You can charge for distribution (as it says at the beginning) but you can't make out to the client that they are somehow buying the software - they're not and they can't. They're just paying you for the service of producing a copy.
I think you're missing the fact that the controllers and headsets (at the prices you quote) are wireless. The logitech wireless headset for the current xbox is $70. The logitech wireless controller's are around $40 (and I'm sure MSRP is over $50). The wireless adapter is expensive, sure, but you couls always just get a generic bridge for $50 or so.
Sure it will have the slots. But where does it say that's what will be used for saving games? I can easily see that CF etc are only supported for displaying camera images or something like that.
As has been mentioned, Sony are the kings of add-ons ; they won't miss this opportunity.
It's a small enclosure which attaches to the side of the unit, via, I imagine, a non-standard connector. I fail to see what the attachment method of the HDD has to do with detecting mod chips.
That's an interesting comment given that the original Xbox had a HDD and ethernet built in from day 1, whilst the PS2 had them both as additional "upgrades" (of varying success). I see this move by MS with the 360 as somewhat backwards, but they're just repeating a mistake Sony already made.
I'm less concerned about books because that media is not subject to the same catastrophic failure as aluminized plastic.
CD -> Sharp implement Book -> Hot implement, wet implement
If I lend a CD to a friend I do so with the implicit, unstated assurance that if they lose or damage it, they will buy me a new one. Exactly the same as if I lend them a book, or my car, all of which are liable to sudden catastrophic destruction in the right situation.
Libraries lend out original copies of books, and CDs, and DVDs, and other media. They don't seem to require special procedures due to the nature of the media.
SlimDevices' squeezebox is the pro version of an Airport Express : Burr-Brown DACs, VFD display, 802.11g/ethernet, large buffer to cope with flaky bandwidth, built in FLAC support and a lot more. And the server software is GPL, supported on Linux, Win and OSX.
You can get a Kona 2 (HD capture from component) fir around $2000, so while it's still out of the range of Tivo (and most people) it's not quite as pricey as you make out.
Cars crash, parts fail, what's your point? You can't expect Apple to be able to stop acts of God, bad components they get from other companies, and irresponsible employees. My point is: of course Apple can't help have problems, neither can anyone else. Apple are just the same. What I hate is the belief that the sun shines out of Jobs' ass. It doesn't.
Hell, I'd encourage Apple or anyone to start a study and find just how many customers are satisfied with their Macs, how many hardware problems they'd had in their life time, and what errors they were. And I'd be interested in the results.
By the way, before you make judgement on hardware that's not available to you, me, and maybe even Apple themselves, perhaps you should look into what Intel has around the corner. If you actually read my post, I didn't make any judgments about the forthcoming hardware. In fact, I said "when the Intel stuff comes out I'll take another look" - because I will. I hope it will fix their performance problems.
Hell, there are people selling computers that make Apple's look cheap as dirt. Machines geared towards people like you who oogle at them. How the hell do you think you know what I do or do not oogle at? For the record I have never in my life bought an entire, prebuilt, PC. I build my own, I choose the components and spec it how I like. I don't go to dell and I don't go to alienware because I don't like the lack of flexibility. Apple likewise.
absolutely no expectation that they will continue to work ten years down the line I bought my mother an iMac about 4 years ago - it's now completely unusable. The hardware is failing, repairs are of course amazingly expensive and there's no upgrade path. If that was a PC I could at least replace the broken bits with spares or bits off ebay. Bitter? Yep. I've spent over $4000 on Apple gear over the years (all for other people) and I'm not a satisfied customer.
I don't care if you don't want Apple. That's your choice. Thank you. All I want is to be allowed to disagree and not be insulted for it.
Unlike Microsoft they won't make you pay for their product if you're not buying it. Who the hell said anything about Microsoft? Did I mention them? Or Windows?
I think you and I have different ideas of what generic means. To me, Micron/Crucial is generic. They make good, reliable stuff and it's cheap. It's not Geil SuperDooperProGold Overclockers RAM with LEDs. That's what I meant by generic...
