I wirked for California Coolers for a while (anyone remember them?) and let me tell you, bottliing is cheap. After the initial capital investment is earned back, it's pretty much a minimum cost operation.
What this fact tells us is that people will buy just about anything. We've gotten so condition to the $1.00-$1.25 bottle of soda (talk about a pure profit market!) that we willingly accept a $1.00 bottle of water. Add in the snob appeal of certain brands of bottled water and you've got yourself a massive money-maker.
One thing you have to remember is that price is NOT a function of cost. Price is a function of market forces. It is whatever people are willing to pay.
Consider: I used to wirk for a computer store eight years ago. A regular six-connector 50-pin SCSI1 internal ribbon cable was priced at $60.00. You know how much it cost the store to buy it? $5.00. Yep. $55.00 markup. Why? People beleived that SCSI was more expensive.
Standardized software is the only reasonable way to do it in the corporate environment. How many different email clients do you want to support? How many different sets of bugs and user interface problems do you want to have to remember how to fix?
While the Mozilla email client may or may not be the best solution for your environment (I haven't used it, so I can't form a valid opinion (like that's stopded me before!) on it), but a standardized client is vital if your IT department is going to get anything done at all.
My office has a very tightly controlled Standard Desktop Model. Every desktop system uses the same basic model. They all have the exact same version of the exact same program and they all have network shares that mount to the exact same place. With the exception of specialists who have additiona software installed for their needs, any user can sit down at any desktop in our state-wide agency and log in and get right to work. Everything they were using at their desk will be there (save the red stapler, I kept that).
How hard is it to learn a second email client as a user? After a few days you pretty much know how to use the basic functions you need to use to get your job done.
Who in their right mind uses their browser for email? This is rampaging stupidity at a level not seen since Dan Qyale was VP! Email is best served by a program dedicated to just that. Especially one that will not go out at fetch images linked from, but not included in (vomit) HTML emails.
I used to use Netscape for both web browsing and Email. When I upgraded to Netscape 4.x I was in for a rude shock! Not only was the browser sub-standard, the email client was crap! So I moved my email to The Bat! and never looked back. Now I can change browsers without worrying about whether it can import my email or not.
I have read in several places (can't remember where, sorry) and seen on several different TV shows, including the one about the family that implodes buildings and severl Discovery Channel shows on big machines, that people involved with demolotion have the highest job satisfaction ratings in the US.
Harry Tuttle: Listen, this old system of yours could be on fire and I couldn't even turn on the kitchen tap without filling out a 27b/6... Bloody paperwork.
I've been using the same IBM Model M keyboard for the last thriteen years. It has never failed me. Not once. My wife, on the other hand, has burned through seven keyboards in the last twelve years, including one very overpriced MS Natural. She has spent much more money on her cheap keybaords than I have spent on my single, still-working Model M. I am very confident that my Model M will still be working in another 13 years (even if I do end up having to get a PS/2 - USB converter to keep using it) and I really doubt if the keyboard she has now will still be working by the end of this year.
Sure, the Model M costs more, but you get what you pay for.
I found all four of mine (three at home, one at work) at local government surplus sales. These things last forever. One of my keyboards is 14 years old and still works perfectly. Government suplus sales are good place to find them as they don't throw away stuff that works if they can avoid it and all those office workers have moved over to those crappy Dell mushy keyboards.
The rich got to fly across the oceans on jetliners before the rest of us proles did. Yiou did know that's where the term "Jet Set" comes from? The rich also get big-screen TVs and super-fast computers before the rest of us. That's part of what being rich means.
If you don't like being "left behind", get rich.
The flip side is that these rich kids will spend lots of money shooting themselves into space. and after they manage to get there without killing themselves off, they'll want to recoup their expenses. Then will come comercial space tourism. Then comercial space travel.
Really, it is. Think about it. The technology will be developed with corporate money. No taxation at all! And as it would be private sector, you know they'll be looking at a quick return on their investment rather than milking the tax rolls for as long as possible. And if the ships explode, so what? Who cares if some rich bastard gets his stupid butt killed? It's not like the parasite was doing anything but keeping the prolatariate down!
