Anyone could look down at the desk, around the keyboard, or under the phone at the multitude of "Interview @ 4:30, 242-977-6443" and crack that one. You'd be better off having the user pick their signature, at least most people keep their signed documents in a drawer.
Sadly I think the best AI comes from the sports games. Madden is most notable not only by play calling but the defensive and offensive opposition can typically anticipate your line of attack after a few minutes.
FPS seem to get the most predictable AI - even the best and newest shooters are easy to exploit.
You'd think if they were relegating themselves to re-packaging their flagship console, Microsoft would include the HD-DVD drive. They've already 'committed' to HD-DVD by releasing the dongle for the regular 360's, are they backing down? Would that make it an the PS3 such polar forces that them sharing the same entertainment center would cause a rift in space-time survivable only by insertion of a Wii into the gap?
Sorry.
I see this being the first in a chain of minor revisions. How many current 360 owners will buy this one - then the next one with HD-DVD, then the following one with Coax audio, et al.
While I personally feel users are accountable in 'blood' (ie their jobs) for infecting the network with something, my company (large defense contractor) removes the fun of public flogging by blocking all webmail sites. It's been discussed that Gmail and others are "very good" at securing their webmail, it's too much of a risk. Not to mention the confidentiality and proprietary knowledge. It's a slippery slope to try and say some are better than others so to remove risk I must agree that blocking all is the safest bet.
Some users try and outfox the system by running their own exchange or POP server at home, but they get picked up by the barracuda and eventually we nail them. Sucks to be a network nazi but the company pays us money to secure systems and provide the computers and network to let everyone work and that means 1) securing it so it's never compromised and 2) denying the carbon units from distractions.
"Why I should pay any money for something I won't actually own?"
That seems to be the strongest argument among the non-nerd community. There is a huge consumer population that could care less about piracy and backups and the neat MythTV hacks we slashdotters gush about - they just want to buy a movie, take it home, and watch it on either of their brand new $1,000 Samsung BR DVD players. When they start to hear things like "You own a license to watch this that can be revoked" and "you have to buy a TV with HDMI because it won't play over analog signals like Component" that's when the uprising will begin. I spelled it out to my father the other night and he was taken aback by the practice.
This is an identical argument to the Apple lawsuit in France - telling people they've just spent $0.99 on a song and can't do with it what they'd like. We can only hope the land of the free can catch up with the civil liberites of.... France??? *shutters*
Ok I'll admit my post came off a bit brash - but you admit it yourself, after enough intensive playing you realize it is, in fact, a carrot on a stick.
If it's fun then it's fun and rock on - I couldn't feel stronger that sometimes having fun is reason enough to spend $15 a month on an MMO.
I haven't played but working in IT everyone I work with plays it incessantly and all admit that it's reached apoint where they can't stop and yet they don't see any point in continuing. I don't need to use cocaine to know it's addictive and has no real finite purpose.
Where you may deem my opinion trolling, I simply offer up a point of view. If you really do feel like any perspective contrary to your own is "idiotic" and "noise" then I strongly encourage you to ignore me and get back to the "useful signal". I'll go try and find that head of mine.
i humbly retract my previous statement. 3 days ago (checked my e-mail) when I got the e-mail and checked their site I didn't see the press release. Now I do, and couldn't feel like more of an ass.
My offer on the fortune stands. Unmarked small bills please.
You're kidding right? Why don't you take that argument to iTunes who doesn't tell you in addition to the $0.99 a song they charge you have to shell out $40 a month for an ISP, and upwards into four figures for a computer. Couple hundred for an iPod, hell - make 'em pay the $38 a month it costs for the electricity to power your house, which God help them if the mortgage is anything like mine, they'll go broke. Idiot.
If you have cable/private T at houre house right now - it's $40 for that plus $60 a month for your average LEC carrier phone line. $100 total telcom bill. Vonage drops it to $60 a month. If you have DSL you're screwed because you need to phone line (unless you have OneLink or something).
It's not for everyone but it's much cheaper than Verizon's offering of $40 a month for VoIP over their DSL line. And the cable company's similarly priced VoIP offering.
Reelin' 'Em in I see
on
Vonage going IPO
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
Wow - can't believe someone actually got so hooked by this they posted.
Go ahead and try to log in. Go ahead - I'll wait.
Can't can you? Well they'll be able to log into your vonage account now with that info won't they, dumbass?
I got an e-mail about this a couple days ago, thought "neat" until I realized vonage would probably have "ipo.vonage.com" or "vonage.com/ipo" instead of a whole new domain. Sure enough you go to their site and no mention of it.
