I'm not going to say this is the end of the world for Sony, but I think they are going to be in for an awakening of sorts when they release and see how "meh" the reaction to this console will be.
Maybe they can slip in a doomed to failure media format like UMD to bundle with.. oh.. um.. nevermind.
A) Yes, funnier accents in the Hamptons B) You forgot the "kitchen countertop" contingency C) Already checked - comfy picnic blanket sales are up to counterbalance. Something about tree problems. D) No. You look like a bug monster from a bad anime.
First they go after big fish in the online gambling market who are operating within the US. Then they run out of those. Next they go after big fish in the online gambling market who are operating outside the US. Other governments tell US to go DIAF US sees the only other way to address problems as going after the gamblers instead. US uses this as a reason to further OK tracking all internet traffic. We know where that goes.
There's no good outcome from this path. But greed will drive politicians to it.
If you think that the governments are going to "pass the saving along" to the citizens then I really REALLY want to know what perscriptions you're abusing to maintain this mental image.
Money will go into government.... government will think "hey we have extra money!"
Then government will find some more ways to use the money to "govern".
I suspect "govern" = prop up some failing politico's pet projects with sangbags of cash.
This smacks to me of AMD realizing Intel had actually landed a well placed shot into thier gut and needing a fast "get positive attention back on up" spin.
So we'll have to buy TWO processors to compete with what Intel is doing with one? If they're aiming for the Enthusiast market they have to remember that "enthusiasts" have price constraints (usually referred to as "wife")
Maybe they just realized that this was the legislative equivalent of blowing sunshine up someones tailpipe and wanted nothing to do with it.
I mean really now. A law that suggests that people buy more energy efficient servers?
Maybe this is congress telling AMD "See, we can pass legislature you will like in your fight agaisnt Intel, if you had paid us enough we would have actually put some teeth in the law"
How do we make this back? Oh yeah, let's just raise the prices of products in Europe. They've proven they aren't migrating to anything else , even if it's free, so we know they'll pay up. Sony did some groundbreaking work in this field and it seems true.
MS doubles prices of software sold in Europe. There would be minor losses of sales numebrs as some people did switch over because of it. But as long as they don't lose HALF their sales they're still making a profit on the move.
Also that bit about where the fine money goes does seem awful "small town judge pocketing the traffic ticket money".
Will it have a Wave Motion Gun... like all good Argo's should.
On a serious note, if they can tie mobile phone service into it with games, mp3's and portable storage then it just might stand a chance of really being "One gadget to in the darkness bind them"
The converse of this would be some companies that have employees holding thousands upon thousands of completely worthless stock options. Then of course the company boggles as to why giving them more is not working as an incentive. This company looks to have been trying to keep people by finding a way to turn worthless options into something with value. Good for employees, but bad if you don't handle the accounting right. And trying to make it so that it doesn't actually cost the company anything, but the employee can sell the stock for more, that's not "right".
The addage of the post boom world is... "If I'm worth something pay me, in cash.. now."
I have my personal opinion on this, and I could be completely crazy.. but...
You have two big sides to the "internet" as far as who has really paid for it. You have some large companies who have constructed these huge backbones. Strining countless tons of fibre, so on and so forth. Mostly for the "good of hte internet" and to make some money.
Then you have the local telcos and cable companies who invested in infrastructure in order to get "high speed" internet access out to homes in an era where you would buy "high speed" access, but you'd never really use it all (non multimedia web browsing just doesn't gobble up bandwidth). They made money, until people really started using the bandwidth and the more we use the less the make.
Both of these entities see third parties come along and with the "it costs very little to start up a business on the internet" mantra make billions. (see eBay, Google, Yahoo, etc) THey see sites like YouTube use ads to make money while absolutely pummelling distribution networks. How can they make these billions? Why riding on this great infrastructure that other people have built of course! Not to mention come big players now want to start streaming full on DVD quality movies over it.
Well guys, the proverbial pipers are at the door, and they want to be paid now. The question is would YouTube, google video, etc really be this sucessful if people had to pay a more realistic cost associated with getting the data between the two points.
Now the proverbial pipers are at the door and want to get paid.
1) ABC writes a big check to Tivo... 2) Tivo pushes "innocent" bios update 3) Suddenly you can't fast forward things recorded off channels with "ABC" associated with them.