Apple puts serious time into making their product work, and to making it work, every single time. Well, then they've failed. Apple's crash. Apple's have hardware failures. Hate to break your rose-tinted bubble but they are JUST COMPUTERS, like all the others. Why do I read so many problems about PowerBook logic board failures if they're perfect? Why the tint problems on their amazingly over priced LCD displays? Why did my girlfriends ibook just need a battery recall? What's with the ipod mini recall from a while ago? Do I even hame to mention the cube?
They put serious effort into making their machines fast (as that's the number one driving force to x86 today) Again, they've failed. There is not an Apple in production today, for any price, which can beat a decently high end Athlon or P4 based PC.
They put serious effort into making sure the ram your system uses is of quality Oh please. It's the same (perfectly decent) generic ram everyone else uses, it just costs twice as much.
Look, if you want to buy an Apple go ahead, it's no skin off my nose. But DO NOT give me all this crap about how if I prefer a PC I'm being cheap, or I don't appreciate the perfection of Apple. I don't want an Apple because I think they're too expensive, too slow, I don't really like OSX, and I don't think they look particularly great. I've dealt with their support - it's nothing great (waiting in line for an hour to speak to a "genius" who really doesn't know what he's talking about is not a win in my book). I've dealt with their failed hardware and I've dealt with their insane pricing. When the Intel based Apples come out I'll take another look, but right now I've thought about it and decided no.
Actually I do understand it. But this particular project wasn't "advertised" as a way to get something to run Linux for the fun of it, we were told this was a way to save money. It isn't. That's my point.
Just a quick FYI, Paul van Dyk uses my friends from BMG to publish That's publishing - a whole different thing. Pretty much everyone I know who makes music in europe publishes through BMG, but that doesn't really tie you to the majors, you can still manufacturer & distribute yourself, and you're not in any way tied to BMG. They essentially provide a service in this case.
for example Nothing But You has them listed as the publisher and he is under license to Universal Music I don't think HE is - that specific track is.
Most dance artists (like Paul, I imagine) work this way:
1. Write & record track 2. Publish (usually through BMG) - this is publishing the music, not the recording 3. Release the recording through an indy label (in the case of Paul, his own) 4. If track is succesful and would benefit from wider commercial distribution, the small label will usually enter into a licensing deal with a major, for just that one track. This is because the indy label doesn't have the marketing/manufacturer/distro contacts to do it themselves. This licensing deal will usually be on pretty good terms for the indy. 5. Profit!
As an example, look at Armin's "As The Rush Comes". Originally released on his own label Armada, it was then licensed to Positiva (part of EMI). In fact, your example (Nothing But You) was originally released on Vandit (Paul's label) before getting licensed all over the place (ID&T, Positiva, Mute, and Urban).
Independent music is a ghetto. It is something you do because you love the art and you love what you are doing. It is not really something you can turn into a career.
Rubbish. I personally know a number of people who make a very decent living without going near the majors. For some very high profile examples (these are not the ones I know personally, fyi) take a look at people like Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and DJ Tiesto. All earn (I would guess) in the high 6 to low 7 figure range (USD) and all own their own indy labels which publish their own and other artist's music. It's true that much of their personal income will be from live appearances, but the guys I know (signed to similar european indy labels) make all their money from sales & licensing. None of this music is available on iTunes, but a lot of it IS available on sites like beatport.com, which, amazingly enough, offer 320kbps MP3 downloads. These are big, multi-million dollar labels, who have realised that DRM is not the way forward. I wish there were examples of this kind of vision in other parts of the music business.
Slashdot Mirror
I use automachron. It runs as a tray app but seems a pretty complete client.
*sigh*
You can sell COPIES of the software - you cannot sell the software ITSELF. That's exactly what I said.
You can charge for distribution (as it says at the beginning) but you can't make out to the client that they are somehow buying the software - they're not and they can't. They're just paying you for the service of producing a copy.
I think you're missing the fact that the controllers and headsets (at the prices you quote) are wireless. The logitech wireless headset for the current xbox is $70. The logitech wireless controller's are around $40 (and I'm sure MSRP is over $50). The wireless adapter is expensive, sure, but you couls always just get a generic bridge for $50 or so.
