Name another industry in which you pay for an advertised service and then get far far less.
Would you buy a computer that claims 8GB of ram but you could only utilize 3? Would you buy a camera that claimed it could take 1000 pictures but only could store 100 maximum? Would you buy a car that advertised 200 HP but could only output 50 HP? Would you buy a 3 bedroom house that only has 1.5 bedrooms? Would you buy a food product with printed 350g on the container but the contents only weigh 180g? Would you pay for a meal if it claimed it would come with sides that you never received? Would you buy a gallon of gas if you only got a pint? Would you buy a 24 pack of beer if you only got 16?
So in what FREAKIN reality is it acceptable for ISP's to charge you for an advertised speed and then offer you something far less then that on average.
Anti-DRM = cheap bitchy bastards. Pay for stuff you use or at least write books, music, movies, TV shows or games to contribute to a community of free content. Bitching about DRM and being a leech of content is waste of everybody's time.
Asking if [some natural disaster] could adversely affect [some technology], is pretty much one of the most vapid questions a person can ask.
Can a [flood] take out the [Asian semiconductor industry]? Can an [earthquake] take out a [bridge]? Can a [tsunami] take out a [nuclear reactor]? Can an [iceberg] take out the [Titanic]?
The bigger question to ask is, "Do those in charge of these technologies assume they are impervious to natural disaster?" If the answer is yes then invest elsewhere or sell short and never climb on board..
Steve Job's held the company's reigns solidly and stayed them on a course to his ultimate vision for the future technology, for good or bad. Yes there were blunders but there were few regrets.
Under Cook's "leadership", Apple is flip-flopping on ideas and policies trying to continue Job's vision yet increasingly pandering to consumer opinion amid obvious and growing fear of the competition.
If Job's was afraid of the competition, he never let it be known. Cook is showing sings of weak leadership through a series of compromising blunders:.
- Claims Apple is in the post-PC era, until it comes time to hype up their own line of PC's then Apple is pro-PC again. - Recent stupid ad campaign.and then claiming recently they don't really need to advertise. - Flip-flopping on EPEAT membership. - Making statements about the stupidity of Tablet/Laptop hybrids while working to solidify Apple's ability to compete in that market. - Absolutely NO corporate secrecy anymore. iPhone 5 is the worst kept secret in tech history. - Drawn out legal patent battles with Apple's #1 supplier of their parts.
While I may not have admired Job's arrogant bullheadedness, I admire even less a company of two faces, one that claims overtly they are the best when at the same time they strive to protect themselves from competition through patent hording and ridiculous litigation.
Anyone who believes Cook is doing a good job at Apple is still drunk on Steve Job's Kool Aid.
Anyone suggesting using a laptop should be shot. Transcribing your professors words into verbatim text is NOT learning. The laptop fails in the lecture hall for many reasons. It is difficult to inject your own thoughts about the subject matter when you are too busy trying to get every last word the professor is saying, and it is far to tempting to do so. You cannot easily switch to a "drawing" function to draw down diagrams or annotate your notes. Also they are loud, large and annoying hearing the clicking of keys everywhere. If you are taking notes using a laptop, you are not taking good notes, period.
Anyone suggesting using an iPad with stylus should be shot. Steve Job's made it very clear that Apple tablets are not supposed to use pen input, and so pen input on the iPad is a shitty experience. The input resolution of the iPad is way too low, so you can't take anything better then grade school looking chalk lines and Fisher Price looking diagrams. iPad's on screen keyboard is horrible for any kind of note taking.
Most "other" tablets have failed to include decent handwriting tools. Pen input on tablets is too slow and inaccurate to match pen/paper experience. Electronic Pen input forces you to compromise, either due to the lousiness of the hardware or the shiftiness of the software.
Best experience is to use good ol' fashioned pen and paper. Why:
Slows you down, makes you think about what is being said rather then madly transcribing words. Using pen and paper you should be putting your OWN thoughts and words down about the subject matter, not someone else's.
