1. True, filesharing might reduce the incentive to invest in new acts. But it definately reduces the need. If you don't need millions of dollars to launch your album, just a laptop and a podcasting site, then who needs investment? I think what will happen is that the promotional aspects of the music biz will survive in a substantially reduced form (after all, people still need to hear about you!) but the whole production and distribution megalith will go the way of the 8-track.
2. I agree, though, that P2P itself means next to nothing to a small unknown artist. Nobody is going to type your name into Limewire if they have never heard of you, obviously. Internet radio and podcasting are muhc more meaningful and useful tools for such artists. You get a podcaster to listen to your music, they play it for people, those peopel go to your website, etc.
3. It's said a lot, but it bears repeating : even Britney Spears makes only pennies per CD. The big name artists make all their money on touring. So there's no reason to worry about the ten cents you might be 'stealing' from Britney if you download a song. If you love her and want to support her, go to her concerts, buy her clothes, her perfumes, whatever. She gets a lot more money out of that.
Essentially, the music industry has reacheed the point where it is almost completely parisitical in nature. And like any parasite, it wants to control its host, and fears the light of day. Right now, they exploit the fact that the people and most importantly the legislators don't really grasp the issue at all. When you say to someone "Should they be allowed to steal our music?" and they know nothing of what is truly going on, it's hard to blame them for saying "Gee, I guess not!"
But we don't have to worry about that. This revolution requires no propaganda on our side. With every MP3 player, every iPod, every DVD player sold, our view sells itself. Eventually the RIAA and its bloodsucking ilk will be reduced to the level of rambling lunatic old men defending their collections of old cans and newspapers with bloodthirsty vehemence, oblivious to the fact that nobody wants them any more.
Ok, am I the only person who thinks this would just make the phone conversation nearly incomprehensible? I mean sheesh, if you want total privacy, just blow raspberries at each other. Then nobody will know what you are talking about...not even you! I bet this guy also thinks the best lock is a door that is welded shut.
This has got to be the most retarded technology I've heard of all year!:)
Wow. That is a really excellent point and cuts right to the quick. You totally deserve your 5.:) And I spend around 6 hours a day in front of the Great Glass Boob myself! I'd say I am addicted.
I think it would be interesting to study TV withdrawal. I bet they'd find people go through a lot of the same things as any withdrawal from a non-physically-dependant drug. I think honestly, sometimes what it put down as "withdrawal symptoms" are symptoms of something much simpler and more mundane, "disruption of routine". If you're used to doing one thing with a lot of your time, whether it's a drug, video games, Tv, or a hobby like knitting or yoga, if that is suddenly cut off, you will be at loose ends. You won't know what to do with yourself. It's nothing sinister. All creatures dislike disruption in their routine and exprerience a lot of stress from it. That's why something wonderful, like getting a promotion or winning the lottery, can be as stressful as something negative happening.
But just like people worry about pot (which enver killed ANYBODY) and ignore the millions dead every year from alchohol because alchohol is seen as 'normal', people ignore their heavy dependance on TV and focus on the poor beknighted harmless video games.
Now if you're excuse me, I'm going to go mug people, destroy private property, beat up cops, and vandalize.
But only in a video game. (The Warriors for Xbox, if you must know).
Oh, and if video games are addictive, strap your PSP to your arm and tell everybody you're on the patch.:)
Well, Mister Berners-Lee, thanks for invented this wonderful Intarweb thing I use all the time.
But you predictions are vague and meaningless and the Semantic Web is going to happen right after video phones, flying cars, and the release of Duke Nukem Forever for the Neo Geo Pocket.
I don't blame you... you never set out to be any kind of guru, and people ask you questions all the time and you are probably too nice a guy to say "How the flak should I know? Do you ask the guy who invented the computer keyboard what novels he think will be typed on them soon??"
Actually, they probably do.
Anyhow, thanks for the Web!
If the "mark of the Beast" implanted chip is RFID, then it could be put pretty much anywhere on the body, so a potential mugger would have no idea where to find the chip to 'hack it out'.
In the future, a sign of intimacy and trust could be to tell someone where your chip is.
And the idea is to reduce fraud. Way fewer people would be willing to murder and dismember someone than are willing to just threaten someone with a weapon and take their money.
