Face it, people pay higher prices for better marketed, brand name commodities. And be honest, David Bowie and Madonna are large, corporate musical commodities with very high brand recognition. Not only that, but they are supported by a huge, expensive multi-national bureaucracy which constantly requires more money to maintain the bloated status quo. They charge more because they have to to support a business model that naturally bleeds itself dry. (note - Managers are stating they need more money. Big red flag there. These people leech 10% - 20% "off the top" of the earnings of others.)
People pay extra for "brand name" clothes, shoes, food, appliances, cars, phones and everything else because millions are spent to market these brands to us. Target (itself a well marketed corporation) has the top rated polo shirts on the market at 1/4 of the cost of a Polo brand polo shirt, yet Polo branded shirts still sell like hot cakes.
I think it's time we recognize how bloated these multi-national conglomerate whores have become and we outsource them. I'm sure rising Malaysian pop stars could put on an equally entertaining Madonna show for one-tenth the price. David Bowie could easily be replaced by some kid from the Ukraine for pennies on the dollar. Some costumes, plastic surgery and a high quality Kareoke machine would surely be enough to fool even the most die-hard fan of corporate pop music.
Or, folks could read their local paper and visit any number of indepedent, local clubs for nearly every genre that sub-$10 every night of the week. There's great music and entertainment to be had nearly everywhere, but folks are too blinded by the marketing and the merchandising.
Instead of complain about it, I urge everyone here to try out local and/or independent artists in whatever genre they enjoy. Quit letting multi-national conglomerates dominate your musical tastes. Pay attention to the well=paid men behind the curtain.
As I told my friend who was complaining about paying twice my annual salary in taxes...
"I wish I had the income to experience your problem."
Symantec has yearly revenue of what... $20bil? The issue at hand is their filing over a $10bil acquisition?
I really wish I had such problems.
***Yes, I am aware I am not a huge, multi-national corporation that employees tens of thousands of people. I am, however, beset with my own financial setback today that somehow failed to make the news. My AC died, it's hot today and it's 10% of my salary to replace the entire system.
To comment that Apple includes fewer hardware features than competing brands is ignoring the fact they continually push new technologies that other companies blindly ignore. USB is a shining example of this. Apple was the first to embrace it and without them PC's wouldn't have moved away from legacy components for years*. I can't imagine life without a USB MP3 device or my 1GB USB flash drive and I don't think USB would've progressed so quickly without Apple pushing it.
Unfortunately FireWire was never met with the same open arms by the PC industry, but that's mostly due to improvements in USB 2.0 and PC manufacturers drive to save $10 per system on something that would see limited use. Me? I use the hell out of FireWire and I'm happy Apple includes it.
Admittedly the quality of the hardware they include can be questionable (dear god, why do their choices in optical drives suck so bad) but their feature sets tend to be respectable.
* I went to COMDEX the year before and the year the iMac broke. I recall few manufacturers pushing USB the year before, but the post-iMac era was all abuzz about USB. PC and peripherals manufacturers seemed to be rushing onto the bandwagon with buggy and poorly thought out products and add-on's. Admittedly, PC's had USB before the Mac but no one committed to using it the way Apple did.
Re:You get what you pay for...
on
Going To Boot Camp
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Zathrus - Cool. I used to be a major Windows user, but for the past couple of years I've been using my Mac almost exclusively. I was not aware that XP Pro had IIS available on the disc but not necessarily the default install. The Dell I'm assigned at work apparently skipped that install and I need those services, so I've all but abandoned it and just use the Mac.
I realize there are downloadable equivalents to just about everything, but the last thing I want to do everytime I have to wipe the drive on this Dell (only twice in a year and a half) is go through and download or install tons of software that I need/like to use. I've had miserable experiences with Windows over the last 5 years, which lead me to Linux and eventually the Mac.
The Apple is more expensive on paper and up front than the Dell, but it's worth every penny to me for reasons I can't entirely quantify. It's the first computer since my C-64 that I just plain enjoyed.
There are software differences (which are solved for $1000 for what essentially boiled down to running OS X.
Most Apples include the latest iLife suite when they are sold, so you when you attempt to calculate out "software differences" you should be sure to include those. How much do hobbyist quality video production, audio production, photo editing/cataloging and DVD authoring suites cost for Windows? How much does a PDF creator cost for Windows?
Then there are minor annoyances where Windows is simply missing pretty useful tools for real users. DevTools? A compiler? A full suite of enterprise capable network daemons such as http, ftp, telnet, ftp, ssh? All of these ship with Mac OS X - last I checked the XP Pro I run at work doesn't include any of them. How much is IIS these days?