Resolution for what? Sadam still being the legal leader of his country? And that was our business why?
Did he have WMD? Nope. Did he support Al Quedda? Nope. They hated him almost as much as they hated us. Was he a threat to our "allies"?
- To Kuwait, whose citizens now hate us? Not really.
- To Israel? HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right.
- To Saudi Arabia, homeland of most of the 9/11 terrorists? No.
So, what was the problem? What did we have to get tough about? Nothing. It was all a pack of lies told to convince us that we were doing the right thing.
I've got Mandrake 9.1 running beside Windows2K Pro on an NForce2 MB with a GeForce 4 ti 4400 graphics card. The onboard NIC doesn't work in Linux. The Buolt in sound is iffy. The Nvidia board is not accelerated. Under Windows the NIC works, the sound is fine and the video is accelerated. Out of the flipping box. No bullshit. No recompiling. No problem.
As for games, there are more than will not run that there are that will. And not everyine is a fan of run and shoot games.
Linux has come a LONG way since I first used it back in 1993. It's actually to a point where most people might have a chance of actually getting some use out of it. But be realistic. It's not ready for prime time yet. The hardware support is still lacking (but that's not really Linux' fault, that's just the way it is), the availability of games is still overly limited (again, not Linux's fault, but it is still true) and it's just not fiully baked yet.
Linux may be fine FOR YOU, but it's not for everyone. Quake, UT, AA and Tux Racer may be all the games you need, but not everyone likes such a limited selection.
You blind elitism is doing more to harm Linux than it is to help it.
Honestly, who gives a damn what OS the render farm was running? What we should care about is "is this movie any good", and frankly, it doesn't look like it will be any good at all.
Manuals? Have you actually purchased a Microsoft product in the last ten years? You don't get any manuals. You get a "quick start" booklet and a cyanide capsule and that's it.
The world did get along fine without copyrights not that long ago, and we still had the arts.
And it was not a trivial matter to copy and redistribute their materal then, either. You wanted a copy of a Monet? You hired a skilled hack to paint you a copy. You wanted a copy of a book, you hired some scribes to hand-copy it for you. The means of near-instant duplication didn't exist. Legal protection wasn't as needed then as it is now.
And let us not forget that until the advent of the popular media, made possible by copyright law, BTW, most artists worked exclusively for rich patrons. And go read up on how doggedly these patroned musicians guarded their work against those that would try to duplicate it.
No, this argument of copyright laws not being needed is pure BS espoused by those who have never created anything of value and tried to make a living based on their gifts.
If the artist (musical or otherwise) can not control the distribution of his/her work in such a way as he/she can make a living making said art, be it music, photographs, video, software, etc... what possible incentive do they have to continue to create their art? Where will new art come from? Who will bother recording new songs, taking new pictures, writing new software, painting new images, etc... if they have to get day jobs to support themselves?
Nice to see everyione using their mod points in a fair and unbiased way. The parent is not a troll. The poster has a very legitimate point. Just because you don't agree with the poster does not make the post a troll.
How do they know the people downloading the file will ever even listen to it[..]?
Why in the planet of Hell would they bother to download it if they weren't going to listen to it? To fill up those massive hard drives with random garbage?
They don't have to prove that you were going to listen to that Donny Osmond song you downloaded. All they need to prove is that you downloaded it.
Trademarks and Servicemarks are not so much about intellectual property, but about allowing consumers to reliably identify producers.
True, but they are also about making sure that the creator of these works can eat, as you cited above.
The real problem, I beleive, is that most of the people here who are complaining about copyrights, trademarks and patants have never tried to actually make a living based on the work they create. Sure, they might be salaried employees using their talents in their jobs, but they are trading their time for money, not trading their ideas for money.
The fundemental truth is that without a means for authors, artists, inventors, etc... to make a living using their gifts, they will have to get day jobs and we can all kiss the books, movies, music, inventions, software, etc... that we love so much good-bye.
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I wirked for California Coolers for a while (anyone remember them?) and let me tell you, bottliing is cheap. After the initial capital investment is earned back, it's pretty much a minimum cost operation.