Please send me $10,000 and I will send you the safe deposit box in Darfur where you can pick up my dethroned royal uncle's fortune. Also include your SS# and Mother's Maiden name for verification purposes.
I've never used the car comparison before. Ever. Anywhere. I can't remember ever seeing this analogy on/. either.
He must be sensitive. I'm picturing a torrid love story ending with a teary-eyed woman telling him "It'll never work...we're from two different worlds, you and I" "bu-" "let me finish... you're a pickup truck, you see... and I am but a 5-door hatchback...you see now don't you? You must let me go....farewell Unokiru..." "Farewell Chinpokamon..."/needs to learn how to draw cool manga-style shit.
Like I said - poor analogy but it struck me so I typed it.
No I don't hate you. Just the political analogy. The same analogy that sony fans are republican and blindly follow whatever they're fed could be made for anyone. I could say greenies and libertarians just rally behind whatever countercultural/antiestablishment voice leads them for the sole purpose of making a voice, having no idea what to do in the real world should they ever succeed. But I won't. Likewise I won't say that nintendo fans follow nintendo just as blindly as sony fans, and that for every one of those extremists there are 10/15/20 people like me (points to self) who go wherever they feel like it.
I will buy a Wii - it looks like GREAT fun. Shit TONS of fun. But then I will probably also buy a PS3 - because when I need to satisfy that "immersion" itch I get every now and again, I need something real. GT3/4 real. PC will remain king through this round of console wars too.
And I know you haven't touched on it yet - but I've seen it so I know it's coming - nintendo is no more "in it for the fans" than Sony. Sony and Nintendo want your 111.31 yen on the dollar more than they want you to like them. Nintendo just does a better job of making us think we need to spend $500 on what they're selling. Then again, more people will play Wii on a Sony TV or a Sony Surround Sound System than any other brand. Go figure.
Were we talking about cars? I have to stop reading/. while I sit in traffic.
i hope you have your celebratory jig ready - because nintendo usa needs to pay you many gil for coming up with that idea. And we thought musical tie-ins had died when "Who Let the Dogs out?" ruined the industry in the early 00's.
or some slacker marketing guy will read this in 20 minutes and claim it for his own.
The Mini Cooper is very very fun. Totally unrefined ride, doesn't present itself as well as a more elaborate or expensive sports car, but it's quick, nimble, and fun. Just fun.
The Mitsubishi Endeavor is a generic SUV. It's got leather and a loud stereo. You can do a lot with it, and it serves many purposes. Generic and useful.
The Dodge Viper is neurotic, takes it's design and engineering queues from many sources, but when the stars align and you find a situation to use it nothing is better.
In case you haven't caught on I'm making a very VERY poor attempt at generalizing that these 3 consoles are as far apart as you can get within the same arena of "nextGen Consoles". Mini = Wii. SUV = 360. PS3 = hypothetical viper.
Seems to me instead of arguing which is better (makes about as much sense as arguing if Starbucks makes a better cup of coffee than Burger King makes weird commercials) we should be revelling in the fact these billion dollar companies are competing fo fiercly to create a product we'll buy. Dance, monkeys! Also I will be buying PS3 and Wii. The 360 seems to fade out somewhere...
And no, I don't drive a viper, but I hear they're not slow.
SWEET!
Go nintendo! HI MOM!
Nintendo seems to be getting a better reception than Sony and MS - their shennanigans are cheeky and fun. Sony's are meanspirited and misanthropic. Or so you tell me.
I'm obviously behind the curbe on this one (600+ comments is too much to read) but I feel the same urges all of you do to register my oh-so-significant $0.02 ($0.03 Canadian).
While I'm unimpressed that sony is this far delayed to release what is the same controller plus bluetooth/wireless and a motion sensor, and a very bland looking console (subtle spiderman plug in the font not withstanding). But the guts should make it worth the wait. And hopefully the delay has allowed more dev's to get more launch games ready.
Having said all that - all I hear is the whining from all sides that they copied Nintendo with the gyro controller. Yes - they put the same ingenius functionality in their controller as their competition did. It will only be a matter of time before Microsoft does the same thing on their 5th re-release of a controller.
Guess what? in the business of consumer electronics - EVERYONE copies EVERYONE. Whatever is selling - that's what people want a piece of. It's stupid to deny the opportunity to make money and satisfy an obvious consumer want for what? Honor? Respect? So some nintendo fanboys get defensive that their precious gyro controller has been mimicked. Big deal - I'm sure nintendo has done their share of ripping off ideas.
