have to do if they lost is change the name to, say, Internet Toaster. (Would a fine be likely? How could Apple prove damages?)
Come to think of it, iToaster also sounds a lot like the Video Toaster of NewTek fame.
How about iTV instead?
Jon Acheson
- Grind into dust. Sell as New Age Crystal Aphrodesiac.
- Perpetrate UFO hoax.
- High-tech grinding attachment for dremel tool.
- Clay pigeons
- Mail them to little Timmy, who needs an operation.
- Glue to floor of nasty abandoned warehouse. Open nightclub.
- Very expensive horseshoes.
- Slip onto cellphone antenna for stylish retro-50's radiator look.
- Glue to forehead, go to costume party as ER doctor.
- Purchase universal remote. Now that you have a Record button, tape over them (oh come on, how do you think the signal go there in the first place?).
- Hang them on your office wall. Pretend you're Paul McCartney.
JonOK, it's not like it would ever win an Oscar, and it would be surprising if it even wound up being a good movie, but Liz Hurley would be a great choice to play Lara Croft. She has the looks, she can act, and she's British. I don't know if she can do running backflips while firing mini-Uzis in each hand, but they could hire a trainer...
I have a knee-jerk reaction against government regulation, I admit it, but I still see this being a lot more problematic than the article writer seems to think it would be.
Firstly, how are you going to get this legislation passed? That in and of itself seems like it would require big bucks for lobbying in all the various countries. Plus, all the laws would be different if it did get passed.
Secondly, how would you ensure that the government bureau policing software has a clue? Or that they don't develop a political agenda that they pursue above and beyond objective good science? Or that they don't just get bought off? The nasty thing about these kind of government bureaus is that after they're in place their decisions have the force of law, but they're not accountable to anyone. You can't vote them out, no matter how bad a job they do.
Lastly, it's only reactive: the shitty games still hit the market, and the bureau only penalizes the companies after the consumer has already gotten shafted. That's IF the company is still around and in the black.
Instead, and for a fraction of the cost, you could set up an Underwriter's Laboratory type of indie regulation agency, where they would test the stuff and if it met some criteria, give it the Sacred Fist of Judgement Seal of Decency. If it was a well-known and sought after seal, like the UL seal is for electrical appliances, it would have the desired effect: people would look for it when shopping. If enough people surfed the regulation agency's website, they might even make enough money off ads to defray some of the costs. They could also charge game companies to review their products for them, but that would only be feasible if they were already established as a standard.
This type of system works pretty well when Sony certifies games for the playstation. It's fairly rare to even find a significant bug. Of course, Sony has a complete lock on this sales channel, because you can't put a playstation logo on the game without their okay, which an indie agency would not have.
Anyway, these are my thoughts.
Jon
I am interested, actually. I'm specifically wondering if the Rise chip will overclock as well as a Celeron. If not, they're in trouble.
Hope to hear from you!
Jon Acheson
Yech. Nanomedia should mean "very small media" like quantum computing or something. No thank you. Please don't take it personally.
I prefer "meta-sites": a website about other websites, composed of commentary about other sites' content and the issues raised by same.
Jon Acheson
- Every OS takes futzing to get it to work right. NT takes futzing to get it to work right, plus futzing to get it to stay working, like regular reboots.
- Prove to me that all or even most LINUX sysops spend 40 hours a week giving advice. Or 10 hours a week. Or 1 hour a week.
- Unix people generally have to hire additional staff only when they do additional work or change things. Linux, like most UNIX oses is pretty damn low maintenance as a server once everything is running. Unlike NT.
A lot of people work on it when they're being paid by an employer to be doing productive work to benefit the company. That's called theft. Look ahead to many lawsuits from companies who can rightfully claim components of Linux as IP that staffers illegally put under the GPL.I couldn't help but notice that there wasn't an ounce of proof in that statement.
Also, I couldn't help but notice that you completely missed the point of my original post.
Jon Acheson
So they actually cut off the end of the credits? That's a BAD idea.