What this fact tells us is that people will buy just about anything. We've gotten so condition to the $1.00-$1.25 bottle of soda (talk about a pure profit market!) that we willingly accept a $1.00 bottle of water. Add in the snob appeal of certain brands of bottled water and you've got yourself a massive money-maker.
One thing you have to remember is that price is NOT a function of cost. Price is a function of market forces. It is whatever people are willing to pay.
Consider: I used to wirk for a computer store eight years ago. A regular six-connector 50-pin SCSI1 internal ribbon cable was priced at $60.00. You know how much it cost the store to buy it? $5.00. Yep. $55.00 markup. Why? People beleived that SCSI was more expensive.
Standardized software is the only reasonable way to do it in the corporate environment. How many different email clients do you want to support? How many different sets of bugs and user interface problems do you want to have to remember how to fix?
While the Mozilla email client may or may not be the best solution for your environment (I haven't used it, so I can't form a valid opinion (like that's stopded me before!) on it), but a standardized client is vital if your IT department is going to get anything done at all.
My office has a very tightly controlled Standard Desktop Model. Every desktop system uses the same basic model. They all have the exact same version of the exact same program and they all have network shares that mount to the exact same place. With the exception of specialists who have additiona software installed for their needs, any user can sit down at any desktop in our state-wide agency and log in and get right to work. Everything they were using at their desk will be there (save the red stapler, I kept that).
How hard is it to learn a second email client as a user? After a few days you pretty much know how to use the basic functions you need to use to get your job done.
Who in their right mind uses their browser for email? This is rampaging stupidity at a level not seen since Dan Qyale was VP! Email is best served by a program dedicated to just that. Especially one that will not go out at fetch images linked from, but not included in (vomit) HTML emails.
I used to use Netscape for both web browsing and Email. When I upgraded to Netscape 4.x I was in for a rude shock! Not only was the browser sub-standard, the email client was crap! So I moved my email to The Bat! and never looked back. Now I can change browsers without worrying about whether it can import my email or not.
I have read in several places (can't remember where, sorry) and seen on several different TV shows, including the one about the family that implodes buildings and severl Discovery Channel shows on big machines, that people involved with demolotion have the highest job satisfaction ratings in the US.
Harry Tuttle: Listen, this old system of yours could be on fire and I couldn't even turn on the kitchen tap without filling out a 27b/6... Bloody paperwork.
I've been using the same IBM Model M keyboard for the last thriteen years. It has never failed me. Not once. My wife, on the other hand, has burned through seven keyboards in the last twelve years, including one very overpriced MS Natural. She has spent much more money on her cheap keybaords than I have spent on my single, still-working Model M. I am very confident that my Model M will still be working in another 13 years (even if I do end up having to get a PS/2 - USB converter to keep using it) and I really doubt if the keyboard she has now will still be working by the end of this year.
Sure, the Model M costs more, but you get what you pay for.
I found all four of mine (three at home, one at work) at local government surplus sales. These things last forever. One of my keyboards is 14 years old and still works perfectly. Government suplus sales are good place to find them as they don't throw away stuff that works if they can avoid it and all those office workers have moved over to those crappy Dell mushy keyboards.
The rich got to fly across the oceans on jetliners before the rest of us proles did. Yiou did know that's where the term "Jet Set" comes from? The rich also get big-screen TVs and super-fast computers before the rest of us. That's part of what being rich means.
If you don't like being "left behind", get rich.
The flip side is that these rich kids will spend lots of money shooting themselves into space. and after they manage to get there without killing themselves off, they'll want to recoup their expenses. Then will come comercial space tourism. Then comercial space travel.
Never underestimate the power of a good-looking 20-year old girl.
Really, it is. Think about it. The technology will be developed with corporate money. No taxation at all! And as it would be private sector, you know they'll be looking at a quick return on their investment rather than milking the tax rolls for as long as possible. And if the ships explode, so what? Who cares if some rich bastard gets his stupid butt killed? It's not like the parasite was doing anything but keeping the prolatariate down!
Do you honestly think GW gives a damn about any treaties? Please.
Resolution for what? Sadam still being the legal leader of his country? And that was our business why?
Did he have WMD? Nope.