Easy to draw/diagram/annotate. In a math/science course, you will dump using a laptop or tablet simply because the subject matter is just not easy to transcribe to text.
Easy to annotate after the fact. If the professor linked a point previously made it is very easy to go back with pen and paper to add additional notes at the point they where taken.
I have lousy hand writing so I always took notes twice, once in the lecture hall and then would spend a little bit of time after class cleaning up the notes. Forced me to think twice about the lecture and so could add/update the notes.
When I took hand written notes, I actually could remember when points where made and easily find them, even weeks or months later. Using a laptop I found one page looked exactly like another so trying to find some point made during a lecture 3 months ago was impossible.
While their is a certain appeal of using technology to take lecture notes, realize that the lecture process has not changed in hundreds of years. A boring old fart droning on about largely irrelevant information doesn't require 21st century note taking tech.
There is a trend that is starting to repeat itself:
1) PC's used to push the bleeding edge for performance, consumers took a decided step backwards for significantly slower and less feature rich phones and tablets. PC market is dying.
2) Game PC/Consoles used to push the boundaries of bleeding edge, but consumers took a decided step back to play raster based "touch and fling" style games. Game PC/Console market is dying.
3) BlackBerry pushed bleeding edge enterprise features and dedicated business tools, but consumers took a decided step backwards using a device adequate for their business needs, placing content consumption needs first. BlackBerry market is dying.
Consumers are opting for "mediocre" products in terms of performance and features.
What happened to the geeks? They used to carry around 18 lb laptops because it was the only thing any self respecting Geek would use, now all the Geeks have become trendy hipsters ordering lattes on a device that are less powerful then their HP Pocket Calculators from a decade ago.
Seems like the Luddites have won, opting for pretty devices they peel cling film off of, use for a few months, and then discard for the next shinny bobble that comes along. Nobody cares about performance anymore, nobody cares about dedicated features. Nobody cares for bleeding edge. The market has turned towards the "Gleaming" edge, the shiniest device wins these days regardless of what is inside it.
So while I respect RIM for attempting to maintain some credibility and respect by not bending to market trends and focusing on the needs and requirements of their core consumers, unfortunately that is not going to save their company. If they have moved to Android with a few "RIM" signature applications, put it into a shiny leather wrapped AndroidBerry they may have been able to thrive in today's market.
If you haven't noticed, Valve stopped making games a while ago and instead became a content whoring system. One game every 5+ years doesn't make you a game developer IMHO.
Rather then going for broke and getting as much FPS as possible, why don't game developers focus on optimizing the experience for a SOLID 60 FPS, that is, instead of peaking at 300 FPS in one scene, and then dropping to 45 FPS in another, strive for a constant frame rate.
If 60 fps does not tax a rendering system, then focus on MORE content in the scene, such as more particles or physics effects which enhance the gaming experience.
Maybe this is just some raw development figure, but there is absolutely no point in dumping as many frames as possible to a screen which only refreshes a given number of times per second.
I mean if someone came out with a car that outputs 300hp when driving 60 mph, I wouldn't be impressed, so why do I care how many frames are rendered between screen refreshes.
Eh, if you want a story read a book. I enjoy good cinematic sequences in any game, but the problem is that games that fixate on story end up being short and lack any interest in replay, while games that involve relatively mindless action and puzzle features can be extended far longer. Every moment of a game does not have to be scripted, and ultimately, if you play a game for the story you probably really want to watch a movie.
Probably the worst example of story in a game was Metal Gear Solid 4, absolutely the worst game ever due to the near hour long "non-skippable" cinematic MULTIPLE sequences.
Piss off too many scientists and they will go back in time and step on the fish that eventually became your entire family tree. Then again this is government cutting back funding....
I am sure you have them quaking in their boots with your hyperbole and empty threats,
Fundamentally you are being held hostage by yourself and your inability to ween yourself off Steam content. If you feel strongly enough that their new EULA (which nobody reads anyways) violates your rights then by all means you CAN opt out by uninstalling it. I am sure if you actually read the EULA you would be outraged over existing clauses you willingly accepted in the past, you are only reacting to this clause because it was made apparent on Slashdot.