Me, I'm too poor to pay to use my money, so I just carry cash and rely on being a big hairy freak to keep me safe!:)
Dang. I knew I should look it up before I said anything. Honest, I'm a geek! Really! I spend four hours a day playing video games! I love Star Trek and Red Dwarf and Monty Python and... and....
And I just don't seem to have the Geek Eidetic Memory for all things fannish. Sigh!
*sobs as he is dragged away by the Geek Police* I always knew this would happen....
Y'know, the minute I posted it, I knew someone was going ot point out the whole "lemmings don't really do that" angle.:)
OK, so instead, we'll call it the Greg Louganis Effect. Happy now?:)
the Lemming Effect.:)
And yes, very creepy. Presumably, if the critters alreayd have an instinct to avoid water, this creature just has to reverse it. Still. Ick!
AKA the Niven Syndrome.:)
Congrats, article writer, you are officially Old. You've begun thinking everything today SUCKS simply because you've been in the video game ouvre for so long that you can see all the paralells. To quote Grandpa Abe Simpson, "Oh, everything is stolen these days. Why the fax machine is nothing but a waffle iron with a phone attached to it!".:)
I don't know about other people, but I think games today are better than ever. I'm a very happy gamer with my PC and my Xbox, and I've been playing video games since the early days of Space Invaders, when I was barely tall enough to see the screen. Sure, the colors get prettier and the polygon counts higher and all those nice things. And for a while, it all seemed pretty pointless. But now the real artistry is gettingbehind it, and games are becoming not just technically proficient but gorgeous, and more immersive than ever.
Sure, there's not a lot of genre-busting genius games. Guess what, those are inherently rare by their very definition, in any artistic genre, whether it's fantasy RPGs or historical romance novels.
You're just another jaded old coot who wants everything to be blowm up and restored to some theoretical level of 'purity' because video games don't make you happy like they used to do. Well, guess what, that means you're a grownup now. As we get further and further into what we love, we trade eagerness for sophistication, and a broad love for the whole genre for a deeper love and appreciation for those parts of it we like.
So go ahead, Mister Indie Games. Make your own studio and design your own games. Maybe they'll kick ass. Maybe not. Maybe they'll just be half-baked attempts to break ne ground that make no sense to anyone and you'll only be able to sell them to grizzled coots like yourself.
Me, I'll be playing Fable. A voice in my head just told me I have a very important Quest Card waiting for me at the Guild.
Oh, and P.S., if you think GTA San Andreas plays like Pole Position, I have a waffle iron with a phone attached that I'd like to sell you.
Yes, I feel bad for the mice.:(
But honestly, if you're going to weigh Karma, hw about the lives of a handful of mice to save the lives of millions of people?
And presumably, mice.
Very good point, I hadn't connected this up to the famous/infamous "zombie dogs" experiments.
Aging takes on a new meaning in the context of a human body that can regenerate any tissue, any organ, any limb. How much of human disease essentially boils down to "part of you is broken and we can't fix it"?
Now, obviously, the regeneration process has a finite rate and if the aging process breaks down the organ faster than it can regenerate, you are still in deep trouble.
But still, this can't help but stretch longevity by quite a lot. It might not prevent aging in and of itself, but it'll slow it way down.
And as you've said, we might have aging licked, too. Once we figure out how to keep those telomeres nice and long.... no aging either!
I couldn't help but think of Doctor Curtis "Lizard" Connors, the legendary Spiderman villain/ally, in relation to this story.:)
Though in this case he'd turn into a mouse. Awww!
With mutant healing powers. Eeek!:)
Whoa. That's a darn good point.:)
I'm un- myself, so, no big deal for me. But this brings up a lot of issues about what the body considers 'normal' and healthy.
The rise of the Bush-ites is a symptom, not a cause. The real problem is anti-intellectualism. As long as being smart is considered a handicap and not a benefit, as long as the smart kids are harassed and bullied and choked with stultifying boredom by the school system, as long as it's cool and accepted to respond "I don't know!" to a question and laugh like the idea of them knowing something is ridiculous and that they are PROUD not to know it because it means that they are normal....
As long as you have these attitudes prevailing, you will have an intellectually impoverished landscape where people develop intelligence in ferocious oppsition to, as opposed to because of, the shape of the society they are in.