Sure it will have the slots. But where does it say that's what will be used for saving games? I can easily see that CF etc are only supported for displaying camera images or something like that.
As has been mentioned, Sony are the kings of add-ons ; they won't miss this opportunity.
It's a small enclosure which attaches to the side of the unit, via, I imagine, a non-standard connector. I fail to see what the attachment method of the HDD has to do with detecting mod chips.
I suggest you re-read the grandparent's subject line.
Well lucky you - for just $40 each you can get the excellent Logitech wireless controllers. I figured I just saved you $840. You're welcome!
That's an interesting comment given that the original Xbox had a HDD and ethernet built in from day 1, whilst the PS2 had them both as additional "upgrades" (of varying success). I see this move by MS with the 360 as somewhat backwards, but they're just repeating a mistake Sony already made.
*ahem*
Half Life 2
botzor is not Zotob...it's some other worm which uses a similar attack vector.
From MS:
"If you are using any supported version of Windows other than Windows 2000, you are not at risk from Zotob and its variants."
Windows XP is NOT Windows 2000.
Well I don't care about Perfect Dark or Madden. PGR3 on the other hand...it's preorder time.
I'm less concerned about books because that media is not subject to the same catastrophic failure as aluminized plastic.
CD -> Sharp implement
Book -> Hot implement, wet implement
If I lend a CD to a friend I do so with the implicit, unstated assurance that if they lose or damage it, they will buy me a new one. Exactly the same as if I lend them a book, or my car, all of which are liable to sudden catastrophic destruction in the right situation.
Libraries lend out original copies of books, and CDs, and DVDs, and other media. They don't seem to require special procedures due to the nature of the media.
We do.
SlimDevices' squeezebox is the pro version of an Airport Express : Burr-Brown DACs, VFD display, 802.11g/ethernet, large buffer to cope with flaky bandwidth, built in FLAC support and a lot more. And the server software is GPL, supported on Linux, Win and OSX.
Have Fun!
You can get a Kona 2 (HD capture from component) fir around $2000, so while it's still out of the range of Tivo (and most people) it's not quite as pricey as you make out.
Cars crash, parts fail, what's your point? You can't expect Apple to be able to stop acts of God, bad components they get from other companies, and irresponsible employees.
My point is: of course Apple can't help have problems, neither can anyone else. Apple are just the same. What I hate is the belief that the sun shines out of Jobs' ass. It doesn't.
Hell, I'd encourage Apple or anyone to start a study and find just how many customers are satisfied with their Macs, how many hardware problems they'd had in their life time, and what errors they were.
And I'd be interested in the results.
By the way, before you make judgement on hardware that's not available to you, me, and maybe even Apple themselves, perhaps you should look into what Intel has around the corner.
If you actually read my post, I didn't make any judgments about the forthcoming hardware. In fact, I said "when the Intel stuff comes out I'll take another look" - because I will. I hope it will fix their performance problems.
Hell, there are people selling computers that make Apple's look cheap as dirt. Machines geared towards people like you who oogle at them.
How the hell do you think you know what I do or do not oogle at? For the record I have never in my life bought an entire, prebuilt, PC. I build my own, I choose the components and spec it how I like. I don't go to dell and I don't go to alienware because I don't like the lack of flexibility. Apple likewise.
absolutely no expectation that they will continue to work ten years down the line
I bought my mother an iMac about 4 years ago - it's now completely unusable. The hardware is failing, repairs are of course amazingly expensive and there's no upgrade path. If that was a PC I could at least replace the broken bits with spares or bits off ebay. Bitter? Yep. I've spent over $4000 on Apple gear over the years (all for other people) and I'm not a satisfied customer.
I don't care if you don't want Apple. That's your choice.
Thank you. All I want is to be allowed to disagree and not be insulted for it.
Unlike Microsoft they won't make you pay for their product if you're not buying it.
Who the hell said anything about Microsoft? Did I mention them? Or Windows?