Moral outrage is probably the biggest problems on the Internet today because there is a lot of bark and absolutely no bite. You will continue to, happily, use Steam and its products and services, and continue to make Gabe rich because the alternative is to stop buying their content and uninstalling their services once and for all.
I stopped using Steam 5 years ago because of stupidity surrounding their credit card payment system and treating me like I was committing fraud using my own money. I took a hit and lost the use of HL2 and a few other games I bought, but I refuse to use that platform again.
When consumers realize they have more power over corporations the corporations will bow to consumer opinion. You are never a hostage to a product or service, you have, and will continue to have, full rights to NOT use a product or service, you just have to accept the loss and move on.
However most people will bitch about this new policy and continue to feed money to Valve and nothing will change which is why corporations get away with what they do.
Grow a pair and uninstall Steam versus vapid diatribes.
I think it comes down to its more interesting to watch a race rather then time trials. Also the crowd cheering for someone crossing the finishing line first, but really they came in fourth would just be silly.
Perhaps they should put the superior ranking athletes the furthest away from the gun since they could make up for the fractions of a second delay through superior skill. That would at least give the slow white dudes a chance.
I mean seriously expecting a good discussion the moment "Microsoft" is in the title?
I do agree that pre-WP8 is a shambles, which is why Windows Phone's have remained a distant 4 th in the mobile race.
Also it is very difficult to be enthused about a platform that has so little market penetration.
However the current Windows 8 development platform (across all device types) is shaping up to be quite impressive and considering Microsoft finally has a kernel that works across mobile/tablet/desktop platforms, its looking good that it might finally be an enjoyable platform to target.
I think Microsoft needs to promote the "pay to develop" model to get developers hooked on their platform as the are not going to come willingly.
However the biggest error in the comments I am seeing is that people seem to forget that the MOST prolific development platform on the planet is Windows. Its not iOS, its not Android, its not Linux. There are more Windows desktop applications then any other platform combined, and this includes many many open source projects.
MIcrosoft finally unifying their development across all platforms, opening up to allow "shudder" the HTML/JS developers on board for semi-native apps, and unifying API's such as Direct X, the sheer number of capable developers available to produce content is signification and should not be overlooked.. I would argue that there are more developers available for Windows Phone then any other phone platform combined.
However; is it too little too late? Will those developer's cross into phone/mobile development and will that be enough to make WP8 succeed I guess we will find out in the next year or so. If Microsoft can't make WP8 work then they should drop out of the mobile market altogether because this is the most directed push into the market I have seen them do yet.
Most of the comments are so ridiculously biased against Microsoft that you can't expect any real discussion about the merits of their new development platform when the vast majority of commentators are clueless about it.
As opposed to iOS, or Android, or ANY OTHER mobile platform that is closed and proprietary?
Any developer worth their salt has stated that development using HTML5 and JS results is poor performing "apps", I mean Facebook just announced recently they are moving to native app development because of the fiasco of trying to make Facebook apps work using HTML.
And there is no such thing as "standards". Its difficult enough to develop a website that works across all browsers let alone multiple OS and hardware platforms. HTML/JS as a nice easy cross platform development system is a MYTH of epic proportions. A page hosting links and static images is NOT AN APP, the moment you require more interactivity and ANY attempt to access hardware components on the target platform, and suddenly HTML is a nightmare of haphazard frameworks and inconsistencies.
Also any developer worth their salt CAN develop on any platform you throw at them, so building an app for Windows Phone, vs, iPhone, vs Android, vs HTML is not a daunting task. Also hiring people that are proficient on any platform is also not hard to find. Just don't lock yourself into the idea that HTML = cheap development, because you get what you pay for.
Fine, target the "free" OS'es and devices and realize you can't put food on the table with vapid idealisms.
Seriously, I think this is the difference between some people feeling they "own" music vs other people feeling they "use" music.
I use music. If I paid for it and have access to it, in whatever form, then I am happy, period. Doesn't make me an idiot, just makes me a user of content.