When you show a movie commercially, you MUST show all of the credits. I believe it's because the people in the credits have a clause in their contracts stating that they must be credited. No show, no credit. No credit, no fulfillment of contractual obligations.
If this is a regular occurrance, it could get them in serious hot water.
Jon
I'm NOT referring to competition on technical grounds - Linux can and will kick NT's ass in a fair fight, as a server at least.
But the simple fact of the matter is that Linux is GIVEN AWAY FOR FREE. The vast majority of people who work on it WORK ON IT FOR FREE. In an economic sense, how does this constitute competition? It's like saying that backyard gardens are competition with supermarkets. The reason the Linux model works is that it DOESN'T depend on sales!
Every commercial competitor of Microsoft's has been woefully unable to generate enough sales to build momentum, even when, as in the case of OS/2, their product was superior and in the market first. Microsoft has too much of a headlock on the sales channel and the mindshare of businesses and corporations. Not enough copies of the OS get sold, and so not enough software companies jump in making software for the OS because the market is too small, which in the turn causes people to not buy the OS. It's a vicious cycle.
The only reason that Linux hasn't fallen victim to this is that Linux isn't being developed for monetary reward. It's like if all the HO scale train buffs decided to build a real train line for the love of it.
Saying that Linux is competition for Microsoft is like saying that ham radio is competition for the telcos. It's being developed completely outside the traditional arena of work for pay. How then can you say that it competes within that arena?
Am I making sense?
Jon Acheson
Basically, do a search for "promotional items" and they'll be coming out of the woodwork.
A brief list:
Some things have to be ordered in bulk, still...
For OTAKON, we give out customized fortune cookies.
Jon
There are tons of catalogues out there of cheapo giveaway items like pens, etc. that can be silkscreened with company logos, slogans, etc,
I don't see why you couldn't slap a sideways smiley onto one of them.
Most of it is business-related stuff, too.
Jon
I read a really interesting article in Free China Today magazine a few years back about Taiwanese comics. It turns out the the Taiwanese market was flooded with pirated copies of Japanese comics.
Obviously, this wasn't benefitting the Japanese creators, but that's not my point.
What was happening was that the TAIWANESE comics creators were being CRUSHED by this setup. Pirate merchandise can always be cheaper than legitimate merchandise because you don't have to pay the creator. Thus, the pirated Japanese comics were all much cheaper than the legitimate Taiwanese equivalents. Given a choice between a good comic that costs 5 bucks, and a good comic that costs 10 bucks, most consumers will buy the $5 comic, even if it's a pirate. So the Taiwanese creators couldn't sell their books, and had trouble staying in business.
Obviously, it was the lack of IP law enforcement in Taiwan that was screwing the local creators. So those of you who like movies, books, comics, or whatever, think twice before getting rid of IP laws.
Jon Acheson
I agree that fair use should be extended, particularly in the case of fanfic where no profit is being made. I do however think that the creator of the original should have the right to object to a copy of their work which is sick or just embarassingly done.
The big thing about fanfic vs. parody is that parody is a comment ABOUT the original work, whereas fanfic is more like an extension of the original, and could concievably be mistaken for work by the original creator if it was well-executed (several April Fool's jokes on rec.arts.anime come to mind).
If everyone were able to knock out cheap ripoffs of other people's works, it would be very hard for people with only a passing knowledge of the work to sort out the originals from the copies.
What I'd like to see is a system where creators can choose to ignore fanfic if they see fit, without giving up their copyrights. This is how things work in Japan (as I suspect you know). It lets fans publish fanfics, though it's well known that they are distinct from the original, and the companies generally shrug it off as free advertising. Publishing fanfics turns out to be a good way for up-and-coming artists to ease into turning pro.
Jon
Are you only referring to TV ads? Bear in mind that a lot of what gets lumped under "advertising" for prescription medicines is really education. The companies send out salesmen to spread the word to doctors that their product exists, and to teach them when and how how the medicine is supposed to be used. If the companies did not do this, the word would not get out nearly so quickly that medicine X is better than medicine Y under Z conditions.
Jon
Techdirt is another computer news site that's more from a professional viewpoint than Slashdot. It uses the Slash engine to run the site.