The idea that artists have any pull with the RIAA or their record labels is slightly naive.
For the most part, artists have signed such label-friendly contracts that they have no rights to their own music. They have no choice but to sit in silence and hope they can finally recoup the advance on their latest album.
.. but it'd be better if the exoskeleton was directly worn/used by the quadrapelegic and MS sufferer
Gee, overstate the obvious, will ya?
Clearly the ultimate goal of this is to improve the mobility of folks who are disabled, but they first need to grasp basic concepts before tackling the complex challenges the disabled have. It's difficult to develop interactive and predictive motion assist on test subjects who have limited motion. Then there are the myriad of challenges with the nature of disabilities - each person has very specific limitations, strengths and weaknesses.
One quadrapalegic might have limited arm movement and the ability to somewhat stand while another might have excellent arm movement but their legs are jelly. Those with polio may not have fully developed legs that could even support their own weight. Some of those with MS may lack enough muscle control to allow their movements to be translated properly.
And what about the millions of amputees who cannot afford the technologically infused prosthesis that are currently available? A prosthetic leg with sensors, valves and a shock to provide semi-realistic movement costs more than $25,000 and insurance won't cover a dime of such a "luxury" item. An exo-skeleton adapted to the needs of the disabled would be so astronomical in price that few could ever afford it.
Clearly the basics of the technology need to be perfected on able-bodies before it is transferred to those with disabilities. In the meantime, folks need to admit that an exoskeleton that improves strength by 80% is pretty darned cool and has a lot of promise.
So this is what college level engineering is like? I saw, and retained, the concept they employeed from a Mr. Wizard experiment I saw on Nickelodeon when I was 12. Their design was far from ground-breaking on functional or artistic level. The thing looks terrible, isn't remotely functional for imbibing liquid at ones desk and it doesn't push the design/engineering/ceramics envelope.
Sure, in the end they got a lot of press on it, but it's still a complete waste of time and money. A group of college students placed second by emulating a junior-high physics experiment.
It warms my heart knowing that tuition and tax dollars were probably wasted on such a project. Given the lab time, materials, class time and travel this had to have costed thousands.
Target has Lexan, "virtually unbreakable" coffee mugs with near spill-proof lids for $9. Of course, they don't look like a mug with a pineapple glued to the bottom, but they do fit into a car's cupholder.
You can listen to any recording of say the Kronos Quartet, but no matter how well the recording tech is matched to the medium the sound is flat compared to hearing the quartet play live.
I couldn't disagree more. Live concerts frequently have horrible sound due to a multitude of factors. Many venues aren't designed with acoustics in mind, where you sit at a concert determines what you hear, the crowd itself absorbs the high frequencies and more often than not the sound system is terrible. Factor in some assholes talking and clanking their beers and the high SPL's that force you to wear earplugs and things sound even worse.
I will agree with you that vinyl sounds better, but at a significantly higher (and prohibitive) cost. Spending $4000 on a turntable that sounds slightly better than a $50 CD player just doesn't appeal to most folks. Then there's the issue of source - most music these days is recorded digitally, so having an analog copy of a digital source provides no possible room for improvement.
If your music is sounding flat perhaps you need to find new music to listen to. I can name a handful engineers and dozens of groups that sound every bit as good on their CD as they do live. The difference is that they are using minimalist engineering to make the album sound "live" as opposed to "produced."
Perhaps I am in the minority, but Ivan's comments on developers and gamers deciding "who wins" makes me think the PS3 has a better than good chance at success.
Further overlooked is the impression from the initial launch and Microsoft screwed the pooch on that, IMHO. I have total faith that, regardless of the cost, Sony will have millions of units available upon launch and a handful of compelling launch titles. Sony is going to clean up on the jaded, "I really wanted to buy a 360, but..." crowd. The savings I ear-marked for a 360 is still in the bank now waiting for the PS3.
This is the SAME congress that mandates filtering of the Net in all libraries.
Library filters are not exactly similar to China's censorship and persecution of citizens. Libraries are required to have some type of filtering, yes, but they are not required to have it turned on at all times. Nearly all libraries will happily turn off filtering for an adult patron who asks. Librarians hate the filters more than just about anyone, just ask.
Furthermore, libraries are required to have a sign in sheet for computer users. Many libraries dispose of their userlogs on a daily or weekly basis. My library uses a low-tech sign-in sheet on a legal pad and each day they start on a new page, disposing of the previous page in the process. The idea is to subvert the Patriot Act provisions that can subpeona userlogs.
