Furthermore, he didn't even get a chance to play Halo 3. If you read the other more in-depth articles, you'll see that he actually just bought the game, and had it taken away when he came home, not even giving him a chance to play it (at least at home).
I suppose I didn't make myself clear. Multi-player is not necessarily the only way of "changing your business model" (however, the best solution IMHO). To me, what they need to do is provide services that cannot be "pirated".
For some products, this is support. For others, downloadable content (although it can be argued that this can be pirated as well), general online features (like hosting stats, content, etc).
Stuff like that could seriously improve a customers reason to buy the product instead of pirating it.
The solution is quite clear to me. It's the same solution that the music industry needs to try and incorporate.
Change your business model.
Games that are making money today, are multi-player games. The only way gaming companies nowadays are going to make money is by providing services, services that you can't simply "pirate". For example, look at the Xbox 360. There is so much support and information for modding the console, that almost anyone could do it and just pirate all Xbox 360 games. But what has Microsoft done? They have created a service called Xbox Live that no xbox user would want to risk by modding their system.
Specifically Halo 3. The amount of multi-player features and functionality is exceptional, and thats what drives Microsoft's real revenue.
The PC game industry needs to take note of this (and a huge portion has already), and create these services that users will pay for. That is where I believe they will find real revenue. Its just too easy to pirate offline games, just as its too easy to rip and share music. There just is not viable solution to that (at least for now).
I give it ten minutes before some dork makes a comment that the guy is just copying the wine and not taking it, and I bet $50k that the dork posting it has never run a software biz.
The fact that there is no physical loss in the software business is a huge distinction.
When the wine seller puts locks on the cabinets, he does so prevent the thefts. Whats important in this particular example, is that preventing thefts has positive results for the consumer as well. There is a larger supply, and the seller does not have to raise prices to compensate for losses.
However, the reason so many people are questioning copy protection for software is because, there is no clear answer to whether preventing piracy while inconveniencing customers, actually drive sells up or down. And that to me is the only question worth debating.
In the wine sellers examples, it doesn't matter whether the thief would start buying the wine after not being able to steal it anymore. The store can now sell that wine to real customers.
I just watched the first Indiana Jones film for the first time, and it did not meet any of my expectations. I've heard for people that this movie was amazing and a great classic. But now its obvious that kids 30 years ago loved that movie, since being kids those "pistols and chases and mummies and exotic foreigners" were exactly what they needed for a good movie.
I also just finished watching all 6 movies of the Star Wars trilogy, and one thing that really annoys me is how many people say the original trilogy was so much better that the newer one. That statement is completely ridiculous... They both have exactly the same flaws and strengths.
I've heard people say the acting in the new one is terrible compared to the original. I guess as kids they didn't realize that the acting in the original is just as crappy as a the new one.
A lot of people have also complained of the introduction of Jar-Jar. Unfortunately, I don't see any difference between this character and the chewbacca.
I've even heard some people say the plot in the new movies is not-believable. Because... certainly a the designers of a moon-sized weapon that destroys planets would leave a little hole that can be used to blow the thing up...
If these movies were watched 30 years ago, the kids then would have loved them as well and called them a classic, just as the kids who've watched them now love them as well.
Sorry, but you cannot argue that an Indian telephone support outsourcing will result in a better customer appreciation.
My mom works as for computer support at Dell, and she always receives calls where the customer is greatly happy to hear their finally on the line with someone who "can speak English". These kinds of greetings were even more common at the previous call centers she has worked at.
And while you argue that you may get better customer service by having more representatives, I find this hardly the case. I still have quite long wait times even when I get an Indian representative.
So while there may be other benefits to outsourcing, doing so for call centers will not result in better customer satisfaction.
And btw, I've heard Dell is prospecting the idea of selling a "pro customer support" contracts, so that they can pay for the call centers in Canada or in the USA. (not sure if this is public)
I won't argue with the fact that using a mouse for aiming has its advantages over a controller, but to say that FPS's _cannot_ be played on a controller?? That is completely ridiculous, especially given the success of the halo series. The thing is, the controller has a number of other advantages.