Worth checking out, though not many people read it yet.
Grin, duck, run!
That's great!
Jon
Excuse me? Since when is "stun anything that moves" a good police policy?
Also, I really wonder how well this will work against someone wearing a winter coat. They have problems with felons not falling down when hit with conventional tasers, too.
Hmm. Police zap moving vehicle. Moving vehicle, now without power brakes and steering, continues down the road at its previous velocity until it plows into something. Nope, sounds just like a CHiPs episode!
Still, it would be useful for preventing people from taking off in a car.
Though, wouldn't it be bad if the anti-car raygun accidentally hit a human being like a random pedestrian?
Jon
Linux ports to practically everything, so it's probably doable, but AFAIK, QNX is probably a better choice for an embedded systems device. It's expressly designed for that purpose, and it's tiny.
Jon
I viewed my QL not so much as a cheaper PC, but as a step up from my (nonfunctional) Atari 800XL. Compared to the Atari, the QL was way more powerful and expandable. And, while I agree that 3.5" microfloppies are way better than the QL microdrives, the microdrives weren't terribly worse than Atari floppies, you got two of them with the system, and besides, they were kewl!
Too bad nobody here in the US had ever heard of one. Getting software wasn't even worth thinking about.
Jon
I had similar experiences.
:)
Junior high was awful, and I was hanging out with a bad crowd simply because they'd accept pretty much anybody. I was in danger of flunking my classes because I just didn't care. I was depressed and had little hope that things would ever get better.
Eventually, though, I found out that you have to make the effort to improve your own situation, but when you do you can see real results. I learned how to get along with people and socialize, and I found activities I liked to do that let me meet people. I improved my study skills and brought my grades up. By the time I graduated, I wasn't Mr. Popular, but I at least understood the people around me and could get along with them.
My close friends are all still geeks, but at least I can relate to non-geek people I meet at church and on the job. I'd never hang out with them the same way I would my closest friends, but I can make the time I spend with them pleasant for everyone.
Basically, you have to be willing to meet people halfway, and you have to take the first step yourself. Making friends is a learned skill, and a damned useful one. Learn it. If you can't strike up a conversation with Joe Random person at your school, you need to learn how. It won't destroy your identity, and it won't make you a mindless clone. What social skills will do is make it possible to really understand people, and to express yourself so that they understand you. Being good at this takes your whole life, but if you don't start now, you'll never get anywhere.
Don't view people as cardboard outline stereotypes. Knowing what clicque they fit into is good for knowing what their interests are, but that's absolutely all it's good for. Every group, whether it be "jocks" "preppies" "honor students" "geeks" "goths" etc. has a full variety of personalities that play out different roles.
I'm sermonizing, I'm sorry. I'll stop now
Jon
This is especially damning when you realise that these were kids who had a history of problems with the law. When you have a kid like that, it's very important to keep an eye on what they're doing, because YOU THE PARENT ARE RESPONSIBLE UNTIL THEY TURN 18.
An older friend of mine went through this with her eldest son, who was constantly getting into trouble, including drug dealing and gun theft. She had to watch him like a hawk, and go through his room, the whole nine yards, because if she gave him an inch, he'd abuse the situation and get himself into trouble again. The police and the legal system weren't much help. But, it was ultimately her responsibility, and she did what she had to to keep his nose clean until he was legally an adult.
There is no effing way the parents of these kids were minding their responsibilities. Not when you had apparently a CARLOAD of bombs sitting around waiting for the day.
The police also had warnings they didn't follow up on.
I certainly hope that there's a real crackdown where the blame actually lies.
Jon Acheson
Geez! I stopped reading before the end of the first page, because they were giving all of the plot away! I hate that!
Jon
As an owner of the CLERKS special edition laserdisc, I can affirm that the extra stuff is worth it on this one.
Some of the commentary is very amusing, and it's impressive to see how they covered for the limitations of their budget.
"Walt Flanigan, the Lon Chaney of the 90's..."
Now for the phat Mallrats DVD... Gotta get a player!
Jon Acheson