Did he support Al Quedda? Nope. They hated him almost as much as they hated us.
Was he a threat to our "allies"?
- To Kuwait, whose citizens now hate us? Not really.
- To Israel? HAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, right.
- To Saudi Arabia, homeland of most of the 9/11 terrorists? No.
So, what was the problem? What did we have to get tough about? Nothing. It was all a pack of lies told to convince us that we were doing the right thing.
I've got Mandrake 9.1 running beside Windows2K Pro on an NForce2 MB with a GeForce 4 ti 4400 graphics card. The onboard NIC doesn't work in Linux. The Buolt in sound is iffy. The Nvidia board is not accelerated. Under Windows the NIC works, the sound is fine and the video is accelerated. Out of the flipping box. No bullshit. No recompiling. No problem.
As for games, there are more than will not run that there are that will. And not everyine is a fan of run and shoot games.
Linux has come a LONG way since I first used it back in 1993. It's actually to a point where most people might have a chance of actually getting some use out of it. But be realistic. It's not ready for prime time yet. The hardware support is still lacking (but that's not really Linux' fault, that's just the way it is), the availability of games is still overly limited (again, not Linux's fault, but it is still true) and it's just not fiully baked yet.
Linux may be fine FOR YOU, but it's not for everyone. Quake, UT, AA and Tux Racer may be all the games you need, but not everyone likes such a limited selection.
You blind elitism is doing more to harm Linux than it is to help it.
Honestly, who gives a damn what OS the render farm was running? What we should care about is "is this movie any good", and frankly, it doesn't look like it will be any good at all.
Manuals? Have you actually purchased a Microsoft product in the last ten years? You don't get any manuals. You get a "quick start" booklet and a cyanide capsule and that's it.
What does that have to do with Java? Your argument has nothing tio do with the courts forcing MS to cary Sun's Java VM.
Nice rant, but what the hell does it have to do with the story at hand?
That woiuld make a very good "media center" system. It looks more like a CD player than it does a computer. Nice looking piece of kit.
And it was not a trivial matter to copy and redistribute their materal then, either. You wanted a copy of a Monet? You hired a skilled hack to paint you a copy. You wanted a copy of a book, you hired some scribes to hand-copy it for you. The means of near-instant duplication didn't exist. Legal protection wasn't as needed then as it is now.
And let us not forget that until the advent of the popular media, made possible by copyright law, BTW, most artists worked exclusively for rich patrons. And go read up on how doggedly these patroned musicians guarded their work against those that would try to duplicate it.
No, this argument of copyright laws not being needed is pure BS espoused by those who have never created anything of value and tried to make a living based on their gifts.
Not difficult. They'll just impound your computer as evidence.
Please, get a clue.
If the artist (musical or otherwise) can not control the distribution of his/her work in such a way as he/she can make a living making said art, be it music, photographs, video, software, etc... what possible incentive do they have to continue to create their art? Where will new art come from? Who will bother recording new songs, taking new pictures, writing new software, painting new images, etc... if they have to get day jobs to support themselves?
Nice to see everyione using their mod points in a fair and unbiased way. The parent is not a troll. The poster has a very legitimate point. Just because you don't agree with the poster does not make the post a troll.
Why in the planet of Hell would they bother to download it if they weren't going to listen to it? To fill up those massive hard drives with random garbage?
They don't have to prove that you were going to listen to that Donny Osmond song you downloaded. All they need to prove is that you downloaded it.
Please, get a clue.
I see. Because they are abusing their position it gives you the right to rip them off. Good show. Well done. What a commendable lack of moral values.
If I feel that you are somehow doing something I don't like does that give me the right to abuse you?
True, but they are also about making sure that the creator of these works can eat, as you cited above.
The real problem, I beleive, is that most of the people here who are complaining about copyrights, trademarks and patants have never tried to actually make a living based on the work they create. Sure, they might be salaried employees using their talents in their jobs, but they are trading their time for money, not trading their ideas for money.
The fundemental truth is that without a means for authors, artists, inventors, etc... to make a living using their gifts, they will have to get day jobs and we can all kiss the books, movies, music, inventions, software, etc... that we love so much good-bye.