The game controller is designed so that a number of buttons can be easily reached and used. The buttons themselves are even placed in certain location purposely to create more natural controls for the game (Ie, triggers for shooting guns). For games that actually aren't just run around and shoot things (Ie, Quake, CS), having the controller for these games becomes quite useful.
Take a look at Halo 3. The controller makes the system of dual guns so much easier to use. You can easily switch individual weapons easily with controller. With the keyboard, once you start adding all the different functionality, the control system becomes very clunky and unintuitive. Games like Bioshock are made easier as well through the controller.
RTS is the only type of game I would seriously limit to mouse-keyboard.
WikiLeaks is not a wiki in the true sense, there is no collaboration, the only people allowed to post are their little Cabal [wikipedia.org] There is no collaboration of the postings of the leaks. However, the collaboration takes place in examining and analyzing the leak itself and its authenticity.
My friend was once scammed by someone from Romania.
He was selling something, and some person from Romania bought the item. The address on the Paypal account was not confirmed. Normally, because there is no confirmed address, you would have to ship with a signature required option for shipping. My friend hasn't had much experience with shipping to unconfirmed addresses so he ended up only getting "Delivery Confirmation" for the shipping, which is not the same thing.
He had asked me on advice with what to do, but there was some confusion with what the address problem was, so I told him to go ahead, because the eBay account that that purchased the product had maybe 100+ feedback that was around 100% positive.
So as the story normally goes, after my friend shipped the item, the Romanian guy reversed the payment. What happened next was very interesting... I told my friend right away to put negative feedback on his near-perfect account to prevent the guy from doing this to anyone else. But.. to both our surprises, the eBay listing was gone. Completely. There was no explanation, or email from eBay stating why the listing was gone. Because of this, there was no way to put feedback on the guys account.
My friend actually had to call eBay to find out what happened. Apparently, the guy had told eBay that his account was 'hacked' and that he did not make the purchase on the listing. And of course, eBay decided to protect the guy who was supposedly stupid enough to have his account stolen, and they removed the auction so that he does not get negative feedback.
So... If you ever want a listing completely removed, just tell eVBay your account was hacked. Apparently, they also use some sort of tool to determine if you actually did get hacked (so most likely, did you log in from two different IP's, very thorough examination).
Sure its nice, but there are also security problems associated with leaving your network open. Anyone can come by and start sniffing all traffic that goes through the network. This means that all your passwords and data (in plaintext, anyway) that go through the network can be read by anyone. And open networks are a particular target of sniffing which makes that plaintext information going through the network even more vulnerable to eavesdropping.
I once went to a presentation by OLUG (Ottawa Linux Users Group) and they talked about the OCPL and even showed us one of the laptops and how it works.
It's actually quite different then most laptops, and has a number of features that are really cool and some that I don't think XP can support by principle.
The most important feature they pressed was the idea of Open Source, and being able to modify any component of the laptop (including any application, or even the OS). So basically, the laptop features a button that activates the 'Developer' view for the current program/feature being used. It then allows the user to modify this code and commit it, and thereby promoting the idea of open source development. The code will be stored using some sort of revision system so the user can go back and forth through their changes.
Given that this idea is so important to the whole purpose of OLPC, and that XP will not offer source code, I can't see Microsoft being successful in this goal. If they're currently just working on getting XP to run on the hardware, its a complete waste of time, since theres a lot of other things they need to implement as well.
One other really cool feature was the LCD screen that came with the laptop. When in normal lighting, you have a normal LCD screen, but when you go outside into the sun, a different lighting utility comes into use (I forget what its called), but its perfectly readable in bright sunlight, but is in only black and white.
Slashdot Mirror
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe
Contrary to what? Having screen estate completely removed for some buttons?
Furthermore, he didn't even get a chance to play Halo 3. If you read the other more in-depth articles, you'll see that he actually just bought the game, and had it taken away when he came home, not even giving him a chance to play it (at least at home).