I don't personally feel that the music files themselves matter. If a company wants to "upgrade" my music for me, free of charge, then by all means, please do so. I would rather this then being forced to I have to pay to upgrade my music to every format or quality level that can exist. iTunes recently upgraded all my movie/TV content to 1080p, I was worried I would have to pay extra for a better quality format (like buying Blu-ray vs DVD), but I didn't. I bought the rights to USE this content and Apple makes the content better.
So, you can be one of those types that feels the need to horde all content because of some retarded sense of ownership, or you can embrace a new era of buying access to content that will periodically "improve" over time to maximize your enjoyment of it.
The bottom line is that some people feel they are at the mercy of corporations, that buying into "the cloud" reduces their personal rights. But if people woke up and realized that corporations are not ALL POWERFUL, that the consumer is still KING, then we wouldn't have tiresome debates such as this. If a corporation truly "fucks" their consumers then consumers will abandon the corporation, meaning the corporation will lose money and go bankrupt. While there may be a cost for the consumer to abandon a platform, ultimately I still have choice when it comes to cloud services (thanks to Amazon and Google), and so if I feel truly that my rights have been violated then I will take actions that will ultimately hurt the offending corporation's bottom line.
If you want to horde content, go ahead, you still have that option, but don't call out people for embracing new technology platforms because of your own idiotic conspiracy theories and biases.
Not because of the making of history, but to watch the change of facial expressions when they finally realize they neglected to convert Imperial units to Metric.
Slashdot Mirror
Thankfully Global Warming will increase evaporation of the oceans causing more cloud cover and rain.
Of course then the rain comes in the form of Category 5 hurricanes, but farmers will always find something to bitch about why their crops won't grow.
Name another industry in which you pay for an advertised service and then get far far less.
Would you buy a computer that claims 8GB of ram but you could only utilize 3?
Would you buy a camera that claimed it could take 1000 pictures but only could store 100 maximum?
Would you buy a car that advertised 200 HP but could only output 50 HP?
Would you buy a 3 bedroom house that only has 1.5 bedrooms?
Would you buy a food product with printed 350g on the container but the contents only weigh 180g?
Would you pay for a meal if it claimed it would come with sides that you never received?
Would you buy a gallon of gas if you only got a pint?
Would you buy a 24 pack of beer if you only got 16?
So in what FREAKIN reality is it acceptable for ISP's to charge you for an advertised speed and then offer you something far less then that on average.
Anti-DRM = cheap bitchy bastards. Pay for stuff you use or at least write books, music, movies, TV shows or games to contribute to a community of free content. Bitching about DRM and being a leech of content is waste of everybody's time.
Asking if [some natural disaster] could adversely affect [some technology], is pretty much one of the most vapid questions a person can ask.
Can a [flood] take out the [Asian semiconductor industry]?
Can an [earthquake] take out a [bridge]?
Can a [tsunami] take out a [nuclear reactor]?
Can an [iceberg] take out the [Titanic]?
The bigger question to ask is, "Do those in charge of these technologies assume they are impervious to natural disaster?" If the answer is yes then invest elsewhere or sell short and never climb on board..
I think we can end ANY additional article about the merits of storage technologies using the following unified equation
future tech > SSD > SSD Hybrids > HDD > optical disks > floppy drives > tape drives > punch cards > wall paintings > iCloud
Steve Job's held the company's reigns solidly and stayed them on a course to his ultimate vision for the future technology, for good or bad. Yes there were blunders but there were few regrets.
Under Cook's "leadership", Apple is flip-flopping on ideas and policies trying to continue Job's vision yet increasingly pandering to consumer opinion amid obvious and growing fear of the competition.
If Job's was afraid of the competition, he never let it be known. Cook is showing sings of weak leadership through a series of compromising blunders:.
- Claims Apple is in the post-PC era, until it comes time to hype up their own line of PC's then Apple is pro-PC again.
- Recent stupid ad campaign.and then claiming recently they don't really need to advertise.