I think you and I have different ideas of what generic means. To me, Micron/Crucial is generic. They make good, reliable stuff and it's cheap. It's not Geil SuperDooperProGold Overclockers RAM with LEDs. That's what I meant by generic...
Apple puts serious time into making their product work, and to making it work, every single time.
Well, then they've failed. Apple's crash. Apple's have hardware failures. Hate to break your rose-tinted bubble but they are JUST COMPUTERS, like all the others. Why do I read so many problems about PowerBook logic board failures if they're perfect? Why the tint problems on their amazingly over priced LCD displays? Why did my girlfriends ibook just need a battery recall? What's with the ipod mini recall from a while ago? Do I even hame to mention the cube?
They put serious effort into making their machines fast (as that's the number one driving force to x86 today)
Again, they've failed. There is not an Apple in production today, for any price, which can beat a decently high end Athlon or P4 based PC.
They put serious effort into making sure the ram your system uses is of quality
Oh please. It's the same (perfectly decent) generic ram everyone else uses, it just costs twice as much.
Look, if you want to buy an Apple go ahead, it's no skin off my nose. But DO NOT give me all this crap about how if I prefer a PC I'm being cheap, or I don't appreciate the perfection of Apple. I don't want an Apple because I think they're too expensive, too slow, I don't really like OSX, and I don't think they look particularly great. I've dealt with their support - it's nothing great (waiting in line for an hour to speak to a "genius" who really doesn't know what he's talking about is not a win in my book). I've dealt with their failed hardware and I've dealt with their insane pricing. When the Intel based Apples come out I'll take another look, but right now I've thought about it and decided no.
Actually I do understand it. But this particular project wasn't "advertised" as a way to get something to run Linux for the fun of it, we were told this was a way to save money. It isn't. That's my point.
Why? You can usually pick up one of the "name brand" devices for under $40, sometimes $0 (after rebate). Seems like a lot of bother for nothing to me.
Just a quick FYI, Paul van Dyk uses my friends from BMG to publish
That's publishing - a whole different thing. Pretty much everyone I know who makes music in europe publishes through BMG, but that doesn't really tie you to the majors, you can still manufacturer & distribute yourself, and you're not in any way tied to BMG. They essentially provide a service in this case.
for example Nothing But You has them listed as the publisher and he is under license to Universal Music
I don't think HE is - that specific track is.
Most dance artists (like Paul, I imagine) work this way:
1. Write & record track
2. Publish (usually through BMG) - this is publishing the music, not the recording
3. Release the recording through an indy label (in the case of Paul, his own)
4. If track is succesful and would benefit from wider commercial distribution, the small label will usually enter into a licensing deal with a major, for just that one track. This is because the indy label doesn't have the marketing/manufacturer/distro contacts to do it themselves. This licensing deal will usually be on pretty good terms for the indy.
5. Profit!
As an example, look at Armin's "As The Rush Comes". Originally released on his own label Armada, it was then licensed to Positiva (part of EMI). In fact, your example (Nothing But You) was originally released on Vandit (Paul's label) before getting licensed all over the place (ID&T, Positiva, Mute, and Urban).
Indeed - someone needs to send him an Ikea catalogue.
Independent music is a ghetto. It is something you do because you love the art and you love what you are doing. It is not really something you can turn into a career.
Rubbish. I personally know a number of people who make a very decent living without going near the majors. For some very high profile examples (these are not the ones I know personally, fyi) take a look at people like Paul Van Dyk, Armin Van Buuren and DJ Tiesto. All earn (I would guess) in the high 6 to low 7 figure range (USD) and all own their own indy labels which publish their own and other artist's music. It's true that much of their personal income will be from live appearances, but the guys I know (signed to similar european indy labels) make all their money from sales & licensing. None of this music is available on iTunes, but a lot of it IS available on sites like beatport.com, which, amazingly enough, offer 320kbps MP3 downloads. These are big, multi-million dollar labels, who have realised that DRM is not the way forward. I wish there were examples of this kind of vision in other parts of the music business.