So what? Isn't the government the same as my parents? The government gave birth to me, raised me, fed me, taught me right from wrong. Surely they should be allowed to censor me?
I don't want to start a gigantic politics war (yeah like it doesn't already exist) but facism is no different than communism. Whoever came up with this dual definition was an idiot. Both forms are formed from the same roots - trends towards government control. They aren't opposite extremes. Conservatism is called conservatism for a reason - because it wants the least government control possible, as opposed to liberalism, which is trying to control every aspect of people's lives.
The United States is probably the country farthest from communism in this day and age, and internet in other countries is highly subsidized by thier governments. Now yeah, theres no competition in the telecommunications market in america, and yeah thats a communist ideal, and yeah thats a big reason why our cable/internet/phone service sucks. But also consider that competition is replaced in other countries by big government paychecks, which the companies won't get if they don't do what the goverment tells them to (which is to give high high speed internet).
Keep that in mind.
I know lots of people that actually paid for their entire collection, and they are huge (>20 Gb) collections. Who's gonna want 500 usb sticks lying around? Granted, they are more useful than stamped out cds...
I think a big problem that many people (including me) have with Xbox Live is that you have to pay for it. On you computer you don't have to pay for anything but internet access to play online. The Xbox 360 (and the original xbox for that matter) are pretty much computers with limited feature OSes. Even on the original Xbox you could install linux, and have a fully functional computer. The Xbox live has nothing to do with lack of capability, Microsoft (and surely all companies would enjoy this approach, not just microsoft) just wants to make an extra profit off of this service. I know there are a lot of games on the Xbox that would have incredibly enjoyable split screen gameplay, but these games are Live Only. Xbox live is not cheap, nor is it expensive, but I would guess most people pay more for Live than for their games.
How many of you pay to play a MMORPG? How many of you play diablo II still, or GuildWars because you don't want to pay every month? I know I would be playing WoW right now if it was free to play online. Yet obviously, the MMORPG servers are centralized, and usually can't afford to run without these payments. Does Xbox Live suffer this same problem?
Take Half-life 2 for instance. On steam, all online games are free to play online (imagine the userbase that would be lost if Counter-Strike had a monthly fee). Can you honestly belive that there isn't a similar loss of players on certain console games because of this? This is all possible because people host thier own servers. All Xbox live is doing is taking away your power to host your own server, and charging you for it.
Slashdot Mirror
I honestly can't decide if you are being serious. My conscience says you weren't, but my fist says you were.
So what? Isn't the government the same as my parents? The government gave birth to me, raised me, fed me, taught me right from wrong. Surely they should be allowed to censor me?
I don't want to start a gigantic politics war (yeah like it doesn't already exist) but facism is no different than communism. Whoever came up with this dual definition was an idiot. Both forms are formed from the same roots - trends towards government control. They aren't opposite extremes. Conservatism is called conservatism for a reason - because it wants the least government control possible, as opposed to liberalism, which is trying to control every aspect of people's lives.
The United States is probably the country farthest from communism in this day and age, and internet in other countries is highly subsidized by thier governments. Now yeah, theres no competition in the telecommunications market in america, and yeah thats a communist ideal, and yeah thats a big reason why our cable/internet/phone service sucks. But also consider that competition is replaced in other countries by big government paychecks, which the companies won't get if they don't do what the goverment tells them to (which is to give high high speed internet). Keep that in mind.
I know lots of people that actually paid for their entire collection, and they are huge (>20 Gb) collections. Who's gonna want 500 usb sticks lying around? Granted, they are more useful than stamped out cds...
I think a big problem that many people (including me) have with Xbox Live is that you have to pay for it. On you computer you don't have to pay for anything but internet access to play online. The Xbox 360 (and the original xbox for that matter) are pretty much computers with limited feature OSes. Even on the original Xbox you could install linux, and have a fully functional computer. The Xbox live has nothing to do with lack of capability, Microsoft (and surely all companies would enjoy this approach, not just microsoft) just wants to make an extra profit off of this service. I know there are a lot of games on the Xbox that would have incredibly enjoyable split screen gameplay, but these games are Live Only. Xbox live is not cheap, nor is it expensive, but I would guess most people pay more for Live than for their games.
How many of you pay to play a MMORPG? How many of you play diablo II still, or GuildWars because you don't want to pay every month? I know I would be playing WoW right now if it was free to play online. Yet obviously, the MMORPG servers are centralized, and usually can't afford to run without these payments. Does Xbox Live suffer this same problem?
Take Half-life 2 for instance. On steam, all online games are free to play online (imagine the userbase that would be lost if Counter-Strike had a monthly fee). Can you honestly belive that there isn't a similar loss of players on certain console games because of this? This is all possible because people host thier own servers. All Xbox live is doing is taking away your power to host your own server, and charging you for it.