To my knowledge, China isn't as kind as my local library. Not only do they keep the logs but they then use them to prosecute bloggers, scientists, students and people who are generally pro-democracy. I'm quite certain that going to the library and searching for "democracy", "freedom", or "overthrow the communist government and hold elections" would land me in prison, or worse.
The filters and the Patriot Acts do offend me, but fortunately those freedom of speech loving Libriarians are out there fighting for our rights. Such people would be slaughtered in China.
I keep seeing comments to the effect of "I'm never buying music again..." and I think this is very short-sighted.
I'm here to tell you the solution is to buy *more* music...
...from non-RIAA member, independent labels. There are indie labels out there for nearly every genre. They tend to treat their artists more fairly and nearly every indie label respects their customers and treats them like... well, customers instead of cattle or criminals.
I could give you a million positive experiences I've had with indie labels, but I don't want to waste too much time on an RIAA post. A really great summary example is that I've never IM'ed with a major label owner about how I included their music on a compilation for my friends and had the major label be excited that I was helping to promote their bands and label.
The best way to piss off the RIAA isn't to pirate their music or simply stop buying it. The best way to piss them off is to shift the market by taking your patronage and your money to non-RIAA indies.
The initial market for the average consumer might be fairly small, but there are immediate applications for this product in the retail sector, particulaly quick service restaurants.
A major yardstick of QSR's is speed of service - a multi-point touch screen might save seconds on the time it takes to enter and complete an order, which is worth gold to most restaurants.
Touchscreens are a lot more durable than most people think. I see NCR 7454 points of sale everyday that must be close to 10 years old (Pentium 233mhz) and the screens are arguably in better shape than any other part of the units. Touchscreens on these units are rarely replaced and even the oldest screens still look good and work well.
To bring it back on topic, Apple could easily put in a decent touch-screen, but I don't think we're going to see a video iPod.
...Dewey Decimal System big hit in Guantanamo Bay.
How ironic, seeing as how DDC provides substantial classification for Christian texts in the 200's, while snubbing all other religions into a tiny little back alley of the classification.
Hey, that's pretty cool! Now what I would like to know, how did they manage to completely localize their climate? It's no small feat to completely eliminate all outside factors.
In the case of Caruthersville, MO (which dropped 1.61F in 70+ years, not a decade) there are several factors that have occured in 70 years which could yield a lower mean annual temperature in the face of global, continental or regional warming. A shift in industrial activity in the region, changes to the Mississippi River and increased rainfall.
Or maybe Caruthersville fits into a weird climate hole that will resist global warming because of increased rain and storm activity while everyone around them bakes like a potato. http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/4711
For anyone who's unsure, may I suggest less BBC and more science.
CO2Science.Org is science? They use anecdotal evidence in an attempt to counter real science being performed by fairly independent labs.
Paraphrase from a front-page article on their website... This town in Missouri is polluted as hell, and their temperature dropped 2 degrees in the past decade! Global warming? Clearly it doesn't exist!"
Of course, what do you expect from an "environmental" organization who is funded by Exxon and whose founder previously worked for the worlds largest coal company?
Now that we have some scientific basis for what we've all known for decades, how do we fix it? How does one shun their partisan idealism and accept reason and logic in exchange, without betraying their political convictions? Better yet, how would political parties benefit?
Without division and reality distortion the parties would not exist. They have everything to lose if their constituents suddenly starting applying reason and logic to politics.
"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."
- Thomas Jefferson
Actually, it will be a loss for Apple. What are the odds that users who don't pay the "Apple Toll" are going to buy the OS, or any of the other software for the platform? Me thinks the odds will be pretty low. If you choose not to afford the hardware, you aren't going to want to pay full retail price for the software.
Apple users have enjoyed relatively license free software for years. I see that coming to an abrupt end as soon as/. covers OS X running on a crappy Dell.
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"Relatedly" is a perfectly cromulent word!
People pay extra for "brand name" clothes, shoes, food, appliances, cars, phones and everything else because millions are spent to market these brands to us. Target (itself a well marketed corporation) has the top rated polo shirts on the market at 1/4 of the cost of a Polo brand polo shirt, yet Polo branded shirts still sell like hot cakes.
I think it's time we recognize how bloated these multi-national conglomerate whores have become and we outsource them. I'm sure rising Malaysian pop stars could put on an equally entertaining Madonna show for one-tenth the price. David Bowie could easily be replaced by some kid from the Ukraine for pennies on the dollar. Some costumes, plastic surgery and a high quality Kareoke machine would surely be enough to fool even the most die-hard fan of corporate pop music.
