Some smart person should start a company that does less marketing, simple good quality recordings, and standard CD packaging, then sell the discs for $5.
But why buy that instead of downloading? The only justification I usually hear for buying physical CDs is "the packaging" or "the cover art." Take away the shiny, and there's no reason to buy on a physical CD at all.
Also, you mention marketing. That's one of the main things that inspires people to buy music CDs. Without the marketing, you don't get many sales.
And the last reason why I buy DVD's is because burning or copying a DVD takes AGES!
I guess if you consider 20 minutes to be "ages." I don't - because it's a background task. It only takes a couple of minutes of actual human interaction. The rest of the time you can do something else.
But buying DVDs sucks, because they often have those unskippable anti-piracy ads and FBI warnings at the start. By making a copy, I can eliminate those and other navigational restraints from the DVD. It's quite amazing really - the copy is actually a better product than the original! I always find this hilarious - because the anti-piracy ads on DVDs actually encourage me to copy because I can get rid of them that way. Buy the commercial DVD, and you are stuck with that crap.
To get a similar quality you have a huge honken file.
Similar quality? No, I get the exact same quality. It's a bit-for-bit copy. And why would I worry about the size of the file? I store it on a blank DVD, it's not taking up space on my hard drive.
I voiced the opinion that there's no reason to copy a DVD because someone who knows what they're doing has already done the heavy lifting.
What "heavy lifting" is involved in copying DVDs?
You just put the original DVD in the drive, rip it, put a blank DVD in, and burn it. It's a much bigger pain in the ass to look for it online and download it, and then you have to worry about finding the "good" copy, which isn't an issue if you do it yourself.
Except that 90% of people are NOT going to use RSS. Email is superior in many ways for things like newsletters.
But the IMMENSE problem of spam pretty much means that NO, NEWSLETTERS ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR EMAIL.
Uhhhh, why not? Email is an ideal electronic replacement for physical newsletters. It's superior and cheaper to physical distribution, and has almost no drawbacks - expect for crap like the topic of this discussion.
Personally I hate applications with one big monolithic window..
Photoshop has "one big monolithic window? Since when? It has a ton of different tool palletes that you can put on any monitor you like. I am left wondering if you have even used Photoshop, because it doesn't sound like you have ever even looked at it.
the real customers, not the fringe folk who even know what DRM is.
I think that knowledge of DRM is more mainstream than you think. They might not know the term "DRM" - but they know it screws with their viewing. They know that because of it, they can't skip the lame copyright warning. They know that it has something to do with why an original disc looks crappy when played on an older TV through a VCR and RF input (Macrovision, technically not DRM, but same result) - and they know that a copy of that disc looks better than the original, because the copy-protection has been removed.
Those people who do decide to buy a BluRay or HD-DVD player will also soon discover problems with compatibility and HDCP. Most people weren't aware of this stuff when DVDs were first released, but by now, I think most people would.
Johnny was just an ordinary kid, until he got hooked on the demon weed! Within 6 months of his first toke, he joined Al Qaeda. Within a year, he was locked up at Guantanamo Bay after trying to blow up a major American airport. Don't mess with terrorism, stay away from the reefer. Your Homeland Security could depend on it!
IT Managers with superior skills and productivity always get people_ready first thing in the morning. If the manager isn't people_ready, then how can your business be people_ready?
So, the design of your computer also wastes space? It probably collects more dust sitting on the floor, too. In case you missed it, iMacs don't have a separate case. Those whole computer is in the screen - so it takes up a lot less space.
By hacking the activation process, it's now useful for iPod/wifi functionality. In other words, no longer a brick.
But you could do the same thing without hacking the activation system, using iTunes and signing on for the AT&T plan. It's a pretty big strectch to call the hack "unbricking" - when pretty much everybody buying it intends to use it for phone calls, and were aware of the contracts and activation process.
If you don't think there are people on/. who act like this only happens in the US every time someone tries to censor something, you're not really paying attention.
I think you are overreacting to what is either sarcasm or humor - or responding to trolls. Why engage in debate with the non-serious or trolls, rather than actually addressing the important issues, with people who want to discuss them seriously? You are helping drag the level of debate down with knee-jerk reactions and wounded pride.
Implying, of course, that someone was arguing. In the article about the Yes-Men getting shut down, for example, there are a ton of "only in America..." style posts
But was there anyone actually arguing seriously that this only happens in America?
Also, note that the "I told you so" was only about 1/5th of the original post.
But it reflects a major spastification factor in slashdot posting. The fact that people argue in this way, and are proud of it, is one of the reasons Slashdot is not nearly as good as it could be. People are very quick to construct their own straw-men, and then pat themselves on the back when they knock-down said straw-man.
The way to capitalize on an invention is to be first to market
Often it's not. In fact, many products fail because they are too quick to market. You cite the iPod yourself - it was successful not because it was fast to market. In fact, it was very slow to market. But they took the time to do it properly, rather than rushing it. I wish more companies would focus on the quality of their product, rather than being first.
There are several web sites out there that do nothing but publish your ideas (like these guys [ip.com]) so that they can be recorded as prior art.
Ideas don't count as prior art. You can't patent an idea. You can only patent the implementation of an idea. Which is one reason this idea will never work - there are too many different ways to implement something.
I'm going to get moderated to all hell for this, but I don't care: After arguing in three or four threads in the last few weeks about how "it's not just the US" doing things like this, I'd just like to say a few words:
I TOLD YOU SO.