As Scott at vgcats said so eloquently - "I go where the games are" - I have had the 3 majors in my AV rack for the past 3 years and love them all equally. But if I had to choose one console to sell to EBGames to buy my sister a PS2 and Guitar Hero last week - totally losing the Xbox. Hypothetically speaking of course.
In short - stop arguing about the inconsequentials. When the system debuts and there are real hard facts about "this sucks" or "this rocks" then, and only then, should I here complaints of "it's too expensive" or "360 is totally the bett0rz! Cereally!"
"Higher Ground" was a Stevie Wonder song but Red Hot Chili Peppers were given the "as made famous by" credit because it was there version and as the subtle disclaimer says, it's not "as written by" or "as performed by" but it's "who people associate the song with".
Having said that if I see the words Dave Matthews following the inevitable "All along the Watchtower" I'll shoot someone.
As 'obscure' as many of these tracks will probably be to the masses I am glad to see that they're sticking to a palatte of songs that one could quantify as 'their roots' (or even venture onto a limb and claim a relation to 'keeping it real'). One fear I have had since reading GHII was in the works was that it would turn into a "Now that's what I call [shitty pop] Music!" where whatever crappy Ryan-Seacrest approved tune would be pandered to us by Bo Byce and that Fantasia woMAN.
I'll be happy to see anything from one of the following; Probot, STP, Sublime, or TOOL. "Hooker with a Penis" has infinite unlockable content possibilities.
"will these be actual recording artist tracks"
Probably not. Not only are rights an issue, but you'd have to get the artist to re-record it. Re-sampling it would sound crappy.
Anything to keep us from having to raise our kids...Senators please save us from our own responsibility!
As a father of a 2-year old there are few things I fear more than some skeezy guy in a windowless Econoline prowling the streets or the chat rooms looking to capitalized on a lapse in my parenting, but I don't blame Ford for the van he drives, or Snickers for the candy bars he uses to lure victims into cars. I blame him. And myself for not teaching my kids better.
makes a person want to become a Libertarian and just let everyone do whatever the f they want.
No. Bentwookie.com is just a link I like to toss up there because I'm a big fan of befuddlement.
I think you're being a bit naive in thinking that the internet can sustain itself on the work of independently operated sites and users. Without advertising and marketability few sites would be able to sustain themselves. Others rely on services (by your own accusation - blogspot, typepad, etc) which come from major companies which rely on revenue from venture capitalists, investors, and the like; which in my book makes them a corporation.
Business forums - wouldn't exist if business wasn't there to talk about. Cars - You're telling me you spend hours online discussing cars and in the next breath saying the growth of the internet isn't fueled, in this case even indirectly, by corporate america?
Call me a naysayer, call me a pessimist, call me a beligerent jerk if you want, but you have to accept the fact that the internet isn't soon to be another TV, it has already surpassed the TV in terms that we're all subject to hundreds of times more ads, plugs, and influences - what's more we don't even realize it.
The only question that remains in my mind is did the advertising agency and market do this to us or did we create this market? Chicken? Egg?
Oi...whatever "collbration" was done is done. If all the big comapnies disappear - "most of the sites that were built by users as a hobby or to share information with the world" would fall into complete disrepair because who would give a rats ass if nobody goes on the internet. Then people could make up arbitrary stats like "most people host a site and don't do it to make money". It's fun to make stuff up. Anyone reading this is already biased because chances are the only sample set you have to pull from (people you know) are also nerds.
I'm not championing the commercialization of the internet, nor am I saying Nike supplied the inspiration. My point is simply that the modern expansion of the internet is undeniably paralelled by corporate involvement in it.
Denying such a correlation is as blasphemous as denying that pr0n was one of the largest contributing factors the the growth of the internet in it's infancy.
Sad, but true. I do in deed remember a time. I'm not naive enough to think grant-funded university projects and student development will carry the internet to new heights. God I would love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath. That's how the robot monkey ninjas get you.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone could look down at the desk, around the keyboard, or under the phone at the multitude of "Interview @ 4:30, 242-977-6443" and crack that one. You'd be better off having the user pick their signature, at least most people keep their signed documents in a drawer.
Sadly I think the best AI comes from the sports games. Madden is most notable not only by play calling but the defensive and offensive opposition can typically anticipate your line of attack after a few minutes.
FPS seem to get the most predictable AI - even the best and newest shooters are easy to exploit.