Or, folks could read their local paper and visit any number of indepedent, local clubs for nearly every genre that sub-$10 every night of the week. There's great music and entertainment to be had nearly everywhere, but folks are too blinded by the marketing and the merchandising.
Instead of complain about it, I urge everyone here to try out local and/or independent artists in whatever genre they enjoy. Quit letting multi-national conglomerates dominate your musical tastes. Pay attention to the well=paid men behind the curtain.
I did... but my conversion was off by a few digits. :)
"I wish I had the income to experience your problem."
Symantec has yearly revenue of what... $20bil? The issue at hand is their filing over a $10bil acquisition?
I really wish I had such problems.
***Yes, I am aware I am not a huge, multi-national corporation that employees tens of thousands of people. I am, however, beset with my own financial setback today that somehow failed to make the news. My AC died, it's hot today and it's 10% of my salary to replace the entire system.
Unfortunately FireWire was never met with the same open arms by the PC industry, but that's mostly due to improvements in USB 2.0 and PC manufacturers drive to save $10 per system on something that would see limited use. Me? I use the hell out of FireWire and I'm happy Apple includes it.
Admittedly the quality of the hardware they include can be questionable (dear god, why do their choices in optical drives suck so bad) but their feature sets tend to be respectable.
* I went to COMDEX the year before and the year the iMac broke. I recall few manufacturers pushing USB the year before, but the post-iMac era was all abuzz about USB. PC and peripherals manufacturers seemed to be rushing onto the bandwagon with buggy and poorly thought out products and add-on's. Admittedly, PC's had USB before the Mac but no one committed to using it the way Apple did.
I realize there are downloadable equivalents to just about everything, but the last thing I want to do everytime I have to wipe the drive on this Dell (only twice in a year and a half) is go through and download or install tons of software that I need/like to use. I've had miserable experiences with Windows over the last 5 years, which lead me to Linux and eventually the Mac.
The Apple is more expensive on paper and up front than the Dell, but it's worth every penny to me for reasons I can't entirely quantify. It's the first computer since my C-64 that I just plain enjoyed.
Most Apples include the latest iLife suite when they are sold, so you when you attempt to calculate out "software differences" you should be sure to include those. How much do hobbyist quality video production, audio production, photo editing/cataloging and DVD authoring suites cost for Windows? How much does a PDF creator cost for Windows?
Then there are minor annoyances where Windows is simply missing pretty useful tools for real users. DevTools? A compiler? A full suite of enterprise capable network daemons such as http, ftp, telnet, ftp, ssh? All of these ship with Mac OS X - last I checked the XP Pro I run at work doesn't include any of them. How much is IIS these days?
For the most part, artists have signed such label-friendly contracts that they have no rights to their own music. They have no choice but to sit in silence and hope they can finally recoup the advance on their latest album.
Steve Albini wrote a great essay on the ways a major label owns an artist: http://www.negativland.com/albini.html
Avoid major labels, buy indies.
Gee, overstate the obvious, will ya?
Clearly the ultimate goal of this is to improve the mobility of folks who are disabled, but they first need to grasp basic concepts before tackling the complex challenges the disabled have. It's difficult to develop interactive and predictive motion assist on test subjects who have limited motion. Then there are the myriad of challenges with the nature of disabilities - each person has very specific limitations, strengths and weaknesses.
One quadrapalegic might have limited arm movement and the ability to somewhat stand while another might have excellent arm movement but their legs are jelly. Those with polio may not have fully developed legs that could even support their own weight. Some of those with MS may lack enough muscle control to allow their movements to be translated properly.
And what about the millions of amputees who cannot afford the technologically infused prosthesis that are currently available? A prosthetic leg with sensors, valves and a shock to provide semi-realistic movement costs more than $25,000 and insurance won't cover a dime of such a "luxury" item. An exo-skeleton adapted to the needs of the disabled would be so astronomical in price that few could ever afford it.
Clearly the basics of the technology need to be perfected on able-bodies before it is transferred to those with disabilities. In the meantime, folks need to admit that an exoskeleton that improves strength by 80% is pretty darned cool and has a lot of promise.
:P
Sure, in the end they got a lot of press on it, but it's still a complete waste of time and money. A group of college students placed second by emulating a junior-high physics experiment.
Target has Lexan, "virtually unbreakable" coffee mugs with near spill-proof lids for $9. Of course, they don't look like a mug with a pineapple glued to the bottom, but they do fit into a car's cupholder.
I couldn't disagree more. Live concerts frequently have horrible sound due to a multitude of factors. Many venues aren't designed with acoustics in mind, where you sit at a concert determines what you hear, the crowd itself absorbs the high frequencies and more often than not the sound system is terrible. Factor in some assholes talking and clanking their beers and the high SPL's that force you to wear earplugs and things sound even worse.