What relevance would that have? Nobody said that only the US does this sort of thing. Maybe you should make your arguments more on-topic. Why are you wasting your time arguing things that nobody refutes? Surely the substance of an issue is more important than building straw-man arguments to knock down.
Slashdot Mirror
But it has "men" in the name. Heh heh. Men.
Why rip? To get rid of shit like Macrovision, FBI warnings, unskippable ads, insane and annoying menu designs, etc. Basically to improve the DVD.
Mactheripper works every time for me, and it's free.
Why are you trying to code men?
But why buy that instead of downloading? The only justification I usually hear for buying physical CDs is "the packaging" or "the cover art." Take away the shiny, and there's no reason to buy on a physical CD at all.
Also, you mention marketing. That's one of the main things that inspires people to buy music CDs. Without the marketing, you don't get many sales.
I guess if you consider 20 minutes to be "ages." I don't - because it's a background task. It only takes a couple of minutes of actual human interaction. The rest of the time you can do something else.
But buying DVDs sucks, because they often have those unskippable anti-piracy ads and FBI warnings at the start. By making a copy, I can eliminate those and other navigational restraints from the DVD. It's quite amazing really - the copy is actually a better product than the original! I always find this hilarious - because the anti-piracy ads on DVDs actually encourage me to copy because I can get rid of them that way. Buy the commercial DVD, and you are stuck with that crap.
To get a similar quality you have a huge honken file.Similar quality? No, I get the exact same quality. It's a bit-for-bit copy. And why would I worry about the size of the file? I store it on a blank DVD, it's not taking up space on my hard drive.
What "heavy lifting" is involved in copying DVDs?
You just put the original DVD in the drive, rip it, put a blank DVD in, and burn it. It's a much bigger pain in the ass to look for it online and download it, and then you have to worry about finding the "good" copy, which isn't an issue if you do it yourself.
Except that 90% of people are NOT going to use RSS. Email is superior in many ways for things like newsletters.
But the IMMENSE problem of spam pretty much means that NO, NEWSLETTERS ARE NOT APPROPRIATE FOR EMAIL.Uhhhh, why not? Email is an ideal electronic replacement for physical newsletters. It's superior and cheaper to physical distribution, and has almost no drawbacks - expect for crap like the topic of this discussion.
Photoshop has "one big monolithic window? Since when? It has a ton of different tool palletes that you can put on any monitor you like. I am left wondering if you have even used Photoshop, because it doesn't sound like you have ever even looked at it.
I'd pay you more if you didn't include the printer. Are you trying to scare your customers off, or something?
False dichotomy. Who do you think operates the computers? Without humans to act on the data, the computers are useless.
I dunno, Coastguard?
I think that knowledge of DRM is more mainstream than you think. They might not know the term "DRM" - but they know it screws with their viewing. They know that because of it, they can't skip the lame copyright warning. They know that it has something to do with why an original disc looks crappy when played on an older TV through a VCR and RF input (Macrovision, technically not DRM, but same result) - and they know that a copy of that disc looks better than the original, because the copy-protection has been removed.
Those people who do decide to buy a BluRay or HD-DVD player will also soon discover problems with compatibility and HDCP. Most people weren't aware of this stuff when DVDs were first released, but by now, I think most people would.
Oh God, I can just see it now:>
Reefer Madness 2007
Johnny was just an ordinary kid, until he got hooked on the demon weed! Within 6 months of his first toke, he joined Al Qaeda. Within a year, he was locked up at Guantanamo Bay after trying to blow up a major American airport. Don't mess with terrorism, stay away from the reefer. Your Homeland Security could depend on it!
IT Managers with superior skills and productivity always get people_ready first thing in the morning. If the manager isn't people_ready, then how can your business be people_ready?
Did he have a carpenter make a 'nook' under the desk, like George Costanza?
I think you misspelled "make up."
So, the design of your computer also wastes space? It probably collects more dust sitting on the floor, too. In case you missed it, iMacs don't have a separate case. Those whole computer is in the screen - so it takes up a lot less space.
Is your monitor under your desk, too?
But you could do the same thing without hacking the activation system, using iTunes and signing on for the AT&T plan. It's a pretty big strectch to call the hack "unbricking" - when pretty much everybody buying it intends to use it for phone calls, and were aware of the contracts and activation process.
I think you are overreacting to what is either sarcasm or humor - or responding to trolls. Why engage in debate with the non-serious or trolls, rather than actually addressing the important issues, with people who want to discuss them seriously? You are helping drag the level of debate down with knee-jerk reactions and wounded pride.
But was there anyone actually arguing seriously that this only happens in America?
Also, note that the "I told you so" was only about 1/5th of the original post.But it reflects a major spastification factor in slashdot posting. The fact that people argue in this way, and are proud of it, is one of the reasons Slashdot is not nearly as good as it could be. People are very quick to construct their own straw-men, and then pat themselves on the back when they knock-down said straw-man.
Often it's not. In fact, many products fail because they are too quick to market. You cite the iPod yourself - it was successful not because it was fast to market. In fact, it was very slow to market. But they took the time to do it properly, rather than rushing it. I wish more companies would focus on the quality of their product, rather than being first.
Ideas don't count as prior art. You can't patent an idea. You can only patent the implementation of an idea. Which is one reason this idea will never work - there are too many different ways to implement something.
What relevance would that have? Nobody said that only the US does this sort of thing. Maybe you should make your arguments more on-topic. Why are you wasting your time arguing things that nobody refutes? Surely the substance of an issue is more important than building straw-man arguments to knock down.
In Britain, they don't go postal, they go "Royal Mail."