- Flip-flopping on EPEAT membership.
- Making statements about the stupidity of Tablet/Laptop hybrids while working to solidify Apple's ability to compete in that market.
- Absolutely NO corporate secrecy anymore. iPhone 5 is the worst kept secret in tech history.
- Drawn out legal patent battles with Apple's #1 supplier of their parts.
While I may not have admired Job's arrogant bullheadedness, I admire even less a company of two faces, one that claims overtly they are the best when at the same time they strive to protect themselves from competition through patent hording and ridiculous litigation.
Anyone who believes Cook is doing a good job at Apple is still drunk on Steve Job's Kool Aid.
Anyone suggesting using a laptop should be shot. Transcribing your professors words into verbatim text is NOT learning. The laptop fails in the lecture hall for many reasons. It is difficult to inject your own thoughts about the subject matter when you are too busy trying to get every last word the professor is saying, and it is far to tempting to do so. You cannot easily switch to a "drawing" function to draw down diagrams or annotate your notes. Also they are loud, large and annoying hearing the clicking of keys everywhere. If you are taking notes using a laptop, you are not taking good notes, period.
Anyone suggesting using an iPad with stylus should be shot. Steve Job's made it very clear that Apple tablets are not supposed to use pen input, and so pen input on the iPad is a shitty experience. The input resolution of the iPad is way too low, so you can't take anything better then grade school looking chalk lines and Fisher Price looking diagrams. iPad's on screen keyboard is horrible for any kind of note taking.
Most "other" tablets have failed to include decent handwriting tools. Pen input on tablets is too slow and inaccurate to match pen/paper experience. Electronic Pen input forces you to compromise, either due to the lousiness of the hardware or the shiftiness of the software.
Best experience is to use good ol' fashioned pen and paper. Why:
Slows you down, makes you think about what is being said rather then madly transcribing words. Using pen and paper you should be putting your OWN thoughts and words down about the subject matter, not someone else's.
Easy to draw/diagram/annotate. In a math/science course, you will dump using a laptop or tablet simply because the subject matter is just not easy to transcribe to text.
Easy to annotate after the fact. If the professor linked a point previously made it is very easy to go back with pen and paper to add additional notes at the point they where taken.
I have lousy hand writing so I always took notes twice, once in the lecture hall and then would spend a little bit of time after class cleaning up the notes. Forced me to think twice about the lecture and so could add/update the notes.
When I took hand written notes, I actually could remember when points where made and easily find them, even weeks or months later. Using a laptop I found one page looked exactly like another so trying to find some point made during a lecture 3 months ago was impossible.
While their is a certain appeal of using technology to take lecture notes, realize that the lecture process has not changed in hundreds of years. A boring old fart droning on about largely irrelevant information doesn't require 21st century note taking tech.
There is a trend that is starting to repeat itself:
1) PC's used to push the bleeding edge for performance, consumers took a decided step backwards for significantly slower and less feature rich phones and tablets. PC market is dying.
2) Game PC/Consoles used to push the boundaries of bleeding edge, but consumers took a decided step back to play raster based "touch and fling" style games. Game PC/Console market is dying.
3) BlackBerry pushed bleeding edge enterprise features and dedicated business tools, but consumers took a decided step backwards using a device adequate for their business needs, placing content consumption needs first. BlackBerry market is dying.
Consumers are opting for "mediocre" products in terms of performance and features.
What happened to the geeks? They used to carry around 18 lb laptops because it was the only thing any self respecting Geek would use, now all the Geeks have become trendy hipsters ordering lattes on a device that are less powerful then their HP Pocket Calculators from a decade ago.
Seems like the Luddites have won, opting for pretty devices they peel cling film off of, use for a few months, and then discard for the next shinny bobble that comes along. Nobody cares about performance anymore, nobody cares about dedicated features. Nobody cares for bleeding edge. The market has turned towards the "Gleaming" edge, the shiniest device wins these days regardless of what is inside it.