I agree that we live in spiritually desolate times. The baby boomers tore everything down, used everything up, then said to us, their children "Have fun. Clean up when you're done. "
It means we have to make NEW VALUES.
Slashdot Mirror
A few points here :
1. True, filesharing might reduce the incentive to invest in new acts. But it definately reduces the need. If you don't need millions of dollars to launch your album, just a laptop and a podcasting site, then who needs investment? I think what will happen is that the promotional aspects of the music biz will survive in a substantially reduced form (after all, people still need to hear about you!) but the whole production and distribution megalith will go the way of the 8-track.
2. I agree, though, that P2P itself means next to nothing to a small unknown artist. Nobody is going to type your name into Limewire if they have never heard of you, obviously. Internet radio and podcasting are muhc more meaningful and useful tools for such artists. You get a podcaster to listen to your music, they play it for people, those peopel go to your website, etc.
3. It's said a lot, but it bears repeating : even Britney Spears makes only pennies per CD. The big name artists make all their money on touring. So there's no reason to worry about the ten cents you might be 'stealing' from Britney if you download a song. If you love her and want to support her, go to her concerts, buy her clothes, her perfumes, whatever. She gets a lot more money out of that.
Essentially, the music industry has reacheed the point where it is almost completely parisitical in nature. And like any parasite, it wants to control its host, and fears the light of day. Right now, they exploit the fact that the people and most importantly the legislators don't really grasp the issue at all. When you say to someone "Should they be allowed to steal our music?" and they know nothing of what is truly going on, it's hard to blame them for saying "Gee, I guess not!"
But we don't have to worry about that. This revolution requires no propaganda on our side. With every MP3 player, every iPod, every DVD player sold, our view sells itself. Eventually the RIAA and its bloodsucking ilk will be reduced to the level of rambling lunatic old men defending their collections of old cans and newspapers with bloodthirsty vehemence, oblivious to the fact that nobody wants them any more.
Ok, am I the only person who thinks this would just make the phone conversation nearly incomprehensible? I mean sheesh, if you want total privacy, just blow raspberries at each other. Then nobody will know what you are talking about...not even you! I bet this guy also thinks the best lock is a door that is welded shut. This has got to be the most retarded technology I've heard of all year! :)
Wow. That is a really excellent point and cuts right to the quick. You totally deserve your 5. :) And I spend around 6 hours a day in front of the Great Glass Boob myself! I'd say I am addicted.
:)
I think it would be interesting to study TV withdrawal. I bet they'd find people go through a lot of the same things as any withdrawal from a non-physically-dependant drug. I think honestly, sometimes what it put down as "withdrawal symptoms" are symptoms of something much simpler and more mundane, "disruption of routine". If you're used to doing one thing with a lot of your time, whether it's a drug, video games, Tv, or a hobby like knitting or yoga, if that is suddenly cut off, you will be at loose ends. You won't know what to do with yourself. It's nothing sinister. All creatures dislike disruption in their routine and exprerience a lot of stress from it. That's why something wonderful, like getting a promotion or winning the lottery, can be as stressful as something negative happening.
But just like people worry about pot (which enver killed ANYBODY) and ignore the millions dead every year from alchohol because alchohol is seen as 'normal', people ignore their heavy dependance on TV and focus on the poor beknighted harmless video games.
Now if you're excuse me, I'm going to go mug people, destroy private property, beat up cops, and vandalize.
But only in a video game. (The Warriors for Xbox, if you must know).
Oh, and if video games are addictive, strap your PSP to your arm and tell everybody you're on the patch.
Well, Mister Berners-Lee, thanks for invented this wonderful Intarweb thing I use all the time. But you predictions are vague and meaningless and the Semantic Web is going to happen right after video phones, flying cars, and the release of Duke Nukem Forever for the Neo Geo Pocket. I don't blame you... you never set out to be any kind of guru, and people ask you questions all the time and you are probably too nice a guy to say "How the flak should I know? Do you ask the guy who invented the computer keyboard what novels he think will be typed on them soon??" Actually, they probably do. Anyhow, thanks for the Web!
In the future, a sign of intimacy and trust could be to tell someone where your chip is. And the idea is to reduce fraud. Way fewer people would be willing to murder and dismember someone than are willing to just threaten someone with a weapon and take their money.