Sony to Nintendo : People love us, they don't care how much we charge, they don't care how expensive the games are, they don't care that were really just revamping and polishing the same old game concepts. We win...
Nintendo to Sony : We'll beat you on price, we'll beat you on innovation, we'll beat you to market. P.S. Die in a fire.
Microsoft to Consumers : Look at all the fun you can have buying an Xbox 360 AND a Wii for the cost of a PS3...
I doubt it's faked. I doubt it was the government, because they want to see him punished as a way of showing that they're "tackling" the problem. I doubt it was cholesterol either... as he would have been on any medication around to stop that.
My bet is that facing a very probable "rest of your life in real actual PMITA prison" (A 20 year sentence would ahve effectively been life for a man of his age) the stress got him.
At least he saved us the tax dollars it would have cost to shelter and feed him.
Just MHO.. but.. if this were them really fighting for the freedom and neutrality of the Internet then I would be all for it. But this looks more like they know they won't be able to be the big dog in on line media if other companies can restrict them because of controlling the transport.
They're threatening to do this to protect their profitability and potential market for on demand video and TV just as much, and maybe more-so , than trying to protect some pristine concept of a neutral Internet from what I see.
That MS realizes there isn't any new "killer app" value in the office suite? Due to that they have no pressing need to rush a new version out the door until it's what they want, and until it meets some level of quality they're shooting for. When "We're putting in ribbons!" is the huge leap forward.. you're not leaping very far.
If that's the case maybe this is a good thing in that they're trying to take their time. We all know it's not financially driven because shareholders want to see big profits before the end of this year to pick up the sagging stock price. As it is they're positioning for 2007 to be a huge year (new windows and new office in same year), which would make current shareholders somewhat unhappy. Because NOBODY buys a stock with the long term in view anymore... do they?
They're already pricing their console in the "people who don't care how much it costs will still buy this" range. Why not go the same route with the games?
a) They know they aren't going to be able to come to market with it being cheaper than the Wii and it's games (although possibly comparably priced). b) They know they aren't going to be price competative with the Xbox 360 and it's games(although to a lesser degree). c) They have out and out stated that they believe they have the clout to charge whatever they want and people will pay it (see the UK rep comments a while back).
This is only the logical extention of that belief.
This man gets a cookie, if I had mod points today he would have.. oh wait.. it's already at 5.
The problem is that the vast majority of average users, and even a very healthy percentage of people who consider themselves technorati get brain haze when they have to look at all the combinations and standards the HD movement has cranked out there.
The studios are more interested in preventing you from copying a disc than getting you to be able to use the player. (See the whole downsampling, HDMI-whatever interface requirements and all that)
Want to see a smash hit HD format for discs? Come out with one that:
a) Doesn't care what kind of connector is between the player and the TV, so it will work with more sets. b) Will easily show an improvement over DVD even on SD TV's. (tricky there...) c) Costs about twice what you can get a decent DVD player for (In the $250-$500 range)
For reasons the article mentioned very concisely those three things will never meet in a player.
And for the studios, if you think whichever media format you endorse won't be cracked you are smoking something that is in all likelihood only legal for medicinal purposes where you live.
Hard to tell from the fact that most of the developers aren't using their actual names. But it looks to me like this might be being developed a substantial amount of work from behind the great firewall.
In which case be ready for it, or it's contributors, to vanish if/when it actually starts showing up as a means of bypassing that nations security. The Chinese who run things there are not the laughable Team America Kim Jong-il-esque style of villans. They're smart people. I mean look, they got Google to bend to their will...
OoooOO... definitely a better analogy, since this accomidates for teh "shared" aspect. If they people weren't outside basking in AC because the doors were closed then the people inside would be COLDER.
Of course this then leans to the fact that with those AC systems, closing the doors would cryogenically store the elderly people inside on the slots. Which may or may not be something they would desire and pay for....
Slashdot Mirror
Is the sound of fewer and fewer people caring.
.. oh.. um.. nevermind.
I'm not going to say this is the end of the world for Sony, but I think they are going to be in for an awakening of sorts when they release and see how "meh" the reaction to this console will be.
Maybe they can slip in a doomed to failure media format like UMD to bundle with
A) Yes, funnier accents in the Hamptons
B) You forgot the "kitchen countertop" contingency
C) Already checked - comfy picnic blanket sales are up to counterbalance. Something about tree problems.