You'd think if they were relegating themselves to re-packaging their flagship console, Microsoft would include the HD-DVD drive. They've already 'committed' to HD-DVD by releasing the dongle for the regular 360's, are they backing down? Would that make it an the PS3 such polar forces that them sharing the same entertainment center would cause a rift in space-time survivable only by insertion of a Wii into the gap?
Sorry.
I see this being the first in a chain of minor revisions. How many current 360 owners will buy this one - then the next one with HD-DVD, then the following one with Coax audio, et al.
Still just wish they had included the HD-DVD.
While I personally feel users are accountable in 'blood' (ie their jobs) for infecting the network with something, my company (large defense contractor) removes the fun of public flogging by blocking all webmail sites. It's been discussed that Gmail and others are "very good" at securing their webmail, it's too much of a risk. Not to mention the confidentiality and proprietary knowledge. It's a slippery slope to try and say some are better than others so to remove risk I must agree that blocking all is the safest bet. Some users try and outfox the system by running their own exchange or POP server at home, but they get picked up by the barracuda and eventually we nail them. Sucks to be a network nazi but the company pays us money to secure systems and provide the computers and network to let everyone work and that means 1) securing it so it's never compromised and 2) denying the carbon units from distractions.
"Why I should pay any money for something I won't actually own?"
.... France??? *shutters*
That seems to be the strongest argument among the non-nerd community. There is a huge consumer population that could care less about piracy and backups and the neat MythTV hacks we slashdotters gush about - they just want to buy a movie, take it home, and watch it on either of their brand new $1,000 Samsung BR DVD players. When they start to hear things like "You own a license to watch this that can be revoked" and "you have to buy a TV with HDMI because it won't play over analog signals like Component" that's when the uprising will begin. I spelled it out to my father the other night and he was taken aback by the practice.
This is an identical argument to the Apple lawsuit in France - telling people they've just spent $0.99 on a song and can't do with it what they'd like. We can only hope the land of the free can catch up with the civil liberites of
Ok I'll admit my post came off a bit brash - but you admit it yourself, after enough intensive playing you realize it is, in fact, a carrot on a stick.
If it's fun then it's fun and rock on - I couldn't feel stronger that sometimes having fun is reason enough to spend $15 a month on an MMO.
I haven't played but working in IT everyone I work with plays it incessantly and all admit that it's reached apoint where they can't stop and yet they don't see any point in continuing. I don't need to use cocaine to know it's addictive and has no real finite purpose.
Where you may deem my opinion trolling, I simply offer up a point of view. If you really do feel like any perspective contrary to your own is "idiotic" and "noise" then I strongly encourage you to ignore me and get back to the "useful signal". I'll go try and find that head of mine.
And if the snowstorm gets too bad you can cut one of these open and seek warm shelter inside it.
Seriously do any of you WoW players see the string that is tied around that ever-fleeting carrot?
Having never played I can speak down upon your addiction with impunity but I do feel for you all...please get well soon.
i humbly retract my previous statement. 3 days ago (checked my e-mail) when I got the e-mail and checked their site I didn't see the press release. Now I do, and couldn't feel like more of an ass.
My offer on the fortune stands. Unmarked small bills please.
You're kidding right? Why don't you take that argument to iTunes who doesn't tell you in addition to the $0.99 a song they charge you have to shell out $40 a month for an ISP, and upwards into four figures for a computer. Couple hundred for an iPod, hell - make 'em pay the $38 a month it costs for the electricity to power your house, which God help them if the mortgage is anything like mine, they'll go broke. Idiot.
If you have cable/private T at houre house right now - it's $40 for that plus $60 a month for your average LEC carrier phone line. $100 total telcom bill. Vonage drops it to $60 a month. If you have DSL you're screwed because you need to phone line (unless you have OneLink or something).
It's not for everyone but it's much cheaper than Verizon's offering of $40 a month for VoIP over their DSL line. And the cable company's similarly priced VoIP offering.
Wow - can't believe someone actually got so hooked by this they posted.
Go ahead and try to log in. Go ahead - I'll wait.
Can't can you? Well they'll be able to log into your vonage account now with that info won't they, dumbass?
I got an e-mail about this a couple days ago, thought "neat" until I realized vonage would probably have "ipo.vonage.com" or "vonage.com/ipo" instead of a whole new domain. Sure enough you go to their site and no mention of it.
Please send me $10,000 and I will send you the safe deposit box in Darfur where you can pick up my dethroned royal uncle's fortune. Also include your SS# and Mother's Maiden name for verification purposes.