So while I respect RIM for attempting to maintain some credibility and respect by not bending to market trends and focusing on the needs and requirements of their core consumers, unfortunately that is not going to save their company. If they have moved to Android with a few "RIM" signature applications, put it into a shiny leather wrapped AndroidBerry they may have been able to thrive in today's market.
Well the result would be 0 FPS because DOS couldn't even load the game menu, let alone the information to render a single frame of a modern HD game.
If you haven't noticed, Valve stopped making games a while ago and instead became a content whoring system. One game every 5+ years doesn't make you a game developer IMHO.
Rather then going for broke and getting as much FPS as possible, why don't game developers focus on optimizing the experience for a SOLID 60 FPS, that is, instead of peaking at 300 FPS in one scene, and then dropping to 45 FPS in another, strive for a constant frame rate.
If 60 fps does not tax a rendering system, then focus on MORE content in the scene, such as more particles or physics effects which enhance the gaming experience.
Maybe this is just some raw development figure, but there is absolutely no point in dumping as many frames as possible to a screen which only refreshes a given number of times per second.
I mean if someone came out with a car that outputs 300hp when driving 60 mph, I wouldn't be impressed, so why do I care how many frames are rendered between screen refreshes.
Eh, if you want a story read a book. I enjoy good cinematic sequences in any game, but the problem is that games that fixate on story end up being short and lack any interest in replay, while games that involve relatively mindless action and puzzle features can be extended far longer. Every moment of a game does not have to be scripted, and ultimately, if you play a game for the story you probably really want to watch a movie.
Probably the worst example of story in a game was Metal Gear Solid 4, absolutely the worst game ever due to the near hour long "non-skippable" cinematic MULTIPLE sequences.
Piss off too many scientists and they will go back in time and step on the fish that eventually became your entire family tree. Then again this is government cutting back funding....
Had they used Python, they would have been bankrupt by now.
Just like your Olympic team uniforms.
Shut up Debbie Downers. We can't have anything cool in this world because of people like you applying fictional pretense to real life.
I am sure you have them quaking in their boots with your hyperbole and empty threats,
Fundamentally you are being held hostage by yourself and your inability to ween yourself off Steam content. If you feel strongly enough that their new EULA (which nobody reads anyways) violates your rights then by all means you CAN opt out by uninstalling it. I am sure if you actually read the EULA you would be outraged over existing clauses you willingly accepted in the past, you are only reacting to this clause because it was made apparent on Slashdot.
Moral outrage is probably the biggest problems on the Internet today because there is a lot of bark and absolutely no bite. You will continue to, happily, use Steam and its products and services, and continue to make Gabe rich because the alternative is to stop buying their content and uninstalling their services once and for all.
I stopped using Steam 5 years ago because of stupidity surrounding their credit card payment system and treating me like I was committing fraud using my own money. I took a hit and lost the use of HL2 and a few other games I bought, but I refuse to use that platform again.
When consumers realize they have more power over corporations the corporations will bow to consumer opinion. You are never a hostage to a product or service, you have, and will continue to have, full rights to NOT use a product or service, you just have to accept the loss and move on.
However most people will bitch about this new policy and continue to feed money to Valve and nothing will change which is why corporations get away with what they do.
Grow a pair and uninstall Steam versus vapid diatribes.
Talk bullshit about other people's platforms, while piling it up on your own platform.
Dump a billion dollars against a problem, it will be solved, period.
I think it comes down to its more interesting to watch a race rather then time trials. Also the crowd cheering for someone crossing the finishing line first, but really they came in fourth would just be silly.
Perhaps they should put the superior ranking athletes the furthest away from the gun since they could make up for the fractions of a second delay through superior skill. That would at least give the slow white dudes a chance.
If you think algebra was required for that math, then you already failed.
I mean seriously expecting a good discussion the moment "Microsoft" is in the title?
I do agree that pre-WP8 is a shambles, which is why Windows Phone's have remained a distant 4 th in the mobile race.
Also it is very difficult to be enthused about a platform that has so little market penetration.