I suppose I didn't make myself clear. Multi-player is not necessarily the only way of "changing your business model" (however, the best solution IMHO). To me, what they need to do is provide services that cannot be "pirated".
For some products, this is support. For others, downloadable content (although it can be argued that this can be pirated as well), general online features (like hosting stats, content, etc).
Stuff like that could seriously improve a customers reason to buy the product instead of pirating it.
Yeah, but those stupid admins keep reversing my changes.
The solution is quite clear to me. It's the same solution that the music industry needs to try and incorporate.
Change your business model.
Games that are making money today, are multi-player games. The only way gaming companies nowadays are going to make money is by providing services, services that you can't simply "pirate". For example, look at the Xbox 360. There is so much support and information for modding the console, that almost anyone could do it and just pirate all Xbox 360 games. But what has Microsoft done? They have created a service called Xbox Live that no xbox user would want to risk by modding their system.
Specifically Halo 3. The amount of multi-player features and functionality is exceptional, and thats what drives Microsoft's real revenue.
The PC game industry needs to take note of this (and a huge portion has already), and create these services that users will pay for. That is where I believe they will find real revenue. Its just too easy to pirate offline games, just as its too easy to rip and share music. There just is not viable solution to that (at least for now).
The fact that there is no physical loss in the software business is a huge distinction.
When the wine seller puts locks on the cabinets, he does so prevent the thefts. Whats important in this particular example, is that preventing thefts has positive results for the consumer as well. There is a larger supply, and the seller does not have to raise prices to compensate for losses.
However, the reason so many people are questioning copy protection for software is because, there is no clear answer to whether preventing piracy while inconveniencing customers, actually drive sells up or down. And that to me is the only question worth debating.
In the wine sellers examples, it doesn't matter whether the thief would start buying the wine after not being able to steal it anymore. The store can now sell that wine to real customers.
Just use the CowboyNeal option.
I couldn't agree with you more.
I just watched the first Indiana Jones film for the first time, and it did not meet any of my expectations. I've heard for people that this movie was amazing and a great classic. But now its obvious that kids 30 years ago loved that movie, since being kids those "pistols and chases and mummies and exotic foreigners" were exactly what they needed for a good movie.
I also just finished watching all 6 movies of the Star Wars trilogy, and one thing that really annoys me is how many people say the original trilogy was so much better that the newer one. That statement is completely ridiculous... They both have exactly the same flaws and strengths.
I've heard people say the acting in the new one is terrible compared to the original. I guess as kids they didn't realize that the acting in the original is just as crappy as a the new one.
A lot of people have also complained of the introduction of Jar-Jar. Unfortunately, I don't see any difference between this character and the chewbacca.
I've even heard some people say the plot in the new movies is not-believable. Because... certainly a the designers of a moon-sized weapon that destroys planets would leave a little hole that can be used to blow the thing up... If these movies were watched 30 years ago, the kids then would have loved them as well and called them a classic, just as the kids who've watched them now love them as well.
Sorry, but you cannot argue that an Indian telephone support outsourcing will result in a better customer appreciation.
My mom works as for computer support at Dell, and she always receives calls where the customer is greatly happy to hear their finally on the line with someone who "can speak English". These kinds of greetings were even more common at the previous call centers she has worked at.
And while you argue that you may get better customer service by having more representatives, I find this hardly the case. I still have quite long wait times even when I get an Indian representative.
So while there may be other benefits to outsourcing, doing so for call centers will not result in better customer satisfaction.
And btw, I've heard Dell is prospecting the idea of selling a "pro customer support" contracts, so that they can pay for the call centers in Canada or in the USA. (not sure if this is public)
I won't argue with the fact that using a mouse for aiming has its advantages over a controller, but to say that FPS's _cannot_ be played on a controller?? That is completely ridiculous, especially given the success of the halo series. The thing is, the controller has a number of other advantages. The game controller is designed so that a number of buttons can be easily reached and used. The buttons themselves are even placed in certain location purposely to create more natural controls for the game (Ie, triggers for shooting guns). For games that actually aren't just run around and shoot things (Ie, Quake, CS), having the controller for these games becomes quite useful. Take a look at Halo 3. The controller makes the system of dual guns so much easier to use. You can easily switch individual weapons easily with controller. With the keyboard, once you start adding all the different functionality, the control system becomes very clunky and unintuitive. Games like Bioshock are made easier as well through the controller. RTS is the only type of game I would seriously limit to mouse-keyboard.