Not new - maybe I just hang with a different crowd. I'll catch you in the cafeteria though between periods.
POLL IDEA: If slashdot were a car what kind of car would it be?
a) Yakuza Stinger
b) Kitt
c) Karr
d) Thundertank
e) Gadgetmobile.
I choose not to register my opinion on this matter.
lets' just end the war in a cleansing all-consuming flamewar:
4) PC
5) Mac
6) Al-Qaeda
7) The CIA
8) Exxon-Mobil
9) Kirstie Alley enormous appetite for living brains.
now everyone can be pissed (except Kirstie Alley)
!?
/. either.
/needs to learn how to draw cool manga-style shit.
I've never used the car comparison before. Ever. Anywhere. I can't remember ever seeing this analogy on
He must be sensitive. I'm picturing a torrid love story ending with a teary-eyed woman telling him "It'll never work...we're from two different worlds, you and I" "bu-" "let me finish... you're a pickup truck, you see... and I am but a 5-door hatchback...you see now don't you? You must let me go....farewell Unokiru..." "Farewell Chinpokamon..."
Like I said - poor analogy but it struck me so I typed it.
/. while I sit in traffic.
No I don't hate you. Just the political analogy. The same analogy that sony fans are republican and blindly follow whatever they're fed could be made for anyone. I could say greenies and libertarians just rally behind whatever countercultural/antiestablishment voice leads them for the sole purpose of making a voice, having no idea what to do in the real world should they ever succeed. But I won't. Likewise I won't say that nintendo fans follow nintendo just as blindly as sony fans, and that for every one of those extremists there are 10/15/20 people like me (points to self) who go wherever they feel like it.
I will buy a Wii - it looks like GREAT fun. Shit TONS of fun. But then I will probably also buy a PS3 - because when I need to satisfy that "immersion" itch I get every now and again, I need something real. GT3/4 real. PC will remain king through this round of console wars too.
And I know you haven't touched on it yet - but I've seen it so I know it's coming - nintendo is no more "in it for the fans" than Sony. Sony and Nintendo want your 111.31 yen on the dollar more than they want you to like them. Nintendo just does a better job of making us think we need to spend $500 on what they're selling. Then again, more people will play Wii on a Sony TV or a Sony Surround Sound System than any other brand. Go figure.
Were we talking about cars? I have to stop reading
thi spost for president in 08.
i hope you have your celebratory jig ready - because nintendo usa needs to pay you many gil for coming up with that idea. And we thought musical tie-ins had died when "Who Let the Dogs out?" ruined the industry in the early 00's.
or some slacker marketing guy will read this in 20 minutes and claim it for his own.
I drive several cars...
The Mini Cooper is very very fun. Totally unrefined ride, doesn't present itself as well as a more elaborate or expensive sports car, but it's quick, nimble, and fun. Just fun.
The Mitsubishi Endeavor is a generic SUV. It's got leather and a loud stereo. You can do a lot with it, and it serves many purposes. Generic and useful.
The Dodge Viper is neurotic, takes it's design and engineering queues from many sources, but when the stars align and you find a situation to use it nothing is better.
In case you haven't caught on I'm making a very VERY poor attempt at generalizing that these 3 consoles are as far apart as you can get within the same arena of "nextGen Consoles". Mini = Wii. SUV = 360. PS3 = hypothetical viper.
Seems to me instead of arguing which is better (makes about as much sense as arguing if Starbucks makes a better cup of coffee than Burger King makes weird commercials) we should be revelling in the fact these billion dollar companies are competing fo fiercly to create a product we'll buy. Dance, monkeys! Also I will be buying PS3 and Wii. The 360 seems to fade out somewhere...
And no, I don't drive a viper, but I hear they're not slow.
Enter the "off-topic" mod...
SWEET! Go nintendo! HI MOM! Nintendo seems to be getting a better reception than Sony and MS - their shennanigans are cheeky and fun. Sony's are meanspirited and misanthropic. Or so you tell me.
I'm obviously behind the curbe on this one (600+ comments is too much to read) but I feel the same urges all of you do to register my oh-so-significant $0.02 ($0.03 Canadian).
While I'm unimpressed that sony is this far delayed to release what is the same controller plus bluetooth/wireless and a motion sensor, and a very bland looking console (subtle spiderman plug in the font not withstanding). But the guts should make it worth the wait. And hopefully the delay has allowed more dev's to get more launch games ready.