However the current Windows 8 development platform (across all device types) is shaping up to be quite impressive and considering Microsoft finally has a kernel that works across mobile/tablet/desktop platforms, its looking good that it might finally be an enjoyable platform to target.
I think Microsoft needs to promote the "pay to develop" model to get developers hooked on their platform as the are not going to come willingly.
However the biggest error in the comments I am seeing is that people seem to forget that the MOST prolific development platform on the planet is Windows. Its not iOS, its not Android, its not Linux. There are more Windows desktop applications then any other platform combined, and this includes many many open source projects.
MIcrosoft finally unifying their development across all platforms, opening up to allow "shudder" the HTML/JS developers on board for semi-native apps, and unifying API's such as Direct X, the sheer number of capable developers available to produce content is signification and should not be overlooked.. I would argue that there are more developers available for Windows Phone then any other phone platform combined.
However; is it too little too late? Will those developer's cross into phone/mobile development and will that be enough to make WP8 succeed I guess we will find out in the next year or so. If Microsoft can't make WP8 work then they should drop out of the mobile market altogether because this is the most directed push into the market I have seen them do yet.
Most of the comments are so ridiculously biased against Microsoft that you can't expect any real discussion about the merits of their new development platform when the vast majority of commentators are clueless about it.
As opposed to iOS, or Android, or ANY OTHER mobile platform that is closed and proprietary?
Any developer worth their salt has stated that development using HTML5 and JS results is poor performing "apps", I mean Facebook just announced recently they are moving to native app development because of the fiasco of trying to make Facebook apps work using HTML.
And there is no such thing as "standards". Its difficult enough to develop a website that works across all browsers let alone multiple OS and hardware platforms. HTML/JS as a nice easy cross platform development system is a MYTH of epic proportions. A page hosting links and static images is NOT AN APP, the moment you require more interactivity and ANY attempt to access hardware components on the target platform, and suddenly HTML is a nightmare of haphazard frameworks and inconsistencies.
Also any developer worth their salt CAN develop on any platform you throw at them, so building an app for Windows Phone, vs, iPhone, vs Android, vs HTML is not a daunting task. Also hiring people that are proficient on any platform is also not hard to find. Just don't lock yourself into the idea that HTML = cheap development, because you get what you pay for.
Fine, target the "free" OS'es and devices and realize you can't put food on the table with vapid idealisms.
Is music your "personal data"?
Seriously, I think this is the difference between some people feeling they "own" music vs other people feeling they "use" music.
I use music. If I paid for it and have access to it, in whatever form, then I am happy, period. Doesn't make me an idiot, just makes me a user of content.
I don't personally feel that the music files themselves matter. If a company wants to "upgrade" my music for me, free of charge, then by all means, please do so. I would rather this then being forced to I have to pay to upgrade my music to every format or quality level that can exist. iTunes recently upgraded all my movie/TV content to 1080p, I was worried I would have to pay extra for a better quality format (like buying Blu-ray vs DVD), but I didn't. I bought the rights to USE this content and Apple makes the content better.
So, you can be one of those types that feels the need to horde all content because of some retarded sense of ownership, or you can embrace a new era of buying access to content that will periodically "improve" over time to maximize your enjoyment of it.
The bottom line is that some people feel they are at the mercy of corporations, that buying into "the cloud" reduces their personal rights. But if people woke up and realized that corporations are not ALL POWERFUL, that the consumer is still KING, then we wouldn't have tiresome debates such as this. If a corporation truly "fucks" their consumers then consumers will abandon the corporation, meaning the corporation will lose money and go bankrupt. While there may be a cost for the consumer to abandon a platform, ultimately I still have choice when it comes to cloud services (thanks to Amazon and Google), and so if I feel truly that my rights have been violated then I will take actions that will ultimately hurt the offending corporation's bottom line.
If you want to horde content, go ahead, you still have that option, but don't call out people for embracing new technology platforms because of your own idiotic conspiracy theories and biases.
Not because of the making of history, but to watch the change of facial expressions when they finally realize they neglected to convert Imperial units to Metric.