Me, I'm too poor to pay to use my money, so I just carry cash and rely on being a big hairy freak to keep me safe! :)
Dang. I knew I should look it up before I said anything. Honest, I'm a geek! Really! I spend four hours a day playing video games! I love Star Trek and Red Dwarf and Monty Python and... and.... And I just don't seem to have the Geek Eidetic Memory for all things fannish. Sigh! *sobs as he is dragged away by the Geek Police* I always knew this would happen....
Y'know, the minute I posted it, I knew someone was going ot point out the whole "lemmings don't really do that" angle. :)
OK, so instead, we'll call it the Greg Louganis Effect. Happy now? :)
the Lemming Effect. :)
And yes, very creepy. Presumably, if the critters alreayd have an instinct to avoid water, this creature just has to reverse it. Still. Ick!
But you were put on Seti Alpha VI.
I loved that scene. :)
I don't know about other people, but I think games today are better than ever. I'm a very happy gamer with my PC and my Xbox, and I've been playing video games since the early days of Space Invaders, when I was barely tall enough to see the screen. Sure, the colors get prettier and the polygon counts higher and all those nice things. And for a while, it all seemed pretty pointless. But now the real artistry is gettingbehind it, and games are becoming not just technically proficient but gorgeous, and more immersive than ever.
Sure, there's not a lot of genre-busting genius games. Guess what, those are inherently rare by their very definition, in any artistic genre, whether it's fantasy RPGs or historical romance novels.
You're just another jaded old coot who wants everything to be blowm up and restored to some theoretical level of 'purity' because video games don't make you happy like they used to do. Well, guess what, that means you're a grownup now. As we get further and further into what we love, we trade eagerness for sophistication, and a broad love for the whole genre for a deeper love and appreciation for those parts of it we like.
So go ahead, Mister Indie Games. Make your own studio and design your own games. Maybe they'll kick ass. Maybe not. Maybe they'll just be half-baked attempts to break ne ground that make no sense to anyone and you'll only be able to sell them to grizzled coots like yourself.
Me, I'll be playing Fable. A voice in my head just told me I have a very important Quest Card waiting for me at the Guild. Oh, and P.S., if you think GTA San Andreas plays like Pole Position, I have a waffle iron with a phone attached that I'd like to sell you.
Doctor Weird : GENTLEMEN! Behold! I give you..... IMMORTAL MUTANT MICE!
Yes, I feel bad for the mice. :(
But honestly, if you're going to weigh Karma, hw about the lives of a handful of mice to save the lives of millions of people?
And presumably, mice.
But will it be long division? Or just a quickie?
Very good point, I hadn't connected this up to the famous/infamous "zombie dogs" experiments. Aging takes on a new meaning in the context of a human body that can regenerate any tissue, any organ, any limb. How much of human disease essentially boils down to "part of you is broken and we can't fix it"? Now, obviously, the regeneration process has a finite rate and if the aging process breaks down the organ faster than it can regenerate, you are still in deep trouble. But still, this can't help but stretch longevity by quite a lot. It might not prevent aging in and of itself, but it'll slow it way down. And as you've said, we might have aging licked, too. Once we figure out how to keep those telomeres nice and long.... no aging either!
I thought of that too. There has to be a reason we don't have this already.
I couldn't help but think of Doctor Curtis "Lizard" Connors, the legendary Spiderman villain/ally, in relation to this story. :)
Though in this case he'd turn into a mouse. Awww!
With mutant healing powers. Eeek! :)
Whoa. That's a darn good point. :)
I'm un- myself, so, no big deal for me. But this brings up a lot of issues about what the body considers 'normal' and healthy.
The rise of the Bush-ites is a symptom, not a cause. The real problem is anti-intellectualism. As long as being smart is considered a handicap and not a benefit, as long as the smart kids are harassed and bullied and choked with stultifying boredom by the school system, as long as it's cool and accepted to respond "I don't know!" to a question and laugh like the idea of them knowing something is ridiculous and that they are PROUD not to know it because it means that they are normal.... As long as you have these attitudes prevailing, you will have an intellectually impoverished landscape where people develop intelligence in ferocious oppsition to, as opposed to because of, the shape of the society they are in.
I agree that we live in spiritually desolate times. The baby boomers tore everything down, used everything up, then said to us, their children "Have fun. Clean up when you're done. " It means we have to make NEW VALUES.