Having said all that - all I hear is the whining from all sides that they copied Nintendo with the gyro controller. Yes - they put the same ingenius functionality in their controller as their competition did. It will only be a matter of time before Microsoft does the same thing on their 5th re-release of a controller.
Guess what? in the business of consumer electronics - EVERYONE copies EVERYONE. Whatever is selling - that's what people want a piece of. It's stupid to deny the opportunity to make money and satisfy an obvious consumer want for what? Honor? Respect? So some nintendo fanboys get defensive that their precious gyro controller has been mimicked. Big deal - I'm sure nintendo has done their share of ripping off ideas.
As Scott at vgcats said so eloquently - "I go where the games are" - I have had the 3 majors in my AV rack for the past 3 years and love them all equally. But if I had to choose one console to sell to EBGames to buy my sister a PS2 and Guitar Hero last week - totally losing the Xbox. Hypothetically speaking of course.
In short - stop arguing about the inconsequentials. When the system debuts and there are real hard facts about "this sucks" or "this rocks" then, and only then, should I here complaints of "it's too expensive" or "360 is totally the bett0rz! Cereally!"
"Higher Ground" was a Stevie Wonder song but Red Hot Chili Peppers were given the "as made famous by" credit because it was there version and as the subtle disclaimer says, it's not "as written by" or "as performed by" but it's "who people associate the song with".
Having said that if I see the words Dave Matthews following the inevitable "All along the Watchtower" I'll shoot someone.
As 'obscure' as many of these tracks will probably be to the masses I am glad to see that they're sticking to a palatte of songs that one could quantify as 'their roots' (or even venture onto a limb and claim a relation to 'keeping it real'). One fear I have had since reading GHII was in the works was that it would turn into a "Now that's what I call [shitty pop] Music!" where whatever crappy Ryan-Seacrest approved tune would be pandered to us by Bo Byce and that Fantasia woMAN.
I'll be happy to see anything from one of the following; Probot, STP, Sublime, or TOOL. "Hooker with a Penis" has infinite unlockable content possibilities.
"will these be actual recording artist tracks"
Probably not. Not only are rights an issue, but you'd have to get the artist to re-record it. Re-sampling it would sound crappy.
Anything to keep us from having to raise our kids...Senators please save us from our own responsibility! As a father of a 2-year old there are few things I fear more than some skeezy guy in a windowless Econoline prowling the streets or the chat rooms looking to capitalized on a lapse in my parenting, but I don't blame Ford for the van he drives, or Snickers for the candy bars he uses to lure victims into cars. I blame him. And myself for not teaching my kids better. makes a person want to become a Libertarian and just let everyone do whatever the f they want.
"Have you ever heard of blogging?"
No. Bentwookie.com is just a link I like to toss up there because I'm a big fan of befuddlement.
I think you're being a bit naive in thinking that the internet can sustain itself on the work of independently operated sites and users. Without advertising and marketability few sites would be able to sustain themselves. Others rely on services (by your own accusation - blogspot, typepad, etc) which come from major companies which rely on revenue from venture capitalists, investors, and the like; which in my book makes them a corporation.
Business forums - wouldn't exist if business wasn't there to talk about.
Cars - You're telling me you spend hours online discussing cars and in the next breath saying the growth of the internet isn't fueled, in this case even indirectly, by corporate america?
Call me a naysayer, call me a pessimist, call me a beligerent jerk if you want, but you have to accept the fact that the internet isn't soon to be another TV, it has already surpassed the TV in terms that we're all subject to hundreds of times more ads, plugs, and influences - what's more we don't even realize it.
The only question that remains in my mind is did the advertising agency and market do this to us or did we create this market? Chicken? Egg?
Oi...whatever "collbration" was done is done. If all the big comapnies disappear - "most of the sites that were built by users as a hobby or to share information with the world" would fall into complete disrepair because who would give a rats ass if nobody goes on the internet. Then people could make up arbitrary stats like "most people host a site and don't do it to make money". It's fun to make stuff up. Anyone reading this is already biased because chances are the only sample set you have to pull from (people you know) are also nerds.
*Applause*
Well spoken.
I'm not championing the commercialization of the internet, nor am I saying Nike supplied the inspiration. My point is simply that the modern expansion of the internet is undeniably paralelled by corporate involvement in it.
Denying such a correlation is as blasphemous as denying that pr0n was one of the largest contributing factors the the growth of the internet in it's infancy.
Sad, but true. I do in deed remember a time. I'm not naive enough to think grant-funded university projects and student development will carry the internet to new heights. God I would love to see it, but I'm not holding my breath. That's how the robot monkey ninjas get you.