D) No. You look like a bug monster from a bad anime.
First they go after big fish in the online gambling market who are operating within the US.
Then they run out of those.
Next they go after big fish in the online gambling market who are operating outside the US.
Other governments tell US to go DIAF
US sees the only other way to address problems as going after the gamblers instead.
US uses this as a reason to further OK tracking all internet traffic.
We know where that goes.
There's no good outcome from this path. But greed will drive politicians to it.
If you think that the governments are going to "pass the saving along" to the citizens then I really REALLY want to know what perscriptions you're abusing to maintain this mental image.
.. government will think "hey we have extra money!"
Money will go into government..
Then government will find some more ways to use the money to "govern".
I suspect "govern" = prop up some failing politico's pet projects with sangbags of cash.
This smacks to me of AMD realizing Intel had actually landed a well placed shot into thier gut and needing a fast "get positive attention back on up" spin.
So we'll have to buy TWO processors to compete with what Intel is doing with one? If they're aiming for the Enthusiast market they have to remember that "enthusiasts" have price constraints (usually referred to as "wife")
I could be wrong. But I really don't think I am.
Maybe they just realized that this was the legislative equivalent of blowing sunshine up someones tailpipe and wanted nothing to do with it.
I mean really now. A law that suggests that people buy more energy efficient servers?
Maybe this is congress telling AMD "See, we can pass legislature you will like in your fight agaisnt Intel, if you had paid us enough we would have actually put some teeth in the law"
Exactly sir,
Blisteringly fast at doing nothing! (Just like me at work)
I have the man for the job!
Let's see... 3m a day in fines...
check..
How do we make this back? Oh yeah, let's just raise the prices of products in Europe. They've proven they aren't migrating to anything else , even if it's free, so we know they'll pay up. Sony did some groundbreaking work in this field and it seems true.
MS doubles prices of software sold in Europe. There would be minor losses of sales numebrs as some people did switch over because of it. But as long as they don't lose HALF their sales they're still making a profit on the move.
Also that bit about where the fine money goes does seem awful "small town judge pocketing the traffic ticket money".
We're completely safe from this unenforcable law because to really enforce it they would need to be able to monitor... all... your net...
damn
Hold on, someone's at the door...
Will it have a Wave Motion Gun... like all good Argo's should.
On a serious note, if they can tie mobile phone service into it with games, mp3's and portable storage then it just might stand a chance of really being "One gadget to in the darkness bind them"
The converse of this would be some companies that have employees holding thousands upon thousands of completely worthless stock options. Then of course the company boggles as to why giving them more is not working as an incentive. This company looks to have been trying to keep people by finding a way to turn worthless options into something with value. Good for employees, but bad if you don't handle the accounting right. And trying to make it so that it doesn't actually cost the company anything, but the employee can sell the stock for more, that's not "right".
The addage of the post boom world is... "If I'm worth something pay me, in cash.. now."
I have my personal opinion on this, and I could be completely crazy.. but...
You have two big sides to the "internet" as far as who has really paid for it. You have some large companies who have constructed these huge backbones. Strining countless tons of fibre, so on and so forth. Mostly for the "good of hte internet" and to make some money.
Then you have the local telcos and cable companies who invested in infrastructure in order to get "high speed" internet access out to homes in an era where you would buy "high speed" access, but you'd never really use it all (non multimedia web browsing just doesn't gobble up bandwidth). They made money, until people really started using the bandwidth and the more we use the less the make.
Both of these entities see third parties come along and with the "it costs very little to start up a business on the internet" mantra make billions. (see eBay, Google, Yahoo, etc) THey see sites like YouTube use ads to make money while absolutely pummelling distribution networks. How can they make these billions? Why riding on this great infrastructure that other people have built of course! Not to mention come big players now want to start streaming full on DVD quality movies over it.
Well guys, the proverbial pipers are at the door, and they want to be paid now. The question is would YouTube, google video, etc really be this sucessful if people had to pay a more realistic cost associated with getting the data between the two points.
Now the proverbial pipers are at the door and want to get paid.
1) ABC writes a big check to Tivo...
2) Tivo pushes "innocent" bios update
3) Suddenly you can't fast forward things recorded off channels with "ABC" associated with them.
