As far as concerns over "computer faults" go; the Airbus computer consists of (IIRC) 7 processors, which all vote to determine what to do. If a given processor disagrees or starts acting wonky, it gets rebooted. Each of these 7 processors is running different code, based on different designs, by different teams of software engineers. The only thing they have in common is that they were developed from the same requirements.
I would say not interesting so much as highly unlikely. Do you have a source?
The timing issues alone would make this improbable, not to mention the cost of 7 sets of engineers and 7 sets of certification tests.
I am more than happy to pay $15 for the next Marilyn Manson CD, if *he's* going to get the money -- because he'll use it to do something cool. I just have a problem with giving another $15 to the RIAA, who will spend most of it on their own self-involved crap. I want to support the ARTIST and his ART. Not the marketing and production machine that helped him make it shiny, aluminum, plastic, and digital.
If you are "more than happy to pay" then I suggest you send him a check. I hear this argument quite often but I have yet to find anyone who actually sends money to the artist they claim want to support.
I do not believe you have addressed the issue of fraud. I agree that some simple math will show they are in fact charging the customer considerably less for returning a movie after the rental period expires. But less is not zero and changing the name of the fees is shaky at best.
If you compare Blockbusters "no late fee" system to the Netflix "no late fee" system then I think the deception becomes a little more obvious. Netflix, for a monthly fee, allows you to rent as many moves as you like (within practical limits given the speed of the postal system) with a limit on the number of movies you may have checked out at a time. You can keep the movies for as long as you like with "no late fees".
Exactly how long is as long as you like? Surely you can't keep the movie forever. Well actually you could because each movie you have in your possession counts against the maximum number you can have checked out at any given time. So if your maximum is three movies, you could rent and keep the same three movies for as long as you continue to pay the monthly fee (and Netflix will love you forever). You could keep one movie forever and continue to cycle through movies using the remaining two slots. I think the longest I have had any single copy out is about 5 months. If you loose a move, or choose not to return it, you can decide to pay the full price of the title at any time and it is removed from the list of movies you currently have signed out.
Blockbuster's "no late fee" system could have been implemented in a similar way, though without a monthly service charge I'm not sure how they could possible make money. The system could have been designed to let you keep any movies you rent for as long as you like with "no late fees" but prevent you from renting any additional movies until you either return pay for the item(s). Because their current payment scheme is incapable of supporting a "no late fee" policy is no excuse for claiming to have one.
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As far as concerns over "computer faults" go; the Airbus computer consists of (IIRC) 7 processors, which all vote to determine what to do. If a given processor disagrees or starts acting wonky, it gets rebooted. Each of these 7 processors is running different code, based on different designs, by different teams of software engineers. The only thing they have in common is that they were developed from the same requirements.
I would say not interesting so much as highly unlikely. Do you have a source?
The timing issues alone would make this improbable, not to mention the cost of 7 sets of engineers and 7 sets of certification tests.
I am more than happy to pay $15 for the next Marilyn Manson CD, if *he's* going to get the money -- because he'll use it to do something cool. I just have a problem with giving another $15 to the RIAA, who will spend most of it on their own self-involved crap. I want to support the ARTIST and his ART. Not the marketing and production machine that helped him make it shiny, aluminum, plastic, and digital.
If you are "more than happy to pay" then I suggest you send him a check. I hear this argument quite often but I have yet to find anyone who actually sends money to the artist they claim want to support.
I do not believe you have addressed the issue of fraud. I agree that some simple math will show they are in fact charging the customer considerably less for returning a movie after the rental period expires. But less is not zero and changing the name of the fees is shaky at best.
If you compare Blockbusters "no late fee" system to the Netflix "no late fee" system then I think the deception becomes a little more obvious. Netflix, for a monthly fee, allows you to rent as many moves as you like (within practical limits given the speed of the postal system) with a limit on the number of movies you may have checked out at a time. You can keep the movies for as long as you like with "no late fees".
Exactly how long is as long as you like? Surely you can't keep the movie forever. Well actually you could because each movie you have in your possession counts against the maximum number you can have checked out at any given time. So if your maximum is three movies, you could rent and keep the same three movies for as long as you continue to pay the monthly fee (and Netflix will love you forever). You could keep one movie forever and continue to cycle through movies using the remaining two slots. I think the longest I have had any single copy out is about 5 months. If you loose a move, or choose not to return it, you can decide to pay the full price of the title at any time and it is removed from the list of movies you currently have signed out.
Blockbuster's "no late fee" system could have been implemented in a similar way, though without a monthly service charge I'm not sure how they could possible make money. The system could have been designed to let you keep any movies you rent for as long as you like with "no late fees" but prevent you from renting any additional movies until you either return pay for the item(s). Because their current payment scheme is incapable of supporting a "no late fee" policy is no excuse for claiming to have one.