I will agree with you that vinyl sounds better, but at a significantly higher (and prohibitive) cost. Spending $4000 on a turntable that sounds slightly better than a $50 CD player just doesn't appeal to most folks. Then there's the issue of source - most music these days is recorded digitally, so having an analog copy of a digital source provides no possible room for improvement.
If your music is sounding flat perhaps you need to find new music to listen to. I can name a handful engineers and dozens of groups that sound every bit as good on their CD as they do live. The difference is that they are using minimalist engineering to make the album sound "live" as opposed to "produced."
Further overlooked is the impression from the initial launch and Microsoft screwed the pooch on that, IMHO. I have total faith that, regardless of the cost, Sony will have millions of units available upon launch and a handful of compelling launch titles. Sony is going to clean up on the jaded, "I really wanted to buy a 360, but..." crowd. The savings I ear-marked for a 360 is still in the bank now waiting for the PS3.
Library filters are not exactly similar to China's censorship and persecution of citizens. Libraries are required to have some type of filtering, yes, but they are not required to have it turned on at all times. Nearly all libraries will happily turn off filtering for an adult patron who asks. Librarians hate the filters more than just about anyone, just ask.
Furthermore, libraries are required to have a sign in sheet for computer users. Many libraries dispose of their userlogs on a daily or weekly basis. My library uses a low-tech sign-in sheet on a legal pad and each day they start on a new page, disposing of the previous page in the process. The idea is to subvert the Patriot Act provisions that can subpeona userlogs.
To my knowledge, China isn't as kind as my local library. Not only do they keep the logs but they then use them to prosecute bloggers, scientists, students and people who are generally pro-democracy. I'm quite certain that going to the library and searching for "democracy", "freedom", or "overthrow the communist government and hold elections" would land me in prison, or worse.
The filters and the Patriot Acts do offend me, but fortunately those freedom of speech loving Libriarians are out there fighting for our rights. Such people would be slaughtered in China.
I'm here to tell you the solution is to buy *more* music...
...from non-RIAA member, independent labels. There are indie labels out there for nearly every genre. They tend to treat their artists more fairly and nearly every indie label respects their customers and treats them like... well, customers instead of cattle or criminals.
I could give you a million positive experiences I've had with indie labels, but I don't want to waste too much time on an RIAA post. A really great summary example is that I've never IM'ed with a major label owner about how I included their music on a compilation for my friends and had the major label be excited that I was helping to promote their bands and label.
The best way to piss off the RIAA isn't to pirate their music or simply stop buying it. The best way to piss them off is to shift the market by taking your patronage and your money to non-RIAA indies.
A major yardstick of QSR's is speed of service - a multi-point touch screen might save seconds on the time it takes to enter and complete an order, which is worth gold to most restaurants.
To bring it back on topic, Apple could easily put in a decent touch-screen, but I don't think we're going to see a video iPod.
How ironic, seeing as how DDC provides substantial classification for Christian texts in the 200's, while snubbing all other religions into a tiny little back alley of the classification.
Coincidence? I think not.
In the case of Caruthersville, MO (which dropped 1.61F in 70+ years, not a decade) there are several factors that have occured in 70 years which could yield a lower mean annual temperature in the face of global, continental or regional warming. A shift in industrial activity in the region, changes to the Mississippi River and increased rainfall.
Or maybe Caruthersville fits into a weird climate hole that will resist global warming because of increased rain and storm activity while everyone around them bakes like a potato. http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/4711
CO2Science.Org is science? They use anecdotal evidence in an attempt to counter real science being performed by fairly independent labs.
Paraphrase from a front-page article on their website...
This town in Missouri is polluted as hell, and their temperature dropped 2 degrees in the past decade! Global warming? Clearly it doesn't exist!"
Of course, what do you expect from an "environmental" organization who is funded by Exxon and whose founder previously worked for the worlds largest coal company?
http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/files/corpora
http://www.co2science.org/scripts/CO2ScienceB2C/a
http://www.peabodyenergy.com/
Clearly those files are up to no good. I hate to brag, but I've suspected them all along!
According to my analysis it's a highly concentrated form of Slurm.
Without division and reality distortion the parties would not exist. They have everything to lose if their constituents suddenly starting applying reason and logic to politics.
"Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call to her tribunal every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blindfolded fear."
- Thomas Jefferson
Apple users have enjoyed relatively license free software for years. I see that coming to an abrupt end as soon as /. covers OS X running on a crappy Dell.