Problem solved
I'm just sittin at my terminal, sippin on my bawlz and juice...
With my mind on my webpage, and my webpage on my mind...
You're randomly grabbing some ladyboy's knob?
Does your GF know about this?
Sony to Nintendo : People love us, they don't care how much we charge, they don't care how expensive the games are, they don't care that were really just revamping and polishing the same old game concepts. We win...
Nintendo to Sony : We'll beat you on price, we'll beat you on innovation, we'll beat you to market. P.S. Die in a fire.
Microsoft to Consumers : Look at all the fun you can have buying an Xbox 360 AND a Wii for the cost of a PS3...
Nintendo to Microsoft : You.. in teh fire too.
I doubt it's faked.
I doubt it was the government, because they want to see him punished as a way of showing that they're "tackling" the problem.
I doubt it was cholesterol either... as he would have been on any medication around to stop that.
My bet is that facing a very probable "rest of your life in real actual PMITA prison" (A 20 year sentence would ahve effectively been life for a man of his age) the stress got him.
At least he saved us the tax dollars it would have cost to shelter and feed him.
Just MHO.. but.. if this were them really fighting for the freedom and neutrality of the Internet then I would be all for it. But this looks more like they know they won't be able to be the big dog in on line media if other companies can restrict them because of controlling the transport.
They're threatening to do this to protect their profitability and potential market for on demand video and TV just as much, and maybe more-so , than trying to protect some pristine concept of a neutral Internet from what I see.
Looks like Blizzard might be topping out with WoW at a PALTRY 6.5 Million users?!?!?!
Obviously they need to get that expansion out fast or it's all over but the crying for them.
That MS realizes there isn't any new "killer app" value in the office suite? Due to that they have no pressing need to rush a new version out the door until it's what they want, and until it meets some level of quality they're shooting for. When "We're putting in ribbons!" is the huge leap forward.. you're not leaping very far.
If that's the case maybe this is a good thing in that they're trying to take their time. We all know it's not financially driven because shareholders want to see big profits before the end of this year to pick up the sagging stock price. As it is they're positioning for 2007 to be a huge year (new windows and new office in same year), which would make current shareholders somewhat unhappy. Because NOBODY buys a stock with the long term in view anymore... do they?
They're already pricing their console in the "people who don't care how much it costs will still buy this" range. Why not go the same route with the games?
a) They know they aren't going to be able to come to market with it being cheaper than the Wii and it's games (although possibly comparably priced).
b) They know they aren't going to be price competative with the Xbox 360 and it's games(although to a lesser degree).
c) They have out and out stated that they believe they have the clout to charge whatever they want and people will pay it (see the UK rep comments a while back).
This is only the logical extention of that belief.
This man gets a cookie, if I had mod points today he would have.. oh wait.. it's already at 5.
The problem is that the vast majority of average users, and even a very healthy percentage of people who consider themselves technorati get brain haze when they have to look at all the combinations and standards the HD movement has cranked out there.
The studios are more interested in preventing you from copying a disc than getting you to be able to use the player. (See the whole downsampling, HDMI-whatever interface requirements and all that)
Want to see a smash hit HD format for discs? Come out with one that:
a) Doesn't care what kind of connector is between the player and the TV, so it will work with more sets.
b) Will easily show an improvement over DVD even on SD TV's. (tricky there...)
c) Costs about twice what you can get a decent DVD player for (In the $250-$500 range)
For reasons the article mentioned very concisely those three things will never meet in a player.
And for the studios, if you think whichever media format you endorse won't be cracked you are smoking something that is in all likelihood only legal for medicinal purposes where you live.
Hard to tell from the fact that most of the developers aren't using their actual names. But it looks to me like this might be being developed a substantial amount of work from behind the great firewall.
In which case be ready for it, or it's contributors, to vanish if/when it actually starts showing up as a means of bypassing that nations security. The Chinese who run things there are not the laughable Team America Kim Jong-il-esque style of villans. They're smart people. I mean look, they got Google to bend to their will...
OoooOO... definitely a better analogy, since this accomidates for teh "shared" aspect. If they people weren't outside basking in AC because the doors were closed then the people inside would be COLDER.
Of course this then leans to the fact that with those AC systems, closing the doors would cryogenically store the elderly people inside on the slots. Which may or may not be something they would desire and pay for....