I'm guessing then you don't have Java, Flash or even any other software because the install is just some shady .exe...
You got modded Funny, but this is one of the most insightful comments I have ever read...
Yeah definitely relax, because theres nothing wrong with having to pay out all the money you've earned for a lame software patent violation.
My friend was once scammed by someone from Romania.
He was selling something, and some person from Romania bought the item. The address on the Paypal account was not confirmed. Normally, because there is no confirmed address, you would have to ship with a signature required option for shipping. My friend hasn't had much experience with shipping to unconfirmed addresses so he ended up only getting "Delivery Confirmation" for the shipping, which is not the same thing.
He had asked me on advice with what to do, but there was some confusion with what the address problem was, so I told him to go ahead, because the eBay account that that purchased the product had maybe 100+ feedback that was around 100% positive.
So as the story normally goes, after my friend shipped the item, the Romanian guy reversed the payment. What happened next was very interesting... I told my friend right away to put negative feedback on his near-perfect account to prevent the guy from doing this to anyone else. But.. to both our surprises, the eBay listing was gone. Completely. There was no explanation, or email from eBay stating why the listing was gone. Because of this, there was no way to put feedback on the guys account.
My friend actually had to call eBay to find out what happened. Apparently, the guy had told eBay that his account was 'hacked' and that he did not make the purchase on the listing. And of course, eBay decided to protect the guy who was supposedly stupid enough to have his account stolen, and they removed the auction so that he does not get negative feedback.
So... If you ever want a listing completely removed, just tell eVBay your account was hacked. Apparently, they also use some sort of tool to determine if you actually did get hacked (so most likely, did you log in from two different IP's, very thorough examination).
Um, Walmart can't send you to some foreign country to be tortured and forced to confess things you haven't done.
Sure its nice, but there are also security problems associated with leaving your network open. Anyone can come by and start sniffing all traffic that goes through the network. This means that all your passwords and data (in plaintext, anyway) that go through the network can be read by anyone. And open networks are a particular target of sniffing which makes that plaintext information going through the network even more vulnerable to eavesdropping.
I predict that we'll all have flying cars in the year 2050.
Furthermore, what if outside is where the danger is?
I once went to a presentation by OLUG (Ottawa Linux Users Group) and they talked about the OCPL and even showed us one of the laptops and how it works. It's actually quite different then most laptops, and has a number of features that are really cool and some that I don't think XP can support by principle. The most important feature they pressed was the idea of Open Source, and being able to modify any component of the laptop (including any application, or even the OS). So basically, the laptop features a button that activates the 'Developer' view for the current program/feature being used. It then allows the user to modify this code and commit it, and thereby promoting the idea of open source development. The code will be stored using some sort of revision system so the user can go back and forth through their changes. Given that this idea is so important to the whole purpose of OLPC, and that XP will not offer source code, I can't see Microsoft being successful in this goal. If they're currently just working on getting XP to run on the hardware, its a complete waste of time, since theres a lot of other things they need to implement as well. One other really cool feature was the LCD screen that came with the laptop. When in normal lighting, you have a normal LCD screen, but when you go outside into the sun, a different lighting utility comes into use (I forget what its called), but its perfectly readable in bright sunlight, but is in only black and white.
"EA wants 'open gaming platform'" Yeah, it's called a PC.
Wow, whoever modded me flamebait doesn't have a sense of humor.. or at least wasn't looking at the context of my post.
That is such bull you moron. Your idea doesn't make any sense at all. I wish I could slap you.
I wonder how long until they start banning any electronics with batteries in them on airplanes...